OPENWIDE THE ALTERNATIVE STUDENT PUBLICATION
OPENWIDEZINE.com
VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2
IN THIS ISSUE
04 Going Global - or are we? 06 Role reversal: Pat greenall gets interviewed 08 The “people’s” climate march: the ultimate commodity 10 A rational fear? 12 Tanya Tagaq / inuit art 13 Instagram fitness 15 WE THE NORTH: Rebranding the raptors 16 Game over 19 Feminism: a wikipedia article 21 Everybody hated that clock 22 TL; DR 23 Caring about contract faculty negotiations Stephanie Gordon
Stephanie Gordon
Samah Ali
Michael Hudecki
Ari Baff
Michael Usling Eric Crosby
Robin Radomski Devin Golets Rachel Kelly
Andreea Tudor Rachel Kelly
We’re always looking for creative
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and dedicated writers, illustrators, bloggers, and other contributors to join the team. Be heard.
CONTACT TRAVIS OPENWIDEZINE@GMAIL.COM OR ONLINE AT OPENWIDEZINE.com
Disclaimer: The sole responsibility of this publication lies with its authors. Contents do not reflect the opinions of the University Students Council of the University of Western Ontario (“USC”). The USC assumes no reponsiblity or liability for any error, inaccuracy, omission or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.
Editors Note In medias res. Writing makes a mess – but that mess can move you to the farthest nerve endings of all things, confront you with failure and guide you forward. You will have ideas dismissed like desolate, rundown utopias. But you are more thoughtful than you know, and more knowledgeable than you thought. So instead of sobbing, write sentences. - Travis Welowszky
EDITOR IN CHIEF Travis Welowszky
MANAGING EDITOR Kevin Chao
WORLD EDITOR Marwa Hassan
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Michael Usling
WESTERN LIFE EDITOR
Stephanie Gordon
CREATIVE EDITOR Rachel Kelly
ONLINE EDITOR Jacqueline Baker
ASST ONLINE EDITOR Becky Laufer
ILLUSTRATIONS Kyle Simmons
GRAPHICS
Robin Radomski
PHOTOGRAPHY Jocelyn Bick
PROMOTIONS
Shannon Morgan Erica Wallis Paige Ozvald
OpenWIDE // Western Life
Caring about
Contract
Faculty Negotiations H
ow do I make wage negotiations sound sexy? Wait – why do I need to try so hard to get students interested in the future of contract faculty here at Western when the results have a direct impact on them? Is it really an issue that students don’t know enough about, or is it just that they don’t care? I’m not saying that students don’t know anything about it – in fact, I’ve witnessed class discussions that go on tangents for this topic alone. It’s difficult to navigate issues like these, revealing the injustices isn’t enough to resolve them, but there is also a hopelessness by students that they can bring about any change. On that positive note, let’s dive in.
Precarity and PSE
There is a greater trend toward precarious labour in our economy right now. Given the unpredictable state of – well everything – employers are having a tough time committing to hiring full-time employees in case the demand for their products or services falls. It’s becoming an employer’s market. There is more supply of labour than demand, and this drives down wages. It is well known that contract faculty do not receive fair compensation for the work they do. This is all further complicated by the slowly decreasing amount of government funding for the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) sector. In 1993, 71% of operating funding came from the provincial government, and now it’s less than 50%. For Western in particular, only 42.4% of their revenue is made up of government grants.
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// Stephanie Gordon
No longer considered the benevolent public goods they once were, universities are not immune to participating in this trend of precarious labour as they try and stay afloat.
Reality
Although this may be the situation in theory – this doesn’t seem to be the case for Western which is recording massive surpluses and healthy finances. According to a UWOFA report, Western has amassed a $202 million surplus since 2009. It was acknowledged that a lot of this money went into capital projects, but a large portion also went into restricted funds which the UWOFA committee did not have access to review.
$$$
Western’s financial statements, which are available for anyone to view, also show its strong standing. Revenues are high – but so are expenses. Compensation (i.e. salaries and benefits) is the largest expenditure making up 61.2% of all the university’s expenses. A better question would be, out of this 61.2%, how much of the money is going toward the compensation of administration versus faculty? Part of the trend of precarious labour is an increase in administration and bureaucracy. As Noam Chomsky eloquent put it, “there’s layer after layer of management — a kind of economic waste, but useful for control and domination.” According to the most recent financial
OpenWIDE // Western Life showing the administration that they refuse to accept the current offer. It is also the strongest strike mandate UWOFA has ever received. That being said, UWOFA has made clear in its bargaining updates that a positive strike vote does not mean there will be a strike and a strike will only come “after all other options have been exhausted.” Even then, they have shed light on other kinds of labour If we were to think about the university like a business, action such as rotating strikes, one-day strikes, and work wouldn’t it be in their best interest to have leaner to rule (which is doing the bare minimum as outlined in operations by cutting the superfluous administrative staff one’s contract in order to cause a slowdown). in order to relocate funds to the faculty? Faculty members have higher ROIs (return on investment). They offer tangible direct benefit to students (the “customers”…or so I would idealistically assume) and also play a heavy hand in student retention. If student retention rates are high, The USC budget and the greater Western budget are two that’s a steady stream of profit for the institution. In my different things. Recently, the USC has drafted a 2015 own personal experience, the great upkeep of buildings Budget Submission, and it’s timed strategically during the on campus has never been a factor as to whether I stay in four year budget cycle planning process. This report is the university or not. Likewise, I’m never sitting in those child- first time the USC has taken action to influence the greater sized desks in a worn down Middlesex lecture hall thinking university budget, and within the report several priorities about abandoning my pursuit of higher education. Perks are outlined for consideration. However, none of them are nice, but they aren’t the principal reason students are deal with fairer compensation for contract faculty. drawn to Western. This logic has been proven by Iowa State University which saw an increase of 3% in student To be blunt, the report focuses on areas of mental retention after hiring more full-time faculty and shrinking health, academic counselling, and renovations. I’m not saying these aren’t great priorities to have – they are, its administration. and they will greatly benefit the student body. I was just disappointed that students, those who will also be affected by final decision of these faculty negotiations, “Every budget is a choice” was part of the title for UWOFA’s don’t have their USC advocating their views on it. These financial report. Although there is great truth in this, this faculty negotiations aren’t isolated from the university’s issue is ridden with complexities. The individual budget budget planning process, so including something about choices of Western’s administration are situated in the them in this budget submission would not have been out greater neoliberalization of our world. There are also of place. factors influencing both sides that we as outsiders to the deliberations can never know. report, salaries and benefits increased by $34.3 million since 2013. So clearly, Western is not against increasing its expenses. This increase was attributed to growth in employee future benefit costs and salary increases.
#business
U$C
Reflections
Conclusion
Our USC president Matt Helfand was quoted in The Gazette saying that the USC does not take sides, but hopes that negotiations are resolved without any labour interruption. This answer is flawless in that it will appease everyone. All students can identify with wanting no labour interruption, but not all students can commit themselves to supporting the reason behind the strike. Why aren’t more students caring about what happens to their professors that they are privileged to be taught by? Has society socialised such an individualistic age that compassion for the struggles of A strike vote sounds intense but is really common at this others is a nuisance? Fair compensation for faculty is not point in the negotiating process. A strong strike vote is used some radical leftist standpoint than it is basic regard for a as a tool to give the negotiating team more leverage, as it fellow human’s ability to be able to meet their needs. shows strong support by their membership. On October Edit: As of November 12th, UWOFA and the university administration 27th, faculty had voted 90% in favour of a strike mandate have reached a tentative new faculty collective agreement. Both sides The complexity of the issue is shown in the duration of the faculty negotiations. UWOFA has been engaged in constant negotiations with the administration since May. More recently a conciliator was appointed to assist with the negotiations. Prior to meetings where the conciliator, appointed by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, will be present a strike vote was held.
Strike One
seem reasonably pleased with the results, and all that is left is a ratification vote. However, all the issues brought up in the article are still valid.
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OpenWIDE // Western Life
GOING GLOBAL
OR ARE WE? // Stephanie Gordon
If
you’re familiar with the strategic plan, you know Western is going global, but what’s being done on the home front to make the university favourable to more international students? For those of you unfamiliar with the intricacies of the strategic plan that’s okay, because it isn’t detailed enough to extract anything specific. “Going global,” besides being a good use of alliteration, encompasses Western’s plan to gradually increase the amount of international undergraduate students from 10% to 15% in the upcoming years. This is just one aspect of how Western plans to increase its international presence. A more detailed plan by Western International outlines several other initiatives such as increasing participation in international opportunities and studying abroad, developing a better graduate student recruitment plan, and supporting Research Western’s international priorities. However, the focus of this article will be on the objective which deals with improving the international support services
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on campus to ensure similar retention and completion rates as domestic students. So far, actions listed under this objective can be broadly summarized as market research. “Identify” academic programming needs and language requirements, as well as “participate” in the International Student Barometer Survey (which measures international student satisfaction and how Western fares compared to other universities in the world). A survey may sound ridiculous, but when put in context, it doesn’t. This is the first year of the Strategic Plan, so research is needed to determine where new funding will be the most beneficial. It’s too early to tell which support services will need more backing until new students actually start coming in. You might be thinking if this is all speculation, then this is a badly timed article. Contrary to our procrastination tendencies, this is a conversation we should start having now because increased recruitment should always be accompanied by a conversation on increased support.
International students at the end of the day are just students. Most of their needs parallel the needs of their domestic counterparts, but there are some differences. Acknowledging these differences may be a step to resolve the fact that domestic students have a 5% higher retention rate from first to second year than international students. The International and Exchange Student Centre (IESC) helps provide support specifically for international students and those studying abroad. They have programs and services that help with a student’s arrival, such as pick up from the airport and a separate orientation day; a student’s transition, such as a series of information sessions about Canada and its culture; and a student’s English, such as the English Conversation Program. They also offer assistance with visas, bank accounts, and employment. That being said, it’s up to the student to take full advantage of their offered services.
OpenWIDE // Western Life
“IESC’s strength for connecting people is valuable for those who are far away from their support systems at home.”
When I asked Gloria, a third year MPI student and active participant in IESC, what she felt the strengths of the program are she mentioned that it helps with facilitating friendships. There are many events for international students to meet others going through similar transitions, such as the Global Café. It’s a weekly event that allows students (international or not) to meet in an informal setting – with food of course. IESC’s strength for connecting people is valuable for those who are far away from their support systems at home. It really puts into perspective that making friends, feeling secure, and finding your place is a common goal that all students share. When asked about the program’s weaknesses, she referenced that although ISWOP (International Student Work Opportunities Program) offers employment just for international students, she would like to see more possibilities for financial support. It’s well known that international students pay double the tuition – which makes one wonder whether “going global” is sincere or a way to improve profit margins. Regardless, she made a suggestion for more scholarships available only for international students. Even though the specifics of Western International’s plan aren’t here yet – like the future international students they hope to recruit, it is important that we don’t neglect their student experience. It is always beneficial to be aware of a student experience that differs from the dominant experience of a full-time domestic undergraduate student living in residence. However, student experiences are individual experiences and cannot be summarized in categories. Generalizations can be dangerous, so remember to imagine others complexly.
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OpenWIDE // Western Life
ROLE ReverSaL the
ni terview // Samah Ali
phenomenon in the States and was more familiar with the work of Steve Green and Kaseem G, Greenall admitted to using London nightlife to his benefit. The method already worked, so why not apply it to something more local and relatable? The popularity of London’s bar scene translated into a popularity of his videos. When given a toolbox, use all the tools in the box, right?
It’s
hard to deny a relationship between university and nightlife, they go together like peanut butter and jelly, or for others, like peanut butter and Nutella. Western is no stranger to the party culture that is pervasive in universities. But what happens when this party life is distributed on a different platform and shared to people we don’t know? YouTuber Pat Greenall has earned his local celebrity status from his infamous drunken interviews on Richmond Row, Homecoming, and in front of well-known bars in London. This has been done before, the popular Youtube channel I’m Schmacked features a variety of videos of American university nightlife and drunken interviews. Although he was unaware of the Schmacked-
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Some may say his videos take advantage of drunken students while others see the light in his comedic approach and love what he’s doing. Despite the endless debates on his videos, he’s just having fun. After watching a few of his videos and hearing criticism from students, I realized Greenall’s character was being attacked based solely on his videos. Out of interest, I decided to sit down with him and give him an opportunity to reply to these comments instead of leaving it up to his viewers to guess what his intentions are with his videos. Some concerns with Greenall revolve around the exploitation of drunken students, however most people who are in the video, chose to be interviewed. “I make sure whoever wants to be in the video, wants to be in the video” and due to his increasing popularity, Greenall stated there have been lineups
OpenWIDE // Western Life of people waiting to be interviewed. Even though he does explain what his videos entail and where they will be posted, one may question the difference between drunken consent and sober consent. Even though students may be interested in being in his videos, how does one gage if they are coherent enough to make this decision? When asked he stated, “Before the camera starts, I tell them this is what I do, this is what I’m going to do, and I know you’re drunk now, but you won’t be drunk tomorrow and you’re going to see it.” He still makes the final call on the footage after giving as much information as he can. He discussed how he navigates through sober wishes to no longer be in the video through creative facial block outs. His unforgettable line “Would your father be proud of you?” raises other questions about his videos. Why does he only ask women this question and why are most of the people in his videos women? When asked, he gave a creator’s perspective, “I don’t target females, but surprisingly females have been giving me the funniest reactions,” and due to his recognizable status women are usually the ones to approach him and ask to be interviewed. He acknowledges the backlash he’s received from using this sexist line, however he states the comedic value of it. He repeatedly mentions his attempts of walking the line and making his videos edgy enough for viewers to keep talking, watching, and subscribing. It might not be funny to everyone, but a creator’s videos reflect their tastes. His videos are a part of a larger media system that still reinforces gender roles, and it takes a great deal of education and creativity to produce content that is progressive while being accessible to mainstream viewers. It’s not impossible, but the genre of comedy prank videos on Youtube is less likely to provide it.
“I know I piss some people off… but that’s the risk you make when you post something you like to do.” Keep in mind he is coming at these questions from the perspective of a Youtube creator not a media critic. Greenall is aware his videos are controversial to some, but states his intentions are purely comedic while acknowledging that comedy is fair game for critique and not excused from serious analysis. He uses Western’s “party image” to his advantage, but has no intentions of reinforcing a demeaning image, even though that is a by-product of his videos. There are aspects of his videos that are problematic, but Greenall is not to take on the full blame for his videos that exist within a larger troubled media system. As someone who gets his inspiration from other Youtubers, he’s bound to reproduce the same flaws. He answered the questions like a creator should, thinking about the immediate results and comedic aspect of his content. And despite the haters, he looks to branch out into different video formats for his channel. “I know I piss some people off… but that’s the risk you make when you post something you like to do.” As long as Greenall is open to hearing critiques of his videos - which he was very receptive and open to - his content will grow in all the right ways.
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OpenWIDE // World
PEOPLES CLIM THE ULTIMATE COMMODITY
// Michael Hudecki
I can
recall the long subway ride from Brooklyn, over to 86th and 4th, where we were told to convene to the climate march. The subway was filled with unusual occupants, flaunting home-made banners and t-shirts inscribed with environmentally conscious messages. One of the shirts that remains imprinted in my mind read ‘If it melts, it’s ruined’. Depicted below the inscription was a cartoon drawing of the earth melting in an ice cream cone. The ease with which the shirt seemed to trivialize such a grave matter as climate justice initially took me by surprise, even before I discovered that the shirt was doubling as an advertisement for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company, a multinational corporation. Despite Ben & Jerry’s massive PR campaign to prove their commitment to environmental justice, one should be able to immediately identify this as nothing more than a marketing ploy used to detach consumers from the guilt of the environmental carnage implicit in the company’s unsustainable agricultural practices, and the immense amount of fossil fuels needed to transport their ice cream all over the world. This episode does not represent a marginal disposition embraced at the climate march, but one that I found to be a dominant thread. For those who don’t have the context, the People’s Climate March, which took place in late September, claimed to be nothing less than the ‘pinnacle’ of the climate justice movement. It is said to have had over 300,000 marchers, supposedly uniting climate warriors from all lands and creeds. And yet, as a result, there are virtually no changes to the colonial system of environmental exploitation and environmental racism. We should become suspicious once learning that American
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OpenWIDE // World
MATE MARCH NGO’s 350.org and Avaaz spent millions of dollars sponsoring the event. That these mainstream institutions organized the march diminishes the influence of community building efforts of grassroots protests organised by marginalised populations. It also ensures a form of resistance which is bound within the acceptable confines of these powerful institutions. A good example of this process manifested itself on the bus I took to New York which was sponsored by 350.org. An indigenous land defender on the bus was stopped at the border because of his involvement in grassroots resistance. As a result, he could not join in on the climate march. Of course this did not stop the rest of us from carrying on without him. The march was advertised all over the New York Subway stations. According to one source, $220,000 was spent on posters inviting Wall Street bankers to join in. The climate march was also approved in advance by the NYPD. As I tirelessly marched my way to Times Square, I took note of a massive LED board which emphatically welcomed the marchers. Upon glancing at this this, I began to identify this glaringly specious approach to climate justice that was present at the Climate March. We must ask ourselves: how has resisting systems of oppression become this effortless? Don’t CEOs know that climate
change means fundamentally challenging the very political infrastructure which puts them in positions of power? You cannot “change history” in an afternoon stroll from 86th to Times Square, as is claimed by the official website of the People’s Climate March. Any earnest questioning of oppression complexes and one’s own complicity within them is not a profitable nor a marketable process. If done authentically, this sort of introspection has the potential to make one nauseated, fragmenting the very postulates on which ones identity flourishes. The consequence of this disengaged form of resistance is that it neglects and hides the voices of marginalized communities who suffer the most nefarious and often genocidal impacts of climate injustice. The underrepresentation of perspectives of decolonisation and environmental racism bespeaks this lack of challenge to intransigent systems of oppression. Although climate change is a universal problem, it is primarily a colonial issue, and those who pay the consequences of environmental externalities are largely indigenous communities. One example in Canada is the tar sands, which puts Native communities in the surrounding region at an incredibly high risk of rare cancers, destroys water systems, limits their access to safe water and completely decimates traditional and sacred lands. Another example are gold mines run by
primarily Canadian companies such as Barrick Gold and Gold Corp. The open pit mines belonging to these corporations operate in, among other places, Central America, the majority of which are built on indigenous land. Open pit mining entails a calamitous process which pollutes the land to such an extent that it becomes infertile and inhabitable, forcing these communities to leave, often times without even compensation for resettlement. The examples of these genocidal acts on indigenous communities is vast, but what is central here is that environmental racism is a real threat to the existence of people living in these communities and it is happening at this very moment. The concrete reality of indigenous communities, whose misery descends from ruthless capitalist extraction, becomes marginalised at forms of protest like the climate march. Properly representing them would put the very foundation of corporatism at risk. The truth is that Ben & Jerry’s is the enemy. The climate march is the enemy too. I say this precisely because it provides consumers with the ultimate commodity: catharsis from the guilt of our own consumerism. This curtails the introspection necessary for decolonization and systemic change in the direction of environmental justice. At some point in time, we will all need to take a look at ourselves and the damage we have caused to the land and to the people which live on it, and I can guarantee when that moment happens, the result will not be approved by the NYPD.
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OpenWIDE // World
A Rational Fear? THE
// Ari Blaff
recent blow-up on Bill Maher’s show Real Time has once again brought the debate of Islamophobia and Islamic fundamentalism to the forefront of Western conscious-
ness. Maher and his guest-star Sam Harris were explicit in their thoughts on the matter that Islamic extremism
is a genuine global threat. Co-panelist Ben Affleck raised many concerns amongst liberals who see this argument as just another attempt to paint a community of over 1.6 billion people with the same brush, and in many respects Affleck’s concerns are justified. The global Muslim community is extremely diverse. Geographically, predominantly Muslim populations span from North Africa to Southeast Asia and encompass a vast spectrum of views on religion, gender, and politics. Nevertheless, however broad and exaggerated Maher’s claims may be, there is a certain degree of truth behind them. While Islamic extremism is by no means a majority movement amongst Muslims, the notion that extremism is a fringe movement is misleading – especially amid nations in the Middle East and South Asia. The Pew Research Center, an internationally recognized polling organization, conducted surveys amongst Muslim communities globally from 2008 until 2012 and the results are telling. Before examining the statistics, it is worth noting that with any research centre there may be some bias. Within these regions (Lebanon being the exception) Muslims overwhelmingly favoured the implementation of Sharia Law (Islamic law) with Jordan ranking the lowest at 71% and Afghanistan at 99%. The following data applies to those who supported Sharia law. For Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, the majority approved the practice of stoning to death for adultery, ranging from Bangladesh at 55% to Pakistan at 89%. In the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, and Egypt, a majority supported the use of the death penalty for those who abandoned Islam with the Palestinian Territories at 66% up towards Egypt at 86%. Among the nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, over 10% of Muslims agreed with the practice of suicide bombing in defense of Islam often or sometimes, with the Palestinian Territories at the top with 40%. While the statistics are significant, they also reinforce the fact that these beliefs and ideas are not widespread or mainstream for Muslims worldwide. The Muslim populations in South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia are a testament to this. Muslims in Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia were explicit in their rejection of such beliefs. This trend is also largely substantiated with regards to gender equality – with the exception of Tajikistan, the aforementioned countries considerably supported the idea that women have the right to choose whether or not to wear a veil in public, as well as the right for women to divorce their husbands. Conversely, countries in the Middle East and South Asia consistently exhibited dramatically lower approval ratings for these same issues. So are the fears of Islamophobia justified? Is Sam Harris correct in saying that “Islam is the mother-lode of bad ideas”? The author Reza Aslan champions the problem with Harris’s statement by arguing that the global community of Muslims is far too diverse to be categorized under a single group. No, most Muslims do not subscribe to the direct implementation of Sharia Law. Nevertheless, there exists a sizeable portion of Muslims concentrated in certain regions and nations that does support, approve, and export these ideas. The recent terrorist attacks that rocked Canada over the past two weeks have made Canadians all too aware of the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism. Now, more than ever, we must come to think critically, address the issues and stop shying away from the facts.
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Tanya Tagaq ON
// Michael Usling
September 22nd Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq was awarded Canada’s top music prize – the Polaris Music Prize, a $30 000 award granted by a jury of arts and music professionals in recognition of the year’s top full-length album by a Canadian artist, based on “artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation.” The winning Animism is Tanya Tagaq’s fourth studio album and was released this past May on the Toronto label Six Shooter Records. While her first album was released in 2005, and she has been nominated for Junos in the past, this is the first major award for Tagaq and for Animism.
Born in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Tanya went to high school in Yellowknife before moving to Halifax to study visual arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. While in Halifax, Tanya’s mother sent her a tape of traditional Inuit throat singing and she immediately fell in love with it, stating the sounds reminded her of “the wind and the smells of home.” National Geographic describes traditional Inuit throat singing as “a unique and enchanting form of musical expression; a mixture of husky chanting and low growling, throat singing is a competition in which the first person to laugh, stop, or run out of breath loses.” Originally it was a form of entertainment for Inuit women while men were away on hunting trips. This being said, Tanya Tagaq describes her sound as “contemporary throat singing” and it is justified as such, as she performs as a solo artist, usually accompanied by her violinist Jesse Zubot, drummer Jean Martin and DJ Michael Red. Although Tanya has been making music for a decade she has recently garnered more attention from the mainstream media (she has doubled her Twitter followers since the Polaris win) and is arguably the most famous Inuk throat singer in the world right now. Tagaq’s break came back in 2001 when she was exhibiting paintings at an art and music festival and a performer didn’t show up, so a festival director who heard her sing the night before asked her to fill in. Björk’s friends were in the crowd and soon after she was “whisked off to Björk’s world tour.” The two then collaborated in 2004 on the Icelandic singer’s Medúlla and on Tanya’s 2005 debut album Sinna.
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OpenWIDE // A&E In 2012, TIFF commissioned “Tanya Tagaq in concert with Nanook of the North,” a performance where Tanya added a soundtrack to the controversial Robert Flaherty silent “documentary” from 1922 as part of the festival’s retrospective First Peoples Cinema: 1500 Nations, One Tradition. Tanya told the CBC: “I went to arts school, so I watched it and I was just like, “They put a bunch of bullshit happy Eskimo stereotypes,” you know what I mean? So ... with finding some hardcore punk, kind of that feel, kind of put that sound all over it to make it clear. It’s really nice because I can take my frustrations of stereotypes ... and take that energy and put it in sonically. I reclaim the film.” Tanya has since toured the film performance around the United States and Canada. Undeniably aware of her existence as an Inuk women in popular culture, Tanya’s art is very much political, stating “Animism is focused a lot on how I feel about colonialism, government and society.” As a performer she addresses the issues and concerns that she sees affecting Inuit culture and people. Her captivating performance at the Polaris Gala featured a projector scrolling the names of 1200 missing and murdered indigenous women. According to Amnesty Canada, indigenous women are four times more likely to go missing or be murdered. She also, in her acceptance speech for the award, stated that “people should wear and eat seal as much possible” and “Fuck PETA,” denouncing the activist group, who although claim have stated they have “never been opposed to the indigenous hunt, only the east coast commercial slaughter,” in 2010 insensitively adapted the Inuksuk logo of the Vancouver Winter Games into it’s anti-sealing campaign and have successfully lobbied to end the EU seal trade, directly decreasing income for the Inuit seal traders in Canada. So, will the Polaris win make Inuit artists more visible in Canadian culture? Dewi Minden, Director of Operations at the Inuit Art Foundation (IAF) thinks so. The IAF, which is a subagency of the federal government, is the sole body responsible for promoting Inuit art and artists both in Canada and internationally. When speaking with Minden, she told me that she thinks the win will indeed contribute to more people being interested in Inuit art: “Yes I do... It takes a while to become famous in Canada... especially if you’re Canadian and if you’re a musician. I think that now because she has reached “celebrity status” more people will be interested in Inuit artists.” Minden thinks this is great for the Inuit arts community, and will contributes to the development of interest in Inuit culture. Minden also shared with me, that
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during her many trips to the North, she got the feeling that many Inuit people share a sense of pride with Tanya for being a sort of spokesperson of Inuit culture. The exhibition currently representing Canada at the Venice Biennale in Architecture (think the Olympics of Architecture) is called Arctic Adaptions: Nunavut at 15, chosen by the Canada Council for the Arts and Royal Architecture Institute of Canada. The exhibition features architecture designs of the past, present and future in Canada’s youngest territory, curated by the Toronto design and architecture firm Lateral Office. The project documents earlier “slightly-colonialist” architecture, to the current, and to planning for the future of Nunavut through adapting to urbanism in the very unique Canadian Arctic. Teams of designers and architects from around Canada and Nunavut collaborated on the exhibition which has undoubtedly broadened international audience’s understanding on life in the Canadian North, specifically on Inuit life and culture. The exhibition has already been awarded a special mention at the Biennale’s awards ceremony and following the Biennale in Spring 2015, the Winnipeg Art Gallery plans to tour the exhibition throughout Canada. Another recent interest in Inuit arts and culture has come from-clothing turned-art tycoon Luciano Benetton. His cultural foundation’s large-scale art project, Imago Mundi, in which Benetton plans to curate 10,000 10x12cm images from 62 different countries is already underway. There are both books and touring exhibitions separated by country, “to foster openness towards the world and new horizons and the coexistence of expressive diversity.” The project has collected half of these images and have already published 36 collections. The next country the foundation is visiting is Canada, and yep, they’re heading to the Arctic to collect original works from both established and emerging Inuit artists for their Canadian collection. These projects no doubt represent a distinct interest in Inuit arts and culture. While Inuit culture has been embraced as symbolic of Canada, and at times exploited, Tanya Tagaq is helping drive the contemporary interest in Inuit arts. Tanya’s unique style of throat singing, in part with her political views distinguish her as a representation voice for Inuit in contemporary culture. Beating out the likes of Shad, Owen Pallett, Drake and Arcade Fire, Tanya Tagaq’s Polaris win has put both Tanya Tagaq, the artist, and Inuit culture on stage for the whole world to see. Tanya Tagaq will perform in London at Aeolian Hall on November 13th.
Fitness // Eric Crosby
If
You have an Instagram account you’ve likely noticed the massive increase in fitness and health oriented pages over the last of couple years. Maybe these “fitspo” pages have really motivated you to live a healthier lifestyle or if you follow @howtogetabooty, maybe they’ve helped you on your lifelong goal of becoming a Nicki Minaj backup dancer. Whether they are full of inspirational quotes, new workouts and recipes or simply pictures of washboard abs and voluptuous rear-ends, these types of images are ubiquitous on Instagram feeds today, but maybe there’s more to this phenomenon than meets the eye. Perhaps the proliferation of these kinds of images contributes to a broader narrative. Maybe the constant attempt to compress “health” into an image has more malignant effects than we might think. I guess the question is, which ideologies does this kind of media support and what effects do these images have on people that we can’t see through #transformationtuesday posts?
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OpenWIDE // A&E A quick Google search of “fitness quotes” reveals no shortage of quotes that deliver a “you are who you choose to be” sentiment. The first and most obvious place that ideology manifests itself through Instagram fitness accounts is through the bolded text that is meant to emphasize specific words. “It’s not about being the BEST, it’s about being BETTER than you were YESTERDAY!”. A huge number of these motivational quotes promote an individualistic, liberal way of thinking. This isn’t too surprising since it’s true that working out is not a team sport, and it is something that an individual can work on alone. However, the proliferation of this mentality in regards to fitness in not isolated from influencing peoples’ wider worldview. This kind of individualistic, everyone is equal, hard work equals results logic is so neoliberal that these fitspo pages could have Ronald Reagan squatting in booty shorts and it wouldn’t be entirely out of place. Before I go any further I want to be clear. I am not implying that this is some kind of conspiracy theory that Thatcher and Reagan cooked up in the 80’s. This phenomenon is more likely a result of dominant neoliberal ideologies that happens to further support those same merits. The rise of the Farrah Fawcett fitness crazes in the 1980’s is fitting, and not so dissimilar to the current
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popularization of fitness on social media. Social media has often been criticized for the representing a one dimensional story of users’ lives. Some have even cited Facebook as causing depression because their life can never seem to measure up to the cropped, edited and saturated version they present online. This tendency for people to only post the positives can also been observed on many Instagram fitness pages. We never seem to see the transformations that didn’t go well, the skinny kid who just stays skinny or the yoyoing dieter. These pages show a decisively monolithic version of the trials of fitness and the version they happen to propagate seems to fall in line with neoliberal, capitalist logic. It is important to acknowledge that we are not all equal blank slates with equal potential and opportunity. The tools and methods often used to achieve the alleged pinnacles of health seen on @SHREDZWOMEN or @GREAT_HEALTHY_RECIPES such as luxury gym memberships and copious amounts of kale don’t usually fit into the average Joe or Jane’s budget. Not only do these accounts usually feature the newest and most fashionable fitness apparel but some are even sponsored by clothing brands or supplement companies such as @SHREDZWOMEN, mentioned above. Not only do the images prevalent on fitness pages promote individualism and a kind of morality of self-improvement, but they often promote the consumption and acquisition of products in order to aid in your journey to washboard abs. The juxtaposition of supplement ads and motivational quotes preaching ones ability to forge their own destiny with only their own two hands illustrates an interesting contradiction. Everyone has equal potential to reach their goals, but if you can afford it you can reach a little higher. Another important question to ask when considering the effects of these rapidly prevalent images is in what ways do they affect individuals’ self esteem and society’s perception of health? While many proponents of the recently trendy “strong not skinny” fitness philosophy may argue that this mentality moves past the pressure on girl’s to be thin; there is a stark contrast between the words and images that are communicated. The prominent image of health on social media remains a wildly thin yet gratuitously adorned female and a strapping, single-digit body fat male. I am not proposing that these individuals are not healthy; only that the practice of attributing a singular image to the concept of health is harmful to many individuals’ self worth as well as the overall health of society. Healthy comes in a million shapes and sizes, as does strong, and beautiful. Health is something that is to be determined by your doctor during a checkup, not by comparing your waist-to-ass ratio to fitness models as you scroll through your phone.
// Robin Radomski
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OpenWIDE // A&E
OVER
the years, the Toronto Raptors NBA team have been known as the underdogs. Being the only team north of the border, the disadvantages have run their course – long cold snowy winters, less choice on Netflix, lack of ESPN on cable TV, the Maple Leafs, and Justin Bieber. Now, rather than being on the defense, the Raptors rebrand is on the offense, embracing the great white as its stage. The “We The North” campaign has launched after the Raptors became Atlantic division champions, winning a franchise record of 48 games, and securing a spot in the playoffs. It featured a 60 second clip with intermittent scenes of the diverse culture of the city, the intricate mix of city, and the dynamic urban landscape. The team rebrand also includes new logos and colors as well as adopting Canadian rap star Drake as the team’s global ambassador. Toronto welcomed the rebrand with open arms and to a resounding success. Raptors game admissions have become the top ticket in demand in the NBA. Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) CEO, revealed that sponsorship was up 18% as well as an increase in season tickets and TV ratings. So how does this simple slogan and 60 second clip induce Goosebumps and Canadian pride without even muttering the world Canada? The Raptors hold a unique position in the NBA. The team isn’t just playing for Toronto, it is playing for Canada, the 35 million of us. It gives a unique sense of unity to the country that none of the other 29 teams can lay claim to. Combined with the simple “We the North” and “Northern Uprising”. The mix of the clip and the slogans gives the fans and players a distinct sense of pride; it makes them feel apart of something and makes them excited to be apart of it. “We wanted to change people’s mind about the city – it is traditionally seen as a hockey
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town but we wanted to show off all the basketball areas like St. James Town, Moss Park Community Centre – all these institutions of basketball where a lot of these great players have come from,” explains Dustin Rideout, VP at the creative firm Sid Lee who helped create the rebrand. He said “the reaction from the fans to the campaign is the same as when we first saw it – it is very emotional and very proud.” The campaign also takes an unapologetic stance by getting Canadian fans to own our unique position in the NBA rather than feel ashamed and isolated like before. NBA broadcasting rights are given firstly to American television networks as they want to show American games for the obvious reason of drawing higher ratings. If Toronto fans have felt shafted by the lack of international attention, the campaign represents a big middle finger to the American teams and networks that have a larger national audience and top notch ticket sales. The Raptors teaming up with Drake was also an incredibly smart maneuver. The “Started From
The Bottom” singer aligns with the team’s history of being a underdog. Drake is area code 416 himself, representing Toronto through his music and his persona. His songs constantly reference Toronto, and his Instagram (which has 6.6 million followers), has a consistent flow of Toronto and Raptors imagery. But Drake’s allegiance to Toronto is perhaps most blatantly represented through the title of his new album, Views From The 6. By attaching the Raptors brand to someone who is famous worldwide, it gains media attention for the team– bad or good. Tom Pistore, Vice President of ticket sales at MLSE explains, “We haven’t seen these numbers since the Vince Carter days. These are top five NBA-type results…Having the full building is great for our team. Our players thrive on the full building. Just the atmosphere is exponentially better”. Things are really turning around for the Toronto Raptors. As the new season starts, the team has a great foreground to excel in the season to come.
GAME OVER
OpenWIDE // Western Student Feature
// Devin Golets
The rise and fall of a hockey playER who had to quit his dreams It’s a grey Friday afternoon in November on Western University campus when Mike Iacocca walks into Somerville House with a hot chocolate in hand and sits down with me to talk hockey. At first glance, nothing seems different about the 21 year old since I last saw him, but appearances can be deceiving. It wasn’t long ago when the two of us laced up our skates across the dressing room from each other five days a week, but a lot has changed since then. I ask him how he’s doing as we sit down. “I’m ok. I’m not a disaster, busy with school. I’ve put all my eggs into that basket now,” he says. Iacocca’s referring to the fact that he’s no longer playing competitive hockey. In fact, he’s not playing hockey at all these days. After roughly 80% of his life was dedicated to Canada’s favourite game, his gear is now stowed away in a closet back in his hometown of Guelph, Ontario. This seems blasphemous as the words ring in my ears, but I remind myself it is a fair reaction to the cruel reality that has struck us both. The passion and desire still burn, but we are no longer good enough to play the hockey we want to. For our entire lives, we wanted to play forever, and thought we would, but then someone turned the lights out on us. “I just remember packing my bag and throwing my skate guards on my skates, and realizing right then: ‘this is the last time I’m ever going to put them on for real, ever,’” Iacocca recounts to me. “Ever ever ever. That’s a strong word.” It is the harshest of realities for a hockey player when the day comes that he can no longer play the game at the level he desires. It hits him at the core of his being. Whether you’re Wayne Gretzky, or a kid who never
played past minor hockey, that day will inevitably come, but knowing this doesn’t make the transition out of the game any easier. “Since I was 10, every summer was about improving on last season,” he says. “There was something past not making the OHL, something past not earning a scholarship, but then Western was my last shot. I came so close to making the team, and then was told its over. That’s hard to take.” Iacocca was oh-so-close to making the Western Mustangs, a top-10 CIS varsity hockey team in Canada, but after three weeks of training camp and exhibition play, head coach Clarke Singer decided to take another player for the final roster spot, Noah Schwartz. Schwartz, a Toronto boy who grew up playing on one of the best minor-hockey AAA teams ever (the 1992born Toronto Junior Canadiens), battled Iacocca and prevailed.
“It was the Mustangs or nothing for me,” Schwartz says to me one day while we catch up at UCC. “I would be devastated if I didn’t make it. I would have nothing to do except school.” While Iacocca and I played together on the St. Thomas Stars of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Schwartz and I have a history as well. The last
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OpenWIDE // Western Student Feature four years of my junior hockey career included numerous individual battles between the two of us – the type that builds an unwritten bond of respect between opponents off the ice. I remind Schwartz of my breakaway save on him in last year’s playoffs. He reminds me of the hat-trick he scored in our first game against each other last season. Touché. When I bring up Iacocca, Schwartz recalls how close he was to being in his position, instead of occupying a spot as a rookie forward for the ‘Stangs. “I went to training camp and Clarke Singer told me I had to earn the spot,” Schwartz says. Despite finishing top-ten in league scoring and leading his London Nationals to a league championship last season, there were no guarantees he would play competitive hockey again. “For three weeks, Singer never said a word. Then one day he pulled me into the room and told me I was on the team.” He smiles as he recollects that glorious moment. “It was an amazing feeling. I worked so hard all summer for it. I called my dad right away after I made the team.” What a difficult sport it becomes when the hockey player reaches such a competitive level. One more battle won, one more goal scored, and his life could be entirely different. Instead of blending back into the crowd of “average Joes,” the player could be a successful graduate of junior hockey, with that little Canadian boy still inside him believing there still awaits more steps to be taken. “I point the finger at myself for not making it impossible for him to cut me. That’s what makes me feel bitter. Shame on me for not making it happen,” Iacocca says with a conviction that tells me no one could sway his thinking. The loving hockey parent will tell his/her son that he gave it his all and should hold his head high, but being cut from a team at this (or any) level is not something a hockey player takes lightly, and regardless of what outsiders may think, it is personal. The moment he realizes it’s the end of the line, it’s like a death in the family, and a gaping hole is left in his heart where the dream of a career as a hockey player used to brew 24/7. “From about age 15, it’s a five-six year drive of trying to make it,” Iacocca says, describing the total effort it takes just to get a chance at moving up the hockey ladder. “I was a highly-touted prospect and felt I had a shot. I was consumed by it and everything I did – workout, what I ate – revolved around trying to make it.” Iacocca’s six year drive culminated with his recent shot at making Western, and when he left Thomson Arena after being cut, he decided to leave the rink indefinitely. While the intramural league at Western may seem like a fun, grass-roots brand of shinny, many former Junior B players don’t see it that way, which is why Iacocca refused to play this year. “Mooney [Iacocca’s roommate and former St.
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Thomas teammate] and those guys say ‘come out and play man, its funny,’ but it’s not a joke to me. I will continue to play hockey, but just not right now,” Iacocca says. Tyler Bryson is an example of a former Junior B player who did choose to play intramurals, but even he admits it’s not even close to being what hockey used to be. With 241 career games played, all with St. Marys of the GOJHL, Bryson attests to the stark difference between this year and last. “Intramurals is a joke. I got paid to play hockey the last five years. Now I pay to play.” Bryson and I used to play together for parts of three seasons in St. Marys and spent many a trip together car-pooling to the rink. In those hours of being in each other’s company for months on end, you become like brothers – brothers who know how to get under each other’s skin. “Nothing else matters when you’re out there shooting pucks at goalies’ heads,” he says to me with a grin. We both laugh, knowing full well there were heated moments between the two of us at times. One practice, I took so many shots around the ears that I challenged him to fight me, but the next day, we were back to being fun-loving teammates again.
“I miss going to the rink with the boys,” Bryson says nostalgically. “It’s like a family. Now you don’t really have that bond anymore.” That bond comes from years of being the kid who missed the birthday party because of a game, or the son who shows up late to the family reunion because of practice. Waking up one day suddenly without a team to play for or reason to work out isn’t easy to digest. “Everyone misses it, but you know it’s eventually going to end,” says Bryson. “It’s going to hit you… I still don’t know if its hit me yet.” It’s funny to hear Bryson, Schwartz, and Iacocca talk because they take the words right out of my mouth. While each player has taken a different path this year, they all speak the same language and share a common identity that sometimes outsiders don’t fully understand. It’s an identity that is difficult to have stripped away. “Hi, I’m Mike and I play hockey. That’s who you are. It’s part of your title,” says Iacocca. “You can’t dumb it down and say ‘it’s ok, now that it’s over’. You can’t just flick a switch one day and change your entire life, it takes time.” Iacocca takes one last sip of his hot chocolate before we pack up to go our separate ways. True, he may no longer introduce himself as a hockey player, but as he walks away I realize something very important. Who we once were has shaped us to be who we are today as people, and that is something that can never be stripped away.
OpenWIDE // Creative
// Rachel Kelly
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OpenWIDE // Creative
Everyone hated that clock, the tick tock, tick tock. Much too loud for such a small thing. Eerily breaking a comforting silence. Tick, tock. That red, Mickey Mouse clock. Annoying. Irritating. Borderline maddening. No Mercy for the small, red, Mickey Mouse clock. Tick. No mercy for that loud thing. Tock. Trivial, useless thing. But she liked the ticking and the tocking. The comforting ticking and tocking. Too silent wtihout it in the room Maddening room, Maddening soon.
Illustration by Kyle Simons Poem by Andreea Tudor
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Tick tock, tick tock. All day long. Seconds to minutes, to hours to days. Too many days. Typing, tick. Listening, tock. Vegetating, tick. Falling in sleep, tock.
OpenWIDE // Creative
TL; DR TOO LONG DIDN’T READ // Rachel Kelly
UWOFA: Contract faculty are underpaid and underappreciated. Negotiations for change due to unhappiness with status quo. GOING GLOBAL: International students are students- who pay twice as much. What does Going Global even mean? Pat Greenhall: Youtuber films drunk people for fun. Are we entertained? Would Pat’s mother be proud? INSTAGRAM FITNESS: Like everything else, Instagram fitness looks nothing like reality. Raptors Rebrand: Raptors come up with a campaign about winter, snow and Drake. How creative. The Climate March: The Climate March sold out. Walking around New York does not solve any problems. Islamophobia: 1.6 billion Muslims do not all share the same beliefs. FEMINISM: We’re kidding.
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