Thursday, February 5, 2015

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thegazette Pumping iron since 1906

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015

TOMORROW high -6 low -12

TODAY high -12 low -18

Saugeen goes viral with lip dub video >> pg. 4

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

VOLUME 108, ISSUE 69

Itsy bitsy teeny weeny muscular toned bikini

The gym in February is packed with students working on their spring break body. But for Western’s bikini division bodybuilders, training is a year-round pursuit.

Megan Devlin ASSOCIATE EDITOR @MegAtGazette

W

hen you think of a bodybuilder, you probably wouldn’t picture Nathalie Ramirez. The HBA II bikini athlete is slender and toned; she’s probably the farthest you could get from Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1970. But the bikini competitor’s physique is exactly what the bodybuilding world is moving towards, and it’s attracting some Western athletes to the sport.

Ron Hache, president of the Ontario Physique Association, estimates 30 per cent of the OPA’s 2,500 members are bikini competitors, and he expects that number to increase. He says the judges look for a physique that is balanced, symmetrical and muscular, but still feminine.

“The saying with bikini is: it’s all about the butt,” Ramirez chuckles.

“Bikini is the type of girl they would take to put on a magazine.”

Hache thinks bikini’s popularity is due to its accessibility for first-time competitors.

“A lot of ladies who are competing in that category realize they don’t have to go to the extreme that other categories demand,” he says.

That’s certainly why Melissa Williams, also in HBA II, chose the bikini division.

“I think that [bikini] aligns best with how I want to look,” she said. “It’s still feminine, but muscular.” >> see BODYBUILDING pg.8 Nathalie Ramirez • Photo by: Winnie Lu • GAZETTE

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thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

Caught on Camera

Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE

I AM INSIDE OF A GIANT SLUSHIE. Rootbeer and cream soda fornicated yesterday, and the baby is straight out of a 7-11’s dream. February is upon us. Just stay inside. Also don’t eat the slush that’s really weird.

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

News Briefs

Ontario colleges approve sexual violence protocol

Twenty-four presidents from Ontario’s public colleges have unanimously approved a new protocol for victims of sexual assault and violence. The framework aims to maintain a healthy and supportive environment to those affected by sexual assault.

According to Karen Horsman, manager of media relations and communications for Colleges Ontario, the creation of the new protocol was sparked by a Toronto Star investigative report. “The report found many gaps in the system that left students feeling confused,� Horsman said. “The story instigated change at colleges and universities across the province.�

The new policy aims to satisfy a missing aspect in how post-secondary institutions handle sexual assault cases. “Ontario colleges had many proactive and innovative ways of educating its students about sexual assault but a stand-alone concise policy about reporting and the handling of sexual assault was missing,â€? Horsman said. • Hailey Lonsdale

Western co-sponsors Pillar professional development program

Western Continuing Studies is partnering with Fanshawe Continuing Education and Pillar Nonprofit Network to co-sponsor Pillar’s professional development program.

Pillar aims to support non-profit organizations by promoting volunteerism, study professional development, networking opportunities and information sharing.

Carolyn Young, communications and public relations officer at Western Continuing Studies, explained that Western has worked with Pillar on a few different initiatives in the past and they are excited to be involved with this program.

Solution to puzzle on page 7

“We were interested in it because their courses and their programs represent lifelong learning in the community which is a value we share with them at Western Continuing Studies,� Young said.

The program will provide over 40 workshops and presentations during the course of one year at various locations in London, such as the London Public Library on Dundas Street and the Goodwill Industries offices on Horton Street.

Topics will include social innovation, risk management, effective marketing and public relations, leadership, and strategic planning.

Young explained that the program would have a good impact on the community. “You have all the people that work in the non-profit as well as volunteers coming to these courses and developing better knowledge and skills around what they do,� she said. “They go back into their roles in the community and they’re better at it.�

Upcoming programs include Leadership Beyond the Box on February 10, Active Risk Management: The Board and Executive Director’s Role on March 2 and Measuring What Matters on March 31.

For more information on the programs being offered, students are invited to visit the Pillar Nonprofit website, or call 519-433-7876. • Brittany Hambleton

Facebook totally won’t affect your grades

A recent study has revealed no definitive long-term correlation between Facebook use and students’ GPAs. The study, published by Reynol Junco in the January 2015 issue of Journal of Applied Development Psychology, found senior year students are less avid Facebook users than freshmen, sophomores and juniors.

Junco, an associate professor of education at Iowa State University, found students using Facebook while attempting to complete assignments tended to receive lower grades. His study showed that Facebook multitasking was negatively predictive of GPA for students at other levels — but not for seniors.

Giles Whitaker, an MIT professor at Western University, concurs with the results of the study when applied to his experience with Western students. “From the conversations I’ve had

with students about the difficulty of staying on task, especially with reading things that they might find a bit boring, there’s such a wealth of distractions and messages coming all the time,� said Whitaker. “Impulse control is something that we know improves with age.

You need to be disciplined to focus on a single task.� • Lara Banlaoi

Western contributes $3.6 billion to London economy

Western University is making a significant contribution to the local, provincial, and national economy, according to a study conducted by KPMG Management Consulting.

The study was conducted from April to June 2014. Western University was found to contribute $11.3 billion to Canada’s economy and, of that, $3.6 billion was contributed to London’s local economy alone.

Some of the university’s activities that were analyzed as part of the study were: enrolment, employment, innovation, commercialization of new discoveries and company creation. This is in addition to other supports and services provided to the community.

Research at Western, along with its two research parks was found to be one of the biggest contributors.

This research contributed $2.06 billion to Ontario’s GDP. Research at Western is also becoming increasingly lucrative. Western has experienced an 11 per cent increase in research funding since 2009.

Western was found to be a significant employer in Canada, and one of the largest in London. The study found that Western employed 15,480 people in Canada and of that, 10,840 were employed in London alone. For the past two years, Western has been one of Canada’s top 100 employers.

The education that students receive at Western is also having an impact. Alumni living in Ontario increased their earnings by $4.95 billion as a result of the education that they received at Western, as of 2013. This increase in annual earnings is estimated to represent $7.43 billion to Ontario’s economy.

Students should also be pleased about the important contribution that they are making to the economy. The University’s 36,000 students contributed $293 million to the local economy through their living expenses alone. • Jason Silverberg

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.

3 4 3 3 3 343

3 3 3 3 www.londonprop.com

www.facebook.com/RedbricksLondon @LPCRedbricks

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thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

>> DEMERIT POINTS IN USC ELECTIONS

Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE

Revitalizing downtown Julie Hambleton CONTRIBUTOR

especially to families and other people,” Squire said.

Implementing this plan does not come without its challenges. The proposed walkway, a continuous path from the river up to Richmond Row, cuts through what is now private land.

“They own the land, and some of their developments don’t match up with what the city has in mind.

Some of the walkways that they’re proposing are going to go across their land and interfere with their ability to develop their property,” Squire stated.

“City staff sort of assured us that they would be flexible in their approach, but it’s going to take a lot of work in that regard.”

The other road block to putting these plans in motion is sufficient funds, as the cost has been estimated at $16 million. Squire assures Londoners that the funds will come out of capital, not taxes.

They will be looking at the funds that have built up and are continuing to build up and use them for the projects.

In terms of the Western community, the city hopes that this plan will attract students into the Dundas and Richmond area.

“Students largely go to the Richmond Row area because there are places there that attract them — there’s restaurants and bars that cater to students … My hope

would be that with this plan, students will be more willing to come to that area, eat and participate in activities so that it helps restaurants and businesses other than those on Richmond Row.” Michael van Holst, councillor for Ward 1, is also positive about the impact that the proposed plan will have on the city and the student population.

“It is exciting that our planning team has chosen ideas that have worked wonderfully in other cities and adapted them appropriately for London. We hope that excitement is what students feel when they arrive in London, exit the doors of VIA Rail and are greeted by the vista of the new City Gateway project,” Van Holst said.

As for a timeline, the plan is still in its early stages. Squire wants to emphasize that it is a fluid plan, and is subject to change.

“It’s not a written in stone plan, it’s a conceptual plan to make the area more pedestrian friendly, so there could always be changes to it, and we may find down the road that some projects may not go ahead or some people may not want them. I’m hoping the plan is flexible enough to deal with that.”

City council will continue to go through the process of the downtown plan and the London Plan, and have it approved by the entire council.

Western short on female profs in STEM

studies department, said there are barriers to women working as professors in STEM fields.

“I would say there is not enough will to change the culture … Women are taking the STEM disciplines at the undergraduate level but the numbers continually drop as you go up the ladder.”

One of the biggest reasons to support diversity in Canada’s science departments presented by The 10 and 3 is global competitiveness.

“While countries like India and China are churning out ever more science and engineering grads, the numbers in Canada are stagnating.

We need all hands on deck, and that begins at our universities.”

Fielding said it is important for Western and other Canadian universities to change their culture to one of acceptance and prosperity for all by encouraging women to pursue degrees and research opportunities in the hard sciences in order to stay competitive on a global scale.

“Western needs to commit to changing the culture, and to attending to the issues of systemic racism and sexism. Institutions are designed to allow certain kinds of people to succeed, and these are the ones who have the responsibility to change the institution,” Fielding said.

@uwogazette

The City of London has proposed a plan to revitalize the downtown area.

Focusing on Dundas St. and between Wellington St. and the Thames River, the city council hopes that the various projects proposed in this new plan will once again make the traditional downtown the focal point of the city.

These projects include creating a city square, pedestrian walkways and building a performing arts center — a project that has been on the back burner for quite some time.

“The biggest focus is going to be transforming Dundas into something that is much more pedestrian friendly and incorporating bus routes into it,” Phil Squire, Ward 6 councillor, said.

According to Squire, people have expressed that downtown is not accessible to pedestrians, and that there aren’t enough areas for them to gather and walk. Because of these reasons, there is a need for places like public squares to draw people to the Dundas and Richmond area.

“If you draw people down, it’s going to help restaurants, it’s going to help businesses, it’s going to help everything downtown. The key is to make downtown accessible,

Albert Van Santvoort CONTRIBUTOR @uwogazette

Western’s science, technology, engineering and math programs seem to be lacking a women’s touch, according to an analysis from The 10 and 3.

After reviewing the faculty demographics for math, computer science, electrical and computer engineering departments of 20 of Canada’s largest universities, the authors determined that women make up a negligible part of the teaching staff over all three departments.

“While everyone knows there is a gender imbalance, it’s difficult to have a meaningful conversation about the depth of the problem without concrete figures, looking both at particular institutions and at the variation between institutions,” Arik Motskin, one of the co-authors, said.

The analysis found female professors averaged about 16 per cent of the computer science faculty, 15 per cent of the math faculty and

10 per cent of the engineering faculty across the largest Canadian universities.

Out of the three departments studied, computer science was the one with the smallest discrepancy between male and female professors. However, women still made up less than 20 per cent of the faculty in the majority of schools.

“Another finding that surprised us is that a disproportionate number of the non-tenure, more temporary teaching positions, like lecturers, are women. It’s as if universities are happy to have very well-qualified women teaching the students, but granting more secure tenure or tenure-track roles may be more elusive,” Motskin said.

Computer science was also the only department where Western had above the average number of female professors than other Canadian universities. Women made up 17 per cent of Western’s computer science faculty as opposed to 16 per cent — the average of universities in Canada.

Helen Fielding, Western University’s chair of the women

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thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

arts&life

saywhat?

I’m sure if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be doing classical guitar solos on Youtube.

• Peter Capaldi

Saugeen brings the 5 up-town funk Mohammad Hussain CONTRIBUTOR @uwogazette

Saugeen has gone viral — a lip dub video of Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk

by Saugeen’s five upper floor has exploded on social media.

Directing the lip dup was Samiya Hassan, a Vancouver native studying FIMS, with the help of co-director Becky Jones, a first-year medical science student.

Saugeen has a notorious reputation at Western as being a party residence and is often referred to as “the jungle” or “the zoo.” The two women knew the preconceived notions of Saugeen and wanted to use their lip dup to challenge that belief.

“This is actually something that us two discussed beforehand and one of our main goals was to make sure [the video] showed Saugeen’s inclusivity,” Hassan explains.

The two feel that often the party culture at Saugeen is the only thing that gets focused on — they want to show people there is a lot more to the residence.

“We have people on our floor who do not drink but who were involved — we wanted people to not feel uncomfortable and a lot of people, ourselves included, did not want to be portrayed in a video with alcohol. It’s not the best reputation of Saugeen. There’s so much more that happens at Saugeen behind the

Courtesy of Samiya Hassan

scenes,” Jones says.

The two got the idea for the now viral video back in September. Since it’s been posted a week ago, it has garnered over 160,000 views and been shared on HuffPost Canada.

“Someone told me that HuffPost had put it up and I said stop joking that is not even a possibility. My jaw dropped when I saw it,” Hassan says.

Despite all the attention the video has been receiving the two directors both feel that what they

cherish most from this experience is how much closer they’ve gotten to their floor.

“We were close before, but I didn’t realize how close you could actually become with your floor,” Hassan says.

The morale in five upper has never been higher and their friends have been envious.

“Most people have said to me from other floors that we could never get our floor to do this. Our

floor is awesome,” Jones says.

But not everything was fun and games. Countless nights of planning and rehearsing had to go into the video before it was ready to film.

“Twenty hours of planning, one night of rehearsing and one night of filming. I wish someone had just filmed what was going on behind the scenes because it was so funny.

In the video obviously we took out the sound, but if you listen to the actual sound, there’s so many people

shouting, ‘where am I next!’ or me shouting ‘get out of the hallway,’ ” Jones says.

The two have received messages from all around the world commending their work.

“For me all I’d like is to show people the Western spirit ... If high school students see our video and if it even manages to shift one student to come to Western just because they saw how much I love Western – that would be all I want.”

>> On Disc > A History of Reasons

Shachar Dahan GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette

Last week, Tech for Thursday looked at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, but its $399 price tag may be out of reach for someone on a student budget.

At $99, The Amazon Fire HD 6 is a more affordable alternative. It’s worth pointing out that there are going to be compromises with any $100 tablet, but Amazon seems to do a decent job given the tools at its disposal.

The Fire HD isn’t particularly thin or light but is fairly comfortable to hold thanks to an angled ridge on the back of the tablet. Its roughened plastic shell isn’t as desirable as the smoother finishes on higher end tablets but shouldn’t be a deal breaker when deciding whether or not to purchase it.

At 6 inches, the Fire HD 6’s screen is about as small as you can make a tablet while still calling it a tablet. The screen is also topped with gorilla glass, giving it some added resilience. Overall, the build quality is actually rather good, given the Fire HD 6’s low cost.

Like all Fire-series tablets, the Fire HD 6 runs Fire OS – which looks a bit bland. The Fire OS is an Amazon-made interface based on Android, but the changes it makes are far more invasive than just about

GGGHF Album: A History of Reasons Artist: CAIRO Label: Maple Music Recordings

Courtesy of Amazon

any other custom Android UI. It doesn’t look like Android, and all the cornerstones of the Android experience have been replaced.

For those of you on the fence about this tablet, something that might give you that extra push is the fact that Amazon has terrific customer service – their support agents respond quickly when contacting them.

The Fire HD 6 isn’t going to blow anybody away, but it is perfect for someone who is looking for an inexpensive, entry-level tablet. The Fire HD 6 is one of the best tablets you can buy for $99, offering tremendous bang for your buck. It features a long battery life and a relatively sharp screen that makes it ideal for watching movies and reading books.

Very few indie bands manage to incorporate more than one type of genre into their debut album. Fewer bands manage to do it well.

CAIRO, a fairly new Canadian band, is a testament to what is possible when you push the boundaries of indie music. By no means is it perfect but CAIRO’s effort is commendable. Most remarkable is that the band members Nate Daniels, Dante Berardi Jr., Caitlin Grieve and Matt Sullivan weren’t put together by label heads or a talent agency, but rather found each other through Craigslist.

Their debut album, A History of Reasons, is a mix of all their individual musical backgrounds, brought together with an indie twist. Most surprising was Grieve’s spectacular violin playing that soars amongst the guitar chords and drum beats, and never sounds out of place.

The album starts with the title track, one of the strongest songs on the album. Sullivan’s drumming

never gives up and Daniels has a certain emotion to his voice that adds to the ambience of the song.

Add in the guitar riffs and the song sounds like something you’d find on a Silversun Pickups album.

The second song With You, which sounds like a nod to the musical stylings of The 1975, is riddled with cringe-worthy lyrics, such as “took my first step in British Columbia / and although you come from a different place you see the good in all of us.” This issue is recurring throughout the album. The musicality and the melodies are intricate and well done but the lyrics leave a lot to be desired.

Where CAIRO really shines is in their slower acoustic songs. In Render, another highlight on the album, Daniels sings, “It struck me that the last time I felt like this was never because I never felt a love like this,” over a minimalistic beat. Similarly Seventeen, a very Ben Howard-esque offering, provides an amazing vocal effort from Daniels immersed in the haunting violin-led production.

While there are many standout tracks, some of the songs — such as One at a Time and Starry Eyes — are very forgettable. The album also struggles to maintain a cohesive sound; the songs stand great individually, but falter as a collective.

Despite its lyrical shortcomings and lack of continuity, A History of Reasons is a solid debut effort.

CAIRO forays into musical territories not often explored, but hopefully with their sophomore effort, they’ll have a slightly more polished sound.

• Mohammad Hussain

•5

thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

Purple Shorts arriving shortly at Western Meerna Homayed CONTRIBUTOR @uwogazette

Next Monday and Tuesday nights will see the return of Theatre Western’s one-act play festival, Purple Shorts. The annual event is created, directed and performed entirely by students and seeks to demonstrate the theatrical talent Western has to offer.

The event will showcase six different short plays, three each night, commencing at 10 p.m. in the Wave.

Students whose scripts are chosen for Purple Shorts can decide to direct their play themselves or seek a director to oversee their production.

Liana Timbol, a veteran to Purple Shorts, is directing Happiness Only Real written by Janis Chang. The pair had never met before the project but found chemistry in their artistic views.

“I think she’s so on-board with everything I had in mind,” Chang says. “In addition to that, she brought this whole new dimension to it that’s just new and fresh and I didn’t even have in mind when I wrote the script to begin with.”

“We worked together to make sure that I’m directing in a way that keeps her vision on stage but still has my directing vision as well,” Timbol adds.

The pair went on to credit the actors with the success of their production.

“When it comes to these kinds of productions, a lot of people focus on writers and directors

Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE

to see how the script is,” Timbol explains. “Sometimes it’s all about how the people up there are doing it — they’re the ones people are watching.”

“It is heartbreaking sometimes to watch them onstage because they make everything feel so immediate and relatable,” Chang says.

Writer Samantha Wyss, another veteran to Purple Shorts, agrees that seeing one’s writing come to life is the highlight for the scriptwriters. Wyss’s play, Rosenwood Alcoholic Support Group, will be performed on Monday.

“The writing is fun, but when

Courtesy of Erica Alligood

PURPLE SHORTY GET DOWN. The cast of Rosenwood Alcoholic Support Group rehearses for their upcoming performance at Purple Shorts next Monday. From left to right: Rachel Phillips, Dempsey Bryk, Tolu Aibana, Gordon Haney and Samarra Goldglas.

people actually perform it and make it their own, it’s really cool to see that. It’s really rewarding, too,” Wyss says.

Last year she participated in Purple Shorts as an actor, but felt much more in her element this year as a writer.

“I’m really into writing scripts and stuff,” Wyss says. “I do sketch comedy so I wanted to try something that was longer and still wanted to get that comedy element, so Purple Shorts was a really good place to do that.”

For first time participant Chang,

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watching her script transform throughout the process has been her favourite part.

“It starts as an idea in your head as a writer or as a director, but then it transfers to the page, and then from the page it transfers into the actors saying them out loud,” Chang says. “But then again it changes completely and it takes on a whole different form when you bring it onstage.”

Similarly, Timbol admitted that this process is something she also enjoys.

“It’s just another visual creative

aspect when you’re seeing everything that happens in your mind come to life,” Timbol adds. “Then at the end when it’s on stage, you’re just kind of blown away.”

As for Wyss, she’s most looking forward to the show itself and seeing people’s reactions to her production.

Wyss’s play, Rosenwood Alcoholic Support Group will be performed on Monday, Feb. 9, and Chang and Timbol’s Happiness Only Real on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Tickets are $10 for each night or $15 for both, and available at Western Connections.

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If you cannot make the session we will be back on March 10th for an information table in the UCC Atrium.

Please see your Career Centre for more details and to register.

mba.degroote.mcmaster.ca

6 •

thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

opinions

I’m not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that’s a buzz kill. There’s got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.

• Mos Def

The USC debate season that never was Breaking Brad

Bradley Metlin SPORTS EDITOR @BradAtGazette

Some of the most exciting moments of the University Students’ Council presidential elections occur at the debates.

People take to Twitter to humorously filet the candidates and their statements. I, personally, salivate at the chance to see the slates in action, answering questions from the student body. Something is different this year, however.

The USC has decided to schedule only one debate. Happening tonight at 6 p.m. in the University Community Centre atrium, everything is being jam packed into two hours.

It’s absolutely maddening that the USC has only spared two hours of time during the two-week campaign period to see the candidates debate. Past years have seen two debates clocking in at three hours each. This gave adequate time for students to properly analyze the

Volume 108, Issue 69 www.westerngazette.ca

Iain Boekhoff Editor-In-Chief Brent Holmes Deputy Editor Richard Raycraft Managing Editor

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

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ago when vice president-external candidate Jordan Sojnocki remarked that he had “talked to one today” in reference to Aboriginal student outreach? It highlighted that he might not have the temperament for the USC executive.

These are the moments that get me excited for the USC presidential elections. This is where the student populace really pays attention to what’s happening. Sure, the platforms might be perused and judgment made, but the debates are primetime for the USC slates — the opportunity for them to clarify and defend their visions.

We complain about student apathy when it comes to our student government. We point to the declining voter turnout. We critique the merits of the slate system and suggest that is the reason for lack of interest.

Here’s the thing — give the candidates enough time to differentiate between each other. Limiting the slates to merely two hours does not provide adequate time to actually have meaning.

I guess this means I have to appeal to students near the end of this: show up tonight! Unless you were at the media debate or watched it later on Youtube, this is the only chance you’ll have to see the slates critique and contrast each other’s ideas.

We Get Letters!

Dear Life

Mental health is a huge issue

Your anonymous letters to life

To the editor: The #BellLetsTalk campaign really got me thinking about some of the issues here on campus regarding mental health. It reminded me that all these people on campus telling their stories are not few and far between.

So why are waitlists on campus so long? It took me over an hour last week to convince a friend who was considering suicide to go to Student Health Services and ask for help. I personally utilize the resource and had no problem getting help. However, when my friend went, he was told that the waitlist was about 50 people long, and of those 50 people, only six had seen a counsellor since the beginning of the year. So why did I get help so quickly? The answer: I was a liability. I went in and said that I’m tired of being on waitlists, that I had been on one for two years with Regional Mental Health and I couldn’t wait anymore. I told them I was actively considering suicide, while this friend didn’t mention that about himself. The scary thing? Men are four times as likely as women to succeed in committing suicide.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2011, 20–29-year-olds made up 7.5 per cent of all suicides in Canada. The suicide rate in Canada for men aged 20–24 and 25–29 is 18.1 and 16.1 per cent respectively per every 100,000 people — for women those ages, 4 and 3 per cent. But these rates reflect suicide only. The Canadian Mental Health Association projects that

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candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.

Two hours will give the six people cycling through the stage barely enough time to say “hello.”

The format has been announced and it’s positive that there will be separate debates for president, vice president-internal and vice president-external but seemingly no time has been allocated to the slates as a whole. Again, this is a disservice to students as they’ll have no perception of the slate’s chemistry — or lack thereof.

Previous years have seen candidates lamenting the constant debate season as they got roped into faculty debates; media debates, residence debates and likely other random engagements that had candidates face each other. This year, there will only be two debates: the media debate — which occurred last week; and the USC debate happening tonight.

While debates of the past haven’t offered that many bombastic gaffes on the candidates’ parts, they do shed light on their style and approach. Last year, we witnessed Matt Helfand coming on strong and aggressive. Students got a clear idea that he would be a fierce USC president. Whereas Brian Belman had limited charisma and energy, some wondered if Helfand had too much.

Or what about the moment two years

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.

about 20 per cent of all Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetime. To put these numbers into perspective, if main campus has 36,203 students, that means approximately 7,241 people on campus will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime. Around 50 per cent of those will have already seen the onset of symptoms. That’s a significant portion of the population — and many will not seek help. The CMHA reports that 49 per cent of those people will not see a doctor about the problem.

Even with the appropriate help, it often seems that when we take these issues to academic counselling, we don’t get treated as though our problems are legitimate. At least, that has been my experience.

Our health care plan covers up to $500 in counselling off campus. If you are fortunate enough, you can cover the rest through supplementary insurance.

I know I’m not one of those lucky ones.

Another option I only recently discovered is that if you can get a note from any medical doctor claiming that this is an ongoing issue and you qualify for OSAP, you can get a grant for students with permanent or temporary disabilities.

The solution for academic counselling’s insensitivity is to speak up. Talk to your USC members when possible or other student representatives. They are advocates for us when we need them to be!

• Sarah Masri Sociology III

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.

Dear Life, I think the new Brescia president was a gouda choice.

Dear Life, Number one class pet peeve: When people leave their phones on a shared desk to vibrate all class long.

How hard is it to put it in your lap? Less obvious too!

Dear Life, I wish my invisible minority was recognized on job applications.

Dear Life, The prison facility in Orange is the New Black is named Litchfield … As in our USC hopeful #TeamLitchfield.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT. #wakeupWestern wgaz.ca/dear-life

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, February 5, 2015

sports

today’stweet Anderson Silva is a cheater and a coward!

Sent from inside my couch cushion fort in the basement

• @ChipChantry, on mixed martial artist Anderson Silva’s failed drug test

Young Mustangs team splits weekend 1–1 Robert Nanni SPORTS EDITOR @robertnanni

The Western Mustangs women’s basketball team walked away with a 69–54 win against the York Lions followed by a 86–72 loss against the Queen’s Gaels this weekend.

The split result has the Mustangs at a record of 5–10, placing Western in third in the Ontario University Athletics west division.

Sporting special pink uniforms for Shoot for the Cure to spread breast cancer awareness on Friday, the Mustangs shot 50 per cent from the field to take the game from the visiting Lions.

While the first quarter proved to be a bit of a struggle for the Mustangs, ending it a point behind at 15–14, the remaining three quarters were wholly dominated by the team. With increased offensive efforts and quicker ball movement, the Mustangs had the motivation and focus to take over the scoreboard. “It took us a while, but we really wore [the York Lions] down and guarded them fairly well,�

Mustangs coach Brian Cheng said. “What we’re doing is playing good, hard, fast-paced offence, with good spacing and good ball movement.�

The second quarter saw five turnovers on the Lions’ side, allowing the Mustangs’ Victoria Heine, Maddy Horst and Mackenzie Puklicz to compile a 14–2 run that resulted in a formidable 32–25 lead at halftime. York’s lack of composure continued into the second half as the Mustangs totalled seven personal fouls, gaining nine points from free throws.

Mustang forward Victoria Heine played her best game of the season, scoring a career-high 21 points.

With seven successful free throw shots, seven field goals and an 88 per cent shooting percentage, she dominated the field during Friday night’s game against York.

Cheng acknowledges that second-year student Heine had a “great weekend,� while also stating that the youth of the team is a reason they are behind some other teams when it comes to player development. “We were young, and we had an exodus of some players that graduated, so new kids had to take on new responsibilities,� Cheng explained. “We’re starting to gel a little better, we’re starting to know what we’re supposed to be doing in terms of the offence and the defence.�

As the Mustangs took their win and headed into the game against the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday night, this youth was highly evident as their experienced opponents took down the Mustangs.

The Gaels came out strong right from the first quarter, setting the pace of the game with a 24–13 score. While the Mustangs

E

XPERIENCE IS THE WISDOM TO DEAL WITH THE SOLUTIONS ON THE FLOOR EFFECTIVELY AND IN THE MOST SIMPLE WAY. IT’S VERY SUBTLE BUT IT’S IMPACTFUL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, AND QUEEN’S HAS THE ABILITY TO START AT A HIGHER STARTING POINT BECAUSE THEY HAVE KIDS WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING. BRIAN CHENG

MUSTANG WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH

attempted to produce another night of highly offensive play, the Gaels’ defence was strong as Queen’s guard Emily Hazlett intercepted many of the Mustangs’ passes. “Experience is the wisdom to deal with the solutions on the floor effectively and in the most simple way,� Cheng said. “It’s very subtle but it’s impactful throughout the year, and Queen’s has the ability to start at a higher starting point because they have kids who know what they’re doing.�

While the remainder of the game was closer than the first quarter, this poor start was what cost the Mustangs the match. Despite this, Mustang guard Maddy Horst was able to attain a career-high of 23 points during the game.

Horst put up a great effort for the team, scoring over a quarter of the Mustangs’ points, yet it was not enough to secure the win.

While Mustang guard Caroline Wolynski racked up 21 points and nine rebounds, the Gael’s caught up to her efforts in the second half as the Gaels’ Abby Dixon blocked Wolynski effectively.

As a whole, Cheng recognizes the experience of the Queen’s team and takes this as a learning experience. “We’re playing a lot more intelligently, unified, competitively; it’s giving us an opportunity to compete in games.�

The Mustangs head to North Bay to face Nipissing on Friday night hoping for a victory against a team similar to them. “Nipissing is a very young team, even younger than us, so we might have the advantage over them that other teams have over us.�

Eunhae Chung • MUSTANG ATHLETICS

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thegazette • Thursday, February 5, 2015

The mystique of the feminine physique >> BODYBUILDING continued from pg.1

The OPA has four divisions for women: bikini, figure, physique and bodybuilder. Bikini is the leanest and bodybuilder the most muscular. Hache says he sees many athletes step on the scene in bikini and move up to thicker divisions as they get more dedicated with their training.

Ramirez has always been athletic. She did cheerleading — another sport she says people don’t take seriously — and soccer all through high school. She first thought of competing when people commented on how hard she trained at the gym.

So, in fall 2013, Ramirez hired a coach who set her on an intense 12-week plan. She told Ramirez exactly what to do everyday, and every two weeks Ramirez sent her pictures so she could tweak the plan according to Ramirez’s progress.

“For example, she’d say on Mondays, you’re going to do 30 minutes of cardio in the morning and then at night, you’re going to go back and do shoulders.

And then she’d tell me exactly what kind of exercises for shoulders — how many sets, how many reps — it’s very, very detailed.”

Wherever Ramirez went, she brought her prepared meals — they have to be eaten at specific times according to her coach’s instructions.

“If your coach says four ounces of chicken breast and 10 nuts, that’s what you’re eating. It’s not 12 nuts or eight nuts, it’s 10,” Ramirez says.

During the week before the show — peak week — Ramirez upped the ante even more. She cut out water for 36 hours before the show to come in at prime shape.

She didn’t place at her first show, but she maintained a steady off-season plan to prepare for the OPA London Championships in November 2014.

“People think you can look like [you do on competition day] 24/7 for 365 days a year … It’s not a realistic look for all-year round,” she said.

Ramirez’s dedication and discipline paid off. She placed third in the OPA London Championships competition, qualifying her for provincials — the Toronto Pro Show.

Williams will also be competing at provincials.

Williams won fifth place at the OPA Windsor show at her first show after training all summer, and hopes to go on to nationals.

“Mentally, I want to know I haven’t left anything on the table. I want to know that I’ve done all my workouts, I’ve done all my cardio, that somebody else didn’t train any harder than I did,” she said.

Show day is the climax of everything competitors have been working for.

It starts early. Athletes get up at 4:30 a.m. to get their hair, makeup and spray tan done. The show itself has a morning and an evening portion and competitors compete by height class.

During the pre-judging, the bikini athletes take the stage with everyone else in their class. Judges look at the girls from the front and the back to get an idea of where each athlete stands compared to the others.

During the night show, the girls step on stage one at a time and do their posing routine. There are certain front and back poses that highlight the girls’ musculature, and many athletes turn to their coaches to teach them what to do. After the second show, the top five competitors advance to provincials.

“On the show day, you’re messaging your coach every hour and sending in measurements and pictures … you ask him or her whether you need to go to the gym or whether you need to drink water or eat,” Ramirez says.

“You don’t want to throw away 12 weeks of hard work and mess it up in one day.”

Preparation for competition involves a rigid exercise regimen — but where is the line between dedication and addiction?

Professor Craig Hall researches exercise dependence through the school of kinesiology at Western, and says exercise dependence only becomes a problem when it

interferes with other aspects of an athlete’s life. “[Exercise dependent people] intend to exercise a certain amount and they almost always go over — they do more than what they intend to do,” Hall says. “They also are prone to not being able to reduce the amount of exercise they do. Sometimes they realize they shouldn’t exercise because, let’s say, they have an injury. They just can’t seem to stop themselves, they continue to exercise regardless.”

According to Hall’s research, the rate of exercise dependency among undergraduates may be as high as 45 per cent.

Kaylee Whitcroft, a competitor in the Ultimate Fitness Experience fitness model category and fourthyear accounting student, said that’s not the case for her.

“I do it because I enjoy doing it,” she said. “You should not be doing it if you feel like it’s a chore.”

Bikini, although popular with Western students, was only introduced by the OPA in 2009.

Hache says athletes compete for many reasons — some want to land modeling deals, some want to work in the fitness industry and still others do it to show off their hard work.

One of Ramirez’s goals is to land a sponsorship with a supplement company and then work in the industry once she graduates from Ivey. She’s currently working out an arrangement with Kaizen.

“My goal is to do sales and marketing or even strategy in the corporate offices for a supplement company,” she says.

“The sport is also a business, just like any other sport is,” Hache says.

“Supplement and other sport companies like that [bikini] look.”

He says with the increasing popularity of leaner categories, the OPA is even thinking of phasing out women’s bodybuilding, its thickest category. This could be a concern from a feminist perspective.

Scholars in the late ’80s and ’90s cited women’s bodybuilding as an important site of feminist resistance since the muscled bodies of female bodybuilders don’t conform to the heterosexual script.

Bodybuilding can be seen as an oppositional practice for women because female bodybuilders refuse to concern themselves with the limits of body development imposed by femininity. When women first started competing in the late ’70s, they shattered the idea that women were physically weak relative to men.

The shift away from more muscular categories to bikini reveals a troubling trend that bodybuilding competitions are conforming more to typical feminine body ideals. But Hache explained there has been an evolution in the sport when it comes to bodybuilding body types. “[When] it started out many years ago … women’s bodybuilding was like women’s figure is today,” he says.

He explains judges used to reward more muscular girls. In turn, the most muscular women gained even more bulk. This positive feedback loop took the sport to what Hache describes as “extremes.”

“The judges realized it was out of control … it was to the point where their physiques were not feminine anymore.”

“I think women’s bodybuilding got to a point where it wasn’t accepted by society anymore because of the extreme muscularity they projected on stage .… It’s

unfortunate for the women bodybuilders because it’s really not their fault,” Hache says.

Some research suggests that competing in bodybuilding competitions actually changes women’s perceptions of what the ideal body is.

Whitcroft’s fitness model division is one thicker than the UFE’s bikini category. She says athletes should have bigger, rounder glutes and a cap on their shoulders.

“I’ll look at a girl and be like ‘oh, did you see her shoulders?’ Whereas other people would just be like ‘oh she’s skinny,’ ” Whitcroft says.

But body ideals can shift from person to person — and that discrepancy can make or break an athlete’s success.

Ramirez acknowledges that, as with any judged sport, there is a subjective element. “[The judge] might like the girl beside you better because she has fake boobs and she looks better — that’s happened to me a lot.”

Whitcroft doesn’t have a problem with her body being judged on stage, but she draws the line with companies using her body to push products.

“Usually you’ll have to go work for [a supplement company] on weekends at their booth in a tiny sports bra. I don’t think that’s very feminist. What happens when you turn 50 and you no longer look like that?”

Supplement deals may dry up for middle-aged athletes, but Hache says they are certainly welcome on stage. The OPA has a bikini master class for athletes over 35 and a grand master class for those over 45.

“Many of the women in that category are women who have raised a family and they’re doing something for themselves,” Hache says.

Ramirez, Williams and Whitcroft all concur there is a very personal sense of pride that comes with competing.

“I love the challenge,” Ramirez says. “The end result’s awesome. I love stepping on stage; I love accomplishing that goal for myself.”

I

F YOUR COACH SAYS FOUR OUNCES OF CHICKEN BREAST AND 10 NUTS, THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE EATING. IT’S NOT 12 NUTS OR EIGHT NUTS, IT’S 10.

NATHALIE RAMIREZ HBA II OPA BIKINI COMPETITOR

Melissa Williams