Making history and charity

Edwin and the Bedouins packed Avanti, a resto-bar in NDG, on Nov. 29. Not only was it band leader Edwin Brownell’s birthday, but it more than topped up a $10,000 fund to provide an award for history graduates in memory of Keith Lowther, an active history graduate who died several years ago.

Brownell said once he got the Graduate History Students Association interested in the project four years ago, it took off. Professor Rosemarie Schade, who knew Keith Lowther, said she was touched by students’ response. “One young woman sent $100 from B.C. because she couldn’t be there.”

Pointe-à-Callière, the Montreal museum of archaeology and history, is offering two $2,500 scholarships to graduate or post-graduate students in history or archaeology.

Eligibility is based on the relevance of the candidate’s thesis to the museum’s mandate as well as his/her academic record and achievements. The winning theses will contribute to Pointe-à-Callière’s research on the city of Montreal.

For more information, contact Pointe-à-Callière at 872-9123 or http://pointe-a-calliere.qc.ca or Concordia’s Department of History or Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Rockin' res serves up variety show

Hingston Hall rocked to the sound of flutes, guitars and the “sit-down” comedy by a couch on Nov. 20, as 100 people attended a variety show to help abolish landmines.

Lauren Spring, the show’s organizer and a first-year theatre and development student, took advantage of the enthusiasm and creativity of her fellow Hingston Hall residents to support this important cause.

Seventy dollars was raised through donations and the sale of refreshments. She will donate the money to Streetkids International, an organization which helps homeless children in urban centres.

According to the organization, there are 100 million street kids worldwide, many of whom are orphans, drug addicts, and/or abused. Land mines kill 8,000-10,000 children each year because they are often mistaken for toys. Furthermore, they can remain active and hidden for decades after a conflict is resolved.

“You don’t realize how ignorant you are until you start looking into it,” Spring said.
She was thrilled with the outcome of the variety show and plans to make it an annual event. The couch, by the way, was a comedian dressed as a piece of furniture.

For more information on Streetkids International, visit their Web site at http://www.streetkids-international.org.