The Cord Nov. 1, 2017

THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 58 ISSUE 10 • NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Reading the facts and the fiction Deciding once and for all whether reading for pleasure really makes you smart Features, page 8

SHOPIFY EXPANDS

WLUFA’S SOLIDARITY

NERUDA ARTS’ 150 MURAL

NO MORE PICKLE RICK

MENS RUGBY PLAYOFF WIN

Organization hopes to recruit alumni talent

Various Laurier faculty support strikers

Charles St. painting unveiled

Toxic fans spoil the fun for the rest of us

First semifinal victory since 1999

News, page 3

News, page 6

Arts & Life, page 11

Opinion, page 13

Sports, page 16 MADELINE MCINNIS/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

2 •

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

VOCAL CORD

What was the last thing you read for leisure?

@cordnews

The Cord

@cordwlusp

CordNews

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

“I don’t read for pleasure.”

–Jason Lovendhal, firstyear psychology

“The news; CNN.” –Rahmah Al-Baghdadi, first-year political science QIAO LIU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

On Saturday, Nov. 28, Neruda Arts Canada officially revealed their Canada 150 mural, which is located on Charles Street, between Cedar and Cameron.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: NOV. 1 1894: Vaccine for diphtheria announced.

“The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”

1959: Jacques Plante becomes the first goaltender to wear a mask in an NHL game.

–Harpreet Brar, graduate student

1988: Actors Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis marry in Las Vegas.

1962: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ singer, Anthony Kieder is born.

1968: Elvis Presley went goes No. 1 with “Suspicious Minds.”

“The Magic of Thinking Big.” –Sasha Memain, thirdyear BBA

1951: First atomic explosion is witnessed by troops in New Mexico.

Compiled by Erin Abe Photos by Luke Sarazin

2012: Scientists detect evidence of light from the universe’s first stars, estimated to have formed 500 million years after the big bang.

NEXT ISSUE NOVEMBER 8, 2017

CORD STAFF

FEATURES EDITOR Karlis Wilde features@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Erin Abe news@thecord.ca

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Shyenne MacDonald arts@thecord.ca

LEAD SPORTS REPORTER Abdulhamid Ibrahim sports@thecord.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kurtis Rideout editor@thecord.ca

OPINION EDITOR Emily Waitson opinion@thecord.ca

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Madeline McInnis creative@thecord.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Pranav Desai sports@thecord.ca

WEB DIRECTOR Garrison Oosterhof online@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Alan Li graphics@thecord.ca

NEWS DIRECTOR Safina Husein news@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Tanzeel Sayani photos@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Jake Watts news@thecord.ca

ONLINE EDITOR Kate Weber editor@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Nathalie Bouchard news@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR Sarah Tyler video@thecord.ca

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Luke Sarazin photos@thecord.ca SENIOR COPY EDITOR Michael Oliveri copyeditor@thecord.ca SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Danielle Deslauriers socialmedia@thecord.ca

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Chris Luciantonio Joe DeFilippis Qiao Liu Evangeline Hunt Dotun Jide Ahmad Faiq Will Borys

“The gender chronicles: women and Halloween”

by Shyenne MacDonald

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

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

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Quote of the week: “Same!”

- Senior Copy Editor Michael Oliveri, in response to Editor-in-Chief, Kurtis Rideout’s description of Red Gala apples as “the big ones that get soft too quickly.”

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

News

• 3

NEWS DIRECTOR SAFINA HUSEIN news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR NATHALIE BOUCHARD news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR JAKE WATTS news@thecord.ca

ADMINISTRATION

MacLatchy officially installed as president of Laurier SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS DIRECTOR

On Oct. 27 2017, Deborah MacLatchy was officially, formally installed as president and vice-chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University.

The ceremony took place at the start of fall convocation at Lazaridis Hall on Laurier’s Waterloo campus.

MacLatchy is the seventh individual to serve as president and vice-chancellor of Laurier.

MacLatchy succeeds Max Blouw, who served as president and vice-chancellor for two, five-year terms.

MacLatchy was unanimously recommended by Laurier Senate and was then approved, also unanimously, by the Board of Governors this past January.

MacLatchy’s five-year term in the position began on July 1, 2017.

Local politicians and dignitaries were in attendance at the official ceremony.

Approximately 200 individuals in total were present for the event.

The instalment began with jazz music and other musical pieces performed by the faculty of music.

As well as an Indigenous drum

TOMASZ ADAMSKI/CONTIBUTED IMAGE

honour song performed by Aboriginal faculty and staff members.

Following, MacLatchy presented a speech to those in attendance.

MacLatchy explained that she aimed to incorporate three main themes into her speech.

“One was just to describe my impression and experience of Laurier and how fortunate I’ve been to have worked here at this wonderful university for the past 10 years,” MacLatchy said.

The second theme MacLatchy

spoke about was Laurier’s current situation with regards to the momentum the institution has acquired in recent years in terms of commitment and dedication to learning and discovery.

“Thirdly, I talked about students and how critical it is that at Laurier we continue to have a strong focus on student experience and that everything that we do, whether it is teaching, research, scholarship,” she said.

“We have to be mindful that

these activities need to integrate and be a part of the education and personal development of students.”

In addition to this, MacLatchy also commemorated Laurier’s close engagement with the various communities surrounding laurier which include Kitchener, Brantford, Toronto and soon enough, Milton.

“Those interactions and the partnerships that we have within our communities are critical to Laurier’s success but they’re also a

large part of the what differentiates Laurier from other universities that may be a little bit more distant from other host communities,”MacLatchy said.

For MacLatchy, the instalment was especially exciting as it was an opportunity to reflect on her time and experience at Laurier.

“I think really it was the outpouring of so much good-will on behalf of, not just of me as president, but more so about Laurier as a very special institution,” she said.

“That really was an opportunity to reflect on not only how terrific Laurier is, but there’s lots of opportunities for us to be aspirational as an institution.”

The instalment took place at the beginning of convocation.

MacLatchy stated that, although the installation of a new president is significant and relevent to a university’s history, it is the convocation of students that is more important, in her opinion.

“It is the convocation of students [that] is really the most significant event that occurs bi-annually at institutions,” MacLatchy said.

“It’s the culmination of everything that we are as an institution at convocation.”

EXPANSION

Shopify Plus announces their expansion in uptown Waterloo Commerce website will be hiring 300 to 500 employees NATHALIE BOUCHARD NEWS EDITOR

Shopify plans to open a second office in Waterloo and hire 300 to 500 new employees during their expansion.

The organization currently has two commerce platforms: Shopify, which accommodates entrepreneurs and small businesses andShopify Plus which is for enterprises, high-volume merchants and larger businesses.

Shopify is a Canadian company looking to expand further into the Waterloo tech sector with hopes that their second building will create additional growth.

The second building will be located on 85 Willis Way, steps away from their current building at 57 Erb Street.

Shopify has hired a number of Wilfrid Laurier University graduates and interns for the Waterloo office. As a company they are excited to reach out to the Laurier community and encourage people to apply for the various opportunities.

“This location has been focusing widely on Shopify Plus which is the work we do with high volume

and higher growth merchants, and so were helping these larger merchants to expand and grow their business using our platform,” Tammy Connelly, talent acquisition lead at Shopify, said.

We need all types of backgrounds and experience in order to have a diverse and inclusive team ...

-Tammy Connelly, talent acaquisition lead at Shopify

Shopify is planning to add 300 to 500 new jobs over the next two to three years in order to accommodate the office expansion.

“We came into the market in late 2014, opening our first very small office at the Tannery, and have subsequently expended our footprint over the last two years,”Connelly said.

The positions which are available for hire include a wide range of opportunities from finance to marketing. The three main teams which they are hiring for vary, explained Connelly.

“The roles that we hire for here in Waterloo [span] across three main areas: one is our revenue team so sales, marketing, business operations, solutions and partnerships and those teams, the next grouping is services account managers [and] launch managers, so we call them merchant success,” Connelly said.

“The third group is our product group, which are engineers and product engineers, developers, and UX which are user experience like designers, researchers, content strategist and front-end developers, and product managers,” Connelly said.

Due to the fact that Shopify is looking fill an entire building while focusing on the expansion of Shopify Plus, many employees will be hired from all areas of expertise.

When it comes to who is being hired, the vast number of opportunities available allows for a wide range of experience.

“We’re hiring the full range; new

SAFINA HUSEIN/NEWS DIRECTOR

Shopify Plus is expanding into Uptown Waterloo, located on Willis Way.

grads students and interns are a huge part of our long-term investment in people. We hire a number of interns across Shopify Inc. but specifically here in Waterloo we are also hiring [everyone from] new grads right up to very experienced folks,” Connelly said.

“We need all types of backgrounds and experience in order to have a diverse and inclusive team. We’re solving very interesting problems for our merchants [so] we like to have every type of background and experience at the table,” Connelly said.

Connelly explained that attend-

ing various networking and community events is a great opportunity to get to know the company.

“Take any opportunity to get out and learn more about us we’re huge fans of Laurier, and we’ve got new grads …so were big fans of the student base and the programs at Laurier,” Connelly said.

“I just want to reinforce how excited we are to grow in Waterloo and our commitment to the region to keep talent here locally with amazing opportunities like Shopify, were a Canadian company and were really excited to hire talent here in the region.”

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

CONFERENCES

TEDxUW brings 700 delegates to annual event JAKE WATTS NEWS EDITOR

On Saturday, Oct. 28, the University of Waterloo held their sixth annual TEDx event in their Humanities Theatre.

Founded over 30 years ago, TED is a media organization that puts on conferences around the world where experts are invited to come and speak on issues related to technology, entertainment and design.

TEDx events are usually put on at a smaller scale and are independently organized by people who obtain a license from TED properly.

Wilfrid Laurier University has hosted its own TEDx events in the past, including one put on last year.

At this year’s TEDxUW, 700 people registered to become “delegates,” the designation that the organizers used for attendees.

Delegates had the opportunity to sit in the audience and watch the 10 live speakers who gave talks this year, in addition to performances by the all-male a cappella group The Water Boys and the University of Waterloo’s own AfroFusion dance club.

The event this year was a lot larger than it has been in previous years.

“We’ve only been operating under a standard university TED license. And so that caps you at 100 delegates. But we always get more interest than we have seats,” Melissa Ai Lee, co-chair of this year’s TEDxUW, said.

“I think last year we had something like 596 applications for 100 seats,” Lee said.

“In order to have a bigger event, you have to go to an actual TED conference, so Taruna [this year’s other co-chair] and I, as well as the co-chairs from last year, we went to New York, we went to a TED event, we got approved for a bigger li-

QIAO LIU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

cense, so our cap is actually 2,000,” Lee explained.

Despite this larger cap, Lee said that they only brought in 700 delegates because that is the capacity of their chosen venue, the Humanities Theatre in the school’s Hagey Hall building.

They opened it up to students as usual, but also allowed people from the surrounding community to register to attend and view the talks.

“This year we expanded it so that alumni and community members and all those people can come too,” Lee said.

The theme of this year’s TEDxUW was “defying conventions.” Lee described how watching a TED talk put on by Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, helped inspire them to choose this year’s theme.

“It was actually through twitter that all these strangers would always interact with her and, not tear down her faith or her religion, but they tried to understand it, and

they tried to offer their opinions as well,” Lee said.

“It was these two polarized, opposite people, coming together and giving each other the space, the time, just even the respect to learn and understand each other’s opinions,” Lee said.

Hearing about this process unfolding helped bring into focus the importance of this year’s theme for Lee. “So that was a really pivotal talk for us, because it really solidified the idea of being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and really challenging your own thoughts and your own opinions,” Lee said.

Another factor that inspired the theme was the fact that it is the University of Waterloo’s sixtieth anniversary.

“We’ve only been around for 60 years, but we’ve been able to accomplish so much. And so we always feel like we’re always going against the grain or there’s all these set ideas, but we’re always trying to go above and beyond,” Lee said.

Nicole Yang, this year’s TEDxUW speaker relations director, explained how consideration of the theme and other factors drove speaker selection.

It was these two polarized, opposite people, coming together and giving each other the space, the time, just even the respect to learn ...

-Melissa Ai Lee, co-chair of this year’s TEDxUW

“I think we had a mutual understanding of what the concept ‘defying conventions’ meant, but what we kind of had to think about was, do we want to hone in on a specific discipline, like a topic area, but we

ended up saying ‘let’s represent all various topics and areas’. So that’s what we tried to do in our speaker selection,” Yang said.

“Out of the 10 people, they all represent a different field, a different idea, a different initiative,” Yang said.

One of those speakers was Amr Abdelgawad, who used his talk to discuss shortcomings in the Canadian healthcare system and potential ways to address those shortcomings. Specifically, the long wait times that those in need of care often experience.

“Well I think we’re living in an era of disruption. And a lot of things are changing around us, and they’re changing really quickly. But one of the things we’re lacking in is, I think, healthcare. And¬†the theme is defying conventions at the end of the day, and we need to do things with unconventional approaches,” Abdelgawad said.

Another speaker was David Swart. In his talk, Swart discussed the merging of mathematics and art, and, contrary to the dictates of society, the importance of approaching things with a casual, exploratory attitude rather than a goal-directed, utilitarian one.

“If somebody can hear my talk and have fun with their hobby, and explore and create and play, and enhance their life, rather than always sledging away at things that are useful, then I’d be happy,” Swart said.

When asked about plans for next year’s TEDxUW, Lee said that it would be up to the new co-chairs to shape and organize the event.

However, Lee did mention that some other organizers have expressed interest in collaboration.

“York University, their TEDxevent reached out, and they’re trying to organize an Ontario university wide TEDx event ... that could potentially be a really exciting thing for the future.”

NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 OUSA

KURTIS RIDEOUT/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Laurier representatives in attendance at OUSA’s fall general assembly that took place on Oct. 29, 2017 at Laurier.

Discussions arise at assembly NATHALIE BOUCHARD NEWS EDITOR

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) fall general assembly took place this past weekend on Oct. 29, 2017 at Wilfrid Laurier University.

The assembly took place on the Waterloo Campus in the Fred Nichols Centre in the Turret.

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Students’ Union is a member of OUSA. OUSA is a coalition of student associations from across Ontario in select post-secondary institutions.

The purpose of OUSA is to present research and ideas to the

provincial government in order to improve the quality of post-secondary institutions.

“To be part of OUSA as an organization gives us an opportunity to advocate on behalf of students for issues which are pressing society at the provincial level and actually help alleviate some concerns,” Kanwar Brar, president and CEO of the Students’ Union, said.

Brar and Stephanie Bellotto, vice-president of university affairs and Steering Committee Member of OUSA, as well as Nick DeSumma, delegate of OUSA and former Students’ Union chair of the board of directors, represented Laurier at the fall general assembly.

Brar explained that the role of OUSA is to make it possible that students and representatives from various universities can come together and look at policy.

“OUSA general assembly takes place twice a year. It’s an opportunity for member schools to come together and look [at] policies with the provincial government that impact students. All school members get together and work on that [sic],” Brar said.

Once the papers are looked over

by OUSA members, the policies are taken and then lobbied through provincial government.

“In about two weeks Stephanie Bellotto and I will be going to

Queens Park for Lobby con and that is an opportunity for us to meet with elected representatives and members of provincial parliament,” Kanwar said.

“In one-on-one conversations, what we do is take policy ratified by the general assembly and speak to that and lobby the government on initiatives and priorities which are needed for students, it’s an opportunity for both of us to do that,” Kanwar said.

The major themes spoken about at the fall general assembly this year are three papers presented

by OUSA meant to spark student advocacy.

“Three papers presented at the general assembly [included topics of ] Indigenous students, accountability and system vision,” Brar said.

“What OUSA and all the member schools do is they take into consideration new evidence and new research and based on that, they amend those papers so they are [at] a better standing provincially,” Brar said.

Brar explained that in order to have effective student advocacy, we need to have consideration for other universities opinions on various post-secondary topics.

“Aside from even the official plenary, which is the massive board meeting, we’ve had breakout sessions where we’ve had more intimate conversations in groups,” Brar said. “[We] have gone over some of the concerns and recommendations — it’s been a really constructive way of actually engaging with other schools and their perspectives.”

Before the OUSA fall general

assembly was even underway, Brar explained a situation where Bellotto had consulted various Indigenous Student affairs persons for possible recommendations on these issues.

“OUSA offers the opportunity to look at the province as a whole in regard to post-secondary issues and [to] be able to make recommendations and initiatives which are catered to those needs.”

To be part of OUSA as an organization gives us an opportunity to advocate on behalf of students for issues which are pressing ...

-Kanwar Brar, president and CEO of Students’ Union

DeSumma offered some valuable insight on why it’s important for students to speak up and offer feedback on policies so delegates and representatives can lobby for their student experience.

“I think it’s important for any student who has any concerns going forward, whether it’s these policies or our organization, I think it’s important for them come to us and bring those concerns to us because we can’t effectively act on them if we don’t know about them,” DeSumma said.

“We’re doing our best but it’s amazing if we have that student input and feedback.”

RESEARCH

Hunsberger Lecture honours psychology professor ERIN ABE LEAD REPORTER

Nov. 3 is this year’s annual Hunsberger Memorial Lecture, which will focus on social relationships.

The lecture will be held on the Waterloo campus between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Bricker Academic Building and is intended for psychology students but is also open to the public.

This year’s lecture features speaker Toni C. Antonucci, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan.

Her talk will be on developmental psychology and how people change throughout their lifespan from childhood to old age.

Antonucci will be sharing her research at the lecture which focuses on what she calls a “social convoy,” meaning individuals maintain a protective social network throughout their lifespan.

Antonucci researches how this social convoy follows individuals throughout life and how it differs from when you’re first born until death.

“She’s perfect for this lecture … because she’s had a lifetime of working with this particular model and it’s applicable to many different spheres,” Nicola Newton,

assistant professor in the Laurier psychology department, said.

The lecture is in memory of Dr. Bruce Hunsberger, who taught at Laurier from 1974 until 2003, when he passed away.

[Hunsberger] was an excellent researcher, administrator and teacher and we want to remember him in this lecture.

-Rudy Eikelboom, chair of the Laurier department of psychology

“He was quite a noted scholar in the psychology of religion and for many years was chair of the department,” Rudy Eikelboom, current chair of the department of psychology, said.

“He taught a lot of the introduction courses because he had this passion for bringing psychology across to first-year students.”

Initial memorial lectures of the past only focused on social psychology because that was Dr.

Hunsberger’s main area of focus.

Later years have changed the topic to reflect broader aspects of psychology.

The most recent topic is developmental psychology and Antonucci’s research of social relations.

“She’s applied it to not just the United States, but on intergenerational [work] and how that convoy might move through life,” Newton said.

“She’s applied it to Mexico, [Arabia], China and the US. Looking cross-culturally as well, it does appeal to a wide range of people.”

The intent is to recognize Dr. Hunsberger’s contributions to the school while also inspiring current Laurier students.

“We try to find people who speak to topics we think students should know about and may be very interesting from a broad perspective,” Eikelboom said.

Popular developmental research is highly focused on children, while this lecture highlights the demographics of an aging population in Canada and the possibilities of future careers and research that has emerged.

“Rather than focusing on potential children we want our students to be focusing on their parents and [to] find out how their parents are changing,” Eikelboom said.

DOTUN JIDE/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

Laurier attempts to provide students with an education outside of the classroom with this approach and hopes to inspire psychology students to find out what interests them within their field.

“Education is more than just lectures in your class,” Eikelboom said. “This is another type of expansion our education.”

This is the thirteenth annual Hunsberger Memorial Lecture and the first time t4hat the developmental psychology department has organized the event. “[Hunsberger] was an excellent researcher, administrator and teacher and we want to remember him in this lecture,” Eikelboom said.

6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

LABOUR

WLUFA holds event in solidarity with strikers SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS DIRECTOR

On Oct. 26, 2017 the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association (WLUFA) held a solidarity screening in support of Conestoga College faculty who are currently on strike.

Faculty at 24 public colleges in Ontario have now been on strike since Oct. 16.

There are no scheduled talks between the two bargaining parties as of yet.

The event was held in conjunction with Fair Employment Week, which took place at Laurier and all across Ontario last week.

Michele Kramer, president of WLUFA, said that there were various scheduled activities which took place at Laurier for the Ontario-wide week.

Activities included promoting fair employment in Ontario, some involved the 15 and Fairness campaign, others worked to gain signatures to improve Bill 148, and more.

The screening, which took place on the Thursday evening of Fair Employment Week, included a showing of the documentary, Contract Faculty: Injustice in the University, made by two Laurier faculty; Garry Potter and Stephen

Faculty from Conestoga College partaking in the strike were invited to the screening in order to boost morale. WLUFA also presented a cheque to the faculty’s strike fund.

Approximately 150 individuals were in attendance at the screening, which included Ontario Public Service Emplyees Union faculty and councilors, as well as various Laurier faculty and staff.

In addition to the screening, Kramer explained that Laurier faculty in attendance were able

to speak to the similar struggles which contract faculty at the university are facing.

“Many faculty and councilors in the audience on Thursday night were shocked in some cases to find similar issues facing their colleagues in the Ontario college system, that they see happening in Ontario universities,” Herbert Pimlott, associate professor of communication studies at Laurier and vice-president: external for WLUFA, said.

Kramer explained that if this large group of college faculty can make an advancement towards equal pay for work of equal value, along with having a more significant say in their college governance system, it may pave an easier path for university contract faculty to make similar advancements.

As well, since each university negotiates such aspects on their own, in contrast to bargaining as a massive group across the province similar to the college faculty, it is more difficult to make such a significant impact.

“The college faculty have the advantage of being a huge province wide group and I think they have, hopefully, a better chance of actually making some gains,” Kramer said.

While it wouldn’t mean that university contract faculty would receive the same things if college faculty were to come out successful in their efforts, it would open up important conversations in order to work towards providing university contract faculty with the same rights.

“It’s not just about pay, there are rights involved, et cetera. But it’s very helpful to have this big group fighting for these things,” Kramer said.

the interactions the least amount possible while in the vehicle.

“While you use Houdini, you discover songs that you forgot about, but also discover new songs you didn’t even know were there,” Basir said.

The start-up initially planned on making an app that allowed the user to do more things, like email, tweet, text and more.

They however decided that the best way to approach their project was through essentials like listening to music.

More than 30 per cent of streaming happens when people are driving. Hands-free services offer a technique to make sure that people only use their phone safely while in the car.

Houdini’s soft-launch targeted the application to millennials and commuters because of the connectivity demand that exists in these markets.

Basir is a former Laurier student who graduated from the honours communication studies program.

Basir attributes much of the

success in his career so far to what he has gained from being a Laurier student. “[What] has stuck with me in my start-up has been the research and development and that amazing access [provided by Laurier and University of Waterloo] that can be turned into products that are actually meaningful to society,” Basir said.

“We need to try and provide solutions to at least the things that really matter, so that’s kind of our starting point.”

AHMAD FAIQ/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

Svenson.

Kramer explained that the planned event provided a unique opportunity to offer solidarity and stand with Conestoga College faculty.

“If you’re focusing for an entire week [on] practices of fair employment, it completely made sense that we should focus on something that’s happening right here almost right next to us right now, and that was the college strike,” Kramer said.

TECHNOLOGY

Music app for safety Developed by a Laurier alum, the software is designed to help drivers ERIN ABE LEAD REPORTER

Former Laurier student Mossab Basir has launched a start-up for a hands-free music streaming application called Houdini.

Launched in the beginning of Sept. 2017, Houdini is a new application designed to create safer driving in Canada.

Music is a tough one because we know people need to be able to listen to music in the car.

-Mossab Basir, managing director of Houdini

Currently, Houdini is available for the Android and will soon become available for iPhone in January of 2018.

Houdini was inspired by the rising problem of distracted driving that exists today.

Drivers are 23 per cent more likely to be involved in a collision while texting and four times more likely while talking on a cellphone.

Houdini plans to combat this problem by providing users with the opportunity to listen to music while driving in a safer and handsfree fashion.

“Music is a tough one because we know people need to be able to listen to music in the car,” Mossab Basir, managing director of Houdini, said.

“Instagram, you can wait and you can like that picture later but music is a very tough thing to say we want you to wait, so that’s why we chose music to start with and that’s why this was born in the spirit of combating distracted driving,” Basir said.

The application is made up of two parts, the first being the voice-powered control which listens to the driver and allows for hands-free music streaming.

The second component is the Artificial Intelligence used by the application to create playlists and predict which songs the driver would want to hear next.

“For us, the ultimate goal is when the driver turns up the volume, that’s what we strive for,” Basir said. “[To] try and get it right as often as possible and we use AI to do that.”

The artificial intelligence component monitors the user’s characteristics and previous usage to meet their needs and to make

ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

GAMES • 7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

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 and therefore do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Cord or WLUSP. They 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.

was issued in advance. You make the point of saying you do not necessarily support the cause, only the discussion. But, once the protesters leave for the day, how do I debate the harmful and degrading words left on the sidewalk?

I have more to say than I can express here so instead I’ll ask you this: Are you reimbursing them for the chalk?

Can we now say our tuition paid for the disgusting words we were forced to read?

Sincerely, #NotGolden

what? Access to birth control prevents abortion, regardless of how uncomfortable you may be about pre-marital sex. Making abortion illegal doesn’t prevent abortion, it just makes it unsafe, which ultimately can lead to death. I believe that complicates your “pro-life” stance. Shaming the people on campus who have been affected by abortion does not prevent abortion. It does not change the fact that being a student and a parent is nearly impossible. Your arguments are archaic and your approach is traumatizing. No one is listening.

Sincerely, anonymous Dear Life, I always told myself that I wouldn’t let adulthood kill my dreams and kill my desire to be great and do great things. This past seven months has changed everything.

Sincerely, Struggling

Dear Life, Why are you making me work on my favourite holiday? I just wanna be watching Halloweentown.

Sincerely, I didn’t even carve a punpkin Dear WLUSP admin, Thanks for making this Halloween so special, despite us having to work.

Sincerely, My body, my choice

Dear Life, Dear Laurier Life Link, (Trigger Warning surrounding protests this week) This week I was severely disappointed in the WLUSU. As a president of a Student’s Union club, I have been dealing with the increased amount of paperwork and rules that erupted after the infamous butterfly event last year.

Throughout the annoyance and confusion, I have been reassuring myself and those around me that these rules are worth it, because they stop harmful events like that from happening again. And yet, here we are.

I understand the lengths the Student’s Union went to in order to not get in trouble this time. The protest was not technically on school property, and a warning

Dear Life, As a wildly unapologetic and opinionated Laurier alum, I understand what it feels like to feel so strongly about something and want to be heard. However, your approach to raising awareness about abortion is not constructive; it is not making any concrete change. You want to abolish abortion? How about you hold a diaper drive so low-income families can afford supplies for their babies? How about you approach the Students’ Union about having a daycare facility on campus so students who are parents can continue their education while also caring for their children? How about you inform yourself about how to better encourage students to use birth control, because guess

What’s with all the dogs? Since when have we allowed dogs on campus? I believe the policy is service dogs only. I think it’s time to remind student/staff/faculty of that.

I love animals too but I don’t appreciate the barking, sniffing, pooping on my campus.

Sincerely, Cat Lover Dear Laurier Lifelink, I respect your right to have an opinion, but in return you should respect my right to have an opinion about my own body. Thanks.

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FEATURES EDITOR/KARLIS WILDE/FEATURES@THECORD.CA

FEATU

URES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 • 9

Features Editor Karlis Wilde breaks down once and for all if fiction really makes you smart. has become involved with launching in Waterloo focused on the more therapeutic, “I wish I read more.” - Everyone healthful aspects of reading: I spent the bulk of this past weekend reading through a recent bestseller. Despite “Shelf Life is a series of workshops that is on the topic of creative bibliotherapy,” being steeped in historical, artistic and architectural facts, it was not what would comBrouse said. “Which is something that has only been active in and around Toronto and monly be considered an enriching, thoughtful novel. the UK. And it’s something that I’m hoping to bring more into Waterloo.”

It was a vapid, blunt yarn. It was a shallow, derivative adventure story.

“It’s essentially using books and readings from books in a way that facilitates a group It was the latest Dan Brown novel, Origin. therapy situation — but involving fiction and non-fiction. It touches upon a lot of the This story, the fifth in Brown’s “Robert Langdon” series, outsold every other hardexistential feelings that many people have,” Brouse added. “It talks about the universalcover in the past week, including multiple debuts. That means that thoughtful, creative, izing feelings of, say, grief or fear, anxiety; stuff we’ve all experienced at one point in our brand-new tomes released by esteemed historians like Walter Isaacson sold fewer copies this week on their release than an adventure novel that came out nearly a month lives.”

This is done through workshops that have run in Waterloo at the Delton Glebe Counago, on Oct. 3. selling Centre, with the next scheduled for Nov. 6.

We, as a society, tend to associate books with intelligence. We connote the con“This particular series that we’re in right now is on the topic of fear and the resiliency sumption of the written word with the value of being ‘smarter,’ the same way that past that can come about when we have experiences of fear in our lives and the tools that we generations have attributed deficient eyesight with the same feature. can use — and the tools coming from books, fiction, essays, non-fiction, poetry. That Obviously, there are books that can make us smarter. We learn from textbooks and kind of that thing,” Brouse said. biographies about all sorts of things in our world. Books are multivalent sources of “And [not just] what authors have to teach us about that, but also what each of us knowledge and entertainment, history and adventure. have to tell each other about those topics and how fear has impacted our individual But it’s the way that we esteem these things that raises questions. They’re bound lives — and how that might be universalized in a group therabundles of words, yet we perceive them as essential, py situation.” cultural vessels of brilliance. You carry a copy of James Whether or not intelligence is based on the amount that Joyce’s Ulysses under your arm, and people will perone person reads, a person can become smarter in one way or ceive in you a sort of intelligence — or maybe just preanother by reading. In case that was your purpose in reading tentiousness — that has almost nothing to do with the this article, I asked my interviewees specifically their recomability to run your eyes across a page and consume mended ‘smartening’ titles in fiction. words. In the modern world, reading is a mandatory For Ricci-Thode, it was about imbibing an example and an skill that is programmed into children at very young understanding through characters and stories. ages.

“For me, I tend to read — in fiction — I read mostly Simply put, is non-fiction more valuable than science fiction and fantasy. And the book that I would fiction? Does it make you smarter? recommend right now is called The Fifth Season by N.K. “No,” Mandy Brouse, one of the co-owners of Jemisin. It’s a really smart book.”

Words Worth Books in Waterloo, said. “I think that And what makes it smart? reading itself is the extreme value.”

“The way it really explores human nature. It’s an apoc“I guess there’s many different types of intellialyptic novel but it’s a very hopeful book and it just really gence, and there’s definitely a lot of academic studies gets into human nature, human psychology – some of that have been done on reading and the benefits of the ugly things that we do but some of the really beautiful reading – ranging anywhere from your traditional things that people do as well.”

IQ testing to emotional intelligence and what that -Vanessa Ricci-Thode, president of the Canadian Author’s Association Waterloo-Wellington Branch When asked, Brouse had a different kind of answer, remeans,” Brouse continued. flecting on how the format can be used to convey theories “So we do have academic studies that back those and ideas more overtly amongst the stories themselves. claims up. But I also think that, from my own expeHer pick was The Course of Love by Alain de Botton. rience, reading books growing up, and with my own “He is a philosopher. But he has gone into the foray of academic background, I feel that reading is probably one fiction here. And what it is, it’s a story that is fictionalized of the bigger reasons why I am the person I am today,” — about a couple going through a breakup and trying to unshe stated. “I think reading is one of the most important derstand their marriage — but [it’s] very practical; a lot of people activities I have in my life.” would recognize a lot of aspects of themselves,” Brouse said.

“The most important books are the ones that are the exact right books to put in peo“Then the narrator himself breaks in with some of these philosophical reflections on ple’s hands, that they need at the time,” she added. the nature of love and relationships,” she said.

While plowing through Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone isn’t likely to turn “Not in this pristine, objective, standoffish kind of way — but in a real way with real someone into a scholar, there are values that are associated with the simple practice of insight. And so I thought it was a really good book at the time.” reading itself. And there are communities that grow out of the simple engagement with Books may or may not make us intelligent, but there are certainly productive factors it, even with aspiring writers themselves. associated with reading in the modern world.

I spoke with Vanessa Ricci-Thode, president of the Canadian Author’s Association With such an unavoidable interconnectedness in this world, and such synergy beWaterloo-Wellington Branch. On top of this role, she is also the Municipal Liaison for tween technologies that actually encourage us to scroll through our Twitter feeds while NaNoWriMo in Kitchener-Waterloo, an international event where authors — aspiring we watch television, the ability to switch off and focus on one thing can help to improve and acclaimed — attempt to write the first draft of an entire novel within the month of our concentration and our patience.

November.

There’s a reason why we all wish that we read more, and that’s because we all strive to As someone who has been heavily involved in working with and encouraging writers, be better than we are by pouring our hearts into pursuits that develop other, unexRicci-Thode had a bit of insight into the importance of the written word: plored components of ourselves.

“Stories are important,” she said. “They teach us about the world; they teach us about Where we lack in empathy, in understanding, in patience, we want to expand. each other. Even fiction, there’s a lot you can learn in fiction and I think there’s a lot of Intelligence is not simply understanding economics, or math, or the sciences. value in it because of that.”

Intelligence is comprised of our rounded perceptions, our grasp of language — every “Fiction specifically allows you to play with reality a little bit and get out stories that prescriptive component that we can apply to ourselves and our lives. you wouldn’t normally hear. It gives you the chance to see through other people’s eyes Just like a book, intelligence can be one of a thousand different things. and to walk through other people’s shoes. I think it’s really valuable to cultivate empaYou may not become smarter by reading, especially by reading fiction. But — put thy.” simply — you may become better.

This value relates deeply to something else Brouse brought up: an organization she

MADELINE MCINNIS/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

10 •

Arts & Life

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 ARTS & LIFE EDITOR SHYENNE MACDONALD arts@thecord.ca

EQUITY

The gender chronicles: women and Halloween SHYENNE MACDONALD ARTS & LIFE EDITOR

“In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In girl world, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.”

So said Lindsay Lohan’s character Cady in the movie Mean Girls.

And, let’s face it, was she wrong? Is Halloween the time women begin to exercise a sudden passion for modesty?

No, quite the contrary, Halloween — or the parties that occur around the holiday — is the one day of the year that women dress however they want. Be it a sexy fireman, sexy solider, sexy pirate, sexy school girl.

Maybe “however” they want is too broad a term, and perhaps a more accurate phrase would be: a holiday where women are allowed to dress as scantily clad as our culture requires them to.

Off the bat, it needs to be said that everyone has the right to wear whatever they want. Expressing your sexuality or identity is something no one is allowed to dictate for you.

That being said, there’s an obvious problem with women’s Halloween costumes.

“We need to talk about the weather,” Helen Ramirez, women and gender studies instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University, exclaimed. “It’s dumb, so dumb to wear some of those costumes in weather like this.”

“Those costumes” being the ones with the short skirts or shorts, and the tight sleeveless tops. You can go online and look at major Halloween outlets sporting something of this fashion in magnitude under the women’s and girl’s subsections.

“It points to how much more important it is in terms of performances of one’s identity as a woman in a still white, hetero-normative, masculine [world], in spite of the weather,” Ramirez said.

The objectification of women isn’t exclusive to Halloween; but this is the only holiday that fosters an exponential raise. You don’t see sexy virgin-mother Mary garb on Easter, however you can find a sexy nun on Halloween.

The problem that follows women on Halloween goes like so: if you dress down and present yourself as a sexual being you’re, on one side, liberating yourself from the constraints of a culture that tells women they need to be virginal and modest until marriage and beyond.

However, at the same time,

you’re also giving into the same culture that conditions women from childhood to believe that our bodies are the most important thing we can offer the world.

Obviously, we live in a hyper-sexual world.

Look at Cosmopolitan, perfume ads, clothing ads, uncomfortably dragged out sex scenes in movies.

But Halloween is that one time of year where we stop pretending sex isn’t the driving force behind most media.

Women view sex as liberation, and the problem that’s born from that is that others see the sexualization of women as a form of freedom and equality when it can be extremely damaging.

Now, for the sake of an argument, let’s pretend for a moment that sex is a liberation for all genders. Halloween costumes then enforce a strict gender binary that enforces a hierarchy.

Take the policeman costume.

If you look at the men’s version, it’s akin to the actual uniform, but compare the real thing to the female costume and there’s no similarity.

A short skirt and a low-cut shirt is hardly the mandated dress wear for women in the police force, nor would we expect it to be.

But, it’s Halloween, a time to be sexy and free, so why isn’t the

ALAN LI/GRAPHIC EDITORS

man’s costume fun and flirty?

“Once again, we’re demonstrating that the only good police officers can be men, the only good firefighters can be men, the only good guards can be men. It just feeds into all of that,” Ramirez said.

“When we sexualize our bodies for Halloween, we’re just exemplifying that this can only be the domain of men. When women are in those roles they don’t meet the standard.”

It becomes a power performance. Men mirror the actual uniform because men can do the job,

if a woman does it, it’s for show, and that’s the hierarchy we’ve been facing since literally always.

I don’t think you should feel guilty for what you wore during Halloween — unless you were being racist, then shame on you — but I think we should consider what our costumes are saying. It’s not just a sexy devil costume, or a sexy pirate or a sexy whatever you decided to be.

This wasn’t a choice you came about organically, this was cultural pressure, but you need to decide what that means to you.

REFLECTION

Emily Waitson Opinion Editor 2004

Just so there’s no misconceptions, Halloween has always been one of my favourite times of the year.

When I was nine-years-old, my mom asked me what I wanted to be — this was typically in early September so she could have enough time to make my costume.

I was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean, so I insisted on being Jack Sparrow.

Always up for a challenge, my mom delivered and worked her magic.

I proudly wore what was probably the most elaborate fourth grade costume that year and nearly every house I went for trick-or-treating gave me a little extra candy when they happily recognized who I was.

I’ve never been one to choose “typical” Halloween costumes and that’s only seemed to work in my favour, since I’ve had some pretty noteworthy memories because of it.

Kurtis Rideout Editor-in-Chief 2008

In the year 2008 I was a 13-yearold weirdo who stuck out like a sore thumb.

My costume, for context, was a homemade mishmash of old clothes and a fisherman’s hat, which I dawned to look like Raul Duke, the protagonist in Hunter S. Thompson’s classic Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

It could have been the costume, or the fact that I was 6’1 and 200 pounds at the age of 13, but whatever it was, certain parents I interacted with expressed disgust at my decision to canvas the streets for goodies with my friends.

“You’re a little too old for this,” one man said under his breath as he brushed past me with his daughter. I looked over to my group of friends — of which I am the youngest— and decided that this would be my last Halloween.

The next year I started a full time job at Zehrs. Then I started buying my own candy.

Shyenne MacDonald Arts & Life Editor 2004

It was 2004, my parents divorced in September and a day after they announced it my mom packed us up and we moved to my aunts.

I remember those first two months being something beyond hell.

That Halloween was the absolute best Halloween.

There’s no one signal reason for this night being the absolute best: my aunt made tacos (which is the start to any amazing thing), the night was warm enough I didn’t need a jacket, my fourth year in a row of being a vampire was a smashing success. But, most importantly, it was the first night I got to hang out with my mom without feeling like the the world was caving in.

We walked around for hours, joking and eating the candy straight from the pillow case.

Giving me that perfect night was like the world saying it was all going to be okay.

Kate Weber Web Assistant 2006

As a child I was the absolute Grinch of fall.

Every single waking moment the only thought running on a treadmill in my head was how many sleeps until Christmas.

The only possible activity to keep me rational during this time of the year was to replay only the greatest movie to have ever been written, produced, filmed, what have you, Halloweentown!

I was such a die-hard fan of these movies that by the time Halloween rolled around I tried to convince my parents to let me stay home so I could watch Halloweentown one last time before I got all my Christmas VHS’ out.

But my favourite Halloween memory is my dad.

He would always say to do one thing a day that scares you.

The real reason for Halloween as a child, a time that Halloween was and is something truly scary, something spookier than my GPA.

Madeline McInnis Creative Director 2004

Now, we know that late October in Canada isn’t the warmest. This year, however, was different. It was warm, my costume was warm and little baby Maddie was sweltering, sweating and nearly boiling.

My mother told me that we’d go home soon, but I was a stubborn child and I had had enough. I stumbled up to the door of the next house, rang the doorbell and waited. As soon as the door opened, I didn’t hesitate.

“Trick or treat, can I have a glass of water?”

The man behind the door was the stereotypical biker, but I was a true Gryffindor and had no need for stereotypes.

My mother was mortified, he was overly accommodating and I got my glass of water, as well as a handful of candy.

I’m sure they probably talk about me on Halloween, too, and that’s a memory that always comes up.

ARTS & LIFE • 11

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 LOCAL

QIAO LIU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Creating a community in the city with art EVANGELINE HUNT STAFF WRITER

On Saturday, Oct. 28, I attended the Neruda Arts Canada 150 mural reveal. The event was organized to celebrate the completion of a 150foot mural made by individuals from a variety of backgrounds, to celebrate the cultural diversity that Canada has to offer.

I later had the privilege of sitting down over homemade hot chocolate with Isabel Cisterna, the founder of Neruda Arts and the artistic director of the mural.

The mural is presented on Charles Street, between Cedar and Cameron and is hugely impressive in both scale and intricacy.

The day of the reveal was cold and wet, but we were told that this was actually a good sign, as water is cherished in many indigenous

cultures. The event started with an introduction from a First Nation Elder, who spoke about the importance of community in producing an artistic piece like this.

While she spoke, her assistant circulated the crowd with burning sage and sweet grass and performed a ritual called smudging.

We were instructed to use the smoke to wash ourselves, and by doing so, we were cleaning our bodies of negative energy. Cisterna explained the importance of doing this collectively: “It takes us away from the everyday, and it focuses on the importance of traditions and rituals.”

Upon sitting down with Cisterna, she described some of the immense details of the mural. The open arms of the mural embody the diversity of the earth, that runs from East to West.

As the mural progresses into the fingers, the contrast between day

and night is shown, with boats of immigrants coming to the land.

“It doesn’t matter when you came, we are all immigrants to this land that is our hostess,” Cisterna said.

The diversity of the Earth can be seen in the corners of the mural; there are the Northern Lights, a bear, fire, stone and the mountains.

“It’s very rich from one corner to the other, and the land embracing us alludes to the idea that we all have to work together towards reconciliation.”

Cisterna and I discussed the importance of art in the local community and how students at Wilfrid Laurier University can get involved.

“There’s lots of really great arts organizations that virtually go unknown because of lack of support, and volunteering would be a great

investment that would grow and grow,” Cisterna said.

“If the students gave some time to those organizations, they could directly affect the future of this arts community.”

Neruda Arts annual Kultrún Festival will be taking place next summer, and looks to recruit between 60 and 100 volunteers.

“It’s a really great way to get in involved in the community and to enjoy yourself, because the festival has great music and is free; we love to keep it accessible for everybody.”

The event finished with a performance from Patagonian Emilia Diaz, who transformed the rainy air into a summery salsa party. I watched two young girls practicing their salsa moves, all while a curious hawk watched from a nearby lamppost.

with a pretty amiable philosophy; he makes the things that he likes to wear.

That is what informed his decision to make ‘dad hats’. Snapbacks, five-panels, fitted hats; nothing quite fit right until he found the dad hat.

Fortunately, a lot of people feel the same way.

“I decided I wanted to do dad hats,” he said. “Those kept selling.”

It was the success of those hats that sparked a realization in Stannard: “When I started selling a ton of these hats I was like ‘this might be an outlet to get out my creativity.’”

Stannard used to play in bands more consistently, but recently

found himself in need of a creative outlet. He was in bed hungover when the name White Cap Co. came to him.

“A white cap is the lid of the growler, which is the logo,” he said.

The clean, distinct logo design shows a growler jug with three x’s on the label.

“White Cap Co. also has the same initials [as] Waterloo Cornhole Club.”

Shifting from the local music scene to the local clothing scene has been a smooth transition for Stannard as well.

“I had a background in it [making clothings] merchandising for bands,” he explained.

“When I played in bands there

was obviously a music scene but now that I’ve been getting into the clothing stuff my approach to it with my markets is more of a craft thing,” he said.

“I’ve now realized there is a circle in that, too; I see a lot of the same faces and vendors.”

“There’s a community and that’s where I find out about new events.”

Despite the obvious interest in his product, Stannard still attributes his success to support from the community.

“The reason I have got to the point I have so quickly is because I’ve had a lot of support,” he continued.

“The more people that are into it, the more I get to do.”

“In the heart of these open arms is a First Nation bird dancer, which reminds us that we live on land that is sacred to the First Nations.

There’s lots of really great art organizations that virtually go unknown because of lack of support...

-Isabel Cisterna, founder and art director of Neruda Arts

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

‘Dad hats’, craft beer and cornhole A business based in local community KURTIS RIDEOUT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

To build an effective brand is a feat that seems to be increasingly difficult these days.

In a marketplace that is over saturated with up-and-coming designers and creatives attempting to push their products online, it is nearly impossible to set yourself apart long enough to make an impression.

Where many with great purpose and resources have failed, White Cap Co. has succeeded — almost as if by accident.

“White Cap Co. turned one in August, that’s when I started the Instagram,” founder and creator Eddie Stannard noted. Currently their Instagram has 1224 followers.

“It started super organically,” Stannard said, “I started the Waterloo Cornhole Club.”

Cornhole is a lawn game in which participants toss bean bags at a raised platform with a hole in the end — think of it as a cross between horseshoes and skee-ball.

Stannard developed a taste for the game on a road trip down south.

“I went on tour with a band

across the states for a month and I thought it would be a cool idea to make a set of [cornhole game] boards to bring with us,” he explained.

“So I made these boards, we took them on tour, we played in Florida and California and all over, got stoked on it, and when I came back I got all my buddies in to it.”

The club started pretty casually and served as a reason for friends to get together and enjoy good food and good drinks.

“Two or three nights a week we’d drink craft beer and play cornhole and barbeque in my backyard and it kept growing,” Stannard said. The group grew in size from five to 10 and then eventually to 20 plus.

Seeking to bring a sense of organization to the club, Stannard thought it would be a cool idea to make some shirts featuring the Waterloo Cornhole Club logo for his friends.

Immediately after he listed them online he was met with overwhelming support from friends in the community.

“I made the shirts and they sold out right away — and everyone wanted them,” he said.

Stannard approaches his craft

KURTIS RIDEOUT/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

12 •

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR EMILY WAITSON opinion@thecord.ca

Laurier LifeLink could benefit from a different approach Whether we agree with the decision or not, the response from the community showed us that students are uncomfortable and feel unsafe with displays of this kind.

Abortion can be a difficult topic, and forcing students who may have their own individual experiences with it to interact with displays and accusatory statements on their way to class is simply unfair.

Perhaps opting out of LifeLink isn’t feasible for the Students’ Union — it’s a fraction of a fraction of the fees that we pay to them and it would likely be a logistical nightmare with all of the people who would want to opt out of just one club.

Plus, opening up the option to opt out of one club means that you would have to provide that same option for every other club on campus.

Regardless, with all the backlash that the club is receiving, and the amount of people that are negatively affected by their protests, something should be done.

Yes, people should be allowed to have differing opinions. However, with the harm it is causing students, there has to be a better way to handle this other than to just brace ourselves and expect the worst. Is this the environment we want on our campus?

Perhaps it might be beneficial for LifeLink to keep their events private, or at the very least, away from areas with such intense student traffic.

This may go completely against the intent of their demonstration, but allowing people who are actually interested to seek them out and find the information on their own would be more effective than hosting public displays.

Does LifeLink have to use their resources for such displays?

Maybe a more positive approach would be petitioning the Students’ Union to provide more resources for students who already have children.

Giving people a heads up and a warning is a step in the right direction, but forcing people to be engaged with their material does not appear to be fostering a constructive dialogue.

In case you missed it, a Students’ Union funded club, Laurier LifeLink, held anti-abortion demonstrations on campus last week.

These demonstrations included anti-abortion slogans written on popular sidewalks with chalk, and members of the club were positioned around the displays in an attempt to spark discussion. They were met with a strong pro-choice counter-protest.

In response to the backlash of this situation, the Students’ Union released a statement saying that though they may or may not agree with the stance of the club, they will support the club and their demonstrations.

While our editorial board may not agree with Laurier LifeLink’s approach or their stance, there is certainly some merit in allowing people to have some form of space for discussion.

But Laurier LifeLink is in a class of their own separate from any other funded clubs.

We couldn’t think of, nor find, any club that was comparable to them in their cause. They are arguing against something that is already in law — and they are arguing against the rights of individuals that have already been won in Canadian court.

Though there is certainly a place for this in practicing free speech, no other club actively has to have warnings from the Students’ Union and access to resources in the community when it holds events.

Does a club demonstrating in this way hold any value in sparking discussion? Or does it just leave people on both sides frustrated with each other, unable to have constructive conversations about the topic at hand?

Demonstrations on campus are not uncommon either. Most clubs set up in the concourse have discussions with people who are interested, but they are not impeding some people’s journeys to and from class.

There are discussions to be had about abortion. But it’s naive to think that the people anti-abortion protesters are targeting have not looked into other options, nor that this decision is ever an easy one.

These unsigned editorials are based on informal discussions and then agreed upon by the majority of The Cord’s editorial board, including the Editor-in-Chief 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.

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ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Reading outside of class SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS DIRECTOR

As an English major, I feel lucky that the majority of my readings for school are novels, short stories and poetry instead of textbooks and other similar materials.

Over the past three years I’ve been able to read some really great novels and pieces of literature in school, such as Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Dickens’ Hard Times.

However, for me, reading outside of school is when I’m fully able to appreciate literature.

As a student, it’s hard to find the time to lose yourself in a good book. It’s even harder to get caught up always reading textbooks for school.

Setting aside time to do extra reading for pleasure can seem impossible, especially when keeping up with readings for school can feel daunting on its own.

During the summer months and during breaks, it can be difficult to choose to read a book in the little downtime we’re given over watching Netflix and movies.

However, I have found that making the time—even if that means a small amount of time each week— to read a book of your choice can allow yourself to appreciate

reading and literature instead of resenting the countless number of hours spent reading for school.

In contrast to reading for school, when I’m reading for leisure I find that I am in a completely different headspace.

You can allow yourself to be mindless while following an interesting plot, instead of focusing on where to bookmark the best quotes.

When reading for school, I find I’m able to focus less on what the words mean to me personally when I’m constantly searching for themes and metaphors and symbols which are then usually used within assignments and essays.

As a result, when reading for school, there’s often a feeling of pressure behind the reading.

I read my absolute favourite novel, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, back in high school for an assignment.

I thought the novel was wonderful after the first time I read it; however, when I read the book once again almost a year later on my own time I realized there was so much more to the novel than I had initially absorbed.

Reading it without the pressure of a school assignment allowed me to understand the plot better and appreciate everything the book gives to those who read it.

Now, the book contains some of my all-time favourite quotes and is definitely the one novel I continuously pick up to read almost every

year.

Each time I read it again, I learn something new.

Of course, reading for school can give you the essential skills and knowledge that is necessary to understanding complex books, especially if you’re like me and love classic literature.

During the summer months and during breaks, it can be difficult to choose to read a book in the little downtime we’re given ...

But there are definitely books that you can read that might be easier to follow. Ones that give you a change of pace from the more difficult readings you might get in class.

Books have taught me and opened up my mind to so many things that school can’t teach.

Some of my favourite novels and authors directly influenced me to pursue a career as a writer.

And although it can be difficult, I definitely see the real value in finding time to read outside of school.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Opinion

• 13 OPINION EDITOR EMILY WAITSON opinion@thecord.ca

Not fitting into the typical university crowd

That may seem odd since I’ve now been here for over a year, but it did take me a while to find my place back then so what’s wrong with waiting a bit longer now?

What is important for me is that unlike before, where my waiting was very passive, this time I want to change that and overcome my anxiety. After all, being in my comfort zone has prevented me from doing so many things and I plan to put an end to that.

The problem I’ve always faced is that whenever I’m about to

do something, my mind does everything to try and predict that situation and show me the worst possible outcome(s).

Once you start to ignore those thoughts and just do those things which seem so scary at first you realize that you were just being overly self-critical for no logical reason.

Now let’s be real for a second: sometimes things won’t go well, but I can assure you that they will not be anywhere close to as bad as your mind makes you think.

I’ve always been very hesitant to start conversations with people because I irrationally assumed they wouldn’t like me.

I always knew that this thought was not based on logic or fact, but it has always prevented me from being as social as I would like to be.

Recently I’ve decided to drop that mindset and just talk to people and most of it has been great.

People are much nicer than I had anticipated.

I’ve got three more years of University left and I don’t plan on wasting them, seeing as how I’ve come to terms with the idea of not fitting in.

I feel like it now gives me this immense freedom to just be myself and I can’t tell you how good it feels.

their precious cartoon mentioned in a joke.

A rather inane dilemma, I know, but this is the peril of owning up to being a Rick and Morty fan.

It’s the latest fandom to be ruined by toxic behaviour perpetrated by a heavily vocal minority of fans — making all of them look bad by association.

Because of this incident and others like it such as the exclusive, misogynistic harassment of Rick and Morty’s female writers also done by so-called fans — the perception of the show has become tainted by the loudest, dumbest and worst types of people who, like some of you, love Rick and Morty.

As a fair weather fan of the show who enjoyed it to a finite point, seeing such behaviour en masse made me legitimately question if we watched the same show and if this could ruin it for me.

Of course, this phenomenon is not exclusive to an edgy, nihilistic science fiction parody as nearly any collective fandom can become inundated with the poison touch of mass shitty behaviour.

The progressive and wholesome Steven Universe had its own brush of bad fans when a vocal minority bullied a fan artist to the point of life-threatening self-harm after they deemed her tributes “offensive” to their sanctimonious entertainment.

And need we forget the inexplicable “brony” crowd, whose fanatical appreciation of a children’s cartoon overshadowed the core demographic in a disturbing eclipse of neck-bearded nerdom.

Rick and Morty, by virtue of

being too good for the audience it cultivated, is merely the latest in a long line of toxic nerd subcultures that push away casual viewership with their extreme behaviour and actions committed in the show’s name.

Shitty fans will always exist it seems, but can their tendency to dominate the conversation around a show make that show less worth it for the casual viewer?

We’d like to think not, but personally the behaviour of Rick and Morty fans forced me to reevaluate my own enjoyment of it and where it lays between distaste and fanatical badgering of McDonald’s employees.

I was harsher on the show than I am others and flaws began to emerge like tiny satisfying steps dissociating myself from the ignorant horde of fandom.

I still like the show a great deal, but I cannot lie and say toxic fans did not alter my opinion of the show, no matter how slight.

Maybe it’s as easy as saying “get over it” and “they don’t affect me or my opinion,” but I feel fandoms will always be a part of the conversation no matter what you say and the worst of them will always be the ones who frame what it means to be called a fan.

My resolve was not strong enough to withstand the people, who like a pathogenic swarm infected the host show of the fandom with their disease.

If I like something, I’d rather not have a caveat for my enjoyment hinge on my distance from the worst the show could unintentionally produce.

TANZEEL SAYANI PHOTO EDITOR

I moved to Canada from India about two years ago and it has taken me almost that long to realize that it is okay that I’m different. I don’t have to fit in and it is not a big deal.

Trust me when I say this: if you are struggling to find your place, you are not the only one. I went through all of first year trying to be someone I was not in a desperate attempt to fit in, and some might even say that I did or at least it appeared so.

I knew and hung out with a lot of people. I appeared to belong on the outside, but I never felt like I did. Anyone who has ever been to India or knows anything about the place knows that the culture in comparison to Canada is like night and day.

The problem with trying to fit in and conforming to your surroundings is that you start to lose sight of yourself and your personality.

While for some people that might be something they don’t

WILL BORYS/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

have a problem with, I’ve always liked the person I grew up to be.

Despite that, I still decided it was a good idea to leave myself behind and pretend like I was someone else.

As a kid growing up in India I was terribly shy and introverted. I didn’t fit in then either; surrounded by extroverts and the chaos of Indian society.

Unlike now however, back then I did not feel the need to fit in.

Though I was very shy, I did eventually find my place. I found

like-minded people who not only acknowledged that I was different, but also eventually became my closest friends and I speak to most of them quite often even today, around eight years later.

Now let’s come back to the present: I am nearly past the first half of this semester and I still haven’t truly found my place in the jungle we call university.

I do have a lot of acquaintances but I still haven’t found that group of friends that I feel truly comfortable around.

Toxic fans spoil the fun

ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

CHRIS LUCIANTONIO STAFF WRITER

We like to imagine that our personal opinions concerning what we love are organic and intrinsic

to our privately designed scale of quality.

Pure, honest and uninfluenced by external things, we judge by what’s meant to be judged and nothing else.

Yet, sometimes, when it becomes abundantly clear you are not the only one who feels so strongly about something — and you are forced to rub shoulders

with every ugly type under the sun — how welcoming will you be to the fact that you share the same distinction of them as a “fan?”

Imagine one’s embarrassment when they have to admit that the thing they love so much is the same thing that caused legions of pathetic adult children to harass minimum wage McDonald’s employees to get a packet of sauce

14 •

Sports

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 SPORTS EDITOR PRANAV DESAI sports@thecord.ca

CROSS COUNTRY

Hawks qualify for national championships

ALAN LI/GRAPHIC EDITOR

PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

The annual cross country OUA championships took place in Windsor on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Both the men’s and women’s teams for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks exceeded expectations.

The women’s team finished eighth in the eight kilometer race, led by an impressive showing from Bettina Boucher.

The Whitby native finished twelfth in the individual standings by finishing the course in 28 minutes and 51.1 seconds.

She received an OUA All-Star

award for her efforts. Boucher made history as she became only the second Hawk ever to be named an OUA All-Star.

The team’s eighth place finish shows how hard they have worked this year as it is an improvement from last year’s ninth place finish.

The men’s team had an equal-

ly impressive showing, as they managed to finish seventh in the 10-kilometre race, which was a three-spot improvement from their tenth place finish last year.

Joe Sheridan led the Hawks as he put up a career best performance.

The fourth-year Waterloo native was ranked number 25 in the individual standings, crossing the finish line in 31 minutes and 42.7 seconds.

“We wanted to come top 10 to qualify. Coming seventh was really big for us. We think that’s possibly the best finish ever for Laurier, so that’s exciting,” Sheridan said of the Hawks’ performance.

When asked about how he managed to set a personal career high, Sheridan gave all the credit to the rigorous, year-round training.

“Continuous training,” he said.

“Just working hard the entire year.”

“We train all year and we have a really good group this year, so it’s a strong training group and that helps.”

The training, however, does not stop here for the Hawks.

Now that both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top 10 at the OUA championships, they have advanced to the U Sports National Championships.

Sheridan mentioned that although the Hawks are very excited due to their great finishes at the provincials, it’s important for them not to get ahead of themselves.

“It was real exciting for us. Both teams now get to go to Victoria in two weeks. We are very excited to

race in the nationals. So, [we’re] looking forward to that,” he said.

“We have some unfinished business; one more race. I think both teams can still improve.

Bettina [Boucher] finished twelfth.

That was a huge finish for her and I know she’s looking forward to running well at the nationals too.”

It was real exciting for us. Both teams now get to go to Victoria in two weeks. We are very excited to race in the nationals.

-Joe Sheridan, Laurier men’s cross country player

At the nationals last year, the women’s team came twelfth, while the men’s team finished seventeenth. The nationals are a completely different beast and it will take something special from the Hawks to repeat their top 10 finishes from the OUA championships.

But the Hawks have proven that they have improved from last year and are better teams overall this time around.

With the momentum firmly on their side, both of these Laurier teams have the ability to exceed expectations once again.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Opening day woes JOE DEFILIPPIS CORD SPORTS

The Laurier women’s basketball team opened their 2017-18 season Saturday afternoon with a 65-60 loss on the road against the Brock Badgers.

Coming off of a strong pre-season — where Laurier managed to win four of their six games — the team was looking to keep the momentum rolling going into the regular season.

Unfortunately, the team started the game on the wrong foot, going down by eight points after the first quarter.

However, they were able to bounce back with a very strong second quarter, putting them in the lead by one point at halftime.

The lead would stay in Laurier’s favour for most of the third quarter, until Brock was finally able to claw back and regain control of the game.

The Badgers —who now have a 2-0 record to start their season — didn’t look back from there and held the lead until the final buzzer.

“I’d say overall we were pretty disappointed with our effort,” head coach Paul Falco said, regarding the team’s loss.

“Obviously you have the first

game of the season circled on the calendar, it was a game that we were thinking about and talking about for a while now.”

“I didn’t think our overall effort was as good as it could have been. I thought at times Brock outcompeted us in certain areas of the game.”

But we need to compete just a little harder than we did on Saturday to be able to play with the top teams in the province...

-Paul Falco, Laurier women’s basketball head coach

“We need to become a better rebounding team,” Falco stated, hinting at prospective areas of improvement.

“We gave up too many offensive rebounds and too many layups inside. On the flip side, we missed over a dozen layups that you can’t afford to miss and our execution on the offensive end was poor,” he

ALEX TRKULJA/FILE PHOTO

continued.

Nicole Morrison and Irena Rynkiewicz controlled the offence for the Golden Hawks.

They contributed with 14 points each, while chipping in with four and three assists respectively.

Despite the loss, Falco was still able to pull out one positive from his team’s performance.

“We played a pretty good second quarter, we came back and took the lead on the last play of the first

half. We showed signs of playing like the team that we can be,” he said.

“We expect to be competing in the OUA-West division with the top teams.”

“We’ve had some work to do.

We’ve gone through some injuries in the preseason, which has maybe hurt our growth a little bit,” Falco said.

“But we need to compete just a little harder than we did on Satur-

day to be able to play with the top teams in the province and the top teams in the OUA-West.”

The team will be looking to improve on last season’s performance, in which they lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Carleton.

You can catch the women’s basketball team during their home opener on Nov. 10, when they play host to the University of Ottawa at 6 p.m.

SPORTS • 15

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 MEN’S RUGBY

Golden Hawks record historical win PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

It was a historic day for the Wilfrid Laurier University men’s rugby team on Saturday, Oct.28, as they recorded the first playoff win in modern team history.

The Golden Hawks overcame the Western Mustangs by a final score of 36-12 and advanced to the OUA semifinals.

Both teams came into the playoff contest with a regular season record of 5-3, but Laurier proved that they were the better team on that day.

Bastien Demas-Pandraud led the way offensively for the Hawks as he managed to score two tries.

“I think we executed really well,” head coach Ian McLeod said, regarding his team’s performance against Western.

We got nothing to lose and we’re going to go out and do Laurier proud, I know that much.

-Ian McLeod, Laurier men’s rugby head coach

“We had a game plan [and] we had watched a lot of Western film going into the week. We had established where we had to attack and when we needed to defend and I thought the boys executed it to a tee and played one of their best games of the year.”

It was a long drought for the Hawks as they hadn’t managed to win a playoff game since 1999, which was also when they began to record team wins and statistics online.

The season has already been a huge success for Laurier.

The Hawks 5-3 record is a major improvement from their 2-6 record last year.

Coach McLeod pointed out

that 2016 was a tough year for the Hawks, especially because of injuries to some important players.

“Last year was a tough year injury wise. We lost a lot of key guys and I think we maybe played one game where we had all 15 starters on the field,” he said. “[That’s] not an excuse because this year we had a great recruiting class that created a lot of depth, which pushed a lot of the senior players to be better and not to be too lackadaisical and understand that there’s opportunities for their spots to be taken by someone else if they don’t perform.”

The team went out and added some very talented recruits to the squad this year and that has paid dividends.

The younger players have forced the seniors to elevate their level of play and that has been a key factor behind Laurier’s success.

“I think that competition was really good for the program. I think the leadership group itself, the senior members of the team, have done an outstanding job of creating a culture of not just wanting to be there,” McLeod said.

“They want to be recognized as a program that wants to be a good, solid rugby program. It seems to be slowly taking effect, which is great and as a result of that the guys are getting a little more belief in their own skillsets and their teammates along with the system we’re trying to run.”

Although the Hawks’ season can already be classified as a success, the team is not satisfied with just a semifinal appearance.

Coach McLeod mentioned that the team hasn’t forgotten their struggles from the past.

It’s important for them to stay grounded and take it one play at a time as they look towards their next match up against the Queen’s Gaels.

“We’ve been on the other side of it. We know that on any given day, anybody can beat anybody else in this league. There’s a lot of parity right now in the OUA league. If you don’t show up and give your best, you can be handed a big loss at any time,” McLeod said.

“These guys get that. They realize

TANZEEL SAYANI/FILE PHOTO

[that] we have to earn every win.

For the most part, they all understand that what’s required is just 100 per cent commitment each and every game, each and every practice,” he continued.

“As long as we go out and do our best, we’ll be competitive. Will we win or not? Who knows on a given day, but we always like our chances now.”

Queen’s will present the toughest challenge of the season so far for the Golden Hawks..

The Gaels come into his game boasting a 8-0 record in the regular season, including a 72-7 victory against Laurier on Sept. 10.

However, this Hawks team has significantly changed, for the better, since that brutal loss.

“Our personnel [have] changed dramatically. We had key players that were injured. They’re back in the lineup now and I think that will make a difference, number one,” he said.

“Number two, we have to be underdogs going into this game.

Queen’s [is] 8-0 and I think they’re the class of the league right now.”

“But again, we’ve done a lot of film work on them. We’ve won five out of our last six. In the last three games we’re averaging 50 points a game. We believe that we can be competitive with them. That’s all I can ask the guys to do. Go out there and just give our best,” McLeod said.

Laurier will go into this game as an underdog, but this team is on a roll right now and this game should be much closer than the regular season tie that took place between these teams.

“We’re going to have to be pretty much mistake-free. Queen’s like[s] to keep throwing, they push, they push, they push. If we allow them to play their game, we’ll be in trouble. But I think we’ll disrupt them and I think we have a chance. If I didn’t, I don’t think I’d send a team up,” McLeod added.

“We got nothing to lose and we’re going to go out and do Laurier proud, I know that much.”

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16 • SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Golden Hawks get knocked out of the playoffs Difficult conclusion to the season for Laurier as they lose 5-0 to Guelph in the OUA quarter-finals ABDULHAMID IBRAHIM LEAD SPORTS REPORTER

Playoffs are an exciting enough time for sports fans, but to be treated to a double-header was a nice surprise for the fans of Wilfrid Laurier University women’s soccer team.

The double-header began as the Golden Hawks faced the McMaster Marauders on Oct. 25.

The game started out with a great level of energy and intensity from Laurier, as the rest that their starters were given this past week looked like it had paid dividends.

It started with a strong defensive display by Nicole Lyon in Mac’s zone and from there the team would follow suit with a flurry of chances.

The Marauders would not back down, showing that were also up for a fight, but Laurier proved that they showed up to win.

After plenty of opportunities, the Hawks would open the scoring, as Maxine Murchie would score with a header from a cross by Nicole Lyon off of a free kick in minute 44.

The second half would not only come with more chances, but great goalkeeping.

We were organized and we stuck to our game plan well and we finished two good chances; our goalkeeping was excellent.

-Barry MacLean, Laurier women’s soccer head coach

In minute 57, Mac managed to get a breakaway, and when everyone thought it would be 1-1, Ashley Almeida said “no way, no how” with a spectacular save.

Minute 70 is where Laurier would put the game away, as Maxine Murchie would score again, breaking through Mac’s defense, beating the goalkeeper and putting

GARRISON OOSTERHOF/FILE PHOTO

the ball into the empty net.

With strong defense, great goalkeeping and even better offensive play carrying them through, the Hawks would win 2-0, advancing

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to play Guelph next.

“It’s one of our better performances on the year,” head coach Barry MacLean said.

“On balance, we were sharp on almost every level. We had a bit of a 10 or 15-minute lapse in the middle of the second half where we gave up a few chances but I thought we played with the ball very well.”

“We were organized and we stuck to our game plan well and we finished two good chances; our goalkeeping was excellent.”

Up next the Golden Hawks faced off against the Guelph Gryphons— who would present a bigger challenge on Oct. 29.

The Gryphons came out to play, early and fast, but the same could not be said for the Hawks.

After managing to get a couple of opportunities off corners, Guelph would open the scoring in a goal

by Victoria Hinchliffe in minute seven.

As the first half wore on, Laurier seemed to settle in a bit more but still did not play at a high level.

“The first half I think we were just a little bit erratic, and I think the goal was offside but we’ll see when I see the video,” coach MacLean said.

“But I didn’t think that we played our game, we kind of got settled into how they were playing which was a bit more disjointed.”

The second half would not get any easier for the Golden Hawks.

After a couple of opportunities for both sides, the Gryphons would score in minute 55 on a high shot

by Vanessa Mazur that goalkeeper Ashley Almeida couldn’t get a piece of.

Following that would be another goal by Mazur in minute 61, making it 3-0. Down, but not out, Laurier would show resilience in a time when most would say the game was over.

“Yeah, [the] reality was, we were still fighting at 3-0 and we thought we could still get back in the game but we were pushing numbers forward so, when you push numbers forward, you’re always susceptible at the back, and we got punished for that,” coach MacLean said.

As the game was coming to a

close, Guelph managed to score twice more in minutes 87 and 89, making the final score 5-0.

“I don’t think we had a good game, full stop. I don’t think it was a 5-0 game and I’ve never experienced losing 5-0 before so, tough on. But, they wanted it more than us in reality, we didn’t compete as well as we should have,” coach MacLean said. “[It goes] up and down,” he continued.

“We had a number of really good performances along the way [but] we had a lot of mediocre performances too.”

I don’t think we had a good game, full stop.

I don’t think it was a 5-0 game and I’ve never experienced losing 5-0 before so, tough on.

-Barry MacLean, Laurier women’s soccer head coach

“It’s a team hopefully that’s growing, we’re only losing one player. So, on balance, I think that we’ve got a lot of growth in us and we just need to get some other bodies healthy and we need to add depth to our roster,” MacLean concluded.

While the final score of 5-0 looks bad for the Hawks, it does not tell the entire story.

They kept fighting and didn’t give up until the end.

Although the end of the season did not go the way Laurier had hoped it would, the season was still very successful for the Hawks.

There are a number of positives that they can take away from the season and from how far they got in the playoffs.

With a few adjustments here or there and the addition of some young talent, it should not be a surprise to anyone if they end up making an even deeper run next year.