Humber Et Cetera, Volume 71, Number 1, Jan. 28, 2026.

CALM AFTER THE STORM

HUMBER RETURNS TO NORMAL AFTER BLIZZARD

Snow days cancel Ont. schools

Nina A. Kersnik HumberETC News

Thousands of elementary and secondary schools across Southern Ontario shut their doors following the aftermath of a major snowstorm that walloped the city over the weekend.

According to a report by Environment Canada, 46 centimetres of snow fell at Toronto Pearson Airport on Sunday, marking the highest daily total snowfall on record.

Neighbourhoods like the City Centre and South Etobicoke saw estimated amounts of up to 56 centimetres and 53 centimetres, respectively.

For many secondary school students, the snow day meant that their end-of-semester exams had to be rescheduled for later in the week.

Jazmin Ramsammy, a Grade 11

student from Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School and Regional Arts Centre, who was meant to take a physics exam on Monday, said she was elated to hear about the closure.

“I was really happy because it meant that I had a couple extra days to study for my exam, because I don’t have any other ones,” Ramsammy said.

She is not alone.

Julia Kos, a Grade 11 student at the same school, who was scheduled to take a religion exam, said she is also quite relieved despite the circumstances.

“[I was relieved] because I had an additional day to study for the exam I would have on Tuesday and Wednesday, which are my accounting and math exams, which are much harder,” Kos said.

As for her rescheduled exam, Kos said she “didn’t really mind that [it] was cancelled because

the subject didn’t require much studying.”

In a statement to parents and guardians, the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) said the decision to close its schools, childcare centres and Extended Day Programs was “not made lightly.”

“We recognize this decision may be disruptive for families and appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our students, families, and staff,” the TCDSB said.

They said the decision to close its facilities was made at about 6 a.m., allowing families enough time to make alternative arrangements, as part of the TCDSB’s Inclement Weather Protocol.

At the secondary school level, administrators echoed the Board’s decision.

In an email to parents, the principal of Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School and R.A.C., John D’Onofrio, confirmed that all secondary school exams for Monday will be rescheduled due to the storm.

“Exams scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26, period 2, will be rescheduled to Thursday, Jan. 29, at the same times,” D’Onofrio said.

“Exams scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 27 and Wednesday, Jan. 28 will proceed as planned,” he said.

As a result, the City of Toronto has activated its Major Snow Event Response Plan (MSERP) due to the amount of snow accumulation and ongoing clean-up efforts.

The storm brings the January 2026 snowfall total to 88.2 cm, making it the “snowiest January and snowiest month since records began in 1937,” according to Environment Canada.

Snowstorm blankets Humber

Ann Camille Snaggs HumberETC News

Environment Canada reported that as much as 56 centimetres of snow fell in Monday’s record-breaking storm, causing flight cancellations, vehicular accidents, severe transit dis-

ruptions, along with school and post-secondary school closures across the region.

The frigid temperature dipped to a low of -15 in the day and -23 overnight. Environment Canada posted a yellow warning to advise of the extreme cold.

Although Humber Polytechnic was closed on Sunday and Monday, considerable work had been done overnight to clear the parking lots, roadways and sidewalks. Virtually empty buses could be seen entering the Humber bus station without impediment.

Humber Et Cetera is the Humber Polytechnic journalism program laboratory newspaper. It is created by journalism students in the Advanced Diploma program. Et Cetera serves to inform the Humber community and give its readers well-rounded coverage on the things that matter to them.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stephen Chamberlain

Pizzurro

Kossak

Ann Camille Snaggs

Rosemary Jaramillo

Subway lines between Eglinton and Bloor-Yonge and Kipling to St. George as well as the Line 6 LRT, were shut down Monday. For the next several days, temperatures are set to remain frigid nearing -30 by the end of the week.

Spoken word, a ‘princely’ blessing

Some people find their purpose deliberately. Others stumble upon it. For Prince Amoako, spoken word poetry was not on his radar — it was a surprise that he says became a blessing almost 10 years ago, while he was still a student at Humber Polytechnic.

He happened to be with a group of friends when one of them, a writer, was approached and asked to join a spoken word showcase.

“I was like, you know what, let me just try it out as well. He said yes. I was like, oh, this felt nice to kind of share and write, and then that (led) to a lot of different opportunities that I didn’t expect,” he said.  Those opportunities included Toronto Poetry Slam, a wellknown spoken word competition, and Amoako credits them with providing training workshops that helped him hone his craft.

He initially attended the poetry slam “just for therapy, just to share,” and ended up making the team and competing.

“I didn’t think that I would get paid to write a poem,” Amoako

said. “The concept of getting paid to write a poem or poetry was foreign to me.”

Amoako is a rapper and a spoken word artist. He said that poetry came first, but “they are very intertwined with each other.”

“I think (spoken word) poetry is just another form of hip

understand how to navigate certain situations in his community.

As an insider, he is better placed to help his own people.

He said he likes the idea of using his art as a way to express the needs of his community.

“And the opportunities I’ve gotten to do that (were) pretty

“HIP HOP MUSIC, AND THE ARTS IN GENERAL, GIVE PEOPLE THE SPACE TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES FREELY, DOWN TO HOW THEY SPEAK, HOW THEY RAP, HOW THEY CREATE, EVEN HOW THEY DRESS AND EXPRESS THEMSELVES,” - Prince Amoako

hop,” he said. “Spoken word is the words without the music. And then when you add the music to it, then you add more rhythm and flow to it, then it becomes a rap.”

Amoako graduated from Humber with a Bachelor of Social Science in Criminal Justice. He feels the program helped him to better understand himself and identify ways to contribute to the betterment of his community.

He recalled being in a class discussion and coming to the realization that outsiders do not really

cool,” Amoako said.

On hiatus from performing since COVID, Amoako continues to write poetry. Common themes in his works are family, love, healing, trauma, joy and his community.

“Sometimes I might be talking to someone in conversation, and then they might spark off some inspiration for something, and I just write their story,” he said.

Although he receives many requests to perform, for now, Amoako is focused on

learning the business.

“It’s easy to say you want to perform and be an artist and have fun, but it’s like, if you want to transition from just being a performing artist and make it into a career, you need to understand, like, the business side of it and how it works,” he said.

Amoako works for Humber Polytechnic as a program facilitator with Black Student Support and Engagement. The BSSE’s mission is to provide community, empowerment and leadership to Black-identifying students. This was evident in their Jan. 20 seminar, which Amoako facilitated.

The seminar, entitled “Community Conversations: Hip Hop and Identity: A Personal Journey into Voice, Authenticity, and Power,” hosted about 20 students and staff members in a lively discussion, sharing their life experiences, struggles and their love for the genre.

“Hip Hop music, and the arts in general, give people the space to express themselves freely, down to how they speak, how they rap, how they create, even how they dress and express themselves,” Amoako said.

Humber Et Cetera, the student news outlet at Humber Polytechnic, was nominated for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Award in the college digital news category.

Lara King, a Humber journalism professor, said she is very proud of her students for being nominated for this award.

“I’m thrilled that Humber Et Cetera nominated again for a CSPA award,” she said. “I’m incredibly proud of our student reporters and editors for the work they put in every week in our newsroom.”

The nomination places Humber Et Cetera among three finalists recognized for excellence in student journalism across print and digital platforms.

The Crown Awards, administered by Columbia University in New York, are considered one of the most prestigious honours in student media, recognizing overall quality, editorial leadership and innovation.

Winners are awarded either a Gold or Silver Crown, with results announced at the Awards Convocation on March 20, 2026.

Humber Et Cetera serves as the primary student-run newsroom for Humber’s journalism program, producing news and features covering campus and surrounding communities.

The publication operates across print and digital platforms, giving students hands-on newsroom experience.

This report is by Rosemary

Canada’s Mark Carney redefines global relations

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was given the honour of a standing ovation following his Jan. 20 speech to the World Economic Forum. In the history of forum speeches, this honour has only been bestowed on figures like Nelson Mandela and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

That’s because Carney’s speech directly addressed the tectonic shift that global politics has taken following President Donald Trump’s election. Carney did a good job of addressing the immediate worry in everyone’s minds, not directly, but alluding to recent actions.

“Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited,” Carney said.

He touched upon an important truth: that the performance of rules-based international order, which has worked so far, no longer works. When someone with immense power behaves like a 10-year-old who has found his father’s gun, all semblance of rules and order suddenly goes away.

“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination,” Carney said.

Although this was not hopeful or optimistic, Carney chose to be pragmatic and precise. It was not the time to sing the praises of a

nation that is actively threatening others.

In a sense, President Donald Trump, in his own speech the next day, confirmed Carney’s beliefs.

“Canada lives because of the United States,” he said.

Trump added that Canada was not “being grateful” in his

70-minute speech. His comments barely hid their threatening nature.

As a result of Carney’s speech, Canada was uninvited from joining Trump’s “Board of Peace”, a self-appointed, vague forum, foregoing Canada’s need to pay US$1 billion. Canada, however, continues to be a part of the U.N peacekeeping missions.

Many Canadians, like Greenlanders, now share the fear of being taken over and having their sovereignty taken away. It is a fear that leads many people from around the world to emigrate to countries like Canada.

Carney’s speech offers some hope. Canada is indeed an energy superpower, with access to critical minerals. Before his speech, he visited China and Qatar to negotiate new trade deals.

So perhaps it is time to face the truth that the United States is no longer a reliable partner. Carney’s speech was yet another confirmation that Canada still needs to have its elbows up – and probably most of Europe as well.

President John F. Kennedy, in his address at the Canadian Parlia-

ment in 1961, extolled the relationship between the U.S and Canada.

“Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies,” Kennedy told Parliament. “Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Now, 65 years later, after Trump was elected, this amicable, natural relationship seems to have sundered irrevocably.

The late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s comments in 1969 about U.S.-Canada relations are now more prescient than ever.

“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant,” Trudeau said in his meeting with then-President Richard Nixon. “No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

Trudeau was only half correct. The elephant is no longer even-tempered, and global politics, as Carney said, is undergoing a rupture, and the country must forge a new path into the future.

Unpaid internships are no longer acceptable

Amid the current state of Ontario’s economy, it is not financially realistic for students to work for free.

As young students try to stay afloat with compiling student debts, loans and daily expenses, working an unpaid internship is no longer feasible.

With the labour market continuing to tighten, students are left with gaps in their resumés, drained bank accounts and the mounting pressure to land a full-time position.

Internships allow students to

experience the field they want to pursue and could result in fulltime job offers.

In Ontario, unpaid internships are illegal unless they are part of an educational program, but still follow the same labour standards as paid employees.

Paid or unpaid, internships are presented as invaluable opportunities for students to shadow industry professionals, build relationships and gain relevant field experience. But at what cost?

The current labour market is competitive and cutthroat, with more candidates than available positions. Statistics Canada identified that the labour market in 2025 was most challenging for youth.

Youth unemployment rate reached 14.7 per cent in September 2025, the highest rate since 2010.

Adults in their 20s are still living with their parents or forced to live in their childhood bedroom.

The cost of living in Ontario has become impossible to navigate for young individuals, and job opportunities are fleeting.

Earning minimum wage, $17.60 an hour or about $36,000 pre-tax

annually in Ontario, is no longer enough to support basic living expenses.

and network building. They worsen social and economic inequalities.

A student from a wealthier background would be able to afford taking an unpaid internship, compared to a student who has to provide for themselves.

Currently, the average rent price for an apartment in Toronto is listed at $2,365 or $28,380 a year, which would eat the majority of a minimum-wage worker’s income.

With most internships requiring 40-hour workweeks over several weeks or months, the possibility of working part-time on the side is not a realistic option for most.

But for some, it’s the only option. Unpaid internships often favour students from wealthier backgrounds, granting them experience

A self-sufficient student is forced to choose between a great opportunity at an established corporation and financial security.

For many, the choice is not simple. Internship experience can result in a job offer, boost resumé credentials or may be a mandatory requirement for graduating.

For others, there is no choice at all.

Students who support themselves may not even consider applying to unpaid internships because of their financial standing.

The exclusion of lower-income

students from unpaid internships stems from systemic barriers that assume all students can afford to work for free.

The average education debt students carry after graduation is about $30,600. Students should not have to plunge themselves further into debt by working for free. Instead, they should be compensated for their time and hard work.

Funding, grants and government subsidies are necessary to bridge the gap for financially insecure students, ensuring all students are granted equal opportunities.

Access to internships should be equitable and balanced and should not rely on a student’s financial status. A student should not be denied an opportunity that another student doesn’t have to think twice about.

Internships create valuable hands-on learning experiences and build practical skills that cannot be taught in a classroom. But pursuing an unpaid internship should not come at the cost of students’ financial stability.

GinaPizzurro,she/her,isaNews Editor for Humber Et Cetera.

OPINION

IGNITE must advocate better for its members

For many students, the student union is a mysterious mandatory fee on their tuition statement. For others, it is an organization that runs occasional events on campus. Rarely does advocacy come to mind.

That should be a problem.

A student union is an organized body within a university or college that exists to advocate for student rights and interests, while also serving as a hub for student activities and services. Advocacy is its fundamental role, not a secondary one.

At Humber Polytechnic and the University of Guelph-Humber, the student union is IGNITE. Yes, the one known for year-long campaigns, eye-catching graphics across campus, and handing out snack-sized Doritos or chocolate bars in exchange for Instagram follows, games, giveaways, or feedback forms.

It is loud and popular. But when it comes to advocacy, it is nowhere

near as loud.

Advocacy means publicly addressing and sparking conversations around both short- and long-term issues facing students, including post-secondary funding cuts, OSAP approval delays, rising international tuition fees, the erosion of student services, and institutional decisions that directly affect student life.

On these issues, IGNITE has consistently remained reserved, if not completely quiet.

When the Lakeshore campus library closed last summer, there was no public statement, explanation, or call to action from IGNITE. After Humber Et Cetera published an editorial on the closure, a student reached out asking whether any advocacy was happening, whether there was a petition to sign, or a group that Et Cetera could connect them to.

That student had already contacted IGNITE well before the article was published, asking what it was doing. The student even offered to volunteer for advocacy efforts on IGNITE’s behalf.

IGNITE’s response was to suggest that students rely on stopgap measures by the college and contact the library directly by phone for further concerns.

“We want to reassure you that quiet study spaces will still be available in B Building, where the library was previously located. While these spaces will not include bookshelves or col -

lections, they are designed to provide students with the same quiet environment that many relied on in the past,” said the IGNITE email provided by the student.

No information was provided on any advocacy or steps taken by the union. Ultimately, the student turned to Humber Et Cetera, which is independent of IGNITE, for information, while the union funded by student fees to advocate and inform offered no meaningful answers.

IGNITE student advocate Selena Ferreira said she hasn’t heard much about the closure.

“I haven’t heard anything about this particular issue in terms of direct communication with administration,” Ferreira said. “I haven’t heard about anything happening.”

She said the library closure was a side effect of post-secondary education cuts. However, Humber attributed the closure to low foot traffic and construction at the nearby B building.

More recently, the student space at Lakeshore was repurposed into a FIFA World Cup volunteer centre. In response to Et Cetera’s questions about advocacy efforts, IGNITE said it was not consulted by the administration before the decision, and it has raised concerns about the negative impact on student space.

“I believe it was mentioned at the monthly meetings,” Ferreira said. “From what I recall, it was like a work in progress to look

into what can be done to provide a remedy or better communication to students about the closures.

“Because it was already agreed that G Building was going to be transferred into a hub for the FIFA World Cup, I don’t think backtracking was possible,” she said.

As students, there is no way to verify if the student board discusses these issues.

IGNITE closed its board meetings to the public in 2019 and stopped publishing meeting minutes, citing student leaders’ desire to be more “candid” when discussing issues that “benefit students.”

“Sometimes that means being critical of external stakeholders,” Ercole Perrone, CEO of IGNITE, said. “It’s not best practice for board meeting minutes to be publicized.”

Even within IGNITE’s Time is Money campaign, the advocacy appears selective. While the union campaigns provincially against unpaid labour through petitions, students on campus report being unpaid or underpaid in co-op roles. Humber Athletics, for example, reportedly pays co-op students roughly half of Ontario’s minimum wage, about $9 an hour. Many students completing co-ops at Humber receive no pay at all.

“There have been conversations [with Humber] about the general existence of the Time is Money campaign and promoting that and eventually what we’re

going to do with that,” Ferreira said. “IGNITE is aware that students are doing placements on campus that sometimes aren’t paid, which is why we’re trying to make this legislated.”

IGNITE may point to its provincial collaboration with the College Student Alliance as evidence of advocacy. The alliance represents four Ontario colleges: St. Lawrence, Fleming, Sault, and Humber. This should be a clear reflection for student leaders on how much influence, resources, and political leverage these unions have on issues.

Nevertheless, of all the issues put forward by the College Student Alliance at its annual summit — including post-secondary funding, international tuition fees, and affordability — IGNITE handpicked Bill 33 and its own Time is Money campaign to promote on its social channels, with no mention of the others. Bill 33 grants the provincial government greater control over student fees.

This is simply outsourcing of advocacy to factions like CSA while selectively amplifying safe topics that translate well into social media campaigns. Running a campaign is not enough. Advocacy must also happen at home, within the institution from which IGNITE collects student fees, and in ways that are visible and meaningful to the average student.

Harnoor Kaur, she/her, is a third year Humber Et Cetera news reporter.

A little girl is hiding in an attic, writing

It was a cool November evening that felt like any other in Atlanta.

Lavora Celeste Vincent decided she’d head to bed early, hoping to fix her sleep schedule before her semester really kicked off. She closed her blinds and, for no reason in particular, glanced out at the row of student houses.

That’s when the 18-year-old college student, who goes by Celeste, noticed across the street, the bedroom light of the unit facing hers — the one she could usually count on flicking on in the morning, and sometimes off at night — had been dark for weeks.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen the student who lived there either. Initially, she explained it away. It was Thanksgiving, then Christmas.

Students go home. But months passed, and the woman’s black Honda stayed parked in the driveway.

I came across her TikToks while scrolling. I stopped for the story

about her missing neighbour, but it was her voice that made me stay.

Celeste’s videos are angry. They are also a plea. Look. Pay attention. Do you see what’s going on? Stop normalizing it.

She posts about immigration enforcement, misinformation and what she sees as growing corruption under President Donald Trump’s administration. What surprised me was not just how outspoken she is, but also how articulate.

From George Orwell to the Nuremberg defence to the mechanics of modern media misinformation, she speaks like someone who has spent years paying attention. She has an exceptional grasp on historical events and political systems, and a confidence not expected from someone who cannot yet legally buy a drink.

on ICE.

She names Renee Good and Keith Porter. After Saturday, she names Alex Pretti.

She doesn’t bother with euphemisms.

“They were murdered by terrorists,” she says. “By domestic terrorists supported and funded by the United States government.”

She returns to the personal proof that keeps her awake at night — her neighbour is still missing. Celeste says the woman is of “Hispanic descent.” In the current climate, that detail mat-

tory to make sense of the present. Nazi Germany did not begin with camps. It began with normal life, then new rules, then quiet compliance. With people learning to keep their heads down.

Celeste says fear has reshaped daily life.

Students don’t go out alone, and people carry passports out of fear despite being American citizens. She points to ICE tip lines that “convince neighbours to turn on neighbours.”

“That’s not even rhyming with World War II,” she said. “That is exactly what happened.”

“DO YOU KNOW WHY ANNE FRANK HID IN AN ATTIC? BECAUSE THEY WERE KNOCKING DOOR TO DOOR LOOKING FOR THEM ” - Lavora Celeste Vincent

ters.

That voice, she told me, was sharpened inside her own home, where she was raised Christian by die-hard MAGA, Fox Newswatching parents. When I asked how she turned out so different from her family, she smirked.

“They tried to teach us Jesus loves everybody, be kind to everyone, turn the other cheek. It’s not like how I turned out is confusing. Everything they taught me to do is what I’m doing,” she said.

Lately, Celeste’s TikToks fixate

After the disappearance, no one on her street seemed close enough to ask where she went. The leasing office told Celeste it couldn’t share tenant information when she reported it. Months later, there is no update.

Celeste began noticing stories online, people’s neighbours vanishing without clear answers. In our interview, she made an unsettling point: what is happening under Trump and ICE is not just politics, it is the early stage of something the world has seen before.

“We saw this in the 1930s and 1940s in Germany,” she said. Celeste kept reaching back to his-

She described how Americans have been “propagandized to believe that the people that don’t openly look like us… they’re different, and that difference is dangerous, and they should be exterminated.”

On TikTok, she asks, “Do you know why Anne Frank hid in an attic? Because they were knocking door to door, looking for them.”

To Celeste, that knock has returned.

“We’re defending Hitler in modern times,” she warns.

Celeste says that many supporters of this administration don’t see opponents as human. If you disagree, “you are subhuman, and therefore it is okay if you are executed in broad daylight.”

Her point echoed in the recent killing of Alex Pretti, an Amer-

ican citizen who tried to film agents detaining a woman. He was pepper-sprayed, tackled and shot numerous times after his concealed but legal handgun had already been taken.

She pointed to something eerily familiar: what happens after someone is taken is a blackout. They vanish, and the public hears nothing.

“The one thing we’ve been told is that they’re in a prison in El Salvador,” supposedly for “the worst of the worst,” Celeste said. Holocaust survivors were once asked a question that still haunts history books: Why didn’t you do anything?

“The overwhelming answer that you receive is, because I didn’t know,” Celeste said, reminding me that Nuremberg rejected this defence. “Another is that they were too poor and consumed by survival to notice.”

She applied it to America today.

“We are working for a minimum wage that has not increased in decades, while the cost of living has increased 400 per cent,” she said. “Americans that are too deep in economic strife and struggle to be able to do anything but continue to work. They essentially have us cornered.”

Once people are cornered and afraid, they are easily controlled. Silence becomes a survival strategy, and that silence turns to complicity.

Celeste’s warning is that history is not behind us. It’s catching up.

Allison Waytowich, she/her, is the photo-video editor at Humber Et Cetera.

Humber launches cybersecurity master’s

A third-year student in the Bachelor of Engineering program at Humber, Prayag Bhagha, liked the potential that the applied master’s Cybersecurity program could offer students who want higher-level positions in the industry.

Humber said in a Dec. 1 announcement that the applied master’s program will be held in Humber’s Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation.

It said the Barrett Centre has a Digital Technology Hub that features a dedicated data centre, cyber range capabilities and specialized penetration equipment.

Bagha said he did a lab for his program that is a part of the new applied master’s, and it was his “favourite part of being at Humber so far.”

He said he had an interest in cybersecurity and is focusing on that in his third year.

Bagha said he can see himself going for Humber’s master’s program after graduating and

getting a bit of experience in the field first.

Humber announced on Dec. 1 that an applied master’s degree program, Computer Science –Cybersecurity Operations and Management, is scheduled to begin classes in May.

The degree is a two-year, four-semester program with a capstone applied research industry project in the final year of studies.

Program Coordinator Haidar Jabbar said he is looking for students who have “basic foundation and common sense.

“We're hoping that our graduates will graduate with the knowledge in the leadership mindset. So, they will be business managers, there will be CEOs, there will be decision makers,” he said.

The Humber website said requirements for admission to the program include a four-year honours degree, or equivalent, in a relevant area of study.

Author and podcast host of Cybersecurity Today, Jim Love, was one of many who helped

develop Humber’s applied master’s program.

Love said as an advisor for the program, he was able to share his perspectives, opinions and hope for the future of the degree.

He said he enjoyed being able to discuss cybersecurity with people at his own level, who he wasn’t in competition with, during the development process.

“You can not only share war stories, but you can learn from them,” he said.

Love said the cybersecurity

cation that there's a lot of need for cybersecurity and AI and emerging technologies. And if you look around, you know, the timing reflects the reality we are in,” he said. “We listen to the industry.

Jabbar said the program takes a modern look at security with all the updates in the field of cybersecurity.

Love said he thinks there is enough built into the course to help sustain the rate at which technology like artificial intelli-

“THAT’S AN ADVANTAGE FOR STUDENTS WHO WILL DO AN APPLIED MASTER’S IN A POLYTECHNIC... STUDENTS WILL LEARN BY DOING THINGS RATHER THAN JUST STUDYING IT. ”

- Haidar Jabbar

industry is “sadly, in its infancy.”

Jabbar said miscellaneous job portals show 8,000 to 15,000 open jobs for cybersecurity in Canada.

“That gives you a good indi-

gence is advancing.

He said it offers students the ability to learn how to become resilient in an industry that people have become used to being a “necessary sufferance.”

“I’ve talked to a lot of senior security people, and none of us would go back into it, knowing what we know now,” he said.

Jabbar said his biggest challenge in the industry was the constant change.

“Technology changes every minute, every day,” he said. “The time we start developing it and finishing, there's a lot of changes that have been made.”

Love said a big part of the program is preparing students not just technically, but also preparing them to survive the cybersecurity industry.

“I think, to a degree, you can put that into a program. I think we tried to do that,” he said. Love said the academic approach to security is “irrelevant, I’m sorry, but it is.”

He said Humber’s program offers the training needed to deal with new situations that no academic or university program could offer.

“One of the great things about the program is that it’s going to take people who wouldn’t necessarily have as much technical background, but they would be able to get that education,” Love said.

Jabbar said the polytechnic in Humber Polytechnic means it focuses on applied practical ability.

“That's an advantage for students who will do an applied master's in a polytechnic. ‘Applied’ here means that students will learn by doing things rather than just studying it,” he said.

Humber said in its announcement that this will be its second master’s program. The first was the Applied Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering.

Humber said the program, unlike traditional graduate programs, ensures research and scholarship are grounded in realworld challenges.

Bagha said the applied aspect Humber brings to its higher education programs is a better way of learning.

“The applied component to it is something that keeps us constantly engaged,” he said. “The balance is great. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Love said few post-secondary programs would offer the level of practical training needed, and he didn’t know of any outside of Humber.

“I think that’s what people can get from a program like this,” he said.

Raps’ Superfan watches Hawks dominate

Humber downs Fanshawe with Nav Bhatia in attendance

Marco Moretto HumberETC Sports

Toronto Raptors Superfan Nav Bhatia joined fans at the Humber North campus Nest on Jan. 14 to watch the Hawks beat their Fanshawe Falcons rivals. He was honoured during halftime and was given his own Humber Hawks jersey signed by all the varsity players during halftime at the Jan. 14 game. Bhatia is no stranger to special occasions, having received an honourary degree from Humber.

“A lot, you know it’s like that’s love, you know every time I get honoured I consider that’s the love coming from the people,” Bhatia said.

“I started my life in Rexdale and Etobicoke. Also, I was given my honourary degree here, so I guess I’m a member of the

Humber now.”Bhatia has been a basketball fan since he came to Canada in 1984 and told student athletes to never give up.

“Keep doing it, keep doing your passion, don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it, keep on doing it, do what you want to do because it is possible to do,” the successful auto dealer said.

The Hawks won convincingly with a final score of 75-61, which pushed the team to 10-1 and stay in first in the OCAA Western Conference. Fanshawe fell to under .500, with a 5-6 record, sitting fifth in the conference.

“Always just take care of business, right, play for all the right reasons, which is winning and winning with grace and doing it collectively as a team,”

Hawks head coach Omar Miles said.

“Trying to match Fanshawe’s intensity and physicality and just be ready to play from the start,” Miles said.

“Play hard and ride the wave not too high, not too low.”

Fanshawe assistant coach David Hocking said the key to winning is playing hard and getting dirty in the paint.“They’re big and physical, a lot of veterans on this squad, and obviously they’ve played big games, so they’re ready for any moment,” Hocking said.

“Just gotta play hard, every loose ball, every rebound, that’s what these games are going to come down to.

Not shooting, it’s going to come down to who does the dirty work.”

Humber fifth-year standout player Malik Grant was sidelined with an injury, but teammates  Adrian Aluyi,

Dwayne Burke and Christian Desjardins stepped up by finishing with 10 or more points.The game began sloppily with three turnovers.

The first points came when third-year Hawk small forward Benni Kazadi finished a tough layup, which came with a foul, resulting in a 3-0 start.

After the game was tied at 6-6, Humber quickly built up momentum and built a 14-6 lead, which led to the first timeout of the game by the Falcons.

After the timeout, the Hawks remained in the driver’s seat the rest of the game.

With playoffs around the corner, the team’s drive is a major factor in the final stretch.

“All momentum is carried off, I feel like you see it in us at home, we have that energy going so we’re giving it up to the fans and

our bench,” second-year Hawks shooting guard Dwayne Burke said. “We got that momentum going and we’ll just keep it going into the new year.” Burke, who was named player of the game, said he was happy with the effort the team brought and is looking forward to them building off this win.

“It’s all about our intensity, we had a game early in the season versus Fanshawe where we kind of slacked off on the boards, so it was going back to just being intense on the boards, fighting,” Burke said.

Since that game, the Hawks beat Conestoga 78-68 in Kitchener, Ont., on Jan. 17, and slammed Lambton 100-62 on Jan. 24.

The men’s team next play Mohawk in Hamilton on Jan. 31.

They play Redeemer on Feb. 4 and Sarnia on Feb. 6.

Women’s volleyball spikes Niagara again

Humber’s women’s volleyball team defeated the Niagara Knights 3-1, making it the 45th all-time win since 1988.

The victory also keeps the Hawks in second place in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West Standings with a 10-2 record.

Niagara started the new year with a record of 1-2 and was hoping to end the historic streak at the Hawks’ nest.

Hawks head coach Chris Wilkins said Niagara presents them as a challenging team despite history.

“Niagara is a good enough program to be a problem for us,” he said. “We’re just going to keep our eye on the big prize and just keep working to get better.”

Humber added two l players to the roster, veteran middle blocker Keyome Ellis and second-year setter Kaley Rawlick.

“We brought them in for a reason,” Wilkins said. “They’re good players that are going to help us out and are going to make us better.”

In the first set, the Hawks took the early lead 7-1 before the Knights called a timeout.

Niagara kept the game going as they cut the deficit to 23-20 in Humber’s favour.

However, the Hawks would allow five unanswered points due to their mistakes, giving the Knights the victory after fifth-year right side hitter Hannah Manners tipped the ball out of bounds.

Humber brought a rejuvenated energy in the second set, scoring 10 unanswered points and having the lead in double digits.

score eight unanswered points at the start of the set.

It was a repeat of the same script, as Humber dominated the whole set and won the third 25-12 after another service error was made by Niagara.

In the early stage of the fourth set, the Knights had the hunger to

blocker Keyome Ellis (3) are attempting to block the ball against the Niagara Knights on Jan. 22.

HumberETC/Denny Luong

Rawlick’s introduction into the Hawks nest saw her deliver 26 assists, four service aces and a career-high of 13 digs.

After the game, Wilkins said the focus was on reducing errors after the first set defeat.

“NIAGARA IS A GOOD ENOUGH PROGRAM TO BE A PROBLEM FOR US. WE’RE JUST GOING TO KEEP OUR EYE ON THE BIG PRIZE AND JUST KEEP WORKING TO GET BETTER.”

- Chris Wilkins

keep the game going in a must-win situation.

Niagara called a timeout after only scoring three points, and with the score 18-5, the Knights had a long way to climb.

Humber benefited from a service error from the opposition to win the second 25-13, with both teams tied at one apiece, heading into the third.

The Hawks continued their momentum as they went on to

However, the Hawks kept their composure and continued to increase the deficit, leading 17-9 before a timeout was called by Niagara.

Despite the call, it wasn’t enough for the Knights to come back, as Humber sealed the victory 25-13 to win the game 3-1.

Fifth-year outside hitter Lexie Zicari (14) and veteran middle

“We needed to clean up things on our side and just play our Humber volleyball,” he said. “We were just making way too many errors in the first set, and we cleaned that up for the rest of the match.”

Niagara’s head coach, Steve Stone, said ball control was a key issue in their defeat.

“It came down to our ball control in the grand scheme of things, and not staying as aggressive as we should offensively,” he said.

“We struggled putting the ball

away, and obviously, against a tough team like Humber, you’ve got to be able to put balls away [and] put pressure on them.”

Ellis said her motivation for returning to Humber was because of missing the love of the sport, as well as her friend Manners playing her last season.

“When I retired, it was kind of a mental game. I told myself ‘I’m never coming back,’ and then I realized Hannah Manners was graduating this year,” she said.

“So I was like, ‘you know what, if I’m going to come back and play it, it has to be now.’”

Ellis said that her focus right now is on leadership and supporting her teammates.

“I’m just here to help lead. I’m just here to help guide and encourage everybody, just make

everyone comfortable to take risks,” she said. “If you go for it, the reward might be bigger than the risk.”

The Hawks faced the Conestoga Condors on Jan. 24, where they swept them 3-0. Humber will host the Mohawk Mountaineers on Jan. 29 with the first tip at 6 p.m.

Men’s volleyball on a winning streak

Denny Luong Humber ETC Sports

The Hawks returned from a three-game road trip to defeat the Niagara Knights at home 3-1 on Jan. 22.

Humber moved into second place in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West Standings with an 8-4 record after the game.

Before the game, it was a midtable clash between the two teams, pushing for a playoff position.

Hawks head coach Wayne Wilkins said the team is entering a crucial part of the season as the playoffs approach.

“This is the best time of year,” he said. “We’re getting into playoffs, and this time of year is all about execution.”

In the last two recent games, the Hawks created more errors in the second set compared to the rest.

Wilkins said the team has been aware of their tendency to commit more errors and has worked on preventing them ahead of the match.

“If you exhale too much (in the first set), then all of a sudden you’re making a ton of mistakes,” he said. “Anytime we’re playing a team that is like Niagara, you’ve got to minimize your mistakes, or

they’ll capitalize.”

Humber started to fall behind in the first set, trailing by a ninepoint deficit, before a timeout was called by Wilkins.

The Hawks were able to slowly close the gap to five points, but with the Knights still in momentum, they closed the set with a victory of 25-20 after Humber’s first-year setter Sullivan Cofell committed a service error.

At the beginning of the second set, both teams kept the game close, but the Hawks took the lead and increased the deficit by three points before Niagara called a timeout.

Despite the Knights’ call, they scored only four points, while Humber maintained its form and took the set by 10 points.

The Hawks would win the set comfortably, 25-16, after fifth-year outside hitter Teyven Blackmore delivered the final kill to end the second.

With both teams tied at one set each, Humber continued to bring its energy from the previous set as the team headed into the third with the same form.

Niagara kept the fight going, and the game remained close.

But despite the Knights’ hopes of winning the third, they trailed behind with the Hawks leading

throughout the whole set.

First-year outside hitter Enzo Endres would deliver the final kill to give Humber a 2-1 lead as they headed into the fourth.

The Hawks and the Knights both went back and forth, taking turns in leading the set, with this being anyone’s game to take.

Both teams would be tied at 22-22, but afterwards, Niagara made minor mistakes.

The Hawks benefited when the Knights served a service error that sealed the victory 25-23.

After the game, Niagara’s head coach Steve Stone said it came down to his team’s execution in key

moments during the match.

“In those pressure situations, you can kind of get ahead of yourself and lose focus,” he said. “A couple of errors late in that one to close it out for Humber.”

Blackmore finished with 25 points and 24 kills after the win.

Wilkins praised his dedication and commitment to the team and said the veteran could become a notable figure with this season being his last.

“He works hard for his team, and he’s proud of wearing the H,” he said. “ I totally see a guy like that entering the Hall of Fame one day.”

The win also marked Humber’s first three-game winning streak of the season.

First-year middle blocker Dante Sugarman said this form will boost the team’s confidence moving forward.

“With the confidence we have right now, we can just keep sailing with it,” he said. “As soon as we play our game, we’ll set it up for greatness.”

The Hawks beat Conestoga Condors on Jan. 24 to extend its unbeaten streak to four games.

Humber will host the Mohawk Mountaineers on Jan. 29 with the first tip scheduled at 8 p.m.

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