Toronto - Should be a capital!

It is hard to believe that Toronto - such an exciting, lively, vibrant and colourful city - is not the capital of Canada, as it is comparable to London, Madrid and Paris.

Toronto, Canada is one of the best places that I have been lucky enough to visit, which explains why I have since returned to experience more of the lifestyle four times!

One of the best features of Toronto is perhaps the environment. In comparison to other capital cities like London, there is a much more safe and friendly atmosphere. It is noticeable how clean the streets are, especially when you consider how many visitors the city attraction a daily basis. Although the city is constantly full of activity, the people who live and work there are never too busy to smile and make you feel welcome.

The list of possible attractions is endless. There is the choice of shopping downtown in the famous Eaton centre or for even more trendy and individual shops I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Queens Street.

There is a countless number of restaurants to choose from and the breakfast buffets are amazing but unfortunately rather unhealthy! There is the CN Tower or Niagara Falls for those who aren't afraid of heights and who wish to see someof the most spectacular views in the world! There is Wonderland, a theme park that is on another level when compared to our own Alton Towers or Light Water Valley! This is situated right next to an incredible water park, for those extremely hot days.

One of my personal favourite places to visit is a five-minute ferry ride away from the city centre which takes you to an island that provides a sense of complete escapism from the occasionally chaotic city life. The island has its own little beach and a wide variety of paddleboats, canoes, ponds, rivers and parks. There are not many vehicles on the island and all visitors are able to hire a number of different types ofbicycles in order to fully explore the island. Another feature of Toronto, which greatly appealed to me, was the sense of multiculturalism. Not only is there a little China but a little Italy and India.

Having two universities located within the city encourages a great deal of international students (one of which happened to be my own brother, who studied in Toronto for four years!)

This adds to the wide variety of nationalities and cultures in the city, which makes it what it is. I thoroughly believe that Toronto provides a wide variety of activities, sights and shops and is suitable for everyone, whether they wish to go on afamily holiday or with friends.

Author: Cherry Sandhu

Manchester iJourno Group

Ignorance is bliss

For some, ignorance is bliss. But it is only when you see certain things, or learn about particular aspects of life that these people fail to see, that you begin to realise you would rather be in the know than out of it. This was the conclusion I came to while travelling through the shanty towns on the thickly wooded outskirts of Goa. I may have been aware that I would be travelling thousands of miles to reach the destination; I may also have been aware that I was letting myself in for somewhat of an experience, if not a culture shock. What I was certainly not prepared for was the massively overwhelming feeling from the moment I stepped off the plane. The very first thing that hit me, aside from the heat, was the reality of the work these people did - work that would put us Brits to shame. In the two weeks that I was lucky enough to be there, I never once heard anyone complain about the amount of work they had to put up with (and for very little) and the conditions they had to work in. This was regardless of the sweltering heat; that almost wraps itself around you, absorbs into your skin and clings onto your clothes. This was regardless of the few pennies they would receive for the unbreakable, repetitive tasks, day in day out. And regardless of the fact that they have very little to actually go home to at the end of the evening. Those lucky enough to be able to buy a taxi - or tuck tucks - as they were commonly known, certainly didn't have the easy trade. These unfortunate persons fought for customers with their fellows, and would drive a good couple of hours for a customer, half way across the state, for as little as a fiver This is one of the many reasons that I arrived back in England almost ashamed of myself and on behalf of Britain. When you are able to see such poverty, you begin to appreciate every little thing you have. What shocked me most was that the people of Goa had nothing, literally; and yet they were underprivileged in every way possible apart from in spirit. I soon came to realise that when you survive on the bare necessities all your life, you have nothing to complain about. Another thing that I was quick to catch onto was the way in which the people of India trade. On numerous occasions throughout the holiday I was lucky enough to taste some real Indian spice, and I'm not talking about the curry. Various towns around the complex I was situated in held bazaars - the closest definition I can think of is a market - though they were unlike anything I have ever seen. The people of Goa shed a whole new light on the word haggling, something that is harder to adjust to than you would think. However, eventually I began to understand that I would always be the lucky customer or their first buyer of the day, and realised that whatever price I put to them, they would gladly accept. This may sound cheap and probably cruel, which is precisely what I considered it to be at first; in spite of this, however, tourists cannot fail to notice the craftiness and intelligence of the people and the skill of the culture in general, and it can scarcely be ignored that these tradesmen and women know exactly what they are doing. While writing this review, I began to think that one can only give some criticism after such praise; and yet the only fault I could think of was that in fact, that there was none to actually even give! It may be hard to comprehend such a place being so blissfully perfect; the distinct attributes of Goa being bizarre and extraordinary I questioned this myself while being there. However, it finally clicked that perfect was not, in fact quite good enough for such a place, it being an entirely different world, and one certainly unlike any other. I must stress that my personal favourite aspect of Goa would probably have to be the people; poor they may have been, but one thing is for certain; they were rich in kind-heartedness and humanity.

Author: Amy Coombs
Manchester iJourno group

Big decisions for little people

I'm almost twenty years old and have no idea what I want to do in my life. So how do the government expect eleven year olds to do the same? Specialist schools in ten different areas of arts, business and enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics and computing, music, science, sports and technology mean that at eleven, children will have to choose which area of education their life will have to lead.
Despite my view, there are some positives. Special Educational Needs schools give children with learning and physical disabilities the specialised support they require to gain the education they deserve.
On July 7, the Times Education Supplement reported that about �100, 000 a year extra will go to the specialist SEN schools for outreach work and to share expertise, particularly with nearby mainstream schools. These schools will not only benefit the needs of many children who cannot excel in mainstream schools but will also benefit the wider school community as a whole.
On the other hand, many schools that specialise in the ten areas have and will change their names to suit the specialism they have assumed. The professional names they have adopted give the school's title more respect. On a CV, 'Media Arts College' sounds a lot better than 'Secondary School'.
If the school is effective in their specialism then students will be aided considerably more in excelling in their chosen subject. A future scientist may be given better support in achieving their goal in a science specialist college than in a normal state comprehensive.
However, in my opinion the cons far outweigh the pros. That same future scientist may be able to excel in the subject they have chosen at aged eleven, but what if at aged sixteen or eighteen, they change their mind? They will have spent their entire secondary school career focussing the majority of their attention on one subject. Though a specialist school does have to provide a broad education on all subjects under the National Curriculum and a pupil may work just as hard in those subjects as the specialism.
But because of the specialist status the school is likely to put a lot larger sum of money into that subject. Meaning children will not be given the all round education that gives them full and fair choices at the end of it. Another problem with specialist schools is possibly that if the local secondary school specialises in one subject a children may feel put off from attending. This will pose a problem. If at eleven a child wants to be an actor or a footballer, they can attend the local media arts and sports schools. But what if you're not sure? Why would an eleven year old choose to attend a school that specialises in a subject they're not even sure they want to do yet? I don't know about anyone else, but what I wanted to do at aged eleven is far from what I wanted to do at sixteen and eighteen.When I was eleven all of the local schools were just secondary or high schools. But if now I was turning eleven I would have a choice between a science specialist school that is a five minute walk away from my house, or two arts schools that are both at least one bus ride away. With my present knowledge and thoughts on certain subjects; I would not like to attend any of these schools. So where does that leave me?
In Bolton, there are sixteen state secondary schools and fourteen of those have specialist status. Soon enough there will be no schools left that provide an equal education in all subjects and those that do will probably have pupils from miles away travelling right across town to find a school that will give an all round education.
Are we really going to subject our eleven year olds to travel a considerable distance in cramped school buses alone, just so they can get the full and fair education they deserve? Or maybe we'll just force them to attend the local science specialist school in the hope that they might take a liking of science before they turn sixteen.

Author: Fiona Bond
Bolton iJourno group

Rangers complete streak over Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles lost their fourth game in a row, on Sunday July 16, after the Texas Rangers brushed them aside with the best pitching in the league.
The Texas Rangers went into their game at Oriole Park tied on first place in the American league west with Oakland, and on the back of a three game winning streak. However, the Orioles had lost five games in a row, and seemed to be out of the wildcard race.
Starting pitcher Kevin Millwood, of the Texas Rangers, was just one of the Rangers influential pitching force, which has held its opponents to four or fewer runs in the last seven games, which is the longest streak in the MLB, and it showed as Millwood struck out the first three Orioles batters at the top of the first inning, and began to work on a no-hitter in the fourth.
Although, the Rangers batters failed to capitalise on this, and it remained tied on nothing as they entered the fourth inning.
It was in the fourth inning that the Rangers played their best inning of the game. De Rosa, with an average of .313 against right handed pitchers, and on the back of a three homer and 7 RBI game, started the ball rolling with a single. This was followed by a Gary Matthews JR. double play, who was on an average of .333 going into the game. The Rangers knew they had to take any chances they got, so Michael Young hit a sacrifice fly to centre field, so De Rosa could score the fist run of the game. This was followed by a second sacrifice fly to right field by Mark Teixeira, who had an average of .280 against right handed pitchers before this game, which set up Matthews to cross home plate, to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Orioles tried their best to reply from the two runs, and they almost got their first run when Mora?s fly ball hits the centre field wall, missing the stands by just three feet. Because it clearly seemed to be heading out of the field, Mora was taking his time going around the bases, and because of this close miss, only got to first base on what was probably the best chance the Orioles had of getting a run.
It wasn?t until the sixth inning when the Orioles scored their first run. With Tejada on third Mora, with an average of .143 and 1 hit versus Millwood, hit a sacrifice fly to the left field, which sent Tejada to third base. This was followed by a second sacrifice fly by Hernandez, which allowed Tejada to cross home plate to score the only run for the Orioles, and the last run of the game.
After the game, Millwood said how he couldn?t keep his form up as long as he wanted.
Millwood said: "I was tired. The extra time off - missing my last start and the All-Star Game - was good from a strength standpoint but not good for my stamina.
Millwood also talked about how he well he has recovered from his injury. "My arm felt good and I felt strong," he said, "With physically, no pain, and feeling like my mechanics are where they need to be, it was a really good night for me".
This victory for the Rangers means they take the top spot in the west after Oakland was beaten against Boston, and the Orioles could be in trouble after Tampa Bay claimed a victory, meaning they are only one game behind them.

Author: Eric Wood
Rochdale iJourno Sports Group