Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Dawn of the Dead Animated film celebrates Mexican Día de Muertos. >> Pg. 5

thegazette

TODAY high 9 low 5

Participating in mutually agreed upon sexual activities since 1906

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014

TOMORROW high 9 low 4

WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906

>> ELECTION RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

VOLUME 108, ISSUE 32

USC submits budget proposal to university Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR

@KatieAtGazette

Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE

Council changes suprising Hamza Tariq NEWS EDITOR @HamzaAtGazette

The results of the London municipal elections have surprised observers both inside and outside of the city.

Londoners turned out in their highest number in 20 years to vote for change and the make-up of the new city council reflects that.

The voter turnout during this year’s elections was 42.2 per cent — the highest since 1994. The turnout also surpassed the 2010 elections in which only 39.9 per cent of the eligible voters cast votes.

Matt Brown, London’s mayor-elect, was successful in his bid for the city’s top job as he comfortably beat second placed Paul Cheng by approximately 26,000 votes. Brown received 63,843 votes — 57.7 per cent of the votes cast in the mayoral race.

“When we launched this campaign, we said we wanted to reach out — we wanted to connect with as many Londoners as we possibly could,” Brown said at Jim Bob Ray’s, before he headed to the London Convention Centre to give his acceptance speech.

“We made a commitment to listen first and over the past 10 months we did exactly that.”

Brown’s margin of victory was

also greater than former mayor Joe Fontana’s four years ago. Fontana garnered 47.3 per cent of the total vote, edging out runner up Mary DeCicco-Best by less than three per cent.

Brown noted the past four years have been tumultuous but he was optimistic for the future.

“We have faced our fair share of challenges over the past four years but we have just shown that we can fight our way back,” Brown said. “We can get to work on a better city for this generation and the next.”

An almost complete overhaul was seen at city hall as only three of the eight incumbents running were re-elected. Bill Armstrong, Paul Hubert and Harold Usher were the only councillors successful in retaining their wards as 11 new candidates were elected.

The 2014 elections also brought an end to the era of the ‘Fontana 8.’

This group of councillors led by the former mayor was often reported to form a bloc and cause division on the council on major issues.

It was seen as a big upset that none of these councillors will be rejoining the city council for the next four years. Veteran councillor Bud Polhill, who was first elected to represent Ward 1 in 1988, was defeated comfortably by Michael Van Holst, who had 20 per cent more votes.

I

T WAS CLEAR THAT VOTERS WANTED CHANGE.

Voters craved change Cool Story Broekhoff

MARIE BLOSH

WARD 6 CANDIDATE

Iain Boekhoff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @IainAtGazette

“It was clear that voters wanted change,” said Marie Blosh, a Ward 6 candidate.

Blosh was a close second in the race for Ward 6 and lost to Phil Squire by approximately 300 votes. Ward 6, which encompasses Western University and its surrounding areas, also saw 19-yearold King’s University College student Amir Farahi run for council. Farahi placed fourth in the race for Ward 6, with 13 per cent of the votes.

Apart from the high turnover in the city council, the average age of the new council is also relatively low. Seven of the 14 councillors are under 40. Two new councillors, Jared Zaifman and Mohamed Salih, are in their twenties while mayor-elect Brown is 41.

“A new and largely inexperienced council will have a big job ahead. I wish them well,” Blosh said.

On Monday night, Londoners voted in more than just a new mayor — they voted in a new city hall.

Not only do we have an almost entirely different council, they are also younger and more diverse. The calls for change were finally translated into real action on the part of voters. And with good reason.

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin called London one of the two most dysfunctional councils in Ontario.

Frustrations with the shenanigans of the previous four years — which included a couple investigations from Marin, a voting block known as the “Fontana 8” and a mayor who resigned after being found guilty of fraud while holding public office — had clearly reached a boiling point and for once, people put their vote where their mouth is. >> see CHANGE pg.2

The University Students’ Council submitted their 2015 budget submission to Western’s administration on Tuesday.

The document is a recommendation to the university for what the USC would like to see in the upcoming budget. It was given to Ruban Chelladurai, associate vice-president planning, budgeting and information technology, Angie Mandich, associate vice-president student experience and Janice Deakin, provost and vice-president academic programs.

Andrew Lalka, USC vice-president finance, said the document will be taken into consideration for the next three years of the budget process for the university, as well as being part of Mandich’s budget report.

While not an actual budget suggestion, the document provides some concrete recommendations for Western.

“We’re asking for an additional $250,000 annually, so that’s a very specific and tangible ask,” Lalka explained. “But in other areas we’re identifying things as priorities, so we’re asking that the university, who we consider the experts in administrating, actually come up with what the appropriate number is.”

The submission highlights three key priorities for the USC to be considered in the budget process. These include continuing to provide the best student experience, maintaining the world class academic experience Western has to offer students and setting aside funds to maintain current infrastructure and construct new buildings. >> see BUDGET pg.3

Inside

•••

USC against oil divestment

• P3

Gazette tested: Halloween costumes

• P4

Head to head: Fall study break yay or nay

• P6

Letter: Arts degrees no laughing matter

• P6

Men’s volleyball sweeps in Kingston

• P7

2•

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Amy O’Shea • GAZETTE

OUR DEAR LEADER. Matt Brown waves to a supporter as he celebrates his mayoral win at Jim Bob Ray’s on Monday night.

Brown will lead an almost entirely new council for the next four years.

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

Change is hard work >> CHANGE continued from pg.1

Seeing so many established names fall ward after ward showed that the citizens of London really do care about their city and they believe that their vote can make a difference.

The signs of real change were there as soon as polling picked up in the last month, with Joe Swan languishing in single digits in the mayoral race. That an established, long-serving councillor would have such a hard time in attracting supporters was surprising: typically it’s the newcomers that have trouble garnering support.

Matt Brown was victorious on the night, getting well over 50 per cent support from Londoners. His message:

getting rid of the division in council, working with the community and no more nonsense was what Londoners were looking for. We’ve seen how big, bold promises being made and bitterly fought over in council turn out both here and, notably, in Toronto. Brown offered boring, (in a good way) and a reset in the perception of city hall, which is something London desperately needs.

Adding to the new mayor will be a new council, one that is, on the whole, young and progressive leaning. Eleven out of 14 councillors will be new — a stark contrast to the past two municipal elections where incumbents were re-elected without any trouble.

Londoners have had their say

and they’ve wisely used their power to bring in new people and potentially a new direction to London. But that doesn’t mean the results are a victory or that keeping city council in check only happens once every four years.

We’ve seen what happens when city council runs rampant and plays politics rather than bringing the city together. This is an opportunity for new people and to hold those new people to a higher standard so that council doesn’t slide into dysfunction and complacency again.

Voting may send a powerful message, but it’s the times between voting that we need to remember to stay engaged and keep our elected representatives in check.

News Briefs Solution to puzzle on page 8

Having children makes you happy... sometimes

A Western researcher has collaborated to produce some interesting findings on the connection between happiness and fertility.

Rachel Margolis, a sociologist and demographer at Western’s Faculty of Social Science, worked with Mikko Myrskylä of the London School of Economics and the Max

Planck Institute for Demographic Research to publish the article Happiness: Before and After the Kids in the journal Demography.

With policy makers concerned about falling birth rates across the developed world, the timing couldn’t have been better.

“One of the greatest things about being a demographer/sociologist is that I can study things that are really relevant to people’s lives,” Margolis said. “This study’s findings are really important because they help to explain why people are postponing their fertility and why people are choosing to have a small number of children.”

The article, which used German data from 1984–2009 and British data from 1991–2008, found people who have children at an older age (35–49) report higher levels of happiness before and after the birth of their first child compared to other age groups. This is especially true compared to those who have children in their teens, who typically see a decline in happiness following a birth.

Numbers are also a factor, as happiness gains are lower for a second child and unremarkable for a third child.

• Richard Raycraft

Correction In yesterday’s elections results on page one, Harold Usher was incorrectly identified as placing 12th in the mayoral race.

In fact, he won the race in Ward 12 over Peter Ferguson. Dennis Perry placed 12th in the mayoral race. The Gazette regrets the error. We were so close.

The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error. © 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

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•3

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Budget focus on health, experience

>> OIL DIVESTMENT

>> BUDGET continued from pg.1

Iain Boekhoff • GAZETTE

OIL DIVESTMENT NO MORE. Stuart Ruffalo, former Enviro Western coordinator, speaks in favour of the University Students’ Council divesting from oil at a meeting last March. The USC voted last Wednesday that divesting would be financially unviable.

Iain Boekhoff • GAZETTE

OIL DIVESTMENT NO MORE. Stuart Ruffalo, former Enviro Western coordinator, speaks in favour of the University Students’ Council divesting from oil at a meeting last March. The USC voted last Wednesday that divesting would not be financially viable.

USC votes against oil divestment Drishti Kataria GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette

The University Students’ Council decided against oil divestment at last Wednesday’s council meeting.

Just last year, the USC had been on the path toward oil divestment — where the USC would take out all of its investments in oil companies — and they were tasked with looking into the feasibility of divestment for this year. Enviro Western had brought concerns about the fact that some of USC’s capital assets are invested in energy companies including oil companies.

Jack Litchfield, president of the Social Science Students’ Council and chair of the long-term plan and budget committee, mentioned that last year’s council was asked to do an in-depth investigation into the issues that would arise from divestment and its feasibility. It was concluded that they cannot affectively divest and would lose a lot of money in pulling out of NEI, who manage the USC’s investments, and reinvesting themselves.

He went on to say that in a

climate of increasingly heavy budget cuts to the university as an institution from the province, as well as tuition caps and struggles with inflationary costs of running the corporation, its important for the USC to have some kind of stable financial investments like this as sources of guaranteed revenue.

“From a strictly financial perspective, it’s not possible to be purely divested from the energy sector in all forms,” Andrew Lalka, USC vice-president finance, said. “I don’t think there is a single piece of the business world that operates outside of energy or is totally untouched by it.”

Lalka continued that the USC’s funds have been divested from select players of petrochemical industry. These companies actively obstruct environmental legislation, new regulations and policies and they don’t invest in clean alternative energy and in more efficient research.

Lalka explained the “USC should be very proud of how its money is invested, not only in terms of its performance, but in terms of being able to claim that our money is some of the most ethically, environmentally

I

DON’T THINK THERE IS A SINGLE PIECE OF THE BUSINESS WORLD THAT OPERATES OUTSIDE OF ENERGY OR IS TOTALLY UNTOUCHED BY IT. ANDREW LALKA

@KevinAtGazette

It’s been a week since last Wednesday’s University Students’ Council meeting, but the motions passed are as relevant as ever.

For those who missed the meeting, or wondering what happens behind closed USC doors, here’s a recap of everything that went down Wednesday night.

The evening began with a call for elections committee members. This group of students will be in charge of overseeing USC elections and campaigning — and as the committee forms excitement is already mounting around who will run.

Though council’s looking forward to elections, that doesn’t make the current USC executive less influential. Each presented their update to council, detailing accomplishments and projects.

Vice-president student events Sam Kilgour spoke about the orientation coordinator selection process, having picked former off-campus head soph Eddy Avila to lead next year’s O-week.

On the note of O-week, vice-president internal Emily Addison reassured council that concerns around the One Love rally have been heard and a process will be put into place next year to integrate feedback in a more constructive way.

In addition to talks from the USC exec, presentations were given by Western marching band president Elizabeth Jewlal and USC technological infrastructure intern Paul Craig. Jewlal spoke on the financial hardships of the marching band, imploring the council to consider attaching a 50-cent charge to the undergraduate student fee. Craig detailed the reasoning behind the new USC website design, specifically

SHAD

KEYNOTE AND PERFORMANCE OPENING EVENT

USC VICE-PRESIDENT FINANCE

and socially responsible invested in the entire country.”

According to both Lalka and Litchfield, the USC’s stance on oil divestment will not have an effect on Western’s pro-environment image as a university.

Western is leading the charge in many environmental initiatives including six LEED certified buildings at different levels on campus.

Also, coffee cups were recently made recyclable on campus. Furthermore, there are also some very strong student movements in favour of better environmental reforms.

USC meeting roundup Kevin Hurren NEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE

“What we’re trying to do here is we’re trying to articulate the University Students’ Council’s priorities with regards to the budget,” USC president Matt Helfand said.

“So what we’ve done is highlight three main areas in which we believe the university should be developing and maintaining their commitment in the future.”

Mental health also played a key factor in the proposal as the USC suggested a new initiative titled the No Wrong Door Approach, which the USC hopes will address the issue that support services are scattered across campus.

“The No Wrong Door Approach is a model of service delivery whereby a student is able to never get turned away when they need help,” Helfand said.

“This is a very big concept and we realize it’s not going to happen overnight, but … our goal is to have students be able to walk into a building that provides a service and rather than getting turned away because they don’t provide that service, have

that person either provide it for them or make sure that they know they can reach it in some other way,” he continued.

Other recommendations include increasing funding for the development of internship and co-operative education opportunities and increasing the operating budget for the vice-president of student experience.

The USC has accumulated student opinions over past years to drive their suggestions in this submission.

“It was also informed by four years of outreach that we have done, right back to the current strategic plan that we have that had over 11,000 points of direct student engagement,” Lalka said.

The motion to approve the budget recommendations for submission was passed at last week’s USC meeting with significant support. According to Lalka, the budget for the upcoming year is typically passed in the Senate in February and to the Board of Governors in March.

highlighting accessibility and easy interaction.

Beyond these talks, five motions were passed by the council. The most notable being Jack Litchfield’s, chair of the long-term plan and budget standing committee, recommending that no further action be taken to divest from oil as was suggested by last year’s Enviro Western coordinator.

Other passed motions include ones from social science councillors Trevor Hunt, making attendance at external committee’s mandatory, and Rebecca Amoah, presenting recommendations for the Income Tax Clinics on campus.

For the final portion of the meeting, council went in-camera — meaning that media and all other non-voting members had to leave the council chambers. What went on is a mystery to everyone.

The Gazette will be back next week on Tuesday.

Enjoy your break Western!

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4 •

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

arts&life

saywhat?

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

• Oscar Wilde

Jennafer Freeman > The Gum Under a Shoe

Jenny Jay > Confused Freshman

I

f you find yourself in a sticky situation days before Halloween, why not embrace it and go as the gum under a shoe? If you’re looking for inspiration, think back to the days of your childhood of chewing the long, pink tape rolls of Hubba Bubba. It may have been a flavourless gum, stale after two minutes of chewing, but you continued to chew until you blew a bubble the size of your head. Then you would spit it out on the sidewalk, where it would remain until some poor person walked along and stepped on that big pink blob of goop – this is where your Halloween costume comes in.

It’s an easy last-minute costume for any girl (or guy) who has a little pink in their closet. Unfortunately any self-proclaimed hipsters who “don’t like pink” might be out of luck, but all those die-hard Legally Blonde fans will have an easy homemade costume in no time. The best part about this costume is that you can wear it however you want – if you’re wearing a costume into work or around family, you might want to go with a more conservative longsleeve and pants version of this look.

However, if you’re going downtown Friday night, you can just as easily throw on a pink dress and heels and pull of the look by simply wearing a shoe on your head.

#

Y

Conrad Floryan > Conrad Floryan

C

ostumes are for children and grown-ass men don’t have time for childish games — they’re too busy doing awesome stuff like popping wheelies on ATVs and entertaining model chicks at the homestead. Since kids these days are confused with distractions like family and school, it’s tough to be yourself, especially on Halloween when the powers that be have mandated that proper citizens cloak themselves in costume. Faced with this tyranny, most trick-or-treaters resort to spending hours stressing about a stupid getup that will end up being either overpriced or a cheap piece of shit.

It isn’t all bad though — much

of the appeal in dressing up for Halloween stems from the challenge of endeavouring to assemble a unique outfit. NO ONE HAS EVER DRESSED UP WITH A MASK AS THEMSELVES. It’s the perfect costume — in addition to being unique, it’s affordable, convenient, hilarious and indulging in narcissism feels more satisfying than the sweetest candy. For the creative type, feel free to customize your face. For the girls out there who have wondered how it would be like to have a dusty T-bar mustache, now is your time to shine. When it comes to swagger, no costume, not even Biggy Smalls or Jesus, can compare to rocking your own face.

ou’re going out on Friday night and suddenly you realize it’s Halloween.

Getting a costume together for Hallowe’en can take a couple weeks for anything elaborate. But you, having spent no time planning for what you are going to dress up as are completely unprepared. You’ll now have to throw together the few clothing items you have in your closet.

Fortunately, the editors at The Gazette have plenty of experience doing things last minute and have got you covered with these suggestions for last minute Halloween costumes.

westernu #oweek #soexciteddddd — let the slew of hashtags inspire you to create the last minute costume you know you have all the right ingredients for: we welcome the confused freshman.

The confused freshman is clearly the cutest costume that anyone can wear. Confusion is the new sexy and freshman is the new 22. There’s nothing classier than the freshman that has tried alcohol for the first time in their life and is happily throwing up in the front lawn, talking about their pet cat at home that they miss so dearly — and is sure to bring all the boys to the yard — or away. The best part of reminiscing on all of the oh-so-familiar frosh

humiliations is that you have the chance to vomit all you want, after all you’re in disguise.

We all know we took full advantage of the coupon for the purple store, which we received in first year — so finding a Western lanyard and a purple sweater is easier to find than your textbook for your next lecture. So put on that overly ambitious backpack, the flooding of purple, a schedule that you can’t make sense of, coupons galore because you already feel the struggle of a student budget and the infamous Gazette Frosh Issue, and head on over to the Halloween party you hopefully won’t remember.

Brent Holmes > Doctor Who

I

t’s the last minute and you forgot to get a Halloween costume for that party you have tonight.

Having no costume will make you look like a loser and will mean you will have no chance with those girls wearing sexy cosplay-equese costumes. But God’s last gift to mankind, the BBC, is manipulating all space and time to save your night with Doctor Who. The Doctor is an incredibly easy costume to put together. You can pick from 13 different incarnations.

Jocks rejoice: the best part about this costume is you don’t even have to know that much about Doctor Who to impress that nerdy girl you’ve got your eye on because the show’s continuity makes absolutely no sense.

For the 11th Doctor, all you need is a bow tie and tweed jacket — two things that every man should have in his closet. You can also steal your fat, nerdy roommate’s sonic screwdriver to appear really impressive.

Armed with bad pickup lines like “Are you a weeping angel because I could stare at you all day?” and “Hello sweetie” your Halloween night will either be a galactic success or you’ll be running to a police call box to try and undo the most unfortunate night of your life.

Photos by Taylor Lasota, Graphics by Mike Laine and Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE

•5

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

I’m in a relationship where I don’t feel the sparks anymore. I want to end it, but I feel awful. Help?

Sincerely, Sparkless

than dragging out a relationship, especially when sparks lost is more often than not, painfully apparent.

Courage sparkless. We The Gazette believe that you can do it.

I’m starting to get feelings for someone that I’m really good friends with — but I don’t know if they feel the same way. What do I do?

Sincerely, Tired of mixed signals

Dear Sparkless, As awful as it sounds, the honeymoon period will only last so long, and not having feelings for your significant other is a legitimate reason for ending a relationship — even if it makes you feel bad. Regardless, a conversation with your partner is actually necessary, but maybe it can start with establishing where the relationship is and ways to bring back the spark and life. Sometimes it’s simply a little effort that can go a long way in rehashing a relationship — so don’t give up hope just yet. However, if all if this doesn’t work out, then maybe it’s right that it’s time the relationship came to an end. As awful at it may feel in the moment, trying to make a relationship work that isn’t anymore, will end up being more hurtful

My significant other wants me to dress up in a couples costume with them, but I think it’s really dorky and I don’t want to — what do I say?

From, Dumb but not Dumber

Dear Tired of mixed signals, At the end of the day you have to ask yourself what you want from this person. Are you looking for a relationship? In that case, you need to take your courage and talk to them about the feelings that exist. Do you enjoy flirting but no commitment? Then maybe it’s better that you keep things the way they are, without complicating the friendship — especially if it may change the dynamic. Different people react differently to admitting the feels, but maybe clearing the air and explaining how you feel may help you come to closer to closure.

Dear Dumb but not Dumber, Relationships are about compromise and we can’t always win every argument. Although the idea of dressing up in a couples costume may seem a little lame, sometimes the best memories are the ones you least expect, even if it means being the Piglet to your Winnie. So dress up as the lock to their key, or the plug to their socket, because even if it’s dorky — it’s more often than not worth the smile that it brings to your SO’s face — and hey, at least you two reign Dorkville together.

Send your questions for Jenny to jennyjay@westerngazette.ca

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Visual feast for the books Mathura Thiyagarajah CONTRIBUTOR GGGHF Director: Jorge R. Gutierrez Starring: Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum Open The Book of Life and immerse yourself in visuals of a world where death is literally a party – for those who are remembered. The unique Mexican setting and original animation offers a welcome departure from the usual Pixar-esque fare, which just might allow you to overlook the lackluster characters and predictable resolution.

The film tells the story of two childhood friends, the romantic Manolo Sanchez (Diego Luna) and brash Joaquin (Channing Tatum), who both fall for their third partner in crime, Maria (Zoe Saldana). The sparring gods, La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), witness the trio’s dynamic and wage a bet over which of the two boys will grow up to marry Maria.

The Book of Life arrives a few weeks before the Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead)

and providing time to educate on the holiday before Halloween. The strength of the film lies in its celebration of Mexican culture amidst the fantastical visuals. The wooden puppets are a delight to watch in motion.

At face value, the main conflict appears to be the love triangle. But in reality, the three friends are battling much deeper parental pressures. Joaquin is living under the stifling shadow of his late heroic father. After one too many of Maria’s hijinks, her father ships her off to a convent abroad to “become a lady.”

Upon her return, Maria’s father pressures her into marrying Joaquin to keep him in San Angel to protect them from bandits. Meanwhile, Manolo is forced to follow in the family tradition of bullfighting while his true passion lies with music.

Almost as if to offset the fact that Maria’s character revolves around being the love interest, the script is practically hitting the audience over the head with an anvil in proclaiming what a “strong and independent female character” she is.

Manolo’s character is likeable enough to root for, but his devotion

for Maria is something the audience is expected to accept. The film could have been stronger if it focused more on the friendship between the three main characters.

The script offers some laughs but not enough of the jokes land.

Xibalbo, the movie’s villain could have been much improved with more quips and personality à la Hades in Disney’s Hercules. The inclusion of covers of modern hits may induce more cringes that chuckles as the sound of Radiohead disrupts the formerly well-built atmosphere of an old Mexican town.

If an animated feature is visually appealing, has heart and can entertain children, it can generally be considered a success. The Book of Life contains many valuable messages, including a more original lesson of how there is no weakness in apologizing. The Book of Life is a visual feast for older viewers and a well-crafted children’s film — check it out.

The Book of Life will play at the Rainbow Cinemas at 1:05 p.m., 3:25 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. from Wednesday, Oct. 29 – Thursday, Nov. 6.

6 •

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

opinions Letters

Arts degrees no laughing matter In a recent Dear Life, someone wrote: “Every fine arts student should write a dear life to practice their elevator pitch for Starbucks.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a barista joke, I could buy a coffee for everyone on campus.

Every student should be proud of their degree, no matter which faculty they’re in. No faculty is “better” than any other.

A mechanical engineering student can write a great essay and a philosophy student can create an algorithm to knock your socks off. I came to university to learn multiple skills, not just one. And I have: over the past four years I’ve learned how to communicate, how to argue and how to reason.

I’m not here to argue for the value of an Arts and Humanities degree; there are plenty of articles that will do just that. Instead, I encourage anyone in any faculty to do what they love and not feel pressured to apologize for their passion.

Over the past four years I’ve regretted a few things, such as eating an entire Western Film popcorn trough by myself or falling asleep in Weldon for two consecutive nights. But out of everything, I most regret laughing at the joke “It’s not ‘Do you want fries with that?’ Instead, it’s ‘WHY would you like fries with that?’ ” Four years later, and I look at things differently. No one has ever explicitly said to me, “Your degree is worthless,” but the snide jokes and side comments certainly seem to imply that. And worse, many of these jokes come from Arts and Humanities students themselves.

I’m a big fan of laughing at myself. You can ask me about the time I threw up on the 2 Dundas or when I stapled my fingers together. But there’s a difference between being self-deprecating and being degree-deprecating. When you make a joke about your degree, you’re telling other people that it’s okay to make the same joke.

No matter which faculty you’re in, it’s important to respect the decisions that other students made. Personally, I prefer to make jokes that don’t belittle a specific program for a punch line.

And finally, the highest-ranking military officer in the United States, General Martin Dempsey, received a Master’s degree in literature. His thesis was on the Irish literary revival. Starbucks? I think not.

• Liz Nash President of the Arts and Humanities Students’ Council

Dear Life Your anonymous letters to life

Dear Life, I fell asleep during The Room.

Dear Life, The Room = Great target practice.

Dear Life, SPOON!!!!

Dear Life, The obnoxious guys behind us dumped all their spoons on us during the suicide in The Room.

Seriously, fuck those guys.

Dear Life, I could curl up and fall asleep on one of the lines on Tommy Wiseau’s face.

Dear Life, Just peed on Ivey.

That’s for taking Elborn’s Timmies and the Lampton bus stop!

Dear Life, Should I stop using the cream at The Spoke for my protein shake instead of my coffee?

Volume 108, Issue 32 www.westerngazette.ca

Brent Holmes Deputy Editor Richard Raycraft 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.

• Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

HEAD TO HEAD: Study Break or Study Bust?

Jenny from the Block

The Nanni Diaries

Jenny Jay ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR

Robert Nanni SPORTS EDITOR

@JennyAtGazette

@robertnanni

With fall reading break coming up, students need to embrace the four days that actually allow students to have a break before the slew of midterms and assignments come our way in November.

Because most midterms have already finished, some might argue the reading break does little to help with the readings and studying that the “study break” should offer. However, I maintain that the fall reading “week” is one of the most helpful and necessary breaks that Western offers students.

According to the Canadian Children’s Rights Council, in Canada, suicide is the second highest cause of death for youth aged 10–24, after car accidents. At a time as stressful as the first round of midterms, the fear of failure can sometimes cause thoughts and actions that we don’t have the time to think too closely about. This is a result of the overwhelming amount of stress, which is why the Fall reading break can be so helpful.

What students may fail to realize as well, is that there are many mental illnesses that come to surface during the age of 17–21, including ones such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression.

The end of midterms brings a period in which exams are being returned, and there is seemingly no longer any control left in the fate of your grades. Students at university for the first time are feeling that bout of homesickness after finally seeing their family again at Thanksgiving, feeling financial stressors and coming to terms with disappointing grades. Especially for first-year students, this can be tough because they haven’t necessarily made a lot of friends that they feel comfortable enough with to confide in about their feelings.

Maybe I advocate for the break so much because when I think of fall reading week, I imagine how helpful it may have been for my sister when she went through first year. As an 18-year-old pursuing further education, all I can remember is the stress levels that hit her right at the beginning of November and the anxiety that school created. This became one of the biggest triggers for the first of her many manic episodes and the start of what would become moving beyond the diagnosis of bipolar I disorder and depression.

Now I’m not saying that having a fall break would have prevented the onset of her mental illness — perhaps she would have been trigged by other stressful events due to her predisposition. However, for students far away from home and family, what if the four-day holiday meant for nothing other than taking care of you, is the difference between been another statistic versus maintaining a healthy mind? Preventative factors are crucial to mental health.

The fall reading week provides students a chance to take a break from their lives — whether it’d be their family lives, worrying about grades or struggling with being homesick. Why get rid of a good thing that allows students to dress up and step into a different world for five seconds, enjoy a Halloween full of bad decorations, even worse costumes and hopefully cheap candy?

Being the kind university it is, Western has allotted a bountiful two-day break for us this week, allowing us to essentially put our lives back together. While I love the fall study break as much as the next guy, I have a few issues with its placement in our semester.

Now as many of us know, October is midterms season. As such, I think the fall study break offers me nothing concerning academic accomplishment. I was under the impression that this was to be a break in order to study, not a break after studying.

I personally believe the fall study break would be much better placed as an extension of the Thanksgiving weekend. Many of us went home that weekend and what did we do? Saw our friends one day, perhaps significant others and had one or two turkey dinners. The weekend was a write-off – we’re in no better position afterwards, and midterms are now four days closer.

In a 2012 interview with The Gazette, executive member of the health and wellness mental health subcommittee Kopinnath Thiyagalingam said that this break was implemented because “midterms are already finishing up and students are stressed out.”

However, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 47 per cent of Canadian adolescents report feeling stressed anywhere from several days a week to all the time, and this number is certainly higher during exam periods. A lot of this stress arises from things feeling like they’re piling up with no time to plan – had you had another few days off, you wouldn’t be up ‘til 3 a.m. with caffeine flowing through your veins, attempting to finish that last chapter of reading before your exam the next morning.

I do appreciate that this fall study break allows you to take a breather and kick-back after the hell of exams is over, because it’s better than nothing. But really, we should just rename this weekend to “fall party break,” because there is nothing studious about those days. What am I supposed to study, my failed midterm that I nearly fell asleep through?

Perhaps I’m only unhappy with the system because I’m a science student. While some of us had to magically juggle five midterms in two weeks, students whose primary methods of evaluation are essays have these next four days to pump out a few thousand words and be done with it.

Now I’m hardly undermining the struggles of essay writing, because I’m sure I would love this break to write all my essays as well. I’m just saying that if you have midterms, this break does nothing for you.

While you can begin to undo all the poor life choices you’ve made these past few weeks, it should have never gotten to that point. I think there’s an inherent flaw in the system that favours essay-writers over midterm-studiers. Although I certainly value the break, the misnomer is entirely misleading and the fall study break’s placement could certainly use some re-evaluation.

Do you agree?

Tweet us with #studybreak!

Do you agree?

Tweet us with #studybust!

wgaz.ca/dearlife

thegazette

Iain Boekhoff Editor-In-Chief

I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities and boola-boola and all of that.

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•7

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

sports

saywhat?

“No means no.”

• Tony Wyllie, vice-president communications for the Washington Redskins, as he pulls Colt McCoy from a post game interview with ESPN. The bizarre moment was caught on live television, puzzling viewers everywhere.

Rundown >> The women’s soccer team defeated the Guelph Gryphons Sunday afternoon to clinch a spot in the OUA semifinals • After remaining scoreless, the Mustangs scored three goals in extra time to secure victory.

Men’s volleyball team spikes to victory Robert Nanni SPORTS EDITOR @robertnanni

The Western Mustangs men’s volleyball team grabbed their second and third regular season win as they beat both the Royal Military College Paladins and the Queen’s Gaels 3–0 this past weekend.

After pummelling the McMaster Marauders the week before, and with the knowledge that RMC would be an easier opponent, the skillful Mustangs took to the court with a win in mind.

“RMC has struggled a bit over the years trying to get quality players,” Mustangs coach, Jim Sage, said. “We wanted to take care of business so we’d be well-rested for Queen’s the following night.”

The Mustangs overwhelmed RMC, winning each set 25–18, 25–17 and 25–18. Having made 14 kills throughout the first set, 13 in their second, and 14 more in the last, Western dominated the court with expert skill.

Despite the Paladins having made eight kills in the last set in an attempt to fight back against the Mustangs, their struggle was futile as Western fought back harder than they had the entire game.

The Queen’s Gaels were a much bigger challenge.

“Against Queen’s, we played really well in the first set,” Sage said.

“The second and third were close, but we managed to stick it out.”

As the Saturday evening game progressed, the Mustangs held their ground and walked away with a 3–0

A

GAINST QUEEN’S, WE PLAYED REALLY WELL IN THE FIRST SET. THE SECOND AND THIRD WERE CLOSE, BUT WE MANAGED TO STICK IT OUT. JIM SAGE

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH

Courtesy of Ciara Maynard

victory, having won their three sets 25–18, 25–23 and 25–23. Banking on various serving errors by the Gaels, the Mustangs just slid by in the last two sets for the win.

The Mustangs rode the momentum gained from Queen’s errors and used accurate serving and various kills to score their way into victory. However, fourth-year Gael Tyler Scheerhoorn began blocking shots from Western’s outside hitter Justin Scapinello and middle Chris Newcombe, which proved to be a major obstacle.

“Queen’s is one of the top teams in Ontario, so they definitely gave us a battle,” Sage said.

Scapinello led both games and has averaged 4.55 kills per set this season.

He recorded 18 points with 16 kills and two service aces throughout the match against RMC, and followed up against Queen’s getting 19 points and 17 kills with one service ace.

“Justin Scapinello, our right side, has been strong all year so far,” Sage said. “He’s the captain and a leader on the team.”

The RMC match also saw Mustang

middles Mike Choja and Scott Langley dominate: Choja recorded seven kills with one service ace and Langley managed 11 digs. The entire game saw 49 kills and a .494 hitting percentage by the Mustangs, while the Paladins managed a mere 23 kills and .125 hit percentage.

Mustang libero Matt Silver also recorded 11 digs against the Gaels, which assisted Western’s nearly offset road to victory. The game as a whole was much tighter than that against RMC. Queen’s attained 37 kills, one more than the Mustangs.

Western only had a .294 hitting percentage, just slightly higher than Queen’s .233 hit percentage.

“We had good contributions from almost every other position,” Sage said. “Our rookie setter Brad Hockin played great and our middles controlled the match as well.”

The Mustangs will host their first home opener this Hallowe’en weekend against the Waterloo Warriors on Friday and the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, both of which are at 8 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

8 •

thegazette • Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Women’s volleyball has mixed weekend Bradley Metlin SPORTS EDITOR @BradAtGazette

The Mustang women’s volleyball team experienced a mixed bag this past weekend in Kingston as they played games against both the Royal Military College and Queen’s.

Friday’s game against RMC at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre was hotly contested.

The Paladins took an early lead in the first set, using precise offense to land 16 kills. As they maintained the lead through tough defence, RMC took the first set 25–22.

Head coach Melissa Bartlett described the process before every game.

“We enter every match with a game plan to execute — knowing that if we do a good job in executing that game plan we put ourselves in good position to be successful.”

The team has been marred by injuries, something that Bartlett highlighted as a challenge. “We have moved a few people around early on this season as a result of a few injuries so we knew that part of our task would be to get comfortable playing together on the court in our new roles.”

The second set featured the Paladins taking advantage of a series of errors from the Mustangs. The set ended with RMC on top 25–23. The third set featured Western charging back with 14 kills and overpowering their opponents, capturing the set 25–23.

Western continued this momentum into the final two sets and closely fought off RMC. The fourth set ended 25–23 for the Mustangs while the fifth had Western break away 15–10.

Bartlett noted that Western regrouped in the middle of the match.

“We were able to ultimately win

against RMC because we played smarter in the end of the match and they are a fairly inexperienced team with some new players — their errors at the end of the match helped us to finish on top.”

She also credits a change in spirit during the match to two players.

“Windermere Jarvis and Jamie Leidl both entered the match and brought us a lot of positive energy and stability on the court that contributed to the change in momentum in our favour during sets three and four,” she said.

On Saturday, the game against Queen’s featured plenty of back and forth action as each team kept the pressure on the other.

Queen’s took an early in the first set and began to exploit errors committed by Western to squeeze them out 25–19. The Mustangs came to the second set with revitalized energy and managed to edge the Gaels out 25–23.

After taking an early lead in the third set, the Mustangs were held back as the Gaels rebounded. Near the end of the set, Queen’s managed to serve accurately and finish the set in the lead 25–21.

The fourth set featured Western roaring back winning 25–15. The fifth set had Queen’s edge the Mustangs out after a series of errors.

Bartlett noted that errors were a cause of the defeat.

“Against Queen’s the level of play was high and it came down to a few errors of hesitation on our part at the end of the match that cost us the opportunity to win.”

That said, Bartlett notes the team is in a good place moving forward.

“We have a lot of talent this year and a lot of young players who are seeing court time. Right now we are focused on improving each week and working toward being a strong contender for the OUA championship by the end of our season.”

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ROMANTIC COUPLES NEEDED for a 1.5-hour study on perceptions of romantic relationships. Partners will receive $15.00 each ($30.00 per couple) for participating. If interested, email uwocouples@gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS DANCE CLASSES AT DANCE STEPS- 275 Colborne St. between York and Horton Accessible by bus. Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop drop in or join a session. www.dancestepslondon.ca or contact us dance_steps@hotmail.com, 519-645-8515.

SATURDAY, NOV. 1 Christmas Bazaar will be held by London Central Lioness from 11-2 at St. Luke’s (Broughdale), 1204 Richmond at Bernard (just north of University Gates). Books, videos, CDs, DVDs, Bake Table, Jams, Treasures, Penny Sale*. Refreshments, Enter off Bernard. It is a wheel chair and handicapped accessible building. Free admission. All funds raised are used for the benefit of the community. *A Penny Sale is an opportunity to purchase a sheet of 27 tickets for $6 and then, from a wide variety of items, decide which boxes you wish to place your tickets. Winning tickets will be drawn just after 2 p.m.

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.

For solution, turn to page 2

ANNOUNCEMENTS Courtesy of Ciara Maynard

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WANT TO FLY? Soaring is the purest flight experience! Plus it is the most economical! If you are interested in getting a campus soaring club off the ground see tinyurl.com/oujy912

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