The Cord Nov. 15, 2017

THE CORD

THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 58 ISSUE 12 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

BREAKING THE ‘LINK Group circulates petition aimed at de-funding Laurier LifeLink News, page 3

CLIP CAUSES CONTROVERSY

STRIKING A CORD

REPUTATION PRECEDES

MOVEMBER MO’ PROBLEMS

MUSTANGS FINISH HAWKS

Peterson debate shown by TA draws ire

An obituary for the beloved sixstringed beauty

Swift’s latest LP is dangerously uninspired

Knowing where your donations end up

Western retaliates, takes back Yates cup

News, page 4

Features, page 8

Arts & Life, page 13

Opinion, page 14

Sports, page 16 MADELINE MCINNIS/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

2 •

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: SEPT. 1 1904: King C. Gillette Patents the Gillette razor blade.

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1961: UN bans nuclear arms.

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EDITOR’S CHOICE

Victoria Berndt Leah Shaw Tyler Currie Sara Burgess Megan Pitt Sadman Sakib Rahman Qiao Liu Stephanie Saunders Hayley McGoldrick Joseph DeFilippis Kaitlyn Severin Brittany Tenhage Evangeline Hunt Dominic Asselin

“Controversy erupts over Jordan Peterson clip” by Safina Husein

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

News

NEWS DIRECTOR SAFINA HUSEIN news@thecord.ca

• 3 NEWS EDITOR NATHALIE BOUCHARD news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR JAKE WATTS news@thecord.ca

ADVOCACY

Students’ Union representatives visit Ottawa JAKE WATTS NEWS EDITOR

Earlier this month, representatives from Wilfrid Laurier University’s Students’ Union travelled to Ottawa to advocate on behalf of the interests of Wilfrid Laurier University students.

The representatives included Kanwar Brar, Students’ Union president & CEO, Stephanie Bellotto, vice president: university affairs, Shannon Kelly, assistant vice president: university affairs Waterloo and Zana Talijan, vice president: university affairs Brantford.

The representatives met with several members of parliament over the course of their advocacy trip.

They included Bardish Chagger, MP for Waterloo and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, Richard Cannings, an MP from British Columbia, Marwan Tabbara, MP from Kitchener South-Hespeler and Kate Young, MP from London West.

Brar noted that he and the other Students’ Union representatives had three main issues they spent the trip advocating for.

“Our three priorities were

TOMASZ ADAMSKI/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

post-secondary student support program[s] for indigenous students, student work integrated learning programs/experiential learning and students with disabilities,” Brar said.

“Since the federal government plays a role in all those three issues at some level, that’s how we prioritized and advocated accordingly for students,” Brar said.

When asked about the outcomes he would like to see from their advocacy trip, Brar explained

that a lot of the things they are advocating for depend on suitable financing, which in turn depends on the federal budget.

“A lot of the stuff happens in regards to budget implementation, so our goal would be that we prepare briefs and submit a pre-budget submission report for next year’s federal budget, so those asks can be taken into consideration, because a lot of the asks are financial-based,” Brar said.

“Our plan is, we’re going to

be writing briefs on the issues and sending those to MPs, who will later ultimately forward that correspondence to the ministers, whether that’s the finance minister, or any other ministry that the issue is applicable to, because it helps for members of parliament to relay this on behalf of us,” Brar said.

Brar also noted that, due to the timeline of federal budget submissions, their planned follow ups with the MPs would happen toward the end his term as president

and CEO of the Students’ Union.

“That would happen after our term is done of course, because budget submission wouldn’t happen until the summer of next year,” Brar said.

“Our terms are done in April, so we make it a priority during transition that this is something which we follow through with because that is done at the minister level.”

Brar also said that advocacy trips like this past one are important to promote student interests partly because of which government bodies have jurisdiction over post-secondary education.

“Advocacy trips are important because … these student concerns are always rising, there are new priorities, there are new challenges, which are within the post-secondary realm,” Brar said.

“Our approach has always been that we’d rather have a seat at the table than picket at the door.”

“And the reason we go with that is that we find it’s really progressive for us to relay our priorities, relay our concerns, our thoughts, to elected representatives so they can listen to us and we can find a way to move forward together,” Brar said.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Petition for reproductive rights on Laurier campus Group of students calls for greater accountability from Students’ Union regarding Laurier LifeLink SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS DIRECTOR

A group of Wilfrid Laurier University students have created a ProChoice petition ensuing Laurier LifeLink’s recent chalk display as a call for enhanced accountability from the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union.

Laurier LifeLink, an anti-abortion club on campus, held a public demonstration on Oct. 24 and 25 which included a display of various slogans which were written onto the sidewalk in front of the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics’ main entrance and in front of the main entrance to the University.

The petition — which was created by Laurier Students for ProChoice and endorsed by Laurier’s Centre for Women and Trans People — ultimately argues that events similar to the chalking display held

by Laurier LifeLink endanger the mental and emotional safety of some students at Laurier.

“What we’re trying to do is foster a culture on campus in which reproductive rights are respected and people can feel safe,” Alicia Hall, coordinator of Laurier’s Centre for Women and Trans People, said.

“There’s a lot of people that have had traumatic events in the past and this [demonstration] resurfac-

es those ideas and it can be very harmful to them to hear that their bodies aren’t their own and their choices aren’t their own.”

Currently, the petition has already accumulated over 170 signatures.

The petition asks that the Students’ Union adopt a “motion that instates a public pro-choice stance on issues of reproductive justice within the Students’ Union policy,” amongst other requests, including one to suspend the funding given to Laurier LifeLink.

“We will not be instilling a stance on taking a pro-choice stance as an organization,” Kanwar Brar, president and CEO of Laurier Students’ Union, said.

“The primary reason for that is us taking a stance like that alienates a part of the population which may not agree with that and our approach when it comes to taking a stance on contentious issues is that we don’t take a stance because our role is to support both sides,” Brar continued.

Prior to the chalk display, the Students’ Union had a meeting with Laurier LifeLink in which the Students’ Union brought forth some suggestions and guidelines to follow in order to mitigate harm to students.

Students behind the petition, however, claim that many of these

recommendations were not followed by Laurier LifeLink.

As a result, the petition asks for greater accountability from the Students’ Union.

“We really feel like [Laurier LifeLink] didn’t follow through on a lot of those key issues and key problems so we want some sort of accountability on behalf of the Students’ Union,” Brooke Dietrich, third-year undergraduate student at Laurier in global studies and sociology, said.

Dietrich was part of the working student group behind the petition.

“There needs to be some sort of defence for people who have uteruses in the Laurier community and we’re not seeing that defence on behalf of the Students’ Union and that’s a problem.”

According to the petition, one suggestion made by the Students’ Union to Laurier LifeLink for the duration of the display was to refrain from approaching students and, instead, wait for people to approach them to have discussions about these issues.

“The problem with the chalking event … is that people don’t get to choose if they’re engaging with it,” Hall said.

“It’s simply forced upon them when they’re going to class.”

In fact, Hall claimed that she was approached by a member of Lauri-

er LifeLink during the chalk display as she was going to class.

“This isn’t something that someone should be forced to engage with when they’re simply trying to go to class,” Hall reiterated.

What we’re trying to do is foster a culture on campus in which reproductive rights are respected and people can feel safe.

-Alicia Hall, coordinator of Laurier’s Centre for Women and Trans People

For Brar, however, the meeting with Laurier LifeLink did allow for some strides to be made in comparison to similar events which have been held in the past.

“There were a lot of concerns raised within the petition about how things may not have been executed properly, and we will do our due diligence to make sure that’s followed up with” Brar said.

In the same way, Laurier LifeLink also felt that the discussion prior to their event was helpful in

mitigating harm.

“The purpose of any event that we have is to foster a positive, healthy discussion with students about the laws around abortion, or the lack thereof, in Canada,” Christine Schuknecht, president of Laurier LifeLink, said.

“There are resources available to help you if you decide to keep your pregnancy … and we don’t want anyone to make a decision without knowing all of the facts.”

“The university is a place to discuss your ideas and [to try] to foster a sense of thinking and learning more about topics, so the fact that people want to defund our club because of what we think isn’t exactly what I thought university was going to be like,” Schuknecht said.

The students behind the petition say they will be meeting with the Students’ Union to discuss the issues presented in the petition next week.

“I understand the privilege I hold as someone who identifies as a male and I’m in a position of power, and I’ll never tell anyone including women and those with uteruses what to do with their body because that’s not appropriate for me to do so,” Brar said.

“As president, it’s also my responsibility to make sure I’m looking out for all students.”

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

FREE SPEECH

Controversy erupts over Jordan Peterson clip Laurier TA critisized for adopting neutral view in lesson plan MADELINE MCINNIS/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS DIRECTOR

Lindsay Shepherd, a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a teaching assistant in a first-year Canadian Communication in Context class, recently sparked a controversial discussion after showing her class a video clip of Jordan Peterson.

Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, who has frequently publicized his views which criticize the use of gender-neutral pronouns such “they,” “zie,” and “zher,” as well as his beliefs of the apparent dangers surrounding Bill C-16, which is now law as of this past June.

According to Shepherd, the tutorial in which she showed the video of Peterson was based on the context of a grammar lesson.

“We talked about using ‘they’ in the singular. You could call that a current issue in grammar. A lot of people are arguing that you can’t use ‘they’ in the singular. And ultimately I said to them I consider it grammatically correct to use ‘they’ in the singular,” Shepherd said.

In order to further the discussion surrounding gender pronouns within the English language, the clip Shepherd showed was from a televised debate between Peterson and Nicholas Matte, a lecturer in sexual diversity studies at the University of Toronto.

By showing both Peterson’s and Matte’s views, Shepherd believes she adequately, neutrally showed the viewpoints of both sides. “[Matte] was arguing that language affects the dignity of trans people and his argument was that Jordan Peterson was not really acknowledging that. So both view-

points were presented,” Shepherd said.

Although Shepherd claimed she did not elicit her own views on the topic by neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Peterson’s views, she said that many of the students within her tutorial did speak out on behalf of their personal views.

“Maybe some of the views that were expressed in the class may have been perceived as transphobic … when I hear stuff like that, I’m professional enough to know what to engage with and what to shut down,” Shepherd said.

[They told me] the only acceptable way that I could have done what I did, was to completely condemn it before I even started playing the video.

-Lindsay Shepherd, graduate student at Laurier and first-year communications class TA

“I made a point to not express my view … but I think it’s still important to listen to other people and listen to what they have to say.

That’s what university is about — dialogue.”

Ensuing Shepherd’s tutorial, she was asked to attend a meeting with her supervising professor, Nathan Rambukkana, assistant professor in communication studies at Laurier, Herbert Pimlott, associate professor in communication studies at Laurier and Adria Joel, manager of gendered violence and prevention and support at Laurier’s Diversity and Equity Office.

Shepherd was told at the meeting that either a student or a group of students had brought forth a complaint about the class.

The number of students who were unhappy and the specific details about the complaint were, allegedly, kept confidential from Shepherd.

According to Shepherd, the three present in the meeting allegedly iterated to her that there should be no debate in regards to whether or not Peterson’s views are correct. “[They told me] the only acceptable way that I could have done what I did, was to completely condemn it before I even started playing the video,” Shepherd said.

“They told me that there’s no debate. They told me that this is not something that you can even discuss. And I find that dangerous.

I find it dangerous to think that; here’s a prominent figure in Canada that’s in the news every single day, Jordan Peterson — I find it dangerous to think that there’s no debate about that.”

Furthermore, Shepherd claimed that those facilitating the meeting continued on to compare her actions in the tutorial to white supremacy.

“They were continuously making arguments or trying to compare me with white supremacists, which frankly really bothered me because I’m certainly in no way associated with that. I don’t find what I did relevant to white supremacy,” Shepherd said.

Overall, Shepherd stated that the meeting left her questioning whether she wishes to continue at Laurier.

“I don’t necessarily want to be associated with somewhere that is stifling the circulation of thought,”

she said.

Alicia Hall, a student coordinator of Laurier’s Centre for Women and Trans People — who was not present for the meeting with Shepherd — feels that the way the situation was handled by administration reaffirms Laurier’s focus on inclusivity.

I don’t necessarily want to be associated with somewhere that is stifling the circulation of thought.

-Lindsay Shepherd, graduate student at Laurier and first-year communications class TA

“I think that if you’re talking about grammar, I don’t quite see the relevance of bringing up Jordan Peterson … unless they’re specifically talking about gender and pronouns,” Hall said.

“By showing this video … they’re legitimizing the idea that non-binary identities are not valid and that they don’t need to be respected. And people coming to this class, they shouldn’t … need to be engaging with a discussion that’s essentially saying your identity doesn’t matter.”

While Shepherd accepts that the individual(s) who complained may have felt harm, she disagrees that silencing the conversation is the way to handle the situation.

“I don’t really usually dichotomize between the real world and the university, but I don’t think it

does a service to students who are treated as infants … I don’t think that trying to insulate people and keep them protected away from things they might be uncomfortable with is helpful to their personal development or their intellectual development,” Shepherd said.

Hall reiterated that having discussions surrounding gender pronouns and similar topics is important, but should be kept for appropriate settings, such as panels or workshops, amongst other vehicles of discussions.

“I think that there’s a time and a place for discussions like these. For sure, you want to be able to have these discussions and talk about these views and also how they hurt people,” Hall said.

“That doesn’t seem like type of discussion that she was trying to foster there. I think that there are definitely places to try and talk about these types of things but they are more specific.”

Laurier released a statement in response to the incident, which was first mentioned in a column published by The National Post: “The university is committed to fostering a learning environment that is open and challenging but also welcoming and supportive of all students. The university is engaging a neutral third party to gather facts regarding the situation referenced in the column. Because of the privacy issues involved, we will follow established internal processes. It is important to understand that the issues involved in this matter are complex and affect all universities,” the statement read.

The Cord reached out to the three individuals present in the meeting with Shepherd but did not receive comment at the time of publishing.

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NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 HOLIDAYS

St. Jacobs starts sparkling NATHALIE BOUCHARD NEWS EDITOR

St. Jacobs Sparkles is a 4-day holiday event which celebrates the holiday season.

The event takes place from Nov. 16 to 19 at the downtown core of St. Jacobs. St. Jacobs is a village set along the Conestoga River with various shops, restaurants, boutiques, original artisans shops and is a short bus or car ride away from Wilfrid Laurier University.

“St. Jacobs is actually a community, [many] people know about the St. Jacobs farmer’s market. The market is actually located three kilometers south of the actual town of St. Jacobs so it’s a [small village] there’s just around 3,000 residents,” Marilyn Wideman, director of marketing for St. Jacobs Country, said.

“The downtown core [of St. Jacobs] is a real hub of one of a kind shops original craftsmanship so really unique kinds of stores that you won’t find anywhere else because they are independent merchants for the most part,” Wideman said.

St. Jacobs will have thousands of Christmas lights showcased around the town, select free food and drinks in various shops, as

well as special store promotion, Victorian Christmas carolers and horse drawn carriage rides.

St. Jacobs Country and St. Jacobs BIA are the co-sponsors of St. Jacobs Sparkles.

“It is a four-day celebratory village-wide kick-off of the holiday

It is a four-day celebratory village-wide kick-off of the holiday shopping season.

-Marilyn Wideman, director of marketing for St. Jacobs Country

shopping season,” Wideman said.

“All the retail merchants in the downtown core participate and are encouraged to put their best foot forward in terms of once a year savings, in store contests, offering free refreshments, or [anything] they can dream up.”

The Christmas lights that are

AWARDS

Growing in research ERIN ABE LEAD REPORTER

Research Infosource has ranked Wilfrid Laurier University number one in growth of research funding.

Laurier is one of 50 other universities in the annual Top 50 research university ranking conducted

by Research Infosource. Laurier has seen a 23 per cent increase in external research funding over the last year, which has bumped the university into the number one spot for research growth in 2017.

Laurier has been working over the past few years to become a more established, comprehensive university. This includes becoming more research intensive and a large part of what makes this research possible is the external funding that the university has access to.

“We have taken a really strong focus on trying to grow that part of our research enterprise and I think we’ve been pretty successful over the years,” Robert Gordon, vice-president of research at Wilfrid Laurier University, said.

The office of research service for Laurier works to help provide support for the faculty when requesting external funding.

“The biggest reason why we have grown so much the last few years is because the exceptional faculty at Laurier are really building much stronger and focused research programs,” Gordon said. “The funding we access through competitive programs is a good way to measure the success of that.”

Laurier competes with other academic institutions across the country in terms of access-

ing some of these funds. Major external funding is often sourced through the Tri-Council funding system which provides research support for universities in Canada. The Tri-Council includes the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

“Our faculty culture is really one to focus on being active researchers and to take a lot of that research back to the classroom, [which] certainly supports how we deliver on our academic mission,” Gordon said.

External funding is beneficial for the university because it allows the faculty to be more productive in their research. Acquiring external funding also supports students of all departments and composes a large portion of student training at Laurier. Faculty have focused on building stronger and more focused research programs. The rise in external funding has been a way to measure Laurier’s success in research. Research output has also been a priority at Laurier to make sure that research provided by the university remains strong.

In April of 2017, Laurier was ranked Canada’s most efficient research university.

“We pay really close attention here at Laurier to making sure it’s not all about bringing in money,” Gordon said. “It’s about providing impactful research outcomes … in terms of how we train students more effectively and how our research helps to make the world a better place.”

hung across the town provide a holiday feel to accompany the many deals in stores. According to Wideman, this is one of the only occasions all year that stores and restaurants are open late at night in St. Jacobs.

“What’s cool about that is that it’s the only time of year that the entire town is open that late at night, so that’s a once a year thing, it’s your once a year opportunity to be out in the evening in this beautiful charming town with all the Christmas lights on.”

In addition to the Christmas lights hung up around St. Jacobs Country, there is also holiday programming on the streets of St. Jacobs.

“On the street you have a variety of activities … Thursday and Friday night and Saturday afternoon we will have horse drawn trolley rides so you can hop on at one end of town and get dropped off at the other; the [horse drawn trolley rides] are free,” Wideman said.

“We will also have wandering Victorian carolers on the streets [and] our local fire fighters come out and host a burn barrel, so you can stop by there to warm up your hands.”

LUKE SARAZIN/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

In addition they will also be serving hot, sweet apple cider Wideman explained that many people are unaware of the Grand River Transit bus route that leads right to the village. Many students can access the bus service for free using their Laurier One Card.

“Grand River Transit does have a route that comes right into St.

Jacobs,” Wideman said. “It is route 21.”

“Any students who don’t have vehicles can still come to this event and take public transit,” Wideman said. “This event runs rain or shine or snow, so if the weather is cold or [windy] bundle up and come on out. You won’t regret it,” Wideman said.

6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

TRAVEL

HEALTH

FLYGTA available in Waterloo Getting to Toronto in less than 20 minutes with new flight STEPHANIE SAUNDERS CORD NEWS

FLYGTA has commenced a highspeed travel route between the Region of Waterloo International Airport and the Billy Bishop Toronto Airport.

The flights take just under 20 minutes to get passengers from Waterloo to Toronto.

The flight will be beneficial for those who are looking to bypass the gridlock traffic on the Greater Toronto Area’s highways caused by construction activities.

The airline company launched their first flight out of the Regional Airport on the twin-engine aircraft this past Monday, Nov. 6.

The flights are 129 dollars each way, all fees and taxes included.

Flights are running twice-daily, Monday through Friday, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Currently, flights are not being offered on the weekends.

“The eight seater, Pipe Navajo is a very quick aircraft, taking exactly 18 minutes to cover 82 kilometres,”

Chris Wood, general manager at the Region of Waterloo International Airport, said.

According to The Record, these flights do not include an in-flight meal and do not feature a flight attendant.

The Waterloo Region is seeing increased business and job growth with the rapid expansion of startup and tech companies.

These flights help to serve the growing demand for quicker, more efficient travel between these booming cities.

The service is geared towards the business community and targets travellers who commute between Waterloo and Toronto on a daily basis for a more effective mode of transportation.

“That’s what we have seen this week, is business travellers going in and out for the day,” Wood said.

“It saves the hassle of facing traffic on the 401 and takes the uncertainty out of the trip. Sometimes you may be early, sometimes you may be late, you never really know.”

However, students may find

these flights beneficial during time off of school, such as reading week and in-between the fall and winter semesters.

Whether it’s convenient for catching a connecting flight from Billy Bishop Airport or reducing travel time to Toronto during regular traffic jams that occur on the 401, Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, the flights should dramatically shorten travel time.

“The service is also available to students, however, it may be slightly price prohibitive for that demographic,” Wood said.

“The airline has had some success serving the St. Catherines/Niagra District Airport and wanted to expand even further, now offering flights to the [Waterloo Airport] and soon to be London,” Wood said.

The Billy Bishop Toronto Airport will be providing flights to London International Airport, which is estimated to begin sometime this coming December.

“It’s always good to have a new service; it’s exciting,” Wood said.

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QIAO LIU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Laurier’s student wellness center hosts 2017 seasonal influenza clinic

2017 immunization clinic held at Laurier NATHALIE BOUCHARD NEWS EDITOR

The wellness centre at Wilfrid Laurier University will be holding their annual seasonal flu clinic at the student development centre.

From Nov. 15 to Nov. 16, as well Nov. 21, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., the flu clinic will be open to all students and free for anyone with provincial health insurance or UHIP. Karen Ostrander, director of the Student Wellness Centre and registered nurse, explained how the influenza vaccine is researched.

“Every year the way they sort of formulate the vaccine is that epidemiologists [look] at the type of influenza circulating globally; influenza is a virus and it can migrate or change as it circulates in the community,” Ostrander said.

“What the epidemiologists look at it is the way strains are circulating and [they] try and predict the ways it’s going to be impacted in the next flu season,” Ostrander said.

The flu shot is administered intramuscularly and is not a live vaccine. A live vaccine is when there is a chance of your getting the virus from the vaccine. “[The flu shot] stimulates the immune system to produce anti-bodies against the strains of influenza that are in the shot so that if you become exposed later in the flu season your body will recognize the [virus],” Ostrander said.

“It takes two weeks for full protection to develop and it’s about 80 per cent effective [on] the overall population,” Ostrander said. The wellness centre is holding their clinics to encourage students to receive the flu shot in order to help stop the spread of infection.

“On campus, we are holding immunization clinics downstairs [of the Fred Nichol’s centre] in the health and development centre that is located across from the dining hall.”

“The vaccine can also be obtained after that in the student wellness centre but the [process] is less likely to be as efficient [unless] done in one of our clinics you can book an appointment online but

there is also room for walk ins,” Ostrander said.

Ostrander explained that the purpose of the vaccine is not only to protect the individual but to protect those in the community that the flu could potentially be fatal to.

“Influenza is an illness that can cause anywhere between 4,000 to 8,000 deaths in Canada each year the people that it impacts the most are the people who are immune compromised or their immune systems are less robust,” Ostrander said.

In the university [setting] there is a lot of people packed into a small place so those sorts of viruses tend to spread very easily.

-Karen Ostrander, director of the Student Wellness Center

“The way immunization works is by protecting the herd, so we do encourage even people who are otherwise healthy and might not be killed by [influenza] to get immunized to help protect all those people who are vulnerable,” Ostrander said.

According to Ostrander, the easiest way to prevent to the flu is not only by getting your vaccine but by washing your hands regularly and especially before you eat as well as staying home if you are sick.

“One of the best ways to prevent infection is by washing your hands especially before you are going to be eating something because basically what we end up doing is ingesting those viruses — and the flu virus is everywhere,” Ostrander said.

Campus is one of the typical places to contract the virus due to the high volume of people it attracts.

“In the university [setting] there is a lot of people packed into a small place so those sorts of viruses tend to spread very easily.”

GAMES • 7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

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

All submissions to Dear Life are anonymous and therefore do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Cord or WLUSP. They should be no longer than 100 words and must be addressed to your life. Submissions can be sent to dearlife@thecord.ca no later than Monday at noon each week.

campus

SUDOKU

Sincerely, Free Speech Hawk Dear Life, When things get hard, I just remember the time I dropped a giant jar of pickles in the middle of the grocery store in front of several people, hurriedly left and never went back out of fear of being recognized as the elusive pickle jar destroyer.

Sincerely, It could be worse

Dear Life, Dear Life, Slow down, please. I’m not ready to leave this chapter of my life at Laurier and it scares me so much.

Sincerely, Hurried Hawk

Whenever I need a laugh, all I need to think about is a long-necked graphic.

Sincerely, Amused

Dear Laurier, I couldn’t hold back my disappointment after reading a recent National Post article regarding the “re-education” of a graduate student following her playing of a video debate featuring Jordan Peterson which a professor deemed akin to “neutrally playing a speech

by Hitler …” - the thought police deserve no jurisdiction on our

Life is actually super complicated sometimes and way too stressful but seeing a group of people work hard to achieve a common goal is the most rewarding thing I have left to wake up to. All the therapy I could ever need takes place on Tuesday nights at 205 Regina St. Sincerely, Fam

A UNIQUE JOB. AN ICONIC LOCATION. AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER.

Become a PARLIAMENTARY GUIDE Applications due January 12, 2018 This summer, be part of the action at the Parliament of Canada.

Find out more and apply online at

lop.parl.ca/guides

8 •

FEATU

FEATURES EDITOR/KARLIS WILDE/FEATURES@THECORD.CA

Strumming a

Features Editor Karlis Wilde examines whether or no

Over the past hundred years, learning to play the guitar has been an important, often defining component in the lives of many adolescents in the Western world.

Fragile teenagers across the continent have found buried parts of themselves in the poetry of lyricism and the shifting, emotional, varied tones — both crunchy and smooth — of the guitar.

There are a great many reasons for that deep connection, but a lot of those reasons play into what the instrument represents and what it inspires: within the context of modern art, through a few metal strings strapped onto a piece of a wood, a person has been able to find a multitude of meanings as well as the means for expression.

“You can beat it,” Roger Schmidt, co-owner of Kitchener’s Brickhouse Guitars and a player for several decades, said.

“You can play it softly, you can do beautiful harmonics, you can make your fingers hurt, all that stuff. It’s very tactile, very analog.”

“You feel it, you hold it, you caress it, you feel it vibrating against your heart … there’s this connection.

My analogy is get a nice guitar and make it your dance partner,” he continued.

“Everything you do is so personal that I think that experience lends itself to songwriting because you can express yourself, your voice, your words and your instrument very uniquely.”

Rick Francis, a guitarist for over 50 years who until recently ran a studio out of Stratford, Ontario, expressed the same romance about that kind of visceral instrumentality.

“Music — when it was just starting to come out of the blues forest and maybe jazz and start to evolve into rock and roll — like, the guitar in the big band scene. They didn’t even have amplifiers at one point so they just had to pound the living crap out of the guitars and drive them like crazy and a different chord on every note,” he said.

“So much music was guitar driven. Like, it was really, truly guitar driven, and you hear that chunk chunk chunk — it’s all guitar.”

“It was a real standout thing and I felt at that point that, frankly, that was just the coolest instrument ever invented.”

Because of how ingrained it is into the workings of modern music — even popular music, to an extent — it’s easy to forget how short-lived the guitar’s heyday has actually been: while the instrument has been around in some form since the Renaissance, guitar playing as we understand it today has only really existed since the early 20th century.

But that life — despite its relative brevity — has been beautiful and artistically blessed, feeding into the oncefresh sounds of the blues and rock and roll and fueling the spirits of singer-songwriter types. For a time, that energy and spirit was so on the nose of how the culture saw itself that it was even profitable.

But like anything else in the world that can be sold, a transformation began to take place, streamlining what the guitar does to make it more efficient and more profitable: “I used to get great gigs,” Francis said. “And I used to get paid really well doing TV sports music for CBC. And then one day I got replaced by software.”

“Because the samples are so exquisite now, they’re so nuanced. If a programmer person or keyboard player knows how to cut that stuff, then they can play rings around me as a guitarist,” he said.

“And so I got replaced, I lost all that work. There’s no hard feelings, it’s just the way that stuff evolves, with ProTools and the plugins you can get and everything.”

Schmidt also reflected on the digital takeover of music: “Sadly, the industry decided that musicianship would be a problem, because then you can’t control it.

That sounds like conspiracy theories but — and I don’t think that anybody ever sat in a room and came up with a conspiracy,” Schmidt said.

“In the end, technology, the lights went on and these producers go, wait a minute, we can bypass a lot of the musicianship here. Find a common denominator that everybody can relate to that we can manipulate, control, reproduce with ease.”

“It’s so controlled and calculated. I think we’re in an Amazon world now.”

Between clavichords and woodwinds, harps and pianos, the decades and the centuries that preceded the guitar’s heyday each had their own crescendos and decrescendos in popularity.

Some of this led to the virtual retirement of instruments while others just rendered them a little more culturally piano, an Italian term in music theory meaning ‘softly’ — as in to reduce the prominence of the instrument within the piece.

This is most interesting because of the different perspectives I was able to find in trying to explore the guitar’s prominence and whether or not that was beginning to fade in more recent years.

While Francis and Schmidt both attributed at least part of their initial interest in the guitar to its being ‘cool’, singer-songwriter and guitar teacher Luke

Michielsen — who picked up 1990s — did not romanticize ment in the same way: “I didn’t really think of it a thinking that, not really. I ne ders, or like Slash [for examp that was cool.”

“Once I started playing gu more, I just thought music w guitar as an instrument was using guitars — so I guess it In a large way, that’s due t ence.

Each of the decades in wh grew up had their own signifi those figures utilized the ins was seen and understood.

“When I grew up it was Jim it was Steve Howe,” Schmidt going to play like them.”

“Those days are gone… in no more guitar gods.”

The future of the guitar is a else; there are valid reasons still be making passionate, c those metal strings a century valid reasons to believe that even further away from the c mostly forgotten.

But one thing that’s unden especially with the automate constantly occurring — is th profitable side of that art.

“I was playing six nights a was back when you could ge 80s, all through the 70s, I enj even two weeks of six nighte place.” “[Now] you’re lucky if you in every Monday night in To pretty damn good to do that.

“It’s dying, man … the unf the music business is dying.”

But on the other end of th younger voice — I heard a si spective: “Craft breweries, bars, cafe concerts,” Michielsen said. “ that I play, and I’d say they’re and often it’s guitarists and s “I see there’s more and mo ies opening up that are like, like I could be booked every gigs.”

Maybe that’s because ther how the guitar is viewed and enormous changes in how it and a lot of that has changed

URES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 • 9

a Swan Song

ot this era has brought about the death of the guitar

p the instrument in the mid e the guitarist or his instru-

as cool. I don’t remember ever idealized electric shredple], I never really thought

uitar and I got into music was cool. I didn’t think the cool but cool people were was cool by association.” to the culture and the influ-

hich Schmidt and Francis ficant figures — and how strument informed how it

mmy Page, it was Van Halen, t said. “It was … one day, I’m the mainstream there are

as uncertain as anything to believe that people will creative material through y from now, just as there are the instrument will recede cultural limelight and be

niable in the cultural shift — ed, digital changes that are hat change in the industrial,

week,” Francis said. “That et gigs. Like, all through the joyed gigs where sometimes ers [sic] in a row at the same

u find a place that’ll get you oronto. And you’ve got to be .” fortunately sad reality is that ” he spectrum — from a ignificantly different per-

es, family parties, house “Those are the main venues re looking for musicians — singer-songwriters.” ore restaurants and brewer‘we want live music.’ I feel y weekend for like 2-3 hour

re are enormous changes in d understood, and there are t’s valued at a cultural level, d in how the guitar can be

I think guitar allows that more than used as a way to actually make a living.

“I guess it’s where you find your almost any other instrument.” success,” Michielsen said. “I He went on to detail the think my success is if I can changes to how the guitar write songs that I like and is viewed and even how even if I’m playing to a room it’s played. of an average of thirty or “Contemporary forty people, to me that’s finger style is exsuccess. Being able to conploding right now.

Virtuoso level, but nect with even a percentage very individual, of a thirty-person audience creative sort of adand have people know the vanced guitar playwords to my songs and say, ing with all sorts of hey, nifty guitar work.” new techniques and Coming from a different percussive input and generation — and also comtapping and pull-offs ing from the experience of a and multiple strings, addfull-package singer/songwriter/ ing strings to the guitar…” player/performer, rather than just “There’s a rebirth, I think, being a guitar player — Michiel-Rick of high-level guitar playing. And sen’s success and expectations as Franc is, se ssion it’s maybe to the chagrin of the clasa player are of course weighted out guita rist sical guitar world. I think the classical on a different contextual scale, based guitar world probably is shrinking. We more on reciprocal passion from his don’t get any demand in here for classical audience for his art rather than profit.

This is also of course based more in guitars … I sell three or four nylon string guitars a year.” his art than merely in his technical playOn the future state of guitars, Francis also detailed ing ability. how the industry and the idea of the guitar has evolved To supplement his craft, Michielsen and changed; that tends to be a necessity in any indusworks at Brickhouse Guitars. try.

He also teaches lessons to enthusiastic students, which is a testament to the current vitality of the guitar: Some newer instruments have even been equipped with strings that play synthetic sounds, more like a even to this day, more and more prospective players keyboard. are coming and learning from him — though he admits “So 25 or 50 years from now the guitar is still going that the age of that student base now tends to be older to be this enigmatic instrument sound in the midst of than it used to be. everything in a song,” Francis said. “But is it going to be Maybe it’s the art that keeps the thing alive rather real? I can’t answer that.” than the financial dependency on it.

“There are too many random nuances with a guitar Sure, it’s possible that in a hundred years the guitar will be buried in the back of a museum somewhere with for it to be brought to extinction. It’s like saying that there’s not going to be violin in twenty-five or fifty the theremin and the keytar.

Or perhaps, with its slim, wooden body and its heavy, years, there won’t be cellos. I mean, they’re gorgeous sounding instruments, they have their own identity. steel strings — provoked by the very real, very tactile, They’ve got their own reason to be.” individual structure of the acoustic instrument that is “I really take a lot of pride in playing guitar because so fundamentally untethered from technology — there it’s a gift as far as I’m concerned.” will still be one in nearly every home, stimulating All good things must come to an end. creativity and creating action and art with its deep, After the reign of the guitar gods, following Brit-rock booming tones.

“I kind of compare it to digital art, which has all kinds invasions and indie-folk revivals, someday — even if it is long away, in the distant future — the guitar will no of creativity,” Schmidt said. longer be used or understood the way it has been over “Someone who’s using Adobe and creating all kinds this past century. of graphics and surreal images, whatever they’re doing, But the passion and the heart that drives that kind of that’s art basically on the same level as a traditionmusic has promised one thing: when the light on the al painter, but there’s always going to be a world for axial guitar age eventually dies and the ultimate player the traditional painter who gets paint on themselves, walks off that lighted stage, their final, vibrant note will smudges the paint in and scrapes it off and gets upset ring quietly into the infinite future. and punches a hole through it.”

The guitar will not go out quietly.

“That’s that human side of the expression of art. And

...the unfort sad r unate ly eality the m is tha usic b t u is dy siness ing.

MADELINE MCINNIS/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

10 •

Arts & Life

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 ARTS & LIFE EDITOR SHYENNE MACDONALD arts@thecord.ca

MOVIES

The Cord Picks: favourite movie scenes

CONTRIBUTED IMAGES

Batman Begins

Drive

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mulholland Drive

At World’s End

Shyenne MacDonald Arts & Life Editor

Kurtis Rideout Editor-in-Chief

Emily Waitson Opinion Editor

Michael Oliveri Senior Copy Editor

Madeline McInnis Creative Director

Before I start this it needs to be said that I love Batman. Like a lot.

Because of this, I hate the Dark Knight trilogy. That being said, Batman Begins is the host to my favourite movie scene.

There was one scene — literally one scene in the entire trilogy that I liked. Wherein, a common criminal casually walks down a darkened alley — because all of Gotham is alleys. Then, inexplicably he’s dangling in the air and there’s Batman, demanding he tell him what he needs to know. He doesn’t know a thing and in desperation says: “I swear to God.” Batman brings him close and, with barely contained anger, responds: “Swear to Me.” Then the wire that’s holding the criminal drops. He plummets to the ground but zips back up. He gives all the information he has to Batman.

After one final terrifying plummet, the Bat gently drops him on to the rain soaked pavement before disappearing into the night.

The movie Drive features a number of long, intense shots that are uninterrupted by dialogue — this seems to play right into one of lead actor, Ryan Gosling’s biggest strengths.

The scene in particular that always sticks out to me is the infamous elevator scene. Fans of the movie will probably instantly recognize the one I am talking about.

In the scene, the unnamed driver played by Gosling, and co-star Carey Mulligan share an intense, silent interaction with a hit man — whose goal is to kill Gosling.

Before brutally stomping the hit man to his apparent death, Gosling grabs his co-star and kisses her passionately in the elevator, evoking a juxtaposition of intense feelings. When they reach their desired floor — post-stomping I should add — Mulligan exits the elevator and shares an intense few seconds of eye contact with Gosling before the door closes between them.

The first chase scene between Immortan Joe and Imperator Furiosa is a standout in the movie overall, as it — literally — sets the plot in motion and establishes the unwavering survivalist theme that defines it so well.

The practical effects used in the entirety of the movie are impressive and they are expertly highlighted during these moments in particular.

Your eye jumps from one impressive element to the next; from the uniquely roughened wasteland cars, to the expansive Australian desert that they’re tearing across in a haze of flames and smoke.

The tribalistic drumming from the painted War Boys and the oddly fitting guitar riffs courtesy of the unnerving blind musician in red set the tone incredibly well.

I felt like a teenage boy that just drank an energy drink during the entirety of this sequence, completely pumped up by the stellar visuals, endless action and dramatic soundtrack.

When I think of my favourite movie scene I often think to the “Club Silencio” scene in the film Mulholland Drive.

This film by David Lynch focuses on two women in Hollywood as they search for the identity of one of them.

Lynch’s films often heavily feature surreal situations and this film is no different.

Towards the end of the film the characters go to Club Silencio and watch a series of odd acts on stage.

Unknown to the characters, the truth of the nightmarish scenario they are in is revealed.

This scene functions as a centerpiece for the movie and is striking for its visual composition and atmospheric feeling.

The club itself exudes a sense of dread and mystery.

As soon as the characters arrive we can tell all is not well.

This scene has always been a memorable one, especially through the sense of wonder it creates and terror it creates.

The opening scene to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End will forever give me chills — and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t like unnecessary songs.

This scene is so complex and well-crafted that I was able to write a 4000-word essay on it last year, and I still notice new elements each and every time I watch it.

It’s one of those infamous songs that basically tells you the entire plot of the movie in the first five minutes, you just don’t know it at the time. It sets forth several motifs and leit motifs that truly tie the movie together.

It sets up the film as a puzzle narrative, but instead of having multiple perspectives and playing with time like in Inception, it’s a web of politics and motivations which you can only truly understand after dozens of viewings.

Once you’ve done that, everything starts to connect. While the guard says “suspended,” the pirates become “suspended,” and my heart suspends as well.

ARTS & LIFE • 11

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 COMMUNITY

Why we remember: reflecting on the past DOMINIC ASSELIN STAFF WRITER

Every year on the eleventh month on the eleventh day at the hour, we remember.

It is a day immortalized in time to look back and reflect.

We take a minute of our time every year to look back upon the conflicts that caused the countless deaths of those who could have been.

A statement from Prime Minister Trudeau released on Monday said the following: “Every generation of Canadians has answered the call to serve.

From Ypres to Dieppe to Korea to Afghanistan, our servicemen and women have shown courage as a matter of course, and stood resilient in the face of great adversity.”

It continued.

“This year, in marking the 150th anniversary of Confederation, we have paused and reflected on some of our most important military milestones. In keeping alive the memory of battles like Passchendaele, Hill 70, Vimy, and Dieppe, we remind this generation and future generation, where their

SADAM SAKIB/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

freedom comes from.”

This past Saturday I had the honour of participating in the Oakville Remembrance Day ceremony as a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Together we marched for those who no longer could, alongside the Halton Regional Police, Army Cadets, Air Cadets and the RCMP. It truly changed my own perspective towards Remembrance

Day, as I personally met and talked to members whose friends and family have passed due to conflicts overseas.

Cameron Baer, president of the History Student’s Association and avid military history buff stated: “I would put it down to this … [it was] the first instance of total war we’ve had … now people start to ask the question what did we fight that war for, the war to end all wars,

when it really wasn’t.”

Passionate about the subject, Baer continued: “That’s what Remembrance Day is about, its not about remembering why we fought or anything like that.”

“It’s about remembering those people who did fight for one reason or another and those people who fought and suffered and died in those kinds of conflicts.”

What is important to remember when looking at the effects of these international conflicts — regardless of the era — is the bystander casualties that are caused as a result.

These conflicts often lead to the deaths of regular civilians who are simply trying to maintain some sense of calm while their world is crashing down around them.

It is for this reason that Remembrance Day is not simply about soldiers and those who sacrificed their lives to give us what we have today.

But is also a time to look at the effects of these wars and why we should always work to avoid them no matter the cost.

“I don’t think you have to have a connection to participate … just remember these are people that could have been your friends your family,” Baer said.

“I think the meaning and the sacrifice becomes much more immediate. Just remember that it was them and not you or someone you know.

“For those who served or are serving, I don’t think I have to tell them that.”

Every year, Wilfrid Laurier University holds a traditional ceremony with speeches from both the student body and faculty commemorating those who were lost and those who continue to serve for our country.

REVIEW

Regards to Swift’s Reputation KATE WEBER WEB ASSISTANT

Dear Taylor Swift, I am annoyed at how often you appear in the media with your new boyfriends and I will never be able to forgive you for the moron you made of one of the greatest rappers of our generation; the one and only Kendrick Lamar.

Swift is relaying a message that she is unable to take the consequences of her actions.

Readers, if you have not seen what has been infectiously taking over the internet — if you have, I issue my absolute and deepest condolence’s — Taylor Swift’s fifth

studio album Reputation dropped on Nov. 10.

It will not be available on your standard streaming services until a later date however.

Her new album style stays loyal to the brutally constructed music industry’s demands. Her newer image of “innocent country girl turned deeply misunderstood artist” is highly lacking in creativity.

She should also, as a side note, immediately stop trying to incorporate rap into her music, if you ask me. It reflects an artist who is unable to construct a proper sound; one who has been taken advantage of by a failing music industry.

They beat, destroy and shape her music into a sound that is predominantly and unimaginably worse than ever. This transformation consisted of lyrics that were noticeably irrelevant to real emotions and a musical component that was flat out annoying in its grotesque repetition.

Not that I have a stale heart or anything, but I am unable to believe that it is humanly possible to feel in any way motivated by her lyrics or her standards to musically challenge herself — spoiler alert, she does not. The same sappy love message is conveyed through all 14 tracks except for “Look What You Made Me Do.” I believe that this track will be the theme song of our younger

generations.

Swift is relaying a message that she is unable to take the consequences of her actions.

...the only thing that could get me back into my regular morning mood would be to listening to every Kanye West album...

It doesn’t promote a positive concept of living towards growing women. She tells them to follow a generic path that doesn’t allow them to reach their full potential in a creative world.

The fact that she hasn’t made her music available on all platforms remains to be the only thing that sets her apart from other popular artists — so kudos for that!

After the headache of listening to this album from start to finish with my morning coffee, the only thing that could get me back into my regular morning mood would be to listen to every Kanye West album on full volume.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGES

12 • ARTS & LIFE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

MUSIC

Singing the songs of familial drama ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Opera Laurier, with the faculty of music students, hosts show centered on the drama in families EVANGELINE HUNT STAFF WRITER

On Friday, Nov. 10, I attended an opera performed by Wilfrid Laurier University’s faculty of music students.

The opera was called Family Ties and consisted of five short scenes from a variety of operas, all under the theme of family.

I spoke with Madeleine Levesque, a fifth-year music student at Laurier, who not only starred in three out of five of the scenes, but is also the marketing and publicity coordinator for Opera Laurier. Before attending the opera, my only exposure to the genre was watching my sixth-form college perform Phantom of the Opera when I was 18.

I was quickly corrected by Levesque that Phantom of the Opera is not in fact an opera, but musical theatre.

I was therefore unsure what to expect and was interested to see if I would be able to understand any of the plots.

Upon arriving, I was given a program that gave a brief description of each of the acts being performed. The stage was decorated with various garments of clothes, surrounded by long coils of rope.

“The overarching theme was family and the ties of family and that’s what the rope represents”, Levesque said.

“All of the rope was [representing] the connections and the emotional bonds between characters”.

The first act was called La

Cenerentola and was a take on the traditional Cinderella story.

Sung in Italian, but with English subtitles provided, the sisters used the rope to pull Cenerentola around the stage.

It showed how family ties can be used to manipulate and abuse our loved ones. This idea was continued in the second act, Again, which explored the repetitiveness of an abusive relationship.

Taken from TV show I Love Lucy, husband Ricky used the rope to manipulate and control his wife Lucy, who was unable to leave due to the physical constraints of her husband. The third act was a scene taken from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, a comedic opera, again in Italian.

Described in the program

as “full of wonderful arias and fantastic plot twists,” this scene featured love, trickery and comedy — and new-found ties in unexpected family members. A scene from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story was the fourth act of the evening, where the ropes were used to pull lovers Maria and Tony away from each other as their families feuded in rival gangs. The final and, in my opinion, most powerful act of the evening, was a scene from Our Town. Through the recently deceased Emily, we were taught the harsh lessons of taking life for granted and the importance of appreciating those around us.

“The Dead” were shown coiling the rope round their hands.

This was alluding to the haunting speed of one’s life and its ability

to slip through our fingers.

This overarching theme of “family ties” was used to connect five seemingly separate acts, and the rope was important in making theses connections both physically and metaphorically.

Preparations for this opera started the week before the semester commenced. It was clear from the exceptional performance that a huge amount of dedication from the students went into this.

“Everybody did a wonderful job, and I’m so proud of everybody.”

“We’re all looking forward to Saturday and to next semester when we get to perform the big opera”, Levesque said.

In March, the students will be back with their take on Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land.

• 13

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR EMILY WAITSON opinion@thecord.ca

Note: Decisiveness quite the opposite effect.

Taking a stance on something can be empowering and as a white male, I recognize the power of the privilege that has been afforded to me throughout my own lived experience.

Navigating through the world with this sense of privilege meant, for a long time, that I felt like it wasn’t my place to speak on behalf of people in marginalized groups.

I avoided touchy subjects and put on my typical display of fervent fence-sitting.

KURTIS RIDEOUT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

One of the first editorials I ever wrote for The Cord was titled “Having an opinion as a friend and a journalist.”

This article featured the typical fare of run-of-the-mill journalist jargon, where one projects accountability onto all other parties but themselves.

From the standpoint of a journalist, I don’t think there is anything wrong with this.

I think being objective in your reporting — especially as a news journalist — is something that can set a tone of quality in your writing.

With that being said, my oft-perceived status as some sort of “radical centrist” has made it exponentially more difficult for me to choose sides.

My indecisiveness is so apparent that people joke about my vague political statements.

While I will always find it important to remain objective when reporting on the news — and I will strive to do so throughout my tenure as Editor-in-Chief at The Cord — it has become more apparent to me that having wishy-washy opinions on everything can make you seem uninformed, or at the very least, completely apathetic.

And rightfully so.

Working in student media and having such a large platform creates a certain sense of urgency, of obligation.

When I started this job, I had set it in my mind that I wouldn’t let my personal politics influence — or be influenced by — my work in student media.

That changed rather quickly.

I have begun to realize the importance of imparting political views onto the editorial section of the newspaper.

I also am starting to realize that taking a stance does not always lead to a compromise in journalistic integrity in fact, it often has

The first step towards exercising my own privilege in order to benefit others merely involved getting off the fence and cutting out all of the indecisive, wishywashy bullshit.

Even as a self-identified Indigenous person with Metis status, I still always felt like my complexion and comfortable life meant that I would never truly understand the issues that face people in marginalized communities.

Though it may be true that I will never fully understand these issues from a personal perspective, this type of hands off approach was admittedly quite problematic.

As I have become more engaged in the conversations that are taking place in the media and on campus, I have learned that there are plenty of ways that I can do my part — as both the editor of a student newspaper and on a smaller scale, as a person coming from a place of privilege.

The first step towards exercising my own privilege in order to benefit others merely involved getting off the fence and cutting out all of the indecisive, wishy-washy bullshit.

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ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Staying positive despite stress SARAH TYLER VIDEO EDITOR

Being busy can mean different things to different people and no matter what your ‘busy’ is, it is imperative that you remain positive.

As someone with every minute of her life scheduled and often double-booked, I know it can be a challenge to refrain from getting frustrated or overwhelmed, especially when you have to miss out on fun things.

There are jobs, clubs and other extra-curricular activities — not to mention school of course — that fill up the weeks of students quite quickly.

For myself, I simply don’t have the time to think negatively.

If I took the time to get upset when things don’t go according to my scheduled plan, or constantly complain about being too tired, I would impact my day-to-day experiences and take up time that could be used to actually get something done.

Each and every day you have

the opportunity to shine a positive light onto others and impact your environment with either a positive or negative attitude.

By helping to make other people feel happy and appreciated, you’re also going to enhance your own experience.

This is the time of year that many people feel the pressure of upcoming exams, final papers, year-end events and everything else that comes up at once. I think it is all about taking it one day at a time.

I create a calendar in a Word document and update it regularly.

It is never finished, I am constantly adding to it and it is always changing. One of the most satisfying feelings is when I delete an assignment or work shift I’ve finished.

If you’re worrying about the past or too concerned about what is coming, then there’s so much you’ll miss and you’re wasting the time you have to be right in the moment.

When you are enjoying what you are involved with you will probably perform better too, so I am a firm believer in the saying “fake it till you make it.”

Overcoming those nerves when you’re studying and giving your opportunities a fair chance is so

crucial. If something doesn’t align with your own goals, learning strategies or passions, move on and spend that time somewhere else that will positively affect your life.

You might not necessarily like doing all your assignments, but look for the good in investing your time into doing well in school and appreciate the little interesting things you have the privilege of learning.

When you have so much to do you are also impacting your selfcare schedule, including time for sleeping, eating, relaxation and hygiene routines.

I am a huge fan of bath bombs and makeup, but I do what makes me feel good.

If you make the time for a good run or you need a nap every day at noon, do what you need to do to be your best self so you can tackle the rest of the day with full passion and confidence in your well-being.

When you feel nourished, you can shine so much brighter.

Politely say no to the unnecessary things that don’t add positivity to your life and continue pursuing opportunities that are either a good investment of your time, or provide you with true pleasure.

Start each day with the goal of making it the best one yet.

14 •

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 OPINION EDITOR EMILY WAITSON opinion@thecord.ca

Movember is more than growing out facial hair KAITLYN SEVERIN CORD ALUM

You’ve seen it on social media, commercials, and even on live sporting events — buy a product marketed by big-name corporations and a portion of your sale will go towards a good cause or charity.

Turn on an NFL game and see the athletes with bright pink socks, helmets or shoes in support of the Pink Ribbon Inc. organization.

Walk down the streets of Toronto and you’ll see men growing out their facial hair to support the Movember Foundation.

As with many international cancer charities, the Movember Foundation had seen their share of controversies in the media.

It’s trendy to support a good cause, but where is your attention, time and donations going towards?

It’s no secret how the infamous pink ribbon is the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

The ribbon — particularly not just the shade of pink promoted

by the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign (NBCAM) — symbolizes the health campaign that is annually hosted by major breast cancer charities every October as a way of increasing awareness about breast cancer and to raise funds for breast cancer research.

However, the Think Before You Pink project, created by the Breast Cancer Action organization, was started in 2002 to raise awareness about how the breast cancer movement revolves around the ‘pink ribbons.’

The project claims the pink ribbon is not regulated by a specific agency and companies may sell pink ribbon products but fail to indicate to customers which breast cancer organization will receive the money, and how much of their sale will actually go towards breast cancer programs.

But now that NBCM is over and Movember has fallen upon us, are we dealing with the same marketing concept, only now with unkempt facial hair?

Movember, also known as “No Shave November,” was started up

by Travis Garone and Luke Slattery in 2003.

The purpose of the campaign is to address health concerns faced by men on a global scale, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, as well as mental health issues.

Throughout the month, men are encouraged to grow out their facial hair to the fullest of their abilities to promote and show their support to the cause.

The Movember Foundation then encourages people to donate to the organization, or to support a “Mobro” or “Mo-sista’s” donation page, to give back to the foundation’s

LUKE SARAZIN/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

men’s health programs.

So now that we know the Movember Foundation is celebrated on a global-scale, we have to wonder — is there a catch?

As with many international cancer charities, the Movember Foundation had seen their share of controversies in the media.

In 2007, when No-Shave November was starting to become an international tradition for men, ‘Today Tonight’ — an Australian tabloid program — claimed that the charity spent a disproportionate amount on high salaries and running costs for their directors, and only 78 per cent of the total amount raised for the Australian

ALAN LI/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Cutting ties with toxic family BRITTANY TENHAGE STAFF WRITER

“You can’t choose your family,” is something I hear a lot of people say.

If your family member has done

something embarrassing or made a social faux pas, it seems to be a way to say that you don’t really associate with them and laugh it off.

What happens when it goes beyond them simply embarrassing you?

What happens when they break the law, destroy their friendships, ruin their life and leave you in the wake?

It’s a nasty feeling; I know from experience. You can sit for hours

and wonder whether you could’ve said or done something differently.

It can reach a breaking point where you have a nervous breakdown over your toxic family member.

I’m telling you that it’s okay to cut ties. If a family member — distant or close — is damaging your mental health through their actions or decisions, it’s acceptable to stop associating with them and cut them out of your life.

Many people are willing to cut

Movember campaign in 2008 went to administrative and fundraising costs.

Charity Navigator, an American charity-evaluator, also gives the Movember Foundation an overall score of 84.78 out of 100.

The charity gives 77.3 per cent of their total expenses to their delivered programs and services.

Overall, the Movember Foundation is aiming to keep their promise to address men’s health, and they do this by keeping their finances transparent for their donors and participants.

I want to be clear — there is no issue with supporting a cause or charity you believe in.

Promoting your beliefs through fashion, music, social media or facial hair can impact the interest of your audience and help those who have little knowledge about a certain issue or concern.

However, if you are participating in Movember by growing out your facial hair, or you’re wearing a pink ribbon to support breast cancer research, make sure to actually do your part!

Participating in local events to become more educated about the charity, donating to community not-for-profit organizations, or even just a simply Google searching can help you know which hands your money is ending up.

friends out of their life the moment the friend starts dragging them down, but we tend to have a much higher tolerance level for our family members.

While this makes sense, it can be damaging to people who are surrounded by ones who are inherently selfish.

It only takes one toxic person to drag you down.

This does not necessarily mean that your family member is a bad person and it is good to remind yourself of this while cutting your toxic family member out of your life.

It might hurt your family member as well of the rest of your family if you cut them out, such is life. But even with family, your own mental health comes first.

The danger of allowing a toxic person to stay in your life because they are family is that you allow yourself to be damaged for the benefit of another human.

A family member is meant to be someone special, but that does not mean they must stay in your life if they are causing you mental and/ or emotional pain.

If you are going to cut ties with a toxic family member however, you

must prepare yourself.

The reaction from a toxic family member is much worse than that of a friend.

They might say horrible things about you and they might pick on your insecurities, because a family member knows that better than a friend would.

They may also try to guilt you into changing your mind because you are family.

The effect that a toxic family member has on you is more important than the fact that they are family. The effect on your mental health is not worth the connections.

You may not be able to choose your family, but you can choose who to keep in your life. It can be difficult, but you must do what is best for you — no matter the fallout.

It is okay to want to cut ties with somebody who causes you pain; it is okay if that person is a family member.

Last but not least, remember that you can always let a person back into your life if their behaviour changes and they are less toxic towards you. Cutting ties with someone isn’t always permanent.

• 15

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR PRANAV DESAI sports@thecord.ca

MEN’S BASKETBALL lead.

For the second game in a row, the Ravens would reach the 100-point mark as the final score would be 100-64.

When asked what the biggest factor in the loss was Serresse simply said, “Turnovers.”

He would hit two threes to close the quarter, giving Ottawa a sixpoint lead going into the fourth.

In the fourth, Laurier would manage to take the lead a couple of minutes in, but they would still go back and forth for the duration of the quarter.

With under 10 seconds — and the score at 78-75 for Laurier — Golden Hawk Matt Minutillo would seal it.

Tipping an inbound, he forced a half-court violation against Ottawa and would go on to hit two free throws to make the final score 80-75.

“Obviously [it was a] great game,” head coach Justin Serresse said.

“We stuck to the game plan for

… almost 40 minutes and that’s the goal with a young team, trying to make as little mistakes as possible.”

“We made some clutch shots, we stayed composed, we stayed together … I thought we did a good job for almost 40 minutes … and it showed tonight,” Serresse said.

The following night, the matchup would be against national powerhouse, the Carleton Ravens.

Ottawa may have been a nationally ranked team as well, but the Ravens proved to be a whole different beast.

The Golden Hawks would start out fast and on fire as they would jump out to a 15-7 lead early in the quarter, hitting five three-pointers.

Fast forward to a score of 17-10 for Laurier; where the Ravens would come back with a vengeance.

They would go on a 12-2 run to finish the quarter with a threepoint lead at 22-19.

In the second quarter, Carleton would kick it up another notch; they went on a 14-0 run in the first 3:39 of the quarter.

Continuing to turn great defense into great offense, Carleton would put a beating on Laurier, outscoring the Hawks 31-11 in the quarter — going into halftime up 53-30.

The Hawks’ performance improved in the third quarter, but it wasn’t good enough to even come close to the Ravens.

Every time Laurier cut the lead to 20 or 21, the Ravens would turn it up a notch again, as they would finish the quarter up 24 points.

The fourth quarter turned out to be a lot of the same, as they refused to let up, regardless of the fight Laurier put up and added to their

theirs to win.

York tried to answer back after a Laurier penalty by pulling their goalie — making it six on four — but the Golden Hawks’ speed was unmatched and a goal from Jaden Head extended the lead for Laurier to 4-2.

“We answered quickly every time they pushed back or tried to take over the momentum,” Osborne said.

“Either a big save from Miller or a high-speed play that finished with great goals from Harrison and MacCulloch; and finished the last few minutes with a big four on six penalty kill which led to an open net goal.”

Laurier had one goal all season before this game and no wins, marking this game as a turning point in their season.

They will look to keep their win-

ning streak alive against Western on Nov. 18.

Osborne has nothing but faith in this group of talent: “Looking ahead to future games, we will use this game to continue to play with the confidence we showed on the ice Sunday night; challenge each other to be better at practices and continue to focus on the process to drive our mental and physical preparation.”

TANZEEL SAYANI/PHOTO EDITOR

Hawks pull off huge upset ABDULHAMID IBRAHIM LEAD SPORTS REPORTER

The first matchup in a big weekend for the Wilfrid Laurier University men’s basketball team was against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday night, with the Gee-Gees looking to win big once again.

Laurier had other plans though, quickly showing opponents that this isn’t the same team from last year.

Both teams started out fast trading baskets, with Tevaun Kokko scoring Laurier’s first eight points of the game.

The first quarter would consist of both teams playing well on both sides of the ball but also a deadlock as the score would be 18-18 at

quarter’s end.

The second quarter would start out slow as only three points were scored in the first two minutes — courtesy of Ali Sow for Laurier.

From there it would be back to trading baskets; but at one point the Gee-Gees would find a way to get the game’s largest lead, going up 37-32.

The Hawks would answer swiftly as a jumper by Kokko and another three from Sow made the score at halftime 37-37.

The third quarter would turn out to seem like much of the same as they would trade blows and exchange leads throughout.

This was until the last 1:09 — when Brandon Robinson would change things for Ottawa.

We made some clutch shots, we stayed composed, we stayed together...I thought we did a good job for almost 40 minutes...

-Justin Serresse, Laurier men’s basketball head coach

“24 — only seven in the second half — but 17 in the first half. I thought, ‘great effort, great fight for the whole game,’ but rebounding and turnovers were the key, and without a few key players, obviously it’s really, really tough to beat that team.”

Still a youthful team, Laurier has plenty to take away from a game like this.

“What we take away from those games is, if we make mistakes against elite teams, we’re going to pay cash and that it’s going to be very hard for us to beat those teams,” Serresse said.

Next up, Laurier will play York on Friday, Nov. 17 at home.

The Hawks will be looking to bounce back and improve their record to 3-3.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

No place like home HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK CORD SPORTS

The Wilfrid Laurier University women’s hockey team picked up their first win at home on Sunday night against the York Lions, winning the game 4-2 after losing to the Lion’s on the road last weekend.

The game started off with a goal from York after only 11 minutes of play, which put Laurier in a deficit for the remainder of the first period.

Laurier did not give up, however, playing relentless defense and making sure to get back on their feet for the next period.

The second period got off to a quick start in Laurier’s favour after a goal from Emily Visser just two minutes into the period.

“The key to our first win was the readiness and determination of the whole team for this game,” head coach Rick Osborne said.

“I could sense it and see it in the eyes of our leaders and our second and third year players before the game.”

Laurier finally found their lead

12 minutes into the second period, with Aynsley Harrison scoring a power-play goal for Laurier making it 2-1 for the team.

I could sense it and see it in the eyes of our leaders and our second and third-year players before the game.

-Rick Osborne, Laurier women’s hockey head coach

QIAO LIU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

York answered Laurier’s goal, adding one of their own with just two minutes left in the second, but the Golden Hawks knew they had it in them to win it.

Madison MacCulloch scored just over 30 seconds into the third period, letting Laurier’s dominance be known and showing their opponents that this game was

16 • SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017

FOOTBALL

Laurier faces unfortunate fate at Yates PRANAV DESAI SPORTS EDITOR

The Hawks bid to repeat history as Yates Cup champions failed this past Saturday, as the Hawks were outplayed by the Western Mustangs in the OUA final.

In what was a rematch of last year’s Yates Cup, the Hawks’ defense just couldn’t find an answer for the Mustangs’ run game. The contest finished with a final score of 75-32 for the Mustangs.

Western managed to score on their opening two drives, taking a 10-0 lead early in the game.

The Hawks responded quickly by pinning the Mustangs deep in their own half, which forced Western to take a safety.

On the next Laurier drive, they efficiently carried the ball down the field and capped off the run with a passing touchdown from Michael Knevel to Brentyn Hall, cutting the deficit to one point.

The back and forth action didn’t stop there though, as Western managed to score a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff.

The noise from the crowd didn’t seem to affect Laurier, however; on their very next drive the Hawks pulled off their best play of the game on a 74-yard touchdown bomb from Knevel to Brendan McCracken.

That would make the score 17-16 at the end of an exciting first quarter. The first 15 minutes of the game had everyone thinking that this game would be a shootout that would be decided on the final few

TANZEEL SAYANI/PHOTO EDITOR

plays. But the Mustangs had other ideas.

The Hawks gave up 37 consecutive points between the second and third quarters, making the score 54-16.

The offense seemed to hit a wall after the first quarter and the defense looked powerless against the Mustangs rushing attack.

In the end, the Hawks didn’t have enough gas in the tank to make the game competitive, as Western won by a final score of 75-32.

“We were optimistic early on,” head coach, Michael Faulds, said.

“Obviously we knew going against Western [that] there was a good chance it would be a high

scoring game.”

“We got 16 points fairly early and then we just kind of hit a lull in the second quarter. But huge credit to them, they’re the better football team,” he added.

“We had some shots, we made it interesting at times, we had some good plays, but in the end, we lost to a better football team.”

Even though the game was never really close after the first quarter, one bright spot for the Hawks was quarterback Michael Knevel’s performance.

Coming off an injury which kept him out for a month, Knevel showed no signs of rust. He finished with three touchdowns and an interception, completing 25 out

of his 49 passes on the day for 432 yards.

“He was absolutely phenomenal.

He threw to all of our outstanding receivers. So [for] Michael having not played in four weeks … to come back and have that performance was pretty remarkable,” Faulds said of Knevel’s performance.

For five Hawks, this was the last time they would represent purple and gold, as they have completed all five of their eligible years with the team.

With the inevitable departure of these players on the horizon, emotions were understandably riding high for Laurier after the game.

“It’s sad every time your season ends because you reflect more

Going into game two of the weekend, Falco knew that Laurier would be in for a test against Carleton.

“We know they are a tough team.

I think it’s going to be good to gauge ourselves — at this stage in the season — against probably the top team in Ontario.”

Falco’s prediction of Carleton being a tough opponent held true, as Laurier dropped their second game of the weekend on Saturday, by a score of 77-50.

Carleton, who were OUA champions and eventual U-Sport bronze medalists last season, showed why they are one of the top ranked teams in Canada.

The Ravens took control early, jumping out to a ten-point lead after the first quarter and carried that momentum throughout the remainder of the contest.

The one positive that the Golden Hawks may be able to take out of the loss is that the 50 points they scored are the most that any team has managed against Carleton so far this season.

Following the weekend, Laurier now finds themselves with a 3-2 record, good enough for third place in the OUA West division.

The Golden Hawks will be back on home court for a pair of games on Nov. 17 and 18 against York and Queen’s.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Clutching it out JOSEPH DEFILIPPIS CORD SPORTS

The Wilfrid Laurier University women’s basketball team picked up a win and a loss in their first two home games of the season this past weekend.

In the home opener Friday night, the Golden Hawks managed to pull off an exciting 87-83 win over the University of Ottawa GeeGees in double overtime.

It was a high tempo game right from tip off, as both teams traded baskets early in the contest, with Ottawa holding a 19-17 lead after the first quarter.

During the second quarter of play, Golden Hawk guard Nicole Morrison became the fourth player in Laurier history to score 1000 career points in a women’s basketball jersey.

Head coach Paul Falco talked about this historic milestone for Morrison.

“She gives us everything she’s got every day. Her ability to grow as a player from year one to year five has been evident,” he said.

“I think it’s a great recognition for her to reach that milestone because she’s been one of the top players that this program has seen.”

Morrison would go on to score a

team high of 21 points in the game, while also contributing six assists.

Both teams would keep up the high tempo play that they started with and stay within a handful of points of each other for most of the third and fourth quarters.

Rachel Woodburn would send the contest to overtime for Laurier, knocking down a game-tying free throw with 12 seconds to play in regulation.

Woodburn would come up clutch once again, scoring seven points in the second overtime period to help seal the win.

“I thought the effort was really good,” Falco said. “Ottawa battled just as hard and obviously the game could’ve gone either way. It came down to us making a couple key plays in that second overtime.”

When asked about the team’s success to start the season, Falco mentioned that “getting contribution from different people” has been integral.

“If you look at last weekend, we had different people step up offensively and we had some of our bench players come in and give us great defensive minutes as well,” Falco stated. “When we do that, it makes it harder for teams to guard us and allows us to extend the floor and keep our transition game up.”

ALEX TRKULJA/FILE PHOTO

not on the game you just lost, but more on the players you’re about to lose. That’s where it’s tough for everyone; it’s an emotional time,” Faulds said.

“Those guys put in a ton of hard work and now — all of a sudden — football is over. From the rest of the team’s standpoint, we’re back to practicing on Tuesday and you just kind of take that flag and march it back on forward.”

Although no one would have expected this game to be decided by such a huge margin, it’s important to realize that playing the best team in Ontario on home turf is no easy task.

The ground-and-pound style of this Western team was always going to be a tough matchup for the Hawks who like to air it out.

It’s vital for the fans and the team to look at the positives from the season. This is still a young team with plenty of room to grow.

The roster will keep most of its core players on offense and defense. With the likes of Jalen Price, Brandon Calver and Edward Cadougan leaving the team, there are now spots open for some of the young, up-and-coming players on the team.

Laurier also gets some of the best recruits in Ontario year after year and fortunately they get to develop under one of the best coaches in the game.

The Hawks weren’t the best team in the OUA this year, but with all the talent and depth on this squad, expect another Yates Cup run in 2018.