Times Colonist from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada • 22

BIO Times Colonist Sunday July 15 2001 Life Bouncers work hard at reshaping their image (IV OV I ,1 I IIMIM li WlllllIlM-' lllllllll I JLPtl get any of the good stuff, they get all the junk." Few make a career of it for most it's a part-time gig which brings in decent money, he adds. But it calls for much more than an icy stare and the ability to strain the seams of an XXL T-shirt. "The best defence a bouncer has is his mouth," says Derpack. "Back in the old days, a guy punched the doorman once, he'd have two or three guys beating the hell out of him. It wouldn't have been dealt with by paperwork," says Haymour.

Today's doorman, host or floor supervisor is more likely to have a high-tech headset and video cameras covering his back, and professional training to fall back on. Some are enrolled in college security programs, or have taken short courses for bar staff like the one offered by former police officer Bruce Cruikshank. Cruikshank says he relies on a method called "verbal judo," or "tactical communications" talk, talk and more talk. Tell people what they're doing wrong and how they can fix it Offer a sympathetic ear and calm them down. Even when using force, keep talking.

You never know when your message will suddenly get through. "You want not retribution." By Marta Gold Southam Newspapers EDMONTON Call them hosts, floor supervisors or doormen. But don't call them bouncers if you know what's good for you. Sure, they're willing and able to bounce an obnoxious drunk out the back door of the bar when necessary. But today's doorman is trying to shed the image of over-muscled, hired goon.

It's an uphill battle when a few diehards insist on living up to the stereotype. In recent weeks, two Edmonton bouncers pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after a man was beaten into a coma last summer outside a bar. The victim was so battered he had to be identified by his fingerprints. The victim is suing the bouncers and their employer for $7.5 million. While such extreme cases are thankfully rare, the image of bouncer as lunk-headed bully lingers.

"Back in the day, even 10 years ago, you'd get a lot of doormen using excessive force, and that's where they got the bad name," says Troy Haymour, manager of mega-bar Nashville's in West Edmonton Mall. "Now we work twice as hard to give them a clean name, a clean reputa tion. Many bars no longer hire gargantuan juice monkeys to man the doors, looking instead for more human specimens in both physical proportions and reasoning abilities. "The old days were much different," agrees Club Malibu general manager Dave Ottenbreit, who has been in the business 14 years. "All my guys in the old days were from 250 to 300 pounds.

Now most of my guys are good looking, college guys; guys who can use their brains and their mouths. Their brawn is there when we need it, but we don't need it much." Think friendly, not frightening. The doorman of the new millennium will listen sympathetically to your drunken ram-blings, men pour you into a cab when he sees you fumbling for your keys. It's all part of an effort by bar owners to create more a personal, welcoming atmosphere, says Tim Fuhr, owner of Edmonton's Urban Lounge. Customers want to see smiling faces at the door, not bulging biceps.

And as patrons grow more litigious, liability conscious owners are looking for staff who speak before they swing. Eric Newby, a 22-year-old doorman at The Rev and The Black Dog, says he's Hans Bilajbegovic, left, Rob Bobier and Murray Sobey represent a new gen Southam Newspapers eration of people-sawy doormen. 'if never had to throw a punch, or even use much force, in his two-and-a-half years on the job. The six-foot-two, 200-pounder isn't big by traditional bouncer standards, a fact he says works in his favour most of the time. "I think people wonder, why is he a bouncer? Maybe he's a Ninja I better not pick a fight with him, you know?" While physical confrontations are infrequent, alcohol-fuelled taunts and abuse from patrons are regular parts of the job.

That's when a doorman's thick skin becomes more important than his thick neck. "Bouncers get the brunt of all the crap that gets associated with bars," says Steve Derpack, operations manager at The Rev and Lush, who has worked the door at several local bars. "They don't get the tips that the bartenders make. They don't get the respect or the flashy lifestyle. They don't 7.

Author: Enormity of loss is evident 1 ulbil.c University of Victoria Lectures 'Ml life Sl.fCs that if they were too sympathetic, their mothers would become too needy. One widow, feeling a bit down on her wedding anniversary, confided in her adult daughter who bluntly responded "I know, but Dad's dead." Van den Hoonaard was surprised and heartened by the creativity women displayed in adapting to their new situations, whether it's ironing out relationships with adult children, figuring out finances or how to use the VCR. Of the 27, only three had lived on their own before yet 15 said flat-out they did not want to remarry, especially right away. "Marry in haste, repent at leisure," said one. Many are too loyal to their good marriages to take the risk again.

And as members of the older generation, they worry about perceptions that they are instant 'threats' to other married women and fifth wheels at outings. They found it gruelling lugging the death certificate around for a month as proof for various paperwork; gratified by large turnouts for funerals; galled by grandchildren who attended funerals in jeans. Widows most certainly want to continue to live on their own, adhering to the sense that after a spouse dies, they want someone to go out with, while widowers want someone to come home to. "They feel sort of selfish about enjoying the freedom they have now they don't like to use the word freedom but they enjoy it" Her next project is a study on widowers, of which there are 278,000 in Canada. From Page B9 Judy was staggered by the reaction when she read the will.

"I heard, Yeah, she got the money." After that, the relationship fell apart, and she has little contact with her husband's grandchildren, which she had wanted. Polly, however, had a positive experience, when her husband's eldest son, asked her "Am I still No. 1 son?" The enormity of the loss is evident in the book, but the survival instinct comes through, even though widows frequently felt abandoned by couples and even female friends. Sometimes these stiU-married women didn't realize they'd changed their own perceptions, rating the widow as a friendly acquaintance, rather than a friend. "You think you're going to be different" commented Audrey.

On the upside, this hurtful development was so common that van den Hoonaard can reassure widows that no, it's not their imagination. "It's not (her) own weakness that's the problem, it's really a social issue." Then again, she found "even widows aren't very patient with other widows" taking a "just get on with it" point of view, especially those with a stiff-upper lip British background. Across the board, widows seemed to hate the very word because of its stigma, which she tried to decipher, whether it means aloneness or dependency. "Widow comes from Sanskrit, it means empty," says van den Hoonaard, who has been married for 25 years. "It has a lot of negative connotations." And perhaps those ancient meanings die hard, even for modern women.

The generation profiled in her book, many of whom live their lives in rigid gender norms, will probably be the last to be hit so hard by their identity crisis. Does a happy married life makes widowhood more or less bearable? "It's well-known widows seem to gloss over their marriages so it's very hard to tell. Their husbands become now perfect people." But there is some evidence that more difficult marriages are filled more with regret while happier ones have more memories, and hence, more -to recall with happiness. All widows endure the shock of their husbands' deaths, whether it's the sudden heart attack or prolonged terminal illness, she found. Her research influenced her own life, and improved her relationship with her now widowed mother.

She had barely finished the book's manuscript when her father died. She flew to her mother's side in Florida for two months, not just a week or two, to be there for her. "If I hadn't done this research, I wouldn't have known to do that." Even as time goes on, some of the widows feel some of their children don't really understand what they are going through, some feeling DR. PATRICIA SHEHAN CAMPBELL School of Music University of Washington SHADES OF DIFFERENCE: MEANINGS OF DIVERSITY FOR THOSE WHO TEACH MUSIC ANDOR CHILDREN Tuesday, 1 7 July, 7:00 p.m. MacLaurin Building, rm.A168 With the changing demographic profile of North American school children, teachers are often still living in their own culture with regard to the instructional content and modes of delivery they bring to the continue to be challenged by questions of diversity.

What music should be taught? How shall it be taught? Whyhow shall diversity be considered in instructional design and delivery? This presentation prompts these and other questions and suggests some solutions worthy of the thought, time, and effort of teachers. Presented by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction DR. JOHN SMYTH Professor of Teacher Education, Director of the Flinders Institute for the Study of Teaching, Associate Dean of Research, School of Education, Flinders University of South Australia WHAT'S HAPPENING TO TEACHERS' WORK? Wednesday, 1 8 July, p.m. MacLaurin Building, rm. D288 Dr.

John Smyth is an international authority on the effects of policy reform on teachers' work. He is a former Fulbright Senior Research Scholar, and in 1 992 was the recipient of an award for outstanding research from the American Educational Research Association. Initially trained as an economist, for the past 30 years he has been working as an educational sociologist and critical policy analyst of educational issues. His views are frequently sought because he explores perspectives that challenge the orthodoxy of current educational policies. Presented by the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies Classified 386-2121 Freshwaters, not ocean, pose main drowning threat for kids 7 hie The Lansdowne Lecture Series is made possible through endowment funds held by the University of Victoria Foundation.

Please be aware that seating is limited for all lectures. Jliyentuh CLOTHING Specializing In Adventure, Travel 'J 1 'I yili nl vJ It iH free and open to the public www.uvic.caevents Persons with a disability requiring accommodation for these lectures should call 72 1 -636 1 at least 48 hours in advance. V7i Clothing Gr Accessories. challenge minds change worlds 1015 Broad Street, Victoria I -t-l cnuunoncs CHICAGO (AP) The first U.S. study on childhood drownings suggests that rivers, lakes and ponds pose the biggest threat except for children under five.

The study is based on figures collected from death certificates for 1,420 children under age 20 who drowned in 1995. It appears in the July issue of Pediatrics. "These national data will gready assist researchers in understanding where and how these deaths occur and in designing effective programs to prevent drowning," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which conducted the study.

Among children who died in accidental drownings, five per cent were less than a year old and 37 per cent were between one and four years old. Fifteen per cent were age five to nine, 1 5 per cent were age 10 to 14, and 29 per cent were between 15 and 19 years old. Seventy-four per cent were male. Forty-seven per cent of the drownings happened in freshwater such as rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds, while 32 per cent happened in pools. Only four per cent were in the ocean.

The most common drowning sites by age group were bathtubs for infants, pools for one-to-four-year-olds and fresh water for five-to-19-year-olds. The study also found that after the age of five, black males face a 12 to 15 times higher risk of drowning in swimming pools than whites. While the research doesn't explain the disparity, the authors' theories include differences in swimming abilities, in opportunities to take swimming lessons and in safety conditions in pools where blacks and whites swim. "A number of these deaths were in pools accessible to the public, rather than in private residential pools. Public pools hadn't been a big area of concern; however, our results present a very different picture," said Dr.

Ruth Brenner, the lead author and a researcher at the N1CHD. The authors said the findings underscore the importance of recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which include constant supervision of infants and young children around water, swimming lessons for all children aged five and older, and use of life-jackets or other personal flotation devices when playing near rivers or lakes. Scientists uncover new pain receptor ity of life of people with these painful conditions. "This is an extremely important, rewarding discovery for us," said lead author John Wallace, a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics. The findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

TORONTO (CP) Researchers at the University of Calgary have identified a new pain receptor involved in, among other things, the acute pain suffered by people with arthritis and Crohn's disease. The finding should help scientists discover how to block the pathway, in order to improve the qual (HjHusqvarna VIKING PrczInventncyCIeanance i awards i 1 INTRODUCING Huskystar 219 H-lio 1 i s589 i a li -WtV jg SCW -CRAFT -QUILT ALL FOAWIS STOCK When you purchase complete glasses SEW and SERGE SALIS SXAWCf CLASSES 475-2297 mMMrgcoOTtntteani TOWN COUNTRY SHOW1NO CENTRE EODo ZSOa OFF GUCCI POLO ROOTS LUXOTTICA SILHOUETTE VALENTINO ft MANY MORE EASY-CLIP MODO ARMANI GUESS ESCADA NINE WEST MANY MORE rrr rr Ml I VJi ooniodownTN Ujuiltsjtfa 1 1 -fjf T'y 766 Fort Street 381-2020 Opo 9 30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; 10:00 p.m. J0O Victoria Owned and Operated Your prtfc riptim is joun for it..