Wednesday, March 25, 2015

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London Dreamin’ The Grand Theatre’s Dream a Little Dream celebrates the highs and lows of The Mamas and the Papas. >> Pg. 5

thegazette Second guessing ourselves since 1906

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Students upset after stats course exam cancellation

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

TODAY high 10 low -3

TOMORROW high 5 low 0 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 92

One final hurrah for students before Jim Bob’s reinvents itself

Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR @KatieAtGazette

Students writing the biology and statistics 2244B midterm on Friday, March 13 were shocked to see that one of the exam booklets had the correct answers bolded. Both the exam and the makeup exam were cancelled shortly after the error was discovered. “I made an in the moment decision to cancel the exam, as it would be unfair to let some students write the exam, while others didn’t because they had seen some/all of the answers,” course instructor Jennifer Waugh explained in an email to her class. Current 2244B student Roxanne Hendrycks detailed the mixed reactions of fellow students after they discovered the exam would be cancelled. “I was a bit angry, as most of the biology students that were taking this course had a cell biology midterm the next day,” Hendrycks explained. “They had spent a lot of time studying for this midterm and for it to be cancelled, all their hard work has gone to waste … some people in the room were also relieved that they didn’t have to write it as stats often has very hard exams, and some students who had the 111 code were angry that they wouldn’t be getting 100 per cent on their midterm anymore.” The midterm initially accounted for 20 per cent of the students’ grades, with 40 per cent distributed to the final exam and the remaining 40 per cent allocated to miscellaneous course assignments. Past 2244B student Imraan Mukri explained that the course has a reputation for being one of the harder second-year science courses. “The general consensus was that you had to do well on the labs and participation because the exam and quizzes were relatively difficult due to the nature of the questions,” Mukri explained. According to the dean of science, Charmaine Dean, the faculty has decided to redistribute the weight of the exam to the lab assignments, the final exam and an optional quiz during class this week after extensive deliberation. >> see REWEIGHT pg.3

Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE

Julie Hambleton GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette

This past week, Facebook exploded with posts about Jim Bob Ray’s, a student night-life staple since, closing its doors by the end of the month. While this is true, there was some miscommunication as to what is actually happening to the bar. Owner Mike Smith wants to be sure people realize that JBRs is not closing down per-se, but rather rebranding itself into Toboggan Brew Co., a craft beer brewery, pub and restaurant. “We’re not closing. We’re changing the name, keeping the same staff and will be open more hours,” Smith said. Smith is excited about the transition, saying that opening a craft brewery on Richmond Row is something he has wanted to do for some time now. He explained that keeping Jim Bob’s operating as it is now has become financially unfeasible. The government charges bars much higher prices on alcohol than the at-home consumer, and once increased minimum wages and high sales taxes are added to that, the drink prices become too high for students to afford, he said.

“Because of this, they pre-drink at home, and places like Jim Bob’s only get busy for the last three hours of the night,” Smith said. Toboggan is going to be open longer and offer more of a pub atmosphere, as well as function as a restaurant for students and Londoners to eat at. He also said businesses will now be able to hold corporate events on site. “We’re going to be open seven days a week at 11:30 a.m., so we’ll be open as late, just starting earlier,” Smith explained. “We’re putting in a full kitchen. We’re going to have Neopolitan style pizza, we’ve put a smoker in for BBQ, more vegetarian items, a full menu … we’re going to open the patio, it’s going to be a beer garden.” According to Oliver Shanks, co-founder and CEO of CDN Entertainment Inc., this transition will boost London’s nightlife scene, providing something different for everyone to enjoy. “Not everyone is built for the packed bars, generic music, and DJs. Toboggan is going to be offering a fun atmosphere, amazing food and craft beer. You see this trend happening in Toronto and other major cities and it’s exciting to see it coming to London,” Shanks said.

Originally, the transition was supposed to happen at the beginning of April. However it is now scheduled to occur later than originally stated. CDN Entertainment is hosting an event, “The Finale” over several days to celebrate the end of the JBRs era. There are guestlist events on Wednesday, March 25 and Friday, March 27 that include drink specials and different musical themes. The biggest, final party will happen on Saturday, March 28 and is open to anyone who wants to cheers to their good-times at the bar. Shanks says he wanted to host this party for the students before exams begin, but he knows Smith will be having his own farewell parties for JBR’s loyalists and London locals closer to the actual date of transition. As for whether or not CDN Entertainment will play a role in student events at Toboggan in the future is still being negotiated. “We are in our negotiation phase at the moment with Toboggan, but some programming you might see is live music, trivia nights, karaoke and exclusive craft beer seasonal tastings,” Shanks said. You can visit the JBRs Finale Facebook page for more information on the farewell festivities.

University Students’ Council President Matt Helfand agrees that the closing of JBRs and opening of Toboggan will change the culture of downtown. Knowing the importance of nightlife in London for many students Western experience, Helfand would like to wish both Smith and CDN Entertainment good luck with the transition and final events at JBRs. “I wish the owners all the best as they move forward with the transition to a new venue. As far as a finale event is concerned, I wish CDN Entertainment the very best, and I hope that people can enjoy the JBRs finale in a fun and safe manner,” Helfand said. Smith promises Toboggan will continue JBR’s tradition as a place where Western students can come and spend time with friends. “We’ll be a few weeks before we can do the complete branding turnover, we’ve been operating as Jim Bob’s in the meantime. If we close, it will only be for a few days just to do some finishing touches,” he said. “We want to open now because exams are coming up and the school year will be over at the end of April, we want people to see what we’re doing so when they come back in the fall, they see what it’s going to be.”


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