Coming home with hardware Caroline Ehrhardt and the Mustangs broke a number of personal bests at the CIS Championships in Windsor. >> Pg. 7
thegazette
TODAY high 3 low -9
Dropping early since 1906
WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015
TOMORROW high 7 low -2 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 89
Brescia names interim principal Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR @KatieAtGazette
Brescia has announced that Dr. Donna Rogers has been appointed the interim principal for the 2015–16 school year. Rogers is currently the vice-principal at Brescia and the academic dean, a position she has held since 2013. Rogers will be replacing Dr. Colleen Hanycz, who accepted presidency at La Salle University and served as Brescia’s principal for seven years. Hanycz will be the first lay principal as well as the first female president at La Salle University in Philadelphia. “I welcome the opportunity to serve Brescia in a new role as interim principal — to build on Dr. Hanycz’s two successful terms as principal and to advance the implementation of the strategic goals determined by our board of trustees,” Rogers said in an email. “Dr. Rogers has exceptional experience in all aspects of the post-secondary educational sector, from administrative strength, to a fabulous track record of success in both research and teaching,” Liz Hewitt, chair of Brescia’s board of trustees, said in an email. Hewitt explained that part of the reason why an interim principal was selected was due to the extensive process of hiring a long-term replacement. “We made the decision given the timing of Dr. Hanycz’s resignation that it was in the best interests of Brescia to appoint an interim principal, particularly since we had such a strong internal candidate for the role – Dr. Donna Rogers,” Hewitt said. Brescia will aim to have a permanent replacement for Hanycz in 2016, according to Hewitt. Rogers’ replacement as academic dean has not yet been selected.
Inside
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Column: Elections Committee Fails at Math
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Former Western President Dies P3 Movie Review: Leviathan
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Personal training with Gymnuts app
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Student writes music for video game
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Katie Lear • GAZETTE
SO MUCH FOR A PARTY. St. Patrick’s Day 2015 came and went with nary a disturbance. Despite this, London police handed out more tickets than last year to revelers who took things a little too far. But in many cases, such as above, cops and students interacted without incident — unlike in past years.
Cold and wind tame St. Patrick’s Day celebrations Brittany Hambleton GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the increased police presence or maybe it was because it was a Tuesday. Whatever the reason, St. Patrick’s Day was much quieter this year. Even the usual party hot spot, Broughdale Avenue, was relatively tame with most partygoers keeping celebrations confined to the sidewalks and indoors. The London Police Service increased their presence throughout London, especially in the neighbourhoods surrounding Western and Fanshawe, and used social media to warn students regarding possible police visits. Chief Brad Duncan was live-tweeting the LPS’s whereabouts, with tweets such as “@ lpsmediaoffice Just cleared party Talbot Street-launching beer bottles from roof very stupid & dangerous. #dontinviteus2urparty!!!” The use of Twitter to control Saint Paddy’s Day crowds was a new
initiative this year, and Constable Danielle Wright believed that it was successful. According to Wright, its primary use was to weed out large parties with hundreds of people. “The full-time media officer took [the initiative] on to discourage people from coming to parties that were already broken up,” Wright said. “We felt that having direct communication with the communities through Twitter would be effective.” Despite seemingly fewer people on the streets, there was an increase in the number of offences handed out to party goers from last year. In total, 93 offence notices were given out, compared with 74 from last year and 274 in 2013. Forty liquor license offenses were handed out, which include anything from drinking in public to having open alcohol. There were three violations of trespassing, along with 24 highway traffic act offenses and 18 provincial by-law offences, which include urinating in public. According to Campus Police Staff Sergeant Jean-Claude Aubin, medical calls on campus were normal and calls for service were about the
St. Patrick’s
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T WENT VERY SMOOTHLY. ALL STUDENTS ON CAMPUS WERE VERY POLITE AND THERE WERE NO ISSUES, EVERYONE WAS WELLBEHAVED. JEAN-CLAUDE AUBIN
CAMPUS POLICE STAFF SERGEANT
same as they would be on a typical Friday evening. “It went very smoothly,” Aubin said. “All students on campus were very polite and there were no issues, everyone was well-behaved.” The main goal of the LPS this year was to ensure that everyone could enjoy the day safely, and Wright was pleased with how this year went. “Everyone was able to enjoy the day safely, there were no major incidents,” Wright said. “Everyone had a good time it seems and we’re happy with how it turned out.”
Day in London
TICKETS 2015 93 2014 74 2013 274
2015 40 liquor license offenses 3 trespassing violations 24 highway traffic act offenses 18 provincial bylaw offences (ex. urinating in public) Mike Laine • GAZETTE
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thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
Caught on Camera
CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer
Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE
APPARENTLY GUMMIES CAN BE SEXY. Among the items on sale at Grocery Checkout in the basement of the UCC are tropical gummy bears, which are “sexier” than the typical gelatin candy we put in our bodies.
Dead coyotes found on Western campus
Courtesy of Greg Thorn
Albert Van Santvoort GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
A student found two dead coyotes placed side-by-side on Western’s campus this past Sunday. The coyotes were discovered in a snowbank off of the riverside trail between Delaware Hall and North Campus Building. The animals were stiff, frozen and eerily laid parallel to each other and partially submerged in snow.
Solution to puzzle on page 6
“Following the examination of the scene, the Campus Community Police Service formed the belief that the animals were killed off campus and dumped at this location,” said Jean-Claude Aubin, Campus Police staff sergeant. Greg Thorn, a Western University biologist, photographed the animal’s bodies that were still at the scene late Monday morning. “I felt sadness, definitely. These were beautiful animals and had an important place in the ecosystem as local top predators,” Thorn said on Wednesday. At this time it is unclear why the coyotes died and why they were left on Western’s campus. “I do not know why someone killed the animals, however, it is possible that they were encroaching on someone’s property. It’s possible that the culprits dumped the bodies since they did not want to leave the bodies near their own property,” Aubin said. No forensic examination was performed on the deceased animals
and the cause of death remains unknown, according to Thorn. “One animal had what appeared to be an exit wound from a gunshot on its left hip,” Aubin said. London Facilities Management later disposed of the bodies using the city’s incinerator. “This is the first such incident that I am aware of since I commenced with the Campus Community Police Service in 2009,” Aubin said. Thorn hopes that the London community can coexist with coyotes and let them live in their natural habitat. Coyotes perform a valuable function within the ecosystem in controlling populations of small and medium-sized mammals. “I would certainly urge whoever did this to come forward to provide explanations of where, how and why the coyotes were killed and why they were brought to campus, to put people’s minds at rest about the possibilities of other wildlife or pets being at risk,” Thorn said.
The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error. © 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.
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thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
Elections committee’s math doesn’t add up Breaking Brad
Bradley Metlin SPORTS EDITOR @BradAtGazette
When I was a child, I had an abacus. The antiquated nature of this contraption never crossed my mind during my tender, young toddlerhood. Rather, it was a basic way for me to learn math — a skill that I excelled at until I hit high school and then opted for social science and humanities. During this education, I learned basic arithmetic — a skill set I’m sure I share with the University Students’ Council elections committee. Theoretically. Team Sophie was penalized with three demerit points for post-campaigning by a non-arms-length party. This personal Facebook status update was deleted relatively quickly after the original poster learned this was against the rules. Despite its removal, the elections committee has to apply the rules, so three demerit points were given. For one instance of post-campaigning. Team Litchfield was penalized 15 demerit points for an “extraordinary violation” in which they post-campaigned. Jack Litchfield posted in 21 faculty and residence groups (reaching a collective membership of approximately 21,000 students) and told them to vote, including his platform at the bottom of the post. This would be 21 instances of post-campaigning, and by a slate member to boot.
So essentially, for Team Sophie, one instance of post-campaigning (from someone not even on the slate) was worth three demerit points. By this math, Team Litchfield would then rack up a whopping 63 demerit points for 21 instances of post-campaigning. This would make sense and be a fair interpretation of the rules. Theoretically. A proxy for Team Litchfield appeared before the elections committee and said, “the platform is designed to show [Team Litchfield]’s intentions; it is not specifically constructed to influence voters and is to shed light on their agenda if elected as USC executive.” If this is the mind frame of Team Litchfield, then, to put it bluntly, maybe they do not have the temperament to be successful within the USC. A platform is full of ideas, vision and ways in which a candidate(s) hope to alter the group they are running to lead. If that doesn’t “shed light on their agenda” — what does? As a voter, I’m expected to make an informed decision based on my evaluation of the candidates and their ideas. The whole point of the platform is to influence voters. Theoretically. On the last day of voting, with just under four hours left until the polls closed, I received a Facebook message from Litchfield himself, telling me that I “pay the USC $700 per year” and I should “have a voice in how it is spent.” He then proceeded to tell me to vote and encouraged my friends to do so. I thought it was odd that I received such a message because I was clearly an engaged student based on my coverage of the election campaign for The Gazette. It wasn’t just me either. Speaking
with many of my other friends, I learned they too received these messages. While the wording of the message stays within the by-law that governs elections, it implicitly suggested that I vote for Team Litchfield by virtue of the presidential candidate sending me a personal message during the voting period. With this all in mind, the elections committee determined “that there was no deliberate effort on the part of [Team Litchfield] to subvert the electoral process.” Theoretically? Last week, Jack Litchfield wrote a letter to the editor to The Gazette, reflecting that he was, “mortified that this controversy has shaken students’ faith in the USC.” I’ll only speak for myself but if I were concerned with students’ faith in the USC, I would not have tried to dance around their by-laws. To think, I enjoyed Team Litchfield’s platform quite a bit during the campaign, but their behaviour during the voting period was atrocious. Had they stood on their platform and allowed voting to proceed, I would have more respect for them, even if they lost. Perhaps most disappointing is the elections committee’s inability to punish the slates and other candidates equally. Had this been the case, Team Sophie would have received their three demerit points while Team Litchfield would have been obliterated from their positions with well over the 30 demerit points that warrant automatic disqualification. More speculating, but I think Team Litchfield would have been more mortified with fair elections practices. Theoretically.
Schulich makes key cerebral palsy discovery Mohammad Abrar Abdul Hanan GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Researchers at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry have made a key breakthrough in determining the effectiveness of constraint therapy for treating cerebral palsy. The study, published in the Journal of Child Neurology, states that functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) can be an effective system to predict the success of constraint therapy and which patients will benefit the most from it. “Constraint-induced movement therapy uses a removable cast on the unaffected upper limb, which forces the child to repetitively practice with the hemiplegic limb. This is one of the most effective treatments and renders the largest clinical improvements, however not all children are successful,” said Kathryn Manning, PhD candidate and author of the paper. “In our study, we tried to make the treatment less frustrating for the children through group activities and games.” Manning added that this is the first study which uses fMRI in hemiplegic cerebral palsy subjects to determine the changes that occur in the brain for people who benefit from constraint therapy and how these differ from people who are not successful. This will ensure that the therapy is only given to those who might respond to the treatment positively. Dr. Ravi Menon, supervisor of the study, stated that the research was a small-scale study conducted with a few test subjects to gain a basic understanding of fMRI can be used to predict the effectiveness of constraint therapy.
“We took seven children for this study, ages five to 17 who had hemiplegic cerebral palsy. We did an fMRI resting state scan at a baseline time point and then they went to camp for three weeks and they underwent this constraint therapy,” Menon said. “Then at the one month point we scanned them again to see how their brain networks had changed and we were specifically looking at the motor network, which is the area of the brain that controls movement, and we saw changes in that. We followed this up at the six month time point to see whether changes were persistent or not.” According to Menon, the research showed that subjects with a unilateral brain network responded positively to the therapy, whereas people with a bilateral network did not show significant improvement. Furthermore, the treatment can be extremely frustrating since patients cannot use their good arm for the duration of the camp. Thus, recognizing the people who benefit from the therapy ensures that it is used to the best of its ability. “The potential benefits of doing this research are that we would be able to predict which children will benefit from constraint therapy and send only those children to camp. The camp can be frustrating and very expensive, and parents often have to take time off work, so if we send only the ones who show a good brain signature for adapting to this treatment then that would be a big benefit,” Menon said. Manning said that they are already working on a second paper which expands upon the initial work done, though a large scale research with similar results is required to move towards clinical applications.
Former Western president George Connell dies at 84 Rita Rahmati GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
We would like to remind you that you must meet with a counsellor at Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), in the Student Development Centre, to arrange academic accommodation for your 2014/15 winter courses.
Courtesy of Metro News
everything that he wanted to do here,” Weedon said. Nonetheless, Connell has a lasting legacy at Western as he contributed to forming Western’s corporate identity dedicated to teaching and research.
Western News published a tribute to Connell, along with the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail. “He was a very kind man who was well-known for his integrity,” Weedon said.
If you have not yet requested accommodation for your courses, and you wish to use accommodation for April 2015 exams, you must meet with a counsellor by Friday, March 26th. If requested after this date, accommodation for April 2015 exams cannot be arranged by Exam Services.
To book your appointment please call
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Former University of Western Ontario president George Connell passed away at 84-years-old on Friday. Connell served as Western’s sixth president from 1977–1984 and later served as president of the University of Toronto. “It was a time when Western was growing and he was presiding over some significant growth,” Alan Weedon, vice-provost academic planning, policy and faculty, said. Weedon was a faculty member during Connell’s tenure as president and the two shared a connection, as Weedon was a chemistry professor and Connell had a PhD in biochemistry. Weedon explained that Connell was president before many of the current structures were in place. “The president was much more engaged on internal matters. He was very involved in working with the faculties as they were growing,” he said. Connell reorganized administration to group responsibilities and established alternative sources of funding. “Unfortunately he left us for Toronto, so he didn’t see through
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thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
arts&life
saywhat? Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves.
• Vladimir Putin
Getting out of the vault
>> IN THEATRES > LEVIATHAN
Western artists display their work on campus Tom Ruess GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Some of Western’s most talented young artists will be opening up their year-long projects to the public this Friday. Practicum is a double credit thesis course open to fourth-year bachelor of fine arts students. This year’s exhibition, Vault, will showcase the work of 18 artists, the largest group the program has ever had. The BFA students chosen for practicum have works that explore a vast variety of themes and make use of different mediums. For example, Mackenzie Sinclair is an installation-based artist who uses found objects to explore the binaries of being a woman. Cayley Cowan, on the other hand, focuses on textile art and weaving in relation to nature. With such a diverse group of artists it was tough coming up with a name for the exhibition that brought together everyone’s ideas and visions. “There were a lot ideas for the name but nothing fit,” explains artist Taylor Doyle. “And then somebody said the word ‘vault’ and everyone agreed completely. To us, the name encapsulates diversity but also a coming together in one concentrated space.” For many of the students, sense of artistic community has been their favourite aspect of the experience. The final product might not have been possible without the tightly-knit group that offers one another support and advice. “It’s really helpful to have 17 other people to give you their opinions or even just to have a thought-provoking conversation. The studio’s a really refreshing and inspiring place to be,” Cowan says. Professors Kelly Wood and Patrick Howlett who also serve as the exhibition’s curators instruct
Courtesy of Non-Stop Productions
Cayley Conway
the program. In addition to grading the students’ work, the professors have been there all year to give the students guidance and direction. Howlett says that part of what makes this exhibition special is that it challenges the artists to express themselves in a public setting. “In other classes you might be very invested in an essay or an exam but it doesn’t go on display. But here, each student has to stand up for his or her own work. How everyone’s developed as an artist and an individual in that context is one of the special things about this exhibition.” The exhibition will be the culmination of a year-long journey
and around the studio there’s an atmosphere of excitement. Seeing all of the artists’ work together has Howlett excited. “It’s been really amazing to see these students succeeding at trying something new. In their art, we see something of where each student’s coming from and their individual vision. The exhibition will be 18 visions coming together. It’s going to be fun to see.” Vault opens Friday, March 20 in the ArtLab of the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre with opening remarks by Howlett at 7:30 p.m. The event is free, open to the public, and will have free food and parking. The exhibition will be running until April 17.
Megan Arnold
Putin a critical eye on Russian politics Brent Holmes DEPUTY EDITOR @BrentAtGazette
GGGGG Leviathan Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Starring: Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Roman Madyanov In his book Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argued that life without a powerful government would inevitably lead to a “war of all against all.” While Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan is more focused on contemporary Russian political targets than Hobbes, the film depicts a world where political corruption creates a war of all against all between politicians, citizens, friends and family. Leviathan makes powerful statements about the nature of religion, grace and social contracts. Kolya (Aleksei Serebryakov) is a poor ex-military mechanic living on his grandfather’s land in a small coastal town. When Vadim (Roman Madyanov), the corrupt mayor of the town, tries to steal Kolya’s house out from under him, Kolya’s life starts to unravel. Kolya’s military friend and lawyer Dmitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov) comes down from Moscow to represent him, but when an affair between Dmitri and Kolya’s wife, Lilia (Elena Lyadova) is discovered, it spells ruin upon Kolya’s efforts to save his family. This is the second collaboration between Zvyagintsev and Lyadova — and hopefully not the last. Lyadova gives the strongest performance in the film, masterfully conveying Lilia’s guilt and interiority. Serebryakov also gives great
depth to Kolya — he is hot-headed and impulsive but also capable of a great deal of compassion and forgiveness. The film is punctuated with amazing landscape long shots that give great weight to the environment and create a fantastic kenophobic atmosphere. Amongst the massive scale of the landscape, the characters — specifically Kolya and Lilia — feel dwarfed. These tragic heroes fight against forces of politics and fate that are beyond their control and far greater than themselves. The Russian government and Orthodox Church have heavily condemned the film, and it’s easy to see why. When Vadim and an evil priest are abusing their power from Vadim’s mayoral office, the Russian flag and a portrait of Vladimir Putin sit behind them, establishing an allegorical political tone to the film. The film received funding from the Russian Ministry of Culture. There are now has guidelines preventing films that ‘defile’ Russian national culture from being funded because of this film. It’s a good thing that Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan is a masterpiece because, knowing Putin, it might be his last. The film deals with ambiguity and leaves much open to the interpretation of the viewer, but the subtitles are not particularly helpful. The context and subtleties are lost in translation. Those seeking greater clarification will have a hard time as the plot summaries online and dialogue in the film don’t match up. Leviathan is a bleak, slow-burning Russian drama on the size and scale of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. It is an absolute must-see.
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thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
Online marketplace gets nuts about fitness Conrad Floryan ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR @ConradAtGazette
Swimsuit season is dawning and many Western students are looking to get in shape. While personal trainers are an excellent resource for fitness advice, most students can’t afford their own exercise coach. Gymnut is a startup developed by Western alumns that affordably connects fitness enthusiasts with personal trainers. “Gymnut is a social fitness marketplace that is designed to leverage personal trainers and their expertise, inspiration and motivation, using technology in the marketplace to motivate, train and inspire people,” says Hassan Ahmed, CMO. The marketplace operates through several models. They have a workout store, similar to iTunes but dealing in individual workouts instead of music. They have a client training board that allows for detailed one-on-one training with fitness experts. Similar to Twitter, users are also able to follow any trainer they choose and get inspired as the trainer posts workout tips, updates of their own progress motivational wisdom. Right now Gymnut can be run on desktop browsers (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome) and in a few days it will be available on mobile web browsers. The developers are aiming for late to mid April to have a full native app ready to be downloaded from app stores. CEO Cyrus Nambakhsh was inspired to create Gymnut when it dawned on him that many people who go to the gym are looking for assistance and personal trainers could reach a broader market. “For myself I had a feel that every time I go to the gym — I’m a soccer goalie — I always had the challenge
Shachar Dahan GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
With the release of the Apple Watch, the era of wearables has officially begun. Smartwatches have yet to make it big, but tech giants such as Samsung, Sony and now Apple
Courtesy of Sony
Courtesy of Gymnut
of figuring out how to work out and build up the body that I wanted and be more professional in my athletic life,” says Nambakhsh. Initially the duo approached big gyms such as Goodlife, Movati Athletic and Fitness Farm. They wanted to have a market place to allow them to offer a secondary personal training service to their clients through their fitness coaches for a more affordable market tier that would traditionally be reluctant to commit the finances to hire a personal trainer. After a slow, challenging negotiation, the three big gyms became their partners for the beta version of Gymnut. “We had the idea to work with gyms themselves to let them train more of their clients and offer them more leads for their clients at the gym and that was going well — we had a lot of good feedback,” says Ahmed. Despite the initial success, they realized they weren’t a priority for these big companies and their business model was holding them back. They decided to create an online marketplace that empowered trainers and helped people reach them directly without having to go through a gym.
What sets Gymnut apart from the glut of fitness guidance circulating online is that they’re an actual centralized marketplace built into a fitness app. “As opposed to getting automated workouts — workouts that you get based on picking a few inputs or goals — there’s actually trainers behind the workouts that you’re buying and the workouts themselves are personally tacked so you basically pick the workout that you want from the trainers that you trust on the go, whenever you need them as you make progress through different body types and different exercises all built into a social fitness app,” explains Ahmed. Since launching the beta version in January, Gymnut has 100 trainers signed up with profiles, who stream on a daily basis. They create and publish workouts aimed at anyone who wants get to fit — students, moms at home with their kids, etc. The creators are now focused on how to market Gymnut to reach as wide an audience as possible. They are looking forward to making their mobile app available for Western students. For more information visit gymnut.com.
have too much invested for them to fail — it’s only a matter of time before a smartwatch finds its way to your wrist. Since smartphones and smartwatches perform best when made by the same company, it is prudent to examine the different watch/ phone combinations available. This week: the Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Smartwatch 3. The Xperia Z3 is an amazing smartphone. The Xperia Z3 runs Android Kit Kat, which looks stunning on the crisp 5.2-inch HD display (1920x1080 pixels). The camera is a whopping 20.7 megapixels. And it is the only smartphone with PS4 remote play. The best part is that the battery lasts the entire day, which actually allows one to use the phone, rather than having it dead in your pocket. Unfortunately, Sony’s decision to put a glass backing on the phone makes it feel like you’re constantly going to drop it. The Smartwatch 3 isn’t as praiseworthy. All of the watches features are functional, but many
that should be great “in theory” are extremely awkward to use. Being able to read incoming texts and emails on the watch’s screen is a great feature. However, sending texts is a hassle as you have to talk into the watch to send them and having everyone around you hear the texts you’re sending out is uncomfortable. Talking into your watch all day does come with the perk of making you feel like a CIA agent about to assassinate somebody. The only positive thing about this watch is the battery life – something that Sony seems to be doing a pretty good job with. The Xperia Z3 is definitely worth a look. The sharp display and beautifully saturated colours easily make it one of the best Androidbased smartphones available. But unless you are adamant about constantly being able to check the weather with the turn of your wrist, the Smartwatch 3 doesn’t offer enough to be worth its hefty $280 price tag.
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thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
Western student makes MAUD music Robert Nanni SPORTS EDITOR @robertnanni
Jenny Jay • GAZETTE
A Western music student has found a new way to apply his education by creating music for video games. Earlier this month, Magic Walnut released a mobile game, MAUD. The game forces users to use quick tapping, swiping and turning to bounce MAUD, a bunny-like creature, up lighthouse platforms without falling down. The game begins as a mere tap-and-jump game like many others but becomes increasingly perplex as components of the lighthouse start crumbling beneath MAUD, requiring the user to act quickly to save MAUD from a deathly fall. The music adds a whole other dimension to the experience and was created entirely by third-year music composition student Joshua Richardson. “The music contributes to an overall atmosphere of determination, of which the player is thrust into,” Richardson says. “We have
I
N THE GAME’S OPENING LOOP I EVEN PAID TRIBUTE TO BEETHOVEN’S FAMOUS EROICA SYMPHONY. THE MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE I’VE GAINED HERE AT WESTERN GIVES ME A WIDER MUSICAL FOUNDATION FROM WHICH TO DRAW INSPIRATION. JOSHUA RICHARDSON
MUSIC III
included an additional soundtrack. Each soundtrack provides for a unique playing experience.” Despite a lack of formal training, Richardson finds that his passion for musical composition is self-motivated. He wrote three
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SOARING CLUB BEING ratified at Western, will be the only student run soaring club in North America, learn to fly and work towards your license, for more info email westernsoaring@gmail.com
RELAY FOR LIFE! 7pm-7am on March 21, 2015. Proceeds from fundraising go towards the Canadian Cancer Society. Night filled with food, activities, performers. Register in teams or individually at http://www.relayforlife.ca/uwo
WANTED LONDON SENIOR SEEKING a volunteer helper to assist with completion of woodworking projects. On Wonderland 10 bus route. Also looking to rent space for woodworking projects in Westmount Shopping Centre area one evening a week. A garage or workshop space would be ideal. Contact Alan 519-660-1442.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR Boys and Girls Club of London’s Capital One Race for Kids event on 6 June 2015. If you are interested in volunteering at this event, please complete the volunteer form at: www.raceforkids.ca TIPS ON HOW TO AVOID BEING PHISHED 1. Never respond to emails that request personal financial information. Reputable companies don't ask for passwords or account details in an email.
TEAMS OF FOUR needed to participate in Boys and Girls Club of London’s Capital One Race for Kids event on 6 June 2015. For more information or to get involved, visit our website at: www.raceforkids.ca
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PUT YOUR SUDOKU SAVVY TO THE TEST! To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.
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London-produced musicals after graduating high school, two of which won awards at the London Fringe Festival. “I found I lacked a disciplined approach. It was all based on inspiration rather than being able to write music on a deadline,” explains Richardson. “I needed to acquire a disciplined method of music composition, which is why I decided to pursue a degree here at Western.” In fact, Richardson applied his knowledge acquired at Western to create the music for the game. “One of the pieces I produced for my digital-audio music production class actually made it onto the game. It’s nice when you can finish an assignment and have it turn into something more.” MAUD was developed and programmed by Andrew Cornies, a former bandmate of Richardson’s. Provided with a nine-month deadline to compose and produce the music for this game idea, Richardson knew that this was the kind of discipline he was trying to achieve. “It was good having a deadline because labours of love like games and music can go on forever because you want them to be perfect,” says Richardson. Richardson entered the task with a desire to make the music very synth-heavy, paying tribute to soundtracks of the ’80s from movies such as Blade Runner or Terminator. “In the game’s opening loop I even paid tribute to Beethoven’s famous Eroica symphony,” Richardson says. “The musical knowledge I’ve gained here at Western gives me a wider musical foundation from which to draw inspiration.” With a mixture of ’80s synth music and classical undertones, the sounds lend themselves well to the overall atmosphere of the game. A task like this is hardly one without its struggles. “The challenge in creating music for video games is in creating something that can loop multiple times without tiring the listener,” says Richardson. “I think one of the most famous examples of that would be the Mario theme song. It plays over and over again throughout all of the Mario games and yet no one complains about it.” Aside from the musical aspect, the mobile game aims to capitalize on the present-day mobile game market. “MAUD has a simple task: to get as high as possible,” says Cornies. “But she has to go fast and use her powers to do it.” “I strove to make a game that was not too complex, that was fun and what’s more fun than jumping … and bunnies?” MAUD is free and can be played by all ages and skill levels. You can download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
7 •
thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
opinions
A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.
• Joseph Roux
Working for more affiliate coverage Seven Minutes in Kevin Kevin Hurren NEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE @KevinAtGazette
Last week, I attended the University Students’ Council Change Camp event. The Change Camp series, now in its third year, was created to allow studentsat-large to engage with various issues and offer ideas or feedback to the council representatives present. Topics this year included city engagement, elected representation and the USC budget. With shrinking sizes and repeating topics, some question the usefulness of Change Camps. I, however, am glad to have gone. Why? In the open portion of the event, where attendants could discuss topics of their choosing, a campus media table was created. Students at the table talked about The Gazette broadly, but one specific point that stood out to me was the issue of affiliate representation. Some Brescia students there expressed frustration about the lack of media coverage for affiliate programming and events — especially when they had attempted to contact the paper ahead of time. Though there was just a handful of students at Change Camp, I don’t necessarily think Brescia is the only affiliated college to feel left behind. Throughout this year I’ve heard similar sentiments from other Huron, King’s and Brescia student leaders. I certainly understand the dissatisfaction of these students. After all, USC funds paid by all undergraduate students go, in part, to The Gazette. If affiliate students are paying for the paper, they should be able to see themselves in it.
While affiliate colleges do have their own student publications, such as The Grapevine for Huron and The Regis for King’s, as a campus-wide paper The Gazette has the potential to bridge gaps between main campus and affiliate programming – initiatives that can definitely resonate with all students. Overcoming this boundary, however, is admittedly difficult. Content in The Gazette is often determined by what our editors are aware of. Though there is a procedure for story searching, organizations with more of a main campus presence can attract most of the attention from editors in terms of both previous knowledge and potential reader interest. Similarly, even when students send emails or updates about affiliate events, these messages can be lost in a sea of on and off campus organizations advocating for space in the paper. Does that mean the responsibility for coverage falls solely on affiliate students? No, the paper can and has been doing better to report on the happenings of Brescia, Huron and King’s (see our coverage this year of appointments at affiliate colleges and some events at the affiliates). That said, affiliate students are not just welcomed but encouraged to come to The Gazette office and write about their respective school. Currently, we only have two student editors from an affiliate college. This means we sometimes lack writers who are knowledgeable of and interested in affiliate events. With more affiliate student volunteering at the paper, a wider network of information and sources can be formed. As the Change Camp event ended, I thanked the students who raised these concerns and asked them to stay in touch. I couldn’t, however, make promises about getting more affiliate coverage because that’s not a promise I can make. It will take a conscious effort from both main campus and affiliate students to allow that representation to happen.
We get letters!
Quote was in bad taste To the editor: I thought the quote from Mussolini featured at the top of the Opinions section in Tuesday’s paper was in very poor taste. The words of a brutal dictator, while perhaps interesting in a history class, are out of place in a argument about student elections. Talk about him if you like, but to put his mug as the banner for student democracy problems strikes a bad chord. You would not do the same with Hitler or
thegazette
Volume 108, Issue 89 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
The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.
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.
Franco’s face. There are plenty of other thinkers who have discussed democracy, proponents and skeptics alike. • Giancarlo Jones Masters in the faculty of science
Do you, too, take issue with things published?
WRITE US ABOUT IT!
opinions@westerngazette.ca
Robert Armstrong Diana Watson
Gazette Staff 2014-2015 Mohammad Abrar Abdul Hanan, Suhaib Al-Azem, Eric Bajzert, Sarah Botelho, Damon Burtt, Sam Frankel, Devin Golets, Kevin Heslop, Richard Joseph, Drishti Kataria, Sara Mai Chitty, Soheil Milani, Mackenzie Morrison, Amy O’Shea, Kyle Porter, Tristan Wu, Tom Ruess, Samah Ali, Claire Christopher, Rita Rahmati, Julie Hambleton, Brittany Hambleton
Your anonymous letters to life
Dear Life, I wish one apocalypsecentric show/movie would acknowledge the very real nuclear meltdowns that would occur due to the absence of electricity. Dear Life, Should have retitled Tuesday’s opinions section: propaganda, truth and BS. Dear Life, Just because Team Litchfield was unaware they were violating election protocol, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be penalized… Dear Life, MORE COMIC PAGES!! Dear Life, Arcade Fire’s Neighbourhoods #2 is not actually about Laika the spacedog, it uses the story as a metaphor for a person’s great adventure in life. Dear Life, Faculty are mad about the Huron principal not being accountable? Well, welcome to life as a student when it comes to all faculty. Dear Life, Yes, Litchfield should have been disqualified. And Helfand should never have been permitted to run. Alas, the USC operates like our faculty — not on what is right, but by what their buddies want. Dear Life, It’s really too bad The Gazette’s readership is too stupid to realize the difference between an EDITORIAL and a STORY. How did these people even get into Western? wgaz.ca/dear-life
Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising Ian Greaves, Manager Маја Анјоли-Билић
Dear Life
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.
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 •
8 •
thegazette • Thursday, March 19, 2015
sports
today’stweet Ottawa Senators phenom, Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond will receive free McDonalds for life. In other news, Phil Kessel is pissed.
• @EvgeniMalkinEgo poking fun at Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel after Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond was provided unlimited McDonalds due to his nickname as the “Hamburglar”
Mustangs post personal bests at nationals Julie Hambleton GAZETTE STAFF @SportsAtGazette
This past weekend the Mustangs track and field team competed at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships, the final competition of the season, in Windsor. The meet began with the pentathlon on Thursday, where Kaleigh Hole and Chris Roberts had outstanding performances. Hole finished fifth in the women’s competition with 3,672 points and personal bests in the shot put and high jump events. Chris Robertson finished sixth with 3,629 points in the men’s competition. Anthony Dandie set two new CIS pentathlon records in the long jump and 60m hurdles before withdrawing from the high jump, as his performance was not enough to put him in the running for a medal. Thursday also saw a fourth place finish, personal best and school record time of 7.47 seconds for Joy Spear Chief-Morris in the women’s 60m hurdles. The team carried their momentum into Friday’s events with a seventh place finish and personal best of 8.60 seconds in the women’s 60m hurdles for Shaylyn Kowalchuk, along with a bronze medal for Isoken Ogeiva in the men’s 60m hurdles. The great performances continued in the Friday field events, with second-year Brooke Hoxar throwing 13.41m in women’s shot put for fifth place. In the men’s long jump, Robbie Galaugher and Anthony Dandie both jumped 7.29m. It was a personal best for Dandie in the sixth round of competition and it won Galaugher the silver medal and Dandie bronze. Robin Bone proved her dominance in the pole vault yet again, winning gold and setting a new CIS record of 4.24m. The highlight of the day, however, was Caroline Ehrhardt, who set a new personal best in the women’s long jump of 6.10m, only to set a new best and Western school record in her next jump of 6.14m. Ehrhardt walked away with the silver medal. In Saturday’s triple jump competition, Ehrhardt continued to shine
by breaking the CIS record with a leap of 13.06m on her first jump. She went on to break her brandnew record two jumps later, jumping 13.16m. Ehrhardt ended her CIS career with a new personal best and a gold medal. “Going into the long jump, I wanted to set myself up nicely going into the next day, just get a feel for the runway and get my confidence up. I definitely surpassed my expectations with how I did,” Ehrhardt said. “Then with triple jump I was just determined to not leave it until the last jump, I wanted to make sure I had a fair chance at it. To do it on my first jump and be able to truly enjoy the rest of the competition, my last competition competing for Western, I couldn’t have planned it any better.” There was more success on the track on Saturday. The women’s 4x200m relay team of Joy Spear Chief-Morris, Jen Barbon, Sarah Clancy and Rachael Muma won the bronze medal with a season best time for the team and personal best splits for Chief-Morris and Clancy. The men’s 4x200m relay team of Michael Giorgi, Isoken Ogieva, Chris Cauley and Anthony Dandie finished fourth. They ran a season’s best time with personal best splits for Ogieva, Cauley and Dandie. Even more impressive, both teams accomplished this running in the slower heats. The women’s 4x400m relay team of Jen Barbon, Genny Cyrenne, Katie Bell and Rachael Muma ran a season best time to finish fourth, less than half a second behind the Trinity Western Spartans. Both Muma and Bell ran personal best splits. The women’s team finished fifth in the country and the men finished eighth. Head coach Vickie Croley was pleased overall with the result and the season in general. “I would say that our women really did what we were capable of doing. On the men’s side, we did well. We were fourth at OUA championships and I think we were seventh or eighth here, and to be seventh or eighth in the country is a move up from where we were last year,” she said. “We’ll keep building
Pentathlete Zarria Storm
Courtesy of Edwin Tam
Long jumper Robbie Gallaugher and recruiting in areas where we’re weak.” Croley said that recruiting can be difficult, especially when Western doesn’t have the best facility to offer young talent. “For the team to continually compete with the top ten or eight in the country in the facility that we have … no one is coming to Western for our track and field facility, and
Courtesy of Steve Kriemadls
I am really proud of those who do choose to come here and get outstanding coaching and academic programs which enhances their whole student athlete experience, but this team deserves a better facility,” she said. Despite this, the team has some solid recruits coming in next year to build on for the future, and Croley is confident that Western will continue
its reputation of success. “Overall I’m really proud of this team and their effort. Everyone did what they were asked to do and I couldn’t have a more dedicated and helpful coaching staff, and we’re a team, our staff and our athletes. It’s been a fun year with a good atmosphere on the team overall and I look forward to continuing that,” she added.