Sputnik - Issue 14

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017 ISSUE 14 WWW.THESPUTNIK.CA @SPUTNIK_NEWS THE SPUTNIK

WHAT A LIFETIME OF SCHOOL CAUSES 16

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

Sputnik Staff 2016-2017 Enjoy the last issue for the 2016/2017 school year! We will see you online and in print next year.

THE SPUTNIK TEAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Christina Manocchio eic@thesputnik.ca PHOTO EDITOR NOW HIRING! photography@thesputnik.ca LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Rykov leadphotographer@thesputnik.ca GRAPHIC EDITOR Sai Gnanaharan visual@thesputnik.ca WEB EDITOR Kurtis Rideout web@thesputnik.ca NEWS EDITOR Shreya Shah news@thesputnik.ca ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Taylor Burt assistantnews@thesputnik.ca FEATURES EDITOR Dellesia Noah 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

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PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Meghan Roach (519) 884-0710 ext. 3565 president@wlusp.com ADVERTISING Care Schummer (519) 884-0719 ext. 3560 care.schummer@wlusp.com MANAGER OF OPERATIONS Jamaal Owusu-Ansah manager@thesputnik.ca EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com Treasurer John Pehar Vice-Chair Abdiasis Issa Director Mynt Marsellus Director Maddy Cutts Director Matthew Burley The Sputnik is a bi-weekly campus newspaper intended to engage and inform the community.

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The end of a student journalist’s journey

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Experiences as a student journalist have prepared me for a harsh reality in the real industry of journalism. Laura Gorza/The Sputnik

Josh Adesina Opinion Editor As I look back at all my years of experience as a student journalist, I wonder if they were worth it. I came to Laurier Brantford excited to study journalism.

I snatched every opportunity I could to experience what it was like to be a journalist. In a few weeks I will be able to call myself a journalism graduate, but will I be able to call myself a journalist?

The beginning of my first year at Laurier Brantford feels like it was last week. I was eager to volunteer for the Sputnik, and saw it as a golden opportunity. Three and a half years later I ended up with years of experience as an editor under my belt. I can look back and say that I accomplished a lot. I did everything I could to make sure that I actually felt like

a journalist, but the truth is that I have only been a student journalist. The real industry of journalism is a different story and I am uncertain about what the next step is for me.

I can still recall some stories that I enjoyed covering, including one about Nipissing withdrawing its partnership Laurier, and one about an author called Arno Kopecky visiting Laurier Brantford for a Q&A session.

Besides being an editor at a university campus newspaper, a lot of my classes have taught me a lot about the ethics of journalism and media. Even if I were to seek a career outside of journalism, I feel as though my degree has prepared me with a decent amount of transferable skills. However, something that I was unaware of before I was a student here at Laurier Brantford was the state

of journalism. Print journalism has been declining quite a bit over the past few years. Jobs at newspapers have been disappearing. This has been quite discouraging for me because I major in print journalism, and I hope to one day become an editor at a publication. Due to the state of journalism I feel like the chances of anyone becoming an editor at any publication are quite slim. Nonetheless being a journalist is something I was and am still determined to be.

Laurier’s Brantford campus is smaller than most university campuses in Ontario, and this has an effect on the amount of students that show interest in events. This also has had an effect on the experiences I have had with interviewing students. I have covered a handful of events as an editor. I always make com-

parisons about what my experience would have been like in the United Kingdom or even the United States. Although it seems like my experience would have been better there really is no telling.

Regardless of all the negatives I have enjoyed my time as a student journalist. I have enjoyed being an editor and speaking to different people around the campus. I have also enjoyed working with a team of people that are as passionate about quality journalism as I am.

I wonder how my experiences as a student journalist will prepare me for a career in journalism. Am I good enough?

Are my qualifications up to par?

We’ll just have to wait and see.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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Uproar at Laurier Brantford following criminology conference Christina Manocchio

Editor-in-Chief Shreya Shah News Editor Alex Vialette Staff Writer The Criminology Student Association faced backlash after scheduling Danielle Robitaille to speak on March 8.

Robitaille was part of the defence counsel for Jian Ghomeshi, who was tried and acquitted for sexual assault in 2014.

On March 6, the defence lawyer declined her invitation from the Criminology Student Association (CSA) annual conference.

“I do not think there is enough time before my scheduled talk to sort through the complaints and the call for it to be cancelled,” Robitaille wrote in an email to the CSA. Following CSA advertisements that Robitaille would be speaking at their event, a Laurier collective known as Advocates for a Student Culture of Consent (ASCC)* shared an email template through a Facebook page titled “We Believe Survivors: a Call to Action at Laurier Brantford”. Students were encouraged to use this template to send to Laurier representatives, including the CSA and the Students’ Union president, voicing their opposition to her invitation.

ASCC took issues with the CSA inviting Robitaille to speak, because of the nature of her cases. They felt her speaking at Laurier would be a contradiction to its stance as a safe space for survivors. The template included the following: “This event devalues the survivor centred focus of Laurier and the National Day of Action.

We believe this event is counterproductive, despite the rhetoric of celebrating a female lawyer.

Her gender alone does not mean she is advocating for gender equity. The experience of survivors having to hear, discuss, talk and debate about the experiences of sexual violence constantly around them is re-traumatizing and overwhelming.”

Abigail Coloma, a survivor of rape and sexual trafficking, was concerned more with how the CSA went about advertising the event. Coloma, who is a regular attendee of criminology conferences did not partake in the email campaign. As an aspiring defence lawyer, she was interested in Robitaille speaking. However, Coloma explained that the CSA only advertised Robitaille’s involvement in the Ghomeshi case which caused her to relive past trauma and contemplate self harm. She further explained that this could have been avoided had the CSA advertised the subject matter of Robitaille’s speech instead.

“For me, personally, I’m not affiliated with any group,” said Coloma. “I’m all for freedom of speech, I’m not trying to censor her, I’m saying why didn’t [the CSA] let me know? Why did [they] advertise like that?”

In an email sent to the CSA, Robitaille stated that she had given CSA president, Ranpreet Randhawa, the choice of having her present a “career talk” or a “justice talk”.

“Our reasoning for bringing her here was to have a open discussion on what it means to be a defence lawyer in the Canadian justice system,” said Randhawa.

“I was told that the students would prefer a discussion about the justice system…” wrote Robitaille. “I prepared to deliver my remarks called “Guilty by Association: the role of defence counsel in an adversarial justice system.”

“I would be remiss not to note the following: Mr. James Lock-

yer, my colleague and your keynote speaker last year, was not the subject of any complaints or calls to cancel. We do the same job, for similar clients, facing similar charges. The only difference is our gender,” she also wrote.

Robitaille’s cancellation caused an uproar among certain members of the CSA and Laurier community. Rumours circulated that Robitaille had feared for her and students’ safety. This resulted in blame being placed on the International Women’s Day walkout, which was organized by the group 15 and Fairness.

The walkout was held during the annual conference but was not directly related to the conference or Robitaille’s attendance.

“I think that it’s just miscommunication that people think this was a protest towards the CSA. We didn’t really support the CSA speaker, but the rally that we had and the walkout were not in direct [opposition],” said Eddie Sauve, one of the organizers of the walkout.

Abigail Coloma protesting at the International Women’s Day Walkout. Alex Vialette/The Sputnik

Debates exploded on Facebook in comment sections for posts on both the CSA and We Believe Survivors pages over freedom of speech. Among other concerns, the role that universities play in critical thinking was repeatedly argued. This triggered a backlash towards ASCC from the general public and Laurier community.

Dr. David Millard Haskell, an associate professor at Laurier Brantford, wrote an opinion piece for the Toronto Star.

He wrote, “The ability to think critically comes, we used to argue, from our students being exposed to competing ideas, wrestling with the logic and evidence of each, and then deciding which is best. Unfortunately, the truth of that argument is called into question when significant numbers of our students demand not to be exposed to competing ideas.”

ASCC emailed The Sputnik a press release following the publication of Haskell’s article.

The release elaborated on their

motivation for encouraging students to send emails, as well as responded directly to comments made by Haskell in his opinion article.

“In light of recent comments made about us by professor Haskell in the Toronto Star, we want to be clear that there is absolutely nothing not ‘adult’ about seeking help or speaking out,” ASCC wrote.

The Laurier Students’ Union has been investigating the situation, alongside Laurier’s administration. In an email, the Students’ Union President Tyler Van Herzele wrote: “Our policies and procedures exist to help mitigate risk and ask the questions that those with the vision may not be aware of. We work closely with university partners and departments to help facilitate discussion and provide the learning opportunities that our students at Laurier deserve to engage in.” *Taylor Berzins a founding member of ASCC and is the HR manager of WLUSP.

Taste Your Future bursary competition Meghan Slotegraaf

Staff Writer In an effort to engage more students in the food and beverage processing sector, Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) has created a new bursary competition.

The competition is aimed at encouraging students to make contributions to the food and beverage processing sector and look to it as a possible sector for employment.

The FBO conducted research in 2015 in order to better understand their audiences and develop strategies and techniques.

They found that while awareness of opportunities in the industry is low, Ontarians, particularly youth, want to learn more.

Using this information, the Taste Your Future campaign was launched in January of 2015 as part of a three-year initiative to create jobs in Ontario. The

campaign shares stories, videos and more about education and job opportunities to familiarize people within the industry and help find them their place within it. There is a brief quiz to help you match interests with career opportunities.on their website, tasteyourfuture.ca.

As part of the Taste Your Future campaign, the FBO has created a new bursary competition to award students who make a contribution to the food and beverage processing sector.

Students can choose to create specific products and flavours as a “Maker and Designer” or create software applications, tools or machinery for food and beverage manufacturing as a scientist, programmer and engineer.

Makers and Designers must be able to answer questions such as, “What need does this product meet? Who would buy this product? How would you mar-

The Taste Your Future campaign was launched by Food and Beverage to engage more students to start careers in the sector.

Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

ket this product?”

Scientists, engineers and programmers must answer the following questions, “ What problem does this solve? Who would use your process, app, tool, or machine? How would you market it?

This contest is open to both

high school students and postsecondary students, and a winner will be selected from each category. The winners will each be awarded $2,000, industry membership with an employee of an Ontario food and beverage processing company for 12 months, two hours

of resume coaching support, and tickets to the 2017 FBO annual meeting for increased industry.

Students interested in entering this competition can submit a video presenting their idea at tasteyourfuture.ca/contest. All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2017.

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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Shinerama brings awareness to cystic fibrosis Taylor Burt Asisstant News Editor

Shinerama put on a three-day event on the Laurier Brantford campus last week. 30 to 40 people showed up for events throughout the week to show their support for the cystic fibrosis (CF) fighting club.

The event took place from March 14 to March 16 in the lobby of Odeon and RCW. “[It was] more of an awareness campaign for Shinerama.

What we did was three different events. The first one was you are my sunshine, so we had tons where people could write positive notes to those suffering with CF or to just their friends.

We also did, the next day, some trivia about cystic fibrosis, and then our last day, we had this big poster we created, like a big pledge to end CF. People could put their handprints on there and they could sign [it],” said Natalie Rigato, president of Shinerama.

“Basically it was a big awareness campaign to bring more attention towards cystic fibrosis and the Shinerama club itself on campus and to let people know that we are still here and we are still excited and we are not going to give up,” said Rigato.

Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease in children and young adults in Canada. It mostly affects the di-

gestive system and lungs. CF sufferers experience problems with digestion, sinus infections and malnourishment due to difficulty of absorbing nutrients. Cystic fibrosis can also cause individuals to cough up mucus due to constant lung infections and can even cause males to be infertile.

Many universities have clubs bringing awareness to cystic fibrosis as well as other genetic diseases, but Shinerama was founded at Wilfrid Laurier University and is a university-wide campaign, according to Rigato.

This year was the first year these events took place, though Rigato hopes to continue the tradition.

“We are hoping to make it an annual thing, and next year we are actually hoping to have a big gala at the end of it and have more speakers come in,” said Rigato.

One in 3,600 children in Canada suffer from CF. If both parents of a child are carriers of CF, they have a 25 per cent chance of having a child with CF. There is also a 50 per cent chance that the child will be a carrier.

Shinerama is trying to bring attention to cystic fibrosis through many events throughout the year. These events include a car wash during orientation week where all the incoming students wash cars for a day to raise money in hopes of finding a cure.

“At the beginning, they used

Natalie Rigatto and Adam Rizzardo. Anna Principato/The Sputnik

to do shoe shines actually, before the car washes. They would make them shiny for Shinerama, but now they turned it towards cars and that’s been going on for years,” said Rigato.

The events that occurred last week had prizes to be won as well. The bookstore donated a hat, a sweater and a lanyard to

the cause hoping to encourage people to come out and support the on-campus club.

Rigato urges students to support Shinerama when they see them around campus. She wants to remind students that they are a full year club and they will be back during orientation week for their annual car wash.

To find out more about the club, check out their Facebook page, Shinerama - Laurier Brantford.

A wish come true Hyrra Chughtai Staff Writer The Make a Wish Foundation is known for making dreams come true, and that is exactly what happened to Brantford resident Madison Bennett on March 8, who is currently planning her vacation to Disney.

The surprise was presented to her by a local Brantford hero, ‘Captain Kindness’. Captain Kindness, whose real name is Dave Carroll, has been spreading generosity all throughout Brantford for quite some time.

“I created the character of Captain Kindness probably eight or nine years ago so I traveled to as many different places as I can, between schools and different community events to encourage people to be kind to one another. This is my second time that Make a Wish Foundation contacted me and asked if I could be a part of a wish for somebody in Brantford. It’s an amazing honor when the Make a Wish Foundation calls, you say yes because it’s an incredible thing, it’s nothing but encouraging and the epitome of kindness to help however you can,” said Carroll.

From the moment Carroll received the call he planned to make the event for the Bennett

family even more special.

“I believe her family knew that they had applied to Make a Wish Foundation for a trip to Disney and the mother and her father and her grandparents knew that this was happening so they were there, but she was totally surprised. She thought this was just a regular school assembly and then all of a sudden it turned into being about granting wishes, and all of a sudden Captain Kindness came up to the front of the stage and she realized that her wish was coming true and that she was going to Disney with her family. We went back to the classroom and had a cupcake party,” said Carroll.

Carroll wishes the best for Madison and her family and understands how tough the situation can be for such a young child.

“The young lady (Madison Bennett) struggles with a number of different diseases and I believe since she was in kindergarten she had to have a nurse with her. I only got the information maybe about a day or two before the event, and she was not in a great place but it was an amazing group of people to encourage her,” said Carroll.

The family is set to leave for Disney in April.

Madison Bennett was the recipient of a trip to Disneyland through the Make a Wish foundation. Photo courtesy of the Bennett family.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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Laurier’s Annual Relay for Life event Hyrra Chughtai Sraff Writer The annual Relay for Life event by the Canadian Cancer Society was held from March 10 to 11. The event is a non-stop walkathon dedicated to raising awareness and money for cancer patients.

“Relay for Life is a twelvehour event … people walk around the track, and the reason why it’s twelve hours is because it’s kind of showing how cancer patients go through a lot more even though they are super tired,” said Ashley Nelson, the co-chair for the event.

The event took a lot of planning throughout the year and a whole new perspective to have a better outcome for the 2017 year.

“The Canadian Cancer Society works as a business first, so they work on a January 1 to December 31 basis, whereas our academic year works on a September 2016 to March 2017 basis, so we actually missed an entire year of fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society. Technically, planning for our relay this year that just passed [began] right after our last event in 2015.

So, we actually had a year and three months of planning for this relay,” said Jerrett Putt, cochair for Relay for Life.

A year’s worth of planning allowed the organization to plan the event in detail, even changing the venue as required.

“We’ve kind of always wanted to do an indoor event, just because a lot of other universities have indoor events. We were the only university that had an outdoor event, but there wasn’t really a space that would be big enough to do it at Laurier

Brantford. Last year we were looking into getting Market Square, but that was before Laurier owned it officially, so that was kind of tougher with the budget perspective. We didn’t have a big [issue now] because this year Laurier owned it,” said Nelson.

For the past few years, Nelson and Putt have been receiving feedback to ensure the event each year in better in numbers and participation.

“For our committee, we cut it in half, so Ashley took on the organization’s paperwork, the money all that type of stuff and I took on marketing and fundraising and all that, and we actually hired an executive strictly for marketing, He was a residence life don so we kind of had an inside look for residences. Our biggest advertisement was literally going door to door to first years trying to get them involved with Relay for Life. I think the biggest change from last year was just smart marketing,” said Putt.

Relay for Life 2017 did receive better numbers this year, comparing not only to Laurier Brantford’s past numbers, but also Laurier’s main campus.

“Well I’m not entirely sure about participants, but we doubled what we raised from last year. In our outdoor event we raised $9,000 and in this year’s event we raised $18,000,” said Putt.

“The highest amount that was raised in Brantford was $15,000 [in 2014], so initially our goal was to raise $15,000, just because in 2015 we raised nine thousand. Our public goal was $15,000, but Jerrett and [my] personal goal was eighteen

The annual Relay for Life event hosted at Laurier successfully raised $18,000 for cancer research. Mike Rykov/The Sputnik

thousand, and we actually hit fifteen thousand before the event started, so that was really exciting that we were able to break records,” said Nelson.

The money also came from sponsorships, particularly in one endorsement which is usually uncommon.

“I think one of the really big

ones was us partnering with local businesses. One of the big sponsorships that we had was actually with Club NV. We reached out to NV [and] they kind of just said that a lot of clubs don’t really reach out to them as much as they do and we actually had an opportunity to have a night to reach out to

the students. They were so generous to us, giving us a lot of opportunities to raise more money in that sense, so were able to get our name out more in a place where a lot of students go, which was really nice of them to do,” said Nelson.

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

SPORTS

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

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Male Athlete of the Year Devon Momy-Gamache

Sports Editor Jerrett Putt has earned The Sputnik’s Laurier Brantford Male Athlete Of The Year for the 2016-17 academic year. Putt was a member of both of Laurier’s first ever varsity teams as he competed in both soccer and cross country.

“Best part is the community, you meet so many different people through athletics,” said Putt on his favourite part of being a student-athlete.

Putt arrived at Laurier from Cayuga, ON three years ago and has been a consistent part of the athletic program ever since.

When asked what drives him to compete Putt said, “the results honestly, most of the teams I’ve been on for Laurier have been successful. Our extramural (soccer) team was always top three. […] The community is another thing, Laurier’s athletes come from a small campus. I knew most of the athletes before I even joined the team, the fact that I was joining a group of guys or girls that I knew before was awesome.”

For Putt, doing a double major in human rights and criminology, he has remained committed to athletics while also maintaining his academic goals.

“I’m hoping to go to law school, it’s been my goal since grade ten when I started thinking about the occupation I wanted to do. Athletics drives me to live a busy lifestyle, then I kind of have to slow down and get my academics back in order. Academics have always come first for me; law school is my biggest goal,” said Putt on how Laurier comes before Golden Hawks.

Although he has remained focused in the classroom Putt was a key defensive piece on the Golden Hawks soccer team.

Head coach Murphy Wiredu discussing Putt said, “he’s a guy that wants to win, his fight is something that every coach would want and he’s a hardworking guy.”

A key piece on the Laurier defence during the year, Putt was also able to experience his top athletic moment this year on the pitch, “Our very first varsity soccer game against Sheridan, no particular moment in the game, but the actual game itself. A 1-1 draw with Sheridan in a very defensive oriented game, boring I would actually consider the game overall, but we executed our game plan perfectly. […]

That game overall, against a top five team in the province was very motivating considering it was our first game and the opponent that it was.”

The season did not end the way the team wanted but Jarrett did play a key role in helping establish

Female Athlete of the Year

the program.

“I’m very team oriented, I’ve always been a leader in everything I do. When it comes to soccer I’m a leader in different ways, I let my play do the talking. I’m pretty aggressive, I like to throw all 120 pounds of myself around and I like to pump the team up.”

As one of the smaller players on the field Putt was at a disadvantage physically at some points but he used that as motivation. “I like being the underdog, I’m an underdog player on an underdog team so what more could you wish for.”

Putt was always competing at full speed and his effort was recognized by his teammates.

“Jarrett is what I like to call the engine of the team. If the team ever needed a boost or ever looked tired and out of it he was the guy you could rely on to bring us up,” said soccer team captain Tyler Botelho.

“Jerrett is the type of person that everyone needs in their life, he’s a passionate, determined, motivated and hilarious guy,” said cross country teammate Mahayla Markell.

The work ethic on the field and the positive interactions within the community are why Putt has been named The Sputnik’s Male Athlete Of The Year.

Scott Maxwell Staff Writer

Photos by Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

Meg Elmhirst has been named The Sputnik’s Laurier Brantford female athlete of the year for her participation on the extramural co-ed dodgeball team over the two couple years, as well as her role as captain this year.

“She was very passionate about the sport and did a fabulous job motivating the team not only on the court, but also when they weren’t playing,” said Megan Jacklin, the Laurier athletics assistant coordinator for recreations and programs in Brantford.

Elmhirst is currently in her fifth year of concurrent education at Laurier Brantford.

“I’ve always been interested in teaching, and this school had the best program that best suited my needs,” said Elmhirst. “There was other options, but this was the best one, and I really liked the feel of the campus when I came on the tours.”

However, the program itself isn’t what she’ll look back on when she leaves.

“I really liked the diversity of people that I’ve met,” she said.

“It was a program that allowed for a lot of volunteering, and just meeting people with different interests, but also connecting with one interest.”

High school played a large influence on her future athletic career at Laurier. Whether it was representing Ontario in competitive gymnastics, co-ed volleyball, coaching her school’s dodgeball team, or track and field, her time in high school motivated her to continue to pursue sports in university.

“Doing sports my whole life outside of school, it makes almost a necessity in your life to continue them. Having that school and team feel put together was really nice, because you have all your friends in the hall that are also on your team, and you build a close bond with them, but also a different bond that you wouldn’t build in class

or at lunch time,” said Elmhirst.

“I was also the head of the Athletic council in my last year, so I was able to put programming into my high school for athletics, which was a lot of fun to have that aspect (of sports) as well.”

Elmhirst had many memories to look back on from her year in sports, so many that it was hard to pick just one. It was all about making friends, and the “farewell tour” aspect of her last year that made the season memorable for her.

“We had a lot of new people on the team this year. It was nice to get close to them, and seeing your team becomes your family for the year. It’s great because as a team we all bonded.”

“It was tough, because it was my last year, and I became close with my co-captain, and he moved to England halfway through this year for his placement overseas. It’s always sad to say goodbye, and play your last tournament, but the team really excelled this year.”

While many athletes, or anybody in general, have a person who they can look back on as an inspiration, that’s not the case with Elmhirst.

“I’ve played so many sports that it’s hard to pick just one person specifically. I’ve never really had one motivation,” she said. “My mom has always supported me and my athletics, but I’ve always just strived to be the best no matter what, and if I see someone doing something that I think is great, I think ‘Wow, how can I reach that level’, and I always push myself to be the best that I can possibly be.”

While representing your school can always be a tough task, especially as a captain, Elmhirst has shown resilience, and has always embraced it.

“I’ve always had a lot of school pride, no matter what school or association that I’m involved with. I always want to be the best representation that I can be, whether it be through athletics or not,” she said. “I think the pride of working your butt off, putting the jersey on for the first time, and always holding onto that feeling that I’ve made it, that I’m here, that not everybody gets to wear this jersey, and always remembering that throughout your whole career as an athlete with the school, it means so much, being able to represent your school in different places. Not everybody gets that honour.”

What are her plans after she’s graduated this year?

“Working.” Elmhirst laughed.

“I want to work for a year, make some money, and I plan on teaching overseas for a little while, and travelling.”

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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Golden Hawks crash out in soccer regionals Devon Momy-Gamache

Sports Editor The men’s soccer team struggled in regionals on March 10, as they were outscored 7-0 in three games to end their season.

For the first time this season the team was at full health as they looked to finish in the top two in their four-team regional group. The team was placed in a tough group with Sheridan, Mohawk and Redeemer.

Heading into the tournament head coach Murphy Wiredu had a clear game plan for his team, “We’re not going to make it easy for these teams to beat them, we’re going to make them earn it by making it physical and it very hard for them to beat us.”

The Golden Hawks came out full of energy from the opening kickoff, with the pressure of regionals leading to an increase in physicality.

A Laurier turnover led to a goal for Mohawk with just under eight minutes left in the first half.

Laurier responded by turning up the pressure to end the half including Martin Mejia and Tyler Botelho connected leading to a chance.

Laurier was given a great chance to tie it with 18 minutes left on a power play but a series of chances by Botelho, Denziel Henry and Levi Furber all failed to find the back of the net. The Golden hawks kept the pressure

up and kept Mohawk pinned in their own end leading to a couple of free kicks and corners in the final 10 minutes but Laurier failed to capitalize.

Entering their second game, Laurier was in desperate need of a win to keep their hopes of qualifying for provincials alive. A goal 40 seconds in for Redeemer on some miscommunication put Laurier in an early hole.

Throughout the rest of the first half Laurier attacked in waves to try and tie the game.

Isaiah Ojo had a great chance on a fast break saved which lead to a corner and another missed chance. Late in the half Mejia had a shot go just wide off a tip, moments later Jerrett Putt had a chance of his own go wide as Laurier entered the second half still trailing.

Seconds into the second half Pasquale Centritto attempted to clear the ball before it went out for a corner, but the ball bounced off a Redeemer player and took an odd bounce to go into the net and give Redeemer a 2-0 lead.

After a few chances for Laurier stayed out, Redeemer bounced back with two quick goals that left the Golden Hawks visibly disappointed.

“We’re short in numbers compared to most teams so we get tired and it becomes a mental game. When they do score, that makes it more frustrating and it adds to the challenge we

Laurier’s soccer team came together for one final tournament at regionals. Mitchell Onyedikachi/The Sputnik

have to encounter,” Furber said on the team’s as the game got out of hand.

With two losses, the team was left playing their final game of the season against Sheridan after starting their season against the same team. Early pressure eventually led to a Sheridan goal 10 minutes but from that point forward the game turned into a defensive slugfest. Laurier stayed within striking distance until a Bruins goal with eight minutes

left Laurier down two.

The tournament also saw the end of one Golden Hawk’s career as Presley Cormack played his final game.

“I’ve been playing with Putt and [Furber] since day one at this university, I’ll miss these guys for sure. Even the new guys who showed up last minute like O’shai [Jeffers-Penny] and Andre [Thames], every single one of them are great guys and I’ll definitely miss them and the

chance to play,” Presley said.

Although the team would have hoped for better results in regionals Wiredu remained positive about the future of the program.

“It came down to mistakes, the top teams made fewer mistakes and capitalized on ours and in the future, that’s what we need to learn to do.”

Wrestlemania continues to evolve after 32 years Adam Stocker Staff Writer WrestleMania is an amazing journey that began with the first WrestleMania in 1985 and continues 32 years later (although, it’s their 33rd anniversary if you ask the WWE).

The journey to the first WrestleMania began prior to 1985 when multiple events in the world of professional wrestling occurred, leading to the creation of WrestleMania. In 1982, Vince McMahon purchased the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) territory from his father. At the time, professional wrestling was divided into regional territories across North America under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. The NWA served as a governing body that shared talent across the territories. In 1963 Vince McMahon Sr. broke away from the NWA and ran his Northeast/New York territory independently.

After purchasing the WWF, McMahon had bigger plans for the territory. McMahon wanted to transform his regional territory into a national promotion.

McMahon accomplished his goal by buying out smaller territories and securing a national television deal. By purchasing other territories, McMahon was able to acquire their regional television deals and run his

WWF television shows in new markets, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE). After buying out territories, McMahon was able to run more shows in more cities allowing him to generate more revenue.

In 1983, Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA promoted the first Starrcade on Thanksgiving Day. Starrcade was the ultimate professional wrestling card that featured the NWA’s biggest stars of the era and was broadcasted on pay-per views predecessor close-circuited television. Starrcade was the predecessor to WrestleMania, and without it there may not be a WrestleMania.

The following year Vince McMahon purchased NWA territory Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW). McMahon was not really after the Georgia territory, but their Saturday 6:05 to 8:05 timeslot on TBS when they aired “World Championship Wrestling.” By purchasing GCW, McMahon controlled all professional wrestling on national cable television.

On July 14 1984, McMahon appeared in what would later be known as “black Saturday.” McMahon appeared on TBS at 6:05 to announce the sale and switch in programming from GCW to WWF. One problem for McMa-

hon, the product the WWF offered was significantly different than the southern “rasslin” that GCW offered. Viewers rejected the WWF product and wrote into TBS protesting the change.

Losing money on the deal, McMahon sold the timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions for $1 million.

In 1985, McMahon bet every dollar he had, most of which was from the sale to Jim Crockett Promotions, and promoted the first WrestleMania. McMahon

combined wrestling with pop culture celebrities to help sell WrestleMania. Featured on the WrestleMania card were celebrities Liberace, Billy Martin, Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper and wrestling in the main event, Mr. T. Had the event failed, McMahon and the then WWF would have gone bankrupt. The event proved to be the most successful closed circuit television event to date. More than one million people watched it, making it a financial success.

32 years later WrestleMania remains the ultimate event in the WWE year. The method of transmission had changed from closed circuit, to pay-per view to the WWE Network. The wrestlers have changed over the years but the man behind the event has not. Now 71-year old McMahon is promoting his 33rd WrestleMania card. As McMahon always says, he is just trying to outperform the previous year’s mania.

Wrestlemania is scheduled for two weeks away on April 2 for edition 33. Laura Gorza/The Sputnik

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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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

Frozen feet and frozen treats Alex Vialette Staff Writer Despite winter storms last week, it’s business as usual at Dairee Delite.

In subzero temperatures and in the middle of a snow storm, loyal customers headed to Dairee Delite on St. Paul Avenue to get their fix of ice cream. Two employees were using the combination of a heater and layers to stay warm as customers darted between their cars and the ordering windows of the stand. Dairee Delite has been a staple in Brantford since opening in 1953 under the name Cream-EEE-Freeze. Regardless of the snow and the windchill, customers showed sporadically for a treat similar to the weather.

On it’s opening day, March 12, the 1950s themed ice cream stand had a lineup of people waiting for their first cone of the season. While the weather wasn’t inviting on Sunday, the lineup came as no surprise for the employees working there.

According to one of the two working, the stand is popular for the cakes and pies they make as well. That having been said, the lineups were there for their delites, milkshakes, and cones, to name a few items on their menu.

“It’s the sixth best ice cream store in Ontario!” said Stephanie

Johnston, one of the two girls running the stand during the storm.

The stand has reached internet fame thanks to the recent trend in people going out of their way to find authentic soft serve with a vintage feel. Narcity gave Dairee Delite the rank that Johnston referenced last April in their article “11 Ontario Ice Cream Shops That Are Worth The Drive”. The small Brantford institution managed to beat out the ice cream giant that is Kawarthra Dairy Limited but fell short of a few Toronto based parlours.

“It’s opening week so I’ll be here every day,” said Brian Young, a Brantford resident of 12 years.

Young tries to come out to Dairee Delite a couple of times per week during the season that it’s open. He had been to the stand two times already that week, and got a different delite each time.

Laurier students were making the journey out during the storm as well, anxious for the stand to open up. Second year students Emma Michener and Chris Tenuta drove to get their fix. When asked if they would have came if they did not have a car, they chuckled at the question.

“There would be absolutely

Despite the cold weather, ice cream lovers flocked to Dairee Delite on it’s opening week. Alex Vialette/The Sputnik

no way in hell that I would be able to get here,” said Michener.

“Not on a day like today. Maybe

if it was nicer weather I would walk.”

At minimum, the cold snap

kept the ice cream from melting.

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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

Clerks: Devlin’s Advocate Brantford’s downtown is home to a wide variety of shops and small businesses. These businesses define Brantford, but what defines the businesses? This is the inspiration behind “Clerks”; getting to know those who know us so well. From our shoe size to our favourite item on the menu, these business owners make us feel more like family than customers. With that being said, let us shine the spotlight on Ryan Devlin, owner of Devlin’s Advocate.

Ryan Devlin based Devlin’s Advocate off of what he has noticed while working in the restaurant industry.

Matt Burley/The Sputnik

Matt Burley A&C Editor For those who don’t know, what is Devlin’s Advocate and what’s it all about?

It’s a kicked up pub I like to say. It’s more of a bar, restaurant [and] lounge. We took what the Piston Broke was and we like to say we cleaned it up and made it a little bit better. We still wanted it to be welcoming, we wanted to be able to offer a place for student’s as well as middle-aged clientele. The elderly can come and enjoy a good meal. We’ve got live entertainment every Friday and Saturday so it’s combining a place with good entertainment with good drinks and really great food as well.

Where did you get the name “Devlin’s Advocate”?

It’s kind of a play on words, having our other restaurant, Devlin’s Country Bistro, we decided we had to work with the Devlin’s brand. It’s a name that we’re very fortunate to have go a long way in this town. It attracts lots of customers and at the same time, it speaks quality as far as we’re concerned. That’s something we want to stand behind. Devlin’s Advocate, it’s an advocate for Devlin’s Country Bistro, but obviously it’s the play on words with devil’s advocate.

We’re more of an advocate for Devlin’s than the devil of course, but at the same time it’s arguing the good instead of the bad in things.

What made you want to open up a “kicked up pub” instead of a sports bar or a bar and grill?

I just felt it was what Brantford needed. What I’ve seen with our other restaurants, people’s way of dining has changed. We have a fine dining restaurant, but the bar aspect of it is our busiest part. I find customers will be coming in and ordering lots of appetizers. So when I looked at what I wanted to do for a restaurant, I wanted to be able to offer a menu that lots of people could just share with. The atmosphere kind of fell into place. It’s something that Brantford doesn’t have as far as I’m concerned. It was a pub before and it worked, don’t get me wrong. I wanted to work with that premise but just make it more welcoming and cleaner looking. Be able to appeal to more of a crowd while keeping customers here.

The menu focuses on the “sharing is caring” appetizers.

Did you base the menu off of the dining habits you’d noticed?

That’s exactly it. I like to have a different menu. I like people to be intrigued but at the same time, I like the servers to have something to talk about. As opposed to a typical restaurant, where you know what you’re going to eat before you look at the menu. I want people to look at it and go, ‘woah’, but at the same time give the server something to talk about. Having them explain that the first side of the

menu is a really elaborate appetizer menu. But at the same time, the backside of the menu is similar to a steakhouse menu, in the sense that you order your meat, but you can get your side separate. I did that under the premise that most people are coming and enjoying buying plenty of appetizers, but if you’re anything like myself, at the end you still want a steak. But I don’t want to be tied up into eating my vegetables and my mashed potatoes for instance. So if there’s two or three people that really want a steak, we’re more than happy to slice it up and serve it to you.

What type of history do you have in the restaurant business?

My history’s deep, it’s kind of an interesting story. I was born into the industry; my dad opened up Devlin’s Country Bistro 26 years ago and it was that year as well that I was born. He said I was the best mistake he ever made. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t afford a babysitter being in the financial position he was in trying to open up that restaurant. Fortunately for me, the chefs were my babysitters.

There’s pictures of me less than a year old sitting in a highchair in the kitchen. They would always throw food on my highchair to shut me up so I’d stop crying. So I was born into that and I always had my own little cook station.

The joke was I had peeled more shrimp by the age of eight than any chef will peel in their life. It

was one of the things my dad would do to keep me busy. I lost my mom at a really young age and my dad, being a single father, it was the time we had to spend with him. He would take me into the kitchen, I’d work alongside him and started catering with him at 11 years old, because quite frankly in this industry you wake up early to go to work and you don’t come home until late at night. It’s not rare for us to work 16 to 18 hour shifts for 20 days on end. I took a loving and a passion to it at a very young age.

What was on the schedule for St. Patrick’s Day? It was arguably one on the busiest St. Patrick’s Days that’s ever been [in the building]. We put a lot into it. It wasn’t for any lack of planning. The decor is one of the small things. Live music started at noon and went through until 2 a.m. So we had two different bands play and they were all amazing performers. We had a huge selection of Irish food that we had for the weekend. We had a lot of items that were really appealing and lots of Irish drink specials too.

Where do you stand on the St. Patty’s/St. Paddy’s Day debate. How do you spell it?

It’s either St. Patrick’s Day or St. Paddy’s Day. It’s “Paddy’s”, with D’s. 100 per cent. It’s always been an argument and I’ve always said it was St. Paddy’s or St. Patrick’s. It was reinforced by a Jameson commercial that

came out where they said the same thing, ‘it’s either Paddy’s with the D’s, or Patricks,”. I don’t have any other reason other than Jameson backing me up.

What does Devlin’s Advocate have planned for the future?

We’ve got lots planned actually. There’s more than we want to do with so much potential.

Our main premise right now is just getting more people in for the night life. There’s lots that I want to do to grow this bar, especially on the inside. I have plans to move the bar to the front of the restaurant, take out all the washroom and move them downstairs. It would open it right up. We see on a night like [St. Patrick’s Day] everyone wants to be at the bar, and the bar just so happens to be in the middle of the restaurant, which makes for a terrible flow. People come in the front door and they go to the bar right away.

It doesn’t make it easy to execute as well as we would like to.

That’s our main plan as far as design, and that’ll happen sooner than later, assuming we can get a really good night crowd going again. I would love for people to come in at night to give it a try and see what we have to offer.

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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

FEATURES

DELLESIA NOAH | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Two Row on the Grand revisits wampum treaty

The Grand River. Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

Kurtis Rideout Web Editor In 1613 the Five Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) presented a group of Dutch government representatives with a ‘wampum belt’. This act, which has become known as the ‘Two Row Wampum Treaty’, was meant to symbolize an alliance between the two parties, serving as the basis for all subsequent relations between Indigenous peoples and European settlers.

Now – just over 400 years later – this symbolic gesture is being revisited in a local setting via the ‘Two Row on the Grand’ paddling festival, which will begin on July 21, 2017 and span seven days.

“There’s a history behind this,” began Ellie Joseph as she spoke to a group of Laurier Brantford students in room RCW 202 of the Research and Academic Centre.

“What I will walk you through first of all is something called a wampum belt,” said Joseph as the visuals behind her depicted various elaborate hand crafted belts made up of white and purple ‘wampum’.

Wampum are tube-shaped beads made from whelk and clam shells. These shells were collected along the North Atlantic coast and fashioned into garments such as bracelets, necklaces and – most significantly – belts.

These garments were then used to signify a wide range of agreements; everything from marriage proposals and peace offerings to large scale alliances and treaties. In addition to their practical value, they also served as historical records amongst indigenous communities, many of which – according to thecanadianencyclopedia.ca – even had ‘wampum keepers’, those who “protected the belts and interpreted the history contained therein.” “[Wampum belts] represent treaties or agreements between different peoples,” explained Joseph. “The oldest treaty relationship in North America was a treaty between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee. At that time they were down in the Mohawk traditional lands along the Hudson River.”

“The Hudson River back in the 1600’s was used as a travel

[route],” she continued. “The Dutch had their big ships going down carrying their cargo and so on from point A to point B, and the Mohawk people were travelling in their canoes.”

“They were able to communicate with each other,” Joseph noted. “And they looked at the differences in their relationships and thought ‘how can we continue on living a life of peace?’”

This is when the Mohawk tribe presented the Dutch with the ‘Two Row Wampum belt’, which they held to be a promise “that they would continue from that day forward and get along with each other.”

The design of the Two Row Wampum belt consists of a white background broken up horizontally by two purple rows.

“One canoe and one ship are actually represented in this wampum,” said Joseph as she demonstrated in a visual. “The two purple lines that you see in there: one represents the Dutch vessel – or the allies’ lifestyle, beliefs and politics – the other one refers to the Haudenosaunee and their way of life and their canoe.”

“The white backgrounds in

between the purple, those are representative of peace and respect.”

“The promise that they made to each other back 400 years ago was that they would never interfere with the affairs of each other … that they would never try to steer each other’s vessel – or get into each other’s politics.”

Despite this promise, disputes and disagreements have – over time – eroded this relationship, weakening its strength. The treaty was all but forgotten until the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign began to advocate its rejuvenation through special events and community education beginning in 2013 – the 400 year anniversary of the original Two Row Wampum treaty.

“If you look back at the Two Row Renewal Campaign online … They did an epic paddle of over 200 people on the Hudson River,” Joseph explained her inspiration for the Two Row on the Grand paddling festival.

Joseph participated in the original Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign, which is where she got the idea to bring it to the Grand.

“It was such a spiritual thing

for me to be able to be a part of that. Our culture is rich, the river has a lot of history to it and a lot of people are totally unaware of it.”

Joseph plans on advocating the strength of a good mind, and hopes to involve as many paddlers as possible. The event will consist of far more than just rowing however: there will be guest speakers, workshops and even a special powwow ceremony.

“The fact that we can paddle into the powwow this year is going to be – I mean how many people can say they have paddled into the powwow on this historical river?”

The paddling festival will take place between July 21 to July 28, and will commence in Paris, following the Grand River all the way to Port Maitland where it empties into the northern shore of Lake Erie.

“We’re hoping that paddling on the Grand like this will get people excited about what we have in our own backyard.”

Canoes were a main form of water transportation for the Mohawk people. Photo courtesy of Ellie Joseph

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

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FEATURES

DELLESIA NOAH | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

A cry for attention Dellesia Noah Features Editor Where would a farmer, a town crier, and the poster boy for colon cancer awareness meet?

Sounds like the beginning of some corny joke but I actually got a legitimate answer for you.

Meet Larry Davis, a man from Burford who managed to pick up a couple of unique jobs.

Davis is a textbook example of how one can diverge from their set career path.

When I had first called him up to set up an interview, we were giving each other the run around trying to figure out his schedule.

Davis told me he’d be busy since he was traveling to another town to deliver some hay, as he is a farmer by profession..

Now some of you may be wondering how a farmer from Burford came to be a town crier as well as a poster boy – as Davis likes to call himself – for colon cancer awareness. Davis’ position as town crier was appointed to him by the county of Brant and his role in colon cancer awareness was given to him by the Brant County Health Unit.

“The township of Burford was going to celebrate its 200th birthday in the year 1993. They called him [David McKee – Brantford’s town crier] and asked him to do it” Davis, “In a nice way he asked them ‘why don’t you get your own?’”

This lead The Ontario Guild of Town Criers to come out to Burford to hold a competition looking for their own town crier.

“Burford advertised for competitors to be the town crier and I was asked to compete, so I went in the competition. There weren’t that many of us, only three. Five town criers came out to be judges, it was a fun,” Davis said.

Davis stands among many in a world-wide organization that represent their communities.

It’s Davis’ responsibility to act as a voice for the community.

“Let’s say if Laurier University was going to open up a new wing, they would call the town crier, they would have the mayor there and maybe a minister of culture … they would start the event off, welcome everybody, [make the announcement] and have the dignitaries take over.”

What is the significance of a town crier?

“It all started when the King or Queen would say “take this message to my people,” because not everyone at the time could read.

The news got out by the town crier. The town crier would take the message out on a scroll, take it to the door of the inn and do his town cry and then post it there for those who could read.”

Davis’ position as town crier lead him to other opportunities, to that of Brant County’s poster boy for colon cancer awareness.

“A woman that worked indirectly with the Brant County health unit knew that the incidents of colon cancer in the rural areas were higher than in the cities,” Davis said. “They determined that it was mostly because of awareness; farmers go on forever and they don’t go to the doctor more. Maybe they’ll get there when they’re 65 years old but they’re not the type of person who is running to the doctor all the time.”

Davis’ role in colon cancer awareness began to do its job.

Davis said that people would hear what he was doing and come up to him to ask him questions about getting tested and that would urge them to take a closer look into checking things out for themselves.

Davis acknowledges that there is a stigma around men’s health and men being accountable for their own health, “sometimes men don’t take care of themselves because they think they’re macho.”

Davis described colon cancer as an “invisible” illness. “You don’t know it’s there until it’s too late. I lost a best friend to this, all of a sudden there it was and all of a sudden it was too late.”

Davis takes pride in the work he’s done in order to bring awareness for colon cancer and be a voice for his community.

Got bad news? Don’t shoot the messenger. Photo courtesy of Dan Allison, Flickr.

Journey from near death experience Anya Eland Staff Writer It is never really thought of if one day you just do your thing and you see your life flash before your eyes.

For Brittany Legault, she unfortunately experienced just that. It was a warm sunny day on Jul. 2, 2016: a special day for Legault. It’s her first time going to Toronto for the Pride Parade, filling her with excitement and bright energy. Decked out in bright rainbow colours head to toe, Legault and her friends were crossing the street but then her plans take a shocking turn.

“A box truck stopped at a red light, but wanted to turn right.

He must have not seen me as he proceeded to turn right and struck me, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the ground.

The truck driver however, thankfully saw me after he had hit me and stopped the truck inches away from where I was lying on the pavement in the middle of the intersection,” said Legault.

In that frightening moment however, Legault insists to her worried friends and the worried truck driver that she feels fine and uninjured. “[Adrenaline rushed] through my body masking the pain. My emotional thought process at the time of

the incident was gratefulness that I was still alive. I was scared that the driver wasn’t going to stop, and I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the way in time because I was laying on the pavement.”

They called 911 to the scene and were checked out by the ambulance. Four police cruisers, two fire trucks and three ambulances were also present at the scene. For Legault, all she wanted to do was go to the Pride parade, even though she had a swollen back. Thus refusing and heading to the parade. Legault enjoyed her time during the parade and thinks that everything to do with car incident was over and done with. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

“The day after Pride, I realize that I was not okay. Shooting pain went from my back, and all the way down to my legs. Sitting and standing caused an immense amount of pain, and I [called] in sick for the next two weeks of work because I could not physically do anything without being in pain. That two weeks turned into two months that I had to take off work. It was brutal since I am in University on a student budget.

Her pain increased and her journey to recovery is tough.

“After the incident, the pain be-

came so intense that I had to undergo physical therapy. I went twice a week for a month and a half before I had to move back to Brantford for school.

They gave me massages, electrotherapy, and they cracked my back many times. This helped with the pain, however, when I moved back to Brantford, I had to put my treatments on hold. Since putting my treatments on hold, my back pain has worsened, and I deal with back pain every day.” This pain gives her something to think about

each day from that frightening experience.

“The accident impacts my life everyday tremendously. I have to think twice about everything I partake in. I can’t sit in the car for too long or my back will spasm. I can’t fall asleep at night because I can never find a comfortable position. I can’t cross the street or walk in a parking lot without feeling anxious. Sometimes I have to even miss classes because sitting for too long causes severe uncomfort,” she said.

Legault has to overcome these

obstacles each day and does her best to do so. “I just take everything day by day. I still haven’t found ways to ease the pain. I usually just stay inside and lay down-- it’s boring and I absolutely hate it, but it is what it is.”

She defines her road to recovery as frustrating but she deals with it each day. “I learned to never take anything for granted and appreciate every day because you don’t know when your last day on earth is.”

The light at the end of the tunnel. Mike Rykov/The Sputnik

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WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

FEATURES

DELLESIA NOAH | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Multicultural kids in a multicultural world Jelena Vulić Staff Writer Canada, a country that prides itself on its diversity, multiculturalism and acceptance of all.

It’s hard to believe that not too long ago, mixed race couples and families were widely seen as unacceptable, taboo even. Though for some, that view has not died down, it is undeniable that more and more interracial couples and families are popping up and with them children who are growing up as members of multiple ethnicities. This kind of environment supposedly harbours such a unique growing experience and perhaps a new argument in the age-old nature versus nurture argument.

However, just like uni-racial people of colour experience their own struggles against racism and stereotyping and such in our diverse world, mixed race people are dealing with the same issues. Sometimes this even happens within the ethnic groups they identify themselves as members of.

“I remember most of my elementary school life was ‘You’re not black, you can’t even play basketball or run fast,’” John Doe* stated.

“In high school it was ‘you’re not Chinese, you’re not even good at math or health class.’

People just picked one side of someone’s race and hated on them for that.”

Not many studies have been done on this. In fact, not a lot of people are talking about it. A simple Google search of ‘growing up as a biracial child’ showed some sources talking about what it’s like to raise a child of a differ-

ent race rather than a child of mixed backgrounds.

The only credible source on the first page came from The Guardian, where journalist Nina Kelly explained her struggles with figuring out her identity, back when Obama was elected as President of the United States in 2008.

With some more research, it lead to another article from The Guardian which was written in 2014. It explained that research backed by Britain’s National Children’s Bureau found that children of mixed backgrounds were at greater risk of suffering from mental health problems, largely due to unrealistic expectations from teachers and other adults who did not understand their backgrounds, as well as their struggle to develop an identity.

Every biracial kid’s experience with this world is unique. Half-caucasian halfAsian Laurier Brantford student Matt Lam explained how he has lived with his own diversity.

“When I was young I was kinda labelled. It was more so like ’Oh, he’s half-Asian, so he’s half smart’. People would always say ‘Wow Matt, your dad sounds so white but he’s Asian.’”

“I’m proud to be mixed. More importantly, I like being mixed,” Lam said.

“I actually fitted in pretty well with my schools. Being a mixed kid has its ups and downs. It also depends on what crowd you join in school. Some crowds embrace diversity, whereas others were kinda focused on my stereotypes. However, all the people I encountered did not treat me like an outcast or anything.”

“In high school, despite it being a majority white community, the majority of my friend pool were minorities...I seemed to get along better with them for some reason.”

“

I’m proud to be mixed.

More importantly, I like being mixed,” - Matt Lam John Doe on the other hand had experienced some pretty blatant racism growing up.

“I remember there was one kid I used to chill with after school because he was a year or two older than me. We always talked about anime and videogames with the occasional topic of how some teachers were assholes. One day he finally asked me about my background. I told him I was a mix of Black and Asian, with a bit of Spanish blood in me. His response was ‘Ew, you’re a nigger. I can’t hang out with people like you.’”

Racism is experienced differently by everyone, full-blooded or mixed, passing white or not, light skinned or dark. We cannot deny and downplay each others’ experiences just because it seems like someone has it better than someone else; it’s not going to help the situation at all.

Telling someone they can’t experience racism because they aren’t easily seen as different is racist in itself. Racism affects all of us, and the only way things are going to get better is if all of us, whether white, coloured, or mixed, band together to support each other in times of need. *Sources wished to remain anonymous.

People from mixed ethnicities experience racial stereotyping.

Mike Rykov/The Sputnik

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

THE SPUTNIK

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FEATURES

DELLESIA NOAH | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Somewhere over the ‘rainbro’ Alex Jameeel Staff Writer This article is based on the story of William S. from Sydney, Australia.

At 19 I was in my second year of university, hated my degree, and was at the verge of dropping out and finding a regular job. I decided to move out of home and move closer to my university downtown as I have always loved the city life and as a change of weather. I immediately found out that my new roommate is also gay and he was quick to show me some really cool gay bars around town.

I suddenly found myself surrounding by gay guys from all sort of different categories that I’ve heard about. There were the buff ones, the flamboyant ones, the big hairy bears…and then there was me. I hate hair and I am super skinny, so there is no way I could be a bear. I would have loved to be a jock, but I also love pizza too much and we know who wins here…

I weighed my options and settled on being the flamboyant skinny little party boy. I bought the skinniest jeans I could find, and wore open sleeveless shirts to clubs every weekend. I did this for about a year but I never really enjoyed it. It felt like it was fake and I was trying to fit in the crowd.

Later that year I met my first boyfriend. It didn’t matter to him that I was flamboyant or a jock. He loved me for who I was, but there was still this void inside that I tried to fill. I always

felt like I was putting on an act and I am crying for attention.

A few months into our relationship we decided to take a trip to New Zealand. While strolling through the city one night we stumbled upon a gay bar and we decided to go inside for a few drinks. We sat at the bar next to another couple, who ended up being from Los Angeles on a holiday. These two did not fit the description of any anyone I have ever met. They wore Nike hats, sports t-shirts and jeans that were not tight at all.

These guys were too straight to be gay, they were bros.

I was so confused but at the same time there was a moment of great realization. They didn’t need the bells and whistles to prove their gay. They were just guys who likes other guys and had great confidence. They didn’t let the stereotypes drive them, they drove the stereotypes. It made me realize that I can be myself and still be gay.

Things ended with my ex-partner a few months later after that trip, but I gained two new “bro” gay best friends in the process and we formed our own click where the topics jump from super bowl to showgirls in the matter of seconds.

Hanging out with these guys opened up more options of who I can be. I can be myself. I don’t think they changed me, but they opened my eyes and gave me confidence that allowed me to bring positive energy into my life.

Life after Laurier

Some student’s evaluate their academic decisions upon graduation. Laura Gorza/The Sputnik

Claudia Marmol Staff Writer Looking back, there are a couple of things that I would change about my first year at Laurier. I would have loved to get more involved with the school, taking advantage of all the clubs that were offered on campus. I also wish I would have attended more trips like going to the aquarium or Canada’s Wonderland Halloween Haunt. However, it can be difficult to get involved when you’re in a strange environment and surrounded by even stranger people.

Those would be my personal challenges, however many different bodies and minds funnel through Laurier Brantford, grasping on to different memories that are valued to different degrees by different people.

Anna Gracyk, an alumni of Laurier Brantford graduated last year. She has her own memories and journey made at Laurier Brantford.

What program were you in?

Health studies – arts and science (now called public health).

Did you participate in any extracurricular activities?

I was the Health Studies Student Association (HSSA) President in 2014-2016, and was an icebreaker in 2015.

What are you up to now?

I am now attending the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) in Toronto to become a naturopathic doctor.

Don’t assume someone’s sexuality based off of sterotypes. Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

What is your dream job?

My dream job was and is to become a doctor and work at an

integrative health-care center or in public health.

How would you describe your whole experience at Laurier Brantford?

My experience at Laurier Brantford was incredible, if I had to do it all over again, I would totally be okay with that. It’s such a small and intimate community, that I had the ability to get to know all my classmates and professors on a first name basis and build lifelong connections.

What were the big changes from first year to your last year?

One of the biggest changes from first year to last year was me. I originally entered the program being so science oriented and thinking that the social science aspect of my degree was ridiculous. Then I started learning about the issues in our healthcare system and how I wanted to help change that. Now I realize that science is only a small aspect in the grand scheme of health care and that there are so many things we still need to do to be able to provide everyone with the health care they want and deserve.

How was the transition from graduation, to the next step of your life?

The transition from graduation to medical school was not easy. Waiting to hear back from grad schools is horrible. I began to get really discouraged when I wasn’t hearing what I wanted to hear after working really hard for my degree…and paying a lot of money. Then I got an interview at CCNM and was offered a spot in the program. In the end

of all that uneasiness, I believe that this was the path I was chosen to go down.

Best memories at Laurier Brantford?

My best memories at Laurier Brantford were the ones I shared with my friends and professors.

Being in a small program we all knew each other really well. I was able to meet so many people by being the HSSA president and an icebreaker. I wish I had gotten more involved sooner.

All the people I have met along my undergraduate journey are amazing. I wish nothing but the best for my colleagues and the professors at Laurier Brantford.

Advice for future students of Laurier Brantford?

Advice for future students is to slow down. I had this crazy idea that I had my whole life figured out and I didn’t, and still don’t. One thing I wish I did was maybe take a class or two less and become more involved in school. By doing this you can build a great resume filled with many extracurricular activities and experience, while still being able to keep your grades up because you have less of a course load. Plus, grad school and jobs love this. In a way you’re thinking about your future while not rushing to get to it. So don’t be afraid to go at your own pace and soak in as much as you can.

So, be as it may, we all wish we had done things differently at any point in our lives. But it remains important to remember that the path we have walked down has led us to where we are today. Without a kerfuffle here and there, how would we ever learn?

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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

OPINION

JOSH ADESINA | OPINION@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Journey

ACROSS

DOWN

2 7 9 12 14 15 16 17

What building is the WLUSP office in?

Where did Captain Kindness send Madison Bennett?

Devlin’s _____ Cancelled an appearance for the CSA “Showcase of the immortals” Don’t Stop Believin’ Laurier international student’s program If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball

1 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 13

This artist released the playlist “more life” Makes public pronouncements as required by the court Alumni Anna Gracyk was the president of this organization Annual carwash during O-week What country received a wampum belt?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for _____ “My ___ flashed before my eyes” Unofficial Easter animal ____ for Life

From China to Canada: Kyle’s journey Avril De Silva Staff Writer People go from being a toddler to attending kindergarten, moving on to elementary school,then to high school. Then some end up in university or college. The journey always differs from person to person. While many may encounter rough paths, others have a path of roses laid out for them. However, one thing every individual has in common is an obstacle no matter the circumstance.

For a LEAF student, being an international student is hard.

They face extra obstacles like language barriers, homesickness and even the need to adjust to new weather conditions. I spoke with Senhao Qian, who is also known as Kyle. He has been attending Laurier Brantford since last September, and plans on moving to the Waterloo campus this fall upon graduating from the LEAF program.

Kyle moved to Canada from Shenzhen, China and has

experienced a drastic transition in terms of weather, friends, food and culture. He moved to Canada when he was on the verge of being 19 and says it was a ‘big change’. One of the big changes he experienced was with food.

He mentioned that the food tasted different, and that it was hard to find proper Chinese food in Brantford. Kyle also mentioned his hatred towards the weather in Canada, especially this time of year, as most of us do! Although Shenzhen does experience snow, it is not as rigorous as it is in Canada.

The adjustment in culture was what he found to be most tough. He mentioned that although the people in Canada are friendly, there was a language barrier that set him back from making more friends. The reason why he looks forward to moving to Waterloo is because the Chinese community is extensive over there. This takes him back in terms of missing his friends and family back home.

The loss of relationships is a

tough one to deal with when acquiring an education away from home. Moving from a conservative culture to a westernized one is not an easy adjustment, but he likes the new way of life and he says the adjustment hasn’t been very hard.

Kyle is a persevering individual with a secured mindset. He has a goal and his journey is truly inspiring. Although he does struggle to make friends, he never stops trying. Although eating healthy and finding proper Chinese food has been a struggle for him, he compromises and is content. He misses his friends and family, but has made a second family with his roommates. It is all about compromise and continuing the journey he began. He has a goal, and he wants to reach it no matter what. He says that Canada may never be his ‘home’, but Canada will always be his home away from home.

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

15

OPINION

JOSH ADESINA | OPINION@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

More life: More than an album Kurtis Rideout Web Editor When I saw that Drake finally dropped his More Life playlist, I instantly began clearing space on my phone to make room for it.

You hear a lot of people say things like “I’m going to wait for the hype to die down”, but I’m definitely not one of those individuals. The second I pressed play, the hectic world of articles, exams and essays started to fade into the background. It was like I was sitting on a cloud looking down on the world through a fuzzy filter; music is the only antidote for my stress.

It seems like Drizzy always comes through at the most significant of times in that respect.

A couple years back, when IYRTITL dropped unexpectedly, I was going through a pretty rough break-up. I wasn’t feeling the world at all, but the new Drake mixtape was the only rebound I needed.

A lot of times when artists get to this level, they disconnect from their fans. Their heads get huge, and they lose the ability

to relate on an individual and personal level. Drake’s success hinges on this factor; despite his super-star status, he still makes tracks that feel like they were tailored just for you.

When I hear songs like “Passionfruit” or “Teenage Fever”, I’m conflicted by the fact that I can’t keep these gems all to myself. On the flip side of that, I want to wear these songs on my sleeve. If it was 2005, they would most definitely be the featured tracks on my Myspace page.

That’s the beauty of it.

Somehow, time and time again, Drake comes through with a swath of songs that are simultaneously ambiguous and specific. They seem to be off the cuff, but deeper investigation always reveals more calculation in his efforts. He might not be thinking about you as a specific person, but he is most definitely thinking about you as a fan. His music increasingly represents the diverse group of listeners that he has amassed over the past ten years.

This album has everything a Drake fan could ask for. From

pumped-up chart toppers like “Fake Love”, to the dark, hard hitting bangers like “Can’t Have Everything” and “Free Smoke”, Drake seems to have covered all of his bases. He even throws in the archetypal, introspective Drake jaunts like “Do Not Disturb”, which dive deep into the pleasures and pressures that come with fame and fortune.

Perhaps the most interesting aspects of “More Life” don’t include the inevitable Young Thug features, or the way he mirrors the classic Lil Wayne flow in “Sacrifices” … or even the spotlight he shines on international artists like Skepta, Giggs and Jorja. No, the most significant thing about Drake’s new “playlist” is just that: the fact that it is a playlist.

What does this even mean though? I have seen numerous profiles and previews online that barely scratch the surface as far as analysis goes. People might think that the concept of a ‘playlist’ means that the songs have less coherence, or that they aren’t really thematically linked, when the reality is that this is the

The anticipated album from Drake is expected to break records once again.

Photo courtesy of Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

opposite of the case.

More Life is far more than just an album, and if you want proof of that, all you have to do is purchase the album and hit the shuffle button.

You will see exactly what I mean from the first seamless song transition.

The journey of a coloured student

The journey of a coloured student can be frustrating which is why we should respect students from all races. Alex Vialette/The Sputnik

Jennany Thillairajan Staff Writer People say, “Jennany? Is that like Jen-ay? Jenny? Janani?” So I say, “Just call me Jenn.”

“Are you Indian?” “Do like curry?” “Do you already have a marriage proposal?” “Is that like against your religion?” Let me stop you right there!

My family comes from Sri Lanka. Half of the people I’ve spoken to in university have no idea where that is, and the other half think it’s a part of India.

I come from Scarborough, so

coming to Laurier Brantford was never the plan. I was planning on going to York or Ryerson with the rest of my friends, but last minute I decided it was time to start fresh and accepted the offer I received at Laurier.

I knew there would be a definite change coming to Brantford, and by that I mean accepting the fact that it is a city populated with caucasians and barely any brown people. I was never really the odd one out in my high school and elementary years. I had one previous

experience with prejudice when I was in preschool. A little boy threw sand on me and told me it matched my skin tone. Despite that I was never really one to be victimized for my skin tone, although there were definitely several stereotypes.

When I first spoke to people here I could see the expressions on their face. “Let’s see how bad her accent is going to be,” or “I wonder if she says my name weird”. However, I think it’s fair to say I proved those ones wrong by having no accent. At times

I don’t necessarily pronounce certain words like others do. Despite that it wasn’t ever an issue.

In all honesty, Toronto is a very multicultural city and I was really nervous coming to Brantford but this whole city has been so accepting. Of course, there are those odd few individuals I cross paths with that don’t respect me, but that happens everywhere you go regardless of the colour of your skin.

A colored person’s experience in university can be quite different compared to a

non-coloured student. There are plenty of microaggressions that a coloured student can experience without anyone noticing.

It is important for all students to respect each other regardless of their skin colour. Yes, we all have our differences but that is what makes us unique. Celebrating each other’s differences is something we should continue to do on and outside of campus.

16

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2017

OPINION

JOSH ADESINA | OPINION@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Goodbye education system Christina Manocchio

Editor-in-Chief After being in some form of school system for the last 17 years, I’m finally leaving. In all honesty, there’s a small chance I may take my masters or go back to school in the next few years.

So, in other words, I’m leaving the system for now.

Let’s start my academic career at the beginning. Kindergarten, the two wonderful years where you get to do crafts for half the day, then go home for the remainder of the day. I enjoyed those days, until I found out that I had to go back to school after Christmas break. I thought I was finished school for the rest of my life after only three months of kindergarten.

I’m still disappointed to this day.

I was a loud, kind of obnoxious kid who enjoyed talking to others. I was diagnosed with a learning disability around eight years old. The school system did very little to accommodate me other than putting me into special education for a few hours a week. In special ed, I had a program that would read to me.

I could and still can read very well. I was the child who had their nose in a book, constantly. The system generalized me into a ‘special’ category where I received the same accommodations as a child with autism, bad behaviour, physical disabilities, etc. where each person had different needs.

I was redignanoised high school with Aspergers. This was determined on factors that

I struggled socially therefore I must have Aspergers. That was a misdiagnosis, I’m just ADD. My elementary school principal told my parents if I make it to college, that would be a miracle.

I’m almost finished my university undergraduate degree so she was wrong.

Children are mean, spiteful organisms. They shove you into lockers, play mind games with you, throw food at you. I was even told to commit suicide by one of my peers. I’ve always been a bit different than the rest of my peers, my ADD didn’t help with that. Finding a group of friends as a child wasn’t easy, and still isn’t easy as an adult. I struggle to find a group of people who are able to tolerate my odd qualities.

I have a dry sense of humour and I can be a bit of a know-it-all from time to time. Also, I have a low tolerance for bullshit resulting in many fights as a child.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) claims to be a leader in prevention and intervention when it comes to bullying. Teachers and other school staff would make the situation worse. You think talking to a kid about their bullying will make them stop? No, it just makes it worse for the kid who is being tormented. In high school, I was locked in a bathroom by my ‘friends’ while they told me my poor qualities. I decided to talk to the guidance counselor about my problem, which was recommended by the school. I ended up friendless, the guidance counselor told me I would get

used to being alone eventually…

Thanks for the help.

Having anxieties is different than having actual anxiety. Being in journalism has helped my ability to talk to strangers. Funny thing is I still struggle to just casually talk to people instead of interviewing them for an article.

One very common misconception I have found is people’s interpretation of my facial expressions. It’s a genetic trait where I show what I’m thinking with my prominent facial expressions.

According to my roommate, it’s the best creepy man repellant at the club. I start to pull faces before I say something due to the fact that I’m trying to take a moment to determine a nice way of saying something. If I don’t take a moment to think of what I will say, then I’ll say something stupid or offensive. I don’t mean to, I just get all anxious and make things worse.

To this day, I remember my decision to not talk. If you don’t say anything then nobody can make fun of you, right? Well I was wrong. My anxiety became apparent when I was in middle school. Due to my anxiety, I now overthink everything. I send multiple texts in fear of being forgotten about, I think. If my plans don’t go how I planned them, it upsets me. I’m still working on that though.

When I have moments of anxiety, I start overthinking everything. It pretty much causes me to lose the ability to function.

I worked in a big city as a lifeguard where we had excessive

Christina’s first day of kindergarden which marks the start of her resting bitch face.

physical training (it’s actually testing). I had an anxiety attack during one training and was having a tough time completing a requirement. I was told by a trainer that I couldn’t be a lifeguard since I have anxiety. Really? I was a lifeguard for six years. Maybe I should just never work since I can’t function apparently.

My anxiety has also lead to some OCD tendencies. When I was about four years old, I would eat my hair. I moved to biting my nails lasting into my teen years.

Within the last few years, I have started pulling my hair. I literally can’t stop any of these habits, if I stop one another one starts.

The hair pulling is probably the worst since I and literally pulling my hair out due to stress.

Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

I can go on about my pity stories, but I don’t want my past to reflect the rest of my life. It obviously does since I have anxiety that makes it so I can’t let shit go.

I’ve tried therapy and it made me feel worse. I had a counsellor at Laurier tell me that I wasn’t helping my social situation. That made me feel like crap. I decided to help myself, it seems to be working the best right now. I avoid stupid shit and understand that I have to do things a certain way to help me function with my anxiety. Don’t let my resting bitch face intimidate you, I’m probably thinking or just really happy. Goodbye Laurier, goodbye WLUSP, hello unemployment.