DOWN AND DERBY Features, page 10
Region economy booming, report says
THE
Local, page 7
The tie that binds Wilfrid Laurier University since 1926 Volume 53, Issue 25
thecord.ca
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
BOD attendance hits low point
CBC comes to K-W
With two meetings remaining, directors already at 63 regrets on the year JUSTIN SMIRLIES NEWS DIRECTOR
Jon Pryce, the chair and chief governance officer for the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board, has a message for his directors: attend the board meetings. This year, the WLUSU board of directors has a total of about 63 regrets as opposed to roughly 37 last year. A regret is essentially an absence with enough notice from the director under the discretion of the chair. “Obviously, I’m concerned. We have to make sure we are present at board meetings and representing the students’ needs. However, conflicts do come up,” Pryce explained. Last Friday, Pryce had to cancel a scheduled board meeting because there weren’t enough directors to reach quorum, which the minimum amount of directors required to make decisions - ten of the 15 elected directors in the WLUSU board’s case. Only nine said they could have attended. A make-up meeting was held on Tuesday night. “I’m disappointed but everyone
“When push comes to shove, being at the board meeting is imperative.”
Local branch of CBC Radio officially launches News, page 3
—Jon Pryce, WLUSU chair and CGO
has their reason for not being able to make it to a meeting. I’ve made it very clear to which ones were considered regrets and which ones were considered absents,” he added. Of the regrets, midterms, exams, work, volunteering and co-op have all been used as reasons to miss a meeting. There have been 18 Campus, page 6
NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER
On Monday night, locals got a chance to tour CBC K-W’s newly opened studio and news room.
Online learning takes on global approach In a new approach to online education, professors around the globe start free teaching initiative JUSTIN SMIRLIES NEWS DIRECTOR
Imagine being in a classroom with students from the U.A.E., China, Mexico and various other countries around the globe learning about the same subject in an interactive fashion from the comfort of your home. And it’s free. Kevin Leyton-Brown, a professor at the University of British Columbia, has taught such a class with the
introduction of massively open online courses (MOOCs) at UBC. UBC, in conjunction with Coursera, an online course provider based in the United States, has opened up a few MOOCs, including Leyton-Brown’s course on game theory. Leyton-Brown’s course, however, is also taught with Matthew O. Jackson and Yoav Shoham from Stanford University. MOOCs have also been introduced at the University of Toronto (U of T) and McGill this past
year. “I’ve been kind of amazed about the breadth of reach that the courses have had,” said Leyton-Brown. “I have more students in Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, and the Palestinian territories than I teach here at UBC.” “They’re [MOOCs] reaching out to just far corners of the world, it’s really just amazing to me,” he added. The course that Leyton-Brown teaches employs the use of videos, discussion boards, interactive
projects and quizzes to assess and educate the students. If a student finishes the course from beginning to end, they will receive a signed certificate from the university. Credits, however, are not given for the completion of MOOCs. “Ultimately what you get out of it is that you get to learn from it. For most people taking the course, that’s what it seems they really want,” Leyton-Brown continued, adding
Inside Slow and steady wins the race
Starting strong
Study finds that only 45 per cent of university students earn their degree in four years
Laurier football team brings over 25 new recruits into the fold
National, page 9
Sports, page 18
Staging a comeback
Saying goodbye
Staff Writer Robin Daprato discusses the recent resurgence of the large-scale music festival
Why the classic “let’s just be friends” line may not be the best way to end a relationship
Arts, page 14
Life, page 13
that about 130,000 people enrolled in his class when it first opened last fall. “One thing that I’ve really learned for this is that different people are trying to get different things out of it.” The University of Toronto was the first university in Canada to set up an agreement with Coursera to National, page 9
2 •
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
Editor-in-Chief Justin Fauteux jfauteux@thecord.ca
Editor’s choice Childhood hobby turned thriving business
Editor’s choice online This Week Around Laurier
Local, page 8
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MARCH 13, 2013 Volume 53, Issue 25 Next issue: March, 20, 2013
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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief. ............................. Justin Fauteux
jfauteux@thecord.ca
News Director.............................. Justin Smirlies
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Visual Director ....................... Wade Thompson
wthompson@thecord.ca Campus News Editor............ Elizabeth DiCesare edicesare@thecord.ca Local and National Editor ....... Lindsay Purchase lpurchase@thecord.ca In Depth Editor. .............................................Vacant editor@thecord.ca Features Editor ........................ Colleen Connolly cconnolly@thecord.ca Life Editor..............................................Carly Basch cbasch@thecord.ca Arts Editor ...............................Cristina Almudevar calmudevar@thecord.ca Opinion Editor...................................Devon Butler dbutler@thecord.ca Sports Editor .................................Shelby Blackley sblackley@thecord.ca Graphics Editor ........................Stephanie Truong struong@thecord.ca Photography Manager .................Nick Lachance nlachance@thecord.ca Photography Manager ........................ Kate Turner kturner@thecord.ca Web Editor..................................................... Vacant editor@thecord.ca
Senior Staff Lead Reporter ............................... Katelyn Cullum Lead Reporter ..................................Marissa Evans Lead Reporter .................................... Alanna Fairey Lead Videographer ........................... Jeremy Enns Lead Photographer ................. Cristina Rucchetta Copy Editing Manager .....................Gillian Lopes
Contributors Ara An Rebecca Allison Kelly Burwash Robin Daprato Heather Davidson Ashley Denuzzo Ben Dinsmore Spencer Dunn Alexandra Flack
Dana Francoeur Kaylee Grootjen Ryan Hueglin Mike Hajmasy Alissa MacDonald Kelly McGahey Kaitlyn Oosterink Julia Pollock Erin Sheehan
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WLUSP administration President and Publisher.................................................. Emily Frost Executive Director ....................................................Bryn Ossington Advertising Manager .............................................. Angela Endicott Treasurer..................................................................... Tom Paddock Vice-Chair .........................................................................Jon Pryce Director...................................................................... Kayla Darrach Director.................................................... Joseph McNinch-Pazzano Corporate Secretary ...................................................... Allie Hincks Distribution Manager ............................................. Angela Endicott Web Manager .......................................................... Adam Lazzarato
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.
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Photo gallery: This Week Around Laurier
This Week in quotes “To make sure that when people are giving a regret, it’s for a valid reason, it’s not it’s because it’s their birthday or things like that.” —Jordan Epstein, incoming chair of the WLUSU board of directors re: monitoring director attendance.
“To reflect the community, it will be very local, so local that it will probably hurt. That is our reason for being: to be local.” –Craig Norris, CBC K-W morning host re: approach taken to The Morning Edition “You can’t bring your derby self to the office.” –Kat Hiller of the Tri-City Rollergirls re: her rollerderby alter ego “Nekro Nancy” We always say to the younger guys [on Lettermen], if you’re going to do one thing, keep PowderPuff alive. –Drew Galpin, Laurier Lettermen executive re: keeping the tradition of PowderPuff football alive at WLU
DearLIFE 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, The Tim Horton’s line up in the Science Building sure is long, but it’s all worth it when I see my favourite cashier Bernarda at the counter. Not only does she make the best hot drinks but she is also the sweetest lady in the world! Sincerely, Worth the wait Dear Life, An ode to hangovers, I poison myself for merry good times, blurring my nights into dead & divine I woke up in bed, an ache in my head thumbing through memories feigned. body in pieces, moral shot to shit, the fetal position fits just like a mitt the pain is destructive, the toilet a friend This is it. This is my imminent end. Eventually better, the drama comes clean You wanna go out tonight? I’ll take one for the team! Sincerely, happy birthday tim!! Dear Life, Your sign says ”Open at 11am’, so why don’t you, Mr. Sub? Sincerely, Where’s your manager? Dear Life, The geese are back. We are all going to die. Sincerely, Spring
CORRECTION
In the March 6 article “Bannerless year for Laurier sport,” the story read that the intramural program has helped fund the intercollegiate program. Intramurals is in fact a break-even operation, not a profit centre. The Cord apologizes for this error.
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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: “... And he thought HE was gonna get periods and it was hilarious.” –Campus News Editor Elizabeth DiCesare describing her brother’s reaction to “the talk”
Dear Life, I will never understand what’s so hard about locking a door. Come on guys, it takes two seconds. Sincerely, Frustrated Dear I’m trying to talk to you, are you even listening? While it may seem as though no one at Laurier wants to listen, I can assure you that you do not have to go it alone. There are many resources on campus that have helped me through some difficult times. Counseling services, Adrienne Luft (mental health/student support team leader, aluft@wlu.ca), or the Dean of Students (alawrence@wlu. ca) are just some of the resources that you can seek guidance from. Don’t suffer in silence. Sincerely, A concerned fellow student who wants you to be heard
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Dear Life, While having a medical response team on campus is a great idea, they seem to not respond to much in the ways of medical calls anymore. Maybe WLUSU can get out of debt by cutting the ample ERT budget. Sincerely, Does ERT Even go to calls anymore!???
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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 KitchenerWaterloo, 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.
Dear Life, Service Laurier has a webcam to see how busy they are. But I think more people would find Tim Horton’s webcam useful. Fight for change! Sincerely, Sick of the Long Timmy’s Lineups
Inside
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Dear Life, I laughed at last week’s ”Ode to Whiskey Dick’ more than I should have. I miss the funny Dear Life posts. Sincerely, We all need a good laugh
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Last week’s Sudoku solution
• 3
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
News
News Director Justin Smirlies jsmirlies@thecord.ca
More news inside:
Passion lives
nick lachance pHoto MANAgER
Childhood hobby becomes strong business for two local brothers Local, page 8
nick lachance pHotogRApHY MANAgER
Local politicians and community members gathered in Kitchener for the official launch of Kitchener-Waterloo’s CBC radio station.
Another ‘voice’ for K-W
Emissions fall
CBC launches new radio station and online news platform Monday night at gala alanna fairey lEAD REpoRtER
Through radio waves and online reporting, CBC is finally coming to Kitchener-Waterloo. CBC’s new morning radio show, named The Morning Edition, launched on March 11 in Kitchener after months of planning and negotiating. The station is a unique union of radio and digital works, acting as the first of its kind. A launch party was hosted at its new location in Kitchener. Politicians including Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran and K-W Progressive Conservative (PC) Party of Ontario candidate in the 2012 byelection, Tracey Weiler, attended the event to show their support. Guests were able to mingle over cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and music before CBC officials such as Jenny
McGuire, the general manager and editor-in-chief for CBC News and Centres and Kitchener mayor, Carl Zehr, made speeches. “We are now being known as the startup region,” Zehr said. “In terms of the new services that you are providing to the regional network, I think this radio launch is most appropriate and I am looking forward to it.” Radio host Craig Norris had been working for CBC for over 13 years in Toronto. After being offered the position to host in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Norris excitedly took the opportunity. “It’s a dream come true for me because I lived in this neck of the woods for a long time and I have been commuting to Toronto for almost 13 years,” Norris explained. “To shorten my commute by three hours everyday is incredible.”
Norris shared that The Morning Edition will be an injection of news and a lot more humour. Local arts and music will also be infused into the morning radio show, as Norris has experience in the music industry. “We’re going to follow the Metro Morning model, it’s the CBC morning show model for the country,” Norris explained.“To reflect the community, it will be very local, so local that it will probably hurt. That is our reason for being: to be local.” In addition to Norris, Andrea Bellemare will act as the online host. This differs from Norris’ role as host, as she will be conducting online chats while Norris is on the air. “I’ll be moderating and hosting that chat,” Bellemare explained. “Then I will also be going onto the radio and chatting with Craig, doing updates and telling people what I
am seeing and hearing and also asking people to contribute.” Bellemare also acknowledged that The Morning Edition would be incorporating online features such as videos, interactives and a plethora of other features for viewers to engage in. Both Norris and Bellemare credited their team at CBC has worked very hard and they are proud to have gotten to where they are now, especially since their team consists of only seven people. “We have a good startup attitude. We’re a small and young team. I think our energy and curiosity and excitement for the area is what makes us unique,” Bellemare said. “No one is going to agree with our story choices every time, but we are going to work very hard and I hope that we reflect that,” Norris concluded.
steph truong gRApHiCS EDitoR
laurier reports an 11 per cent drop in greenhouse emissions Campus, page 4
wLUsU, Uw Feds head to Queen’s Park local student groups attend oUSA’s annual conference to lobby on the behalf of post-secondary students katelyn cullum lEAD REpoRtER
Student representatives from Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union and the University of Waterloo (UW) Federation of Students met with provincial parliament members in Queen’s Park last week to discuss issues in education. Chris Walker, vice president of university affairs at WLUSU and Adam Garcia, vice-president of education at UW, were among the representatives from the nine member associations who met in Ottawa last week for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Annual Advocacy Conference. “Our mandate is to lobby the government on behalf of student issues, based on four pillars, which are quality, accountability, accessibility and affordability,” Walker explained.
The representatives from postsecondary institutions spent a week meeting with ministers, MPPs and party critics to discuss the problems and solutions in education for the next year. They identified specific issues that are relevant to students at this time, which included tuition, mental health and credit transfers, and formed a dialogue with Parliament members to achieve a realistic solution. “I think anytime you are able to put students in front of decision makers is an opportunity to really influence the process, because I think everybody can relate to the stories of students who are in university,” expressed Garcia. Among the members that met with students were MPPs Catherine Fife, John Milloy and Brad Duguid, the minister of training, colleges
and universities. Fife broke down her observations in an e-mail to The Cord and explained that OUSA made a strong case for a tuition freeze. “We also want to give students a reprieve on paying interest postgraduation,” she stated. Garcia and Walker both said that there was significance placed on the issue of tuition since the framework has expired and a new decision most be made by the end of the month. Currently, tuition increases by an average of five per cent each year. “All indications have pointed to the fact that we will see a new tuition framework in place by the end of March, so ideally we will have influenced the decision making process,” Garcia explained. “The common factor was that everyone pretty much agreed that the current model is not sustainable,
that the amount of funding that we are giving the system is not working for what we want.” Walker said that the “minister indicated that tuition will not be a status quo, it is going to be less than five per cent, meaning that we are going to see some sort of progress.” Another prominent area of concern was mental health. “Mental health is obviously a topic on everyone’s minds and certainly one that has become more pervasive in the last few years,” said Walker. Walker continued, “The credit transfer piece is something that has been identified as a priority by the new premier and it’s something she wants to pursue.” Fife explained that she shares the concerns of students on the mental health file.“We need a two pronged approach — improve crisis response in addition to building campus
support to address stigma with a renewed focus on early intervention and prevention.” Reflecting on the week overall, Garcia expressed, “I think it was great that we were able to meet with a variety of decision makes from all the different parties.” “That’s the best way to influence the process, as well as to demonstrate that OUSA is not a partisan organization.” Both Walker and Garcia expressed optimism and satisfaction with the results of the conference and explained that the conversation was productive and members seemed interested in solving the inquiries presented. “We left the week feeling that we were very successful in conveying our message and now it’s up to the government on how far they want to take it,” Walker concluded.
4 •
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
CAMPUS
Campus News Editor Elizabeth DiCesare edicesare@thecord.ca
‘Your Earth, My Earth’
Intern programs get funding MARISSA EVANS LEAD REPORTER
JUSTIN SMIRLIES NEWS DIRECTOR
One of the major events of Aboriginal Awareness Week last week was “Your Earth, My Earth, Your Water, My Water,” a panel discussion about the implications of Bill C-45 on the environment and the well being of Aboriginals living in Canada. The bill has sparked a large reaction in the form of protests, which eventually resulted in the Idle No More movement. The panel discussion was the second last event of the week on March 9 and featured Kathy Absolon-King, Jode Kechego, Awasis Sakihtowis, Darren Thomas and Sheri Longboat. This Aboriginal Awareness Week, which was the third installment at Laurier, was aimed at getting students, community members and faculty thinking about Aboriginal issues and culture. The talk began with a traditional drum song and singing by some of those that were involved throughout the week, and a water ceremony, which was given by Absolon-King, program coordinator for the Aboriginal field of study. “It’s something that I think we take for granted, it’s something that we don’t really have to think about because we don’t have to. But without water we wouldn’t be alive,” explained Absolon-King while she was addressing the crowd Saturday in Bricker Academic Building. “Everything we need in terms of medicine and food comes from water,” she added. Since the talk was centered on the Idle No More movement and the current relationship between Aboriginal groups and the federal government, Absolon-King’s ceremony had a bit of a political tone to it. “If you have voice, if you have a means — whatever that is — use it. Maybe we should put those
NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER
Jode Kechego engaged the audience in a discussion about rights.
politicians on a fast, so they could appreciate water,” she continued. “They probably wouldn’t be able to handle going on fast. Maybe they would take another look at what they are doing.” The moderater of the discussion was Jode Kechego, senior policy analyst advisor for Anishinabek Nation, as well as a writer on Aboriginal issues in Canada. He urged the crowd to think differently about how Idle No More is portrayed in the mainstream media. “Too often First Nations people are seen as either passive or submissive, historically and today. That passiveness and misinterpretation is a misguided view of who First Nations people are,” he asserted. “Western society feels the need to control things,” he added, giving his reason to why the federal government has introduced some of the
legislature that sparked the Idle No More movement. In addition to the panel discussion, there were interactive workshops and other speakers throughout the week. “I think it went well, we did the event [at] both Brantford and Waterloo and had some events in Kitchener as well. We really incorporated a multi-campus approach to Aboriginal Awareness Week,” explained Melissa Ireland, Aboriginal student support coordinator for the Waterloo campus. “One of the things that we did for Awareness Week was incorporate some of our existing programs already in the week to show the university that they are welcome to come out to pre existing events,” she said. “The week was very thoughtful and engaging.”
Thanks to recent funding from the Government of Canada, Wilfrid Laurier University students and alumni will have the opportunity to work with growing companies in the community within the next year. On March 8, WLU announced that it will receive a $216,842 investment which will fund the LaurierIndustry Internship Program. The program’s focus is on students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To be eligible, students must have graduated within the last five years from a Bachelor, Master’s, or PhD STEM program or currently in one. The investment is provided through the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario’s (FedDev Ontario) Graduate Enterprise Internship. Abby Goodrum, vice president of research, explained, “FedDev has a lot of different programs and this was the one that we applied for because, well, we knew that there was some money available.” That was nine months ago, when Research Services first met with coop and career services and the faculty of science to talk about the possibility of the program. “Now it’s just in the start-up phase,” Goodrum said. “Now we’ll be moving really quickly to get students to apply.” The funding will allow up to 20 students to intern at a STEM-related company for a six month period. While the government’s interest is focused on STEM programs, Goodrum acknowledged that Laurier doesn’t have the ‘E’ aspect of this: engineering. She also explained that business students may have the opportunity to take advantage of the internship program. “Primarily if they’re going to come from SBE they’re going to be more focused on things like economics or technology management,” she continued. The university has until March 31, 2014 to use the money, which is
“FedDev has a lot of different programs and this was one that we applied for because, well, we knew that there was some money available.” —Abby Goodrum, vice-president of research at Laurier also the date all internships must be finished. Paul Jessop, dean of the faculty of science, said that he is hopeful they will “spend all the money.” As for his expectations from the program he said, “I’d like to see twenty good, solid placements. A successful program isn’t just to occupy 20 people for six months, but out of those 20 it would be nice to follow and see how many turn those internships into permanent jobs.” Links for both student and employer applications are already active online, however, there is no information on the selection process as of yet as the committee that will vet the applications is in the process of being formed. “It’s a really great opportunity for companies too,” Goodrum said. “Because if you’re a start-up company you’d like to hire interns even to do research, yet you can’t really afford it. So this is a good deal for the companies and the students,.” The company must provide at least 50 per cent of the intern’s salary, the rest being covered by the funding. Goodrum expressed her hope that the program will help local companies to grow. She added, “I hope one of the things that this does for us is start making relationships with the industry, with the community, with the companies in this area that will go a long time.”
Greenhouse gases on decline at WLU ERIC THOMPSON STAFF WRITER
The Wilfrid Laurier University Physical Resources department reported that the university’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have reduced 11 per cent since 2009. This puts the department ahead of their goal to reduce emissions by 15 per cent by 2016 as outlined in the universities’ sustainability action plan. “The GHG reductions are intensity based,” said sustainability coordinator Claire Bennett. “Take into account the square footage we have grown as a campus in the calculations, so we increased physically by 19 per cent since 2009 but out emissions only increased by six per cent, which gave us the 11 per cent GHG intensity reduction.” Created in 2012, the Sustainability Action Plan aims to “strategically develop sustainability initiatives across our campuses,” explained Bennett. Laurier measures its energy output based on its use of electricity, gasoline, water and waste. Waste is a scope three emission, an emission produced through organizations on campus rather than the university
itself that is usually ignored in calculations, but Bennett insists Laurier is striving for accuracy in its assessment. “It’s about holding ourselves accountable,” said Bennett. “Not just here, but we have become a pledging partner with Sustainable Waterloo Region, so we are even more accountable to the public.” The biggest way for Laurier to lower emissions is to design buildings to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. So far, only one Laurier building meets those standards: the Research and Academic Centre in Brantford. That number will increase upon completion of the Global Innovation Exchange (GIE) building. There are also future plans to renovate the Peters Building to meet LEED standards. Students have also taken a leadership role in helping Laurier increase sustainability. Laurier’s Sustainability Council — a leadership program for first years — is currently running a competition between residences to see who has the greatest energy reduction over a two-week period from March 11 to 25. As of Tuesday, University Place was in first place.
“The Sustainability Council has the opportunity to reach out and teach students from the get-go,” said Samantha Tremmel, one of the advisors for the Sustainability Council. “I think this is why this program is so important to have and why it’s so effective.” Laurier’s Sustainability Office has also had great success with its waste management programs over the past few years. All public area garbage cans now have recycling bins attached, so students are more inclined to recycle properly. Along with the introduction of water fill stations across campus, the program is making it easier for every student, regardless of level of involvement, to help contribute towards a more sustainable campus. “I do think students care about sustainability and the environment,” said Lisa Truong, an event executive for the EcoHawks. “I think caring about the environment is a choice. It takes two seconds to dispose trash in the proper bins and understanding that our everyday choice we make on a daily basis has a consequence for the environment and out campus.”
STEPHANIE TRUONG GRAPHICS EDITOR
Greenhouse gases on campus have declined 11 per cent from 2009
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
campus
• 5
Exposing the atrocities North Korean refugee speaks at laurier lEAD REpoRtER
“I was nervous to come here and speak today.” Jake, whose last name was withheld for safety reasons, visited Wilfrid Laurier University this past weekend to discuss his experience as a North Korean refugee at the North Korean Human Rights Film Festival (NKHRFF), and expose listeners to the lack of freedom and rights the citizens of the country possess. Jake is 21-years old and currently resides in Toronto, working towards earning high school credits, takes English classes and hopes to one day become an engineer. He left China in May 2011 after fleeing there with his younger sister to find his mother. He had to quit school after his mom left his family and his dad was imprisoned, and looked after his sister and attempted to earn a living to survive. Jake claimed he doesn’t “remember a lot” of his childhood. He suffered the consequences of the great famine and was subjected to abuse after stealing food to fulfill his constant hunger. “People are so hungry that they do desperate things,” he said. Jake, along with Gilad Cohen, the founder and director of the NKHRFF, and Randall BaranChong, the executive director of Han Voice, joined together at Laurier to engage students and raise awareness about what is occurring in North Korea. Three films were shown to interested students that demonstrated the desperate conditions that North Koreans face on a daily basis. The NKHRFF worked with the
Global Youth Volunteer Network at Laurier to bring the films, which was the first chapter screenings to a student audience. Cohen, a communications graduate from Laurier, explained that he had a travelled to South Korea after graduation to teach English. While there, he visited North Korea for one day and experienced a life-changing moment. “I did some research on the country and I was shocked and horrified,” he said. “What also horrified me was how little other people knew about.” Cohen made it his goal to raise awareness of the conflicts and sufferings in North Korea by addressing the issues through film and art. NKHRFF travelled to Guelph last week and hopes to go to McMaster later on in the month. Back in September, they were invited to speak at the United Nations and presented the world premiere of a film called 48M. Joanna Ciolfi, a member of the Global Youth Volunteer Network, explained the club’s desire to bring the films to campus. “I like to consider myself a global person, but I had no idea that this was happening in North Korea, it just struck me,” she said. “We decided to bring the awareness here.” Jake also appreciated the interest shown by students at the event. “I wanted to do something for us, there are a lot of people who are suffering,” he said in an interview with The Cord. He explained that it was not possible to stay in China as a refugee, so he and his sister chose Canada as a practical alternative. “I believed I could find my future if I came to Canada,” he concluded.
Breaking down misconceptions the Muslim Student Association is addressing stereotypes regarding islam elizabeth dicesare CAMpuS NEWS EDitoR
Wilfrid Laurier University’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) has been promoting Islamic Awareness Week (IAW) this past week on campus. They have an interactive information booth set up in the Concourse, as well as various other events planned throughout the week, such as lectures and discussions. “Our purpose is to help everybody understand the true meaning of Islam because there is a lot of misconceptions portrayed by the media and society,” explained Hassam Azhar, a team leader for MSA. He continued by emphasizing that the group wants “people to know what Islam is, and clarify some misconceptions.” One of the examples he gave was the example of a jihad. “There’s a lot of misconception in the media that jihad [means] holy war, and it is frowned upon,” he said. “The truth is that jihad means ‘to struggle,’ or ‘something to strive for.’” “There’s a campaign called the My Jihad Campaign where they have posters on buses and benches that say [things like] ‘my jihad is to go to the gym every morning.’ So what
we’re trying to prove is that jihad is not always bad, it’s something that you work towards,” he continued. MSA had a section at their booth in the Concourse where all students could participate in a smaller version of this campaign, which allowed them to express their struggles. Azhar explained that the best way to engage non-Muslim students was through learning activities such as this. Another interactive component to their booth was a hopscotch game. “Before you do the first step you have to answer either an Islamic question, or a non-Islamic question,” he explained. “If they don’t know [the answer] it gives us a chance to explain to them [the answer], and after they are done they get to ask us a question. Any other questions that they may have, we answer them.” MSA believes that what is portrayed in the media, or spoken about in general terms, is not necessarily true. “Muslim’s are people too, they’re just like you and me. Spreading a positive image is necessary for people to be happy,” concluded Azhar. IAW events will continue until Friday.
cristina rucchetta lEAD pHotogRApHER
Five Laurier students are living off donations this month to raise awareness for youth homelessness.
‘5 Days for the Homeless’ begins on Laurier campus
alissa macdonald CoRD NEWS
On Monday, March 11, five Wilfird Laurier University students gave up their amenities for for the annual “5 Days for the Homeless.” Their goal this year is to raise $15,000 for two groups: Reaching Our Outdoor Friends (ROOF) and Argus Residence. The students participating this year include Pat Donnelly, Nicholas Goodfellow, Yanna Klimenko, Hannah Lee and Sara Cousineau. Laiya Carayannopoulos, the director of this year’s event, stated that the goal for this program is to “raise awareness about youth at risk and the stigma around the issue [of homelessness] itself.” Carayannopoulos also explained the rules that participants must follow, which include not leaving campus, using only the clothes on their backs and having only one pillow and sleeping bag each, which can be traded in for an emergency meal if
needed. Carayannopoulos also said that she hopes that the participants have a “meaningful experience and [that the campaign] changes peoples minds and opinions [about homelessness].” All who are participating expressed sincere dedication for the cause, and that their goals are to open people’s eyes to the harsh realities some people experience. Cousineau explained that she often complained about others on her floor being loud, but has come to realize that homeless people have more to worry about, “like their safety.” Lee, who was diagnosed with strep throat a few days ago, has seen the experience in a different manner. “Being sick and doing this makes me think about how the homeless deal with [living on the street] when they are sick, since they don’t really have access to medicine,” she said. Each participant also expressed
difficulties they have been facing with each of the rules set in place. For most of them not having access to technology has been, and will continue to be, the most difficult. For Cousineau, however, not having access to more clothing has been the most problematic. “[I change] so many times a day without even realizing it,” she said. “If you get your clothes wet [while on the campaign] you have to find a way to dry it.” Goodfellow, on the other hand, is having trouble going to his classes, because his natural instincts when going inside becomes the need for sleep. “I don’t get much sleep sleeping outside,” he said. Each participant agreed that they appreciate what they have now, and that the experience, while only just beginning, has given them a different outlook on the situation. The event closes on Friday.
Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence
ANDREW WESTOLL Public Reading We welcome you to join author, Andrew Westoll, as he reads from his National Bestseller, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary.
March 26, 7–8:30 p.m. Hawk’s Nest For more information visit
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
‘Regret’ definition being tweaked —cover
WLUSU board meetings so far this year, and only one saw all 15 directors present. “The work you do outside of the board meetings is great, I appreciate it, it’s good to talk to these directors and go to these ownership linkage committee events and all that type of stuff,” explained Pryce. “However, when push comes to shove, being at the board meeting is imperative.” While the directors do know of the dates of each ahead of time, Pryce said that there were instances when different priorities might arise. The board also had some special board meetings, which made scheduling a bit more difficult. Jazz Clement, a second-year student at Laurier and a director, said she missed meetings because of opportunities she couldn’t miss, such as conferences and personal matters. “I just had a lot of personal issues going on, especially with school. I’m pretty sure everyone can relate to that,” she explained, adding that she meets with the other directors and students outside of the boardroom and that the board as a whole has been effective. “There are some people who don’t always go to meetings because they don’t want to. There are some people like myself who do want to be at meetings, but unfortunately other things have happened,” she added. Despite there being over 60 absences from directors this year, Pryce affirmed that the board has been able to accomplish everything that they had to do. Most of the time
Stephanie truong GRApHiCS EDitoR
the board work will be postponed, such as the last cancelled meeting on Friday. “Candidates running should have to make sure and make it clear that ‘this is my priority, I’m treating this like a job,’” explained Jordan
Discussing the future of Africa alexandra flack StAff WRitER
On Friday March 8 the departments of political science and global studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa, organized a talk by Robert Rotberg, president emeritus of the World Peace Foundation. He came to Laurier to discuss the future of Africa. Rotberg discussed Africa in new terms. He felt that despite the many critical challenges that have burdened Africa there is hope for the future. “There is an entirely new Africa, there’s an Africa which is part of the global village,” explained Rotberg. “Africa is now part of the picture.” He discussed that despite Africa undergoing revolutions, before it can be fully integrated into the modern world, it must deal with its critical challenges for the next 70 years. Rotberg then asked the audience what they thought the crucial problems the continent is currently facing. One major issue students came up with was population. He described just how drastically Africa’s population is exploding and that by the end of the twenty first century their population will be almost as large as Asia’s. “Think of the challenges in sheer numbers, Africa can either have a demographic dividend or a demographic disaster,” said Rotberg. A second, very serious challenge for Africa is education, particularly education for girls. Rotberg stressed the important of literacy and how evidence of poor literacy is reflected in the low number of primary and secondary school graduates. “Only six per cent of Africans get a chance to go to university in Africa,” Rotberg explained. So there is real educational challenge ahead … Africa has also had a huge brain drain.”
“There are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than there are in Ethiopia,” he continued. Rotberg discussed many more critical challenges in great detail including disease — particularly malaria and tuberculosis — civil war and a shortage of electric power. To stress the lack of electric power in Africa, Rotberg shared some shocking statistics. “All of the power available today in Kitchener-Waterloo would power all of Nigeria,” said Rotberg. Government was another key facet for Rotberg, and as he explained, a third to half of Africa is now better governed. However, some areas, such as Somalia, are still burdened with lack of transparency and corruption. “Many countries are coming to appreciate what it means to be better governed. Good governance leads to wealth, prosperity and higher standards of living,” explained Rotberg. Despite the many challenges Rotberg explained to the audience, he felt optimistic about Africa’s future. He said that he believes the good governance some countries in Africa have exemplified will work as a powerful example for the rest of the continent. Rotberg also stressed the importance of China in driving Africa’s future and making it possible for Africa to grow. “If you see in the deadlines [that] China’s GDP has fallen, worry about Africa,” he said. “Without China, it will be very difficult to see how Africa will afford to educated its population, much less feed them, particularly in the cities.” Despite the many critical challenges Africa has faced and is facing, his speech discussed Africa in new terms. He said that Africa, now part of the global village, has the potential to really grow and progress.
Epstein, the vice-chair for this year’s board and the chair-elect for the 2013-14 WLUSU board of directors. Both Pryce and Epstein noted that they would like to encourage anyone who is running to be a director to evaluate their time commitments
and to communicate to candidates what the role entails. Epstein said that he has done more training for the board-elect than years previous. “A lot of it does come into the need for better training,” added Epstein. Another issue with directors missing meetings is the potential for more diverse discussion on certain topics. “It would almost be a shame if certain people didn’t come because you would really want to hear what they say for a certain issue,” added Pryce. “Because without good attendance, it takes away from conversations.” Epstein gave the example of director Sebastian Dudek who still communicated with board without being there. Dudek, who has missed eight meetings so far this year because of co-op, still sent in his comments and thoughts on certain issues. “Even though you can’t make it, showing that you’re still interacting with the board, still making sure that your voice is getting out there,” said Epstein. Each director is elected the year before they join the board, so there’s no formal disciplinary action for missed meetings unless if comes from the WLUSU membership. Epstein said that the board is in the midst of working up a new policy that will clarify what can be determined as a “regret.” “To make sure that when people are giving a regret, it’s for a valid reason, it’s not it’s because it’s their birthday or things like that,” he said.
tensions build at meeting elizabeth diceSare CAMpuS NEWS EDitoR
Things began to get heated at the Wilfrid Laurier University’ Students’ Union meeting on Tuesday night. This meeting was established because of the one that was cancelled on Friday due to loss of quorum. After a few quick discussions, the conversation became quickly tense when director Scott Fleming attempted to approve motions before they were properly discussed. While his attempts to move the meeting along at a quicker pace was supported by director Caleb Okwubido. Other directors, such as Matt Casselman, were unimpressed with his behaviour. During the meeting, Casselman said that if any directors had issues with time commitments or were unable to sit through an entire meeting, they should not attend at all. This type of behaviour, he said, was “extremely inappropriate.” Jon Pryce, chair of the board and chief governance officer, seemed unimpressed with the way the meeting was digressing, and reminded his fellow directors to concentrate on the tasks at hand. “We’re not getting into this [argument] right now,” he said. Later, when Fleming began to comment on how the meeting was going over time — when it in fact was not — Pryce had to remind him to “respect your chair.”
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
LOCAL
Local Editor Lindsay Purchase lpurchase@thecord.ca
Forecast bright for regional growth LEAD REPORTER
Man arrested after shots fired in Wilmot Township STEPHANIE TRUONG GRAPHICS EDITOR
the late ’90s and early 2000s, which was a pretty strong period for the city.” The promise of 13,000 jobs for the future may not be as glamorous as the numbers seem to suggest. Kavcic shared that this kind of data is based on an employment intensification of just more than one per cent per year, which is essentially just below the 1.5 to 1.6 per cent average over the previous ten years. The layoff of about 5,000 employees at Blackberry is one of the most relevant indicators that Waterloo Region still needs to improve economically for the future, according to the report. Kavcic also shared that the region continues to see manufacturing
exporters struggling, due to a slowmoving financial augmentation. He explained that this part of the financial system is still under immense pressure. However, based on a potential pattern he noticed from his report, there may be little to fear in Waterloo. “We do see a much stronger U.S. economic growth for the second half of the year,” Kavcic predicted. “So that part of the economy could potentially pick up a bit for the next year or two.” Kavcic shared that there is a possibility that these reports will be done periodically, resulting in their appearances once a year and indicated that he plans on doing an update report in the next six months.
“We’re seeing a relatively stable growth in that part of the province.”
—Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets
Man attacked on Seagram Dr. Police are investigating after three men assaulted a Toronto man on Saturday LINDSAY PURCHASE LOCAL AND NATIONAL EDITOR
Waterloo Police are investigating after an assault early Saturday morning on Seagram Drive sent a 20 year-old Toronto man to hospital. The victim was attending the University of Tamil Association Formal at St. George Banquet Hall in Waterloo, which he departed from at about 1:40 a.m. on Saturday morning. Nearing 3:00 a.m., he arrived in the area of student residential complex UW place, located at 102 Seagram Drive. The assault began in the parking lot of the residence, where he was attacked by three men. The attack continued out onto Seagram Drive when the victim attempted to run away. The victim contacted emergency services. Olaf Heinzel, the public affairs coordinator for the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), said that no theft occurred and that “[police are] investigating it as an assault only at the moment.” The victim has since been released from hospital. The police have no knowledge of any witnesses to the event and the only description available of the attackers is that they were
City of Waterloo to expand food and beverage services
Waterloo city councillors voted to take over food and beverage services from private operators at places including RIM Park and the Waterloo Recreational Complex. The change will happen at eight locations city-wide. The transition will occur by the end of 2014 and will cost the city $363,000 in unplanned money – 196,000 on food equipment and $168,000 on operating costs. Part of the reasoning behind the switch was that having privatized food services prohibited people from bringing in their own food for events, which sometimes discouraged use of the venues. Employees who are currently employed at these locations will be protected by the Employment Standards Act. It is anticipated that this change will bring in about $100,000 to the city annually.
ALANNA FAIREY
According to a recent report by Robert Kavcic, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, Waterloo Region’s economy is excelling in comparison to other regions in southwestern Ontario. “We’re seeing a relatively stable growth in that part of the province,” Kavcic shared.“It’s probably a little faster than the province, overall.” Kavcic’s report, released two weeks ago, suggests that the Waterloo economy will likely generate 13,000 jobs by the end of 2016, due to Waterloo’s strong diversity, special attention to education and the wide range of services. If this occurs for the future, this will bring the unemployment rate down by six per cent, a full percentage point below the Ontario average. In addition, the account claims that Waterloo’s local housing department is currently very well-balanced. Kavcic explained that local housing is reasonably affordable, especially compared to other cities in Ontario. At 3.9 times the median household income, Waterloo Region’s housing affordability index is third highest of major urban areas. Toronto comes in at 6.6 while Hamilton is 4.2. However, despite the positive observations made in the report, Kavcic also took note of the declines and struggles that are apparent in the region. These noticeable patterns of struggles, Kavcic said, are ones that need to be resolved for the near future. “Even though the city outperforms that growth, it is still pretty sluggish by normal standards,” Kavcic said. “Even things in the housing market and population growth are quite a bit softer than they were back in
K-W in brief
“dark-skinned.” “We’re looking for information from the public, anyone who may have witnessed it. We are also right now looking for help in identifying a female who may have some information in regards to this,” said Heinzel. “She might have some information in relation to the assault.” An image of the woman can be found at wrps.on.ca or thecord.ca. UW Tamil Association president Sujith Sutharsan was unaware of any potential connections to the event. “We had no problems at the formal because all the security and cops kept the formal clean. Even our security didn’t tell us about anything,” he said. Motivations for the attack are currently unknown to police as the investigation continues. “We don’t know if it’s something that an interaction may have taken place at the social event,” said Heinzel. “It’s really wide open right now in terms of what could have occurred and why it occurred.” Police are asking anyone with information relating to the assault or the identity of the female to call North Division Detectives at 519653-7700 ext. 6399 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Waterloo Regional Police arrested a man at the University of Waterloo (UW) on Saturday after hearing reports that he had been firing shots in a rural area off Cedar Grove Road. Despite the fact that a semi-automatic rifle, ammunition and a frankenstein mask were discovered in the man’s car, the gun activity was determined not to be of a dangerous nature. He was doing target practice, but as the area is popular for hikers, it alarmed a nearby resident. The 25-year-old man is facing charges of weapons dangerous to the public, unsafe storage of a firearm and careless use of a firearm. His weapon, which was registered, was taken by police. Follow us @cordnews
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
Childhood hobby turned thriving business J & J Cards and Collectibles, a successful local game store, has diversified its stock to stay competitive
NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER
Jason Schill owns and operates J & J Cards and Collectibles, along with his brother Jim. Among other things, it sells board games, collectible items, comics and sports cards. JORDAN SMITH CORD NEWS
J&J Cards and Collectibles has become an institution in Waterloo as a source for all kinds of toys, games and other collectibles. Owned by brothers Jim and Jason Schill, the store was originally located at the corner of King and Columbia. With the initial success of the store, they moved to their current location at the corner of Weber St. and University Ave. in Waterloo to facilitate the expanding venture. Since the move the store has expanded its size and inventory to its current 5,000 sq. feet to offer premium stock and selection. “My brother and I did a lot of collecting in sports cards when we
were younger and we started doing some collectible shows… and that led us into starting up the business,” Jason Schill recalled. Although they decided to open the store, he said that the business “just kind of materialized.” As the business matured, so did its inventory. “We’ve actually branched off to be fairly diverse, which has been the key to our growth over the years,” said Schill. “Then about ten years ago we really made the shift into the toys and games and that’s been our focus over the last decade.” “Sports cards and comics are a very small part of business now,” he added. The products the store carries range anywhere from marbles
to cards, to large and elaborate models and board games. Running a business like this no doubt presents some challenges. One of the largest hurdles that faces them is how to remain competitive in a market that has big time players like Walmart and Toys R’ Us, among others. Schill explained they’ve decided to “focus on some of the items you won’t find in the majors [that are] exclusive to the independent retailers.” With a store like J&J, repeat customers are no doubt an essential aspect to a thriving enterprise. Being in the market of collectibles and very niche products, Schill sees “a lot of regular customers who will come in on a weekly basis.” Aside from giving the store
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regular business, this keeps the owners in touch with the changing trends in the market and their customer base, more specifically. Some people would be apprehensive about entering into a business with their family members. However, despite the potential pitfalls of combining money and family, the two brothers have managed very well. “The one advantage of working with family is that at the end of the day you’re still family,” explained Schill. On the business end of the matter it does have its advantages as well. “We see things in two different perspectives ... it gives us that opposite angle to look at,” Schill noted, acknowledging that this helps them
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assess and overcome any issues with the business. As well, there is a risk of deteriorating interest when running any business that started out as a hobby. Schill has found this in his experience, noting that as it has become “more of a business … you lose it as a hobby.” Despite this, he remains interested in the products they carry. Facing many challenges from competition with multinational store brands, to working with family and staying competitive in a niche market, the Schill brothers believe they have succeeded in maintaining a local and independent venture. Schill summed up their success in simple, yet accurate terms, concluding, “It’s worked really well.”
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
NatioNal
National Editor Lindsay Purchase lpurchase@thecord.ca
Students taking more time to graduate ashley denuzzo StAff WRitER
With only a month of school left, many students who are near graduation are asking themselves the inevitable question: “What happens next?” For some, the following months will consist of relentless job hunting, while for others, it will be preparing for graduate school or some sort of college program. However, a large portion of fourth-year students will actually be enrolling back at university for another year and research is starting to show that this is not an uncommon choice. The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) released a report discussing the time it takes for students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. A 2011 statistic cited in the report, uncovered by McMaster University professors, Martin Dooley, Abigail Payne, and Leslie Robb, found that only 45 per cent of students complete a degree by their fourth year of study. A total of 74 per cent of grads will achieve a degree by their fifth year and 80 per cent of students will get it in six. “I don’t think what [Dooley, Payne, and Robb] found was
lena yang gRAPHiCS ARtiSt
particularly surprising,” said Alex Usher, president of the Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), which was involved in the research and compilation of the report. “I think we’ve known for a while that basically most students who are graduating are doing it in the normal time of completion plus one.” Usher went on to say that Canadian universities did not always have the standard four-year system. He explained that around 15 years ago, many Canadian institutions actually offered three-year programs.
“I think one of the nice things about North American higher education is that we’re quite flexible,” Usher continued. “People don’t realize that it costs universities quite a lot to have that kind of flexibility.” With regards to the specific reasons why a student would choose to stay in school for longer than the four-year duration, a lot of it has to do with the student’s schedule and workload. Bonnie Patterson, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) explained that
many students are taking advantage of getting involved in leadership activities. “Even though they are taking longer to get the degree, they are setting up a better basis for future employment,” she said. Many students enroll in co-op opportunities, internships, international experiences, varsity athletics or student government, for example.. Patterson also explained that there are other students who go through their education with the understanding of what they wish to
refine or specialize in. So in many cases, those opportunities require a combination of college and university integrated programs. “I see many research programs right now looking at forms of partnerships between colleges and universities,” Patterson elaborated. “In some situations, institutions are designing programs where students can both benefit from a degree and a diploma.” Patterson emphasized a direction towards more flexibility and mobility within curricular design. She also noted there is also a trend toward enrollment in post-degree programs to add specialization to undergraduate degrees. “They want a four-year degree behind them so they develop the communication skills or the problem solving skills,” she said. Usher, however, believes that the future of higher education might result in shortened degrees, eventually going back to the three-year system. No matter how long it may take a student to eventually attain their “piece of paper,” there is an emphasis on individuals finding what they’re good at and specializing on these preexisting abilities. “[It’s about] rewarding people for doing a certain amount of work, not being in class for a certain amount of hours,” Usher said.
MooCs emphasize importance of learning —cover
release a MOOC in July 2012. In January, U of T and McGill signed a consortium with edX, the online course provider for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. “On average, if you look at statistics that are reported by other universities, about five per cent of people actually finish all of the assignments for a MOOC, and in this
particular one [course at U of T], for the people who started at the beginning and finished it was about 10 per cent, which is about twice as high as you see in other MOOCs,” explained Cheryl Regehr, the vice-provost of academic programs at UofT. Regehr noted that the purpose of these courses is not necessarily for the certificate that the student receives at the end, but for people to engage in higher learning. “It might be some use to their workplace, but in large part people
take them because they want to expand their own knowledge base,” she continued. “So it’s the learning, not the certificate, that has the greatest value.” While education becoming easier to access online, Leyton-Brown warned that a future with completely online postsecondary education would be not as effective. He sees MOOCs as a “supplement” to the course material already instructed in-class or as a continuing education course.
“I think it’s going to become another tool in the arsenal. I really can believe that a MOOC is somewhere between a textbook and a class,” he said. “We talk about MOOCs being courses, but we really think about them as textbooks. They’re really just self-study devices.” Leyton-Brown added, “There’s just something kind of compelling about getting into room, interacting with other human beings, getting feedback on your work, in a way
that really a MOOC is never going to provide.” Leyton-Brown claimed that just like the emergence of the Internet didn’t completely remove the prevalence of television, the use of online courses would not remove the importance of in-class study. “We usually overestimate the short-term impacts of technology and underestimate the long-term impacts and I think that it is true here as well,” he concluded.
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Features Editor
•
Colleen Connolly
•
FEATU
cconnolly@thecord.ca
Rolling into
Gone are the days of scripted roller derby with pre-dete what is now a full contact female sport with an ever inc By day, Kat Hillier is a legal assistant working towards her masters in counselling psychology. But by night — Wednesdays and Sundays to be exact — she is Nekro Nancy, a hard-hitting blocker for the Vicious Dishes of the Tri-City Roller Girls roller derby league. “I think that we create a version of ourselves that we really like,” said Hillier of the derby alter ego. “You can’t bring your derby self to the office … it’s a really healthy way to channel any frustrations you have, I consider it therapy.” Hillier’s first exposure to roller derby happened nearly a year ago when she came across an ad in the newspaper calling for “fresh meat” and thought it might be a good way to get some exercise. “I went to the try out and they had me put on quad skates and try that out,” she recalled. “I didn’t completely eat floor so we went from there.” Roller derby is an entirely female contact sport that has been gradually gaining recognition since its resurgence in Texas in 2001. Scott Jones, media chair for the Roller Derby Association of Canada, referred to this as its first wave. “It was girls who wanted something that they could call their own,” said Jones. “There was no pre-conceptions, no ‘you can’t do this, you’re not good enough,’ no ‘you’re just doing what your boyfriend does,’ total blank slate for everybody.” Now, in what Jones would call the second wave of derby, the sport has begun to develop focus and structure. However, derby is still in its early stages and maintains its grassroots nature. Any number of women, no matter their age or skill level, can form or join a league. “Derby’s a little unique in the sense that it’s all skater run and not for profit,” said Carrie Livingstone, a blocker for Tri-City’s Venus Fly-Tramps and secretary for the league’s board of directors. “The board is a governing body but everything has to be voted on between the league.” “Everybody is so different,” said Hillier. “You have house wives, you have religious people, you have country girls, you have all sorts of punks. There is no limit on what people could be into. It’s open, anyone could play.” Tri-City is divided up into three home teams and one all-star team, the Tri-City Thunder, which is customary of leagues across Canada. However, there is a strong sense of community between the girls as a whole, not only in Kitchener’s league, but within and between those across the country.
“You get that many girls together, there’s boun drama,” said Hillier. “But it’s dealt with on the tra it’s left there. As soon as the game is done, we’re about ‘where’s the after party’ and ‘let’s go have a “You go from being competitive and fierce besi one girl and then you’re out afterwards laughing great,” added Livingstone. After attending a game three years ago, Living thought she’d give derby a try and joined up with City. Since then, she has come to be known in the world as Ann Killbiter, for her short stature but ag sive edge. “When I started three years ago, there were abo four people starting with me and one of the refs k trained us in the corner, taught us the basics,” she called. “Prior to that people would kind of just tri in. And now, because it is gaining in popularity, n have boot camp.” Tri-City’s boot camp, an extended try out for w wishing to be drafted for a team, runs simultaneo with their season which begins in the spring and October. This intensive learning experience is sti in the mind of Hillier who was selected for the Vi Dishes — one of Tri-City’s three home teams — j past December and played her first league game l day at the season opener. Hillier recalls an overwhelming rush of nerves delight at the calling out of her derby name when ning Slim, their league announcer, first introduce to the crowd. Stepping up to the starting line, Hil turned to her team captain for reassurance; she fe she might be sick. “Once you start skating, you won’t even think a it,” was her response. And she didn’t. “If I’m struggling with something, like at the fi game if I was nervous or stumbling, they literally me up. They would not let me fall,” said Hillier. B causing a fall, in the right circumstance, can be w received. At one particular moment in her first game, Hi remembers a fellow team-mate delivering a beau hit on the other team’s jammer, sending her soari splayed out on the track. Afterwards, the defeate up, smiled and rolled over to hug her worthy oppo Jammers are the players that are able to score. wear a star on their helmet and receive points by ing players on the other team. These players are c blockers and they follow the pivot who sports a st
URES
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 • 11
o a new derby
ermined victors. Features Editor Colleen Connolly looks into creasing fan base and player pool since its recent resurgence
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their helmet and leads the plays. “Because the scoring mechanism is a person, each of the jammers can score at the same time so it can get very confusing,” said Jones. Roller derby in this way requires that players be offensive and defensive simultaneously which is very unique in comparison to most organized sports. “It would be like playing hockey with two pucks,” said Jones. “If you were playing with a red puck and a blue puck and you had to score with your puck and block the other puck at the same time, that’s what it would be like.” The challenge has had men taking an interest in this flourishing sport with co-ed scrimmages becoming increasingly common amongst leagues. Livingstone even recalled there being a male exhibition game at Montreal Roller Derby’s annual tournament Beast of the East, where the Dishes placed first last year. Jones explained that with seven referees for each game, males have an opportunity to skate along and learn the rules. Their modern perspective, however, is far different from those who reffed derby bouts of the past. Roller derby in the 20th century was largely a scripted means of entertainment described by Jones as essentially WWE on skates. But not all of those aspects are lost. From players sporting fishnets and colourful accessories to showing off with fancy footwork after a nice play, “It’s not only a game,” said Hillier. “It’s also a show.” This element of performance continues to give roller derby a distinctive appeal, but Jones guesses that it also attributed greatly to the sport’s fading out during the 1960s and ‘70s when civil rights movements had women revaluating that which put the female on display. Nowadays, there’s a much different attitude. “There’s the clichés, like guys go to roller derby because they want to see girls in miniskirts and booty shorts and that kind of stuff. Of course, those things exist but it’s not the focus,” said Hillier. “Generally speaking, derby girls don’t go to make a big scene of it. They don’t want to be viewed as sex objects ideally; this is a sport.” Roller derby is slowly building on its revised reputation as something to be taken seriously within the athletic community. Jones predicts there is a third wave coming that will speed the process where the daughters of the first and second wave will be able to build on a foundation in the sport that was not available for their mothers.
“These are going to be girls who have come up through derby,” said Jones. “We already now have the first trickling of juniors starting to come in … and in the next three to five years as the bulk of them come up, you’re going to see the competition level go up incredibly.” This could mean both good and bad things for roller derby, which fosters deserving talent but also offers an outlet for those looking to express themselves or escape the pressures of everyday life. As a current student, Hillier can relate. “Derby is my release,” she said. “Right now I’m working on a huge paper and I’m struggling with APA format; I want to pull out my hair. I can’t put semi-colons in the right place and comas are weird and blah, blah, blah. So, I love the fact that when I’m really stressed out, I just put my skates on and it’s gone.” A more immediate advancement occurred last year when roller derby was selected as one of eight new sports to be considered for the 2020 Olympics at the 123rd International Olympic Committee session in South Africa. “I find it interesting that a lot of people don’t know about derby; especially in cities where it’s really popular and it’s in almost every city everywhere. So it would definitely put it in the public spotlight for sure,” said Livingstone. Roller derby as a serious sport is still a fairly recent development but this is not why Jones thinks it is absent from the public eye. He feels that there is a serious lack of marketing. However, the kind of attention that a place in the Olympics might provide for roller derby could have negative effects as well. “I actually know people who’ve been involved with Canada’s Olympic Program and some of the stories they’ve told me about the level of control they exert over sports, I’m not sure that the average roller derby girl understands how much change would be implemented,” said Jones. But roller derby has already achieved an international status on a slightly smaller scale. Thirteen countries took part in the first roller derby world cup which was hosted by Toronto Roller Derby in 2011. The next one is scheduled to take place either late 2013 or early 2014. “As far as the future of derby goes, it is wide open,” Jones concluded. “They are talking Olympics, we have another world cup coming up, there is a lot happening. My hope is that eventually these girls start getting paid.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TCRG FLIKR
12 •
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013
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• 13
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MArch 13, 2013
Life Eating healthy for dummies Life Editor carly Basch cbasch@thecord.ca
kelly mCgahey corD LifE
autumn smith StAff WritEr
Who has time to eat healthy these days? With our hectic schedules, it can be almost impossible. Student life is so easily inundated by busy work that it’s the little things that are left undone; eating healthy is one of them. Something so small, yet so crucial, is left in the back of our minds when it should be the first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning. Fueling your body with nutrition is how you’re able to function on a daily basis and have fun with friends. There are easy steps you can take in order to make sure that you are staying healthy even within a student lifestyle. Breakfast is your first stop. What your mother told you all those years is true: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As most of us enjoy our beauty sleep, breakfast in five minutes is our reality. Some quick, easy things to whip up for breakfast can be oatmeal, whole wheat toast with jam, yogurt with granola and berries, fruit, cereal and granola or oatmeal bars: the ones without chocolate or other sweets. All of these things are quick to put together and can be eaten on the go. Lunch and dinner, while often times can turn into one meal with awkward class schedules, they are important to plan out properly. The weekend serves as a great time to cook large portions of balanced meals with vegetables and freeze them to eat during the week when you’re short on time. Another option to keep you going
throughout a long day is having healthy study snacks. Pack snacks such as cut up vegetables like peppers with humus. Whole-wheat pretzels are also a great alternative to chips, along with nuts of any kind such as almonds or cashews. Veggie or Kale chips are easy to find at your local grocery store and they’re not as bad as they sound. Trail mix is something quick to throw together and keep with you at all times, along with sunflower seeds. You can never go wrong with crackers and cheese, and if you really can’t kick that chocolate craving, reach for the dark chocolate, which, under moderation, can be healthy for you. Getting into the habit of keeping snacks with you will prevent you from reaching for a bag of chips in dire circumstances and will help in reducing your portions during lunch and dinner. Keeping a healthy diet is not easy when your friends are dragging you out every other day. Instead of going to the same spots where you tend to reach for unhealthy choices, propose a new venue like Café Pyrus, across from the bus station in Kitchener. Their food is organic and everything they serve is vegan. Jane Bond on Princess Street is a great place to try with their healthy alternatives and Lotus Tea House and Raintree Café on Regina Street have healthy foods, teas and desserts that are all vegetarian and vegan friendly. Even though it’s easy to let go of eating healthy during our busy schedules, it’s the most important thing to hold on to in order to keep our bodies healthy and our energy up. Once you establish a routine and create a habit of eating healthy, it becomes second nature.
jody waardenburg StAff photogrAphEr
Life beyond the screen Time to ask ourselves: are we too dependent on technology? mike hajmasy corD LifE
“I remember a time when the Internet was just the Internet and real life was cooler,” reads a recent tweet from Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore. This brief memento of a thought sheds light on an important subject that concerns the majority of the student body at Wilfrid Laurier: technological dependence. Today, technology enters virtually every realm of our lives. Whether it’s for social relationships, schoolwork, research, entertainment, job applications or simple communication, technology plays a critical role in how we conduct our days and converse within society. Computers, tablets, iPods and mobile devices are just a few of the technological devices that assist us in our daily tasks, from the complex to the mundane. “I use technology in almost every aspect of my life. It is rare that I’m not using technology in some way. I use my cell phone almost every couple of minutes,” said Kathryn Riley, a fourth-year communication studies major. “When in class or at work I am on
a computer. When I get home I turn on my TV. Technology consumes the majority of activities in my everyday life.” These devices go unquestioned and the majority of people enjoy the fast-paced and high-graphic qualities that owning a smartphone, laptop or any other device has. It’s important, however, to look beyond the ‘pros’ of technology and its presence in our lives and to also consider the potential downside. Have we become too dependent on technology? In the process of making technological gains, what is lost? These are the types of questions that entered my mind after reading William’s tweet. “I feel as though we are all left without a choice but to be dependable on our technological devices,” said Autumn Smith, a fourth-year communication studies major, on her dependency towards using technology. “Profs expect us to participate in online discussions. Information about the community we live in is largely available online and societal expectations require us to be constantly available through e-mail or over the phone.”
If the consensus is that many people are dependent on their technological devices, often spending more time engaging with a screen than with another person face-to-face, it makes you wonder about the impact this has on our communication. After posing this question to Riley, she expressed her opinion that overall technology has had a negative impact on the amount of faceto-face interaction she has. “While face-to-face communication is typically lengthier and more fulfilling, communicating over text, e-mail and even phone calls are usually very straightforward and short,” she said. “And because a large part of our communication with people today is through these devices, we tend to have less meaningful conversations, more often.” In a time when technology is continuously marketed as the next ‘must have’ item, it is easy to become lost in a world of Wi-Fi connection and the latest touch screen gadgetry. However, lest we forget that there is still life outside of the screen to remain in control of our devices, and not to let them control us.
‘Can we just be friends?’ Staff Writer Erin Sheehan explains why sometimes just being honest can be a more effective way to end a relationship The fact about dating is that sometimes people just don’t click. It’s inevitable that not everyone you date means that you two are meant to be compatible. But when this happens the best thing is to be honest or you will just end up looking and feeling like a “plastic”. After conversing with one male friend about relationship articles, it immediately turned into a discussion about the last man I had been with, who I call the “essential oils” guy. In theory he was the type of guy that I wanted and needed. Although sometimes a little too confident, he was extremely creative, open and respectful. But he caught me at the wrong time. It was a very short time after my interaction with “bow-tie man” and since I did not have feelings for the “essential oils” guy, I decided to end it. When I told my friend that I ended it by texting him with the line “let’s be friends,” I thought it was a nice way to let him go. Even after,
when I continued to answer his texts even though I was not as into it as him, I thought it was okay because I thought I was not hurting his feelings. However, when my friend stated that what I did was mean I began to see that, by pulling out that line and not meaning it, I was actually being a real-life Regina George. The “let’s just be friends” line is almost as bad as when a woman tried to break up with George Costanza using his: “It’s not you, it’s me” routine because the meaning behind it, which appears innocent, is a similar lie that hurts the other person more in the end. As the Lemonheads sang: “He’d rather be alone than pretend.” I used to only think of this in relation to not being with someone I did not have feelings for. Yet by reflecting on my experience as a “plastic”, I have learned that you should be honest with the person you are with throughout the relationship, even at its end. “Let’s be friends” can be something good to say if you do not want
to sever all ties. Just be respectful of the person’s feelings when you do friend-zone them. Have a talk about it, make sure you are on the same page and do not taunt them about it later on. If you are like me and either can’t do it at all or need some time apart, be honest with them. The need for honesty does not mean that you should be a dick about it either. Do not just text them. Arrange a time to meet in person and explain to them why you are ending it. You may be hurting them but if you are respectful it will be easier as it gives them the dignity they deserve. This is because you did not just lead them on, dragging it out and making you both unhappy. I know I respect the guys who have done it to me. Telling the truth in person will also help you both avoid the awkward run-in that eventually does happen if you go to the same school. And you never know, maybe after some time, you will run into each other in the Concourse and actually become friends.
ben dintsman grAphicS ArtiSt
14 •
Arts
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 Arts Editor Cristina Almudevar calmudevar@thecord.ca
Idle ‘know’ more jon marsellus StAff WRitER
lena yang gRApHiCS ARtiSt
the rebirth of Woodstock Staff writer Robin Daprato explores the past of music festivals On June 16 1967, the music world experienced a groundbreaking event and whether they knew it then or not, this event was going to be the single force behind the emergence and forever-changed outlet for how we experience live music. This event was The Monterey Pop Festival. The Monterey Pop Festival was a three day music festival in Monterey, California with appearances by legends of rock including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, Ravi Shankar and Otis Redding—just to name a few. The Monterey Pop Festival, next to Woodstock, which followed suit two years later, is recognized as being the model for the hugely popular music festival subculture that has seen a recent international resurrection. Music festivals, for a long time, were seen as being exclusive to the “Woodstock Generation” and was thought to have died when these hippies inevitably grew up and traded in their tie-dye and long hair for suits and nine to five jobs. However, with the rise of the
digital age and the prevalence of pirating, it seems there is one benefactor from all of this — live music. Musicians rely on live music in order to make a living and music festivals are the perfect way to do this. Beyond that, music lovers long for community and a connection to the music that cannot be achieved sitting behind your computer screen or the disconnection from huge sterile venues such as the Air Canada Centre. People now experience music in solitude because technology allows us to do such. Music is not meant to be experienced alone. This is a mentality that many have adopted and this has created a counter-culture of peopl who long for the sense of communal stimulation that music once ignited. Over the past few years, it seems anyone and everyone is attending some sort of festival or another. This year, however, there has been an unprecedented enthusiasm and demand by fans to hop on the music festival bandwagon. Tickets for the first weekend of California festival Coachella sold out in 15 minutes with numerous
site crashes from the high traffic of international users trying to get tickets for this concert. This was the fastest sell-out they have ever experienced. The popularity of such festivals can be hugely attributed to the unbelievable lineup of bands these festivals attract. Coachella headliners include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend, The XX and Postal Service. Tennessee’s Bonnaroo has Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers and WuTang Clan. Overseas, England’s V Festival is hosting hugely popular headliners such as Kings of Leon and Béyonce. Music festivals all over the world are attracting artists who can easily sell out their own shows, to be part of this amazing music festival experience. For fans, the excitement of seeing an extensive lineup of so many remarkable musicians is an experience that only a festival can provide. It is no stretch to say, that the summer of 2013, is going to be the summer of festival fever.
Unless you knew beforehand that Sonny Assu was Ligwilda’xw First Nation, you wouldn’t be able to tell. Assu admits that because he looks white, he has to struggle with the discourse of being half white. So when he’s presenting a selection of his work and how he mixes traditional native art with pop culture, it’s easy to see that discourse coming through. Assu has been an active Canadian artist for 11 years since graduating from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. From a young age, he has been interested in how his native ancestry is intertwined with his white identity and in becoming a graphic artist he sought to use that discourse to create relevant and exciting visual art. Early in his career Assu created pieces taking common and popular brands of children’s cereal and redesigning them with native art styles and names to reflect current issues. One of the more poignant was a take on Frosted Flakes which he called Treaty Flakes in reference to the sordid history of treaties between the Canadian Government and Canada’s First Nations. The reason for Assu’s talk at Laurier on March 12 was his most recent set of pieces that are based off of the
famous Barack Obama “Hope” posters from Shepard Fairey. These have been redesigned with Native Iconography and with slogans in tribute to the Idle No More movement. The most thought provoking of these was captioned as “Idle ‘Know’ More,” which served to highlight a key point of Assu’s presentation. He criticized the idea of Canadian multicultural and accepting ‘utopia’ and spoke of all the ways in which the government has used its power to oppress the First Nations of Canada. Much of Assu’s work is centered on a particular facet of culture suppression called the Pot Latch ban. This was a law that made it illegal to practice a particular tradition called the Pot Latch. During this suppression which lasted 67 years, large amounts of cultural property were stolen from First Nations and all under the guise of assimilation. It is events such as these that lead Assu to try and educate the public and have the idle know more. He sees a lack of knowledge in Canada’s true and controversial history. He wants the pursuit of the rights of First Nations to also bring about a general education on the tragedies of the past so that Canadians can move to a decolonized future. Assu’s work can be found at www. sonnyassu.com along with statements from the artist.
ryan hueglin StAff pHotogRApHER
Arts bites
The latest news in entertainment At least they’re being honest ….
Kings of Leon are currently recording their follow-up album to 2010’s Come Around Sundown but that’s easier said than done. Bassist Jared Followhill decided that getting smashed on wine was a much better idea than recording: “… Just tried for a sequence to the new album … I can’t quite nail it down due to the being too drunk. ?#Tomorrow,” he tweeted. Lucky bastard, this excuse never works for an essay extension.
Please fly the hell away
Harry Styles got a giant butterfly tattoo in the middle of his chest, just underneath the millions of nipples he has. Let’s hope this is the cruelest drunken dare the freaks from One Direction could come up with. If not, Harry came up with the design
himself and that is horrifying. Who knew there were more embarrassing tattoos than tramp stamps? But good job Harry you’ve shown us all.
Betty Draper vs. Hannah Montana There is speculation that January Jones and Liam Hemsworth (Gale from The Hunger Games and Miley Cyrus’ fiancee) hooked up at one of the many pre-Oscar parties. Cyrus’ life is spiraling around her as she’s been photographed not wearing her engagement ring. I guess Gale really can’t have the best of both worlds. Solution? Send all three to a fight club and let them figure it out. —Compiled by Cristina Almudevar
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
ARTS
• 15
Don’t go to Oz
REBECCA ALLISON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A lyrical slam dunk Arts Editor Cristina Almudevar reviews the rhyme of slam Take hip-hop, remove all the noise and just let the message speak. What you’re left with is slam poetry. On March 12, a large audience in the Turret was finding this out for themselves as Laurier Sociology Student Association’s (LSSA) hosted their third and largest slam poetry event entitled Poetic Justice. With Poetic Justice, LSSA was trying to expand how sociology students, and subsequently all arts students, interact with social issues outside of writing essays. Featuring a combination of performances from both students from Laurier and more seasoned slam poets, the night was an equal mix of subject matter and approaches from many differing perspectives. Performances from Laurier students Fatima Attia, Tobi Ajibolade and Senmone Grant were strong and powerful. Fourth-year student
Attia performed a piece called “Muslim Woman,” a powerful work about the struggles of a young Muslim woman who wants people to realize that she has the freedom to choose how she lives and that she is proud of it. The audience was completely engaged with Attia’s undeniable stage presence. Emcees Chelsea Paul, LSSA president, and Donya Mosleh did not try to out-perform the poets; they provided simple introductions and let the artists’ work speak for itself instead of putting on a grand production. LSSA slam poetry night veteran Carlos Andrés Gómez returned for his seventh performance at Laurier, beating his six-time streak at Princeton. Gómez, born in New York City, has had the unique distinction of witnessing the differences of slam poetry culture in Canada and the
United States. “I think I would explain the difference the same way I would explain Canadians versus Americans,” he said. “I find that there is more permission to enter softer spaces emotionally than in America. In New York, it’s very ‘rah-rah’, very angry, very big … but that’s the general consensus not the whole thing.” But what exactly is slam poetry? Why do people dedicate their lives to it? And gather on to celebrate it? Kahsenniyo, one of the professional poets performing, defined slam poetry as “healing, it is freedom, it is feeling, it is de-colonization, those feelings of oppression and all of those other complex things, those never go away.” “You walk through life with all of these and I feel with spoken words it’s the only time [you] get that freedom from those feelings.”
ANDREW SAVORY STAFF WRITER
Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel that returns viewers back to the world of the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. The story that the film revolves around the mysterious wizard known only as “Oz,” who in the 1939 movie worked behind a curtain in order to portray himself as an oracle of prophetic proportions to those who all that came to him seeking advice. Of course, we all remember the big reveal when the curtain is drawn and we see that Oz isn’t the god-like character that we imagined him to be, but merely an average human being. However, Raimi’s installment paints the backstory of how things came to be prior to Dorothy’s trotting down the yellow brick road. In order to accomplish this, the 2013 film chooses to deliver the narrative through the perspective of small-time magician, Oscar Diggs,
played by James Franco, who later assumes the title role of Oz following his unexpected trip to the Land of Oz from Kansas. Given that we live in an age of Hollywood cinema where original and authentic stories are hard to come by, starved screenwriters have turned to drafting remakes, sequels, and prequels rather than coming up with unique stories of their own. The result is an excessive amount of big budget and CGI stuffed movies that hope to garner a profit as previous films did, regardless of when it was first released. But beyond the layers of special effects and big name actors the film as a whole fails to really come into its own, suffering greatly from the fact that none of the characters really evolve. It’s your typical tale of cause and effect, with nothing innovative besides the opportunity to stare at the reimagined beauty of the Land of Oz that we all so fondly remember. Unfortunately, with every prequel comes the expectation that the film will recapture the magic of the first film, while also adding something new to differentiate itself as a separate and genuine picture altogether. This task is a daunting one, but with a director like Raimi, who is credited with the Spider-Man trilogy and some horror classics, one had hopes going into this film that it wouldn’t be just another prequel to forget in a month’s time. Despite the films shortcomings, the stellar cast features the likes of Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, and Rachel Weisz alongside Franco. Oz the Great and Powerful had the makings of a real hit but it fell short. Not even Zach Braff, the star of the beloved series Scrubs, playing Oz’s monkey assistant, could save this movie.
16 •
Editorial
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 Opinion Editor Devon Butler dbutler@thecord.ca
WLUSU board attendance dismal Last Friday the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors meeting was cancelled due to an inability to meet quorum. In simple terms: it was cancelled because less than ten of the 15 elected directors were going to show up. While this is the first time a meeting has been cancelled this year due to insufficient attendance, the ability for directors to make board meetings—the main responsibility of their elected position—has been an ongoing concern. So far this year, there have been 63 regrets from directors. Last year, there were just 37. This begs several critical questions, one being how elected individuals can accurately represent Laurier’s student population if they are too busy to attend a required meeting? After all, these individuals were specifically elected under the assumption that they would strive to serve the students who chose them. Why bother running a campaign to be elected if you know you will be unable to fulfill the position’s requirements? The answer seems obvious. Most WLUSU board members seem to desire the prestige of the position simply to add something to their resume. It appears it is more about what this position can do for their future rather than how their actions impact students. With the current financial situation that WLUSUs in, it is imperative that there be an evident level of commitment from members to problem solve and re-instate student confidence in the institution. But apparently many of the people elected to make such critical decisions as approving budgets and financial audits can’t fit this responsibility into their schedules. Yes, the board of directors is made up of students; and between assignments, exams, and other extracurricular activities, commitments can pile up fast. But these directors need to remember that they are elected to represent student needs, and if they cannot fulfill that duty they should not be on the board. At Tuesday night’s meeting, members of the board further showed their lack of engagement as multiple directors showed little or no interest in even being in the board room. This certainly does not apply to every director, but between the lack of attendance and engagement, it is anything but unreasonable to expect more from these people we elected.
Students shouldn’t rush to earn a degree Universities are often known for their rigid deadlines, complicated bureaucratic systems and for the pressure they impose on students to graduate with unparalleled honours. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that postsecondary institutions are more than accommodating when it comes to graduating in a timely manner. A 2011 statistic revealed that only about 45 per cent of university students in Canada will graduate in four years as opposed to the 74 who obtain their degrees in five years and an astounding 80 percent in six. Yet this statistic should not come as much of a shock for the majority of us who witness many of our peers taking an additional year or two in order to ensure they graduate with the grades they know they deserve and are capable of achieving. Too often there is immense pressure put upon students to get their education in order to find a job as quickly as possible. The very nature of a university education however, is to take your time learning and developing. There should be no rush to enter into a rapidly declining job market. For most students, obtaining a degree in four years is not only mentally straining, but financially draining as well. Thus, taking an extra year may give students the time to hold down two or more jobs in order to pay for their education. Considering the current state of our ever-failing employment options, it has become even more crucial for students to get involved in extra-curricular activities that will enhance the quality of their degree. Involving yourself in athletics, international experiences, co-op and leadership roles give you exposure into real-world situations that often prove to be just as useful as your university degree itself. —The Cord Editorial Board These unsigned editorials are based off 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. The Cord is published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications. Contact Emily Frost, WLUSP President and Publisher 75 University Ave.W, Waterloo ON N2L 3C5
stephanie truong gRApHICS EDITOR
Where’s the value in my Laurier arts degree? Laurier’s faculty of arts needs serious changes to be successful
ARTS EDITOR
Since most arts programs are so unfocused, professors can only do so much to make up for it.
In the past two and a half years, I’ve been a student in Laurier’s faculty of arts and I’ve learned next to nothing. I know exactly what words and terms to use to beef up my essay to get it to 2,000 words or eight to ten pages, depending on what professor you ask. I know what font setting to change all my punctuation to so that it adds pages onto my essay. I’ve mastered the art of skimming SparkNotes to make it seem like I’ve read the required book. Other than that, I’ve learned very few practical skills that I can apply when I attempt to get a real job. I can almost guarantee that when I apply to jobs, my interviewer will not care that I can deduce the role of a female character by the colour of her dress. Generally, arts students are aware that we cannot make a career out of studying history or communication studies. But what could help would be to have practical courses available to us. We could have courses on how to edit or how to translate your research skills into a well-paying job. We are in the unique position of learning a greater skill than what we came to Laurier to learn, but we are not taught how to advertise these skills to the work force. This is not to say that none of the programs at Laurier offer such skills. Many disciplines have a class solely devoted to
research methods that is usually mandatory for second-year students. Why can’t this be replicated throughout the entire arts departments? Since most arts programs are so unfocused, professors can only do so much. Some professors consistently ignore lesson plans to go off topic to perhaps regale students with stories of their personal lives or because they haven’t finished rambling on about a poet’s sex life. One professor I had even admitted to the class that they hated the subject matter they were teaching. This is extremely disrespectful. We are paying thousands of dollars to attend a post-secondary institution and better ourselves, only to have to listen to a professor lecture their students like elementary school children about mundane topics such as how university was in their day or their opinions on technology. How are we supposed to respect
Cristina almudevar
them when they clearly have little respect for us and our time? The blame does not fall squarely on the shoulders of the professors themselves. Between their research and everexpanding course load, many profs are indeed overworked. But that doesn’t absolve them from actually trying to engage with their students. Laurier needs to educate professors on how to connect with their students. Most professors have been teaching for 30 years and know their subject matter fully, but we are a completely different generation and simply learn things in a different way. Lecturing for a full two hours without engaging the class will only hinder the students. We are a multi-media generation, why not cater to that? At least make an effort to do so. Of course, this does not apply to every arts professor at Laurier. Yes, there are faculty members who truly do care about their students and engage with them. However, the disheartening thing is that these kinds of professors seem to be getting more and more rare at this university. There is also the issue on the administration level. With more and more money being pumped in to other faculties — namely business — and projects like new buildings and new campuses, it is clear that strengthening the faculty of arts is quite low on WLU’s priority list. How is Laurier going to uphold its reputation of a respectable arts school when it is clear that the university has little respect for the arts that once made it such a great school? There must be major changes to the way the arts program is structured and it needs to come soon. letters@thecord.ca
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
OPINION
Opinion Editor Devon Butler dbutler@thecord.ca
Hollywood unfairly represents Canada The recent success of Argo sheds light on the tradition of Hollywood to under represent Canada on film
ALANNA FAIREY LEAD REPORTER
If you consider yourself to be a proud Canadian at all, you will do yourself and our country a favour by not spending a nickel on Ben Affleck’s academy award winning movie, Argo. While Affleck has gained worldwide recognition for his latest movie due to this past award season, the film is also getting a bad rap for knowingly minimizing Canada’s role during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and the extraction operation that followed. For those who have not yet seen the movie, Argo is adapted from the book, The Master of Disguise by Central Intelligence Agency operative Tony Mendez (played by Affleck), in which Mendez led the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran by creating a fake movie. As well, more than 50 members of the embassy staff were held captive for over a year. If you have seen Argo, I will challenge you to re-watch it. Try not to get too swooped up into the classic Hollywood “damsel-in-distress” story that Affleck is trying to convey. Pay attention and you will quickly see that the CIA and Hollywood are
seen as the gallant saviours of the world, while former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, who hid the six diplomats in his home, is demoted as hardly a hero. If Affleck had done his homework right, he would have known that Canada had contributed 90 per cent of this elaborate plan. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter even stepped forward and confirmed that not only was Canada dismissed in the film, but he also revealed that Affleck’s character was unfairly glorified. In fact, his character in the real story was only in Tehran for a day and a half. The real hero was Taylor who orchestrated the entire process. Affleck, claiming that Argo was “based” on a true story and not actually a true story, poorly justified this neglect of Canada’s involvement. Therefore, that gave him the dramatic license to downplay Canada’s role, as he could not possibly fit so much into one single movie. Argo is not the first—and probably will not be the last—product of Hollywood that has falsely represented Canada. In fact, I don’t even see why this is considered controversial anymore. If Hollywood isn’t creating films that are under-representing Canada, they are creating idiotic films filled with stereotypical misrepresentations. Whenever American television depicts Canada, it’s hard to ignore the fact that our nation is essentially seen as a sweet and slightly backwards version of America, where all
of the people eat maple syrup, play hockey and redundantly end every sentence with “eh”. Oh, and let’s not forget that Canadians, according to American films and television shows, ride polar bears as a means for transportation. And how could it be impossible for me to forget about all of the stereotypes and remarks that South Park has made about Canada? Apparently, according to this American made show, all Canadians speak with an exaggerated accent and pronounce “about” as “aboot”. The list of stereotypes and the plethora of different ways in which American films have cheated Canada out of their good name could go on. Maybe these stereotypes were funny the first five times, but now they are beginning to lose their humour. In fact, this petty form of humour is only blowing up in the faces of the Americans who choose to unfairly misrepresent our country. They are no longer seen as witty, but instead are being perceived as ignorant. The harsh reality is that Hollywood will always make movies. And yes, Hollywood will cash out on movies that both demote and falsely epitomize Canada. So when you’re at the movie store and you’re thinking about buying Argo, just think about how little Affleck thought about the place you call home. That should confirm whether it’s worth your money or not. letters@thecord.ca
wAdE thompsoN viSuAL DiRECTOR
Women need Letters to the Editor their own holiday international Women’s Day showcases the need to globally respect women
JULIA ChRIss OPiNiON COLuMNiST
The phrase “Happy International Woman’s day. Make me a sandwich” was far too common on Twitter and Facebook last Friday. This submissive attitude towards International Women’s Day (IWD) is the general response given by most people when they hear about it. Holidays like Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah and Kwanza are all widely known and celebrated by most of the population while days like IWD, which advocate for human rights, seem to fall to the side and be ignored. International Woman’s Day began on March 19, 1911 in Europe. Millions of men and women participated in events showing their support for women’s equal participation in society. This cause and awareness became global with the help of the United Nations and March 8 became the official day of celebration that is known and celebrated across the globe as a national holiday. For the majority of us students, the holidays we focus on other than religious ones, are those that give us an excuse to pursue our love of alcohol. These would include Oktoberfest, Halloween, New Year’s Eve and, of
course, the wonderful St. Patrick’s day. With all of these, who needs to focus on the other holidays? As members of society and the future generation, we do. I will be the first to admit that I did not know this month included IWD. Thinking about it, I feel that as a woman it is especially something I should be aware of and participate in. Women have been oppressed for years and have struggled just to have the right to vote. We have lived in —and still live in— a male-dominated society. This is especially evident in less developed countries where women have little to no status. This may all seem repetitive as we have learned about women’s struggles since elementary school, but it is an important issue to be aware of and to participate in fixing. This year’s topic for IWD is “Ending Violence Against Women” as abusive relationships are the cause of 40-60 per cent of homicides in the United States as outlined by the United Nations. Women rarely tell others if they are being abused and often blame themselves for the actions of the abuser. More awareness of this issue needs to be advocated especially on campus where the majority of students are unaware. So this year, we should take the time to not only focus on the holidays that give us the opportunity to drink, but that inform ourselves and others of the issues that still exist in society in order to make a difference in the lives of women everywhere. letters@thecord.ca
RE: Community Service Learning still has a long way to go
Dear Editor, I read with interest the Cord article by Heather Barnes, and your editorial, on the community service learning (CSL) component of courses now supported by the CSL Office. I am glad you highlighted the positive impact of this aspect of the Laurier experience. I would be remiss not to point out that CSL has a very long tradition (over 30 years) at Laurier, and that it is in psychology in the faculty of science where most students see these courses. In 2006 the psychology model was broadened to become available to the whole university with the establishment of the CSL Office through the generosity of the McConnell Foundation. This made it possible to support the service component of many courses in SBE, arts, and at the Brantford campus. Our long experience in psychology with CSL, which now ranges from the two hours a week model, to courses where students become much more involved (like in environmental psychology) suggest it is a very positive learning experience. For some, it is life changing. Other students continue their volunteer placement after the course is over. We pay careful attention to which courses should include a CSL component and it is clear from the arts examples given, others do this as well. Our psychology program would be greatly impoverished without its CSL involvement. Remarkably, in the same Cord issue, there was a central spread on the intern experience highlighting the need to (and difficulties of) connecting the classroom
experience with needs of the community and the job market. These programs (CSL, co-op programs, internships) need to be supported and improved so that our students can continue to receive a rich educational experience in their time at Laurier and strengthen their potential to engage the world in all its complexity. Thank you for highlighting aspects of the richness (and problems) ofextending education beyond the classroom and we encourage you to continue writing about these important issues. –Rudy Eikelboom
RE: Community Service Learning still has a long way to go Dear Editor, The Laurier Centre for Community Service-Learning (LCCSL) was pleased to see the article and editorial on Community ServiceLearning (CSL) in last Wednesday’s edition of the Cord. We are hopeful that it will stimulate some discussion about the merits of experiential pedagogies such as CSL. We wanted to acknowledge the history and strategic initiatives being led by the LCCSL in collaboration with its many partners on campus and in the community. Over the past five years, the LCCSL has supported a total of 47 unique courses, taught 164 times, across 23 departments. While the McConnell grant has produced increased recent activity, the history of CSL is a long one dating back over thirty years to a field placement model within the Department of Psychology. More recently, the LCCSL has spear-headed and initiated a partnership to develop and design an ambitious new Option that provides
in-depth learning for students across the Faculty of Arts. The Option in Community Engagement is currently in development with faculty members and community partners. The Option will be a more focused series of courses that will culminate in an intensive internship in community learning. Similarly, new courses are in development that will prepare students for meaningful, effective and enriching local and global community engagement. Staff at the LCCSL work hard to build reciprocal partnerships between faculty, student servicelearners, and community partners. In addition to rigorous learning and application of course content, students in CSL courses have demonstrated a clearer perspective on their career plans and report to be more job ready. Based on a recent evaluation, 73 per cent of students at Laurier who have taken a CSL course indicate that it helped them prepare for future employment. Laurier strives to inspire lives of leadership and purpose. By providing students with opportunities for meaningful community engagement and enhanced learning, CSL provides exactly these opportunities. We are thankful to the faculty, community partners and students who step into these new contexts to learn together. –Dr. Megan Conway Director, LCCSL
Letter policy Letters must not exceed 250 words. Include your full name and telephone number. Letters must be received by 12:00 p.m. noon Monday via e-mail to letters@ thecord.ca. The Cord reserves the right to edit for length and clarity or to reject any letter.
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SPORTS
THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 Sports Editor Shelby Blackley sblackley@thecord.ca
Sports in brief Outstanding Women of Laurier finalists announced
Women’s rugby captain Carmen Baker, women’s basketball forward Doreen Bonsu and women’s hockey captain Fiona Lester were shortlisted Monday afternoon as finalists for the annual Outstanding Women of Laurier (OWL) Award. The OWL Award recognizes a female Laurier student who combines athletic and academic achievement while showing commitment to leadership and development of young athletes in the community. Past winners include Laura Crocker, Brittany Shaw and Liz Knox. The winner will be announced Mar. 21 at a luncheon at the Waterloo Inn Conference Hotel.
Women’s basketball players honoured
Fifth-year guard Amber Hillis was named the OUA West Tracy McLeod award winner this past week. The award is given to a player who displays qualities of determination, perseverance and unwavering spirit. Hillis has dealt with multiple injuries since the beginning of her OUA career but still managed to finish with impressive numbers in Laurier’s all-time records. First-year Kaitlyn Schenck was also named to the West division all-rookie team after an impressive year.
Montréal captures first-ever CIS title In the women’s hockey national championships, the Montréal Carabins defeated the Calgary Dinos 3-2 to take home their first women’s hockey national banner. The win is also the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship for Montréal since the resurgence of the Carabins athletics program in 1995. Ontario University Athletics (OUA) teams the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Queen’s Gaels, finished fourth and sixth respectively. This is the first year in ten years that WLU was not at nationals.
Max Allin named to CIS second-team all-canadian Fourth-year men’s basketball star Max Allin was named a CIS secondteam all-canadian last week, becoming just the sixth player to earn the honour in the history of WLU’s program. Allin is also the second player from WLU to be named to the second team in three years, following Kale Harrison. Allin finished as the CIS leading scorer, averaging 23.2 points per game. He was ranked in the top ten nationally in both rebounds and assists per game.
HEATHER DAVIDSON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of Laurier’s football team practiced at RIM park March 8. The football program announced their first wave of recruits last week.
Hawks sign first wave of recruits Over 25 players have committed to Laurier’s football program for the upcoming year ERIC THOMPSON STAFF WRITER
Laurier’s football team took a big step towards putting a disappointing season behind them last week, announcing its first wave of recruits for the 2013 season. So far, over 25 players have committed to Laurier next year, with more names expected to join in the coming weeks. This marks the first recruiting class of new head coach Michael Faulds’s tenure, and his first time convincing players to join the Wilfrid Laurier community. “There’s a lot [of selling points],” said Faulds. “The tight-knit campus feel, the real collegiate atmosphere, in terms of how half the student body always wears Laurier gear around campus, that’s really nice. The actual city of Waterloo is a beautiful, safe city. “In terms of our football program, the great winning tradition and history, and I can’t say a bad thing about our coaching staff … so I think it’s pretty enticing.” Faulds and recruiting coordinator Dwayne Cameron opted for a unique way of signing recruits this
year. Instead of having the recruits come to Laurier when they commit, the duo would travel to the recruits’ various high schools so they could sign their letter of intent in front of family, friends and local media. Some of the players highlighting this year’s class include receiver Marcus Arkarakas from King City Secondary. Arkarakas has experience playing quarterback, running back and defensive back. Faulds sees the dynamic receiver as a strong slot presence and useful special-teamer. Another receiver expected to contribute immediately is Anthony Pizzuti. Pizzuti is a current Laurier student who missed out on playing for the team last year. Instead, he played for the Hamilton Hurricanes of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) last season. Edward Cadougan will be one of the names boosting Laurier’s offensive line. Listed at 280 lbs, he is guard out of Senator O’Connor College School in Toronto. “He is a strong kid, he’ll look to push the play as well,” commented Faulds. Laurier also drew a good crop of
players from the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Eric McCormick, Matt Davidson and Chris Reddy are just some of the players from the surrounding area to join the team. “We want to make a strong presence within Kitchener-WaterlooCambridge,” said Faulds. “Part of my talk when I first got hired is that you’ve got to own your own backyard. If you are constantly losing recruits from your local high schools to other universities, you’re behind the eight-ball already. We need to continue to get the top players in high schools around here, and then start looking elsewhere.” While still waiting to hear back from a few undecided players, Faulds admits that his staff has already started looking towards recruiting for the 2014 class. As for the upcoming season, the Golden Hawks will have their spring game April 7 at 1 p.m. at KnightNewbrough Field. “I want to encourage the student body to come out to that and that will give everyone a sense of what they are going to see in the fall. I think we’re going to be competitive,” Faulds said.
“Part of my talk when I first got hired is that you’ve got to own your own backyard.”
—Michael Faulds, men’s football head coach
EMPLOYEE achievement AWARDS As a student, has a staff or faculty gone above and beyond to positively impact your student life by: • Building a meaningful relationship with you • Demonstrating opportunities for continuous improvement • Providing exceptional customer service • Modelling leadership and accountability by serving as a mentor • Promoting team and organizational success by sharing ideas and seeking opinions
Nominate this staff or faculty for an Employee Achievement Award by May 3, 2013 WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY Waterloo | Brantford | Kitchener | Toronto
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
Soccer should be about skills, not score OSA’s move to eliminate scores and standings for players under 12 could be beneficial for performance
ERIC THOMPSON STAFF WRITER
Recently, it was announced that the removal of scores and standings will be mandatory for Ontario youth soccer players under the age of 12, as of 2014. The movement is part of the Canadian Soccer Association’s (CSA) Long-Term Player Development plan (LTPD). I am not here to explain or justify the program. I am here to explain why the current system is in fact, broken. The arguments raised against the removal of scores have been, for the most part, from the perspective of parents worried about teaching their kids valuable life lessons on winning and losing. As a player that was enrolled in youth soccer for over 12 years, I would argue that learning the game of soccer should be the most important lesson. It’s been roughly six years since my last “youth” soccer game, and since then it’s become quite clear to me that I barely learned anything. Unlike hockey, soccer is a second language to our country. We are not raised with a ball in our hands. Many of us enter youth soccer with no background knowledge of the
WADE THOMPSON VISUAL DIRECTOR
game or the proper ways to play. When winning is stressed before players truly understand the game, bad habits form quickly. If you have ever watched sixyear-olds play, you have seen a clump of children follow the ball around the field, and the fastest ones usually end up the heroes. That was my game for the beginning of my career. I had a lot of success based solely on the fact that I was fast. But as long as you’re scoring goals, no coach is going to stop you and try to correct your kicking technique.
Then all of a sudden you’re 13 and the playing field is more even. Everybody is quicker and stronger and the techniques that used to be successful no longer work. That was when I realized I had to completely re-learn the game of soccer. Everything I had done for the past seven years was inapplicable to the way the actual game of soccer should be played. It was a frustrating place to find myself in, and I’m sure I was not alone in that regard. In my post-soccer career, I have developed a much stronger
appreciation for the game by watching it. I have an understanding of it that I didn’t have for most of my playing days. When played correctly, it truly is a beautiful game. If kids can understand that earlier, their appreciation of soccer culture can grow. More kids may find themselves watching soccer on TV instead of dismissing it as boring. Eliminating scores and results will teach young children that there is a game outside of acquiring the all-important ball. They will be encouraged to pass
the ball more and improve their offthe-ball position as well. At a young age, kids are not as competitive as parents think. Properly learning the game should happen at an age when kids are simply getting enjoyment of being outside and playing with friends. Then later in life, when they are more competitive, they can go play for wins and losses in a game they truly understand and appreciate. The elimination of scores at an early age may help more kids find the true enjoyment the game of soccer can bring.
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THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
SPORTS
PowderPuff more than a tournament Laurier Lettermen executives emphasize the tradition behind the annual flag football tournament ASHLEY DENUZZO
“We always say to the younger guys [on Lettermen], if you’re going to do one thing, keep PowderPuff alive.”
STAFF WRITER
Picking up where it last left off, Laurier Lettermen’s annual PowderPuff invitational tournament continued last weekend after being postponed due to a snowstorm on Feb. 8. And according to Lettermen president, Andrew Barbati, and executive coordinator, Drew Galpin, this year’s PowderPuff season was certainly worth the extra work. “It might only be two weekends of a year, but it’s an entire year process in terms of getting teams organized for it,” Galpin said. The weekend-long tournament occurred March 8 and 9 and hosted 26 teams stemming from all over Ontario. This year, “Body Shotz” from Queen’s University captured the PowderPuff title with a 9-6 win over “Y U Mad?” from York University. The game was determined by a final-play field goal, which earned Queen’s the extra three points. However, the real story goes far beyond the actual game of flag football. The entire tournament is said to be more significant to players, teams, coaches and organizers. “It’s kind of funny because as soon as our [varsity football] season is over, the first thing on our mind is PowderPuff,” said Galpin, who played his fifth and final season on Laurier’s football team this past fall. “So the vets will try and recruit the rookies that they think might be good in that position.” Galpin explained the process of recruiting rookie varsity athletes as volunteer coaches. He said that many find themselves involved with PowderPuff because they are asked to keep the tradition of their teams alive. “For one thing, it’s handed down,” Barbati added. “One team’s head coach is there because he helped out when he was younger and learned everything from the previous head coach.” “The younger guys come and see
—Drew Galpin, Laurier Lettermen executive coordinator
CRISTINA RUCCHETTA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
PowderPuff resumed last weekend after being postponed due to inclement weather on Feb. 8.
how we run it and each year they do more until they’re eventually in our positions,” Galpin continued. PowderPuff first came to Laurier’s campus in 1997 and since then it has expanded across Ontario universities. Laurier hosts the largest PowderPuff tournament available to Ontario schools. According to Barbati, Lettermen had to turn down some teams who were interested in sending multiple rosters. Because of this, many Ontario schools are beginning to create all-star teams to play in the
tournament. “Queen’s does a really cool thing where the seniors of the [varsity] football team have one team and the rookies have another,” Barbati explained. “They have all the girls who want to play PowderPuff try out and the seniors get first pick and the rookies get whoever is left over.” Galpin added that the University of Ottawa could only send one team and therefore held extensive tryouts. “Something like 200 girls showed up and did this try out and they drafted like 50 players,” he said. In the future, Galpin would like
to see Laurier have its own all-star team. Ideally, the first tournament held early in the new year, and is made up almost completely of Laurier students, would act as a tryout to the coaches. “We’re so saturated,” Galpin explained. “We have 12 teams in a tournament out of 26 so the talent gets spread out.” Although Barbati does like the idea of a more competitive Laurier team, he does not think that an all-star roster would ever work on campus. He enjoys being able to have a large Laurier-only tournament.
“Also I don’t think the girls would go for that; girls are very loyal to their teams,” he added. That being said, Barbati and Galpin both agreed that the female participants truly make the tournament what it is. The spirit generated is what Galpin refers to as “a second Homecoming.” “We have guys coming out to volunteer to ref who have been out of school for five years,” he said. “It’s a sweet mix of players,” Barbati continued. “You have guys who won the Vanier cup [back in 2005] who are coming back and working with first-year WLU football players.” PowderPuff alumni are also continuing to play football at their next educational endeavour. Lettermen explained that one Laurier player went on to teacher’s college at Nipissing University and actually created a team just for the occasion. “That’s how much it means to them,” Galpin said. But for now, the three-month long PowderPuff season has finally come to an end. As for Barbati and Galpin, who will not be returning to their positions on Lettermen, they have complete faith in the next set of hands. “We always say to the younger guys [on Lettermen], if you’re going to do one thing, keep PowderPuff alive.”
Star netminder Daniels leaves big shoes to fill Backup Duncan Long offered chance to fight for starting spot WESLEY TAYLOR CORD SPORTS
Fourth-year goaltender Ryan Daniels will not use up his final year of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) player eligibility with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and signed a professional contract with the Central Hockey League’s (CHL) Missouri Mavericks. Laurier head coach Greg Puhalski will have his hands full recruiting this off-season to replace his Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division MVP and former fifth-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators. Puhalski will offer his current backup, Duncan Long, who has played two seasons with the Hawks, an opportunity to battle for the starting job in 2013-14. “We will be bringing in at least one goalie, possibly two if we feel it helps make us a better team,” said the reigning OUA West Coach of the Year. “We are offering a goalie the chance to be our starter ... This opportunity does not happen too often in the CIS.” According to Puhalski, goaltenders in the CIS are typically given their rookie season to be tutored
before they are considered for the full-time starting job. Daniels spent his rookie season splitting time with veteran Jeff MacDougald. Long played in three games and registered a 1-0-0 record during the 2012-13 regular season. Prior to suiting up for the Golden Hawks, he played for the Kitchener Dutchmen of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) and was the Mid-Western Conference MVP in 2010-11. “This off-season is going to revolve around hockey,” said Long. “This is a great opportunity for me going into my last year here at Laurier and I plan on taking advantage of it.” “[Puhalski] is an excellent coach and will make the decisions he feels are best for the team. I am concentrating on playing the best hockey I can,” he continued. The men’s hockey program will look to improve their 14-12-2 regular season record from 2012-13 and fifth place finish in the OUA West. Laurier’s first-round best-ofthree series loss against Guelph ended their season in mid-February. Puhalski remains ambitious replacing Daniels, who played in 27 of 28 games during the regular season
and was an integral part of Laurier’s playoff berth. Daniels ranked inside the top ten in games played, wins, saves and save percentage in the OUA and was named the OUA West top goaltender for the year. During his tenure, Daniels was named an OUA West MVP twice, an OUA West top goaltender of the year twice, a first-team all-star twice and a second-team all-star once. His career record with the Hawks was 43-50, with save percentage of .921 and goals against average of 2.96 with five shutouts. “Ryan’s best attribute was his consistency,” said Puhalski. “[Daniels] usually gave our team a chance to win the game. We want that quality in our next goaltender. Plus a good work ethic, upbeat attitude and team player.” “We need to play better defensively in front of our goaltender, we relied too much on Ryan. I believe we did that much better in the second half of this season. We have control to make our goaltending turnover a positive one,” Puhalski said. The Hawks are also losing fourthyear Mitchell Good and fourth-year captain Kyle Van De Bospoort.
NICK LACHANCE FILE PHOTO
Ryan Daniels was named a provincial all-star three times, the OUA’s best goalie twice as well as winning two conference MVP awards.