The Cord Nov. 7, 2018

THE CORD THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 59 ISSUE 10 • NOVEMBER 7, 2018

MEASURING LGBTQ+ WELLNESS IN WATERLOO News, page 4

Over 90% of participants said growing up they heard that LGBTQ+ people were abnormal.

HOLOCAUST EDUCATION

STUDENT ‘BODIES’

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

HOW TO BE A GOOD ALLY

SUPPY PROTEIN POWDER

Hillel Laurier hosts info exhibits

Laurier is first university to get new Cadavers

Looking at the story behind Freddie Mercury

Breaking down the barriers of support

Alumni create affordable alternative

News, page 3

News, page 5

Arts & Life, page 9

Opinion, page 14

Sports, page 16 SADMAN SAKIB RAHMAN/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

2 •

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

VOCAL CORD What’s the earliest you’ve ever bought a holiday gift?

@cordnews

The Cord

@thecord.ca

CordNews

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

“Mid-November.”

–Sukhjeet Kahlon, thirdyear sociology

“October.”

–Sam Spence, second-year biology and YITIAN CAI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Graffiti Market, located in Kitchener, offers a unique experience of art, technology and fresh, local food. The restaurant features electronic tables.

“As soon as fall exams are over.”

–Gabriel Keller, thirdyear film studies

“Two weeks.”

–Ian Roberts, second-year economics and film studies

Compiled by Margaret Russell Photos by Jackie Vang NEXT ISSUE NOVEMBER 14, 2018

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

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Josh Goeree Jennifer Webb Victoria Marshall Yana Manevska Rachel Burns Abigail Barrett Jacob Broz Yitian Cai

Say hi to Laurier’s newest student “body” by Hayley McGoldrick

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.

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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.

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

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

Quote of the week: “I need to go work at a soup kitchen.”

- President & Publisher Terrence Mroz after having to play the boss card.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

News

• 3 NEWS EDITOR HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR AARON HAGEY news@thecord.ca

EXHIBITION

Hillel Laurier kicks off Holocaust Education Week MARGARET RUSSELL LEAD REPORTER

Hillel Laurier is hosting their Holocaust Education Week from Nov. 2 until Nov. 8.

This week of events is dedicated annually to the furthering of education and remembrance of the Holocaust which took place between 1933 and 1945 amidst the Second World War. Hillel, the foundation for Jewish campus life is the largest organization of its kind with representation at thousands of post-secondary institutions globally. Hillel Laurier is a joint club with the University of Waterloo, and this year’s vice president of Jewish life, Rachel Goldfarb, is responsible for organizing this week’s events.

“Holocaust Education Week is an international [event] and it’s observed everywhere,” Goldfarb said. “The mission is to educate people about the atrocities of the Holocaust.”

“I grew up in somewhat of a Jewish community bubble where everyone knew about the Holocaust, and many of us, including me, had

grandparents who were survivors of the Holocaust,” Goldfarb added.

“Coming to university, stepping out of that bubble, a lot of people don’t know about the Holocaust, aren’t aware of what happened and I think it’s so important to educate people so that they know to ensure that it never happens again.”

On Friday, Hillel Laurier ran a narrative walk-through exhibit in the concourse which showcased timelines from the Holocaust and Second World War. “It’s really two exhibits in one.

One of the exhibits is a timeline of a specific story from a survivor named Robbie Waisman … beginning in his early life all the way through to the end when he immigrated to Canada,” Goldfarb said.

“The other side of the exhibit is more of a general timeline of the war and the Holocaust.”

Hillel Laurier considers the exhibit to have been a great success in creating a respectful environment for open and engaged learning with students, faculty and visitors about the Holocaust.

“We had a lot of people come

and read through the entire thing and a lot of people coming and asking questions and telling us they had a connection to the Holocaust,” Goldfarb added.

“It honestly surpassed my expectations and I was really pleased with the engagement. Reading the entire thing takes about a half an hour … I was impressed by the number of people who took the time to do that.”

A keynote event of this year’s Holocaust Education Week in Waterloo will be Berthe Cygelfarb’s visit to the University of Waterloo, which Hillel encourages Laurier students to attend as well.

Berthe is a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Belgium who is active in educating students about the Holocaust and her experiences as a European Jew during the Second World War. To conclude Holocaust Education Week at Laurier, Hillel will also be hosting their Interfaith Shabbat Dinner, which encourages “Jewish and non-Jewish friends to see what Shabbat dinner is all about.”

Details for the testimony and dinner are on Hillel’s website.

JACKIE VANG/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

EDUCATION

Bina Mehta receives award for sustained teaching excellence HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK NEWS EDITOR

JACKIE VANG/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Each year, Laurier hands out awards to faculty for teaching excellence in multiple categories, and the recipients receive these awards at convocation, which occurred between Oct. 26 and 27 this year.

The awards given for the Donald F. Morgenson Faculty Awards for Teaching Excellence include Early Career Excellence, Sustained Excellence, Innovation in Teaching, Excellence in Interna-tionalization, Faculty Mentoring Award, Hoffman-Little Award and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Award for Excellence In Teaching.

This year, one of the recipients for the Sustained Excellence category was Bina Mehta, a part-time faculty member in both North American and global studies.

Mehta has been an instructor at Laurier for 13 years and has taught in higher education for 25 years.

“I am extremely, extremely humbled by this recognition. A colleague of mine in global studies nominated me for the award and he kind of had to twist my arm to let my nomination stand. I wasn’t really too keen about it, partly because I just don’t like the attention,” said Bina Mehta, recipient of

the Sustained Excellence award.

“It’s just kind of outside my wheelhouse a little bit in terms of that level of attention, but the teaching award I feel very humbled.”

As Mehta is contract faculty, she would typically make less than full-time colleagues, thanks to underfunding by the government.

Ontario universities are 34 per cent behind the Canadian average for funding and therefore almost half the teaching done in the province is done by contract staff.

“I have to say that I share it with a lot of part-time faculty who work at Laurier, close to 50 per cent of the teaching done at Ontario universities is done by people who are contract faculty, so the word part-time is a bit of a misnomer,” Mehta said.

“It’s more like contract people who have been working sometimes at two or three universities, so I share this award with them.”

As for Mehta’s work at Wilfrid Laurier, it goes beyond the lecture hall. One of her colleagues, John Abraham, invited her to organize a field course in Kerala, India, where they took 10 students in Global Studies to look at sustainable development in a developing country.

“Kerala is a bit of an anomaly.

It’s a state in India that defies all

the odds in terms of development; infant mortality is low, literacy rates are high — it’s kind of got all these things that you wouldn’t expect about a developing country like India to have,” Mehta said.

The group went for three weeks, from June 1 to 22. The most rewarding experience of the trip, Mehta said, was the relationships established from it.

“We had an enormous opportunity: ten students, nine women and one international male from Colombia … We stayed in the residence there, so we ate cafeteria food together everyday, three meals a day ,” she said.

What sets Mehta apart in her excellence is that she values the opportunity for growth and relationships with her students to not only enhance her experience as an instructor, but to make an impact on youth who spend a decent chunk of their life here.

“It is the relationship that’s gained from the students; I tell them I like double-doubles so they bring me one or we go out and get them,” said Mehta.

“It’s about learning a little about their lives and my teaching philosophy is if I make myself vulnerable and tell them a little bit about who I am, then they open up also and I think that’s the space in which learning happens.”

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

OUTLOOK STUDY LOOKS AT LGBTQ+ WELLNESS IN WATERLOO

SAFINA HUSEIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Though being part of the LGBTQ+ community in the Waterloo region might look like it is all rainbows and sparkles, things are a lot darker than they seem, as concluded and reiterated by The Outlook Study.

The Outlook Study, led by Robb Travers, associate professor of Health Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, is one of the most comprehensive, in-depth studies conducted regarding the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community in the Waterloo region.

Other Laurier faculty — in addition to Travers — who contributed to the study include Todd Coleman, Simon Coulombe, Ciann Wilson and Michael Woodford.

The study focused on experiences of LGBTQ+ in Waterloo pertaining to safety, social support, discrimination and access to healthcare amongst others. 500 members of the LGBTQ+ community in Waterloo were surveyed in order to gather the necessary data.

On Oct. 11, 2018, the “Shifting our OutLook” symposium took place, bringing together various

Some of the highest [percentages] were issues related to incorrect pronoun use that trans people were experiencing ...

-Todd Coleman, assistant professor, health science at WLU

community leaders and over 60 policy-makers in order to discuss the major findings of the study.

Some of the main topics dis-

cussed at the symposium included LGBTQ+ access to health care services, experiences of access to

While we’re doing this knowledge, transfer and exchange, we’re also looking to another phase of data collection.

-Todd Coleman, assistant professor, health science at WLU

mental health services, as well as LGBTQ+ experience of victimization, discrimination, community safety and inclusion.

According to The Outlook Study, over 90 per cent of participants stated that they heard while growing up that LGBTQ+ individuals were perceived as abnormal.

In correspondence, 71 per cent said they were made fun or called names because of their sexual orientation.

“The last [topic] we looked at was the subset of individuals who were LGBTQ+ racialized individuals in the Waterloo region and seeing the unique issues within that group,” said Coleman, assistant professor of health science at Laurier.

57 per cent of trans people said they avoided public washrooms.

In addition, 65 per cent of trans people stated they had been objectified or fetishized, while 73 per cent said they feared they would die young.

“Some of the highest [percentages] were issues related to incorrect pronoun use that trans people were experiencing in healthcare settings,” Coleman said.

“We found that a fairly large numbers of individuals had for ex-

ample avoided emergency rooms when they needed it based on fear of being discriminated in the healthcare setting.”

In terms of healthcare, the Outlook Study iterated that accessing services — especially primary care — was a source of anxiety and caused experiences of discrimination.

“We were going over some of the main experiences that people have when they’re accessing health care.

So for things, for example, with the trans community, we were exploring discriminatory experiences especially with primary care and accessing hospitals and emergency departments,” Coleman said.

Although The Outlook Study is not currently published for the public to view, the team who con-

tributed to the study have created a fact sheet which summarizes the data.

The team is also in the midst of working on conveying the study’s data in various publications and mediums which will convey the data. The publications are set to come out within the next year.

The “Shifting our OutLook” symposium offered an opportunity for important community partners to take the data collected by the study and use the information to make positive change moving forward.

“A big component of the day was to decide on sort of how we move forward from this, what are the key findings and issues that we can identify and address — and how do we move forward,” Coleman said.

“I think the idea here is that

we’re in a knowledge, transfer and exchange phase of the study.”

As for making tangible, positive change, those participating in the symposium concluded that finding additional provider education, as well as empowering LGBTQ+ folks to be able to advocate for themselves in social and healthcare settings.

“We’ve collected all of our data, we’ve assessed a lot of situations and a number of analysis and have come up with some direction but we’re looking at conducting qualitative studies that are based on some of these findings,” Coleman said.

“While we’re doing this knowledge, transfer and exchange, we’re also looking to another phase of data collection.”

71% were made fun of, or called names, because of their sexual orientation

PHOTOS BY SADMAN SAKIB RAHMAN/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 ANATOMY

PHOTOS BY EVA OU/PHOTO EDITOR

Say hi to Laurier’s newest student “bodies” HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK NEWS EDITOR

The departments of kinesiology and health sciences at Laurier, along with students from other faculties currently in anatomy courses, have been given the gift of two synthetic cadavers named Sara and Rita, made by a company in Florida called SynDaver.

“They are for our human anatomy course and that services both kinesiology and health sciences students, that’s the vast majority of students in these labs but there are also a handful of biology and psychology students in these courses,” said Diane Gregory, associate professor in both the faculty of kinesiology and the faculty of health sciences at Laurier.

Although the University of Waterloo has a full cadaver lab at their institution, Laurier is the first school in Canada to have these synthetic cadavers. Schools from

all across the country are curious as to how these bodies move.

“It’s not even that I think they are better than a textbook. I think they’re superior to the models that we currently have in the lab or at least they’re going to enhance the resources that we currently have — and it’s because of the tactile feedback that you get,” Gregory said.

“The models we currently have are hard plastic. To visualize the muscles that are below, you pop a piece off of the model and obviously that’s not realistic in real life.”

“Whereas with the synthetic cadavers, everything is malleable and feels similar to real tissues; I’ve worked with human cadavers before, so I can make the comparison.”

“You can also physically push muscles aside to see what’s below and that helps students be able to see where structures are relative to one another.”

The cost of these cadavers can

range from anywhere between $70,000 to $90,000, but they also come with a lifetime warranty and have a maintenance fee attached, which means the cadavers can be sent back to Florida every summer to fix any loose ends so the cadavers do not need to be repurchased.

They’re going to enhance the resources that we currently have, and it’s becaue of the tactile feedback.

-Diane Gregory, associate professor, kinesiology

The faculties of kinesiology and health science would, however,

like to have programs where the money they make with use of the cadavers from others could be reinvested into the program to purchase more.

“We’re starting an outreach program, starting in the new year sometime,” Cinelli said.

“We’re partnering with UW, as they already offer an outreach program with their cadaver lab and their lab coordinators came to visit our synthetic cadavers and loved them,” said Michael Cinelli, associate professor in kinesiology at Laurier.

“There are 25 schools on their waiting list that would love to come see our synthetic cadavers, so we have a potential of 25 schools that want to come see them - we just have to schedule a date and time.

That’s how UW has made use of their cadaver labs too.”

Representatives from schools like Memorial University in Newfoundland have already inquired

and scheduled times to come see the cadavers, as Laurier is the only school to have two full synthetic human cadavers, whereas other labs have only part — or synthetic animal — cadavers.

“This is the future, I think, of anatomy labs. There was a time where people were moving towards a hybrid approach where they were using a virtual kind of anatomy — and we were thinking about that too, because we knew we were never going to get a cadaver lab like UW so we wondered what we could give them,” Cinelli said.

“There’s a lot you can learn by reading, but most of your learning will come from experiencing and getting involved and this is one way that they will experience anatomy.”

“You have to get in there and feel them - these are learning tools and you won’t forget what you feel,” he said.

6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

ACCESSIBILITY There were also remarks from Kathryn Carter, associate vice-president of teaching and learning, who commented on the significance of the space and its established intent.

This is a new space that houses all of the Waterloo units for a whole number of areas of expertise that come under the banner of teaching and learning.

-Kathryn Carter, associate VP: teaching and learning at WLU

DOTUN JIDE/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

Teaching and Learning Commons unveiled at Laurier ceremony AARON HAGEY NEWS EDITOR

In an event held on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m, Wilfrid Laurier University unveiled the Teaching and Learning Commons (TLC) on the second floor of the newly renovated Frank C. Peters Building, their newest amalgamation of student success services and support teams.

This new collaborative space will offer students easier and more ac-

cessible assistance, and combines the Accessible Learning, Math and Statistics Support, Online Learning, Student Teaching Development, Study Skills and Learning Strategy Support, Transition Services and Writing Support services into one condensed area.

In a press release sent by Claire Bruner-Prime, communications and public affairs officer at Laurier, the TLC was described as “a modern, collaborative space for faculty, staff, and students ... a renovated,

centralized environment for these communities to access a wide variety of teaching and learning resources and personalized support.”

The event offered students and faculty alike the opportunity to find out more about these supports and services.

It also gave them a chance to engage in an interactive component with each department, allowing them to showcase presentations regarding the individual merits of their branches.

“I wanted to say thank you to facilities and asset management … for the amazing job you’re seeing here today and the remarkable transformation they’ve created,” Carter said.

“This is a new space that houses all of the Waterloo units for a whole number of areas of expertise that come under the banner of teaching and learning.”

She took the chance to reflect upon the promise of the space by reflecting on the role of teaching and learning units across the country. “[They] have been at the vanguard of some huge changes in post-secondary education in the last three decades,” Carter said.

“Certainly our language has changed over the years and the scope of our activities have really

changed … and how we might best support and showcase student success and engagement in all those activities.”

“Now, more than ever, educators need to imagine a community of support around us, because teaching is happening in situations that are increasingly complex — like the culture around us,” she said.

Carter also took the opportunity to recognize the privilege that she is an active recipient of, through a land acknowledgement, giving thanks to those who came before. “[One] that says I’ve benefitted from those who were stewards of the land, for thousands of years before … I wanted to acknowledge the difficult work of those who came before me, to teach all of us about the things that came before us, so that we could all aspire to a broader perspective and understanding about our lands,” Carter said.

The Teaching and Learning Commons now offers more of a centralized environment for student and faculty support. Though they have always worked under the same mandate, there is now a more consolidated space for them to exist in.

“It’s a great chance for us to be able to really come together as departments who have always worked under the same portfolio,” said Allie Downing, communications coordinator: teaching and learning at WLU. “[But now] we get to collaborate more with one another, we get to see students studying and working in these environments — and we can all get a better sense of what each other does.”

CLIMATE CHANGE

A Laurier, Guelph graduate student spent 15 hours in self-made “earth jar” to investigate climate change AARON HAGEY NEWS EDITOR

On Tuesday, Oct. 23, British Columbia resident, Laurier and Guelph graduate and self-proclaimed “whimsical scientist” Kurtis Baute declared that he would secure himself inside of a self-made “earth jar”, an isolated and self-sustaining ecological environment of his own creation, to explore his research on climate change.

The earth jar was roughly 1,000 cubic feet in size, 10 feet long by 10 feet wide by 10 feet high and was intended to be a scale replica of earth’s atmosphere. The experiment was intended to last three days and his own experiment predicted 21 hours.

However, due to the build-up of carbon dioxide levels, he was forced to abandon the project after only 14 hours. It’s that fundamental significance of carbon dioxide, with regard to air levels, that he wants people to address.

“I think that people don’t understand the basic science around the air that we breathe.

They don’t understand that, yeah, carbon dioxide makes up less than one per cent of the air, but it’s an

extremely important quantity and an extremely important gas. In my jar, levels only went up to one per cent carbon dioxide, but that was still extremely dangerous for me,” Baute said.

“I think that — obviously — as we raise the carbon dioxide levels globally, it has all sorts of implications for our environment.”

Baute got the idea for the earth jar based on a terrarium that he has been keeping at his desk for the past two years, monitoring and watching the life and death cycle of the plants that have existed inside of it.

“People have been doing terrarium experiments for hundreds of years, but not often with people in them,” Baute said. “Through that time I [was] thinking: ‘what would it look like if a human did that?

What sorts of lessons could you teach people from that experiment’?”

“There [was] a great opportunity to teach about climate change and how carbon dioxide is affecting our earth. So I decided to go for it,” he said According to his Twitter page, the World Health Organization predicts that climate change will cause five million deaths by the

year 2050.

Part of the earth jar experiment was to spread the word about a number of concerns that he feels should be at the forefront of people’s thoughts.

On a more personal level, Baute noted that this project has really helped him to see air for what it is, as well as the fundamental role that it serves.

“I no longer just look right through it: I see it as this fluid we are immersed in and it’s helping keep us alive. The more people that can see it that way, the better off we’ll be,” Baute said.

As climate change becomes a more serious, divisive and political issue, experiments like those of Baute underline the necessity of continuing the ongoing conversation regarding the significant impact that humans have on our sensitive and delicate ecosystem.

There are, however, a number of things that he feels could be done to work on that.

“One is that we need to eat less meat. Meat is a super inefficient way to get our calories,” Baute said.

“It takes at least three times the amount of grain — probably around three kilograms of grain per kilogram of beef. It’s got a huge

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

impact on our environment.”

“Second thing is we need to drive less, so whether we’re changing how we commute — biking or walking or if we just work from home more.”

“The third thing is that we need to start a conversation which includes social change, using our votes to implement change, trying to change the ways we make policy,” he said.

NEWS • 7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 STUDENTS’ UNION

OUSA holds its bi-annual general assembly conference MARGARET RUSSELL LEAD REPORTER

Over the weekend, from Nov. 2 to 4, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) held their bi-annual general assembly conference at McMaster University.

Wilfrid Laurier University was in attendance, alongside seven other member universities of OUSA, to discuss new and renewing policies.

Laurier’s representation at this conference was six delegates; a number that proportionally represents the total population of students enrolled at both Waterloo and Brantford campuses.

“It’s an opportunity for all members of the different institutions that are a part of OUSA to give their input on policies that we’re renewing,” said Shannon Kelly, OUSA’s vice president of finance.

“I’m on what we call a steering committee of OUSA, which is basically the board of directors,” Kelly said.

One of the primary missions of these conferences is communication and collaboration between the eight member schools of OUSA. The representatives present are committed to lobbying students’ needs in the most accurate and effective way possible, by sharing critiques and creating dialogue for

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

changes and additions to policy proposals.

“My role was to facilitate ‘breakout sessions,’ where members from different delegations will critique the papers in order to improve it, so we’re best reflecting the needs of students in the policies that we have.”

“The three topics that were on the ballot to renew were teaching and assessment, technology and

abled learning as well as tuition,” Kelly said.

“We also decide what policies we will be renewing during the next general assembly.”

“Typically, steering committee members will offer a paper … I offered the technology and abled learning paper,” she said.

“In particular, there was a section on teaching and learning quality which we focused on

effective methods of pedagogy, evaluations of teaching, as well as faculty renewal strategies we felt best served students,” Kelly said.

“A huge area that we talked about as well was something called high impact learning.”

“This also included focusing on co-curricular records and allowing students to articulate the skills they learned through those experiential learning methods and to ensure

they’re getting the highest quality education ” “We also talked a little bit about inclusive learning … this included different ways of testing students and student assessments because, as we know, sometimes multiple choice isn’t the best testing method for a lot of students, but sometimes for certain disciplines that’s the best way to do it,” Kelly added.

OUSA delegates also posed concerns about sensitivity training for faculty members “to best serve students and ensure that they feel safe and comfortable in their classrooms.”

Upon the success of this conference, OUSA will now go forward and begin lobbying to the provincial government for their policies and their immediate implementation.

“We are doing what we call our lobby conference that we do every year next week, where we have our priorities and take them to our various MPP’s at Parliament Hill,” Kelly concluded.

OUSA has scheduled meetings with several policy-makers and representatives from the provincial government for next week in order to present these new and renewed policies and move forward with their enactment.

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8 •

Arts & Life

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 ARTS & LIFE EDITOR EMILY WAITSON arts@thecord.ca

LOCAL

Finding the bread you knead YITIAN CAI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

EMILY WAITSON ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR

Golden Hearth Bakery, located on the corner of King and Cedar Street in Kitchener, is a local, 11 year-old confectionery that sells baked goods made completely from scratch with quality, organic ingredients.

Providing a variety of fresh products for both the community and other localities in the area like Gilt Restaurant Bar and Lounge, Legacy Greens, Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters and Vincenzo’s — among several others — Golden Hearth’s simple approach to bakery fare seems to be what makes them so successful and highly praised.

Tavis Weber, the owner of Golden Hearth, had his flour-dusted apron donned and an easy going attitude about his business — which he’s owned for eight years — and his dedicated customer base.

“So we are primarily a sourdough bakery, with sourdough breads, we make our own croissants, cookies, granolas, bit of squares.

We do everything from scratch; we use mostly organic flour or organically grown flour. We supply local cafes, restaurants and health food stores,” Weber said.

If their 4.9 star rating on Google is any indication, people can’t get enough of their products — especially croissants, which are some of their most popular items.

They offer a collection of delicious sounding viennoiserie goods —baked similarly to bread, but with ingredients that give them a sweeter, heavier quality closer to a pastry — along with frozen pizza dough and perhaps their most sought after selection, their sourdough and yeast-based breads.

Their store reflects their product: uncomplicated, warm and inviting.

With mustard coloured walls and an uncomplicated storefront, customers get a glimpse into their busy kitchen and everything they have to offer.

They regularly sell out of their baked goods early into the opening hours throughout the week, it’s easy to see why.

The combination of the welcoming atmosphere and reliable service makes for a pleasant food shopping experience.

Their chalkboard menu displays their list of pastries and bread for sale at reasonable prices — a selling point for people who don’t want to sacrifice taste and quality for affordability.

In terms of what sets Golden Hearth apart from other bakeries in the area, the answer is simple: their bread — but it’s a lengthy process to get the desired product.

“We’re actually making full sourdoughs, so we don’t put any yeast in our bread — we have a few that have yeast in them — but if we call it a sourdough, its 36 hours, start-to-finish.

So we’ll start a dough on a Monday afternoon, start the starter, mix the dough on a Tuesday and then bake it on Wednesday.

So it’s a three-day process, same with croissants, they also take that long,” Weber said.

Baking and doing it well is a skill that requires long hours and endless devotion for the products that you’re producing each week.

Although it may sound like a tired-out cliche, putting love and care into what you make is essential in creating something that people will appreciate just as much in return.

“We’re an artisan bakery: we work with our hands, we do everything by hand other than mixing, everything else is done by hand, so it’s a labour of love,” Weber said.

In a time where so many of the things we buy are mass produced by machinery, it’s refreshing to see that an innocuous little bakery can continue flourishing and providing the community with such acclaimed, tasty food made from scratch. Golden Hearth Bakery is definitely the place to go for high-quality products.

ARTS & LIFE • 9

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 RESTAURANTS

A new tech hang out space SAFINA HUSEIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If you’re looking for something new to experience in Waterloo, I would highly recommend heading over to Graffiti Market.

Located at 137 Glasgow Street in Kitchener at Catalyst137 — the world’s largest IoT manufacturing hub — Graffiti Market aims to provide art, technology and great food to their customers.

Graffiti Market, however, is more than a unique place to dine.

When first entering Graffiti Market, you’re able to shop and purchase local items in their market.

“There is beer and merchandise as well as fresh fruits and vegetables and cheeses. Everything is local so it’s really nice, we also have a vinyl collection that you can purchase from,” Lindsay Shields, general manager of Graffiti Market, said.

In addition to the market, the restaurant is home to a Four All Ice Cream location — a local ice cream company.

The main portion of the restaurant, aside from the market, is dedicated to dining space as well as their open concept brewery.

“Everything we use is fresh and

local,” Shields said.

“We build everything from scratch from our dressings, our pizza dough we bake in house, our pasta is made fresh so we like to focus on the freshness aspect and using quality ingredients.”

We brew all of our own beer on site, we don’t sell anything else other than our Red Circle Beer.

-Lindsay Shields, general manager of Graffiti Market

Red Circle Brewing, a local micro-brewing company, is also located within Graffiti Market.

“We brew all of our own beer on site, we don’t sell anything else other than our Red Circle Beer,” Shields said.

“Everything is all brewed on site.

You can watch them brew throughout the entire day, it’s an open concept brewery — it’s really fun.

One of the main components of Graffiti Market that sets it a part from other restaurants is their electronic tables.

“They’re like giant iPads, you can order all of your food and all of your drinks on the table, you can play air hockey and puzzles, there’s a graffiti app … it’s really fun,” Shields said.

Overall, if you’re looking for great food and some friendly competition between the people you’re with, Graffiti Market is the ideal place for you to check out.

“You can come and hangout with your friends, spend a few hours, have a lot of fun on the table. Drink really good beer and share some pizza and it’s a really fun atmosphere, it’s pretty hip and forward thinking and it’s very tech savvy” Graffiti Market is clearly different from typical restaurants geared towards university students looking for a place to unwind and enjoy a great meal.

With an engaging and fun atmosphere, it offers a space to have a good time that’s unlike anything else in the area. When you can play a game on the same table that you eat and pay the bill at, it certainly stands out.

YITIAN CAI/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

MOVIES

Rami Malek rocks in Queen biopic JOSH GOEREE STAFF WRITER

Growing up, I used to listen to the “Greatest Hits” album by Queen. I would rock out to classics like “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now”, and “Another One Bites the Dust.”

It took in $50 million in its opening weekend and over $141 million in total, and it’s projected to stay at number one throughout the week.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

I would bring the CD to school and listen to it on a portable CD player.

So when I heard that there would be a biopic about Queen, the old memories of singing along in my parents’ living room came flooding back.

Bohemian Rhapsody came out last Friday, and takes an in-depth look at the lead singer of Queen.

Focusing on Freddie Mercury’s personal life and how the band went from playing colleges and bars in 1970, to worldwide success and their legendary 1985 Live Aid concert performance.

It was directed by Bryan Singer, who is known for directing various X-Men movies and The Usual Suspects, and had current Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor serve as executive music producers. It took in $50 million in its opening weekend and over $141 million in total, and it’s projected to stay at number one throughout the week.

The movie itself was beautifully done. While it is listed as a drama, it does have its funny moments while also keeping it serious at the right times. For anyone who likes Queen, this movie is a must see.

Going into the movie not knowing much about Freddie Mercury’s personal life made it even better to see because I didn’t know what was going to happen. Rami Malek plays the iconic singer and nails every aspect of his character from his infamous moustache and colourful outfits to his over-the-top flamboyant personality.

When compared to the actual 1985 Live Aid concert, it’s hard to tell the difference because of how well Malek plays the role. The performances by Malek and the rest of the cast really sell the authenticity of their characters and make it look like you are watching the real people they’re portraying.

The movie also balances the story and musical portions perfectly.

One minute you’ll be taken in by the fight between Freddie and Roger Taylor and the next you’ll be singing along with “Another One Bites the Dust.”The personal life story of Freddie Mercury looks at how he struggled at first with his sexuality in the 70s and 80s, a time where the AIDS pandemic

unfairly stigmatized homosexuals and bisexuals and how that had an effect on his relationship with Mary Austin.

When compared to the actual 1985 Live Aid concert, it’s hard to tell the difference because of how well Malek plays the role.

It also really shows how Queen as a band rose from their early days through the 70s and 80s, the chemistry and the dramatics of the band, to showing how much Freddie saw them as family. The main messages of the movie would be how important family is to someone.

Be it band members, to former lovers , to mothers and fathersFreddie Mercury died on Nov. 24 1991 due to AIDS-related pneumonia.

While the signature music of this band of misfits and the best pumpup music of all time has been gone for a while, Freddie comes back to life in this two hour-long movie based on his life with Queen.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a movie for the ages and it’s one of the best movies of 2018. By the end, you’ll be singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are The Champions” all the way home.

10 • GAMES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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TUNE IN ONLINE

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

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

Dear Old Roommate ,If you hate me so much, why are you always watching my insta stories? Clearly you’re a fan.

Sincerely, Flattered

SUDOKU

Dear Life, Dear CH, Why do some people not grow up after high school.

Sincerely, Unwanted Drama Llama

Please keep making TY videos, your content is great. I’m also totally not saying this because I want you to get famour, because then it’d be like I know a celebrity.

Dear Big A, Definitely not.

Thanks for carrying the team pal.

Couldn’t do it without you. P.S. you and Lil E killed it as Arthur and Baxter.

Sincerely, Your (2nd) biggest fan Dear Christmas,

Sincerely, Big H and M Dear Ariana Grande, Thank you for being you. Sweetener was a bop of an album. I may never talk to a man again. I genuinely hope htat’s the casebecause they are exhausting

Have you ever seen that Veggietales video “Oh Santa”? That’s what’s going through my head.

Larry the cucumber was the GOAT. Giving Robbers cookies. Thie kind of purity we need in this world.

Sincerely, Kristen Kringle

GAMES • 11

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 WORD SEARCH

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12 •

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR ALYSSA DI SABATINO opinion@thecord.ca

Editor’s Note: Loyal coworkers But amidst the stress and exhaustion, the effort put into this job always pays off.

Without fail, there are 17 people who work alongside me that make this job worth it. And last week was no exception.

It’s because of my coworkers that Tuesday nights are one of the most memorable and fun nights of my every week.

My Cord staff and I have made 10 papers so far. With each paper we’ve made, I’ve gone home feeling so proud of all of our hard work.

Each week, I see my staff improve and strive to do better. Their hard work shows when our issue hits the stands.

Seeing our hard work on stands every Wednesday is one of the most exciting part of my every week. But I know that the feeling I get seeing our paper on stands come directly from the memories and fun that we have during production.

The people I share so much of my time with at The Cord have become my best friends in this short amount of time. And I’m so thankful to have all of them by my side.

They make the stress of this job less stressful. And they make the most exciting and rewarding parts of this job so much more meaningful.

So here’s a little shoutout to all my staff — although you all despise my constant calls for more Dear Life’s and for someone to say something funny for quote of the week, you all should know that every Tuesday I go home so happy because I get to do the job that I love with my favourite people.

My staff still stick around (and still say they like me) even when I play the Monster Mash on repeat on production nights. If that doesn’t scream loyal, then I don’t know what does.

SAFINA HUSEIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As with all workplaces, there are many ups and downs. No workplace is ever perfect.

There are always the coworkers who you work well with, and there’s always some coworkers who are trickier to work with.

Navigating working alongside coworkers during times of high stress can be particularly difficult.

Especially when work is only one commitment in addition to school, extracurriculars, etc.

My workplace, here at The Cord, is different than any other job I’ve had during my time as a student.

It’s because of my coworkers that Tuesday nights are one of the most memorable and fun nights of my every week.

The Cord isn’t your typical nineto-five job. My staff and I know very well that working for this publication is a commitment on almost every day of the week. And because of this huge commitment, we often find ourselves spending large portions of our week together.

Last week in specific, I came into our weekly production feeling particularly tired and unmotivated from a previous week filled with midterms and generally a busy schedule.

THE CORD IS PUBLISHED BY WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

DIRECTOR Aaron Hagey

CHAIR Terrence Mroz

DIRECTOR Rosalind Horne

VICE-CHAIR Shyenne MacDonald

DIRECTOR H.G. Watson

DIRECTOR Maiya Mistry

TREASURER Garrison Oosterhof

Randy Moore randy@rcmbrooks. com

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ADVERTISING MANAGER Care Lucas care.lucas@wlusp. com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lakyn Barton

EDITORIAL CARTOON

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

The best years of your life; so far PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

I’m seven months away from graduation and even though that seems like a long time, I’m already starting to feel anxious, nervous, excited, and curious — basically what everyone feels when they are about to go through a major change in their life.

The one cliché that I have constantly heard during my four years so far at Laurier has been “these are going to be the best years of your life.”

Although that cliché sounded great to me in my first, second and third years, it’s now starting to scare me.

If these are the four best years of my life, then every year from here on out is going to be worse.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m starting to put too much emphasis on everything just because it is my last year at university.

For example, Halloween just passed, and since it was our ‘last Halloween’, my roommates and I tried too hard to make it memorable.

And this can be applied to so

many other situations. I’ve already been through my last Homecoming, my last fall reading week, and eventually I’ll go through my last St. Patrick’s Day and even my last exams.

By putting so much pressure on all these events, I’m essentially making sure that they’re never going to live up to the hype.

By putting so much pressure on all these events, I’m essentially making sure that they’re never going to live up to the hype.

It’s easy to get caught in this trap, and I’m sure there are lots of other students in their last year doing this too; but I’ve realized that it’s important for me to treat these big occasions like I would any other year.

The biggest reason behind people saying that your university years are the best years is the extreme focus on the positive

aspects.

I always hear ‘this is the last time you’ll be around so many people your age,’ and ‘once you finish university and step into the real world.’

While I don’t necessarily disagree with either of those things, I can point out plenty of negative aspects as well that make university sounds much worse than it actually is.

I don’t like the constant backand-forth moving that I have to do every year from my home to my student house.

I’m tired of studying for exams for elective courses that I don’t care about, the constant stress of applying for jobs is exhausting, and worrying about food every day is the worst.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can make any experience sounds amazing or terrible based on what you focus on, and that definitely applies to your university years and beyond.

So I’ve decided to make a slight change to the aforementioned cliché and turn it into: “these are going to be the best years of your life, so far.”

It’s important to make that distinction because if these are the best four years of my life, then I’ve failed.

I need to make sure that the next four years of my life are the best four years of my life.

• 13

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Opinion

OPINION EDITOR ALYSSA DI SABATINO opinion@thecord.ca

The implications of allowing ex-felons to vote ALYSSA DI SABATINO OPINION EDITOR

By the time this article is published, Florida voters will have been confronted with 12 constitutional amendment proposals during their general election on Nov. 6.

These amendments range everywhere from banning the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed spaces, to banning offshore gas and oil drilling, to increasing taxes.

The fourth amendment aims to restore voting rights to former felons who have already served their sentence.

This referendum, if it goes through, would re-enfranchise over 1.5 million Floridian ex-felons, and could largely change the states’ electoral outcomes in the future.

The current voting law in Florida does not grant ex-felons the right to vote upon completing their sentence. Florida is one of four states, including Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia, that permanently bars felons from voting after they complete their sentences.

The only exclusions proposed for this amendment would be for

violent offences, including murder and sex-related crimes. Otherwise, once a former felon has served their time be it prison, parole or probation, they regain their right to vote automatically.

It seems that Canada is already a few steps ahead of Florida in regards to voting laws. Here, it is guaranteed that all citizens have the right to vote in federal and provincial elections.

During the 2011 Canadian federal election, voter turnout was at 61 per cent for the general population, and 54 per cent for those who were incarcerated.

This includes those who were formerly or currently behind bars; those who are incarcerated retain the constitutional right to vote.

In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada gave federal prisoners the right to vote, claiming it to be a democratic right. Regardless of their conviction or length of time they are serving, Canadian felons

Vigilante justice in prison deaths JOSH GOEREE STAFF WRITER

Last week, something incredible happened that may have missed the eyes of most people. James “Whitey” Bulger, the former mob

vicious and notorious crime bosses of the modern era. In 2013, he was found guilty of 31 counts that included weapon charges, racketeering and money laundering and 11 of 19 murders he was accused of committing. He was serving two life sentences and five years when he was murdered. The movie Black Mass was about his life and Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed was based on Bulger himself.

The question comes down to whether or not his killing was seen as some kind of vigilante justice, or a miscarriage of the prison system in West Virginia.

According to CNN, two inmates had been killed this year before Bulger at the same institute and letters were sent to the Justice Department bringing up safety concerns for prisoners and if it had enough staff.

While he was a notorious crime boss, he was also an FBI informant — or as the Mafia would call him, a “rat.” This would make him a big target in the underworld of organized crime because those who ratted on their brothers were despised.

An opinion piece by the Washington Post’s Editorial Board believes that Bulger’s death was a betrayal of justice because the prison system didn’t do enough to protect him. They poetically noted at the end “Mr. Bulger was sentenced to life in prison, not to death.”

The U.S. justice system is

not always perfect in matching punishments to crimes. But the alternative is the justice of the mob — a ratification of Mr. Bulger’s life work rather than the repudiation it deserved.

Looking at what happened to Bulger, I could argue that the prison system did mess up in protecting a prisoner. But I believe the Mafia used the system’s faults against them. Any kind of organized crime group takes the ratting out of any members of their own as frowned upon.

It doesn’t matter if you are a low life thug, a consigliere, or the head honcho of a gang, the code of silence applies to everyone. And if you break that code, then you are as good as dead. That’s the way the Mafia or any other organized crime group works and that’s the way it’s been for close to 100 years in North America.

A suspect in Bulger’s murder is Fotios ‘Freddy’ Geas, who has been known for hating rats in the Mafia and is serving time for murdering another crime boss in 2003 and another man believed to be an informant.

Did the prison system at Hazelton fail? Absolutely. But did they really believe they could prevent the Mafia from closing the book on a man who betrayed many of their own? Absolutely not. There can be all the prison reform in the world, but that will never stop the mob and how they feel about informants and rats.

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

are granted a slice of humanity even from behind bars.

During the 2011 Canadian federal election, voter turnout was at 61 per cent for the general population, and 54 per cent for those who were incarcerated, proving that felons are almost equally as involved in the democratic process as other eligible voters are.

It’s safe to say that felons are interested in being politically active.

During incarceration, they often have access to television and other news outlets, making them just as informed — and maybe even more so — than the general population.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

boss of the Boston affiliated Winter Hill Gang, was murdered in prison on Tuesday, a day after being transferred to a high-security prison in West Virginia.

According to the New York Times, two inmates at the Hazelton penitentiary, where Bulger had been recently transferred to, were seen beating Bulger with a padlock stuffed inside a sock.

Other reports from TMZ and other local news sites say that the

Felony disenfranchisement is the term used when eligible voters are excluded from exercising their rights due to criminal offence.

The whole concept of felony disenfranchisement is a little disturbing to me. If you complete your sentence, why should you continue to be punished? Excluding ex-felons only works to try and keep them from fully integrating back into society.

Those who have made great efforts to turn their lives around deserve a chance to become involved in the political processes of their country once more.

If we truly thought felons could never be reformed, then we would never give them a chance at freedom again.

If you ask me, it seems as though the American electoral system holds some sort of stigma against those who are incarcerated.

Felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects minority populations. Across America, nearly one in 13 black citizens are banned from voting because of this law. In Florida, the number climbs even higher, leaving one in five black citizens unable to vote.

The right to vote should be automatically restored upon sentence completion. When it is not, it reinforces further inequality. The United States incarcerates more people than any other nation, and the racial disparity in these arrests disproportionately affects minority communities.

If we want ex-offenders to be able to turn their lives around, we need to be giving them outlets to be able to fully return to society, and the fourth amendment in the Florida referendum will do just that.

Because I’m writing this article premeditatively to the actual election, my only hope is that Florida voters make the best possible choice on Nov. 6, and are able to recognize that voting rights do, in fact, belong to those who have already paid their debt to society.

suspects were also trying to cut out his tongue and gouge his eyes out.

When the prison staff intervened, they tried everything to save his life but were unsuccessful. He was 89 years old.

Whitey Bulger had been the crime boss of the Winter Hill Gang during the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. He participated in murder, racketeering, money laundering and a laundry list full of crimes. He was known to be one of the most

14 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Allyship is less difficult than you may think

that there is no getting around the feeling of discomfort.

When you embody what it truly means to be an ally, you realize that this discomfort is only a small fraction of the lived experiences of the very group you are considered an ally to.

So, when you find yourself being uncomfortable — it’s okay. What is not okay is expecting marginalized peoples to take your discomfort to the forefront of their battles.

Already, we have so many responsibilities in our marginalised communities to ourselves and those that identify as we do, that we simply cannot take on this role.

When you are practicing taking

on our struggle, we are busy living that struggle. Therefore, a part of your practice is doing your research, taking time to build relationships, learning from your mistakes and holding each other accountable.

If you find yourself doing these things — great! If you find yourself doing these things just within marginalized communities, you are not doing enough.

If you find yourself saying “my friend is black, I can’t be racist,” or “I’ve been to a gay bar, I’m not homophobic,” you are not practicing allyship.

If you want to be an ally, you have to stop using your proximity to a friend’s lived experience as a scapegoat when you are being called in or called out. You have to be accountable.

In trying to practice better allyship and understanding my privilege too, it is here that I wish to mention that I am a black, cisgender female.

Some things I have witnessed first-hand because I am black and a woman, others have been through conversations with different marginalized groups, articles like this one, TEDtalks, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

The important thing here is that allyship does not have to be someone other than yourself.

Regardless of how you identify, the truth is we all have certain privileges and until we confront those privileges and know how they work We will always find the discomfort in allyship as an excuse to not be in between the rock and the hard place.

If you are offended by Apu, you should be offended by the whole show.

If you are opposed to stereotypes in one instance, you should be

opposed to them in other cases.

It would be much less hypocritical of Apu’s critics if they were at least consistent with their criticism.

ABIGAIL BARRETT OPINION COLUMNIST

When you think of an ally, who do you think of? What type of person do you relate the word ally to? Who do you imagine, as Mia McKenzie puts it, “is actively engaging in a practice of unlearning, re-evaluating and using their privilege and power to operate in solidarity with a marginalized group?”

If this person does not describe you, you may find that you my friend, are a part of the problem.

According to trends.google.com, the definition of allyship has mostly been googled in Canada and the United States.

I’m not sure if this is something to be proud of in the sense that there is a thirst for knowledge or to be disappointed as it points to the bigger problems in our society.

Instead, I will leave that for you to decide.

Whenever I find myself walking away from an event or a situation where I need to determine whether or not my sex or the colour of my skin negatively foreshadowed how the situation ended, I am confronted with a negotiation.

This negotiation comes as a self-reflection in identifying what could have made the situation better or worse. The sad part about this is that when the hypothesis above is proven to be true, I still feel like the loser.

KASHYAP PATEL/GRAPHICS EDITOR

I still feel the burden of having been born black and with female genitalia. Now, before you start to think that this is just another one of her rants, bear with me for a minute or two. Maybe you will find something in here that you never thought you needed.

With everything from #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, #BellLetsTalk to Dr. Blasey Ford, we would have all heard the word ally being passed around like maple syrup on Thanksgiving morning.

For some of us in marginalized communities, when used properly, allyship is something to embrace as its practice might very well be the determining factor in whether

we live or die. Yes, it’s that serious.

With that said, I also know that there is a lot of hesitation for people to take on allyship.

I read an article by Sam Killerman, a white, cisgender male, where he said allyship feels like being in between a rock and a hard place especially when resistance comes from within the group you are allied with.

I do not wish to devalue his feelings and in fact, a couple weeks ago I would have called this bullshit. However, in thinking and talking about what it meant to be empathetic with marginalized groups and taking on a struggle as it were your own, I realized

Being consistent in your outrage JACOB BROZ STAFF WRITER

The Simpsons was my favourite show growing up. From the ages of six to 10, I would watch The Simpsons every day on Comedy Central at nine o’clock.

I tend to thank The Simpsons for helping me develop an awareness about the world and a unique sense of humour.

Recently, The Simpsons has been in the news over speculation that they might retire Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the beloved owner of Springfield’s Kwik-E-Mart, from the show.

The past rumours that stated Apu was going to be written off the show is the result of public outrage that he is an unkind stereotype of Indian-Americans.

The very same people who claim that Apu is a stereotype of Indian-Americans should not limit their ire to Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon; they should extend their anger to other supposedly stereotypical characters.

Take Groundskeeper Willie, the chauvinistic Scottish janitor at

Springfield Elementary School for example. He is unabashedly proud of his heritage, speaks with a thick accent and is often times seen toting bagpipes while wearing a kilt. If Apu is a negative stereotype of Indians, then Willie is certainly a negative stereotype of Scots.

Ned Flanders, The Simpson’s conservative Christian neighbour, portrays evangelicals in a negative light. The show adopts a mocking tone towards his devotion to God. In a phone call to Reverend Lovejoy, his pastor, Ned expresses guilt because he “covets his wife.”

His children, Rod and Todd, are depicted as being afraid of their own shadows. Ned perpetuates false perceptions, such as constant guilt and overbearing child rearing, that are attributed to Christians.

Other characters like Mayor Quimby, Fat Tony, the Bumblebee Man, Cletus Spuckler, Luigi the Chef and Dr. Riviera also depict cultural or racial stereotypes.

The stereotyping in The Simpsons, however, is not limited to culture and race.

Mr. Burns, the billionaire owner of the Springfield Nuclear Plant, is lampooned because of his wealth.

He is portrayed as a cold hearted industrialist with little empathy for his employees. He has a trap door in his office to dispose of fired employees and even attempted

to deprive Springfield of sunlight to boost business for his nuclear plant. Is this not an unfair depiction of the rich?

Addicts are represented in an inconsiderate fashion through Barney Gumble, Springfield’s town drunk. His addiction to beer is so severe that, after winning a lifetime supply of Duff, he tries to inject the liquid into his own veins.

Even after kicking alcohol, he develops an addiction to caffeine.

In an age where we understand addiction is a mental illness, is it not uncompassionate to depict addiction merely as a lack of self-control, as The Simpsons does?

The Simpsons is a show based on stereotypes. Characters are built as composites of various groups — whether those groups be social, cultural, racial or other.

As animated composites, characters exhibit the most preposterous attributes of their respective groups. These attributes often result from illusory stereotypes society has developed.

As such, almost all characters on The Simpsons represent one stereotype or another. Comedy comes from pushing the envelope and challenging the taboo.

Stereotypes are taboo. The Simpsons fashions their brand of humour by incorporating stereotypes into their characters.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

• 15

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR PRANAV DESAI sports@thecord.ca

CROSS COUNTRY last year’s USPORTS Championship race in Victoria, BC where he unfortunately fell during the race due to the muddy course conditions.

“I’m just trying to move past that and just finish with a really good race. That’s my mindset going in and just cap off my time at Laurier,” explained Sheridan.

Cross country is a sport that requires “mileage, carbs, and mental toughness,” chuckled Pattison as she describes what it takes to be a cross country runner. As much as cross county is an individual sport, it is also very much a team sport.

... it’s cool that nationals is in Ontario this year, so a lot of our families get to come watch.

Sydney Pattison, Laurier varisty women’s cross country runner

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Hawks qualify for nationals OLIVIA JONES STAFF WRITER

“Runners, take your mark,” are the final words heard before what feels like the longest, yet shortest moment of silence before the gun shot sounds to begin the exhilarating chaos that is a cross country race. Spectators go silent, athletes are still, and it is the final chance for everyone to catch their breath before adrenaline rises and the excitement begins.

This Saturday hundreds of runners will line the start at the 2018

USPORTS Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ontario. Laurier’s men’s and women’s teams will both be standing at that start line, and if you look closely enough you will see fifth year runner Joe Sheridan, and third year runner Sydney Pattison line the start line with the Golden Hawks.

Both the men and women’s cross country teams qualified to complete at the USPORTS championship, meaning that they placed top 10 at the OUA championship held in London, ON, on Oct. 27.

“It’s exciting to be going [to the

championships] with a full team, and it’s cool that nationals is in Ontario this year, so a lot of our families get to come watch,” said Pattison of the championships being held at an OUA course.

The Golden Hawks opened their 2018 season on this course, where Pattison and Sheridan had solid performances, and they are both hoping to repeat if not improve on their times.

This race will be Sheridan’s final race of his university cross country career of which he hopes to settle some “unfinished business” from

As a team, your top five to seven runners have the ability to score points in the race. With cross country, very much like golf, the lowest score wins.

The higher you place (highest being first), the less points you score for your team, the better.

“I’m not just running for me, I need to keep my position for my team,” explains Pattison. As a runner you want to be able to run a good individual race, but also hold your position for your overall team standings.

With cross country every race is different. As a runner you need to remind yourself what variables you can and cannot control. The Kingston course has a reputation of being a muddy one, and the forecast for the weekend is predicted to be both cold and rainy. Varying conditions is part of what makes

cross country very much a psychological sport.

“You have to try not to think about the rain, or the mud or something like that.

Just know that everyone else is going through that too, you’re not the only one,” said Pattison expressing one way that she keeps her focus on the race.

Cross country is as much a psychological sport as it is physical.

Sheridan and Pattison both shared the strategy of counting their steps to a number such as six or seven can help to control their mind while in the race in order to stay physically and mentally in competition mode.

“When [I’m] really struggling, I just find that I start doing that count in my head and trying to pull myself back into it,” said Sheridan.

The team has been tapering back their typical 15 to 18 kilometre workouts in preparation for the big day. “[We] are focusing on recover for the race, and more about nutrition this week than mileage. Lots of carbs,” said Pattison.

Not only are the Golden Hawks recovering from the previous week’s workouts, but they are also recovering from a couple of injury issues at the OUA Championship.

“Everyone’s ready to run nationals, I think we’re all pretty confident moving forward,” said Sheridan of his teammate’s attitudes going into the Championship.

As mentioned, every race is different, and without any stress of getting a particular place, the Golden Hawks are going to focus on having the best performances that they can.

“When you get into the races it’s just who’s the toughest, who can last the longest, and who can just grind even when it’s cold out or muddy,” expressed Joe. A season full of miles and carb loading has come down to this final race. The Golden Hawks are sure to show up in Kingston to that highly anticipated start line with grit and determination to then leave it all on the course.

BRIEF

Varsity roundup: An update on Laurier sports PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDIT

The Laurier men’s rugby team has had an impressive season so far, but unfortunately their playoff run came to a heartbreaking end at the hands of the Guelph Gryphons.

Although the Hawks had the lead for most of the game, the Gryphons pulled off a magnificent second half comeback to win by a final score of 34-26.

The season isn’t over for the team yet though, as they will compete for the OUA bronze medal next week against the University of Waterloo in what is shaping up to be the biggest ‘Battle of Waterloo’ of the year.

Both the women’s and men’s basketball teams were in action this past weekend against Carleton and Ottawa.

It was a slightly better weekend for the men’s team as they went 1-1.

The Hawks put up an impressive performance against the number one ranked Carleton Ravens and although they lost by a final score of 80-77, they showed a lot of heart against arguably the best team in the country.

The Hawks then followed that performance up with a nice win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees thanks to a tremendous performance by Ali Sow who put up 30 points.

The Hawks fell just short against the Lancers ... but bounced back with a shootout win against the Mustangs.

The women’s team struggled in Ottawa as they went 0-2 against the Ravens and Gee-Gees.

The Hawks couldn’t get anything going offensively, and that was

ultimately their demise. Laurier’s record is now 1-3 and they will look to get back on track next weekend as they take on the University of Toronto and Ryerson at home.

The Laurier women’s and men’s hockey teams split a pair of games over the weekend against Windsor and Western.

The women took down Windsor 3-0 as goaltender Cohen Myers made 30 saves and earned her first career shutout and win as a Golden Hawk.

This was also the Hawks’ first win of the season and head coach Kelly Paton’s first win as Laurier’s head coach.

Unfortunately, the Hawks lost against Western on the second

night of the back-to-back as they gave up two crucial goals in the third period.

The men’s team was involved in two nail-biting contests against Windsor and Western.

The Hawks fell just short against the Lancers by a final score of 5-4 but bounced back with a shootout win against the Mustangs.

It was a thrilling game between the rivals and the Hawks won largely in part to goalie Tyler Fassl’s performance as he came up with big save after big save.

The men will now take on the Guelph Gryphons at home on Nov. 8 while the women will face the Warriors in the ‘Battle of Waterloo’ on Nov. 9.

16 • SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

ALUMNI

Laurier graduates launch protein powder company PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

A pair of Wilfrid Laurier Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) graduates have recently started their own protein powder company called ‘Suppy’.

Tom Honor and Logan Moore launched Suppy Canada-wide on Oct. 29 in an effort to “disrupt the opaque and notoriously overpriced sports nutrition industry.”

Honor and Moore discussed what went into launching the company, along with other details about Suppy in a recent interview.

“We got the idea for starting the company kind of through university. We were always into sports and we started going to the gym towards the end of university and we were always taking protein but we were frustrated with how much we had to pay,” Honor said.

“We didn’t see the value in it. So we looked into it and realized that a lot of these companies are basically being greedy and there’s an opportunity to simplify the whole thing and that’s what we did.”

Honor and Moore promise to offer premium protein powder at a much lower price than their competitors.

Although a low price often indicates a downgrade in quality for many people, Honor and Moore pointed out that the low price is a direct byproduct of streamlining their supply chain.

“The product quality is as premium as the competitors on the market. What [the low price]

said.

Even though there are only two flavours available right now, Honor and Moore are planning to eventually expand as much as possible.

... we were always taking protein but we were frustrated with how much we had to pay. We didn’t see the value in it ...

-Tom Honor, co-founder of Suppy

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comes down to is the distribution channels. We don’t have bulky packaging, we don’t have all these different suppliers and warehouses down in the supply chain. For us, the challenge is going to be

communicating the value of the product,” Honor said.

When asked to give advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Logan Moore explained that the most significant thing is taking that all-important

first step.

“The whole thing is about just taking that first step. It’s about doing what you love. If you want to start a business, it’s all about just starting and going from there,” he

“We’re trying to smart small.

The whole concept comes down to creating a high quality product and keeping things simple. [Right now] we only have one product in two flavours. Eventually, we want to build that up and potentially look at other markets. We did some research and saw that there was a big opportunity in this country. We haven’t looked at a lot of the other countries, but that will be the next step,” Honor said.

The BBA graduates have taken a big step to offer a seemingly overpriced product to students at a discounted rate, and it will be interesting to see how much Suppy is able to grow.

The product is available for purchase online at suppy.ca

BASEBALL

Scott Ballantyne wins Coach of the Year award ABDULHAMID IBRAHIM LEAD SPORTS REPORTER

Coach Scott Ballantyne has done it again, but only bigger and better.

Having won his second OUA Coach of the Year award last year, the only thing that could have gone better was winning the OUA championship.

“I think certainly for me, I would trade in the coach of the year award for an OUA championship any day of the week. It was nice to be able to get both of those this year.”

2018 turned out to be the year of redemption. Coach Ballantyne, putting together another highly impressive squad, collected his third OUA Coach of the Year award in his 12th year, and this time, the Hawks got their revenge taking the OUA title to go along with it.

After having five all-stars last year, there were four Golden Hawks who represented Laurier on the first (Ryley Davenport and Keifer Quick) and second (Matthew Komonen and Christian Hauck) OUA all-star teams.

Before the individual accolades came the team success though.

Led by Ballantyne, Laurier finished at the top of the regular season standings once again. The next goal was the OUA final, where they

had been runners-up the last couple of years. Looking for their first title since 2013, the Hawks proved eager and ready.

“Getting there and getting so close last year, watching the other team celebrate on the field while you’re in the other dugout is not a fun experience but it’s a good experience to go through from a growing perspective and a learning perspective and I think the guys took it to heart watching Toronto celebrate on the field,” coach Ballantyne said.

“It felt like they didn’t want that to happen again.”

Their opponent: the very team they lost to last year and rivals, the Toronto Varsity Blues. After going up 2-0, the Varsity Blues seemed to have the game in the bag to some.

The Hawks had other plans in mind though, as they came back and pushed the game the distance.

In the bottom of the tenth inning, it was first-year outfielder and second team all-star Matthew Komonen who was the hero for the Golden Hawks as his walk-off single brought in the final run to earn the Golden Hawks their 2nd OUA title in school history and win by the final score of 4-3.

Outscoring opponents by a margin of 35-14, the Hawks proved too dominant and determined to

SAFINA HUSEIN/FILE PHOTO

lose this year.

“The experience that we gained in 2017 helped us just to not get caught up in the moment and not worry. The guys didn’t panic, we just stuck to it and finally broke through.”

“The experience of being there and being so close made the guys hungrier and ready to go for this year and got the job done.”

Behind winning a third Coach of the Year award and second OUA title, Ballantyne’s resume is one of greatness and excellence. Which also happens to be what he has brought to Laurier baseball.

“I think it’s more of a win for our whole coaching staff. We have a very experienced coaching staff that work hard with our guys every day at practice and really take

care of business and get ourselves ready. Winning that award is not just an individual award for me but an extension of our whole coaching staff and something we can all be proud,” Coach Ballantyne proclaimed.

Having had such a great amount of success over the last six years, it’s hard to envision it stopping anytime soon.