Tuesday, January 9, 2018 by Western Gazette

SINCE 1906

westerngazette.ca TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • WESTERN UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER •

VOLUME 111, ISSUE 15 frosty since 1906

LABATT PARK: WORLD’S OLDEST CONTINUING BASEBALL DIAMOND P10

BEATING THE CROWDS AT WESTERN’S REC CENTRE P3

2017 YEAR IN REVIEW

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AFSHINE JAHANGIRI

Volume 111, 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

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AMY O’KRUK @AMYOKRUK MANAGING EDITOR OF DESIGN JORDAN MCGAVIN @JMCGAVIN13

WESTERN TV COORDINATOR CONNOR MALBEUF

GRAPHICS SISSI CHEN KIIJA GARGARELLO COPY PATTY HU LUCAS SONKE

GAZETTE ADVERTISING & COMPOSING IAN GREAVES, MANAGER ADVERTISING DIANA WATSON

COMPOSING MAJA ANJOLI-BILIĆ ROBERT ARMSTRONG

During our conversation together, Ash — as he goes by — answered questions, while also overseeing employees and taking customer orders as the Monday-afternoon crowd filed in and out.

“I actually like the drunk students more than the ones in finals,” he says. “I see it every weekend, and I get a positive energy from them.”

Ash cofounded King Richie’s with his friend, Wahid Barakzai. Ash came up with the idea for King Richie’s when he was working at the now-defunct Pita Pit in the same building, and the owner told him the space was for sale. They had first thought of ‘King of Richmond’ as the name for the business but decided King Richie’s was catchier. “I noticed there was no pizza place between Masonville and downtown, so I thought this would be a good location,” Ash says. “I have a pizza background myself, [having worked at Pizza Pizza and Domino’s] so I decided to roll with it.” Ash and Barakzai split up duties at the pizzeria, and it’s Ash who’s in charge of King Richie’s social media. It was his idea to make a customer wall of fame in the store and use Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for marketing. He says the constant snaps started out as fun, with clips of the employees dancing, customers yelling or pizzas being made from start to finish, but eventually it took off and now he says they have more followers on Snapchat than on Facebook and Instagram combined.

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Ash credits the student community and the pizzeria’s location with its success.

For Ash, the students studying for exams are often short with him, stressed out and more apt to give him a hard time, especially over the phone. Certainly, intoxicated students aren’t perfect, but he says he could only recall two real fights. “One student thought the other was being rude to us and so they rushed to our defence,” says Ash. “Both times, I split them up and told the one who had already got his pizza to go home and that we’d talk when he is sober.” He remembers one student who, once a year, manages to pass out drunk in the store, with Ash once having to carry him into the cab outside. But he says this student, who just “once in a while drinks more than he should.” With any successful business, people often point to expansion, but Ash is not so eager to jump right in. The one shop is enough work for him right now, and another location wouldn’t have the same robust student population around it. “If I change anything now, I might lose business,” he says. “Sometimes change can be good, but ... sometimes keeping it simple is the best thing.” ■■NICK SOKIĆ

Blast from om the past

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OPINIONS RICHARD JOSEPH

INTERACTIVE MEDIA CONNOR CLARK

Given Western University’s reputation as a party school, one might think Ash would have plenty of war stories considering he’s positioned so close to the university, Broughdale Avenue and student housing. Yet, he says the opposite is true.

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CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE

VIDEO LAUREN COLES JOSH MERIFIELD

“I know that when you have a student business in this city, you will be successful, especially [because of] Western.”

SPORTS MIKE DEBOER

PHOTO MICHAEL CONLEY LIAM MCINNIS MAX MAO

In the six years that it’s been open, King Richie’s Pizzeria has become a student institution. This is in part due to of its prime location on Richmond Street, near campus’ main gates and the infamous Broughdale Avenue. But thanks must also be given to the man behind the monarchy: Afshine Jahangiri.

CULTURE NICK SOKIC VIVIAN CHENG CARMEN MALLIA GABRIELLE DROLET

WESTERN TV ASSISTANT COORDINATOR SHANNON MARKS

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NEWS SABRINA FRACASSI GRACE TO MARTIN ALLEN HILL DU KAROLINA JALOWSKA

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE

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MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT RITA RAHMATI @RITARAHMATI

Winter Week 1981 GRACE TO NEWS EDITOR @GRACEKTOE

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.

Frost Week is a fun way for students to usher in the second semester. In 1981, students also celebrated the first week back with festivities, except back then it was called Winter Week. Events during Winter Week included club demonstrations at Centre Spot, sub-sandwich-eating contests, games of golf, snow sculpture competitions and give-away contests. During Winter Week in 1981, dentistry students dominated the snow sculpture competition, landing first place. The Purple Spur Society, the largest club at Western University, even gave away a waterbed. However, organizers expressed concerns about the prize. “The problem we have is that people have the idea that a waterbed is a type of phallic symbol,” said Alex Faust, co-chairperson for prizes. Although Faust continued to emphasize the practicality of a

waterbed, students didn’t take the prize seriously. He further added that proceeds of the waterbed and other raffles would be donated. Back then, The Purple Spur Society organized the Winter Week events and the Homecoming parade and was involved with Shinerama during Orientation Week.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • 3

year in review

When to hit the gym

The best times to go to the Rec Centre according to Twitter

AMY O’KRUK GAZETTE

AMY O’KRUK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @AMYOKRUK New year, new you. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. Instagram erupts with captions reading “starting 2018 right” on New Year’s Eve, and our goals often include sleeping more, eating right and yup — hitting the gym. If you’re a Western University student, the gym means a trip to campus’ 160,000 sq. ft. athletic hub: the Western Student Recreation Centre. And Western students there are. Hoards of them. Every gym rat has their own sworn-by ways to beat the rush, but who really knows? Is January actually more packed than September? What about a Tuesday versus a Wednesday? Does it even matter? It does. The Gazette analyzed close to 10,000 tweets from the twitter account @WesternWeightRm. Running since 2011, student staff tweet the number of students lifting weights and doing cardio each half hour. We collected 12 months worth of data, tweets from October 2016 to October 2017, and crunched the numbers. So what’s the best time, day and month to go to the gym? WEIGHT ROOM The most-packed month is September, with 97 people counted on average in the weight room throughout the month. January comes in a close second at 96 on average, followed by March with 94. For context, the highest number recorded in the weight room throughout the tweets’ one-year span was a whopping 242 people on

Jan. 13, 2017 at 2:34 p.m. Peak times during September saw around 130 people in the weight room. From there, two other trends emerge. Looking at weekdays, students love to hit the barbells and bench press on Mondays, with 98 people on average in the gym during the school year. Sundays see that number drop to 64. Finally, anyone who regularly goes to the Rec Centre won’t be surprised to learn evenings tend to be the busiest. While the weight room counts 55 students on average before 12 p.m., that number jumps to 101 after 6 p.m. Best time to go? Go early and schedule your workouts for later in the week, or at least avoid Mondays. You may also want to take advantage of slightly lower turnouts in the fall before students rush to the weight room during second semester to prep for summer. CARDIO MEZZANINE While the cardio mezzanine follows similar trends to the weight room, there are some key differences. Instead of September, January is the busiest month for students who love to run, stair climb and cycle. The mezzanine is filled with 45 students on average in January, followed by 44 in March and 36 in September and February. Jan. 24 at 7:02 p.m. saw the highest spike, with 181 recorded students doing cardio. Peak times during January attracted around 70 to 80 students. As for day of the week and time of the day, the cardio mezzanine’s numbers were in line with weight

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SEE THE 4 P.M. PG.4

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4 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018

year in review

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All data reflects the average counts of gym goers at the Rec Centre according to different variables like time of day, week and month.

Avg. gym goers

Evening

Afternoon

Morning

100

weight room

Source: @WesternWeightRm

120

Gym goers by time of day Eliminating the summer months between May to August reveals students love to hit the gym later in the day, especially weight room users. The Gazette classified mornings as before 12 p.m., afternoon as before 6 p.m. and evening as 6 p.m. onward.

cardio mezzanine

Avg. gym goers 100 90 80 70

Gym goers by day of the week Accounting for September to April, it’s clear Monday is No. 1 for sweat sessions, with student interest dipping as the week grinds onward to Sunday.

60 50 40 30 20

Sun.

Mon.

Tue.

Wed.

Thu.

Fri.

weight room

Source: @WesternWeightRm

Sat. cardio mezzanine

Avg. gym goers 100 80 60

Gym goers by month Despite an expected dip during the summer, the data shows September followed by January and March as the most in-demand months.

40 20

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

April

May

June

Source: @WesternWeightRm

July

Aug.

Sep.

weight room

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

cardio mezzanine

BOARD AND SENATE ELECTIONS • 2018 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS The Board of Governors will hold elections during February 2018 to elect members in accordance with the provisions of The University of Western Ontario Act (1982). For this election the following members are required: ONE FACULTY MEMBER ONE GRADUATE STUDENT ONE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022 from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019 from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019

Nominations open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 8, 2018 and close at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2018. The names of nominees will be posted on the Board’s election website on Friday, January 26, 2018.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE SENATE The Senate will hold elections during February 2017 to elect members in accordance with the provisions of The University of Western Ontario Act (1982). For this election the following members are required: 28 MEMBERS OF FACULTY ONE MEMBER OF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF FOUR GRADUATE STUDENTS 14 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020 from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020 from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019

Nominations open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 8, 2017 for all constituencies. The deadline for nominations will close at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2018. Nominations for the undergraduate student “At Large” constituency will close at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 2018. The names of nominees will be posted on the election website on Monday, January 29, 2018. Full information on the Board and Senate elections (including the election procedures and schedule, nomination form and voting procedures for each constituency) can be found at: Board elections: www.uwo.ca/univsec/board/elections.html Senate elections: www.uwo.ca/univsec/senate/elections.html

The 4 p.m. rush  CONTINUED FROM PG.3 room tendencies. Monday saw the highest turnout with 42 students on average, falling to 26 on Sunday. Notably, evenings — after 6 p.m. — are almost twice as busy than mornings, with 41 and 24 on average, respectively. Best time to go? Cold and snowy months, such as January and February, mean more students are forced indoors to complete their cardio. Your best strategy is to go before 12 p.m., and avoid Mondays. OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER But while the @WesternWeightRm Twitter account can give us an idea of weight room and cardio mezzanine counts, there are a couple things to note. Gareth Cunningham, associate director of recreation and facilities, said the cardio mezzanine counts don’t always include some designated cardio workout spaces, like the space next to the fitness classes on the second floor or the stationary bikes next to the squash courts. He also said that while Sunday are quieter days, they’re the Rec Centre’s peak day for intramural sports activity, with leagues running from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. across Western’s sport

and recreation facilities. On that note, he said Saturdays tend to be the quietest for the Rec Centre. For students looking to avoid the busiest hour of the day, he also had this tip: during the academic year, 4 to 5 p.m. tends to the be the most frequent time of arrival. From 4 to 9 p.m., the facility averages 250 to 300 members scanning through each hour. That said, the first few weeks of January and September can triple these numbers. During early September, the Rec Centre counted over 1,000 member scans per hour between 2 and 9 p.m. Overall, student interest in the Rec Centre is up. The gym logged nearly 900,000 recorded scans into the facility during 2016-17 and annual numbers are rising, growing 1.5 to 2 per cent each year, according to Cunningham. If all of these numbers seem overwhelming, check out the Statrack. Two Western students created an app that provides realtime weight room, cardio room, and pool stats for the Rec Centre, pulled from the twitter feed. The app predicts whether the numbers are going to increase or decrease in the next while. Regardless, it’s safe to say that resolutiners or not it’s going to be a packed January

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • 5

news

Ahead of the curve: uncovering Western’s academic policies GRACE TO NEWS EDITOR @GRACEKTO It’s not an easy feat to achieve good grades in university. While students work hard for high GPAs, many instructors work to maintain a set class average. To do this, grading on a curve — also known as bell curving — is a common practice. While there are different approaches, generally students’ grades are distributed over a normal distribution with the majority of students receiving a grade close to the predetermined average. In some cases, bell curving can shift an entire class’s grades up or down. First-year engineering student, Niall Murphy, has been on the losing side of this practice. After writing his physics final exam in the summer, Murphy was confident that he would finish with a high grade in the course. But when final grades were released, Murphy was not satisfied. His professor announced on OWL that everyone’s grades had been lowered to meet the department’s set average — an average that had to fall between 65 to 75 per cent. Unhappy with this reasoning, Murphy and his friends appealed to the physics department. After about five weeks, they received a rejection from the department with the same explanation: according to policy, the course average must conform to the department’s set range. Murphy still wasn’t satisfied with this response, so he submitted another appeal to the dean of the Faculty of Science. “The professor never mentioned there was a set average for the course,” Murphy said. “There was nothing about [adjusting grades] in the course outline, ... so I appealed to the dean on the basis that we weren’t given sufficient warning.” Within two weeks, the Faculty of Science’s assistant dean of first year studies notified Murphy that his appeal had been granted and that every student’s final grade would be reverted back to the original. For Murphy, this meant recovering eight per cent in the course. The assistant dean said the decision was reached because the instructor never explicitly wrote in the course outline that grades could potentially be altered. According to the academic policy in the physics department, in order to make grade adjustments, the course outline must contain the statement: “The department of physics and astronomy may, in exceptional cases, adjust the final course marks in order to conform to Departmental policy.” As a university, Western University does not have a general range of set averages, according to John Doerksen, vice-provost of academic programs. He says Western’s administration has no direct influence as to how many people will receive A’s or B’s in a given year or how many will fail out of school. Instead, setting and maintaining averages falls to departments. Despite bell curving, not many students flunk out of university. “We actually have one of the highest retention and graduation rates of all the research-intensive universities in Canada,” reported Doerksen. “Approximately 94 per cent of our students move from

year one to year two.” While Western does not regulate a university-wide average, it releases departments’ undergraduate grade distributions annually. The statistics state the percentage of students who received A’s and B’s and those who received F’s. From the data collected for the 201617 academic year, the Faculty of Science had the highest percentage of students who received F’s at 5.3 per cent, while students attending the Richard Ivey School of Business had lowest percentage of students receiving F’s at 0.6 per cent with 92.3 per cent of students receiving A’s and B’s. According to acting associate dean of science, Ken Yeung, the Faculty of Science does have a set range of class averages to maintain consistency each year. If a class average is considerably higher than the set average, it is brought to the department’s attention. “When the student pool is large, such as over 1,000, we have no reasons to anticipate any significant fluctuations in the overall [class average] from year to year,” said Yeung in an email. “When a class average deviates from the norm, one would logically conclude the evaluation question set being the cause.” Yeung said that the department and its instructors try to avoid making broad adjustments to an entire class and that it’s a last resort. Adjustments will only be made after consulting instructors, course coordinators and the undergraduate chair. Conversely, Mitch Rothstein, professor and chair of the department of management and organizational studies, reported he has never seen a case of shifting grades downwards in his department. However, Rothstein said courses in his department do have averages also set to fall within a range. He clarified that, while other business programs purposely fail a certain number of students, Western does not. Instead, Rothstein believes the department has reasonable progression requirements, such as attaining a certain grade average each year, for students to remain in the program. Professor and associate chair of undergraduate affairs of psychology, Leora Swartzman, said that averages tend to be lower in firstyear classes and higher in upperyear classes. “In some respect, there’s a vetting process,” Swartzman speculated. “Third-year students are probably, on average, better students than first-year students. … So you’re left with a different pool of individuals in upper-year courses.” Swartzman recalled that, when she taught large classes, she would employ an item analysis of exam questions to determine which ones were good discriminators between high-scoring and low-scoring students. If some questions were deemed to be poor discriminators, they would be excluded in future tests. Swartzman said that this could be one of the methods to control for fairness and consistency in the grading process. While Swartzman recognizes that grades matter for students who are aiming to attend graduate or professional programs, she believes

that assigning grades should be based on merit, not on need. Since there are no university-wide standards on set averages, the methods of evaluation can vary greatly for each department and faculty. While set averages vary, the university’s grading scale for undergraduate students is consistent. Officially, a B grade is equal to a 70 to 79 per cent, which is defined as “Good work, meeting all requirements and eminently satisfactory.” Across faculties, a B grade is typically considered to be within the range of set averages, while an A or A+ grade describes that students are submitting superior work or performing above average. In academia, other scoring practices may use the percentile system instead of actual letter or numerical grades. Using percentiles is a common practice in standardized exams, such as the LSAT or the MCAT. While Yeung acknowledged that this system eliminates test-totest variability, it cannot adequately evaluate a student’s eligibility for progression on a pass-or-fail basis. “In a perfect universe, we would love to see every student pass and be able to progress academically,” expressed Doerksen. “Our goal is to support student success wherever we can.” As for bell curving, one reason departments choose it is because it can help prevent grade inflation. The physics department’s policy acknowledges students’ grades must also place each student in the historical context of the course. In other words, an A grade today must be equal to an A received in the same course three years ago. Despite this, Western’s faculty averages still show an increase over the years, suggesting that bell curving may not be able to completely counteract grade inflation. Another reason Western decentralizes its grade distribution to each department is because it helps ensure students are assessed by scholars instead of administrators. Regardless, since current policies differ across the board, departments could do more to be transparent about their practices with students.

JORDAN MCGAVIN GAZETTE

2016-17 Year 1 Arts and Humanities Ivey* Engineering Health Sciences FIMS Medical Sciences Music Science Social Science

Grade (%)

Upper year Arts and Humanities Ivey* Engineering Health Sciences FIMS Medical Sciences Music Science Social Science

100

Grade (%)

Total Arts and Humanities Ivey* Engineering Health Sciences FIMS Medical Sciences Music Science Social Science

Grade (%) Percentage of A’s and B’s Percentage of F’s

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

*Ivey starts in 3rd to 4th year

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6 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018

year in review

•

Senate passes Fall Reading Week Amy O’Kruk Students rejoiced when Western University’s Senate reported that Western would receive a fall reading week. The inaugural fall break took place this past October and a second trial break will take place in October 2018.

Western geese find Reddit fame

Western mourns passing of science student

Western FOCO attendance up, significantly more EMS calls

Family to hold memorial for Western student Saturday

Jordan Peters and conversa

Hamza Tariq

Hill Du

Amy O’Kruk

Karolina Jalowska

Ari Matchen

While Western students have long hated the campus' avian terrorists, in 2017, the geese officially became Reddit famous. A student posted a photo of an aggressive Canada goose attacking another student. The photo gained close to 20,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments.

In late November, Brandon Papp, an upper-year geological sciences student, died. Papp's friends spoke highly of him, describing Papp as kind, creative and caring.

Undeterred by the official late October Homecoming date, many Western students participated in Fake Homecoming 2.0. 2017's FOCO attendance was 11,000 — approximately 1,000 higher than in 2016 — and resulted in 33 EMS calls around campus.

Cara Farquharson, a second-year nursing student, died in November. Farquharson's family and friends shared their memories of her prior to her memorial.

Controversial U Toronto profess Peterson paid a back in March. group, Young C Action, invited some students about it.

Amy O’Kruk Amy O’Kruk is the Editor-in-Chief of the Gazette. In 2017, her articles generated over 40,000 pageviews.

GRAPHIC/LAYOUT BY KIIJA GARGARELLO GAZETTE

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son is coming ations are stirring

University of sor Jordan a visit to Western A new Western Canadians in Peterson, but weren't happy

TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • 7

Spoke reopens to students after $1-million reno

Team DiBrina appeals explained

Tobi on top: Team Tobi wins USC elections

Western students to celebrate FOCO

Michael Conley

Hamza Tariq

Karolina Jalowska

Home of campus' most beloved bagels and celebrated Western icon, Rick McGhie, The Spoke got a $1-million renovation over the summer of 2017, re-opening just in time for students in September.

The 2017 University Students’ Council elections didn't end on results night. Runners-up Team DiBrina submitted seven appeals to the USC appeals board challenging Team Tobi's conduct during the elections. Prior to the hearing, this Gazette article summarized each appeal.

Rita Rahmati, Amy O’Kruk

Students to replant Broughdale grandma's' garden after FOCO destruction

Karolina Jalowska

With nearly 900 likes, 70 omments and 70 shares, this was he Gazette’s most popular article.

Last year, three slates vied for positions as the 2017-18 president and vice-president of the USC. Team Tobi came out on top with 4,261 votes, beating the second-place slate, Team DiBrina and third place slate, Team Jan/Mohammad.

One year after Western University's administration changed the Homecoming date to late October, thousands of students vowed to celebrate Homecoming in September for the second year in a row.

Laurier University vs. Western University: St. Paddy's 2017 Connor Malbeuf, Rebecca McLaren and Connor Clark Western TV decided to head to Wilfrid Laurier University for St. Patrick’s Day. Things got wild and the video ended up being Western TV’s most popular.

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8 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018

year in review

•

meet the Gazette’s 2017 Student of the Year:

Greg Clark

Comments from students who nominated Clark

Greg is the person that doesn’t have a bad thing to say about anything ever. He could literally step in dog poo and ruin his shoes and someway would find the good in it. Greg brings so much joy and laughter into every single thing he does. I’m so grateful to have Greg as a friend, and he deserves to win so that he can be recognized for how much happiness he really does bring to his community.

Greg is the light of every room. He walks in, and it is impossible not to smile. Being on the social science soph team, he has been able to truly impact all those around him and most importantly, help integrate first-year students into their life at Western. Greg is truly deserving of this award for all that he has done for everyone around him. Greg is a caring, compassionate and charming individual who does not seek the spotlight of others attention, yet garners it wherever he goes. With a trademark smile and stature that can be seen from any distance across campus, Greg simply makes everyone’s day. I can think of no person more representative of the spirit of Western than Greg Clark.

VAPE & 420

519.601.4700

smokelessjoes.com TUE-FRI 11-8 • SAT-SUN 11-7 208 Piccadilly St., UNIT 4

Solution to puzzle on page 11

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

JORDAN MCGAVIN Greg Clark sits outside MedwaySydenham residence, where he lived during his first year as a frosh and second year as a soph.

RITA RAHMATI MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT @RITARAHMATI

When peers nominated Greg Clark for Student of the Year, he brushed it off. “I was definitely surprised,” he said. “I kind of laughed it off. I thought, ‘Oh well, that’s not going to happen.’” On paper, Clark is pretty much your average Western University student. He gets decent marks, and he’s involved in a few extracurriculars. He’s a third-year criminology student, and in his spare time, he sophs and plays on the Greg was a soph in varsity wrestling team. While many Med-Syd when I was a frosh, describe him as a quiet guy, he makes and I can honestly say he made my time for his friends — a lot of time. experience in first year better than I Second-year chemistry student ever thought it could have been. Greg Matias Wharton can attest. Last is a caring and generous person who year, Wharton was extremely nervhas nothing but love for the people ous after he applied to be a soph, and around him! He deserves this. Clark volunteered to sit with him as he waited for the call. “He just sat in my room with me because he knew how nervous I was,” Wharton said. “I really appreciated him being there, even though I didn’t ask him to.” As another student nominHe’s literally the most kind, loving, ator wrote, “Greg is the person generous and hilarious human being. that doesn’t have a bad thing to Greg is a testament to being true to say about anything ever. He could who you are and showing others that literally step in dog poo and ruin being yourself is honestly the best his shoes, and someway he would find the good in it.” thing to be. I want to be like Greg! Student after student chimed in, saying Clark is the type of guy who’s always there for the people around him. With rates of stress and anxHe is the greatest iety higher than ever among university students, Clark’s attitude is refreshing. He refuses person and spreads so to lose sight of a bigger picture. While Clark thinks much joy to everyone school’s important, it’s not everything. he encounters on “I like to be the guy who makes people feel good. campus! Whether they’re down, or even if they’re feeling good already, just kind of keep it up,” Clark says. Clark credits his team mentality to playing sports while

I always felt that, even though he was a bit of a quiet guy, no matter what, he was always going to be there for me if I ever needed him. MATIAS WHARTON A SECOND-YEAR CHEMISTRY STUDENT AND GREG CLARK’S FORMER FROSH

growing up. He became interested in wrestling while at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham, Ont., an athletics-focused school. Although wrestling sometimes contrasts Clark’s happy-go-lucky attitude and gentle demeanour, he enjoys the challenge of working towards a common goal as a team. Clark also brings this attitude to sophing. His contributions to the campus community are most evident through his previous work as a residence soph in Medway-Sydenham Hall and his current work as an off-campus Faculty of Social Science soph. A large inspiration behind Clark’s decision to become a soph was his positive interactions with his sophs Maggie Sullivan (A.K.A. Wizz) and Monica Ha (A.K.A. Shakes). “They were good at showing me that you don’t have to be a really loud, outgoing person all the time [to be a soph]. It’s about what you do for the frosh in terms of as a friend.” Clark says sophing gave him a purpose at Western. Understanding the impact he can have on first years, he tries to lead by example. Ultimately, although Clark’s there for people in stressful situations, he’s a big believer in keeping a positive attitude. Clark isn’t the most involved student, nor does he stress over his grades, but he’s managed to have a profound impact on those around him, and he sets an example for all Western students on balancing school and happiness. “Although you’re here for school to get a career, you want to be able to look back at it and have a lot of good memories and good times.”

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • 9

sports

Mustangs teams to watch for this winter season CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE

Back in December, we looked back on some of the Western Mustangs’ highlights for the 2017 fall semester. Now, with the 2018 winter season starting, it’s time to see which teams are worth keeping an eye on over the next few months. WOMEN’S HOCKEY The Mustangs knew coming into this season that they needed to be good, perhaps more so than usual. That’s because Western is hosting the U Sports national women’s hockey championship in March, and the host team automatically qualifies. Unfortunately, unlike with the Canadian Hockey League and the Memorial Cup, the Mustangs can’t stack their team through trades leading up to the tournament. Instead, they’re relying on the talent already in the dressing room. Thankfully, there’s plenty of that. In fact, Western might be in the mix for the national championship even if they weren’t guaranteed to qualify. The Mustangs have 31 points this season, good for second in the OUA, behind the Queen’s Gaels. Western’s powerful offence is led by third-year, April Clark who’s first in the league with 11 goals. Rookie goaltender Carmen Lasis is holding down the fort in the back end, with a .924 save percentage and a 1.88 goals-against average. Even though they’ll be at nationals anyway, the Mustangs would certainly like to make a splash in the OUA playoffs this winter. TRACK AND FIELD At last year’s U Sports championship, the Mustangs hung around with all the country’s heavyweights. The women’s track team came third overall, and the men finished fourth. With a new year just beginning, coach Vickie Croley and the Western team will hope to improve their 2017 results. The season had a promising start in December, when the Mustangs claimed 53 medals at the Bob Vigars meet. Plenty of new contenders have emerged for Western, including Emilia Grala, a former high jumper who, in her fourth-year, decided to compete in the pentathlon. Michael Petersen, who recently transferred from Fordham University (an NCAA Division I school in New York), looks to be a force in the 600-meter run. Both the men’s and women’s teams won the 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relays at the season-opening meet, and Mustangs athletes dominated the shot put and weight throw competitions. The Mustangs have a lot of medal-hopefuls for the OUA and U Sports championship meets, which will take place in late February and early March in Toronto and Windsor, respectively. MEN’S BASKETBALL The 10-2 Brock Badgers seem to be running away with the OUA West Division, but the Mustangs have a lot to play for this winter. They’re second in the division, currently .500 with a 6-6 record. That may not be particularly impressive on its own, but when you consider their performance at

this point last season, it’s a different story. Western has quickly turned into a plucky team that can make some noise come post-season. Of course, they’ll still find it hard to challenge the likes of Brock or the undefeated Carleton Ravens, but things are looking up for the Mustangs. They’re one of the stronger defensive teams in the OUA, sitting sixth, with an average of 73 points against per game. Offensively, they’re led by second-year Eriq Jenkins, who’s putting up 12.8 points per game and shooting 42 per cent from the field. Western started the new year with a 78-76 win on Friday over the Laurier Golden Hawks. They’ll hope that’s a sign of good things to come in the next couple months. MEN’S SQUASH The squash team is always a team to watch at Western. It’s been 35 years since the men’s team lost an OUA championship, and this year, they expect to be just as dominant as always. They’ve been good so far this season, winning plenty of competitions before the break. The Mustangs finished the fall semester with wins over Laurier, Guelph and Waterloo at the Jesters event. At the end of November, they went toe-to-toe with some strong competition from the U.S., beating Cornell University and Williams College. This year, the Mustangs are led by some young talent, with second-years David Mill and Matt Henderson coming off dominant performances at last year’s OUAs. Gavin Maxwell has also been a key member, standing out against Cornell in particular. The OUA competition will take place during the second weekend in February at Queen’s University, where Western will be trying to defend the title they’ve held for more than three decades. WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL As usual, the women’s volleyball team is a contender in the 2017-18 season. They’re second in the West Division (despite playing two fewer games than some of their rivals) with a 5–2 record. When the season resumes on Friday at Ryerson University, the Mustangs will try to improve on a three-game winning streak that dates back to Nov. 17. They finished the fall semester with some high-calibre performances, beating both Queen’s and the RMC Paladins in straight sets. Statistically, the Mustangs are all over the OUA leaderboards. Kelsey Veltman is third in the league with 3.33 kills per set. Kat Tsiofas is second with 8.71 assists per set. Western is also the best blocking team in the province, with Veltman and Danielle Grasman sitting first and second with 1.56 and 1.13 blocks per set, respectively. Western had a Cinderella run last season, qualifying for the U Sports championship and finishing sixth in the country. This year, they could be even better, with plenty of young talent in players like secondyears Melissa Langegger and Carly Kimmett. Just four of their 12 remaining regular season matches will be in London, so they’ll be in hostile territory for much of the 2018 home stretch.

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE Eriq Jenkins leads the Mustangs with 12.8 points per game.

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE Defenceman Emma Pearson attempts to steal the puck during a game against the Windsor Lancers on Oct. 14, 2017.

JORDAN MCGAVIN GAZETTE Kelsey Veltman leads the Mustangs with 4.9 points per set and 1.56 blocks per set.

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10 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018

feature

The history of

•

London’s Labatt Park

LABATT PARK THE WORLD’S OLDEST BASEBALL GROUND 1877 Park opens

1883 First flood A severe flood on the Thames river killed a dozen people and caused extensive damage, including to the park's original grandstand. Following the flood, the park was rearranged to accomodate a new grandstand. During this time, the home plate was moved from today's left-centre field to the location it sits today.

The London Tecumsehs win 5–1 in the first-ever game at the park, then known as Tecumseh Park. The park was named after Shawnee chief Tecumseh who fought alongside the British during the War of 1812.

1920 Ty Cobb Hall-of-Famer, Ty Cobb, comes to London with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers beat the Tecumsehs 5–4.

1937 Second flood The Thames reached its highest recorded level in April, 1937, rising to 21 feet six inches above mean summer flow. The park's grandstands were once again destroyed, necessitating the construction of the park's third grandstand and a new clubhouse. The local Labatt Brewing Company donated $10,000 to renovate the park and from this point on the park was known as "The John Labatt Memorial Athletic Park."

1975 Majors win IBL championship The London Majors win the Intercounty Baseball League championship, their most recent title.

1948 Majors win Sandlot World Series The London Majors, of the Intercounty Baseball League, defeated the Fort Wayne (Indiana) General Electrics in a best-of-seven series to win the National Baseball Congress' Can-Am North American championship. The 1948 London Majors team is considered to be one of the best amateur men's baseball teams of all time.

CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE Standing on the bank of the Thames River since 1877, London’s Labatt Memorial Park, called home by the Western Mustangs and London Majors, is the world’s oldest baseball ground. There’s an aura of history around the ballpark that you can’t find anywhere else. Aside from Western University, no other Canadian school can say its ball players take their cuts in the same batter’s box where Ty Cobb once did or that they pitch off a mound once graced by Fergie Jenkins. One of the greatest hitters of all time and the first-ever Canadian in the Hall of Fame are just two of the many legends to pass through Labatt Park. The experience is on par with any great minor league ballpark. The second you walk out of the tunnel and into the stands, you’re hit with the full force of its charm. There’s a huge sugar maple tree just inside the gates that predates the Confederation of Canada. Many a family has spent a summer afternoon at the surrounding parkette and picnic tables. “You have that feeling when you get out there that you’re walking on a hallowed ground,” says Scott Stafford, a former London Majors player and London’s current managing director of parks and recreation. “You literally stand at home plate and look out over downtown. It’s just a beautiful thing to see; we take great pride in that.” Tucked away in a residential neighbourhood across the river from downtown London, Labatt Park is a titan of Canada’s rich sporting history. Despite its pedigree, the park doesn’t

1984 Fergie Jenkins

1996 Provincial Heritage Site Labatt Park becomes a protected site under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Legendary Chicago Cubs (and Canadian) pitcher, Fergie Jenkins, comes to London to play a season with the London Majors.

2001 Canada Summer Games

2005 Mustangs win OUAs The Western Mustangs win their first Ontario University Athletics baseball championship with a 2–1 victory over the Brock Badgers. Labatt Park has been the home field of the Mustangs baseball team since 2006.

Labatt Park hosts baseball at the Canada Summer games and the 1937 grandstand is rebuilt to better accomodate the fans. This is the third time the grandstand is rebuilt, and it is the same grandstand that sits at the park today.

2008 Guinness World Record Guinness World Records officially recognizes Labatt Park as the world's oldest continually operating baseball ground.

JORDAN MCGAVIN GAZETTE

always get its due. Barry Wells, 63, is a semi-retired freelance journalist and a longtime supporter of the park. He has fought tirelessly for the park’s place in the annals of baseball lore. In 1993, Wells founded the Friends of Labatt Park with the intention of having the stadium designated a Provincial Heritage Site in Ontario. The group achieved its goal a year later, but their work in protecting the interests of the park hasn’t slowed since. Wells always has something going on, whether it’s working on his section of an upcoming book, The IBL — 100 Seasons Strong, or defending the park against rival historians from the United States. Of course, Wells wouldn’t call it work. “It’s a fun place; it’s a happy place,” he says. “It’s open air. There’s grass. You go down there, and everyone has a good time even if you don’t like baseball. It’s a social outing. Shoot the shit. If you miss a couple innings because you’re talking to a friend, who cares.” One person who grew up around it all is Mustangs second baseman and London native, Matt Bowden. He’s been playing at Labatt Park for years, even for Little League Baseball teams. Although he and a few other Mustangs that grew up in London may take it for granted, he sees that visiting players are always impressed. “You get all these players that come here from out of town, and it’s kind of a whirlwind for them. They see this place and it’s like ‘wow’,” he says. “But this is what we’ve always been playing at. It’s definitely a treat to be able to play there all the time.” The home of the Mustangs (although not in 2017 due to construction at the park in September) is easily the largest and oldest

You have that feeling when you get out there, that you’re walking on a hallowed ground. SCOTT STAFFORD

FORMER LONDON MAJORS PLAYER AND LONDON’S MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION. baseball venue in Ontario University Athletics. Bowden points out that it’s the only diamond in the league with seating all the way down both baselines, and its grass field is probably the nicest in the country, thanks to the professional grounds crew. In 1990, the park was named “Beam Clay Diamond of the Year” for the best-kept field in North America. “You get that true professional atmosphere,” adds Bowden. Despite it all, Labatt Park hasn’t always received the recognition it deserves. In 2007, for example, Fuller Field in Clinton, Mass., was named the world’s oldest baseball diamond by Guinness World Records. Wells and the Friends of Labatt Park fought to have that rectified. “Fuller Field had documentation going back to 1878, but Labatt Park opened up on May 3, 1877,” explains Wells. The basis of the Massachusetts stadium’s objection is that Labatt Park’s home plate was moved after a flood in 1883 from the current left centre field to where it is now. Regardless, there’s been baseball on the site for all 140 years of its existence, making it the world’s oldest continuously used field (which Guinness has recognized since 2008).

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International recognition for the park remains tenuous. In the midst of its 140th anniversary celebrations in 2017, Labatt Park faced backlash from a U.S. baseball historian who claimed the stadium had no baseball team for 40 years. The historian in question, Joe Santry, made his case in an interview with Global News. He stated that no team called Labatt Park home for 40 years, but he didn’t specify when that was (or if they were 40 consecutive years). That claim didn’t sit well with people like Wells. Incredulous at the thought of such a gap, he says definitively that there’s been baseball at Labatt Park every year since 1877. “The Americans think they own the game of baseball,” adds Wells. But Ontario was always a historical hotbed for the sport. The great Babe Ruth hit the first of his many professional home runs at Hanlan’s Point Stadium on the Toronto Island. In fact, historians generally accept that the first documented game of baseball was played in Beachville, Ont., 40 kilometers down the road from London. Labatt Park’s significance to baseball extends well beyond its age. In the early days of the pro game, London was right at the centre of it all. According to Wells, the London Tecumsehs (who played at the stadium when it was known Tecumseh Park) were founding members of the International Association for Professional Base Ball [sic] Players in 1877. The Tecumsehs, one of two Canadian teams at the time, were the inaugural champions of what’s now considered the world’s first minor league. Of the many episodes in Labatt Park’s history, perhaps none are more impressive than the 1948 London Majors season. With a serious claim to the epithet “greatest amateur team of all time,” that world-beating Majors squad took home the North American National Baseball Congress championship. That team will celebrate their 70th anniversary next fall. London took down the heavily-favoured Fort Wayne General Electrics in a tense seven-game amateur World Series. Tagged as the underdogs throughout, the Majors fought back from a 3–2 series deficit, taking the crown in a heart-stopping seventh game at Labatt Park. In those days, Londoners went nuts for the Majors. A capacity crowd of 5,000-plus packed into Labatt Park

LONDON FREE PRESS ARCHIVES A 1948 ad in the London Free Press promoting the North American Sandlot championship between the London Majors and the Fort Wayne, Indiana, General Electrics.

for every game, making the $1 entry fee the hottest ticket in town. According to a Sept. 30, 1948 London Free Press article, Majors fans were turned away at the stadium, prompting a flood of calls to the newspaper’s office asking about the score. “Citizens in all walks of life, right from Mayor George Wenige down to a ragged urchin, who spends most of his time hawking newspapers, they all wanted to know how the Majors made out,” wrote Eisen. “Majors 5, Fort Wayne 0, they were told! Their gasps of cheerful surprise were really something to hear.” Although it may be the apex of baseball history in London, the 1948 title is by no means the only chapter in the city’s illustrious relationship with the sport. “Every decade is a different vibe,” says Wells. “There was a time when there was no TV, so on a Friday night, you went down to Labatt Park.” Several pro teams have called Labatt home over the years, most recently the London Tigers, who left in 1993. As for whether a pro team will ever return to the city, though, Wells is on the fence. “The problem with pro teams is when they do a home stand, they have four or five games in a row,” he says. And consistently seating several thousand fans isn’t feasible for a city the size of London. So maybe London will never again be the baseball-world titan it was in the early twentieth century, but Labatt Park isn’t going anywhere. The oldest part of the park, the Roy McKay Clubhouse — standing behind the bleachers since 1937 — is protected from any meddling under the Ontario Heritage Act. The clubhouse, which Wells likens to stepping back in time to the 1930s, is still in use today, serving as the dressing room for the Mustangs. As for what’s next for the park, there’s plenty to come. Stafford says the city has plans to modernize the facilities, particularly the concession stands and dugouts. “We want to bring a little bit of a modern feel to it while still keeping that historic look,” he explains. Wells wants to have it designated as a national historic site, rather than just a provincial one. He says it’s a fairly straightforward process, and it can probably be done within the next couple of years. National recognition would be another feather in the park’s cap, putting it on a list alongside hundreds of other locations with key significance to Canadian culture and history. Not many sports facilities get such an honour; the only other in Ontario is Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. The future seems bright for London’s jewel of a stadium, and Wells, Stafford and Bowden agree that it’s worth celebrating. To Bowden, the park is firmly entrenched in the London community, even if it’s unknown to the city’s student population. “The park kind of being off campus, it doesn’t truly get appreciated by the student body,” he admits. “When we play there there’s not too many people that would come out and watch and stuff like that.” He says Labatt Park is a key part of the city of London’s identity. In his view, the park gives London something unique to call its own. “London’s always looking to imitate other cities; they want to be Toronto, they want to be Pittsburgh,” he says. “Be London. You’ve got something here that no other city in the world has.”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 • 11

COURTESY OF LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA 1878, Tecumseh Park — a baseball game between the Tecumsehs and the Stars of Syracuse. The park would not come to be known as Labatt Park until 1937.

LONDON FREE PRESS ARCHIVES The London Majors after winning the North American championship featured on the front page of a 1948 issue of the London Free Press.

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12 • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018

games

PHOTO OF THE DAY

GAZETTE CROSSWORD

JORDAN MCGAVIN SNOW MUCH FUN. A group of sledders take to University College Hill for an afternoon of frolicking, Jan. 6.

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For crossword solution, see page 11

GOLDEN GREASE HONEY

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