The Cord, January 23, 2019

THE CORD THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 59 ISSUE 17 • JANUARY 23, 2019

THE FUTURE FOR STUDENTS WITH FORD News, page 3

BYE-BYE BOMBSHELTER

CARNIVAL CANCELLED

PRESIDENTIAL DISHES

THE BEST A MAN CAN GET?

GOLDEN HAWKS KEEP FLYING

UW pub has last hurrah after sudden closing

Controversial complaint shuts events down

A review of candidate meals at Wilf’s

The pros and cons of the Gillette ad

Laurier defeats Algoma backto-back nights

News, page 4

News, page 6

Arts & Life, page 8

Opinion, page 13

Sports, page 15

2 •

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

VOCAL CORD What would your campaign slogan be?

The Cord

@cordnews

@thecord.ca

CordNews

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

“Something about being authentic.”

–Luxna Rama, fourthyear economics and accounting

“Making everyone feel as comfortable as possible.”

–Gennie Cloutier, firstyear BBA EVA OU/PHOTO EDITOR

Tyler Fassl, goalie of the Wilfrid Laurier University men’s hockey team. The rookie has exceeded all expectations.

“Being someone you can relate to.”

–Megan Gregoire, second-year global studies

“Improving the students’ voice.”

–Gregory Scott-Pierre, third-year film studies

Compiled by Margaret Russell Photos by Jackie Vang NEXT ISSUE JANUARY 30, 2019

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: JANUARY 23

to be damaging to earth’s ozone layer.

1849: French philospher and theologian Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his lettres provinciales.

1998: Michael Jordan scores in double figures for 800th consecutive game in a 10098 OT win over New Jersey; adds 40 more double figure scoring games to his NBA record before retiring for the second time in 1998.

1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first woman in the US to earn a medical degree.

1965: Boston Celtic center Bill Russell misses all 14 shots in 104-100 loss to Philadelphia 76ers, led by newly acquired Wilt Chamberlain.

1973: US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end Vietnam War. 1978: Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Emily Waitson arts@thecord.ca

CORD STAFF

OPINION EDITOR Alyssa Di Sabatino opinion@thecord.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Safina Husein editor@thecord.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Pranav Desai sports@thecord.ca

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sadman Sakib Rahman creative@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Kashyap Patel graphics@thecord.ca

WEB DIRECTOR Garrison Oosterhof online@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Eva Ou photos@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Hayley McGoldrick news@thecord.ca

ONLINE EDITOR Katherine Weber online@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Aaron Hagey news@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR Sarah Tyler video@thecord.ca

FEATURES EDITOR Madeline McInnis features@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Margaret Russell news@thecord.ca

LEAD SPORTS REPORTER Abdulhamid Ibrahim sports@thecord.ca LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Jackie Vang photos@thecord.ca SENIOR COPY EDITOR Sara Burgess copyeditor@thecord.ca SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Vacant editor@thecord.ca CORDCAST PRODUCER Brielle Huang cordcast@thecord.ca

2003: Final communication between Earth and NASA space probe Pioneer 10.

2018: Chinese researchers report they have clones two monkeys, using the same technology as Dolly the Sheep.

2018: Singer Neil Diamond retires after being diagnosed with parkinson’s Disease.

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Emma McVicar Rachel Burns Caitlyn Lourenco Jennifer Webb

Looking at You in the age of social media stalking by Emily Waitson

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

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

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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.

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The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so The Cord will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on Wilfrid Laurier University, and the community of Kitchener-Waterloo, and with a special ear to the concerns of the students of Wilfrid Laurier University. Ultimately, The Cord will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

News

• 3 NEWS EDITOR HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR AARON HAGEY news@thecord.ca

EDUCATION

Changes to Ontario student tuition and funding sparks peaceful protest at Laurier

PHOTOS BY SADMAN SAKIB RAHMAN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND EVA OU, PHOTO EDITOR

AARON HAGEY NEWS EDITOR

The Ontario government has officially announced a series of upcoming changes to Ontario student’s tuition fees, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and structure of the formerly mandatory ancillary fee framework, which will be affecting post-secondary students in the new year.

A news release published on Jan. 17, 2019 by the Ontario government, entitled “Government for the People to Lower Student Tuition Burden by 10 per cent” offered further explanation regarding the changes, stating that the “first ever province-wide tuition reduction will make college and university more affordable and accessible for students and families, while empowering students to choose how fees are spent.”

It continued, evaluating the benefits that the provincial government hopes to achieve by putting more money “in the pockets of Ontario students and families.”

Foremost, Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities argues that by lowering the tuition rate across the province, they will be ensuring that “all qualified Ontario students will have more affordable access to high quality skills, training and education.”

The release notes that this is part of the provincial government’s overall plan to improve “post-secondary education affordability” and will be “refocusing” OSAP so that it “remains sustainable and viable” for students in the future, as well as helping out those who need financial assistance the most.

They also believe that it will help deal with a critical issue in their eyes: giving OSAP funding to those with very high incomes “with virtually no meaningful criteria for

success” and that “instead of using OSAP to indirectly subsidize future rounds of tuition hikes, [they] will [instead] focus [their] resources on the families in greatest need,” Fullerton said in the release.

In doing this, the provincial government hopes that it will encourage their “partners in the post-secondary sector to deliver better value for the high tuitions they already charge,” she said.

This release also noted changes to what fees students pay for certain campus services, which they call the “Student Choice Initiative.”

Some fees, such as “essential campus health and safety initiatives,” will be compulsory, but others may become optional. This means that students will be able to “opt-out” of paying for services, activities or associations that do not benefit them.

“Too often, [universities] force students to pay for services they do not use and organizations they do not support … We will ensure students have transparency and freedom of choice regarding the campus services and organizations which get access to their money,” Fullerton said in the release.

The release also included potential statistics for tuition funding reductions, including a $300 reduction for a Conestoga College Practical Nursing program, $700 reduction for arts and science undergraduate students at the University of Guelph and a $1,120 reduction for an engineering student at Carleton University.

In response to this, Deborah MacLatchy, Wilfrid Laurier University’s President, as well as its Students’ Union, have released statements confirming their official stance on the provincial government’s decisions.

MacLatchy’s release, later that day, further outlined a number of the changes that the government will be instating, including domes-

tic tuition, which will be “frozen for the 2020-21 academic year,” “changes in eligibility for OSAP grants” and that the “reduction in tuition excludes international student tuition.”

She notes that “the tuition reduction represents a positive impact on some students,” but said that “the reduction in revenue will have a significant effect on our university.”

Concluding the release, MacLatchy stated: “as we consider our challenges, we will keep Laurier’s Vision, Mission and Values at the forefront. The student experience and quality of our academic programs will remain top priorities for Laurier.”

“We will continue to do all that we can to maintain the excellence of our university and to protect the supports and services our students need to be successful in their academic programs. I am confident in the ability of the Laurier community to work together to address these challenges,” she said.

The Students’ Union’s release reflected a number of the same sentiments provided by MacLatchy, however, it advocated in favour of combining the tuition cuts “with increased government investment in post-secondary institutions.”

“Ontario universities already receive the lowest levels of per-student public funding in Canada,” the statement continues. “We are committed to an affordable, accessible, and high quality academic experience, but recognize that without greater investment from the provincial government this cut represents a marginal shortterm benefit designed to distract from insufficient long-term public funding.”

As expected, one of the primary concerns of the release is examining the changes that OSAP and ancillary fee structures might have on the future sustainability and

growth of the Students’ Union, especially with the shifting of priority from grants to loans.

“The provincial government is limiting accessibility and imposing a greater debt burden on students,” the release said.

Furthermore, by removing the six-month repayment grace for debt repayment, the provincial government, they state, “continues to contradict its emphasis on post-secondary affordability.”

As a service that considers themselves an “integral part of Laurier’s renowned student experience” — which has been hailed as being number one for three years continuously — the Students’ Union is one of the many organizations on campus whose “institutional budgets have struggled to adapt to decreased public funding,” the release continued.

The release concludes, arguing in favour of the former ancillary fee structure because it promotes the “essential elements of student health and safety, career-building co-curricular leadership opportunities, peer-support services, and enable[s] engagement with global affairs far beyond our campuses and communities.”

On Jan. 22, between 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., a number of concerned student activists collected at the Veterans’ Green at the corner of Hazel Street and University Avenue, to demonstrate their collective voice against the provincial government’s decisions.

As well, Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter, the former Minister of Advanced Education & Skills Development, spoke at the event.

“A few of us decided that we should take action. We need the government to be listening to students. The recent OSAP cuts are absolutely awful, especially since it’s basically an attack on low-income students and families,” said Desiree Sam, a fourth-year political

science and environmental studies student at Laurier.

“A lot of people I know personally are going to be affected very badly. I personally am going to be affected.”

As one of the organizers for the event, Sam wished to keep the protest peaceful and give the opportunity and chance for students to speak with politicians involved in the implementation of the previous OSAP, as well as those who helped create the legislation for providing free tuition to low-income students.

“It’s very important today that we be able to talk about how important these issues are, considering that education is very much a necessity and it is absolutely ridiculous that the government has decided to have an attack [against] low-income people … we hope that the government is listening,” Sam said.

A number of students also came out to support the protest, bundled against a piercing cold and extreme weather alert, to demonstrate their fierce opposition against the changes.

“I think it’s amazing seeing students coming together, protesting something that we don’t think is fair or right,” said Caitlyn Drexler, a fourth-year political science and law student at Laurier.

“It’s freezing today — having students still come out because we all believe in the same thing and we’re all extremely upset by the changes that Ford has made to the OSAP is really amazing.”

“I’m here because education is for everyone and it being inaccessible perpetuates a cycle of poverty because people can’t get educated and get out of bad situations … it means that we can’t afford education,” said Madeleine Neufeld, a third-year peace and conflict studies and political science student at Laurier.

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

CLOSURES

University of Waterloo’s Bombshelter says goodbye MARGARET RUSSELL LEAD REPORTER

The Bombshelter Pub, the University of Waterloo’s on-campus bar and restaurant, has officially closed as of last month. This once-bustling pub’s closure came after 40 years of serving Waterloo’s students with fine pub fare, live entertainment, trivia nights and events.

Kurt MacMillan, vice-president of operations and finance for Waterloo’s Federation of Students, said that The Bombshelter’s closing came at an appropriate time for the school.

“Mainly because of the million-dollar losses over the last five years,” MacMillan said. “A decision had to be made to keep the students’ interests alive.”

“The Student Life Centre (SLC) and one of our gyms — the physical activity complex — will be going under renovation for expansion, so I felt like it would be

a great time to have these renovations happen as well,” MacMillan added.

The Federation of Students had an external consultant come in and “give the restaurant an operational review … From there, [they] had these discussions about all the losses, seeing that change needed to happen [and] had conversations with the board — and because of there being a lot of [human resources] matters, we had to keep things confidential,” MacMillan said.

While The Bombshelter had been closed during the fall exam period in December, the announcement of its closure was given to staff members, making this considerably abrupt news.

Following The Bombshelter’s final event, “Farewell Bomber, Alumni Send-Off,” taking place on Jan. 26, the Federation of Students will begin the process of redesigning the space to fit the needs and wants of the students.

“Right now, we’re doing some student consultation: this is mainly because it is an on-campus student bar and we want to hear exactly what students want to see for that space,” MacMillan said.

The general plan for The Bombshelter’s space on campus will be food and beverage orientated and hopefully continue to provide University of Waterloo students with an environment to socialize, but completely refurbished and rebranded.

“The ideal timeline for [consultation with students] to be done is at the end of February and throughout March have some expert consultations to make sure that concept can be financially sustainable for our campus,” MacMillan said.

“The goal is to have it open for next winter.”

The Bombshelter, although officially closed for regular service as of December, has continued to organize event nights to give the

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

pub the closure it deserves — 40 years in the making.

“NYE 2.0,” The Bombshelter’s final 19+ celebration, took place last Wednesday and had a great turnout of students. “Farewell Bomber”, taking place this Saturday, will be

the final day of service at the pub and will be running from 3:00 pm until 11:00 pm, all ages welcome.

Updates regarding the progress of The Bombshelter’s reconstruction can be found at UW’s Federation of Students’ website.

CULTURAL EDUCATION

Evaluating impacts of Islamophobia in Canada AARON HAGEY NEWS EDITOR

the turn of the twentieth century … The contemporary views of Islamophobia begin in 1997 with a report published in Britain by the Runnymede [Trust].”

What they argued during this period was that certain forms of racism and discriminatory practices could not be properly measured by anti-racism measures in Britain.

Up to that point, he believes, right-wing groups had different targets.

On Jan. 17, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Paul Martin Centre on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus, the Faculty of Arts, Muslim Studies, Religion & Culture and Office of Research Services organized a “Transnational Dialogue on Islamophobia” event, evaluating how Islamophobia is continuing to impact America, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Why is it the case that to be a card-carrying extreme-right, you need to be Islamophobic?

Dr. Bazian has recieved a lot of backlash, threats and intimidation because of his work...

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE -Jasmine Zine, professor of religion & culture and sociology

Speakers at the panel included Salman Sayyid, head of the school of sociology and social policy at the University of Leeds, Hatem Bazian, co-founder of the Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project at U.C Berkeley and professor of Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College and Jasmine Zine, professor of religion & culture and sociology at Laurier.

Also present at the event were a number of members of Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management (SHERM) Laurier.

SHERM offered additional security for both the speakers and

attendees.

“All of us, as academics who work in the field around Islamophobia studies, particularly Dr. Bazian, has received a lot of backlash, threats and intimidation because of his work — and I have too, to a lesser extent,” Zine said.

“Because of the climate now of much more open presence at times of alt-right groups, I think that there is a concern around that … It may have also been out of an abundance of caution, given the issues that have happened on this campus in the last year.”

“It’s also an awkward thing for Muslims who are used to being surveilled and securitized to have that sort of presence there,” she said.

Each panelist spoke regarding the current climate of Islamopho-

bia, discriminatory practices and the general negativity towards Muslims in each of their respective countries, as well as providing historical context, giving a greater understanding of what has led to its rise in these areas.

Sayyid discussed the recent and global circulation of Islamophobia, as well as how certain right-wing movements and nationalistic ideologies have become connected to discriminatory or prejudicial practices or beliefs.

“Why is it the case that to be a card-carrying extreme-right, you need to be Islamophobic? Why does Islamophobia fulfill that function? This is slightly puzzling because, in one way, many of these groups would often describe themselves as being ‘nationalist’,” Sayyid said.

“One of the things about nationalist groups is that they are very much focused on ‘the nation.’ So the question arises: if they’re focused so much on the nation, why are they using vocabulary which is transnational?”

He also evaluated the etymology behind ‘Islamophobia’ as well, as he believes that the clarification of the definition does more than simplify debate regarding the concept.

“It is [also] to help us to situate and make particular kinds of linkages and associations which are going on already.”

“When you’re dealing with a definition, you’re actually dealing with a polemical or polemicized process,” Sayyid said.

“One of the things that we often hear is that Islamophobia is a kind of very recent word invented at

-Salman Sayyid, head of sociology at University of Leeds

“However, once you start talking about Muslims that all dissolves — Kurds, Turds, Muslims — they all become one. This starts happening at the same time in Europe when you start having European integration, which starts talking about Europe as a pan-European entity,” he said.

With a Statistics Canada report released in June 2017, noting a 61 per cent increase in hate crimes targeting Muslims between 2014 to 2015, as well as an overall increase of 5 per cent in 2015, it would seem that these transnational conversations are now more crucial to have than ever.

NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 STUDENTS’ UNION

WINTER CARNIVAL CANCELLED

Annual campus event cancelled after complaint about controversial chants SADMAN SAKIB RAHMAN/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK NEWS EDITOR

Laurier’s annual week-long event, Winter Carnival, has been cancelled before the final events of their program, which included a lip-sync battle, as well as their closing ceremonies and closing celebrations.

A meeting was called on Saturday afternoon to discuss the events and why Winter Carnival had been cancelled, as many students were unsure as to what exactly had caused the cancellation and many inquired about getting a refund.

The initial news of the cancellation was spread to students through the Spotted Laurier Twitter page, where someone asked why Winter Carnival was cancelled due to the actions of one team.

A Reddit thread also speculates that a team was performing sexist and racist chants, which would allegedly be a breach of the contract that Winter Carnival participants have to sign when they agree to the

programming.

The Cord reached out to Elliot Bus Lines located in Elimira. A staff from Elmira Bus Lines confirmed to The Cord that it was one of their bus drivers that voiced the concern, implying that the chants were being performed on the bus to an event on Friday.

The Cord reached out to Elmira Bus Lines for a formal comment but they did not respond at the time of publishing.

This is not the first time Winter Carnival has been under some scrutiny. An incident in 2007 sparked controversy Canada-wide, as The Globe and Mail reported on the incident, when an “Around the World” themed event saw 15 white students parading around campus in blackface, dreadlocks and sporting Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets as helmets as they were dubbed “Team Jamaica.”

The Winter Carnival programming has been around since 1960, making it 59 years old — and used to include events like a beauty

pageant that was removed from the programming, due to several controversial conflicts. The programming now includes events like dodgeball tournaments and attending the women’s hockey game on Friday night instead.

The last day of programming was cancelled due to the allegations, though many teams apparently still celebrated their seventh day unofficially as they threw house parties instead. Teams felt it was unfair the programming that they paid for was cancelled due to the inappropriate actions of one team and wanted to get the full Winter Carnival experience.

Many students look forward to Winter Carnival each year as it is a great way to make friends and also recreate the glory of Orientation Week while in upper years, including similar competitions such as trying to obtain a Spirit Cup or Activities Cup. Nikki Corless, the vice-president of programming and services for the Students’ Union on the Wa-

terloo campus, responded to The Cord’s request for a comment with an email statement that was also sent to the captains of each team: “We are now aware that while in transit to both yesterday’s mystery event and the hockey game this evening, several teams participated in the singing of clearly inappropriate chants,” Corless wrote in the email.

She continued, saying: “Formal complaints brought this unacceptable behaviour to our attention, and we are extremely disappointed that the expectations set at the beginning of Winter Carnival were ignored. The Students’ Union and Winter Carnival leadership have zero tolerance for this repugnant language and conduct. It is evident from this unfortunate episode that the Students’ Union must play a more active role in educating volunteers and participants about language that normalizes degrading and sexist attitudes.”

“This culture of disrespect disgraces the superb Laurier

student experience we all work so hard to build. The Students’ Union commits to reviewing our training programs and will work to empower future leaders with the knowledge and confidence to reject such harmful behaviour.

As a result of the seriousness of this incident, we are canceling the remainder of Winter Carnival.

There will be no lip sync event, no closing ceremonies, and no closing celebrations tomorrow. In spite of this very regretful abrupt end, the Winter Carnival team would like to thank you for the spirit, dedication, and energy you brought to this week. It is our hope that this can be a learning opportunity for us all.

We must strive to do better,” her statement concluded.

There have been no further discussions on whether or not Winter Carnival will be continued next year after this incident — or if the teams participating in the inappropriate chants will be facing any consequences.

ON JAN. 24, 2007, THE CORD REPORTED ON THE WINTER CARNIVAL CONTROVERSY, DESCRIBING THE LAST TIME THE EVENT WAS SHUT DOWN.

6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

ADVOCACY

FILE PHOTO/ERIN ABE

Women in Waterloo Region rally together at march HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK NEWS EDITOR

On Saturday, Jan. 19th, women all over the world rallied together in support of the Women’s March, including a march that took place here in Waterloo Region.

Hundreds of women marched from Waterloo Square in the heart of uptown Waterloo, marching

to Carl Zehr Square in Kitchener where the march ended with speakers, booths and other performances.

Cassie Myers, the Waterloo Chapter Ambassador for the Women’s March, was one of the leading women in ensuring that women in the K-W region had a march they could attend instead of having to travel to Toronto, especially in the

snowy weather.

“I’ve been kind of involved in the tech scene in Waterloo and going to a few women in technology mentoring events, and that got me connected with the director of Women’s March Canada, Sarah Bingham, who is local,” Myers said.

“Before I even knew she was involved with the Women’s March we chatted about a few things,

and she kind of pulled me in to the things that were happening with Women’s March Canada and specifically Waterloo region.”

2017 marked the first year of the Women’s March in retaliation to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a figure who has had many sexual assault allegations brought forward against him.

Marches now take place on the same day, for the most part, all over the world to fight for women’s rights.

“Most of the marches happened on the 19th, I’d say 99 per cent of them, all around Canada and the United States, all around the world actually, but Canada is separate,” Myers said.

“Because of the weather we did get a little less participation than we’d hoped for, we did get about 300 people out.”

The theme for the marches this year was ending violence against women, as the World Health Organization had found that one in three women has been physically or sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

“I think it was cool to see different kinds of people within and outside of the women’s rights come together and show support, we had a variety of organizations sharing the work that they do, so as much as we organize the march, there are people who have been doing incredible work in the region and it’s really important for us to showcase that,” Myers said.

In attendance were groups like the Sexual Assault Support Centre, also known as SASC, the Muslim Coalition of Women, the SHORE Centre and the Indigenous Student Centre.

“It was interesting to see the intersectionality of tech, government and non-profit all around the theme of ending violence against women,” Myers said.

Also in attendance were Laurier students, including Alex Geitz, a third year communications student at Laurier.

“I actually heard about [the march] when I was in second year, I was on HerCampus and one of the writers went to the march and did a feature about it, and I had obviously heard about it when it went viral when Trump was inaugurated, Geitz said.

“I was always interested right off the bat but it wasn’t until this year, I’m actually a women in leader-

ship don in Leupol residence and I thought it would be a really good learning experience to take my floor to.”

Participants were also asked to wear a red scarf to recognize and honour the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, and the disproportionate violence they face in their lifetimes.

“We had a sign making event leading up to the march, and then went to the march together in Kitchener and it was really fun. I had five people from our building come, and I had some friends from Laurier, older students, who are on co-op and they came back for the march, people from Brock came up,” Geitz said.

“It was nice because we were able to touch the first year community but also kind of come full-circle and get people from other communities as well.”

I think it was cool to see different kinds of people within and outside of the women’s rights come together and show support.

-Cassie Myers, Waterloo Chapter Advisor for the Women’s March

The march in Waterloo was only one of hundreds that took place last Saturday, and the Women’s March Canada plans to hold other events throughout the year to continue the fight for women’s rights.

“There were about seven speakers who were very inspiring, there was an Indigenous speaker who talked about the missing and murdered Indigenous women, and that was the theme, a lot of ladies were wearing red scarves to support that,” Geitz said.

“Local parliament was there like Laura-May Lindo is Kitchener’s MPP, and I actually met her when I was in first year she came to one of my sociology lectures.”

“At the time, she was working for the Diversity and Equity Office, so it was interesting to see her grow, and she led a bunch of chants about trusting women which was just very empowering,” she concluded.

NEWS • 7

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

LSP results: Students’ pre-election perspective on WLUSU Trust in Students’ Union: Some Trust

Klaudia Wojtanowski

59% No Trust

% Votes Recieved

21% Lots of Trust

Zemar Hakim

20%

Talha Naeem Ibrahim Musa

47%

28% 16% 9% SADMAN SAKIB RAHMAN/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

Laurier Student Poll conducted a survey over the past week asking Wilfrid Laurier University students about which presidential candidate they are planning to vote for in the upcoming and now ongoing Students’ Union election.

The idea behind the survey was to get an early estimate on who the front runner is to become the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union president for 2019-2020.

The survey was conducted online and received a total of 147 responses from various undergraduate and master’s students at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Out of the four presidential candidates, Klaudia Wojtanowski garnered the majority of the votes

with 47 per cent of the responses favoring her as the winner.

Zemar Hakim came in second with 28 per cent of the votes, while Talha Naeem and Ibrahim Musa finished third and fourth with 16 per cent and 9 per cent of the votes going their respective ways.

The survey also asked students some questions about their thoughts on the Students’ Union and the upcoming election in general.

One of the questions gauged students’ interest level in the upcoming election.

51 per cent of the respondents said that they were interested in the election, 32 per cent said they were very interested and 17 per cent said that they were not interested.

Of the 17 per cent (25 students)

that said they were not interested in the election, 80 per cent (20 students) were in their first year of study.

56 per cent of the respondents said that they have not been satisfied with the Students’ Union.

It can be hypothesized that first year students are not as interested

in the Students’ Union election for a number of reasons, such as they have not spent enough time at Laurier in order to be completely aware of the Students’ Union and its functions, they do not have enough experience with the Students’ Union and their operations unlike the older students or they do not feel comfortable voting due to a lack of knowledge about the Students’ Union.

The survey also showed that 65 per cent of the respondents had voted in the election in the past.

Voter turnout is a big point of emphasis for the Students’ Union every year and will be interesting to see whether the number of voters will increase for this year’s election.

Finally, the survey also asked students about how satisfied they

have been with the Students’ Union during their time at Laurier and how much trust they have in the Students’ Union.

56 per cent of the respondents said that they have not been satisfied with the Students’ Union.

59 per cent of the respondents said that they have some trust in the Students’ Union, while 20% said that they have a lot of trust and 21 per cent said that they have no trust.

Overall, the survey revealed some intriguing results about the Laurier student body’s thoughts about the Students’ Union.

Voting for the 2019 Students’ Union election opened on Jan. 22 at 8:00 a.m. and will stay open until Jan. 24 at 8:00 p.m.

Students can vote online or on-campus.

8 •

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

Arts & Life

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR EMILY WAITSON arts@thecord.ca

BOOKS

Tidy up, but keep your books SAFINA HUSEIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If you haven’t taken the time to watch at least a few episodes of Marie Kondo’s new Netflix series, “Tidying Up,” then I would highly recommend doing so. Kondo first introduced her method of keeping one’s home tidy and clean through a book she published. The book and her concepts surrounding tidying were then made into a Netflix series last month.

In the show, Kondo visits various couples’ homes and guides them in organizing their homes, throwing away unnecessary items, and keeping the things that spark joy.

When I started watching Kondo’s show, I too was inspired by Kondo’s methods.

Her show was far more than going into people’s homes and steering them away from clutter and hoarding like other shows have done. Instead, she asks them to reflect on what their home means to them and contemplate

how they want their homes to both look and feel.

Kondo didn’t push her clients to throw away anything they wanted to keep — instead, she encouraged them to be reminded of why a particular clothing item or keepsake was important or significant to them.

In this way, Kondo’s clients were able to donate or get rid of items they were holding onto from their past that they didn’t want to bring into their future and keep in their home.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed Kondo’s show, there was one component which made me think — and that was the portion which involved throwing out old books.

As was the process with everything else, Kondo encouraged her clients to get rid of any books that didn’t spark joy — similarly, the process of reducing your book collection on the show sparked some controversy on social media.

“I’m a fan of the show and I do think you have to take it with a bit

of a grain of salt,” Anjana Kipfer, manager of marketing and communications with WPL, said.

“If you do wanna embrace that minimalistic lifestyle then having fewer books in your home perhaps makes sense, but I don’t think that of course applies to everyone. To each their own in terms of what books you want to keep, that make you happy or spark joy, as Marie Kondo likes to say.”

For me, every time I collect a book and add it to my slowly growing library, I experience joy.

Although I may never read many of the books on my shelves in the near future, I still enjoy collecting old editions of novels and adding unique finds from used book shops.

“Of course, visually, they look beautiful in a home as well, I have a big book collection at home so of course there’s a number of different factors that apply,” Kipfer said.

“It’s what makes you happy and for some that’s having fewer books that have special meaning and for

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

others it’s having this collection that you can look at and appreciate every day and have available to you,” Kipfer said.

In the past, I’ve read research surrounding the value of unread books and having those unopened possibilities at your fingertips.

In my opinion, having a large home library presents so much potential value — in fact, it can even bring about a certain positive atmosphere.

“When you have books that are unread on your shelf — I think we all have ‘to be read’ piles — there’s always the possibility, they represent something that you can get into. Something you can look forward to,” Kipfer said.

“There’s always something available that you can learn about and access right away — its exciting for some people to have a nice big tobe read pile.”

ENTERTAINMENT

Looking at You in the age of social media stalking CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

EMILY WAITSON ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR

The Netflix show You has taken over Twitter conversation and has amassed a dedicated following of 40 million viewers who can’t get enough of the creepy but captivating Joe Goldberg and his developing obsession with Beck, a woman he briefly encounters in his bookstore.

Praised for its pulpy dramatics and dark writing, You stands as a strong example of what well-crafted entertainment can be. With season two already in the works, the show’s development from the original books is a successful reworking of page-to-screen television.

For a story about a dangerous stalker, however, fans have been romanticizing Joe for his looks, intelligence and charm. This misplaced infatuation has become such a meme-worthy talking-point that actor Penn Badgley took it

upon himself to address it on a number of talk shows and his Twitter accounts.

In response to a fan asking him why the character of Joe broke her heart, he responded with “A: he is a murderer.”

Light-hearted jokes about You’s conflicting leading man aside, the show addresses an important and ever-present problem that is becoming more difficult to keep track of, especially in the current day and age of social media — stalking.

Sarah Scanlon, Laurier’s Sexual Violence Response Coordinator, touched on this issue and the relative ease we have in accessing other people’s personal information.

“I believe there has been an increase in particular kinds of stalking due to an online culture. So not just online access, but a culture that permits online bullying, that encourages a type of behaviour that folks would maybe not condone or would maybe not

approve of in a public sphere, like in person. That certain behaviour is seen as more normalized or culturally appropriate online,” Scanlon said.

Countless people have been switching their social media settings to private after watching You and looking at their online presences more critically, questioning how many people are browsing their personal pages without their knowledge.

“For people who have experienced stalking, the ways in which their stalkers, their abusers, their perpetrators have been able to use online systems as a way to manage, control, keep tabs on them has actually created massive amounts of harm and danger and that unless you essentially completely shut down your online persona, people can access so much personal information about you and use that as a way to get to you,” Scanlon said.

In You, Joe is capable of finding out where Beck lives, who her

friends are, where she goes to school and little details that he otherwise wouldn’t know about unless she told him herself, crossing boundaries from the get-go.

“We’ve had cases even at Laurier where individuals have used personal information about someone they barely know to find out about how to get access to them physically, to cause harm,” Scanlon said.

While there is no foolproof way of protecting ourselves online, it’s important to remain knowledgeable about who has access to what we post and what strangers can do with it once they have access to that information.

“People need to make individual decisions for themselves about their own safety and individually decide what their threshold is around how much they want people to have access to. I think it’s good to educate where that information is actually going — I don’t think lots of people understand when they put things out into

the online world how ‘out there’ it is and how much you actually don’t have control over it once it’s online,” Scanlon said.

It’s unlikely that an exaggerated character like Joe Goldberg is lurking in the shadows of your local bookstore waiting to track your every move through your online presence, but it isn’t a bad idea to make yourself more conscious of who could be seeing what you post.

Above all else, you should never tolerate any behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe in any way.

“For some folks, they want to have thousands and thousands of followers because they’re trying to build an Instagram presence. If someone is making you uncomfortable, delete them. Don’t feel bad about it. People don’t get to creep you out online or in person. And I think people will pass particular boundaries online and pretend that it’s deemed as more socially acceptable.”

ARTS & LIFE • 9

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

REVIEW OF THE PRESIDENTIAL DISHES It’s that time of year again, Golden Hawks. Election season is in full swing — and that means Presidential Dishes are ready to try. Created by each candidate, every option is available to order off the Wilf’s menu for $13.99. A group of The Cord’s staff gathered together to taste test each dish and give them a rating out of five, taking into account the presentation, name, taste and overall creativity.

Klaudia’s Fantastic Fajitas Rating: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Klaudia’s Fantastic Fajitas are definitely the most visibly accessible and customizable choice for a variety of dietary restrictions and preferences, which makes it easy to tweak them to suit your desired tastes and needs.

Served with salsa and sour cream, these are a standard option that’s difficult to go wrong with — even for the pickiest of eaters. In terms of seasoning, it’s not overwhelming by any means. The chicken we got with them was bland without the toppings layered on top. It’s pretty much up to the eater to take charge of making sure there’s enough flavour, but once that’s achieved, they taste good.

That being said, we were all relatively satisfied with the presentation and overall final product. The name is simple and pleasant, but we agreed that there could have been a little more creativity added to it to make it more unique.

If you’re looking for a safe choice that’s not too adventurous, but still holds out on the menu, Klaudia’s dish pulls through.

Talha_let Rating: Rating: 2 out of 5 I’ll start by saying that we could appreciate the sentiment behind this dish and it was certainly one of the more unique choices, but it ultimately didn’t stand out.

Not only did it taste and look like something you could easily make yourself, it certainly isn’t worth $13.99. We ended up picking out a majority of the toppings, especially the olives which were a bit overpowering, and even though the flavour was fine overall, it’s not something any of us would have ordered on our own.

The side of toast it comes with was chewy and a bit tough and it didn’t really add anything to the overall dish.

And while the name seems to have some effort behind it, it just doesn’t come across the way it wants to.

One of us suggested the name “Frit-Talha” as an alternative, since it felt like more of a frittata than an omelette.

If you’re an egg lover who enjoys eating them at any time of the day, then this is sure to please you, but otherwise, it

Zemar’s Friez From The Skiez Rating: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 This dish is the ultimate hangover/comfort food.

Similar to Wilf’s beloved Loaded Fries, this saucy option packs a punch with a creative blend of flavours and textures.

If you’re a passionate blue cheese hater like the Instagram commenter who snidely remarked that “the loaded fries tasted like asshole. Hot blue cheese should not be a topping,” you can always substitute it — or forgo it altogether.

Zemar’s fries ultimately won for creativity: both with the name and the execution — and the presentation was oddly appetizing as well. We completely finished it within minutes and our group unanimously agreed that it was the best one we had tried.

If you want a shareable menu pick that hits the spot and is worth the price, these fries are the best choice.

Ibra’s Bonesless Bites Rating: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 The Boneless Bites are definitely the least creative option that’s available to order and it really shows in the final product.

You can get these with your preferred choice of wing sauce; we decided to go with Rock N’ Roll, which is typically a universally liked sauce.

It felt like there was something missing from the dish; it was likely due to the tasteless rice that seemed dry and a bit hard, which a sauce or another element would have helped fix.

The chicken tasted great and was the highlight of it overall, but it felt like that was the only redeeming factor.

COMPILED BY EMILY WAITSON/ARTS & LIFE EDITOR, PHOTO BY SARAH TYLER/VIDEO EDITOR

10 • GAMES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 WORD SEARCH

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GAMES • 11

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

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

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

SUDOKU Dear People, I’ve had enough of you. Please leave me be and I’ll let you enjoy your day too.

Sincerely, Oscar the grouch Dear HcGolderick Mayley, Sorry.

Sincerely, HS

Dear Life Dear NFL Referees, It’s dark and lonely down here.

Take me out. Let’s play catch!

Ef you.

Sincerely, Spalding

Sincerely, An angry Saints man

Dear Safina,

Dear Gingerale,

Why didn’t you save me any Friez From The Skiez when I SPECIFICALLY asked you to. I though we were friends.

You make heart beat fast. Lots suger.

Sincerely, Sugar Crash

Sincerely, Hafina Susein Dear Roomies,

Dear Laurier Students,

I love y’all with my whole life but can we have ONE (1) night where you guys don’t bring a boy from Tinder home. Plz.

VOTE VOTE VOTE.

Sincerely, Can we watch The Bachelor?

Dear Night,

Dear Childish and Chance, When in the FUCK is that collab album coming out? Y’all been lying to me for like 5 years now.

Sincerely, Gambino Girl

Sincerely, It is important okay

You are for sleep. Why am I still at work?

Sincerely, Tired

12

•

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR ALYSSA DI SABATINO opinion@thecord.ca

ENDORSEMENT: STUDENTS’ UNION PRESIDENT & CEO

KLAUDIA WOJTANOWSKI After careful consideration, The Cord has chosen to endorse Klaudia Wojtanowski for 201819 Students’ Union president and CEO. Each candidate in the race for president undoubtedly has valuable assets which they would bring to the role. Naeem,

Musa, and Hakim have all put in extremely hard work throughout this election period and have worked to advocate and be the voice of students.

The Cord commends all four candidates for their successful campaigns and the work they

have put in. However, Wojtanowski was ultimately the individual that stood out amongst her fellow candidates.

Wojtanowski has had a strong campaign presence — both online and on-campus. Her platform was easy to follow and understand, while her website was clean and professional.

Wojtanowski and her team were also successful in positively engaging with students on social media.

As well, Wojtanowski’s platform advocates for various things which we feel are important yet feasible for her to accomplish.

For example, her promise to revamp the Clubs & Association reimbursement system is an issue many students face — this demonstrates that Wojtanowski has taken the time to figure out the issues that students care the most about and then advocate

for their concerns. Furthermore, we commend her work in advocating for areas of focus such as mental health training and access to feminine menstrual products.

In this way, Wojtanowski’s platform is is thoughtful yet reasonable in her ability to bring these points to fruition and implement what she is advocating for.

The main distinguishing factor which, we believe, sets Wojtanowski apart from the other candidates is her genuine and trustworthy nature.

She is approachable, well-spoken and a clear leader. She is confident in what she believes in and, as such, passionately advocates for those things to tireless ends.

Wojtanowski is consistently seen standing up and speaking out regarding issues she feels are important, despite those opin-

ions sometimes being controversial or risky.

For example, last year, Wojtanowski was only one of two members of the 2017-18 board of directors that spoke out about her experiences with sexism.

Although Wojtanowski was still a part of the Students’ Union and the Laurier community, she vocalized her concerns with confidence.

Even when Wojtanowski’s opinions are unfavourable to others or downplayed by those around her, she continues to stand up for what she believes is right.

As president, we see this trait to be invaluable. As president, we know Wojtanowski’s promises to advocate for students will be actualized.

STUDENTS’ UNION BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR:

VICE-CHAIR:

DIRECTOR AT LARGE:

DIRECTOR AT LARGE:

As a returning director and the current vice-chair of the board, endorsing Owen Bourrie for next year’s chair and CGO was an easy decision. As a new member of the board last year, Bourrie demonstrated his passion, commitment and willingness to learn. Throughout this year’s campaign period, Bourrie has been present and engaged. He attended both open forums with a smile — demonstrating that he is both motivated and interested in being involved within the Students’ Union and elections.

Bourrie also came prepared with questions for his fellow board of director candidates as well as the presidential candidates.

To this, Bourrie demonstrated his willingness to hold his co-directors accountable and his commitment to being present throughout the overall election process — a trait which will serve useful.

This past year, we feel Bourrie has created a positive reputation for himself as vice-chair. Bourrie’s midterm review with The Cord reiterated that he has done a thorough job in his position as vice-chair — he has been a liaison between directors and the chair, ensuring he advocates for all voices at the tables. Furthermore, he has demonstrated his commitment to holding the chair accountable and has been a substantial voice within board meetings.

Overall, Bourrie’s enthusiasm and genuine nature deems him a strong candidate for chair of the board. He is approachable, well-spoken, and will be a great leader for the board this year.

Karneet Chahal’s main goal, as stated in her platform, is transparency and accountability — two essential areas of focus as a member of the board of directors. Even further, these characteristics are the most significant features within the position of vice-chair of the board. As such, we feel that Chahal is the most ideal candidate for this position for the upcoming year.

Chahal confidently conducted herself at open forums on both campuses, demonstrating the knowledge and background she has acquired heading into the campaign period. Overall, Karneet demonstrated a thorough understanding of how the board operates throughout the past campaign season, although she is a firsttime candidate.

As vice-chair, Chahal will have to seek out even further knowledge in order to be confident in holding the chair accountable while being a positive liaison for other directors. However, we believe she is capable of successfully doing so and using her confident voice to make a difference on the board.

Devyn Kelly has emerged, in our eyes, as a strong candidate for the upcoming year as a director of the board. Throughout the campaign season, Kelly has presented herself confidently. She was well-spoken at all open forums and attended presidential forums and debates, demonstrating her commitment to the Students’ Union and the overall election process. Kelly’s response to questions were informed and and astute.

As per Kelly’s platform, she is well-versed in the Laurier community and has been highly involved in positions which will give her some of the knowledge and skills necessary to being successful and effective in a position as director of the board.

Kelly was knowledgeable during open forums, showing she has done her background research. However, we encourage Kelly to continue to learn relevant policies as she has the leadership abilities to be a positive figure within the board table.

Akshat Shah presented himself as one of the most prepared and knowledgeable candidates throughout the campaign period. Shah had the knowledge needed to accurately and meticulously answer questions posed to him at open forums on the Waterloo and Brantford campuses.

Doing research and work to learn rules, policies, guidelines, etc. is an essential asset to being on the board, especially as a first-year director.

As one of many new individuals running for the board of directors, Shah demonstrated his ability to seek out the information and knowledge that he didn’t already attain to be able to answer questions correctly.

Although Shah is a quieter voice, we encourage Shah to use his knowledge and skill-set in order to be a strong, thoughtful voice on the board table.

OWEN BOURRIE

KARNEET CHAHAL

DEVYN KELLY

AKSHAT SHAH

BOARD OF GOVERNORS/SENATE Previously, The Cord has abstained from endorsing senators or board of governor members for a few reasons, including a lack of information.

Having read platforms and heard candidates speak at the Open Forum, we will continue this year with our decision to abstain from endorsing senators and board of governors members as we feel we do not have enough information to make an informed decision on who might be a

The following endorsement was made through a discussion with The Cord’s Editorial Board and Editor-in-Chief (13 members). These are not necessarily a reflection of WLUSP, The Cord’s volun-

• 13

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23. 2019

Opinion

OPINION EDITOR EMILY WAITSON opinion@thecord.ca

Gillette’s new advertisement EMMA MCVICAR OPINION COLUMNIST

Gillette recently published a short film ad titled “We Believe: The Best a Man Can Be.” This is a change from their familiar slogan, “The Best a Man Can Get.” At the time of writing, there are 545 000 likes and one million dislikes.

Gillette’s attached commentary says:“Bullying. Harassment. Is this the best a man can get? It is only by challenging ourselves to do more, that we can get closer to our best.

To say the right thing, to act the right way.”

The ad continues, touching on topics such as mansplaining and the phrase “boys will be boys.” It concludes by saying; “The boys of today will be the men of tomorrow.” Within the first few seconds of the ad, we hear “bullying,” “the Me Too movement” and “toxic masculinity,” as a montage of news men hear while looking at them-

selves in the mirror, dissatisfied.

Toxic masculinity is understood to be a set of behaviours and thoughts within the typical male gender role that are violent, aggressive and disrespectful, particularly to women. Messages of men exemplifying this in their everyday behaviour increasingly dominate much media, and now, Gillette.

From this first scene and the ad’s descriptor, we see immediately that this language attempts to tie these negative concepts to how men should perceive themselves.

There is clearly a right way of doing things and men aren’t measuring up.

Gillette has altered themselves from being a provider of service for men to prescribing values to which men ought to oblige.

They’ve decided to become a political advocate, targeting their biggest customer as dissatisfactory beings (good business strategy, Gillette!). Formerly, they advertised like this; “You’re the best, so you deserve the best!” Now they’re saying; “You’re not good enough, and here’s what you have to do to fix that.”

A razor company should not

be targeting men (or anybody) politically. Enough sources already do that. This politically charged advertisement is disgusting. This is not how we treat men. It will not solve any problems.

The goal of this ad is clearly to deconstruct this concept. In the ad, we see one man moving to check out a woman as she walks away, and another holding him back, telling him that’s not cool. We see a few boys push away others that are ganging up on a smaller boy. Dads break up their boys wrestling each other. This is how men should be, right? Stop bullying, fighting and dominating?

Apart from the fact that bullying is not a strictly male problem so males should not be targeted as solely responsible to fix it (I won’t even go there), there is a common concept in psychology known as classical conditioning. If you get an A+ on your exam, I’ll high five you and say “that’s awesome” so that you associate that good feeling of reward with the act of doing well, and keep doing well. That’s classical conditioning. But it works both ways.

If we keep telling men that the

JACKIE VANG/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

behaviours they feel come naturally to them are toxic, they begin to believe they are toxic people.

Perhaps this is the goal so they feel like they should fix themselves but that’s not a good approach.

Breaking down mental health so men will subscribe to ideological messages is blatantly unethical.

We all agree that the boys of today will be the men of tomorrow. If young boys are growing up while constantly being told how toxic, rude and harmful they are, what will they grow to think? They will be classically conditioned to believe they are damaged.

Not fighting back, not standing

up for yourself and not speaking your mind gets people bullied more. It makes you feel helpless and mad at yourself and the world which is, dare I say it, toxic. So if Gillette really wants to end bullying, it should not encourage men to stop doing the things that end bullying.

The message has good intentions. Let’s help people overcome bullying. But the solution prescribed makes the problem worse.

Men will not become better by being harshly told their faults. They will become better by being shown their virtues and encouraged to develop and learn their strength.

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14 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

The impact of the US shutdown ALYSSA DI SABATINO OPINION EDITOR

In 2013, Donald Trump indirectly tweeted then-president Obama, saying “a shutdown falls on the president’s lack of leadership. He can’t even control his party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the president is weak.”

Oh, the irony. The US govern-

ment has been shutdown since mid-December; now making it the longest shutdown in US history.

And as of Jan. 20, the shutdown reached it’s thirtieth day.

In an interview this past December, Trump said “I am proud to shut down the government for border security ... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down.”

It’s kind of interesting how his rhetoric has flipped since then, but I digress.

This shutdown occurred when Trump tried to use $5.7 billion of government funding towards building a US-Mexico border wall,

but the deadlock occurred after a Senate vote, with many Democrats questioning and rejecting his use of the funding. This is the second major shutdown during Trump’s presidency.

This government shutdown has already lasted ten days longer than the one Trump referenced in his tweet from 2013, and has cost over $5 billion — about as much money as it would take to build this wall that caused the shutdown.

But this shutdown isn’t all fun and games, if you can even call it that. About 800 000 federal workers have been sent home without paychecks and just over half of those

workers have been required to work without getting paid.

Many federal employees have been furloughed — meaning they have been temporarily laid off, and thus, they are no longer bringing in stable incomes to their families.

The government shutdown is costing citizens more than just funding; it is threatening the security and safety of citizens across the country.

Because the shutdown is affecting federal workers, this directly impacts public safety.

Some now-furloughed federal employees had worked in administrative roles for violence prevention and intervention.

Because they are on leaves of absence, their vital work towards violence and domestic abuse prevention has halted, leaving many victims with no resources.

This largely affects women of colour and Indigenous women, who are 80 per cent more likely to experience sexual assault and violence than white women. Further, LGBTQ+, low-income and disabled women are more likely to suffer from this lack of resources as well.

The shutdown is also preventing many citizens with chronic illnesses from getting the medical care they need.

The shutdown has caused a significant delay in these services, and is causing those with medical needs to become especially vulnerable.

Trump’s shutdown is about more than just a debate on the wall.

It is directly harming low-income, disabled, marginalized and Indigenous communities.

It harms the infrastructure as

well — and is only intensifying the already dire roads and energy and water systems — because attention is not being paid to such problems.

Funnily enough, the shutdown has frozen the United State’s immigration courts, which has allowed for many undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation orders.

Now, immigration courts have become indefinitely backlogged, postponing countless immigration cases as judges have been furloughed.

This shutdown is challenging Trump’s persistent stance on creating a more rational immigration system. He has pretty much ensured that thousands of “illegal” immigrants are getting let off the hook, so to speak.

Just for the record, the likelihood of Trump’s wall being put into fruition was low, even before the deadlock. This shutdown is, in my opinion, nothing more than a political stunt against the Democrats on the Senate who refused to accept his wall.

The longer the shutdown continues, the more citizens will feel it affecting them. Countless families are suffering as a result of Trump’s grandstanding.

In an interview, Trump said that “there will be a shutdown that will last a very long time” if he doesn’t get his way with the funding of the wall.

His uncompromising attitude towards the wall only further proves his incompetence as president. Aren’t leaders supposed to do what is in the best interest of their charges?

By shutting the government down and refusing to compromise on funding, he is putting innumerable citizens at risk.

You should direct you anger at the NFL; not Travis Scott

ALYSSA DI SABATINO OPINION EDITOR

Travis Scott has been under a lot of heat lately for booking his Super Bowl performance alongside Maroon 5 and former Outkast member, Big Boi. Super Bowl LIII will take place on Feb. 20 between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.

Many of the negative responses towards Travis Scott’s performance deal are coming from people who are saying that by performing, he is supporting the NFL, a corporation known for blackballing Colin Kaepernick for his on-field political protests.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the National anthem; instead of standing, which is customary.

He explained his position by saying that he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

Kaepernick’s protest started in response to the epidemic of black men and men of colour being targeted and killed by police and vigilantes exceedingly more than any other race. His protest works

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

in correspondence with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Several artists, including Cardi B, Rihanna and Jay-Z had reportedly turned down their offer to perform, before Travis Scott was asked, because they could not stand behind the NFL. A petition was started online, saying that Travis Scott should back out of the event in an act of solidarity with Kaepernick. The petitions description says “Kaeper-

nick risked his career to take a knee for equality, and the NFL punished him for it. Until the league changes their policy and support players’ constitutional right to protest, no artists should agree to work with the NFL.” While people were taking to Twitter and other social medias to express their contempt with Scott’s decision to perform, it was released that he had agreed to perform under one stipulation;

that the NFL make a joint donation alongside him to Dream Corps, a organization fighting for social justice.

In an interview, he said that “I know being an artist that it’s in my power to inspire. So before confirming the Super Bowl Halftime performance, I made sure to partner with the NFL on this important donation. I am proud to support Dream Corps and the work they do that will hopefully inspire and

promote change.”

Travis Scott’s negotiations with the NFL prove to his haters that he actually does stand for the same values that many of his listeners do.

He may not have backed out of performing, but he has influenced the NFL to donate to a social justice organization. And after their blackballing efforts against Kaepernick, I would consider this a win for activists.

And just for the record, Travis Scott’s job isn’t to be an activist; he’s a rapper. Expecting him to boycott the NFL in an act of protest would have been wishful thinking.

To be honest, I don’t know if it was ever worth being mad at Travis Scott. If we’re going to get mad at him, we should keep that same energy with every other black man currently playing or working for the NFL, or every fan who decides to turn on their TV and watch the game — and his performance.

And just for the record, Beyoncé performed in the 2016 Super Bowl, the same year that Kaepernick started his protest, but she never received any calls to back out.

Travis Scott, or any artist for that matter, isn’t a villain for accepting the performance offer. The people that are proliferating racism, and backing the NFL’s discriminatory actions are the ones who should be getting the most flack; not Travis Scott who is literally just doing his job (and then some).

• 15

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR PRANAV DESAI sports@thecord.ca

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Laurier completes weekend sweep against Algoma ABDULHAMID IBRAHIM LEAD SPORTS REPORTER

When it comes to being one of the better teams in a league, blowouts against weaker teams are not always guaranteed.

For the Laurier Golden Hawks, now sitting at 11-5 and second in the OUA West, they understand this.

There are games like the one against Toronto and then there are games like the one against Nipissing that was a close overtime win.

The challenge of each one is what the Golden Hawks faced in their weekend of back-to-back games against the Algoma Thunderbirds having won 89-68 and then 96-87 overtime win.

In the first game, the first half was played very closely as it took for a three-ball from Ntore Habimana with time almost expiring in the half to take the Hawks’ lead from 3 to 6 points. In the third, the Hawks managed to push themselves to their largest lead at 13 points.

They went on to seal it with an offensive outburst of a fourth quarter, outscoring the Thunderbirds 29-17 and the final score being 89-68 behind Ali Sow’s 37 points and Kemel Archer’s 18 points and 8 rebounds.

“I thought, defensively, we were able to really close out the fourth quarter much better in the first game. Getting stops way earlier in the quarter and throughout the quarter,” coach Serresse said.

“We were just consistently getting stops, and it’s not just they were getting tough shots or getting to the free throw line, but we were very aggressive with our defence and we didn’t give them any leeway in terms of any open shots or things like that.”

The second game was similar in that the first half was close throughout.

This time around though, Algoma came out stronger as they shot the ball better than the first game as well.

“We didn’t start well at all.

We had a little bit of a defensive scheme that we wanted to put in place and it wasn’t clear with everybody, clearly. So we gave them a few easy buckets early.

“They made shots early in the game too, so that kind of gave them a little bit of confidence going into the game and they played very well.”

With a buzzer-beating trey

by Jackson Mayers of the Golden Hawks to go up 40-37 going into halftime, the Thunderbirds responded with a strong third quarter that put them up two, outscoring them 24-19 in the quarter.

It’s always good to be able to close out games. It’s something we were able to do in the past, but not consistently.

-Justin Serresse, Laurier varsity men’s basketball head coach

The Thunderbirds managed to build a 5-point lead on four different occasions in the fourth quarter, forcing the Golden Hawks to have to make comeback after comeback trying to stay alive.

“In the fourth quarter, they start making shots, we didn’t really play

TANZEEL SAYANI/FILE PHOTO

any good defence. A few open shots for their best shooter, definitely wasn’t what we were trying to do and that led to us being in trouble.”

The Hawks managed to score five unanswered to tie the game and send it to overtime.

This came with late game drama as they almost lost the game if it was not for a missed free throw by Nathan Riley of Algoma with one second left on the clock after being fouled by Matt Minutillo.

In overtime, Laurier came out cooking to the sound of a sizzling

10-0 run and capping it off outscoring Algoma 14-5 and winning 96-87.

Behind another ridiculous performance by Ali Sow who scored 41 points, as well as 20-8-4 from Ntore Habimana and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Kemel Archer, Laurier was able to fight their way through adversity once again this season.

“It’s always good to be able to close out games. It’s something we were able to do in the past, but not consistently. In this league, we talk about it all the time, there is no

weak team, I find,” coach Serresse said.

“Even though some teams may be struggling some years, but you’re looking at the score and on any given night, they either come very close to winning or they just find a way to win. You can never really count a team out until it’s over and you beat them.”

Next up for Laurier will be their annual School Day Game against the Guelph Gryphons on Jan. 23 followed by a matchup with the Waterloo Warriors in the ‘Battle of Waterloo’ on Jan. 25.

CURLING

Golden Hawks set the ice on fire PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

TANZEEL SAYANI/FILE PHOTO

The Wilfrid Laurier University varsity curling teams started 2019 with a bang this past weekend in St. Catharines as the Hawks competed at the Brock Invitational.

Both the women’s and men’s teams put up an impressive display in their first competition since November, as the men’s team finished the Invitational with a record of 3-1-1 while the women went 4-1.

The competition was a two-day event and the men’s team went undefeated on day one with a 3-0 record as they defeated McMaster, Ryerson and Guelph. Day two did not go as well for the Hawks as they were beaten 8-2 by their rivals, the Waterloo Warriors, before drawing with Queen’s to finish the Invitational.

A strong showing at the Brock Invitational was important for both curling teams as this season is filled with high expectations.

The men will now compete in the McMaster Invitational this weekend in Hamilton before returning home for the OUA championships. The women’s team went 2-1 on day one with victories against Ryerson and McMaster and their lone defeat coming at the hands of Guelph.

On day two, the women beat

Brock’s junior varsity team by a score of 13-1 and defeated Queen’s after that in what was a rematch of the OUA final from last year, a game which the Hawks also ended up winning.

A strong showing at the Brock Invitational was important for both curling teams as this season is filled with high expectations.

Not only are the Laurier women defending OUA champions, the purple and gold are also going to be hosting the OUA championships in February this year.

With the men’s and women’s roster full of young talent, it will be exciting to see how far the Hawks can go in 2019.

If the Brock Invitational is any indication of what’s still to come this season, bigger and better things are coming up for the Laurier curling teams.

16 • SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

MEN’S HOCKEY

Remarkable Rookies: Goaltender Tyler Fassl league.”

Despite the success so far this season, Fassl isn’t just content with holding steady the rest of the way.

“I would love to get my save percentage over .920 and to end the year on a big win streak, to propel us into a better playoff seeding.”

JOSEPH DEFILIPPIS STAFF WRITER

When Wilfrid Laurier University’s men’s hockey team lost both of their veteran goalies over the past summer, the responsibility of tending the twine was thrust upon two rookies.

In game one of the 2018-19 season, one of those two rookie goalies, Jacob Standen, was hurt after just eight minutes of play with a season-ending injury.

That left fellow rookie, Tyler Fassl, as the sole bearer of the workload in net.

“Obviously when Standen went down, it was a blow to the team,” Fassl said. “He was a good locker room guy and we didn’t want to see that happen to him.”

“Most rookies don’t get [this type of ] opportunity to start every game. It was kind of fortunate for me to get that.”

The Golden Hawks had one of the most experienced tandems in net last season, with Chris Festarini and Colin Furlong having a combined 149 OHL games and 95 OUA games on their resumes.

Most rookies don’t get this [type of] opportunity to start every game. It was kind of fortunate for me to get that.

-Tyler Fassl, Laurier varsity men’s hockey goaltender

It was always going to be tough for Laurier to make up for the veteran presence at goalie that they were losing, but Fassl has done a formidable job in the role so far.

I know that if we get clicking towards the end of the season here, that we can take that momentum into the playoffs and have a long playoff push.

-Tyler Fassl, Laurier varsity men’s hockey goaltender

EVA OU/PHOTO EDITOR

“On a personal level, I’ve been happy with how I’ve been playing.

After we got off to a rough start, we buckled down and started working harder in practice and from there, it’s made my life easier.”

“My defensemen are keeping shots to the outside, so I just have had to focus mostly on rebound control and trying to keep the guys in the game.”

Fassl, who spent the last two seasons playing Junior A for the

Toronto Patriots in the OJHL, has posted a .918 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average in 19 contests this year. That is good enough for the eleventh and twelfth overall ranking respectively amongst OUA goalies.

The transition from Junior A to the university circuit can often times be difficult for players, as they go from matching up against mostly 18 and 19-year-olds to some teams in the OUA dressing players

in their mid-20s.

“I’ve noticed in the OUA, that every line on every team is pretty deep and pretty strong, so you’ve always got to be focussed no matter what. Before in the OJHL, you could kind of get away with the last two lines [being] not as strong as the top two.”

Fassl also added that he has noticed that “the pace of the game is a little quicker, so you just got to be prepared for anything in this

As Laurier enters the final few weeks of the regular season tied for fifth in a tight OUA West conference, Fassl has a clear focus on the task at hand.

“It’s all about the team and how high up I can help get [us] seeded for playoffs, so that we can have a better first round matchup.”

“I know that if we get clicking towards the end of the season here, that we can take that momentum into the playoffs and have a long playoff push.”

As the playoffs approach, new challenges are set to emerge for the rookie varsity athlete. Fassl will undoubtedly look back on his childhood dreams in hockey as extra motivation to push through the difficulties at hand.

“I would love to play pro if the opportunity arises. That’s been my goal since I was four-years-old growing up. Every kid’s dream is to play in the NHL, so if you can keep following that dream, that’s obviously the number one [motivator].”