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WELCOME

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Welcome to the University of Guelph

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 – STUDENT LIFE

ALASTAIR J. S. SUMMERLEE

BRENDA WHITESIDE

Welcome to the University of Guelph.

The team in Student Affairs would like to welcome our returning students back, and extend a warm welcome to our many new students. Our goal in Student Affairs is to help make your university experience as rewarding as possible. We provide programs and services that will enhance your student experience, both inside and outside the classroom. However, what you get out of your education is ultimately up to you. We encourage you to take advantage of all the University has to offer. Explore our many service-learning opportunities and get involved. Be sure to also check out our numerous fitness and recreation programs offered by the Department of Athletics. Join a club, volunteer, or get involved in student government. There are so many possibilities! Check out our online event registration system at uoguelph.ca/studentaffairs/reg/ and sign up for a program. As well as being fun, your participation at the University and in the greater community can help develop skills for the future.

While we hope your experience will be positive please know that we have numerous people to help if you experience difficulty.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you need support. The Student Affairs Staff is dedicated to helping students achieve their goals. Speak to your program counsellor or residence assistant; go to the Academic Information Centre or the Learning Commons; call Student Health Services, or connect with Counselling and Disability Services. Visit the Student Affairs web page for additional information at uoguelph.ca/studentaffairs/home/.

If you are a new student, go to the Centre for New Student Webpage at studentlife.uoguelph.ca/cns/.

Guelph is a marvellous place, both the City and the University. We hope you enjoy all it has to offer.

This is an amazing place to “Dream, Discover and Do.” I hope you will enjoy your time here.

We are proud of our orientation program.

Our students, staff and faculty go to great lengths to ensure that you know about the incredible number of opportunities available to you on and off campus.

But there is so much more!

Engagement inside and outside of the classroom is what distinguishes the University of Guelph.

Our goal is to show students how they can help build a better planet, now and in the future, in our community and beyond.

Participating in events and activities will introduce you to new ideas and friends and provide opportunities for personal growth. It will also give you a glimpse of the many ways that you can contribute to the world around you.

Guelph’s incredible spirit is what makes our campus atmosphere unique. It’s a spirit of caring and belonging, of earnestly wanting to understand the people and places around us and to be involved in every aspect of life.

I hope that you take full advantage of the orientation program and the many activities available throughout the year.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Best wishes coming year!

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Yours sincerely, Alastair J. S. Summerlee President and Vice-Chancellor

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Yours sincerely, Brenda Whiteside Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs)

KAREN FARBRIDGE

Welcome!

On behalf of the City of Guelph and its residents, I’m pleased to welcome all new and returning University of Guelph students to our community.

I am a University of Guelph alumnus myself, and can attest that you have chosen an outstanding university at which to pursue your studies.

I wish you all the best for a successful and rewarding year.

University of Guelph students are a vital part of the heart and soul of the community of Guelph. Many students volunteer and I truly appreciate the energy and creativity you bring to our community.

For many of you, Guelph is your “home away from home” during the school year. I hope that your time in this community has a positive and lasting impact on you, no matter where life takes you next.

When you need a break from studying, I invite you to explore all that Guelph has to offer. We have a wonderful network of parks and trails, a vibrant downtown, historic architecture, and a wealth of arts, culture, and recreational amenities. The City’s website, guelph.ca, is a great source of information.

Once again, welcome to Guelph! We are delighted to have you here.

Sincerely, Karen Farbridge Mayor

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4 – KEEPING YOUR COOL IN RESIDENCE 4 – HATING YOUR MESSY ROOMATE 6 – GETTING TO KNOW CAMPUS 6 – AFFIRMING DIVERSITY ON CAMPUS 9 – SAFE(R) SEX + CONSENT 10 – HOW TO DEAL WITH BEING HOMESICK 10 – THE MYTH OF THE “FRESHMAN 15” 12 – RETHINKING SUCCESS 12 – JOINING AN UNCONVENTIONAL CLUB 14 – GOURMET MEALS FOR YOUR MICROWAVE

16 – HITTING THE BOOKS 16 – MAKE BUYING YOUR TEXTBOOKS EASY 18 – GETTING THAT A+ 22 – EDUCATION AND THE INTERNET 25 – SURVIVING LECTURES AND EXAMS 25 – HEALTHY SNACKING FOR STUDYING 26 – DOPAMINE AND CONCENTRATION 26 – 7 ESSAY-WRITING TIPS 26 – THE ESSAY AND YOU

28 – CAMPUS MAP 29 – DOWNTOWN MAP 30 – 101 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GRADUATE 32 – CITY LIFE 32 – MUSIC IN GUELPH 32 – ARTS ON CAMPUS & COMMUNITY 35 – SATISFYING YOUR CAFFEINE FIX 35 – SHOPPING IN GUELPH 37 – GUELPH, SOBER 37 – THE GUELPH NIGHTLIFE

38 – HELPFUL RESOURCES 38 – U OF G CAMPUS GUIDE 38 – SURFING THE WEB AT U OF G 40 – USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND A CAREER 40 – RENTAL TIPS FOR STUDENTS 42 – CAMPUS MEDIA 42 – CANON OF THE CANNON 45 – BEING “GREEN” ON CAMPUS 49 – YOUR PHONE AND ACADEMIC LIFE 51 – STUDENT RESOURCE GROUPS

54 – FUN PAGE 54 – COMIC 54 – CROSSWORD

STUDENT LIFE

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Keeping your cool in residence Come out of communityliving with your life only partially in shambles ALIcJA GRzADKOWSKA A significant part of many firstyear university experiences is the departure from the safety of your parents’ house to the loud and social residence hall. During the first week of school, it might not seem possible to keep your sanity, and your grades, while living in rez. Nonetheless, the wisdom of those who have come before you proves otherwise.

Monica Cordasco lived in residence during her first year at the University of Guelph, and later became a Resident Assistant (RA).

Her first tip is to keep an open mind.

“The experience is going to be different for everybody,” said Cordasco. “Make sure you’re open to other people’s opinions [and] don’t be afraid to meet people because everyone’s in the same position as you are.”

Bronwyn Campbell, a thirdyear student who also stayed in residence in first year, agrees that putting yourself out there and being open to others is important.

“The other people can make or

break your experience, but as much as you are relying on them to be outgoing, invite you to things, and be good friends or roommates, they are also relying on you to do the same for them,” said Campbell.

The events that take place during O-Week play a big role in helping you make connections with other students.

“You usually also learn about something [that] you had no idea the school had to offer,” Campbell explained.

The pep rally, free food events, and academically-focused meet ups are just a few of the wellattended things going on in the first week. And more people means more opportunities to meet someone who might become a good friend, if you’re in the library cramming for an exam and need a study partner or if you’re just looking for something to do on the weekend.

Then again, looking to your residence is always a great place to start if you want to experience a sense of community.

“Knock on people’s doors in residence,” said Cordasco. “You don’t have to go far because there’s always going to be people around you— that’s the beauty of residence.”

If you’re worried about having a

PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

difficult roommate, make sure to write up and sign the Roommate Agreement, provided by your RA at the beginning of the term. Set boundaries at the beginning to avoid awkward confrontations mid-semester.

“Regardless of how close you are with your roommate, be upfront and straight with them. It makes living together a lot easier,” recommended Campbell.

If thinking about balancing

studying and partying in residence is stressing you out, take the first few weeks of the semester to scope out other locations on campus that will offer a quiet space without the distractions of ongoing social activities. Or, designate certain times of the day for studying.

“Get your studying done as much during the day, [and] have fun at night,” said Cordasco. “Do not get too caught up in the partying— it’s

always going to be there.”

Finally, read the handbook that your RA gives you in the first week of school. Rules about drinking and visiting other residences might seem petty now, but getting fined for something as small as drinking in the residence hallway can be a huge downer at  a.m. when you’re trying to get to know your special friend better.

And most importantly, have fun, you crazy kids.

Hating your messy roommate ...and other displeasures of living with someone else JESSIcA AvOLIO Maybe you had the forethought when filling out your residency application to apply for a single room, or maybe you’ve decided to move in with someone you already knew, or even wanted the experience of meeting a fresh face or two and decided to tick off the box for a two or three person room.

If you are about to live with someone else or have lived with someone else in the past, you may know that there is the possibility of a rocky experience. The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA stated that “. per cent of students surveyed reported ‘frequently’ or ‘occasionally’ having difficulty getting along with roommate(s)/ housemate(s).” And whether you are living in the same room or the same house as a friend, foe or stranger, disagreements are pretty much unavoidable. This is why it’s important to respect each other’s differences, and maybe set a few ground rules in the beginning to avoid confrontation in the future.

The first rule is to try not to live with best friends, because you may fight about stupid little things and

eventually get sick of them. Best friends are better left as someone to hang out with occasionally, not someone to live with constantly.

At least if you live with strangers or acquaintances, you won’t be trying so hard to get along. As Harlan Cohen of The Naked Roommate stated in his book, “If you live with your best friend and hate it, you’ll lose a best friend. If you live with a stranger and hate it, you’ll lose someone you hate living with and never liked - not a loss.” University is often about making new friends, so consider living with someone you don’t know. If you’ve already decided you absolutely want to live with a good friend, you need to consider the potential for disagreements and how to remedy them.

If there is a problem in your living situation, say something immediately. Do not let the issue snowball until it becomes so bad that your willingness to deal with the issue diminishes. An easy way to avoid most problems is keeping the room or house tidy, maybe even creating a cleaning schedule that all parties can agree on. Have common courtesy for others, which means cleaning up after yourself even when you don’t feel like it. When multiple people are sharing a living space, little messes can quickly turn into big ones if left unattended.

But maybe your biggest issue isn’t keeping your living quarters clean, and maybe your roommate or housemate is really loud.

If they play music at high volume at inappropriate hours, just politely ask them to turn it down.

Cohen says “...silence in a roommate situation is often viewed as consent,” so always speak up if something is bothering you.

These are really words to live by in a communal living situation, especially if others are being disrespectful, even unknowingly.

Another huge issue is someone in your living arrangement constantly bringing over their significant other, especially to the point where they become almost like another roommate or housemate. It is particularly unpleasant if they have loud sex in the room (or

worse, in the bed) next to yours.

Cohen states, “Inviting friends over to watch can be a quick way to get things to end.” Or you know, just knock on their door to make things super awkward until they learn to be more inconspicuous or to choose a better location to do the deed.

But maybe your roommate or housemate has gotten into the habit of stealing or borrowing your stuff without consent. Just buy a Sharpie and write your initials on everything, and invest in a lock and key for your door, or even consider buying a safe.

Something as simple as hiding important items out of sight can prevent it from being stolen. If it gets to the point where it’s too much to handle, don’t be afraid to notify an RA or your landlord

and try to get them to help you clear up the issue.

If your living situation doesn’t seem to be working out right away, give it a few weeks. Set some ground rules in the beginning, and do not be afraid to speak up when something is bothering you.

Yes, some living arrangements can quickly turn sour, but often times you will learn from the experience and become a better roommate or housemate yourself.

But like any other relationship, if you establish open communication and set a few ground rules, it could really be a positive experience for everyone. You could make a friend or two, gain some valuable life experience, and probably learn a few important things about yourself in the process.

STUDENT LIFE

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Getting to know campus How not to get lost NIcK REvINGTON Starting university usually involves a number of changes to get accustomed to, but one of the biggest is almost certainly becoming acquainted with new surroundings. Familiarizing yourself with a new city and school can be overwhelming. So, where to start?

The best thing to do is to get out and explore early, according to Erin McKlusky, a second-year biological sciences student who spent the summer as a STARTonline.ca Online Group Leader with the Centre for New Students.

“I made a few friends on my floor the first night and we made an effort to check out different events across campus that we had read about in the O-week guide,” said McKlusky, referring to her firstyear experience. “Campus isn’t difficult to find your way around, but checking out the different events during O-week gives you an opportunity to find where different buildings are located before classes begin. The best thing you can do during your first few weeks at Guelph is to get yourself walking around and familiarizing yourself with campus.”

Of particularly practical use are those events that offer tours.

“During O-week, there are tons of activities where upper-year students will show you around,” said McKlusky. “These tours are really helpful.”

But if you are still finding it

JESSIcA AvOLIO Diversity comes in many forms, whether from capability and disability, age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic background, body type/size, or sexual orientation. As students at the University of Guelph and members of the Guelph community, we should work together to create a positive space that is free from discrimination and harassment. It is important as members of the community and as individuals to not only acknowledge that diversity exists, but to affirm it.

Tom Lusis, manager of the Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA), spoke with The Ontarion about diversity on campus.

Lusis stated that “students need to see themselves reflected in campus life to feel part of the university community,” and suggested taking part in programs which highlight the importance of diversity. Being on campus, we can actively engage with diversity

tricky to get your bearings on campus, fear not as there are other resources to help you find your way around. For example, typing a building code from your time table (such as MACK) into the search bar on the University of Guelph homepage – www. uoguelph.ca – will turn up that building’s full name (MacKinnon, in this case) and a brief profile of the building, including a photo and accessibility information.

The second search result will yield a campus map.

An even more useful tool is the independent site www.guelphclassfind.com. From an easy-to-use interface, it is possible to select a classroom by building, floor and room number. The site then returns a set of directions from the Cannon to that room, accompanied by helpful photos to guide you through the route.

One thing to pay close attention to is the plethora of “Mac” buildings on campus: MacNaughton, MacLaughlin and MacKinnon are hard enough to keep straight, but then factor in Macdonald Hall, Macdonald-Stewart Hall, and Macdonald Institute – none of which should be confused with the Macdonald-Stewart Art Centre. Upper-year students still get them mixed up.

“I still have to check a campus map online if I have a meeting or class in one of them,” McKlusky confessed.

And then there’s the LennoxAddington residence complex, and the Landscape Architecture

building, both of which get abbreviated to LA. (Hint: if you see LA on your timetable, your class is in the Landscape Architecture building, between Rozanski Hall and the Athletic Centre.)

To get oriented to the finer details of campus life, students in residence have another resource.

“If you’re living on campus in residence, your RA is the first person you can go to for information about the university and tips about living and spending time on campus,” said McKlusky. “Ask them about where they like to eat, which buildings have good study spaces, or where they can go for different services, like the CSD [Centre for Students with Disabilities], Learning Commons in the library, or Wellness Centre.”

McKlusky added that it is worthwhile to get to know the services

initiatives by participating in programs for different groups or clubs, visiting diverse spaces on campus, attending events put on by various student clubs, and keeping one’s eyes and mind open to different types of diversity on campus.

Not only is diversity a great asset to our society, but one learn a lot from others, especially when actively embracing it. Accepting what makes each of us different presents us with “new ways of looking at food, sports, art, literature, music, communication, philosophy, the list is endless,” states Lusis, and through it “... we can critically examine our values and philosophies on life, work, religion, and society in general by comparing them with their counterparts....” And while Lusis mentioned that challenging your traditional worldview can be intimidating, confusing and even frustrating, it is still a positive step that must be taken to really experience the benefits of diversity.

Lusis also states how “it is crucial that we recognize that certain groups are treated differently based upon their locations within these hierarchies based upon gender, religious or spiritual beliefs, tribal or ethnic divides, histories of colonialism and imperialism – sometimes combinations of all of these factors,” and that many groups can be marginalized as a result of these hierarchies. It is important to “... recognize these uneven power relations between groups in all their forms and challenge them.

Ideally we should work towards fundamentally disrupting them,” stated Lusis.

Lusis also pointed out that “... an easy way to educate yourself and gain new perspectives is to explore how [diversity] influences your hobbies.” Through this practice, your worldview will be expanded to encompass new ways of looking at things, and at its core essence that is what diversity is all about.

PHOTOS BY WENDY SHEPHERD AND cOURTESY PHOTOS FROM UNIvERSITY OF GUELPH provided around campus, and where they are located.

“There are a ton of great learning services available in the library, including writing and research help [at] the first floor Learning Commons, as well as the third floor Science Learning Commons,” said McKlusky.

“Get to know the UC as well.

There is more to that huge building than just the food court and Starbucks. First floor is where you’ll find Safewalk’s office. The second floor houses the Central Student Association’s office as well as the offices of many clubs. Third floor is where you’ll find the Centre for Students with Disabilities as well as the Student Financial Services office. There are tons of services available for students if you know where to look.”

McKlusky also suggested new

students take note of Raithby House, located in Branion Plaza, right next to the Cannon. It’s the home of the Student Support Network, which offers drop-in counselling services where students can stop by and chat with volunteers about anything on their mind, among other services.

“It’s an awesome service that I think incoming students should know about early on,” McKlusky said.

Make a point of attending residence meetings and program/ major meetings, as they will share information about where services can be found on campus as well, McKlusky said. But the key is still to just get out and explore.

“The more time you spend out and about on campus, the more comfortable you’ll feel getting around,” McKlusky said.

cOURTESY PHOTO

Draw yourself riding a Guelph Gryphon

STUDENT LIFE

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Safe(r) sex + Consent Jessica avolio Safe(r) Sex

“There is no such thing as safe sex, but there is such a thing as safer sex,” stated Eve Lampert, staff member at The Wellness Centre on campus. When we talk about safe sex, “we are typically referring to the risk of STI/HIV transmission,” Lampert said, and condoms and dental dams are the suggested barriers that can be used to protect against the transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV. There are different levels of risk, all of which are based on the likelihood of exchanging bodily fluids during sex, and therefore correlate to the probability of transmitting STIs or HIV. The four levels are:

. No Risk - engaging in activities such as dry kissing, solo sex (masturbation), using unshared sex toys, massage, dirty talk, and dry humping with clothes on. . Negligible Risk - receiving oral sex (i.e. cunnilingus, fellatio, or annilingus) with or without a condom or dental dam, performing oral sex with a condom or dental dam, and anal penetration with fingers using latex gloves as a barrier.

. Low Risk - performing oral sex (i.e. cunnilingus, fellatio, or

annilingus) without a condom or dental dam, and penetrative sexual intercourse (i.e. penis in anus or penis in vagina) with a condom.

. High Risk - penetrative sexual intercourse (i.e. penis in anus or penis in vagina) without a condom or being penetrated by a shared sex toy without a condom.

Common STIs such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are prevalent on all university campuses, not just Guelph’s, and using a barrier such as a condom or dental dam during oral and penetrative sex can prevent them. “A majority of people don’t have symptoms for these STIs and that’s how they can unknowingly get passed on to a partner,” mentioned Lampert, so if you’ve had unprotected sex, get tested at Student Health Services to assure you won’t be spreading STIs to unsuspecting partners, and always use protection.

In order to prevent unwanted pregnancy, there are a wide range of options for contraceptives, and Student Health Services on campus offers many brands of birth control pills, the patch, the birth control ring, and emergency contraceptive pills (Plan B or the “morning after” pill); all of which are free through your student health benefits.

To find which method is best for you, visit the Wellness Centre on campus or check out their website for further information, and consult with a doctor.

Consent

The Sexual Assault Guide defines sexual assault as any unwanted act of a sexual nature imposed by one person upon another (e.g. kissing, fondling, oral or anal sex, intercourse or other forms of penetration).

Therefore is important to be vocal and always tell your partner what you want, and assure your partner is respectful of your boundaries. “It is the responsibility of all parties to communicate and make sure that the level of intimacy is agreed upon,” said Lampert.

Consent can never be implied, and Lampert communicated, “Just because a person is not explicitly saying ‘no,’ that does not mean they are consenting.”

When speaking about consent, it is important to note that if someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they cannot legally give consent.

A study titled “Alcohol and Sexual Assault” stated that approximately one half of incidences of sexual assault involve alcohol consumption. If someone is not in the right mindset to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they cannot consent

to any sexual act.

You also have the right to revoke consent at any point in time for any reason.

If you believe you have been sexual assaulted, there are a few steps you can take: t (P UP B TBGF QMBDF t 4FFL UIF BTTJTUBODF PG TPNFone you trust. This person may also accompany you when seeking medical assistance or crisis counselling if you choose to do so. t *G ZPV UIJOL UIFSF JT BOZ QPTsibility that you may want to try pressing charges, it is very important that you do not shower, douche, eat, drink, or smoke. Try not to clean or disturb anything in the area where the assault occurred. Save the clothes you were wearing. t *U JT JNQPSUBOU GPS ZPV UP TFFL medical attention to get checked out for physical injuries, sexually transmitted infections, and any potential for pregnancy.

Medical assistance is available  hours a day,  days a week in the Guelph-Wellington Care & Treatment Centre for Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence, located in Guelph General Hospital -- Ext.  t $BNQVT $PNNVOJUZ 1PMJDF Ext.  can help you figure out a safety plan and are also available to help inform you of what the legal process looks like.

If you are supporting someone who has been sexually assaulted:

t #F B TVQQPSUJWF MJTUFOFS t %P OPU CMBNF PS KVEHF UIF person t *EFOUJGZ SFTPVSDFT PS TVQports needed and available t 1SPWJEF BDDPNQBOJNFOU JG requested and if you are able to do so t 1SPWJEF SFGFSSBM UP SFTPVSDFT or supports if needed t (FU TVQQPSU DPVOTFMMJOH GPS yourself if needed In an ideal world, sex should always be consensual and as safe as possible, and while Lampert stated that there is “no exact formula” to figure it out, there are steps you can take. Always open up lines of communication and let your partner(s) know the status of your sexual health and what your boundaries are.

“Remember that you have the right to withdraw consent at any time,” stated Lampert, and use protection and contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy and the spread of STIs and HIV. Alcohol and drugs can also affect your ability to make safe decisions, so if someone is under the influence; do not assume they are able to consent.

You have the right to safe and consensual sex, and the right to make decisions that will aid in a positive experience.

STUDENT LIFE

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How to deal with being homesick The challenges and triumphs of living away from home emilY JoNes Moving from the comfort and uniformity of home and settling into a new place can prove to be an exciting and nerve-racking experience at the same time; the uncertainty of what lies ahead is something that is bound to happen during all stages of life. This is a new chapter, the beginning of your university career and for many, the start of a truly independent life. At times it may seem overwhelming, heart-wrenching and anxietyridden, but no matter what it will be as positive of an experience as you make it. It is your time, own it.

Homesickness is something that likely everyone experiences within the first few months of going somewhere new. It is completely normal; know that you are not alone even if you feel lonely sometimes. Starting university and being in a new place away from loved ones is a lot to take in and it happens so quickly. Relish in the

fact that you have made it here.

There are many ways to help ease into the transitional period.

The first step is transforming your clean slate dorm room or off campus living quarters into your personal safe haven, somewhere you feel at home. Put up pictures of family, friends and loved ones, acquire (or make!) art work, and take pride in your space and allow it to showcase who you really are to all the new friends you are making.

Secondly, if you don’t already have one, create a Skype account and get your family and friends to make them too. Skype is an amazing and free tool you can use to keep in touch with the ones you love and see them any time you need to. Create a schedule that works for you to have dates via Skype or on the telephone.

It is these little things that will allow you to feel connected even though you may be far away. Two of my best friends live across the world and I haven’t seen them in two years. We schedule Skype dates and even though it isn’t as good as hugging them in person, we have hour long conversations and it is like they are in my living room visiting until we can see

each other again.

Our university campus is a home in itself; you will get to know the halls of every residence, the library, eating centres and lecture buildings in no time. Go explore.

It is not scary, it is liberating. Be confident, have fun, and know you are responsible for the outcome of your time here. There are many people to talk to and get to know on campus. If you feel like you want to talk to someone about feeling homesick, don’t be afraid to do so. Never feel alone because there are so many people in the same boat as you. Every person you meet is dealing with transition in one way or another. That is the beauty of life; you never know what will happen, so make the most of each day and live.

Starting university, living alone and taking leaps forward in your personal life can be a challenge, but it is an extremely rewarding experience. Feeling uncomfortable at times means you are growing, you are becoming who you want to be. This is your time to embrace your individuality and meet new people who may be strangers today but will become like family by the

time you leave here.

Embracing change and getting out of your comfort zone is the first step. Change can be scary, but taking that first step is

the beginning of an exhilarating experience that you will forever remember as the best years of your life. Now is the time to make the most of it.

PHoTo BY KRisTiNa aleXaNDeRsoN

The myth of the “Freshman 15” You are more than just a number Jessica avolio You set foot into university and are met with a drastic change in environment, totally different eating habits, and a new load of stress from schoolwork and studying. On top of that, you are told by advertisements and articles, and even friends and family, that you should beware of the dreaded “freshman .”

In reality studies show that, on average, people gain a measly four pounds. A study in Social Science Quarterly stated that gaining a few pounds during this time is not even something unique to university students, but also happens to young adults who did not attend college. In other words, it happens to almost everyone.

And while this current article is not here to advocate treating your body in a negative way by filling it with non-nutritious foods and being inactive, it is here to say that the “freshman ” is really just an unnecessary element of additional stress in your life.

Do you notice when you gain four pounds? Probably not. Four pounds is well within daily water weight fluctuations, so the likelihood of you or others noticing it is improbable.

The real issue here is the

pressure placed on something as insignificant as gaining a few pounds. What is the real damage of gaining four or even  pounds?

You will be hard-pressed to find a study that shows this amount of weight will poorly impact your health. In fact, many studies reveal those who are overweight have longer life expectancies, and a great deal say that health is more closely related to activity level rather than size.

Dieting can also be physically stressing on the mind and body.

A study completed by the University of California took  female participants and found that those who restricted their diets to  calories per day had an increased output of cortisol, a stress hormone. The study concluded that dieting could be damaging to both psychological well-being and biological functioning.

The truth is, being thinner doesn’t equal being healthier, and health is something that can be achieved independent of size.

One can nourish and fuel their body without being preoccupied with calorie counts or body fat percentages. Some of the healthiest foods out there, such as avocados and nuts, are extremely calorie dense, and most foods that are advertised as “caloriereduced” are loaded with extra additives and other junk.

What is important for your mental and physical wellness is to

not play into societal expectations of a “perfect” ideal that thinner means happier. Self-esteem and health do not correlate to a decreasing number on the scale.

Instead of worrying about the “freshman ” your first year of

university, use the experience to work on your inner-self as opposed to your outer-self.

The pressure to lose a few pounds is just another item on your plate that you don’t need to stress about.

Don’t feel persuaded by others to

change your body, and learn to love yourself and be happy and healthy independent of your size.

Instead of worrying about what needs to be lost, worry about what can be gained in terms of your selfworth and personal happiness.

PHoTo BY JeaNeTTe GooDRicH

things better worth occupying your time? Pressure to avoid gaining the freshman 15 only accounts for added stress to a typical busy student life.

STUDENT LIFE

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Rethinking what it means to succeed Acquire and develop a strategy that works for you emilY JoNes Each and every person has a different plan for their life, a unique definition of what success means to them. It is your responsibility to define what it means to you because the worst thing that you can do is leave behind your true passion and fall victim to living someone else’s dream.

You must find your passion and run with it; life is too short to live an unhappy life. Set personal goals and achieve them, and through this process you will gain the tools to succeed in the way you want to. Anything you want to achieve you can, as long as you work hard.

No one is going to do it for you, you must put in the effort or you will never feel satisfied or reach the level of success you had hoped to.

It is this process where you’ll

continue to develop the tools you need to go forward in your life, to acquire and hold on to the values you have made for yourself. It is a building process, something that needs alterations from time to time when you need to change direction. Nothing is set in stone, you can change your plan and likely will. This doesn’t mean you have to start all over, everything is a learning experience and will only make you a stronger, well-rounded person in both your personal and professional life.

Success is not defined by economic wealth, which is something our culture and society often holds in high regard. Success is living each and every day loving what you do, finding your passion and making a difference.

You are here, you have made the decision to be here and it is now your time to make the most of yourself. Create those goals and achieve them and even when it seems hard, know that you are fully capable of

YOUR WORK IS GOING TO FILL A LARGE PART OF YOUR LIFE, AND THE ONLY WAY TO BE TRULY SATISFIED IS TO DO WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS GREAT WORK, AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO GREAT WORK IS TO LOVE WHAT YOU DO. IF YOU HAVEN'T FOUND IT YET, KEEP LOOKING. DON'T SETTLE. AS WITH ALL MATTERS OF THE HEART, YOU'LL KNOW WHEN YOU FIND IT. - STEVE JOBS

PHoTo BY WeNDY sHePHeRD

Steve Jobs said it best: plain and simple. doing anything you set your mind to.

The feeling of being satisfied with yourself is the base structure of being successful

in your life. Take opportunities and dive-in with everything you have, embrace your life and believe in yourself. It may not always be easy, but it is

worth all of the work. This is your time, it is here and it is now, leap for it and enjoy every minute of it. It is well worth it, and you deserve it.

Joining an unconventional club Staying active and meeting others on campus Jessica avolio Differing from the typical teams and clubs you tend to see on university campuses, the University of Guelph offers a few unusual organizations that will not only help you stay active, but can be used as an opportunity to meet new people and build new skills. These clubs offer a different experience from the norm, something university students may appreciate when looking to build new experiences in a new setting.

Spongebob will no longer be your favourite yellow sponge once you join The Nerf Club. It involves exactly what you think and is bound to make all your childhood dreams of shooting other people with foam-based weaponry come true; except now you’re an adult and have access to all the Nerf guns your parents wouldn’t let you get for your birthday. This club involves solo and team matches with scenarios such as “zombies” where the object of the game is survival. All you have to do is bring your own Nerf gun, protective eyewear and a general sense of bad-assery.

The Dragon Boat Club will get you racing with others on a traditional paddled long boat complete with decorative

Chinese dragon heads and tails.

Your team will include a dragon boat, a crew of  paddlers,  steerperson and  drummer in charge of keeping rhythm.

You’ll take part in competitive races against other universities, and through the experience you will be acquainted with a traditional game that has roots in ancient folk rituals that arose more than  years ago.

Then there is the Underwater Hockey team where you can not only play one of Canada’s most popular sports, but you can do it underwater and in a swimsuit.

Not totally dissimilar to typical hockey games, two teams will compete to steer a brass puck across the bottom of a pool into the opposing team’s net. Equipment includes snorkelling gear, a short stick (though different from a traditional hockey stick), and common swimwear. Underwater Hockey teams from across North America will gather during College Royale every year to compete in this unexpected sport.

For those interested in Japanese sword and sword-related arts, the Iaido club is open to anyone of any skill level. The purpose of Iaido is to draw the sword and cut in the same motion, a skill tracing its history back to the mid s.

A typical form includes drawing the sword and cutting, completing a finishing cut, cleaning the blade and returning it to the scabbard, all without looking away from your opponent. Students

strive to achieve power, precision and perfection in their form and learn balance, grace and control of the body and mind.

If you enjoy Frisbee but want to play it more competitively, check out the Ultimate Frisbee team who participate both provincially and nationally in a competitive nature. Though, if you aren’t into the competitive aspect, there is an Ultimate club, which includes players with a wide range of skills.

Either way, you should probably call it “Ultimate,” since it is played with a flying disc and not necessarily a Frisbee, which is registered as a trademark. Two teams will begin at opposite game zones and will try to get the flying disc into the opposite end zone. This isn’t just a regular game of tossing a Frisbee around willy nilly, especially since the game will involve a lot of strategy and tactics.

There are a wide variety of additional clubs and teams to check out such as the Guelph Quidditch team, Ninjutsu club, Competitive Hip Hop team, Synchronized Swimming club, Jugglers of the University of Guelph, and many more. Joining an unusual club is a great way to stay active and meet new faces, and it may provide you with a new set of skills you never thought you would acquire.

University is all about involving yourself in new things, so why not create a new experience by joining something a little bit different.

PHoTo BY Dave maTHis

Joining an unusual club on campus is a great way to stay active, meet new people and learn a new skill, all while taking part in an activity that strays from the norm.

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STUDENT LIFE

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Gourmet meals for your microwave Jessica avolio If you’re living on campus, you don’t always have access to a stovetop or oven. The following recipes are a collection of microwave oven meals that can be made conveniently with electromagnetic waves for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Cauliflower with Dijon Sauce

By: allrecipes.ca Ingredients t  head cauliflower, separated into florets t ½ cup mayonnaise t ¼ cup Dijon mustard t  cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese Place cauliflower florets in a large glass bowl or casserole dish, and cover with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic with a knife.

Cook in the microwave for  to  minutes, or until tender. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard.

Spread over the top of the cauliflower. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top. Return to the microwave, and cook just until cheese has melted, about  minutes.

Quick and Easy Stuffed Peppers

By: all recipes.ca Ingredients t  large red bell pepper, halved and seeded t ½ ( ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid t  tablespoons of quickcooking brown rice t  tablespoon hot water t  green onion, thinly sliced t ¼ cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained t ¼ ( ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed t ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes t ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese t  ½ teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese Arrange pepper halves in a square glass baking dish. Cover dish with

plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic wrap for vents, and heat  minutes in the microwave, or until tender. In a medium bowl, mix tomatoes and their liquid, rice, and water. Cover with plastic, and cook in the microwave for  minutes, or until rice is cooked.

Stir green onions, corn, kidney beans, and red pepper flakes into the tomato mixture. Heat in the microwave for  minutes, or until heated through. Spoon hot tomato mixture evenly into pepper halves, and cover with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic to vent steam, and heat in the microwave  minutes. Remove plastic, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, and allow to stand  to  minutes before serving.

Banana Nut Oatmeal

By: allrecipes.ca Ingredients t ¼ cup quick cooking oats t ½ cup skim milk t  teaspoon flax seeds t  tablespoons chopped walnuts t  tablespoons honey t  banana, peeled Combine the oats, milk, flax seeds, walnuts, honey, and banana in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in microwave on High for  minutes. Mash the banana with a fork and stir into the mixture. Serve hot.

Microwave Mushroom Cheddar Risotto

and

By: Dairy Farmers of Canada at canadianliving.com Ingredients t  tbsp butter t  cups sliced mushrooms t ⅔ cup chopped onion t  large clove garlic, minced t  cup Arborio or Italianstyle rice t  cups chicken broth t ½ cup of additional broth t  cup grated Cheddar cheese Place butter in -inch square glass baking dish. Melt butter in microwave on high setting. Add

coURTesY PHoTo FRom caNaDiaN liviNG (mUsHRoom aND cHeDDaR RisoTTo) mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Stir to coat. Cook, uncovered, for  minutes. Add rice and chicken broth. Cook uncovered, until rice is tender (about  to  minutes). Stir once halfway through cooking. If rice isn’t moist enough, add more broth towards the end. Remove from microwave. Stir in Cheddar cheese. Let stand  minutes.

Coffee Cup Quiche

By: stltoday.com Ingredients t  egg t  ½ tablespoons milk t Salt and ground black pepper t ¼ of a bagel (or similar amount of French bread, etc.) t  teaspoons cream cheese t ½ slice prosciutto or ham t Fresh thyme leaves or fresh chopped chives t Dijon mustard Beat egg and milk together with a fork in a coffee cup, adding salt and pepper to taste. Tear bread into dime-size pieces; stir in.

Add cream cheese; stir in. Tear or

cut prosciutto into small pieces; add to mixture. Sprinkle with thyme. Microwave on high until done, about  minute  seconds.

Garnish with mustard and fresh thyme or chives.

Instant Mug o’ Mac & Cheese in the Microwave By: Thenaptimechef on babble.com t ⅓ cup pasta t ½ cup water t ¼ cup % milk t ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the pasta and water in a large mug or bowl. Microwave on high for two minutes, then stir.

Repeat this for at least  to  more minutes, stirring at each -minute interval. The water should absorb completely and the pasta will be cooked through. If the pasta needs another minute it is okay to add one more teaspoon of water and microwave for another minute.

Remove it from the microwave and stir in the milk and cheese.

Microwave for another minute.

Stir the cheese thoroughly into the pasta and eat up!

Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean Salad

By: EatingWell Ingredients t  medium sweet potatoes t ½ can of black beans, rinsed t  medium tomato, diced t ½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil t ½ tsp ground cumin t ½ tsp ground coriander t / tsp salt t  tbsp sour cream t  tbsp chopped fresh cilantro Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave on High until tender all the way to the center,  to  minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium microwaveable bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on High until just heated through,  to  minutes. When just cool enough to handle, slash each sweet potato lengthwise, press open to make a well in the center and spoon the bean mixture into the well. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.

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HITTING THE BOOKS

Make buying your textbooks a breeze Guide to textbooks retailers AliCjA GRzAdkOwSkA Buying textbooks might seem like a hassle, but with the range of retailers that sell course materials, both on and off campus, the chore can quickly become time-efficient and easy on your wallet.

Guelph Campus Co-op Bookstore

Located in the basement of Johnston Hall, the Co-op Bookstore is always a popular choice for making textbook purchases.

Debra McKay, Bookstore manager, says that the staff puts a lot of effort into making sure that students get the books they need for their courses.

“They have the reassurance from the store that what they’re seeing on the store shelf is going to be right. We have carefully researched and ensured that we have what the prof has asked for, for that class.”

The Campus Co-op is also a longstanding organization, and has been on campus for  years, an achievement made possible by student participation and enthusiasm for the Co-op’s services.

“We’re pretty proud of that,” said McKay. “It’s the students’ store and they can become a member. Once they do, they can get a member discount.”

The discount is five per cent off of every purchase made in the bookstore, and the membership costs are  in September,  in the Winter semester, and  in the Spring semester.

Other benefits of buying textbooks at the Co-op include a return policy for new materials, a -hour no-obligation hold service, and a preorder reservation service for first year students.

“It’s really helpful when you are orienting to everything

new, that some things are already looked after for you,” explained McKay. Unlike a regular bookstore, students bring their course codes to the bookstore’s counter, and the staff collects the textbooks, which takes the pressure off of students. The opportunity to review the books before buying them, important when purchasing used books, is also available and encouraged.

In terms of the selection of used books, McKay said, “We strive to find as many low cost alternatives for students as we possibly can.”

Besides being in the bookselling business, the Co-op Bookstore is involved in several initiatives, like Save a Bag, where a student who does not take a bag with their purchase can donate the cost of a bag to one of three environmental projects. At the end of the year, the Board of Directors donates money accordingly to all three initiatives.

During the buyback periods, which is a great way for students to make some money back from their textbooks, the bookstore plants a mature tree for every  books returned.

As well, the staff is currently partnered with Books for Africa (more information is available on the Co-op’s website).

University Bookstore, MacNaughton Building

Another popular choice for oncampus textbook purchases, the University Bookstore boasts a wide selection of other products, alongside their diverse range of course materials.

“We provide all of the required and optional books in multiple formats, like printed and digital if available,” said Ken Morrison, manager at the bookstore.

“We have the largest selection of used books on campus. We also supply all of the necessary supplementary items like lab

coats and goggles.”

Students can also find pens, papers, binders, notebooks, computer paper, and toner cartridges at the store, not to mention Guelph Spirit wear, which is available in every shape and form, from hoodies to rugby shirts to glassware, according to Morrison.

Purchases can be made online or in the store itself, with  cashiers operating during peak times in the semester. The organization of the textbooks is extremely precise.

“Our text floor is organized by college and then by course. Each area of the floor is colour coded so each college can be recognized by a specific colour,” explained Morrison. “Under each stack of books will be a shelf tag listing title, author, section, instructor and new and used price of the book.”

The University Bookstore offers several options for students interested in saving money on textbooks. As of three years ago, the bookstore offers the Textbook Plan, where a student can add a sum of money to their meal plan, and then use it to make purchases in the store. Ten per cent of the purchase is rebated to the flex plan. Not to mention that the bookstore’s buyback is the biggest on campus.

“The store has partnered with  other Canadian university bookstores and a wholesaler to create a buyback which consistently places more money back into student hands,” said Morrison.

By buying books at the University Bookstore, students also indirectly support the University of Guelph.

“The University Bookstore is a department of the university,” said Morrison. “Any surplus operating profits go directly to the university.”

thecannon.ca Co-owned

by

the

Central

Student Association (CSA) and the Co-op Bookstore, The Cannon’s website provides campus news and more importantly, a search engine that makes it possible to find housing, ride shares, and textbooks. Students can find classified listings for used textbooks by inputting the textbook’s course code, and then getting in touch with the seller. Likewise, students can sell their old textbooks, no charge, on the website.

McLaughlin Library

Many students don’t realize that the library carries tons of works by authors that are often studied in courses. Students, particularly those in the Arts, can save money by borrowing a play, fictional work, or other text and “owning” it for at least two weeks, which is often longer than the time period that it is studied in class.

Renewals are also available if

your prof spends more time on a specific work, and you can always take the book out again around the exam period to review it.

Amazon and Used Bookstores

Amazon offers a textbook search where ISBN numbers, titles, and authors can be used to easily find a course material.

The site also offers used prices on many of its textbooks, though shipping can take up to a month in some cases, so start looking up books in advance if you’re interested in this option. Used bookstores in Guelph and the surrounding area also have preowned material, and many have reference book sections that are worth looking through.

Students studying popular works can especially make use of stores like Macondo or Sunrise Books.

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HITTING THE BOOKS

Getting that A+ Using SLGs and other academic resources on campus COllEEN MCdONEll How do I convert moles to atoms? Did the Renaissance really begin in Florence in the th century? Getting back into the school state of mind can be challenging, especially after a lovely long summer break.

There are a number of resources on campus to help you get through those challenging courses. U of G has a Tutoring at Guelph (TAG) page you can use to search for a tutor to pay for some help. These tutors are mostly students, and their fees and experience levels vary.

However, for those students whose budgets do not allow for food other than Mr. Noodles, let alone paid tutoring, there are also free resources that can help you maintain those grades or get back on track.

Check to see if your course has a Help Lab or Study Lab staffed by Teaching Assistants (TAs). You can find this on the Undergraduate Academic Information Centre’s Help Lab page, and these are useful because you will be getting help from the person who is likely grading your assignment, and who has good knowledge of the certain

areas where students struggle.

Also look for Supported Learning Groups (SLGs), which have been on campus since . As part of the Library Learning Commons, these are study sessions for particularly challenging courses, such as first-year chemistry, statistics, or psychology.

SLGs are led every week by peers who have previously done well in the course.

“The sessions are open to anyone, it’s not just for students struggling academically,” explained SLG Program Assistant Jessica Taylor.

“We have students who come who have ’s in courses or really high averages, and they just want to keep their marks up and have that guaranteed study time in a group setting.” It’s also a great way to meet people in your same program.

Varying throughout the week, the one and a half and three-hour sessions in the library are dropin, free, and informal.

“You don’t necessarily have to prepare,” said Taylor, mentioning that many students just read over their notes ahead of time.

SLG leaders prepare handouts for every session but remain flexible in what they’re covering. They may facilitate games, review the previous lecture, or see if there is something the group struggled with collectively.

The courses covered in SLGs are

PHOTO FROM THE ONTARiON ARCHiVES (2000) statistically more difficult, meaning they have more than a  per cent drop, fail, or “D” rate.

“A lot of students do think that it’s just for science and mathbased courses, but we try to be covering courses so that as many students on campus do have the opportunity and it’s not just catering to one program or one group of students,” said Taylor.

There is also the misconception that the SLG program is a tutoring program.

“A tutor is more of a teacher, whereas the goal of [SLGs] is to make students self-sufficient,” explained Taylor, who was an SLG attendee in first year and a leader and third and fourth year. “It’s really neat to see the progression from the first session to the last session. Students do a ° and they know how to help themselves which is really cool as a leader to see.”

SLGs are not associated with the lab components of courses, and they create their own handouts

and mock midterms. So when struggling with an assignment or a concept, you could also try to visit your professor in their office hours. Many students find this intimidating, but professors usually appreciate visitors in their office hours, and are more than likely to help students through a problem.

Don’t let that one grade get you down; check out the help resources on campus and your GPA will thank you.

The technological wave of education Courses and programs ago jESSiCA AVOliO With a rapid development of technology and our ever-growing interest in social media outlets, an explosion in tech-friendly university and college courses and programs have occurred.

With social media becoming so prevalent in our everyday lives, courses such as “Virtual Communities and Social Media” at Stanford University offer students the means to effectively use blogs, forums and other online communities. Not only do students of this course create their own practical applications of these social media outlets, but they also discuss how online communities affect the public sphere.

“New Media for Social Change,” offered at the University of Southern California, teaches students how digital tools can be used to educate people on global health issues. Those familiar with social media, such as the likes of Facebook newsfeeds, have certainly encountered this type of health-related dialogue many times before.

Social media addicts are also aware of the popularity of video

streaming websites. Pitzer College offers “Learning from YouTube” as a branch of their Media Studies department. Students approach the website as a sociological case study as they examine how online videos reflect society, all while questioning why certain topics (such as cats) seem to trend online.

On the topic of social media, the use of hashtags is seen everywhere from the likes of Twitter to Facebook to Tumblr. Course “#Eng” is offered at Wheaton College where this English class merges “tweets” with more traditional literature. Students read books in several different mediums; e.g. physical books, audiobooks and e-readers, and this task encourages the discussion of how different reading avenues affect the reading experience, all while students write and respond to tweets in relation to their classroom discussions.

“Social Media & Virtual Communities” at Emory University has students incorporate social media marketing strategies into potential new businesses. Students study how social media can be used as an effective tool for businesses to interact with communities.

Not only are folks obsessed with social media, but many are

obsessively attached to their cell phones and their apps. The University of Southern California offers “Digital Media for Business: The Mobile Experience,” which has students develop mobile apps for businesses, a seemingly necessary step for companies whom exist in this tech-loving society.

On the more geeky side, we have an existing video game culture that is constantly entering the mainstream. The University of Utah offers “Survey of Video Game Theory and Design,” which explores the historical, societal and cultural impact of video games.

At the University of Southern California, “Level Design & Development for Video Games” instructs students in the design, control, user-interface, game mechanics and story telling aspects of video games, while Michigan State launched “Serious Game Design” as a Master’s degree program pushing students to create games that could change the world.

Post-secondary education, technology and social media are all developing their own critical roles in society, with many beginning to merge together into a unique learning experience. The difference with post-secondary education of today, compared to a decade

ago, is that it is taking “timewasters” such as mobile apps and video games, and applying them to higher education. It seems that current educational organizations are taking advantage of this addiction and seeing the educational potential within it. Not only can we now use social media and technology for

fun and leisure, but we can also turn these outlets into practical knowledge and a potential career path. The fate of higher education seems to be tech-friendly, and many of these institutions are breaking scholastic traditions in favour of utilizing these current technological and online social experiences as an academic tool.

PHOTO BY wENdY SHEPHERd

The future of post-secondary education is technoloy-friendly with a wave of new courses for those who love technology.

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HITTING THE BOOKS

The future of education on the Internet What online courses mean for traditional postTOM BEEdHAM “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” was Timothy Leary’s catchphrase until he replaced (or at least attached an addendum to) it in the s and said to “Turn On, Boot Up, Jack In.” For the freethinking countercultures at the time of those mantras’ vocalizations, they were instructions as much as they were zeitgeist-representing memes. But whether the slogans were considered independently or in conjunction to today’s approaches to higher education (no pun intended), they take on an entirely new meaning.

Meeting the virtues of an academically informed society with financial accessibility has always been a subject of some scrutiny.

And the education models that have resulted from that scrutiny have been embraced and rejected by its potential consumers in what could be regarded as manifestations of any of the comma-separated words Leary once sloganized.

With a widening gap separating those who can and can’t afford formal university or college educations, some seeking postsecondary education are looking to another option: the massive open online course (MOOC).

A MOOC can be most simply described as a course credit-offering distance education program that – beyond traditional course media like readings, videos, and testing platforms – provide users with interactive forums for student/instructor communication outside of the classroom. They recall the many formats of history’s correspondence courses, but offer the convenience and immediacy of Internet technologies such as video chat and chat rooms with professors, teaching assistants and fellow classmates as an alternative to the geographically-dependent natures of classrooms and office hours.

Many post-secondary and even secondary schools have increasingly incorporated elements of MOOCs within their regular course offerings; through Courselink, the University of Guelph and many other institutions provide materials such as course syllabi and assignment descriptions online in addition to discussion forums that allow continued dialogue regarding course material to happen outside of the class (and even make use of these resources mandatory, in some cases), and some professors and teaching assistants will go the extra distance to host video chat or phone “office” hours when they or students cannot realistically arrange to meet during scheduled office hours.

Courses containing these distance education elements are not to be confused with MOOCs, though.

By nomenclature, MOOCs provide decidedly open access content, meaning that – regardless of institutional association – anyone that has registered for the MOOC can access the course’s content.

MOOCs have been around for several years, but some are gaining steam and becoming popular, respected outlets for educational pursuits that traditional postsecondary institutions are acknowledging and joining forces with them. The phenomenon was even recognized last year by The New York Times when it called  “The Year of the MOOC” in a November headline.

Similarly, in October , Time beamed that MOOCs make available the prestige of “Ivy League for the Masses” (it could also be noted that in April , they reported all but one of the eight Ivy League institutions decreased their already low acceptance rates this year, citing a larger applicant pool as the cause of the increased selectivity).

Coursera, edX, and Udacity are three of the leading MOOCs providing such educational resources.

As the only one of the three with status as a nonprofit project, edX was founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and

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Unsure of what to expect or if an online course is right for you? If you thrive in distance worth looking into.

Harvard University to offer a MOOC model completely free of charge, and offers certificates of successful completion of its courses at no cost, but not course credit.

Founded by former Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun, Udacity has no formal school ties, but boasts instructors from the University of Virginia.

By far the most successful of the leading MOOCs is Coursera. In comparison to Udacity’s , users and  active courses since April , Coursera announced it had amassed . million users around the same time while offering over  courses. Offering free MOOCs, the company has accumulated considerable popularity since its April  launch, perhaps owing its success to forging business relationships early on with prestigious institutions Princeton, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. It now has a total of  partners. Of its numerous courses, five courses in algebra, calculus, genetics and evolution, and bioelectricity are available for

college credit, and the company is working with the American Council on Education (ACE) to evaluate credit equivalency for more courses. While the courses are free, the company does offer and charge - proctored exams at the end of the courses – still miniscule in comparison to the ever skyrocketing costs of attending university.

But do Coursera and other MOOCs represent alternatives that stand to potentially overshadow the actual institutions they look to for a marketable product? If students turn on, boot up, and jack in, will they also drop out?

Not likely – or at least not enough to desecrate the institutions too significantly.

Although MOOCs do offer a dramatically less costly alternative to the comparatively more ivory tower-esque demands of individual post-secondary outlets, as Times writer Tamar Lewin reported in May , earlier MOOC projects with Ivy League pedigree have failed. These included the collapse of AllLearn, a consortium of Stanford, Yale and

Oxford Universites, in ; and “Fathom,” developed by Columbia University, in . Partner universities would also have it within their best interests to defend their “product,” and provide their partnership accordingly.

So a better question might be, “Are MOOCs preferable or more accessible to a tuition demanding post-secondary institution?”

There are important things to consider; MOOCs demand digital literacy; the massive nature of the online courses mean course message boards receive an influx of content that can be chaotic and overwhelming; and, unlike traditional courses, MOOCs have no syllabi that determine their trajectory, but rather unfold organically, meaning participators will not be able to perceive what they are about to commit to.

It just means there’s only one way to find out. To borrow the words of Hunter S. Thompson – another bastion of the counterculture movement – who had Timothy Leary in mind, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

HITTING THE BOOKS

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Surviving lectures and exams The importance of paying attention Emily JonEs In the beginning, both lectures and exams can seem daunting, but the truth of the matter is that they don’t have to be. Just like every other instance, it’s what you make of it and the mindset you have surrounding them.

If you think walking into a new lecture hall is nerve racking, or speaking up in a seminar is scary, then it will be. You must change this way of thinking and realize that to get the most out of your education you have to be willing to try. These fears will fade and your lecture halls, seminar classrooms and labs will become like second nature to you.

Going to class may sometimes seem like a hassle, you may be tired and you may want to just stay in bed rather than going to your classes, but it’s not worth it. University is not like high school in a multitude of ways.

Sure, you have the freedom to choose when or if you go to class and no one is going to call home to see where you were, but the only person you are letting down is yourself. Going to lectures is one of the utmost important and eye-opening experiences you will have. We are so lucky to have some of the most incredible professors who will truly change your life. Guaranteed you will leave class some days feeling invigorated and full of new knowledge.

University is more than just an education, it is an experience.

Get the most of it as you’ll only be in the present moment once.

Embrace this new experience whole-heartedly and do your best and you’ll thank yourself in the long run. Along this journey, there will be times you feel stressed, like you are not grasping the material properly or that you are overwhelmed with the amount of school work building up, but it happens to everyone.

The best possible advice is to get excited about your work, stay on top of things as much as you can (readings will pile up quickly) and set a schedule for yourself to complete assignments, while still giving yourself time to have a personal life.

Procrastination and excuses are not your friends! If you spend all your time stressing about something that is due, you could really

be spending that time working on and completing that assignment. It is a trial-and-error kind of thing. You will find what works best for you and will get into a routine that works, but it will take time, so be patient and don’t beat yourself up.

If you are feeling like you do not understand certain material, don’t hesitate to go and introduce yourself to your professors or form study groups with new people in your classes and use the facilities on campus to help you out when you are in need. Even though campus may seem big and there are thousands of people wandering around going on with their own business everyday, it doesn’t mean we aren’t still a community of people who are willing to work together to create a better

learning environment for all.

If stress gets to be too much, go and do something active; try meditation, write, listen to your favourite music and dance around until you feel better.

Simple daily activities help beat stress and are good for you. If you want to talk to someone about feeling stressed out, talk to your family, friends or one of the many wonderful counsellors we have on campus.

It will help you to put things into perspective and move forward accordingly. Remember, take time for yourself, but also remember what you are here for. Making your school work a priority is the best thing you can do to limit the stress you will feel closer to exam time. Take a deep breath and remember that you can and will prosper.

Healthy snacking while hitting the books JEssica avolio The human brain is the most energy-hungry organ consuming about  per cent of a person’s daily energy intake, or about  to  calories per day. While actively thinking and concentrating, your brain will even start burning more calories than usual. Making smart decisions about what you’re eating can benefit your memory and concentration and boost brainpower. The following article includes several brain-boosting foods to nosh on when your cerebral matter needs that extra push. . Water – your body needs it to thrive, and your brain cells are no exception. Water accelerates functioning of the brain, and when your brain is dehydrated, it works at a slower place.

A study completed by Ohio University found that people who stayed hydrated scored better on tests of brainpower compared to those who didn’t drink enough.

Researchers hypothesized that not drinking enough water could reduce oxygen flow to the brain or temporarily shrink neurons. A dehydrated brain could also release cortisol, a hormone shown to affect the brain’s capacity to store information and memories.

Keep a refillable water bottle next to you as you study, or load up on water-heavy snacks such as cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries and salad greens in order to stay sufficiently hydrated. . Oily fish will enhance memory and cognition, and

varieties such as salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring are high in omega- fatty acids, something experts believe are necessary for transmitting signals between brain cells.

Sardines contain the nutrient choline, a brain chemical that is key for memory, and salmon contains a large amount of vitamin D, a nutrient shown to ward off cognitive decline.

A study by the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that those who were vitamin D deficient were  per cent more likely to suffer from age-related memory loss, and a  study by researchers at Tufts University found that those who ate fish three times a week had high levels of DHA (a type of omega-), which cut their risk of Alzheimer’s by  per cent.

A can of tuna, sardines or herring is a quick and easy snack. . Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, kale, broccoli, spinach and brussels sprouts are filled with antioxidants such as vitamin C, and plant compounds called carotenoids, both of which are powerful brain protectors. Dark green veggies contain B-vitamins including folic acid, which help protect your brain from the effects of aging. Spinach in particular is high in magnesium and potassium, both of which maintain the electrical conductivity of the brain that affects memory and learning.

A study of more than , women done by Harvard Medical School found that those who ate the most cruciferous vegetables had lowered the age of their brain by one to two

years. A  Neurology study revealed that those eating three servings of vegetables a day delayed cognitive decline by  per cent. . Berries are an antioxidant powerhouse, and some scientists think they help build connections between brain cells. Blueberries contain flavonoids, antioxidants that have been shown to help improve your ability to learn and enhance motor skills and help prevent degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

According to a  study by Tufts University, blackberries contain polyphenols, another potent antioxidant that was shown to reduce inflammation and encourage communication between neurons, improving your brain’s ability to absorb more information.

coffee a day were better able to recall words than women who consumed little to none.

A Finnish study found that people who drank between three to five cups of coffee a day reduced their odds of developing Alzheimer’s by  per cent.

Researches believe that the caffeine and antioxidants are the keys to its protective effects.

Dosage is key, so limit your coffee intake to three or four -ounce cups a day. . Nuts and seeds contain both omega- and omega- essential fatty acids which improve brain function. Cashews and sunflower seeds contain a specific amino acid that helps boost serotonin levels and helps alleviate

stress. Nuts in general contain the important antioxidant, vitamin E, which protects from free-radical damage.

Research from one study found that those who consumed moderate amounts of vitamin E from food lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s by  per cent.

Eat a small serving of nuts or seeds as a healthy study snack.

To maintain optimal brainpower, try to eat a variety of healthy foods on a daily basis, and don’t forget to pack brainboosting snacks for those long study sessions.

Combining nutritious snacks with exercise and a good night’s sleep will have you boosting your brainpower in no time.

. Chocolate is another brainfood containing flavonoids.

These flavonoids in chocolate are shown to increase blood flow to the brain and help to protect brain cells. Opt for dark chocolate, at least  per cent cacao, in order to get the most bang for your buck.

The Journal of Nutrition stated in  that eating as little as one-third of an ounce of chocolate a day helped protect against age-related memory loss. . Coffee in excess is said to cause brain fog, but in moderate amounts it can improve attention span, reaction time and other brain skills.

A French study completed in  found that women who drank three or more cups of

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HITTING THE BOOKS

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Neurotransmitters and concentration Using dopamine to help you study JEssica avolio While hitting the books you’re likely focusing on the content at hand and thinking about how you can optimize your understanding of the subject matter, and less about what’s happening behind the scenes. Ever think about what the neurotransmitters in your brain are doing during the process? Chemical substances, such as dopamine, can actually be used to your advantage when trying to maintain focus and concentration.

There are several techniques you can apply in order to increase positive qualities such as motivation and memorization while diving into schoolwork. The Ontarion spoke with Alina Kislenko, an ADHD, Asperger’s and Productivity Coach in Guelph, about how to use dopamine to your advantage.

Kislenko listed the three main benefits of increased dopamine; () to help you remember by transferring memories from short term into long term, () to put memories in the right

place in your long term memory, and () to help you focus and concentrate.

She suggests taking study breaks “... to a whole new level” with a “ minute dopamine building exercise” before you get down to business. In order to do this, you must find something “innately enjoyable,” like television, video games, yoga, walking or laughing. Kislenko’s favourite activity is “dancing like an idiot,” because it decreases cortisol (a stress hormone) and increases dopamine and endorphins, which in turn will drive motivation.

When you take a  minute break before and during periods of increased concentration, you are doing something that makes you happy, and the resulting surge of dopamine will allow you to better focus on the task at hand when you return to work.

Kislenko suggests beginning with the fun activity instead of “something horrifyingly awful like [finding] your assignment,” as this is a great way to get past analysis paralysis; over-thinking a situation to the point where there are too many options presented and you never begin what you wanted to complete. Cycling work sessions with frequent

breaks assures your dopamine will always be high, and concentration and focus will increase.

Alternatively, instead of studying on your own, you can bring along a friend who has their own work to do and set up a time to work together.

This “work date” will alternate  minutes of social time with a  to  minute block of work time. This will not only increase dopamine during the social periods, but it also adds an element of peer pressure to complete work, especially because you’ll feel bad about interrupting your partner during the work periods.

Kislenko also suggests making a list of each assignment and breaking it down into five to eight steps, and if any step is too overwhelming, break it down even more. Plot out on a calendar when you’ll complete each step and add punishment or reward to meeting and missing deadlines. In typical school-work situations where one doesn’t plan ahead and leaves everything to the last minute “... our cortisol goes up as does our adrenaline and that brings up our dopamine. A special cocktail of last-minute craziness that tends to make people focus better....”

What Kislenko suggests is recreating this cocktail by creating

mini-deadlines that you are held accountable to.

A reward for meeting a deadline can be something such as treating yourself to a nice dinner, and a punishment for missing a deadline could be doing  push-ups, and this system of punishment and reward can push motivation. Kislenko says “...a punishment or consequence …[works] even better than a reward sometimes....”

When you get into the habit of rewarding yourself for meeting

deadlines, it will create a positive memory for the next time you work on an assignment, and these good memories will send happy hormones to your brain.

The “serotonin, and dopamine, and things that will actually motivate you forward” will be present, says Kislenko.

So next time you crack down on studying and assignments, make sure you get a good dose of happy neurotransmitters, and you may find hitting the books a little less painful.

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Pictured is the chemical bond for dopamine. Before cracking down on studying, do something you love to increase dopamine and endorphins to drive motivation.

Seven essay-writing tips Profs won’t tell you Em Wilson . If the rest of your paper deserves a  per cent, let the intro and conclusion deserve a  per cent. Markers only mostly focus on these parts. . Be literary espresso. Your marker may be miserably squatting

amongst a stack of fifty papers at  a.m. the day before marking is due.

Think creatively, tell a story, and write something different. . Garnish your paper with words like “discourse,” “paradox,” “epistemology,” “hegemony,” and “synthesis,” – but be sure to understand these bad boys first.

. Pester your Prof about the essay. When you identify yourself as an eager beaver, your Prof will give you a good mark to dissuade the dramatic office hour exchange where you are the slimy tear-soaked object barring his or her escape to a “meeting.” . Leach off the intelligent advice

from the smart people hanging out in Library Writing Services. I mean LEACH; it’s a great way to find appreciative mentors. . Contact experts and scholars on your topic. Quote them directly and cite properly. Yes they are real people who actually respond, and yes, that just rocket boosted your

paper! It’s also a clever way to pester Profs from other universities. . Challenge your grade. Seriously. If you think you even deserve  per cent higher, go talk to your Prof and explain why. Don’t feel like a burden. You may get a higher mark, and if not… at least you will get real advice for future writing.

The essay and you: how to write a paper Strategies to keep stress low and marks high alicJa GRzadkoWska During the first week of school, writing essays is probably the last thing on your mind. But when the time comes to sit down and write the damn thing, whether the due date is two weeks or two months from now, having a few good tips up your sleeve can help keep your grades at first-week-motivation levels.

One of the first mistakes students make when starting a project is not reading or understanding the assignment information, according to Kim Garwood from Writing Services in McLaughlin Library.

Fortunately, this slip-up can be easily avoided.

“I once wrote an entire essay exam on a question that wasn’t

asked,” said Garwood, who now has several pieces of advice for students that may be facing the same predicament.

“One of the best pieces of advice someone gave me was to read my assignment and circle all the verbs,” Garwood explained. “Ask yourself what it is you are being asked to do: Explain? Analyze?

Compare? Each of these words has a very different meaning and requires a different approach.”

Keep the assignment sheet on hand throughout the writing process and refer to it when you hit a writing or research road block.

The dreaded thesis is unsurprisingly another major downfall of student essays. Garwood recommends asking yourself, “What is the purpose of your paper and what question does it answer?”

Starting and ending sections with topic and summary sentences will keep both you and your eventual

grader on track, and make your thesis clearer.

“Repeating keywords from your thesis can also help remind readers what you’re talking about,” said Garwood. “If you said in your introduction that you were going to talk about sport-utility vehicles, don’t call them ‘crossover family vans’ in the body of the paper.”

Leaving time to plan out your thesis and read your assignment handout carefully is essential to getting the best grade you can.

Breaking up the assignment into smaller tasks, and taking a few minutes each day to accomplish these will keep your mind focused on the assignment, says Garwood.

You’ll also need time after finishing your essay to edit, so prepare to have a couple of extra days before the due date. Benjamin Gottlieb, Professor of Applied

Social Psychology, says that small grammar and spelling mistakes are some of the most common ones he sees in student essays.

“Poor or no punctuation, especially no idea what semi-colons and colons are for, no proofreading, leaving the impression of carelessness, [and] not knowing when to use apostrophes” are just a few of the slip-ups that Gottlieb notices while marking. Gottlieb recommends students purchase a style manual.

“It contains everything you need to know about diction, syntax, grammar, punctuation, [and] there are many on the market.”

Though at times you might like you’re tackling your essay alone, the university provides many services to help you throughout the process.

Handouts for the main referencing styles are available in the library, along with staff and peers who can help you plan and manage your

time, and look over your paper to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Starting in September, students can visit the writing dropin on weekdays and make writing appointments with staff or peers.

You can also get help for finding materials.

“Students who want some advice about searching for books and articles can visit the Ask Us Desk at the front of the library,” said Garwood. “Actually, the Ask Us Desk is a great place to start if you’re not sure what kind of help you need.”

Remember, facing your essay head on before it becomes the dark shadow on your weekends is key.

“Today, you might circle the keywords on your assignment sheet,” said Garwood. “Tomorrow you might spend a few minutes doing a Library search or visiting the Ask Us Desk for help—you could even do that on your way to the Library’s coffee cart.

GETTING AROUND CAMPUS 1 2 3 4 5

MSAC/Sculpture Park 6 The Cannon 7 University Bookstore North Residences Johnston Hall & Green 8 University Centre 9 University Bus Terminal Alumni Stadium 10 South Residences The Bullring

GOING OUT ON THE TOWN 1 2 3 4 5

6 Trappers/Palace/Tabu The Albion Hotel Guelph Concert Theatre 7 Downtown Bus Terminal 8 McCabe’s Irish Pub Jimmy Jazz/Vinyl Van Gogh’s/Salsateria 9 Planet Bean Coffee 10 Greyhound Bus Terminal Doogie’s & Pablo’s

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CITY LIFE

WWW.THEONTARION.COM

A guide to keeping your ear to the ground Listen closely for concert music performances in Guelph Tom Beedham Whenever a new school year approaches, it’s easy to get excited with what’s about to happen in the Guelph music scene. That’s because with the wave of new and returning students that hunker down in the Royal City at the beginning of every September, so too comes an exciting and jam-packed season of music programming catering to their ears.

From touring folk crooners and rock acts to punk shows and noise experiments, there’s a little bit of everything that gets tossed into the mix, but you’ll need to know where to look.

If you want to get beyond the open-mic (and if you don’t, head to a pub downtown) and desire weekly performances from musicians on tour circuits ranging in scale from provincial to international breadth, look no further than Guelph’s local concert promoters. They’ll bring shows to you from venues across the city, including (but not limited to) concert theatres, veteran clubs, bars, nightclubs, and arenas.

Fortnight Music, GAIN Music, and Kazoo! have all proven themselves as reliable sources of shows from critically acclaimed

acts, sometimes showcasing them for free or at “pay what you can” rates while – on the same tours – the groups will sell out bigger venues in major cities.

Apart from their regular concert series, GAIN Music and Kazoo! have also made a tradition of holding annual concert festivals. While GAIN Music Fest was held in March this past school year, multi-night and multi-venue festival Kazoo! Fest has a tendency to fall sometime in the Winter Semester exam period – just something that makes being a keener pay off huge.

Still fairly new to offering shows to the Guelph music scene is Pinball Sessions, a project that brings music and the arcade together at its local shows and even facilitates special recording sessions for the artists it brings into town.

Another newcomer with a singular attitude toward presenting music to Guelphites is Silence, a self described “portal for adventurous new sound events” that is dually a concert venue and an outlet for promotion of its events (which, in addition to in-house performances, include improvisation sessions, “handmade music nights” and workshops).

Its Essex Street location also houses a record shop and a print studio.

Those are the places to look

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The local music scene offers a little bit of everything from folk crooners and rock acts to punk shows and noise experiments. Pictured here is Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs who have played several shows in Guelph over the past few years. to for regular, ongoing concert programming in Guelph, but don’t forget about Hillside – a concert festival held every summer (in addition to a more recently incorporated winter “Inside” edition) that some will swear is synonymous with Guelph. Held annually at Guelph Lake Island, the weekend-long, family-friendly festival has made a name for

offering impressive concert lineups alongside spoken word performances, workshops, drum circles, artisan showcases, and more. Oh, and you can camp on the island, too.

Because The Ontarion generally doesn’t publish preview pieces about upcoming shows, you’ll need to use your resources if you want to keep up to date on what’s happening

musically in the city. Check The Ontarion weekly for ads promoting local shows, as well as Guelph music blog musiclives.ca. The latter aggregates announcements from across the offerings of local promotion company and is updated regularly to keep you up to date.

Otherwise, many of the sources listed about have fairly accessible presences on social media.

Arts on campus and in the community Many avenues to explore creativity in Guelph STaceY aSPiNall The arts are alive and thriving, both on campus and within the community of Guelph. Many students attend the university to pursue a degree in the arts, which might fall under the School of Fine Arts and Music program (SOFAM for short), which is based in Zavitz Hall.

Within this program, student groups such as The Fine Arts Network (FAN), and the Music Student’s Association (MSA), keep everyone up to date and plan events.

The School of English and Theatre Studies (SETS) is another division of the arts on campus, and is also represented by student groups. The English Student’s Society organizes academic and social events, such as trivia nights, career information sessions and book swaps.

The Drama Student’s Federation forms a community for theatre students to be a part of; students

can participate in events such as One Act Play festivals, which present pieces written, directed and run by students each year during Orientation week and again at the beginning of the winter semester (during “Snow-Week”).

While it’s easy to become immersed in the arts directly on campus, it would be a shame to neglect the active arts scene beyond the bubble of campus life.

Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (MSAC) is located just on the edge of campus across from the intersection at Gordon and College; this gallery includes exhibitions from contemporary artists and also boasts the largest outdoor public sculpture park in a public gallery in Canada.

If you continue down Gordon Street, you’ll find yourself in downtown Guelph, which is considered a cultural hub with many cultural institutions reflecting an active arts community.

River Run Centre is the City of Guelph’s performing arts centre,

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The Guelph art scene is always evolving with plenty of galleries scattered across the city.

The Macdonald Stewart Art Centre features the largest outdoor public sculpture park in Canada and is situated on our very own campus. and presents concerts, musicals, plays, and dance.

Ed Video is an artist-run centre devoted to independent media arts. Anyone interested in videobased projects can become a member, register for workshops,

rent equipment and participate in events.

Publication Studio, a print-ondemand publishing studio, and Boarding House Gallery are the newest additions to Guelph’s creative community. Boarding House

Gallery, created in partnership between SOFAM and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, presents contemporary art to the public.

There is no shortage of creativity, both on and off campus; now it’s up to you to explore.

CITY LIFE

Finding the best coffee in Guelph JeSSica avolio If you weren’t hooked on coffee before entering university, you may find yourself newly addicted to this delicious drink. Late-night study sessions, early morning lectures and -page papers are perfectly paired with a hot cup of Joe. As you may know, coffee is a brewed beverage served either hot or cold, and can be made from either Arabica or Robusta beans. Once ripe, coffee “berries” are picked and processed, and then dried in order to get the seeds inside which are roasted to varying degrees. The result of this process is deliciously roasted coffee beans, and when brewed they will offer a stimulating effect on humans as a result of their caffeine content.

Apart from its energizing effects, it also tastes great. But where on campus and in the city can you locate this delightfully brewed beverage?

Well, there are plenty of coffee locations on campus including Tim Horton’s, Starbucks, Williams, Second Cup and Seattle’s Best. The University Centre is a good hub for your Timmies fix, and both Starbucks and Williams are located in the UC as well. Or you could wander to The Bullring to grab a cup of Planet Bean

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brand coffee, a Guelphite favourite. All other coffee locations are dispersed throughout the campus buildings, so your urgent coffee fix can be easily remedied by a quick stroll.

If you get in the habit of frequently buying coffee on campus, make sure to get yourself a stamp card because with  stamps you’ll get a free coffee. If you take the environmentally friendly route and bring your own mug, you’ll only pay the price of a regular-size coffee at any coffee outlets run by Hospitality Services. If you bring your own Mug on Mondays or during “Roll Up the Rim” at Timmies, you’ll get double-stamps on your beverage card, definitely a deal for coffee fanatics.

If you venture off campus and into the city, there are a bucketload of typical chain coffee shops, but there are also many coffee joints unique to Guelph.

Planet Bean is a popular choice that began as a small location in  and quickly grew into three locations throughout Guelph, with their largest hub located downtown on Carden. Their gourmet coffee is fair-trade and certified organic with a wide range of dark to light roasts.

Finding your favourite single origin, blend or decaf roast may take a bit of work since there are so many options, but you’ll definitely enjoy taste-testing them along the way.

The Red Brick Café on Douglas is

another downtown coffee location with an amazing patio that is worth a visit. The Red Brick offers a wide variety of hot and cold beverages along with plenty of other menu items that will excite your taste buds, all while offering a pleasant atmosphere.

The Cornerstone on Carden is a vegetarian and vegan restaurant with vegan and gluten-free desserts to pair with your coffee, while Capistrano Café on Wyndham St. offers the best chai latte in Guelph. All right, a chai-latte this isn’t a coffee suggestion, but this deliciously reputable drink warrants its own special shout-out.

Last, but definitely not least, is With the Grain, a bakery and café on Woolwich that brews Planet Bean coffee with a seemingly extra-special touch (though this “special-touch” is yet to be unearthed). There is no hesitation in naming With the Grain the best coffee in town, and they have scads of delicious baked goods to boot.

With coffee being one of the most consumed drinks in the world, Guelph is definitely not lacking in options. Venture around campus and find your favourite coffee spot to relax and enjoy a hot beverage, or you know, help you pound out that assignment you’ve been procrastinating on.

But don’t hesitate to journey off campus and make your way downtown for a new java experience that is sure to energize more than just your taste buds.

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For the coffee lovers out there, Guelph offers plenty of options for those who enjoy beverages ranging from the typical Timmies or Starbucks, but also for those who seek out a new experience at a non-chain location.

Shopping in Guelph emilY JoNeS In our consumerist-driven society we have a social responsibility to be thoughtful when we shop. If you are new to the city, it takes a little time to know what is out there, and hopefully this article will help you figure out where to go.

Guelph is a city that is wonderfully diverse and community-driven. We have access to all of the chain corporations that you’d see anywhere else, but we also have a great selection of independently owned businesses to support.

You will soon find out how to use the public transit system to get around town and there is a block of corporate businesses close to the university including the Stone Road Mall, Target, Future Shop, etc. But the downtown Guelph area is just as close and is easy to find your way around. We have a downtown that is still thriving, and it is our responsibility

as Guelphites to keep downtown Guelph prosperous.

Take a day and wander around downtown, pop inside all of the little shops and take a look, talk to the owners, and get to know their business philosophies. We have many shops that are focused on environmentally friendly, ethically responsible and culturally sustainable business models, which are great for buying unique pieces of clothing that are well made and that you’ll feel good about buying and wearing.

Guelph is also a very artistic and environmentally responsible community that promotes passion and creativity. If you feel like getting a one-of-a-kind gift for someone, head to one of the Pottery Shops, such as Play with Clay, and make your own gift. Or if you’re looking for something else, there are many more great places to buy gifts for those special occasions.

Some of the best places to shop

downtown for apparel are On the Verge, DLR, Harmony, Shakti and IF footwear boutique. These are places where you can find unique clothing, jewellery, accessories, neat gift ideas and home décor.

One place in Guelph with a wide selection of anything from food to gifts is the Guelph Farmer’s Market;

it is a great way to spend Saturday mornings, and it really allows you to get a sense of the greatness the community of Guelph has to offer. Going there and meeting different locals who are so talented and conscious makes you feel like a part of the community, not just a city dweller.

But before the weather gets

chilly, go and explore the city, find places you feel at home and be there whenever you have a chance. They will become some of your favourite places and will even give you a better idea of where in the city you may want to live when moving off campus in the future.

CITY LIFE

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Guelph, sober

Sights and sounds for those under 19 colleeN mcdoNell

Fun doesn’t always start at .

If you’re underage and living in Guelph, there are plenty of offcampus options to explore both in the day and at night.

If you’re into music, well you’re in for a treat. The Royal City has a seemingly endless calendar of concerts and band shows for every genre. Check out the Guelph Jazz Festival Sept.  – , which is celebrating its th anniversary this year. Every day at the festival you can find innovative jazz artists and creative improvised music in a variety of community settings.

Nuit Blanche Guelph also occurs on the Saturday of the festival, which features many types of visual, collaborative, and performance art all night long on Sept. .

For those interested in writing, literature, or spoken word there is the Eden Mills Writers Festival on Sept. . You can meet some well-known authors – this year, for example, Joseph Boyden and

Thomas King are already confirmed. Getting to Eden Mills is no problem – shuttles run to and from the university throughout the day.

When your wallet feels a little heavier, you can also venture out in the day for some shopping. There is of course the Stone Road Mall, but if you are feeling more adventurous, check out Guelph’s surplus of thrift and specialty stores around town. Almost no one walks out of Dis-A-Ray downtown without an interesting find or story or visits the Nutty Chocolatier without satisfying a serious sweet tooth.

Speed River is also a great place to go with friends, whether you want to play some Frisbee or go for a picnic. While you’re there, check out the Boathouse for some ice cream or rent a canoe or kayak for the day!

At night, you can check out Guelph’s two Cineplex theatres in the west and south ends, or the Bookshelf Cinema on Quebec St. At this smaller theatre you can see movies for  with a membership or  without (there are free

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If you are unsure of what to do in Guelph under the age of 19, there is plenty to do that membership cards in The Ontarion office). The Bookshelf mostly plays current films, many being independent or documentaries.

The hockey aficionados will be happy to hear that Guelph’s OHL hockey team, the Storm, play many

home games during their season.

Tickets are pretty economical, usually less than  per student.

The art scene never sleeps in Guelph, so also keep an eye open for exhibits around town, such as ones at Ed Video. Most are free

or Pay What You Can (PWYC), and its also a great place to meet people.

If you’re in Guelph and you’re underage, don’t worry; the best memories don’t always come at the end of a bottle.

The Guelph nightlife JeSSica avolio The large population of university students inhabiting the city drives Guelph’s vibrant nightlife, and as a result there are a wide variety of bars, clubs and pubs to choose from. This bar-scene is often identified as one of the best places to party in Southwestern Ontario, drawing in visitors from surrounding cities who flock to the bar along with the students that typically frequent them. If you are new to Guelph’s nightlife, there are plenty of places to choose from that will suit your interests.

If you are into clubbing and getting your dance-on, check out Trappers Alley and the Palace. Trappers, as locals call it, is located on the main floor of this building and will often be packed to the brim with university students who like to party.

Just above Trappers is the Palace which pumps out top  and hip hop while offering a huge dance floor and dancing cages.

Jimmy Jazz, named after the Clash song, is a great “dive” bar featuring live entertainment, trivia nights and one of the best outdoor patios in Guelph. This location is usually inhabited by

locals, especially those heavily interested in music who compete for free beer during “Name That Tune” every Wednesday.

If you want to hit a hip spot with a rich history, The Albion Hotel offers different options for their diverse clientele.

You can pay a visit to “Thursgays” - the unofficial gay night every Thursday, Fresh* Fridays which pumps tunes from the s, s and s, and Get the Funk Out! which features Funk, Motown and Disco ditties every Saturday.

Alternatively, if you’re into country music (honestly, even if you aren’t), make sure you organize an outing to The Stampede Ranch. A vast majority of patrons in the bar will be decked out in cowboy boots and plaid, and those brave enough will be riding Brutus the mechanical bull. The Ranch also runs their own shuttle bus every Thursday during the school year, which is definitely worth taking advantage of when trying to get back to campus after a late night.

If you are in the mood for a pub experience, try out McCabe’s Irish Pub & Grill or Bobby O’Brien’s, both being Guelph headquarters for St. Paddy’s Day celebrations.

PhoTo BY WeNdY ShePheRd

bar, club or pub that will meet your interests.

Alternatively, if you want to visit an English Pub, the Pennywhistle is loaded with English-inspired decor and a draft beer selection that is downright British.

When your palate is craving a nice cold craft beer, Baker Street Station and The Woolwich Arrow both offer an impressive selection of microbrews. The Wooly, as Guelphites call it, was actually inspired by the Ontario microbrewery “explosion” that occurred in the late s, and their beer menu incites this.

If you are feeling fancy and

want to explore somewhere a little more upscale, the NV Lounge offers an elaborate cocktail menu with a wide selection drink choices, and in the South end, Manhattans Pizza Bistro and Music Club offers a romantic atmosphere with a snazzy martini menu often paired with jazz or blues playing in the background.

Trying to catch a sports game?

Frank & Steins offers a classic bar atmosphere with cheap drinks and plenty of television screens. In the mood to dance to some live music? Doogie’s and its

accompanying bar, Pablo’s, often has a chill crowd and live bands at least four nights a week. Not sure of your mood? Van Gogh’s has three floors, all of which have different crowds and varying atmospheres and genres of music.

There is definitely no shortage of options when hitting up the Guelph bar scene and nightlife, and the ones listed here are just a few of many more choices.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just take a stroll downtown and you’re sure to bump into a location that piques your interest.

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U OF G CAMPUS GUIDE AC - Athletics Centre AC DOME - Athletic Centre and Gryphon Dome ANNU - Animal Science & Nutrition ALEX - Alexander Hall AXEL - Axelrod BIO - Biodiversity Institute of Ontario BookStore (The University) - For buying books and memorabilia on campus

Brass Taps, The - On-campus pub Bullring, The - On-campus living room and coffee

shop

at the University of Guelph

BWH - Blackwood Hall CAF - Central Animal Facility Cannon, the - Also known as Old Jeremiah Creelman Hall - Marketplace-style eating CRSC - Crop Science Daily Grind Coffeehouse - Located above the

The U of G webscape offers freedoms, but not without responsibilities

DH - Day Hall East Residences - Suite-style living for first to

Tom Beedham

Bookstore

upper-year students East Village - Townhouses, usually for upper-year students EBA - Environmental Biology Annex  ECB - Edmund C. Bovey Building FS - Food Science FVMI - OVC - Former VMI Grad Lounge - Lounge and eatery, not just for grad students GRHM - Graham Hall Gryphs Sports Lounge or “Gryphs” - Eatery above Gryphon Sports Centre HUTT - H.L. Hutt Building JHNH - Johnston Hall Johnston Hall - Residence building for first years Johnston Green - The “front lawn” of campus JTP - John T. Powell Building LA - Landscape Architecture Building LA Pit - Eating area located in Lennox/Addington LABL - Lab Animal Building Lambton - Residence building Lennox/Addington - Residence building MAC/Macdonald Hall - Residence building Macdonald Institute Coffee Shop - Grab & Go kiosk for snacks and coffee MACK - MacKinnon Building MACKS Coffee Shop - Grab & Go kiosk for snacks and coffee MACN - MacNaughton MACS - Macdonald Stewart Hall MASS - Massey Hall MCLN - J.D. MacLachlan Mills Hall - Residence building MINS - Macdonald Institute MLIB - McLaughlin Library Mountain Dining Hall - Located in South Residence MSAC - Macdonald Stewart Art Centre OVC - Ontario Veterinary College OVC Dining Hall - Located in the Lifetime Learning Centre Pages Coffeehouse - Located on the nd floor of the University Bookstore PAHL - OVC Pathobiology AHL Prairie Dining Hall - Located in South Residence REYN - Reynolds Building RICH - Richards Building ROZH - Rozanski Hall SCIE - Science Complex South Residences - Includes Maritime/Prairie/ Mountain TCI - TransCanada Institute TEXT - Textiles and Design THRN - Albert A. Thornbrough Building UC - University Centre University Centre Food Court - Located on the main floor of the University Centre West Residence - Fully furnished, paid per-semester rez Windows Café - Bistro in South Rez WMEM - War Memorial Hall ZAV - Zavitz Hall ZOOA - Zoology Annex  ZOOB - Zoology Annex 

Connecting with any university in  entails more than enrolment.

Count access to information updated in real time and (sometimes) the convenience of participating in class discussions from the comfort of your home as you sit in your pajamas among those implications, but don’t think those offered freedoms validate entitlement.

Student web life comes with its share of responsibilities and guidelines.

When coming to Guelph, the first website you should learn your way around as a student is the university’s homepage. It’s even a good strategy to make this your homepage, as the interface works as a portal to other informative sources.

As well as a news feed keeping you updated on campus events, research initiatives, student achievements, and more happenings at the university (read: notices on school closures related to weather); a local weather forecast widget; and a map of the university campus (make sure you check this out, or you won’t be the first to go to Macdonald for a lecture that’s actually being held at MacNaughton); the site also acts as a portal to important online resources, some of which you’ll want to connect with daily.

Your U of G e-mail can be accessed through Gryph Mail, the university’s official route of communicating with its students.

Administrators, professors, and other U of G faculty – as well as classmates – will have access to you through this avenue of communication, so expect to receive (but don’t rely on) messages about everything from due dates for assignments and updates on class readings to information about course selection periods through here.

You’ll want to stay on top of this; the “I didn’t check my email” excuse doesn’t fly. The university considers it your responsibility to keep an eye on this account.

One case in point: if you sign

a book out from McLaughlin library and you’re not one for writing due dates down, know that the library will be in touch with your Gryph Mail account to alert you when the due date is soon approaching. It’ll also link you to where you’ll need to go in order to renew your rental.

Don’t mess this up. One Guelph student accrued , in library fines for failing to return  books last year, and the university prevents any student exhibiting a failure to make good on their fines from receiving their diploma.

Then there’s Courselink, where you’ll find online

resources (slideshows for lectures, digital copies of important documents, class discussions, grades, etc.) for any courses you might have boasting an online component.

Lastly, but definitely not least importantly, there is WebAdvisor – the point of access to your course timetable and selecting classes for upcoming semesters.

Updated every semester, WebAdvisor also allows you to keep track of your academic standing as you progress through your career at the U of G. Now that you know what to look for, all that’s left is to check out the homepage for yourself and get familiar. Happy surfing.

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Online interactions a useful tool for networking STacEY aSPiNall You’re already all over Twitter, Instagram, perhaps Tumblr too - and who, these days, doesn’t have a Facebook account? Social media undoubtedly forms a large part of many student’s lives, and in our increasingly connected online world, your social media presence can have an effect upon the future of your professional life.

Here are some tactics that students can use to manage their online identity while using these tools for career development.

According to Melissa C. Martin, career coach and social media expert at careerealism.com, it is important to decide what you

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want to get out of social media and have a plan. “Do you want to make job leads? Do you want to make connections? Do you want to network? You should lay that out in concrete steps,” said Martin.

Time management is also important, as the advantages of social media are not instant. “A lot of people, when they embark on social media, and are starting to use it as a career development tool ... [they] think it’s going to be instantaneous,” said Martin.

“And it does take time to build your network of contacts.”

So why should students spend time using social media? One of the benefits is that it allows for opportunities to network on a global scale. Martin emphasized that “Social media doesn’t replace old fashioned networking, but it certainly enhances

[it]. Employers would rather hire someone they know or trust than a stranger. So here’s a graduate’s chance to get online, and come up with a personal brand, and then reach out to particular targets, and really sell themselves as having something unique.”

You can think of the Internet as your resume, which you’re using to reach out to people on a global basis, and social networking contacts are your new references, explained Martin.

Which websites you decide to use depends on personal preferences and how you would like to present yourself. For example, LinkedIn is a popular professional network that is more formal than micro-blogging site Twitter. Many hiring managers and recruiters are on LinkedIn, so it is important to present a professional and coherent profile:

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“Have a professional photo, have a very captivating headline, make sure you get a lot of keywords in your summary, ask people to recommend you...” said Martin.

It is important to ensure that your online identity consistently reflects a professional attitude.

Wayne Greenaway, founder and career mentor at Career Aviators, said, “I think one of the most important things is [to ensure that] any references to you that are on the web, you want to make sure are presenting you in the best possible way.” Greenaway mentioned that one of his clients in the past had various party pictures published online, which gave potential employers the wrong impression. It may be a good idea to keep some aspects of university life private, and edit what information you choose to make available on the web.

Employers are looking to get a sense of a potential job candidate’s unique identity and what they have to offer. “Because one thing employers don’t do is hire generic employees [...] so you want to really captivate them with your unique sales points,” said Martin. “You want to be memorable somehow and capture a niche ... You want to capture something that really is your identity online, that’s professional, that’s consistent and that’s really authentic about you, because otherwise you might get passed over in favour of someone else.”

Keep these points in mind next time you’re online. However, while social media can prove to be a useful tool, don’t hide behind a screen and invest all of your time online: it’s often the real life connections that are most meaningful.

PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

Knowing your rights as a tenant JESSica avOliO When renting for the first time, it is important to know your rights as a tenant. The Ontario Residential Tenancies Act outlines the legal rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords in the Province of Ontario to assure that both parties know what they are entitled to. Familiarizing yourself with these rights can help you avoid landlord-tenant disputes in the future. . It is important as a tenant to keep all records, especially financial ones. If there is ever a dispute between you and your landlord, having copies of these records can make or break your case. You can also request receipts for any payments given to your landlord, including rent. Receipts are especially important if you pay rent in cash, and they will be helpful when it comes time to file your taxes. . As a tenant, you are also not

required by law to give the landlord post-dated cheques. At the start of a new lease, your landlord can ask for first and last months rent (or a rent deposit), but any other charges such as commission, key deposits, etc. are illegal. . When you leave your living accommodations at the end of a lease, you have the right to ask for the annual interest amount of your rent deposit. . Rent itself can only be increased once every  months, and any time rent is increased, the landlord must give you  days written notice.

The landlord can only increase rent according to the legal maximum guideline published by the Ontario government, usually an average increase of  to  per cent. . If you are signed to a oneyear lease, you are legally committed to that period. If you want to end your tenancy early, you must notify your landlord  days in advance. For tenants without a lease, you are considered to have a “monthto-month” tenancy, but by law you still need to give  days notice before leaving.

. A landlord cannot enter your home without notice unless it is an emergency, or they have your permission.

If they do want to enter your home, they must provide a reason and a time (between  a.m. and  p.m.) and give you at least  hours notice. . You can verbally request repairs in your unit at any point. If your landlord refuses, you can request again in writing with a date and signature (keep a copy of this letter). If your landlord continues to refuse repairs, call your City Building Inspectors Office and make an appointment for them to come out and look at the problem and keep a copy of the inspectors report for your records. If you continue to have a problem, contact the Investigation and Enforcement Unit, the Community Legal Clinic, your City Councillor, or apply for a rent reduction on the basis of lack of repair being a reduction of services. .

Housing temperatures are also set under municipal bylaws. If you are not the cause for cold temperatures (keeping

your windows open, setting the thermostat too low, etc.), then the landlord has the responsibility to maintain the minimum temperature set by your municipality, which for Guelph is C (F). If the landlord is not meeting minimums, you can report the issues to the city’s Building Department Property Standards. . Landlords also cannot prevent you from having a pet, and can only tell you to get rid of your pet if it is dangerous, causes allergic reactions, or causes problems for other tenants or landlords. Even if your lease contains a “no pet” clause, if the pet is not a problem then the landlord cannot enforce it, and you do not have to move or get rid of your pet unless the Board issues a written order to do so. . The following are grounds for serving an eviction notice: () If the landlord personally needs the apartment to live in, () if the landlord plans to demolish or extensively renovate the unit, () if you did not pay your rent on time even if you’ve been given a Notice of

Termination, () if you or your guests cause damage and have not repaired/paid for damage, () if you impair the safety or interfere with the reasonable enjoyment of the building for other tenants, () if your apartment is overcrowded breaking municipal by-laws or health standards, or () if you and your guests partake in illegal acts on the property.

If at any point you experience issues with your landlord, contact the Landlord and Tenant Board to resolve these disputes.

For more information on this topic, contact your municipality, the campus legal clinic, the Landlord and Tenant Board, or the Community Legal Education Ontario.

o the

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Variety of media outlets open to student contributions STacEY aSPiNall “The medium is the message.” If you haven’t already, you’ll probably come across media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s infamous quote at some point in your university career. Whatever your medium of choice - in print, online, or on the radio - there are a variety of media outlets on campus, reflecting a variety of different perspectives at the University of Guelph.

The Ontarion is University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper - and if you’re not already aware, the Back to School Guide is what you’re reading right now. The Ontarion is published weekly in print throughout the fall and winter semesters, and bi-weekly through most of the summer. The editorial team is responsible for writing articles to fill the Arts & Culture, News, Sports & Health, Science & Tech, Life and Opinion sections, but also relies on an active volunteer base to contribute articles, photography and copyediting; volunteer meetings are held every Thursday at :.

Thecannon.ca has been an online community since , and is co-owned by the

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Central Student Association and the Guelph Campus Co-operative.

Thecannon is best known for its comprehensive classifieds section, where students can post ads and search for student housing, used textbooks, and rideshares. It also features event listings and news, and encourages volunteers to get involved through contributing news stories, opinion pieces, photography and videography.

CFRU . FM, the campus community radio, broadcasts over  weekly shows programmed and hosted by local students and community members. They aim to serve the community, “engage, inform and entertain” listeners, “empower and teach” volunteers, and focus on community events and activities. CFRU welcomes volunteers from a variety of backgrounds in order to promote diversity.

The Peak is an “alternative” online and print magazine published five times a year in Guelph.

The Peak’s mandate, as stated on their website, is to “focus our energies on publishing under reported news and analysis from the local anarchist and antagonistic movements in Southern Ontario.”

Apart from news-driven campus media, there are also many smaller publications that publish academic essays and research. Borders is the Undergraduate College of Arts Research Journal, dedicated to facilitating discussion of physical, cultural,

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PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

There are a variety of media outlets on campus ranging from radio to print, and all are welcoming of new volunteers. Participating in any form of on-campus media is a great way to stay involved in your campus community and get your voice heard. temporal and theoretical boundaries and divisions, and can be found in MacKinnon. It’s published once every semester.

Footnotes is the Undergraduate Feminist Journal, and explores feminist theory, gender, sexuality, race, queer theory, identity politics, class systems, and marginalization.

ARTHattack is

the undergraduate art history journal, and holds an annual conference at the time of publication, often in March. Agora, the Undergraduate Philosophy Journal, provides an opportunity for students to “share their own ideas, and to question new ones.”

There are a variety of media outlets and publications on campus,

so be sure to check them out to stay updated on what’s happening at the university. If you feel that there’s room for improvement, keep in mind that many eagerly encourage volunteer contributions. If you want your voice heard, get in touch with an editor; it could be the first step towards a passion for journalism.

Canon of the cannon History and unwritten rules of Old Jeremiah JESSica avOliO You may be familiar with Old Jeremiah, the large piece of artillery currently stationed on campus in Branion Plaza. It is a landmark for University of Guelph students and is consistently layered in a thick blanket of paint. As a longstanding tradition, the cannon is a special beacon of memories for past and present University of Guelph students.

Manufactured in the s and last fired in , it is now filled with cement and used as a canvas for student artwork. Originally an antique British naval run that was rumoured to have been a part of the War of , its barrel was eventually plugged and the cannon was brought to campus in remembrance of those who had lost their lives after the first world war.

After arriving to campus, the cannon was exposed to a rivalry between the Aggies and the Engineering students, and as a result, it travelled across campus many times, becoming the butt of many jokes. One time, it ended up on top of MacNaughton, and at another point it disappeared, only to be found at the University of Waterloo.

The Administration was fed up with Old Jeremiah being constantly relocated, so they decided to cement it down in Branion Plaza in the south end of campus. But in a final act of opposition, students pointed the cannon towards the fourth floor of the University Centre, right where the senior administration worked. A recent relocation occurred this summer though, as the university moved the cannon in order to complete renovations in Branion Plaza. Old Jeremiah was only moved about  metres north of its original location, and it continues to point towards the University Centre, a direction it’s been pointing for the past  years.

In terms of its appearance, the cannon had enjoyed its original look until the s when a student came up with the idea of painting a message on it. Thus, the act of “painting the Cannon” was born and has since become a tradition among students.

In the fall of , Dawn Owen, Master of Fine Arts student and teacher, began to strip the paint off Old Jeremiah and over a week’s time revealed its original exterior.

Since completion the tradition of painting the cannon has resumed.

Unfortunately, the iconic cannon does not come with an

cOURTESY PHOTO FROM UNivERiSTY OF GUElPH

The Cannon, also known as Old Jeremiah, acts as a student canvas for everything ranging from campus events to proposals. Make sure you paint or decorate the cannon before you graduate, as is it a rite of passage for all University of Guelph students. official rulebook, but students at the university are still expected to abide by the following rules: () Anyone is allowed to paint the cannon. () You can only paint the cannon when the sun is down. You also have to guard it overnight until classes begin the next morning.

If you don’t guard your territory, others are free to paint over it. () After classes begin, the cannon cannot be re-painted until that night. () You must avoid use of profanity or coarse language on the cannon.

The canon is seen as a material representation of one’s experience

at the University of Guelph. You’re welcome to paint everything from birthdays, to proposals, to campus events on Old Jeremiah in order to be a part of this longstanding tradition. Before you graduate, make sure you whip out those paintbrushes and take part in this legendary experience.

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Sustainability at the University of Guelph JESSica avOliO In order to live a sustainable life, we must meet our needs without compromising those of earth’s future generations.

The University of Guelph boasts being a leader of environmental sustainability while striving to reduce our ecological footprint.

There are several practices such as recycling, composting and energy conservation to assure we are being green, and through several programs, the university implements many of these strategies.

The Sustainability Office pushes others to take part in the university’s devotion to protecting the environment.

Their website offers a bunch of helpful green tips in order to aid your journey to being environmentally conscious; here are just a few: t "WPJE PWFSCVZJOH FTQFDJBMMZ food. t "WPJE TJOHMF TFSWF KVJDF BOE pop bottles. t 6TF BVUPNBUJD IBOE ESZFST not paper towels. t #VZ TFDPOE IBOE t "WPJE QVSDIBTJOH EJTQPTBCMF products. t 6TF SFVTBCMF XBUFS CPUUMFT instead of disposables. t ,FFQ DBOWBT CBHT JO B backpack, purse or car for shopping bags. t 6TF B SFVTBCMF NFOTUSVBM DVQ instead of tampons. t 1SJOU BTTJHONFOUT PO TDSBQ paper. (Double-check with your prof first.) t %PO U MFBWF UIF UBQ SVOOJOH while you brush your teeth. t 1VU B TXFBUFS PO EPO U crank the heat. t 5VSO ZPVS DPNQVUFS PGG XIFO you’re away from it for more

than ďœ˛ďœ° minutes. t 8BML DBSQPPM BOE VTF QVCMJD transit. t 5BLF UIF TUBJST JOTUFBE PG UIF elevator. t 5VSO UIF MJHIUT PGG XIFO you’re away. t $IPPTF UP CVZ MPDBMMZ QSPduced goods and food to avoid the emissions caused by transportation.

Not only can you implement many of these tips into your daily life, but there are plenty of other campaigns on campus which promote sustainability so you can feel better about your impact on the environment.

The “i am reusableâ€? campaign costs only ďœ¤ďœľ and with it you receive a Hospitality Services “i am reusableâ€? card and the ability to reuse green containers.

When being served food, ask for a green container and hand your card to the cashier when paying, and when you are done with the container, drop it into the return bin and receive a new card. This process not only reduces waste, but eliminates the task of having to wash dishes or carry them around.

Hospitality Services will also offer waste reduction discounts if you bring your own reusable dishes when purchasing food or drinks. Cashiers can pre-weigh your container and then subtract the packaging weight from the price.

If you use your own plate or bowl while buying an entree, you can either get a .ďœ˛ďœľ cent discount or a stamp on your Enviro Card, something that will get you a free entree after ďœąďœ° stamps. In order to be even more “green,â€? you can bring your own cutlery with you.

If you drink a lot of coffee or tea, consider bringing your own mug because you can get any hot beverage for the price of a regular instead of a large, no

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matter the size. Every Monday is Muggy Mondays, a day where you can get double stamps on your Value Beverage Card when using your own reusable mug.

If you don’t use a Tim Horton’s cup during Roll Up the Rim, you get an extra stamp on your Beverage Card, and with ďœąďœ° beverage card stamps, you can get a free brewed coffee, tea, craft pop, juice of milk. There is also the European Coffee Card for fancier drinks, and after ďœąďœ° stamps you can get any European specialty coffee for free.

When it’s move-out time for students, a lot of extra junk can accumulate, and Move Out Madness is a helpful program that can help reduce waste. It is a program run at the end of every academic year in order to help students deal with all their extra stuff including an oncampus small item and clothing swap, clothing and food donations to local food banks, and a free large-item pickup for students who live off-campus.

If you need to safely dispose of computers and equipment that are no longer working, the university will collect all computer and electronic waste for proper recycling. In the MacNaughton and Science Complex loading dock, there is a drop-off area marked with a sign where you can drop off old electronics; a convenient and eco-friendly option to disposing old gadgets.

The campus has also upgraded any outdated and energy-inefficient technologies such as heating/cooling systems and lighting in order to reduce any wasted energy and resources.

With a multitude of options that the university has to offer, it’s easy to make greener decisions on a daily basis. As a student, you can strive for a greener campus and a greener world by making sustainable choices. Even something as

PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

The University of Guelph makes it easy to live green. Keep and eye out for these bins to help do your part by taking part in the “i am reusable campaign�. simple as recycling, instead of throwing a recyclable item in a wastebasket, can be a positive step to reducing your ecological

footprint. For further information on becoming more “green,� visit the Sustainability Office website.

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Integrating your phone into academic life Apps you can use during the school year without feeling guilty

likewise university-specific, and provides many tools that Guelph students can take advantage of.

AlicjA GrzAdkowskA It’s no secret that phone applications can do a lot for you. There are apps that aim to improve your mental health, keep you toned with a variety of physical activities, and let you know when your menstrual cycle begins and ends (so important), while others just distract you for a few minutes while you’re awkwardly waiting for a friend in a public place or don’t want to pay attention in class. There are even apps whose goal is to improve your school life, socially, academically, and financially.

EVErNoTE APP “The catchphrase I use is, ‘Any feature a student would need,’ so bus information, events, campus news, library search, [directory] information, emergency contacts, and maps,” explained the developer. After getting feedback from students last year, and with the recent updates to cellphones’ screen sizes and resolutions, Natsvlishvili is now improving his app accordingly to adapt to the changes.

now the bus feature uses static images.

And while some apps influence students to get sidetracked in lecture, Natsvlishvili says his app is information-based, and will not be a major distraction in class.

“It’s all just information,” said the student, who is coming back this semester from his co-op at Blackberry where he worked on the Z-. “Students don’t really care about information unless they need it.”

A note-taking and schedule feature are also available on the GryPhone app, which is a selling point of several other applications that organize your hectic agenda for you.

to keep an agenda for more than a week, and are constantly attached to their phone anyways, these apps may be helpful in organizing your school life as you constantly have your virtual agenda available at your fingertips. It’s also much harder to lose a phone than an agenda.

ErUdio APP

Reference apps

iHoMEwork APP Note-taking apps like Evernote (available for the Android and the iPhone) might also be a good option for students who prefer to take note using electronically and have a hard time remembering where they stuffed their lecture notes from last class.

Budget apps

isTUdiEz Pro APP

Homework help apps

GrYPHoNE APP

University-specific apps

Universities have recently gotten on the bandwagon of creating apps specific to their campuses. According to Tornike Natsvlishvili, the U of G student who developed the GryPhone app, and Guelph has also started working on their own official app, which is currently in the research phase. Natsvlishvili’s app is

MY HoMEwork APP A few updates to the tools that the app provides will include adding daily cafeteria menus, and using Google Maps to track bus locations at all times, whereas

Two of the more popular homework-oriented apps are myHomework and iStudiezPro, though other apps like Erudio and iHomework have similar functions. Organizing due dates, tracking your homework, and showing your schedule are the primary features of these types of applications, which begs the question if they’re necessary, since agendas are still a thing.

For students who can’t seem

financial budgeting where you input monthly bills and spending, and barcode scanning features to get prices for anything, anywhere.

While not specifically targeted to university students, budget apps can be a good idea for students who are transitioning to an independent lifestyle after having their parents buy them groceries and other material goods for the last  years.

Grocery store-centered apps in particular might be helpful when going to No Frills or Zehrs for the first time by yourself.

There are tons of options available for all phone systems, and these apps include everything from grocery store-style lists,

Some of these apps are clearly not going to help you get ahead, like the Ultimate Dinopedia, the Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever. Nonetheless, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Encyclopedia Britannica, Google Translate, and Thesaurus Rex are some of the most useful reference apps, according to Forbes, and can come in handy whether you need the definition of a complicated philosophical theory, the correct spelling of a sentence in your Spanish class, or another word for “demonstrates” in your Modern English Lit essay.

While they’re some of the simplest apps, you may find yourself using them more than others for school-related tasks.

Google Translate has after all been by your side throughout all those high school French classes.

In the end, use what you’re familiar and comfortable with as those apps will be the most beneficial for you.

STUDENT RESOURCE GROUPS A R C (ARC) The Aboriginal Resource Centre provides a warm and caring environment for all Aboriginal students and the community. Programs and services include: Aboriginal student advising and support, programs to help with the transition to university life, study support and tutoring assistance, bursary and scholarship information, cultural and traditional workshops, and research support.

A The Athletics Department provides a diverse spectrum of physical activities, including intercollegiate sports, intramurals, interest classes, clubs and unstructured recreation. A wide range of facilities and extensive building hours provide all students with the opportunity to become involved.

community interested in learning about issues regarding people of colour around the world.

C E  G C Community Engagement & Global Citizenship fosters leadership, community engagement and social change through active collaboration and meaningful learning experiences. This unit challenges students to imagine what is possible, to seize opportunities to deepen their learning, and to effect individual and collective transformation as active, global citizens.

C- E  C S

The Campus Community Police are committed to enhancing the safety of students, staff, faculty and visitors to the University of Guelph.

The Co-operative Education & Career Services (CECS) department is an essential on-campus resource for students and alumni, providing career guidance through programs and services to help you achieve your career potential. CECS provides assistance in all stages of the job search process from building the perfect resume, performing a stellar interview, to accepting job offers.

Assistance is also available in determining what to do with your degree and how to plan your career path. Recruit Guelph, the University of Guelph’s online job board, is also available through CECS, giving you access to full-time, co-op, part-time and summer jobs at your fingertips.

C S A (CSA)

C  D S

The Central Student Association is a not-forprofit, run by students for students, that works to serve and protect the rights of undergraduate students at the University of Guelph.

They represent collective interests on issues as diverse as public transit, neighborhood relations, and accessible education.

The CSA listens to student concerns, whether academic, community, social or environmental, and take action. They also seek to protect and advance student rights on campus, in the community, and on a provincial and cross-Canada scale.

Counselling and Disability Services fosters academic success, personal development, and spiritual growth through the provision of responsive and proactive programs and services. The department is comprised of three units: the Centre for Students with Disabilities, Counselling Services and the Multi-Faith Resource Centre.

CO CampOut is a student-driven support/ social group that provides a safe space for students who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Transsexual, Queer, Not-Straight; those who chose not to identify with a label; and/or those who are questioning their sexual orientation.

C P

C  N S The Centre for New Students supports incoming undergraduate students in their transition to the university and throughout their first year of study. During Orientation Week they collaborate with more than one hundred campus partners in delivering a range of events and activities designed to expose new students to the rich network of opportunities that exist on campus.

C  S  D The CSD offers specialized programs and services to students with disabilities registered at the University of Guelph (full-time or part-time undergraduate and graduate).

Their advisors, support staff, Peer Helpers and volunteers work with students, faculty and staff in the provision of programs and services designed to assist students with disabilities in participating fully in university life, and in maximizing campus accessibility.

G R C  G E  D (GRCGED) GRCGED is a student funded, collectively run resource centre for people of all or no genders.

They advocate anti-oppression issues within a feminist framework, recognizing that issues of gendered oppression consist of struggles against all systems of domination. They offer a relaxing, comfortable space and provide resources and support for students, staff, faculty and community members, who can use their extensive library, computers and other accessible technologies, buy traditional and alternative menstrual products, attend workshops and other public events, or become a trained volunteer or collective member. If you are in crisis, you can also access peer support, referrals and a private room.

H  P C The Health and Performance Centre (HPC) offers a wide range of diagnostic, rehabilitation and health promotion services, including physiotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic and sports medicine. The services are offered on a fee for service basis - many of which are covered by the student health plan.

C.J. M C

H R  E O (HREO)

The C.J. Munford Centre functions as a resource facility for students of colour of varying backgrounds. The Centre focuses on issues of diversity, race, and other significant factors relevant to the lives of people of colour.

The centre houses a small lending library, as well as a safe space, events, public programming throughout the year, workshops, discussions and counseling support. Though the centre is a volunteer driven organization for students of colour, it is open to everyone on campus and individuals within the Guelph

The role of the Human Rights and Equity Office is to help maintain an environment within which all persons, regardless of their personal characteristics, feel that they are treated with dignity and respect. Their staff, together with a large number of interested University community members, works toward meeting the University’s commitment to protecting and upholding the human rights of every individual and to providing special programs to end the effects of historical disadvantage and to achieve equity in all areas of University life.

T L C The Learning Commons is based on a partnership model designed to support and enhance undergraduate and graduate student learning, writing, research, numeracy, and technology at the University of Guelph.

Our core services are located on the first floor of the McLaughlin Library in recognition of the Library as the central gathering place for students to study, engage in writing and research, and learn in collaborative settings.

staffed by trained student peers offering health education and information on a variety of health and lifestyle topics.

S H  A C (SHAC)

Multi-Faith Resources consists of a team of leaders or representatives from a number of different faiths, all working together to meet the religious and spiritual needs of the university community. Multi-Faith Resources are committed to promoting friendliness, religious understanding, harmony in diversity, and spiritual growth on campus.

The Student Help and Advocacy Centre is a student run advocacy and referral centre that provides a safe space for students to ask questions and get information. SHAC staff and volunteers will assist students in a confidential and compassionate manner to provide them with the information they need.

SHAC strives to eliminate the discrimination against people facing all forms of oppression as well as the stigma of asking for help. Their goals as an organization are to work hard to help advocate for the rights of the oppressed as well as to aid as many people as possible in finding the resources they need to be successful in their endeavors.

O C L

S H S

Off Campus Living works closely with students, residents, City staff, landlords, and City Councillors to help facilitate communication and to ease the way for students who live in Guelph. They also provide a range of programs and services to support students in making the transition to off campus living, in navigating new relationships with landlords, house mates and neighbours and, through the Information Desk, finding their way on campus and in the local community.

Student Housing Services provides residence space and services for over  students as well as two locations for students with families. Student Housing aims to promote students’ personal and academic success by providing communities staffed by teams who respond to student needs.

M-F R

O  I A The Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA) serves the campus community by fostering an environment of cultural competency and diversity. At the intersection of academic and co-curricular learning the OIA offers intentionally designed programming and services that foster leadership and community development within an intercultural and international context. OIA is home to the Aboriginal Student Advisor, the Aboriginal Resource Centre, Chroma, the LINK program, the International Student Advisor, and many programs, services, and awareness campaigns.

OUT OUTline is the University of Guelph’s resource and support service specializing in questions relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. The OUTline website was created to provide you with information about the services we offer and connect you to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer, two-spirit, ally resources and support in Guelph and beyond.

S L Student Life supports students in the many transitions they experience - from the time they are admitted until they graduate.

They are committed to the development of the whole student and, as such, help students explore their capacity for leadership, overcome barriers to learning, assume the responsibilities of a global citizen, engage in campus and community life, and contribute toward meaningful change.

S S N The Student Support Network, an after hours confidential, non-judgmental listening & support service is a program offered

by Counselling Services which is managed by a professional and delivered by a team of dedicated students who receive extensive training.

U A I C (UAIC) The Undergraduate Academic Information Centre, located in the University Centre, is a resource hub that provides general academic information to undergraduate students and acts as a referral centre to other campus resources.

W C P C Offers individual counselling sessions to help support students as they work through the personal challenges that impair their ability to succeed at school and in other areas of their lives.

S W Safe Walk is a student-run organization dedicated to providing people on campus with a safe and reliable escort after dark. This service is free of charge. To access, use the free SafeWalk button on any Bell pay phone, use the emergency blue pole phones located around campus, or approach a pair of walkers.

S H S Student Health Services supports student’s

academic success by providing comprehensive medical and health services to students and their immediate families. The health clinic staff includes: physicians, a psychiatrist, nurses, a dietitian, an Addiction Counsellor, and a Health Educator. In addition to the clinic, we have a Wellness Centre

The Student Health Wellness Centre is a resource Centre at the University of Guelph.

It provides information on alcohol consumption, body image, eating disorders, drugs, smoking, human rights, LGBTQ issues, mental health, sexual health, physical health, nutrition and spirituality.

W’ C S I The Women’s Campus Safety Initiative promotes the safety of women on campus. WCSI funding has been a vital infusion of dollars into initiatives that address the safety needs of women. Funding is used to support programs, services and initiatives that address issues of women’s safety, sexual harassment and violence against women.

W S Writing Services support University of Guelph students of all levels in becoming stronger, more confident writers and they also assist departments and faculty who are integrating writing into their courses.

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BestCrosswords.com

Across 1- Bustles 5- The majority of 9- Examines closely 14- Car scar 15- Actor Morales 16- Fatted fowl 17- Lotion additive 18- ___ sow, so shall...

19- Maker of Pong 20- Cocktail 22- Dump [2 words] 24- Bed down 26- Doo-wop syllable 27- Impressionist Pierre 30- Inflammation of bone 35- Actress Verdugo 36- On the main 37- Theater box 38- Japanese computer giant 39- Final course 42- Suffix with glob 43- “Puppy Love” singer 45- Untruths, tells falsehoods 46- Helicopter part 48- Languid 50- Some sculptures 51- Involuntary muscular contraction 52- Rose 54- Below 58- Becomes visible 62- Varnish resin 63- Dresden’s river 65- Actress Hayworth 66- Diamond protectors 67- Dairy product 68- Garden spot 69- Chew the scenery 70- Entreaty 71- Writing table

SUBMIT your completed crossword by no later than Monday, September 9th at 4 for a chance to win TWO FREE BOB’S DOGS!

Down 1- First man 2- Boxer Oscar ___ Hoya 3- ___ about (approximately) 4- Felt hat 5- More nasty 6- Actor Davis 7- Speak 8- A wedding cake may have three of these 9- Attack with severe criticism 10- Bulrush 11- On ___ with 12- Director Ephron 13- Cut 21- Greek epic poem 23- ___ Is Born 25- Own 27- Kidney-related 28- 1985 Kate Nelligan film 29- Head supporters 31- Goes out with 32- Track tipsters 33- Inuit dwelling 34- Prophets 36- Garage sale sign 40- Choose 41- Scout unit 44- Try 47- Commanded 49- Go between 50- Capital of Kansas 53- Put off, as an agenda item 54- ___ noire 55- Jack of “Rio Lobo” 56- Pianist Peter 57- Rope fiber 59- West Wing worker 60- Numbered rds.

61- Went under 64- Abner’s adjective

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