Wednesday, September 11, 2013

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Extra Credit Is paying tuition on your credit card a good idea? >> pg. 3

thegazette Having no fun like good citizens since 1906

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

today high 33 low 22

tomorrow high 27 low 14

canada’s only Daily Student Newspaper • founded 1906

Project LEARN tickets silence student lifestyle

Volume 107, issue 5

Unpaid internships come at a steep price for students Megan Devlin News Editor

that they could hear music from the street when they were driving by,” he said. “It seemed like they were really trying to enforce the bylaw that night — they were probably going up-and-down the street.”

“At the same time we could hear music pounding from Talbot Bowl,” he continued.

According to the London Police Service, Project LEARN enforced 61 criminal charges in 2012, of which seven were students. It also issued 2,293 provincial offence notices, of which 1,276 went to students.

Pat Whelan, University Students’ Council president, spoke out against Project LEARN during his election campaign last year. He is currently working with members of London city council and the university for an alternative approach to the enforcement initiative.

“We’re working with the town

At 6 a.m. on a November morning in 2011, an Alberta practicum student, Andy Ferguson, drifted over the centre line of the road and crashed into an oncoming gravel truck, tragically killing him. The crash occurred during the student’s commute home from a 16-hour overnight shift at an Astral radio station.

There were no drugs or alcohol involved, and the roads were clear at the time of his death. His family believes he was exhausted from the long hours he was made to work and fell asleep at the wheel.

The recent report of Ferguson’s death follows other recent sudden deaths of student interns after finishing long shifts. University of Michigan student Mortiz Erhardt was working a finance internship while on exchange in London, and was found dead in his shower the morning after returning from a string of 22-hour shifts.

Recent coverage of Ferguson’s death has called into question the “internship culture” where students work long hours for little or no compensation.

“I was appalled and I thought this was a trigger for faculties such as mine, that offer internship programs, to attend more carefully both to the health and safety situation within those internships but also to review some of the wider questions about internships, and in particular unpaid internships,” Nick Dyer-Witheford, acting dean for the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, said of the news.

Dyer-Witheford said he saw this death as a call to action to ensure none of his own students were involved in similar situations.

Unpaid internships are

>> see initiative pg.3

>> see internships pg.2

Logan Ly GAZETTE

THAT HAD BETTER BE A KEG OF MILK, CITIZEN. London Police’s Project LEARN (Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise) is in full swing, meaning police will be doling out tickets for noise violations and partying much more than usual this month.

Richard Raycraft News Editor If the City of London is trying to remain appealing to students, Project LEARN certainly doesn’t seem to be helping.

Project LEARN (Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise) is a London Police Service initiative that aims for strict, but fair, enforcement of bylaws related to parties, parking, open fires, noise, litter and public urination, according to a police statement. This year’s initiative will last from August 27 to September 28.

“Members of the London Police Service will once again be involved in Project LEARN, with extra patrols scheduled in the downtown area, and Western University and Fanshawe College neighbourhoods,” the statement said.

“The members of the London Police Service are not here to ruin

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your fun — we simply ask that you obey the laws designed to ensure enjoyment for all citizens,” it explained.

Will Sheridan, a fourth-year biology student at Western, disagreed, voicing his displeasure online upon receiving a $250 ticket for violating a noise bylaw.

“We were getting ready to go out on a normal frosh week night, probably around 11 p.m. We were playing music at a normal level like we do every night,” he explained. “It was just the three of us, just roommates, it wasn’t a party or anything.”

“And then all of a sudden knockknock, and there’s flashlights in the window.”

Sheridan’s roommate, Taylor, answered the door and was asked for his ID, after which he was issued a ticket for $250. The group was then informed that they had violated a noise bylaw.

“Their argument was the fact

Mark Laine Gazette

2•

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Caught on Camera

Bill Wang GAZETTE

DO IT YOURSELF. Purple Bikes recently opened their new shop on the main floor of the University Community Centre, next to the Mustang Lounge. Here, pictured are students with volunteers getting their hands greasy.

Crossword By Eugene Sheffer

Internships scrutinized >> continued from pg.1

technically illegal in Ontario unless they meet strict criteria, but many companies still offer them on the pretense of learning experience.

“The other question I think needs to be put on the horizon is whether the sheer volume of internships being created by universities

Solution to puzzle on page 8

are in any way actually damaging the prospects for long-term stable employment,” Dyer-Witheford said. “If we have a situation where employers in a certain field become habituated to the idea that they can get free labour to a certain degree that fits in to a cost-cutting labour reduction strategy.”

Colleen Sutherland, internship coordinator in the student success center, agreed. “I think [unpaid internships are] a way for companies to take advantage of unpaid labour. I do want to see a crackdown on that. I believe that everybody should have some type of compensation—and not just a stipend,” she said.

Sutherland said she believed Western’s academic internships were very well regulated, but was

wary of unpaid internships students found on their own.

“In our program the overwhelming majority of internships are unpaid — there are next to no paid internships that are for [academic] credit.” Susan Weekes, FIMS undergraduate internship coordinator, said.

However, Weekes stressed she was there to support students, and that if a Western student were in a similar situation, she hoped they would seek help from her.

She acknowledged it was sad that in certain fields unpaid internships are the norm, but emphasized Western’s placements provide professional training that strives to be mutually beneficial to employer and intern.

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Analysis indicated that men with lower levels of testosterone — meaning they have smaller testicles — are apparently genetically predisposed to being a lot more invested in child-rearing. This characteristic was discovered through MRI scans conducted while fathers viewed pictures of their children between the ages of one and two.

According to the study, “fathers’ testicular volume and testosterone levels were inversely related to parental investment and testes volume was inversely correlated with nurturing-related brain activity when viewing pictures of their own child.”

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A severe heat wave struck Southwestern Ontario, including the city of London, on Tuesday with temperatures soaring into the mid 30s.

According to the Weather Network, temperatures reached 35 degrees Celsius but felt like more than 44. Wednesday is forecasted to reach a high of 33 C as well. The Middlesex-London Health Unit issued a heat alert for the city for Tuesday and Wednesday. The city has also issued advisories for spray pads citywide to remain open.

Heat stress guidelines from the Ontario Ministry of Labour and Toronto Public Health advised people to wear light clothing, cover the body with pants and long sleeved shirts when exposed to the sun or preferably stay in shade, increase the length of rest breaks and to keep hydrated and cool.

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•3

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Western to examine Learn now, pay later: internal misconduct tuition on your credit card Aaron Zaltzman News Editor

Western’s ophthalmology department is going to be under a watchful gaze for the foreseeable future.

“I can confirm that St. Joesph’s [Health Center] and Western have received some allegations that we feel need to be investigated,” Keith Marnoch, director of media and community relations for Western, said. “These allegations are linked to the department of ophthalmology.”

Marnoch could not disclose the specifics or nature of the allegations regarding ophthalmology department, but the National Post reported Monday they involved the possibility of a pharmaceutical company exerting “undue influence” on the department.

“We as a university take this seriously and we are working with St. Joseph’s — we have jointly appointed an outside investigator to conduct the investigation,” Marnoch said.

He identified the investigator as Elizabeth Hewitt, a London-based lawyer, but declined to elaborate.

“It’s difficult to say more than that because we want her to be able to conduct her investigation as she sees fit.”

Marnoch said Hewitt, who graduated from Western in 1988 with a Bachelor of Laws degree, has experience in this type of investigation.

According to her website, Hewitt

“has been retained to conduct workplace reviews of an organization or a department […] where issues have been identified to exist but no formal complaint has been filed.”

Marnoch said all universities, including Western, set their own ethical guidelines for conducting research as well as regulating interaction between doctors and outside parties. The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, in which the Ophthalmology department is based, was recently cited as having the strictest and most highly regulated policy by a study of the 17 medical schools in Canada.

Schulich expressly forbids its practicing physicians from accepting personal gifts from “industry.”

In the school’s policy outlining interaction between physicians and industrial suppliers, it states doctors “should be aware that acceptance of gifts of any value has been shown to have the potential to influence clinical decision-making.”

Marnoch did not confirm when the university expects the investigation to be completed, nor whether Western would make the results public.

“It’s up to [Hewitt] to determine how it’s going to be conducted so it’s in her purview to do so,” Marnoch said. “We’ll have to look at what parameters are placed on the results that come back to us.”

Initiative upsets students >> continued from pg.1

and gown advisory committee at city hall, with councillors Matt Brown and many other people from the university and from the city, and concerned neighbours as well, to talk about what this will look like,” he elaborated.

Whelan explained that he believes education, and not enforcement, is the better response to student rowdiness and bylaw violations.

“I think that taking a more proactive approach is better, or has proven better on-campus with other issues,” he said. “Building

connections between neighbours, educating about the community standard — I think that’s a better approach than large fines.”

Whelan also expressed that fining students will do little to help already strained student finances.

“We all know the financial pressures of being a student all too well, and so large fines certainly don’t help the situation,” he said.

And on that point, Sheridan agreed.

“I don’t think we have anything to lose by trying to fight it,” he said.

“It’s $250 which is a lot of money — that’s something we really don’t have the funds to pay.”

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Kelly Samuel Gazette

Jeremiah Rodriguez News Editor Unless students have the dough upfront, take out a loan or suck up to OSAP, admission into Western University may just be a penny too pretty for them.

But Plastiq is an online system that offers students a way to pay off their Mustang dues through their own credit cards instead.

The online proprietary payment platform manages secure exchanges between users and merchants like government agencies, rental property owners and universities, which all typically avoid the credit card payment method because of the fees credit card companies charge.

Elliot Buchanan and Daniel Choi founded Plastiq while both graduates were attending Harvard University. The company currently has two offices set up in Toronto and Boston.

At institutions like Western, credit is currently not an option to pay off tuition fees, without a

middleman like Plastiq. But the university’s growth may eventually lead the administration to consider this option.

The issue was raised in last year’s University Students’ Council presidential campaign, with the current administration of president Pat Whelan not endorsing the payment method.

“Companies look for new markets, and that’s an indication that methods [of tuition payment] through provincial and federal government are not sufficient,” Whelan said. “[Students] shouldn’t have to go through credit because it implies that there are no other lower interest loans available to them like OSAP, bursaries or commercial loans.”

Plastiq wasn’t available to comment on how the payment system works and how the interest rates would impact post-secondary institutions like Western. However, the basic idea itself drew mixed reactions from students.

“If the government has a plan to initially stall the repayment period

where students don’t have to make a minimum payment, then it’d be a good idea,” Eva Przybyla, a fourthyear student specializing in Studio Arts suggested.

“But if they don’t pay it off right away, they just fall further into the debt. And then it’s that much harder to get out of it,” added Katie Ross, who also specialized in Studio Arts.

It should be noted, however, that if the USC decides to endorse credit payments for tuition, the decision shouldn’t be made hastily.

In May, Western’s CIBC Centre for Human Capital and Productivity put out a study that found students walked out of university with an average of $10,000 in debt, and companies like Plastiq may agitate the student debt problem.

“The fact that [Plastiq] has found a market for this should act as a warning bell for governments and universities that it is becoming unaffordable to be a student,” Whelan said.

4•

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Arts&Life

wednesdayword Supercilious Adjective. Coolly and patronizingly haughty.

Fresh, fair trade coffee at the new Fire Roasted Mary Ann Ciosk Arts & Life Editor As coffee enthusiasts and caffeineaddicts have surely noted, Fire Roasted Coffee has finally opened their downtown location. This socially conscious company, committed to quality coffee, has been at Western Fair Farmer’s Market since 2007, but due to increasing popularity have now opened a downtown café as well. Dave Cook, founder and owner of FRC, initially sold his coffee part-tim e while he worked full-time at Sobey’s grocery store.

“I thought, ‘Okay this isn’t a big commitment I’ll just go into the farmer’s market and sell my coffee one day a week to have some fun and share it with people.’ Four months later I ended up quitting my job and doing it full-time,” Cook recalls.

And what is the secret to Cook’s enormous success?

“Freshness and variety,” Cook states. “I was roasting it just before bringing it into market. At the time I started I had about 15 different kinds of fair-trade coffee which was really rare — you wouldn’t have been able to find that in London almost anywhere at the time.”

FRC’s new location is conveniently situated downtown by the Covent Garden Market, providing it with plenty of potential business.

However, with Hasbeans, Little Red Roaster, Starbucks and Tim Horton’s all within walking distance, FRC also has some competition.

Cook, however, enumerates all the reasons his coffee will surpass neighbouring retailers.

“We’re really serious about

Logan Ly GAZETTE

A CLEAN, WELL-LIGHTED CAFE Fire Roasted customers peruse the café and enjoy their beverages, secure in the knowledge the coffee farmers were well compensated for their steaming cup of life-essence.

quality, we only get the best. We have one of the most developed espresso programs in the city in terms of getting drinks and hand-crafted lattes and cappuccinos. We have a really knowledgeable staff and we’re also a social entrepreneur business so we’ve always been really focused on community building.”

Another aspect of Fire Roasted Coffee that gives them an edge over competitors is their chocolate.

“Three years ago when we were on a trip to Guatemala someone taught us how to make chocolate, so there’s a full chocolate production in that cafe where we’ll be

fresh-grinding 15 to 20 different types. And it’s the same approach — fresh roasted, fresh milk, crazy assortment […] You probably wouldn’t find that anywhere in the world, in my opinion,” Cook says.

FRC is not only a delight to the taste buds but also a boost for one’s social conscience. 90 per cent of FRC’s products are Fair Trade certified, and the remaining 10 per cent originate from locations that do not yet have Fair Trade programs instated.

“They may not have certifications but we know them and who they are. We always make sure that

any of the products that we handle are ethical,” Cook assures.

Buying Fair Trade coffee and tea has garnered increasing awareness recently, especially among university students. Spending the extra 25 to 50 cents on a quality cup of coffee — which ensures a decent wage for coffee farmers — is certainly worth the difference. As Cook states, “If it’s really cheap it’s usually at someone else’s expense”.

Another reason FRC is popular among students is its hours — it remains open from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. for those looking for a latenight pick-me-up.

Mike Laine Gazette

Editor’s Picks > The essentials for your week

ON TV Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Season Finale Mama June is finally getting married on the season finale of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. We’ve all seen the pictures of her in the camouflage dress and the fluorescent bouquet of flowers but now we finally get to see it all, in its true redneck fashion. While there might not be “scratch n’ sniff” gimmicks with this episode as there was for the premiere, this hour-long finale will surely put a smile on your face as Sugar Bear finally becomes an official part of the Thompson brood.

ON DISC

ON THE CHARTS

IN THEATreS

ON DVD

AM by Arctic Monkeys

“Berzerk” by Eminem

The Family

Sharknado

Arctic Monkeys’ fifth album, AM is garnering positive critical reviews as the band turns in a different direction, taking on a more electric sound mixing with their standard indie rock style. The album will also be more professionally produced with band members noting in interviews that AM sounds less like four guys jamming in a room and more like a full fledged studio album.

As the song eloquently puts it, “Let’s bring it back to that vintage Slim, bitch!” Eminem’s latest effort, “Berzerk,” is a throwback to his earlier Slim Shady days. The single has a much more aggressive sound than seen recently from Eminem. In fact, the song is much less poetic than most of his hits and musically, it offers a pretty simplistic beat that sounds a little too produced at times.

First off, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro play husband and wife. A quick Google will tell you that there is a fifteen year difference between the two which isn’t too awful — but goodness. It just looks odd. Anyway, the film provides an interesting fishout-of-water story as a mafia family is relocated to a sleepy French town as part of the Witness Protection Program.

Unfortunately, it seems they are unable to change their mafia lifestyle ways and blow their cover. Hilarity ensues?

Let’s talk about Sharknado for a minute and you should pay attention because this is the honest truth: A tornado hits Los Angeles and creates a multitude of waterspouts which begin to flood the city. In the ensuing tornadoes, bloodthirsty sharks are scooped up into the air, and tossed into now-flooded neighbourhoods. While it remains unknown where writer Thunder Levin came up with this idea — or what he was under the influence of when he did — the film will be released on DVD this week and will undoubtedly be a fun so-bad-it’s-good watch.

•5

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Finding the freshest Serving varied performances at a farmer’s market Holmes is on the Case

Brent Holmes Arts & Life Editor As the school year starts up and grocery stores become flooded with students in search of their next meal, many will be looking for a fresher, local alternative and may want to explore farmer’s markets for food. Farmer’s markets such as the Tuesday market outside of Social Science and the Friday and Saturday market in the northwestern corner of the Masonville Plaza are good places to find fresh produce. Having worked on a fruit and vegetable farm for the past three summers, here are some tips on how to get the best out of your farmer’s market experience.

Be Prepared — Farmer’s markets typically only take cash.

Normally, there will be a bank or ATM nearby but the best solution is to bring a certain amount of hard cash with you.

Know What You’re Going For — It’s easy to walk into a farmer’s market. It is harder to know what to buy. Often the uninitiated will buy fresh food on impulse and not know what to do with it once it is in the kitchen, letting it rot or using it past its prime. In order to shop effectively know what you are looking for and when you are going to use it. It’s easy to find plenty of recipes online or in the student paper to use. Many

times the vendors may have several unique ideas that will make for a delicious dinner.

Know the Season — Around August and September, squash season will have already started. Corn, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and many other vegetables are still being picked and can be bought fresh.

When looking to find out what is available, the easiest option is to ask the vendor how long a certain product will be in season.

Know Where It Comes From — Farmer’s markets are the home of many vendors. Fresh produce can either be coming straight from the farm or be resold by someone who bought from a certain farm.

Typically, fresh-from-the-farmfood will be more expensive but well worth the cost — the food will be fresher and its origin will be clearer.

The best way is to ask the people selling where the food comes from, when and where it was picked, and if they have a pick your own or if it is possible to visit the farm where it is grown. Definite answers to these questions offer a good guarantee of good product.

Organic Food Is Not Always the Best — Organic food that has never been sprayed with pesticides has become a popular item at markets; however, organic does not always mean best.

Typically, buying organic will be more expensive and lower quality than a product that gets sprayed. For vegetables, it may be just as easy to wash the produce in a full sink with a cup of vinegar to get the same effect.

Logan Ly Gazette

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Kevin Heslop Gazette Staff Lee Daniels’ The Buttler Directed by: Lee Daniels Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey David Oyelowo, Elijah Kelley, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Terrance Howard, Cuba Good Jr., Mariah Carey Lee Daniels’ The Butler weaves together the story of a young man’s war with his father and the arduous evolution of civil rights in the America from 1960 through to present day.

Cecil Gains (Forest Whitaker) is the son of a cotton farmer. Despite being born into poverty, he slowly climbs the social ladder, ultimately becoming a butler serving in the White House. In addition to his career ambitions Gains struggles to balance his relationship with his wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) and their two sons, Louis and Charlie (David Oyelowo and Elijah Kelley).

Robin Williams, as President Eisenhower, gives a brief and unconvincing performance. Oprah’s

performance as Gloria is, at best, passable. Likewise, Mariah Carey gives us a hardly moving depiction of Cecile’s mother. The results of these choices are that the marquee bears the names of some of Hollywood’s most powerful people, but the artistic merit of the film has suffered considerably as a result.

That being said, the film is not without fine performances. The standout among them is undoubtedly Whitaker, who conveys enormous amounts of emotion with subtlety and impressive finesse, which solidify his position as a world-class actor.

Also noticeable is John Cusack’s portrayal of Richard Nixon, with his wooden sincerity and subtle, resonating drawl so strikingly realistic, it would have made any Democrat shiver with contempt. Alan Rickman, too, gives a solid, humane performance as Ronald Regan, while Jane Fonda commands the icy superficiality of Nancy Reagan.

Cuba Gooding Jr., as the goofy sexcrazed head butler, does a fine job in the pivotal role of mood-lightener in this dark reflective piece.

David Oyelowo gives a very fine

performance as Louis, contributing substantially to the largely twohanded scenes between himself and Whitaker. Elijah Kelly also brings us an impressive performance as the younger son.

These few performances aside, the brilliance of this film is found in the interweaving of the two plots, which is to say the words of screenwriter Danny Strong. While Cecil serves as a scrupulous butler with two faces, “ours, and the one we show the white folk,” and Louis, his eldest son, struggles for equal rights in the streets farther south, we see the consequences of both manners of struggle to be not so dissimilar after all.

Director Lee Daniels privies the audience to the richness of the gray area between both plots. The film is cut in a lean, fast-paced manner which succeeds in passing considerable amounts of time in a poignant, rather than a jarring, manner.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler is sure to be a significant contender during awards season and is definitely worth seeing.

6•

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Opinions

It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could some day facilitate a Police State.

— Bruce Schneier

It’s London, Your voice, your not Fun-don opinions page What’s that smell in the air? Fun? Oh no, don’t be so silly. Here in the city of London, Ontario, that’s the smell of oppression. It seems the community created by Project LEARN is one where the London Police are constantly watching you, waiting for the very moment when you obviously lose your sense and invite a couple of friends over for drinks. Don’t make a single noise because you might just get slapped with a ticket for thousands of dollars.

Project LEARN (Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise) places police officers in neighbourhoods frequently inhabited by students. Without a noise complaint, police can knock on your door and slap you with a fine if they think you’re being too noisy.

While the ethics of targeting one specific group of people are shoddy at best, it’s an even bigger problem in this case.

Handing out large fines to students, who are generally not the most financially stable, is just callous. Not only does Project LEARN push students into shaky financial situations but the effectiveness of the program itself is even shakier.

People will always have parties. Students will always drink. Creating such a taboo around partying makes it even more alluring to students. Sure, there could be a lot more craziness in the city but is that really indicative of the program’s success ? Project LEARN’s guidelines for breaking up parties are very arbitrary, creating a confusing system that leaves students behind.

Last year, University Students’ Council president Pat Whelan took a strong stance against Project LEARN. In London, where students’ voices are so regularly ignored, can Whelan actually make headway in dismantling this program during his term? It’s doubtful. What he can do, however, is get people talking — make a huge, flamboyant statement against it.

Perhaps the most hilarious part about this whole situation is the environment it creates for students. The municipal government continually squeals about students fleeing London after graduation, but who can blame them? Maybe if London didn’t persecute students for...well, being students, there wouldn’t be problem with retention rates.

So by all means, enjoy yourself while you’re in London — but not too much. You never know when the Fun Police... err...London Police, will come and empty your pockets in the name of their discriminatory policies.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

thegazette

Volume 107, Issue 5 www.westerngazette.ca

Julian Uzielli Editor-In-Chief Cameron M. Smith Deputy Editor Jason Sinukoff Managing Editor

Contact: www.westerngazette.ca University Community Centre Rm. 263 The University of Western Ontario London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial Offices: (519) 661-3580 Advertising Dept.: (519) 661-3579

The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.

Seven Minutes in Kevin

Kevin Hurren Opinions Editor I was excited to start as The Gazette’s Opinions editor this year for a few reasons.

First, there was the fact that I had an excuse to use my slightly inappropriate byline multiple times a week.

Then there’s also the perk of sorting through the anonymous “Dear Life” submissions, a task that makes me feel simultaneously connected to and disturbed by the Western community.

But mostly I was excited because of something that happened to me last year while I was serving as Arts & Life editor.

For some reason I needed to find an old book review I published in first year, so I went to the online Gazette archives and typed “Triangles,” the name of the book.

The first search result wasn’t my book review but instead a letter to the editor.

My interest was piqued and I decided to click on the link. I was then directed to a web entry from the late 1990s.

Letters to the editor, for those less familiar with The Gazette, are 150 to 250 word passages written by readers.

Anyone can submit letters through the Gazette’s contact page, and the topic can be about anything.

Because of the name “letters to the editor,” most believe the outlet can only be used for commenting on things previously published in The Gazette.

But the letter I stumbled upon was different.

The submission was from a first year student living in residence. His letter was directed to the other students who continuously ripped down the pink triangle

Editorials are decided by a majority of the editorial board and are written by a member of the editorial board but are not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial board member. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff.

To submit a letter, go to westerngazette.ca and click on “Contact.”

All articles, letters, photographs, graphics, illustrations and cartoons published in The Gazette, both in the newspaper and online versions, are the property of The Gazette. By submitting any such material to The Gazette for publication, you grant to The Gazette a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to publish such material in perpetuity in any media, including but not limited to, The Gazette‘s hard copy and online archives.

he placed on his residence door. He wrote that the pink triangle represented his support for the LGBT community, and that every time someone tore it down, he would place up another one. He wasn’t going to be scared. He wasn’t going to back down.

I wish I had saved the letter, because now when I desperately search the archives I can’t find it. I try to remember the combination of words I typed, or the search engine I used. But no matter how much I look I can’t find it.

And why am I so desperate to find the lost letter? Because it represents everything I want the Opinions section to be this year. Powerful, brave, honest. But to make the section this way I need your help.

The Gazette needs its readers to send in letters to the editor that are more than just pointing out a typo in last week’s issue. We need more than complaints, and we need more than compliments.

What we need is the voice of the student body. Treat the letters to the editor section as an opportunity to proclaim something to the Western community.

All your letter needs is passion, and when we print it over 11,000 times your words have the potential to spark discussion on campus and ignite change.

So write about anything you want.

Write about global affairs or local events.

Write about some good advice you once received, or wish you had. Write about something you want to change. Write about something you love. Write about a pink triangle.

Whatever you choose to write about, I promise you it will make a difference to someone, somewhere. It might be someone who picked up The Gazette that morning, or it might be someone who happened upon it over ten years later in The Gazette archives.

So, what are you waiting for?

To send us a letter, go to www.westerngazette.ca/contact/.

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising Ian Greaves, Manager Robert Armstrong

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Karen Savino Diana Watson

Gazette Staff 2012-2013

Danielle Bozinoff, Jaclyn Carbone, Jonathan Dunn, Andrew Evans, Chelsey Gauthier, Ross Hamilton, Danny Huang, Amanda Law, Jared MacAdam, Sarah Mai Chitty, Sarah Manning, Kaitlyn Oh, Sarah Prince, Chen Rao, Herb Richardson, Nathan Robbins-Kanter, Lily Robinson, Katie Roseman, Jasleen Sembhi, Nathan TeBokkel, Jacqueline Ting, Caroline Wang, Kate Wilkinson, Zoe Woods, Usman Zahid, Mason Zimmer

News Richard Raycraft Megan Devlin Iain Boekhoff Jeremiah Rodriguez Arts & Life Brent Holmes Mary Ann Ciosk Bradley Metlin Sports Daniel Weryha Nusaiba Al-Azem Caitlin Martin Newnham Opinions Kevin Hurren

We asked, should companies like Bell and Rogers be allowed to sell to students on campus during O-Week? @reneetamming @uwogazette: yeah. Why not? Everyone’s allowed to advertise. Just students don’t know what Verizon is on the horizon. @AndrewScarffe @uwogazette: absolutely!

Unless we’re willing to minimize services and resources available those revenues help keep student fees down. @bwishart @uwogazette: People remembr the quality of the event, not the sponsors. @JFresh91 @uwogazette: it would be nice to know what they are doing for the school besides paying for advertising dollars. @Bailey_VDay @uwogazette: super frustrating when they ask sophs to approach students after they’re “done” with them.

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Associate Kaitlyn McGrath Aaron Zaltzman Photography Logan Ly Bill Wang Kelly Samuel Graphics Naira Ahmed Illustrations Christopher Miszczak John Prata Online Jesica Hurst Graphics/Video Mike Laine

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•7

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Sports

saywhat?

“I expect to win. So I don’t get overly excited when we win, because every time we step on the field, that’s what I’m there for.

If you see us win or you see us lose, I’m not going to be jumping around either way.”

>> Mike Wallace, Miami Dolphins receiver about their win over the Cleveland Browns.

Rundown >> The Mustangs’ field hockey team boasted three wins and a tie to remained undefeated in a pre-season tournament held at York University > They will begin their season this weekend at Warrior Field in Waterloo in a rematch against the Queen’s Gaels.

Western Softball breaks century mark Mustang women win 100th consecutive game Kaitlyn McGrath Associate Editor The Western Mustangs softball team’s win streak has hit triple digits.

Over the weekend, the Mustangs won their 100th consecutive regular season game after defeating the Waterloo Warriors 13−0 on Sunday in the first game of a double-header.

Shortly after, the team eclipsed the 100 win mark by winning the second game 13−3.

The win streak stretches back to the 2008 season, meaning many players who have since graduated contributed to this accomplishment. Mustangs head coach Pete Lemon, who has been at the helm of the team since 2002, said he’s proud of the consistent success of the softball program.

[There’s] a great feeling of pride in the entire program,” he said.

“Any sort of longevity record like that is impressive because there’s turnover.”

Preparing for each and every game is how the team remains competitive, Lemon said. In order to gain valuable playing experience, the Mustangs travel to the United States to take on high calibre teams

from the NCAA. “We try to prepare in every way that we can,” he said. “We try and identify weaknesses that we have, and eliminate them.”

However, being a heavy favourite has a downside — the Mustangs always have a huge target on their back, Lemon said. However, he added that his team uses this as motivation, not a setback.

“Everybody wants to be the one that beats us, so that’s a continuing incentive to not let them beat us,” he said. “We can’t get complacent — we have to play hard every game.”

Now that they’ve racked up 100 straight wins, the Mustangs can work on achieving another milestone — becoming the first Canadian school to win three national softball championships in a row.

With 13 players from last year’s team on the roster this year, along with a strong class of first-year recruits, Lemon said the team’s goal is to once again be playing for both the provincial and national championships.

In fact, Lemon said he thinks this year’s team is stronger than last year’s.

While the team does have their

Cameron Wilson Gazette

sights set on another championship, for now the team is polishing up fundamentals, Lemon said.

“We have a lot of smaller goals from week to week we’re working on,” he said. “Trying to bunt better or steal bases better [or] hit for higher averages — there’s a lot of

things we’re working on toward that big goal.”

This weekend, the Mustangs hope to continue their win streak in Ottawa. The Mustangs will play double-headers against both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Last year, the Mustangs beat Ottawa in extra innings during last year’s provincial championship and Lemon expects them to be a strong team again this year. The Ottawa game will be played on Sunday, while the Mustangs take on Carleton Saturday afternoon.

Wrestlers place at Francophone Games Mustangs take home two silver medals and a bronze Caitlin Martin Newnham Sports Editor Western wrestlers took their talents overseas as Steven Takahashi, Riley Otto and Brianne Barry travelled to Nice, France from September 6-15 to represent Canada in the 2013 Francophone Games. Saeed Azarbayjani, one of Western’s wrestling coaches, was one of two coaches to lead Team Canada in the games.

The Francophone Games host both art and sporting events every four years for countries that have French as an official language and French culture. Canada is represented by three teams including Quebec, New Brunswick and Team Canada because of the strong Francophone influence in the two provinces.

Takahashi, Otto and Barry competed in the Games after non-stop preparation. “[Takahashi, Otto and Barry] are involved in international events over the summer because they’re part of the national program. After the varsity season, they just continue on as part of London Western — our wrestling club […] They continued right through so they haven’t actually had a break. I mean, they’ve had some downtime, but not really a long break,” Ray Takahashi, Western’s wrestling coach, said.

The wrestlers’ vigorous competition and preparation schedule prior to the Games was evidently advantageous based on their rankings.

Takahashi placed second in the 55 kg category, Otto placed second in the 96 kg category, and Barry placed third in the 55 kg category.

“The Francophone Games is a unique international event because it includes countries that have a French language or culture or are affiliated to the state. So you get different countries in there than [in] typical international wrestling tournaments,” coach Takahashi said.

“I was really uncertain on how we would do because we don’t normally see them, so I had no idea.”

Steven Takahashi almost scored in the last few seconds of his final match against Ohan Gikinyan from Armenia. Takahashi attempted a turn right, prompting a flurry of action. However, it looked like he did turn Gikinyan, which would have won Takahashi the match and the gold. The score was 6–4 for Gikinyan when Team Canada challenged the referee’s call.

“I’m not sure if they didn’t give him the two [points] or the buzzer went, but the Canadian Team challenged the call […] he lost the review.

If you lose the review they give another point to the opponent, so that’s how he ended up [with a] 7–4 [loss]. He would have won on the tie

Cameron Wilson GAZETTE

Mustangs take hold. Three Mustangs represented Canada in the Francophone Games in Nice, France this week. Two silver medals and one bronze medal were awarded to Steven Takahashi, Riley Otto and Brianne Barry, respectively. This impressive finish sets the stage for a great season where this trio will highlight the Mustangs squad.

if he would have won that call, but it came down to the last few seconds of the match,” coach Takahashi said.

Takahashi, Otto and Barry are leaders in Western varsity wrestling,

and will be involved in the national program throughout the year to gain more out-of-province experience. These three victorious wrestlers aspire to win the Ontario

University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships in the upcoming season.

8•

thegazette • Wednesday, September 11, 2013

First few games kick off to a great start Women’s soccer team remains undefeated Nusaiba Al-Azem Sports Editor With O-Week winding down and classes dragging everyone back to the reality of school, Western athletics is still providing students a source of cheer and celebration to contrast the gloom of studying and books. The Mustangs women’s soccer team is kicking off a fantastic start to this season, with no losses on their record yet.

The team started the season off strongly, with a 2–0 win against the Waterloo Warriors on August 31.

They continued in this successful fashion, boasting an impressive 6–0 win against the Windsor Lancers last week.

Mustangs defender Jenna White attributes the team’s success to their determination.

“We have a very driven group of girls who have a common goal of being the best,” White said.

On Saturday, the team continued their streak, scoring three goals against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks to shut them out.

In their first away game of the season on Sunday, the Mustangs came to their first draw of the year against the York Lions. While still undefeated, their shutout streak was officially broken when Lions’ Charlene D’Mello scored a goal minutes into the second half.

Spectators should be sure to catch the Mustangs’ chance at a better finish against York on September

27, as both teams will be looking to establish themselves as the victor in light of their recent draw.

The game against Guelph on October 6 will be also be one to watch out for, with the Gryphons currently at the top of the standings, followed closely in the rankings by the Mustangs.

A game perhaps all Mustangs will be keen to follow will take place on September 22 against the

McMaster Marauders. In the quarter-finals last season, the Mauraders beat the Mustangs in a shootout to eliminate Western from the playoffs.

The Mustangs will surely be seeking redemption this year.

Mustangs midfielder Jessi Couto remembers the incident well.

“The results are always close, so every game is a battle,” Couto said about competing with teams in the league.

With more attacking players and a younger team, Couto is confident in her team’s ability to get results.

“As a team we are all willing to put in the extra effort on and off the field, and I think it shows,” she said.

Mustangs head coach Martin Painter is focused on preparing the mental game for his team as well as the physical game.

“Our biggest obstacle is to develop a mentality that will allow

us to develop and improve and ultimately compete for championships,” Painter said.

Make sure to follow the success of your Mustangs women’s soccer team when they travel to Waterloo Sunday September 15 to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks. Laurier is currently directly below Western in the standings and will try to end the Mustangs’ undefeated streak to climb up the standings themselves.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Naira Ahmed Gazette

CLUBS WEEK COMING! From September 16th to 20th, almost 200 clubs will gather together to recruit members for the upcoming year. Clubs Week provides ample opportunities for students to get involved with campus life. Come to the UCC next week and find your niche!

LAIRD LECTURE (Department of Physics and Astronomy Annual Lecture), Nobel Laureate Dr. Klaus von Klitzing will speak about “The Quantum Hall Effect \endash Physics and Application”, Thursday 19th September 2013, 5:30pm, Paul Davenport Theatre (Talbot College). All are welcome.

PUT YOUR SUDOKU SAVVY TO THE TEST! To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.

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