Walking through a Canadian grocery store, there are healthy choices in every aisle—if you know how to find them, says Chris Wellington.

A registered dietitian at the Windsor Family Health Team and a sessional instructor in nursing, she has started a one-year contract as a nutritionist with Food Services, Student Health Services and Residence Services. She will conduct a tour of the Metro supermarket this Sunday, September 16. It is aimed at international students but everyone is welcome.

“The idea is to go up and down the aisles and help them to identify smart choices,” she says. “I will point out the healthy options, teach them how to read the nutrition info on the labels, and even just introduce them to our system.”

Depending on their home countries, Wellington says, newcomers may not be familiar with the concept of one grocery store stocking everything from dairy goods to bakery items to dry staples. She will tailor her presentation to the needs of attendees.

“I want to focus on the specific issues raised by the members of the tour,” she says. “Maybe some of the people will be lactose intolerant or will be unfamiliar with the seasonal availability of local fruits and vegetables. They are going to educate me on what they need addressed.”

The tour will begin at 4 p.m. in the Metro store at 2750 Tecumseh Road West and will be repeated the following Sunday. Free rides to and from the supermarket will be offered from the International Student Centre at 3 p.m. The centre asks that any students interested in attending register by noon Friday by e-mailing iscnurse@uwindsor.ca.

It was Abraham Lincoln who once famously remarked “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

That may have been conventional wisdom back in the days when Honest Abe was U.S. President and a former attorney himself, but these days, growing numbers of individuals are opting out of hiring a lawyer when they go to court and choosing instead to represent themselves.

Law professor Julie Macfarlane.

“In Ontario, between 1995 and 1999, the number of people representing themselves in unified family court rose by 500 per cent,” said Julie MacFarlane, a UWindsor law professor. Dr. Macfarlane is conducting a research project to better understand how growing numbers of individuals navigate the legal system without the assistance of lawyers, and what their experiences are like as they try to obtain access to justice.

Since The National Self-Represented Litigants Project began last December, Macfarlane and her research team have interviewed people who have fought their own legal battles in family and civil courts in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

“We didn’t really have any research data that told us what the experience was actually like from the perspective of the self-represented litigant,” she said. “We tend in the justice system to go to the experts and ask them for their advice on how to solve policy problems.”

Macfarlane said a perception persists both in and outside the legal community that people who represent themselves are “crazy, stupid, or off-the-wall,” but she says the reality is a very different one. Many are university educated and feel confident about their case, but most are representing themselves because they have limited or completely depleted financial resources.

And while there are some success stories from people who were treated well by sympathetic judges, cooperative lawyers and helpful court clerks, most people report having had very traumatic and negative experiences dealing with a highly inaccessible system.

“One of the things in Canada that we must take responsibility for is that we very actively promote the idea of access to justice,” said Macfarlane, who will appear at 4:30 p.m. today on Research Matters on CJAM 99.1 FM. “Unfortunately when you translate that into what it actually means to navigate these systems without a lawyer, the experiences that people describe make them extremely cynical and skeptical about access to justice.”

On September 19, Macfarlane’s team will hold a forum for people who have represented themselves to share their experiences. Three sessions will be held. The first two will be held at 10:30 a.m. and at 3 p.m. at the Windsor Ontario Court of Justice, 200 Chatham Street East, in the boardroom on Level 5. The third will be held at 6 p.m. in the first floor conference room of university’s Faculty of Law at the corner of Sunset and University avenues.

To register to participate in one of these sessions, visit the project Web site or call 1-888-775-8125.

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?

The entire campus community—students, faculty and staff—is invited to celebrate the start of the academic year with a free barbecue on Thursday, September 20, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the quad between Dillon and Chrysler halls.

This event will proceed rain or shine and promises a smoky sausage, a bag of potato chips and a drink, served by campus celebrities absolutely gratis to all comers (while supplies last). There’s even a meatless sausage for vegetarian and vegan diners.

The barbecue is hosted by Special Events, Office of the President; the Alumni Association; and the University of Windsor Students' Alliance, with thanks to sponsors Food & Catering Services.

Erica Lyons, coordinator of the institutional quality assurance process in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, won yesterday’s DailyNews trivia contest and the prize package of UWindsor-themed swag.

Her name was drawn from all respondents who correctly identified the chart-toppers for each of these acts: My Ding-a-Ling for Chuck Berry, A Boy Named Sue for Johnny Cash, and One Week for the Barenaked Ladies. Several contestants appeared tripped up by the quizmaster’s specification of the Billboard Hot 100 rather than country or R&B charts.

Thanks to the Office of the President for providing our prize!

People who are 50 years or older and who don’t have positive thoughts about aging may want to participate in a free workshop and research study that’s aimed at reducing negative thinking about getting older.

The workshop, which offers information and skills aimed at building inner strength and resilience, is being conducted by Anne Baird, an associate professor in Psychology. The workshop is part of her research study, which is funded by an internal grant from the University of Windsor.

Those who qualify and enroll in the study will come to the Psychological Services and Research Centre at 326 Sunset Avenue for 90-minute individual pre- and post-workshop sessions. All workshop sessions will be on Saturdays—September 15 and 22 and October 13—from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 332 Sunset Avenue.

Participants will receive $6 at the pre-workshop session. Those who complete all sessions will receive an additional $24 at the post-workshop session, as well as handouts and refreshments during sessions.

This study is for people age 50 years and up. Please call or e-mail Dr. Baird for more details and a telephone screening to see if you qualify: 519-253-3000, ext. 2234, abaird@uwindsor.ca. Voicemail and e-mail messages will be returned within 72 hours.

The research program has received clearance from the University of Windsor Research Ethics Board.