The Marauder’s Map David Cronenberg’s plots out a cutting critique of Hollywood in Maps to the Stars >> Pg. 4
thegazette
TODAY high 3 low -1
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WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
TOMORROW high 2 low -2 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 38
>> REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY
Western remembers
The University Students’ Council held a ceremony for the Western community to commemorate Remembrance Day on Tuesday. The event, hosted by USC president Matt Helfand, was attended by many students and members of the Western and London community. This Remembrance Day is particularly significant as 2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of World War I. The Remembrance Day ceremony looked to raise awareness on the significance of this day and the incredible contributions made by Canadian veterans and the troops still serving around the world. “It is incredibly important for Western students to take the time to acknowledge the sacrifices that were made for them to enjoy the freedoms they have today,” said Danielle Lillico, Purple Events coordinator for the USC. The event was highlighted by two guest speakers — Jim Etherington, a Western alumnus who was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, University Squadron, which operated in Canada and France, and Major Martin Anderson, a Western alumnus and the Deputy Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment. The guest speakers shared their experiences in the army and their thoughts on the importance and significance of this event. • Mohammad Abrar Abdul Manan
Inside
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Table tennis turmoil
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An interview with Brother Ali • P4 Essentials: Ways to up your kill count
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A thinker who can’t lead
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Women’s hockey resists York comeback
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Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE
REMEMBERING THE FALLEN. Major Martin Anderson, Deputy Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment and a Western alumnus, spoke at Western’s Remembrance Day ceremony on Tuesday. He talked about the contributions and sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers at home and around the world.
OUSA assembly passes new policies New policies encompass student mental health, university accountability and credit transfer pathways
Hamza Tariq NEWS EDITOR @HamzaAtGazette
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s first general assembly of the year was held over the past weekend at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Fifty student leaders from seven student councils and unions across the province convened to discuss policies that OUSA will be recommending to the provincial government and other stakeholders in the province. “Collaborating with other institutions in the province to further the overall student experience is quite empowering and it’s not often you
get the opportunity to do this,” said Lindsee Perkins, associate vice-president municipal affairs for the University Students’ Council at Western. “It’s interesting to hear perspectives on certain recommendations from students at other universities.” The delegates at the general assembly worked on papers that focused on issues such as credit transfer pathways, student health and university accountability. “This was an incredibly important weekend, as students defined the position OUSA will take on any given issue,” Jen Carter, president of OUSA and USC vice-president external, said in an email. According to Carter, the paper on
student mobility and credit transfers stressed providing students a system where they could move from one institution to another with ease, especially in their first and second year. “When students have to repeat prior learning due to lost transfer credits, this not only costs the individual student more money, but also the government,” she said. Another significant issue addressed was in the student health paper with mental health services for students. The paper advocates for extended Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage for students and improved mental support services on university campuses.
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>> see OUSA pg.2
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Caught on Camera
Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE
PERFECT PIN EXECUTION: A PROPOPPYSTROUS NOTION. Here’s an ode to those of us who bent the needle of the pin backwards, or thought to stick an earring stopper on the end of their poppies. A moment for those who stopped and picked up a stray poppy off the ground and repinned it on their jacket. A second to congratulate those whose poppies did not end up on the floor within 10 minutes of fixing it upon their clothes. Remember to pick up those stray poppies off the ground!
CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer
OUSA tackles student issues >> OUSA continued from pg.1
“If more than 70 per cent of Ontario’s youth are going to be in one place, mental health supports in universities are a broader social health concern which will require cross-ministerial support in order to provide proper solutions,” Carter said. The third paper addressed accountability of universities as public institutions. It made recommendations relating to how universities could improve their accountability to students and the Ontario taxpayers. Besides being a platform for discussing and drawing recommendations for student welfare, the OUSA general assembly is also an opportunity for a large number of student leaders to come together and discuss new ideas. “It’s so hard to put into words how amazing of an atmosphere and spirit there is at OUSA general assemblies — where ambitious, intelligent, involved and hard-working students all come together to support a common goal of improving post-secondary education for hundreds of thousands of students in Ontario,” said Drew Ursacki, a delegation leader and vice-president
Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE
external affairs for Brock University Students’ Union. Next month, OUSA will be holding a week-long student advocacy
conference at Queen’s Park to push for reforms in students-related policies, attending over 70 meetings with politicians and senior level civil staff.
News Briefs
International Week festivities underway
Solution to puzzle on page 7
Critically acclaimed hip hop artist Shad kicked off Western’s International Week on Monday with a keynote speech and a short concert. International Week aims to celebrate diversity at Western, giving students and faculty an opportunity to get involved with and experience all the different cultures the community has to offer. “Western students, whether they were born in or outside of Canada, are multicultural by nature,” said Kris Dundas, communications officer for Western International. “So International Week is not just about celebrating those who come from far away but it’s really about celebrating global connections.” During International Week there are over 80 events hosted across campus for students to get involved with. These range from trying different cultural foods to watching
foreign film screenings. The university is also offering $1,000 scholarships for students who are interested in international learning. The Passport Contest, a part of International Week, invites students to get stamps by attending events. The more stamps, the likelier to win one of the scholarships. These passports can be picked up from the Western International booth in the University Community Center atrium throughout the week, or through the Western International office in the International and Graduate Affairs Building. The London community has also been involved with Western’s International Week through collaborations from groups such as Onedia Nation of the Thames, a London First Nations community, and the African Community Council of London. International Week will continue to run until Friday, Nov.14. • Aiden Booth
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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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Rogen and comedy for a good cause Drishti Kataria GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE
TALK HURON TO ME. Moustafa Ezz, Huron University College Students’ Council president, hosted the first “Huron Talks” town hall for students to discuss issues with Huron administrators and staff.
Huron holds first town hall Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR @KatieAtGazette
Huron University College hosted their first town hall, “Huron Talks” in partnership with the Huron University College Students’ Council on Tuesday afternoon. Roughly 50 students gathered in Huron’s Student Activity Centre to give open-ended feedback and bring concerns to Huron administrators, such as Huron’s principal Dr. Stephen McClatchie, and acting dean of the faculty of arts and social science Dr. Neil Brooks. “We’re really eager to have a conversation with you — to hear not only the things that maybe are going well for you but also probably more importantly the things that you want to talk about that may not be going as well as you would like.” commented McClatchie in his opening speech. Also in attendance were executive
director of university advancement Meaghan Blight, assistant director for residence life Tolu Kayode and HUCSC President Moustafa Ezz, among other high-ranking staff. “You can tell by the titles of the attendees — whether you have something to say about your academic experience, our campus, experiential learning opportunities, academic counselling and Huron’s other support services … there is someone who can listen to you and address your concern,” Ezz said in his opening speech. Issues that were brought to staff by students throughout the event included increasing experiential learning experiences and improving the dining hall facility in the face of last year’s controversy. “I’ve heard there’ve been questions about infrastructure, there’ve been comments about service [and] there’ve been questions about ‘how do I x, y, z,’” commented chief administrative officer Neil Carruthers.
“It’s a good opportunity for everyone to get together and there’s no reason why we can’t do this more often.” “The main theme is, as well as the fun programming and the services we offer … we want to really reach out to students who aren’t particularly involved and find out what things can we improve for them at Huron,” Ezz added. “Whether it’s academic counselling, whether it’s a library, whether it’s the dining hall or residences … we’re trying to make sure that those concerns are raised and addressed in those areas.” According to McClatchie, communication with students is a clear priority of the Huron administrative team. “To have an event like this where the principal and members of the executive team are here, we’re here to listen, here to learn, and we’re here to respond to the questions that we can,” McClatchie said.
Western’s chapter of Hilarity for Charity has the opportunity to meet Seth Rogen as they participate in a nationwide competition to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s. HFC takes a new approach in fighting this disease through evenings filled with music, comedy and delicious food. This movement is led by Seth Rogen to inspire change and raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease. Performances and appearances by celebrities including Bruno Mars, Kevin Hart and The Backstreet Boys have helped to make the events extremely successful. As of this year, HFC has expanded through the launch of HFC U. This nationwide program asks university and college groups to encourage change and supports organizations in throwing their own HFC events. “Our HFC U program is extremely important to us and our goal is to see it continue to grow and spread across campuses nationwide,” said Matthew Bass, executive director of HFC. The inaugural semester of HFC
U raised over $130,000 through the participation of over 120 campuses. Western is currently ranked in first place among all the participating universities, as HFC Western has raised over $3,500 for Alzheimer’s Association. “For our first year at Western, we have many great ideas planned with help from big partnerships with Greek life at Western as well as CruelLondon, Niteschool and PremierLife,” said Soojeong Choe, one of the executive members of HFC Western. So far, HFC Western has hosted a comedy stand-up night at the Ceeps. Currently, they are working on a charity casino night, a cupcake sale and a possible formal. “The fundraising group to raise the most money between August 25 and April 11 will win a visit to their school from Seth Rogen, who will do a live commentary screening of Superbad. He may even bring a friend with him,” Choe continued. HFC Western currently has 19 executive members. Students can get involved by joining the team and establishing contact through their Facebook page or by attending their events, which will also be posted on their page.
HOUSING ISSUE ON STANDS NEXT WEEK
Execs protest ‘unfair’ dismissal from club @OliviaAtGazette
Several executive members of Western University’s table tennis club are upset over what they are calling an unfair dismissal from the club. The members allege that the club’s president, Richard Meng, fired several executive members, including the vice-president, abruptly and without merit. The club consisted of one president and two vice-presidents — Daniel Deng and Jimmy Li. Each vice-president subsequently had several executive members that they oversaw. Deng stated only he and his members were fired. “A lot of our execs were wrongfully terminated. Over six or seven, without notice, were told they were fired,” Deng said. According to Meng, however, this was not the case. Meng cited individual reasons for firing each member, though he added they all neglected the warnings on a Facebook social group for the executive members to pay their membership fees. “There were official warnings
over not paying membership fees. If you don’t pay the membership fee, you were not counted as a member or executive,” Meng said. Meng also said that the fired execs were given warnings regarding their performance, were not cooperating as a team and lacked communication. Additionally, he stated that Deng voluntarily left the club himself and was not fired. Li corroborated Meng’s statements and said he personally gave warnings on the online group after several executives failed to sign up to monitor practices. The second warnings came after Deng’s executive team failed to pay their membership fees. Deng denied the allegations against him and his executive team. “I did not quit on my own free will. He told me I was still a VP at the club, but after speaking with my fellow execs, he told them a different story and said I was no longer an exec on the team,” Deng said. “It wasn’t until I called him back and actually confronted him about it that he told me I was actually terminated.” Deng alleged that Meng told him early in the year he would not have to pay membership fees because of his position in the club. He added that four of the fired executive members paid their fees
and that only one or two members were given a warning for an unrelated incident. Christopher Nguyen, the former vice-president of finance, was one of the executives who was fired by Meng. “No warnings. I thought me and the president were on good terms and just on the day of my exam, he shoots me a text saying ‘Sorry for doing this, but I can’t have you as part of the club anymore, so you’re fired,’ ” Nguyen said. Nguyen and Deng said they were both unaware of the probation period alleged by Meng and Li. According to Deng, he had a large role in the interview process for executive positions and was unaware of any probation period. He said it was not once mentioned to anyone. “We are going to file a complaint [with the USC] for misgovernance and see how far this goes,” Nguyen said. Li said that all of the members were aware of the probation period and after considering how large the executive team was, he and Meng reviewed each execs performance. “We don’t want hard feelings but based on our needs for the club and for the benefit to operate better, we had to make this decision,” Li said.
We would like to remind you that you must meet with a counsellor at Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), in the Student Development Centre, to arrange academic accommodation for your 2014/15 winter courses. If you have not yet requested accommodation for your courses, and you wish to use accommodation for December 2014 exams, you must meet with a counsellor by Friday, November 21st. If requested after this date, accommodation for December 2014 exams cannot be arranged by Exam Services.
To book your appointment please call
519-661-2147
141106
Olivia Zollino NEWS EDITOR
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
arts&life
saywhat? “I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty.”
• Edgar Allen Poe
Activist poetry stings like Ali Jenny Jay ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR @JennyAtGazette
Ali Newman, better known as Brother Ali, is a hip hop artist, speaker and activist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who found his way to London on Thursday night. Brother Ali performed on a show on CHRW radio and later at the London Music Hall on Thursday, bringing his views, as well as his music to all of those that were willing to listen. “There’s always new people — such as the ones working at the college radio station, so I’m always new to somebody,” Brother Ali says. Brother Ali has been in the hip hop industry for roughly the last 16 years, and has released five albums from the year 2000 to 2012. Currently on tour, with London being one of his last stops, Brother Ali took this tour as a chance to explore his music all over again without an ulterior motive of promoting a new album release. Brother Ali, while well known for his music, points out that he is more than simply a rapper. “I’m mostly known for being an MC, from Minneapolis, but I’m also a lot of other things — writer, community organizer, activist, and lecturer. … Right now I’m actually writing a memoir,” Brother Ali tells. His writing itself is reflective of his life and the story that he wants to tell. When talking about his style of hip hop, he mentions the influences that different genres have on his music. “I really love blues music and I really love soul music and those have had a big impact. I would say a lot of people sample soul but I think there’s a lot more of a blues influence on my music,” he says. However as an active member of the hip hop community for a while now, Brother Ali talks about the different artists as his peers, but
with the growing industry, there is a new generation of artists that are emerging. “There were people who were rapping before me that I looked up to, like Public Enemy or people like that and then there are my peers and I view everybody from underground artists like whoever, A$AP Rock to MF Doom to Jay Z as my peer — even though he might not see it that way. Now, being in a situation where I’m in my 30s and there’s a whole new generation of artists making hip hop music … I listen to them almost as an outsider to a degree, so that’s been really interesting — they’re an influence on me too, to a degree.” While Brother Ali continues to expand in his music career, his music also works together to bringing people of different generations and groups together. “My music is always new to
somebody, so there are college-aged people at the show too — it’s usually a mix between 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds. The way that they interact with music is very different, the 30-year-olds had to go somewhere to listen to music, like on a boom box or a stereo somewhere in their house. The 20-year-olds have been listening to music in their ear buds. They don’t know as much as how to enjoy music as a group, they don’t know how to be in a crowd — but they want to — they thirst for it, they love it, but you gotta teach them how to be in a crowd.” Brother Ali mentions that this tour has been a chance for him to reconnect with his original fans as well as explore what his music means to individuals. Hoping to come back to London again, he definitely had a small but meaningful impact in his short time in the city. Courtesy of Focus World
Mapping Hollywood Conrad Floryan ARTS & LIFE EDITOR @ConradAtGazette
GGGGF Director: David Cronenberg Starring: Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Evan Bird
Courtesy of Cory Dewald
Describing yourself is difficult Laura Brooks CONTRIBUTOR “Please describe yourself in 250 words or less.” A collective groan wafts through the student populace. Laptops are closed, various social media sites are opened and maximum procrastination is achieved. But why do people find writing about themselves — whether its for a class or job application — such a daunting task? An article in Psychology Today by Jordan Gaines Lewis, a science writer and Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience suggests that we find writing about ourselves difficult because we are writing seeking the approval of others. Bragging about ourselves makes us feel morally and physically dirty, and this type of work is easy to procrastinate. Emma Boynton, president of Western’s Undergraduate English Society, offered an expansion on these ideas. “You have to have the ability to change who you are based on who
>> IN THEATRES > MAPS TO THE STARS
Y
OU HAVE TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE WHO YOU ARE BASED ON WHO YOU’RE WRITING FOR, WHICH KIND OF PUTS YOU INTO A WEIRD PERSONALITYIDENTITY CRISIS. EMMA BOYNTON
PRESIDENT OF WESTERN’S UNDERGRADUATE ENGLISH SOCIETY
you’re writing for,” Boynton said. “Which kind of puts you into a weird personality-identity crisis.” Students need to construct different identities in their writing depending on the context. Keeping these identities straight can offer quite a challenge. “We are never taught to brag about ourselves, but when we’re
asked, all of a sudden on an application or resume, to talk about how amazing we are, it puts you in a very awkward position,” Boynton explained. People must do exactly what they have been discouraged to do since childhood. Framing oneself in too positive a light can seem fundamentally wrong. Getting past this initial discrepancy can be challenging for many. When asked whether she has procrastinated writing about her herself, Boynton agreed wholeheartedly. “It’s so overwhelming to think about,” she explained. Many find the undertaking of writing about themselves so overwhelming that the whole task is procrastinated due to the effort it entails. Students and workers everywhere feel the challenges of self-description. It is important to remember that all people have experienced these pains before and can sympathize with them.
David Cronenberg had been making movies since the 1960s without ever shooting a foot of film in Los Angeles. Whether this was a deliberate evasion or simply a matter of logistics, the geographical rift perfectly suited an auteur whose offbeat oeuvre challenges the tropes of the studio system. With Maps to the Stars, at age 70, the Baron of Blood finally decamped in Tinseltown, and he arrived armed and loaded. Maps is a satire of Hollywood culture. The screenplay exposes Hollywood society’s deficiencies — superficiality, egomania, excess and delusion. Most of the characters are either miserable or severely flawed, such as Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore), an aging has-been actress living in the shadow of her diseased famous mother who abused her. The script is pointedly melodramatic to mirror the hyper reality of movies designed to instantly gratify viewers. The abundance of raunch and vulgarity satirizes tabloid media that peddles to crass interests at the expense of human decency. Scenes like Havana defecating on camera with realistic toilet sounds straddle the line between shock value and satire. Ultimately the disregard for political correctness is refreshing because it’s liberating to witness characters that are not constrained to the intricate ethics that govern and often oppress quotidian life. As the story veers into absurdity and the supernatural it further divorces Hollywood from natural human civilization. Given the rich material, it’s disappointing that Cronenberg fails to imbue the film with an engaging visual design. The screen composition is lackluster and the title credits, so crucial for setting the tone of a movie, harken to a generic thematic template from Microsoft PowerPoint.
Nevertheless Cronenberg does succeed in harnessing intriguing performances from his cast. Julianne Moore delivers a brazen portrayal where she pushes how theatrically she can render Havana while still keeping her sufficiently relatable to progress the narrative. Mia Wasikowska is the standout as Agatha Weiss, the burn-scarred, schizophrenic and estranged daughter of the Weiss family. She depicts her larger-than-life character with masterful subtlety and imbues her madness with a lingering sweetness. Agatha fits in perfectly in a Tinseltown portrayed as a giant insane asylum. The madness springs largely from an excessive preoccupation with success. “Success” in human terms overlaps significantly with a high social standing and Hollywood is like the NHL of social status. Success is inherently socially contingent because most features that define a person’s success (e.g. money, a happy family) are measured in relation to other people. Not all individuals concern themselves with success, but those who do are entrenched in an exhausting social contest. Hollywood attracts people who equate their self-worth with their standing in society. These types of people are often stressed because social status is fleeting and dependent on a multitude of variables outside of one’s control. This stress produces fallout like the prototypical drug-addled teen star Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird) and twisted self-help gurus like Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) who have supplanted the Catholic Church in Los Angeles as the beacons of hope for the thick smog of lost souls. It’s funny that while Hollywood is mythologized as a shimmering oasis, the smog is so bad that one can’t see the stars at night. Instead, fans can glimpse the stars strolling the streets during the day signing autographs. Just don’t expect to see David Cronenberg. Maps to the Stars is now playing at Hyland Cinema until Thursday, November 13. Check hylandcinema. com for showtimes.
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
The Essentials > Ways to Improve Your Kill Count
LOWER YOUR STANDARDS
IMPROVE PERSONAL HYGIENE
THE P90
BECOME GAY
LIE
Every slut-shamer knows that standards and kill count are inversely proportional. The simplest and easiest way to increase one’s kill count is to abandon all standards. It’s easy! Whenever someone hits on you — be it varsity athlete, 35-year-old townie, horse or zuchini — simply say yes. Abandon any idea of what you want in a mate. Your only goal now is to increase your kill count. Whenever anyone or anything indicates they want you in a sexual manner, dive right in. Learn the art of starting up a conversation whose second sentence is “let’s grab a drink.” Open up your Tinder app. Turn on both genders. Swipe right on every person and send each match a friendly message. A wider net catches more fish or sometimes dogs. It’s just logic. Enjoy the skyrocketing quantity of you sexual encounters but beware of bemoaning their quality.
If there’s anything sexier than deodorant, it’s toothpaste. The dating world these days is cutthroat and frisky folks chasing ass could use any edge to gain an inch on the competition. Canadians are a clean people so to stand out to the opposite sex you have to be as spotless as Mother Theresa’s criminal record. There are easy tips for getting antiseptic. Adding a tasty spritz of Mr. Clean to any beverage will purify the old esophagus. Investing in a waterproof laptop will let you finish that essay under the shower and allow you extra time to soak in the suds. Worst case, if all that bathing doesn’t get you laid, you’ll have more opportunities to jerk off in the washroom.
Maintaining your kill/death ratio is hard. Whether you’re doing a simple capture the flag round or going into domination mode, you need to have the best gear in order to win. Combining a P90, or an equivalent submachine gun with the agility perk and whatever perk allows you to knife faster means that you can run around the map as an unkillable machine. This is ideal for small maps where you can just run and gun without worrying about being pegged off by a pesky sniper. Shoot at your enemies head until they are either dead or you are close enough to knife. If you have something like a helicopter as a kill streak, you can then take advantage of forcing everyone inside, making for an easy close-quarters combat. If you stick to these simple tricks, you’ll easily win every round on Call of Duty — wait, this was about sex? I know nothing about that.
Tired of sitting home alone on Saturday nights watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond? Want a fun, colourful and sexy adventure? Do what I did and become a gay man! The process is simple. Step one – grow a penis. About half of you have already accomplished this task. Step two – seek out other penises. You might wonder if the stereotypes are true about gay men, if life really is one big Sex and the City episode. The answer is absolutely. Picture protein-pumped, sweaty men grinding the glitter off their ass onto your lap – all to steady beats of the latest Gloria Gaynor remix. Speaking of glory, you don’t even have to leave the club to increase your kill count. The right stance, glance and subtle head tilt can lead to a shadowy ally or unoccupied bathroom stall. If all else fails, there’s Grindr.
It is very clear that the only way that you will be able to increase your kill count is by constructing the most elaborate scheme that you possibly can. In fact, the more lies, the better. It works for the weather person and politicians, and can work for you too! Nothing quite gets those boxers or panties in a bunch quite like dishonesty. As all great liars know, the more elaborate the story, the more they can’t help but believe that it’s true that you really do only have a month left to live and you just want to be able to cross off losing your virginity from your bucket list, meaning it is that cute boy’s duty to the foundations of morality to fulfill your last wish. If that doesn’t work? You can always lie about your kill count too.
• Conrad Floryan Editor’s note: Drinking Mr. Clean is probably not a good idea.
• Megan Devlin
• Brent Holmes
• Jenny Jay
• Kevin Hurren
CONCERT The pounding of subwoofers trembles the stained wooden floors The consistent high pitched ring Unrelenting He nods his head – the boy in the red plaid shirt. The garish red plaid shirt. In every picture now burned into my retinas. The red plaid collared Long sleeved Faded Shirt.
My heart still jumps in excitement. He’s here Red plaid shirt or not, the vibrations of the floor beneath shuffle me closer to him to say hello. Until – she turns around with her jet black Mohawk and red plaid shirt. For a second I have forgotten the red plaid shirt was the memorial photo. • Jenny Jay
Courtesy of Western University
Jon Rom CONTRIBUTOR Show Me the Science explores research going on in labs at Western. This week, The Gazette looks at associate professor Brent Sinclair’s lab in the biology department. Dr. Brent Sinclair is an associate professor of Biology at Western and his lab studies a list of animal models that have the making of a pretty terrible zoo. Flies, crickets, frogs, butterflies, snails, slugs, stick bugs and spiders can be found in different incubators and at different stations in his lab. The questions being asked about these critters, however, are far more interesting than the menagerie being formed. The Sinclair lab has been working on determining the factors behind chill coma recovery (CCR) in insects. CCR gives these insects the ability to overwinter or survive temperatures too cold for their bodies to function and return to their hopping, chirping and buzzing once warmed. “Some [insects] spend up to two
thirds of their lives overwintering in this part of the world,” explained Sinclair. The lab has expanded to include not just insects’ response to low temperature, but other cold-blooded creatures as well. All these extra animals came into the picture “primarily because of the people in the lab … who have an interest in those topics,” said Sinclair. Frogs that can survive freezing were previously examined and a newer addition, spiders, currently have PhD student Susan Anthony struggling to make the arachnids hold still. Master’s student Zander McKinnon has been looking at the mechanism of CCR in his work. The limitation of putting his crickets outside for months of waiting has led him to use sophisticated technologies to speed up the process. A system of cooled methanol, sensitive temperature gauges and chambers thermally isolated from the surrounding environment give him
insight into when freezing occurs. Zander’s approach allows him to scratch the surface of processes that occur on a cellular level, processes that Sinclair has made a career of trying to isolate. One example involves the balancing of differently charged atoms (ions) that exist in and out of the cell. Cold-surviving organisms can keep the water and ion content inside of their cells constant despite the loss of that balance in the cold. “The impact of cold on [the insects’] lifecycle … influences their performance in the summer, influences the size of the populations ... all those things determine how much of a pest they are, their propensity to carry disease and role in the ecosystem [including] being food for aerial insectivores, … decomposition, and for beneficial insects, keeping pests under control,” explained Sinclair To find out more about the research done by Dr. Sinclair and his lab go to http://publish.uwo. ca/~bsincla7/
MMPA
Master of Management & Professional Accounting
• Designed primarily for non-business undergraduates • For careers in Management, Finance and Accounting • Extremely high co-op and permanent placement To learn more about the MMPA Program, attend our information sessions: Friday, November 14th, 2014, 11 am – 1 pm Room 210, University Centre (UCC), Western University Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014, 11 am – 1 pm Room 210, University Centre (UCC), Western University Wednesday, January 21st, 2015, 11 am – 1 pm Room 210, University Centre (UCC), Western University
mmpa.utoronto.ca
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
opinions HAVE YOUR SAY
The Gazette asked students if OHIP should cover the cost of mental health treatment.
Bradley Metlin SPORTS EDITOR @BradAtGazette
Medical Science I
“Yeah, just cause it’s an actual issue especially nowadays it’s an issue a lot of people are struggling with and it’s something that should be covered by health insurance. Just cause, it can be very like — I don’t know how to say this, but it’s serious. Especially when you’re in university and you have all these stressful situations. If it’s included in the health insurance plan, it might take some stress off of you knowing that you don’t have to pay separately for something like that, you can just go use your OHIP to pay for the help you need to get.”
Varun Karunakaran
International Relations II “Yes. Mental health is a health concern and like every other health concern — I mean, it makes sense that it gets covered by OHIP, right? I don’t know why it wouldn’t be covered. … That just makes no sense; I don’t understand why it wouldn’t be covered.
Jacqueline Lacchin Sociology IV
• Barack Obama
Red carpet politics Breaking Brad
Obaidah Rkhes
That’s the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want.
I remember where I was six years ago when Senator Barrack Obama reigned triumphant in the 2008 presidential election. As the night drew later, I stayed up with my aunt watching what seemed like an incredibly powerful moment in history. As the shots from Grant Park flashed onto my screen with everyone in attendance crying — including power mogul Oprah Winfrey — I realized this was something truly profound. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible … tonight is your answer,” Obama boomed. It was spellbinding. During my young adolescence, this message resonated. Six years later, this message has proven to be hollow. I feel cheated and lied to. The promise of change in politics has been unfulfilled. President Obama, with his grandiose message, has been an abject failure. It’s a harsh reality to consume. In his first two years in office, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. This environment was exploited by Obama to jam through an admittedly noble, yet misinformed piece of legislation Obamacare. It drew a polarized response and Obama lost the House of Representatives. Four years later, the Democrats have now lost the Senate. Obama is now doomed to watch as his political ideas are thwarted. I’m reminded of a quote from Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a global political risk-management firm, that I saw in The Washington Post. “Bush is a leader who didn’t like to think — Obama is a thinker who doesn’t like to lead.”
Dear Life
The point is we were promised change, which reminds me of Canadians’ attitudes towards Justin Trudeau. The federal election is next year and the Conservatives and NDP have been slowly previewing their policy platforms — I know nothing of the Liberals’. Trudeau is charismatic and relatable but does he suffer from the Obama syndrome? Societally, we are moving towards a culture of the “celebritician” — a blurring of the lines between celebrity and politician. As politicians begin giving bombastic interviews, taking selfies with everyone and doing things that are questionable of politicians (like stripping for a fundraiser), I have to wonder what’s gone wrong with political discourse today. Leaders should undoubtedly be adjudicated and assessed — but the focus should be on the ideas these leaders are presenting. I’ve frequently bemoaned this phenomenon before to my friends, particularly about Justin Trudeau. No one can tell me what he stands for. The only response is along the lines of, “Well, he’s not Stephen Harper.” Sure, is Harper the most compelling person in the room? Not by a long shot. That said, he has provided results and kept Canada in a relatively healthy position. The unemployment rate, for instance, now stands at 6.5 per cent — the lowest since November 2008. But hey, can Harper deliver a good speech? That is clearly the most important thing and not the proven results or sound policy proposals. Even Thomas Mulcair, whose policy I firmly disagree with, has presented himself as a solid statesman and not a “celebritician.” This culture of style over substance is deeply damaging to the direction of our nations. Look to Obama for the next two years and we’ll realize that showy speeches and promises mean nothing when it comes time to lead. Keep our celebrities in Hollywood and out of Washington and Ottawa.
“Yes. First of all, because it’s a real problem. It’s not something that’s made up and it actually affects people in a bunch of different ways and can really affect everything else in your life. … I just don’t see the logic of how we can have free health care for physical illnesses but mental illnesses it’s just like ‘oh no, it’s not the same.’ So I think that we should at least be consistent with that.
Your anonymous letters to life
Dear Life, I’m so offended that the residence ads on the back cover don’t show OC.
Dear Life, Every time I see a kid on campus wearing a Saugeen Maitland Hall toque, I can’t help but SMH.
Dear Life, After considering traffic, lighting and Wi-Fi condition, I finally found my favourite pooping spot on campus. And I will not tell anyone.
Dear Life, Flies in the UCC are so annoying! I’d blame them if I don’t do well in my exams.
Dear Life, I almost ran over a skunk with my bicycle — so glad it sprayed someone’s dog last night and had no spray left for me.
Dear Life, Why do I only get attention from other guys now that I have a boyfriend?
Dear Life, If gum flavour could last for
Laura McCuaig
more than 5 minutes, that’d
Physiology III
“For sure. I think a mental ailment is just the same as any other ailment and just because there’s a lot of unknowns about it and there’s a lot of stigma around it, I don’t think that should be any reason for why OHIP shouldn’t cover it.
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
sports
saywhat? “I’m hoping one day it’s, you wake up and there’s no pain and there’s no discomfort. It just feels like a regular leg. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen.�
• Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning team captain, about his broken tibia
Rundown >> The Mustangs women’s cross country team finished fifth at the nationals this past weekend • Amanda Truelove finished seventh and was named a CIS allCanadian • The men’s team finished 13th.
Mustangs tame Lions in 6–3 victory
Courtesy of Matt Hiscox Photography
MUSTANGS forwards Brittany Clapham and Casey Rosen celebrate a goal in the second period of Saturday’s game.
Christopher Miszczak ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR @SportsAtGazette
Can a Mustang trample a Lion? This was the outcome of Saturday’s women’s hockey game, where the Mustangs decimated the York Lions by a score of 6–3 for their sixth straight win. The win means Western have still not lost a regulation game yet this season, with a record of 7–0–1. They sit in first place in Ontario University Athletics, ahead of Queen’s by a single point. “The game was played extremely well, there were some close calls but in the end we really battled through,� Mustangs head coach, Chris Higgins, said. From the start, the Mustangs took to the offensive when Emma Pearson made it 1–0 just a minute into the first period. The Lions worked hard to defend themselves but Brianna Iazzolino scored the Mustangs second goal halfway through the second period. Then it was Brittany Clapham getting on the board, with only 30 seconds left in the second period when she potted a goal, so the Mustangs finished the period leading the Lions 3–0. This early lead was a good indication of the things to come. The third period is where things got really interesting. Casey Rosen got an early goal at the beginning of the third period for the Mustangs, pushing their lead to four goals. It was almost frightening to finally see the Lions waking up and taking an odd yet much more offensive strategy, especially in the last 10 minutes of the period. While on a 5-on-3 powerplay,
York pulled their goaltender, even though there was over nine minutes left in the game. With the 6-on-3 advantage, they struck twice, making the score 4–2. Despite the Lions coming onto the attack in those last ten minutes, they unfortunately left their net wide open for both Kendra Broad and Sydney Kidd to catch some easy points by way of two empty net goals. The Lions did get another goal as well, but it wasn’t enough, as the final score was 6–3. “We played well despite some hard calls but it was a good game. We came together as a team and got some good shots and opportunities and came through with the win, so it was good,â€? Ally Galloway, Mustangs forward. “We played awesomely as we always have.â€? At the end of the night, the Lions left in defeat. “I am disappointed in how we played today,â€? Dan Church, Lions coach, explained. “Western is a good team and they are at the top of the standings for a reason. They brought a lot more pressure than we did and I felt we kind of sleep walked through the first two periods and it took the ten to twelve minutes to pull our goalie for the team to wake up.â€? “It’s a bit disappointing but it’s something we need to learn from as the season goes on,â€? he continued. The York Lions will lick their wounds and move on to face the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Mustangs, with another win under their belts, will move forward and take on the Toronto Varsity Blues on the road this Saturday as well. • With files from Nathan Kanter
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thegazette • Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Mustangs halt Redmen streak with 3–0 win Nathan Kanter SPORTS EDITOR @NathanAtGazette
The Western Mustangs brought their A-game on Saturday night and came away with a much-deserved 3–0 home victory against a strong McGill Redman squad. With the win they improve to 6–3–0 on the season and now sit in third place in the Ontario University Athletics West Division. “That was probably the best we’ve played all year,” Mustangs forward, Stefan Salituro — who potted the second goal of the game — said. For the coaching staff, the effort was there right from the start. “Right from the drop of the puck, I think all four lines were playing well,” Mustangs assistant coach, David Kontzie, said. “Our [defence] stepped up and had a good game, [Greg Dodds] made some great saves when he needed to [and] special teams came through.” McGill came into the game riding a five-game win streak, but ultimately couldn’t find the back of the net all evening, despite firing 38 shots on goal. The loss was their first since October 18, and now has them in third place in the OUA East with a 7–3–0 record. “We didn’t come up with the timely goal that we needed tonight, but all around I thought the guys had a good effort,” Redman assistant coach, Dave Urquhart, said. “I think Western has a really strong team. They played a great game tonight. Both teams played a strong game.” The score line was not indicative
This past weekend Guelph’s football team decided that they had to win and eliminate the Western Mustangs from the playoffs. How dare a school as irrelevant as Guelph swoop in and steal Western’s thunder. Due to this unfathomable behaviour, we take our logo design discussion to the university campus where students have to step over cow shit in order to get to class. If Guelph succeeds at one thing, it’s using a font that makes them appear conventional and standard. “Why is this a success?” you may ask. Well, considering that Guelph is literally one of the worst universities (save for food on campus, I’ll give you kudos for that), being conventional is great. The serpentine font family, like the one used, just strikes me as the Comic Sans of sports logos. When it comes to the actual graphical representation of a Gryphon, Guelph really gets it wrong. I understand that this logo is merely an update of a logo, which they’ve had for decades, but why? Sure, it’s simplistic but that really doesn’t mean it’s good.
Courtesy Matt Hiscox Photography
WIN IT FOR THE KIDS! Kyle De Coste battles for the puck in the corner with Redmen defenceman Alex Chenevert. De Coste scored the first goal of the game for Western, his third of the season.
of the game, as both teams evenly traded good quality chances all night long. The difference, however, may have been special teams, specifically the penalty kill, something Kontzie has been very impressed with. “Guys have really bought into the system. Bought into sacrificing their bodies, blocking shots and playing within the system,” he said. “Last year McGill ate us up in Montreal. They scored probably two or three powerplay goals, so we were very
Given that this column is all about being critical and discussing the design of a logo — with humour — the Guelph Gryphons present a logo that complicates this. Beyond looking at it and just noting that it doesn’t look good, what can I pinpoint? The odd shape of the Gryphon is just poorly designed and not aesthetically appealing. The wings are straight up odd. The tail is thorny and uncharacteristic. My suggestion is that Guelph revamp their entire logo and get more exciting and sleek. Right now, this logo is clunky. A logo is supposed to be simple enough that an average person could draw it. I don’t even think an animator for the Walt Disney Company could replicate this piece of nonsense. Could this all be a result of me being bitter for the Mustangs’ loss? Perhaps. That said, I’m also just giving Guelph advice. I cannot send a mass hoard of workers with pooper-scoopers to rid their campus of farm animal feces, so giving logo design pointers is probably best. • Bradley Metlin
focused tonight that for us to even have an opportunity for two points, the PK really had to step up and get the job done, which they did.” Western’s penalty kill went a perfect seven-for-seven and although the powerplay didn’t convert, Kontzie felt it looked solid as well. “They’ve really taken advantage of some good opportunities and some good looks,” he said. Certainly not to be lost in all of this is goaltender Greg Dodds, who
currently leads the OUA in save percentage with .949 and goalsagainst-average with 1.76. In typical fashion, he credited the defence in front of him. “They didn’t have that many high quality scoring chances and when they did the guys were able to get down and block some shots for me,” Dodds said. “When the team plays good it’s easy to make saves like that.” But his stellar play hasn’t gone
unnoticed by the coaching staff. “I think Dodds made some great saves,” Kontzie said. “They had some great looks and some good opportunities and he really rose to the occasion and played a solid game.” Next up for the Mustangs will be back-to-back home games on Friday and Saturday against Laurentian and Nipissing. Both play in the East Division and are above .500 so far this season.