Tuesday, November 22, 2016

news

sports

culture

SINCE 1906

westerngazette.ca TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 • WESTERN UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 110, ISSUE 22 i’m the captain now since 1906

CITY COUNCIL LOOKS TO END CARDING IN LONDON PG5

MEN’S HOCKEY ON LOSING STREAK PG7

COMEDY CLUB CRACKS UP THE BEAVER DAM PG10

Full STEAM ahead:

See page 3 for more on the movement to make STEM more interdisciplinary

JENNY JAY GAZETTE

FREE SPORTSGUARD WITH NEW PATIENT EXAM AND CLEANING • New and Emergency Patients Welcome • • STUDENT AND STAFF DENTAL PLANS ACCEPTED FOR DIRECT PAYMENT •

www.westerngazette.ca

2 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

profile

•

CHARLES STOCKING

Volume 110, Issue 22 WWW.WESTERNGAZETTE.CA University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial 519.661.3580 Advertising 519.661.3579

HAMZA TARIQ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @HAMZATARIQ_

KATIE LEAR PRINT MANAGING EDITOR @KATIELEAR_

BRADLEY METLIN DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR @BRADLEYMETLIN

C JENNY JAY GAZETTE

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 TAYLOR LASOTA NATALIE TREFFRY

DIGITAL MEDIA CONNOR CLARK GRAPHICS DANIEL BODDEN SENIOR GRAPHICS JORDAN MCGAVIN FEATURES & GRAPHICS AMY O’KRUK WESTERN TV CONNOR MALBEUF COPY DANIELLE GERRITSE OPINIONS HALA GHONAIM COLUMNISTS JUSTIN DI CAMILLO JACEK ORZYLOWSKI

GAZETTE ADVERTISING & COMPOSING IAN GREAVES, MANAGER ADVERTISING DIANA WATSON

SENIOR STAFF AMAL MATAN MICHAEL CONLEY

COMPOSING MAJA ANJOLI-BILIĆ ROBERT ARMSTRONG

OREN WEISFELD ZEHRA CAMILLERI

WESTERNGAZETTE

UWOGAZETTE

@UWOGAZETTE

WESTERNGAZETTE

WESTERNGAZETTE

WESTERNTV

All articles, letters, photographs, graphics, illustrations and cartoons published in The Gazette, both in the newspaper and online versions, are the property of The Gazette. By submitting any such material to The Gazette for publication, you grant to The Gazette a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to publish such material in perpetuity in any media, including but not limited to, The Gazette‘s hard copy and online archives.

The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.

Charles Stocking wrote his first book about animal sacrifice.

But it wasn’t for the gore. The Western classical studies assistant professor was investigating animal sacrifices in relation to ancient Greek culture.

“The motive there is that I enjoy barbecue,” he jokes about the book. “But you always have to have some personal motivation for pursuing something.”

For Charles, he’s always been passionate about ancient Greece. After being inspired by his brother to pursue classical studies, Charles attended Standford University for his BA and master’s and then UCLA for his PhD. He’s been teaching courses about ancient athletics and Greek poetry at Western since 2012.

“It’s funny because my brother more or less taught me ancient Greek to clean up my act and get me off the streets,” Charles recalls. “Ever since then, I’ve really been in love with the subject. I’ve thought of myself doing something else, but classics always kept pulling me back, so it was really inescapable.”

While completing his PhD, Charles was a strength and conditioning coach at UCLA. He worked with many sports teams and provided consultation for a number of Olympic athletes, some of who have gone to world championships.

He became interested in coaching after powerlifting competitively in California, managing to set a junior state record in the squat, which he is still very proud of.

However, Charles expresses that he was always more interested in the educational side of sports, drawing parallels between teaching and lifting.

“Every human body is different … as a function of always trying to get better and stronger, you’re always engaged in this process of problem-solving,” says Charles. “Everybody can reach a certain goal, but how you get there is always going to be different. It really does have to be tailored so there’s an intellectual investment in lifting and that same intellectual investment in coaching as well as teaching.”

Charles admits that he didn’t always see studying classics as a practical choice. He equates how he feels towards classics to how others feel when they play music — it may not seem useful or financially advantageous short-term, but the enjoyment makes it worthwhile.

He says that this realization was one of the defining moments in his career.

Today, Charles is constantly thinking about the ancient world in relation to the modern world. His love for classics and passion for teaching is evident. He reveals that he doesn’t have a work-life balance in the sense that he doesn’t have a distinct separation between life and work.

Instead, he lives for what he is doing academically.

For example, even when Charles is travelling, he brings his work with him. Charles is in charge of organizing a symposium that is held every year in Olympia, Greece where groups of scholars and Greek graduate students come together to have a conversation about the history of modern olympics.

Ultimately, he says one of the most rewarding goals of teaching classics is inspiring students to think differently about the world outside of their own and encouraging them to explore other aspects of the world.

“One student came up to me and said how profoundly the course impacted her,” exclaims Charles. “She had never left Ontario before and now she travels all the time.

It actually had this real impact on her to travel and to experience the world in other ways, and that’s really the aim of a course like that.”

Charles says that he doesn’t tend to think in terms of future goals anymore. Instead, he prefers to focus on the present moment, hoping to continue what he is doing for as long as possible.

He’s still lifting at the gym to maintain his health, hinting that he may even return to competition in the near future.

■■GRACE TO

HIGH 3 LOW -3

HIGH 3 LOW 1

HIGH 7 LOW 3

TODAY

TOMORROW

THURSDAY

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 • 3

news

From STEM to STEAM: integrating the arts SABRINA FRACASSI NEWS EDITOR @SABFRACASSI A newfound interdisciplinary movement has been taking off across North America, and at least one Western professor is on board.

Mark Daley, assistant professor and associate vice-president research, is enthusiastic about the opportunities cross-collaboration brings, whatever its form.

The movement STEM to STEAM originated at the Rhode Island School of Design and has slowly made its way to Canada.

STEM to STEAM focuses on the integration of the arts into the traditional STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

According to the STEM to STEAM website, their objectives include transforming research policy to incorporate art and design into STEM, encouraging the integration of art and design into elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education, and influencing employers to incorporate artists and designers into their business plan.

Some of the most prominent collaboration projects at Western, rather than involving art and design, integrate social sciences.

Facilities like the Brain and Mind Institute and the upcoming Interdisciplinary Research Building represent Western’s attempt to cross-collaborate.

But Western isn’t leading the charge. In Canada, the University of Ottawa has most embodied John Maeda’s vision — the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design and the founder of STEAM. Luc Lalande, executive director of entrepreneurship hub at uOttawa, said the University is reinventing

JENNY JAY GAZETTE

Maeda’s vision, emphasizing links between the theatre and engineering disciplines.

“There’s a tremendous amount of technology in those production aspects,” Lalande said. “Imagine with new technologies like wearables, where a performer can actually have a costume with embedded sensors that interacts with a set. So all of a sudden a passive set becomes an activated set; it responds to movements or actions by a performer. And that’s where the beauty with theatre students

Western study finds problem with grad student training HILL DU CONTRIBUTOR @NEWSATGAZETTE Beth Hundey is helping identify more opportunities at the university and department level to train new scientists to communicate effectively.

Hundey, Western’s eLearning and curriculum specialist, co-authored the conclusive study, “A Shifting Tide: Recommendations for Incorporating Science Communication into Graduate Training.” The study identifies a lack of scientific communication training among early career aquatic scientists from their universities.

“The problem is that early career researchers, especially in the sciences, are finding that they are a little bit underprepared in the area of science communication,” Hundey said.

According to Hundey, the small scope of the study suggests the prevalence of a widespread problem in the lack of enrichment programs for scientific communication by university departments.

Hundey added that this lack of enrichment arises from dynamics in the job market not being matched by university departments.

“I think that it is more so that they need to catch up with the job

market and with what graduate students are needing for their own job searches,” Hundey said.

To combat the current problems, Hundey advised a collaborative effort from both graduate students and departments. Hundey suggested that students can look towards self-training and developing personal strategies tailored towards their own goals. On the other end, Hundey recommends departments to take a more proactive approach in understanding their student body and implementing new training opportunities.

“I think the idea behind developing a strategy is to do something that really works and makes sense for your department and your students,” Hundey said.

Hundey proposed that departments could look to start by holding more workshops for graduate students.

According to the study, providing resources to enhance student scientific communication skills not only helps students in later leadership and project management roles, but can also increase departmental visibility.

Western proved to be a valuable contributor in the study along with the other institutions.

working with engineering students comes in.”

Daley said that no matter the type of collaboration, students benefit from changes to share ideas across disciplines.

“I am completely, unabashedly in favour of interdisciplinary programs and I think that everybody benefits, humanity benefits as a whole but the individuals who participate also benefit from getting that diversity of thought and opinion,” said Daley.

Whether or not STEAM takes

root at Western is up in the air, but Daley asks students to simply think of every department at Western and imagine how many connections could be made.

“We’ve only scratched just the surface of how we collaborate, and part of that is because of the traditionally isolated structure of the University … So one of the things I’m trying to encourage in the role I’m in now is just getting more people talking to other people,” he said.

NOV. 28–30 U.C.C. MUSTANG LOUNGE 9–6 9–5

Solution to puzzle on page 10

www.westerngazette.ca

4 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

news

•

Breaking down this year’s USC election DRISHTI KATARIA NEWS EDITOR @DRISHTATGAZETTE The 2017 University Students’ Council elections process will soon be underway with nominations opening on Dec. 5.

Here is a rundown of the positions students can run for this year and the positions students will be voting for on the USC ballot: President/vice-president slate As president and CEO of the USC, their role is “to represent the interests of the University Students’ Council and the student body and oversee and provide strategic direction for the organization.” The president also makes corporate decisions with the Board of Directors.

The vice-president is largely responsible for advocating on behalf of students to external institutions that affect students and post-secondary educational policies.

USC councillors A councillor is an undergraduate student who is elected by their own faculty undergraduate peers

to represent their interests on the council floor. This includes faculty council presidents and other elected students. There are multiple councilors representing each faculty with the exceptions of music, medicine, law, FIMS, education and dentistry who have one seat on the council.

USC councillors play a large role in passing the USC budget.

Faculty council presidents (Science, social science, music, medicine, law, health sciences, FIMS, engineering, education, dentistry, business, arts & humanities) They play a larger role in their own faculty council, such as allocation of their faculty council budget. On the USC, they are for the most part treated the same as councillors and are seen as a mentor to councillors within their constituency but have no differing responsibilities.

Affiliate student council presidents (Brescia, Huron, King’s) Student council presidents of Brescia, Huron and King’s get a seat on the USC council to represent

their constituents and make sure USC decisions serve all students, not just main campus.

London Youth Advisory Council — Western Councillor According to their website, LYAC councillors represent London citizens aged 15–25 and amplify their voices to local politicians and civic leaders. Councillors work to integrate youth perspectives into important decisions about local issues by committing to community engagement, research, policy development and advocacy.

Nominations open at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 5 and students can pick up nominations forms in the UCC atrium and the USC office located in UCC Room 340.

Nominations close Jan. 13 at midnight and students will submit their form at the front desk of the USC office.

USC secretary treasurer Isaac Jacobi said to expect campaigns closer to the nomination period about the different positions and their responsibilities.

JENNY JAY GAZETTE

Communityengaged learning on the rise at Western SABRINA FRACASSI NEWS EDITOR @SABFRACASSI A group of Western health science students are presenting their research on climate change’s effects on public health — but they’re not in a lecture hall. They’re in the office of their local MP. It all started three months ago when the students enrolled in a course that offered a community engaged learning opportunity.

“A lot of the things that we do for school are project based, so we can get the mark, but I think with going and meeting with someone like that it was more than just, ‘Let’s do it for the project,’” said Rashika Sharma, one of the five group members.

The CEL course component offered at Western is where students are matched up with community partners and are tasked with completing a project. Specific courses can choose to incorporate the CEL into their syllabus, and the completion of this project goes toward earning a credit.

These students were connected with Mary Blake Bonn, the founder and group leader of the London chapter of Citzens’ Climate Lobby.

The focus of her group was to research and discuss the health effects that climate change is having on people.

“I thought that this CEL project would just be a fantastic way to get some Western students to exercise their political will,” Bonn said.

The group worked on researching different aspects of this topic including socio-economic factors, the role of women, the future of climate change and the state of the

Alberta tar sands. The group members then went on to lobby the findings to two of London’s MPs, Irene Mathyssen and Kate Young.

Kelly Hollingshed, Western’s CEL coordinator, discussed the real life applications of taking part of this learning experience.

“We see a need for this,” she said.

“Students want these experiences in the community, they want to learn outside of the classroom which is what experiential learning is all about and CEL is one of the options for experiential learning.”

Hollingshed also highlighted that there have been cases since the beginning of the CEL program about eight years ago where students have acquired long-term advantages including important reference letters and continued volunteer experiences. She also noted that there have been students who gained permanent employment with their CEL employers once the course was complete.

The group members said they were most impressed by the knowledge they acquired by researching and acting on the topic.

This year there are 40 courses offered at Western that include a CEL component in their syllabus. However, Hollingshed noted that her team is already receiving requests from professors of all faculties to introduce CEL into their own courses for the next academic year.

It’s a feeling group member Nicholas Terry won’t forget anytime soon.

“It was exciting because I really felt like I was making a difference and that what I was doing today could lead to change,” said Terry.

www.westerngazette.ca

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 • 5

news

City council takes first step to end carding in London DRISHTI KATARIA NEWS EDITOR @DRISHTATGAZETTE

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTE

USC heads to Parliament for student advocacy RITA RAHMATI NEWS EDITOR @RITARAHMATI The University Students’ Council executives headed to Ottawa last week to promote more funding for indigenous students and undergraduate research.

Student leaders from several of Canada’s U15 research intensive universities gathered for the advocacy week, ADVOCAN to speak up on behalf of undergraduate students.

Eddy Avila, USC president, and vice-president Jamie Cleary went on behalf of Western students. By the end of the week, the student leaders from the seven institutions met with over 50 members of parliaments and attended over 40 meetings.

According to Avila, the student leaders had two central goals for the week: increasing financial accessibility for indigenous students and increasing funding for undergraduate research.

Avila was quite pleased with the progress made on increasing Indigenous students financial accessibility. Specifically, the student

advocates want to see an increase in funding for the post-secondary student support program by $50 million this year — an item that was in the Liberal government’s platform when they ran for office but wasn’t present in the last budget.

“Indigenous students are the fastest-growing population on university campuses and we need to make sure there are the appropriate financial supports available to them,” Cleary said.

In addressing this issue, Avila and other student leaders had a brief but influential run in with MP and minister of indigenous and northern affairs Carolyn Bennet. Avila recalled Minister Bennet saying she hopes to include the $50 million increase to post-secondary student support program in the budget this year.

“That was something that definitely stood out as a small win that she was very receptive to it,” Avila said.

Avila discussed the second goal of increasing funding for undergraduate research opportunities and increasing opportunities for undergraduate research. Avila noted

a central component of this goal was to increase data collection to see if and how undergraduate research opportunities can grow.

“We’re seeing an innovation agenda coming out of this Liberal government, so it makes sense for them to invest in research,” Cleary said. “They were quite responsive to that.”

Overall, Avila and Cleary felt the week was successful, although advocacy is an ongoing initiative for the USC. “It’s breathtaking to see all of the different meetings and work that we’ve done and the positive feedback that we’ve received from being a very united group,” Avila said.

In addition to Western University’s USC members, the six other student unions in attendance were from the University of British Columbia, the University of Saskatchewan, Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and McMaster University. In total, over 240,000 undergraduate students were represented.

London’s city community and protective services committee took the first steps to end carding in the city during a meeting on Nov. 15.

John Pare, London’s chief of police, describes the practice of carding as “entering information into a record management system to record information about a person, vehicle or location that may be of interest for a legitimate law enforcement and public safety purpose.”

The community and protective services committee unanimously passed a motion that asks Mayor Matt Brown to publicly call on the London Police Services board to end the practice of carding.

The motion also requires the mayor to ensure ongoing anti-racism and anti-oppression training for the organization.

Pare said the carding information that’s collected is used by crime analysts, who look for crime trends and use the information to try to identify persons of interest.

Since June 2015, ward 3 councillor Mo Salih has led a public fight to end this practice, sending letters to the LPS board and having conversations with community stakeholders and representatives.

“I started these conversations in June 2015 when I reached out to the LPS board and have been advocating

ever since as well as many members of the community,” he said.

Jean-Claude Aubin, operational leader of Campus Police, believes ending this practice could affect the safety of the community.

“I could see a cease in carding could cause some safety issues for the community, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to ban it,” he said.

“But having legislation regarding it to make sure it’s not abused is important.”

Last year, Western’s teaching assistant and postdoctoral union, PSAC Local 610, called on LPS to stop carding on campus and in the city of London when a member was stopped by Campus Police.

Salih questions the effectiveness of carding and thinks instead of performing street checks, LPS should build relationships with the community.

“Where are the statistics and data that we’re going to be less safe?” he said. “You can give us anecdotal examples, but having the community work with you especially in communities where there might be more challenges is only going to be a benefit versus damaging those relationships where people feel as if they are being targeted.”

The motion will be voted on by city council at Tuesday’s meeting.

At the time of publication, LPS could not be reached for comment.

MAAILAH BLACKWOOD GAZETTE

Western’s course evaluations now online MOSE MONTERROZA NEWS EDITOR @MOSESMONTZ Gone are the days of filling out scantrons with pencils for course evaluations. This year, Western has moved the whole process online.

The core process is still the same. Students will be asked to provide feedback on their course and professor, but instead of doing it in class towards the end of the term, the online portal provides allows students two weeks to fill it out the evaluation.

Even though evaluation questions for the 2016–17 academic year will follow the same format as the print version, a working group has been set up to utilize the online platform to set up course-specific questions.

Before filling out the questionnaires, information about the Your

Feedback system will be sent to students, instructors and administrators before the feedback period opens.

The first course feedback opened Nov. 18 for most students.

Your Feedback is powered by a program called Blue, a new evaluation system that collects and analyzes data provided by student feedback.

John Doerksen, Western’s vice-provost academic programs and students, who unveiled the system at a University Students’ Council meeting in September, said the online system not only minimizes the impact on the environment, but it offers more flexibility, student engagement and accessibility.

According to the Your Feedback website, in the future, Blue also has the potential to offer “real-time”

feedback, meaning courses could potentially be improved throughout the school year as students fill out questionnaires that help professors make changes accordingly.

In an interview with The Gazette, Doerksen said that the online platform will allow administrators, chairs, directors and deans to analyze and assess bigger data samples to improve teaching and learning outcomes.

“One of the additional things now is that we will have more data,” Doerksen said. “So if we find, for instance, at a university level, that there seems to be a gap in one kind of teaching practice or another as it’s indicated in the questionnaire, through the teaching support centre we can develop programming that’s more targeting to helping professors in those areas.”

Generally, when a professor

receives negative feedback from students, it is reviewed by the professor’s respective faculty and from there they are told what they should continue to do and what they should improve on.

In many cases, professors will change their entire teaching methods based on performance reviews.

For psychology professor Mike Atkinson, course evaluations are imperative.

“Over the years I’ve tried to find better ways to engage with students because of how large the classes are that I teach,” Atkinson said. “So I’ve introduced everything from question boxes to in-class chats as a result of that.”

For Doerksen, the feedback allowed him to improve his instructing style.

“When I was a new faculty member I looked pretty carefully

at the kinds of feedback that I got,” Doerksen said. “I tried to implement changes in the way that I talked so I could be a more effective instructor and that’s actually a refrain that you will hear very widely across campus.”

Improvements can also be made to programs on a widerscale, especially with regards to province-wide reviews where universities look at their graduate and undergraduate programs with respect to learning outcomes and teaching quality. Part of the province-wide evaluations review reports on instructor and course questionnaires.

“I encourage students to take these seriously,” Atkinson said.

“Make sure you fill them out because really it’s one of the only ways that profs get feedback from students.”

www.westerngazette.ca

6 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

opinions

•

Doing things alone builds independence Ellis in Wonderland ELLIS KOIFMAN CULTURE EDITOR @ELLIS_KOIFMAN “Just ate lunch alone, I feel like such a loser,” reads a Facebook post on my timeline.

Why are people so convinced that doing certain activities alone makes them a loser or weird?

I find many things that people are convinced should only be group activities are actually very enjoyable when I’m alone. I’m not opposed to lunch with friends; I just don’t do it exclusively. And neither should you.

Once you start trying things alone, you stop depending on the leadership of others. You start to come up with ideas of what to do without help, manage your own schedule and get comfortable talking to strangers. You also learn about yourself and aren’t limited by appealing to the interests of your friend group. For example, you can finally visit that park you’ve always wanted to take a stroll through or try out that new restaurant that you could never convince others to come to. All of these experiences tie together to create self-love and comfort in your own skin, which are key parts of maintaining good mental health.

I’ve never understood why going to the movies is considered a group activity. You show up, buy tickets, watch the movie in silence and then go your separate ways.

I don’t understand how that’s a social event.

Somehow sitting at home watching Netflix alone for hours on end is socially acceptable, but going to a movie alone makes you a loser. What?

When I go to a movie alone, I don’t have to worry about the details of meeting up with friends, and I can sit wherever I want and watch whatever I want. The worst feeling is being dragged to a movie that you don’t really want to watch just because it’s what the group has decided on it. While it was admittedly awkward at first,

I’ve never understood why going to the movies is considered a group activity. You show up, buy tickets, watch the movie in silence and then go your separate ways. I don’t understand how that’s a social event. once I got used to it, I actually found it to be really relaxing.

Think movie night at home but on a much bigger screen.

The same principle applies to going to a restaurant alone.

I remember the first time I was terrified. I was afraid of judgment from other customers, wait staff and other people who might know me.

But after a while of sitting there, I realized it was practice in being independent and comfortable in my own skin. It also allowed me to focus my attention more on enjoying the food, the atmosphere, the friendliness of the staff and to take time to just read an article or book on my phone. I used to be completely incapable of making small talk or having conversations with strangers, but through my many solo visits to restaurants, that skill has taken a 180 degree turn.

Since then, I’ve realized I prefer going to a restaurant alone, especially if there’s a new place I really want to try.

Again, this doesn’t mean I don’t like going to the movies or to restaurants with friends; I’m just able to enjoy it either way.

Looking forward, these experiences will help me prepare for travelling alone next year. Next school year, I plan on living and working in Asia for at least 11 months. Considering I’ve never gone for more than a few days without seeing either friends or family, this experience will depend on my ability to act independently and be confident in myself.

Doing more “group activities” alone can actually be a lot of fun and teach you about yourself. Who knows, maybe you’ll also find yourself in an unfamiliar place with no one else to rely on but yourself — and being able to rely on yourself is a great feeling.

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTE

It’s about the content — not word choice

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD Last week in the House of Commons, Calgary Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel criticized the Liberals by asking, “Why does this government treat Alberta like a fart in the room?”

Green party leader Elizabeth May objected, “I heard her say a word that I know is distinctly unparliamentary, the word was F-A-R-T.”

gence and finesse, we should all remember that conversations on campus should not be confined to academia. Using colloquial language can widen the breadth of who these discussions are reaching. As university-educated people in a society, we have an onus to go out into the world and explain high level concepts in accessible language.

Their exchange has made news across Canada and even around the world as many now wonder whether Rempel was indeed unparlimentary. While the jury is still out, it’s clear that May’s interjection was unnecessary and juvenile.

We also have an obligation to listen and be challenged in classrooms. There are some words that are horrifying and carry centuries of emotional baggage, and while it’s important to confront these words head-on and break down their significance, we must do so with respect and care.

Sure, Rempel could have picked a better phrase to use, but her passionate speech should not be dismissed. May’s attitude seems emblematic of our wider culture which fails to address the content of an argument and instead focuses in on minute details.

Slurs and other offensive language should not be used for mere shock factor. Being uncomfortable is sometimes part of the learning process but we cannot forget about others in the room that are affected by these discussions.

‘Fart’ may be an unpleasant word, but where do we draw the line? Are there some words that shouldn’t be said depending on the setting?

The Rempel-May exchange shows us that we need to focus more on the content of what others are saying.

Engaging in tough discussions is essential. Dismissing people for their word choice seems strange; challenging their arguments can be stronger.

Language and the way it’s used on university campuses is becoming a hot-button topic in today’s discourse. Even the place academic language has in our classroom has come under the microscope.

Don’t treat difficult topics like a fart in the room that nobody wants to acknowledge. Address them and move forward

While it’s important to discuss things with intelli-

There’s no such thing as a bird course Grace of Spades GRACE TO NEWS EDITOR @GRACE_KTO Students are always concerned about their GPA, making sacrifices regarding their food, sleep and social life as they strive for a 4.0. With schedules packed with classes, club meetings, jobs and extracirriculars, students lead busy lives. So it’s no surprise that when course selection time comes around, students try to pick what others deem “bird courses.”

Bird courses are what students consider to be easy — a low

workload coupled with a high chance of a good grade. Even in the business world, an investment with a low risk and very high return sounds almost too good to be true.

And they usually are.

If you love what you’re learning, you’re automatically going to end up doing well in that course. That’s what high school guidance counsellors and first-year professors have always been encouraging their students to do from the very start: enrol in the courses that you’re actually interested in. Chances are that you’ll have an easier time studying and remembering the material that you like.

Unfortunately, being in specific programs means you need to fulfill certain course requirements, which are likely not bird-like.

Being in the science program, I had to take calculus during my first year. During first semester, the only way I was able to stay on top of the course was to do the homework every single day. It wasn’t enjoyable for me because math wasn’t a subject that I liked, but my efforts paid off and I managed to get a decent grade.

When second semester came around, I got too cocky and didn’t do the calculus exercises that were assigned. I nearly failed the midterm, only to be able getting my final grade back up by going back to doing my math homework every single day—yet again.

In second year, one of my friends recommended that I take a geography course as an elective because it was “easy” and “all memorization.”

According to him, it was labelled as a bird course by many students who had taken it in the past. Although I appreciated his advice, I didn’t end up taking it because I knew that I wouldn’t find the course content interesting. I also knew myself well enough to know that I’m not very good at memorizing information that I don’t care about.

I think it’s important to understand what we’re good at doing and to know what we like to learn because easy is relative. The type

of work that you put into a course varies, but regardless of whichever course you choose to take, hard work does pay off.

It’s good to keep the goal of a high GPA in mind when choosing courses, but it shouldn’t be what’s scaring us away from taking that super interesting class about existentialism or medieval literature.

We came to university to pursue our passions. I’ve come to the realization that amazing things happen along the way when you’re doing what you love.

But if at the end of this you still want to take a bird course, I recommend looking into ornithology.

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.”

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 • 7

sports

Men’s hockey look to overcome tough start CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE All is not well with the Western Mustangs men’s hockey team.

With a 7–3 home loss to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday night at Thompson Arena, the Mustangs extended their losing streak to seven games and fell to 4–7–2 this season.

The win was last-place Toronto’s first of the season, and the players were rightfully jubilant after a shockingly lopsided victory. Much of the credit for this result goes to the Mustangs, who let in three goals in 10 minutes at the start of the game.

“We just have to be better,” said head coach Clarke Singer about the slump his team’s facing. “We have to be better in a whole lot of areas.

We’re not meeting the expectations of the program from the top right on down.”

The Mustangs are indeed falling short of what’s expected of a Western hockey team. After an impressive run to the Queen’s Cup final and the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship last season, they now find themselves in a position where they may struggle to even make the playoffs.

Western’s men’s hockey team hasn’t lost more than four consecutive games in over a decade, according to the Mustangs Athletics’ website. In fairness, they’ve lost to

some good teams over that stretch — Queen’s University, Ryerson University and York University are all near the top of their divisions — but the Mustangs’ losses to Toronto and Royal Military College are inexcusable.

“It doesn’t get much lower than this,” said goalie Justin Tugwell, who came into Friday’s game midway through the first period after starter Luke Peressini got off to a rocky start. “We’re almost at rock bottom.”

Through their seven-game skid, the Mustangs have scored just ten goals. Over their six games before, they managed 18, averaging three per game. Offence has been a problem for Western, who doesn’t have a single player with a double-digits points total.

The Mustangs actually outshot Toronto on Friday, testing goalie Andrew Hunt 34 times, but were unable to find the back of the net as they have been for weeks.

“It starts with the foundation of our game,” said Singer. “Our competitiveness for 60 minutes isn’t there right now.”

There have been bright spots in this slump when the Mustangs have dominated play. Even in a lopsided loss like Friday’s, there were moments when they looked like they could come back. They cut the Blues’ lead down to just one goal in the second period, before the defence broke down again and

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

Toronto re-established their commanding lead.

The Mustangs have wasted a whole host of opportunities recently, particularly on the power-play.

They’ve scored just once with a man advantage during this seven-game losing streak, failing to convert on

27 other chances. Most egregiously, they went 0-for-6 against both York and Carleton University three weeks ago.

Despite the bleakness of Western’s current situation, not all is lost. Their young defencemen, like Jonathan Laser and Rylan Bechtel,

have played well in both ends of the ice but are prone to the mistakes that are characteristic of inexperienced players.

“They’ve got a lot of pride,” said Singer. “We have a good group of young men, and that’s the most important thing.”

NHL should consider three-point system Coach Clarter MAAILAH BLACKWOOD GAZETTE

Men’s basketball can still rebound from three-loss streak MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEATGAZETTE It was a tough start to the season for the Western Mustangs men’s basketball team.

With three straight losses to kick off the 2016–17 campaign, the young and inexperienced Mustangs looked to be on the verge of a major rebuilding year.

The Mustangs are, indeed, young. With only one fourth-year player on the team, the Mustangs lack the college basketball experience of the nation’s top contenders this season.

But after a 53–51 win over Lakehead University on Friday night, the Mustangs’ record of 1–3 is better than it appears.

Two of those losses — their season opening loss to the University of Guelph and their loss to Laurentian University on Nov. 11 — saw the Mustangs blow big leads.

An 18-point lead against Guelph in the second quarter evaporated as the Gryphons surged back with a 29–14 third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Mustangs. The Mustangs lost that game 83–81.

Against Laurentian, the Mustangs again had a large 16-point lead in the second quarter vanish en route to a 77–73 loss to the Voyageurs.

For Eric McDonald, Mustangs

co-captain and the only fourth-year player on the roster, the problems with late-game execution come from a lack of focus and discipline.

“It’s all about finishing the games and focusing in from the start,” McDonald said. “We’re doing little things throughout the game that shouldn’t make it a close game in the third and fourth quarters.”

“There’s so many little things that we can fix, and we will,” he added.

“We shouldn’t be in such a bad spot by those third and fourth quarters, but we just need to want it more.”

After those two close and hardfought losses, the Mustangs hit rock bottom with a disheartening 71–52 loss to Nipissing University on Nov. 12.

For Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell, his squad needs to avoid having bad quarters like they had in their losses to Guelph and Laurentian if they want to move forward and have success this season.

“We have definitely had some poor quarters which have cost us,” Campbell said. “Focus and discipline at times have been an issue.

Some of that I am sure can be directly related to our youth and how many new players we have on our roster.”

Despite the early struggles, the Mustangs are still confident in their inexperienced, if not talented, team.

“We’re doing a decent job of being optimistic,” said Alex Coote, the Mustangs’ other co-captain.

“Those first two games were so close and we could’ve been 2–0 going into that Nipissing game and then that Nipissing game is a completely different story. We still realize the talent we have on this team and realize we’re young and still pretty inexperienced but we’re optimistic about the way things can go.”

The Mustangs won their first game of the season on Friday night, taking down the Lakehead Thunderwolves 53–51. The Mustangs got solid scoring from a number of their young players.

Second-year guard Nik Farkic led Western with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Fellow second-year Eriq Jenkins scored 11 while first-year Omar Shiddo scored eight points.

Coming off the bench, secondyear forward Ian Smart added eight points as the Mustangs finally closed out a game late for the victory.

The win was even sweeter as the Thunderwolves eliminated the Mustangs last season in the Ontario University Athletics playoffs.

But more than the win, and the revenge for that tough 60–58 playoff loss last year to Lakehead, is the fact that the Mustangs now know what it takes to win in the OUA.

CLAIRE PALMER SPORTS EDITOR @CLAIREATGAZETTE In major league sports, winning percentage is everything. In most professional sports, number of wins and winning percentage dictates where you sit in the standings and if you make it to the post-season or not. There are only two notable exceptions: soccer and the National Hockey League. The NHL has adopted a strange system where each team is awarded two points for a win, one for an overtime loss and none for a regulation loss.

The overtime loss point means that a team can have less wins but still be higher up in the standings. For example, the Pittsburgh Penguins have 11 wins but are still one spot ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the overall standings, who have 12 wins. The Penguins, however, have two more overtime losses, giving them two bonus points over the Lightning.

So this is an open letter to the NHL: Please get rid of the pity point.

In international hockey, every game is a three-point game. It’s three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime loss and none for a regulation loss. This adds incentive to try to win games in regulation, and get the full three points. There’s a penalty for having a tie and needing overtime.

With the NHL’s current system, teams are rewarded for how they lose. No matter what, if you make it past the first 60 minutes of the game,

you are guaranteed one point. If you are going to reward teams for how they lose, you should reward teams for how they win.

The three-point system brings more excitement to the game as well.

If a team is tied late in the second during a tight playoff race, they’re going to push hard in the third for the full three points. With the current systems, most teams would settle for overtime and the possibility to earn the full two points.

If the NHL implemented the three-point system today, there’d be a few changes in the standings.

Minnesota, Colorado and San Jose would all be in the top 15 if the NHL were to switch to a three-point system today. Montreal would still be leading the league, but the secondplace Chicago Blackhawks would drop to fifth place. Only Pittsburgh and Montreal would have the same ranking in the two-point system, as well as in the three-point system.

USport, formerly CIS, adopted the three-point system last season in women’s hockey. It was an easy transition — it didn’t change too much.

The games had better finishes as teams were motivated to earn the full three points for a win. It made the playoff race tighter, with only 12 points separating the second place and eighth place (the first place Guelph Gryphons were 12 points ahead of the second place team).

The NHL should consider making the switch. They’re the only league in major league sports who have a system where there are three-point and two-point games, depending on if the game needs extra time.

It’s time to standardize how many points are given out in each game like they do in international hockey.

If it’s good enough for international hockey, and for the Olympics, then it should be good enough for the NHL.

www.westerngazette.ca

8 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

sports

•

SAAMP

Room to grow for athlete mentorship program CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE The difficulty of balancing academics with sports has long been recognized as an issue for Western’s varsity athletes, particularly those in their first year of university. In an effort to smooth the transition for these students, the SSC and Mustangs Athletics created the Student Athlete Academic Mentorship Program (SAAMP).

Last year, varsity rugby player Rebecca Matheson, also a member of the Mustangs Athlete Student Council, approached the SSC was already offering the Leadership and Academic Mentorship Program, but Matheson wanted to create a program more specifically directed to athletes.

Last year, sport and recreation services moved under the umbrella of student experience at Western, which also encompasses the SSC, making it easier to form a partnership.

“The student athletes wanted some kind of mentorship program that would help the first-years adjust to university life by faculty,” says Bonnie Cooper, Western’s varsity sports coordinator.

When the call was put out last winter for upper-year athletes to apply, over 50 students expressed interest. Leslie Gloor Duncan, the SSC’s associate director of transition, leadership and enrichment programs, said that the response from students well exceeded what she had anticipated.

tudent thlete

cademic entorship

rogram DANIEL BODDEN GAZETTE

“We hoped that if we could get 30 student-athlete mentors then that was a good number to start with,” she admitted. “We got close to 50.”

After the application process, the mentors were informed of the resources they can direct to the first-years they’re assigned to. The program is designed to inform new students of community events, like Mustangs Athlete Student Council meetings and Mustangs Care charity work, as well as academic support resources like the Learning Skills Centre and various academic workshops.

“For me, I feel like it was hard to transition in first year,” says current

mentor Nat Takeuchi, who is also a member of the lacrosse team. “I wish I’d had somebody telling me to go to the sessions where they teach you how to take a multiple choice test, and those kinds of things.”

The 50 athlete mentors have been matched with the approximately 200 first-year mentees that showed interest in September. As such, individuals like Takeuchi are assigned to a small group of four or so athletes in the same faculty as them.

Currently, the majority of the communication between mentor and mentees is done through email. Upper-year athletes send out a biweekly newsletter listing all the

upcoming events that may be useful to first-year athletes.

Although SAAMP is still in its early days, the program appears to have a promising future. Takeuchi noted that it has a ways to go in order to fully benefit the first-year athletes.

“I think it has the potential to be [helpful],” she says, “but it’s hard through email because a lot of people don’t reply to their emails.

It definitely has the potential to be.

It still helps to know that somebody’s there for you if you ever have a question.”

With the busy schedule of athletics and school during the fall

semester, the SSC has struggled to schedule program-wide events after the initial orientation in September.

However, SAAMP’s leaders are in the process of planning Christmas social events.

“I think for [the SSC] we’re always looking for niche student populations, and how we can provide enhanced supports for them,” says Gloor Duncan. “Student athletes are a unique population of students with unique needs, so I see it as being an extension of what we already do but offering it in a way that makes sense for the student athlete population.”

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 • 9

culture

The curious case of Western engineering ANNIE RUETER CULTURE EDITOR @ANNIERUETER1

JENNY JAY GAZETTE

David Suzuki calls for prioritizing the environment AMY SKODAK CULTURE EDITOR @AMYSKODAK David Suzuki has a message for Western students — it’s not too late to change your buying habits to help the Earth.

“What we do or do not do in the next few years could very well decide whether or not we survive within the century,” he said.

The Science Students’ Council invited Suzuki to be this year’s keynote speaker on Thursday night at Alumni Hall. As a graduate of London Central Secondary School, Suzuki’s speech was chance for him to return to his old stomping ground.

His speech revolved around four main factors that he feels can’t be ignored when promoting a healthy environment: population, technology, consumption and global economy.

“If you’re going to say it’s too late then shut the hell up,” he said in his opening remark. “We don’t know enough to say it’s too late.”

What Suzuki meant is that nature can be more surprising and stronger than we think, but as human beings, we are the major factor that is wreaking havoc on our planet on a biological scale.

He urged the audience to think twice about the purchases they make and the buying habits they practice.

“We’ve been afflicted with an incredible appetite for stuff [both tactile and technological],” said Suzuki.

“We pay hundreds of dollars to buy jeans with rips in them … I thought clothing was meant to cover up the naughty parts.”

While humorous, his point was clear: the economy enforces consumption habits rooted in disposability and wants rather than needs.

As a child of the Great Depression, Suzuki also noted that overconsumption hasn’t always been the case, but social circumstances affect the way we think.

Suzuki pointed out that he wishes people would almost begin to indigenize their mind — to recognize and respect all that the earth does to keep us healthy and alive.

One way he hopes to instil this is through his grassroots movement, blue dot. The movement encourages local communities to pass municipal declarations for a healthy environment with the hope that provincial and federal decision makers hear the call for action and pass similar bills. Suzuki’s goal is to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Suzuki’s speech was met with a standing ovation followed by a 30-minute question and answer period for those in attendance.

During the Q&A, students expressed concern about Justin Trudeau’s tentative approval of the TransCanada pipeline.

“We can’t continue to allow these fundamental things to suffer with the fluctuations in the political landscape,” Suzuki said.

He explained that the more that people ask about climate change at political debates, the more politicians will care about it and the more things will begin to change.

It all comes back towards changing the way our society views the planet.

“Is the soil a complex community of organism or just dirt? Is a species our biological kin? Is your house your home or just real estate?” he asked.

Suzuki stressed that once we are able to come to the agreement that clean air, water and soil need to take precedence over the economy and that’s when we will heal our planet. Ultimately, his message was clear: building awareness around the way we treat our environment is essential to changing our buying habits to better shape the way we view and care for Earth.

Cronyn Observatory was draped to look like R2D2 a few months ago, but this isn’t even the most outrageous prank Western has seen.

Engineering programs across Canadian universities tend to have unique traditions, and Western is no exception. While many of the traditions are intentionally secretive, there have been a number of historical large-scale pranks at Western that can be attributed to no other faculty than — you guessed it — engineering.

Western engineering professor Peter Castle admits that when he attended Western as an undergraduate student, the engineering students pulled a number of pranks.

Castle, who wrote Expansion & Innovation: The History of Western Engineering, 1954-1999, says the first notable prank took place in 1962. A group of engineers loosened and removed all of the toilet seats from all the buildings on campus — there were only about nine or 10 buildings at the time.

They held the toilet seats for ransom until a donation to the United Way was made.

“It sort of met the criteria of one of our earlier leaders, Professor Stewart Lachlan, who used to have a saying about pranks,” Castle explains. “Number one: they had to be funny. Number two: they should do no harm. And number three: the perpetrators should never be discovered.”

When Western’s engineering program began in 1954, the faculty had some catching up to do; the University of Toronto and Queen’s University had pre-existing engineering programs, both of which established a tradition of pranks.

“With Western being the new kid on the block in engineering, so to speak, there were strong feelings

Bingeing Black Mirror might just give you a headache SAMAH ALI CULTURE EDITOR @SISTERSAMAH PROGRAMME: Black Mirror NETWORK: Netflix SEASONS: Three seasons GENRE: Drama, thriller SYNOPSIS: An anthology series with stories tied together by one common theme: the eerie future of technology.

MY TAKE: Okay guys. Please bear with me as I return to the dark place I entered after binging five episodes in one sitting. I had a headache after, but it was totally worth it.

Black Mirror is by far the best anthology series I’ve watched to date. I’m a huge fan of American

Horror Story, and the concept of a new storyline every episode is incredible. It’s also probably very easy on the production team, so I applaud Netflix for that.

Featuring known and not-soknown actors here and there, each episode takes a concept of technology we have today and escalates it. In fact, if it wasn’t for the minute technological advances in Black Mirror, you would easily believe you are in the same world. Focusing on season three, each hour-long episode keeps you on the edge of your seat and by the time you finish the episode, you›re having an existential crisis — ‘Is this the world we live in now?’

‘Why is my phone buzzing?’ ‘I need to delete all of my social

media accounts now!’

The season finishes off with a 90-minute episode that actually has a sad ending — you know how most shows try to end happily — and still, Black Mirror stands out as one of Netflix›s best shows ever.

Hands down. That’s right, I said it.

The one thing I recommend is to space out your consumption of these episodes. There’s a lot of stimulation, and you end up thinking a lot about how much technology you let into your life.

It’s interesting and addicting, but please consume responsibly.

WORTH THE NETFLIX?: Yes, absolutely.

Please do. Amen. Yes. WORTH THE CHILL?: No. Stop and consider your life instead.

MOSES MONTERROZA GAZETTE

amongst the students that they had to get on board and compete with other universities in terms of carrying on the tradition,” he said.

Today, Western engineering students still carry on a number of traditions, but the faculty and University take a hard line against pranks — largely because the pranks became too dangerous.

“There were, over the years, a number of pranks which were downright foolhardy,” Castle says.

“A famous one was when the engineering students hung a Mickey Mouse face over the clock face of the Middlesex tower. And that was extremely dangerous.”

Caleb Caldwell, a first-year engineering student, values the traditions within the engineering faculty, many of which take place during O-Week.

Being dyed purple, cheering for only the Charity and Music teams, and carrying around a giant fork are all part of the engineering students’ orientation experience.

While being purpled with ‘crystal violet’ dye is a common experience for engineering students at other Canadian universities, Caldwell values the uniqueness of Western’s engineering student experience.

“I’d say that for the sake of my student experience, [the traditions] mean a lot to me,” Caldwell says.

“The customs of a faculty are what distinguish it on campus and are a source of pride for its members.”

Of course, neither Caldwell nor Castle is able to reveal the full extent of the traditions — although Castle does admit he partook in pranks as a student.

While the University and the faculty take a hard line against pranks today, the defining ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude of the faculty will never fully disappear.

Expansion & Innovation: The History of Western Engineering, 1954-1999 is available at Western libraries.

www.westerngazette.ca

10 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

culture

•

Comedy Club cracks up the Beaver Dam AMEENA ABID CONTRIBUTOR @GAZETTECULTURE Three guests arrive at a party.

One claps when she blinks, another shortens his arms each time he asks a question and the third probably should have stayed home because he seems to be physically allergic to parties, sneezing throughout the sketch. Saturday night’s scene served as the opening act to the Western Comedy Club’s first independent improv show of the year.

The first ‘game’ of the night, called “party quirks,” prompted audience members to come up with an idiosyncrasy for each one of the guests attending the party.

The three-actor troupe spent the next few minutes clapping, sneezing and laughing while the fourth tried to guess what was happening.

“You’re very percussive,” the host commented to an applauding party guest while trying to guess what her quirk is.

As more viewers trickled into the Beaver Dam, Kate Ernewein, the emcee for the night and third-year HBA student, welcomed suggestions as to what the comedians should do next.

One scene required the suggestion of a popular movie. The audience responded with Titanic, Spiderman and Gone with the Wind.

Eventually, The Hunger Games won out, prompting the actors to run through the entirety of the movie in under a minute, then again in 30 seconds and finally, a marvel of under 15 seconds.

Although the structure of the ‘games’ are planned, each one is like

MAAILAH BLACKWOOD GAZETTE IS THIS HOW YOU GET YOUR NAILS DONE? Kate Ernewein, Mark Heeney and their fellow scene partners improvise their version of a nail salon.

a mad lib where audience members get to fill in the theme, location or even the gestures that the actors have to work with. Neither the audience nor the actors knew how the scene would unfold, and it’s this uncertainty that makes improv hilarious for everyone — both on stage and off.

“When something cool happens, it’s a whole lot cooler since nobody planned it,” Ernewein said, adding that this is her sixth year doing improv and sketch comedy.

As the night continued, the Beaver Dam filled with laughter

as the audience witnessed a marital squabble between Mickey and Minnie Mouse, a discussion of an assassination plot between a skydiving coach and his client (while balancing solo cups and switching roles) and a conversation between a stressed manager and an employee at Disney World about who Sebastian the crab is.

The night was the result of weeks of preparation from members of the Comedy Club. However, the idea of preparing for an improvised event often stirs some curiosity from people.

“It’s not that we’re rehearsing scenes because that means there’s some sort of script. Rather, we practice activities that exercise skills such as making and accepting offers in a scene or reducing hesitancy when jumping into a scene,” explained Ernewein.

Ernewein, who also serves as the Comedy Club vice-president of events, welcomes interested students to the club. She says a lot of students are hesitant to go because they simply believe they aren’t funny, but Ernewein goes against this notion. The club welcomes all

senses of humour and encourages members to support each other as as they try new things.

“You don’t go to Comedy Club to already be funny or be good at different forms of comedy. It’s where you test things out — you grow, you expand, you become a better person,” said Ernewein.

Improv is a group effort between the individuals on stage and the actors and the audience. Saturday night was a perfect display of how funny that group effort can turn out.

Check out The Western Comedy Club’s Facebook page for more details.

SHACHAR DAHAN GAZETTE STAFF @GAZETTECULTURE

for the SSD. If you don’t plan to do a lot of travelling with your external hard drive, then get an HDD. It will most likely just be sitting on your desk, so there’s no reason to worry about all those moving parts.

To place your classifed ad, please contact us at 519-661-3579 or adoffice@uwo.ca

theGazette EMPLOYMENT

classifieds

GYMNASTICS COACHES REQUIRED. Gymworld Gymnastics is expanding into a new facility in North West London. Recreational and Competitive coaching positions available. Great pay, flexible hours and on a bus route. Please reply to Ildi at info@gymworld.ca.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED LONDON SENIOR SEEKING a volunteer helper to assist with completion of woodworking projects. On Wonderland 10 bus route. Will pay $5/hr for up to 3 hrs help 1 night/wk. Also looking to rent space for woodworking projects in Westmount Shopping Centre area one evening a week. A garage or workshop space would be ideal. Contact Alan 519-660-1442.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Dance Steps DANCE CLASSES Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop Drop in or join a session.

519-645-8515

www.dancestepslondon.ca wdance_steps@hotmail.com 275 Colborne St.

Between York and Horton. Accessible by bus.

SAT. DEC. 3 St. Luke’s Anglican Church, 1204 Richmond St. N at Bernard, Old Fashioned Christmas Bazaar & Silent Auction. 12 noon - 3.00 p.m. Tea Room, chilli lunch available for purchase. Jewellery, books, preserves, marmalade and Christmas baking etc. Enter off Bernard. St. Luke’s is wheel chair accessible.

SERVICES BUSINESS 2257 TUTOR seeking students looking to maximize their 2257 grade. My qualifications include: Achieving a 94% in 2257, 8+ years of tutoring experience, and Economics TA of the Year. Contact: trooney3@uwo.caexperience, and Economics TA of the Year. Contact: trooney3@uwo.ca

PUT YOUR SUDOKU SAVVY TO THE TEST! To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.

For solution, turn to page 3

A computer crash can result in a devastating loss of files. Many students fail to back up their files during the school year, resulting in chaos if a crash occurs.

A few days ago, my friend’s computer crashed. Like many people, he had never taken the time to back up his system. So in loving memory of his lost files, I offer the following options.

External Hard Drive External hard drives are the most common devices for system backup because they’re so simple to use. Just attach the drive via a USB and drag your files over.

Most external drives even come with software, which will automatically perform a complete system backup when plugged in.

Storage space for external hard drives generally begins at 500GB and goes up from there.

There are two types of external hard drives: hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD). SSDs have no moving parts, making them better for travel, but HDDs are much less expensive. For 1TB of storage, you’ll pay about $80 for an HDD, while a 500GB SSD costs around $250. That translates into eight cents per gigabyte for the HDD and 50 cents per gigabyte

USB USBs (also known as flash drives, thumb drives, jump drives, etc.) are great for people who only need to backup their most important documents. A USB is small with no moving parts, making them extremely portable. They range from 512MB to 512GB, but I wouldn’t recommend buying anything smaller than a 32GB. It’s easy to save money on a USB drive — buy one that’s on sale.

Online Cloud Storage Lastly, for those on a student budget, your best bet is to look to online cloud storage. Luckily, there are plenty of options to choose from — Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and iCloud, just to name a few. All of these web hosts provide free cloud storage, serving as great alternatives to the other methods.

Verdict No matter which method you pick, it’s impossible to go wrong. I happen to use all of the above methods. You should use at least one.

www.westerngazette.ca

11 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

games

PHOTO OF THE DAY

•

CROSSWORD BY EUGENE SHEFFER

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTE THIS IS THE END. After enjoying the extended warm weather, we got our first blast of winter. Just like this tree trying to hold onto the few remaining leaves, let’s try and hold on to those memories of a warmer time.

WORD SEARCH

ASSISTED LIVING CONVALESCENT WORD SEARCH DISABILITIES FACILITIES ACCREDITATION HEALTHY ACTIVITIES HOMES ADULT HOSPICE AGING HOUSEKEEPING ASSISTANCE INCAPACITATED BOARDING INDEPENDENT CAREGIVER LEVELS CONGREGATE LIVING WILL CONSERVATOR LONG-TERM

MANAGED MONITORING PALLIATIVE

PHYSICAL REHABILITATION RESIDENTIAL



RETIREMENT ROOM SUPPORT

THERAPIST TRANSPORTATION

For solution go to westerngazette.ca/solution

265 & 267 – UCC BUILDING CREATIVESERVICES-USC.CA 519-661-3578

PRICES STARTING AT $5 SQ/Ft.

NEXT MONDAY ONLY! www.westerngazette.ca

12 • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

NOVEMBER 28 • 7:30 PM

RBC THEATRE @ BUDWEISER GARDENS GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

CALL: 866.455.2849 ONLINE: BudweiserGardens.com VISIT: Courtesy Ford Box Office at Budweiser Gardens

•