Thursday, January 22, 2015

Guns + Ammunition American Sniper offers nothing more than jingoistic American patriotism. >> Pg. 4

thegazette

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Finally got beavertails since 1906

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

VOLUME 108, ISSUE 61

Students appeal en masse after receiving identical marks

Western wins for green initiative

T

HE MARKS THAT WE GOT WERE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE EFFORT AND WORK THAT WE EACH PUT IN BECAUSE EVERYBODY WAS JUST GIVEN THE SAME MARK ON EVERYTHING.

Olivia Zollino NEWS EDITOR @OliviaAtGazette

Western University is among nine recipients of the Minister’s Award for Environmental Excellence for the creation of its Energy Dashboard.

The Energy Dashboard is a realtime tool that tracks the energy consumed by various buildings on campus.

Western controls systems specialist Dan Larkin and Mary Quintana, compliance, energy and water project coordinator, accepted the award.

“We were surprised at first,” Quintana said about receiving notification of the award.

She added that many universities and companies have been interested in the dashboard and inquired about making a similar model for themselves.

“It educates the community about environmental and sustainable opportunities and pollution. It engages our whole community — the university, staff and students,” Larkin said. >> see ENERGY pg.3

Inside

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Soc. sci. president not stepping down

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Global Health Symposium

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Sex in literature

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Prioritize self-care

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Wrestlers have national ambitions

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SANDY GIRGIS

FOURTH-YEAR HEALTH STUDIES STUDENT

Winnie Lu • GAZETTE

All students in class given 60% on final assignment and participation grade Megan Devlin ASSOCIATE EDITOR @MegAtGazette

Fifty-five out of 91 students enrolled in Health Sciences 3010F from the fall semester are appealing their grades, which they say were artificially lowered to control the class average.

The entire class allegedly received 60 per cent on their second essay assignment with identical, non-constructive feedback. These marks were not released on OWL until the final marks were released on student centre — the students didn’t know they had all received identical marks until January 15.

In addition, all students in the class allegedly got six out of 10 on the participation portion of the class, worth 10 per cent of their overall grade. This grade was

given despite midterm participation reports indicating stronger performances.

The course was called introduction to rural communities and was taught by Rose-Marie Dolinar, who did not respond to requests for comment.

“The marks that we got were not a reflection of the effort and work that we each put in because everybody was just given the same mark on everything,” said Sandy Girgis, a fourth-year health studies student in the class.

Girgis compiled a Google document via Facebook with names of all students appealing the grade.

She said she is submitting this document because they are all appealing the same thing, although she says many students are also filing their own individual appeals.

So far, the university has agreed

to re-grade the students’ essays that all received 60 per cent.

Girgis, however, is concerned because a message from the faculty delivered via OWL said they would be hiring an independent writer to grade them — not someone necessarily knowledgeable about course content.

“All we’ve been told is there will be a re-mark of the assignments.

But no one has received feedback as to what his or her new mark is,” Girgis said. “The problem is that the final day to appeal is January 30. So if you get the appeal back, and you don’t like it and you want to appeal again, it’s too late.”

Jordan Kannampuzha, another student in the class appealing his grade, is most concerned about the identical participation marks.

“I attended every class and talked in the class, so I was pretty

frustrated when I saw the six out of 10,” he said.

The faculty originally stood behind the low grades, saying there was an online forum component to the mark — a component that students deny existed.

“She didn’t post any online forums on the OWL for us to do,” Kannampuzha said. “The only forum she wanted us to do was post a picture of the rural place we were going to do for our papers, and everyone did that.”

Girgis concurred, saying the faculty was adding components to the course that weren’t mentioned during the course itself.

The School of Health Studies has since reconsidered, and in an OWL announcement said they will re-weight the participation marks.

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>> see APPEALS pg.2

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thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

Caught on Camera

Winnie Lu • GAZETTE

ONE STEP AT A TIME. Western’s facilities management updates their recycling and waste receptacles around campus with new banners to encourage students to sort their garbage.

News Briefs

Professor turning sludge into riches

A Western chemical engineering professor has been offered the research chair of a team focused on turning bitumen sludge into riches — or at least more profitable synthetic crude.

Cedric Briens will be acting as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Syncrude/ExxonMobil industrial research chair in fluid coking technologies. Fluid coking is a process where heavy oils, like bitumen, are upgraded to lighter, more valuable products, such as gasoline or diesel fuel.

Briens and his research team are set to receive financing over the next five years from Syncrude Canada Ltd., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company and NSERC. Briens said the group’s goal is to make fluid coking technology more effective and sustainable. “First, they want to make [fluid cokers] more efficient,â€? Briens said. “They want to be able to get more synthetic crude per tonne of bitumen. The second is ‌

Solution to puzzle on page 7

environmentally it would be better because for one tonne of bitumen they produce more synthetic crude and they would use less water.�

Working on the team will be a combination of Briens’ colleagues, including fellow engineering professor Franco Berruti, postdoctoral fellows and students. The research chair also allowed a new faculty member, Dominic Pjontek, to join Western’s department of chemical and biochemical engineering. Briens added he’s confident the team’s research will make a difference in heavy oil upgrading processes. “We are talking about such huge unit that even if you improve by one or two percent, it has a huge impact,� Briens said. “You don’t have to completely revolutionize the technology.�

The research could also benefit other industrial areas like agriculture or forestry as well as have implications that hit close to home.

Briens mentioned Canada’s Alberta oil sands are composed of large bitumen deposits that are currently upgraded at fluid cokers in Fort McMurray. Briens emphasized the research project, and its benefits, will be the result of collaboration. “It should be clear ‌ there are a lot of people involved,â€? Briens said. “We didn’t get [the funding] because of just me, that’s for sure.â€? • Amy O’Kruk

Students advance for chance at $1-million

Eight Western students have advanced to the regional finals of the sixth annual Hult Prize Challenge and will compete for a chance to win the $1-milllion grand

prize to implement their global startup ideas.

The program, started by the Hult Business School and the Clinton Global Initiative, aims to bring together the world’s best business minds to compete in five major cities around the world to come up with solutions to some of the biggest social issues facing the world today.

Western will be sending two teams who will be pitching their ideas to a panel of judges on March 13. The first team consists of Ahsan Syed, Denise Liu, Dimuth Kurukula and Shivani Chotalia, who will be presenting in Dubai. The second team of Angelica Martinez, Haejo Kim, Eric Huang and Daniel Andru will compete in Boston. “This year the issue is Early Childhood Education,� explained Ahsan Syed. “There’s a major developmental point from birth to age six of a child, and in a lot of slums and poor areas parents aren’t able to either afford to or they don’t know about the beneficial developmental aspects of kids at this age.�

The teams will be developing their ideas over the next three months to prepare for the competition.

According to Syed, there are a lot of drawbacks and limitations of NGOs and governmental funding and charity in the traditional sense. “There’s a lot of opportunity to solve the major social issues of our time, but in a sustainable way that incorporates financial feasibility, and I think that’s the way we’re going to help some of these poorest places in the world develop and move forward,â€? he said. • Brittany Hambleton

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

Students appeals >> APPEALS continued from pg.1

4PIZZAS

MEDIUM

“On examining the forum section of the OWL website for the class, it is evident that apart from a requirement to identify the community each student would be writing about for their assignments, there is a lack of questions or other activities for students to actively respond to. Consequently a decision has been taken to eliminate the second component of the participation grade relating to the discussion forum and re-weight the interim participation grade for each student,� the announcement read.

Jim Weese, the dean of health

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sciences, declined to answer questions but issued a brief statement saying they were working to resolve the situation in a fair manner. “Every concern raised is being addressed and handled appropriately,� the statement read. “Information regarding grades and other academic matters is private and confidential. We have, and will continue to, communicate directly with all students in the course as we work toward a resolution.� “I don’t really blame [professor Dolinar] as much as the faculty,�

Kannampuzha said. “She was very dedicated in what she taught. She was passionate about it.�

Correction In Wednesday’s story, Applications to Western down 2%, the accompanying graphic was titled Western Acceptance Numbers January 2015. It, in fact, should have been titled Western Application Numbers January 2015.

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. Š 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

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thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

Energy Dashboard recognized by ministry >> ENERGY continued from pg.1

Vivian Liu • GAZETTE

The Energy Dashboard is used on campus for the Rez Powers Down challenge. In late November, residences competed to use the least amount of energy for a week. The student-run initiative used the dashboard in order to gauge their progress.

The award was presented by Arthur Potts, parliamentary assistant to the minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs and Glen Murray, minister of the environment and climate change.

“The government realized the same thing that universities and other institutions are realizing — this is a good tool and helps educate

communities,” Larkin said.

Quintana said that although other post-secondary institutions and companies have similar dashboards, Western’s remains one of a kind.

“Many universities have dashboards but they are cookie cutter solutions,” she said. “They are lucid or poles, so they all look the same.

They’re not real time and provide little options for interaction with the dashboard.”

The Energy Dashboard team is currently working on installing water meters, in addition to other changes to the dashboard itself.

“It’s great that the government is encouraging this type of behaviour,” Larkin said.

Former radical speaks out Amy O’Kruk NEWS EDITOR @AmyAtGazette

Israel on Campus brought a former Islamic extremist to Western to speak about his journey from radicalism to tolerance.

Kasim Hafeez is a British Muslim who speaks about growing up surrounded by an atmosphere of radical anti-Semitism and anti-Western ideas. After reading The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz, Hafeez began questioning his beliefs.

Presently, he travels to universities across Canada and the United States discussing his eventual shift to Zionism and advocating for peace.

Hafeez said he believes radicalism comes from preying on people’s ignorance about religion and religious perversion.

“You [can] have too many people for whatever reason pushing a

narrative that isn’t based completely on fact, almost to create more anger and hatred,” Hafeez said in an interview. “That’s the problem that then leads people to … wanting to take things a step further. They want to go from handing leaflets and holding events to physically changing the situation.”

Hafeez said dialogue on campuses regarding the Middle East can get stuck in a loop. He stated conflicting arguments can lead to a breakdown in communication and added that if people can’t sit down and accept other people’s narratives in North America, there is no hope for the Middle East.

In addition, Hafeez said he was involved with a campaign against Christian persecution by radical Islamists. He has also spoken on behalf of StandWithUs, an Israel advocacy and educational organization based in Los Angeles.

Hafeez stated Islamic extremists

aren’t representative of over a billion Muslims and moreover, people can be susceptible to religious radicalism without realizing it.

“University, for me, was the single most radicalizing factor of my life,” Hafeez said. “I grew up in the U.K., I didn’t grow up in Pakistan or Syria. … The people who get radicalized are just normal people … but because of certain influences in their life they get pulled in a completely different direction.”

Hafeez added his message is especially relevant for students.

“Don’t take what your told and go, ‘okay, that’s factual,’ ” Hafeez said.

“If someone is on stage addressing you, including me, dig deeper and find your own facts. Find the truth because it’s important.”

The free event attracted over 100 audience members, as well as two London police officers who ensured the speaking engagement went smoothly.

Litchfield not required to step down from SSSC Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR @KatieAtGazette

The Social Science Students’ Council met on Tuesday night and held a discussion on whether or not their president, Jack Litchfield, should take a leave of absence from his duties while he runs for president of the University Students’ Council.

Social science councillor Lindsey Banks explained that fellow councillor Mitchell Nishimura asked the speaker how to have a debate followed by a motion for Litchfield to step down if the vote passed the the two-thirds requirement.

The council held a brief discussion before voting, which showed 15 councillors in favor of him leaving his post and 14 against, plus two spoiled ballots and four abstentions.

Jacob Kriszenfeld, USC governance officer, explained that concerns of conflict of interest must involve a student government officer using their seat or position to influence their campaign.

“According to SSSC’s constitution, they’re actually allowed to have their president not take a leave of absence,” Kriszenfeld said.

“A lot of peoples’ concerns were

not that he wasn’t capable, but more so if we have the option of having Chanelle Muir …why not have her step in, taking a proactive approach, rather than waiting until election period when we realize we’re going to have to call an emergency meeting, so we wanted to do best practice and have him step down just for what’s best for council,” Banks added.

Litchfield currently has not stepped down as SSSC president, and does not plan to do so during his campaign.

“I consulted past USC presidential candidates and none of them stepped down, there’s nothing in our constitution that requires us to, and furthermore I feel that I would be doing a disservice to my constituents if I stepped down for personal reasons during the election period,” Litchfield commented.

“I got elected to represent them all year, I’m not doing my job properly if I’m not doing that,” he said.

Alex Benac and Lindsee Perkins, associate vice-president internal and associate vice-president municipal affairs respectfully, who are running on Sophie Helpard’s slate against Litchfield, have taken a leave of absence effective on January 9. The pair are running

for vice-president internal and vice-president external on Sophie Helpard’s slate.

“They approached me originally within the day after they handed in their nomination, and I advised them that there were two options.

The safer option and the much more conservative option … was to do it [step down] immediately as they handed in their nomination form, which they did,” Kriszenfeld said.

“What the situation entails is ensuring that I don’t inadvertently use my position at the USC to improve my campaign’s chances of winning, which means I’m basically forwarding any emails I get to the relevant executive, staying out of meetings, et cetera,” Benac explained.

“It all goes back to the big deal of conflict of interest. As long as they’re not using their position in office to influence voters in any way, that’s the key, and they did not do so between the three-day period that they stepped down and they declared themselves for the nomination,” added Kriszenfeld.

Slates announcing their candidacy for USC executive must announce their eligibility by Friday, and campaigning officially begins next Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.

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thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

arts&life Not just health promotion Jennafer Freeman ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR Though many students take an interest in local and global health issues, they may not always know of an outlet to discuss these problems.

This Sunday, Jan. 25, the Western Rotaract Club will be holding their second annual Global Health Symposium.

The Global Health Symposium will give interested students an opportunity to discuss health issues and marginalized populations and to engage in a networking session.

The event will be taking place in the Mustang Lounge from 1 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Jaitra Sathyandran and Tsering Kalden are fourth-year health science students, as well as co-chairs for the event.

“With a common goal in creating more awareness around mental health amongst marginalized populations,” says Sathyandran.

“We wanted to share this personal interest and passion in this year’s Global Health Symposium.”

Western Rotaract is a club that gives students an opportunity to get involved in the London community and also get involved with the school.

Sathyandran explains that a lot of students are stuck in the “Western Bubble.” She identifies first- and second-year students as being especially immersed in school life, friends and residences, and due to this they don’t really get to see London and the community as a whole.

“We want to instil change,” remarks Sathyandran.

The aim for the actual conference itself is for students to effectively engage in open-minded discussion about local health issues in addition to the global health issues that currently exist.

“As much as there are health issues in the world in other continents, we have just as many health issues in our own backyard that we need to acknowledge,” explains Sathyandran.

The theme for the symposium is marginalized populations, with a particular focus on the indigenous communities, immigrants and refugees. One of the goals of the event is to promote understanding of what it means to be marginalized and how this group’s experience differs from the rest of the population.

“The difference between this event and other conferences is that it’s not just about sitting and listening to what the speakers say,” says Sathyandran. “The aim of the conference is the interaction, for students to gain a better understanding of health issues locally and globally and especially health issues in marginalized populations.”

The conference will have three keynote speakers, two of which work at Western University. The speakers include Dr. Arlene MacDougall, Dr. Lloyd Wylie and Dr. Christina Marchand.

After every speaker there will be a break-out session where everyone in the room will be split into three groups and will be relocated to classrooms in the UCC. This is

where students in smaller groups can engage in discussions about the speeches.

“We’ll be providing students with questions so they can really engage in discussions, form opinions and get exposed to other perspectives,” explains Sathyandran.

At the end of the event there will be a networking session. Local organizations will be coming in from the London community, setting up booths and giving students the opportunity to network.

Sathyandran explains that the event is open to everyone and is not catered towards a certain population or age group.

“I think that it’s a great way for students to really gain understanding of different perspectives when there’s such a diverse group of people in the room together,” she says.

Sathyandran says that she is most excited to see how the event turns out.

“I was on the committee last year and it was an incredibly rewarding experience seeing students come up at the end of the event and say that they had a great time and really learned a lot,” she says. “This is probably what I’m most looking forward to.”

Seventy-five per cent of the proceeds will be going to the Mental Health Association Middlesex. A representative from the association will be attending the event, informing students on what the money will be put towards.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 at www.rotaractwestern.com

Courtesy of Jaitra Sathyandran

Proudly provocative purple poems Samah Ali GAZETTE STAFF An intimate Friday night is coming to the Wave this week with Purple Sex kicking off the upcoming events presented by V-Day Western.

“Purple Sex is a student showcase: people submit their writing and then people like students perform it,” producer Eileen Sung said of the event.

This year’s theme, Rhizome, incorporates the concept of stem

regrowth after breaking. The stories will revolve around each writer’s triumph after being torn apart from their experiences, similarly to a plant’s root regenerating after dying.

“That was the concept of Purple Sex … no matter what happens people change and they go on,” added Sung.

Fuelled with passion and depth, Purple Sex allows the performers to express themselves in a non-competitive way compared to other spoken-word and poetry events. Not

to mention the safe space, wealth of stories, poems and dramatic monologues foresees full attendance again this year.

Sung anticipates deeper performances.

“This one is quite different and I’m happy with the way it’s grown … now people are actually feeling safe enough for them to put dark confessions out there, which is what we want to go for.”

Purple Sex will start at 9:45 p.m. at the Wave this Friday. Tickets are $10.

songmeanings Florence and the Machine’s song, Howl from their debut album Lungs, features lyrics drawn from a recurring line of dialogue from the 1941 film, The Wolf Man:

“A man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night may still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright.”

>> IN THEATRES > AMERICAN SNIPER

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

American Sniper misses its shot Robert Crocco CONTRIBUTOR GGHFF American Sniper Director: Clint Eastwood Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller Besides being recognized as America’s most badass cowboy, Clint Eastwood has a history of making great films that embody complex characters. From the fugitive who befriends a fatherless boy in A Perfect World, to a principled gunslinger with a conscience in Unforgiven and the memorable female-boxer who woos our hearts in Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood’s characters are layered with multitudes often difficult to define.

Unfortunately, American Sniper is directed away from that mark and its target is painted with a biased stroke of black and white: the invading American forces are the good guys and the poor Iraqis being ‘liberated’ are the bad guys.

Politics are completely abandoned in this film; perhaps its charm is to make a movie about Iraq that Americans can finally be proud of, despite a global consensus suggesting otherwise.

Known as ‘the legend’ among his fellow Navy Seals and ‘the devil’ to his enemies, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a real-life Texas cowboy who is compelled to hang up his stirrups and join the American army in the wake of 9/11. Credited with 160 kills by the United States government, Kyle personifies comic book folklore with a national flare, evoking the Russian myth behind

Enemy at the Gates and its prized sniper in World War II, Vasily Zaytsev.

But unlike the story of Vasily Zaytsev, Kyle’s story is far more insidious. He blindly exempts himself from the atrocities he holds Iraqis accountable for: killing women and children.

Although Kyle seals his fate with a great sense of irony, the film is not honest enough to show it during its final act. Instead, title cards insincerely convey the unheroic truth of Kyle’s demise, reaffirming the notion that America is fuelled on fables about itself that whitewash history through the filter of its own romantic ideals.

Clint Eastwood may have Trouble with the Curve, but he sure has no problem curving history into a bloated fantasy-hyperbole, intended to be consumed like a happy-meal: who cares where the beef comes from as long as it comes with a shiny toy?

American Sniper is a stark reminder of how America views itself as the world’s saviour in the very conflicts it creates. Weapons of mass destruction may not have been found, but as long as heroes like Kyle are born — who boasts, “it’s not about how many enemies you kill, but how many of our guys you save” — it doesn’t matter.

On the whole, American Sniper offers nothing more than far right wing and fine-polished American propaganda, aimed to provide a moral and ethical antidote to its guilty conscience regarding Iraq.

American Sniper is playing at the Rainbow Cinemas this week at 12:55, 3:50, 7:00 and 9:40 p.m.

volunteer for arts & Life arts@westerngazette.ca • westerngazette.ca • • UCC Room 263 •

•5

thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

Shachar Dahan GAZETTE STAFF Product: Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Manufacturer: Samsung GGGGH

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

Tryin’ to catch me writin’ dirty Depictions of sex allow for greater diversity Richard Joseph GAZETTE STAFF Every year, the Literary Review gives out their Bad Sex in Fiction Award, which they call “Britain’s most dreaded literary prize.” This year’s winner was Ben Okri’s The Age of Magic, which features an erotic encounter where the woman “[becomes] aware of places in her that could only have been concealed there by a god with a sense of humour.”

The award is a dubious honour at best, but it has an underlying social message. The purpose of the prize is to “draw attention to poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction, and to discourage them.”

Sex is a notoriously tricky subject to write about. Much of the now canonical literature — which underwent obscenity trials — rarely detailed sex explicitly, but used metaphor and suggestion to skirt around it. Today, by contrast, we have the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, which painstakingly and uncompromisingly recounts every last dirty detail. What is considered “obscene” in literature over the ages is an interesting way to examine societal change.

Gary Barwin, Western’s writer in residence, says sex in literature, despite its pitfalls, is rife with narrative potential.

“Sex is such an important cultural phenomenon ... it [can be] hot, charged with erotic passion,

or it can be a interaction between people that reveals issues of identity and culture ... [it] stands in for so many things, it’s a way of looking at politics, repression.”

Barwin stresses the importance of taking fresh, even unusual approaches to depicting sex.

“You have to ... avoid all the normal stereotypes, clichés. If you’re writing about love, you don’t say ‘my love’s lips are as red as a rose’ — similarly, in sex, you just have to find higher-level tropes.”

A modern example might be the cutaway from the love scene to the exploding rocket — a hackneyed, heavy-handed metaphor that quickly takes on the air of parody.

There’s the consideration that television and the Internet have displaced literature as the medium of the masses.

“I’m not sure how influential literature is at this point,” Susan Knabe, FIMS associate professor, says. “Certainly it used to be ... [but] in our current culture, visual representations of sex are probably more influential.”

Barwin, however, maintains that the same trends are constant throughout all these mediums.

“I think literary fiction is definitely connected to popular culture,” he says. “It engages in the same tropes, language ... it’s just one set of symbolic conventions that culture plays with, an array of references, images, possibilities for drama and humour.”

There’s an argument, says Knabe, that men are more visually oriented

with regards to sex and women are more linguistically oriented — thus, female erotica is more literary while males prefer the visual stimulation of photographs or pornography.

“There are online publishing houses whose entire repertoire is softcore porn and erotica ... largely marketed towards women,” she says. At the same time, Knabe warns against generalizing too much with these “broad brushstrokes,” as they do not apply to everyone.

Writing about sex can turn out melodramatic, even comical, but there has certainly been an increase in quantity, if not in quality. In recent literature, says Barwin, there has been “a greater diversity of sexual practices being mainstreamed.”

This is perhaps the greatest benefit of erotic works of fiction like Fifty Shades of Grey — they bring these so-called “deviant” practices into conversation.

“What all this sex in literature and media has going for it,” explains Knabe, “is that we might have more interesting and more thoughtful conversations about sex ... talk about it in ways that are not stigmatizing, discussions which bring up the range of practices and the range of sexual responses.”

Barwin agrees. “Ultimately, it comes down to more willingness to discuss the issues — a dialogue about the role of women, the role of abuse, assault. An openness to talk certainly leads to a much more sex-positive society within our culture.”

Work and Love is a suitable title for the sixth installment to Elliott Brood’s discography. The album explores the themes of growing up and is a coming-of-age record for Elliott Brood.

The Toronto-based band has a death country sound, incorporating a country vibe with punk-rock inspired lyrics. They have a rebellious aesthetic and defy traditional categorization, seeking a unique identity between genres.

The new LP features a more prominent rock influence compared to their previous albums. The result is a sharp and mature new sound, comparable to other Canadian rock artists such as The Tragically Hip

and Neil Young. Tracks find a compromise between being progressive and accessible.

Lyrics on Work and Love make it the band’s most personal album to date. Whereas a previous record, Days into Years, featured eloquent commentary on World War I from a Canadian perspective, Work and Love features more intimate lyrics exploring themes traditionally tied to late adolescence, such as first loves and first mistakes.

Elliott Brood will be preforming at Call The Office tonight at 8 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at www. elliottbrood.com.

• Christina Carfagnini

When the tablet was introduced, people weren’t sure what to make of it. They initially were confused by a device that wasn’t as powerful as a laptop but offered more versatility than a cell phone. For a short time, the tablet fell into the awkward middle ground between the other two.

Since then, the public has fallen in love with tablets, now embracing them as a critical component of a company’s consumer electronic ecosystem – and of their own lives.

The relationship with tablets recently took a giant step forward with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4” – perhaps the best tablet on the market. It also comes in a 10.5inch model, but the smaller one is preferable because it’s less bulky to hold and carry around.

If size is your priority, you won’t find many tablets that can compete with this one — Samsung’s thinnest and lightest tablet is only 6.6mm deep and weighs only 10 ounces. It features a plastic build, which isn’t as sleek as the iPad’s aluminum body, but makes it more immune to scratches and fingerprints, while providing a better grip. It also boasts a Super AMOLED display, with a pixel density of 2,560x1,600. The fingerprint scanner is the only design flaw — you need to swipe the home button, rather than just resting your finger on it, making the process frustrating and inconsistent.

The Super AMOLED display provides rich, vibrant, slightly oversaturated colors, making the Tab S a joy to use. Beyond the display, its best feature is its multi-window capability, formulated for multi-tasking. Just as it sounds, the multi-window feature splits the screen in half, allowing users to run two programs at the same time.

It’s accessed by swiping the screen from the right side and then selecting two apps you wish to use. The downside is that only a limited number of programs can be used within this feature, with simple apps such as the calculator left out.

As of now, the Tab S runs Android 4.4 KitKat, but it will likely adopt the newer Lollipop software in the near future.

While the classroom is where most tablets fall short, it is precisely where the Tab S excels. The multi-window feature proves useful as it allows students to take notes and view your professor’s PowerPoint simultaneously.

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GGHFF Artist: Elliott Brood Title: Work and Love Label: Paper Bags Records Genre: Country

The battery lasts the entire day, but comes at the cost of a long charging time.

In comparison to the iPad, it is shocking how quickly the Tab S manages to change preconceived notions of tablets. The Tab S clearly “out-features” the iPad — Apple will have to do a lot of innovating to catch up.

Those with Macs likely will favor the iPad due to its “handoff” feature, but for those with no prior commitments, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S is definitely the way to go.

AVAILABLE Campus Tour Guides September 2015 – April 2016 ARE YOU: ¥ Proud of your Faculty ¥ Enthusiastic about Western ¥ Involved in campus activities ¥ Knowledgeable about your school ¥ Articulate, pleasant and responsible

TO APPLY: • Review the application posting details on the Career Central website www.westerncareercentral.ca • Email your completed application information to liaison@uwo.ca

DEADLINE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015, 4:00 PM Please note that due to the number of applicants only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

150112

6 •

thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

opinions

As you consciously choose to give yourself the gifts of selfcare, they become an integral part of your rhythm and the vital tools that you will tap into for the rest of your life.

• Miranda J. Barrett

Class shouldn’t Why we should all have had their care about self care Slate system is a bad idea grades lowered Dear Life

An astonishing 55 of 91 students are appealing their grade in a third-year health sciences class after an apparent across-the-board attempt at grade deflation.

The entire class allegedly received 60 per cent on their participation grades and final assignments – marks that were released with their final grades, with generic, non-constructive feedback. The lowered grade arose from this arbitrarily marked assignment, as well as the lowering of participation marks that were not indicative of students’ class attendance and discussion.

The faculty has said they are going to be re-marking students’ final assignments and looking at re-weighting the participation grades. However, this was not before they tried to convince the students of made-up course requirements as a rational for their identical participation marks.

While the need to maintain a set range for the class average is outlined requirement in most course syllabi, the arbitrary lowering of grades is uncalled for.

While the participation mark has been long revered as a method of adjusting students’ grades upward or downward as the professor sees fit, the transition for many students from 5/5 at the midterm to 1/5 for the second half was a blatant attempt at meeting a class average this particular class was obviously exceeding.

Although this method of grade fluctuation is questionable, it is certainly unfair that students are being penalized for meeting the requirements asked of them.

Whether the professor provided marking schemes that were too lenient or had an anomaly class of excessively bright-minded individuals, lowering students’ grades en-masse at the 11th hour without their knowledge is not a solution to a too-high class average.

In future situations, the professor should clearly outline standards and policies on grade inflations and deflations. Alongside this clearer communication, assignments and exams should reflect this desired per cent average. As experienced in many situations, professors tend to adjust the grade throughout the year by altering the difficulty of future assignments after noting class performance on previous ones.

While the health sciences faculty was wrong in assessing these students’ performances, it seems they are taking appropriate steps in re-grading and re-weighing the final assignment and participation marks – although this situation should never have escalated to this point.

• Gazette Editorial Board

thegazette

Volume 108, Issue 61 www.westerngazette.ca Iain Boekhoff Beaver-In-Chief Brent Holmes Deputy Editor Richard Raycraft Managing Editor Jason Sinukoff Advisor to Front Office

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.

Abracadabra Al-Azem

Nusaiba Al-Azem OPINIONS EDITOR @NusAtGazette

I’ve been hearing tales of caution about it for many years now, but finally, four years after attending my first university course and into my 17th year of schooling, I’ve had my first brush with senioritis.

A colloquial term used in educational institutions across North America, “senioritis” describes the lack of motivation that occurs when students are nearing the ends of their pedagogical careers.

When a student has senioritis, their motivation reaches an all-time low and their academic apathy an all-time high.

I never thought I would experience the phenomenon — after all, I’ve always loved school. Yet, like clockwork, the first week back from December break, it came for me.

But during this time, I was able to realize something incredibly important.

Miraculously, I just managed to avoid completely plummeting into academic apathy and I thought I would share my secret to maintaining academic motivation and avoiding senioritis.

My field of work and study can be particularly emotionally draining, and one concept my professors have pushed on the students in my program since day one has been self-care. We were taught all about how self-care is a preventive health measure, how it’s considered a partial solution to the global rise in

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

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

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

healthcare costs and how it can boost affect remarkably.

At first, I regarded this “education” patronizingly — after all, we’re in university. You would think we all know how to shower, sleep, eat, exercise and take care of ourselves. Did we really need to dedicate an entire class to telling us that walking outside can be good? That eating healthy meals is better than eating processed junk?

But in these past few weeks especially, I’ve realized that self-care is completely different from the regular living habits we develop as humans. The primary difference concerning self-care is that it is learned, continuous and purposeful.

For example, the distinguishing factor between just taking a shower to be clean and taking a shower as a means of self care would be the intentionality of the action, and it makes all the difference.

Once I began to engage in deliberate actions intended for my mental well-being, my interest in school began to pique again. Senioritis vanished.

Now, I take advantage of the everyday things I do, such as walking back and forth from main campus to affiliate colleges. I make sure to create an intention prior to my walks that this action is meant for my mental well-being. More importantly, I make sure to treat it with the same priority with which I treat every other important thing in my life.

So if you’re trying to get out of that mid-semester slump or avoid senioritis, make time for yourself — however much you can afford in your schedule. If that’s a weekend off to hit the gym, great. If it’s three minutes of focused breathing in between classes, perfect. Whatever it is — make it learned, continuous and purposeful.

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising Ian Greaves, Manager Маја Анјоли-Билић

Robert Armstrong Diana Watson

Gazette Staff 2014-2015 Mohammad Abrar Abdul Hanan, Suhaib Al-Azem, Eric Bajzert, Sarah Botelho, Damon Burtt, Tabitha Chan, Jonathan Dunn, Spencer Fairweather, Sam Frankel, Devin Golets, Kevin Heslop, Richard Joseph, Drishti Kataria, Sara Mai Chitty, Soheil Milani, Mackenzie Morrison, Amy O’Shea, Vidhant Pal, Kyle Porter, Lily Robinson, Alex Seger, Tiffany Shepherd, Tristan Wu

News Amy O’Kruk Hamza Tariq Katie Lear Olivia Zollino News-at-large Kevin Hurren Opinions Nusaiba Al-Azem Arts & Life Conrad Floryan Jennafer Freeman Jenny Jay Sports Bradley Metlin Nathan Kanter Robert Nanni Jr.

Re: “Why we need to slay the slates,” Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 To the editor: Student government was a large part of my first four years at Western. From faculty council, senate, speaker of council and campaign manager, I saw the ins and outs of a complex bureaucratic machine. I would first like to congratulate Jonathan English and the current council on their willingness to downsize the council — a much needed step toward consolidation. I would also like to commend Kevin Hurren on his anti-slate piece. From its inception, I’ve been against the concept of slates in student government. At the time, I was both speaker of council and managing a budding campaign for the coming election. While I’m sure I had some conflict of interest, I believe my arguments against the slate system were valid, most of which are highlighted in Hurren’s piece.

This system was rushed and, if I recall correctly, put in place in late 2012, for the 2013 election. This was approximately two months before the election would be held — but planning for the campaign, at least on our team, had been underway for at least three months already! At the time we were USC “insiders,” and yet we were suddenly scrambling for two people to join a slate. But enough about my experience.

You want to talk about dedication?

USC president Matt Helfand earlier this year tweeted about his work ethic as a response to a chastisement of his salary.

I’ve worked with numerous USC presidents and vice-presidents. They have, with almost 100 per cent consistency, worked harder and for more hours than their wages represent. Now, selfless candidates (I use this word sparingly, only to point out that an intelligent candidate would absolutely not want this job for its salary) must find two other interested, qualified parties to join them.

Instead of one person, now three people must risk putting their lives on hold for relatively little long-term benefit.

Hurren is absolutely correct in his assessment that slates keep fringe candidates out of USC elections. Without these candidates, elections become boring and stale, filled with “professional” student politicians in their own echo chamber, dividing councillors, sophs and clubs into two or three camps. I implore the to-be-elected council of 2015-16 to re-consider the slate system and re-open the USC to non-politicians.

Let the Omid Salaris of the world run for USC president. They just might win.

That would be a breath of fresh air, and this from a Forgione supporter — yes, I’ve been here a while.

Brent Duncan M.A. Sports History I

Associate Megan Devlin Photography Kelly Samuel Taylor Lasota Winnie Lu Graphics Jennifer Feldman Illustrations Christopher Miszczak Kirstyn Culbert-Kviring Graphics/Video Mike Laine Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator Vivian Liu

• Please recycle this newspaper •

•7

thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015 Devin Golets SPORTS EDITOR @DevinGolets

It’s a busy time of year for the Western Mustangs wrestling team, as they host the Western Open this weekend – their third tournament in as many weeks. They look to build upon their success last week at the Guelph Open, where the team brought home three medals.

Julie Steffler won silver in the women’s 55 kg division after finishing with a 3–1 win–loss record.

Madi Parks took home her second bronze in as many weekends in the women’s 53 kg division, and Riley Otto joined her with a bronze in the men’s 86 kg.

Parks and Otto have been leaders all season long, but not just at the varsity level. After the Western Open, they will be joining Larissa D’Alleva and Steven Takahashi at the prestigious Dave Schultz Memorial International wrestling tournament in Colorado Springs.

They will be facing some of the top wrestlers in the world.

“The Shultz has developed into one of the top international tournaments, certainly in North America,” head coach Ray Takahashi explained. “Last year, Japan, China, Russia and a lot of European countries came in. It’s a really tough tournament.”

For all four athletes, it represents just another step on the long road to competing on the world stage, as they all are members of the Canadian national team already.

“They do have their sights on going past the CIS [Canadian Interuniversity Sport],” Takahashi said. “The CIS is important, no question, but a lot of them have aspirations to do well at the senior National Open which allows them to gain national team status.”

Both the OUA and CIS championships take place in February, before the National Open in March. As Takahashi explains, the National Open is the first stage of the Olympic trials.

“It determines the top three in the Olympic ladder,” he said. “So if you win the National Open, you’re going to be ranked number one going into the Olympic trials which are in December of this year.”

Takahashi believes that if Parks keeps up her recent success at the past two tournaments, she has a chance to have her name amongst the country’s elite.

“To be number one in Canada on the women’s side, you’re almost world-ranked. So Madi [Parks] is not number one, but she’s close,” Takahashi said. “She would do well internationally. A few years ago, she won the Pan Am under-17 championships.”

Takahashi understands the challenges that lie ahead for his players. A former student-athlete at Western, he reached the Olympic stage too, representing Canada in 1976 and 1984. Despite the dreams for achievement on the world stage, Takahashi has full confidence his players are grounded and remain focused academically.

“Certainly we want to offer a high performance program so that if someone wants to reach the international level, there’s a place for them here,” he explained. “Our student athletes are doing well academically. They’re forced to time manage. If you’re a varsity athlete you have goals – you want to achieve certain things and you’re use to working hard. That translates to their school work as well.”

You can catch some of Canada’s rising wrestling stars at the Western Open this Saturday at 9 a.m. in Thames Hall.

’Stangs look to make international impression

Courtesy of Western Wrestling

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NEED HELP APPEALING a grade on an assignment or exam? We are here to help you through the appeal process. Email studentappeals@westernusc.ca for more information.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED SEEKING GAY, LESBIAN, bisexual, and other sexual-minority individuals over the age of 18 for a study on perceptions of discrimination. Participants will complete a set of questionnaires in the Love Lab at Western University. This should take no more than 30 minutes, and participants will receive monetary compensation in appreciation for their contribution. If interested, email uwodiscriminationstudy@gmail.com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS HAPKIDO: TRADITIONAL KOREAN Martial Arts, The Huron Hapkido Society meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00PM-9:30PM, Huron University College Dining Hall (Huron Room) Visit us at “UWO Hapkido” on Facebook for more info.

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8 •

thegazette • Thursday, January 22, 2015

sports

thursdaytweet If we were going to deflate something intentionally, it would be the massive ego of every football fan.

• @Big12Refs concerning the NFLs “deflate-gate” sweeping the nation

Rundown >> The Western Mustangs women’s rugby coach Natascha Wesch has received the Endeavour Executive Fellowship from the Government of Australia > She will work this summer in sport psychology, lecturing teams.

Good – Peyton’s back

Ugly – Leafs fans charged for throwing jerseys

Well look who’s back, back again. Peyton Manning has said he will return to the Denver Broncos for his fourth season with the club pending a physical. While there was a lot of talk that the AFC Conference championship game would be his final appearance on the turf, there really wasn’t much doubt that the all-time touchdown leader would return to the NFL for an 18th season.

Even though Manning will be returning to the blue and orange, there will be some big changes coming his way.

There is the potential for many of the wide receivers on the team to bolt to free agency on top of the firing of John Fox and subsequent hiring of Gary Kubiak, who Manning was reportedly very fond of. Both the offensive and defensive coordinator for the Broncos have been axed as well, making for a very interesting offseason this year.

There was no way Peyton was leaving the game of football after an ugly loss to his former team, so it should be interesting to see how Manning fairs as the Broncos’ leader on and off the field in 2015.

It is absolutely disgusting to think that fans are being charged for throwing jerseys on the ice in NHL arenas. After the Leafs’ ugly 4–1 loss to the Hurricanes, all Nazem Kadri could ask was “where were the ushers?”

If you are a fan who’s bought a ticket at the Air Canada Centre, good seats starting at $150, and has bought a NHL jersey (minimum $160), you have every right to throw your jersey on the ice in protest. Kadri’s comment reminded me of a few years ago when Roy Halladay returned to face the Blue Jays at the SkyDome and received multiple standing ovations prior to and during the game. After, Jays players were angry that fans cheered for Halladay but booed Ricky Romero for letting in runs. This jersey-throwing situation has a similar tone to it. It is not disrespectful to the players: it is a message, telling management to get their shit together and dress a decent team for once in 15 years.

If you want to throw your jersey on the ice, by all means do it, without fear of backlash or so-called criminal charges.

Bad – Women’s soccer discrimination A group of women’s soccer players dropped their lawsuit against FIFA yesterday in their gender discrimination case.

The players first sued FIFA for refusing to change the women’s artificial turf to real grass, which the men only play on in international tournaments. It was really great to see players and fans alike rally around the women for the upcoming 2015 Women’s World Cup and the fact that this is plain and simple gender discrimination.

It is upsetting that FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association could not come to an agreement on this issue.

They’ve truly embarrassed themselves by not providing real grass for the women to play on. It is scientifically proven that many more injuries occur on turf compared to real grass.

Not all is lost, however. This united protest has made CSA change the artificial surface at BC Place, the host of the final game, as well as the 2019 World Cup being changed to be held on grass for every game. Though dropping the lawsuit falls in today’s ‘bad’ category, it is good that recognition for gender discrimination in sports reached a wide audience with these protests over the last few months.

‘Stangs lace up to face off against Lions Robert Nanni SPORTS EDITOR @robertnanni

After emerging victorious last week against the York Lions and University of Toronto Varsity Blues, the Mustangs men’s hockey team have hit the road for a second game tomorrow night against the Lions.

York sits sixth in the Ontario University Athletics west division, and enter this match against Western on a two-game losing streak.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, are at a record of 16–4–1 and come into the match with momentum. They are behind Windsor, first-place in the west, by just two points. A win against York will tie them with Windsor and put them at the top of the division. Despite last week’s two wins, Western has fallen from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top 10 list. A win might also put them back into the rankings, so it’s clear that the stakes are high for the Mustangs.

The player to look out for is Mustangs centre Cody Brown who

was named this week’s OUA male athlete of the week on Monday, following up his two-point OUA debut last week. Although he could not prevent York’s third-period turnaround in their game last Friday night, Brown’s overtime goal saved the Mustangs from a very near loss.

Other notables include winger Stefan Salituro, who had a goal and an assist in the last game against York, and goalie Greg Dodds, who’s been solid between the pipes for the ‘Stangs all season.

Western enters tomorrow’s game against York with confidence, as the Lions don’t have much offensive firepower — they average the secondleast goals per game in the OUA at 2.76, despite firing the second-most shots per game at 29.9. Overall, York has scored the lowest number of goals (58) in the entire division. This contrasts with the Mustangs who’ve scored 82 — tied for second place — and allowed only 54, which is the lowest in the division. York will have a tough time scoring in the showdown, so look for the Mustangs to pressure the Lions offensively and try to take an early lead.

Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE