The Sputnik: Issue 15

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016 ISSUE 15 WWW.THESPUTNIK.CA @SPUTNIK_NEWS THE SPUTNIK

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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23 , 2016

WLUSP BRANTFORD 202-171 Colborne St. Brantford, ON N3T 2C9 (519) 756-8228 ext. 5948

THE SPUTNIK TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Taylor Berzins eic@thesputnik.ca PHOTO EDITOR Christina Manocchio photography@thesputnik.ca LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Jamaal Owusu-Ansah leadphotographer@thesputnik.ca GRAPHIC EDITOR Sai Gnanaharan visual@thesputnik.ca WEB EDITOR Jaclyn Brown web@thesputnik.ca NEWS EDITOR Anya Eland news@thesputnik.ca ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Now Hiring FEATURES EDITOR Brittany Bennett features@thesputnik.ca ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Matthew Burley arts@thesputnik.ca SPORTS EDITOR Devon Momy-Gamache sports@thesputnik.ca OPINION EDITOR Josh Adesina opinion@thesputnik.ca

THE SPUTNIK ADMIN PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Bryan Stephens (519) 884-0710 ext. 3565 president@wlusp.com ADVERTISING Care Schummer (519) 884-0719 ext. 3560 care.schummer@wlusp.com MANAGER OF OPERATIONS Taylor Berzins manager@thesputnik.ca EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com Treasurer John Pehar Vice-Chair Abdiasis Issa Director Thomas Lillo Director Rafey Sattar Director Fred Kuntz Director Angela Foster Director Gary Doyle Corporate Secretary Emily Crump The Sputnik is a bi-weekly campus newspaper intended to engage and inform the community.

Started in 1999, the Sputnik is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within the Sputnik are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, The Sputnik, WLUSP, WLU or Canweb Printing.

All content appearing in the Sputnik bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Sputnik is created using Macintosh computers running Mac OS X Yosemite using Adobe Creative Cloud.

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The Sputnik circulates bi-weekly. Normal circulation is 1,000.

The Sputnik has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through the Sputnik’s contact with the community. The Sputnik will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our newspaper.

We’re looking for creative volunteers • Artists • Photographers • Writers • Copy editors • Graphic designers

email manager@thesputnik.ca for details.

That’s all folks. Trump anxiety The end of a journey

Photo courtesy of flickr creative commons

Tristan Wright Staff Writer

Taylor Berzins Manager of Operations Staring at the red walls of my office, I begin to think about cheap red wine. Whoever decided to paint an office space red should have a stern talking to. On a serious note though, how nice would it be to have a celebratory glass of wine right now as I put together the last Spunik I will ever contribute to?

God, I’m old.

It’s funny how many things can change in the course of five years.

Watching eager first year folk meander the streets with their Laurier Brantford swag and dreams of being an O-week ice breaker, makes my cynical fifth-year soul laugh. It’s strange how weird you become when you’re counting down the days until convocation.

Being in your final weeks of your BA a terrible juxtaposition in which you’re sandwiched between being so done with writing essays that you’ve actually averaged out whether or not you’ll pass all of your courses if you just walked away now, and being so scared of “the real world” that you’re trying to figure out how to make a living

off of YouTube videos of yourself petting cats.

Regardless of where you’re at in soon-to-graduate purgatory, floating in this nasty cluster of over-it and unknown, take refuge in the fact that you’re not the only one finding peace in Netflix marathons and reminiscing.

Thinking back to my first year self, versus the sleep deprived coffee fiend I have become, I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’m thankful for the crappy roommates, the wonderful roommates, the all-nighters, the raging parties, the lonely nights, the god awful profs, the godsend profs, the broken student houses, the broken hearts, the best friends, the student job, the readings, the essays and the lectures.

For as much of the institutional “ra-ra” peppiness my jaded self loaths, I’ve still managed to have a great university experience.

I’m truly going to miss Laurier Brantford and my time at The Sputnik (red walls and all).

My parting wisdom, darling readers, is whether it’s making the Sputnik, going to a certain professor’s lectures or listening to live music on Saturday nights, find something you love to do here on campus, and ride it out for the next couple of years. Don’t take your education journey for granted!

“He has stirred people up,” Howard said. “We’ve been told our whole lives not to say bad things about people, to not be bullies, to not ostracize people based on their skin colour. We have these social mores and he breaks all of them and he’s successful. And people are wondering how he gets away with it.”

Essentially, normal, liberal, mouth-breathing, Jon Oliver watching, people are having an existential crisis over the fact that being politically correct isn’t yet state mandated. The upper class urbanites who have benefited from globalism are freaking out.

A generation of coddling has left people so thin-skinned that they cannot handle the concept of a corporate douche running for office.

I almost feel bad for these people. They’ve been taught from birth by authority that being spineless is good. That hurting people’s feelings is always wrong.

They’ve been taught that life is fair.

Everything will work out if only they just apologize and social signal their virtue. That they should get equal pay to a man who works more overtime. They cannot critically think and most of their opinions come from Facebook, T.V and professors. Now this whole facade that they’ve been trained their whole lives to accept and defend is breaking down in a big way. And now I’m laughing at them.

Trump hasn’t really said or done anything worse than any other politician. Perhaps better, even for a variety of reasons. They say he’s a racist, a misogynist, and so on, but these are things that can be applied to all politicians, especially Hilary Clinton. The problem here is that the media blitz against Trump has convinced easily swayed morons that Trump is literally Satan/Hitler and that he is going to eat nonwhite babies and start World War III when he becomes president.

It’s because we are being domesticated like animals. This is all deliberate. In 100 years if Washington isn’t burning, humans will behave like dogs where they once behaved like wolves. I hope your children like obedience training. I mean gender studies.

Let me explain the American elections to you in a non-biased way. If Hillary Clinton gets elected, nothing will change. Corruption and business as usual, as per Obama. If Bernie Sanders wins, America will suffer a slight decline because Communist policies don’t work. But, if Trump wins, guess what? He has a very small chance to be actually good, I don’t personally believe he’ll do anything I’ll agree with other than stop illegal immigration. Which is illegal for a reason. But hopefully he’ll crash the whole system. Down to ashes, then, next election we might actually have a chance for change. The only chance America and Canada by extension will get. Only once the system is destroyed, and the rotten structure collapses in on itself can there be change. Your Ghandi style of doing nothing drastic doesn’t work in real life. There has to be a fire, and Donald’s wig might just work.

Thanks for reading

THE SPUTNIK

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Case@BTM hosts inaugural internal case competition

Laurier’s journey to end rape culture

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

NEWS

ANYA ELAND | NEWS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Shreya Shah Assistant News Editor Dressed in their crisp business attire, a group of 16 students from the Business Technology Management program, came together for a weekend to compete at Laurier’s first Internal Case Competition.

Organized and run by the club, case@BTM, the inaugural Case Competition provided BTM students with the opportunity to apply skills and theoretical knowledge from class to the real world.

This year, the students were given a case that involved the Canadian sporting goods company, Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Matthew Raines, the president of case@BTM, explained how the case competition worked, “The

First Group (winners) Matthew Raines, Hao Chen, Leah DeVos, Simran Hayer Second Group Jeremy Lickers, James Cooke, Carmen Cheung, Ryan Page Third Group Tyler Catton, Austin Scime, Cameron Kennedy, D’Arcy O’Neil Fourth Group Mayemma Saddler, Johnny Nguyen, Chloe Sun, Steven Thai Images by Jamaal Owusu-Ansah

case required students to help the company advertise their products to the next generation, specifically, forming marketing solutions with the use of digital technology.

Students had to use the facts of the cases, using the 2012 data.

The case was formatted so the students were given a dialogue between the CEO and VP of Mountain Co-op and it talks about their concerns in regards to what direction the company should be moving towards. The conversation gave students information about statistics and finances for the company.”

This year’s panel of judges consisted of both faculty and community members. Rosemary McGowan is an Associate Professor and teaches for the Business Technology Management and Leadership programs. Oliver Masakure is also an Associate Professor for the Business Technology Management and Human Rights/Human Diversity programs. The third judge was

Adrian Pynenburg, who is the CEO of Connect Oasis, which is Merchandising Management Technology company. The judges provided each presenting group with intensive feedback.

“The journey for this competition began this past summer,” explains Josephine McMurray, who spearheaded and organized the event, “It started with the fact that I am a real believer in case competitions and what they can teach students outside of the classroom.”

The event was a huge success with the students. Ryan Page, a fourth year student, expressed the importance of having the opportunity to work on cases, “The BTM program prepares us so that we can be the middle man between IT departments and business departments, so we are always required to talk to people.

It’s important to have the skills to be able to give a successful presentation.”

Melissa Weaver Staff Writer Self identifying women now have a safe space on campus in Laurier Brantford’s Women’s Centre located in Lawyer’s Hall.

The Women’s Centre hosted their first event on March 9, a screening and panel discussion of The Hunting Ground. More than 60 people were in attendance.

The centre was established in September after co-founders of the Women’s Safety Action Group (WSAG) filed a spaces request form at the beginning of summer of 2015.

Women are able to access the centre from Tuesday to Thursday from 12pm to 4pm at Lawyer’s Hall.

The centre focuses on three main components: support, advocacy and education.

Cheneka Brown, Administration Coordinator of Laurier Brantford’s Women’s Centre said, “We learned about taking a believing stance so if someone comes into the centre to disclose, we don’t ask questions like ‘what did you do?’, we say, ‘okay, now where do you want to go from here?’”

After filing the space’s request, the group made edits to their request and waited for space to be available. In September, they were able to use Lawyer’s Hall. Before the doors could open, the women had to write their values, mission statement, goals and create a handbook.

“The Women’s Centre is for folks who want to diversity and equity work based on gender equity. It is a space for like-minded folk to spend time together and do advocacy work and a space that supports women with intersectional identities like anti-racism work and support trans women, mothers and gives access to Hayley” said Lauren Burrows, Education and Inclusion Coordinator of the Diversity and Equity Office.

The Centre has also hired Hayley Moody, a member of the Sexual Assault Centre of Brant, as the Sexual Violence Counsellor and advocate for Laurier Brantford students. Moody is available to discuss sex, sexuality and consent as well accompany any woman to a hospital or police station if need be. She will also act as a resource to work on academic advocacy and one-on-one support.

The Centre is equipped with resources for women such as free pads and tampons, and literature and pamphlets for various women’s issues. Brown hopes to have a feminist library included in the future, 24-hour access to the space and to be able to give back to the community.

Brown attributes the positive reception of the space to Burrows and Advocates for Student Culture of Consent (ASCC).

“As we were gathering our information, ASCC was starting their journey to advocate for a sexual assault policy. It went handin-hand for what we wanted to do, and it was perfect timing for those initiatives to come together,” said Brown.

ASCC is working towards creating a sexual assault policy to ensure that all students, staff and faculty are safe on campus.

ASCC was created by five student survivors after completing research regarding the lack of sexual assault policies in universities and colleges across Canada.

Lynn Kane, Co-ordinator of the Gendered Violence Task Force (GVTF) works on policy and protocol. Her most recent role includes consultations where she speaks with departments on campus to get their input on the sexual assault policy.

“Part of the consultations, led

by Adam [Lawrence], will be with faculty and staff unions to ensure that our policy lines up with existing policies. For example, consultations with Laurier International are important because there are [existing] policies applying to people on placements or doing exchanges, so we have that in the scope, but the implications of that might not all be thought through yet” said Kane.

A challenge of student activism has been the inevitable, that students who work hard to make change then graduate. In the transition, that work can be lost. By putting their work into a policy, it will be institutionalized.

“This has to be a forever thing, it has to be a lasting thing,” Kane said.

For anyone who has experienced gendered or sexual violence, they know that it is a complicated situation and determining the proper procedures through policy using vague language can be difficult for survivors to get the help they need.

“It’s something I’ve heard from many people in many different spaces, that experiencing gendered or sexual violence is terrible and that navigating systems is even more terrible and can be traumatizing,” said Kane.

As the journey stands today, a draft will be brought to the Board of Governors next Tuesday.

Throughout April and early May, consultations will be held to understand and incorporate all viewpoints of the Laurier community. Kane explained that the goal is to bring it back to the Board of Governors in June as an update.

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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

NEWS

ANYA ELAND | NEWS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

A mother’s journey to end cyberbullying CARE welcomes Carol Todd

Taylor Burt Staff Writer CARE, the Child and Adolescent Research and Education group on campus, is hosting the Stay Strong with Carol Todd event during the week of March 21 – 25.

The group hopes to spread awareness about cyberbullying and responsible Internet use. Carol Todd will be speaking as well to share her journey of coping with her daughter’s death and experiences related to cyberbullying and how Todd wants to inform others about Internet safety and mental health.

“CARE originally started around responsible Internet use, which encompasses cyberbullying and that sort of thing, and Amanda’s story was primarily surrounding responsible Internet use, so that’s what made us reach out to Carol,” said Kodey Hewlett, social media and technology specialist for CARE. Danielle Law, Assistant Professor for Child and Youth Studies, urges people to talk and listen more about mental health.

“Allowing for opportunity to dialogue about our struggles and creating a safe community to do so is part of developing a safe community and addressing the struggles our young people go through,” said Law. “Just because someone doesn’t talk about it, doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist.”

“Our main goal is to raise awareness,” said Hewlett. “We’re doing pubic talks with anybody from the community, we’re also targeting student leaders, we’ve focused on our dons, in residence, because we’ve noticed in residence that’s when a lot of cyberbullying and irresponsible Internet use starts because it’s as soon as a majority of the students step away from their parents, it’s seen as a free-for-all.”

CARE has quickly grown into a group that helps bring awareness to these topics and is now putting on major events to provide knowledge to the public as well, instead of just the university.

“She was my very first [professor] in first year and she spoke about CARE and how she wanted to start it here, so after class I went down and talked to her. It was just

herself and one other RA and they only did outreach, and then myself and [another member] started community outreach and it kind of exploded from there,” said Hewlett.

“Carol and Amanda’s story touches people in different ways and Carol’s presentations bring meaning and life to Amanda’s struggle.

Carol has spoken internationally about these issues and about Amanda and there is no doubt that she has touched the lives and brought hope to thousands of young people across the globe,” said Law. “I know now that [Amanda’s YouTube video] has changed a lot of people’s lives. You can see that by the comments on the YouTube video, and the Facebook comments and the Twitter comments. It makes people think twice,” said Todd.

Todd, has spoken at many different conferences and school about Amanda’s struggle and how her experiences can help educate others and hopefully bring a stop to cyberbullying.

“I will keep talking about it until people stop listening,” said Todd.

“I just hope that the event will bring more awareness about cyberbullying and mental health issues. I also hope that as a community we can think of ways to work together to address this concern,” said Law. “Too often we want to avoid setting off a trigger, when really, the trigger allows us to open doors to conversation and get to the root of the problem.”

Todd explained her frustration with everyone being obsessed with technology. She expresses that not only are teenagers engrossed in their devices but so are adults.

“When you see a family out for a family dinner at a restaurant and they are all on their devices, I don’t understand that. Why bother going out for dinner, if you are all going to be absorbed into your technology?” said Todd.

Todd urges people to have more face-to-face communication.

CARE is hoping for many people to come and support the discussion and are welcoming all to come.

“We won’t be speaking at the high schools specifically, but the high schools are welcome to join us for the evening events,” said Hewlett.

The Bent King prepares to open in April

The Bent King’s 156 Market Street location Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

Anya Eland News Editor After The Sputnik’s spring 2015 coverage of Brantford’s journey to get its game on, perhaps you’ve been wondering, whatever happened to that second board game cafe, The Bent King?

Well, the restaurant has found its home at 156 Market Street, and plans to open in April.

The idea for the café began about two years ago and the team has been working on implementing it

ever since. The construction of the business has rolling since July 2015.

Branded as, The Bent King Board Game Café and Wine Lounge, the space is aiming to be a spot where customers can enjoy a cup of coffee and play an old fashioned board game. Patrick Huxley is a co-owner and general manager of the café alongside Carrie King who had the original idea for the project.

“Our goal is to provide, not so much as a dining experience, but an entertainment experience.

Something that there isn’t really a lot of options so much of in Brantford. Our philosophy is, everything to the highest quality.

I am a craft beer geek and we are going to have a lot of high quality craft beer. We’ve loved board games

Laurier Brantford, thanks for an awesome year Want to get involved with Wilfrid Laurier Student Publications 2016-2017? Email manager@thesputnik.ca for details.

and gaming in general so we want to make that a great experience for everyone as well,” said Huxley.

The board games that are currently stored for the café so far are all donated by Huxley from his personal collection. He has collected about 150 titles. The Bent King stated they have also have secured suppliers for board games.

“I’ve always wanted to own my own restaurant and I’ve always wanted to kind of find a way to kind of bring my personal geekiness to it, and definitely something I think we can do pretty well here,” said Huxley.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

THE SPUTNIK

5

NEWS

ANYA ELAND | NEWS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Fingerboarding at Downtown Showdown

Downtown Showdown Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

Matthew Burley A&C Editor Fingerboarders of all ages were flipping out at the first ever Downtown Showdown fingerboarding competition on March 19. For $10, you gained access to the Market Square fountain, received a raffle ticket, and got as much pizza and pop as you could carry.

The Downtown Showdown was hosted by Joycult Wheels, a fingerboarding wheel company based in Brantford. Joycult Wheel

owner Matt Watkinson stated he was very happy with the 45-person turnout at the competition. Some contestants came from as far as Pennsylvania to witness the technical skills that were on display.

“It’s so insane, it trips me out just saying that,” stated Watkinson.

Watkinson stated the competition planning was fairly smooth thanks to support from the community and sponsors.

The Downtown Showdown had a number of sponsors, including Blackriver, Berlin Wood, ASI Berlin, Beastpants, fingerboardingisfun. com, Kapital Krete and Flatface.

Although Watkinson opted out of the classic contest format for the competition, the fingerboarders cheered in excitement as the raffle

prizes were announced. Watkinson handed out a number of unreleased Joycult fingerboards and wheels as prizes. A number of the contestants walked away with one-of-a-kind items.

Business has been booming for Watkinson, who is currently having minor “supply and demand problems” with products, as fingerboarders want more wheels than Joycult can currently produce.

“We’re in a weird phase at the moment, however, we’re still wellreceived,” said Watkinson.

Joycult Wheels is a young company, having been founded in January 2015 with help from Laurier Brantford’s Launchpad.

Launchpad is an entrepreneurship program designed to help

individuals start companies with minimal risk. However, Watkinson stated that Launchpad is not a handout. Individuals have to test markets by interviewing potential customers, making connections and by “putting yourself out there.”

“A lot of people throw money at bad ideas,” stated Watkinson.

“Launchpad allows you to feel comfortable putting money into something.”

Watkinson stated that his initial experience with Launchpad was an “experiment,” as he was one of the first non-students to get into the program. However, Joycult gained popularity faster than many of the other start-ups from Launchpad, and it has “opened a lot of doors” for Watkinson.

Watkinson has maintained a good relationship with Laurier Brantford Launchpad. He visits on a weekly basis and has gained access to many of their contacts. Laurier Brantford owns Market Square, and being involved with Launchpad gave him the opportunity to host the event there.

Although there are no concrete plans, Watkinson hopes to host another fingerboarding event in the future. For the next installment of the Downtown Showdown, Watkinson wants to have more parks and prizes for the contestants.

Laurier Brantford’s first Multicultural Gala

Vik Jaswal Staff Writer On March 18, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford Campus hosted its first Multicultural Gala at Market Square.

The event was hosted by Laurier International in partnership with the Diversity and Equity office.

The purpose of the Multicultural Gala was to showcase the culture, achievements and the success of our international students.

The event involved information boards, promoting empowerment and education as a means of creating a more open quality of life, advocating equal treatment for everyone. There was also cultural trivia and photo booths for entertainment, followed up by an award ceremony.

The ceremony included a multicultural dinner, with an organized program of performances. The program included a welcoming address for Teeba Alsafar, the international student advisor for Laurier International. “The event is a great opportunity for students to learn and connect with each other, while

The award ceremony at Laurier Brantford’s first Multicultural Gala Gurleen Lall/The Sputnik

appreciating their culture “ said Teeba Alsafar.

The event gives students, staff and faculty a chance to build their networks and to be exposed to different traditions in a welcoming atmosphere. The cultural performances helped create this atmosphere through the cultural singer, Tyche Kasweka, a multicultural fashion show and a performance done by LEAF students.

Tyche Kasweka displays the beauty of language performing her song in Swahili, outlining the importance of language in

diversity. The multicultural fashion show consisted of traditional clothing, signifying the uniqueness in culture such as the dashiki, an African dress.

The performance done by LEAF students celebrated how Laurier has students of many origins and how accepting different cultures is beneficial to our quality of life.

Tom Lillo gave his opinion on the showcase, “It was cool seeing the talent of our students and how they were able to incorporate both English and Chinese together in their performance.” In between performances awards were given

to recognize international students who have shown academic achievement, community involvement and students and faculty who have been involved with global issues on campus, while aiding international students with their needs.

The awards given out at the gala included the DEO Activism Award sponsored by the DEO office, an award for showing the most engagement and activism towards issues of diversity and equity at Wilfrid Laurier. The Most Engaged LEAF Student award sponsored by the LEAF program was given for

attending events, while connecting with students and instructors, being active in the classroom and in the Laurier Community.

The Most Engaged International Student award sponsored by The Student Union was given for attending events, while connecting with students, staff and faculty in and out of the classroom. The Most Engaged Domestic Student award, sponsored by the ISAB was given for attending internationally focused events and being active within the intercultural community of Brantford. The Highest Achieving International Student award sponsored by Students Affairs was given for the achievement of the highest GPA in the Fall of 2015. Finally, the Most Engaged Faculty Member award sponsored by Laurier International was given for being the most engaged in internationalizing the campus.

The awards ceremony ended with a vote of thanks by Pelumi Ajadi, leaving the gala available for the attendees to socialize. Sharyne Williams gave insight on the success of the event, stating, “this is the first Multicultural Gala for Laurier Brantford, the ceremony shows how we are all here to support our international students with their achievements and is a great way to connect”.

6

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

FEATURES

BRITTANY BENNETT | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

P lice injustice

The need for diversification

Brittany Bennett Features Editor Carmen Cheung Contributor Rwaah Mohamed Contributor Three members of the Durham Regional Police Service attended Laurier Brantford’s Race and Oppression class last Thursday to talk about diversity in their workforce.

“Have you witnessed any police injustice in your field?”

Acting sergeant and diversity training co-ordinator, Keith Richards gave a chuckle. “How much time do we have? I thought this was supposed to be a quick question.”

Staff sergeant, Jeff Haskins is the program leader of diversity, equity and inclusivity with the Durham Regional Police Service. Haskins said about 35 to 40 per cent of the population consists of racialized

“

at least 336 black people were killed by police in 2015 people, although only about 3 per cent racialized people are reflected in police forces.

Richards, Haskins and constable and diversity co-ordinator, Pam Devine, broke the students into groups and had them discuss one of many tricky scenarios officers are put in on a regular basis.

“The 9/11 police dispatch centre receives a call from an anonymous person. The caller reports a suspicious person [described only by their racial background, gender and type of clothing worn] walking around George Street. After giving the description, the call is disconnected.”

Do the dispatch officers go to George Street even though there were no other descriptors given to support this person’s so-called “suspicious” behaviour?

If so, do they intercept this person?

If so, how do they deal with this allegedly “suspicious” person?

These are questions officers have to answer in their day-to-day routine, and how they handle situations like these will also affect how the alleged person in question reacts and responds.

As a child, a police officer was someone you looked up to, literally, but also metaphorically. Through a child’s eyes an officer is a hero, someone they want to be like when they grow up. Luckily, children do not read the news.

News One reported data compiled by the Malcolm Grassroots Movement, Black Left Unity Network, and U.S Human Rights Network. These organizations found that within the first three months of 2012 alone, 30 black Americans were killed by police officers in the United States; 20 of which were defined as unarmed, two were said to have “probably” been carrying firearms and eight were alleged to have been carrying non-lethal weapons.

Only seven of these 30 were reported over 30-years-old and only two were women.

Mapping Police Violence is an organization that continues to collect data claimed to be from the “three largest, most comprehensive and impartial crowdsourced databases on police killings in the country.”

The organization’s police violence map shows that “at least 336” black people were killed by police in 2015 across the United States. These statistics outline that black people are three times more likely to be killed by police over white people.

Devine said that their officers are given annual reinforcement train-

Statistics from Mapping Police Violence Brittany Bennett/The Sputnik

Whether that description was “a black male wearing casual clothing”; “a white female wearing business clothing”; “a middle eastern female wearing a hijab”; or “a male Aboriginal Canadian wearing scruffy clothing,” the class is asked how they would handle the situation.

ing, one of which is called “Fair and Impartial Policing.” This training reflects a new perspective to bias policing. “It is based on the science of bias, which tells us that biased policing is not, as some contend, due to widespread racism in policing. In fact, the science tells that even well-intentioned humans (and

thus, officers) manifest biases that can impact on their perceptions and behavior. These biases can manifest below consciousness.”

A student commented on the need for more training, and all three officers agreed. Haskin admitted that the biggest challenge for that is cost.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report published findings in 2006 on State and local law enforcement training academics in the United States. The report found that cultural diversity and human relations were included in 98 per cent of basic training of state and local law enforcement training academies in the United States. The medium number of hours this topic was instructed for was 11. Although, 70 per cent of the recruits in the

Wilson was suspended with pay, and finally in November the grand jury decided not to indict him.

In the midst of riots fighting for Brown’s justice, only two days after Brown’s killing, Ezell Ford was shot dead by the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to the Huffington Post, Officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas stopped Ford for questioning because he “appeared nervous and was walking away with his hands in his pockets.”

Ford was reported to suffer from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

#BlackLivesMatter has spread across thousands of Twitter posts, and a Twitter handle with the name has over 101, 000 followers.

Brittany Bennett/The Sputnik

United States training academies were categorized as white, while 13 per cent were categorized as black.

After reaching out to Laurier Brantford’s Special Constables to go over comparisons in training procedures, emails were left without response.

Looking back at 2004, the media scene was taken by storm when Jan. 24 brought the death of black teen Timothy Stansbury Jr. According to the New York Times, this high school student was just taking a shortcut after leaving a birthday party with a friend, both unarmed. No verbal exchanges were made before he was shot in the chest on the top of a Brooklyn housing project by Officer Richard Neri of the New York City Police Department.

Zooming forward to 2014, the topic of police brutality against the black community was headlining international news for months.

One of the most controversial cases happened on Aug. 9, where an 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot six times by officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department. Specific details of the altercation differ between news outlets, as there is major controversy between each eyewitness as well as officer Wilson’s police report. What is concluded is that Brown and friend, Dorian Johnson that was with him at the time, were both unarmed walking from a convenience store.

According to BBC News officer Wilson stopped the boys because they were walking in the middle of the road.

During trial proceedings officer

The Los Angeles Times reported how quickly the alteration escalated: officer Sharlton firing two shots that missed Ford while trying to protect his partner, as Wampler claimed that Ford tackled him and attempted to grab his gun. Wampler then took out his backup weapon from beneath his uniform and fired a fatal shot into Ford’s back.

A possible witness of this altercation, 46-year-old Leroy Hill was gunned down three days before his deposition suit that claimed the Los

“

only about 3 per cent racialized people are reflected in police forces Angeles officers shot Ford without justification, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The consequences of this act were not made public.

Unity and Struggle is one of many organizations creating a forum of discussion for this topical issue. “We are not the vanguard, but just one part of what needs to be a movement of millions,” said their Facebook mission statement. And this powerful movement has swept over millions. Advance the Struggle, Out of the Flames of Ferguson and Hands up Don’t Shoot are few of many organizations posting articles of police injustice seen against the black community.

Racial and Intelligence Training and Engagement (RITE) is a national certification program working to help better the American law enforcement profession. RITE is also the first cultural diversity officer wellness training to receive National Certification Training Seal at the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training Conference. RITE has a three-pronged approach: “Help the Officer: Tools for Resiliency and De-escalation; to use personally and professionally … Improve the Department: Recruiting, Improve morale, and Accountability … Build the Community Relations: Enhance public trust.”

Founder and president of the RITE academy, Randy Friedman explained on her website, “We live in a world that is racially diverse, and communities are speaking up louder than ever for positive change. With an increase in media attention, now is the right time for the RITE program. Racial Intelligence Training and Engagement (RITE), puts the Person First.

When you improve the person, you improve the profession.”

United States President Barack Obama told USA Today, “‘The African-American community is not just making this up,’ he said.

‘It’s not something that’s just being politicized. It’s real. We as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously.’”

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

THE SPUTNIK

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FEATURES

BRITTANY BENNETT | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

What ’s Your thing?

The hero’s journey through fiction Julian Panchaud Staff Writer

Meet Aaya El Zein, the photography artist

Dellesia Noah Staff Writer El Zein has been labelled a Muslim, the Hijabi woman, and an artist. All of these titles have applied to El Zein at one point or another throughout her journey with her faith and as an artist. Labels aside, El Zein has always found a way to stay true to herself.

Scrolling through her Instagram there is a premeditated theme to her all her photographs. There is a repetition of grayscale that gives off a feeling of transcendence. It seems very fitting seeing as her life and her journey has transcended past many

at the time, she has since decided to take a different journey.

“One day I just woke up and admitted to myself that I wasn’t the same as I was back when I was twelve and I first decided to wear the hijab. I realized I wasn’t completely influenced by my parents and what they taught me, I was growing up and starting to realize things about my religion and things about the world outside of what my parents had told me. After a while the reasons why I wore it didn’t apply anymore.”

El Zein first decided to wear the hijab when she was in the fourth grade. It was a change El Zein settled on half way through the school year, and at the time, she was really excited about it. About a month or two wearing her hijab, El Zein had a conflict with one of her classmates.

“He yanked the hijab off my head

Photos courtesy of Aaya El Zein

labels that had been applied to her before.

Although El Zein began her life as an artist wearing a hijab, an important feature of her cultural identity

and started saying all these terrible things. It made me very emotional and I believed that it was my fault.

Going into school without a scarf then coming in the next day with it on, probably made people very un-

comfortable.”

Now El Zein has found herself doing quite the opposite, taking the hijab off, but it hasn’t changed the way her cultural identity influences her art.

El Zein believes her art has affected her faith, rather than her faith affecting her art. “More so in the sense that thinking of art, or having artistic ideas, flushed out my religious viewpoints on things because to me, to be an artist, you have to be very open minded. You can’t restrict yourself, but also when you do think this way, it contradicts what a lot of religions may believe,” she explains. El Zein says she always wanted to be open and intimate to what’s going on in the world.

Every moment that El Zein was awarded in life, brought her closer into believing hijabi women were able to achieve the same things as any other women, especially when she was recognized for her art. Although she admits, “I don’t really remember a time ever being praised for wearing the hijab.”

El Zein’s artwork is mainly photography. She has recently taken on portraiture and more fashion photography. “It’s very artsy, but otherwise I’d prefer to take pictures of nature, landscape and architecture and people but in a documentary style. I’m not very comfortable with crazy fashion photography.

I’m still kind of working on what my style is so I can incorporate it into my work,” she explains.

Once El Zein thinks of the idea it visualizes itself in her mind, or she will seek it out within her surroundings.

Steve McCurry is one of El Zein’s major inspirations. “He took the picture of the Afghani girl with the red headscarf and the beautiful green eyes. He’s a great documentary photographer and his pictures are stunning,” she says.

El Zein’s journey is a unique one but at the same time holds a common theme inherent to the struggles of many women who try to simultaneously make sense of their religious, artistic and gendered place in the world. Here’s to the journey of staying true to oneself.

Commonly known to both the worlds of literature and gaming is the hero’s journey: a monomyth or archetype used in storytelling. Fiction is an essential part of development in children, students, young adults and more. Countless life lessons and problem management skills are learned through fiction, many of which are portrayed in the hero’s journey.

The hero’s journey is known by its commonly visited recurring tropes, such as the call to adventure, refusal of the call and crossing the threshold. These

return” would dictate. “These are some of the key steps in the myth - finding someone to help, and continuing to struggle until achieving,” says Nicholson.

Of course, the role of a game designer and the role of the author are very different in the way of bringing a reader or player through the path of the hero’s journey.

“In gaming, the game designer has to motivate the player to continue. In literature, the author directs the characters,” Nicholson explains.

In fictional literature, an author is encouraged to give individual characters the development so that changes in their character personality will connect with the reader in such a way that the reader will come to idolize the character, want to become like them and follow in their personality’s footsteps.

Christina Manocchio

“checkpoints” represent the various points in a person’s natural life, giving them insight on how to handle them.

While the most common interpretations of the hero’s monomyth in seen through the most basic forms of fiction: fictional novels and the vastly expanding world of digital and analog gaming.

“The most important skills the myth teaches are seeking mentorship and developing perseverance or grit,” program co-ordinator of Laurier Brantford’s Game Design and Development program, Scott Nicholson explains. It is an important life lesson to learn as early as possible that taking on the world alone, even when thrust into it, is never an endeavor one necessarily has to tackle. Seeking help and guidance is very much encouraged by the model of many games, reflecting its importance in the real world.

As games also continue to teach us, even with guidance the game of life is not an easy one. Life is a relentless stream of challenges all humans are urged to complete each passing day, but the endless struggle will always leave us having gained more than enough knowledge to be worthwhile. Just as the phase of the hero’s journey: “the

In the world of gaming however, particularly the world of game design, as Nicholson states, the key to keeping players learning these personality traits is to reward them for playing. In this, they are encouraged to persevere through the game to find the goals laid out for the ingame character. “The player always has the option to quit playing if the game gets too tough, so the designer has to motivate the player to continue with the game even when the situation is difficult,” said Nicholson. By extension, the player will be shown the illusion of they themselves learning the lessons taught through the game, using the character as a medium.

The path of the hero is not the only one that can be shown through fiction though. “An interesting pattern of exploration in digital game storytelling in the last ten years is the villain’s journey, where the player has the chance to explore pathways that go off of the traditional monomyth structure,” says Nicholson, referring to a pattern typically shown in open world gaming to essentially “play the bad guy.”

“It would be interesting to see if there was a pattern that could be presented for playing the bad guy,” says Nicholson.

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

ARTS & CULTURE MATTHEW BURLEY | ARTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Images by Jamaal Owusu-Ansah/The Sputnik

Featured Artist: We Will Help Each Other to Be Great and Good Matthew Burley A&C Editor The Featured Artist is a Laurier Brantford student who is constantly striving for creative and artistic excellence. The medium isn’t what’s important; it’s the art. This weeks Featured Artist is a unique look into a community art project happening at 32 Market Street. We have interviewed a handful of people in the studio space of We Will Help Each Other To Be Great and Good. Here are the voices of Kyleen McGragh, Sam Haldane, Azka Choudhary and Jaycelynn Rose.

has helped in one way or another.

How do you feel the atmosphere of the studio affects the work process?

Kyleen: The atmosphere makes the studio. If it didn’t have the care free atmosphere it wouldn’t be a studio, it would be just a classroom.

How long has We Will Help Each Other To Be Great and Good, been open?

Kyleen: Since the beginning of February.

What made you want to volunteer at We Will Help Each other to Be Great and Good?

How do you feel it has affected your abilities as an artist?

Jacelynn: The diversity of the people, and being a part of the conversation made me feel great.

Growing up in an environment where my voice wasn’t encouraged, it gives me affirmation; I have a voice and it matters.

How many people make up the team at We Will Help Each Other To Be Great and Good?

Kyleen: Seven or eight interns, and roughly 20 core students.

Sam: It’s hard to say because everyone who’s walked in the door

I’m aware that the inspiration behind the studio stems from a document written in 1910 called “The Memorial to Laurier.”

What made you want to focus of this specific piece of history?

Kyleen: It’s a part of history that’s

been neglected. I took Indigenous Studies in school and we never heard the Indigenous side of the story. That’s how I feel at least.

What are some of your favourite mediums that you’ve used in the piece so far?

Sam: There’s some wood in the piece that gives it a nice, natural feel.

Kyleen: Yeah, there’s a real juxtaposition between the wood and the metal.

Jacelynn: China markers, tiles and the Dremel tool. I was also very inspired by the wolf piece, because I have an affinity for wolves and I love to draw.

From an educational standpoint, how do you feel that, We Will Help Each Other to be Great and Good is beneficial?

Azka:I believe that this piece will generate a lot of discussion on topics of Indigenous cultures, traditions, and fundamental rights that have too frequently been overlooked. This art piece will

be useful in opening discussions regarding the role Wilfrid Laurier played in the history of the Indigenous peoples. For young viewers, it’s a piece that will encourage kids to talk about their roles in destroying the oppression and how they can create change.

I have to ask about the other piece in the studio. Is that piece based off of “The Memorial to Laurier” as well or is it apart of something else?

Azka: The other piece in the studio is called “Peace Officer” and does not have connections to the Memorial to Laurier text.

What is something that you’ve learned while being at this workshop?

Azka: The process of creating art and functional objects through aluminum and other recycled materials is a technique I was unaware of. Prior to these workshops, the thought of

producing art using the techniques that Dave employs would not have been a reality for me. With that being said, Dave’s work is unique, inspiring and captivating!

Sam:I learned that I liked to use my hands again. Using your hands to make something like this is beautiful and awesome.

How much longer can we expect to have We Will Help Each Other to be Great and Good in Brantford? Will it be a permanent studio or just until the project is completed?

Azka:From my personal understanding, I believe that the studio space will be closed once the project has been completed. With that being said, it is a setting that I believe should be incorporated into other classes or should be used for future projects.

Sam: We need to see it stick around for more artists.

Personalities grow here, which is something that can get neglected in university.

Take a journey in the great outdoors

Trails Alex Vialette/The Sputnik

Alex Vialette Staff Writer Of all the journeys one could take, the easiest and potentially most important in today’s society is exploring the great outdoors.

With the march of progress being ever forward, and countryside urbanizing to meet that progress’ economic needs, city based life is becoming distanced from the wilderness. Although it isn’t hard by any means to find a local park to get some fresh air, the city hustle is still present. In an ideal world there would be a park the size of Algonquin within an hour drive of Toronto, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. But there are ways to make due.

The county of Brant is home to 70 kilometers of trails to be

explored.

If having some kind of geological landmark is an absolute requirement to get a city liver out of the house, Hamilton goes by the name “The City of Waterfalls” and does not fail to live up to it. Dundas Peak and Albion Falls are some personal favourites.

While yes, it can be kind of tedious to get out and hike when there are other things one could occupy their time with, and the appeal of going out and exploring can be lost on someone when they have more term papers lined up than what should be legally allowed. However, when finals or stress in general come knocking, going for a hike is probably one of the easiest remedies.

In a study by Jo Bennet and Jules Pretty, they found that more, “green exercise” boosted selfesteem and mood, both of which are indicators of mental health.

Bennet and Pretty explained that green exercise is exercising that

brings you in contact with nature.

“Ecosystems provide important services driven by provisioning, regulation, and support functions,” writes Bennet and Pretty. “It is clear they also provide a health service arising from direct activities in contact with nature. Recognition of the potential contribution of natural ecosystems to human population health may contribute to addressing problems associated with inactivity, obesity, mental illhealth, and other chronic diseases.

Many of these urgent health challenges are also connected to sedentary and indoor lifestyles.”

Long Point is the world’s second largest freshwater peninsula, and is about an hour drive from downtown Brantford. Provided it’s probably best to visit Long Point in the summer rather than during any given semester, what with their “habitats including long, uninterrupted beaches, undisturbed sand dunes, grassy ridges, wet meadows, woodlands,

marshes and ponds, coldwater streams, and the shallow Inner Bay host a corresponding array of flora and fauna” according to the Canadian Biospheres Reserves Association.

On the other hand, the Niagara Escarpment would probably have to be the most incredible (and by far biggest) ecotourism attraction that our neck of the woods has to offer. The escarpment is a shelf that ranges from Niagara Falls (go figure) all the way north to Manitoulin island. Most of the area is protected by the Bruce Trail Society, which runs hikes and even, “End to End” marathons. While exploring this megalithic trail you can find yourself in underwater caves, at the bottom of waterfalls, and sitting at the edge of cliff faces.

In general, Canada is dropping the ball in terms of preserving wildlife when comparing it to other countries. While the global average of protected wilderness by country is close to 12 per cent, Canada

ranks in at only eight per cent. To make up for it, Canada joined a ten year plan to boost it’s protected wilderness by almost 100 per cent.

“Based on our assessment of progress since Canada endorsed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity 10-year plan in 2010, it would take us 50 years from today, not five, to meet our commitment to protect at least 17 per cent of our land and freshwater. And 17 per cent is only the next step we need to take towards protecting at least half to ensure Canada continues to have healthy, functioning ecosystems,” says Alison Woodley, national director of CPAWS’ parks program.

Whether it be going for a walk along the Grand River or sitting in a park, get out there and explore the nature that is still around town.

Not only will it help you physically as well as mentally, but your being there can help make sure that future generations will be able to as well.

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ARTS & CULTURE MATTHEW BURLEY| ARTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Games bring us together Shelby Do Staff Writer With the rise of multiplayer video games and the use of Internet as a channel for work, play and communication, simpler forms of entertainment are needed. When it’s pouring rain, freezing cold or scorching hot outside, families once looked to board and card games in order to have fun while inside.

Because of today’s technology, it would seem as though society has strayed away from the games that once brought people together.

The fun of board and card games isn’t all lost. In fact, there are many ways in which board games have remained relevant despite the changing times, some games don’t

even need players to be in the same room.

There are some classic board games like Monopoly, Sorry and Clue, which have used today’s pop culture addiction as a way to grab consumer attention. Monopoly, for example, comes in all sorts of brands, such as Harry Potter, Disney and The Simpsons. Other games, like Trivial Pursuit and Scene It, base their entire game around knowledge of whatever pop cultural edition the game happens to be, making avid fans of the medium more eager to play the game, challenging they’re equally avid, or reluctant, friends.

There are several ways tabletop games have managed to stay relevant, but there are still some games whose popularity hasn’t diminished, without succumbing to a lot of alteration from the original formula. Tabletop games, such as Dungeons and Dragons,

simply evolve. With an already niche market of role playing fans and fantasy geek types, it isn’t surprising that with its dedicated fan base and imaginative set up, that Dungeons and Dragons has remained so popular. It has even become a part of tech mediums, with live Dungeons and Dragons games being streamed, filmed and uploaded to YouTube, and even done over through audio platforms via podcasts like D&D is for Nerds.

Of course, this doesn’t mean only “classic” games can be successful.

The recent pandemonium for card games, such as Cards Against Humanity, Super Fight and Exploding Kitten, have proven that even newcomers to what’s considered a dying medium, can make it big.

Nothing is quite as powerful as getting to play and work with other people, and board games can be a great way to do that, face-to-face.

Sai Gnanaharan/The Sputnik

Podcast on blast: a look at the local podcasting scene Matthew Burley A&C Editor Podcasting’s popularity has risen within the past years, and Brantford and surrounding areas are no exception.

Brantford podcaster and coowner of the Devil’s Bench, Bill Dungey, has taken advantage of the podcast wave. On Feb. 12, Dungey released the first episode of Days of Old, a biweekly series of podcasts. These episodes tell the stories of ordinary people from “contemporary history” using letters, diaries and interviews. The first episode is based around those who fought in D-Day and about their loved ones.

“I want to accurately represent the details I’ve been so fortunate to find, but I want to layer between those bits a slice of myself. Our world is very, very fast. Sometimes I feel like we don’t really get an opportunity to really explore what made up the people who got us here. I feel like, in some way, I’m helping a few people to do that,” stated Dungey.

Dungey, who has been podcasting for about two years, was able to obtain these “relics” through the internet and certain connections.

Dungey also gets information off sources such as the CBC and the BBC. “I often tell people we have the entire collected knowledge of our species just coasting along in our pockets. It’s true,” stated Dungey.

The podcasts have been receiving positive feedback and was featured on the “new and noteworthy” list on iTunes in the history section.

Days of Old was also featured in

Matthew Burley and Sai Gnanaharan/The Sputnik

the American magazine, History Revealed and on NPR. The series has reached a total of 827 downloads. Dungey said that he feels it will grow when the fourth episode is released, which will be about control, secrecy and propaganda.

Aside from Days of Old, The Devil’s Bench broadcasts a series called, The Benchcast every Tuesday evening. The Benchcast is an interview-style podcast that has featured a variety of guests, ranging from award-winning comic book illustrator Brian Wood to the mayor of Brantford, Chris Friel. Coowner of the Devil’s Bench, Alex Kirley, said he is pleased with how the podcasts have been “expanding their sphere of influence,” noting that they have received emails from listeners as far as Europe.

Kirley stated how he was happy

with the 2,000 downloads that The Benchcast has obtained within the two years it has been running.

However, Kirley would “love to get more under their umbrella” in terms of podcasting. Kirby said he hopes to start a podcast related to geocaching and wants to build a podcasting community in Brantford. “We’re Brantford, helping out Brantford,” stated Kirley.

However, Brantford has more to offer than just podcasts from the Devil’s Bench. The Harvest Bible Church Brantford has been releasing weekly podcasts since it opened on May 8, 2014. Director of worship at the Harvest Bible Church Brantford, Jeff Kendrick, started recording the podcasts because he wanted to make the weekly sermons available to everyone and spread the word of

God. Kendrick said releasing weekly podcasts wasn’t as challenging as one might think. “In today’s day and age with digital audio mixers, it’s actually quite easy to record them. From there, we take it into a post-production program, like GarageBand, and do some simple trimming edits, followed by a short intro to each sermon. We actually find it quite enjoyable to do,” said Kendrick.

The Harvest Bible Church Brantford is currently in the middle of a series called, Following the Son. Starting March 27, they will begin a five-week series called Breakthrough.

Kendrick stated that he’s had positive responses from listeners so far. However, there is room for improvement. “The only thing we could improve on is how fast

after a weekend that we can get it uploaded. Sooner would be better,” said Kendrick.

At the time of publication, there is a total of 86 podcasts of the sermons which were recorded live.

However, Kendrick is unsure of the listenership.

In the Simcoe area, Peter Van Dyk is making a name for himself in the podcasting community.

Van Dyk hosts Live From the Dutch Hall, a podcast series that “focuses on having no focus.” “Topics are everything and anything that bounces through my head that week,” stated Van Dyk. After a scroll through the Live From the Dutch Hall homepage, topics range from Hitler’s genitals to interviews with ex-professional hockey players.

By night Van Dyk is podcasting, however, during the day he spends his time doing business consulting and bookkeeping. This has not affected Live From the Dutch Hall’s ability to grow.

Van Dyk started the series in Dec. 2013 with two mics, an eightchannel board and GarageBand.

Less than three years later, Van Dyk has established a dedicated listener base and sponsors. “Listeners are starting to look for ways to keep us going,” said Van Dyk. Van Dyk is also happy to have his regular cast, an in-house band; The Nocturnal Emissions, and a bartender.

The series also has a total of 31,750 downloads at the time of publication.

Van Dyk said the he feels that there is a bright future for podcasting and for Live From the Dutch Hall. “I feel that as wifi capabilities continue to improve and people start to integrate podcast technologies into new cars and smart TVs, it will continue to broaden its penetration into the market of people who have not yet adopted new media.”

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SPORTS

DEVON MOMY-GAMACHE | SPORTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

The

March Madness journey

Adam Stocker Staff Writer Win six straight games. That’s all it takes to be crowned NCAA basketball champions. But to get those six wins can be agonizing for players and fans alike. They call it March Madness for a reason. To be crowned champion is an elusive journey that few players get to experience during their four-year college experiences.

The concept of March Madness is simple. The 68 teams participating in March Madness include every conference tournament winner (except the Ivy League which gives the regular season champion the auto-bid) and the remaining 36 teams are chosen by a selection committee from the field of over 300 division one teams.

On selection Sunday, the brackets are released, with much criticism and praise for seeding and selection of the teams who are placed into four regions of 16 teams. Although the selection committee receives much criticism, ESPN basketball analyst and former Duke player Jay Bilas has called the tournament “idiot-proof,” since the best teams will eventually emerge national champions. The teams are seeded one through 16 and play in a single elimination tournament.

By Monday, millions have filled out their own brackets that predict the winners of every game, all hoping to win the millions of dollars that some contests offer for a perfect bracket. Meanwhile, millions of other people play in office pools, contests with friends and online for various prizes.

Along comes Tuesday and the first two play in games. A field of 68 is selected with the final 8 teams forced to play their way into the last four spots in the tournament.

By the end of Wednesday night, the dreams of four teams are finished.

They have lost and their journey is over.

The tournament starts Thursday just after noon. The first round concludes late Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning. For the majority of

people who have filled out brackets, they will be busted due to an unpredictable upset. It’s the upsets that have created the madness of March. Although no 16 seed has ever upset a number one seed, a 15 seed has upset a number two seed on eight occasions. The 2012-2013 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles became the first 15 seed to make it to the third round of the tournament.

A decade ago, George Mason University went on a magical run to the tournament’s final four, losing in the national semi-finals. George Mason entered the tournament as an 11 seed facing Michigan State in the first round. George Mason won and kept winning until they ran into the Florida Gators in the Final Four. The Gators would win their sixth straight game in the tournament and be crowned National Champions.

The second round starts Saturday at noon, with the field down to 32. By the end of Sunday night, the field will again be cut in half. With the remaining 16 teams labeled the Sweet Sixteen.

The students return to classes on Monday through Wednesday. For the lower seeded teams who have survived to the round of 16, they are heroes on campus, before returning to battle again on Thursday.

The process continues, as it did the weekend before. By Friday night, the field is down to the Elite Eight. By Sunday night, just the Final Four teams remain. The student athletes return to class on Monday and attend classes all week. On Saturday, they return to the court for the semi-finals. Again, the winner advance to the National Championship on the first Monday of April. When a team wins the championship, it is a tradition for the winning team to cut down the nets, to symbolize the end of the season and March Madness.

In the end, the team that wins the tournament is the best and most deserving team. Winning is the culmination of a season, that did not start in March, but rather was a journey that began back in the fall when the teams first reported for classes and practices.

Devon Momy-Gamache Sports Editor March Madness is one of the truly great times of the year because of the emotion involved in a single elimination tournament that can end a long journey.

This season has been dominated by the senior leaders on many contenders leading their teams as they end their season. Seniors will be playing their final games for their schools. For some freshmen, this is expected to be their one and only season playing in college for free before entering the NBA draft this June and making millions. A school and team were also on a journey this spring playing in their first ever NCAA tournament.

The top seed in the tournament, Kansas, has Perry Ellis playing the final games of his career while highly regarded recruit Cheik Diallo continues to struggle to find playing time. Ellis has been a part of Kansas, a team that’s continuing to dominate one of the best conferences in the NCAA, having now won 12 consecutive “Big 12” conference championships. Ellis hopes to advance to the final four for the first time in his four-year career.

The highest scoring player left in the tournament is Oklahoma senior guard Buddy Hield, who finished the season averaging 25 points per game. After winning Big 12 Player of the year for a second consecutive season, Hield will try to carry the Sooners past the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009. Hield solidified Oklahoma as a contender when he scored 46 points during a visit to Kansas. The triple overtime game was full of excitement and resulted in Hield receiving a standing ovation from the Kansas fans.

For those who follow basketball at any level, it comes as no surprise that Kentucky is again being led by superstar freshmen. One of them freshmen is Canadian guard Jamal Murray from Kitchener. Murray is one of the top scorers in the NCAA, averaging over 20 points per game this season. Murray is

one of two potential top-10 picks that could leave after one season, joining centre Skal Labissiere.

If you are looking for a Canadian angle to root for other than Murray, Oregon is the top seed in the West region with Montreal native Chris Boucher, who finished second in the NCAA with 3.12 blocks per game in his junior season. Boucher did not begin playing organized basketball until he was 19 years old. Boucher played two years of Junior College basketball, one in New Mexico and a second in Wyoming.

50 of the 351 teams that play in division one had failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Now that number is 48 after Stony Brook and Cal State Bakersfield won their conference tournaments to receive an auto-bid.The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners are in their first tournament after winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament in their third season in the conference and nine years in division one.

The Roadrunners beat New Mexico State, which had won four straight, in a rematch after losing in the semi-finals to the Aggies their first two years. The ending was dramatic, with junior guard Dedrick Basile hitting the winning three with .2 seconds left on the clock.

If possible, the journey for Stony Brook is even more improbable, if only because it took this long.

The Seawolves have won four of the last seven American East regular season championships, but have not been able to win the tournament to make March Madness. They have also made the last two tournament finals and four of the last six, this included a one-point loss last season in the final keeping them just out of the tournament.

Although they both lost in the first round it was a journey neither team will forget.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2016

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SPORTS

DEVON MOMY-GAMACHE| SPORTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

The journey towards equal representation in sports Jessa Braun Staff Writer The rise of women’s equality and equity has been one of the largest and most progressive journeys Canada has seen in the 20th and 21st centuries, but a part of that journey is still lagging quite far behind: women’s professional sports.

In sports, men are still miles ahead of women when it comes to things like pay, endorsements, recognition and media coverage. Women put the same amount of passion and effort into sports as men do, so why are they not getting the same amount of respect and recognition out of it?

It’s frustrating even from a fan standpoint. Speaking as a female athlete, there are many professional women athletes I’ve grown up

looking to as my role models, and it’s disappointing to deal with the lack of opportunities I’ve had to see them perform on TV. The Olympics and the Pan Am games are two of the very few times I’m able to watch sporting heroines from the couch in my living room.

Don’t get me wrong; women’s sports have definitely come a long way already. A lot of it started back in 1972 when Title IX was enforced, an American law that set aside gender discrimination in school sports. Since then women have been granted more opportunities, and universities have been making an effort to keep a fair male to female athlete ratio.

The respect for women in sports has resulted in numerous professional women’s leagues that have been established, including the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

So yes, women’s sports are making a progressive journey, but there’s still a long road ahead. It’s important to keep in mind that the journey completed so far has been done with barely any support. Most people have no clue these leagues are even a thing – university sports are probably followed more closely than they are. The media makes no effort to promote the leagues or televise games, and the players and staff barely receive any funding at all. If women’s sports had the support from all sports fans and the media the same way men’s sports do, the professional experience would rise to the same quality that already exists for men.

Rumour has it that women just aren’t as exciting to watch.

I’ve spent a chunk of this week searching the Internet for other potential answers, but it seems to be the implication of every source: women just aren’t as strong, as fast or as aggressive as men, which is unfortunately the probable cause behind people’s lack of interest in

watching women’s sports.

The only women’s sports that are covered and easily accessible to viewers are non-contact sports such as tennis and golf that people sadly think of as more “female-friendly”.

It doesn’t help that golfer Brooke Henderson was named Canada’s 2015 Female Athlete of the Year and tennis player Eugenie Bouchard won the award the two years before that in 2013 and 2014.

Without the interest in most of women’s sports from viewers, the media doesn’t see the benefit of covering games and there are no funds to pay the players, staff or high end facilities.

The CWHL shows just how passionate women are about sports.

They do everything men in the NHL do – such as train often and spend months away from their families – but women do it for no pay and they also buy their own equipment and even have jobs on top of it all.

There’s a little bit of hope arising for female hockey players now with the new National Women’s Hockey

Team (NWHL), which made its debut this 2015-16 season. Players will be paid and their equipment will be provided and cleaned for them.

The truly disappointing aspect of it all is that the NHL has the power and the money to promote it and make it known, since the league is such a new thing, but instead the NHL acts as though the new NWHL is entirely non-existent.

In contrast, things are looking somewhat hopeful for the WNBA, with the NBA promoting the WNBA by advertising the logo on their website and other public places NBA fans will stumble across.

Professional women’s sports are definitely moving forward in their journey of equity, but there’s still a long road ahead. In a world that’s learning to take on feminism as an important and current issue, this is prime time to address sports equity as a problem and help women’s professional sports go through with revolution.

Leafs’ future remains bright despite rough season Allesandro Magi Contributor A down year.

An absolute write off.

This looks to be the first last place finish for the Toronto Maple Leafs since the 1984-85 season. What “good” could have possibly come from the ashes of the 2015-2016 season, you may ask?

Well, actually, quite a lot.

For the first time in a long time, this organization has been honest with where it stands. President Brendan Shanahan recognized the rotten nature of the team at the end of the 2014-15 season and took the first, and arguably the toughest, step towards the journey that creates dynasties such as the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.

That’s when the fire sale began.

The Leafs cleaned out their management and player core with all who did not have the pedigree needed to complete the rebuild.

The process is quite simple in effect: build through the draft, gradually develop prospects, and accumulate as many picks and prospects as possible. Sticking to the plan, however, is easier said than done.

As the offseason progressed, highly touted coach Mike Babcock and Hall-of-Famer Lou Lamoriello were added to head the front office that would build towards achieving the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years. Patience, pain, and perseverance were preached from the Leafs brass – and there would be no wavering from their master plan.

The city and the fans alike deserve nothing less.

Now nearly 70 games deep into one of the worst Leafs seasons in their 99-year history, one would expect immense negativity to surround the team – after all, in the mecca of hockey, the media, press and news are amplified.

This is in fact quite the opposite.

Fans are elated to see their team lose “the right way” – after all, dynasty teams aren’t built overnight. Each of them has had their dark days. But, as they persisted in their journey to greatness, progress was made, and glory was achieved: a feat Leafs fans can only dream of.

Instead of this year being a writeoff, it seems that fans have found comfort in the fact that in all this patience, pain, and losing; they may one day build towards a team that will compete for a Stanley Cup. For

the first time in quite a while, there is faith and trust in the front office headed by Brendan Shanahan.

He has worked tirelessly to re-establish the rapport of this “Original Six” franchise with the establishment of Legends Row, and with honoring the great Dave Keon for his tenure with the Leafs in the 1970’s.

While the future remains uncertain, what is known is that there is a sense of direction that management has for this team, and as long as they stick to the plan, fans can rest easy at night.

No journey is ever easy. In fact, the journey to an end goal offers many challenges that test the will of even the best and brightest people.

What defines them is their ability to persevere in light of their trials and tribulations. That is precisely what separates the strong from the weak, and in this case, the victor of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Ultimately, this season is merely a glimpse of what may come in the future for this organization. With draft picks stockpiled for the next 3 years, and the prospect pipeline brimming with talent and skill, all that is needed is patience and time – two abilities that are vital to any

successful team.

Sports uniquely offer fans some of the darkest defeats, but also some of the sweetest victories.

That’s why the journey is so important in sports. That’s why Leafs management has placed so much emphasis on doing things the right way, so that if the opportunity arises, the team has its best chance of seizing victory. As fans, that’s all we could ask for.

12

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 2016

OPINION

JOSH ADESINA | OPINION@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Stressed out?

Drugs and athletics Josh Adesina Opinion Editor

Student life can be stressful, but you should never lose sight of how good you’ve got it Anna Principato/The Sputnik

Josh Adesina Opinion Editor

I’m surprised at how many people I here complaining about their everyday ‘struggles.’ Do we really understand what the word struggle means? If we got a handful of children from different countries to define the word ‘struggle,’ do you think they would all have the same definition? Probably not.

As a student, you are faced with a lot of burdens; student loans, good grades, relationships and making sure your mind doesn’t explode.

Although we have to deal with all these hardships, you must consider how hard life is in comparison to others. Just think about it for a second – is your life really that bad?

I’m sure you’re all up to your necks with readings and exam preparations by now. I’ll do you all a favor and familiarize you with some interesting issues that have taken place over the past few years. We should all know about the Syrian refugee crisis. Millions of Syrians have had to leave their homeland with their lives being threatened.

According to the Globe and Mail, there are about 25,000 Syrian refugees currently living in Canada – all of which have had to start their lives all over again. All you have to

worry about is the percentage you get on a database. Which life would you rather have?

You’re living in a first world country and are a student, you really should be a bit more grateful.

Let’s review why your first world life is awesome. In some developing nations, people are struggling to attain access to basic education, job opportunities and are exposed to extreme violence through war everyday. There are less overt tragedies as well, like organizations abusing their platform, presenting themselves as helpful, when they are just using the global south as a means to make money. An example of an organization that does such a thing is called the Department for International Development (DfID).

According to the Guardian, this organization has partnered with corporations to exploit children in countries such as Tanzania and Zimbabwe by funding low-cost schooling and health projects. As if vulnerable people need anymore entities stealing from them. When you consider these types of issues, do you still think you have it that bad? I’d imagine it wouldn’t be.

I’m not saying that anyone’s struggles are less important.

However, we must really think about how others are living around the world before we complain about small things. So don’t stress, you’ll pay off that fifty-thousand dollar student loan some day.

It isn’t fair to assume that everyone that is going to read this is a sports fan. However, the topic of athletes taking drugs has been an interesting one for quite sometime now. Even if you don’t follow sports, I’m sure you would have some sort of opinion about athletes taking drugs behind closed doors.

Imagine finding the drug habit of your favorite sports star exposed in a giant headline – how would that make you feel?

Tennis superstar, Maria Sharapova recently failed a drug test, according to The Guardian.

The drug that Sharapova was using is called meldonium. The Guardian claimed that the drug is used to enhance blood flow due to a condition called ischaemia which limits where blood travels around the body. The drug is available

in Russia but banned across the United States and other parts of Europe. Apparently, Sharapova was unaware that the Food and Drug Administration had banned the drug which is quite unfortunate.

In addition to the criticism coming from social media, Nike and Porsche weren’t too happy with her and chose to rebuke the endorsements she had with them, according to the Daily Mail.

I feel as though we should have some sympathy for Sharapova, and athletes that take drugs for medication purposes. However, it’s really easy to claim that you’re taking drugs because of an illness – especially when you’re a highranking athlete. Remember when Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps got caught hitting a bong?

I don’t have any sympathy for stuff like that and you shouldn’t either. The punishment that

Peace out Laurier Brantford!

(The first year journey) Kina Ferrante Copy Editor

Growing up in Toronto, I was pretty well convinced that I would be going to U of T, I mean, over there you’re the laughing stock of your graduating class if you go to York or Ryerson. Going out of town was completely out of the question – why leave?

Yet here I am, finishing my first year at a school (and a campus) that I had never heard of until a year ago. Kinda weird how things work out like that.

Coming to Laurier Brantford was an interesting experience to say the least. The first thing that happened when I got to my residence building was a bunch of students swarming my mom’s car and taking my things

up to my room, where I met the people I would be living with for the rest of the year, and was then left to make awkward small talk with them after my family left.

That was a lot to deal with within only a few hours, and be honest, I don’t remember that day very well because I was so scared.

And then there was O-Week. Oh. My. Goodness. – let’s just say it’s not exactly geared towards extremely shy and introverted people such as myself.

Anyway, after a few weeks of desperately wanting to go home, I realized that university wasn’t as scary it seemed on the first day.

The overwhelming workload I had been warned about was relatively manageable. I turned out to be an okay adult as long as there was

A bitter journey: Why is convocation on a weekday?

Jaclyn Brown Web Editor

Due to Laurier’s lack of consideration and planning, I won’t be attending my own convocation.

This unsettling notion has given the last month of my degree an inescapable melancholic undertone. As salty mascara tears of stress would stream down my face in the early hours of the morning, I would close my eyes and envision my graduation. My smiling peers and teary parents watching from the audience as I stride effortlessly across the stage to receive the piece of paper that cost me so much more than tuition fees. As a transfer student who moved here from Calgary, I abandoned everything I

loved and knew in ruthless pursuit of a broadcast journalism career.

I’ve taken out close to $30,000 in student loans in order to go to school here and to describe these past three years as a journey is an immeasurable understatement.

I know what you’re thinking, you moved all the way here to go to Laurier Brantford? Unfortunately, there are very few journalism degree programs in Canada, and after a few haphazard tours of Alberta’s underfunded two-year broadcasting diplomas, I set my heart on eastward aspirations. The day I received my acceptance letter I collapsed on my kitchen floor bawling the happiest tears my eyes have ever known. So I packed up my things, and drove from Calgary to Brantford with a friend who was moving to Nova Scotia for school.

The homesickness has been debilitating, but managed to rekindle the lost art of letter

followed is what he deserved. A case like Sharapova’s, however, is quite unique. It makes one think about whether or not athletes are getting away with taking drugs and claiming their using it for medication as an excuse. I’m not the person to decide who is lying but it’s just something to wonder about.

Interesting enough, meldonium apparently improves physical performance as well as blood flow, according to the Guardian.

Sharapova’s case can be quite similar to that of several athletes in other sports. Are they taking drugs that will soon be prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration?

Don’t be surprised if you hear of any. If Sharapova can get heat from the media then so can LeBron James or even Cristiano Ronaldo.

Maybe even Stephen Curry.

Nowadays anything can happen.

writing as my boyfriend has endured two painful years of long distance. My family has been incredibly supportive and we’ve become exceptionally talented at accumulated air miles as a round-trip flight costs close to $1000. Despite the loneliness and bittersweet visits home, I’m so proud of the experiences I’ve gained and inspiring people I’ve met. Living in a new province has changed me entirely as my independence and drive has only flourished in the process. Without the outstanding professors and small class sizes, I wouldn’t have learned so much about the journalism industry but also myself.

The joint program with Conestoga equipped me with the performance and technical skills I need for a job in the field. The accumulation of my experience has been successful enough to land me a summer job at CTV Calgary. My career dreams are

coming true but one small piece of paper is missing from the equation.

Laurier Brantford has made the unfortunate decision to schedule convocation on June 8, 2016. This poorly planned date lands on a Wednesday, meaning my parents (along with the parents of many other students) would have to miss work to attend. Since it’s still two months after classes are done, I would have to pay rent at a new place in the meantime. The other option is I fly home, and fly back for the ceremony. If my parents were even able to come with me, our flights together without accommodation would come with a $3000 price tag. I think it’s safe to assume Laurier won’t be footing the bill as they manage to charge you another base $22 to apply to graduate.

I feel robbed to say the least.

There are certain milestones in life that everyone dreams of

Kraft Dinner around. Brantford was quieter than I was used to, but I came to enjoy being one of the only people on the bus or in the public library – both of which are completely unheard of in Toronto.

Roommate conflicts happened, but hey, I learned something, right?

(Right????) Getting involved was a challenge, but I found things that I enjoyed, hence why I’m writing this article for the student paper.

As someone who hated high school with every fibre of my being, I can safely say that I’m happy here, and I genuinely hope that my fellow Brantford-based Golden Hawks can say the same.

“Na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye” – Steam Until next year, anyway!

accomplishing, more so as a rite of passage than a celebration. In my mind think of birth, first day of kindergarten, your first kiss, your first car, graduating high school, graduating university, marriage, kids … death? All of these things embody a certain coming of age and the end of a chapter. My convocation was supposed to be an affirmation of the literal blood, sweat, and tears I put into this program. On June 8th, my name will be called at the liberal arts convocation but I have been denied the opportunity to attend. I will most likely regret this for the rest of my life. It has been the light at the end of my journey, thoughtlessly extinguished by the inadequate consideration of the institution I moved across the country for.