Race to the polls
THE
In Depth, page 10 Volume 52, Issue 9
thecord.ca
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Arts to increase average Cutoff for students now 74 per cent JUSTIN SMIRLIES CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR
Homecoming heroes NICK LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER
After their victory on Saturday against Ottawa, their first since Labour Day, the football team carries head coach Gary Jeffries off the field.
Football Hawks finally triumph
100 years of what?
Weekend Recap
After a three game losing streak, the team regain Cord contributer Spencer Dunn reviews the events of this weekend’s celebration their swagger and take one from the Gee-Gee’s
Campus News Editor Justin Smirlies questions what we’re celebrating when we say “Centennial”
Sports, page 18
Opinion, page 12
Campus, page 4
Cross-country runs away with win KEVIN CAMPBELL SPORTS EDITOR
Things got a little more intimate than usual for Wilfrid Laurier University’s cross-country team this past weekend. With a number of teams in Chicago last weekend for other engagements, Laurier and the University of Waterloo (UW) renewed familiarities as two of four universities taking part in the Don Mills Open at UW on Saturday. Usually up against stiff competition like Western, Guelph and McMaster, the two cross-town rivals met head on in the Ontario University Athletics’ second open. And emerging first overall from the kicked up gravel and dust was the underdog Laurier men’s squad. “We had a couple guys injured so it’s great to get the win,” said team captain Brett Cameron. A program that is learning to walk before it can run, Laurier’s crosscountry teams are using an immediate measuring stick by juxtaposing
themselves to their neighbours down University Ave. who won the same open last year. “[One of the goals this year] was that we were really hoping to beat Waterloo, so it was encouraging to beat them this weekend but we still have OUAs and CIS [Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships] to look forward to.” Head coach Peter Grinbergs is also the coach of the Tri-City Track Club in K-W, so a little vengeance on familiar faces was in the cards with runners competing for their schools as well as the area club. Last year’s UW men’s squad finished ninth in the OUA while Laurier came in at 11th out of 16 teams. Despite a few injuries to team stars Sohaib Ikram and Brent Meidinger, the team had Ikram’s brother Shoaib finish fourth overall with Jonathan Gascho and Ian Turnbull making tremendous strides since the start of the year, along with typical high performer Alex Garriock Sports, page 20
For the past year, consistent discussion has revolved around the grades and quality of students in the arts faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University. In February, The Cord reported that 43 per cent of first-year students were below a 5.0 grade point average (GPA), which evoked a sense of urgency in the faculty to create new initiatives. One of those initiatives, spearheaded by the dean of arts, Michael Carroll, and the dean’s advisory council, was to raise the minimum entrance average for prospective students from 72 to 74 per cent. This proposal was discussed at the arts divisional council meeting on Sept. 16 and was approved “overwhelmingly.” “The thinking was, we can’t go on like this, we can’t keep lowering our average to bring in more students,” explained Carroll. He also noted that the original proposal was to only raise the average to 73, but the faculty wanted to go higher and, after deciding that 75 would be too much, settled on 74. “One of reasons we had to do something was because nearly half of all of the students that ended up with less that 5.0 at the end of the fall term … are people with an interim [high school] average less than 75,” he added. While it has been approved by the arts divisional council and the dean’s advisory council — which consists of associate deans, department chairs etc. — it still needs to be approved by the enrolment management council, headed by VP: academic and provost, Deborah MacLatchy. The final decision will be made in early 2012 after next year’s
“The thinking was, we can’t go on like this, we can’t keep lowering our average to bring in more students.” —Michael Carroll, dean of arts
MIRIAM SMIT CORD PHOTOGRAPHY
The men’s team defeats the Waterloo Warriors Saturday at UW.
Inside Arkells offer Centennial tuneage
CBC on the way to Kitchener-Waterloo
Hamilton rockers kickoff Homecoming weekend with stellar show at the Turret
National broadcaster plans to offer radio programming covering the region beginning in 2012
Arts, page 16
National, page 7
Campus, page 4