Friday, September 30, 2016

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westerngazette.ca FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • WESTERN UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 110, ISSUE 9 we’re not queen’s since 1906

BOARD OF GOVERNOR’S HAS NO PLANS FOR FUTURE SEPT. HOCO PG 3

STUDENTS PREPARE FOR ‘REAL HOCO’ PG 6-7

Homecoming under fire: A culture can’t be stopped

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AARON MALLETT GAZETTE

MUSTANGS TO TAKE ON LAURIER THIS WEEKEND PG 9

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2 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

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BONNIE COOPER

Volume 110, Issue 9 WWW.WESTERNGAZETTE.CA University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial 519.661.3580 Advertising 519.661.3579

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AARON MALLETT GAZETTE

It takes a former student athlete to understand the issues facing current student athletes, so Bonnie Cooper, athletic services coordinator, is perfectly equipped to handle any challenge her Mustangs can throw at her.

can, or direct them to the services they need. Bonnie has stayed at Western for so long because of how dedicated she is to Mustangs athletics.

“I haven’t left. I love it here,” she says. “I love working with the athletes, I love having a job that has to do with sport.

I feel really fortunate that I kind of lucked into this job.”

When she first came to Western in 1991, Bonnie had no idea she’d still be here 25 years later. She’s been a Mustang volleyball player, a coach and now a member of the administration team. After getting a work-study job while still a student, Bonnie was soon offered a full-time position and hasn’t looked back since.

Many things fall under the umbrella of athletic services coordinator. Bonnie works closely with athletes from the day they’re recruited, keeping tabs on their admission status and ensuring they take enough courses to be eligible to play. Her own description of what she does shows the wide range of how she helps athletes.

“If there’s academic problems, if [athletes] are having any kind of issues, mental health or otherwise, eligibility course issues, they come to me,” says Bonnie. “Or it’s just a general ‘hello,’ or ‘how are you,’ or ‘where do I find the exam conflict form.’ Any general question really.”

This year, Bonnie helped start a new program that she’s particularly proud of. The Student-Athlete Academic Mentoring Program matches upper-year athletes with first-years to help them cope with the difficulty of balancing academics with sport. It’s been successful with almost 50 student athletes volunteering to be mentors.

Bonnie’s dedication to sport at Western knows no bounds. She’s willing to help athletes in any way she

Bonnie is keen to point out the sense of community within what she calls the “Mustang family,” made up of over a thousand student-athletes.

“I have a thousand-plus kids,” she says, laughing. “I have one child at home, but I’ve got another thousand here on campus because I really like to take care of them. I feel like they’re all my own.”

As someone who works so closely with athletes, Bonnie really values her own experience as a volleyball player.

She was a member of the Mustangs team that won the 1998 Ontario championship — their first in 20 years. That team is being inducted this year into Western’s volleyball wall of honour and with her old teammates coming back for a reunion Bonnie knows the kind of lifelong bonds athletics can build.

“My best friends are still the ones that I played with here at University,” she says. “I think that is kind of what we carry over, we’re trying to create that same experience.

It’s not about the results, it’s about the family and the relationships you make once you’re here.”

Bonnie is looking forward to another year working with the Mustangs, and the new athletes she gets to support.

■■CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • 3

news

Western’s board of governors has no plans for September Homecoming next year AMY O’KRUK FEATURES AND GRAPHICS EDITOR @AMYOKRUK With the “SAVE HOCO” event planned for this weekend, Western’s Homecoming date swap to mid-October once again became the hot topic on Tuesday’s board of governors meeting.

The board confirmed that Western has no plans to restore a late-September Homecoming next year. It will continue to be on a date “later in the fall” to keep reducing the number of students celebrating.

Board member Jane Toswell broached the discussion, pointing to a report in The Gazette detailing the USC’s plans for events on UC Hill as part of “first Homecoming.”

“Are we accidentally having two Homecomings this fall, or are we in the process of fixing it for next year?” Toswell asked.

Provost Janice Deakin said “we’re working with our eyes open,” and that she’s currently aware of eight keggers advertised on social media that are planned for this weekend.

“We expect there to be Homecoming-like activities by the students this weekend,” Deakin said. “We hope that what happens on Broughdale will be smaller this year than it was last year … None of this is optimal.”

In response to the keggers, Deakin said associate vice-president student experience Jana

MOSES MONTERROZA GAZETTE

Luker and University Students’ Council representatives planned to visit Broughdale Ave. This past Wednesday to discourage students from partying this weekend.

Toswell said she teaches a firstyear class, and she’s unhappy that they’ll be encouraged to take time away from school to celebrate Homecoming now, and again at the end of the October.

“My problem was more in the short-term, I don’t like seeing that

level of upheaval around campus and among undergraduate students,” Toswell said. “While it’s certainly not an ideal situation this year, next year they’ll put more solutions in place, I hope.”

For now, undergraduate student representative Jonathan Green said talking to students on Broughdale is a positive step.

“If the admin and USC reps can help students understand the risks they’re assuming for themselves

and others, then I think that’s a good thing.”

OTHER BUSINESS During the meeting, the board also passed a motion to change the monetary thresholds attached to the capital projects that need board approval. Now, individual capital projects only require board approval if they’re above $7.5million — previously it was $5 million.

The appointment of architects

and consultants is also up from $750,000 to above $1 million for board approval.

The chair of the board, Hanny Hassan, welcomed six new members to the group: Catherine Karakatsanis, Kibret Mequanint, Pam Bishop and Carol Stephenson, including two new student representatives: Matt Helfand, an undergraduate student representative, and Nicolette Noonan, the graduate students’ representative.

Student senators open new positions to drive engagement RITA RAHMATI NEWS EDITOR @RITARAHMATI

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE

USC pushes ‘Fall Festival’ as alternate to HOCO street parties SABRINA FRACASSI NEWS EDITOR @SABFRACASSI Western’s upcoming “unofficial” Homecoming is being treated with caution, and it’s hard to tell what the upcoming weekend will look like.

To provide students with alternative activities to Broughdale’s street parties, the University Students’ Council will be hosting a Fall Festival which will be held on UC Hill Saturday Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and is free for all Western students.

Some of the activities include a hot air balloon ride, a stunt jump, an obstacle course, a haunted house and plenty of carnival games.

Emily Ross, USC communications officer, commented on the influence behind the Fall Festival.

“With the initial change of date there were conversations going around about what our role would be in this new decision,” said Ross.

“We decided that since in the past

couple of years it’s been our role to provide safe but fun alternative programming on the Homecoming date, and because now the date was moved, our role has been spread over the two dates to alleviate any issues.”

Ross explained that the events on UC Hill will be dry. However, alcohol is being offered at the Spoke along with some other wet activities.

“One of the greatest things about this event, other than the fact that there are a ton of cool games, is the fact that there is going to be so much food,” Ross said.

According to the USC, there will be over 3,600 slices of pizza, 1,000 hot dogs and many food trucks.

Some of the food will be free.

In a recent USC meeting, some councillors raised concerns of the safety of intoxicated students participating in events like the hot air balloon ride. According to Ross, security who can recognize intoxicated students will be present. There will

also be student volunteers on the lookout.

“Any student who is clearly intoxicated will likely be encouraged to grab some food, listen to the music and enjoy some of the less strenuous events,” Ross said.

However, Ross stressed that the events are not meant to be particularly dangerous.

“The stunt jump is particularly safe, the hot air balloon is safe — all of it is relatively safe stuff. But we do have that layer of making sure that someone who maybe is too intoxicated to participate isn’t participating,” Ross said.

This is the first time that a Fall Festival of this kind will be held, directly correlating to the changing of the official Homecoming date.

There will be a number of student artists and bands who will be performing at the Fall Festival.

Rick McGhie will also be performing a special concert at the Spoke at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Western student senators are opening four new volunteer student positions as part of a drive to increase student engagement with the University Senate.

The four positions are: two co-directors of research, one director of public affairs/press secretary and one director of policy.

There are currently 14 undergraduate and four graduate student senators.

“One thing that was really important to us was that we bring more students into the process,” said Harry Orbach-Miller, chair of the Western student senators.

“We’re bringing people who may not have experience with Senate into the process and also in a more cross functional role.”

According to the application form, co-directors of research will be responsible for working with student senators to gather evident for policy proposals, conducting research in areas such as quantifying student concerns and surveys and researching how other universities senates operate.

The director of policy will help student senators come up with tangible policies, write proposals and research policies at other institutions.

The director of public affairs/ press secretary will be responsible for creating public campaigns, managing social media accounts

and working with campus media.

Orbach-Miller said all the positions are interlinked and estimates the time commitments will be two to five hours per week.

Introducing new positions to increase student involvement is something Orbach-Miller and Courtney Hardy, vice-chair of the Western student senators, have thought about since first running for their positions.

Orbach-Miller said with the introduction of these new positions, senators will be able to focus on their key priorities — engaging with students and advocating on their behalf.

Additionally, this year each faculty council will have a senator responsible for attending the council’s meetings to increase senator involvement.

Applications close on Friday, Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m.

Solution to puzzle on page 11

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4 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

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Lecturer by day, investigator by night

JENNY JAY GAZETTE DANIEL BODDEN GAZETTE

SABRINA FRACASSI NEWS EDITOR @SABFRACASSI The story takes place on a winter night in 1989. School teacher and mother of four Beverley Perrin goes to the local store to grab some chocolates for her students. The last known video footage of Perrin alive shows her walking to her car in the parking lot. After that she disappears, and her body is found days later.

The effects of Perrin’s murder will be felt for the next 27 years as police try desperately to solve the murder mystery. What started out as a murder investigation spiralled into a long tale of lies, deceptions and wrongful accusations. In 1991 two men, Chris McCullough and Nick Nossey, were accused of committing the murder. They both denied any participation in it. Nossey was eventually acquitted while McCullough spent the next nine years in jail.

In 1998, Western professor of journalism Paul Benedetti was working for The Hamilton Spectator. He decided to take part in a collaborative investigative series on the Perrin case with fellow court reporter Barb Brown. What they found during their three month investigation shed light on the shanty investigative skills and scapegoating that occurred eight years ago.

“The reason we were writing that [was] because one of the people wrongly accused for the murder had been in jail for eight years and was trying to launch an appeal to reverse the decisions,” said Benedetti.

“The paper felt it was time to do an investigation into what happened to these young men and our series looked at what went wrong in this investigation and why this person deserved an appeal.”

Benedetti and Brown ended up publishing the six-part investigative series later in 1998 and McCullough was eventually acquitted as well.

Fast forward 18 years and Benedetti will find himself in a courtroom listening to the same two

men recant their story. McCullough and Nossey embarked on their own lawsuit against the Hamilton police for their wrongful conviction.

“I decided to go to the civil trial out of my own interest,” said Benedetti. “I said to my wife, ‘I have to see how this turns out’ and I went to the court and sat in the courtroom every day and took notes for myself.

I just had to see how it all ended.”

After the trial was over, Benedetti approached The Spectator and asked if he could publish another article about this new trial. The Spectator agreed and Benedetti ended up publishing his notes with them.

“I think the biggest crime was that people who had absolutely nothing to do with this were charged with first degree murder and when you tell people that, they don’t really believe it,” Benedetti said.

Benedetti did admit that this trial changed his perception of Canadian law enforcement.

“For me, it really makes me think twice about any story I read about the police arresting someone or if someone is charged,” said Benedetti.

“I don’t immediately believe they are guilty and I don’t immediately believe everything the police say is true. I look at it skeptically and I wait until the evidence comes forward.”

McCullough and Nossey lost their case against the Hamilton police in May of this year.

“I feel lucky that there was one more chance to tell this story because they lost the case, they didn’t get any money,” said Benedetti. “So in the end, all I said was that there will be one more chance to tell the truth about what happened to them and I think that’s important in a society, that we try to tell people the truth. And journalism can play a big role in that.”

Benedetti started working here at Western roughly 15 years ago. He was working on the initial investigative piece while teaching. Today, he teaches mostly graduate classes in journalism.

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Memorial walk on campus to remember Andrea Christidis SABRINA FRACASSI NEWS EDITOR @SABFRACASSI On Friday, Sept. 30, the Health Studies Students’ Association will be hosting a walk in memory of Andrea Christidis — the first-year health science Western student who tragically lost her life last year in a drunk driving incident on-campus.

The goal of the walk is to raise awareness on the impact of drunk driving and to commemorate Christidis. Shannon Carmine, a third-year health science student, has been working on organizing the walk.

“Our goal is to raise awareness not to drink and drive and the effects of drinking and driving has on the community and the family. It’s not just one person it affects; it’s a ripple effect. [We] just want to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family,” Carmine said.

The HSSA conceived the idea only a week ago. Preparations then went into full swing when the Christidis family blessed the event.

The Facebook event, “Andrea’s Walk,” currently has roughly 400

people attending with a further 400 people interested.

“It’s been overwhelming seeing all of the response … I did not imagine it reaching that many people,” Carmine said.

The HSSA will be selling ribbons Thursday and Friday in the UCC for students to purchase and pin to their bags. All proceeds will be donated to MADD in Christidis’s name.

“MADD runs a ribbon campaign from November through the holidays every year giving out ribbons for people to tie to their car keys, purse, backpack, etc. to remember to drive sober during the holiday season as it is when they see spikes in impaired driving incidents,” Carmine said.

“We have done a similar thing making red ribbons which have a blue bow around them. Blue is Andrea’s favourite colour. Students can pin them to their backpacks or purses to remember to drive sober and to remember Andrea.”

The walk will be taking place at 3 p.m. on Friday. Students are asked to meet on Concrete Beach where the walk will commence. From

Concrete Beach the HSSA plans to walk down UC Hill towards Gibbons Park and then back up Western road to the Health Sciences Building. The walk is expected to be roughly 45 minutes.

After the walk the HSSA will be providing snacks and refreshments followed by a flower laying memorial at Christidis’s memorial site.

Unfortunately, there is a high chance of rain for Friday. If the rain is light then the walk is scheduled to continue, however if the rain proves to be too heavy then alternative activities will be held.

Students can support the cause by either attending the event or buying ribbons from the HSSA — or doing both.

“I think it’s important that as a Western community we don’t forget about what happen and we keep raising awareness. When you move in first year, Western is your home and you need to feel safe in your home. You need to be able to walk from class and feel safe and know that you’ll arrive everywhere safe.

No one should have to deal with this again,” Carmine said.

Presentations, elections, and reports at last night’s USC meeting RITA RAHMATI NEWS EDITOR @RITARAHMATI The University Students’ Council met for the second time in the 201617 academic year on Wednesday night. It was a jam packed meeting with five presentations, OUSA delegate elections and executive reports.

PRESENTATIONS The Ontario Undergraduate Students’ Alliance gave the first presentation of the night, headed

by Jamie Cleary, USC vice-president and OUSA president. In the presentation Cleary discussed OUSA’s principles, core activities and policies. The OUSA executive was also in attendance and introduced themselves to council.

John Doerksen, vice provost academic programs and students, gave a presentation about a new online course evaluations system. Students will complete their questionnaires online beginning this semester.

Doerksen cited sustainability, student engagement, flexibility, and confidentiality and accessibility as reasons for making the change.

Liz Akwenzie gave a presentation on indigenous culture in which she discussed her experiences as an indigenous person. She explained some of the struggles indigenous peoples have faced in Canada, gave an insight into her culture’s beliefs and discussed the indigenous groups in London — Ojibway, Oneida and Delaware.

Up next was presentation from the radio station CHRW. Richard Raycraft, the news, sports and spoke word director, outlined his vision for a more student and Westerncentred CHRW. Andrew Barton, program director, discussed some of funding models CHRW is looking into, including non-student members paying a fee of $30 to join the organization.

David DiBrina, Ivey councillor and Ally Western coordinator, gave a presentation on Ally Western and safe spaces at Western.

FOR ACTION OUSA general assembly representatives gave speeches and were elected last night. The elected representatives are: Mauricio Diaz

(academic orientation coordinator), Courtney Hardy (student senator), Harry Orbach-Miller (student senator), Yousef Ahmed (science councillor), Corrine Codina (social science councillor), Violette Hammad (vice-president student affairs at King’s, Jacob Whilidal, Danny Chang (science councillor) and Nico Waltenbury.

FOR INFORMATION The USC executive, chair of the board of directors, chair of the student senators and standing committee chairs each delivered executive reports.

In USC President Eddy Avila’s presentation, he discussed the upcoming Fall Festival, racism and equity discussion and strategic planning. Cleary discussed his work with Project LEARN, creating an plaque to acknowledge the indigenous land Western lies on, mental health and implementing more pass/fail credit courses. Allie Adamo, student programs officer, discussed Beer Fest (on Sept. 29), upcoming international week and plans for clubs space.

• www.westerngazette.ca

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • 5

opinions

Transitioning to post-grad feels both old and new More with Marwa

MARWA HASSAN COLUMNIST @UWOGAZETTE We’re almost a month into the semester and spotting me on campus has never been so easy: just look for the 5’8” semi-zombie amidst the brightest, most energetic horde of frosh you’ve ever seen. Having a conversation with me isn’t as easy though, because while you’re still telling me about how awesome Greece was this summer, or how some party at some random’s house last night rates on the lit scale, you’ll only manage to hold about 68 per cent of my attention. The rest of it will be devoted to several ongoing arguments happening within the confines of my skull: “Grad school is just like undergrad, but like, way more chill, right?”

“Think of it as an investment in your future.”

“It’s a total waste of your money.”

“Will they hire me with this second piece of paper?”

“You’re being so ungrateful, higher education isn’t an option for many people.”

Since I’ve only been a graduate student for a few weeks now, I can’t tell you what it’s really like in too much detail just yet. What I can tell you; however, is that being back at Western after having just completed my undergrad here feels like being on autopilot. Nothing is new to me - neither the campus nor the city of London.

While many of my friends are currently orienting themselves to McGill, UBC and NYU, I’m still over here watching the LTC’s 2s and new 102s whiz by me every morning due to overcapacity. I’m still taking the same routes and shortcuts to the same classes in the same buildings.

I’m even ordering the same dish at The Wave — “Hi, can I get the same buffalo chicken fingers I’ve been having since 2012?” I know I’m not

the only one in this situation who can’t help but feel a little stagnant.

I started thinking about applying to grad schools towards the end of my third year. My professors were always encouraging my friends and I to consider our postgrad options.

So, when fourth year came along, continuing our studies suddenly seemed like the safest, smartest and most natural next step to take.

Everyone I know — health science majors, engineers, FIMS kids, political science students, and business baes — had a different set of reasons to apply.

Some of them felt unprepared to enter the workforce with just an undergraduate education, and others just weren’t confident enough in the initial career path they had chosen to pursue.

Whatever they were, we all dedicatedly shared the same instinctive reason — we wanted to make sure we could secure jobs in our fields right away.

So far, this is what I’ve learnt from mine: Not only are class sizes smaller and lectures more engaging, but postgrad peeps have life experiences worth spending hours talking about. The diversity in your peers’ backgrounds and degrees, the genuine support from faculty, and the overall sense of starting a new life chapter — even if it is in the same Middlesex basement — is really exciting.

Postgrad feels more fast paced and disorienting at times, but the opportunity to network, to cultivate a latent skill set, and to actually understand what you really want to do with your degree(s) feels more readily accessible when you’re surrounded by people from this many walks of life — and definitely worth waiting for the next jam-packed 102s.

Does a master’s degree increase the likelihood of that happening?

More and more people don’t think so anymore. I have no idea if pursing further studies is the right choice for you, but I do believe in something a fellow postgrad keeps reminding me of, “every decision has a learning experience in there somewhere.”

MOSES MONTERROZA GAZETTE

Western needs to stop parenting

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD

Western’s ‘original’ Homecoming is all set to happen on Saturday. But nobody really knows what’s going to happen. There are multiple scenarios that can play out over this weekend.

One scenario could be the most obvious one: Thousands of students will get out on the streets and attend house parties on Broughdale and other student-areas to prove a point to the University administration and the city. Scores of students have signed on to attend different parties all around campus.

Provost Janice Deakin herself has seen eight keggers advertised on social media. A robust student turnout on Homecoming, elicited by the administration’s own brash actions will then underscore all their efforts to tame street parties.

Another scenario could see the London Police coming down hard on students. We have already seen targeted letters distributed on Broughdale and other areas and it seems like the police will take action if they see students ignoring the warnings.

But who will this tough love really benefit? Western, the University Students’ Council, the police and students-at-large have spent years trying to improve the relationship between students and the city.

Fines and offenses have fallen drastically and last year was one of the most disciplined Homecomings

in recent memory. But with students and the police already on edge, it will take all of one weekend for all that goodwill to go down the drain.

Western prides itself on its school spirit and student loyalty. We are by far the most spirited university in Canada and Homecoming is one of our flagship ‘purple pride’ events. The administration’s thinking that Homecoming is just for alumni is — for a lack of a better word — moronic. Homecoming is about alumni, yes, but it’s also about the game and it’s also about the students celebrating their school spirit. All Western managed to do with their two Homecomings was make both alumni and current students upset.

If London Police or other city stakeholders brought forward problems to the University, Western should have responded with the substantially improving numbers and facts of previous Homecomings instead of just rolling over at the first sign of possible trouble.

Telling a huge group of 20-something-year-olds that they can’t do something they enjoy is foolish.

While everyone hopes for the best come Monday, if anything goes wrong on this weekend, it’s going to be blamed on the University administration’s mismanagement for creating such a situation in the first place.

Travelling feels empty due to social media Moses Supposes

MOSES MONTERROZA NEWS EDITOR @MOSESMONTZ Just last year I embarked on a journey to India for a Gazette story.

The one word that comes to mind when I think of my time in India is enchanting. To put it in perspective, I had lived my whole life knowing very little of the outside world. Especially because I grew up in London, a town that’s neither exceptional nor disappointing.

The moment I stepped off my plane and into another country, I felt like an explorer. The climate, the

languages reverberating through my ears and the eclectic cultures gliding past me as I navigated the airport were surreal.

I felt like I was genuinely part of something much bigger than me. For once, I was humbled and grounded and to this day I keep that with me.

Recently though, that feeling of adventure and serendipity, that genuine feeling of discovery and wonder has lost all its meaning. The main culprit you ask? Social media.

I’m not saying I’m a saint, completely absolved of this issue, but I’m saying social media has transformed the way we process new experiences.

It’s like our brains are no longer the conduits of our memories.

Instead, our phones and cameras are now like treasure chests that hold our dearest moments. What’s

more, with the combination of social media, our public displays of our lives dictate the tone of those memories. We’ve unconsciously entered this paradigm without even thinking twice about how it has changed the way we experience things. It makes me wonder what the trip would have been like had I not been so goddamn focused on social media.

There were moments where India felt like a canvas, a subject for me to photograph rather than a new world to explore. It was like an opportunity rather than an experience. But my mind kept denigrating back to “oh, this would be such a nice Instagram post.”

When I came back home to my dreary Forest City, I relived the experience through all the pictures

posted by the people I had met during the trip. Then suddenly I began noticing all the trips other people went on. Photo collages, albums and Instagram posts of varying trips to Europe and South America plastered my feeds like a virus.

I became obsessed with travel photography with the thought of creating the “perfect” post to enamour my friends with.But my intent wasn’t to push art photography; instead, I just wanted to be respected as a photographer.

It completely drew me away from that first feeling of pure authenticity. So much so that I decided to stop posting photos of India on my Instagram. I stopped trying to prove to everybody that the trip was this amazing experience. In the end, I

became disappointed with how I handled the experience, a little sad even.

While I did write one of my best articles in my career so far, I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have talked to more people and I wish I didn’t have such a lifeless concern for how my trip looked to other people.

Travelling isn’t a badge you wear or a point you prove to people, it’s an experience that’s just for you to have and keep. What you learn from your travels should reveal itself to people automatically, without effort.

Your individual experiences don’t have to be plastered on virtual billboards for everyone to see. They can be little gems that change you and improve who you are.

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.”

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6 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

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“When you have Homecoming at Western, it’s a very large tradition, and you can’t just say ‘we’re going to move it to the end of October’ in hopes that students aren’t going to cause so much of a problem,” —Max Pfeiffer Third-year health sciences student

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE

• www.westerngazette.ca

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • 7

The calm before the storm SAMAH ALI CULTURE EDITOR @SISTERSAMAH One month after exams, most students are enjoying their summer vacation without a second thought about school.

The weather is warming up and sounds of beers clinking can be heard from patios around the country. But on May 31, 2016, many Western students are not in a celebratory mood — they’re hastily logging on to Facebook after hearing unexpected news from the school’s administration: Western’s traditional end-of-September HOCO celebration is gone.

WHAT HAPPENED That Tuesday, the administration announced the University’s beloved Homecoming festivities will take place in the middle of October in an effort to deter students from the annual “unsanctioned and unsupervised” street parties on Broughdale. With colder climates and midterm exams, Western stated an October 22 Homecoming Saturday would be a safer decision for current students, alumni and the London community.

But whether the administration’s decision has made Homecoming any safer is up in the air. Some are arguing the change has only sparked greater anticipation for two rounds of partying this year.

“I think the whole purpose of having the second date was to deter people from partying because of midterms,” began Diksha Srivastava, who recently graduated from Western with a health sciences degree. “But it’s even more detrimental now because students will party twice, so it’ll just ruin their GPA rather than prevent people from partying.

It wasn’t an effective preventative measure.”

Trista Walker, executive director alumni relations, said the decision was made in the best interest of alumni.

She said this will be a transition year as the University returns to how Homecoming once was in the past. Before 1996-97, Homecoming was always in late fall, and with a growing network of approximately 280,000 alumni, the administration’s decision-making revolved around them.

“All alumni and even our students, faculty, staff and London communities are encouraged to come and participate in Homecoming, but our primary audience has always been reunion alumni,” said Walker, adding that moving the celebrations deeper in the fall has been on the back burner for the past few years.

Still, if the decision came from a desire to quiet things down for alumni, others were curious as to why Homecoming was moved this year considering 2015’s celebrations were much quieter compared to years prior: the number of criminal code charges dropped substantially from 105 in 2014 to 23 in 2015, down 78 per cent. Although Broughdale street partying continued, last Homecoming some students started attending the University Students’ Council’s “HOCO on the Hill” programming instead.

It seemed like students were making steps in the right direction for Homecoming festivities, but the date change left both current and past students wondering why the end-of-September tradition was moved.

THE BACKLASH Walker mentioned that the new date is in the alumni’s interest, though some oversights have made things more difficult for them this year.

The new date is causing increased stress among recent

grads as they determine which weekend they should return for Homecoming. Previously planned faculty reunions, alumni awards and golden anniversary dinners are still planned for the late-September Homecoming date now renamed Reunion Weekend.

Srivastava explained her disappointment saying, “If I don’t [come] it’s not the end of the world, but it does put a damper on things because it was one thing I was looking forward to as an alumni and to have that taken away, a tradition I won’t get to participate in as much as I have for the previous four years, it’s kind of disheartening.”

She described the difficulties coordinating with her friends because some are celebrating Homecoming on Oct. 1 while others are backing out of festivities all together.

Discouraged, Srivastava believes that the vibe is no longer present and has prevented her from configuring concrete Homecoming plans.

Other alumni said the Oct. 22 date change is a shortsighted decision. Kolade Odetoyinbo, a 2015 Western graduate, said changing the calendar date isn’t enough to shift Western’s culture, and that culture currently dictates that Homecoming happens at the end of September.

“I see the end-of-September party sticking around for the next couple years, at the very least, until the last year of students that experienced the traditional Homecoming party has graduated,” Odetoyinbo said. “If we’re being very honest, the deterrent of weather is weak at best. If students are willing to line up for one and a half hours in minus 20 degree weather to get into a bar during Frost Week, I’m confident that they won’t mind temperatures in the low-teens that we’ll probably see this October.”

Current students also expressed concerns, especially about being absent from the decision-making table.

USC president Eddy Avila said his executive was not consulted on the decision to move Homecoming Saturday to Oct. 22. As a result, he wrote a formal reply to the administration addressing the USC’s concerns.

“We put out a motion formally stating that we are not happy with this decision and students need to be properly represented,” he said. “We were able to show the administration the true feelings of students, and I think the administration was receptive to that, understanding that we need to represent our students, and that is our role in this.”

The move also undermined the USC’s past work with their “HOCO on the Hill” programming. Western alumni Jeremy De Mello believes the administration’s decision was disrespectful to USC’s previously successful efforts.

On-campus Homecoming events really kicked off in 2014. De Mello commended former USC president Matt Helfand’s initiative, opening the door for following USC executives to keep bringing more students on campus. He said this year’s drastic change disregards the efforts made by the USC and that it’s a broad-stroke decision compared to more Western-based solutions like on-campus programming.

Student residence staff have also been thrown for a loop.

Ontario Hall don Hannah Foulds described the anticipated chaos with her staff. The new date has caused a looming concern of two party days, making it harder for her team to program alternative events in residence.

And since the new Homecoming Saturday falls on a midterm-heavy weekend, Foulds is looking into additional opportunities for students to experience a Western tradition between their evaluations.

Ultimately, Avila believes the decision to put Homecoming

on an academically busy weekend was intentional and is working to create more opportunities for students to be a part of Homecoming without experiencing exam conflicts.

But as the problems with the new Oct. 22 weekend brew, one question remains: what’s going to happen this weekend?

GEARING UP FOR “SAVE HOCO”: Despite the administration’s best efforts to prevent students from participating in street parties, the elephant in the room leading up to this weekend is the SAVE HOCO movement.

Garnering around 3,500 attendees on the official Facebook event, SAVE HOCO is a group of students who’re planning on continuing the end-of-September ritual no matter what.

While these students are celebrating this weekend for many reasons, third-year health sciences student and cheerleader Max Pfeiffer believes the culture of Homecoming is bigger than the date itself.

“When you have Homecoming at Western, it’s a very large tradition, and you can’t just say ‘we’re going to move it to the end of October’ in hopes that students aren’t going to cause so much of a problem,” Pfeiffer said.

In response to Save HOCO, the London Police Service has already warned Broughdale residents of potential charges they could face this weekend. Further, at Wednesday’s board of governors meeting the administration said it was working with its eyes open. Western provost Janice Deakin said she expects Homecoming-like activities this weekend, and although she hopes what happens on Broughdale will be smaller this year than last, “none of this is optimal.”

That said, there are many people who also understand where the administration’s choice is coming from.

“Let’s look at the facts,” De Mello said. “Homecoming is one incident away from a riot a lot of the times, and I think even the biggest partiers can agree: when you compare us to Queen’s, who had a riot, the fact that nothing has happened at Western is pretty spectacular. I get where administration is coming from, but I think what the change might be underestimating is that students always find a way.”

De Mello has a point. Western’s decision is less severe than when Queen’s University cancelled their Homecoming celebrations due to a riot on Aberdeen Street in 2005. Queen’s only reinstated celebrations five years later in 2013. With Broughdale Avenue also being a gathering of the masses, Western’s choice is preventative action instead.

While Avila acknowledges that students will go where they want to, he said the best decision for the USC is to offer as much programming as possible this weekend. The programming will feature a Fall Festival with hot air balloons on University College Hill congruent with Reunion Weekend. In addition, the USC will offer “HOCO on the Hill” again on Oct. 22 as further alternative programming for Homecoming celebrations.

But even though there are additional options available to students, the question now is will students abide by the new Homecoming date?

Whether or not festivities do take off this weekend, the culture of a late-September Homecoming appears to challenge the official decisions made by the University. But if there’s one thing for certain, on Oct. 22, purple and white long sleeve shirts and toques will decorate London’s streets, no matter the weather or exams. As students swirl their mixed drinks and spritz open their alcoholic beverages, they’ll celebrate Homecoming — just maybe twice in one year.

www.westerngazette.ca

8 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

sports

•

Mustangs ultimate frisbee growing exponentially CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE Just four years ago, Western’s ultimate frisbee team was effectively nonexistent, forced to practice off-campus at Ross Park and not even allowed to associate themselves officially with the University.

They competed as the unaffiliated UWO Sharks. Now, they’re varsity Mustangs with a national bronze medal to their name.

The open (mixed-gender) ultimate team came third at the Canadian University Ultimate Championships last year, with the women’s team finishing strong as well in fifth place.

The Mustangs competed in the Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships in Kingston last weekend, with the women’s team finishing fourth and the open team fifth.

Coach Tawnya Gonzales can attest to how much the program has grown since she began working with Western students in 2006. When they first made the jump to being a varsity sport in 2013, turnout was low. They don’t receive much exposure and the team was primarily comprised of players who tried out without any prior experience with the sport. They hold their tryouts later than most teams, advertising to first-years in O-Week.

“We’re not a sport that really attracts a lot of people prior to school starting,” Gonzales said.

“We kind of need that exposure on the first week of school to get some more people.”

“I think the issue is people don’t know we exist,” she added. “They

FILE PHOTO

find out the last minute; but now people are starting to find it on the [Mustangs] website so that’s helpful.”

A listing on the Mustangs official website is just one of the perks the ultimate team gained access to when they became varsity. They also get to use the grass practice fields on campus now and receive full varsity kits.

There’s still room to grow, though. The team is still considered a minor varsity team, and as such doesn’t typically get priority in terms

Magic Mike

KYLE PORTER GAZETTE

Big things are expected of the Western Mustangs volleyball team this year. As one of the top teams in the nation, the expectations are sky high for the team that has won back-to-back Ontario University Athletics bronze medals.

This year, in an effort to compete against professional European volleyball teams and expand the experiences of the student athletes, the team will be travelling to Europe over the Christmas break.

Fundraising efforts began in the summer to raise some of the funds to make the trip overseas.

The trip, which begins when the team lands in Amsterdam on Dec. 26 and ends when they return on Jan. 7, is centred around the opportunity for the team to compete in a historic 68-year-old professional volleyball tournament in Amsterdam.

To raise funds for the trip, the team is planning a number of events as well as applying for a grant for female Canadian athletes.

“We applied for a grant for female athletes in sport that one of our athletes told me about and signed us up for,” said Melissa

to Western.

“The [open] team had over 50 [players trying out] this year, and then we had 30-something [for the women],” Gonzales said. “We definitely have people here who play ultimate competitively outside of school.”

As for this coming season, Gonzales’s expectations aren’t entirely hers to set. The team must come in the national top eight to even qualify for the Canadian University Ultimate Championships. The team is aiming slightly higher than that,

though.

“We always aim to be at least top five, if not higher,” Gonzales said.

“Last year [the women’s team] got fifth, and that was a decent result — we were aiming for fourth.”

The Mustangs have their second competition of the year this weekend, as they travel to Hamilton to play in the annual Steeltown tournament. It’ll be their last opportunity to tune up and improve their national standing before the Canadian championship in Montreal, which begins Oct. 14.

Tragedies help us reflect on the power of sports

Women’s volleyball heads to Europe MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEATGAZETTE

of practice schedules, or time on the turf fields.

“Because we’re low on the chain of who gets what they want, we don’t really get to ask for that,” said Gonzales about practicing on turf.

She added, though, that “we hardly ever have any competition to get our spot [on the grass field].”

With the added exposure, turnout at September tryouts has increased dramatically. Prospective players now often have experience playing ultimate, playing on high school teams or clubs before coming

Bartlett, head coach of the women’s volleyball program. “It’s called the Women’s Championship Fund and it’s run by Canada’s Dairy Farmers and they’re giving out 25 scholarships, each worth $5,000.”

The team also held a fundraising beach volleyball tournament in Port Stanley over the summer which was attended by 90 participants.

“We’re hosting a high school and club tournament in early December with two days that our athletes will be running and refereeing and scorekeeping,” Bartlett said. “One of the initiatives we’re also taking this year is running clinics for high schools and elementary schools.”

The clinics will include a skills clinic at London schools led by Bartlett and two of her athletes, as well as the opportunity for students in London to attend Mustangs games and meet the teams.

Bartlett hopes that the trip will not only be a fun experience for her players but will also provide them with a higher level of competition than they receive in Ontario. It will also be beneficial for recruiting in the future.

The trip will include stops in Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona and will include matches with professional teams across Europe.

MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEATGAZETTE It was agonizing. Emotional.

Unforgettable.

José Fernández, the Miami Marlins ace pitcher who had a legendary career ahead of him, died on Sunday morning in a boating accident.

The two-time all-star was 24 years old and one of the best pitchers in baseball. His story was harrowing, the kind of thing you see in movies.

The native of Santa Clara, Cuba tried to defect from his country three times to get to America and build a career in baseball. All three attempts were unsuccessful, leading to prison terms.

In 2007, he finally made it to America. On that successful attempt, Fernández’s mother fell overboard when the boat hit turbulent waters and he had to dive into the water to save her life.

He played the game of baseball with an infectious attitude, with an almost delirious joy. He beat opponents and had fun doing it.

And now he’s gone.

On Monday night the Miami

Marlins played a game. After a day of heart-wrenching press conferences and interviews surrounding José Fernádez’s death, they had to return to their jobs.

That’s the thing about sports.

It keeps going, no matter how sad and surreal life can be and no matter how inconsequential it may seem in the moment.

The Marlins won 7-3 over the New York Mets on Monday night through their grief and tears.

Watching it made us cry, and we didn’t even know Fernández.

I guess it’s selfish of us. If he wasn’t such a superstar maybe the world wouldn’t be as sad. If his smile wasn’t so incredibly radiant maybe we wouldn’t be as touched.

Every single Marlins player wore a Fernández number 16 jersey for the game. They all huddled around the pitching mound after the game, wrapping their arms around each other with heads bowed.

The entire game was incredible. It was a fitting tribute to a talented young man taken away far too soon.

It also reminded us why we love sports in the first place.

As the American presidential debate occurred on the same night, striking fear across the world, a more heartwarming scene took place in Miami. A memorial in the form of a baseball game.

On that night the standings didn’t matter. While the Mets are

currently grinding to make the playoffs, the pain on their faces made it obvious that for one day their minds were far from baseball.

Sure, we love sports because they’re entertaining and distract us from “real life.” But at their best they transcend the mundane and inspire us. At their best they uniquely span the spectrum of our emotion.

The power of sport was in full effect on Monday night. An emotion was somehow transmitted through the television to my living room and to living rooms around the world. Our hearts melted watching these men hit a ball in honour of a man many of us never met.

The highlight moment of the game came from Dee Gordon, who was particularly close with Fernández and was profoundly emotional after his death. Gordon, a left-handed hitter, took the first pitch right-handed while imitating Fernández’s batting stance. He then switched back to his left hand for the second pitch, and crushed a bomb out of the park, his first home run of the year.

He then ran the bases — sobbing. It was one of those resonating moments we’ll never forget.

It was one of those moments that make us love sports.

The game eventually ended and the players left the field, ready for another day and whatever it may bring.

• www.westerngazette.ca

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • 9

sports

OUA heavyweights Mustangs and Laurier to clash MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEATGAZETTE There was an intensity in the air at the football practice on Wednesday night at TD Stadium.

The Western Mustangs are preparing for their toughest foe yet, the up-and-coming Laurier team that hasn’t lost a game this season.

The game is set to be on Western’s original Homecoming date — Saturday, Oct. 1.

It’s the ultimate test for head coach Greg Marshall’s team — a team on a roll with three straight wins, including a beat down of Guelph last weekend.

But Laurier is a different matchup altogether, with one of the best defences in the country and a league-leading rushing attack.

In what may be a 2016 Yates Cup preview, both teams will be looking to stake their claim as the best football team in the province.

The Golden Hawks defence leads the Ontario University Athletics in yards per game (293.5), points allowed (44), sacks (20) and defensive touchdowns (3).

It will be an epic matchup in the trenches, with the second best rushing defence in Ontario going up against the punishing Mustangs rushing attack that leads the OUA in total yards and touchdowns.

Marshall expects the game to be a good test for his team.

“Laurier is a very disciplined team, they’re outstanding on defence – they may have the best defence in the country so for our offence it’s a really good test,” says Marshall. “If we can move the ball and score some points we should

DAMON BURTT GAZETTE

be able to do it against most teams.”

If the Mustangs’ dominating win in Guelph last weekend was any indication, the Mustangs should be ready to go. The 50-16 rout in front of Guelph’s homecoming crowd was the best overall performance for Western all year, a message sent to the country that Marshall’s squad is a national championship contender.

“The Guelph game was good, I think we did a good job overall,” says Marshall. “Our defence played well overall and our special teams

were outstanding and we’re gonna need the same effort this week.”

The Mustangs defence will have to contend with the leading rusher in the nation, Eric Guiltinan who has averaged 160.5 yards per game with seven rushing touchdowns.

On offence the Mustangs will need to see similar production from the likes of running back Alex Taylor, who is third in the OUA in yards per game and second in rushing touchdowns, and receiver George Johnson, who led the Mustangs with 103 yards in their

win over Guelph.

Much of the pressure will be on Chris Merchant, who emerged last weekend as the quarterback the Mustangs needed all season.

Merchant threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns, impressing his head coach in the process.

“He threw the ball really well,” says Marshall. “It’s still a learning process and it’s still about learning the plays and getting his checks and everything down but yeah, I thought he threw the ball really well.”

The Laurier game kicks off a brutal three-game stretch for the Mustangs, who will face the seventh-ranked team in the nation, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, on Oct. 15 before finishing off the season against the eighth-ranked McMaster Marauders on Oct. 22.

But first, the Mustangs face Laurier, in an epic match between two blue-collar, ground-and-pound teams with aspirations of hoisting the Vanier Cup in November.

Things are about to get interesting.

Exchange students on varsity making their time count CLAIRE PALMER SPORTS EDITOR @CLAIREATGAZETTE

Going on exchange abroad can be a daunting prospect. Moving halfway across the world and being dropped in a town you are not familiar with, with a culture you don’t know, can be hard on anyone. Without a good support system, it can be hard to get through time abroad.

For English field hockey player Tamara Evans, her support system comes with being on the varsity field hockey team here at Western.

“Moving over, I was kind of worried, but [the team’s] just been so welcoming to me,” Evans said.

“They’re just always there, they give me advice for everything, I know I can always just call them up if anything I need anything.”

Coming across the pond from Birmingham University to London, Ontario can be quite a culture shock. However, the team, as well as O-Week, has made the transition easy.

“It’s been actually relatively good; the O-Week’s been amazing,” Evans said. “All the people have been so, so helpful and its actually been quite an easy transition which is surprising.”

Another exchange athlete, James Davies, who is a rower for the

Mustangs, echoes her sentiment.

Davies is here from Sydney, Australia and owes his smooth transition to his helpful teammates. “[The team] just helped me out heaps,” Davies said. “They were just driving me everywhere and helping me figure out where to go.”

Both athletes came a few weeks prior to the school year in order to train with their teams, giving them a couple extra days to figure out the city. Although they didn’t explicitly come to Western to play on a varsity team, they had both arranged to be a part of the team prior to arriving in Canada.

“There’s actually a girl from Guelph who did an international year at Birmingham,” Evans said.

When she found out I was coming here she emailed Jeff [Pacheco] the coach.” From there, Evans was welcomed to join the team for their pre-season tour through The States, as well as having joined the team for the regular season.

“I had been here before I came over with Sydney University on a tour and we rowed out of Western’s shed,” Davies said. “I decided on that tour that I wanted to come here on exchange.”

Davies reached out to the coach of the rowing team six months before he came to London and was

welcomed to join the team.

Coming to Ontario University Athletics from an overseas athletic culture is another adjustment that exchange students have to make.

While we may look at the National Collegiate Athletic Association and see an incredibly organized and competitive league and think our own Canadian sports don’t hold a flame, both Davies and Evans noticed the competitive edge present here.

“Back home it’s just a team and you kind of go for it, but here it’s so much better,” said Evans. “It’s a bit more tactical. When we practice on a Thursday, we know who is gonna play and how [the other team] plays, and how to attack that.”

“Back home, you compete with one another every day, and that brings up the intensity,” Davies said.

“Whereas here, the intensity comes from the team, so you’re all doing it for each other, and that makes a real difference.”

Both Davies and Evans attest to Western’s best student experience mantra. In their few short weeks here in London, they’ve both really enjoyed their time here. A big part of that comes with being on a welcoming varsity team, which makes all the difference.

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE Field hockey player Tamara Evans came to Western from Birmingham University, finding a home on the varsity team.

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE James Davies is rowing with the Western Mustangs after coming on exchange from Sydney University.

www.westerngazette.ca

10 • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

culture

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Magnificent Seven lacks anything new but still a fun flick MICHAEL MACNEILL GAZETTE STAFF @GAZETTECULTURE DIRECTOR: Antoine Fuqua STARRING: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio RATING: GGGHF

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE

McIntosh gallery opens new selfie showcase exhibit AMY SKODAK CULTURE EDITOR @AMYATGAZETTE Portraits, Self and Others (It’s Complicated) is a new exhibition at the McIntosh Gallery and explores the relationship between portraiture and a contemporary society so focused on representation.

Like many relationships on Facebook, “it [the exhibit] is complicated,” jokes director and chief curator of McIntosh Gallery James Patten. He explains the title is meant to poke fun at social media while communicating the eclectic feel of an exhibit comprised of over 22 artists — all adhering to different interpretations of identity.

“The idea is not to make a seamless narrative about how portraits have evolved historically,” Patten admits. “It’s more to show the fractures and overlapping complexities of identity.”

Patten explains that the sense of self in today’s age is not as simple as it may have seemed in the past.

What it means to be Canadian today, or how gender is thought of today, is very different when compared to our perceptions 50 years ago.

“We wanted to play on those ambiguities,” Patten says.

The result is a kaleidoscopic array of paintings, photographs and sound installation as contributing artists explore their own form

of self-representation and unique take on what a “selfie” can look like.

For 27-year-old self-taught artist, Angie Quick, identity is tied together with memory. Her two pieces in the show explore the juxtaposition of the personal and the impersonal; the familiar and the strange.

“For me I feel like painting is a mindscape and it’s meditative. I like to play on certain things,” she says, motioning to her first piece entitled “Heaven is Just a Staircase.” The large oil painting is meant to place the viewer in a familiar living room setting but incorporate unfamiliar and almost uncomfortable subject matter. A tangle of naked human forms takes over the centre of the canvas. She elaborates: “A lot of the work that I’m dealing with right now deals with pornographic images… as a female artist I take the male gaze and assert an ownership of it.”

Quick’s second piece is more personal and reminiscent of more “traditional” portraits, though its subject matter is anything but conventional. What appears to be a couple is depicted in profile kissing.

She explains, “It describes a relationship between me and a good friend, which is done through long distance writing.” The piece is meant to be a metaphor for receiving and holding someone’s language by literally taking hold of their tongue, and the intimacy that comes with that.

As Patten says though, the gallery is full of unique ideas of self and portraiture.

Featured artist Gerard Pas expresses his identity using a model to pose as himself with crutches — a physical disability he has grown up with.

“I think it illustrates the concept most clearly,” says Patten. “There’s that ambiguity that plays in that notion of ‘what is self?’ and ‘what is other?’”

Among the more abstract depictions of self is a work by artist Jamie Q made of cut up jeans arranged as a quilt. Patten explains: “It suggests something of her because she wore the jeans and the wear marks and the fading make it a sort of performative portrait.”

Patten acknowledges that the role of electronic media and the selfie has become increasingly popular and changed the way people interact with and approach portraiture.

“It speaks to how the relationship of the artist to the subject, their person being portrayed, is quite often problematic and not necessarily simply a matter of a binary or duality,” he says.

Portraits, Self and Others (It’s Complicated) effectively mirrors this idea in a way that is surprising and thought-provoking.

The exhibition will be on display at the McIntosh Gallery until October 29.

Magnificent Seven is a modern remake of the 1960 classic of the same name that, for all the cinephiles out there, was a Western reimagining of Seven Samurai. So this remake of a remake might not have anything new to introduce in terms of plot, but it still makes for an enjoyable ride.

You have all seen this plot in some form of another, heck it is even the plot of A Bug’s Life. A group of bandits keeps harassing a simple town of farmers, forcing them to turn to a ragtag bunch of not-actually-that-bad anti-heroes to save the day. No real additions are made to this simple formula. If you like your remakes to bring a different view or depth to their source material then you might be disappointed. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t fun to be had.

The likeable cast is one of the main reasons it’s as entertaining as it is. Washington elevates all of the material he is given, making

otherwise boring scenes captivating through sheer charisma. Pratt plays what we can expect from him at this point (which is not necessarily a bad thing) as the charming scoundrel who can crack jokes but has a heart of gold underneath his rough exterior. The most surprising standout is D’Onofrio’s bear of a man who made me laugh every time he opened his mouth to speak.

The rest of the cast each have their own moment to shine.

The action is the other main standout of the film. Like any good Western, it has its fair share of standoffs and shootouts. There is something undeniably cool about gunfights in this era with their quick draws, revolver reloading and firing from horseback. These classic tropes are well utilized but also updated with modern flair to provide a couple of memorable fight sequences.

The Western is a genre that is more of a rarity these days, so it is nice to see a fun one that embraces the tropes and doesn’t take itself too seriously. There isn’t any new ground covered here when it comes to plot or emotional depth but that doesn’t stop Magnificent Seven from being a fun popcorn film that doesn’t get lost in the shadows of its predecessors.

COURTESY OF MGM STUDIOS

What’s with the pink ‘Get REAL’ hats?

ANNIE RUETER CULTURE EDITOR @ANNIERUETER1 Have you ever wondered about those neon pink hats sported by students on campus, especially during O-Week?

For many high school and university students across Canada, those neon hats are more than a fashion accessory; they signify involvement with Get REAL, a non-profit student-run organization working to eliminate LGBTQ discrimination — in other words, Reaching Equality at Last (REAL).

While Get REAL focuses on eliminating LGBTQ discrimination in the form of language, the organization has moved toward promoting LGBTQ acceptance in general explains Tiffany Kriter, co-coordinator of Get REAL Western chapter for 2016-17.

“But we still focus on LGBTQ

language and slurs like ‘that’s so gay,’ trying to eliminate things that we learn from our peers that we don’t really know the connotation of,” says Kriter.

Started by four Western social science sophs in 2011, Get REAL now has over 20 chapters at different universities across Canada and in the United States.

In addition to university workshops, public speaking opportunities, socials and a partnership with Ceeps, Get REAL Western also does work with local London schools to eliminate LGBTQ language-based discrimination at the source.

As Kriter points out, kids pick up on the language of their peers without fully understanding the connotations or meaning of the words they are using, which can push kids further away from identifying as LGBTQ. “We work all the way from grade

four up to grade 12,” says Kriter.

“Last year we did some work with an elementary school that had a transgender student in one of the primary grades, so we did a workshop with the entire elementary school.”

This year, the Canadian Get REAL chapters hope to work with 250 high schools and elementary schools across the country.

Kriter also hopes to put forward a proposal to the London District Catholic School Board to allow Get REAL workshops in Catholic schools. A former Catholic student herself, Kriter is hopeful that the work done with the Toronto District Catholic School Board can carry over to London.

Chris Studer, Get REAL founder and executive director, explains that the Get REAL movement grew from educating first-year students on inclusive language while Studer

was a faculty soph.

“Just being that positive role model and starting conversations with a first-year that were very grounded in friendship — that’s where Get REAL came from,” says Studer. “We really noticed it working. Students would adjust their language in the first couple of days.”

Today, students and sophs are encouraged to wear the pink Get REAL hats in support of the organization. However, this wasn’t always the case. When Get REAL consisted of a much smaller group of sophs in 2011 and 2012, the pink hats weren’t considered acceptable O-Week attire. If it weren’t for this dedicated group of sophs, Kriter wouldn’t have found support through Get REAL when she was in first year.

During Kriter’s O-Week, she spotted her soph sporting the pink hat and followed up by asking what

the pink hat meant. After hearing what Get REAL was about, Kriter knew it was an organization she wanted to be part of. At the time, Kriter was seeking an accepting and supportive group of students while struggling with her own sexual identity, and she found that group through Get REAL. When a student wears a Get REAL hat, they show other students they are an ally, which Studer explains is reassuring and creates a friendly environment for everyone on campus. “I don’t know that much about this person, I don’t know anything about this person, but I do know Get REAL means something to them,” Studer says.

Anyone can join Get REAL as a general member and can look forward to the Western launch party on October 14. Visit Get REAL’s Facebook page for more details on the event.

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SHACHAR DAHAN GAZETTE STAFF @GAZETTECULTURE

Tech Talk

Many gamers are eagerly awaiting Sony’s release of PlayStation 4 Pro on Nov. 10. The new system is a definite upgrade and worth waiting for if you are a first-time buyer — but is it worth the $400 price tag to upgrade from its predecessor, PlayStation 4?

First off, why does Sony even need to release a new version of the PS4? Well, fair question. The PlayStation 4 is the most powerful game console on the market today, but after two and a half years on store shelves, it is easily outperformed by a capable gaming PC. As tech advances at an increasingly rapid rate, Sony is eager to offer an enhanced version of the PlayStation 4 that will offer more processing power and speed to enable even grander and better-looking experiences.

The first big update is the 4K resolution that the PS4 Pro will support.

On the hardware side, Sony is doubling the storage capacity from 500GB to 1TB which is a very welcome improvement. Surprisingly, the PS4 Pro has the same 8GB of

RAM as the original PS4, which is a surprise considering Sony’s emphasis on 4K video capability with the PS4 Pro. The processor and GPU are also getting an upgrade, which basically translates to more processing power and faster speeds, meaning that the PlayStation 4 Pro will be able to handle higher-resolution output, and generally provide a smoother play experience overall.

Sony has provided little information on how the PS4 Pro will work with PlayStation VR (virtual reality).

The company has been adamant that PSVR will work with the standard PS4, so any difference with the PS4 Pro will likely be performance rather than compatibility.

The PS4 Pro will offer a significant upgrade over the existing PS4, but will do so while being fully compatible with its existing library of games.

It also will not carry any exclusive releases. What this means: instead of just slimming down the hardware and putting it in a redesigned box, Sony is updating the PlayStation platform to support 4K output and enable better playback of virtual reality content.

Passenger’s new album is solid, despite being predictable AMY SKODAK CULTURE EDITOR @AMYSKODAK ARTIST: Passenger ALBUM: Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea LABEL: Black Crow Records STAR RATING: GGGGF HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Everything,” “Anywhere,” “Beautiful Birds,” and “Somebody’s Love” The melancholic folk-pop artist Mike Rosenberg has released his new album Young as a Morning, Old as the Sea. The collection was inspired after Rosenberg’s recent trips to New Zealand and Iceland. It’s no wonder the album evokes looking out over a landscape of mountains in personal contemplation.

Like his 2014 album Whispers, Young/Old is a mellow tearjerker.

Rosenberg’s lyrics speak to love, loss and loneliness with slight variations in instrumentals between each track.

Passenger’s music is calming and familiar, similar to Ed Sheeran — minus the experimentation in rap.

Young as a Morning, Old as the Sea is nothing new. It’s not musically unique compared to any of Rosenberg’s other works and he doesn’t seem to challenge himself as an artist; however, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There are some artists that people count on for love ballads, for songs to sing along to while getting over a breakup or background music on a long train ride riddled with deep thoughts — and Passenger’s new album certainly provides this.

The track “Everything” opens the album with quiet, simple acoustics that will send you searching for a soft blanket and warm cup of tea.

The pleasing combination of soft chords on the guitar paired with

violin sets up a nice framework for lyrics that speak to the idea of taking things or people for granted.

“Anywhere” brings the tempo up a notch without sounding out of place. It’s bright and upbeat instrumentals bring the listener out of a somber stupor brought on by the opening tracks. The song itself speaks to another one of Passenger’s noteworthy themes — adventure and a more optimistic outlook on the possibility of love and loyalty.

The song is unapologetically cheesy and adorable as Rosenberg repeats “I’ll go anywhere with you” to a catchy riff in the chorus.

The remainder of the album drips in sorrow and the passage of time. Transitions between tracks are smooth due to the similarities in melody and use of acoustic guitar, working to Rosenberg’s advantage.

The result is a familiarity as comfortable as your favourite sweater.

“Beautiful Birds” and “Somebody’s Love” are among the lineup of tracks you’ll need a tissue for. They expose a raw unveiling of Rosenberg’s own struggles with relationships and afterthought, making them easily relatable.

While Young as a Morning, Old as the Sea is a reminiscent of previous works, there is a sense of growth that Rosenberg seems to be trying to convey.

Rosenberg doesn’t speak to past relationships with regret or to roadblocks with disdain. Instead, he suggests a maturing that has come from these experiences and his want to move forward.

Common to many folk and indie albums, Rosenberg is telling us a story. Each track revisits his own emotions and thoughts forming a personal relationship with the listener that is almost as therapeutic as it is beautifully unsurprising.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 • 11

culture

RICHARD JOSEPH CULTURE EDITOR-AT-LARGE @RJATGAZETTE What’s up, you tossers? I love the sheer variety of insulting terms they have here. Knobhead. Wanker.

Pillock. So satisfying.

Edinburgh is an ancient and venerable city, rich with centuries of history, a beautiful collision of booming metropolis and quaint country town. I took full advantage of this thriving centre of art and culture over the weekend by watching a rugby match and going to a grimy nightclub.

Ruggers was mildly interesting for its violence, but the real entertainment came from the spectators.

Hundreds of hearty British lads filed in to cheer on their team, and there was so much tweed. There were traffic jams of tweed as separate lad-squads struggled to get past each other until man was indistinguishable from man and all was swallowed up in a raging, inexorable sea of tweed. I can’t say I’ve ever felt underdressed at a sports game before.

Incidentally, people aren’t that different across the pond. Take a frat boy, give him a British accent and a fondness for tartan, and you have the average “lad.” When I saw the shitty beer the guys behind us were drinking, and the heaps of empty

bottles they left considerately on the floor, I felt almost like I was back home again. So touching.

Luckily I had two guides (thanks Cat and Izzy) to prevent me from getting hopelessly lost in the city. We went to Cav, where the rugby afterparty was being held, and I can tell you it was a quintessentially British experience: we queued for entry, we queued for the coat check, we queued for the bar and bathrooms.

There were more lines in that damn nightclub than the entirety of Hamlet. It was a bit like Jack’s; leave your coats and dignity at the door and try not to touch anything sticky. But they had a sick disco floor, so all is forgiven.

Sunday was a bit more on the cultured side, as we walked up the massive hill to Arthur’s Seat. It was a long and fairly precarious ascent to the top, fraught with unstable footholds and overenthusiastic tourists, but it’s worth it in the end.

The views are incredible — you can see the city sprawling out in front of you, old and new. But unlike, say, the CN Tower, it’s not just urban sprawl as far as the eye can see; there’s hills and greenery galore. It’s pretty much what I imagined when I thought of Scotland, and it was glorious to behold. This breathtaking confluence of human industry and natural splendour made for some sweet Instagram shots, which really is the

important thing.

We wandered around the city for a few hours (and I had a milkshake with cake in it which changed my life). New Town is impressive, full of people thronging through wideopen squares and picturesque parks, dominated by statues, monuments and imposing works of architecture.

But Old Town had its own charm, too — it’s built high up, so that you can always see these ancient buildings towering over the rest of the city.

I won’t go into too much detail about my shopping trip, because who the hell cares, but hot damn there were a lot of clothing stores.

We walked through a massive Jack Wills and I got to look longingly at £600 jackets before we snapped back to reality with H&M. There was a gloriously full-sized Top Shop with an impressive array of suits: the bar for formality is set quite high here, as evidenced by the tweed-infested rugby match. This works great for me because I have about twelve pairs of shoes and an insatiable hunger for clothing without the bank account to match.

In summation: Edinburgh was top notch. I’ll definitely be coming back for the National Gallery, and there’s a lot more of the city to explore. For now, though, I have to return to the daily grind of not doing anything at all. Enjoy your “Reunion Weekend,” you poor bastards.

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UPCOMING EVENTS BLOOD DONOR CLINIC Community Room, 2nd floor UCC. Wed. Oct. 5, 11am – 4pm; Wed. Oct. 12, 11am – 4pm. Call or click to book your appointment.

1-888-2-DONATE. Blood.ca DANCE CLASSES AT DANCE STEPS- 275 Colborne St. between York and Horton. Accessible by bus. Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop drop in or join a session. www.dancestepslondon.ca or contact us dance_steps@hotmail.com, 519-645-8515.

FOR SALE 2003 HONDA CIVIC. A few bumps and scrapes but mechanically great. 248,000 km. Asking $1,600.

Contact Jeff.wright1212@yahoo.com MACBOOK PRO 15” $398.00 2008 MacBookPro4,1 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB RAM, 250GB HD. Contact Kris 519-318-3209 or cmorley5@uwo.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.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

CROSSWORD BY EUGENE SHEFFER

AARON MALLETT GAZETTE STICKS OUT FOR HARAMBE. A new outdoor exhibit titled “Ross Bell: Last Stand” was unveiled last week and will be on display in the McIntosh Gallery Sculpture Garden until July 15, 2017.

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