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RONALD CHOW

Volume 111, Issue 27 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 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT RITA RAHMATI @RITARAHMATI NEWS SABRINA FRACASSI GRACE TO MARTIN ALLEN HILL DU KAROLINA JALOWSKA CULTURE NICK SOKIC VIVIAN CHENG CARMEN MALLIA GABRIELLE DROLET SPORTS MIKE DEBOER CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE

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For our interview, second-year medical sciences student Ronald Chow booked off 45 minutes in his calendar, from 1 to 1:45 p.m. He budgeted 25 minutes of walking time; he arrived in 23.

Chow is a meticulous organizer. His life’s strictly regimented for maximum productivity, and it shows.

His resume is downright extraordinary: he’s written or contributed to over 180 peer-reviewed papers, 60 published abstracts, 50 book chapters and 12 honest-togoodness books. Oh, yeah, and he’s only 19 years old.

Still, he’d never tell you about it, unless you asked with the dogged tenacity of a journalist on a deadline. Chow keeps a low profile, modest about his accomplishments and careful not to overstate them.

“There’s more beyond the numbers,” he says. “It’s not just reads — it’s the impact, what it does to the community.”

Chow had an early start with research, kicking off in the summer of his Grade 8 year. Driven to do well by others, he quickly found himself drawn to the flourishing field of oncology: in elementary school, he lost friends to cancer.

As well, Chow was inspired by his father, who is a radiation oncologist himself. An immigrant from Hong Kong, Chow’s father worked long and hard to attain a position in Canada. For some 20 years, he trained for the job of radiation oncologist. Chow recalls how his father, after sleepless nights working on his Master’s and PhD, would struggle to keep his eyes open as he drove him to school.

“Watching this was an inspiration,” he says. “I was just really astonished that someone worked so hard to help other people.… I think that was amazing to see.”

He internalized his father’s philosophy of helping others,

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

Still, not everything is set in stone. In some aspects of his life, Chow is happy to just kick back and enjoy the show.

“When I’m doing stuff like schoolwork, I invest a lot of time and effort to meticulously plan,” he explains. “But my music choices — I just let it be. I get in the car, turn on the radio, and it happens to be Top 40. And suddenly I’m like ‘Oh, I kind of like this.’ ” Chow takes care to point out, too, that he’s not special in and of himself: he was fortunate to get involved in research early, he says, and fortunate to have supportive parents. Beyond that, there’s no trick, no shortcut. Just dedication and careful planning. Sometimes, he admits, he does feel slightly out of place on a campus with such a reputation for partying.

“I’ll be sitting at home on a Friday night, working on research papers, and I look out the window, and I’m like, ‘oh, wow,’ ” he says. “That’s Western. Everyone’s out right now, and I’m sitting in my bedroom, doing work.… I’m just an outsider, temporarily passing by all these people who have made themselves at home.”

At every institution, though, there are like-minded people, and Chow has a core group of friends with similar aspirations. In the long term, too, it will be worth it; he hopes to become a clinician, where he can fulfill his dream of helping others through treatment and research alike.

■■RICHARD JOSEPH

Volume 111’s swan song Dear reader,

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.

and today it’s his driving passion. Chow is a board member for the Children’s Ministry Committee at his church where he helps organize the Sunday service for some 200 children. He does all this from London, which means a lot of Skype calls and back-and-forth emailing to coordinate details, but Chow manages with the help of his ironclad schedule.

You’ve picked up the last issue of Volume 111. The last one — kaput, finito.

Truthfully, I want to scream. I want to rain these pages down from the top floor of the University Community

Centre and shake passing students by their shoulders.

I want to yell, “This mattered!” “I cared!”

I want to whisper, “I’m not ready to go.”

And there it is. I was editor-in-chief of this paper, but it’s time for me to leave Western University, just as we all do eventually. I spent the year trying to deeply report on our community. I hope when you picked up an issue or read our stories online, you saw yourself reflected — a varsity athlete, a researcher, an

entrepreneur or a completely normal, everyday student: the kind who studies in D.B. Weldon Library or waits in the long Ceeps line (somethings I won’t miss).

Most of all, I want to thank you. Thank you for caring about this campus and for reading the Gazette. I strove to honour that, and every story was penned and published with you in mind.

It’s been a privilege.

■■AMY O’KRUK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VOLUME 111

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 3

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University faculty unions express concern for precarious contract faculty NATHAN LEILI CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE Faculty associations from Western University and Ontario gathered on April 3 to discuss the results of a study that had overwhelming support of more fair working conditions for university teaching staff in relation to the increasing use of contract labour.

The event took place in Talbot College with representatives from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association.

The meeting showcased the results of a recent study, commissioned by OCUFA, which explored Southwestern Ontarians’ views on precarious labour in the classroom as well as quality of

The problem is that these same faculty, who are often key to their programs and their departments, are not receiving the same pay as their full-time colleagues.... They have very little job security, if any, and very little access to benefits, and it’s just simply not fair.

GYLLIAN PHILLIPS PRESIDENT OF OCUFA

education. The study had roughly 2,000 respondents and revealed the following: • 68 per cent of southwestern Ontarians prefer that securely employed faculty teach university classes • 76 per cent at least somewhat agree that declining working conditions would negatively affect the quality of education • 89 per cent at least somewhat support the idea that contract professors should receive the same pay as their full-time colleagues for teaching the same courses OCUFA, which represents 17,000 academics in Ontario, included faculty members and librarians at Western, who presented the data within the context of their push to secure better working conditions and opportunities for non-tenured professors.

UWOFA is preparing to negotiate a new collective agreement with the university later this month.

Steven Pitel, president of UWOFA, said they will be pursuing different goals, including compensating part-time members for extra contractual duties, ensuring parttime faculty are paid fairly relative to their full-time colleagues and ensuring experienced part-time faculty receive salaries that recognize their teaching experience.

Negotiations are scheduled to start later in April, with the current faculty agreement expiring on June

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO FACULTY ASSOCIATION’S FACEBOOK PAGE Western law professor and UWOFA president Stephen Pitel spoke at the faculty associations’ event on April 3.

30, 2018.

Gyllian Phillips, president of OCUFA, noted there has recently been a steep rise in the use of contract faculty in academic settings.

OCUFA estimates that since the year 2000, the number of courses taught by contract faculty has doubled. Phillips said that over 50 per cent of courses at Ontario universities are taught by contractually or precariously employed faculty.

“The problem is that these same faculty, who are often key to their programs and their departments, are not receiving the same pay as

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their full-time colleagues.... They have very little job security, if any, and very little access to benefits, and it’s just simply not fair,” Phillips said.

This increased use of contract faculty in classrooms may be related to decreases in funding from the Ontario government.

Phillips stated that over the course of the last 10 years, Ontario’s funding of post-secondary education has dropped significantly, with Ontario’s current per student funding being the lowest in the country. He also called on the

provincial government to do more for post-secondary education Pitel acknowledged that, while the lack of funding is part of the problem, the university should make a greater commitment to providing good jobs for teachers.

When asked about the potential TA strike, Pitel commented that TAs and professors are expressing similar concerns about precarious work. UWOFA has publicly pledged its support for Public Services Alliance of Canada Local 610, the organization that represents Western’s graduate TAs.

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Family of student killed by drunk driver suing Western, USC in $7-million claim MARTIN ALLEN NEWS EDITOR @_MARTINALLEN The family of the student who was killed by a drunk driver in 2015 is suing Western and the USC for negligently serving alcohol to the driver at The Spoke.

The Gazette found the Statement of Claim during a routine records search at the London courthouse.

In September 2015, Andrea Christidis was struck and killed by a car operated by Jared DeJong, a then 24-year-old London man. At the time, 18-year-old Christidis, a first-year health sciences student, was walking home from a study group near Talbot College.

In 2016, a judge sentenced DeJong to five years in prison with a 10-year driving ban.

The family filed a civil suit in October 2017, claiming the University Students’ Council, Western University, DeJong and his father are liable for Christidis’ death and its consequent damages.

On the night of the collision, DeJong drank at The Spoke for three

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to four hours; the family alleges The Spoke was negligent in serving DeJong alcohol up to or beyond intoxication, allowing him to leave unimpeded to his car and failing to notify police he was driving drunk.

At the time of the incident, DeJong had over twice the legal limit of blood-alcohol content.

The suit cites provincial legislation, which dictates liquor cannot be sold to someone who is, or appears to be, intoxicated. Bars have been held liable in Canada for injury caused by their intoxicated patron.

Further, the suit claims the bar failed to exercise “due care and skill” in its operation and that it did not properly implement a system to train servers about the dangers posed by drunk patrons.

The USC declined to comment on the proceedings due to legal reasons. Both the family’s and the administration’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

None of these allegations have been proven in court; this report is based on publicly available court documents filed through the London courthouse to the Ontario Superior Court.

The $7-million figure is constituted by three separate claims. The largest is a $5-million claim to compensate for the death of Christidis’ father — which the family claims was caused by the incident, causing the family a loss of income. The other two figures are $1 million asks which compensate for psychological trauma and distress that Christidis’ family allegedly experienced after her death. The suit also seeks the plaintiff’s legal costs.

Rande Kostal, a Western law

MAX MAO GAZETTE

professor, said cases like these hinge on whether the bar’s employees meet a reasonable standard of care in their serving. Individual Spoke employees could be brought under oath; though they will not necessarily be held liable.

Civil cases like this are often settled, and the settled figure can be lower than the original ask. As the plaintiffs have made their pleadings, it’s anticipated that the defendants are each drafting a document called a “Statement of Defence,” which is a formal reply to the plaintiff’s claims.

After this point, trials like these enter the “discovery” period, in which witnesses are interviewed under oath.

Kostal said the plaintiff’s claim that the father’s death and the ensuing financial losses caused by the incident will be more difficult to prove. He added that the whole process could be prolonged if it is not settled.

“The wheels of civil justice in Ontario turn very slowly,” he said.

“This could take many years to complete.”

MARTIN ALLEN GAZETTE IN LOVING MEMORY. A placard on a bench in the Medway-Syndenham courtyard commemorates Andrea Christidis.

COUNCIL RECAP

Female leadership, mental health and TA strike MARTIN ALLEN NEWS EDITOR @_MARTINALLEN The University Students’ Council progressed through a modest meeting on April 4 that offered support for women in campus leadership roles and for Active Minds Western.

Anne Campbell moved a motion for the executive to work with women’s groups on campus to create a report about increasing female representation in leadership roles on campus.

During this year’s USC elections, no women ran for the presidential and vice-presidential roles.

She said student programs officer Carina Gabriele and vice-president Danny Chang, especially could consult with the Women’s Issues Network as well as the department of women’s studies.

“It doesn’t just affect 50 per cent of our constituents; it affects all of campus,” Campbell said. “I believe they should be consulting with numerous groups on campus.”

The motion states that the

report should be ready by the second meeting of the upcoming academic year in October; it passed unanimously.

Council also unanimously supported a motion to commend a recent effort by Active Minds Western, a non-USC student group, which conducted a survey of students’ mental health concerns and subsequently drafted a recommendations paper. The paper, titled “We Demand More: A Pathway to Mental Health Reform at Western University,” received praise on council floor.

“I really do want to commend Active Minds Western for this effort,” said president Mitchell Pratt.

“It’s important that we support student advocacy that’s outside the USC,” said Huron president Inam Teja.

As the meeting closed, a councillor asked the USC student executives for their views on the possibility of a TA strike at Western. They said it’s the practice of the executive to remain neutral during all labour disputes at the university.

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 5

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Executive report cards: 2017–18

Tobi Solebo president

Landon Tulk

vice-president

Mac McIntosh

student programs officer

Erin McCauley

secretary treasurer

Jana Cernavskis

communications officer

GAZETTE GRADE

COUNCIL GRADE

GAZETTE GRADE

COUNCIL GRADE

GAZETTE GRADE

COUNCIL GRADE

GAZETTE GRADE

COUNCIL GRADE

GAZETTE GRADE

COUNCIL GRADE

B-

B-

B+

B

B+

B+

A-

B+

B+

B-

Tobi Solebo came into the role of University Students’ Council president with little experience in student politics.

However, even with a steep learning curve, he was able to accomplish many of his platform points this school year, such as the Wave’s breakfast buffet, an off-campus housing fair and music faculty showcases. Many Western University students would describe Solebo as friendly and approachable, imperative traits for the face of the USC. At times, Solebo represented students well, such as when he defended undergraduates’ opposition to the Homecoming date change.

However, he didn’t always take a proactive stance on issues important to students. When the OWL course wipe happened in August, it took weeks for the USC to issue a formal response.

Further, at council meetings, Solebo was often overpowered by vocal councillors, who led the conversation on council floor. One item Solebo brought forward was a proposal to have students pay for a consolidated Wellness Education Centre. Councillors voted against the motion, stating that the university, not students, should have to pay for the centre, and this stance ended up saving students millions in ancillary fees.

His USC presidency had opportunities for stronger leadership, but Solebo was still able to accomplish many of the tangible goals Team Tobi had in their platform.

Landon Tulk did a good job at advocating on behalf of students this year. Some of his major advocacy points have included open educational resources and mental health funding.

On the whole, Tulk is knowledgeable about the projects he’s working on, and he’s done a good job at helping implement many of Team Tobi’s platform points this year. The online course syllabi database and the airport shuttle are good examples of this. He also successfully forged new relationships between the USC and the London community, as exemplified by the partnership between the USC and Innovation Works London.

Externally, Tulk has also been successful, taking on a leadership role at the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. He’s worked with the municipal government to represent students when it comes to bus rapid transit, not to mention that the number of Pints and Politics events are up this year.

However, we can’t forget how Tulk started off his vice-presidency.

His interference during last year’s student programs officer elections clouded the beginning of his term.

He also drew criticism for abstaining from certain motions at the beginning of the year, including one in support of gender neutral washrooms. That said, the USC implemented the washrooms regardless, something he ultimately helped spearhead.

Overall, Tulk proved to be an effective vice-president.

Councillors’ comments:

”

Councillors’ comments:

Councillors’ comments:

Councillors’ comments:

“Incredibly student-facing and always a friendly face. Handled the minimum wage increase to the corporation very well with the resources available. Followed through on a lot of his campaign promises on campus (USC app, Wave breakfast).”

“Established great partnerships with stakeholders the USC has often had less interaction with (all political parties, local mental health organizations, etc). He did a great job in making OUSA and its campaigns more accessible to the everyday student. Organized numerous events to engage student leaders with local and visiting politicians (roundtables, pints and politics).”

“Mac did a phenomenal job in engaging with the office and his associates/coordinators. He was a pleasure to work for this year, and I learned a lot from him.”

“Handled minimum wage increase very well and supported council well. Some bumps along the road regarding some things that were overlooked throughout the year regarding bylaws and the budget preparation.”

“While he did not do a poor job, the USC remained pretty status quo in terms of progress. The largest advocacy wins tended to come from councillor work not that of Tobi and his team.”

”

“Work as VP was ok. His motion to make SPO ballots public was a big mistake that even he regrets.”

This year’s student programs officer got the portfolio back on track. Mac McIntosh did a good job at improving the USC’s relationship with its clubs system. Moving the clubs space to the old council chambers and expanding clubs week are both initiatives the Gazette commends.

McIntosh also promoted a number of positive changes during O-Week, including the introduction of alternative night programming and mandatory soph care days.

In general, McIntosh was a very personable and friendly executive.

He could consistently be found at the office hours booth located in the University Community Centre each Wednesday, and he was approachable to students and receptive to their concerns.

There were, however, some instances when McIntosh could have taken more substantial action. For instance, the debate around Western Lifeline, Western’s pro-life club, divided many students. If unwilling to take a stance, McIntosh could have better acknowledged students’ concerns; it is unclear how the USC plans to address students’ requests to move Lifeline out of the UCC or for an advanced notice system.

Charity Ball also floundered again this year. The venue was too big and the donation was less than last year.

That said, McIntosh brought warmth and ability to the role, and he improved the portfolio over its previous year.

”

“Good with mainstream programming but neglected to appreciate his peer programs sufficiently. On his personal account, he will only advertise for mostly charity and charity ball and concert events but not peer programs.”

The role of the secretary treasurer is often a quiet one if done well.

Good financial stewardship of the USC is not easy, and for this reason, it is a compliment to say that Erin McCauley’s tenure was a relatively smooth one.

In all her dealings with the Gazette, it was obvious that McCauley was well versed and competent in all budgetary matters. This was apparent in council meetings too; someone who followed the meetings could come to expect that she could answer any question relating to the council’s finances or even its staffing structure.

And while it is hard to give examples of competence in maintaining a budget, as no news is usually good news, she identified a previous error in the budget and corrected it. This shows she knows what she’s doing.

However, McCauley almost voluntarily set aside her duties as secretary treasurer in the midst of the USC’s budget season. Although she abandoned running as part of a 2018–19 presidential slate, the decision to walk away from the budget during its busiest weeks was alarming.

Ultimately, McCauley knew the budget inside out, and it showed.

While McCauley would be a strong candidate being committed to the treasury role is a reason to hold off.

This is why her services were so needed in February.

”

“Erin was a very pleasant co-worker and was very on top of her finances. However, I found she could easily get caught up in trying to find loopholes in the USC during meetings to benefit the agenda of the executives.”

A significant portion of the communications officer’s job is to liaison with media outlets, including campus media. In this regard, Jana Cernavskis was the best communications officer the USC has had in years; she was always prompt, helpful and respectful to Gazette writers. Many stories rely heavily on co-operation with the USC, and she always brought professionalism to the role.

There are other achievements to consider. Cernavskis oversaw the creation of a new student-led hype team for promotions; she also built upon the USC’s social media reach, introducing council meeting previews and week-at-aglance graphics.

However, a much-needed redesign of the USC’s website did not go smoothly, leading to a year where finding certain information, like budgetary documents or contact information, was more difficult than usual.

It is also hard to look back and remember notable promotional material for the USC. While there were many videos this school year, there were missed opportunities to humanize the organization. We would have liked to see more videos along the vein of The Spoke renovation promotional video, “Hire the USC Executive for your next home reno project.”

We acknowledge that introducing a new website and perfecting it in a single tenure is not easy. As a media liaison, Cernavskis gets an A+.

”

Councillors’ comments:

“Always friendly and also approachable! Very punctual with her work in terms of how she supports the associates, even those that are not in her portfolio.”

“Year started strong but fell apart by the end. The townhalls were a disaster: nobody unaffiliated with USC attended a single one. USC website is still non-functional.”

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MAX MAO GAZETTE

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TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 7

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QUESTIONABLE CLAIMS, HIGH-PRESSURE SALES TACTICS ALLEGED BY CAMPUS CHIROPRACTOR PATIENTS Dr. Neil Burden operates in the heart of campus, but interviews with former patients and online reviews reveal allegations of troubling practices. Richard Joseph reports on what some students have experienced and why Burden continues to practice in a space leased from the USC despite student complaints.

RICHARD JOSEPH OPINIONS EDITOR @RJATGAZETTE “You could have reproductive issues.”

It wasn’t what Madison Vasey, a second-year history student, was expecting to hear — least of all from her chiropractor.

The statement came from Dr. Neil Burden, who runs the Chiropractic Clinic at Western University alongside his son, Landon. Burden has been operating in the basement of Western’s central student hub, the University Community Centre, for over 18 years; the clinic is a familiar sight for many students, including Vasey.

On Oct. 6, 2017, complaining of back pain, she went in for her appointment. Burden had her do a few exercises and examined her spine by running his thumb down it, she said. He said he discovered three subluxations (a chiropractic term for a misalignment of the spine), which could lead to reproductive problems unless she signed up for regular treatment with the clinic.

Initially, at the urging of the receptionist and Burden, she agreed.

“It just sounded so serious when he said it,” Vasey recalled. “Like it could affect me in the future, and it’s only going to get worse if I don’t take care of it right now.”

But once she got home, she started to feel uneasy. She was skeptical that somebody could diagnose reproductive problems based on a short spinal exam. It was also expensive — according to Burden, she had to come in for three appointments every week at $30 per appointment. At $90 a week, she would exhaust the student health plan’s total of $320 for chiropractic coverage in a few weeks.

Vasey is not the only student who has raised concerns about Burden’s clinic. Online, former patients have expressed concerns on Westernadministrated Facebook groups, Reddit and RateMD, where users post reviews of health care providers. Officially, students have also complained to the University Students’ Council and Western’s administration.

Interviews with 10 former patients tell a similar story. They say Burden claimed to be able to detect and treat non-musculoskeletal issues and mood disorders; claims which, according to interviews with medical professionals, are not supported by scientific evidence.

They also speak about aggressive sales tactics, with the clinic getting patients to commit to many regular treatments with repeated phone calls to book appointments, a complaint echoed in some of Burden’s online reviews.

Despite many complaints from students about both the claims made by the clinic and its alleged high-pressure sales tactics targeting students, the office continues to operate in a space leased from the University Students’ Council in the heart of the university campus. Both the USC and Western say Burden’s clinical practices are out of their purview.

Neither Burden nor Landon agreed to an interview for this story. However, when the Gazette sent Burden a document outlining concerns from former patients and medical experts, Burden responded with a written statement.

He stated chiropractic does not claim to treat non-musculoskeletal conditions, but it can alleviate associated symptoms. Furthermore, he said chiropractic care can be consistent with the practices of evidence-based medicine. He did not respond to allegations that his office engaged in high-pressure sales tactics.

BURDEN’S SUBLUXATION-BASED PRACTICE In October, Vasey posted about her experience at the clinic in the “Western Class of 2018” Facebook page — a social group managed by the registrar’s office. Vasey pointed to the negative reviews on Burden’s RateMD page as a reflection of her own experience and as a warning to other students.

Most of the London chiropractors on RateMD are highly rated, but at the time of publication, Neil Burden, who also has another clinic downtown on Oxford Street, has the lowest rating of the 75 reviewed chiropractors in London, sitting at 2.7/5 with 68 reviews. The average rating for London’s reviewed chiropractors on RateMD is 4.8 with about 16 reviews each.

Out of Burden’s reviews, 19 are positive, with comments such as “I have always found Dr. Burden to be very professional” and “Both Dr. Burden and his staff are very helpful and very knowledgeable.”

Many of the negative reviews claim Burden and his clinic were unprofessional or aggressive in the way that they pressured patients into making additional appointments. Others say Burden and his clinic are claiming to treat or are attributing causes for disorders that chiropractors aren’t trained to deal with — including anxiety, gastrointestinal problems and diabetes.

Burden advertises himself as a “subluxation-based” chiropractor in advertisements, patient reports, his website and the messaging in his office. Under this model, the root of all disease is “vertebral subluxation,” a misalignment of the vertebrae that impairs nerve flow and thus causes problems in organs all over the body.

Patients say he purports to fix these subluxations with physical therapy and thereby restore the flow of vital forces to individual organs.

Burden connects chiropractic care to a variety of disorders through subluxation-based treatment. Charts in Burden’s office connect individual subluxations to many symptoms — vertigo, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome, to name a few.

Like Vasey, Burden told second-year criminology student Olivia Lindner she could have reproductive issues if she didn’t sign up for chiropractic treatment. Burden also told Linder her subluxations could mean she’d have “problems focusing” and “wouldn’t live as long.”

Other patients report being surprised by the disorders Burden said he could detect and treat.

Jack Luo, second-year management and organizational studies student, went in to see Burden with neck pain; Burden quickly started attributing “problems [he] didn’t even have” to subluxations.

Burden told Luo he had various subluxations that caused fatigue, low energy and poor appetite. Luo — who works out regularly, eats over 3,000 calories per day and rarely feels tired — was

skeptical.

Burden’s website makes similar wide-ranging claims. The site purports that chiropractic care helps with a variety of disorders including allergies, asthma, bedwetting, indigestion, constipation, premenstrual syndrome, infant colic, ear infections, fibromyalgia, headaches, infertility and immunodeficiency. One page is titled “Chiropractic helps babies with milk intolerance,” and another page says “Chiropractic adjustments lower blood pressure.” Burden’s email newsletters claim chiropractic care can help sleep apnea, autism, vision loss after surgery, cocaine addiction and childhood congestion. Some of these newsletters disparage mainstream medical treatment and recommend chiropractic adjustment instead.

Jackie Sadi, a lecturer at Western’s school of physical therapy and a clinical specialist in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, said non-musculoskeletal issues, such as the ones listed previously, are entirely out of the chiropractic scope of practice. As well, she said there is no evidence that chiropractors can help with reproductive ability.

“There’s certainly no link between spinal alignment and reproductive issues,” she said.

“Zero. And that’s fear mongering. If anything, the psychosocial implications of telling someone that is much more troublesome than leaving well enough alone.”

Burden’s claims for chiropractic care extend to mood disorders as well. Two patients the Gazette spoke with, former kinesiology student Christopher Young and second-year student Elizabeth Blair, said Burden told them they could stop taking medication for ADD and ADHD respectively.

“I take Ritalin for ADHD, and he was saying how cracking my back is going to solve my focusing problems, and I wouldn’t need to take medication anymore,” Blair said.

A chiropractor advising their patient to go off their medication could be an example of “advising outside the scope,” said Joel Friedman, director of policy at the College of Chiropractors of Ontario.

Burden’s March email newsletter points to the various side effects of ADHD drugs and suggests chiropractic care as an alternative. A placard on the clinic’s desk reads: “Did you know that drugs such as Prozac and other antidepressants can actually cause greater complications? Did you know that by correcting the subluxation, you can help the body heal itself without the use of harmful drugs?”

Regulations for chiropractors in Ontario state chiropractors cannot fail to advise a patient to consult another health professional when the patient’s condition is beyond the chiropractor’s scope of practice.

The Ontario Chiropractic Act offers an ambiguous definition for scope of practice. The act states chiropractors are licensed to assess “conditions related to the spine, nervous system and joints” and diagnose, prevent or treat “dysfunctions or disorders arising from the structures or functions of the spine and the effects of those dysfunctions or disorders on the nervous system; and dysfunctions or disorders arising from the

www.westerngazette.ca

8 • TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

feature

“It just sounded so serious when he said it. Like it could affect me in the future, and it’s only going to get worse if I don’t take care of it right now.”

MADISON VASEY

A SECOND-YEAR HISTORY STUDENT

structures or functions of the joints.”

Paul Benedetti, journalist and lecturer at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, co-authored the 2002 book Spin Doctors: The Chiropractic Industry Under Examination, in which he investigates the chiropractic profession in Canada. In the book, Benedetti argues that the loose wording of this scope of practice “opened the door,” allowing some chiropractors to cite subluxations as the cause of virtually any illness.

The largest chiropractic school in Canada, the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, where Burden studied, discourages the use of the term “subluxation” outside of a historical sense, according to Carlos Ammendolia, associate faculty member at the CMCC. “Subluxation is old hat,” said Ammendolia.

“Dark Ages. It was initially the dogma of chiropractic education, but that is no longer the case.”

Instead, the CMCC teaches evidence-based clinical treatments, specifically for neck and back pain.

Ammendolia cautions against painting all chiropractors with the same brush. Burden is among the minority in his profession, as only about 20 per cent of Canadian chiropractors believe in subluxation as an impediment to general health.

In his written statement, Burden said the concerns about his claims read as a “thinly veiled indictment, referencing allegations and accounts taken out of context and sourced from chiropractic critics … chiropractic does not ‘treat’ or ‘cure’ the non-[musculoskeletal] conditions listed but may certainly serve to provide relief from associated symptoms that such patients report experiencing.”

Burden said his approach of “evidence based medicine” combines best available evidence, clinical expertise and patient preference in the delivery of optimal therapy.

“Where specific research is limited, a therapeutic trial of chiropractic care may well be both appropriate and consistent with the principles of evidence based medicine. Such trials, accompanied by ongoing reassessment of progress,

RICHARD JOSEPH GAZETTE Sinage on the front desk of Burden’s office.

represent a clinically-sound, reasonable and appropriate approach to the delivery of healthcare services,” he said in his statement.

Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, has written extensively on policy and ethical issues in medicine, including the existence of vertebral subluxations in chiropractic. He calls the concept controversial and disputed.

“I think it’s fair to call it a ‘supernatural’ idea.

It isn’t rooted in science,” he said. “Many in the chiropractic community, those who are trying to move more towards the science-based approach, have rejected the concept.”

AGGRESSIVE SALES TECHNIQUES Christopher Young left Western in 2016 but still remembers his appointment with Burden in the fall of 2014.

When Young went to pay for the appointment, he alleges that he was interrogated about why he wasn’t rebooking.

“I was told if I didn’t rebook that day, I was no longer welcome at the clinic,” he recalled. “I have never been so disgusted by the way a medical practice is run. I have not and will not go back.”

Several other patients describe experiencing high-pressure sales tactics at the clinic. Some say they were intimidated under threat of medical consequences — either by Burden himself or the receptionists — into making more appointments.

A week after Vasey cancelled her appointment with Burden, she was still getting calls from the receptionist asking her to reconsider: “they weren’t taking no for an answer,” she said. She was left feeling bullied and taken advantage of by the on-campus clinic.

“As soon as you leave the office, the receptionist people are very pushy, like, ‘you need to book [an appointment] right now, you need to book it now, we need to know in advance,’ ” said fourth-year history student Emma Cole.

Multiple online reviews reference the clinic’s high-pressure tactics to get patients to rebook appointments.

“Cancelled after two — but kept getting calls.

Finally faked ‘losing my temper’ to get the secretaries to stop calling,” said one online reviewer in October 2017.

“Didn’t go back after my first appointment, and his staff kept calling to book my second appointment even though I said I didn’t want to,” said another from April 2015.

Cheryl Kriese, 43, who worked as a receptionist at Burden’s clinic from March to May of 2011, said she is unsurprised by the student complaints about the clinic’s high-pressure tactics – it is what she would expect based on her time working for Burden.

“Oh, absolutely,” she said. “That was one of my main jobs, to call and reschedule and make sure another appointment was made.”

Kriese was instructed never to ask if patients would like to reschedule but when – even when they had just called to cancel an appointment.

“It would be, ‘your next appointment is on Thursday. Is morning or afternoon better?’ that kind of thing,” she said.

Kriese left the job after two months, partly because she felt unable to live up to Burden’s expectations for client interactions.

Based on these student complaints about the clinic, Benedetti believes there’s a high likelihood that Burden is using “practice-building techniques.” These aggressive techniques are designed to retain the most patients possible. For example, in his book, Benedetti noted that one common practice-building tactic for chiropractors is to claim to treat children, which Burden does as well.

Burden seems to subscribe to maintenance therapy, the idea that patients must come in on a very regular basis to make sure the adjustments take and hold. Studies show that there is little evidence supporting the efficacy of chiropractic maintenance therapy.

Patients confirm Burden wanted them to come in for three chiropractic sessions a week.

The first appointment with Burden is a consultation session: Vasey recalls that it lasted about 20 minutes and cost $75. After that, patients say

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• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 9

feature

COURTESY OF CANADIANCHIROPRACTOR.CA Pictured, Neil Burden (middle)

To read a full copy of Dr. Neil Burden’s letter to the Gazette, go to: https://wgaz.ca/chiropractor

“There’s certainly no link between spinal alignment and reproductive issues. Zero.”

JACKIE SADI

A LECTURER AT WESTERN’S SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL THERAPY AND A CLINICAL SPECIALIST IN MUSCULOSKELETAL PHYSIOTHERAPY LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

that the thrice-a-week sessions, at $30 each, lasted about five minutes each. These sessions, according to Burden’s website, are important for everyone, with or without symptoms, from newborns to seniors.

“This would be analogous ... to a mechanic saying ‘I’ve fixed your car, but it’s a good idea if you bring your car in every Friday, and I’ll refix it for you,’ ” Benedetti said.

WESTERN AND USC DEFER RESPONSIBILITY In part, Burden is notable because he is operating in the same space as many conventional student healthcare providers: Western’s campus houses a medical school, a dentistry school and a school of physiotherapy.

“There is this sort of legitimization,” said Caulfield. “You have this science-based institution of higher learning, and this kind of pseudoscience being embedded in it — I think it’s problematic. It can add this layer of legitimacy, at least from the public’s perspective.”

In 2015, Richard Ivey School of Business student Michael Weir, like Vasey, made a public post in a university-affiliated Facebook class group, stating the clinic was too pushy about booking appointments. Three student commenters tagged Courtney Hern, the administrator of the page and Student Central coordinator, to ask if anything could be done to address these complaints.

In an email, Hern stated she was aware of the complaints and turned the matter over to the USC, who are responsible for renting out space in the UCC to commercial vendors. According to Keith Marnoch, director of media relations at Western, the clinic is in the purview of the USC, not Western’s administration.

“If there’s a particular complaint that goes beyond what people would put forward to the USC or the chiropractic college, I’d certainly be willing to accept or receive that and take a look at it,” Marnoch said. “But it’s not really something that we oversee.”

But Vasey points out that the university links to Burden’s website on official pages, including

the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies page and the Health and Wellness page. Burden’s posters, as well, are on bulletin boards around the university.

“They can’t have it both ways,” she said. “The university can’t say they have nothing to do with it and then reference it in all of these promotional websites that they have.”

Vasey sent an email complaint to the USC — who acts as Burden’s landlord — after her appointment in early October 2017. Months later, she still hadn’t received a response.

USC president Tobi Solebo said that, unfortunately, the USC missed the email but that he has since contacted Vasey to apologize.

He confirmed that the USC has received complaints about Burden before, but he declined to comment on the nature or quantity of the complaints. He said, as well, that he cannot share the information in the lease. However, he stated that there is no clause in it that would allow the USC to terminate the lease based on student complaints.

“The USC, to my knowledge, has never terminated a lease,” he said.

Solebo said when the USC does receive a student complaint, “general practice is to ask students to reach out to the College of Chiropractors of Ontario, who can take the necessary steps in dispute resolution.”

OFFICIAL COMPLAINTS GO TO COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTORS The CCO is the regulatory body for chiropractors in Ontario. According to their annual report, of the 85 complaints they dealt with in 2016, seven had to do with scope of practice.

Friedman, the director of policy, said the CCO does have a complaints process “designed to ensure a thorough and fair investigation of any accusation of professional misconduct.” All complaints are investigated by the CCO, he explains, and the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee would decide on further action “if any is required to protect the public.”

Possible consequences for a chiropractor found to be at fault may include oral and written

cautions, orders to complete specified continuing education and remediation programs and referrals for a discipline hearing.

Friedman said the complaints process is confidential, and he cannot confirm whether there have been any complaints regarding Burden. He said there are no disciplinary notices for Burden on the CCO’s public register.

Both Western’s administration and the USC are redirecting student complaints about Burden to the CCO, but according to Benedetti, submitting complaints to the college comes with its own set of problems.

In researching his book, Benedetti followed a few complaints made to the CCO and notes certain kinds of complaints are dealt with effectively: for example, complaints about financial issues or sexual misconduct.

But complaints about specific styles of chiropractic care, such as Burden’s vertebral subluxation model, are not as effectively dealt with by the CCO, Benedetti said.

In response, Friedman said he cannot comment on how effectively each individual complaint is dealt with. He said the CCO does not endorse any specific style of practice but asks that chiropractors comply with the relevant standards and regulations.

For his part, Burden said in his statement: “My focus has always been the health and wellness of my patients. For over 18 years, I have served the Western community helping students, staff and faculty get back to doing the things they need and love to do. I believe that longevity to be a testament to the quality of my care.”

Months after her visit, Vasey is still frustrated by the way she was treated. It was her first time going to a chiropractor, and she didn’t know what to expect.

“Luckily, I had people to talk about it,” she said. “I just feel bad for people who don’t know what they’re getting into and put their trust in that clinic.”

Editor’s note: Paul Benedetti is a member of the Gazette’s Publications Committee.

www.westerngazette.ca

10 • TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

sports

•

THE SECOND ANNUAL GAZZIES

Gazette Sports Students’ Choice Awards

CHARLIE O’CONNOR CLARKE SPORTS EDITOR @CHARLIEJCLARKE MIKE DEBOER SPORTS EDITOR @MIKEDBOER FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AND ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

CARMEN LASIS

JORDAN MCGAVIN GAZETTE

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(WOMEN’S HOCKEY) She may not have been nominated for any of the Mustangs Athletics end-of-year awards, but the Gazette felt that the women’s hockey team’s rookie netminder was worthy of some recognition after an incredible season for the Mustangs. Western University students voted her both Female Athlete of the Year and Rookie of the Year, after she backstopped her team to a silver medal at the U Sports championship.

Lasis led the entire Ontario University Athletics in save percentage during the playoffs, posting a .963 with two shutouts. In the McCaw Cup final at Queen’s University, she held the topranked Gaels off the scoresheet to win the provincial championship for Western. Then, in the opening game of nationals, she shut out the Montreal Carabins as the Mustangs won the quarter-final 4–0.

After losing 2–0 to the Manitoba Bisons in the national gold medal game, Lasis was rightly recognized as the goaltender of the tournament.

During the regular season, Lasis posted a record of 13–4 and a goalsagainst average of 1.48. She was in net for every contest of Western’s 13-game winning streak, which ended with their gold medal loss to Manitoba.

The Mustangs took Athlete of the Year with 41 per cent of the votes and Rookie of the Year with 48 per cent.

For Athlete of the Year, Lasis beat out some strong contenders, including women’s rower and Mustangs Athletics Athlete of the Year Larissa Werbicki, OUA cross country silver medalist Kristina Popadich and second team All-Canadian volleyball player Kelsey Veltman.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

CHRIS MERCHANT

(FOOTBALL) Merchant, the Mustangs starting quarterback, spearheaded the most dominant offensive attack in the nation. The Calgary native threw for 2,959 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 691 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading his team to a perfect 12–0 season and Western’s first Vanier Cup title in 23 years.

It was in the post-season that Merchant made his mark as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the program’s history. In four playoff games, Merchant accounted for 1,192 total yards of offence and 12 touchdowns, as the Mustangs put together one of the most dominant stretches of football in Canadian university history.

In the Vanier Cup, Merchant earned MVP honors in the Mustangs’ 39–17 win after throwing for 276 yards and rushing for 89 more while finding the endzone three times.

Throughout the season, Merchant established himself both as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country and one of the team’s veteran leaders.

Honourable mentions include Daniel Gleason (men’s track and field), Chris Newcombe (men’s volleyball) and David Mills (men’s squash).

TEAM OF THE YEAR:

FOOTBALL

While a number of Mustangs teams had memorable 2017–18 seasons, it was the football program that broke a 23-year curse in the pre-eminent university sport of the land. From their first win over the York Lions on a warm night on Aug. 27 to their final win on the grand stage of the Vanier Cup on Nov. 25, the Mustangs were perfect in every facet of the game.

The offence, under new coordinator Steve Snyder, obliterated defences through the air and on the ground, while the defence played with a ferocity and intensity that stopped opposing offences in their tracks.

The Mustangs’ run through the playoffs was a feat of dominance: the team outscored their opponents 261–64 as they captured a Yates Cup, Uteck Bowl and the national championship. But among all the accolades the Mustangs made theirs in 2017; it was their annihilation of Laval in the Vanier Cup game that ranks as most impressive. The Mustangs, David to Laval’s Goliath, proved themselves the true giants in a 39–17 route of the nine-time national champion Rouge et Or. Honourable mentions include Women’s hockey, Women’s rowing and Men’s tennis.

WESTERN EVENT OF THE YEAR:

U SPORTS WOMEN’S HOCKEY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

In March, the top players in university hockey descended on London for the 2018 U Sports Women’s Hockey National Championships.

Seven teams joined the host Mustangs to duke it out for the McCaw Cup, as the Montreal Carabins, Concordia Stingers, Queen’s Gaels, Saskatchewan Huskies, St. Francis Xavier X-Women, Saint Mary’s Huskies and Manitoba Bisons competed at Thompson Arena for the title of national champion.

It was the Mustangs who went on a fantasy run through the tournament, taking down the Carabins in the quarter-finals and Huskies in the semifinals to set up a date with the Manitoba Bisons in the gold medal game.

While their season finished with a disappointing 2–0 loss, the Mustangs magical run captured the hearts of the campus and the London community, while the Bisons won their first national championship in program history.

Honourable mentions include the Yates Cup, OUA Swimming Championship and the Mustangs National Champions Parade.

UPSET OF THE YEAR:

WOMEN’S HOCKEY VS. QUEEN’S GAELS

MCCAW CUP A lot of Western teams had some incredible moments this season.

Early in the season, the men;s basketball team trumped the eventual U Sports silver medallists, the Ryerson Rams. The women’s soccer team won 1–0 in the national quarter-finals against the defending champions, the Laval Rouge et Or. In the student poll, though, the women’s hockey team continued to clean up.

After sweeping the defending OUA champions, the Guelph Gryphons, in the OUA semifinals, the Mustangs set up a date with the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston for the 2018 McCaw Cup. They knew it would be a big ask to beat the team that had been first in the league pretty much all season — especially in the Gaels’ rink.

They did it, though. Western held the highest-shooting team in the league to just 28 shots, and they didn’t let them score on a single one.

A first-period power-play goal from Emma Pearson put them on the board first. Then Alyssa Chiarello’s marker in the dying seconds of the second made it 2–0.

Amanda Pereira’s empty-netter sealed the deal in the third period, and the Mustangs became provincial champions. A year removed from a first-round playoff exit, Western wasn’t considered a heavyweight contender heading into the season. They certainly proved everyone there wrong.

COACH OF THE YEAR:

KELLY PATON

(WOMEN’S HOCKEY) Think the women’s hockey team is done? The awards wouldn’t be complete without giving credit to Kelly Paton, who coached her team to the national gold medal game in only her second season behind the bench.

As Paton, herself, said on several occasions, the Mustangs this year were not a team with a wealth of starpower. Instead, they won more often by committee. Paton’s team played disciplined, well-structured hockey, with excellent special teams.

Western had the OUA’s best powerplay this season, as well as the second-best penalty kill.

This year, the Mustangs knew throughout that they were already guaranteed a spot at nationals by virtue of hosting the tournament. It’s a testament to Paton, however, that they were able to stay focused on the games ahead of them and earn their qualification as OUA champions.

In some tense knockout games, Paton’s team always seemed well-prepared and up to the challenge. They could never be blamed for not having done their homework.

Honourable mentions include Greg Marshall (football), Dan Bechard and Matt Waddell (rowing), and Peter Lemon (softball).

• www.westerngazette.ca

have your say The Gazette asked students what their plans are for the summer.

Lauren Lee

“I’m staying in London to do summer school and work.

I’m working in a lab for physiology and pharmacology, and I did it last year too, so I’m excited to do more in-depth experiments.”

Dylan Newman

“For the summer, I plan on working as an event manager for horse equestrianism tournaments out of Guelph and Ottawa. [Sigma Pi] is really good at getting the frat brothers jobs over the summer.”

SECOND-YEAR MEDICAL SCIENCE

THIRD-YEAR BIOLOGY

Lisabeth Lim

“For the summer, I’m going to Korea to visit family.

Then I’m going to Malaysia and Hong Kong. I’m working at a resort [in Muskoka] as a camp counsellor and a server.”

THIRD-YEAR CHEMISTRY

Faisal Abu Errub FOURTH-YEAR KINESIOLOGY

“For the first two weeks of May, I’m going to be doing a France bike trip. It’s a kinesiology credit that involves biking around 30 to 50 kilometres a day in France.

When I get back, it’s going to be Ramadan because I’m Muslim, so for 30 days… it’s going to be mainly just fasting. The rest of the summer’s just up in the air.”

Let women make the decisions that affect women

Lifeline deserves space on campus, but there’s a line

BY EDITORIAL BOARD This year, a University Students’ Council club, Western Lifeline, has sparked fierce debate on campus. Most of all, it’s posed a question: should a sanctioned pro-life group be allowed in the University Community Centre?

Our editorial board was divided on this issue. Eleven editors believed Lifeline should be able to have a booth in the atrium, and five strongly believed they should not.

Free speech is important, but there are: situations where free expression violates individual well-being. It’s crucial for students to be able to voice their opinions and to engage in educational, if somewhat difficult, conversations.

That being said, it’s also essential for students to feel safe and comfortable on their campuses.

THE ASSENT Lifeline, we believe, is not a hateful group, and they deserve a place on campus as one of many diverse voices.

Universities are where students should engage with various, sometimes conflicting, viewpoints, even if these views are occasionally uncomfortable. Academic discourse often involves reasonable, respectful dissent; this is something to be encouraged, not stamped out.

Lifeline is respectful and reasonable in their approach. They have a booth, where they display pictures of fetuses — the same fetuses you see on ultrasounds.

They engage students in discussions about the moral and ethical aspects of abortion, a debate which is still infamously murky. If we can’t engage in this sort of conversation at

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

university, where could we?

Furthermore, banning Lifeline has troubling implications for free speech on campus. What standards would clubs be held to and by whom? When one group, such as the USC, gets to decide what is and isn’t permissible, exercises in authority can become politically troubling.

Lastly, ideas are not challenged by silencing them, and problematic ideas should not be spared from interrogation. The best way to oppose beliefs you don’t support is through open debate, not censorship.

But we must consider those who have expressed discontent with Lifeline’s booth. One easy solution would be an email notification system informing students when and where protests are happening.

Otherwise, Lifeline, insofar as they remain respectful, must be treated reasonably.

THE DISSENT What separates a pro-life booth from other USC sanctioned booths is that it challenges the rights of 56 per cent of Western University’s population. Abortion is, fundamentally,

a women’s rights issue. While prolife individuals might disagree with abortion for religious or moral reasons, they’re also disagreeing with women’s rights to reproductive freedom. Several other Canadian universities, including the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University, have denied anti-abortion groups an official status on the basis that they advocate against the rights and freedoms of women.

Beyond having their rights challenged, certain students might not want to confront an anti-abortion booth in the busiest part of campus for personal reasons; women, transgender and non-binary individuals who have made the difficult decision to have an abortion could be triggered by protesters whose mission is to “make abortion unthinkable on our campus.”

There are better ways to have difficult and important conversations on campus about reproductive rights, such as hosting panels that allow for equal discourse. Standing in the UCC with a banner or putting up flags on concrete beach doesn’t seem productive for anyone on either side of this debate.

at an institution where we come to learn. Western Lifeline’s mission is to “make abortion unthinkable,” and that’s their prerogative. However, the male executives of the USC have done little to challenge this.

According to the student programs officer, we have no room in our policy to change the club status of Lifeline, and we certainly have not seen a push from our highest-ranking student leaders to change this.

Yet, many student unions have prevented the ratification of similar clubs across Canada. To me, this speaks volumes about how the USC views the female student population and what our choices mean to them.

The statements made in the Gazette article by our USC president were the pinnacle of male privilege.

I am glad that he feels that there are two sides in the debate of women’s personhood and choices about their own bodies and that he can express this view in such a candid way.

Perhaps I am just a feminist who is so radical that I believe that women are the ones who are best equipped to handle what they do with their own bodies. But hey, maybe I should check in with our male execs so I can be sure about that decision.

—Mack Read fifth-year honors psychology student and 2017 orientation coordinator

G AT E WAY CHURCH G AT E WAY CHURCH

@ G AT E WAY W E S T E R N

Dear male USC executives, Bodily autonomy means you have choices in regard to what you do with your body: who you choose to have sex with, whether or not to donate blood, the choice to become an organ donor and yes, for women, the choice to bear children. By being a person, we are all to be afforded the privilege of bodily autonomy.

If someone lay dying, no matter the circumstance, we cannot force an organ donation to save that life. We cannot overrule the decisions made by a potential organ donor, even if that person is already deceased.

This means the abortion debate is never about the personhood of the fetus. We already let fully-formed people die so others can maintain bodily autonomy. This debate is about the personhood of women and whether or not we are worthy of making decisions about our own reproductive health. A fetus cannot survive without the mother, prior to age of viability, so it seems strange to consider putting their rights above a woman’s which already exists.

The decision to have an abortion is a deeply personal one, which has no room to be shamed

opinions

Editorials are decided by a majority of the editorial board and are written by a member of the editorial board but are not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial board member. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff. To submit a letter, go to westerngazette.ca and click on “Contact.”

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Re: Drawing the line: Free speech and the anti-abortion debate on Canadian campuses

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 11

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12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

feature

Cara Farquharson 1998–2017

Remembering Cara:

A letter from Cara’s mom The Gazette asked me to talk about my daughter, Cara Farquharson.

Cara’s death has had an unimaginable impact on me and all of my family, as well as all of those who call her their friend — of which there are so many. It is really hard to put words together at this time; otherwise I could fill pages and pages describing who Cara was and remains for me.

She was amazing and beautiful and complex — just like the world. We named our baby girl Cara — which is a Gaelic word meaning “friend”. And that has profoundly shone from her soul since she was a little child.

I picture her life like a growing number of concentric circles, overlapping with the common word “friend.” The circles include her family; all her schools, including Western University — Delaware Hall and nursing; summer camp and winter skiing; music and dance; summer jobs and on and on. You couldn’t go anywhere without bumping into someone Cara knew.

And what would follow were the well-known hugs and screams of genuine excitement at seeing you again.

Cara was 15 and attending an arts-based high school when she decided to pursue a career in nursing — naturally stemming from her desire to help people. From the moment Cara stepped onto campus on Visitors’ Day, she knew she wanted to attend Western — she loved everything about it. She also remained passionate about music and dance and

Cara and her best friend Julia Welstead.

theatre — she had the soul of an artist and felt everything to the bone. I remember driving home to Toronto with Cara from Western one time with a recording of the new musical “Hamilton” playing: she knew every song and lyric. Even Cara’s doodles were little pieces of art. She loved patterns and could transform a simple notepad or housekey with just liquid whiteout. She was a vegetarian who named her houseplants and the critters invading our garage. She embraced and celebrated everyone’s uniqueness. And whatever she was doing, she always gave 100 per cent.

Yeah … she was amazing … and beautiful … and complex.

Cara suffered a painful dark side — an undiagnosed mental illness, which was not readily apparent. She was fiercely independent and determined to find her own coping strategies that would see her through.

Music was her solace. She loved life and was looking forward to a wonderful future. There are no easy answers as to why Cara took her own life on Nov. 9, 2017 at just 19 years of age. And there are no easy answers as to why other amazing young people on your campus and others, and in other communities in our country, are also dying by suicide. Ultimately, Cara did not get the help that she needed because of huge failures in the resources available. This must change.

— Sherry Soules, Cara Farquharson’s Mom

Cara and her cousin and best friend Abby Israels.

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• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 13

culture

Gossip course wraps up in celebrity fashion KRISTIN LEE CONTRIBUTOR

NICK SOKIC GAZETTE

Western’s B-Club plans for a long life NICK SOKIC CULTURE EDITOR @NICKATGAZETTE In four years of an undergraduate degree at Western University, many musically-inclined students manage to find like-minded friends to form groups with. They perform shows on campus, usually at the Wave or The Spoke, and grow in local prominence until they leave London, Ont. But not for Western’s B-Club.

With three founding members graduating, The B-Club plans to continue well beyond their slapdash origins.

All bandmates, both those leaving and remaining, are passionate about continuing The B-Club. Dominic Toccacelli, a second-year music administrative studies student and one of the founders, says that it will be difficult to replace the departed.

He also says they’re looking to grow the band. This doesn’t mean a strict audition format either, as they don’t necessarily have a list of spots they need to fill. According to Toccacelli, they aren’t fans of the head-to-head format that is the audition. Instead, they simply know with whom who they click.

“As long as everyone that’s in the band keeps the spirit of that community,” says Martin Arthur, a second-year music administrative studies student. “The cool part of The B-Club is that it has that sense of being a club where people can join and come and go as they please.”

The multi-instrumented, hip hop and jazz-style band owes its creation to a student who didn’t even join the band. Back in September 2016, Toccacelli, Harrison Song and Nate Clapinson were excited to jam together at the urging of another student, Aladdin Abdellatief. Only, he was a no-show. After another aborted meeting, the trio came up with the idea of a jam band.

All three wanted to get together once a week and play. Toccacelli says the focus was on jazz, and their creation reflects the improvisatory nature of the genre. The trio made a Facebook group, inviting 17 friends and acquaintances they thought would be interested, and tried to organize jam sessions.

Over time, the band whittled down to 10 members.

“People came, people left and whoever stayed is basically the people in The B-Club now,” says Song, a fourth-year music recording arts student.

Their first test as a changed group will come next Thursday at Perth Hall during “Exam Jam” in which they open for Rick McGhie.

With some members unable to attend, The B-Club hopes the show goes as well as their others despite the depleted roster.

Martin Arthur, who is one of the band’s rappers, and Emma Phillips, who is The B-Club’s singer, came into the band in a similarly haphazard fashion. Arthur was contacted by his friend Bradley Bodanis, who at that time was playing guitar for the band, because he knew all the lyrics to “King Kunta” by Kendrick Lamar.

Bodanis stopped playing soon after.

Phillips, now a fourth-year popular music and film student, had just come back from O-Week training on the night of a show, and Toccacelli, who was her frosh, called asking if she would sing as they had no singer.

This school year, the band made some notable changes to their approach, opting away from the informal jams and towards a more traditional attempt at becoming popular. This included more high-profile shows, as well as recording an extended play. This new ethos culminated in their March 30 show at Rum Runners: alongside Fun Fact, they opened for KC Roberts & the Live Revolution. All remaining members hope to continue moves like this in the years to come. Hopefully to build on their established foundation in the London community.

The remaining B-Clubbers aren’t hesitant about the changes; instead, they’re embracing the necessary adaptation.

“The original idea was making sure this was something that was sustainable that people would enjoy and be inspired by, and it would be sad to see it go away,” says Tocacelli.

Phillips, who will be attending teacher’s college away from Western next year, says that ending at a venue like Rum Runners was very bittersweet because it may very well be her last performance. She describes a standout moment during the performance of “1095,” an original song: “I started singing, and I closed my eyes because I’m a performative asshole that just has to,” she says with a laugh. “And I hear, like, 25 voices singing it back, and I will never forget that moment.”

We all have opinions, and things can get uncomfortable when we don’t agree with each other. But on April 6, 14 students proved we can all bridge those gaps.

A School of Advanced Studies in the Arts & Humanities class gathered in Talbot College to screen their semester-long film production to a crowd of over 50 people.

Taught by Lainey Lui, who is a gossip columnist, reporter for CTV’s etalk and co-host for The Social, the class examined gossip’s social and political roots.

Dressed in cocktail wear, students and faculty mingled with each other, ate appetizers and sipped drinks, as if they were celebrities at a premiere night event.

The documentary short revolves around the students’ experiences in professor Lui’s course, Rumour Has It, and their experiences as students in SASAH. It displays both what the program offers students and what the students have brought to the program as a collaborative project.

It visualizes the ups and downs, including the clashes, conflicts and discomfort that arise while discussing polarizing issues in the classroom. Ultimately, it was about how that discomfort can be translated into something productive.

“It was kind of just trying to encapsulate all the different emotions and experiences that we had over the course of this year ... being in SASAH and trying to condense that into 10 minutes,” said Julian Saddy, a fourth-year student.

MALLORY THOMPSON GAZETTE

“[The project] was emblematic of our journey as a cohort as a whole,” said Levi Hord, fourth-year SASAH student and one of the coordinators of the film. “How we started off on the rocky side but really brought it together and learned how to work with each other’s strengths ... and to be able to do that in a way that represented how 14 different people felt about it.”

It took about four months and 14 students to put the entire short film together, and it allowed the students to reflect on their experiences and understand others’ perspectives, while discussing services issues.

Lui says the film was inspired by the conversations the class engaged in about Hollywood and entertainment. According to her students, Lui discussed gossip in an academic way, showing that deep conversations can be had through gossip because politics and celebrities aren’t so separate anymore.

“Until the Harvey Weinstein scandal, no one was talking about

consent and sexual assault [and] the experiences that women have to go through on a daily basis,” said Prem Sai Ramani, a fourth-year SASAH student and one of the editors of the film. “And it was gossip that put those conversations at the forefront.”

The process involved a lot of hard work and dedication, and seeing it on the big screen was emotional for the students as they will be graduating and parting ways shortly.

“It was nice to see it finally premiere after working so long, and I felt really emotional doing it as well,” said Ramani. “But also, it was just a really great event to cap off our final seminar.”

To end off the night, there was a Q-and-A session with the students who led the project. Audience members had the chance to gain more insight and background into the film’s creative process and students’ future endeavours.

Lui believes her students should not only attend school to learn but also share their learning.

Exam season essentials OLIVIA GIGONE CONTRIBUTOR April has arrived, bringing with it the promise of warmer weather and the ever-growing distraction of Netflix. Exam season is just around the corner, and that means we have a tendency to forget about how we look, what we eat and how to take time for ourselves. Here’s a list of Gazette-approved tips and tricks for balancing fashion, beauty, wellness and the examseason grind.

BRAIN FOOD As the last few weeks of school come to an end, our healthy eating habits typically follow suit. The stress of exams and final assignments often leads to excessive snacking and binge-eating junk food. Junk food triggers the same physiological reaction as drugs — it gives the brain a sense of temporary relief. That’s why reaching for a Big Mac and fries is much more tempting than choosing a more nutritious option like fruits or vegetables.

For a quick fix, rather than hitting the drive-thru window, apples and peanut butter or hummus and crackers are great options.

For when the sweet tooth strikes, dark chocolate has been proven to greatly improve cognitive function due to its flavonoid count, which boosts blood flow to the brain.

Dark chocolate also has much

less sugar compared to other snackable choices like candy or ice cream.

COMFY COUTURE Sweatpants and hoodies have become the hottest look of exam season fashion week 2018. As the start of exams hits, campus becomes a competition of whose sweats are the nicest and whose hair looks somewhat brushed in the morning. After long nights of studying, dressing comfortably seems like the most sensible option; however, dressing the part can actually do wonders for your mental state.

Studies show that dressing in more formal clothes tends to make you think more abstractly, holistically and creatively.

Throwing on a pair of cool shades can hide those tired eyes while instantly accessorizing your outfit — the Ray-Ban round metal sunglasses are a fan fave this season. Joggers are a great option to avoid the baggy sweats look while staying away from wearing jeans during the study grind — the Lululemon “Get Going Joggers” paired with a basic t-shirt or crew neck are a great choice for looking good on the streets but feeling good in the library. To top off the look, a pair of sneakers will lend you comfort all day long — the Nike Air Max Thea provides understated style and cushioned support all day long.

BARE BEAUTY On a typical day of classes, waking up an hour early to primp and pamper yourself doesn’t seem out of the ordinary, but when precious hours of sleep are limited, looking your best doesn’t come as a top priority. In order to maximize sleep and study hours, a fresh face and bright complexion is the best way to go. You can be out the door in 10 minutes and avoid feeling weighed down by makeup during long days of studying if you try the following: face masks (Sephora has affordable option), moisturizer (Clinique recommended) and gentle exfoliators (St. Ives recommended).

PRESS PAUSE While the ever-growing list of assignments to hand in and of study notes to complete takes precedence over any sense of well-being these days, giving your brain a break while studying has many benefits, including improved focus and a lengthened attention span.

Taking a few minutes approximately every hour to listen to music or to go outside for a walk can instantly reduce stress levels and can allow you to get back into studying with a clear mind.

The importance of daily physical activity is even more crucial during exam season as it also provides a way of increasing mental alertness, energy and positivity.

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14 • TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

culture

Western University prof dodges Facebook tracking MELODY LAU CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE The ongoing Facebook data breach scandal is making users re-evaluate how they use the site, but one Western University professor has been taking preventative privacy measures for years.

John Reed, a Faculty of Information and Media Studies professor, has been making it nearly impossible for Facebook to know where and who he is.

Reed started using Facebook in 2007, and he then downloaded all of his information and deleted the account four years ago. He decided to create a burner account this year with throwaway email addresses, a VPN and a fake name that originated from childhood.

“Whenever I go on Facebook, it says I’m in New York City, and I pay money to a service that lets me create burner email addresses that forward to my email account,” said Reed. “Every time I send an email, it generates unique gibberish email addresses … that never sends out the same email twice, making it impossible for them to triangulate who [I am].”

The problem Reed has is not with the scandal itself but with the overall lack of transparency from Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO. “I read a quote from Zuckerberg yesterday. He said that ‘our job is connecting people.... That is our passion.’ I wanted to say ‘OK, that’s really nice, but the reason that you are connecting people is because you make money off of those connections,’ ” Reed said.

He hopes that instead of loading all of the information into the

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE

terms and conditions, Zuckerberg will be more open and spell out the potential consequences for users who choose to share their data.

Nonetheless, while Reed studies social media networks for a living, he understands that youth, especially university students, use Facebook for completely different purposes than other age groups.

“I only use it to follow community-related things, so I have no friends and family on it, but just to learn ‘when are the vegetables going on sale at the farmers’ market,’ ” Reed said.

Despite the success of his strategy to hide from Facebook, he decided that he will delete it after realizing that he was perfectly fine during his Facebook hiatus and does not even have the time to attend the community-related events.

Reed also encourages students to delete the social network as a symbolic gesture to put stock market pressure on the company; however, he compares Facebook to electricity and believes that it’s too

good to go away.

“My kids don’t use Facebook because they think that it is old and stupid. It’s easy for someone that is 12 to say that they hate Facebook because they did not grow up with it,” Reed said. “It’s harder for someone your age who has been using it for 10 years — that’s like cutting off your arm.”

Currently, Facebook is trying to actively regain the trust of society with the “Access Your Information Data” tool that allows users to see all of the information that Facebook has on them.

“We are the dawning of a new age where we have to educate ourselves,” Reed said. “There will be literacy and education components for children, like how they say ‘don’t play with fire’ or ‘don’t stick your finger in an electrical socket.’ They’ll tell us those things about social media, and it won’t mean that we will reject it, but we’ll learn how to use it better and properly.”

•

Dave Williams headlines Space Day SHAUNA VALCHUK CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE At some point, we’ve all dreamt about what it would be like to go to space. Just the thought is exhilarating. But retired Canadian astronaut Dave Williams actually knows what it’s like to be among the stars.

Williams has been to space twice with NASA, setting a Canadian record for most spacewalks in his second spaceflight.

In 2007, he was the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk, which is the time spent outside a spacecraft. But by the end of his flight, he had performed three spacewalks, totalling 17 hours and 47 minutes, which still stands as the longest combined spacewalk by a Canadian.

Williams was the keynote speaker of the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration Western’s Space Day on April 6. He is a self-proclaimed exploration scientist; he doesn’t believe that he is just a doctor, a neuroscientist or an astronaut but rather a combination of all three.

Going to space has always been in the back of his mind. It all started when Williams was just seven years old and he dreamt of being an astronaut.

“It’s the kind of thing where you sit back and you think, ‘wouldn’t it be incredible? Wouldn’t it be amazing?’ ” Williams says during his keynote speech. “Being an astronaut starts the moment you think about wanting to become an astronaut.”

In 1992, the Canadian Space Agency was making its second round of recruitments for its astronaut training. That’s when Williams applied and was hired, alongside Chris Hadfield, Mike McKay and Julie Payette.

After his interstellar career, Williams went on to publish children’s books about space exploration.

These books include To Burp or Not to Burp, Go For Liftoff!, Mighty Mission Machines and Destination: Space — all novels that hope to get children into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, without actually using the word STEM. During his speech, Williams discussed the importance of educating children about advancement in space exploration since they’re the next generation to go to space.

Encouraging a career in space continues after childhood and well into post-secondary. He refers to being an astronaut like “being a graduate student for the best scientists in the world.”

But it’s not as easy as dreaming.

“It does require patience, persistence, resilience,” Williams says. “I remember one time being the only person in the library at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night. If you’re willing to commit really, really hard, it’s amazing.”

In order to get undergraduate students excited about exploration, Williams has helped develop a space physiology course coming to Western University.

“What I’ve learned, in all sincerity, over the course of my career is anything that’s worth doing is hard to do,” Williams says.

There may be ups and downs, but to Williams, it’s what we do when we’re not succeeding that determines if we will succeed.

Williams hopes we stop saying “impossible” and start saying “what would it take.”

Dave Williams’ autobiography Defying Limits: My Life as an Astronaut, Doctor, and Explorer comes out this fall.

FORTNITE BATTLE ROYALE

A phenomenon of a new calibre CARMEN MALLIA CULTURE EDITOR @CARMMALLIA When Drake loves a video game and multiple breakfast shows worldwide are discussing its addictive nature on young players, you know it’s made it big.

Developed by Epic Games, Fortnite Battle Royale has become a multiplayer global phenomenon, with 40 million users (and counting) plugged in.

First released in July 2017, the game is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online brawl where users can play alone or on a team of up to 20 players in matches with other players around the globe in a cartoonish, action-heavy world.

The game consists of gunplay, fort-building and strategizing.

What drew fourth-year genetics student Zachary Klugman to Fortnite was that it was something he and all of his roommates could enjoy together, even though they aren’t big gamers.

“I like how quick it is. It’s like fast action. It’s a quick spike of adrenaline and then it’s over. It’s like riding

a roller coaster,” says Klugman, citing Fortnite’s quick pace.

Each game, 100 players leap out of a hot air balloon-propelled bus onto a small island and fight each other until only one conqueror or team is left. Hidden around the large island are weapons and items, including grenade launchers, crossbows, rifles and traps. Players must arm themselves for the battle while exploring the vibrant landscape and buildings.

They can chop up trees or tear down buildings to collect resources and build structures to hide and defend themselves with.

A game can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes depending on the players’ levels of skill. As the match progresses, the area of play gradually decreases, forcing combatants closer and closer to one another.

Klugman recently won his first game, and he compares the excitement he and his roommates felt during the match to the time he got accepted to university.

“There’s a video circulating around my friend group when I had won, screaming and celebrating and

running around my room like I had just won the lottery,” says Klugman.

Fortnite’s accessibility and easeof-play has made it an international phenomenon that’s hard to ignore.

At Western University, students have been spending hours of their non-existent spare time playing the game. It’s even made international headlines, with celebrities including Drake, Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, Roseanne Barr and Joe Jonas basking in the glory of the game.

From middle-school playgrounds to frat parties, it’s become a cultural phenomenon and an obsession for millions of fans. But why? Let’s take a look.

FREE AND EASY Developer Epic Games did a great job of creating an accessible game with a simple interface. After a couple of rounds building forts and sucking down potions, users will be completely hooked on the game’s quick matches.

Unlike other multiplayer games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Grand Theft Auto and Battlefield, which usually cost upwards of $70,

Fortnite is free-to-play, and it can be accessed on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and mobile devices. It’s a free form of entertainment that will keep Mustangs glued to their screens for hours on end.

“A lot of things are expensive at Western, like tuition and food and going out, so having a way we can all hang out together for free in the comfort of our living room is something fun and convenient for us,” says Klugman.

SHAREABLE MOMENTS Each match is unique and no two players’ experience will be the same.

In Fortnite, it’s easy to get swept away in the adventures of your avatar.

Every time the bus cruises over the island, 100 narratives unfold. Some of them might be as simple as walking 10 steps and getting blown up by a shotgun. Others, like Klugman’s victorious win, are more textured.

Players can feel a sense of personal achievement, even if they don’t come out on top. For some, getting into the top five is enough of a goal; for others, winning a match can mean unforgettable happiness.

COMPLEXITY With a wide range of weapons and gadgets, the game invites users to experiment with a plethora of ways to battle.

That said, the game isn’t just about killing other players: it’s closer to a hunt, with risks and rewards. Making use of the spacious geography of the island is a tactical game in itself. Building mechanics is another element that makes Fortnite stand out against its competitors. Battles between players are often tactically complex endgames, revealing brilliant strategies that can make or break a game.

“I think it’s probably just a phase, just like all other video games,” says Klugman. “Until another style of game that comes out changes what’s popular, it’s cool and different to what we’ve been playing in the past.”

Fortnite will be around for a while. Students should at least download the game and give it a try: just wait until after exams though.

You might just spend a fortnight playing .

• www.westerngazette.ca

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018 • 15

culture

Western University’s wind engineering will blow you away GABRIELLE DROLET CULTURE EDITOR @GABRIELLEDROLET Models of the CN Tower, the World Trade Center, and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa stand tall in the basement of a Western University engineering building. The miniature figures, 400 times smaller than their real size, are surrounded by other models of international skyscrapers, bridges and foam models of entire cities.

These tiny structures are integral to the research carried out at Western’s Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory, a state-of-theart facility that tests how structures respond to strong winds.

Made up of five wind tunnel test areas, the massive corridors have fans at each end, which create strong, straight winds. The researchers craft perfectly scaled models of buildings, bridges and other structures and place them on a rotating plate. The models, which are dotted with tiny pressure sensors, record the wind’s effects on the structure.

This information is then relayed to designers, architects and civil engineers outside of Western, who use the data to create safer, stronger buildings.

While students outside of Western’s engineering faculty might not know that these campus wind tunnels exist, they have an international reputation and a rich history. Connell Miller, a PhD candidate in the wind engineering program, explains that Western’s research on the CN Tower’s model pioneered the use of wind tunnels in building design.

“The CN Tower was one of the first buildings tested in the wind tunnel and one of the first buildings to be tested for wind,” Miller states.

“Now, pretty much any tall building is being thrown into a wind tunnel.”

Since the CN Tower, the facility has been used to help design everything from the Confederation Bridge in PEI to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Before building a wind-sensitive structure, contractors send detailed information about it to engineers at Western, who build precise models.

Peter Case, the acting director of the BLWTL, explains that while this

work is largely commercial-based, the wind tunnels also serve as a research ground for graduate students and faculty members.

“Of course we’re working as part of the university, so we work closely with the faculty [of engineering] by having grad students and faculty use the wind tunnel,” he states.

“Probably 20 or 25 per cent of the usage of the wind tunnels is by faculty, for academic purposes. The rest of that time is really geared towards and focused on commercial work.”

The BLWTL isn’t Western’s only laboratory spearheading wind engineering research. Twenty minutes away from Western’s main campus is the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Institute — a building that can create tornadoes. Research in the WindEEE dome mainly surrounds testing buildings against wind events like tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as researching renewable wind energy.

“The WindEEE dome is actually the first wind facility worldwide that can simulate tornado winds,” explains Aaron Jaffe, a master’s student in wind engineering. “Before that, all wind tunnels were just straight-line winds, so you’d just have a fan on one side followed by a tunnel that’s blowing the wind straight. The WindEEE dome is hexagonal in shape, so it has fans on every side in a circular formation so it can actually simulate tornadoes.”

Sarah Stevenson, a structural engineering PhD candidate, explains that Western’s wind research has practical applications beyond building skyscrapers and bridges. Her research surrounds how wind storms impact houses, with the goal of making homes more structurally sound.

Through damage surveys conducted after storms, researchers can figure out what parts of a house are the weakest. Stevenson did this type of field research when she travelled to Florida after Hurricane Irma to assess houses that were destroyed by the storm.

“It’s kind of like a little mystery game where you have to pick up the pieces of the building and figure out how they were connected so we can pick out where the weak link was,”

CARMEN MALLIA GAZETTE Model skyscraper in a wind tunnel at the BLWTL.

she says. “The question we notice is that the roofs usually come off first, and the nails pull out. So researchers in wind engineering developed straps that can be used to tie the roof down.”

In the fall, Stevenson will travel to Cuba to apply the knowledge from Western’s field research to houses there as well. She hopes to create roof straps that can be developed locally to protect houses during strong storms.

Another research project that explores both structural and wind engineering is Western’s Three Little Pigs Research Project, which lives up to its namesake; it tests what types

of forces can huff and puff and blow houses down.

The lab applies pressure to different parts of a full-sized house to see what forces can break or crack it. Results from the research is provided to insurance and housing industries to build safer homes.

“With the Three Little Pigs lab specifically, we are testing for failure, so we are trying to rip the vinyl siding off the walls, we’re trying to rip the roof off the house, we’re trying to knock down the walls. It’s a real eye-opener for both industry and researchers to see; ‘okay, this is how typical residential buildings are going to fail,’ ” Miller states. “It’s an

interesting way to see how a structure breaks.”

Miller explains that, while Western’s various wind engineering initiatives aren’t well-known on campus, they’re making waves globally.

“Western’s wind engineering program is world-class. I could only probably name on one hand the amount of schools in the world that even offer anything close to a wind engineering program, let alone a whole graduate program that … has about 100 students in it,” he says.

The research and testing done at Western’s facilities are, all in all, enough to blow you away.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

GAZETTE CROSSWORD

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE Traditional Libyan jewellery is displayed in the Libyan section of the Arab Students Association’s “Trip Around the World” in the University Community Centre, April 9, 2018.

WORD SEARCH

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•

CLUES ACROSS

CLUES DOWN

1. Defunct social networking service 5. Facial expressions 11. Forebears 14. A portable gun 15. Decrees 18. Resin obtained from tropical trees 19. One who divines the future 21. River in Oregon 23. Norse god of thunder 24. It’s on the lawn 28. Speaks 29. Polish beer 30. Ethnic group in Laos 32. Insecticide 33. Surface of the ground 35. Third-party access 36. Senior officer 39. Makes a living with difficulty 41. Expression of sympathy 42. Former U.S. president 44. Passover feast and ceremony 46. Wild sheep of northern Africa 47. Pouch 49. Public buildings 52. Type of cuisine 56. “Hotel California” rockers 58. Universal 60. Eloquently 62. Scantily 63. Japanese alcoholic drink

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2. Lake __, one of the Great 3. Seahawks safety Thomas 4. Take a __ 5. Gazelles 6. One’s mother 7. Iridium 8. Comics writer Stan 9. Within 10. Excite 12. Long-legged gazelle 13. Leaves 16. African nation 17. System of handcraft-based education 20. Formerly (archaic) 22. Argon 25. Equally 26. Standardized test 27. Not part of 29. Midway between east and southeast 31. Native American tribe 34. Marlins infielder Gordon 36. Places to relax 37. Phonology units 38. Bastard wing 40. South Dakota 43. Lake in Uganda 45. Spanish be 48. Town in Galilee 50. Mediation counsel 51. Hair-like structure 53. Domesticated animals 54. Region 55. He cured polio 57. Title of respect 58. Carpet design 59. Strongly alkaline solution 61. Cerium

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