Moving on up The Western Mustangs move on to the OUA semifinals with a win over Laurier. >> Pg. 7
thegazette Big Ears Teddy shouldn’t read this since 1906
WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014
Universities Heading
review sexual assault policies Drishti Kataria GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Sexual harassment and violence on campus has become a major issue in higher education, but Canadian universities’ policies and procedures are inconsistent and often lacking. Although nearly 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted as students, there are no requirements for Canadian universities to keep track of sexual assault cases on campus. Universities are hesitant to converse on this topic due to the fear of negative publicity and how it may affect their ability to raise funds. McGill University and University of Windsor both lack a comprehensive sexual-assault policy. But both do have specific preventative initiatives in the works. Western already has a comprehensive sexual violence policy and they also publish a report every year detailing reported crimes on campus, including sexual assaults. >> see ASSAULT pg.2
Inside
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For the love of bones
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King’s, Brescia attract international students
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Poet, activist Remi Kanazi at Western
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Review: Nightcrawler
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Nipples censorship
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Women’s hockey wins twice
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TODAY high 13 low 8
TOMORROW high 9 low 6 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 33
Western journalism grad allegedly harassed by Ghomeshi Western denies student was on school internship Megan Devlin ONLINE EDITOR @MegAtGazette
Western has denied that the woman from Western’s journalism program who alleged Jian Ghomeshi sexually harassed her at the CBC was on placement for her program. The Toronto Star reported that a young female graduate of Western’s journalism program alleges Ghomeshi sexually harassed her in the Q newsroom in 2012. Western said that no journalism students have been placed at Q since 2008. “The Faculty of Information and Media Studies has not proactively sought opportunities for student internships to CBC’s Q for the past six years,” Western said in a statement. “This is a direct result of a student returning from an internship at Q in 2008, and reporting he had been assigned everyday errands not related to journalism.” The dean of FIMS declined to comment for the story. The harassed Western journalism grad — now 28 — spoke anonymously to protect her career. She alleges Ghomeshi invited her into the Q studio alone after a taping. She thought she was networking, but Ghomeshi allegedly asked whether she was going to hug
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him when the conversation came to a close. When she walked out of the studio, Ghomeshi allegedly grabbed her waist from behind and pushed up against her. Although The Star did not mention the Western grad was on placement for her program, it did say she shared her story with journalism professor Jeremy Copeland. Copeland, The Star reported, has been cautioning students ever since about doing their placement at Q. Copeland did not respond to numerous requests for comment from The Gazette. Emily McWilliams, a current student in Western’s journalism program, put Q down as one of her top choices for her placement this winter. “I only asked to go there because I’m interested in arts and entertainment journalism. My program’s really strict about where you can go for your placement. This was the only thing I could get approved that suited my interests,” she said. McWilliams submitted her choices before the Ghomeshi allegations surfaced. But even then she was cautioned against interning there. She said Paul Benedetti, one of her professors, told her it wasn’t a good experience. Benedetti did not respond to
Courtesy of Jian Ghomeshi
SMILING NO MORE. A Western journalism graduate was allegedly sexually harassed by Jian Ghomeshi while she was working at CBC’s Q in 2012. A professor at Western advised students against interning at Q because of the alleged incident.
requests for comment. “They told me students who’ve gone in the past would get Jian Ghomeshi coffee or pick up his dry cleaning. They weren’t really getting any journalism experience,” McWilliams said. As well, her professors told her that earlier in the year the program’s relationship with the CBC had changed. The application process
for CBC internships is now more rigorous. “Whether they knew about [Ghomeshi’s] sexual harassment problems, they did not inform me.” The Toronto Star reported that Copeland did know and that he brought his concerns to a faculty meeting this fall after seeing a student list Q as one of their top three choices.
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