February 24, 2016

THE CORD THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 56 ISSUE 23 • FEBRUARY 24, 2016

ANCILLARY FEES

AN UNKNOWN FUTURE

THE PATH TO EDUCATION

2016-17 university budget under development News, page 4

THE NEW EXECUTIVE

Your invoice is more than just the base tuition fee. What else are you paying for?

Van Herzele hires vice-presidents for next year

Features, page 8-9

News, page 4

LOOKS ARE EVERYTHING

The importance of dressing for the interview Arts & Life, page 11

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Experiencing more than just lectures Opinion, page 14

THE DYNAMIC DUO

Front-end curlers make their mark with team LENA YANG/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Sports, page 16

PEER CONNECT

Line disconnected EMILIA CURCIC STAFF WRITER

With the conversation on mental health more in the spotlight than ever before, Peer Connect has been making changes within their services to better suit the Wilfrid Laurier University community, with the most recent being the elimination of their telephone line.

Kaipa Bharucha, vice-president of programming and services for the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, said the change came about regarding the line’s place on campus with several

mental health resources now available for students.

“What we did this year was a re-evaluation of both parts of our service. Going into this year we knew that there were going to be some changes. Just in terms of what services they were offering and whether they were meeting what services students needed on campus,” said Bharucha.

“When the line started, it was at a time when there weren’t similar resources in the K-W area. Since then there have been a lot of good professional services on campus and we found that we weren’t rep

“What we did this year was a re-evaluation of both parts of our service.”

-Kaipa Bharucha, vice-president of programming and services

News, page 4

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

2 •

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

VOCAL CORD How do you make money at this point in the year?

@cordnews

The Cord

CordNews

@cordwlusp

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Editor’s note: More changes

SHELBY BLACKLEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“I ask my parents.”

–Osehi Ogbole, secondyear economics

“I work part-time at Wendy’s.”

–Pablo Milandu, secondyear business

ANDREAS PATSIAOUROS/PHOTO EDITOR

Curlers Fraser Reid has made his mark over the past four years on the Wilfrid Laurier men’s curling team as lead.

“I don’t get money.”

–Alex Ku, second-year business

“I apply for bursaries.”

–Khushali Kapoor, thirdyear health sciences

“I work for Laurier as a ref.”

–Kristin Lioktsis, thirdyear psychology and sociology Compiled by Maddy Cutts Photos by Jessica Dik NEXT ISSUE: MARCH 2, 2016

CORD STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Shelby Blackley sblackley@thecord.ca CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lena Yang lyang@thecord.ca CREATIVE DIRECTOR Joshua Awolade jawolade@thecord.ca MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Mynt Marsellus mmarsellus@thecord.ca NEWS EDITOR Kaitlyn Severin kseverin@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Erika Ymana eymana@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Will Huang whuang@thecord.ca

FEATURES EDITOR Bethany Bowles bbowles@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR Brian Phillips bphillips@thecord.ca

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Zach Guitor zguitor@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Maddy Cutts mcutts@thecord.ca

OPINION EDITOR Mitchell Consky mconsky@thecord.ca

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Jessica Dik jdik@thecord.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Drew Yates dyates@thecord.ca

SENIOR COPY EDITOR Caitlyn Sageman csageman@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Fani Hsieh fhsieh@thecord.ca

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Kira Gelbard kgelbard@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Andreas Patsiaouros apatsiaouros@thecord.ca

CONTRIBUTORS Arman Aryapour Kyle Bedard Lindsay Bindman Mira Busscher Emilia Curcic Brittany Ditizio Alex Dulanovic Justine Falconi Safina Husein Faraz Iftekharuddin Daniel Johnson Brigitte Kloss David Lee Don Morgenson Daniella Okezie Rafi Rahman Saheba Segu Aliaa Sidawi Fatima Soomro

EDITOR’S CHOICE: A dynamic force on the ice

by Drew Yates

EDITOR’S CHOICE ONLINE: A day in the life of a Laurier student video by Kyle Bedard

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES All advertising inquiries can be directed to Care Schummer at care.schummer@wlusp.com or 519-884-0710 ext. 3560.

COLOPHON The Cord is the official student newspaper of the Wilfrid Laurier University community.

Started in 1926 as the College Cord, The Cord is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within The Cord are those of the author and do not necessarily refl ect those of the editorial board, The Cord, WLUSP, WLU or CanWeb Printing Inc. All content appearing in The Cord bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Cord is created using Macintosh computers running OS X 10.10 using Adobe Creative Cloud. Canon cameras are used for principal photography.

The Cord has been a proud member of the Ontario Press Council since 2006. Any unsatisfied complaints can be sent to the council at info@ ontpress.com.

The Cord’s circulation for a normal Wednesday issue is 6,000 copies and enjoys a readership of over 10,000.

Cord subscription rates are $20.00 per term for addresses within Canada.

The Cord has been a proud member of the Canadian University Press (CUP) since 2004.

A few weeks ago, I sent out an editor’s note detailing changes on the way for this little paper that could, soon celebrating its 90th birthday.

Those changes are occurring, and I am here to update you.

Firstly, one of the main things you will see in this issue is we have merged Campus and Local news to create one main “news” section.

This is for a number of reasons. The first, and arguably most important is so we can better focus on the news the Laurier community wants. Far too often we let stories fall by the wayside because we don’t have the resources to cover them. This way, instead of splitting our resources to find interesting stories for local and campus, we are able to cover whatever is interesting to you, our readers, in any demographic — local, campus, national, etc. If you want to know about it, our job is going to be to write about it without the stigma of a certain section.

The second update is not necessarily a change as opposed to a triumph. Over reading week, I have continued to work feverishly to defeat the malware that scripted our website. While our first battle a month ago was a good start, we weren’t strong enough to win. But now our website has finally sped up and is accessible. Victory!

That said, we are looking to change the look of our website.

With how much content we are producing, we want to exhibit a more newsy feel to our website. In the upcoming weeks, our theme will change to exhibit more content on the homepage and be more accessible than the current visualheavy design.

Finally, there is a desire for newspapers to go more visual heavy on their front pages. On March 23, our second last paper of the year, we will be experimenting with a 30-inch tabloid, no fold design for our paper. It’s what most student papers are moving toward as the struggle for pickup increases and we want to see which would be best for the Laurier community. Please, please express your thoughts so we can move forward in an effective manner.

These changes are necessary to make The Cord a competitive, effective and inspiring newspaper at Wilfrid Laurier University.

But as always, we need you, our dear readers, to tell us what you like and don’t like. We may be turning 90, but we’re always changing.

PREAMBLE The Cord will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Cord believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a matter of controversy.

The staff of The Cord shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly. When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff.

The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so The Cord will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on Wilfrid Laurier University, and the community of Kitchener-Waterloo, and with a special ear to the concerns of the students of Wilfrid Laurier University.

Ultimately, The Cord will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Cord has an obligation to foster

freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through The Cord’s contact with the student body.

The Cord will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of the student press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our newspaper.

Quote of the week: “He’s going to leave me in a ditch!”

- Photo Editor Andreas Patsiaouros about Photo Editor Will Huang driving him to the airport “Now you die!”

- Photo Editor Will Huang to Photo Editor Andreas Patsiaouros calling Will “Drew”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

News

NEWS EDITOR KAITLYN SEVERIN kseverin@thecord.ca

• 3 NEWS EDITOR ERIKA YMANA eymana@thecord.ca

BUDGET DEVELOPMENT

Changes pending for Laurier budget A ‘budget challenge’ is on the horizon for Laurier as they plan their 2016-17 operating finances ERIKA YMANA NEWS EDITOR

The office of the vice-president: finance and administration issued a statement on February 23 that outlined upcoming changes for next year’s operating budget. These changes were made based on rising expenses that contribute to the university’s structural deficit.

The statement added how the university is searching for new sources of revenue. There will also be a shift in budgeting systems and the responsibility centre management budget process will be implemented in 2017-2018.

Jim Butler, vice-president of finance and administration, said the implementation of the new budget does not focus on an “overall cut,” but rather reallocation of funding taken from “less high-priority activities.”

These activities are on a tentative list and will be under review before the budget is presented to the board of governors for approval.

“What this budget does is it works … into a particular envelope and we’re moving dollars around the envelope. Less of some, more of another. So it’s a reallocation rather than an overall cut,” he said.

“It’s not like we’ve got a dollar and we’re reducing it to 90 cents.

We’re still working with a dollar

“It would be premature for me to say that there’s layoffs and it would be premature for me to say that there’s jobs created.”

-Jim Butler, vice-president of finance and administration

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

In a Students’ Union board meeting, president Max Blouw said there may be additonal layoffs due to the budget.

— we’re just going to move parts around within that envelope. It’s still valued at a dollar.”

On February 5, president Blouw said that “there may be additional layoffs this year” at a Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors meeting due to budget constraints.

Except for the statement released, no additional comments were added or discussed regarding this topic.

According to Butler, no concrete

statements can be said as the budget is still under development and will have to go through approval.

“We’re not finished yet. It would be premature for me to say that there’s layoffs and it would be premature for me to say that there’s jobs created. So that’s what we’re looking at, strategic priorities which may result in new jobs and less emphasis in other areas that might result on less work in those areas. But we’re still in the deliberation phase,” Butler said.

In terms of another statement made by president Blouw saying that expenses are “out of control,” Butler said the university is continuously dealing with structural differences.

Certain traditional sources of revenue are no longer feasible, such as enrolment growth and funding from underspending, where money from previous years’ surplus was used to “fill the gap” for the following year.

With an overall flat enrolment

in the province, Butler said “that game has ended.” While the university has been operating on a structural deficit for years, this was due to a growth factor that is steadily declining.

“So going forward we have a budget challenge. This was forecasted a couple of years ago — this is not a surprise. We’ve been managing this for the last three to four years and it did result in layoffs last year, but it also resulted in job creation [last year],” Butler said.

“We’re hoping to manage it again in a responsible way going forward.”

The budget will go through a number of discussions with the finance and adjustment committees and will be finalized for the board around April or May. The board traditionally approves the budget in its June meeting.

GSA

Samantha Deeming declared GSA president

Knowledge of key partners and her passion for the student experience led Deeming to take on the role MADDY CUTTS LEAD REPORTER

With an unanimous vote, Samantha Deeming was officially announced on February 11 as Wilfrid Laurier University’s president of the Graduate Students’ Association for the 2016-17 academic year.

Deeming began her academic career at Laurier in 2009 as an undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor of science degree.

As an undergraduate student, Deeming was heavily involved in the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union and completed her time as the vice-president of finance and administration.

“It’s a very different student body, but I feel very confident in myself,” said Deeming of taking over as president for GSA. “I do have a lot of experience at Laurier and I know a lot of the key partners already involved.”

Deeming began her master’s degree in the fall and wasted no time in becoming involved at the graduate level, as she took on the role as professional development coordinator for the GSA. It was Deeming’s extensive experience at Laurier that encour-

aged her to run as a presidential candidate.

“I felt that I already had a very good knowledge base, and I felt that I could bring a lot to the position,” she said.

“My passion for the student experience really drove me to want to take on the role.”

Deeming’s win comes at a period of change for the GSA, as they recently approved a two-year pilot project to alter their presidential election process to incorporate hiring procedures.

This new nomination process, which included an interview with a committee formed by the GSA’s board of directors, was implemented in an attempt to both screen potential presidential candidates and increase interest in the position, as it was historically sought by singular candidates.

Despite these efforts, the goal of a multiple candidate race was not achieved, as Deeming was the only candidate to apply for the role this year.

“It’s kind of a shame that there isn’t more interest in a position like it, because there is a lot that you can learn from the president position of the GSA,” Deeming said.

“My passion for the student experience really drove me to want to take on the role.”

-Samantha Deeming, GSA president-elect

“I would certainly like to see a little more interest in that, but overall I felt like I was a very good candidate, so I wasn’t concerned necessarily about the moving forward of the GSA.” Deeming plans to approach this role with effectivenes rather than legacy building, as she is realistic about what can be accomplished in a year.

“I think there’s a lot of misconception coming into a role like this saying that you have to accomplish really big things in order to be successful, and I think that there’s a lot of smaller pieces that we could work on right now to better the graduate student experience” she said.

Lastly, Deeming plans to look

JESSICA DIK/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Samantha Deeming will transition into her new role as president on May 1.

into funding opportunity programs, such as the faculty of social work.

“I want to look at funding opportunities for programs who don’t necessarily have the funding that other programs have,” she said.

“Starting those difficult conversations I think is the first step, and then being able to actually create an action plan moving forward is really exciting.”

“It’s a very different student body, but I feel very confident in myself.”

-Samantha Deeming, GSA president-elect

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

STUDENTS’ UNION

CONTRIBUTED, WILL HUANG/PHOTO EDITOR

The new Students’ Union exec team includes president-elect Tyler Van Herzele and new vice-presidents (from left to right) Carina Gerlings, Marley Wildish, Colin Aitchison and Kelsey Jenkins

VPs hired for 2016-17 exec team MADDY CUTTS LEAD REPORTER

Vice-presidents for the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union executive team for 2016-17 were announced on February 12. The hiring process began on February 5, giving president-elect Tyler Van Herzele less than a day following his win to prepare for the task.

“When I was looking for the VP team, I was looking for some very specific things when it came to personality and goals and vision. I want them to understand that they are here to help students achieve what they want to achieve through their own set of goals and values,” said Van Herzele.

“I was looking for people that show their passion for change and are willing to work collaboratively as well, amongst themselves and with the exec board.”

Returning to the executive team following his term as chair of the board of directors and

chief governance officer is Colin Aitchison, who was hired as vicepresident: university affairs. The university affairs department is responsible for student advocacy at the municipal, provincial and federal level, as well as work often involving policy and politics.

“I do want to do a lot of collaboration provincially; I want to work with my counterparts at other institutions, including federally as well,” said Aitchison.

“Ideally I’d like to start pushing the federal government to start implementing some of their promises that they made surrounding post-secondary education, I’d like to see that in the next budget.”

Hired as the future vicepresident of finance and administration, a position which is involved both with hiring and budgets, is Marley Wildish, who brings two years of experience to the role.

“I started off in general in hiring

FROM COVER

“I was looking for people that show their passion for change and are willing to work collaboratively as well.”

-Tyler Van Herzele, president-elect

and recruitment in Waterloo, then I became an executive this past year, which kind of helped me develop a passion for the department and the Students’ Union,” said Wildish.

Kelsey Jenkins was hired for the position of vice-president of clubs and associations, one which requires running the behind-the-scenes operations of the campus clubs and faculty associations, including budget allocation, marketing, policy work and collaboration with faculty association presidents.

“It reaches the most students out of all of our programming on campus and I just think it gives such diverse opportunities for student experience,” said Jenkins.

“That’s been really important to me in my own experience this year, and I wanted to provide that to other people in a bigger way.”

On the Brantford campus, Carina Gerlings has been appointed as vice-president of programming and services, who oversees Students’ Union committees such as Food Bank and EcoHawks and is responsible for Orientation Week.

“I want to not only make partnerships within the programming and services department, I want to expand that to university affairs, finances and administration, as well as with clubs and associations,” said Gerlings. “I think it’s a great way to get people involved in different areas of the Students’ Union to all work together and get to know

each other.”

The vice-presidents are rounded off with Kimberly Hutchings, vice-president of programming and services for the Waterloo campus, whose passion for the position comes from her personal experiences working with the Students’ Union.

“I’ve spent the past three years volunteering with the Students’ Union and it’s provided me with a ton of opportunities, not just to build my own leadership skills but also to make friendships that will last a really long time,” said Hutchings. “For me working in this department is to kind of be able to give back to the organization that kind of made my university experience what it is.”

The newly hired vice-presidents are currently in the process of hiring their assistant vicepresidents as well as shadowing their predecessors in preparation for commencing their roles on May 1.

Peer Connect eliminates phone line Changes to Peer Connect come as a result of the line’s place on campus with various mental health resources —cover representing those as well as we could have been.”

Services offered on campus and in the Kitchener-Waterloo community have been steadily expanding within the last few years, especially with the addition of the mental health services offered at the Wellness Centre on campus.

“The Student Wellness Centre (formerly known as Health and Counselling Services) is a multidisciplinary clinic that provides mental and physical health care to students at Laurier,” said Wellness Centre director Karen Ostrander via email.

“Our team includes counsellors (with master’s level training),

“Every students needs to be mentally healthy to succeed in their program.”

-Kaipa Bharucha, vice-president of programming and services FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

family physicians, a mental health nurse and a case manager as well as other allied health professionals.”

With additional community services such as two 24/7 helplines, Here 24/7 and Good2Talk, there are still plenty of options for students to access immediate mental health assistance when needed.

“When we talk about mental health on campus it’s not a fad or phase,” Bharucha said.

“Every student needs to be mentally healthy to succeed in their program.”

“It’s not an issue that has just popped up this year, but it’s been more discussed and recognized that we need open conversations about it on campus and encourage students to make it a part of their daily lives.”

The Peer Connect Line has been used as an intermediary for referral to other services offered on campus and throughout the community.

However, Peer Connect will remain a strong service for students to access as an organization.

“The future for Peer Connect as

“As an external service we can say here are your options.”

-Amanda Widdifield, Peer Connect coordinator

a service is actually really positive.

Now we can combine the training they have in that committee and give it to all of the external volunteers,” said Peer Connect coordinator, Amanda Widdifield.

“As an external service we can say here are your options.”

With the new incoming executive team currently being hired, many more changes could be in the near future for Peer Connect.

“It’s important to remember that breaking the stigma is obviously a big thing, but when we break the stigma then what happens? People need access to those resources,” said Nicole Luciani, Peer Connect Line coordinator.

NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 RECOGNITION

Wood awarded with national fellowship Eileen Wood becomes fifth Laurier prof to be presented with the 3M national teaching fellowship SAFINA HUSEIN STAFF WRITER

Eileen Wood, a psychology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, was recently awarded the 3M national teaching fellowship.

The fellowship is known as Canada’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in university teaching and educational leadership. Wood is now the fifth professor from Laurier to receive the award.

Wood said receiving the fellowship is an incredible acknowledgement, as the award provides support and reinforcement with regards to making new efforts while continuing her job as an educator.

“It’s astounding to have it,” she said. “It is the reinforcing value of really how important it is to teach, try new things, and make the classroom a better place.”

In addition to teaching at Laurier for over 25 years, Wood conducts various types of research and

“It is the reinforcing value of really how important it is to teach, try new things, and make the classroom a better place.”

-Eileen Wood, psychology professor

“[The award] is a reflection on a really strong team.”

-Eileen Wood, psychology professor

DANIELLA OKEZIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Eileen Wood is the fifth professor from the school to receive the teaching fellowship.

is part of a team at the institution that inquire about topics regarding academic integrity. Her research focuses on the area of instructional psychology.

“It’s an area that looks at how people learn. I try to find out ways that makes things memorable or makes things harder for people to learn,” Wood said.

Her research investigates various learning environments, including which settings are most useful and productive and which are the most challenging for indi-

viduals.

Wood’s studies also examine the use of technology in the classroom and the positive or negative impacts on learning.

The 3M national teaching fellowship provides Wood with an opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with current fellows and previous recipients of the award.

Through this experience, she hopes to gain brand new ideas that can be implemented into her classroom and create a new way to

look at learning.

Wood is also excited to bring these new thoughts and ideas back to Laurier to share with her peers and colleagues. “[The award] is a reflection on a really strong team,” Wood said.

“I think that’s the most important thing to me as it says we’re doing some very good things.”

Wood explained how the most important aspect of being a professor and an educator is to create a positive and approachable learning environment where

individuals have the opportunity to challenge themselves.

“I think that learning is a natural thing,” Wood said. “The most important thing is to try to make the environment feel approachable.”

She also believes learning environments should be social, in contrast to the more formal settings which do not feel as natural or pose impositions on students.

“When we’re enjoying ourselves and are engaged in doing things that we like and things that don’t seem hard or worrisome, we learn,” she said.

In addition to the 3M national teaching fellow title, Wood has received numerous other awards and recognitions.

She received Laurier’s teaching excellence award in 2010, an Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations teaching award and the Hoffman-Little award for faculty in 2012, as well as being named one of Laurier’s teaching fellows in 2014.

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6 • GAMES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Dear Life Dear Life is your opportunity to write a letter to your life, allowing you to vent your anger with life’s little frustrations in a completely public forum.

All submissions to Dear Life are anonymous, should be no longer than 100 words and must be addressed to your life. Submissions can be sent to dearlife@thecord. ca no later than Monday at noon each week.

Dear Life, I wish the Wellness Centre was called something other than the Wellness Centre, or at the very least, arranged differently so I felt more comfortable going in there when I have a problem. I can just

feel others looking at me being in there if I ever need help when trying to get it.

Sincerely, I feel the stigma Dear Life, How do I hope for the best when nothing is going according to plan and I’m being rejected to basically everything I’ve applied to?

Sincerely, My head is getting too heavy to hold up high Dear Life, What bugs me the most is that no one asked the students, staff, or faculty if they wanted 22 PM statues on their campus. One day there was a press conference and a statue appeared. And it was done in the summer when no one was

around to protest or ask why. Now the entire thing is cancelled and the university administration looks like fools. Good on ya!

Sincerely, Ask me first Dear Life, I am sure you booked the concourse for your dance routine practice but at least try to keep your shit out of the hall to I don’t trip over it on my way to pee. You don’t own the fucking place you know.

Sincerely, who brought you up anyway Dear Disqualified Board Candidate (DJ Zammertime), Stop bringing up the WLUSU President in everything. It was the Chair’s suggestion to the Board.

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Dear Llife, Why can’t people get over the WLUSU Elections? I’m glad Colin Aitchison removed this candidate.

Sincerely, Stop posting in all the groups. It’s super annoying.

Dear Life, Why does this happen?

Sincerely, Burned out and tired Dear disqualified WLUSU BoD candidate, Stop making such a fuss about being disqualified from the WLUSU elections. There is nothing “friendly” about giving students money during the campaign period.

Sincerely, It’s not a donation if you get the money back Dear Life, We get it. You went to Punta, I don’t need to see 40 pictures of you facing the ocean with your bikini top in your hand.

Sincerely, Some of us had to work through reading week

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She had nothing to do with it.

Also, your immaturity proves that you don’t deserve to represent us students.

Sincerely, A student who doesn’t care about your posts in every laurier group

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Dear Life, Life tip.

If you suffer from depression or anxiety get a pet in university if your in the position to do so. Some people may think it’s irresponsible but honestly it helps so much. It makes you responsible for someone else in your life, it’s a reason to get out of bed even though you don’t want to.

Sincerely, My cat is awesome

Dear Life, I just discovered there’s a vending machine for toiletries, usb cable charger thingy, laundry detergent, and tylenol in the Science Building. When did this happen?? I like it :) Sincerely, Easily-amused GoldenHawk Dear Life, The Cord reached over 200,000 views. I can retire.

Sincerely, A really happy EIC Dear Life, I would really like it if school and work could stop trying to play tug of war with my days because I feel like I have barely enough time to sleep anymore.

Sincerely, Eight cups of coffee in Dear water, You make me pee Sincerely, Don’t want to move Dear Life, I wish I was Zeus and could fuck anyone I wanted by peeing on them in a golden shower Sincerely, only a mere mortal Dear Life, let it rain massive fiercy poops!!!!

Sincerely, lactose, be gentle to me Dear Life, Do you know how annoying it is to watch people work like they know everything?

Sincerely, You have people to work with for a reason

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GAMES • 7

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8 •

FEATU

FEATURES EDITOR/BETHANY BOWLES/BBOWLES@THECORD.CA

Lead Reporter Maddy Cutts investigates addition to tuition costs an

The cost of tuition at Canadian universities can come as a little shock to anyone. We all know when we send off our applications in high school, earning that coveted piece of paper will require hard work, long hours and a hefty sum of money. What many of us are unprepared for is the many nickel-and-dime costs accompanying tuition on the invoices.

Mandatory fees Ancillary fees are fees charged by Wilfrid Laurier University to cover a wide scope of services that fall outside of the classroom, but are nonetheless integral parts of the university experience — or at least most of them.

Some of these fees, such as the bus pass, are easy enough to understand; by paying $81.65 per term, students at Laurier’s Waterloo campus have unlimited access year round to the GRT’s bus system. Others, however, are not quite so clear.

The comprehensive student services fee, priced at $34.32 per half credit with no cap, is an agreement between students and Laurier where students help fund various student services across campus in exchange for a spot on the student affairs committee, which oversees and approves their budgets.

“So students sit at 50 per cent of the vote on SAC … because students pay 50 per cent of the money for student affairs,” said Olivia Matthews, president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union.

“That SAC group is really important, so when I talk about student affairs I’m talking about athletics, co-op and careers, learning services, accessible learning. Fifty per cent of those budgets come from students.”

The administrative council fee, set at $8.41

per half credit and capped at $33.64, is a fee paid by all undergraduate students for their membership to the Students’ Union.

The funds are used to finance the Students’ Union’s operational costs.

Other fees paid by all students include the student publication fee, at $10.96 per term, which is used to cover the operating costs of the Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications. WLUSP is responsible for nine publications across Laurier’s campuses, including The Cord in Waterloo, The Sputnik in Brantford and Radio Laurier.

“It makes it so that we are able to better sustain our financial resources, while still being able to offer these essential services to students.”

-Laura Bassett, vice-president of university affairs at the Students’ Union

The sustainability fee, currently $1.31 per half credit to a maximum of $5.24 per term, is used to fund Laurier’s sustainability office, founded in 2010. The office aims to develop the university’s culture so as to integrate sustainability into daily life. Laurier’s sustainability endeavours include bike storage sites, e-waste and battery drop off locations, as well as marketing information recycling and composting on campus to the university community.

The World University Service of Canada Student Refugee fee, set at $1 per half credit to

a maximum of $4, is money used to fund the post-secondary education of young refugees in Canada. The funds go beyond tuition and aid with the resettlement process of students who have had to relocate in order to pursue higher education.

The International Student Overcoming War scholarship fund is a $4 per term fee initiated by the Daughters for Life Laurier campus club and a member of Laurier’s faculty. It is also aimed at bringing students out of war-torn regions and into Canada to study at Laurier.

“That fee [international student overcoming war] was specifically targeted at females, to bring more females over,” said Colin Aitchison, chair of the Students’ Union board of directors and chief governance officer.

“A lot of the time they felt that those programs mainly brought males, just because a lot of those countries have a different view of society.”

The final mandatory multi-campus fee is the copyright agreement fee, which currently sits at $10.40 per term. Under current legislation, professors may use up to 10 per cent of copyrighted material under fair dealings. If they require more, then they may use the services of Access Copyright, a company which facilitates usage up to 20 per cent.

“Students, they pay for access to the library and journals and articles through their tuition, and then they also pay for anything that’s kind of outside what the library has through Access Copyright,” said Laura Bassett, vice-president of university affairs with the Students’ Union.

The university has however recently signed a new contract with Access Copyright, which will soon see the copyright fee falling significantly.

URES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 • 9

why students are charged certain fees in nd where that money goes Can I opt out?

While all of this can be overwhelming on top of the mandatory tuition costs, it is possible for students to opt-out of certain fees; the health plan and dental plan, priced at $112.45 and $105.54 per year respectively, are placed on all undergraduates’ invoices. These fees, charged only in the fall term, can be removed if you can provide proof of an existing comparable plan. The health plan provides coverage for prescription drugs, specialists such as psychologists or massage therapists, as well as vision care, travel coverage and accidental coverage, among others. The dental plan has coverage for examinations, preventative care and restorative procedures, amongst others.

Prism, a student resource group who charge students within the faculty of business and economics at $65 per term, can also be opted-out of. Alternatively, students from other faculties can choose to pay the fee to gain access to the service, which operates as a tech share similar to the U-Desk. Prism additionally features computer labs, a greater variety of rentable devices, as well as workshops for a variety of computer programs. Students can opt-out of the service at the Prism Help Desk at the beginning of the semester.

The final fee to which students can optout is the Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group, set at $5.23 per term. This not-for-profit aims to engage students with the field of social change through providing the resources, knowledge and potential opportunities for action. Students can apply to opt-out online within the first two weeks of each term.

Campus and faculty specific Though the fees listed thus far have been for all Laurier undergraduate students, there are a number of additional fees specific to a campus and even to individual faculties. The Students’ Union building fee, $7.22 per half credit with a cap at $28.88 per term, is to ensure the continual operation of the Fred Nichols Campus Centre, the Students’ Union’s building on the Waterloo campus.

“It’s basically to make sure that the Union breaks even on the Students’ Union building, the FNCC,” said Aitchison. “So that it can still operate, we can keep the lights on, in case for whatever reason we get into a really bad financial state where we can’t use operational funds.”

The enhancement of the student life levy, charged at $8.74 per half credit, is used towards the student life levy fund. This fund is available through application for members of the Laurier community to apply for one-time funding, approved three times a year, for projects which they believe would enhance the student experience at Laurier. These projects have been as varied as repairs to the 24-Hour Lounge, to funding student-led conferences and the Laurier mobile safety app. A student life levy has recently been added to the Brantford campus, as well.

The final fee students at Waterloo pay is a faculty based fee, which is $4.25 per half credit up to $21.25 per term for students in business and economics and $3.75 per half credit capped at $15 for all other undergrads.

This money is used to fund the budgets of faculty based clubs, such as those run under

the Lazaridis Students’ Society or the Arts Undergraduate Society.

Up and coming fees There are additionally some new fees which students will soon see appearing on their invoices. At the Students’ Union’s annual general meeting this year, students approved a Students’ Union essential services fee of $2.25, a fee to help fund the Emergency Response Team, Food Bank and Foot Patrol, services deemed “essential” by the Union and university.

“As students are accessing them more frequently and in higher volumes, it becomes harder to sustain on the budgets that we have now. So we’ve seen, specifically on our Brantford campus, more people accessing the Food Bank as of right now, than they did the entire year last year,” Bassett explained. “It makes it so that we are able to better sustain our financial resources, while still being able to offer these essential services to students.”

Proposing fees to enhance student life To approve all non-tuition fees at Laurier, students vote through referendum, an opportunity for students to have a voice in what services they wish to fund. However, Laurier’s most recent elections voter turnout of 26 per cent indicates the majority of students have not been involving themselves in the process.

New fees can be proposed by anyone, even students, though they are subjected to a rigorous screening process prior to being put to referendum. Though the thought of passing an undergraduate-wide fee may seem impossible, many student-led initiatives, such as the International Students Overcoming War fee, have successfully been voted through, though the involvement of a faculty member is strongly encouraged.

Before being put on a ballot, non-tuition fees must first pass through the non-tuition

OPTION TO OPT OUT

• Health plan • Dental plan • Prism (option to opt in for non-SBE) • Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group

FALL SEMESTER FEES, FIVE COURSE LOAD, AS PER FACULTY

Arts & Sciences: $632.29 SBE: $703.54

fee committee, a group comprised of members of the Students’ Union, Graduate Students’ Association and university administration. Laurier’s committee is in place to vet all proposed fees for legality and compliance with university protocol.

Noncompliance with regulations is not uncommon, as indicated this year with two separate referendum questions pertaining to fees which had been flagged as illegally placed. One if these was the faculty of education’s technology fee, used to cover unique technology and software for students to use during their practicums.

“This fee was put forward illegally, without a student vote, they just started charging it,” said Aitchison. “[The new fee is] basically the exact same fee, it’s just that they want the

“It’s not just our policy; this is a government mandate and it’s a government mandate that a lot of people don’t follow.”

-Olivia Matthews, president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union

students to have a say, so if it fails it won’t be ever charged again, if it passes it will continue to be charged.”

The fee was passed, along with the faculty of music’s coaching/accompanying fee, one which was again used to remedy a situation where students were being charged outside of the law. Currently, students are not allowed to be charged fees related to examination, a process to be covered by tuition costs. As the music fee was used for accompaniment during testing, the faculty had to instead cover it using operational funds and look to implement an accompaniment fee instead for practice time and coaching.

“We can sometimes miss some of those fees, because we don’t know they’re happening and then someone will bring it to our attention, like the music accompaniment fee, and then we go ok this needs to change,” said Matthews.

“It’s not just our policy; this is a government mandate and it’s a government mandate that a lot of people don’t follow, because there’s not a lot of oversight for it.”

Laurier’s non-tuition fee protocol committee is rare among institutions in the province, with other universities even looking to model theirs after our structure and policies.

It is just a part of the process and requires student engagement regarding flagging questionable fees and voting on the passing of new referendum questions to keep all non-tuition fees in check. Students are the ones responsible for covering the costs of their invoices each term, and owe it to themselves to understand the role of fees they’re paying and how they relate back to them.

“The point of non-tuition fee protocol is we believe your tuition dollars should cover your education,” said Matthews. “Ancillary fees are things that will enhance that, but not override the education you’re getting. We don’t want to turn education into an elite practice.”

GRAPHICS BY LENA YANG/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

10 •

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Arts & Life

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR ZACH GUITOR zguitor@thecord.ca

SCHOOL CLUB

The early bird actually gets the worm BRITTANY DITIZIO STAFF WRITER

Waking up early provides a person with a variety of benefits, including increased concentration and productivity throughout the day, but to do so requires keen discipline.

You have to set a strict bedtime in order to get the proper amount of sleep.

Giving students the opportunity to challenge themselves and increase their productivity is The 6AM Club, a new club at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Founded by Brandon Chow in the latter half of the 2015 fall term, the 6AM Club focuses on individual and group exercises, helping members set goals and support each other while finding balance in their lifestyles.

“We go to the gym, either individually or as a group, and exercise. Ultimately we want to support each other, exercise and self-improve,” said Chow.

If you aren’t used to the idea of waking up early, there are some factors that can get you motivated to follow such a routine.

Early rising has been connected

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

to the systems of successful entrepreneurs. An early morning can result in fewer distractions, which makes room for goal setting and daily planning for overall selfimprovement. When you are able to beat the desire to stay in bed, you end up developing a mindset where taking control of your day and accomplishing all that you need to becomes very manageable.

When you are able to develop a routine of waking up early, you

gain a better quality of sleep overall. The routine helps you adjust to waking up early and will also lead to falling asleep at night earlier.

This cycle can help you set goals and stick to them.

“When I’m up that early, there is no distractions,” said Chow. “It’s really empowering.”

A member of the club, Saif Murtaza shared that this new routine helped improve his overall health.

“By managing my fitness

sessions early in the morning, I found myself getting less stressed and worrying about my workout throughout the day,” said Murtaza.

Not only can a club like this contribute to fitness goals, it can also help you achieve personal and mindful goals.

“The 6AM Club has added that creativity aspect to my life again,” said Murtaza. “When you wake up at 6 a.m., it can be a beautiful sight to see. With a clear mind and

focused energy, you are able to get work done better.”

Exercising is important, especially for students when controlling stress levels and allowing yourself to take your focus off of assignments and classes. It can be hard to fit in a workout if you are accustomed to waking up at noon and have several classes to go to during the day.

“A lot of students are mainly late risers, and that’s the way student life is,” said Chow.

He explained how at the beginning, some members were not early risers, but said this struggle was quickly overcome.

“You need to be consistent, and the 6AM Club introduces consistency into everyday life.”

When you wake up early, you have time to plan your day and fit in a workout to relieve some stress and reach fitness goals.

It can definitely be hard for the average nighthawk to follow a system of waking up early, but once you put your “mind over mattress,” nothing but improvement is sure to come.

“It’s a commitment,” said Chow.

“But it is well worth it in the end.”

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PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES COOK TIME: 35 MINUTES INGREDIENTS: • 1 butternut squash, diced • 4 cloves garlic, chopped • 1L vegetable stock • 1 leek, chopped • ¼ cup goat cheese • ½ tsp dried thyme • 1 tsp lemon juice • ½ tsp ginger powder • 1 tbsp olive oil • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: To start, peel and dice the squash, leek and garlic, but be sure to scoop out the insides of the squash.

To make the prep for the leeks easiest, it is best to chop and then wash to ensure all of the dirt is rinsed out. In a medium-sized pot, bring it to medium heat and coat the bottom with olive oil.

Carefully add your chopped garlic. Once it softens, this will take about 60 seconds, add your leeks and soften (about two minutes).

After the leeks are soft, add your squash and cover the contents with stock. Let the ingredients simmer for about 30 minutes with the thyme, lemon juice and ginger powder.

After the 30 minutes, blend the ingredients together until smooth with the goat cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Happy studying!

10 •

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Arts & Life

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR ZACH GUITOR zguitor@thecord.ca

SCHOOL CLUB

The early bird actually gets the worm BRITTANY DITIZIO STAFF WRITER

Waking up early provides a person with a variety of benefits, including increased concentration and productivity throughout the day, but to do so requires keen discipline.

You have to set a strict bedtime in order to get the proper amount of sleep.

Giving students the opportunity to challenge themselves and increase their productivity is The 6AM Club, a new club at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Founded by Brandon Chow in the latter half of the 2015 fall term, the 6AM Club focuses on individual and group exercises, helping members set goals and support each other while finding balance in their lifestyles.

“We go to the gym, either individually or as a group, and exercise. Ultimately we want to support each other, exercise and self-improve,” said Chow.

If you aren’t used to the idea of waking up early, there are some factors that can get you motivated to follow such a routine.

Early rising has been connected

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

to the systems of successful entrepreneurs. An early morning can result in fewer distractions, which makes room for goal setting and daily planning for overall selfimprovement. When you are able to beat the desire to stay in bed, you end up developing a mindset where taking control of your day and accomplishing all that you need to becomes very manageable.

When you are able to develop a routine of waking up early, you

gain a better quality of sleep overall. The routine helps you adjust to waking up early and will also lead to falling asleep at night earlier.

This cycle can help you set goals and stick to them.

“When I’m up that early, there is no distractions,” said Chow. “It’s really empowering.”

A member of the club, Saif Murtaza shared that this new routine helped improve his overall health.

“By managing my fitness

sessions early in the morning, I found myself getting less stressed and worrying about my workout throughout the day,” said Murtaza.

Not only can a club like this contribute to fitness goals, it can also help you achieve personal and mindful goals.

“The 6AM Club has added that creativity aspect to my life again,” said Murtaza. “When you wake up at 6 a.m., it can be a beautiful sight to see. With a clear mind and

focused energy, you are able to get work done better.”

Exercising is important, especially for students when controlling stress levels and allowing yourself to take your focus off of assignments and classes. It can be hard to fit in a workout if you are accustomed to waking up at noon and have several classes to go to during the day.

“A lot of students are mainly late risers, and that’s the way student life is,” said Chow.

He explained how at the beginning, some members were not early risers, but said this struggle was quickly overcome.

“You need to be consistent, and the 6AM Club introduces consistency into everyday life.”

When you wake up early, you have time to plan your day and fit in a workout to relieve some stress and reach fitness goals.

It can definitely be hard for the average nighthawk to follow a system of waking up early, but once you put your “mind over mattress,” nothing but improvement is sure to come.

“It’s a commitment,” said Chow.

“But it is well worth it in the end.”

RECIPE

ECU Tax Preparation Service Homestyle leek

and potato soup

The essential ‘take me home’ recipe

ECU’s NEW tax service!

Taxes prepared by Des Gibb and Company, Professional Chartered Accountants

AVAILABLE FROM MARCH 7 TO APRIL 25, 2016 • • • • •

On site service at each branch Confidential and reliable service Full year CRA support included in fee Electronically filed for faster refunds Refunds can be deposited to your credit union account

Take full advantage of all personal credits and minimize your tax. Rest assured, your return will be handled confidentially and professionally.

Current Tax Preparation Rates (plus HST).

Ask about a package to get you started.

CAMBRIDGE

27 Water Street N. Cambridge, ON N1R 3B2 519.623.2211

KITCHENER

6–51 Ardelt Ave. Kitchener, ON N2C 2S9 519.742.3500

$75 base rate per return plus $5.00 per slip, for members.

WATERLOO

103–340 Hagey Blvd.

Waterloo, ON N2L 6R6 519.772.3050

SAHEBA SEGU/STAFF WRITER

SAHEBA SEGU CORD ARTS

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES COOK TIME: 35 MINUTES INGREDIENTS: • 1 butternut squash, diced • 4 cloves garlic, chopped • 1L vegetable stock • 1 leek, chopped • ¼ cup goat cheese • ½ tsp dried thyme • 1 tsp lemon juice • ½ tsp ginger powder • 1 tbsp olive oil • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: To start, peel and dice the squash, leek and garlic, but be sure to scoop out the insides of the squash.

To make the prep for the leeks easiest, it is best to chop and then wash to ensure all of the dirt is rinsed out. In a medium-sized pot, bring it to medium heat and coat the bottom with olive oil.

Carefully add your chopped garlic. Once it softens, this will take about 60 seconds, add your leeks and soften (about two minutes).

After the leeks are soft, add your squash and cover the contents with stock. Let the ingredients simmer for about 30 minutes with the thyme, lemon juice and ginger powder.

After the 30 minutes, blend the ingredients together until smooth with the goat cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Happy studying!

12 •

Editorial

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 OPINION EDITOR MITCHELL CONSKY mconsky@thecord.ca

Foreseeable trouble with unforeseeable transparency sures are instead of being given an official statement that does nothing but beat around the bush.

Much like the delay in the new Lazaridis building, students are being left in the dark. And it’s about time the highly-paid administration affords a light bulb.

They are shutting down plausible communication on what people really want to know. Are people losing their jobs? Is academia going to be affected? Are services the first to go? These are questions that will remain stagnant as we await the final decisions that could come without any warning.

We saw last year what happened when Laurier decided to axe 22 positions and the chaos that ensued because of a lack of transparency within the institution. While reactions may have been overzealous, the ambiguity made the blows that much harder to handle. And this will continue until answers are provided.

This sort of ‘under the rug’ attitude towards student and faculty matters is a repeat of the same pattern as of last year’s layoffs.

A storm is coming. And yet our forecast tells us there’s not a cloud in sight.

In a Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board meeting on February 5, Wilfrid Laurier University president Max Blouw declared the possibility of future layoffs due to overpowering expenses contributing to the structural deficit.

The administration has stalled any further conversation on this matter and the transparency of our university officials is — yet again — in question.

Yesterday, the department of communications, public affairs and marketing posted a statement on wlu.ca, which said, “as we continue to develop the 2016-17 operating budget, Laurier faces the likelihood of unit-level budget reductions due to the structural deficit and the need to support university priorities.”

This statement carries considerable ambiguity, an ominous tone to the future of Laurier and mostly steers clear from the idea of potential employment cuts.

While we understand the tough financial situation most universities are in and that certain measures must be taken for Laurier to operate in a healthy manner, it’s also important students, staff and faculty are told what these mea-

Peer Connect Line no longer required for mental health a crisis.

Instead, it points students in the direction in which more help can be acquired.

New support campaigns with mental illness are able to destigmatize and encourage suffering victims to open up about their illness to their friends and family, to eliminate the taboo and maximize the support outreach so people no longer feel alone in their misery.

As much as having a student line to call can be beneficial, it was no longer helping bridge the gap and there are other services looking to help students that need more resources and support. Mental health is an open discussion that needs more discourse and less spread out resources. By shutting down the line, resources open up to combat stigmas in an appropriate way.

Now that resources are more readily available and understood by a wider range of students, it’s easier for students to understand what the next steps are through Wellness Services, instead of calling a number to tell them what these resources are and how to move towards them.

Peer Connect Line, a phone line service operated by the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union was meant for students suffering from any degree of mental illness to connect with someone to talk to and be provided resources for taking the next steps towards recovery.

Just before the break, the Students’ Union decided to eliminate the line Peer Connect offers due to a “shift in culture” surrounding what services students need and to make sure efforts are “directed towards getting you more direct access to supports and crisis lines that now exist.”

There is no denying the good intentions of Peer Connect Line, that offered hope and support to those who don’t know where else to find it, but the Students’ Union decision to pull the service may not be so terrible.

Despite volunteer training, script preparation, knowing what to say and how to say it, the line is merely a bridge to the next platform of emergency communication. It’s a referral service that does not necessarily guarantee proper assistance for those dealing with

These unsigned editorials are based off informal discussions and then agreed upon by the majority of The Cord’s editorial board, including the Editor-inChief and Opinion Editor. The arguments made may reference any facts that have been made available through interviews, documents or other sources.

The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of The Cord’s volunteers, staff or WLUSP.

THE CORD IS PUBLISHED BY WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY STUDENT PUBLICATIONS 205 REGINA ST. N., WATERLOO

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Bryan Stephens VICE-CHAIR Abdiasis Issa DIRECTOR Rafey Sattar DIRECTOR John Pehar

DIRECTOR Tom Lillo

DIRECTOR Angela Foster DIRECTOR Fred Kuntz DIRECTOR Gary Doyle

PRESIDENT Bryan Stephens president@wlusp. com FINANCE MANAGER Randy Moore randy@rcmbrooks. com ADVERTISING MANAGER Caroline Schummer care.schummer@ wlusp.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@ wlusp.com HR MANAGER/ CORPORATE SECRETARY Emily Crump hr@wlusp.com

JOSHUA AWOLADE/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Fighting for uncertainty ERIKA YMANA NEWS EDITOR

In a terse tone paired with a thick Filipino accent, my father once said, “Education is your only way out. You only have one shot at a prosperous life. Be smart.”

I was in third grade when I found out I was about to uproot what was left of my childhood in the Philippines to immigrate to Canada for a hopeful but uncertain better life.

The short time in between moving and being immersed in a new culture leaves no traces in my memory.

I was unable to fully comprehend what I had left behind at the time nor did I realize how much of an uphill struggle it would be until almost a decade later — when I left “home” for a second time to go to university.

Most people would think the hardest parts about trying to assimilate is changing your mannerisms or cultivating a “western” taste in clothing, food or art.

If you surround yourself with the right people, your taste will change in the span of a year.

If you pay enough attention, emulating your peers can speed up the process of fitting in.

The thing about being considered an outsider is the constant need to adapt and never looking like you aren’t in the “know.”

But optics, like wearing the right clothing or watching the most

popular television shows, are miniscule in comparison to the underlying problems I was about to face.

The “real world” for an immigrant first-generation student with immigrant parents begins halfway through high school.

This is when more complex issues, unrelated to simple homework, fashion or drama, begin to emerge.

Big decisions on what programs to pursue, what schools to consider, how to fund my education and managing money fell into my own hands.

Upon reaching this point in my life, my parents supported whichever path I chose because they were only as informed as I was — with no experience in attending any post-secondary institutions in this country.

I wasn’t fully aware of where my talents would lie at the time, and could not foresee that I would waste a year being in the wrong program. When I overcame the first hurdle into independency, the second obstacle wasn’t far ahead.

It was then when I realized that although I looked the part, I was still distinctly different.

Finding opportunities like a summer job or a mentor became extremely difficult as my family and I did not have the resources to make connections in the field I was interested in pursuing.

Getting the grades I hoped for became difficult as I had to evenly split my time and energy between school, work, extra-curricular activities and earning enough money to cover all expenses with little guidance.

Having my parents’ hopes and

But no matter how dark it gets, my dreams symbolize that “light” at the end of the tunnel. I am eternally committed.

dreams for a better life was a big weight to carry in conjunction with my own self-goals and expectations.

I put myself under immense pressure to be excellent at everything all the time as being highly educated was my only way out of a life of struggle due to little social capital. So in time I realized the big adjustment was not just about fitting in, but also working twice as hard to access opportunities using only my own merit.

This isn’t made to sound like a sad story. Being thrown into the unknown builds confidence and conviction. It’s a mark of strength.

I used to think I would always be at a disadvantage in comparison to those who had generations built on this land. But no matter how dark it gets, my dreams symbolize that “light” at the end of the tunnel. I am eternally committed.

They occupy my mind before I sleep and they linger with me when I wake. I romanticize no part of getting to where I want to be. I will be battered with days of hard work — just as I am now.

So, a better life is always within reach. You just have to fight like hell to earn it.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Opinion

• 13 OPINION EDITOR MITCHELL CONSKY mconsky@thecord.ca

Maybe the devil made me do it Empathy vs. cruelty: evaluating Philip Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, intended to assess the psychological implications of institutional systems within criminal imprisonment

DON MORGENSON COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTOR

Some time in the early 1970s, psychologist Philip Zimbardo advertised in a California newspaper asking for volunteers to participate in a study of “prison life.”

The volunteers were paid $15 per day for the duration of the research — supposedly two weeks.

They were randomly assigned roles as either “prison guards” or as “prisoners.”

After being refused the use of the municipal jail, a mock prison was built out of Stanford University facilities. Real police officers did, however, consent to “arrest” the prisoner volunteers as they were found in their homes.

Researcher Zimbardo acted as head experimenter as well as the quasi-official “prison superintendent.”

Whereas it was designed to last two weeks, it became obvious the research was going seriously awry.

The prisoners, deprived of sleep, began to exhibit symptoms of disorientation, dislocation and severe depression.

The guards engaged in acts of humiliation and further dehumanized the “prisoners” at every turn.

A mere five days into the study, Zimbardo’s future wife, psychologist Christina Maslach, was so appalled by the abuse she witnessed that she persuaded Zimbardo to abandon the research.

Zimbardo has now published a book called The Lucifer Effect,

We know fear and insecurity have been linked to aggresive behaviour.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

For the experiment, candidates were divided between ‘prisoners’ and ‘prison guards.’ This resulted in physical and emotional detriment for subjects.

which is devoted to the shocking events of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

In the book, he calls on us to recall Stanley Milgram’s “obedience study” as well as other types of research, and concludes that situation/contextual factors, far more than a person’s character, explain why people behave so cruelly.

He then connects the dots for us in his detailed account of the abuses of United States personnel at Baghdad’s prison, where Zimbardo argues the torments and humiliations suffered by the prisoners were produced not by evil character traits, but rather by an evil system — much like that established in the Stanford Prison Experiment.

And yes, we do know some of us will behave in depraved ways when under pressure.

From personal experience, I know that the worst “detail” or duty military personnel can pull is

guarding prisoners.

Zimbardo acted as an “expert witness” in defence of the officers overseeing the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and argued we should “blame an evil system” — analyzing how situations are designed, and then criticize those individuals responsible for pressured-filled circumstances which may make us all “vulnerable.”

For Zimbardo, the sources of depraved behaviour come from outside the person without as much as a nod in the direction of what is inside all of us, our personalities and our characters.

For instance, we know fear and insecurity have been linked to aggressive behaviour.

And here, education must be called upon to provide us all with strategies to cope with uncertainty, moreover to assist us in understanding how compassion and cooperation can support us in our own intrinsic weaknesses.

For me, emotional maturity appears to be the key.

For the guards at Abu Ghraib and at Stanford University, what was lacking was the ability to see the other as human; they lacked empathy and its close relative, compassion.

Daniel Batson has done some research suggesting that compassion “is closely linked to the ability to follow the story of another’s plight with vivid imagination.”

It would appear there is an atrophy of the imagination — at least among some of us.

Failure of the imagination comes from not exercising one’s imagination, or having one’s imagination become stagnant from too many fully prepared TV dinners and everything done for us by someone else.

The imagination might well be like any muscle: it atrophies when not used.

Our hope lies in the fact that all

What was lacking was the ability to see the other as human; they lacked empathy and its close relative, compassion.

of these human tendencies can be taught, or better yet, caught from others such as parents, teachers, government officials and yes, prison guards. Civilized humans can teach other humans to become civilized.

Our destinies lie not in circumstances or situations, but in our own powers to alter such circumstances so as to meet our expectations and enlarge our humanity.

14 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Why we join clubs Realizing the need for building experience JOSHUA AWOLADE/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

FARAZ IFTEKHARUDDIN OPINION COLUMNIST

As people, we grow, we learn and evolve through experience and adventures.

Classroom lectures and good grades will never make us complete. While high GPAs may hold the highest priority in university life, so should non-academic accomplishments.

While we may be passionate about what we learn in the classrooms, we are still bound by the course material and its contents.

Whereas extracurriculars allow one to explore and discover new strengths, likes and even dislikes.

Not only do we gain a myriad of experiences, but we also get to meet new people, make new friends outside our faculty and be introduced to different backgrounds.

We can also open the door to create connections for our future after graduation, because at the end of day, we are trying to prepare ourselves in the best way possible to what lies beyond university.

When applying to jobs after graduating, a person with the perfect GPA may assume they have the job in the bag, but what they don’t know is that there are tens of hundreds of others who apply with the same perfect GPA. What sets one apart from the other, however, comes down to everything except for academic grades.

Indeed, employers would rather see an individual who took the time to get involved on campus and with the community while still maintaining good grades, rather than a person who just stuck to the books to achieve academic excellence.

Wilfrid Laurier University arguably has one of the strongest sense of community and school spirit in all of Canada.

There are many people involved in different areas and corners on campus.

Yet, there are still those a bit lost, confused and looking to find new friends.

For those, there is something for everybody; there are more than 140 clubs on campus with more services to get involved in through the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union and beyond.

Sometimes, there are niche groups and clubs hidden like buried treasures, which many would join in a heartbeat.

So we should try to get outside our comfort zone and try new things, because they may turn out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of our university careers.

One of the best aspects about university is the opportunity to try new things.

Ten years from now you are far more likely to look back at the experiences you have than the weekly online quizzes you’ve spent hours stressing about.

Categorizing with ‘millennial’ SHELBY BLACKLEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I was born on March 1, 1993. I am 22-years old, soon to be joining the workplace, trying to find my spot while also bringing a “new perspective” into the office.

Oh yeah. And I’m a millennial.

For some odd reason, any time I bring up my age, the word “millennial” always comes into play.

I’m categorized immediately as a millennial instead of an individual.

I am not a 22-year old. I am not Shelby Blackley. I am a millennial.

Why is this the case? What is our society’s obsession with “millennials” and this word that seems to coin such a large group?

Millennials, the special name for those born between the early 1980s — sometimes as far as 1977 — and 2000, are considered to be Generation Y. The “me” generation, where everything is about them. They are driven by their own pleasures and satisfactions, while success is imperative on who you know and what you do.

What a lovely group to be a part of.

But, apart from stereotypes,

what else do we know about this cohort?

According to MillennialMarketing.com, a team founded in 2008 by a Notre Dame graduate, millennials make up 25 per cent of the population in the United States.

This number is very comparable to Canada. Additionally, millennials make up 21 per cent of “consumer discretionary purchases,” which includes everything that is not an essential good or service.

Millennials, in general, obsess and obsess when things aren’t easy. They are stereotyped as lazy, self-absorbed and sometimes too reliant on technology instead of person-to-person communication.

But this group does have a lot of problems to go through — I have seen friends go through struggle after struggle because of underemployment, unpaid internships, temporary contracts, a changing economy and I know there will be struggles when I walk away into the “real” world.

But I’ve accepted this fate. I know the economy changes, I know there are members of the boomer generation holding on to their employment with every fibre of their being and will not let go until they absolutely have to. That’s how they were brought up. Admittedly, that’s how I was brought up.

You work. You stay humble. You

don’t expect anything, but you appreciate it all.

I owe a lot of my opposite-tomillennial traits to my parents.

Instant gratification didn’t occur.

They were no doubt proud of me, but I didn’t get a dollar every time I scored a goal or a treat every time I got an A. I was taught young I will be working more than just a 9 to 5 job — I often get asked why I don’t take time for myself, but instead overwork. It’s because that’s how I was raised and I am proud of that.

But there’s also this misconceived stereotype from people that millennials don’t know how to work hard, or that companies need to adapt to deal with how millennials absorb information. They expect things to come to them. They use their contacts to get where they need to be. They thrive off new technology and if it doesn’t work for them, the effort is null.

As a result of this misconception, my millennial counterparts are often so absorbed with being called millennials that this stereotype is becoming true. Millennials are reinforcing the negative stereotypes by trying to fight them the very way the market is advertising them. Don’t like dating? There’s Tinder for you. You can’t find a job? Don’t worry, your mom has that great connection at their company. Trying to find the best way

to communicate? Don’t walk up to someone, that’s old fashioned.

And the irony of this piece is as a millennial I am falling into the millennial stereotype of complaining about millennials. My head hurts from this.

I don’t want to be defined by the “struggles of my generation.”

I don’t want to think my success is only temporary because I am “lucky” or that there are plenty of catalysts making it hard to achieve greatness as a millennial. I don’t want to suffer from impostor syndrome when I undoubtedly work hard and achieve my goals, but assume it is because people are mistaking me for something I’m not. I don’t want to doubt my abilities because being a millennial makes me lazy, incompetent and reliant on others to create my path.

I want to work hard. I want to be acknowledged for my hard work from those in my industry that know how hard it can be, but also appreciate humble individuals who have an open mind.

I don’t want to be acknowledged as a millennial and I don’t want it used as a piece of my identity. Yes, I am part of this cohort, but this cohort does not define me. I am Shelby Blackley. I am an individual finding my place in a changing world. Just like every other person.

Knowledge beyond lectures LINDSAY BINDMAN OPINION COLUMNIST

There is such an emphasis placed on academic learning that we find our grades defining our worth, or how intelligent we perceive ourselves to be.

When I leave, having learnt volumes during four years at Wilfrid Laurier University, I do not believe academics are the only measure of intelligence, perspective and aptitude.

As someone who is gearing up to go travelling for at least a year, I am very aware of the discourse surrounding this type of post-graduation path.

Taking time when you’re young — should you have the means — to see more of the world is arguably one of the most valuable experiences you could possibly afford yourself.

In some ways, you might even learn more about yourself and about the world around you than you could within the four walls of a classroom. This does not seem to be the general consensus, though.

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Travelling is more often viewed as simply vacation or belonging to a sector of entertainment. It’s referred to as “taking time off.” Taking time to explore our beautiful planet, meet new people, hear new dialects, experience new cultures, try new foods, understand how other people live and perceive our world is not taking time “off,” as much as it is taking “on” the time to do what’s important.

Because of the way our society promotes getting a degree, the

pursuit of a career, making money, getting married and having children, our minds have been shaped to perceive this type of travelling as unproductive.

In reality, I’m being more productive than ever — doing and learning far more than I ever could within those four walls of lecture halls.

Over the winter break, I visited my dad on our boat in Key West.

Although the culture in Florida is still largely similar to ours, there

were definitely notable differences in the people I encountered.

There were many young people from all over the world and everyone seemed to be pursuing what made them happy.

I met a travelling musician from New York that was living on his boat with his dog.

He’d secured a job taking tourists on tours and he spent his evenings with me playing music and showing me around.

I fell in love. Not in the romantic comedy, live happily ever after way.

I didn’t know him long enough for that. I fell in love with the experience, with the place and with the fact that when I went down there at first, he and others I met were complete strangers, but I left with new friends.

Getting to appreciate the way different groups of people live their lives first hand is invaluable.

Just as reading scholarly articles and participating in a lecture is enhancing to one’s education, so is the participation in other people’s countries, cultures, lives and social fabric.

We don’t ever stop learning, but perhaps the combination of both of these types of education can create a desirable balance.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Sports

• 15 SPORTS EDITOR DREW YATES dyates@thecord.ca

MEN’S HOCKEY

Hawks eliminated from playoffs by the Mustangs After a three-year hiatus from the playoffs, Laurier was swept 2-0 by the Western Mustangs and was outscored 12-4 during the best-of-three series

CHECK OUT MORE CONTENT ONLINE @THECORD.CA

DANIEL JOHNSON STAFF WRITER

Ryan Lopes of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team went full circle last Friday night having experienced playoff action on the first and last years of his tenure at Laurier.

The fourth-year centre took a tough loss 4-1 to the Western Mustangs, ending the season for the Hawks after the Mustangs swept the best-of-three series 2-0.

Despite the results of the scoreboard, Lopes was humbled by the new perspective he gained from seeing his final season through, culminating in a playoff berth that broke a three-year playoff drought.

He spoke of something that became more than just a team.

“It becomes a family and it’s very short lived. A lot of guys don’t realize that you’re having fun and time flies and you’re never ready to leave,” said Lopes.

“These four years, they become a part of you and you get a lot of relationships that you want to stick together.”

“It’s going to be hard to forget something like that,” he continued.

Lopes said the last time the Hawks were in the playoffs was during his first year, and to get a taste of it in his last year was great — but it can also be used as a stepping stone for the first year guys to get a feel of what to expect during playoff hockey.

This year, the Hawks sported a roster of 10 rookies, one of them a third-year student.

Head coach Greg Puhalski coached his team into the playoffs this season.

Playoff experience becomes extremely valuable to players in the Ontario University Athletics conference.

Careers are short and droughts can deprive a team of the experience necessary to make the final push at the end of a season.

WILL HUANG/PHOTO EDITOR

Matt Dupont battles for the puck in Laurier’s 4-1 loss to Western. The Hawks were eliminated from the playoffs.

“A lot of guys don’t realize that you’re having fun and time flies and you’re never ready to leave.”

-Ryan Lopes, fourth-year centre

“Playoffs is about playing well together as a team and believing in what you’re doing, and you never really get a sense of what that is until you start playing the game,” he said.

“It’s a good experience for our guys who have been with our

program and who have not been to the playoffs.”

In the wake of the loss, Puhalski credits the Western squad. He said their hustle and constant motion turned the tide of the game into their favour.

“The only way you get playoff experience is you have to be at the playoffs, you have to give yourself a chance,” he said.

As for Lopes, he’s now on the other side of the inevitable university turnover. He has no more games to play or goals to score for the Hawks.

But with that comes perspective, which brings a message to the younger players on the team. He urges them to just take advantage of it.

“Playoffs is about playing well together as a team and believing in what you’re doing ...”

-Greg Puhalski, men’s hockey head coach

“It goes by fast and I want guys to take each game seriously and each game competitive because when it comes down to it it’s going to be that game that’s going to make a difference in playoffs and I want guys to enjoy the time here it’s a family,” he said.

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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16 • SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 CURLING

Laurier falls to 8-11 ARMAN ARYAPOUR CORD SPORTS

Following a well-fought 79-62 win against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Feb. 6, the Wilfrid Laurier women’s basketball team fell short to the Guelph Gryphons, 71-62, on Friday, Feb 12. The loss puts the Hawks at an overall record of 8-11. Since then, the Hawks went 1-2, beating the Lakehead Thunderwolves 77-60 before losing the next two games against the Carleton Ravens and the No. 6 nationally-ranked Ottawa GeeGees 69-46 and 68-64 respectively.

The Hawks led up until the half way mark of the second quarter before they succumbed to an 11-0 run in three minutes and 41 seconds. They continued to trail by an average of 11 points for the remainder of the game.

“Every time they got an offensive rebound [Guelph] got two points,“ said head coach Paul Falco.

By the final buzzer the Hawks had tallied 12 less rebounds than the Gryphons, alongside an 18.2 per cent three-point percentage, a 32.8 per cent field goal percentage and a 60 percent conversion rate from the free-throw line.

Guelph led in almost every category during the game, which left Falco distressed after the first half.

With forwards Melissa Pare and Alexandra Spadaro sidelined due to injuries, the Hawks struggled in the post, forcing Laurier to utilize their three-point shooters.

“We’re not a big team. Our two tallest girls are out and injured,” Falco explained. “It’s hard for us to look for a big post game — last week we knocked down a lot of those [three-point] shots, and this week [against Guelph] we didn’t.”

Averaging a 32 per cent threepoint percentage on her career, fifth-year Courtney Bruce also struggled Friday night, missing all seven attempts from beyond the arc. Falco said that sometimes three point shots is what the defence gives them — they don’t want to settle for three’s.

“Guelph did a good job clogging it up and making it hard to get driving angles,” said Falco.

The Hawks took more than 36 per cent of their shots from the three-point line, which allowed Gryphon forward Katherine MacTavish to grab 11 rebounds and complement her boards with 10 points. With size being just a number, Laurier certainly thinks they can still play with bigger teams.

Second-year guard Amanda Milanis said that the Hawks can still play with the Gryphons.

“I think we can still play with them, we just need to rebound and box out,” she said.

To add insult to injury, the Hawks went on their final road trip of the year last weekend to take on the Ravens and the Gee-Gees. The Ravens were on point from tipoff, going ahead 25-4 after the first quarter. Laurier couldn’t respond.

The next night wasn’t any better as the Hawks dropped a close 68-64 decision against the No. 6 nationally-ranked Gee-Gees. Third-year guard Nicole Morrison finished the night with a game-high 25 points and added nine rebounds.

Laurier has their last regular season game on Thursday, February 25 against the Waterloo Warriors for their school day game.

Tip off is at 11 a.m. at the Athletic Complex.

ANDREAS PATSIAOUROS/PHOTO EDITOR

Second Spencer Nuttall and lead Fraser Reid have become one of the strongest front-end curling duos for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawk men’s rink.

A dynamic force on the ice Spencer Nuttall and Fraser Reid have emerged as one of curling’s top duos DREW YATES SPORTS EDITOR

Some would say winning multiple provincial championships on multiple circuits is difficult. Some would always say it’s hard to build chemistry that leads to success.

But for front-end duo Fraser Reid and Spencer Nuttall of the Wilfrid Laurier men’s curling rink, it’s just that easy.

Reid, the lead for Laurier, and Nuttall, who throws second stones, have played together in and out of Laurier for four years, dating back to the 2013-14 season when Reid inherited Nuttall’s rink from thenskip Richard Krell in their last year of juniors when Krell aged out.

They had a great season that year, making it to the provincial final at the 2014 Ontario Pepsi Junior Championships.

“Spencer and I are really close friends on and off the ice. We’ve played together for years,” Reid said. “We know each other very well — we know our routines, we

know exactly what we’re going to do, when we’re going to do it.”

Since then, the two have been inseparable, playing for the same squad and making ripples both on the university circuit and the men’s circuit. Outside of Laurier, Reid and Nuttall also played with Team Aaron Squires, the current skip of the men’s curling team and made it to the Ontario Men’s Tankard in 2014.

Currently, the duo plays for Mark Kean and got a taste of the grand slam circuit when they participated in the Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge last September in Paradise, Newfoundland.

“The chemistry is great. We’ve played with each other for so long on the same team. We usually room together in the hotel. Things work, it’s easy,” Nuttall said. “We try to make it easy on each other and we know what each other like to hear after a miss or after a make, it sort of disseminates into the rest of the team. We’ve been doing it for

so long together.”

One of the biggest keys to their success has been their grasp of sweeping. Nuttall and Reid keep up on the latest developments by researching proper techniques and form and studying their own abilities to make sure the way they are sweeping is the most effective way.

Working closely with Laurier head coach Glenn Paulley, the duo discovered a different way of sweeping that top teams on the world curling circuit are currently moving towards — such as only using a single sweeper on a rock.

This knowledge helped them at the Ontario University Athletics curling championships last week, where the rink went a perfect 9-0 record and captured gold for the second straight year.

“Everything just clicked,” Nuttall said. “The ice [in Guelph] is the best that it’s been in a few years and that’s conducive to really making it work with the brooms.”

Despite dominating the university circuit, Nuttall and Reid said

they still have a lot to learn in their respective positions. Reid said along with the game, his position at lead is also constantly changing as different strategies come out. As a former skip, who is responsible for calling the shots, he’s starting to really enjoy moving to lead, which can often control the tempo of an end.

“My position’s changing more and more it seems every year, but it’s starting to become more interesting. I like it,” he said.

As the Laurier rink currently prepares for their next challenge at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport nationals next month in British Columbia, the duo will be welladjusted — going on many of these road trips in the past, whether with Laurier or elsewhere.

“When you’re away from home and at a hotel, it’s like you’re living with your roommates at home because it’s the same thing,” Reid said. “We’ve travelled enough together that it’s just very easy. It’s nice.”

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Toronto bound Hawks face Varsity Blues in playoffs DREW YATES SPORTS EDITOR

For the second consecutive year, the Wilfrid Laurier women’s hockey team is heading into the Ontario University Athletics playoffs without home ice advantage.

The Hawks dropped their regular season finale to the Queen’s Gaels 4-1 on Feb. 20, securing seventh place in the standings and a date with the second-place Toronto Varsity Blues in the playoffs. The team finished with an overall record of 10-3-9-2 and 38 points.

“I was pretty proud of the way the team played tonight on an emotional night,” head coach Rick Osborne said, referencing senior’s night for Jessie Hurrell, Blair Connelly, Haley Baxter, Erika Kiviaho and Robyn Degagne. “I felt we had more scoring chances in this game tonight against one of the premier clubs in the league than we’ve had in the last month.”

Laurier trailed early when a goal by Queen’s Megan Farrell found the back of the net by a misdirect that bounced off a Hawk and behind third-year goaltender Amanda Smith.

Laurier tied things up in the

second period when Dollee Meigs and Jessica Prevette got behind the Gaels defence and set up a perfect tic-tac-toe play on a two on none breakaway, allowing Prevette to finish and put the Hawks on the board. Queen’s grabbed the lead again on a power-play goal that saw them crash the crease, and after the Gaels capitalized on a 5-on-3 power-play goal, the Hawks couldn’t recover. Osborne said Laurier didn’t seem to have any “puck luck” around the net, and was stymied by Queen’s goaltender Caitlyn Lahonen.

“We had no puck luck around their net tonight. I still thought we had a chance to get back in there tonight,” he said.

The game honoured the five seniors graduating from the team this year. Players like Baxter, Hurrell and Connelly are graduating from a team that had a perfect 25-0 season, scored 130 goals and was the top team in the country back in the 2011-12 season.

Despite such a tumultuous year for the once perennial powerhouse of the OUA, the Hawks are confident heading into the playoffs.

“I think this season is just reflective on how our team is able to

JESSICA DIK/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Jessica Prevette skates with the puck in Laurier’s 4-1 home loss to Queen’s.

bounce back,” Baxter said. “Next game is a whole new game. I think we’ll be able to come back and use that playoff competitiveness to our advantage.”

In terms of finding success on the ice, Baxter said the Hawks need to stay disciplined if they are going to upset the No. 4 team in the country, including remaining defensively sound and keeping the puck out of their own net — especially on the penalty kill.

“A lot of teams in this league have very strong power plays,” she

said. “Going forward, [we need to take] advantage of the opportunities that we get.”

Osborne said the Hawks have ample time to prepare both on and off the ice for their rivals, starting with a playoff workshop and three to five practices on the ice.

The series begins in Toronto on Wednesday night before returning to Waterloo Friday.

“We’ve got time to work out some kinks on the ice, and we’re going to work out some things at the workshop,” he said.