Thursday, September 10, 2015

Running on suds

Western student sets world record in beer mile race >> Pg. 11

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

City roadblocks Uber drivers Amy O’Kruk NEWS EDITOR

TODAY high 25 low 12

TOMORROW high 22 low 13 VOLUME 109, ISSUE 2

Ban on soph apparel sparks controversy

@AmyAtGazette

Ridesharing drivers beware: amidst local law enforcement crack-downs and mounting fines, the road travelled by London UberX drivers is becoming financially treacherous and, according to some city officials, will not have turnaround anytime soon.

Last week, London Police Service launched Project Licensed Ride, an enforcement blitz that catches commercially unlicensed drivers and fines them for violating municipal bylaws. UberX drivers, the on-demand chauffeurs of the app-based ridesharing service, were the first to feel the program’s sting. During a two-day period, 18 of the UberX drivers racked up 29 fines totalling around $500 each.

The problem, according to London’s chief municipal law enforcement officer Orest Katolyk, is that UberX drivers are breaching London’s taxi and limousine licensing bylaw. In order for commercial drivers to lawfully cruise in the Forest City, they must have commercial insurance, a license, conduct a training exam and divulge any criminal record and medical issues. In addition, drivers’ vehicles must be no older than three years and have interior security cameras.

UberX drivers, on the other hand, are bound by less severe stipulations. Drivers must use a four-door car, but from 2005 to present (in most cities). They must also pass a background and driving record check, but can hold personal driving insurance — no commercial insurance necessary.

It’s breaking local bylaws coupled with breaching provincial acts that lands UberX drivers in fiscally hot water, said Katolyk. >> see UBER pg.2

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

IS THIS FLAG EVEN ALLOWED? The Medway-Sydenham soph team’s flag flies above the crowd at Tuesday night’s O-Week opening ceremonies. They were among the soph teams who have had to change their usual uniforms after certain items were banned by this year’s orientation planning committee.

Hamza Tariq BREAKING NEWS EDITOR @HamzaAtGazette

The restrictions placed on soph uniforms for this year’s O-Week have triggered protests from sophs and garnered national media attention as part of a larger conversation about cultural appropriation and political correctness.

In protest of these restrictions, one soph team cut up and ate bandanas at the soph rally to draw attention to the issue.

A ban on synthetic hair,

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communicated to sophs just this past week, was a more recent restriction. The original policy from the orientation planning committee allowed fake hair to be included in the soph uniforms if they chose.

But in an email to sophs last week, orientation coordinator Eddy Avila discouraged sophs from “using synthetic hair, using beads or including any material that resembles synthetic hair in their hair-do.”

The fake hair ban came after OPC reached an initial compromise with the Medway-Sydenham soph team to

allow them to wear braided fake hair instead of their traditional dreadlocks.

According to Sophie Helpard, University Students Council president, the soph team went ahead and braided their hair accessories as the OPC had asked them. Soon after, however, the committee reversed its decision.

“Unfortunately new information came to us,” she said. “We spoke to a few more students of our community who didn’t think this is a fair compromise and didn’t think this compromise was necessarily fixing the root of the problem that

it was first intended to fix.”

OPC is composed of student representatives from various organizations on campus and the university administration. The committee is based on a consensus model where input is first sought from all members, and then the co-chairs move forward with the decision.

The current co-chairs of the OPC are Taryn Scripnick, USC vice-president student events and Peggy Wakabayashi, director of residences for Western. >> see SOPHS pg.3

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thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Caught on Camera

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

BEAM ME UP, SOCIAL SCI. Members of the social science soph team perform at Tuesday night’s opening ceremonies for O-Week.

Legal ridesharing long way off, says city >> UBER continued from pg.1

“If you get caught with driving an unlicensed vehicle for hire, the city fines can total $2,400 plus victim surcharges,” he said. “[For] provincial fines, it’s a violation of the Highway Traffic Act and that fine is $300 plus the victim surcharge.”

Katolyk added under the Ontario Insurance Act, the consequences of giving false information or failing to disclose a material fact to the insurance provider can result in a fine of up to $250,000 maximum for a first offense and up to $500,000 for

Solution to puzzle on page 11

subsequent offenses.

Tickets alone, however, may not be enough to deter many UberX drivers. Gustavo Garcia, a London UberX driver, is confident Uber will support its drivers until Canadian legislature gets with the times and adapts to technological progress.

“In case I get [a ticket] Uber will pay for it, 100 per cent … They have done it before in Toronto,” Garcia said, adding Uber communicated this promise to him at meetings he attended with the technology company.

“They’re working on the regulations in London. I have heard from all over the other cities they are having problems, but they prevail,” he said. “I think the government wants a share of it, so they’re going to try to do anything they can to break it down.”

Many of Garcia’s sentiments are echoed by Uber Canada. The technology company defends its company’s business model as distinct from a taxi brokerage and deserving of new regulations and bylaw adaptations.

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Uber announced it will be working with Intact Financial, an auto insurance provider, to develop an insurance plan specifically tailored to ridesharing in Canada.

But it could be a while, regardless of adequate insurance or not, for London legislators to give ridesharing the green light, warned Katolyk. “[The bylaws] were just revamped two years ago in 2012. We had approximately 15 reports and … bylaws went through two court challenges and the city was successful.”

In the meantime, Katolyk urges the estimated 50,000 returning students — Uber’s target user demographic — to veer away from Uber and instead download a local taxi company’s app to catch a ride that’s safe and legal.

“Enforcement repercussions on the passengers are nil; however, the personal risk repercussions are quite high,” Katolyk said. “All of our cabs and limousines are licensed. They all have cameras, so should there be an illegal activity in the vehicle, you’re on film — that’s not the case with unlicensed vehicles.”

Uber is operating in 58 countries and 290 cities Promises prices 25% cheaper than cabs Said it will create more than 2,400 driver partner jobs in Southwestern Ontario over the next year (2015) Jennifer Feldman • GAZETTE

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.

•3

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Cultural sensitivity cited as reason for ban >> SOPH continued from pg.1

This year, OPC decided soph teams are banned from donning face-covering bandanas and wearing cultural or religious accessories as part of team uniforms. These accessories include, but are not limited to, fake dreadlocks, First Nations headdresses, mohawks, turbans and hijabs.

These guidelines, however, don’t apply to students who use these items as part of their cultural and religious identity.

The rationale provided by the OPC for prohibiting face-covering bandanas is that they may be an unwelcoming image for first-year students and “it may disturb some incoming students that have come from countries where they have been exposed to violence and unrest.”

According to Scripnick, concerns regarding soph apparel were brought to the OPC by students and the amendments were implemented in response.

“The whole conversation came about because students did reach out to some members of the OPC,” she said.

Eddy Avila, orientation coordinator, expressed similar concerns.

“We have a lot of international students and certain students as well who don’t see [bandanas] as the most inclusive environment for student leaders,” he said.

Incoming first-year students are often already quite nervous coming into university — so the OPC attempts to provide them the most welcoming environment possible, he added.

Fake dreadlocks have been a long-standing tradition for some soph teams during O-Week. The OPC guidelines recognized this fact but added that the use of fake dreadlocks can be considered degrading.

“Sporting dreadlocked hair as a costume can be seen as mimicking a hairstyle that may have cultural meaning to some – but not all – incoming students.”

According to Wakabayashi, the committee believes that sophs have good intentions.

However, there has to be respect for the original meaning of cultural

W

HILE THE USE OF DREADLOCKS MADE OF COLOURFUL SYNTHETIC FIBRES HAVE BEEN USED

BY MANY OF THE MEDWAY-SYDENHAM SOPH TEAMS IN RECENT YEARS, OPC HAS CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR USE FOR REASONS OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION. PEGGY WAKABAYASHI

WESTERN’S DIRECTOR OF RESIDENCES

elements, such as headdresses, turbans and dreadlocks.

“While the use of dreadlocks made of colourful synthetic fibres have been used by many of the Medway-Sydenham soph teams in recent years, OPC has concerns about their use for reasons of cultural appropriation,” she said.

Sophs have provided mixed reactions to the new guidelines. Several sophs spoke to The Gazette on the condition of anonymity due to the fact that they are under contract and feel fearful of speaking out against OPC’s decisions.

According to Jenai Kershaw, head soph of FIMS, the moustache bandana had become an important tradition for the soph team and how they presented themselves to the orientation committee.

“We can’t repeat exactly what we’ve done in the past. However, we’re able to find ways to incorporate

our meaning, values and image with new guidelines presented to us,” she said.

Kershaw stated the bandana would stay a part of the FIMS’ soph team uniform even though her team was somewhat thrown off by the new guidelines.

One social science soph was more critical of the OPC’s updated guidelines.

“I think the OPC should ponder the idea of where the line is on censorship,” he said. “They should come try to empathize with the understanding that going to extremes to help one feel welcome will almost always ending up making another feel unwelcome.”

The soph expressed support for the decision to prohibit First Nations headdresses, turbans and hijabs from team uniforms.

However, he argued that dreadlocks and mohawks aren’t always worn for religious or cultural reasons.

A former OPC member understood the purpose of the guidelines but also empathized with the sophs’ traditions and role in the decision-making process.

“I understand the purpose of the guidelines — Western is drawing more and more international students each year and so we need to obviously be sensitive of that,” he said.

He added that many soph teams are very rooted in tradition with regards to how they present themselves during O-Week and that they conduct themselves as a team. This often leaves a large number of people unhappy and feeling personally attacked when changes are made to their practices.

“Ultimately, the program is first and foremost about the first-year students, but when you have unpaid volunteers devoting so much of their time to the cause, they … absolutely have the right to be upset with changes that affect them more so than they affect others.”

Andrea Hall, engineering head soph, said her soph team would not be commenting on the new guidelines.

Engineering soph teams are

known for their unique demeanour during O-Week and bandanas are often given to team members who have “trouble keeping a straight face.”

According to another engineering soph, the new restrictions would affect the engineering soph team this fall, but they will find other means to solve the issue.

Enforcement of these guidelines is still ambiguous and can be a grey area when it comes to individual expression.

“It’s honestly hard to differentiate,” Scripnick said. “We aren’t going to go up to anyone who has dreadlocks and getting angry and saying they are just outright doing it for O-Week, we are not going to police — we are not that sort of group.”

According to Avila, the main purpose of the guidelines was to make sure that the OPC and the sophs as a group weren’t encouraging a sense of cultural appropriation.

Scripnick said that while she understood and recognized the sophs’ concerns, the focus was still on the incoming first-years who were directly affected by these aspects of O-Week.

“First-years are our main target, and because we have had complaints from people who were past first-year students we wanted to make sure that they were the people who we were consulting the most.”

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Cowin named new chancellor Olivia Zollino PRINT MANAGING EDITOR @OliviaAtGazette

The joint Board of Governors and Senate electoral board has named Jack Cowin as the 22nd chancellor of Western University.

The Australian businessman and Western alumnus succeeds Joseph Rotman, who passed away in January.

“When I was first approached, I was quite surprised and it was not something I had anticipated,” he said in a phone interview from his Australian home. “My first reaction was that I was honoured to be asked and then my second reaction was, is this practical?”

Although most chancellors of Canadian universities reside in Canada, Cowin is not alone in living abroad. Carleton University’s chancellor, Charles Chi, currently resides in the United States and travels to Canada in order to fulfill his duties.

Originally from Windsor, Ont., Cowin attended Western to play football and majored in psychology

before transitioning into the business world. Although he has been living in Australia for the last 45 years, Cowin has maintained close ties with Western, including serving as chairman of the international advisory board. He has donated about $5 million to Western over the years and the stands at TD Stadium are named after his father.

Cowin believes Western has to take a more rigorous global and international attitude if the school wants to become a leader in the educational sphere.

Helen Connell, associate vice-president communications for Western, said Cowin’s global experience will be an asset in helping Western attain its goals.

“Western has set its sights on becoming globally recognized for our teaching and research excellence, so the timing is right to have a chancellor who is as much a global citizen as Mr. Cowin,” Connell said.

However, not everybody is excited about the new chancellor.

Members of the community, including the Western Solidarity

Network, have raised concerns over Cowin’s appointment, referencing, among other things, his letter of support to Western President Amit Chakma in April. Cowin maintains his support of Chakma, stating that he has a high reputation in the educational world.

Kristin Hoffmann, University of Western Ontario Faculty Association president, said she does not know Cowin well enough to speak on the criticism he is receiving. However, she hopes that Cowin will support Western’s core missions.

“Our focus for the association is on trying to get some reforms to the governance processes at Western and trying to get a more transparent and open Board of Governors and Senate. I’m hoping that is something Mr. Cowin can work towards as well,” Hoffmann said.

Cowin will officially be inaugurated on Oct. 22 at the fall convocation. He said he looks forward to the opportunity to be able to travel to Canada more frequently and maintain close interaction with Western.

SENATE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON RENEWAL In June 2015, in response to concerns about its effectiveness and the lack of university community participation in decision-making processes at Western, Senate established an ad hoc committee with the following terms of reference: 1. To make recommendations that will establish more robust and transparent decision-making practices and processes at Western.

2. To receive comments and recommendations from across campus and from the affiliated university colleges and to determine ways forward that are beneficial to the whole community.

3. The committee is given the following specific tasks: a. a full review of the state of governance at Western focusing on collegial governance and the role of Senate, including a review of the constitutional documents of Senate including the by-laws and regulations, the terms of reference of all committees, and a review of the development of agendas for Senate meetings; b. such other matters that arise during its investigations with respect to the enumerated tasks of the committee.

The ad hoc committee invites members of the university community to provide their input. This may be done in writing to the committee at senate-renewal-cttee@uwo.ca or in care of the University Secretariat, Room 4101, Stevenson Hall. Alternatively, you may plan to attend one of a number of town hall meetings that will be scheduled over the coming months.

Information about the ad hoc committee, including a schedule of meetings will be available in future at the following web site:

www.uwo.ca/univsec/about/gov_review/senate_rev_index.html

4 •

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

arts&life

techtip Did you know that Spotlight Search in Mac OS X can do unit and currency conversions, and also functions as a calculator?

One Love too one-dimensional I

FEEL LIKE THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT ENTERTAINING TO TRY AND CAPTURE THE AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION AND MAKE THEM ENJOY THE SHOW, BUT REALLY GET THE MESSAGE OF THE SHOW. MARIE KAMUKUNY FORMER FACULTY SOPH

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

Samah Ali ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR @SamahAtGazette

As another Orientation Week rolls through campus, sophs can be found herding incoming firstyear students to annual events like One Love. After five years of programming, One Love has made an impact on the Western community by outlining what is and is not tolerated on Western’s campus. The event focuses on preventing acts of discrimination, but not everyone believes One Love is as effective as intended.

Former faculty soph Marie Kamukuny pumped up One Love to her first-year students but was ultimately disappointed at the failure to acknowledge different kinds of discrimination present on Western’s campus.

“You go into One Love thinking it’s going to be something

about discrimination and how to fight these things, but they act as though the only kind of discrimination you can experience is sexual and they don’t hint at anything else,” says Kamukuny.

“I feel like they wanted to make it entertaining to try and capture the audience’s attention and make them enjoy the show, but [they didn’t] really get the message of the show,” she adds.

Former residence soph Alexa Chomat shared similar sentiments about her One Love experience. It was her favourite event in her incoming year, but as a soph she found the experience disappointing and repetitive.

Considering the backlash from last year’s sexuality speaker Trevor Boris, Chomat believes the concrete message of acceptance of different sexualities was made into a joke and that there was more interest in making the

event exciting rather than pushing boundaries and getting real.

Both sophs were also critical of the failure to introduce new performers at One Love. Jessi Cruickshank has been the announcer for several years and performer Shane Koyczan continually returns and repeats similar poems. While for incoming students it may seem like a fresh performance, there has been criticism of the event’s lack of change.

Responding to past feedback, University Students’ Council vice-president internal Alex Benac helped plan this year’s One Love to expand its content.

Benac mentions new touch points they hope to hit this year, such as racism and intersectionalities, by bringing in speakers like Trey Anthony and Lt. Daniel Choi.

He also looks forward to the introduction of a One Love debrief. “[The debrief] is going to happen

on Concrete Beach with motivational speaker Nova Browning Rutherford who will facilitate a debrief right into nighttime programming,” says Benac. “It’ll be an opportunity for students to expand on what they’ve learned, what touched them and motivated them.”

The debrief will also provide some space in between the EDM events afterwards, which have been a factor for low attendance with One Love in the past. Both Kamukuny and Chomat thought this would be a beneficial change since some of their frosh chose not to attend One Love because of the after-party.

Benac takes great pride in One Love and believes it is an incredibly progressive event, but there is always room to grow.

“Every event the USC does is an evolution: it undergoes a process year after year, making sure we’re constantly adapting to needs that

students have identified,” Benac adds.

Kamukuny and Chomat would also love to see an expansion into First Nations issues, gender identity and discussions with religion.

They both agree that it might be a heavy topic but that it would pay off in the end.

“To a group of incoming frosh I feel like you need to remind them from the beginning that, just like high school, this is a place where you can’t call someone a racial slur,” says Kamukuny. “If One Love can be that event and focus in on all types of discrimination and focus on making them serious rather than entertainment then it can actually be good.”

This year’s One Love takes place on Friday, Sept. 11 featuring speakers Lt. Daniel Choi and Trey Anthony and performances by artists Shane Koyczan and Sarah Smith.

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6 •

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

A new year means new tech. Here’s what you might have missed over the summer.

Shachar Dahan GAZETTE STAFF @GazetteCulture

With the start of a new school year, students are searching for the newest gadgets and the best back-toschool deals. While this summer was extremely kind to smartphones, here are the major tech announcements that you may have missed over the break.

SAMSUNG The Galaxy S has been Samsung’s flagship smartphone for the past few years and this summer Samsung added two different versions of its sixth-generation phones to the lineup: the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, an improvement to the S6 Edge. As the name implies, the S6 Edge has a screen that wraps around the sides of the phone, allowing for added functionality.

These sixth-generation smartphones are not just the best Galaxy smartphones to date, but some of the best smartphones period.

Both phones have a 16MP camera and a Quad HD display, but the S6 has 3GB of RAM and a 2550 mAh battery, while the S6 Edge Plus has 4GB of RAM and a 3000 mAh battery. The S6 Edge Plus features a 5.5” display, while the S6 measures in at 5.1”. These are also the first Galaxy S phones that don’t have a Micro SD card slot or a removable battery.

Samsung also improved on its Note smartphone series with the Galaxy Note 5. The Note 5 has many of the same specs as the S series phones – a 16MP camera, 4GB of RAM and a 3000 mAh battery. The main difference is that it has a 5.7” display for taking notes with a built-in S pen. Perhaps the most useful improvement is the ability to take a quick note with the S pen without having to turn on the phone.

The last major announcement from Samsung is the company’s new Gear S2 smart watch. The watch is running a completely revamped Android Wear OS and now features removable bands.

MICROSOFT The July release of Windows 10 officially marked the end of

Windows 8.1, arguably one of the worst operating systems known to man. Major improvements include the return of the start menu, now fully integrated with Cortana, Windows’ new voice assistant app.

Microsoft improved on multitasking abilities with a new Task View button that displays all your running apps on the screen and allows you to manage different virtual desktops. Microsoft has also made multitasking more efficient by improving upon the Snap feature, which allows you to work on up to four programs at once on the same screen.

The last change is the ability to run Windows Store apps in a window that can be resized and moved around.

T

HE JULY RELEASE OF WINDOWS 10 OFFICIALLY MARKED THE END OF WINDOWS 8.1 – ARGUABLY ONE OF THE WORST OPERATING SYSTEMS KNOWN TO MAN.

APPLE Apple’s release of iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan are just days away. Here are the new features you can look forward to.

Other than enhanced Siri capabilities and public transit routes being added to Apple Maps, the main story of iOS 9 is its new multitasking features. There are three ways to view multitasking windows on an iPad: slide over, picture in picture and split view.

Slide Over brings a second app from the side so you can answer a text or write something in Notes.

There’s also a Picture-in-Picture mode that puts videos and FaceTime calls in the corner of the display when the home button is pressed.

From there, you can use any other app while watching the video.

The last mode, Split View, enables

two apps to be open and active with full multi-touch support. Split View has only been announced for the iPad Air 2.

CPU and GPU usage will be more efficient thanks to iOS 9 and Apple has promised this update to be around 1.3GB, whereas iOS 8 needed a massive 4.5GB of internal storage.

OS X El Capitan is expected to bring many major improvements.

Just like with Siri, Apple is adding enhanced capabilities to the Mac search bar. Another exciting feature coming to El Capitan is Apple’s version of the previously mentioned Windows Snap feature.

One of the biggest improvements El Capitan will bring with it is Metal, a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated graphics API. Apple promises this will introduce a 50 per cent improvement in performance with up to 40 per cent greater rendering efficiency.

Apple also announced Watch OS 2 – an update for the Apple Watch software.

GOOGLE Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop and now Marshmallow. That’s right, Google has officially announced Android Marshmallow and here are the features most important to you.

Google’s virtual assistant, which is arguably one of Android’s best features, is going to get even better in Android 6.0. Now you’ll be able to get useful, contextual information on anything you are currently running on your phone screen by pressing down on the home button from videos you are watching or from emails you are reading.

Improvements to Google Now include the ability to say ‘OK Google’ wherever you are in the Android operating system to search Google.

Google also announced Android Pay, which will let you walk into stores and tap on an NFC terminal to pay for products.

And in a bid to hopefully give your battery life a boost, Android Marshmallow is introducing a feature that recognizes when the Android device is in a rested state to help conserve power.

Courtesy of Apple Inc.

OS X EL CAPITAN. The new OS boasts better performance, graphics and the very trendy “window snapping” feature for quick and efficient use of the desktop.

FILE PHOTO

Marathon training can start with Terry The Nanni Diaries Robert Nanni ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR @RobertAtGazette

Fitness can be a daunting subject for many who, like me, are not very well-versed in the matter. With that in mind, I have decided to embark upon a fitness journey where each week I will report back with a new topic or technique from the world of fitness and healthy living. Today’s focus: marathons.

While many people associate marathons with binge-watching Netflix, marathons in the physical sense are long-distance runs with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres. There are no specific fitness requirements to register for a marathon, but the understanding is that runners will have personally prepared for the long road ahead.

“You need to allot enough weeks of training as a marathon … isn’t a race you can get away with training a minimal amount for,” says Nick Thomas, a kinesiology master’s student who is also a student assistant coach for the Mustangs cross country team.

Although general training for a prolonged period of time is crucial, first-year medicine student Robbie Sparrow believes that “stretching is key.”

“When I began running longer distances I didn’t really stretch and got shin splints and had to rest for a number of weeks,” he said.

Alongside efficient stretching, Thomas identifies variable training as key to successfully maintaining

stamina throughout a marathon.

“Mixing in a variety of tempo runs, hills … and a weekly long run will train your body to be prepared physiologically,” he said.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that the idea of running long distances is hardly an enticing prospect.

But thankfully, Western students have a built-in opportunity to practice with the Terry Fox Run that takes place every September.

A short five-kilometre run, the Terry Fox Run is a good place to start if, like me, you struggle to drag yourself up UC Hill. Soph teams on campus are also encouraged to participate in the idea of “Training for Terry” over the summer and leading up to the event.

Y

OU NEED TO ALLOT ENOUGH WEEKS OF TRAINING, AS A MARATHON … ISN’T A RACE YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH TRAINING A MINIMAL AMOUNT FOR. NICK THOMAS

KINESIOLOGY MASTER’S STUDENT

According to Monica Gaillour, a charity representative for the health sciences soph team, “all sophs challenge themselves to run, bike, walk and more” in preparation for the Terry Fox Run. So if you’re looking for a chance to break out your running shoes, you can join the hundreds of other Western students this year on September 20 to run for a good cause while also building up your endurance.

•7

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Going underground in London town Moses Monterroza ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR @MosesAtGazette

Artistic talent is thriving in the city of London. From film producers to theatre directors, there is certainly no shortage of talent.

Much like the city itself, the arts are developing at a modest pace. According to Sue Perkins, board member of the London Community Players, theatre groups have grown significantly since the ‘70s.

“Now in London there are so many theatres… There are around 30 to 40 theatre groups and London Community Players is probably the biggest,” she said.

However, despite this progress, there more that could be done. Many artists are still finding themselves unsupported by the city — artists like Alexandra Kane, who have passionately advocated for the arts in London during her time here.

“There are some great people working sort of underground or behind the scenes that just need either funding or a stronger team with more support,” she said. “I think what would help is more leaders coming up from the works.”

Kane is a studio owner and founder of AK Arts Academy.

Her story is similar to many of those who came to London and unexpectedly flourished in the arts scene.

“I went to Western for music and graduated for piano performance… When I first got here the

only person I knew was my husband,” she said. “But you know, you work hard enough you make enough connections … and next thing you know I own a studio and I’m producing the Jack Richardson Music Awards.”

Similarly, Matt Grady, head engineer at EMAC Recording Studios, thought he’d leave London and pursue his dream of being an audio engineer in Toronto. To his surprise it was the rich and vibrant culture of London that made him stay.

“I never thought that London would have the gravity it did. I thought it would be easy to leave,” he said.

Not only have the arts been important for the individuals, but they’ve been especially important for the city. Geoff Hart, a producer and writer at Hackybox Pictures, said that an active arts community is beneficial to the city as a brand and image.

“In every single city you go in southwestern Ontario, if it’s not Toronto, they feel as though there’s not a lot going on in that city,” he said. “Whereas if you develop an actual arts scene then you’ll have all sorts of things that people can engage in.”

Understanding the London experience requires a blank slate – a mind bereft of preconceptions.

Many will scoff at the idea of participating in the arts; however, the intrinsic value in engaging with the community is important to remember.

Perkins said that “if you’re

Moses Monterroza • GAZETTE

TURN DOWN FOR WHAT? Matt Grady in his studio working on a new piece for an upcoming production. It was London’s underground culture that inspired him as an audio engineer.

prepared to come out and work, do the job and get involved with the people, it will pay off for you as a person. Heaven knows an experience like that should increase your worldly perspective.”

In the same vein, Grady noted that with continual engagement, “you might find yourself being enriched by something culturally that you weren’t aware of before…

[You should] give yourself the opportunity to experience these things. Don’t limit yourself.”

The possibilities are indeed limitless. A simple Google search will result in many groups and places such as the London Writers Society, London Community Players, Museum London and — if you’re interested in the music end — postings for bands that play

around the area.

If you’re feeling intimidated by the seemingly exclusive attitude of the arts scene, Hart would attest to the fact that more times than not, directors, producers and musicians are constantly looking for talent.

“You shouldn’t be intimidated,” he said. “The volunteer route is a way to get in there and showcase what you have. If you have something you think you’d be able to offer – let’s say you’re really good at scheduling or managing people – you could [get] into it if you volunteer first and that’s [how] you can work your way up.”

It’s difficult to escape the academic enclave that is Western, but if you manage it, you will certainly not be disappointed.

Y

OU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF BEING ENRICHED

BY SOMETHING CULTURALLY THAT YOU WEREN’T AWARE OF BEFORE … [YOU SHOULD] GIVE YOURSELF THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THESE THINGS. DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF. MATT GRADY

HEAD ENGINEER AT EMAC RECORDING STUDIOS

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8 •

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

opinions

Political correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred.

• Jacques Barzun

London should Political correctness run amok adapt to the Breaking Brad new Uber world Over the past week, London Police Service launched project Licensed Ride, an enforcement operation aimed at Uber drivers.

As a result, 18 Uber drivers received 29 fines for violating municipal bylaws. The City of London mandates that licensed drivers for hire must have commercial insurance, take a training exam and disclose any criminal offences or medical issues. Uber drivers currently don’t adhere to these standards.

While Uber currently provides auto liability insurance, their qualifications are not up to par and it is clear that Uber’s premise violates London’s by laws. Even if Uber were to get commercial licensing — which would be very costly — each Uber car would require an internal security camera and have to be less than three years old.

It is not uncommon for Uber to be met with opposition by the cities they are expanding to. The company has been challenged in New York City, Paris and recently Toronto.

For the most part, Uber has won. The company has been resilient in fighting these legal battles, but the future of Uber in London is currently up in the air.

There are many reasons why London is not too fond of the ride-sharing app, and as a result it is becoming overwhelmingly unfavourable to be an Uber driver.

Currently, there are not many steps an Uber driver can take in order to reduce the risk of receiving a ticket without investing a large sum of money. Additionally, it is unclear if Uber’s present insurance covers the driver, as the company currently claims to protect “passengers, pedestrians, other drivers and the community at large.”

The monetary incentive is simply not enough to outweigh the risks of being an Uber driver in London. However, the app remains popular amongst the student community.

The municipal government claims they are focused and determined to attract tourists and businesses to the city.

Clamping down on Uber would be a tremendous step in the wrong direction.

By rejecting Uber, London is sending the message that it are not an open-minded, tech-friendly city and could potentially deter many potential investors and visitors.

The city is in a tricky position. The taxi industry is regulated for a reason and Uber is obviously cheating the system. But as with other disrupters of the status quo, London should listen to the community and change the bylaws to fit the demand so both taxi companies and Uber can compete on a level playing field.

• Gazette Editorial Board

Send us your letters and opinions! opinions@westerngazette.ca

thegazette

Volume 109, Issue 2 www.westerngazette.ca

Iain Boekhoff Editor-In-Chief Olivia Zolinno Print Managing Editor Nathan Kanter Digital 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.

Bradley Metlin OPINIONS EDITOR @BradAtGazette

Western’s Orientation Week program has made national news this year for its decision to ban mohawks, dreadlocks and bandanas: a decision hailed as a stance against cultural appropriation. I’ve already shared my mixed feelings about those rules, but something interesting happened just before O-Week was set to kick off.

The orientation planning committee decided to pull out the proverbial silverware drawer and shake it over their heads by saying all synthetic hair of any sort is not allowed.

The vagueness of their reason was on display with University Students’ Council president Sophie Helpard’s flimsy defence of the change in policy.

“We spoke to a few more students of our community who didn’t think this is a fair compromise and didn’t think

this compromise was necessarily fixing the root of the problem that it was first intended to fix,” she said.

So fuck you Medway-Sydenham sophs — we don’t care that we reached a compromise with you. A few more students complained, so we have to bend to their whim.

It’s all part of a march forward to ensure that nobody can possibly be offended at any point in time. In an earlier column, I alluded to a “culture war” on campus that is beginning to brew. Microaggressions, trigger warnings and everything in between have begun to be spread across campus in a way that almost coddles students.

When you think about it, anything can be triggering to someone. The song that played as someone was sexually assaulted could be a trigger. Seeing the same colour and model of the car that harassed someone on the street could be a trigger. A seemingly innocuous commercial on tv could be a trigger.

Of course, we don’t ban the radio, we don’t ban cars and we don’t ban exams.

What does happen is a culture that discourages coping mechanisms. Students are being taught to skirt around controversial and sensitive topics for fear of emotionally affecting someone.

What is happening? Well, there is a pushback to this “too sensitive” environment. At the time of this writing, only 25 per cent of those who replied to our poll on The Gazette’s website indicated they supported the policy.

“Political correctness is out of control” is what people will say, trumpeting the horrors of a progressive agenda. We live in a day and age when things have gotten carried away, allowing the likes of Donald “Mexicans are rapists” Trump to get ahead.

These people miss the point of what’s happening and fail to understand that some of this “political correctness” is merely being a sensitive and compassionate person. But the group of people taking a stand against a culture of microaggresions and trigger warnings is growing.

By banning synthetic hair all together, OPC has fed into the perception that a handful of students can affect policy that impacts thousands — all in the name of “political correctness.”

Indeed, a storm is brewing around university and college campuses — I just hope I graduate before it reaches hurricane force.

Soph apparel bans backfired Chris Williamson OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR @uwogazette

Two weeks ago, The Gazette wrote an article on recent changes to soph apparel. I was a soph for two years and in my final year I acted as assistant head soph for a faculty soph team. As someone who was part of the soph uniform approval process last year, I can confidently say that most of these new regulations don’t actually change anything.

The major “change” to the rules is the banning of “wearing cultural or religious accessories as part of team uniforms,” which “include, but are not limited to, fake dreadlocks, First Nations headdresses, mohawks, turbans and hijabs.”

This “new” rule is mostly meaningless because there was already a ban in place regarding religious iconography — a ban that most certainly covered accessories like turbans, hijabs and First Nations headdresses. Even the bans on mohawks and dreadlocks could have been enforced under the rules of previous years if the orientation planning committee wanted to.

These new rules are nothing more than a PR move aimed at making the school look better without actually investing any real effort or resources. It’s also a PR move that backfired.

CP24 recently ran an article stating that “in the past student leaders have made a habit out of wearing headdresses, fake dreadlocks and other costumes,”

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.

implying that orientation volunteers at Western have a history of cultural insensitivity, which isn’t true. Ironically, by trying to appear inclusive, Western has now negatively impacted how the entire orientation program is perceived across Canada.

In my opinion, it’s not the new regulations themselves that have produced backlash amongst the sophing community; it’s the system and process that made them.

Most people don’t know much about the OPC as the only ones to really interact with them are head and assistant head sophs and members of O-staff.

The OPC is secretive; what’s discussed in their private meetings is never made public or even shared with soph leadership teams and the rationale they give for their decisions is often deliberately vague. Furthermore, although student volunteers do sit on the committee, it’s the members from university administration that have the most influence over the proceedings.

Sophs are extremely underrepresented on the OPC. Two people represent 18 separate soph teams: a head soph to represent all residence teams and a head soph to represent all faculty, OC and affiliate soph teams. That makes no sense.

How can a soph from a massive residence like Saugeen speak to the interests of a small residence like Alumni? How can a main campus faculty soph defend the beliefs and opinions of an affiliate team?

As a result, sophs are often not able

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to have their voices heard and the OPC does not seek out opinions from sophs when it creates rules that will affect them.

Leadership teams are often asked to make changes on short notice with no guidelines or reasoning while the OPC makes it difficult for them to implement programs that will actually improve student well-being. This is something my leadership team faced and something I know several other leadership teams did as well.

Western is consistently ranked as having the best Orientation Week in Canada and it’s planned and run almost entirely by students, including but not limited to sophs, O-staff, the charity team and team USC. Whether or not you care about sophing, it’s impossible to deny the contribution these volunteers make to the orientation program.

It is for this reason that the OPC’s behaviour is so frustrating. The constant stream of new rules and regulations is symptomatic of a lack of respect that university administrators have for their hard-working volunteers.

If the OPC wants to make a real difference for first-year students they should focus on providing sophs with the training and resources they need instead of arbitrarily introducing new rules and restrictions.

Chris Williamson is a 2015 Western alumnus and former assistant head soph for the social science soph team.

Shane Roberts Photography Jenny Jay Kyle Porter Taylor Lasota Graphics Christopher Miszczak Jennifer Feldman Jordan McGavin Copy Editor Claire Christopher Video Samiya Hassan Audience Engagement Ariel Vaisbort

♻

• Please recycle this newspaper •

•9

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

sports

gameday Western’s softball and baseball teams both kick-off their 2015 seasons this weekend. Softball will travel to Ottawa for four games while the baseball team travels to Guelph Saturday before hosting Waterloo Sunday.

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

MUSTANG TOUCHDOWN. Mustang receiver Harry McMaster plows through the York defence on his way to a touchdown on Monday night.

Western Mustangs play it safe ’Stangs rotate bench in 74–10 win Serena Quinn SPORTS EDITOR @SerenaAtGazette

On one of the hottest days of the summer, Western students, alumni and football fans packed into the stands at TD Stadium to watch the Western Mustangs take on the York Lions in their home opener under the glow of the Monday night lights.

While the roaring crowd decked out in purple and white energetically banged together their noise makers throughout the first quarter, the audience quickly cleared out after the half as the Mustangs led the game 54-3.

Perhaps there’s something tasteless about cheering on a team with more than a 50-point lead, or maybe the 74-10 outcome of the game was predictable.

Either way, with the majority of the fans gone and a lead that couldn’t be caught, Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall played the game safe, resting his injured players and rotating through his second and third strings.

“We tr[ied] to manage our players, rotate them through and keep everyone physically and mentally sharp so we didn’t get any injuries and could keep rolling through.

I

’VE GOT THE REST OF THE SEASON TO GET A FULL GAME AND PLAY FOOTBALL. WILL FINCH

FOURTH-YEAR MUSTANGS QUARTERBACK

I think we did a good job of that,” Marshall said.

“We were able to get everybody in the football game and there’s going to come a time that we’re going to need one of those players to play, and those minutes today help.”

The Mustangs started the game without some key players Monday night, including receivers Justin Sanvido and Matt McDougall, defensive end Ricky Osei-Kusi and defensive linemen Andrew Pedda and Jake Karroum.

With these players missing from the line-up the purple and white added some fresh faces out on the field, the most notable being wide receiver Harry McMaster. In his second game dressing for the Mustangs, McMaster set up the lopsided scoreboard just 49 seconds into the action as he recorded his first major touchdown of his Canadian Interuniversity Sport career.

But the small lead wasn’t enough for the first-time starter as he received a 27-yard pass from Will Finch for his second consecutive touchdown, a play that extended the Mustang lead 14-0 just over five minutes into the contest. >> see FOOTBALL pg.10

67

76.1%

Completions

88 Attempts

3 Interceptions

9 Touchdowns

1,104 Yards Thrown

10 •

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Mustangs roll over York before Laurier test >> FOOTBALL continued from pg.9

“I’ve been trying to get better ever since year one and I feel like I’ve done that and I’ve finally made it out there,” McMaster said.

While McMaster caught the attention of the fans Monday night, the face behind centre was a familiar one as star quarterback Will Finch handled the passing duties for the first half of the game.

Finch had an impressive performance as he completed 14 of 14 attempted passes, threw for 304 yards and scored three touchdowns in just two frames. He also added a touchdown on the ground to lead the purple and white in the victory.

Despite his success on the gridiron, Finch came out of the game just after half and handed over the passing responsibilities to secondstrong quarterback Josh Beach.

“I think at that score we had a reach at that point and, you know, coach said just shut it down, it’s not worth it to kind of go back out there,” Finch said. “I’ve got the rest of the season to get a full game and play football.”

While the Mustangs were missing some of their top performers and not taking chances with the starters they did have, the Lions were experiencing similar absences from their starting roster.

“You know what, we’re playing one of the best football programs in the country... We were a young team, especially on offence — we left four starters at home,” said Lions head coach Warren Craney.

“It’s tough to compete and with all our top players in the line-up it’s hard enough to stop that offence,” continued Craney. “Take our four best players and it’s that much more difficult.”

The Lions posted their first touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to cut the lead 67-10, only to have Western’s Alex Taylor return the kick-off all the way back for a touchdown.

I

’VE BEEN TRYING TO GET BETTER EVER SINCE YEAR ONE AND I FEEL LIKE I’VE DONE THAT AND I’VE FINALLY MADE IT OUT THERE. HARRY MCMASTER

SECOND-YEAR MUSTANGS WIDE RECEIVER

“Right before I went out there Sean Jamieson and I were talking, and I said ‘We’re going to take this one to the house,’” Taylor said.

“I came in through that hole and it was only the kicker and I was kind of praying to God he wouldn’t get me but I just made a little move on him, got around him and it was daylight from there.”

Taylor’s 107-yard kick return was arguably the most memorable play of the game as the second-year running back broke the Western record for longest kick return. The last Mustang to score off of a kick return was Andrew Thibaudeau who returned the kick 104 yards for a touchdown in the 2010 Ontario University Athletics semi-finals.

While they had two easy games to start their 2015 campaign, the Mustangs will now be up against some tough competitors moving forward.

“Laurier will give us a really good game next week ... and you know Queen’s after that.

Those are a couple of good, solid opponents that we have coming up,” Marshall said.

The Mustangs will now have a short week off before traveling to Waterloo, Ont., on Saturday, Sept.

12, 2015 where they will take on the Golden Hawks at 7:30 p.m.

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

ABOVE Matt Uren examines his options after making a catch. Uren had two catches for 93 yards on Monday. BELOW Western cheerleaders preform a routine in front of a packed house at TD Stadium

Men’s rugby easily dominates inexperienced opponent Hala Ghonaim SPORTS EDITOR @HalaAtGazette

A young Royal Military College Paladins’ team had a difficult time on Monday dealing with the more experienced Mustangs in their season opening loss.

With only 900 students to choose from, RMC’s rugby team understandably has several rookies on their starting roster. This is not the case for the Mustangs.

RMC is home to only 200 athletes scattered across seven varsity teams, whereas Western supports over 1000 athletes involved in 46 men’s and women’s varsity teams.

Sean McDonaugh, head coach of the Paladins, said there’s a clear difference between being young and being inexperienced.

“A young team who plays a ton of rugby, the challenge is for them to stay in a system,” he said. “An inexperienced young team, like ours, the challenges are to decide what to introduce them to [first]. For instance, many aspects of the game of rugby they don’t even know exist yet.”

Even though RMC lost 57–19 against the Western, McDonaugh is happy with his team’s progress.

“Carrying a little bit of the play for the last 15 minutes of the game, it’s good for us with an extremely young team,” McDonaugh said.

“We had five guys who this was their first ever rugby game today.”

However, senior Mustang Mark Denton says his team dominated towards the end of

Grace Chung • MUSTANG ATHLETICS

the game by communicating well with one another.

“We linked up pretty well towards the end of the game,” he said. “We had a lot of quick runs in the first half, as well as a lot of breaks where we couldn’t really set our systems up because it was kind of a lot of fast play. Our defence was a lot stronger towards the end.”

After completing an intense training camp, the Mustangs had high expectations heading into the matchup against their younger opposition. Denton personally trained this

off-season in order to contribute to the team during training camp. His priority is for the boys to continue to work as a whole no matter how weak or strong their opponents may be.

“We want to focus on playing our game,» he said. «So no matter who we are playing, we run the same systems and we don’t get selfish and work on playing as a team.”

While Denton made good on six of his seven kicks in the game, Joshua Bald scored the first try of the season only six minutes into the game.

The Stratford native understands the value of teamwork and hopes to work harder in the more challenging upcoming games.

“It was pretty much the team setting up holes and I took them if they were there.” Bald mentioned that the team’s focus was “mostly defence… making the hard hits. Not only that, but driving them back. That’s what really wins championships.”

Though Bald was quiet in the second half of the game, it was his efforts that started off the season on a high note.

Mustangs head coach David Knowles agrees the team’s kick-offs were way better than what they have been in the past and also added how it was challenging to work out kinks when the oppositions defence isn’t strong.

“We didn’t get to play our system the way we wanted to, but then again [RMC] didn’t play defence, so it makes it difficult to do that,” said Mustangs head coach David Knowles.

“We were breaking tackles really quickly, so it didn’t really allow us to set up our systems.”

Coach Knowles is thinking about new techniques for more challenging games throughout the season to practice maintaining a system.

“Our structure may change with the stronger teams [such as] Queen’s, McMaster, Guelph, but for the most part we’re going in the same way.”

The Mustangs hope to keep up their winning ways this Friday in Waterloo against the Laurier Golden Hawks.

• 11

thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Student sets world record in beer mile Shane Roberts SPORTS EDITOR @ShaneAtGazette

When you picture having a beer in the summer, most people imagine having their feet up and relaxing.

This is not the case for Western student Lewis Kent, who has established himself as the best beer miler in the world.

Hold on a minute, what the heck is the beer mile? The beer mile is a track race that requires competitors to drink four beers and run four laps of a 400-metre track. Competitors start by drinking a beer and then running a lap.

After each lap, another beer must be finished before the next lap is started. If someone vomits during the race, they have to do an extra 400-metre lap of the track at the end as a penalty.

Kent’s international beer mile career began in December 2014 when he was invited to the inaugural FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships in Austin, Texas.

At the event, which included an Olympian and other prominent track and field athletes, Kent finished in fifth place with a time of five minutes 32 seconds.

After coming up short in Austin, the fourth-year Kinesiology student set a goal to run the beer mile in under five minutes.

Kent achieved his goal in early August when he ran a world record time of four minutes 55 seconds on a track in Mississauga.

A large factor in Kent’s eventual success was going beyond his regular exercise routine to train for the beer mile.

“Sometimes I do food challenges to stretch my stomach or eat

massive meals and drink a couple of carbonated beverages so my body gets used to dealing with a lot of volume,” he said.

Kent explained that the alcohol consumption does not play an important role in the outcome of the race.

“I do not feel the effects of the alcohol at all during the race,” he said. “Probably about 15-20 minutes after the race it starts kicking in. The most difficult part is dealing with the amount of volume and carbonation in your stomach. If you were to do the same thing with pop or carbonated water it would be just as difficult.”

Shortly after setting the world record, Kent won the Beer Mile World Classic on Aug. 22 in San Francisco against some of the best beer milers in the world.

The race director of the Beer Mile World Classic, Nick MacFalls, organized the event by funding the travel of most of the top beer milers from Canada, the United States and Australia. However, MacFalls faced several logistical difficulties along the way.

“The city government didn’t necessarily understand what we were trying to do,” he said. “We lost our venue at a couple of points and it was hard for us to get insurance and permits. It made it complicated to actually stage the event. Running the event was relatively simple. It was just getting to the point where we could get clearance to do it.”

These legal hurdles prevented the event from being held on a track. MacFalls had to settle for a race course on the roads of Treasure Island in San Francisco.

“We would love to be able to get the event on the track in the future,”

Damien Maloney • RUNNER’S WORLD

HOLD MY BEER WHILE I RUN. Fourth-year kinesiology student Lewis Kent poses with the Beer Mile World Classic Championship trophy in San Francisco. Kent ran the beer mile — where competitors drink four beers and run four times around a 400-metre track — in a world record time of four minutes 55 seconds.

I

DO NOT FEEL THE EFFECTS OF THE ALCOHOL AT ALL DURING THE RACE. PROBABLY ABOUT 15-20 MINUTES AFTER THE RACE IT STARTS KICKING IN. LEWIS KENT

FOURTH-YEAR KINESIOLOGY STUDENT AND BEER MILE WORLD RECORD HOLDER

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mile you have to have a plan for your own safety.”

Despite the risks of running the beer mile, MacFalls believes it is a fun activity to do with friends and he encourages more people to take on the challenge of the beer mile.

The next step for Kent in the beer mile is the second annual FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships in December in Austin, Texas. At this event, he hopes to lower his world record and further solidify his reign atop the Beer mile world.

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he said. “If it had been on the track, Lewis [Kent] would have run under his world record. Our course was a little windy and slow out here.”

The difficulties faced by MacFalls are reflective of the challenges most beer milers have to face. Almost all beer miles are not official races and are run at secret track locations in order to avoid attention from police.

MacFalls also acknowledged the additional risks that come into play due to the nature of the beer mile.

“Most of the risk is throwing up,” he said. “There is also the issue of driving home. Going into the beer

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thegazette • Thursday, September 10, 2015

Both soccer teams expect perfect weekend After both Mustang squads collected 4 points last weekend against Algoma, the same is expected this weekend vs. Laurier, Waterloo WOMEN FACE TOUGH TEST AGAINST GOLDEN HAWKS As expected, the women’s soccer team has roared out of the gate.

They currently sit in first place in the Ontario University Athletics west division with a 4–0–0 record.

The first big test for the Mustangs comes on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Laurier Golden Hawks, a team that finished just a single point behind Western in the regular season standings last year. This year, the Golden Hawks are also undefeated at 3–0–0.

Western hasn’t been tested yet as they’ve had two easy games against Algoma and relatively easy games against Brock and Guelph.

The combined record of those squads last year was 11–34–3. This year they’re a combined 3–9–0.

Laurier haven’t been tested yet either as they also had the opportunity to face the inexperienced Algoma Thunderbirds in backto-back road games to begin their season. Their other win came against Waterloo, whom the Mustangs will face following the Laurier matchup.

Saturday’s match, at the very least, will show Western the level they need to be at to take their division this year.

The Western–Waterloo game on Sunday gets going at 1 p.m.

Waterloo has yet to win a game this year in four matches, as they have just a single point.

A Western loss this year against anyone other than Laurier or York would be a huge disappointment.

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

SQUAD GOALS. Mustang Amanda Boyle attempts to head the ball during OUA women’s soccer action last Wednesday against Guelph.

MEN SHOULD COLLECT FOUR POINTS The Laurier men’s team is not as dangerous as the women’s team.

The men are 1–1–1 this year, having tied the struggling Thunderbirds once and losing to the Waterloo Warriors by a 4–0 score.

Last year, Laurier went 5–8–3 in the regular season before bowing out in the second round of the playoffs. The Mustangs also lost in the OUA playoffs in the second round in 2014, but had a much better season at 8–4–4.

The expectation for the Mustangs men’s team this year is to at least win a couple playoff rounds. Last weekend’s games in Sault Ste. Marie against Algoma were far from difficult as they came away with consecutive shutouts, scoring a combined 13 goals.

Last Wednesday the Mustangs made a solid effort in which they were severely handicapped while hosting Guelph, as they managed a 2–2 tie thanks to a strong second half.

As coach Rock Basacco said after that game, the Mustangs are expected to play some intriguing attacking soccer this season and scoring some goals against Laurier and Waterloo this weekend shouldn’t be a problem.

• Nathan Kanter Digital Managing Editor @NathanAtGazette

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

INCOMING. Mustang striker Christian Douglas crosses the ball during OUA men’s soccer action last Wednesday versus Guelph.

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