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2 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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BROCK MILLOMAN

Volume 110, Issue 15 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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NEWS SABRINA FRACASSI DRISHTI KATARIA MOSES MONTERROZA RITA RAHMATI GRACE TO CULTURE SAMAH ALI ELLIS KOIFMAN AMY SKODAK ANNIE RUETER CULTURE-AT-LARGE RICHARD JOSEPH SPORTS CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE MIKE DEBOER CLAIRE PALMER MULTIMEDIA MAAILAH BLACKWOOD JENNY JAY AARON MALLETT NATALIE TREFFRY

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Walking into Professor Brock Milloman’s office can feel like walking into a library, with books stacked to the ceilings spanning multiple subjects. Once you understand his love for reading, it all makes sense.

Army Reserve. In 2010, he was deployed to Afghanistan for a year. This would be the longest duration he would spend overseas serving for the Canadian military.

As a professor teaching military history, Brock contributes a degree of hands-on experience to his field of study.

Brock is a history professor at Western. Raised in Windsor, he attended Huron University College as an undergraduate student. At Huron he pursued a double honours degree in history and English. It was here he started his military career. At the age of 17, Brock entered the Army Reserve program, known at the time as the Fourth Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, which allowed him to travel around Canada for program training.

“Certainly it was good, let’s call it professional development. But I don’t think participation in war is — it’s something that can be glamourized,” Brock says. “I think most people who went to Afghanistan, I’m sure most Americans who went to Iraq, I’m sure most people who were combatants in the second and first world war, if you ask them, ‘Would you do it again?’ if they’re being honest the answer would be, ‘Absolutely not. In fact, I’m sorry I did it the first time.”

“The saying is that change is as good as a holiday, so I would go away doing something very different and, in a way, I would arrive back at school refreshed,” Brock said.

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Brock’s travels and education didn’t stop there. He pursued Islamic studies for his masters and received his MA from the School of Oriental and African studies in the United Kingdom. After that, he attended McGill and completed his doctoral degree, writing his dissertation on Anglo-Turkish relations from 1934 to 1940.

For the next nine years, Brock travelled across Canada as he pursued teaching jobs at various institutions.

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“People who become graduate students often forget.

They always complain, ‘I’m so poor, it’s so awful,’ and you want to remind them ‘Wait until you graduate — It’s much, much worse,’” Brock says jokingly.

Between the ages of 17 to 27, Brock moved 17 times.

He has spent time in Montreal, British Columbia and London, England - just to name a few places. He noted that moving wasn’t so bad as he just owned some basics and books.

“I moved myself in a car. I didn’t own any furniture.

I owned some clothes, I owned some army junk, I owned some books. I could box them and put them in my old Impala and I could go. It was full, but I could go,” Brock said.

Brock was offered a full-time position at Western in 2001.

Shortly after arriving, he and colleague Andrew Johnston began the new international relations program. However, the year after it was implemented, Johnston moved to Carleton, leaving Brock to take the reins. Brock is now the director of the program.

He claims to enjoy being static now, considering that his collection of books has grown considerably since his time travelling as a young man.

“As you become older and accumulate stuff, particularly books, moving becomes much less fun,” says Brock.

He gives some advice to his Western students: “That anxiety, let it go. It’s not that important. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try, but just remember that there’s a lot of life ahead of [you] and there isn’t anything that [you] can really do at 18 or 19 years old that’s going to represent a total disaster — except for treason,” he joked.

Today, Brock lives in St. Thomas with his chocolate lab Alice, his partner Dana and her two dogs. If you ever visit Brock in his book-filled office, you may even be lucky enough to stumble upon Alice, his partner-in-crime.

■■SABRINA FRACASSI

Between teaching sessionally, Brock still served in the

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• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 • 3

news

Key USC roles get new terms of reference HAMZA TARIQ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @HAMZATARIQ_

FIRST LAST GAZETTE

High turnover sees top admin leave Western GRACE TO NEWS EDITOR @GRACE_KTO

sciences, will temporarily take over the leadership role.

2016 has seen a high turnover in Western’s higher administration with a number of senior figures either retiring or leaving the University to pursue other opportunities.

Currently, the University has been busying itself with management transitions and nationwide searches for suitable individuals to fulfill the vacant roles.

Here’s a list of some prominent leaders who stepped down from their roles this year.

JOHN CARSON Also retiring at the end of December is John Carson, director of campus community police services, after over five years of service at Western.

Overseeing fire safety, emergency management and foot patrol, the campus police services provide safety and security all over campus for both staff and students. Since October, Daniel Redmond has been serving as director-elect at Campus Police.

SUSAN GRINDROD In June, Western saw the retirement of associate vice-president of housing and ancillary services Susan Grindrod after 34 years at Western.

During her time at Western, she has seen the construction of the six newest residence buildings, including Alumni House. Her work has been credited as helping make Western one of “Canada’s best student experience” according to The Globe and Mail’s 2013 Canadian university reports.

GITTA KULCZYCKI In October, Gitta Kulczycki is set to resign from her position as vice-president of resources and operations after over 12 years.

During her years at Western, she has been responsible for many initiatives, such as Western’s campus master plan and the president’s advisory committee on environment and stability. She has accepted a position as vice-president of finance and administration at the University of Alberta. Western’s resources and operations team will be reporting directly to President Chakma until a permanent successor is appointed.

THÉRÈSE QUIGLEY Thérèse Quigley is retiring as the director of sports and recreation services at the end of December.

After seven years in the role, she is regarded as an innovator of varsity sport, recreation programming and facility development. Western has not yet been able to find a permanent director of SRS; a national search is still ongoing for Quigley’s successor. In the meantime, Jim Weese, former dean of health

IAIN SCOTT Current Faculty of Law dean Iain Scott is intending to retire at the end of June 2017. The search to fill Scott’s position and other positions including the deans of law and arts and humanities, vice-provost international and vice-president of research is being conducted by leadership review and selection committees at Western.

ALAN WEEDON Alan Weedon, former vice-provost academic planning, policy and faculty also stepped down from his role earlier in June and Karen Campbell took over from him in the role.

Although Western is seeing a turnover of staff and faculty throughout the University, director of media and community relations Keith Marnoch expressed that it is fortunate that Western has an attractive reputation as a workplace.

“As with any large, diverse organization, Western recognizes that change is a constant, including the make up of our staff and faculty,” said Marnoch in an email.

“Managing positions, at all levels, is an important function for the University.”

Both new and transitional position assignments are working to make sure the University’s operations can continue smoothly.

Over the past several months, the management of these transitions has been successful in this regard.

At a recent board of governors meeting, the president’s report congratulated those who are leaving the University to pursue new roles and expressed best wishes to those who are retiring.

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Coming to council this Wednesday are the terms of reference for the USC council speaker and councillor positions. Here’s all you need to know about it.

What are ‘terms of reference’?

The terms of reference in this case detail the job description of the speaker and councillor. It states their powers, responsibilities, accountability and disciplinary processes.

Why does this matter?

This is the first time the councillor role description is fully laid out. USC secretary treasurer Isaac Jacobi pulled information from different bylaws and policies in order to organize it all.

This makes it easier for current councillors and students who may plan on running for the position to have a clear idea of their role and responsibilities.

The speaker’s terms of reference have been up in the air since last year. Since the introduction of the secretary treasurer position last year, the speaker portfolio was placed under the secretary treasurer’s purview.

Currently, the speaker is hired by council but last year an attempt was made to have the speaker hired by the secretary treasurer.

This was shot down by council and the speaker was in a grey area where they were accountable to council but didn’t have any real oversight or direction.

The new terms of reference sort this out. The speaker will still be elected by council but will be directly supervised by the secretary treasurer.

“Since the speaker has been more

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTE

or less a free floating entity, it’s really hard to pinpoint who is responsible for training the speaker and who is responsible for measuring the quality of the speaker’s work,” said current speaker Samir Hamadache.

“This adds a little more clarity to it.”

Who is the secretary treasurer and why do they have a say?

The secretary treasurer is one of the five USC executives. They are in charge of the “corporate and endeavours of the USC” — basically, the former vice-president finance, but they also manage the governance aspects (bylaws and such) of the USC. According to Jacobi, the speaker supervision falls under his portfolio because of the nature of the position. “[Secretary treasurer] is supposed to be the most apolitical resource for the corporation and the organization. It’s meant to be that expert on the roles and not be bent by political will,” Jacobi said.

Anything interesting in these terms of reference?

A couple of things.

In case the speaker is disposed, the deputy speaker takes over.

But currently there is no deputy speaker or deputy speaker terms

of reference. (It’s next on Jacobi’s whiteboard list.)

If in the meantime the speaker is removed, council will adjourn and a speaker election will be held by the chief returning officer.

In previous years, getting minutes, attendance and voting records of USC council meetings has been challenging and often times records have just been unavailable.

The new terms of reference ensure accountability for the speaker to produce these records and they can be disciplined by the secretary treasurer for failing to do so.

The new councillor terms of reference also has potential to increase engagement with USC elections now that people have a description of the role they’ll be running and voting for laid out.

“It’s the first time that I’ve found that we have a councillor terms of reference, so if it passes it’s pretty cool. Hopefully it’ll help prospective councillors [understand] what they’re going into a little more,” Jacobi said.

The terms of reference for both roles are available on The Gazette website.

www.westerngazette.ca

4 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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•

MTP cut, Western Hoco banner discussed at senate MOSES MONTERROZA NEWS EDITOR @MOSESMONTZ Western’s Senate had it monthly meeting last Friday — here’s everything you need to know.

MTP PROGRAM CUT

Senators deliberated withdrawing the 15-year-old Media, Theory and Production program from the curriculum.

MTP administrators discussed the reasoning behind their decision, citing a three-year consultation process starting in 2012 with students from upper and lower years. The consultation were in the form of focus group meetings, email submissions and individual appointments with students on the matter.

The faculty reported a relatively low graduation rate of 75 per cent compared to its peer programs in the Media, Information and Technoculture streams where graduation rates are above the 90 per cent mark.

The program is set to be replaced by a two plus two model, meaning two years of Fanshawe followed by two years of Western. Students will initially enrol at Fanshawe College and will have the option of applying to Western.

The meeting saw a large number

of MTP students in audience.

Provided with speaking rights at the meeting, MTP program rep Connor Malbeuf questioned the reasoning, pointing out that alumni was not contacted during the decision making and that transparency was a major issue.

In the end, the motion to cut the program passed with the vote largely split between student senators voting against it and most other senators voting in favour.

WESTERN INITIATES FIRST EVER INDIGENOUS STRATEGIC PLAN

Western is planning on launching a plan to help educate students on Indigenous matters as well as implement efforts to integrate Indigenous students on campus.

In a report presented during the meeting, several initiatives are set to go underway in the immediate future, including cultural competency training, addressing and facilitating the needs of indigenous students and student sub-groups (mature students, parents, students with disabilities, etc.) and more.

The motion passed unanimously.

PROVOST JANICE DEAKIN RESPONDS TO ‘WESTERN LIVES MATTER’ ISSUE

MAAILAH BLACKWOOD GAZETTE

Provost Janice Deakin made an official statement regarding the ‘Western Lives Matter’ banner photo posted on social media on the Oct. 1 weekend.

Deakin said that “publicly the campus police reviewed all of the materials and confirmed that on the information provided, the student code of conduct was not breached.”

An unprecedented revelation since Western usually does not comment on code of conduct violations.

“Nor did the university release say that the four young men in that particular image are being investigated,” Deakin said.

Deakin went on to say that the ‘Western Lives Matter’ image was only a small piece of a number of images, symbols, etc. that were under investigation.

Approximately two weeks ago, however, associate vice-president student experience Jana Luker addressed the ‘Western Lives Matter’

poster in a media release.

The media release said, “Western University considers the ‘Western Lives Matter’ banner to be contrary to the university’s values. In conjunction with Campus Community Police Service (CCPS) and London Police Service (LPS), Western is investigating this matter to determine whether individuals involved will be dealt with under Western’s Code of Student Conduct.”

Ivey among top-100 business schools in the world XIANGRONG LIN CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE Western’s Ivey business school ranked 59 out of the top 100 business schools in the world, according to The Economist’s recently released 2016 full-time MBA rankings.

Ivey is one of only three Canadian institutions on the list, alongside York University’s Schulich School of Business at number 56 and Queen’s Smith School of Business at number 79.

According to Ivan Langrish, Ivey’s senior media relations manager, Ivey’s unique case method of teaching, eminent alumni network and outstanding career management program distinguish it from other business schools.

Langrish claimed that the case method teaching style is highly effective at motivating students to contribute in class discussion and engage in strategic thinking.

Solution to puzzle on page 11

He noted that Ivey takes pride in constantly attracting and nurturing top talent in Canada and globally.

One particular area Ivey ranked highly on is student assessment of career service ,placing in at number eight.

“Our career management team is imbedded in students’ curriculum, so we are working with them all along the way to help them achieve their career success,” Langrish said.

There is only one category Ivey failed to make it onto the top 100 — percentage increase on pre-MBA salary.

Langrish said that lower percentage increase in salary might owe to the fact that Ivey attracts MBA candidates with higher caliber and demands more years of work experience.

He also added that, according to the Financial Times, another ranking Ivey participates in, Ivey’s MBA graduates earn the highest average salary among all Canadian MBA graduates and enjoy the strongest placement success rate in Canada.

Despite Ivey’s excellence in rankings and its prestigious status, Langrish advised students who are interested in pursuing an MBA degree to put less emphasis on rankings and devote more time to finding the best fit.

“At the end of the day, you really want to look for the school that fits you and your career goals,” Langrish said.

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MOSES MONTERROZA GAZETTE

Take Back the Campus march raises awareness of sexual violence MOSES MONTERROZA NEWS EDITOR @MOSESMONTZ Groups of students, staff and faculty marched through campus last Thursday, braving the rain and chanting the words “end the silence, stop the violence.”

It was part of a walk named Take Back the Campus March, included in Western’s first-ever consent and sexual violence awareness week.

So far there have been talks, workshops and training sessions dedicated to educating and spreading awareness on sexual violence and consent. According to Angela Treglia, sexual violence prevention education coordinator, the week has been the result of a collaborative effort from different groups on campus.

“What we tried to do this year was to work with the different units that

organize weeks to do something all together,” Treglia said. “It’s worked really well, especially for exposure purposes.”

Cristine de Clercy, associate political science professor and a participant in the march, encouraged students to get involved and support initiatives like this.

“I think students have far more power than they realize and I would encourage them to think of their campuses whether they got to Western or any other campus as very much their community” said de Clercy. “It’s really up to students to help make their community safe.”

The march was organized and spearheaded by the Society of Graduate Students. Melanie Stone, co-chair of the equity community for SOGS, said that walks like these are important for the community.

“Often times it’s not clear what

procedures or things to follow or what supports are available on campus for survivors of sexual violence,” Stone said. “Walks like this showcase our solidarity and that we support and stand with survivors and that we are committed to ending sexual violence on campus.”

While Western has held many events on issues of consent over the years, this is the first time there was a dedicated week to it.

“I think a week long event really provides the opportunity to create a lot of emphasis on this topic,” Treglia said.

Treglia hopes that discussions of consent and sexual violence prevention won’t end after this event and the topics will continued to be highlighted throughout the year.

For more information on future events, students can visit safecampus.uwo.ca/sexual_violence.

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 • 5

opinions

Learning selfreliance through exercise Hala at Your Girl HALA GHONAIM OPINIONS EDITOR My achilles heel has always been having too much faith in people, but not enough in myself. It was my quads and glutes that were going to help me jump again.

It wasn’t until I dabbled in a regular exercise routine that I began believing in both my inner and outer strength that I learned to prioritize myself over others.

What influenced me was a friend’s weekly intramural match; what made me stay was my love for self-discipline and self-control.

It was a grey plastic object with a few bolts and screws that led to my self-reliance.

For the first time in 21 years, I finally felt like I was in control with one aspect of my life.

I didn’t expect anything from others, but from myself.

I wasn’t doing anything for others, but for myself.

Although I wasn’t completely happy with my body image, I was never one to complain about my evident love-handles and disproportionate figure. Although I have a history of hereditary health issues, I never walked toward that intimidating elliptical several months ago to combat inheriting my dad’s diabetes.

I’ve always built up a specific perception of people in my mind, only to have it viciously torn down.

Heavily relying on others turned into a coping mechanism — a mentally draining relationship. I thought I had nothing else to focus on but the people around me, and that’s why I became so obsessed with their every move.

My mood reflected theirs. My appetite reflected theirs. Eventually, my heart reflected theirs.

But I had myself to focus on.

There was never a moment where I disjointed myself from

others, and explored what my own emotions were. I would later realize my inner self was screaming for a unique sense of attention all along, and not comfort from others. My self-reliance came through self-control — a concept I have yet to master.

And self-control came through a simple exercise routine.

Not only was I training my body, but I was training, and ultimately controlling my mind. Body control is having the ability to perform an action with direction whereas mind control is having the ability to think consciously.

I was able to sift through thoughts and analyze situations with a critical eye. Rather than working solely on a physical end goal, I was learning how to unconditionally live with my inner and outer self.

There’s nothing wrong with hitting the metal racks solely for physical and health purposes, if anything, that’s what motivated me in the first place. However, once I was in, I recognized a strength in realizing my potential mental growth.

There are many ways to recognize your potential. Creating a consistent exercise schedule or routine keeps the momentum going, which is a part of self-discipline, a habit that will benefit you in all other areas of life.

Your healing power could be in anything, whether it’s in learning a new language or simply watching a new television show. It’s taking an action that will solely benefit you, and only you, that builds up your mental strength and self-reliance.

Although it was a far-fetched concept, the metal racks and spinning wheels helped me focus on myself for once. I explored my capabilities and I knew I was the founder of my own comfort. I didn’t want others to dictate my mood, but I relied on myself to do so.

I was doing something for me, and it made me happy.

It should be about education — not the costume you wear

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD Brock University’s Student Justice Centre is encouraging students to check their website to make sure their Halloween outfits don’t fall under the inappropriate category. But on the topic of cultural appropriation their check list appears like a dull reaction to last year’s blackface fiasco when a four boys came to school-sanctioned Halloween party as the Jamaican bobsled team.

Fast forward this year, the SJC released a Halloween advert mapping out a set of questions students should ask themselves before dressing up in a particular costume. The advert was also paired with a list of costumes that are banned from their Halloween programming including thobes, geisha attire, cultural headdresses, Caitlyn Jenner depictions and even a Donald Trump mask.

Even though their purpose is geared in the right direction, a list banning specific items or people seems like a shortsighted decision with no following explanation. The SJC also blurs between what is cultural appropriative versus inappropriate making it confusing for students to understand the difference between what is and isn’t offensive to others and for what reason.

A mere list removes contextual information concerning why something is insensitive towards a group of people. It can also lead to a slippery slope concerning who will find a costume offensive – one person in that demographic may not be offended but that does not mean the entire community feel the same way. Providing a list is arbitrary since it doesn’t get to the heart of the issue and shuts down an opportunity to learn. Instead it puts the onus on those who are

offended, making it an emotionally tiresome process to explain to every person at an event.

Considering the list was intended to prevent students from offending others by wearing their culture or partaking in offensive takes on a community’s identity, the SJC should work towards teaching people through nuanced approaches that don’t result in the closed-ended result. This can be done through videos or panel discussions similar to what Western’s University Student Council’s service Ethnocultural Student Support Services has been doing for years.

Along with a video campaign, ESSS takes actionary measures encouraging others to learn about why a Halloween idea can be appropriative or inappropriate. Placing their booth in the UCC Atrium with students willing to explain their views as well as the video playing in the background welcomes people into a productive conversation. This proactive measure opens up the gateway for questions and understanding where the line is drawn.

Brock’s SJC may be avoiding a repeat of last year but their list is an ineffective measure for students to understand why a costume is offensive and may persuade some to continue with their idea just to make a statement. We commend ESSS for taking that proactionary measure to prevent cultural appropriative and inappropriate costumes from happening at Western but we understand they cannot control what people wear on the actual night of Halloween. Even though it’s out of their hands their effective messaging is speared in the right direction and offers enough nuance to reach students in an educational manner.

Building meaningful online friendships Ellis in Wonderland ELLIS KOIFMAN CULTURE EDITOR I’ve experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of friendships that are created online. From lifelong friends with whom I’ve spent countless hours talking to on Skype and gaming with to friends being cat-fished, my experience has been one filled with “adventures” that couldn’t have happened with traditional friendships.

Despite the many problems that may arise from trying to make friends online, such as people making up an alternate identity, there is

also a lot of good. It’s hard to find, but once you do it is really worth it.

And because the foundation of the friendships is the Internet, based upon distance versus face-to-face, they are a lot easier to maintain and return to even when things get busy.

The good ones can survive almost anything.

UMentioned.com is a good example of this. For those of you unfamiliar with this (now dead) website, it was an anonymous messaging board that gave the option of posting as yourself (given that you had to sign up with a university email) as well as private messages – it was a lot like what Yik Yak is now but with a lot more moderation and a generally positive/supportive environment.

Of course there were also the trolls, bullies, misogynists and more

who took advantage of their hidden identity, but that’s to be expected on any online forum that offers anonymity.

When UMentioned.com was in its prime, about three years ago, it was filled with “regulars” who would post as themselves and often meet up for drinks, parties or just to study – with time I too became a part of this group of about 40 or 50 people.

Once primarily offline, many of the friendships revealed flaws and issues that became a lot more visible once we were no longer solely interacting online; that and I found it difficult to maintain and build that many friendships all at once.

While this may come across as a complete and utter failure when

it comes to Internet friendships, I assure you it is not. As with most friendships, not all are meant to last.

Yes, this was no doubt accelerated in this community, but I still came out with several really good friendships – some lasting for another few years and others lasting until this day and becoming some of my best friends.

I think the biggest lesson that needs to be learned when it comes to Internet friendships is that their success rate is very similar to traditional friendships, however due to frequent interaction online, you often find out sooner if the friendship is going to work or not.

I got lucky in making some good friends from that large group; there was a large possibility that none of

them would have lasted more than a couple months. That said, with persistence and a bit of luck, you can make lifelong friends whose success knows no bounds.

Today I still maintain several online friendships. There is a group of people who I have known for over eight years – friendships that were forged on Xbox Live and YouTube that have remained through countless Skype calls and frequent communication.

Much like friendships that are timeless, these remain strong even when we haven’t spoken in months. They have lasted the trials of long-distance and changing circumstances.

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 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

feature

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Innovation drives

Culture Editor Annie Rueter delves into the hacka manage livestock to a virtual reality maze fe

D

exter Fichuk pours over his laptop with a team member as they scramble to complete their project, LIVEstock.

Around him, the Mustang Lounge is abuzz with other teams from universities and high schools across Ontario — everyone is working tirelessly to beat the clock at Western’s 36-hour hackathon. Over 500 students have come together for the mid-October technology conference and competition where participants build technology-based projects over the course of a weekend. Projects such as omelette-making robots, financial literacy websites and virtual reality games are all common place at Hack Western.

This year, Fichuk, a fourth-year computer science student at Trent University, and team member Laura Mann take the prize for best design presented by the Scotiabank Digital Factory, one of the key sponsors of Hack Western.

Their product, LIVEstock, is an affordable and easy way for small-scale farmers to keep track of their animals. Similar to scanning the barcode when you add a friend on Snapchat, the QR-code system in LIVEstock allows farmers to scan a QR tag attached to the ear of an animal to bring up identifying information.

“It keeps track of breeding, projected birth time, medical history and general information about the cow,” says Mann, a second-year computer science student at Trent. “I came from a farm where if a cow was pregnant we wrote it down on scrap piece of paper and tried to keep track of it,” Mann laughs.

The event, Hack Western 3, is only Western’s third annual hackathon, but students have come prepared: dozens of tables are stacked with laptops, sleeping bags and bags of popcorn. Sponsor booths line the room’s perimeter where hackers intently listen to technical and informational workshops, such as Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab’s workshop on block chain technology.

Sleeping rooms with air mattresses in the UCC basement are available for the hackers wanting to take a quick catnap during the weekend marathon.

But hackers like Fichuk present a very different image from what people might typically associate with the word hacking. Rather, the type of hacking done at Hack Western 3 refers to quickly building a tech-based product within a short amount of time, known as ‘hacking’ something together, explains Cathy Chen, a fourth-year HBA and computer science student and co-director of Hack Western 3.

“I switched into computer science in my second year here at Western,” Chen says. “At the time I thought that learning through classes was really great, but I wanted more real life applications and to figure out a place where I could do a lot of learning really fast,” Chen adds, talking about what interested her at her first hackathon.

At Chen’s first hackathon last January, she worked with a mentor from Apple who walked her through how to build an iPhone app from scratch. At hackathons, chief sponsors such as Major League Hacking act as mentors and also lend out hardware for the weekend such as virtual reality headsets, smart watches and high-processing computers.

However, not everyone at hackathons are computer whiz kids. Hack Western 3’s other co-director and fourth-year HBA student Monique Tuin comes from a non-technical background. She used her first hackathon as a learning opportunity to immerse herself in the world of technology.

“Hackathons are what really introduced me to coding, and I basically learned all my coding knowledge at hackathons,” Tiun says. After realizing how much she could learn over the course of a weekend, Tuin was hooked on hackathons, and has since attended these events across North America and even one in Barcelona.

For many hackathon attendees, the hackathon experience doesn’t end after 36 hours.

BEYOND THE DEMO FAIR

More context: explain what is the reader going to find out in this section When the clock hits 10 a.m. on Sunday, hackers are asked to stop working on their projects. A combination of relief and excitement cross the face of many hackers as they prepare to pitch their product to judges and sponsors at what’s known as the demo fair. There, teams only have three minutes to pitch their product.

At Hack Western 3’s demo fair, the hectic energy and range of projects are undeniable. A hacker in a hard helmet with brain scanning hardware attached to the front eagerly answers questions about his device; another team demos a virtual reality zombie-themed maze. The excitement lasts for a few hours before the final element of the hackathon occurs — the award ceremony.

Awards are given by sponsors for a variety of categories including best design, best hack for social impact, most complicated hack and best newcomers.

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 • 7

s Hack Western 3

athon world in the UCC. From a digital system to eaturing zombies — the ideas were limitless This year, Calvin Leyon stands behind a sponsor booth rather than behind a table nervously waiting to demo a product. Leyon, a fourth-year medical science and pharmacology student at Western, returned this year as a sponsor following his success at last year’s hackathon where his team was able to turn their app, Plug, into a viable business following the event.

Like Tiun, Leyon didn’t come into the hackathon as an expert coder.

“I actually don’t even code,” Leyon says. “I do more graphics and wire framing, but I learned a lot of programming things that I would have never learned or picked up before.” Typically, teams have two to three developers, one designer and one role for pitching/ marketing.

Leyon’s hackathon experience paid off. His app is now well known in the hacking community; Plug allows people at networking events to simply tap their phones together to exchange social media handles and contact information for a quicker and more streamlined networking process.

While Leyon is still working to publicly launch Plug, he says Western’s on-campus entrepreneurship centre Propel helped him to get the project on its feet by providing a stipend and mentorship. He’s hopeful for the future success of Plug.

“Even for the people who don’t code themselves but who have ideas and are creative or have a really good imagination, hackathons will give them the inspiration to see how quickly a product can be turned around with the right team,” he says.

That sentiment rings true; At Hack Western 3, 50 per cent of attendees are first time hackers. Because of this, Chen and Tiun wanted to ensure that Hack Western 3 was accessible for students from all disciplines, not just computer science programs. They said it’s not uncommon for first time hackers to simply observe the action of a hackathon and attend workshops rather than join a team to build a a product.

THE SPREAD OF HACKATHONS

For Fichuk, who has attended five hackathons, Hack Western has been an incredibly inspirational experience — so inspiring that he is organizing Trent’s first hackathon, Electric City Hacks.

Alongside co-director Matthew Barnes, also a

fourth-year computer science student at Trent, Fichuk hopes the 400-person event scheduled for Nov. 4–6 will go off without a hitch.

“Attending Hack Western last year was a life-changing experience, as corny as that sounds,” Barnes says. “I don’t think I’ve had more fun at a hackathon. The coordinators were fantastic and the representatives from the companies were great.”

Fichuk and Barnes initially reached out to sponsor Major League Hacking to get Electric City Hacks underway. With the support of MLH, the computer science faculty at Trent and other universities, Electric City Hacks started to take shape.

For Fichuk, the growing culture of hackathons across Canadian universities can be summed up using a computer-science analogy.

“In computer science, we follow this thing called Moore’s law, which states that the processing power of computer and technology doubles every 18 months,” Fichuk says. “I think it holds true for hackathons as well.

Every 18 months it’s growing exponentially.”

Hackathons in Canada have grown in popularity only within the past few years; the world’s largest hackathon, Angel Hack, only came to Toronto for the first time in 2012, and the Canadian government first sponsored a hackathon in 2014. But as the culture of hackathons continues to spread across Canadian universities, companies are increasingly using hackathons to scout talent and network with students.

Within Ontario alone, the University of Waterloo, Western University, Trent University, McMaster University, Queen’s University and University of Toronto all host hackathons open to students from other universities.

While hackathons can seem intimidating, first time hackers — or even hackers with little to no technical background — can make valuable contributions to a team and immerse themselves in an fast-paced learning environment for 36 hours. Giving a hackathon a try may just be the most rewarding and unexpected experience of your university career.

“Hack Western does a really great job at engaging students with employers and that’s one of the big things that inspired us,” Fichuk says. “It’s an amazing learning opportunity and students just get an experience they’ve never had before.”

www.westerngazette.ca

8 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

sports

•

Mustangs scrape a narrow 19-18 Hoco win CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE The Western Mustangs football team finished their regular season Saturday with a 19-18 Homecoming victory over the McMaster Marauders. With the win, they improved their record to 7-1 and claimed first place in the Ontario University Athletics.

The game started slow as neither team had a touchdown until the second quarter. Western built up an early lead with a safety and a couple of field goals from kicker Marc Liegghio before the Marauders tied it up at 8 with a one-yard drive by Asher Hastings.

Western’s victory was built on field goals, with backup quarterback Stevenson Bone pushing through a lone touchdown 10 minutes into the second quarter on a short-yardage situation.

The game was tied at 18 deep into the fourth quarter before the Mustangs picked up a tiebreaking extra point off a missed field goal attempt.

Both teams put on an impressive defensive performance, with Western repeatedly shutting down McMaster’s running game. They held the Marauders to just 76 rushing yards, well below their season average of 165.3.

McMaster pressured Mustangs quarterback Chris Merchant throughout the game, sacking him three times and restricting his movement repeatedly. He threw for 185 yards, short of his average 215.

“You can’t replicate it in practice,” said head coach Greg Marshall about McMaster’s pressure on Merchant. “You can’t whack at him in practice, he knows he’s not going to get hit.”

Western’s 19 points is

MAAILAH BLACKWOOD GAZETTE

significantly less than previous performances, averaging just over 49 in the season, but against a tough McMaster defence it was all they could manage.

There were several external factors at play in the game, with winds topping 40 km/h at times.

As the homecoming game, TD Stadium had a healthy crowd of alumni and students on hand. The noise from the stands carried well and gave the Mustangs an edge.

Both teams went into the game

with a lot at stake, with the winner being assured first place in the OUA. Had the Mustangs lost, they could’ve fallen as low as fourth in the standings, forcing them to play a quarter-final next week. Instead, they’ll have a week off to rest.

“The OUA’s so deep this year,” said running back Alex Taylor. “To be able to get a week off and let other teams beat each other up before coming into our house will be a big advantage.”

“There’s a reason the teams

that get byes usually advance to the Yates Cup,” added Marshall.

“Take some breaths, let them heal and have some good meaningful practices.”

Such a nail-biting finish added to the playoff-like feel of the game.

After a loss at Carleton early in the season, with the toughest games left on the schedule, there was some doubt as to how far the Mustangs could go. But they’ve won every game since and are on a roll heading into the playoffs.

Western’s most valuable player of the game may have been kicker Marc Liegghio, who was successful on three field goal attempts and also picked up a conversion and the game-winning rouge point.

“We got some good breaks today,” said Merchant. “We proved what kind of team we are.”

Having secured a bye through the first round of the playoffs, the Mustangs will host the lowest-seeded quarter-final winner on Nov. 5 at TD Stadium.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport rebrands as U Sports CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE

order on-line: www.usc.uwo.ca/thepurplestore

Canada’s national university athletic body announced a major rebranding in a press conference in Toronto on Thursday morning.

Formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport or “Sport interuniversitaire canadien,” the organization will now be known as U Sports in both English and French.

In a video, U Sports unveiled their new logo, designed by the Vancouver-based firm Hulse & Durrell, one of Canada’s premier brand designers. In the past, Hulse & Durrell have created branding for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Committee and numerous national sport governing bodies including Swimming Canada.

Designers Ben Hulse and Greg Durrell said during the announcement that part of the reason behind the rebranding for CIS was to create a name and logo that functions in both English and French.

The CIS was formerly the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union, until their previous rebranding in 2001. The body had functioned under the CIAU acronym since 1961. Hulse & Durrell noted that their inspiration for the

maple leaf design in the new logo was taken from a CIAU letterhead in the 80s.

U Sports CEO Graham Brown, who was appointed to the position in charge of CIS in Sept. 2015, said that the organization will be working more closely with high school athletic associations to improve the recruitment process for university sports, as well as opening a new head office in Toronto.

“Although the mission and passion will remain the same, the new brand will shine the spotlight on our dedicated student-athletes at our 56 universities across the country.” said Brown at the unveiling press conference. “Today’s announcement also aims to create a massive change in the way university sports are consumed in a fast-changing digital era.”

Twelve thousand athletes will compete annually in U Sportssanctioned competitions, with 21 national championships across Canada. U Sports will also be represented by athletes competing internationally at Universiade competitions.

A new website, usports.ca, will replace the previous cis-sic. ca. However, most of the important information has not yet been transferred over. This is part of an initiative by the organization to improve their online presence.

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 • 9

sports

Synchronized swimming: a team without a school MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEATGAZETTE Alex Cross, Sarah Adams, Lilly Dong, Myra Kohler and nine other girls participate in competitive synchronized swimming. They’re all students at Western. They all compete in the Canadian University Synchronized Swimming League. But they’re not Mustangs.

They can’t wear purple at their meets. This group of girls, who compete in the CUSSL as the “University group of London synchro” faces an identity crisis.

This is the challenge faced by those unknown teams, at the bottom of the University’s extensive athletic community, who get no funding from the school and cannot identify themselves as affiliated with the institution in any way.

Synchronized swimming was once a varsity sport at Western. One of two synchro programs of its kind in Canada, the team eventually folded in 2012 when the team was down to only two members.

Since then the team has grown to thirteen members. But it’s a team without a real name, without a real home, and without the means necessary to truly grow the program. The team has been in an awkward state of limbo since being disinherited by the University four years ago.

“We have an application in right now which we submitted in February which would usually have been reviewed by now. But they’re reviewing all of the clubs at Western this year instead of just the new applications, so they haven’t been able to even look at our application yet,” said team member Alex Cross.

The team faces an immense challenge in spreading the word about what they do and who they are. They’re not even a club at Western, so they are prohibited from advertising themselves publicly on campus.

“I think that we are kind of limited because we are not a club and it’s hard for us to advertise and recruit,” said Lily Dong, who is listed as the team contact on the CUSSL website.

“We could have novice programs or more recreational based programs, but right now we’re limited in pool time and coaches.”

The issue of pool time and the lack of coaching in the past has made it difficult for the program to gain traction. The synchronized swimming team at McGill, the only varsity synchro squad in the country, practices six times a week, while the Queen’s club practices four times a week. However, the group of girls swimming in London are limited to two one and a half hour practices a week, splitting time between the Canada Games Aquatic Centre and the pool at H.B. Beal Secondary School.

The limited time in the pool forces true dedication from team members to be ready to practice and work hard out of the water.

“It takes a fair bit of dedication from all of the swimmers outside of the practices because we only have two one and a half hour practices in the pool a week,” said Cross. “So everybody needs to be there on time and needs to be in the pool and then everybody needs to make sure they’re staying in shape outside of practices as well because we don’t have time to do a workout together, we just have time to practice our routine.”

The team still hopes to be accepted as an official Western team in the future. An

COURTESY OF LILLY DONG

acceptance would help with funding, help to bring in coaches every season and allow them to become members of the large Mustangs athletic community.

But for Myra Kohler, a team member and

third-year, it would mean something as simple as being able to represent the school they attend.

“To be able to officially represent Western would be so meaningful, to be able to wear purple and the W would make a big difference.”

Lo n d o n U lt im a t e C lu b Pres ent s :

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60 per individual • Hat League •

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WEDNESDAY NIGHTS

8PM-11PM: Nov 2 to Dec 14 (New season begins Jan 4 to March 29) Location: 6 Cuddy Boulevard

T o f ind a t ea m join our f a c ebook Group: LUC

DANIEL BODDEN GAZETTE

F or m ore inf orm a t ion vis it

CLAIRE PALMER SPORTS EDITOR @CLAIREATGAZETTE As banner season continues, it can be hard to keep track of how the Mustangs are doing. Here are the top five teams from this past week.

FOOTBALL

Football secured first place on Saturday when they defeated the McMaster Marauders 19-18 at Homecoming. The first place finish earned the team a bye to start off the playoffs, giving the team a much needed week off to prepare before they start their quest for the Yates Cup. The football team finished with a 7-1-0 record, with their only loss of the season coming at the hands of the Carleton Ravens early in the season. Since then, the team has gone on a five-game winning streak and are looking to roll with that momentum into the playoffs. The team will be back in action on Nov. 5 where they will play in the Yates Cup semifinal game at home. The opponent will be decided this Saturday, Oct. 29 after the quarterfinal action.

WOMEN’S GOLF

The women’s golf team claimed bronze this past week at the OUA championships in Windsor. The team finished the tournament just

three strokes behind the second place Waterloo Warriors. Two Mustangs finished in the individuals top 10, leading the team to bronze.

The team finished off the tournament strong, posting a combined +55. Jordan Newlands led the way for the Mustangs squad, finishing in fifth, and being named an OUA second team All Star.

MEN’S GOLF

The men’s golf team also had a strong showing at the OUA championships last week, finishing off their season with a silver medal. The Mustangs had a comfortable second place lead, finishing five shots ahead of the third place Queen’s Gaels, but found themselves six strokes shy of a first place finish. Two Mustangs finished in the top 10 individual rankings, and the team posted a +11 for the tournament. Charles Fitzsimmons, who led the way for the Mustangs and finished fifth overall, was named an OUA first team All Star, while teammate Alex Purdom finished ninth and was named an OUA second team All Star.

MEN’S LACROSSE

The Mustangs men’s lacrosse team extended their winning streak to 11 games after winning both games against the Guelph Gryphons in

a home-and-home series. The Mustangs handily beat their opponents, outscoring them 30-17 over the two games. The Mustangs are now sitting in first place, having lost only one game this season. After heading into their next game on Oct. 29, the Mustangs will look to use this momentum heading into the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championships that will take place Nov. 4-6 at Brock. Last year, the team claimed silver, falling to McGill in the gold medal game.

The team looks to improve on their second place finish and claim gold for the first time since 2001.

MEN’S RUGBY

The men’s rugby team finished off the regular season with a dominating 38-1 win over the Brock Badgers on the road this Saturday. The win is the team’s second in a row, putting them at 5-2-1 to finish off the regular season. The Mustangs finished off the season in third place in the OUA, finishing behind Guelph and Queen’s. The Mustangs will look to extend their winning streak into the playoffs as they hope to earn a spot in the gold medal game. The team will be back in action this Saturday, Oct. 29 on Alumni Field as they take on RMC in the first round of the playoffs.

LondonUlt im a t e.c a REVIEW COMMITTEE VICE-PRESIDENT (RESEARCH) A Review Committee for the Vice-President (Research) has been struck in accordance with the Appointment Procedures for Senior Academic and Administrative Officers of the University.

Vice President John Capone is eligible to be appointed to a second five-year term.

The Committee is seeking input from the community as it conducts its review, particularly with respect to the following: • The alignment of the strategic research on the development of specific strategic directions and priorities with Western’s research directions and priorities underValues and Mission and with the University’s taken in the last 5 years Strategic Plans over the last five years.

• Stakeholders’ awareness of steps that • The alignment of these strategic research they can take to stay engaged with the directions and priorities with external research vision, process and direction realities (e.g., Tri-Council Funding) • Means to enhance the effectiveness of • The effectiveness of consultation and research services provided to the campus communication with key stakeholders community and the broader campus community IN PREPARING WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS, THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS MAY BE HELPFUL:

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT (RESEARCH) www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/board/special_resolutions/spres13.pdf STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN www.uwo.ca/research/_docs/excellence/Western_University_Strategic_Plan_Overview_Approved.pdf Submissions should be forwarded by November 18, 2016 to the Secretary of the Committee, Irene Birrell at ibirrell@uwo.ca or mailed to: I. Birrell, University Secretary Rm. 4101, Stevenson Hall, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 5B8.

All submissions will remain confidential to the review committee.

www.westerngazette.ca

10 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

culture

•

Want to save a life? You could donate blood

Harambe, Trump and other costumes you’ll see ANNIE RUETER CULTURE EDITOR @ANNIERUETER1 Pop culture references always inspire Halloween costumes. So you know what’s up, here are some of the costumes you might run into:

terrifying, Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley “is a whole lot of pretty and a whole lot of crazy,” as described

by Griggs, a law enforcement officer in the movie. Her Rocket-popsiclecoloured hair and baseball bat are notable accessories to the costume.

Harambe The western lowland gorilla will no doubt be commemorated with the utmost respect as students toss on a gorilla suit before drinking themselves silly on Halloween – perhaps even accessorized with a small doll.

But if you want to join this troop, you’re out of luck; the gorilla suit costume from Spirit Halloween is sold out.

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton Ah yes, your favourite American politicians we all love to hate. With some orange foundation, a wisp of cotton candy for a wig and a suit, you could be Trump 2.0. Hillary’s stellar pantsuits might be a bit harder to locate, but Value Village may be a good place to dig around for those kitten heels and head-totoe one colour suit.

Harley Quinn The Suicide Squad character Dr. Harleen Quinzel also known as Harley Quinn, is one of the most recognizable characters from the 2016 film. Both bubbly and

Ken Bone The famous red sweater, glasses and ’stache are must-haves for this character who clearly won the second presidential debate. Consider practicing your delivery of the question

“what steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs, while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers?”

Nemo and Dory This iconic pair is an ideal group or couple costume following the 2016 release of Finding Dory. Coloured and painted T-shirts in combination with orange or blue leggings make for an easy costume.

Stranger Things cast The '80s nostalgia in the Nexflix original show Stranger Things makes an for an appealing group costume this Halloween. Think corduroy, oversized jackets and of course some Eggo waffles and fake blood under the nose if you are going as Eleven.

While walking through the UCC in the past few weeks, many students stopped by a red and white booth to get their finger pricked and their blood type checked. While that clinic may be over, interested students can look forward to the several visits Canadian Blood Services will be making in the next few months.

Though the need for blood donations often receives a lot of attention after a notable disaster, Marisa Gatfield, a coordinator for Canadian Blood Services, emphasizes the constant need for new donors to come out.

“Our optimal inventory for blood is five to eight days, nationally. Most donations are used within five days.

That’s why there’s a constant need to replenish the blood that we collect” says Gatfield.

Gatfield, who serves as the territory manager for Canadian Blood Services in London, works to ensure that the blood clinics in her area come in on target.

“We would need approximately about 110, 115 donors to come in to donate that blood,” explains Gatfield.

Many of the students who came to the clinic last week are recurring donors.

Blake VanBerlo, a fourth-year software engineering student, explains that he has donated over a dozen times.

“My family has received a number of benefits from having programs like this. My mother received a lot of transfusions back when she was receiving chemotherapy,” says VanBerlo, explaining what motivates him to participate.

Gatfield details that the collected blood can help a variety of patients.

For example, eight donors may be needed each week to help a person with leukemia, and up to fifty for someone who has been in a car crash.

For those interested in donating for the first time, Gatfield strongly recommends that they visit blood. ca, which lists the ABC’s of eligibility – from height and weight considerations to acceptable medications.

VanBerlo notes that a lot of people thinking about donating may be scared about the possible after effects. ”I think that the fact that some people faint gets over-publicized, and is a huge deterrent to people who have never been [out to donate]. I think if you’re considering, you should definitely try at least try once and if you’re uncomfortable, don’t do it again,” said VanBerlo.

Gatfield affirms that giving blood does not put a person’s health at risk.

The two cups of blood that are taken from each donor are replenished within 48 hours. A person will only be eligible to donate if it’s safe for them to give.

For those interested in getting involved, aside from donating, Sanduni Wickramananda, a threeyear volunteer for CBS describes her experience as overwhelmingly positive and welcomes others who share an interest in this cause.

“I’m very interested in healthcare so [volunteering here] helps me explore how the public interacts with our healthcare system, outside of hospitals and other treatment centers,“ she explains.

The two-day clinic last week collected 130 units of blood, achieving 90 per cent of the collection target of 144 units. Canadian Blood Services will be back four times in the month of November. For those interested, students are encouraged to book an appointment, stay hydrated and well fed, bring identification and give it a try.

The Essentials > Our top Halloween movies

HOCUS POCUS

THE EXORCIST

CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST

HALLOWEENTOWN

HALLOWEEN

Halloween would be nothing without all the spirited films. Growing up I watched pretty much every single Halloween film on TV, but one that I still love as an adult is the Disney classic Hocus Pocus (1993). It has an all-star cast with the Sanderson witches played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, and features ‘90s child star Thora Birch — and who can forget about Binx, the talking cat?

Beginning during the Salem witch trials and moving to modern times, it contains everything you’d want in a Halloween film: witches, a magic spell book, creepy songs, a black cat, fall colours, pumpkins and a Halloween party. My favourite part of the movie is Midler’s rendition of “I Put a Spell on You.” This is one movie that certainly didn’t deserve all the negative reviews... yes, I’m talking to you, Rotten Tomatoes.

There’s a scene about half-way through the Exorcist where a possessed 13-year-old girl crawls down the stairs with her back arched upward in what has been described as a “spider walk.” As blood pours out of her mouth, her mother screams in horror and you realize that this movie is chillingly creepy. Nominated for 10 Oscars, it became the first horror movie short-listed for best picture, and there’s good reason for that. The performances are all top-notch, the cinematography is on point and the screenplay is gripping.

There’s something heartwarming about watching a mother fight to save her daughter after she’s been possessed by the devil, but it’s also horrifying. The Exorcist encourages audiences to identify with the story — and that makes the movie so much more terrifying.

Growing up, I had a crush on Casper. Yes, the ghost from the children’s Halloween movie. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why it has been my favourite Halloween flick. For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent Oct. 31 cuddled up on the couch, Reese’s peanut butter cup in hand, ogling over Casper. For those of you unlucky enough to have shared in this experience, the movie is about a ghost specialist named James Harvey and his daughter Kat who move into the haunted mansion that Casper inhabits. Even if you don’t catch the feels like sevenyear-old me did, Casper is perfect for a nostalgic night of Halloween throwbacks.

If you don’t love these series then you do you even love Halloween? Arguably Disney’s best original Halloween movie series, Halloweentown is a cult favourite among 90s kids. As a fully functioning, grown human, I still find myself running to the television on Friday nights to catch Halloweentown, no matter if it’s the first, second, third or fourth movie. It’s a guarantee that one of the four movies will be playing every weekend of October leading up to Halloweekend and there are no complaints here. Despite its anticlimactic fourth feature due to Sara Paxton playing Marnie, no one does it better than Kimberly J. Brown, and the series maintains its status as an October favourite.

If you haven’t watched it by now, cozy up this reading break on Friday night and witness excellence.

It’s literally called Halloween — what could be more festive than that?

With children criss-crossing streets in costumes, killer Michael Myers is on the loose and has his eyes set on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) Laurie is the responsible character in the movie, letting her friends go off to have sex while she stays home and babysits. As I’m sure you could guess, things don’t turn out so well for Laurie’s friends.

While the plot might seem simple enough, this was a revolutionary movie with many arguing that it spurred the slasher films that populated the ‘80s. Unlike the genre Halloween inspired, this movie features relatively little blood and gore. Instead, suspense is created through the lighting, sound and general atmosphere. It’s a well-made movie that captures the mood of Halloween.

• Samah Ali

• Bradley Metlin

• Rita Rahmati

• Bradley Metlin

• Amy Skodak

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 • 11

culture

Haunted mansion will scare and excite you AMY SKODAK CULTURE EDITOR @AMYSKODAK 120-year-old Grosvenor Lodge is now home to new sorority Delta Iota Epsilon, and they’re on the hunt for new pledges. But recent reports have suggested suspicious behaviour on the grounds. Is the 19th century Victorian farmhouse hiding something sinister behind its doors?

Fellow culture editor Annie Rueter and I walk through its iron gates and attend a tour of the house to investigate.

Sorority sisters greet us in the parlour, eager to show the house to new pledges, but are hesitant towards addressing any of the rumours circulating about dangerous activity in the area. Instead, the bubbly tour guide offers to introduce us to the sorority’s private cook in the kitchen.

The live-in dietician informs us that there are fresh baked goods in the dining room for us to enjoy.

Oddly enough, we are brought down to the basement and have a run-in with the home’s caretaker.

What is presumably an electrical bug causes the lights to go out.

Annie and I shriek as the caretaker suddenly blurts out a warning about mass killings and pledges gone missing.

Good thing this is just a haunted house put on by the King’s Players.

The rest of our experience at the haunted sorority house is both bone-chilling and uncomfortably eerie. They really aren’t kidding when they recommend being 14 years of age or older to attend.

Done in collaboration with Heritage London Society, estate assistant Joanne Off explains that the annual event raises money for preservation and maintenance of the grounds.

The haunted mansion, as part of Do You Dare 2016, has only been open for two nights and has already attracted the attention of students

and Londoners looking for a scare.

“On our first run-through the screams made it all terrifically exciting” says Off. “We had some people who really had a tough time coming through it.”

Off adds that the tour isn’t just isolated to the inside of the mansion either. “We’ve utilized all the grounds,” she says. “We’ve utilized the garden and the shed...it’s very creepy.”

Unfortunately, Off is hesitant to discuss any real ghost sightings in the home. “People believe they’ve seen spirits,” she says. “There’s probably people that have passed away here in this home but we like to keep our secrets to ourselves.”

To see what’s going on in the haunted sorority house for yourself, the mansion will be open for curious pledges Oct. 22-30 from 7-10 p.m. Tickets for the tour as well as an additional Walking Dead-themed archery challenge are $10 each.

PHOTOS BY ANNIE RUETER GAZETTE

Green Day’s new album will delight fans ARIELLE AZMON CONTRIBUTOR @GAZETTECULTURE Artist: Green Day Album: Revolution Radio Label: Reprise Records Highlighted Tracks: “Still Breathing,” “Outlaws,” “Ordinary World,” and “Forever Now” Rating: GGGGG Green Day is back to their old selves with their new soon-to-be classic album, Revolution Radio.

Revolution Radio, which grabbed the number one spot on Billboard’s top-selling albums during the week of Oct. 13, takes on several political issues including gun control, war and anarchy. But it still has a few lighthearted and optimistic tracks, that bring them back to their punk roots.

The short but fulfilling self-produced album has 12 tracks. It’s no surprise that it sounds so authentic; they had complete freedom with this album, making it their best attempt since 2004’s American Idiot.

Revolution Radio is a unique blend of music but still feels familiar as it has the same punk-rock vibe and energetic fast paced chords heard in some of their earlier works. Songs like, “Still Breathing” and “Troubled Times” are similar to the dark and edgy tracks heard on their 2009 album, 21st Century Breakdown.

The track “Outlaws” certainly stands out. It starts off slow but builds up to intense emotion. It will

give any fan chills.

“Forever Now” is the best and longest song on the album at seven minutes and feels like an epic poem.

It’s split up into three parts, making it stylistically similar to American Idiot’s “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming.”

At the beginning of “Forever Now” Billie Joe sings, “My name is Billie and I’m freaking out,” making the song feel confessional and personal. The song also alludes to other songs on the album. In the third part of the song, the words “somewhere now” are repeated a few times, which is the name of the first song on the album. “Somewhere Now” also has some of the best drumming Green Day has ever recorded.

The final song, “Ordinary World,” is incredibly simple and pure. It carries the same smooth rich melody throughout and only features an acoustic guitar. It feels a bit out of place compared to their other songs, but is still a brilliant end to the album.

Overall, Revolution Radio is a combination of powerful rock songs and spirited pop ballads. It also offers a look into their evolution as a band from their start in the early 90s until now.

Green Day is about to embark on a North American tour starting in March. They are scheduled to stop in London to perform at Budweiser Gardens on March 19.

Revolution Radio can be found on iTunes and Spotify.

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