March 6, 2013

Hawks cap worst season since ‘03-’04 Sports, page 20

THE The tie that binds Wilfrid Laurier University since 1926 Volume 53, Issue 24

thecord.ca

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Students’ Union considers next move

Net total debt 2008

Net total debt 2009

Net total debt 2010

* Figures include WLUSU’s clearing house agreements with Laurier, loans and lines of credit from the university and external loans guaranteed and not guaranteed. All totals as of April 30 of given year.

Net total debt 2011

Net total debt 2012 PHOTO BY NICK LACHANCE PHOTO MANIPULATION BY WADE THOMPSON

Costly capital expenditures add up to put WLUSU in deep hole; Union seeks solution with Laurier JUSTIN SMIRLIES NEWS DIRECTOR

Various capital projects in recent years have contributed to the reasoning as to why the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union has incurred a debt load of $4,250,156 in loans and a line of credit from the university. In addition, WLUSU has another $2,415,051 in loans from external institutions that are guaranteed by the university.

In total, as of April 30, 2012, WLUSU has a net debt of $6,567,498.

Including the guarantee given by

the university, there is a cap of $5 million that the university placed on the Students’ Union, which Jim Butler, the vice president of finance at Laurier confirmed WLUSU has exceeded.

“We take on capital projects and the capital projects we finance them through debt financing,” explained Michael Onabolu, the president and CEO of WLUSU. “Things like the Terrace expansion… like club space, the foot patrol space, the 2-4 Lounge, and renovations to space and study space to students.”

“Every project that we do is to benefit students obviously,” he

Bylaw impacts audit process ELIZABETH DICESARE CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

After the 2012 auditor’s report on the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union was released, it was revealed that WLUSU now owes over $5 million dollars in debt, which lead many students to begin questioning how this situation was able to occur.

According to Jon Pryce, the chair and chief governance officer at WLUSU, without having a treasurer sit on the current board of directors, the entire group is held responsible for ensuring that WLUSU’s finances are kept intact.

However, this responsibility has

recently been removed from view of students, as it is now solely up to the board to review and approve WLUSU’s annual audit.

Chris Walker, the vice president of university affairs, explained that a new bylaw was voted on and approved by students in the WLUSU election in January 2012 that allowed the board to have sole power over whether or not the audit would be approved. At the time, Walker was the chair and CGO. “It was never really explicit within our constitution or within our bylaws that we have to present it [the audit] to the membership,” said Campus, page 4

added.

In 2010, the Students’ Union announced that the Terrace expansion that was occurring that year was over budget and resulted in a $1,480,541 price tag. In that same year, the WLUSU board approved a bailout for the ailing William’s café on the Brantford campus, which incurred a deficit of $655,398 at the time of the decision.

Furthermore, the construction of the new Foot Patrol office — which saw the price triple than what was originally projected — and renovations to the 2-4 Lounge were made in the 2011-12 academic year.

During that same year, WLUSU made a decision to drop the management of the Terrace food court and the C-Spot, which became International News.

“It just comes down to the presidents, right? If there is a president that has a capital project they would like to see go through, there’s different funds that they can access for that project,” continued Onabolu. “I would guess, because it’s not something that I have done, that’s the mindset that these past presidents have had.”

According to the WLUSU financial statements from 2009 to 2012,

Campus, page 4

Chow in K-W

Exploited for experience

Taking on a classic

Olivia Chow visits THEMUSEUM in Kitchener to discuss the importance of art to a city

Unpaid internships have become common for recent grads, but are they always legal?

Opera Laurier delivers stellar performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Local, page 6

In Depth, page 10

Arts, page 14

WLUSU has, in addition to paying off some other loans, taken on more loans and debt as the years progressed.

In 2011, however, the financial statement noted that WLU forgave WLUSU $243,104 on a previous loan, effective Aug. 1, 2011. That same year, WLUSU took out another $2-million loan from the university.

WLUSU makes monthly payments on whatever debt they incur each year.

“It’s just the line of credit that’s put them over the $5 million,” said

Inside

2 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

Editor-in-Chief Justin Fauteux jfauteux@thecord.ca

Inside

Editor’s choice Getting exposure or getting exploited?

Editor’s choice online This Week Around Laurier

In Depth, page 10

thecord.ca

This Week in quotes

On the web

News ………………………3 Campus ……………… 4 Local ………………… 6 National ……………… 8 In Depth ……………… 10 Life ……………………… 12 Classifieds …………… 13 Arts ……………………… 14 Editorial ……………… 16 Opinion ……………… 17 Sports ………………… 19

“Don’t worry, I was going to spend the last couple minutes congratulating myself anyway.”

—Sean Madden, WLUSU ACRO for February’s election after president Michael Onabolu and chair Jon Pryce both wanted to offer congratulations

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“I just come off really awkward over technology. [Laughs]. I like to communicate with people in person more because I feel like I am only adorable in person.”

–Laurier student Sarah Mielke re: the role of technology in dating

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Video: Laurier Idol “Depends on where the internship is. If it is something in my field I might be interested because the experience would be beneficial to my career.”

–Brian Reitzel second-year, business

NICK LACHANCE FILE PHOTO

The tie that binds Wilfrid Laurier University since 1926

Senior Staff

Colophon

Editor-in-Chief. ............................. Justin Fauteux

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

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

jfauteux@thecord.ca

jsmirlies@thecord.ca

Visual Director ....................... Wade Thompson

MARCH 6, 2013 Volume 53, Issue 24 Next issue: March 13, 2013

Advertising All advertising inquiries should be directed to Angela Endicott at 519-884-0710 x3560 angela.taylor@wlusp.com In 2011 the Canadian Community Newspaper Association awarded The Cord second place in the CANADIAN campus community newspaper COMMUNITY category.

NEWSPAPER AWARD 2011

Congratulations to Justin Smirlies for being hired as The Cord’s Editorin-Chief for the 2013-14 term.

Smirlies, a fourth-year history student, has been with The Cord for the past three years, starting as a writer in 2010-11 before moving up to Campus News Editor in 2011-12 and News Director this year.

Smirlies will officially take over May 1, 2013 and is currently hiring for positions on next year’s editorial board, applications for which are available on wlusp.com.

The rest of the recently hired WLU Student Publications department heads for 2013-14 are: James Blake (Radio Laurier Station Manager), Vanessa Frey (Keystone EIC), Mavis Liu (Keystone Managing Editor) Fiorella Morzi (Blueprint EIC) and Layla Parker-Bozich (Sputnik EIC).

WLUSP is still looking for an HR Manager, Brantford Manager of Operations and Canegie EIC. Applications for the vacant department head positions can be found on wlusp.com. For more information, e-mail 2013-14 WLUSP president Allison Leonard at allison.leonard@ wlusp.com.

For more information on editor or staff positions with The Cord, email jsmirlies@thecord.ca

Editorial Board News Director............................... Justin Smirlies

75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564

Photo gallery: This Week Around Laurier

The Cord’s new ‘chief

2013-14 EIC Justin Smirlies.

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

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.

Kaylee Grootjen Ryan Hueglin Brad Kleinstuber Kostadin Kolev Beth Meunier Tom Paddock Julia Pollock Michael Porfirio Alex Reinhart Andrew Savory

Erin Sheehan Autumn Smith Wesley Taylor Jody Waardenburg HG Watson Stephanie White Lena Yang

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 Developer ........................................................ Adam Lazzarato

“Probably not. Making money would be better after graduation.”

–Alanah Grant second-year, psychology

“Yes, it depends on what it is and where. I would be interested in going overseas. I volunteer in the K-W area and it would be nice to try out somewhere different.”

–Tashinga Chauma third-year, sociology

“I don’t think so. I’m not interested in it.”

–Garrett Schliwinsky second-year psychology

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

The staff of The Cord shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly.

When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff.

Contributors Rebecca Allison Heather Barnes Laura Buck Kelly Burwash Alexandra Flack Heather Davidson Ashley Denuzzo Leah De Jong Dana Francoeur Scott Glaysher

presented by

Would you be willing to work an unpaid internship after graduation?

“Let’s not beat around the bush, our financial situation isn’t great, and our auditor has highlighted a lot of that and it’s been a massive wake-up call as to how much or how closely we have to pay attention to our finances moving forward.”

–WLUSU VP: university affairs Chris Walker re: the Students’ Union’s financial situation “Here’s a dude who’s shy and has certain social anxieties and doesn’t like to make eye contact and he finds ways to focus his energy like holding a cup of coffee and clutching. It was interesting because here’s a fellow who’s one of the top directors in the world affecting popular culture on a global stage and is still a shy, partially insecure, socially awkward person.”

–Kurt Norton, co-director of “These Amazing Shadows,” re: famed “Batman” director Christopher Nolan

Vocal Cord

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

The 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.

The Cord is created using Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.5 using Adobe Creative Suite 4. Canon cameras are used for principal photography.

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

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

The Cord’s circulation for a normal Wednesday issue is 8,000 copies and enjoys a readership of over 10,000. Cord subscription rates are $20.00 per term for addresses within Canada.

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

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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: “It’s like are you tasting it, or is it tasting you?”

–Graphics Editor Stephanie Truong re: eating tongue

• 3

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

News

News Director Justin Smirlies jsmirlies@thecord.ca

WLU waits for Milton campus University expecting the go-ahead from provincial government on expansion stePhanie white CoRD NEWS

Lindsay Purchase loCAl AND NAtioNAl EDitoR

Locals gathered at the WLU Kitchener campus to share their stories for International Women’s Day.

sharing their stories Lindsay Purchase loCAl AND NAtioNAl EDitoR

“By the time you get to the place where you’re supposed to get out, it’s too late. You’re no longer you,” reflected Vanessa Kee on her struggle against domestic violence. “It was such a gradual descent into hell that I never saw it happen.”

Kee shared her story of domestic abuse at an event held to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 5 at the Wilfrid Laurier University faculty of social work campus in Kitchener.

In spite of being educated on domestic abuse, Kee explained that when she began seeing red flags in her relationship with her ex-partner, she was able to rationalize them. Although he had formerly shown signs of being controlling, it was after Kee became pregnant and the two moved bought a house together that he began to show signs of violence.

After an injury left her wheelchair bound during the last months of her pregnancy, the situation escalated further.

“He abused that power he had over me nearly every day. Sometimes the abuse was sexual, on most days there were violations to my basic rights,” she recalled. “And then on other days he acted like he was my knight and gave me the best of care.”

After giving birth to her daughter, Kee had a breaking moment

and barricaded the house, preventing him from entering, which led to him calling the police. It was Kee, however, who was taken away by police after admitting she had both hit and pushed her ex-partner in different incidences for self-defense purposes.

“The injustice was so explicit.

They were treating my actions of self-defense that were a part of each incident in which he was charged with being the aggressor as equal to his many charges that were much more serious,” she asserted.

Charges were later laid against her ex-partner as well, but in order to have her own charges dropped, Kee had to concede to having his dropped as well, to agree to anger management counselling and to enter into peace bonds for a year.

Stories like this helped to motivate the development of the event, which was put on by master’s candidates at the faculty of social work.

“On one side we wanted to invite groups to show how their cultures celebrate women, and on the other side we wanted to bring out an inequality that women still face, which is domestic violence and the criminalization of being a victim of domestic violence,” explained co-organizer Kayla Follett. Showing both sides of the issues allowed the event to “challenge” this year’s International Women’s Day theme, “The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum.”

Contributing research to change the pattern of dual arrest in reports of domestic violence has been part of the work done by students such as Follett as part of a course on social action.

In addition to Kee’s presentation, a number of information booths were set up from support organizations, as well as local cultural groups. A video from the United Nations about International Women’s Day was shown and the audience engaged in a group chant and drumming circle. The event generated a positive response from attendees.

“It was awesome. I’m so glad I was able to be here and listen to these amazing women and individuals talk about their experiences,” expressed Amy Power, a representative from the K—W Sexual Assault Support Centre.

Power emphasized that the Support Centre focuses on the empowerment of women, and does not force victims to report crimes, but rather provides the factual information and supports them in whatever course of action they choose to take.

Another student at the faculty of social work, Adria Joel, added, “I think it went really well, I learned a lot.”

When asked why she choose to tell her story, Kee told The Cord, “It’s the only way that we are going to see a change, is that we marry together all the research … and that we put a personal face on it.”

After the Ontario provincial government released a plan to build three new university satellite campuses almost four years ago, Wilfrid Laurier University’s plan to begin expanding into Milton still halted.

Laurier still hopes to take on another campus and expand into Milton with their proposed campus in what will become the Milton Education Village.

Laurier still believes that Milton would make a great location for a new campus due its growing population and need for a post-secondary institution of its own.

Despite the plan being released earlier this year, the provincial government has not yet released its policy on governing the creation of new satellite campuses for universities.

However, Brian Rosborough, director for government relations, spoke to the possibility of opening a new Laurier campus.

“As we understand the province’s commitment, the new policy would define what types of expansion are to be regulated by the policy,” he explained.

“It is expected that the policy would set out criteria related to the province’s post-secondary education priorities as well as its overall growth planning and economic development goals. It is also expected to outline a process for seeking approval and funding for new campuses.”

Despite many aspects of the new campus still being up in the air, Laurier has been working with the city of Milton to plan for the possibility of expanding there in the near future.

“We have been working with the Town of Milton and they have acquired land intended for our campus in anticipation that the government will approve a Laurier campus in Milton,” Rosoborough said.

He added, “The land will be donated to Laurier once provincial

approval and funding for the campus has been provided.”

However, the expected start date for this process has yet to be determined, as the province has still not announced which post-secondary schools will be allowed to open new satellite campuses.

So, for now Laurier continues to wait, but is still continuing to work with both officials in the town of Milton as well as the Regional Municipality of Halton to secure provincial support for a new campus in Milton.

Laurier and Milton are still optimistic that proposals will succeed and that a new campus will advance in excellence and education, in community building and economic development and will reflect the province’s sustainable growth and planning goals and policies.

Along with continuing to advocate for provincial approval, Laurier is also looking for support from the province for funding for the campus.

However, in an interview with Jim Butler, vice president of finance and administration at Laurier he explained that the school is not currently making any decisions.

“We’re not making any financial commitments until the province gives its approval of a Laurier campus in Milton,” he explained.

“The Town of Milton, though, has donated a beautiful plot of land.”

In regards to proposed programming at the potential campus, Rosborough said that plans will not begin until the province has confirmed the support of a new campus.

He also explained that potential programming there would need to be guided by Laurier’s academic plan and multi-campus framework and be complementary to the programming in Waterloo and Brantford.

Rosborough also hopes that once the new provincial cabinet gets settled into its responsibilities that progress can soon be made and that a resolution is not too far off.

Out of the classroom and into the community heather barnes StAff WRitER

Two years ago, Wilfrid Laurier University began offering courses that have a volunteering component to the its content with the goal to supplement class material with realworld experiences.

Multiple disciplines make use of community outreach programs and require volunteer hours, but most of them are within the arts department.

The classes not only give students the opportunity to gain real-world experience, but they also give them an opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom to dynamic situations.

Julia Saric, an English professor, is currently teaching a children’s literature course which requires volunteer hours to be completed.

“Students are offered placements in a wide variety of settings working with a range of ages,” she said. “Some students are working in preschools, others in after-school programs; some are working as assistants in elementary classrooms, while others are working in established reading programs,

like Kitchener-Waterloo’s Strong Start program.”

The classes are organized through the CSL department, which helps to connect parts of the community with Laurier to allow for these volunteer opportunities for students. It also works to further help enrich the education which students receive with real world experiences.

Megan Conway, the director of CSL, could not be reached for an interview.

Saric, however, explained more about how these courses are benefitting students, specifically in regards to her course.

“The CSL program gives students an opportunity to test and apply the ideas about children’s literature that we discuss in the classroom, something that is very rare in university children’s literature courses,” she said.

Saric placed importance on the volunteering aspects of her course, as students receive a portion of their grade based off of reflective journals, which are a required component.

“In these journals I expect to see how students have incorporated or at least watched for the concepts

we have discussed in class,” she explained.

The class is also a valuable experience for students who wish to go into teaching.

“Many of the students are planning on becoming teachers, so any chance they have to be in an educational setting working with children will be great experience for them,” Saric said.

“For those who are planning on becoming elementary teachers, they will generally have to handle language arts instruction and encourage reading.”

HI346J — a public history course — also requires a volunteer component to the class.

Dan Graziotto, a third-year history major who is currently enroled in the class, spoke positively about his experience with the class.

“I really enjoy it, it gives a whole hands on approach to the idea of public history,” he told The Cord.

“Everyone is assigned 20 hours overall and it is suggested that one does two hours a week.”

In total, Laurier has offered nine classes which have included a CSL component to help supplement classroom experiences.

stePhanie truong gRApHiCS EDitoR

4 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

CAMPUS

Campus News Editor Elizabeth DiCesare edicesare@thecord.ca

WLUSU working to mitigate long-term debt —cover

Butler, noting that WLUSU has been consistent with their monthly payments on their loans and notes payable.

“All of those three things [loans, the line of credit and the university’s guarantee on external loans] can’t exceed $5 million and that’s what has gotten them in trouble,” he explained.

Butler confirmed Tuesday that the university and Students’ Union are in a discussion to address this debt situation.

“We’re working with WLUSU on a means by which they would pay it all back,” he said, adding that one of the

things they are working on is a timeline for WLUSU to do so.

“That’s what’s being worked out and we need to brief our board [of governors] about that, but we’re getting into some specific stuff which I can’t talk about,” Butler added. “To be clear about that we’re not talking about reducing it to zero, we’re talking about reducing it back down to $5 million.”

While the situation has been heavily discussed, Butler asserted that the situation is “not severe like some other universities.”

“They’re taking it very seriously which is giving me some comfort,” he said. “But there is an agreement, in terms of these loans, in terms of

discipline around it — that’s what we’re exercising.”

Unlike previous years, the 2012 financial statements were not released and approved by the WLUSU board until second semester.

While the report was made public at the time of the annual general meeting, or the WLUSU election night, WLUSU director Matt Casselman noted there “weren’t any surprises.”

“The final report was meant to come out last semester,” he shared.

“That made things a little bit difficult, but upon receiving that information, there weren’t any surprises.

We were told of the situation prior to that report being released. It’s not like we were unaware of what was

happening.”

Onabolu noted that because of this situation there is a going to be a different attitude the Students’ Union is going to take in terms of capital projects.

Instead, advocacy will continue to be large aspect of WLUSU’s mandate.

“The mindset of ‘if the university is not going to do, we’ll do it,’ that has to change,” asserted Onabolu.

“If the university isn’t creating more study space for students on campus, it’s our job to advocate for more study space rather than trying to create it ourselves.”

While Onabolu couldn’t speak to any of the specifics of what WLUSU

plans on doing to decrease this debt.

He did note that from his perspective increasing student fees is not an option.

“That information is confidential, but what is happening is that we have a number of different plans to mitigate that debt and ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again in the future,” he said.

When asked if WLUSU is concerned about this situation, Onabolu replied by saying, “No, we’re not concerned … it really just means that we need to tighten our belts a bit, we need to do better in terms of efficiency, in terms of ‘where can we make trims,’ just a leaner operation.”

Board responsible for approving auditor’s report —cover

Walker.

“It said in the bylaws that it had to be presented but it never said it had to be approved at the AGM, so we looked into it legally … and it wasn’t legally incumbent on us to send the auditor’s report to the AGM for approval.”

“What we did was we changed the constitution to simply state that the auditor’s statements had to be made available,” he continued.

According to Walker, 2011- 12 was the first year in which the audit was not formally presented to students at the AGM. Pryce, however, told The Cord that he was unsure if the auditor’s report was ever presented to students at the AGM. He was aware, however, that the most recent reports have always

been made available online.

“We could put them all online, I just don’t want to confuse people,” he said.

“I don’t want people to see [and] go back and look at this trend or look at these problems because the way it works is that 2012 and 2013 can be completely different, but you need to fill in the blanks, and those filling in the blanks is understanding what the board is up to and what the strategy is up to.”

Walker said that all students who voted in favour of the referendum questions in last year’s WLUSU elections should be aware of this change.

“We have to present all constitutional changes to the electorate to be voted on, so students voted yes in favour of that change, and thus it was put through,” he explained.

Walker also emphasized the

Oct. 2010: -The terrace expansion project totals $1,480,541 , which was $430,541 over budget.

2010

importance of the auditor’s report, as it allows the board to see whether or not they have been holding the president accountable for WLUSU’s finances.

“Let’s not beat around the bush, our financial situation isn’t great, and our auditor has highlighted a lot of that and it’s been a massive wake-up call as to how much or how closely we have to pay attention to our finances moving forward,” Walker continued.

“Not only have we decided to critically re-evaluate how much we spend on capital expenses, but also we’re looking at our operating budget and trying to be more accountable for the money we are spending.”

He explained that much of WLUSU’s debt was incurred due to capital expenses, such as the Terrace expansion in 2010-11 and space and resources given to campus clubs in

the summer of 2011. While projects like these yield high revenue costs, they don’t necessarily make any sort of profit.

Pryce echoed some of Walker’s sentiments regarding this spending, and explained that the board is looking to implement a new system so previous and ongoing projects will be reviewed before any new ideas or spending are approved.

“That hadn’t been done in an effective way in the past [and] we’re now becoming much more transparent with that,” he said.

Despite this, both Walker and Pryce agreed that it is important for all students to know where their money is going, and what it is being spent on.

“We always support students wanting to become informed, and if they are interested in the financials of the organization, or if they want

Some of WLUSU’s capital and operational expenses in recent years

“Let’s not beat around the bush, our financial situation isn’t great, and our auditor has highlighted a lot of that.”

—Chris Walker, vice-president: university affairs

to ensure that their finances or student fees are being used.” appropriately, they should go online and take a look at the auditor’s report,” Walker concluded.

Sept.-Nov. 2011: - The new Foot Patrol office gets delayed, cost triples to $53,500.

March 2010:

March 2011:

Summer 2011:

- Wilf’s projected to lose $97,000 over the course of that year.

- As of March 2010, Williams in Brantford lost $251,000.

- Williams in Brantford accumulates deficit of $655,398, board has to reallocate funds to help out with it.

- Plans to renovate 2-4 Lounge space, a nearly $600,000 project with help of SLL. - U-Desk is constructed, a nearly $100,000 project.

2011 Oct. 2011- Jan. 2012: - Wilf’s sustains water damage from a storm, around $10,000 is covered by insurance. Large impact on revenue.

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

CAMPUS

• 5

Awareness for Palestine ELIZABETH DICESARE CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER

Nicole Cohen spoke about finding work in precarious fields.

Precarious work a growing issue H.G. WATSON CCE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

With an increasing amount of students about to graduate into the precarious and rapidly changing job market, one class at Wilfrid Laurier University is prepping them to face the challenge.

In “Work and Cultural Industries” on Friday afternoon, communications professor Greig de Peuter brought Nicole Cohen to talk to his seminar students about her research. The founder of Shameless Magazine, and an instructor of journalism at Laurier Brantford, Cohen was there to talk about the increased reliance on freelance work in journalism and other creative industries.

“We’re trying provide students with a picture of what they might expect while also developing their critical perspective on the power relations that are at play in the world of labour,” de Peuter said.

Bringing speakers like Cohen to Waterloo is part of de Peuter’s plan to ready students for a career that could be far more precarious than that of the generation before.

“There’s a rapid level of growth of non-standard type jobs,” he added. “They don’t come with the kind of benefits and security that many people enjoyed in the past.”

Cohen may be one of the most qualified people at Laurier to talk about the challenges young people face. After her undergrad she embarked on a freelance career, hoping to produce work she believed in. While she was able to get by, she

eventually went back to grad school where the pay was slightly better. “[Precarious work] is spreading into occupations that don’t traditionally have that kind of work arrangement,” she said after her speech when asked whether precarious work is just an issue faced by those going into creative industries.

Some professionals have faced a series of short-term contracts instead of permanent employment.

Dana*, a fourth-year communications studies student decided to take this seminar after enjoying one of de Peuter’s previous classes.

“The seminar itself is a bit scary,” she laughed, noting it’s a pessimistic, though realistic view of the job market. However, Dana’s not deterred from pursuing a career in media. The class also taught her that she could use social media tools to sell her personal brand online.

Cohen doesn’t see the future as all doom and gloom; in fact, she sees a lot of reasons to remain positive about the state of media production.

“Derek Finkle’s [literary] agency is producing ebooks and cutting out publishers entirely,” she said. She thinks that online fundraising tools like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo may allow creators to gain further control over their work.

De Peuter also wants his students to understand the value of their own work. “[I want them to take away] a commitment to not sell themselves short,” he said. “I hope they don’t devalue their own contribution.” *Last name withheld at Dana’s request.

This week, Laurier 4 Palestine (L4P), one of Wilfrid Laurier University’s working groups within the Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG), is advocating on behalf of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW).

IAW began in 2005 in Toronto as a way to shed light on the struggle that Palestinians have been experiencing. Isra Al-Thibeh, one of the co-presidents of L4P, explained that Palestinians have been struggling for the past 65 years.

“Palestinian people are deprived of basic human rights in the West Bank and in Gaza,” she said.

“There’s little if any aid that goes in and out ... so our purpose is to inform people of this.”

L4P has been, and will continue to, host a series of events this week for students at Laurier in order to spread awareness and educate students on the current issues within Palestine.

“The goal for Israel Apartheid Week, for L4P, is to reach the students who don’t really know about the conflict,” said Fatima Attia, the second co-president of L4P. “We aim to shed light on the humanitarian crisis more than anything, so that’s our main goal.”

Attia also noted that it is

“The goal for Israeli Apartheid Week, for L4P, is to reach the students who don’t really know about the conflict.”

—Fatima Attia, co-president of Laurier 4 Palestine

important to spread awareness of this situation on university campuses.

“University is one of the places where we build our characters more than anywhere else, and we have that freedom to do so,” she explained. “Every individual has their own passion, and if you bring that passion to where people are wondering and learning, and are open to new ideas, then it really creates a bigger global awareness and that’s how we change the world, from heart to heart.”

On Tuesday, L4P had built a simulation of the apartheid wall that exists along the West Bank.

The wall, which was covered in graffiti and artwork that appears on

the actual wall, also expelled sounds of gunfire and bombs going off.

The wall was meant to symbolize both the hope and fear that civilians there experience on a daily basis.

“There’s a lot of symbolism behind it all, and it’s a real thing -- it segregates, and it’s important for people to know that this wall isn’t a good thing, it needs to come down,” explained Al-Thibeh.

According to Attia, L4P’s goals with the wall, and other events they hosted, were to educate students at Laurier about the crisis that is still occurring.

“Our goal this week is to kind of shed light on to those truths, on our truths about why this is such a passionate issue for ourselves, and why this is an issue that our society should take notice of, and that we should work together to do something,” she said.

Al-Thibeh echoed Attia’s comments about the importance of raising awareness and educating students in order to eventually bring about positive change.

“Not many people know about it and there hasn’t been a lot of activism, especially in this community,” she said.

“There’s parallels between this and other past atrocities [and] this isn’t any less important than them and this is our opportunity to shed light on it.”

NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER

Students were able to walk through the simulated wall to experience what life in Palestine is like.

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6 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

LOCAL Chow explores vibrancy in arts Local Editor Lindsay Purchase lpurchase@thecord.ca

KATELYN CULLUM LEAD REPORTER

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow was in downtown Kitchener last weekend to explore exhibits currently showcased at THEMUSEUM and to discuss the importance of culture and arts in a budding city.

Chow’s main goal with her visit to THEMUSEUM was to address the importance that museums have in a community.

“Art creates a new sense of identity, you can learn about the history and the culture of a people through its art,” she said.

“Cultural institutions are important to the economic life and, of course, to the civic life of our cities.

To the quality of life, and a vibrant economy in a vibrant city,” Chow was born in Hong Kong and came to Toronto to study philosophy and art prior to her introduction to politics. She emphasized the significance that museums and art galleries played in her understanding of Canada as a new immigrant.

“I didn’t know a whole lot of people,” Chow explained, regarding her move to Toronto as a student. “I had this wonderful opportunity to be able to walk to the Royal Ontario Museum, to the Art Gallery, where I was able to learn and enjoy so much about art and history and culture.”

“These museums became my life long friends, and I was very privileged to be able to represent them.”

Chow stressed the fact that the financial needs for museums are

“Art creates a new sense of identity. You can learn about the history and culture of a people through its art.”

—Olivia Chow, MP for the riding of Trinity-Spadina

growing.

“At the end of this month [in the upcoming budget] we want to make sure that we have all the funding in place,” she said.

“We recognize the important role of museums in the cultural light of Canada, of Canadians, and we believe that they should receive stable, long-term funding from the federal government and of course from the provincial and city government too.”

Chow was given a guided tour of “The Treasures of China” exhibit, which houses a collection of ancient Chinese Sculptures, as well as a collection of contemporary paintings. She also visited the Bob Marley exhibition and the Justin Bieber display.

Chow was accompanied by David Marskell, the CEO of THEMUSEUM, along with Carl Zehr, Mayor of Kitchener and Kitchener city councillor Berry Vrbanovic.

NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER

Olivia Chow visited THEMUSEUM in in Kitchener this past weekend to discuss arts and culture.

Catherine Fife, in the MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo expressed her satisfaction at Chow’s discussion.

“The message that the economy and the creative knowledge economy are connected needs to be a part of our strategy in moving forward,” she said.

In response to Chow’s request of audience members to generate ideas for how to represent art and culture through exhibits and museums, Fife explained that she would “love to

see a history of our industrial past and see a connection to the modern conversation.”

Chow also expressed her admiration for THEMUSEUM and its ability to think in a creative way.

“The fact that you can have these kinds of high quality, international exhibits right here tells me that you are thinking outside the box.”

Chow discussed the opportunity Canadian museums have to learn from the cultural initiatives that European countries have taken to

ensure the support of the arts. Many European countries combine cultural and museum passes with transit passes, making the arts more accessible to the community.

“We are a country with a lot of diversity,” Chow said.

“We are able, therefore, to have people from different parts of the world all becoming Canadian citizens. That makes our culture that much more unique and that much more rich and that much more Canadian.”

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3D printing comes to K-W ALANNA FAIREY LEAD REPORTER

After a successful grand opening on Feb. 27, the 3D Printing Centre at the University of Waterloo (UW) is revolutionizing technology for students and faculty members.

The 3D Print Centre is a facility where students, staff and faculty at UW can access the services of a professional-grade 3D printer. Starting with a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) file, a final component can be printed using a variety of materials, colours and surface finishes.

“3D printing is not a new technology, but with reduced cost and increased final part quality, it has become much more accessible and useful to a wider segment of society,” explained Peter Teertstra, director of the Student Design Centre at UW. “We are seeing many non-engineering applications of 3D printing and hope to grow our customer base beyond engineering into science, math, art and other faculties.”

The Denso North America Foundation provided the grant money to purchase the 3D machine, while Cimetrix Solutions and Stratasys provided continued support as the centre began to take flight.

“Having access to an affordable, easy to use 3D printing service will be a huge benefit to our student teams, such as the Midnight Sun, Formula SAE and Robotics teams, along with all students working on class or personal projects,” he said.

“Being able to verify that a design works, that it fits where it is supposed to, doesn’t interfere with any other parts, within a day or two allows the designer to go through several iterations until the part is right.”

NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER

Jacob Matos, a first year, is an operator at the 3D Printing Centre.

He added that many of the past projects had been missing that design due to the time required to machine parts in metal. Now, the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printer helps to create well-designed parts that are as well-built and sturdy as parts made using inoculation molding and other manufacturing techniques.

The 3D Print Centre is covering material costs, with no labour or machine replacement and maintenance costs.

In addition, the Centre has a trained machine operator who is an expert in 3D printing. Teertstra explained that the benefit of this is rather than an individual emailing in a CAD file with the uncertainty of receiving proper results, a student or faculty member can work with

someone who is knowledgeable in 3D printing and has the capacity to help improve the overall design and the finished product.

While he is uncertain about how users will revolutionize this technology in the future, Teertstra and his team are looking forward to the future of the print centre and all it has to offer the Waterloo community.

“3D printing is an exciting new technology, and the Student Design Centre and the faculty of engineering are so pleased to be able to provide this service to our students, faculty and staff,” Teertstra said.

“I am looking forward to the future when we can add more machines and more capabilities to serve what I believe will be a growing demand for 3D printing.”

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

LOCAL

• 7

K–W in brief First local drive-thru Beer Store opens in Kitchener

The Beer Store located at 250 Bleams Rd. in Kitchener is now accessible to customers through a drive-thru option, which was opened at the beginning of February. This is the third of its kind in Ontario, with the other two drivethrus located in Hamilton and London.

Sales are still accepted through the storefront. This location was favoured for a drive-thru based on the heavy amount of traffic it receives, with 25, 000 hectolitres per year.

The drive-thru provides all normal sale services, but does not accept empties.

The next Beer Store drive-thru is expected to open next year in Woodstock, Ontario.

MIKE LAKUSIAK FILE PHOTO

Communitech is located at the Tannery building in Kitchener and is one of four businesses locally that received government funding.

Funds support satellite development Communitech received $6.5 million for two satellites that will monitor ship activity

Clocks set to ‘spring ahead’ this weekend

Waterloo Fire Rescue is reminding residents to put their clocks ahead this weekend. They also recommend that people use this time as an opportunity to check the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms.

Man charged after stabbing

A domestic violence incident that occurred last Thursday has led to a man being charged. The incident took place between a man and a woman on Madison Ave. S. in Kitchener.

Rescue crews were called to the scene at 4:18 a.m., where both the man and woman, who police claim were known to each other, were found injured. The woman had been stabbed. Both individuals remain in hospital.

Neither the man’s nor the woman’s name is being released in order to protect the identity of the victim.

LINDSAY PURCHASE LOCAL AND NATIONAL EDITOR

With a recent grant from the federal government, local technology innovation centre, the Communitech Hub, is reaching up and out.

Up to $6.5 million has been given from the FedDev fund to Communitech to facilitate the launching of two small satellites into space – one approximately the size of a milk carton and other the size of a milk crate – in conjunction with other partners and developers, including Cambridge-based company exactEarth Ltd. and the University of Toronto.

“It’s been an ongoing conversation with exactEarth and folks here at Communitech over the last couple of years, with FedDev as well,” said Glenn Smith, who is the director, project management, digital media at Communitech. “ExactEarth had many of the partnerships, they were engaged in conversation already and the idea was to formalize and use

the FedDev funding as a catalyst.”

Smith added, “There’s money flowing to us from FedDev, but we are providing partnerships, industry partnerships and academic partnerships, that are delivering cash in kind at a same-dollar value to the project.”

The satellites will be used to track the movements of ships from space.

Explained exactEarth VP operations and engineering Philip Miller, “We can tell you where all the ships are at any given time. We have maps that we can produce, we provide data in any number of ways in which consumers of our data can know where ships are.”

The satellites will contribute to the data set that exactEarth provides to customers.

“Our role will be to define the requirements of the spacecraft to determine that they get built and we’ll be able to detect the ships as the business needs and the users of the world need for knowing where ships are,” Miller continued.

Both Stephen Woodworth, the MP for Kitchener Centre, and Peter Braid, MP for Kitchener-Waterloo, were present last Thursday at the Tannery building in Kitchener to announce the funding contribution.

Businesses TribeHR, Djero Labs and exactEarth also received smaller, repayable contributions.

Funding such as this given through the technology development program, “is designed to address a funding gap between research and commercialization,” according to Woordworth.

“We have a lot of good research out there but we want to be able to bring it to market in a way that can be traded around the world globally.”

The funding was also driven by a focus on increasing jobs and building the economy. The impact of these projects will directly create 166 skilled, full-time jobs in Waterloo Region, Woodworth established.

“Communitech has an excellent reputation,” he said on why Communitech was selected as a funding

recipient. “They have a proven record of delivering, so we’re very excited about it.”

The satellites themselves are being designed and made at the University of Toronto.

Smith explained that some areas that the satellites could be used to explore are carbon monitoring and security and defense.

On why Communitech chose to become invested in this satellite creation project, Smith said, “One of the goals of the hub was to be helping business as they drove commercialization initiatives. It was a good fit for our team and our resources here to be able to assist in this business-driven commercialization project.”

“We are doing our best in Waterloo Region to promote ourselves as the Silicon Valley of the North and certainly Communitech is right at the center of that,” Woodworth added on the value of the investment locally. “I think we can all be very, very proud of that.”

Come work for this guy

8 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

NatioNal

National Editor Lindsay Purchase lpurchase@thecord.ca

Int’l student total up ashley denuzzo StAff WRitER

Last year, Canada opened up its borders to a record number of international students – over 100, 000, to be exact.

According to the Government of Canada Department of Citizenship and Immigration, who issued a press release last week, this is the first time in Canadian history that a number this high has been reached.

The number of foreign students coming to Canada has increased by 60 per cent since 2004.

“It’s an interesting discovery that we’re looking at,” said Zach Dayler, the national director for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). “The government has hooked this idea of creating an international student study in the hopes that they will fill labour market shortages.”

Within the next five to ten years, there will be an estimated labour shortage within Canada as baby boomers near retirement. The country is also experiencing falling fertility rates.

“We need to look at what are the primary markets for Canada to invest in – marketing and resources to get people here,” added Dayler.

“Obviously that connects to where Canada would like to grow economically.”

A report released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada found that international students contributed more than $8 billion to the Canadian economy in 2010.

“International students are vital to the global experience offered on University campuses across Canada,” said Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada (AUCC).

“They enrich our institutions with their culture, languages and unique perspective, and have a positive economic impact on communities coast to coast.”

Some Canadian Universities have already established reputable international exchange programs.

However, with the rise of foreign students coming to Canada, some tensions may exist between domestic and international student populations due to job competition.

“As a Canadian, I might suspect that we need to invest in more resources for our own domestic or Aboriginal populations,” Dayler explained. “Because we have the skills here to find people to do these jobs, why are we bringing in people from the outside to fill those positions?”

The government of Canada has established that immigration does not determine nor affect admissions at Canadian universities and colleges. Each school decides how many domestic and international students they accept each year.

However, with regard to the future job market, the government of Canada has expressed their priorities in employment stability, economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Paul Northcott of Citizenship and Immigration Canada said, in an email, that in order to compete and prosper in a global, knowledgebased world, Canada needs innovators with “an international outlook, as well as requisite skills and

experience.”

He also said that international students are a “potential source of skilled labour.”

“Their experience in Canada makes them ideal immigrants because they have obtained Canadian credentials, are comfortable in our languages and often have Canadian work experience,” he added.

However, domestic Canadians need to know that job competitiveness will depend on the market they choose to enter.

“Competition is important to a certain degree,” Dayler explained.

“We shouldn’t expect to graduate and get a job. We should expect to graduate and form our investment with the skills we gained … to go out and get a job.”

With that, a large return on investing in international students will be the cultural mixing, exchanging of ideas and integration of new philosophies.

Bringing in volumes of international students is “really embracing this idea that we’re not alone in student education,” said Dayler.

“It will be interesting to see how we grow as a country.”

StAff WRitER

stephanie truong gRAPHiCS EDitoR

YMCA starts campaign to address women’s homelessness StAff WRitER

It’s something many people take for granted, but it’s also something thousands of women throughout Canada struggle without: the shelter and protection of a home.

YWCA Canada aspires to bring an end to women’s homelessness with the recent launching of the Homes for Women campaign. The campaign was started out of concern for the growing number of women who are either living in severe poverty or who are homeless.

“It is unacceptable that a country as rich as Canada has the extent and amount of homelessness and poverty that we have, and women are bearing the brunt of this,” said Leilani Farha, executive director of Canada Without Poverty. “The hope is that the campaign will ignite discussion and debate and that will influence public policy.”

The YWCA has partnered with Canada Without Poverty-Advocacy Network and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies for the campaign and is also supported by the Canadian Labour Congress.

The key strategies of Homes for Women include improving accessibility to jobs and to safe, affordable housing. Through improved and more effective social assistance

Breaking down gender divisions alexandra flack

Struggling without shelter laura buck

stephanie truong gRAPHiCS EDitoR

programs, the campaign members wish to address and take preventative measures to the systemic issues at the root of women’s poverty, which are typically domestic violence, discrimination and abuse.

Farha explained that many women who have escaped violent homes have nowhere to turn, seeking refuge in women’s shelters or on the street.

“There are rapidly increasing numbers of women in street counts for homelessness,” said Farha.

Elizabeth Clarke, CEO of YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo commented on the national campaign and the growing need for public awareness, saying, “People tend to dismiss homelessness, tend to think that it’s because people are mentally ill, or it’s because people are addicted to drugs, and although those things certainly do occur, it’s not the main reason that people are homeless.

The main reason is simply poverty.”

Canada’s Federal Parliament voted last week on Bill C-400, an Act to ensure secure and adequate housing for all Canadians. The bill was dismissed. Barbara Byers, executive vice president of the Canadian Labour Congress, commented on the quick dismissal of the bill saying, “I think it’s shameful that the Conservatives would do this. Absolutely shameful. They cannot talk about

family values and then take action against families having reasonable housing.”

“A national housing strategy would have included provisions for women escaping violence, so it’s a real blow to those women who are in those circumstances for the government to flat out say that they didn’t support the bill,” added Farha.

The defeat of Bill C-400, explained Byers, is discouraging, although the Homes for Women campaign was certainly not dependent on its passing. “It means that we have to get tougher and double our efforts, making sure that housing is on the agenda for politicians at all levels,” said Byers.

Farha emphasized that the campaign’s driving force will be behind the public. Their greatest tool is through spreading awareness to Canadians and addressing the root causes of poverty and homelessness.

“This is a real social problem,” said Farha. “But it is a problem that can be solved. I think that i f everyday people in Canada knew that our governments and policy makers aren’t doing anything to address this problem, I think they would be more outraged than they are right now.

And I think that outrage goes some distance in changing government attitudes.”

Going to the washroom in a comfortable and safe environment should be a right not a privilege.

However, for those who do not necessarily fit into gender binary norms, this is not always the case.

For many transgender or intersex individuals, using the washroom can potentially lead to discrimination or harassment. Having more gender-neutral washrooms, although controversial, is a potential solution to this problem – one which is being explored on university campuses across Canada.

Marie Little, chair of the Trans Alliance Society, an organization that operates in British Columbia, discussed the potential danger that trans individuals face when using the washroom.

“Generally the worst you can expect in the women’s is possibly some insults, or a call to security, but there have been cases where people have gone to the male washroom and got beaten up,” Little explained.

Little described how having three washrooms; male, female and gender-neutral can be a good option to combat this harassment at universities, although it is an extra expense.

Many universities have been making the move and implementing gender-neutral washrooms.

The University of Regina, McGill University, Dalhousie Univerity and Western University have all implemented gender-neutral bathrooms.

Western currently has sixty genderneutral washrooms, all of which are single occupant and marked by a sign that simply reads “washroom.”

Western has received positive feedback since implementing these washrooms.

“The trans folks I have talked to feel a little more comfortable that they at least have the option,” said Steff Armstrong, the Pride Western co-coordinator.

Western’s washrooms are, however, single-stall, as multi-stall gender-neutral washrooms are more difficult to implement.

“Right now if you go into a single-stall gender-neutral washroom you’re labeling and differentiating yourself,” Armstrong explained. She hopes that eventually schools will make the switch to multi-stall gender-neutral facilities.

Little also took this into consideration, as many trans individuals do not want to be labeled as “other” and using these washrooms may have the effect of differentiating trans people from their peers. She

has found that the trans community is divided on the issue.

“The main objection from the trans community is from those who have made the transition and don’t want to be segregated anymore,” Little explained.

Although she believes that there is definite need for gender-neutral washrooms for trans individuals who are in transition, she also asserted the importance of considering that some transgender people who have made a full transition would prefer to use a gender-specified washroom.

“I personally didn’t feel the need for them,” recalled Little. “When I first started presenting as female I went straight to the women’s and never had any problems.”

She acknowledged, however, that others have experienced harassment in that situation.

Gender-neutral washrooms can serve a variety of needs, however, and are not strictly limited to trangender individuals.

“It’s no longer just for trans people or people who don’t feel comfortable in binary gender washrooms. It’s for women who breastfeed, if you want a little more privacy or if you have to wash yourself before prayers,” Armstrong explained.

Bisma Bhatti, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, feels positively about the single-stall genderneutral washrooms. “You can have both, male and female and genderneutral. I’m going to go to whatever one’s more convenient. If that’s a gender-neutral one I’m going to go to that,” Bhatti said.

Bhatti admitted that while she’s in support of single-stall implementation, she feels that the multi-stalls are more controversial due to both safety and religious concerns.

“When I go into the bathroom, and I’m fixing my Hijab or taking it off to fix my hair, in that kind of situation I can’t have guys coming into the bathroom,” Bhatti explained.

Although there is no simple solution to this issue, Armstrong observed that a transition period may help with the adjustment to multistall bathrooms.

“Society moves slowly. We can start off with single-stalls and go to multi-stalls. It would definitely create a lot of controversy and I don’t think society as a whole is ready for that yet,” explained Armstrong.

“It really needs to be about society growing as a place where we don’t need to divide and conquer, or harass and be violent towards anyone else. It’s about a bigger societal shift.”

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• 9

10 •

In Depth Editor

•

Vacant

•

IN DE

editor@thecord.ca

Getting ex posure o r getting ex ploited?

CCE Edit explores or-in-Chief HG W unpaid inthe controversial atson ternships topic of

What makes an intern an intern?

• The training is similar to that which is given in a vocational school • The training is for the benefit of the individual • The person providing the training derives little, if any, benefit from the activity of the individual while he or she is being trained • The individual does not displace employees of the person providing the training • The individual is not accorded a right to become an employe of the person providing the training • The individual is advised that he or she will receive no remuneration for the time that he or she spends in training An intern should properly fall under these categories — remember, there is no legal definition of what an intern is!

Resources: www.internassociation.ca www.youthandwork.ca/p/about-me.html Lawyer referral service: www.lsuc.on.ca Ministry of Labour: www.labour.gov.on.ca Workers Action Centre www.workersactioncentre.org Carrotworkers Collective carrotworkers.wordpress.com

In a crowded conference room in a downtown Toron to hotel, the atmosphere is tense. It’s the 75th annua Canadian University Press Conference and it is filled with eager young student journalists, all of whom ar intently listening to a panel speak on a rather touchy topic: internships.

The panel is filled with esteemed member of the journalistic and legal communities, including employment lawyer Andrew Langille, Edward Keenan, a Senior Editor at The Grid and Shameless Magazine founder Nicole Cohen. But it’s the one intern on the panel — Chris Berube, who interned wit Radio Lab in New York City — who hits it home. “In the end,” he laughed, “someone is getting fucked.”

Generation Y — or Generation Meh depending on whom you’re asking — is a generation faced with increasingly grim career prospects. A recent New York Times article claimed that one employer was looking for “22-22-22”; a 22-year-old who would work 22 hours a day for $22,000 a year. For some, even th hint of payment is better than nothing while looking at posting after posting for interns who will work fo free, or next to free.

Articles appear almost weekly trying to sort out why “Millenials” can’t make money, have to move back in with their parents, are too lazy to do good work and work too much for free. As a generation, we’re just full of contradictory problems.

Unpaid internships have become the flashpoint o much of this discussion. It’s now the norm that a recent university or college graduate will spend a few months working in their chosen field for free in the hopes of building the connections and portfolio that will lead to gainful employment.

The new normal

Interning is actually the new normal. 100 years ago, interns were limited to the medical field, filling the roll that is today better known as residents. Aga Zieba, a graduate of the masters program of commu nications at Wilfrid Laurier, traced the rise of intern ships over the last 50 years as part of her final thesis research. It wasn’t until the 1980s that internships saw a boom, primarily in media.

“For individuals … what I think is that being able to say ‘I worked at a magazine,’ people think you’re cool,” she said. “You’re proud to say you’re working a a magazine even though you’re working there for fre or for very little pay.” The social cachet of working at Vogue, for instance, is worth taking a drop in incom The Ministry of Labour does not track internship numbers. Complicating the matter is that fact that often people will do multiple internships at once, which means the same person may account for several positions.

“Up to seven or eight [internships for one person is not unheard of,” Langille said, a few months prior to speaking before the Canadian University Press Conference.

Langille, in addition to his employment law practice, is writing his masters thesis on the legal regulation of internships. He blogs about the issue at youthandwork.ca.

Langille estimates that 100,000 internships can be found in Toronto alone, and between 300,000 and 100,000 in Canada. “Where you could get up to a 1,000 or 1,500 unpaid internships a year [at a single employer], it’s pretty easy to get there.”

This certainly contradicts the popular myth that Generation Y is lazy or isn’t working. Generation Y is working a lot; they’re just not getting paid for it.

But before you can even determine how many interns there are, you have to ask: What is an intern?

“The word intern or internship doesn’t have any legal meaning,” said Claire Seaborn, one of the founders of the Canadian Intern Association, an organization created to advocate for interns’ rights.

It’s hard sometimes to pin down exactly what an intern is or does.

At best we can describe interns as existing in the nebulous space between paid employee and volunteer. Yet because they’ve become so common, Seaborn

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said we assume there is a set definition. People associate interns with tasks ranging from the mundane - fetching coffee, making copies - to tasks that would normally be filled by entry-level employees.

In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act does provide some protection for interns. If you’re doing work that provides a benefit for your employer — such as increased profits — or replacing the position of a paid employee, under the Act you have to be paid for your work.

But both Langille and Seaborn point out that many unpaid interns are in fact doing work that they should be paid for under the law. “If they just had fewer unpaid internships and redirected resources to more paid positions, or at least contract positions … young people can at least make an income,” said Seaborn.

Langille noted that part of the problem is that the criteria found in the Employment Standards Act puts the responsibility on the intern to prove that the company is in breach. So if you’re a lowly 23-yearold intern who wants to start a claim against a major telecommunications company, it falls on your shoulders to prove they are in the wrong.

Aside from the costs associated with bringing a claim against a company or suing them, interns will avoid it simply to save face. People don’t become interns for the financial security; they do it with the hopes of meeting that magic person who will give them the break they need to get into the industry.

“They want a reference letter,” said Greig de Peuter, an associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier who studies precarious work in culture industries (he also supervised Zieba’s thesis research). “The carrot is moving into full-time work.”

The fear of being branded “difficult to work with” or a whistleblower has led to reluctance on the part of interns to speak out. “I found it intriguing that even the interns I spoke with found internships exploitative that they still were willing to work at them,” said Zieba. Quitting isn’t an option when your reputation is on the line.

Profile over profit

You can’t have unpaid internships without having people who are willing to work for nothing. Luckily, for many industries, those who are willing to sacrifice pay for exposure are numerous. In particular creative industries - journalism, arts, fashion, public relations - see higher rates of unpaid internships than those who take internships in, for example, science and technology.

“They [interns] might think it’s a glamourous task when it may not necessarily be one,” said Zieba. She points to shows like The Hills as examples of media making life as an intern seem much more comfortable and fun than the reality. Lauren Conrad, star of The Hills, actually appeared on the cover of the very magazine she was interning for, Teen Vogue — not a likely scenario for most people who are planning on taking unpaid internships.

Of course not all interns want to be reality TV stars. Some are passionate about the work and want a job that’s rewarding. “There’s a promise of opportunity of expressing yourself,” said de Peuter, referring to those who pursue freelance careers. This promise is attractive to a certain demographic of young adults. It’s certainly why this very article appears in the newspaper you are now reading.

It’s produced, almost entirely, by dedicated volunteers who do it for lots of their own personal reasons. The same applies in many ways to internships.

But when it comes to this precarious employment, critics contend that employers have created a zero sum game where people are willing to work for nothing without any guarantees that the connections they need will come through at the right time. The only people who win are the companies that profit off the interns’ work.

It’s not a game that everyone can afford to

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6,2013 • 11

play either. Zieba contends that internships represent a new glass ceiling — you don’t get to pass unless you can afford to work for free. For those who leave school with significant debt, that means their options are limited. “Young people are thought of as not having pressing financial obligations,” said de Peuter.

This is particularly ironic given that many of these jobs — particularly journalism — were once very real career options for the working class, deemed unworthy by the elite. Fans of Downton Abbey will remember how horrified the aristocratic Grantham family was when middle daughter Edith considered writing a weekly column for a London newspaper. These days, she’d probably be honoured to be picked for unpaid editorial internship at a magazine.

At the Canadian University Press Conference, Keenan — who ran the internship program at Eye Weekly before it was transformed into The Grid — notes that to intern at Eye, he had to borrow $3,000 to survive. Berube lived at home and considered taking a job as a gravedigger as the hours wouldn’t impact on his internship. “Ultimately,” said Keenan. “It will depend on your situation.”

Sarah Murphy is another former intern who was lucky to have support. Now a masters of journalism student at Ryerson, she is emphatic in how much she loved interning at Exclaim!, a monthly Canadian music magazine that she still freelances for.

“I was living at home,” she said. “That was a huge relief that I know a lot of people don’t have the luxury of having.” She also worked two part-time jobs during the latter part of her back to back internships.

Murphy — like Keenan and Berube - didn’t regret doing the internships because in her case the work did lead to opportunity.

For women, avoiding unpaid internships is much harder. “I think unpaid internships have a disproportionate affect on young females,” said Langille.

Science and tech companies — two traditionally male dominated fields — offer many more paid internships compared to those in creative industries.

“There’s an equality angle in terms of who’s going to school and in terms of which programs predominantly have paid internships,” Langille added.

Studies in the U.S. have found that people who completed paid internships are much more likely to find a job whereas those who complete unpaid internships don’t fare any better than those who didn’t bother to do one at all. Given the gender inequality that exists between majors, it means that more males are successful at finding gainful employment postuniversity or college.

But the times are changing.

Remember when your mom encouraged you to go get that law degree so you could finally make a steady income? Apparently a lot of other people’s mom’s had the same thought. Law school numbers are increasing and articling positions — a requirement to practice in Ontario — aren’t rising to meet the new numbers.

This change led the Law Society of Upper Canada to institute new rules last year that allowed would-be lawyers to pass the bar if they completed additional courses and an unpaid term working at a law office or legal clinic. It’s not quite the same as an unpaid internship at a fashion magazine, but it is another example of the precarious work situation Gen. Y is facing as a whole.

“Ultimately, entry level jobs are being jeopardized because interns are being hired for that position,” says Zieba. A decent paying job that’s attainable to recent graduates seems to be going extinct.

Interns unite

Diana Wang was just one of the thousands of interns behind the scenes at a fashion magazine until she became the story. Wang launched a class action lawsuit against the Hearst Corporation, the owner of Harpers Bazaar where she worked. 3,000 other Hearst interns joined her.

Wang’s action is just one prong of resistance against this precarious form of labour. “We’re seeing

the politicization of young people,” says de Peuter, using the recent examples of Occupy and Idle No More as mass mobilizations of a younger generation. Following these protests, there’s been a wave of organizations focusing on improving economic conditions for the “Millenials” including the Carrotworkers Collective in England and the Geneva Interns Association, a group focused on improving working conditions for the army of interns who staff the United Nations General Secretariat.

While many Canadian interns still prefer the cloak of anonymity to preserve their reputations, they’re able to find support with organizations like the Canadian Intern Association. Seaborn, herself a law student at the University of Ottawa, started CIA because she had heard one too many stories from her friends about the exploitative internships they experienced. The organization is still growing — Seaborn hopes to create a guide for interns about their legal rights and start filling the gaps in what we know.

For her, the issue of interns’ rights comes down in part to a responsibility on the part of the employer to ensure fair working conditions. “[Unpaid internships] shouldn’t be culturally acceptable which is why we want to raise awareness about this issue,” she said. “It’s a corporate social responsibility issue.”

Langille believes that the tools we need to protect interns already exist; right in the Employment Standards Act. “The problem is enforcement,” he said.

“Essentially the model that we have in Ontario currently is a reactive enforcement model so someone has to call up and complain about the employer and then there might be an investigation.”

Kyle Iannuzzi is one of the few interns known to have successfully made a Employment Standards claim. While interning for an event planner, he found himself with increasingly important duties. When he finally approached his employer and asked for either the terms of his internship to be changed or compensation for his work, the relationship soured. Iannuzzi filed his claim and was successful; he received all the pay he was owed at the minimum wage rate.

“I think I burnt a bridge,” said Iannuzzi. “But to be honest … these industries are big enough, especially in Toronto, that you want to align yourself with the people you work well with.” Fighting for his rights under the Employment Standards Act was worth any fallout he might encounter down the road. However, Iannuzzi does know that there are people who aren’t able, because of money or other reasons, to make claims against illegal internships. “I think that there’s a lot of people in a very vulnerable state.”

Change won’t happen tomorrow however. Murphy recommends that those who are still willing to do an unpaid internship ask lots of questions to ensure they’re actually going to get what they want our of the experience.

“Don’t expect to get a full time job out of it,” she said. “You’re going to have to work to build your connections. That’s the harsh reality of the industry.”

The internship debate boils down to one important issue for Langille. “Essentially, it comes down to the point that labour should be paid for,” he said.

“That is something that has been forgotten.”

GRAPHICS BY WADE THOMPSON GRAPHICS EDITOR

12 •

LIFE

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013 Life Editor Carly Basch cbasch@thecord.ca

Need to control AUTUMN SMITH CORD LIFE

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

Picking the right brew

Staff Writer Scott Glaysher breaks down different beer options Heineken? Mill Street? Budweiser?

When it comes to selecting the perfect beer for a night out, people often are stumped with the choices that they have to make. It all comes down to the price, the taste and overall mood that one is willing to invest when carefully selecting their beers for the night.

With the recent opening of Beertown in Uptown Waterloo, the art of selecting beers has become an explorative experiencee.

Located in the Uptown Public Square, Beertown has about 30 unique beers on tap and over 100 different bottles that are sure to switch up your rudimentary beer drinking habits. Consulting the ‘Beer Bible’ and the selection of draught beers, these four different categories offered the best beer tips that can help channel towards going out and trying new beers.

‘Sweets and Wheats’

These beers have a lighter and sweeter finish but still pack a punch when it comes to flavour. One of Beertown’s best sellers is Fruli Premium Strawberry Beer.

It has a very unique strawberry tang that is perfect for starting the evening or finishing with dessert.

Another honourable mention was Erdinger Weissbeir.

This German brew is pleasantly smooth with a neutral bouquet. It is flavourful enough for any meal and mellow enough for a round of flip cup.

‘Light and Crisp’

The perfect summer beers, offering refreshing taste and are easy to drink.

Ontario craft brew Mill Street Organic stands out as the top beer for this category. Not only is it refreshing, but it offers a light taste for those who don’t like a strong aftertaste.

If gluten doesn’t work with your diet, Mongozo Premium Pilsner is another option. It’s the first lager in the world that is certified gluten free. Keep in mind it does have a slightly bitter aftertaste, but is still easy to drink.

‘Smooth’

Considered the most well rounded

beer category ten different brews are considered ‘smooth’ at Beertown.

Barking Squirrel Lager is one of the most full-bodied beers out there.

It’s a distinct burnt orange in colour with a delicate hop aroma.

Yet the Palm Ale stands out the most for those looking for a smooth drink.

This Belgian beer has a honeylike tenderness and includes a bitingly refreshing finish. It is the best pick for any hearty meal or leisurely drinking evening.

‘Robust’

This category includes the heaviest of beers that are made for extremely casual drinking and should be enjoyed at a moderate pace. Innis & Gunn’s Original Scotch Ale is considered the heaviest amongst them all. It’s aged in oak scotch casks, which gives this ale some vanilla and honey tones.

At first taste it may seem like you are taking a shot of the darkest liquor known to man, but once you ease into it, it can be a very flavourful experience. Drink this one with caution.

“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

Sound familiar? If you or someone you know says this then there is a good chance they are a controller.

Controllers are often perfectionists who insist on completing things themselves to ensure they are done right.

While most controllers think of themselves as being right, instead of controlling, there are some of us out there that are fully aware of what we’re doing; and let me tell you, that can be worse.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of coming to terms with the harsh reality that I am a controller and now that I know, I realize it is the source of stress and exhaustion.

No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I always have to be in control. I must know what is happening, where I’m going and why.

Yet most infuriating part about it all is realizing that I can’t stop. The irony is that controllers can’t control the fact that they are controlling.

Judith Orloff, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA explained in Psychology Today that controllers are often afraid of falling apart, so they micromanage in

order to reduce anxiety. Most often, controllers will attempt to control other’s lives through incessantly offering advice or insisting they know what is best for people.

Orloff outlines a few questions to ask yourself to determine whether you are in a relationship with a controller: Does this person keep claiming to know what is best for you?

Do you typically have to do this his/ her way? Is he or she so domineering you feel suffocated? Do you feel you’re held prisoner to this person’s rigid sense of order? Is this relationship no fun because it lack spontaneity?

One of the ways Orloff suggests to deal with a controller is to be assertive in a healthy way. Don’t try to control the controller but stay confident and refuse to play victim.

Most often, the controller does not realize they are monopolizing a situation, so sensitively remind them that you want your opinions heard too and they’ll likely change.

It’s important not to think of controllers as conniving people who are intentionally trying to manipulate your life. Nine times out of ten us controllers have no idea the effect we’re having over other people.

Through our constant interruptions and non-stop advice and suggestions, we’re truly trying to help.

Our downfall comes in when we think we know best and get upset when people don’t take our advice, but we get over it and move on.

The good news is there are ways to combat this kind of person; don’t just sit back and let us take over.

LENA YANG GRAPHICS ARTIST

Life panel: love and dating at university ERIN SHEEHAN STAFF WRITER

Pat Benatar once sang “Love is a battlefield.”

With juggling work, school, and a social life, along with an understanding subjective rules and deciphering unreadable texts, dating at university appears to be a war zone we work through.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, especially since over the weekend I walked around the grocery store getting up the courage to talk to a cute guy and just ended up looking like a stalker. To gain more insight, I enlisted the help of 25 students.

With a series of questions in different categories we tackled the many different factors that go alongside with dating while being in university.

long-distance relationship.”

Laura Staley, third-year environmental studies: “Inconsistently.”

Dylan Clarke, first-year BBA: “Yeah.

I go on dates. But no, I don’t have a girlfriend, no.”

Brandon Itware, second-year biology and chemistry: “Umm…I’m not really too sure about dating right now. I’m not opposed to it, but I couldn’t really care less if I’m dating someone right now or not. I feel school takes priority in my life right now.”

Holding books instead of hands

When asked why those who don’t date made that decision responses were either that it just hasn’t happened or they just didn’t have the time.

Philip Warner, first-year BBA and financial math: “I don’t have the time.”

Sarah McRea, third-year English: “I really haven’t met anyone and I don’t think I would be in the place. I don’t think I could handle the stress of dating and the stress of school at the same time.”

Time management

Do you date?

From this pool of students there was a mixture of people who dated and didn’t, who were single and who were in a relationship, who provided their own understanding.

Kyle Main, second-year archaeology: “I am currently in a relationship. A

relationships, friends, and family between two people.”

Chrissy Elizabeth, fourth-year communications: “You have to be considerate of your partner and be understanding if they go: ‘Hey I’m going to be in the library for a week, don’t disturb me’.”

We are not living in an episode of Saved by the Bell: College Years, so school is actually a very important part of university life. This was the biggest problem, for most of the students as studies affect dating.

Hosanna Asistio, second-year practical nursing at George Brown: “I think the hardest thing about dating at university these days is the understanding and commitment to create a balance between school,

Where do you meet people?

Mark Pezzetta second-year biology: “Oh, who knows!? Bars, clubs, coffee shops, you know wherever. It’s always easier to meet someone in a more public place like a coffee shop as opposed to a club or a bar. “ Ishaan Kukreja second-year communications: “It’s meeting in the same class or a club you’re involved in.”

Ria Lynch, fourth-year psychology: “Circle of friends for sure. I feel like your friends know kind of what you’re looking for.”

Barney Stinson or Ted Mosbey?

What I found in this process is that dating is an individual approach, which is seen in what we want from and what we see in relationships at university.

What the students were personally looking for:

Mark Pezzetta: “I’m always looking for a serious relationship. But every now and then with a casual is not so bad.”

Ishaan Kukreja: “More serious.”

Is University more casual or serious?

Laura Curk, four-year communication studies: “I think it depends on the individual and what they’re looking for.”

Bisma Bhatti, graduated with business degree and fourth-year communication studies: “For university I say more casual dating, just in terms of people’s schedules and where they are in their life. The good about that is that a lot of those people end up turning into friends. So it’s not like you’re totally cutting off ties.”

Pros: Laura Staley: “It kind of breaks the nervousness.”

Chris Ackie: “It’s easier to talk over text. So I don’t know. I guess you find out a lot more about people when you text them rather than in person because some people are shy.”

Laura Curk: “It sort of like keeps the communication going and you are reminding each other that you’re thinking of each other even when you’re not together.”

Cons: Kimberly Delisle: “I think it can cause a lot of problems. Words get twisted.”

Sarah Mielke: “I just come off really awkward over technology. [Laughs].

I like to communicate with people in person more because I feel like I am only adorable in person.”

The Pros and Cons of our new dating counsellor: the cell phone

There is pressure to talk to people.

Texting was seen as a benefit for long distance relationships and for little things, but these students found that if they cared about someone, they picked up the phone or saw them in person.

Visit thecord.ca to continue reading the conversation

• 13

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

CLASSIFIEDS

Advertising Manager Angela Endicott angela.taylor@wlusp.com

Local festival The 49th ELMIRA MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL, Sat. April 6th, 7a.m. to 4p.m. “Come Taste the Tradition.” 519-669-6000, www.elmiramaplesyrup.com

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, An ode to whiskey dick: Whiskey dick, whiskey dick Thou art so bittersweet, Whiskey dick, whiskey dick I’d beat ya meat.

Whiskey dick, whiskey dick You troublesome foe, Whiskey dick, whiskey dick Saves me from actin’ a hoe Sincerely, I’LL TAKE YA DICK Dear Life, When I go to do a survey that promises entrance to some sort of prize draw, I prefer not having to scroll through your scary Terms and Agreements page that tells me that you can use me for promotional purposes if I win. Thanks WLU Food Services, you just lost the carrot of a prize in the stick of legalities and advertising.

Sincerely, Keep it Simple, Stupid Dear Life, I just wanted to give a shoutout to the four members of the Laurier swim team who competed at CIS over reading week in Calgary, you guys are amazing and sure made Laurier proud!

Sincerely, Swimming needs more fans Dear Life, This school isn’t what I thought it’d be. The amount of hate that everyone harbours here is somewhat disheartening. Just because you’re anonymous doesn’t mean you should spread hate. Do something more creative with your time.

Sincerely, Where’s the love?

Dear Life, Please stop letting Laurier accept so many new students. With our spotty wireless and lack of housing let’s deal with what got.

Sincerely, The amount of students is too damn high Dear Life, Still loving Survivor 26 seasons later. Out of all the ridiculous reality shows out there, Survivor brings the

Last week’s solution

classic game.

Sincerely, Never Missed an Episode Dear Life, I want a t-shirt that says “I survived the GRT.” Those cool people I waited over an hour for an iExpress bus with on Tuesday, you deserve one too.

Sincerely, One does not simply ride the bus Dear Life, I was e-mailing Just for Laughs the other day a question I had for them, and this is the automatically generated response I got. Hope it makes you laugh. “Thanks for your message! Who knows, someone here might actually read it. They may even reply. You could end up dating them. Maybe you’ll get married and live on some remote tropical island. And all because of your silly message. We sure do live in strange times!”

Sincerly, Way too funny for life Dear Life, I don’t think anything has hurt me more than watching someone literally count down the days until I’m out of their life. On a public forum no less. I get it, you hate me. But just know that I would never do this to you.

Sincerely, The Quiet Roommate Dear Life, Last Thursday was Self Injury Awareness and the first time I seriously considered hurting myself in months. My mood disorder is killing me and despite the “awareness” that tries to remove the stigma surrounding those who suffer from mental health, I still find it to be a very judgemental world that pretends that my problems don’t matter. When I’m gone, I hope Laurier learns to better serve its students and stop patronizing us so there is less suffering in silence.

Sincerely, I’m trying to talk to you, are you even listening?

Dear Life, To the guy who is doing something BIG in about 7 months. Maybe you wanna think about it a little longer?

A few months...a year even? Hearing this news was pretty much like a pigeon suggesting a screen play about aliens to a dog.

Sincerely, You know what I’m talking about Dear Life, Please explain what we do now that we are naked.

Sincerely, I’m Englebert

Follow us! @cordnews WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

WATERLOO | BRANTFORD | Kitchener | Toronto

TWO AUTHORS IN CONVERSATION

ALISSA YORK & ANDREW WESTOLL ARTS-356-FEB13

DearLIFE

Sudoku (solution in next week’s paper)

We welcome you to attend as both authors read from their National Bestsellers and discuss the integration of creativity and academic demands.

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14 •

Arts

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013 Arts Editor Cristina Almudevar calmudevar@thecord.ca

Opera Laurier does ‘Figaro’ justice scott glaysHer StAff WRitER

Over 150 people gathered in the Theatre Auditorium this past Sunday to experience Opera Laurier’s production of the Mozart classic, The Marriage of Figaro.

The Marriage of Figaro, composed

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is based on the stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais. In short, Figaro is engaged to be married to Susanna; both characters are among the Count’s staff in his home.

However the Count has grown bored with his marriage to the Countess Almaviva and is taking notice of Susanna. The Count looks to steal her away for himself, in which he would complete the marriage with the bride-to-be prior to Figaro’s honeymoon.

The performance started with a small yet powerful musical interlude by the ambient orchestra. This set the tone for the entire production and got the audience ready for what was about to come.

As the curtains opened and the two leads graced the stage, it was evident to see the level of commitment and talent that Opera Laurier had put in. Figaro (played by Andrew Rethazi) was consistent throughout the show and carried the often times confusing, plot line. His counterpart and love interest, Susanna (played by Melody Thomas) was also extremely well received.

As the performance continued, some even more remarkable roles came to the stage. The Countess Almaviva (played by Samantha Pickett) was a true standout performance. Her vocal skills were jaw dropping as she displayed an array of octaves from start to finish.

The trouser role—when a male character is played by a woman—of Cherubino (played by Emma Mansell) was another notable performance as she seamlessly embodied the role of mischievous young male servant.

Along with the strong performances from the ensemble cast, the 35-piece orchestra was what really tied the production together. With direction from musical director Leslie De’Ath, the orchestra gave the performance a much more dynamic and sonically stimulating setting.

From the strong lead violin to the fluttering harpsichord, every instrument was on point in turn complimenting the simultaneous acting.

Not only was the skill level from the actors and orchestra top notch, but the overall story was pretty humorous, this production was a true opera buffa. The comedic nature of the plot allowed for the actors to have a little fun with their recitative and delivery.

Stage director, Rob Herriot stated in his director note that “there is of course the drama, but more importantly there is the comedy.” He also goes onto say that “Mozart was one composer who really got comedy.”

This understanding of comedy coupled with the dramatic elements of the performance was definitely appreciated and greatly absorbed by the audience.

From beginning to end, Opera Laurier’s presentation of The Marriage of Figaro constantly delivered a skillful, exciting and humorous opera. The transcendent acting and perfectly executed musical accompaniment contributed to the aura of drama and comedy that kept the audience laughing out loud and totally engaged. Bravo!

Kate turner pHotogRApHY MANAgER

House music gets to its roots Beta goes global with the electro group Global Deejays to sold-out crowd HeatHer davidson StAff pHotogRAHER

Do you have what it takes? colleen connolly fEAtuRES EDitoR

The various vocal sounds of Laurier Idol’s eight final contestants filled the Concourse last Wednesday, turning many a head as students made their way to and from late classes.

Presented by A-Team and Radio Laurier, the event called upon students to audition throughout February in order to compete against a select few for a shot at Campus Idol which will take place at the University of Waterloo Friday March 8.

When inquired about the unique collaboration between Radio Laurier and A-Team, MC Scott Glaysher responded, “Originally, A-Team reached out to Radio Laurier to cover the event and live broadcast the whole thing.”

“As plans moved forward, the two parties really brought their ideas together and made it a joint project.”

Each contestant was permitted to perform two songs of their choosing to be judged by a panel of made up of: the current Student Union president Michael Onobolu, WLUSU president-elect Annie Constantinescu, Student Publications president Emily Frost, Radio Laurier

Station Manager Lainey Dalrymple and A-Team Coordinator Katie Fernandes.

The judges really got into their roles, especially Onobolu who delivered an impersonation of Simon Cowell and MC Glaysher who channeled his inner Ryan Seacrest. Each judge made a statement about what they wanted to see, ranging from Frost’s request for “fierceness” and Dalrymple’s desire for original talent, before the first performer was ushered onto stage.

Contestant Danielle Robert gave a rendition of “Blue Jeans” by Lana Del Ray and her own composition titled “Beautiful Genius” on the keyboard which the judges praised for its unique beat boxing segment.

Ryan Fernandes followed with a soulful but pitchy performance of “In the Arms of the Angels” by Sarah McLaughlin and “So Sick” by Ne-Yo. It was noted that he had an impressive falsetto.

Isabel Lopes gave an impeccable performance of “Shark in the Water”

by VV Brown and “If I Ain’t Got You Babe” by Alicia Keys but expressed some stage nerves common in a few of the contestants.

The least nervous appeared to be Natalie Roth, who confidently belted Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You” and

Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” to the accompaniment of Brandon Kuepfer on guitar.

Lindsay Tribble followed with the jazzy sounds of Etta James and Norah Jones singing “At Last” and “Don’t Know Why.” Then Jeremy Enns, in close second to Roth on the confidence scale, entertained the crowd with a dynamic and, at times satirical, cover of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” on keyboard and Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” on the drums.

The last two performers were singer-songwriters on guitar. Andrew Dolson sweetly sang a cover of One Direction’s “Little Things” and his own motivational “Sing It Out” followed by Tori Sutherland with “Hometown Glory” by Adele and one of her own as well, both full of feeling.

In the end, Dolson achieved third place, Lopes landed second and Tribble finished first to the applause of a seated audience and many gathered around.

“The event was a major success,” said Glaysher, shedding his Seacrest. “All the contestants did a great job, the judges were more than impressed and even the students passing by enjoyed the musical celebration.”

andrew savory StAff WRitER

Saturday March 2 saw Austrian electro-house duo Global Deejays travel to Beta where a sold-out crowd pushed the Uptown Waterloo club to capacity until closing time.

The duo, composed of “Deejay Taylor” and “Deejay Mikkel,” was working a one-man show for the night as Taylor took the reins for the performance. Regardless, the crowd was treated to something different than what a lot of other DJs have to offer.

Global Deejays broke onto the scene in 2004 with their song titled “The Sound of Francisco”, which applied the vocal edit from Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco” combined with “California Dreamin’”

by The Mamas and the Papas.

This song was an international sensation as it rocketed to the top of the charts worldwide, eclipsing the mark of holding a spot among several top ten charts. Since then, Global Deejays haven’t reached mainstream recognition and have embraced more of a “euro” sound with the music that they have produced.

The duo has been around since house music began gaining momentum and now stand as a fond memory of where the well-known techno music that we know and love began in the early 2000s.

There were a mass of people looking to be a part of the first big

show at Beta after reading week, and Global Deejays didn’t disappoint. The audience cheered all night long as Taylor mixed drawnout buildups with expertise towards an emphatic drop where he mashed a rhythmic bass line combined with a synthesized melody to keep the song in harmony.

Halfway through Taylor’s set the power cut-out temporarily and people were unsure of what to do next. With years of experience under his belt, Taylor was unfazed and simply raised his arms to the audience in a pump-up motion to maintain everyone’s enthusiasm.

Almost like clockwork the music blared back to life and the raving continued as lasers shot across the room from corner to corner.

The fun continued throughout the rest of the evening, but everyone was well aware of the fact that Global Deejays debut song, The Sound of San Francisco,” had not played yet. Just as it seemed as if the song wouldn’t be played, Taylor announced his appreciation for the crowd and declared his last song of the night, which was none other than what the crowd had been waiting for.

Although no longer as prominent as some other mainstream DJs, Global Deejays reminded electronic music lovers of the grassroots by paying homage to a few classics while also incorporating modern progressions into their set.

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

ARTS

• 15

‘The movies that made America’ CARLY BASCH LIFE EDITOR

Does the experience of watching a film barely move beyond the perimeters of your couch? Or has it become an experience so great and mesmerizing that it has proven to be a culturally significant moment that must be acknowledged?

That’s exactly the mantra of the National Film Registry (NFR). Created to select 25 films to go into the Library of Congress, each year since 1989, each film chosen has proven to be works of art that are either “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films”.

But the NFR has often gone largely unnoticed to the public and stays within the board.

Wanting to break the silence and bring enlightenment to the public eye, directors Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton made their documentary These Amazing Shadows to tell the story of the NFR and American film preservation.

“Sometimes it takes an outsider for you to understand your own self, your own history or your own organization because sometimes you’re not really aware of what you’re doing.

What is the registry? What is our public perception? What did we find?,” Norton noted when asked about the reception of the film which was entered into the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.

“I think our film has really served

this role of wanting to bring the public’s involvement in this process because it can be pretty powerful.”

Hosted by Wilfrid Laurier’s Film Society, Mariano and Nolan were on campus March 4 to participate in a screening and discussion of their film amongst Laurier’s cinephiles.

Laurier Film Society co-presidents Hilary Hulsey and Katie McNarmara had gotten in contact with both directors who found each other on social media through shared interest of classical films and film history and after a series of exchanges brought them to WLU. These Amazing Shadows brings light to the history of film and the process of film preservation.

The film takes the audience on a journey on a behind-the-scenes experience of how film preservation is maintained and what types of films are considered to be entered each year.

The list includes some of the most canonical works such as Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz, but also has unlikely gems such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video.

“No one had ever talked about it before,” said Mariano when asked about the Library of Congress’ reaction to the idea for the film.

“Because we were ‘the first’ they were very open and cooperative and gave us access. In 2009, we went to the Film Preservation board meeting; no one was allowed in before.

They introduced us to people on the

board. It was a snowball effect.”

But the process of putting together the film had some complications.

“We started this film in 2008 just at a time where the stock market had collapsed.” Norton explained.

“Fundraising was tough, we didn’t have a name. We weren’t Errol Morris or Michael Moore where we could go to the public. It was difficult finding funds from organizations.” Mariano added.

Yet These Amazing Shadows managed to bring in some of the most culturally significant figures in the film.

Film heavyweights Christopher Nolan, Barbara Kopple, Rob Reiner and Tim Roth are among the many who chimed in wanting to express their love and importance that films have on social history.

After the experience of putting the film together—Mariano and Norton’s first documentary feature—they shared some valuable words of wisdom with the students interested in filmmaking.

“It’s such a public thing you’re putting your ideas out and you want people to see and it’s kind of risky,” said Norton.

“You just need to decide, ‘That’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to tell stories’. It’s not naiveté or blind hope, it’s just the act of wanting to do it.”

And that’s exactly how the films and NFR who were deep within the shadows, had come out into the light of the public eye.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Igniting the passion for fashion CRISTINA ALMUDEVAR ARTS EDITOR

Who needs to watch Tyra Banks have a meltdown on poor models on America’s Next Top Model when Laurier has its own, less crazy, equivalent?

On Feb. 28, the Wilfs stage was transformed into a catwalk as hopeful models competed for the coveted spot in Fashion ‘n’ Motion’s (FnM) fashion show during their performance. FnM combines a dance recital with a fashion show during its interludes. The male and female winner will be the featured models during the fashion show.

Hosted by Fashion ‘n’ Motion, the event was simultaneously promotion for their upcoming show and a chance to raise even more money for their chosen charity Sick Kids. “[Laurier’s Next Top Model] started three years ago as a charity event … we have a bunch of charity events through the year to raise more money,” said FnM president Noelle Antkowiak. “We decided to have this event where we ask the Laurier students to compete to be Laurier’s next top model … they get to be in all three scenes.”

Laurier’s Next Top Model, however, is not just your typical modeling competition. While there were the typical categories of “casual wear,” “formal wear” and “model’s choice,” the models’ interpretation of these categories was what made this event stand out. During “model’s choice,” contestants’ outfits ranged from studying swag, to an everyday outfit, to a Sylvester the Cat costume.

On top of the categories focusing solely on their looks, FnM

KOSTADIN KOLEV STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

One of the models at Thursday’s Laurier’s Next Top Model

also ensured that there were brains behind the obvious beauty. A question and answer period, hosted by MCs Allison Dlugokecki and Wes Phillips, was short and sweet with the models each being asked two to three questions.

Picking a winner was not an easy decision. While Alisha Suggit was chosen as a winner with ease, there were many strong male contenders.

However it came down to a walkoff between Scott Pires, dressed as Sylvester the Cat, and Dayo Adebowale, dressed as Urkel.

After three rounds of impressive walking and careful consideration from judges Antkowiak, Maria Kalintsis, the coordinator of Charity Ball; Michael Onabolu, Students’ Union president; Erin Neal, liaison coordinator for Campus Clubs and Ian Watson, creative director of FnM the winners chosen were Suggit and Pires.

However, it was recently discovered that Scott Pires will not be walking in the FnM show.

FnM is celebrating its twentieth year on campus and its second year as a campus club.

“I’ve been

trying to some research on who started [FnM] and why … From what I gathered, a group at Laurier wanted to dance and put on a show. It started as fashion and then it became more into dance,” said Antkowiak.

Later, once the original members realized that their shows were drawing large crowds, they started to choose charities to donate to.

There are three shows on March 15 at 7 p.m. and March 16 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at U-Desk or online.

16 •

Editorial

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013 Opinion Editor Devon Butler dbutler@thecord.ca

Community Service Learning still has a long way to go Since its inception in 2006, Laurier’s Community Service Learning (CSL) program has attempted to integrate community service within an academic classroom context.

With over 47 newly re-designed CSL courses at both the Waterloo and Brantford campuses combined, it is evident that Laurier is making a significant effort to shift the traditional university focus from in-class academics to more hands-on opportunities.

While not restricted to arts students alone, the primary number of CSL courses fall under the arts umbrella, which has the potential to make arts students feel relevant in a post-secondary environment that too often tells them how unimportant they are.

Since the primary goal of CSL is to give students experience in real world situations that will prepare them for their future careers, there is a significant attempt to introduce practical aspects to help benefit the thousands of unemployed arts students nationwide.

Certainly there are enormous benefits to CSL, especially for those in sociology and psychology classes who want experience working with children, those with special needs or who simply want useful experience in a communal setting.

However, there appears to be a strategic effort on Laurier’s behalf, to integrate community aspects into courses that have little relevance.

Certain English or global studies courses may benefit from relatable fields, more closely relatable to co-op positions, but placements in daycares or schools can often become more of a hassle than benefit to students with no desire to become teachers.

CSL claims your volunteer time will be two hours a week, it can often extend beyond 15. For students already overwhelmed with school and working part-time to pay for their education, it can be difficult to make time to travel to a placement and then fulfill your role.

While the CSL program has obvious positives, especially for students who seek practical alternatives to their university education, the university should avoid adding it to courses it’s not relevant to.

The program could be successful and add practical experience to most degrees, however, the program needs significant work before it can be truly valuable.

International women’s Day still crucial On March 8 countries across the globe will celebrate and appreciate women for International Women’s Day (IWD).

Observed since the turn of the 20th century, IWD seeks to connect women from around the world through local activities, networking events, performances and showcases as well as public lectures and political rallies.

While it is used to inspire women by acknowledging their accomplishments IWD is also a platform to bring attention to domestic violence and gender-bias sexism that still exits worldwide.

While many in our culture tend to regard sexism as an irrelevant issue in our contemporary society where these may seem like unlikely issues, the truth is that women in all social strata are still impacted by patriarchal ideology.

Defending yourself in domestic assault incidents often results with being charged for your simple act of self-defense and victims of domestic violence are discriminated to the point of extreme poverty.

There are very few services that assist struggling domestic abuse victims to seek shelter, employment and safety. This is why a large portion of Canada’s homeless population is female.

Internationally, women are subject to discrimination where they are not given access to health care, education or basic human rights.

While it is easy to dismiss IWD in developed countries that appear to have bypassed sexism in society, there are still issues surrounding rape, reproductive rights, unbalanced employment and violence.

So this International Women’s Day, pay respect to the billions of women worldwide still struggling for equal rights.

—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

Québec society crumbling Biased language laws creating turmoil in an already delicate province

Devon butler

...at some point our nation needs to stop concentrating on past issues.

OPINION COLUMNIST

For the relatively young countries of North America, the province of Québec provides a unique and exotic escape from our traditional, modern surroundings.

With a European sensibility, Québec often gains extensive tourism, but their increasingly damaging policies, laws and behaviour is garnering them widespread international criticism.

Québec’s newly proposed language law, Bill 101, which seeks to legislate the French language by ensuring it is protected from outside influences, is a perfectly understandable initiative.

Naturally, Québec would feel inclined to protect their language and the culture it flourishes in. What the government of Québec seems oblivious to however, is the complete state of turmoil these attempts to protect their culture has ignited.

Some of the bill’s unjustified restrictions include minimizing how many English-speakers can work at a business and punishing any bilingual municipalities if their Anglophones out number their Francophones.

The bill also takes aim at Québec’s youth as it will restrict stationed Canadian soldiers from educating their children in English while also having the right to withhold a student’s high school or college diploma if the student isn’t deemed fit enough to actively participate in Québec’s society.

This seems highly unnecessary as a

place like Montreal is by nature, a duellanguage city. With tensions surrounding the government’s series of bills intended to protect the French language, it seems by doing so, they are consequently only working to restrict English.

Thousands of English-speaking Québec residents have spoken out against the bill for its infringement on their rights as Canadian citizens.

Similarly, many English protestors feel they are subject to an unfair prejudice from Premier Pauline Marois of the Parti Québecois government (PQ).

With criticism over Bill 101, otherwise known as Québec’s Charter of the French Language (QCFL), it should be apparent to the PQ that they are not only upsetting English-Speaking Canadians, but their very own residents who now feel unwelcome in their native province.

Despite the controversy of the bill, it is apparent that the primary origin of Québec’s deteriorating social and

political system rests in the hands of the PQ, who are narrowly focused on “protecting” French culture until the point of complete and utter ridiculousness.

Significant media attention has been given to what is now being called “Pasta-gate” in which an Italian restaurant in Québec was investigated, and later reprimanded for not having enough French dishes and names on its menu.

Apparently, the word “pasta” violated several language laws. It is almost completely impossible to defend such absurd actions.

It is one thing to carry an agenda with meaning, but something completely different to do so until the point of international ridicule.

With education related riots, deteriorating infrastructure, government corruption and now, communist-like politics, it is apparent that Québec is crumbling.

English speaking Canadians have long been taught to feel not only guilty, but responsible for what their ancestors did to restrict French culture.

I understand there is a legacy of bias or injustice, but at some point our nation needs to stop concentrating on past issues.

It is our ancestral shame that provides this kind of opportunity which takes advantage of non-francophone citizens.

With a province that has been investigated for the mafia influence in the Montreal government as well as dangerously subpar infrastructure, it is a relief to see a more critical eye now being placed on the state of Québec.

If Québec wants to protect the integrity of their French culture, perhaps it’s time to focus their energy on fixing their infrastructure and political structure before worrying about what types of words are used to describe Italian cuisine. letters@thecord.ca

• 17

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

OPINION

Opinion Editor Devon Butler dbutler@thecord.ca

Zero Dark Thirty’s origins The truth behind the film’s alleged pro-American propaganda

BRAD KLEINSTUBER OPINION COLUMNIST

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

The recent Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty has gotten a bad rap, one that it doesn’t deserve.

It has been criticized for being too pro-American, glorifying the war on terror and propagandizing for the Pentagon. These accusations are without basis.

Zero Dark Thirty is a modern military thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Covering years of intelligence work by a CIA agent to find and kill bin Laden, the film has won welldeserved accolades, however some have criticized the film for supporting partisan politics and playing up the role of torture in the hunt for bin Laden.

Those who have criticized the film as being American propaganda glorifying or justifying the War on Terror don’t know the film’s history.

The film was originally intended to end with the failed attempt on bin Laden’s life in the Battle of Tora Bora, a distinctly downbeat ending.

However, Bin Laden’s death came as the film was entering production and thus, the screenplay had

to be radically altered. The original screenplay was going to feature America failing, and dramatically so. It was likely to be deeply critical, and the finished product retains much of that tone.

Too many have criticized the film for making torture seem necessary, but the first clue that this criticism is off-base should be the darkness and horror with which the torture is presented.

The film does misrepresent how torture was used as it is well documented that torture played little to no role in capturing bin Laden.

But the film doesn’t seriously justify torture, as it leads very indirectly to a piece of information, uncovered by pure intelligence work which the CIA already possessed.

The film’s scenes of torture don’t say that torture is absolutely necessary, only that it happened.

Others have accused the film of justifying the American war on terror and supporting its thoroughly questionable policies.

For a film that according to some, glorifies the CIA, America and the war on terror, the Americans are presented very negatively. Most of the time the CIA is reacting to events beyond their control.

There’s a pervasive sense of desperation in most American characters, trying to find any way to strike a blow against international terrorism.

Most of the senior officers and

bureaucrats are incompetent, obtrusive or foolish.

The film’s final minutes showing the raid on Osama bin Laden, are its most powerful, and they counter most of the claims made by the film’s detractors.

We are meant to focus on the raid, and the violence. When the Navy SEALs finally reach bin Laden, the audience doesn’t even get to see his face.

We spend more time on the crying women and children in the room.

The final scenes aren’t jubilant.

Nobody but the commando team says so much as a “congratulations.”

In the last scene, Maya, the CIA agent sits alone and cries on a plane; clearly emotionally distraught.

There’s no celebratory “we did it!” in the film, there’s only a lingering “what did we do?”

Had the raid scenes been removed from the film and placed on their own, they would have made great anti-war short film.

Zero Dark Thirty isn’t an apolitical movie — its subject matter would never allow it. But its greatest strength is its neutrality.

The events are presented without slant, factually, in an almost documentary way.

Accusations of pro-American bias, the endorsement of torture and a glorification of the War on Terror are fundamentally flawed. letters@thecord.ca

Senate getting tough to support ALEX REINHART OPINION COLUMNIST

While I have always perceived the Canadian Senate as a relatively useful component of government, the current senate is making it difficult to justify its continuation.

For those of you who are unaware, the Senate is to act as a “sober second thought” within the Canadian legislative process. A large percentage of Canadians however, view the senate as a redundant body, which is a drain on government resources.

Until recently, I was a firm believer in the “sober second thought” perspective, however, I find it virtually impossible to continue supporting the senate. I have never had a problem calling Conservatives incompetent, Stephen Harper’s appointments to the senate aid themselves quite well in making this case.

From the questionable appointment of Jacques Demers, an illiterate—by his own admission —hockey coach, to the current scandal amongst Conservative Senators, each of them are complete and utter fools. Senator Patrick Brazeau’s current charges of assault and sexual assault demonstrate the irresponsible nature of these senators.

The fact that anyone would commit such crimes is despicable to begin with, however, as a senator, Brazeau’s actions are even more appalling. Holding a position within the Canadian Government, Brazeau has few responsibilities; surely it is not asking much for him to not commit criminal acts. His actions reflect poorly on not only himself,

but all Canadians.

Likewise, the current scandal involving Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin further suggest that Conservative senators do not deserve our trust. For those of you who are unaware, Duffy and Wallins are currently being investigated for expense claims.

The two Senators have allegedly been living in Ontario, outside of the provinces they represent—Duffy represents Prince Edward Island, Wallin represents Saskatchewan.

As if sexual assault was not enough, Brazeau is also a part of this said investigation.

While I am not so naïve as to believe that only Conservative Senators partake in this, the aforementioned cases demonstrate the rash nature of the Conservatives and Harper’s willingness to appoint anyone with a Conservative Party membership, competence be damned.

Despite branding themselves as responsible and honest, it is clear that they are actually the opposite.

This leads me to the discussion of senate reform. With such appointments to the senate as Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin, one cannot help but question if such incompetent individuals could possibly offer anything to the political system.

The senate costs Canadians about $100 million every year. At this cost, I question how we can justify employing 105 Canadians in this capacity. Senators are generally washed up political allies who have simply been put out to pasture; after serving their purpose for the party, they receive a senate seat as a reward.

Personally, I do not feel the need to have my tax dollars spent on Harper’s cronies and having to pay the salary of Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin only adds insult to injury. letters@thecord.ca

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18 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

OPINION

Bringing games to the real world Confidence, organization and innovation are just some of the skills gamers develop

You know what yanks my cord... …People who don’t know how to walk on campus. I’m serious, it is an infectious problem all over campus and we need to be aware of it.

The slow trudging that occurs in the hallways as people walk makes it impossible for students who are keen on getting to class at a decent hour.

The biggest contributor to this terrible walking trend is the consistent need of walkers pressing their noses against their smartphones causing them to be unaware of any surroundings and walk and a moderately slower pace, occasionally being stunned and shocked when bumping into people.

Hallway traffic jams can also be created by two people taking up space in the hallway, making it impossible for people coming from the opposite to walk by, and all of a sudden decide to stop right in the middle of the hall, causing others to either awkwardly bump into them or squeeze through another path of bodies.

Don’t bother trying to say “excuse me” or manoeuvre your way through the crowd, it’s a lost cause with the growing rate of inconsistent walkers.

If I have ever been motivated to break the rules of school spirit to walk on the hawk, it’s because of this. Maybe this is a good time to invest in a shield and plow my way through to make sure I get to class on time.

–Carly Basch

LEAH DEJONG OPINION COLUMNIST

What if life were a video game? A world where the path was clearly marked, ‘leveling up’ resulted in fireworks, respawning was an option and bonuses could be unlocked.

The allure of a video game world isn’t hard to see and three billion hours are spent globally each week enjoying the thrill of meeting goals and unlocking the next level.

But video games are coming to the real world and have brought with them a new lifestyle, business model and outlook.

This, regardless of the bad rap games and gamers receive, is a positive thing. This new style is simply called gamification.

It is the act of integrating game aspects into traditionally non-game contexts to engage people in problem solving.

The level of commitment ranges.

Some people have created entire systems that hold their task list and award, for example, a plus one public speaking bonus after the big presentation.

Others are more low key, instead choosing to integrate game aspects into real life without any virtual counterpart.

From casual workplaces filled with fun and foosball tables to executive who lay out assignments as quests, gamification is catching on not only in “innovative” sectors like technology but in more conventional business settings.

Bringing games to the real world

STEPHANIE TRUONG GRAPHICS EDITOR

takes the skills learned in-game and makes them valuable assets to society that would otherwise be underutilized. Make no mistake, there is value in games and important lessons learned.

Gamers are motivated to start and finish quests because they believe in their eventual success. Even seemingly unsolvable puzzles are worked at for hours with nothing more than the vague promise of a solution.

The world could always use more

motivated hope.

Gamers understand teamwork.

Many games are based on working in teams, creating a sense of comradery.

These skills are the result of committed, hard work being second nature to a gamer.

Finally, and perhaps most critically, gamers believe in the ‘epic meaning’ of life. That is they’re perfectly comfortable being handed an epic quest in which the fate of the world rests on their shoulders and

running with it.

What does this culminate in?

Gamers believe that they have the ability to save the world. They are willing to defeat Bowser, save Hyrule or perform any quest they can get their hands on.

Certainly the planet could use more people willing to save the world. There are potentially 500 million of them sitting around the globe unknowingly waiting for the opportunity to unplug and play the game for real but we haven’t given them a world in which they feel comfortable to do so.

An intrinsic part of video game quests is the atmosphere and parameters of the game world itself.

Characters in the game trust the player to accomplish the mission; they believe in the hero’s success.

They encourage them along the way and provide rewards upon accomplishment.

That’s the key to gamification, creating an environment where everyone, gamers and non-gamers feel safe enough to try.

Where embarking on a quest is a team event and everyone wants to save the princess together. What does it matter if the princess is in another castle if there’s a person for each one?

Our society needs games. We need the fun they bring, the skills they teach and the mentality they create. But we really shouldn’t need them.

What we should have is a world that doesn’t drive its people into a virtual universe to feel confident, competent and trusted.

Gamification is one step closer to making games comes to life. And one step closer to bringing world change out of the console and into our reality. letters@thecord.ca

• 19

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

SportS

Sports Editor Shelby Blackley sblackley@thecord.ca

Sports in brief Daniels named OUA West MVP

Star Laurier netminder Ryan Daniels was honoured with the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West MVP award, the top goaltender award and was named an OUA firstteam all-star last week. This is his third all-star award and second time on the first team — he was named a second-team all-star last year. Laurier head coach Greg Puhalski was also named OUA West Coach of the Year.

NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER

Left to right: Mike Massel, Tyrrel Wilson and Jeremy Deneau will repesent Laurier at this year’s East West Bowl on May 11 in London, Ont.

Hawks invited to East West Bowl WESLEY TAYLOR CORD SPORTS

Despite a 3-5 regular season record and a first-round playoff exit in the 2012 season, the Laurier men’s football program will be represented by three players at the annual Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) East West Bowl in London, Ont. Third-year players Jeremy Deneau, Mike Massel and Tyrrel Wilson have been selected from WLU and will play for the West team on May 11.

The three Golden Hawks are among over 90 selections from coast-to-coast, chosen by the Canadian University Football Coaches Association (CUFCA).

The East West Bowl includes selections from 26 universities across Canada entering their fourth year of CIS experience and has reached

eligibility for the 2014 CFL draft.

Participants will have the opportunity to be evaluated by professional personnel and potentially touted as prospects by CFL scouts.

Deneau, a 6’5”, 260-pound offensive lineman, became a starter this season and made seven appearances for the Golden Hawks.

“In such a competitive league, it is an honour to be talked about among the top third years in the CIS,” said Deneau.

“The East West Bowl should be a goal in any player’s university career.”

Deneau attributes his performance in the 2012 season to his physical and mental preparations during the off-season.

6’5”, 265-pound Massel found a full-time spot on Laurier’s offensive line this season, after transitioning from a blocking and receiving tight

end role. “[Being evaluated by CFL personnel] is an honour and privilege,” Massel said. “I had to adapt and learn new techniques against faster and stronger opponents and this selection is the product of all my hard work.”

Massel said he plans to provide leadership to his younger teammates en route to a successful upcoming season in 2013.

“Our team needs to work harder collectively to bring Laurier back to where we know we can be [in the OUA],” said Massel.

Wilson, a 5’11”, 185-pound running back, was in the top five on Laurier in rushing yards and receiving yards last season with 165 yards on the ground and 121 on six receptions.

“I was a lot more focused and determined to make an impact for the

team [this off-season],” said Wilson.

According to Wilson, strength and conditioning coach Tyson Staples has developed a training regimen for the pro-style combine and Wilson hopes to represent his team and league well.

“It has always been a goal of mine to play and be recognized in the East West Bowl,” he said.

Laurier’s new head coach Michael Faulds is no stranger to the East West Bowl, making three appearances in his tenure as a quarterback with the Western Mustangs and two as a coach with the York Lions.

“This is an exciting time for Jeremy, Michael and Tyrrel,” Faulds said.

“The East West Bowl is an opportunity for these three players to showcase their abilities in front of many CFL scouts before their fourth year.

It also gives them extra motivation to train harder in the off-season.”

Allin, Chesson honoured by OUA

Last week a pair of Laurier men’s basketball players were recognized by the OUA as the conference announced the West division all-stars for the year. Veteran Max Allin was named an OUA first team all-star while first-year Matt Chesson was named to the OUA all-rookie team.

This is Allin’s first OUA first-team honour after being named a secondteam all-star in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and all-rookie in 2009-10. Chesson is the eighth consecutive player from WLU to be named to the rookie team.

Dance Team to start competitive season

WLU’s Competitive Dance Team is gearing up for their three competitions this season. They will start March 9 in Guelph at the Terpsichore University Challenge before heading to Brantford on March 16 for the Strive Dance Challenge. On March 23, the team will be back in Brantford to compete at the Rhythm Dance Competition.

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20 •

THE CORD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

sports

Bannerless year for Laurier sports After an early ending to the 2012-13 athletic season, Sports Editor shelby Blackley looks at the performance of this year’s varsity teams and what will need to change in the upcoming years First year since 1999-00 without a provincial title

1999-00

0

57.6% 14-19

2012-13

122

2012-13 win percentage,

The combined playoff re-

Fewest number of com-

the lowest since 2003-04

cord of varsity teams in

bined wins since 2003-04

(when it was 54.1%)

2012-13

(when varsity teams

0

had 113) The 1999-00 season was the last time the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks didn’t win a single Ontario University Athletics (OUA) banner.

That year, the program had a combined 83 wins, 95 losses and a 49.9 per cent win percentage. Since then, Laurier has been able to win at least one provincial championship, including multiple national championships along the way.

Until this year.

WLU’s 2012-13 varsity season came to a halt last week after the women’s hockey team lost a stunning semifinal series 2-1 to the Western Mustangs.

This was the conclusion to a week-long span that also featured the women’s and men’s curling teams being eliminated from the OUA championships, the men’s and women’s basketball teams bounced in the first round of the playoffs and the men’s hockey team defeated in game three of the OUA West quarterfinal.

“We play the game. And when you play the game, there’s a winner and a loser and it didn’t go our way,” said Peter Baxter, director of athletics and recreation at WLU. “But I don’t think that’s from the effort of our teams.”

Since the beginning of the season, Laurier has experienced one of their most unsuccessful years in recent history. In 225 total games, the Golden Hawks varsity squads

only accumulated 122 wins, the fewest since 2003-04.

“I think this is an anomaly year, and I think that’s going to be there,” Baxter said. “To the credit of our competitors now, we’ve set a standard. And we’ve had a target on our backs for a long time. And now they’re doing the same.”

At the beginning of the season, the men’s football team had a 3-5 record before backing into the playoffs, only to be embarrassed by the Queen’s Gaels 34-0.

“The other thing I think is important is that since it starts off in the fall, football has to be strong,” Baxter said. “I think when football is strong, it affects the whole campus, in attitude, in commitment to training and a lot of other sites.

“Unfortunately, we probably had one of the worst seasons in 40 years. When Wilfrid Laurier has a strong football program, that breeds success.”

As the fall sports went on, some of Laurier’s perennial contenders like women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse also fell short of where they usually finish.

“Once you set that excellence standard, the expectations become higher,” Baxter said.

“Which is fine. Bring it on. But at the same time, it’s tougher when you’ve been that successful because the tendency is to become

complacent.”

The winter term didn’t bring any further hope of a championship, as the closest any Laurier team came was the women’s hockey team’s OUA semifinal loss.

Only two teams qualified for nationals over the entire year. Women’s soccer qualified, however, they finished 0-2 at the championship. Swimming had four swimmers qualify, with Renee Dijk scoring all 26 points accumulated for WLU. In 2010, the athletics department introduced a new funding model, which became controversial, largely because it brought on the elimination of Laurier’s volleyball program. The model proposed a tier hierarchy, where more money is directed to the football, basketball, soccer and hockey programs and since then, Baxter said there has been “benchmarking” done.

However, since the model’s implementation, there has been little visible improvement on the field, the court or the ice.

“There’s less than a $17,000 gap between us and the team that won the Yates Cup this year.

So it’s not money,” Baxter said. “Everything comes down to people, not money. Even in the days when we didn’t have money, we still competed.”

Baxter explained that much of the new funding model has helped the intramural

program, where more students are able to participate and more teams have been implemented. According to Baxter, the revenue from the intramurals has helped fund the intercollegiate program.

Within the years following the last time Laurier did not win any championships, Baxter contested that many programs began to blossom.

“I told [past women’s basketball head coach] Stu Julius, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,’” Baxter said.

Baxter was only a year into his tenure at WLU in 1999-00. Since then, the program has seen inconsistent progress, peaking in 2005 with a Vanier Cup in football and a national championship in women’s hockey.

Baxter insists that this year was irregular and that Laurier continues to be competitive.

He said that next season, the school will see a lot of progress.

“This year you’ll see we’ve invested in a great coach in [football head coach] Michael Faulds,” he said. “[Men’s hockey head coach] Greg Puhalski is only in his second recruiting cycle. There are going to be some years where we’re going to win 10 championships. Any of those games could have gone either way.

“We’ll be competitive. And mind you, we have been competitive.”

FILE PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: NICK LACHANCE, MATT TONKIN, CRISTINA RUCCHETTA, NICK LACHANCE, NICK LACHANCE

Laurier did not win a provincial championship this year, marking the first time since 1999-00 without a banner. only swimming and women’s soccer competed at nationals.