Tuesday, November 27, 2018

avoiding contaminated food sources since 1906

SINCE 1906 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2018 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 13

Western University’s Student Newspaper

LUCY VILLENEUVE GAZETTE

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 •

• 2

emily copeland

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COURTESY OF EMILY COPELAND

Emily Copeland sees things you don’t.

This Western alumna’s Instagram page looks like an artsy grid of black and white photographs. Only if you saw the captions would you know that they’re actually intricate and hyper-realistic drawings, which garnered the attention of the prestigious Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York City, now known as the Bernarducci Gallery.

With everything from a pair of leather cowboy boots to a disco ball to an electric guitar to a vintage slot machine, Emily likes to expose the detail of vintage objects that others don’t see. With her retro interests, this realism artist puts old, everyday objects onto a sleek white canvas.

“I believe that vintage items have a priceless value because they come with stories and memories, so I want to do a mix of old and new,” says Emily, who graduated with a fine arts degree.

After she chooses an object to draw, Emily usually takes around 400 photos with her phone’s camera. To anyone else looking at the photos, they may look the same. But Emily has trouble selecting between two almost identical photos, recognizing the finer points that bring beauty out of images.

“I want to take everyday items and make them beautiful and show people that anything can be beautiful,” says the 26-year-old artist.

Her hardest piece, a vintage telephone, was a challenge that lasted about a month and a half, with 15-hour days that resulted in bruised hands.

“Realism is about drawing what you see, not what you think you see,” she says.”

Being at Western University helped Emily propel her love for art forward. Lessons about art history and criticism gave her an understanding about where her ideas started, and she says it gave her the confidence to critique and challenge them.

“I don’t think I’d ever be able to survive the art world without that knowledge,” she says.

Western also offered Emily her first solo show titled “The Stacks” at Western’s Artlab Gallery. But unlike a lot of artists, Emily believes art shouldn’t be subjected to one point of view.

“As soon as you put a meaning, that’s all they see,” says Emily. “I leave it to the audience to decide what they like about it.”

When Emily first saw her works at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, her view on her own life changed.

“I hadn’t ever seen my work all up in a room before. “The Stacks” at Western was small, but I had over 15 works at this gallery in New York. The moment I stepped into the gallery, they were all presented there, and I realized this was my career now. It was a really cool experience to be able to see that.”

Being paid for her work has given Emily confirmation that it’s possible to make a living as an artist. But being an artist comes with its challenges.

“You also have to be extremely good at budgeting,” she says. “When you’re not selling artwork, which could even be the case for a whole year, you need that money to sustain yourself, which requires heavy planning and budgeting.”

Emily continues her art career because she thinks art is important and she feels the world needs it, especially in this day and age.

“It’s important to have the ability to spark conversation through images,” she says. “I believe without art the world would be pretty uninteresting, repetitive and dull, not just physically, but emotionally as well.”

Perhaps as Emily does, marvelling at mundane objects might make the world a more exciting place.

■■KRISTIN LEE

Western by the Numbers

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

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

12,380 fans in attendance for Saturday's Vanier Cup in Quebec City

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

2,100,000 annual visits to Weldon Library

240 students who rocked out at Hollerado's Nov. 22 show at the Wave

3 •

news

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Project hopes for Indigenous campus learning space JUDY BASMAJI NEWS EDITOR @JUDYBASMAJI Western University’s Indigenous Services launched a community engagement process to collect feedback on the potential construction of an Indigenous learning space on campus.

Candace Brunette-Debassige, special advisor to the provost (Indigenous Initiatives), is leading the initiative in response to Western’s Indigenous Strategic Plan released in 2016. BrunetteDebassige explained that the project hopes to create a space that reflects Indigenous peoples and knowledge by hosting gatherings, ceremonies, and indoor and outdoor learning activities.

“There is a growing call to ‘Indigenize’ university campuses across the country, and an Indigenous learning space that embodies Indigenous ways of knowing and learning is an important way to advance these efforts at our university,” said Brunette-Debassige.

Brunette-Debassige explained the conventional classroom structure with forward-facing, row-byrow seating and a single focal point on the instructor puts students in passive modes of learning. This structure further reinforces the idea that the instructor is the sole authority.

On the other hand, BrunetteDebassige emphasized that Indigenous pedagogies promote self-reflection and wholistic

learning in relation to the self and the connection to family, community and land. More specifically, Indigenous teachings foster active and experiential learning that is intimately tied to a sense of responsibility toward the community.

“I think that student learning is dramatically influenced and shaped by our environment,” said Brunette-Debassige. “I firmly believe that an Indigenous learning space at Western will bring value to our learning environment for everyone.”

Western currently has an Indigenous Services space located in Room 2100 of the Western Student Services Building. BrunetteDebassige explained this space has been at capacity for some time now.

The Indigenous Learning Space Project is currently in its first phase, as preliminary gathering and needs assessment is taking place from October to December of this year.

In this phase, the university aims to understand the Indigenous values and characteristics needed within an Indigenous learning space.

To achieve this, the university conducted several focus groups and guided conversations with relevant groups, including Indigenous Services staff, the Indigenous Faculty Advisory and Indigenous students.

An online survey that opened Oct. 29 collected feedback from Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, alumni, faculty, staff and community partners until Nov. 26. The phase will include further meetings with visiting elders, First Nations Studies program instructors and Facilities Services.

“We have heard a lot of feedback from people. There has been interest in creating an outdoor

classroom with a sacred fire pit … [and] having a larger gathering space to host events … such as the annual Indigenous graduation celebration, pow wow and Indigenous Awareness week. People want a space that reflects Indigenous values and is child and family-friendly,” explained Brunette-Debassige.

In the second phase of the project, an ad hoc Indigenous Space Working Group will be assembled to review the input gathered in phase one. The group will organize the input into a themed report that offers recommendations for planning actions and priorities. Details of the final implementation phase will be revealed later in the academic year.

“We hope through this process, the university can develop a plan to create more Indigenous space options,” said Brunette-Debassige. “…This move is part of a paradigm shift happening in higher education, and I’m so happy to be a small part of this movement.”

Researchers develop rapid E. coli test kits KENDRA CAREY NEWS CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE A test kit developed by researchers at Western University could provide a way to accelerate the time it takes to obtain test results for the E. coli O157 bacteria from days to hours.

The E. coli O157 bacteria is the culprit of the recent outbreaks occurring within Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The Public Health Agency of Canada has responded to the outbreak with a recall on romaine lettuce, which

has resulted in major grocery stores, such as Loblaws and Sobeys, removing their supplies from store shelves. The Spoke and the Wave at Western have also eliminated romaine lettuce from their inventory for the duration of the recall.

According to Michael Rieder, professor in the department of paediatrics at Western and scientist at Robarts Research Institute, the kits work similar to a pregnancy test.

“The way the test kit works is you take the food, you incubate it

for a couple hours to let the bacteria grow, then take a drop of that fluid and put it in a cassette,” he outlined.

“Fluid flows through, and if two red lines show up, there is E. coli there.”

Current tests for potentially contaminated food require days or even weeks for results to be delivered.

“Our kit is actually a way to look at pathogenic bacteria in food earlier, faster and closer to source,” said Rieder. “It’s robust, it’s cheaper, it’s faster, and the good thing is that it can be used in a plant.”

The system works with barcodes,

allowing users to trace the contaminated product back to the source before the shipment makes its way to vendors.

“Right now, it’s down in Pomona, Calif., where it’s being validated [with] a company that’s going to be buying the kits,” explained Rieder.

“Our hope is that by this time next year they will be routine in at least 500 food plants across North America and ideally more.”

Rieder’s research is to continue with Listeria, another food pathogen, which he hopes will be

available to test for food safety in the upcoming year.

“When you’re a scientist, you work in a lab, you publish papers, and that’s really nice. But oftentimes, you don’t actually affect the real world very much,” he explained. “To actually take a test that affects the real world is really a neat thing for someone. Robarts [Research Institute] is a disciplinary environment where I can get advice from scientists of different areas, and that’s been really instrumental in helping this project along.”

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news

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 •

• 4

Study’s interventions boost happiness levels

JUDY BASMAJI NEWS EDITOR @JUDYBASMAJI

A study led by Gillian Mandich, Western University doctoral candidate and happiness expert, and supervised by Linda Miller, professor in Western’s school of occupational therapy and vice-provost of graduate and postdoctoral studies, showed that an online video-based positive psychology intervention can increase university students’ happiness levels.

Western students watched a series of short videos on topics such as mindfulness, gratitude and social connection over a period of four weeks. Results revealed students’ self-reported happiness levels increased significantly on four of five happiness questionnaire measures administrated before and after the four-week period.

“I wanted to explore … things that impacted health,” said Mandich, who specializes in health promotion. “... I thought if I want to look at what promotes health, the most potent thing that I can think of to look at is happiness.”

Mandich explained the study also revealed students’ immense interest in learning about happiness.

While she aimed to have 60 students participate in the study, Mandich received over 1,200 responses during participant recruitment.

“We’re taught so much in school, and this isn’t something that is taught,” said Mandich, “and yet when we do [teach it], we can see so many positive applications for not only the mental health, but the physical health of students.”

As rates of mental health problems escalate among university students, Mandich emphasized the importance of providing young people with the necessary tools to navigate the pressures of university life as they take their first steps into adulthood. Happiness and positive psychology techniques can help students through times of high stress, she explained.

This need is also evidenced by students’ high response rate to the study, she added. Mandich noted the findings also align with the vision of Western’s Mental Health and Wellness Strategic Plan, which was released as Mandich was wrapping up the study. The plan prioritizes an educational curriculum and campus resources that support students’ mental health needs.

“I got some qualitative data at the end, asking students what they thought of the videos and what they would change,” she said, “and a lot of them were saying things like they wanted more information or more interactive videos.”

According to Mandich, these findings align with many international studies on happiness, as research is currently exploding within the field of positive psychology. After completing her degree, she plans to work on making the video content more engaging as well as making positive psychology programs more accessible to students at Western and beyond.

“When I was in my undergrad, nobody ever asked me what would make me happy,” said Mandich. “I think it’s one of those things … that drives all of our behaviours oftentimes, and yet we don’t really think about it as much.”

Mandich is a renowned speaker on happiness, health and well-being, and appears regularly on Breakfast Television and The Social. She will present her findings to the public on Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. in the International and Graduate Affairs Building, room 1N05.

LIANA LOUZON VIA GILLIAN MANDICH Gillian Mandich, Western doctoral candidate, saw increased levels of happiness reported by Western students.

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

Planetary centre launches virtual “hub” DANICA SKAKAVAC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE On Nov. 28, Western University’s Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) will launch a new online multi-platform initiative called Space Matters.

The initiative will be delivered through a virtual hub from spacematters.ca, with its main goal spreading awareness about space itself.

The hub will offer many features, such as a visual timeline defining Canada’s space exploration program and a weekly blog to spotlight important Canadians in the space industry.

According to Gordon Osinksi, a professor in the department of Earth sciences and director of CPSX, Space Matters has four main objectives: to foster interaction among the space and science community, to be useful as a resource in the classroom for both teachers and students, to encourage interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and to raise awareness among Canadians about the importance of space in their everyday lives.

“We’re trying to build and connect people and build the space

community canvas,” said Osinski.

“We’d like to keep expanding it, and we have our ideas, particularly with having science museums on board. I’d say permanent exhibits and things across the country or perhaps a travelling exhibit.”

“Plus, it all needs funding, and because of this, we will be looking for sponsors, companies and individuals to help us take this effort coast to coast essentially,” he continued.

Funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada assisted with the initiative’s jump-start.

“The initial push for Space Matters was when I was awarded a science program grant earlier on this year, so that’s the initial funding that’s leading to the development,” added Osinski.

“It’s rapidly expanding, and I hope Western will still be leading this effort through CPSX. But we’ve got a number of partners already — the Canadian Association of Science Centres and partners in research, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada — and again, that’s growing. It will be a collective effort to really grow and expand this program in the future.”

Postal strike impacts students ASHLEY GOVEAS NEWS CONTRIBUTOR @UWOGAZETTE

CROSSWORD SOLUTION Solution to puzzle on page 11

The Canada Post strike may have significant repercussions on mail services at Western University.

The postal service has been on rotating strikes since Oct. 22, creating massive backlogs in processing facilities and causing serious delays in deliveries across Canada.

The strike will not directly affect the delivery of transcripts and Official Western Letters, which include things like proof of current or past enrollment, statement of fees paid, and visa letters for international students. Mail sent by courier and outside of Canada will continue to be delivered without interruptions as well.

However, it is likely that mail could be caught in the system in the event that Canada Post decides to suspend their services.

Transcripts and Official Western Letters that are requested through regular mail 48 hours prior to any announced service action or interruption may also be held until the strike is resolved.

The office of the registrar noted the following alternate methods of ordering and delivering transcripts and Official Western Letters: they can be picked up in person at the Student Central office and paid for online. Students can also request them through a fax order form or

add a release of information to order them through a third party, like a parent or friend.

Western explained that in the event postal services across Canada are suspended, the university will be unable to mail transcripts and Official Western Letters to Canadian addresses via Canada Post.

“We get mail for students as well, particularly packages,” said Mitch Young, manager of Western mail services. “At last report, there are over 200 trailers of parcels at the gateway facility in Toronto waiting to be processed.”

The office of the registrar recommends using a courier service, like FedEx, during the postal strike.

On Nov.19, it was reported that a proposal to stall the strike in order to accommodate for the traffic during the holiday season was made. This would have resumed the company’s regular operations until January, but the proposal was denied.

Following this, the Liberal government introduced a legislation that could force Canada Post employees back to work last Thursday morning.

Canada Post workers will continue to work on rotating strikes.

Mail will continue to be delivered but will experience delays.

“I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of packages [there may] be, but they’re going to be delayed,” said Young.

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE To what degree mail at Western will be affected by the Canada Post strike remains to be seen, Nov. 23, 2018.

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opinions

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

The benefits of cultural exposure Judge Judy

JUDY BASMAJI NEWS EDITOR @JUDYBASMAJI In the fall of my freshman year at Western, I was standing in line at the Saugeen-Maitland Hall cafeteria waiting to pay for an overloaded food tray. The student ahead of me reached for his student card to hand to the cafeteria employee before realizing he didn’t have it.

Upon seeing this uncomfortable situation, I instantly offered to pay for his meal. I was even about to insist, if I wasn’t faced with a dry refusal combined with suspicious looks from both the student and the employee.

I have received my fair share of odd looks since I arrived in Canada in 2013 — looks that most international students are very familiar with. Where I come from, people rarely engage in outdoorsy activities for fun, have a strong and unreasonable fear of dogs, and consider it extremely rude and inappropriate to demand money from acquaintances in exchange for textbooks or other course materials rather than giving them for free. These are all hiccups that have come up over the years.

There is always that part of me that wants to step up and defend myself. I wish I could explain to the student and cafeteria staff that what I did would have been met with extreme gratitude and appreciation where I come from.

It wouldn’t be considered “weird”; in fact, such behaviour is regarded as the norm, regardless of a person’s financial or social status.

People’s judgment of what is “normal” or “weird” is mainly defined by their culture: the behaviour expected from the average person. While most people are aware that these norms vary

across cultures, many of us have an innate attachment to our ideas and expectations of normalcy. These expectations make up the basic building blocks of stereotypes. We use our perceptions of the average individual’s behaviour, or what we believe to be average, to draw conclusions about a group of people.

However, over the years, I’ve realized a strange thing starts to happen when people become exposed to different cultures through travel and immersion. This attachment toward one’s definition of normalcy gradually fades away, dissolving with it stereotypical, judgmental ideas that many of us hold despite our best intentions.

When everything becomes “weird,” nothing is really “weird” anymore. That’s what it feels like to step into a different culture. Coming to this country as a foreigner, I can comfortably say that many things were initially weird to me, like the ways people dressed and walked and talked. Soon enough, I could no longer maintain my default expectations of how people should behave, leaving me with a much more accepting attitude.

This is not to say that abnormal behaviour does not exist, but rather that our concept of what is normal should be much more inclusive.

This inclusion can only become possible through cultural exposure, which normalizes what once seemed abnormal, inappropriate or even plain wrong.

Most social norms are not based on core values, moral beliefs or religion; they are nothing more than a meaningless average. This group average implies there is something wrong with people who fall above or below it, whether they belong to that group or not.

In order for Canada to uphold the values of multiculturalism and diversity it so strongly advocates, people need to broaden their definition of normalcy by letting go of this preconceived average. Perhaps newcomers would receive fewer odd looks in the future.

Paying homage to offline shopping Def-Con Four MICHAEL CONLEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @MIKECONLEY4 The red and green cogs of festive capitalism rely on eggnog drinking buyers and sellers.

Our personal affiliations are a wash once Nov. 1 rolls around. Mariah Carey hits high notes as a jolly old man bearing gifts is plastered across screens and billboards in the hopes of loosening wallets for the greater good of global economic bounty.

But these days, consumer dollars are regularly sliding through online portals into the well-manicured hands of industry leaders like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Alibaba’s Daniel Zhang. Small businesses weep. And the mall, once a

populous, anxiety-inducing gathering place for all ages, is obligated to evolve outside of its former self.

This evolution, prompted by money spent on pyjamas while wearing pyjamas in bed, rather than money spent on pyjamas while wearing sweatpants in Hudson’s Bay, is a regression of what makes our communities beautiful. Spending time engaging in the discomfort that these gathering places may offer is crucial to appreciating the real communities we live in.

For there is beauty in the crowded, limited selection that malls and local stores offer. Jumping on a bus and not knowing what you’ll get is pure in the most organic sense. Buying a product and immediately walking away with it, knowing there may be other options somewhere out there which may satisfy you more, is satisfying in and of itself.

Challenge choice. The shopping experience, and the festive season of which it is a part, is more than

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Some Ontario communities, such as those within Greater Sudbury, have French-speaking populations that may rely on the language services currently being cut.

French education and services should be protected in Ontario

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD French language is a key part of Canada’s multicultural heritage and needs to be protected — especially by provinces with francophone minorities.

Provinces have a responsibility under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to provide public funding for minority language rights. While Ontario currently has colleges that offer programs in French, there is no entirely, publicly funded French university.

The Progressive Conservative government has announced that they will no longer be funding a French university in Ontario and — though now backtracking — previously eliminated the office of the province’s French language services commissioner. It is estimated that cuts will affect 600,000 francophones in Ontario.

All that being said, this move isn’t unusual for Premier Ford’s administration: it is an economically conservative choice, which falls in line with the majority of his other policy choices. It’s worth noting that while Ford has cancelled the funding of a French university, his government has done the same for three GTA satellite campuses and has rejected Ryerson’s plan for a new law school.

The problem here is that reducing French education sends a negative statement towards French speakers. As a Canadian province, Ontario has the responsibility to protect its French speaking citizens.

There are many communities and towns in Ontario with large French-speaking populations. In such communities, French Canadians should be able to access a French university without leaving the province to seek education in Quebec. The same goes for French-speaking immigrants hailing from different parts of the world; arriving in Ontario and seeing the cancellation of a French university, as well as cuts to French language services, doesn’t present an inclusive environment for newcomers.

Protecting French language rights doesn’t only benefit French speakers: it also benefits the country as a whole. Normalizing French education increases bilingualism, and the ability to take post-secondary education in French could increase demand for elementary and secondary school French programs.

As French is the official second language of Canada, French language services need to be promoted and maintained effectively. Whether Prime Minister Trudeau’s plan to speak to Ford about these cuts occurred, and whether it had an effect on reinstalling the French language services commissioner position, is unclear. But Canada needs more politicians publicly supporting the French language for its immense value within Canadian heritage.

Cuts such as these create a precarious reality for the protection of French rights in Ontario.

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.”

the products you buy. The holiday season should be about community.

And whether you value shopping or not, the experiences that come with it are innately human.

If we, especially as students, only see community through the lenses of our campus classes and Richmond Row barhops, the likelihood that we’ll use our resources — whether it be time, money or clout — to improve our communities lessens. And that, as capable, competent individuals, is a shame. We should set an example for future generations. We should chart a path from the food court to Lululemon and back to the food court. We should spend a little extra on items from local shop owners — even if that isn’t as comfortable as online shopping.

Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for retail giant Cafaro Company, celebrates the social side of mall ratting.

“The retired president of our company used to like to say, from the dawn of civilization there has been the marketplace,” Bell said

in an interview with the Telegraph Herald. “People like to gather to see their friends and neighbours, to hear the gossip, to shop for things. That is not going to change any time soon.”

For Bell’s words to prove true, we need to get communal. The obvious connection between young people’s willingness to online shop rather than mall-hop, and young people’s willingness to forgo physical socializing in the name of social media performativity, is unnerving. We are, understandably, ever more inclined to find convenience through the digital tools at our disposal, but we miss the best things about life when we refuse to physically interact.

Rejecting the physical world in favour of digitized spaces may hinder social skills. Reading emotional cues, such as those through body language and tone, is a skill associated with professional and academic success and isn’t sufficiently grown through social media. Without an ability to manage physical interactions in these ways, we are limiting our personal development and

capping our potential to be communally engaged.

Our communities rely on participation. For those who obtain positions of influence, an ability to sensibly distribute resources for the good of many may prove invaluable in our future locales. Knowing how to do this won’t come naturally to everyone. An ability to navigate physical space and communicate with people outside of our everyday bubbles is a skill birthed from training. Tearing off the proverbial anxiety Band-Aid that entering populous spaces over and over again prompts will pay dividends in the future. Choosing the difficult option of leaving our warm homes for a potentially disappointing, but potentially highly rewarding, trip downtown or to Old East Village will grow our understanding of others in a way social media and online marketplaces cannot.

So this festive season, get your boots, grab your bus pass, bundle up and hit the road. Opportunity awaits — and it’s on a shelf near you.

feature

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 •

• 6

Mustangs in rematch

MIKE DEBOER MANAGING EDITOR @UWOGAZETTE As the afternoon melted into evening and the fireworks on the Stade Telus-Université Laval sideline set off in a splendid display, the Mustangs’ unprecedented twoyear run of dominance ended in remarkably unspectacular fashion.

From the opening whistle, Laval punched them in the mouth, a twoplay drive ripping up the Western secondary and putting the game out of reach before it even began.

“We’ve been training hard all year and been waiting for this moment,” said Laval quarterback Hugo Richard, who spearheaded that opening drive with two longrange bombs and who, time and time again, avenged the results of last year’s Vanier Cup game.

Both teams trained hard, mind you. This game was written in the stars since last years national title bout, when Western ended its 23-year Vanier Cup drought, fighting back against the narrative of a once-proud program that had fallen into a snake-bitten state for more than two decades.

That game toppled the sports’ hierarchy, as Laval looked ordinary for the first time since 1999, when it won the first of its now 10 national titles.

That game was appropriate redemption for Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall, his program and the players who lost a seemingly insurmountable lead in the 2016 Yates Cup to the Laurier

Golden Hawks. And their meeting with Laval, in Quebec City, for a shot at a second-straight Vanier Cup was the apropos second act in what has become the ultimate rivalry in U Sports football.

And if that sounds like hyperbole, the crowd at the Stade Telus on Saturday afternoon certainly didn’t think so. Over 12,000 fans packed the stadium, many of who set up their tents in the stadium parking lot in the early hours of the morning to drink and barbecue and blare French-Canadian rock ‘n’ roll over their speakers. Even Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer made an appearance at the game, donning a red and gold Laval jersey in an homage to the home crowd.

Quebec flags flew in the crowd and boos rained down on the Mustangs as they took the field, the inevitable English-French animosities stoked from the onset. A lone Ontario flag, flown by a Western fan in a leather Western Engineering jacket, brought jeers from the intoxicated Rouge et Or fans. Young spectators lined the fence separating Western’s sideline from the grandstand, flipping middle fingers at the Mustangs and, at one point, throwing a football kicked

by Western kicker Marc Liegghio into the stands. If there was any question about whether these two teams — despite having only met three other times in their history — really disliked each other, the crowd quickly answered it.

And when Laval scored early

off those two Richard passes and quickly climbed out to a 10–0 lead before fans could even spell “r-ev-e-n-g-e,” the stadium roared so loud one would have been hardpressed to miss the sound on the Plains of Abraham.

What went well for the Mustangs over the last two seasons — an impenetrable defence, a staunch offensive line and smart offensive play — all went so very wrong on Saturday in La Belle Province.

The Mustangs secondary blew coverage over and over again. The offensive line struggled to open holes for running backs Cedric Joseph and Alex Taylor, and the pocket collapsed often, forcing quarterback Chris Merchant to take bone-rattling sacks and throw ill-advised passes into coverage.

And Merchant, despite an adequate and, at times, heroic performance, played without the cool and collected presence that has made him one of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks.

“When you are playing against Laval, you can’t afford to make those types of mistakes, but I’m proud of the boys,” said Marshall about his team’s struggles. “They played hard and they left it all on the field.”

The Mustangs were going to lose at some point, but the defeat still shocked a team that hadn’t experienced heartbreak since November of 2016. Multiple important players on the Mustangs had never lost in their stints at Western, including All-Canadian defensive back

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• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

s fall short of the ages

Daniel Valente Jr. and offensive coordinator Steve Snyder.

Laval looked every bit like a team that was humbled by Western last season. While Western is by no means a pauper program in the grand scheme of Canadian university football, their resources and support barely measure up to the footballing empire built by Laval and its founding booster, furniture magnate Jacques Tanguay. And when the Mustangs routed them in front of a raucous pro-Western crowd at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field last November, Laval was embarrassed in a way it rarely had been in its history.

But that loss fuelled them throughout their summer and into the regular season. Their defence crushed the hopes and dreams of their challengers in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, allowing fewer than one touchdown per game in eight regular season contests. They faced their conference rival, the Montreal Carabins three times, winning each time in dramatic fashion. They needed a second shot at Western, and not a soul could stand in their way “It’s been 12 months we’ve been waiting for this,” said Rouge et Or head coach Glen Constantin. “The kids made a vow we’d be back.”

And when they got that chance, they took advantage and then some. The game was never really in doubt. Western pushed back but was unable to gain any real momentum, as ill-advised

penalties, turnovers and timeout calls stunted any attempts to meaningfully cut into the Laval lead. As Richard said, with an ear-to-ear grin on his face, “We’ve been training hard all year and been waiting for this moment.”

That’s not to say the Mustangs didn’t have the same fervour and intensity heading into Saturday.

They took on all comers for 11 games in 2018, winning their second-straight Yates Cup. When they ran onto the Stade Telus field on Saturday, through the purple and white fog, a number of Mustangs waved and taunted the Rouge et Or sideline. This game mattered to both teams. There was animosity in the air. But at the end of the day, Laval channelled that animosity into vengeance and their 10th national title in program history.

In the long run, this loss probably won’t mean much for the health and success of the Mustangs football program. They bring back a number of key contributors, including Valente, Merchant and, potentially, Joseph. Their coaching staff is one of the best in the country, and they continue to recruit successfully and dynamically in the backyard of one of the country’s high school football hotbeds. And they can head into the homes of recruits and potential transfers and use the Vanier Cup’s massive crowds and hundreds of thousands of television viewers as a tool to continue to reload with talented newcomers.

“One thing our boys will realize is it’s a game and they’ll have to … go to class on Monday and carry on, and that’s about teaching them mental toughness and mental resiliency,” said Marshall.

Much like that loss to Laurier in 2016 fuelled a historic two-year run for the program, this loss will act as a motivator for a team that hadn’t experienced the feeling of defeat for so long. And while there are a number of Vanier Cup contenders throughout the country, both Western and Laval have set themselves apart from the pack.

So as the Stade Telus stands emptied out and the Rouge et Or took the Vanier Cup to their locker room for a joyous celebration, the Mustangs hugged their families and the teammates who played their last games in the purple and white. And then they changed out of their equipment and boarded a bus to the airport for the quiet and retrospective ride home.

More games will be played, and lives will be lived, and losses, on and off the field, will be suffered. And their head coach had profound parting words for a 2018 Mustangs football team that had so much success, despite how their season ended.

“Sometime down the road, something way worse than losing a football game is going to happen, and you still have to get out of bed and go to work, and you still have to get out of bed and be a dad,” said Marshall. “But I am so proud of this team.”

PHOTOS BY LUCY VILLENEUVE GAZETTE

sports

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 •

• 8

Heartbreak in Quebec City CHARLIE MARSHALL SPORTS EDITOR @CWMARSHALL98 It’s a common adage that nothing can last forever. The Western Mustangs certainly learned that at the 54th Vanier Cup on Saturday afternoon as their two-year long winning streak ended at 23 games.

The Mustangs lost to the Laval Rouge et Or 34–20 in the national championship game at the Stade Telus-Université Laval.

The Rouge et Or opened the game with confidence, electing to receive the ball to open the game.

The choice paid off as quarterback Hugo Richard found Jonathan Breton-Robert and Vincent ForbesMombleau on back-to-back bombs.

The 47-yard connection between Richard and Forbes-Mombleau gave Laval a 7–0 lead just two plays into the game.

The Mustangs offence was not up to the early Rouge et Or challenge, though, as quarterback Chris Merchant scrambled away from pressure and unloaded an ill-advised pass that fell into the hands of a waiting Laval defender.

The Rouge et Or continued to drive on offence following the interception. However, they weren’t able to find the end zone, instead settling for a field goal to extend their lead to 10–0.

The Western offence found its groove at the end of the first quarter, creating some momentum on short passing plays.

The running backs were the driving factors of the Mustangs first major of the day, though, as Cedric Joseph took a reception within the Laval 20-yard line, Alex Taylor caught a pass to bring the ball within the two-yard line and Joseph put the ball on the ground in the ensuing play, pounding in Western’s first

touchdown of the day with 13 minutes to play in the first half.

Despite the defence forcing the Rouge et Or into a third and inches situation, Laval was able to answer Western’s touchdown with a touchdown of their own. Richard found Benoît Gagnon-Brousseau on a 22-yard passing connection to extend their lead to 17–7 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Western was not able to score on the ensuing drive, but they were able to add a field goal to shorten the deficit to 17–10 a few drives later.

The Mustangs defence started to turn into its former self as the first half came to a close. With just under three minutes to play in the first half, Bleska Kambamba blew up a play at the line of scrimmage, forcing and recovering a fumble. However, after a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty to the cornerback, the Mustangs were driven out of field goal range.

The lost yardage ultimately cost the Mustangs, as they were forced to punt the ball back to Laval with under two minutes remaining in the half. The Mustangs defence, which had been the driving force of the team all year, once again came up big, forcing a Rouge et Or punt, handing the ball back to their offence with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

After a few successful plays, Merchant found Francois Rocheleau on a quick pass and the receiver scampered down within Laval’s 15-yard line. The extra run after the catch almost cost his team but, luckily, he managed to leave less than a second on the clock for Marc Liegghio to chip in an 11-yard field goal. Through two quarters of play, Laval led the Mustangs 17–13.

Despite the Mustangs gaining some good momentum to end the

first half, it was all Laval to open the second. The Rouge et Or offence continued to move the ball down the field and the successful drive was capped with a rushing touchdown by Richard on a quarterback draw.

The next offensive drive only brought more bad news for the Mustangs. Merchant hit a wide open Cole Majoros, but the receiver let the ball bounced off his hands. The deflected pass fell into the waiting hands of Laval’s Adam Auclair. The defensive back returned the ball to Western’s two-yard line.

Despite the incredible field position, the Western defense held the Laval offence to a field goal. With just under nine minutes left in the third, the Mustangs were down by a score of 27–13.

Majoros picked up a few big gains on the next series, but the Mustangs were unable to capitalize. The team eventually settled for a 27-yard field goal attempt. While it seemed to be an easy kick for one of the best kickers in U Sports, Liegghio, the thirdyear player, kicked the ball into the ground after Brett Ellerman botched the hold.

More than a few controversial calls killed a good offensive drive for the Mustangs in their drive to cut into the deficit. One key play was blown dead despite Merchant rushing the ball down field, close to the end zone. In what could have been a 40-plus yard rush for the quarterback was completely negated by a late Western timeout.

After a big passing connection between the dynamic duo of Richard and Breton-Robert, Laval churned their way into the end zone to ice the game with 5:35 to play.

The Western Mustangs finished their 2018 campaign with a final record of 11–1.

LUCY VILLENEUVE GAZETTE

Despite loss, Mustangs run still impressive CHARLIE MARSHALL SPORTS EDITOR @CWMARSHALL98 Despite their heartbreaking loss to the Laval Rouge et Or in the Vanier Cup on Saturday afternoon in Quebec City, this defeat should not

LUCY VILLENEUVE GAZETTE

take away from the great season the Mustangs had.

It was clear early on that Laval was going to win the national championship. After Hugo Richard connected on two deep passes on the first drive of the game — one

of which went for a touchdown — Western suffered a blow to their morale that they were not be able to overcome in the game.

While Western did mount a comeback later in the opening half, and came close to tying the game before halftime, they were not able to break the back of the second best defence in Canadian university football.

All season Western has met, overcome, and dominated every challenge they have faced. However, on Saturday afternoon, with the national title on the line, the Rouge et Or were able to make the Mustangs look ordinary.

The Western team that played in Quebec City on Saturday is not indicative of the team that went undefeated from Nov. 12, 2016 to Nov. 17, 2018. The Mustangs compiled a run that was nothing short of remarkable.

Over the past two years, Western held a record of 23–1. Over the past three seasons they have compiled an incredible record of 31–3. Add in 2015 and they are 40–4.

Therefore, it’s clear why it’s so much harder for the graduates of this season to not go down as winners, because, in every sense of the word, they have been champions their entire Western careers.

Each graduating fourth-or-fifth year player on Western can rest easy knowing that they will finish their

Canadian University football careers as two-time Yates Cup champions, Uteck Bowl champions, Mitchell Bowl champions and Vanier Cup champions.

Chris Merchant, standing on the field with tears drying in his eyes, focused on these graduating players after the Vanier Cup. “I know it’s not going to be my last game,” said the quarterback. “I feel bad for some of the guys that this is their last game playing in a Western Mustang jersey… I love them all as brothers and I just want to say thank you to them for everything they do.”

The impact of each of these graduating players will be felt through the legacy that they left for their teammates. Marc Liegghio, a first-team All-Canadian punter and second-team kicker this year, explained that these graduating players make him want to push harder every single day.

“I look up to them every day,” said Liegghio when asked about fifth-year seniors Alex Taylor, David Brown and Michael Moore. “Seeing what they’ve done, and seeing how good they are... I want to be as good as that at my position and help out a team… as [much as] they did.

They’re just family.”

Head coach Greg Marshall agreed that, no matter how the game ended on Saturday afternoon, his players should be commended for giving it

their all.

“I’m disappointed in the result but I’m not at all disappointed in my team,” said Marshall. “I’m proud of these guys… they were out there giving it. You saw Harry [McMaster] go up for that football at the end, trying to make a play, anything they could do to… Our guys definitely left it out on the field today.”

Sometimes the bitter taste of defeat can be even more motivating than the sweet taste of championship champagne. Before Saturday afternoon, the last loss that the Mustangs suffered was a painful 43–40 Yates Cup defeat at the hands of the Laurier Golden Hawks at TD Stadium in 2016.

Western responded to that OUA championship loss with a perfect season and a Vanier Cup the next year. The drive to recreate this narrative starts soon, according to Liegghio.

“I know it didn’t go our way today, but we’re going to be back here next year. We’ll be back,” promised Liegghio.

Marshall agreed, adding that it’s time for the younger players to take charge now.

“We’ve got a good team,” said Marshall. “We know what we have coming back here: solid group of players. It’s… their responsibility [to] kind of pick it up and keep it going…

See if we can get back here again and get another shot at it.”

9 •

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• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Mustangs drop Rams in women’s hockey

COURTESY OF HUNG LE | RYERSON RAMS ATHLETICS

STEPHANIE ORLANDO SPORTS EDITOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE The Western Mustangs women’s hockey team won big on the road on Saturday afternoon with a 4–0 victory over the Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

April Clark, Evra Levesque and Jessie Sanghe scored goals for the Mustangs that afternoon. Clark, who has scored 10 goals on the season and leads Ontario University

Athletics in scoring by two points, has been the difference maker for Western for much of the season.

With five penalties called in the first period, special teams were pivotal, and four-on-four play dominated much of the opening frame as both teams struggled with discipline early on.

Clark scored the first goal of the game on a power play. The goal, coming six minutes into the first period, came after she grabbed

a rebound and beat Rams goaltender Fanny Vigeant to put the Mustangs up 1–0.

Ryerson’s Camryn Tait put on a heroic shorthanded effort as she killed off a roughing penalty by holding off three Western defenders to keep the game within striking distance for the Rams. Shortly after the killed penalty, Ryerson captain Kryshanda Green put a shot on Western’s goal. However, Carmen Lasis saved the backhanded

attempt, keeping her shutout alive.

Clark netted her second goal of the afternoon and 10th of the year as the Mustangs rushed in on the Ryerson goal. Levesque dished a cross-ice pass over to Clark, who potted a low shot past a sliding Vigeant into the open far side, putting the Mustangs up 2–0.

Western’s stellar first line came up big again later in the game, as Clark and Levesque pressured Ryerson enough to force a rebound, which Levesque knocked in to put the Mustangs up 3–0.

While the Rams did have five power play opportunities in the third period, including a stretch of almost three minutes at the beginning of the frame that gave them myriad opportunities to chip away at the Mustangs lead, they failed to capitalize.

Clark nearly scored a hat trick early in the third period, as she broke out of the Western end on a shorthanded attempt. However, she was unable to put away the goal.

One minute later, Sanghe stole the puck and rushed down the ice again on the penalty kill. She avoided a Ryerson defender and put the puck past Vigeant, putting the game out of reach.

The game saw Ryerson and Western exchange back-andforth chances late as the Rams attempted to overcome insurmountable odds and come back in the game. However, neither team was able to secure legitimate offensive opportunities. The Rams outshot Western 39–22, but as Lasis put up an impressive outing for her second shutout of the season.

With the victory, Western’s record improves to 7–2–0–2 on the year, overtaking Ryerson in the standings and now sitting in second place in the OUA. The Rams, who were on a five-game winning streak prior to Saturday’s loss, now sit in third place in the conference at 6–3–2–0. Saturday’s loss also marked their 11th straight loss to the Mustangs.

Western hosts first ever unified basketball tournament STEPHANIE ORLANDO SPORTS EDITOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE It was a day filled with physical activity, excitement and smiles. This past Saturday, Western University hosted its first-ever unified basketball tournament at the Western Student Recreation Centre.

Western recently partnered up with Special Olympics Ontario to put together a unified basketball tournament. The tournament works to bring together individuals with and without intellectual disabilities to play on the same team.

The day consisted of a roundrobin tournament where the top two teams moved on to represent Western in late May at Ryerson University. In the next round, they will be facing off against other universities and colleges from across the province.

Although the event was brought forward by Western Sport and Recreation Services program coordinator Jenna Smith, fourthyear kinesiology student Megan Bulmer took the reins of the event in terms of planning, organizing and executing such a successful day.

“I’m very passionate about getting everybody active and having inclusivity in physical activity,

STEPHANIE ORLANDO GAZETTE

as well as giving everybody a fair chance to participate,” said Bulmer with a warm smile. “That’s why I’m so excited for this program. The unified basketball tournament, it’s really bringing everyone together to play on the same team, whether they have intellectual disabilities or not.”

Special Olympics Ontario and many other chapters around the world are putting in great effort to expand their social impact by partnering with universities and colleges to provide access to high-quality sport and recreation facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

“Our partnership with Western is definitely new. We met with the recreational department late last year and decided that we wanted to get a unified program going,” said Christ Mehak, school event developer for Special Olympics Ontario. “The relationship has been great. The program is mainly driven by a student. … Megan Bulmer has done a lot of work to get this going and has done a fantastic job, and that’s why it’s happening today.”

Western, however, is not the first post-secondary establishment in Ontario to partner up with this organization. Although

the program has been running in the U.S. since the 1980s, the unified tournament was only brought to Ontario in 2016. In 2017-18 they ran three pilot programs at York University, Trent University and the University of Toronto- Scarborough Campus, and since then, it has only grown.

As the day went on, all the participants enjoyed themselves, engaging with one another and showing a spirit of playful competitiveness.

“Today is the first tournament we have had. We have a very awesome team. We play hard no matter what. We are the best team ever, and I think we’re going to win this game,” said Bradley Simdon, a member of the light pink team, grinning from ear to ear. “We did great, we score the best baskets ever, we have the best coach ever. I love this team, and it’s good for me.”

Come the new year, Western will be holding unified intramurals every Sunday at the Rec Centre. This will call for student volunteers to act as players, referees and coaches.

“It was a great turnout, and the smiles on people’s faces just show me that it’s worth organizing. It’s going to be a great day, and I can’t wait for this to continue for years to come,” said Bulmer.

Mustangs clean up at U Sports award banquet MIKE DEBOER MANAGING EDITOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE U Sports announced their awards and All-Canadian teams at an awards banquet during Vanier Cup weekend in Quebec City.

The event kicked off with the announcement of the All-Canadian second team. Third-year defensive back Bleska Kambamba, third-year kicker Marc Liegghio and second-year defensive back Daniel Valente Jr. each earned spots on the roster after spectacular seasons. Kambamba and Valente locked down opposing offences throughout the regular season, while Liegghio was the country’s

most dominant kicker and punter throughout the season.

The All-Canadian second team was then followed by the announcement of the first team, where another trio of Mustangs made appearances. Fifth-year guard David Brown, fourth-year running back Cedric Joseph and fourth-year linebacker Fraser Sopik all made the All-Canadian first team. Joseph helped lead the Mustangs dynamic offence, while Brown was key to the offensive line’s dominance throughout the year.

Sopik also won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, an unsurprising decision based on his outstanding performance.

Sopik racked up 77 tackles on the year while leading the Mustangs to a perfect regular season record and an appearance in the Vanier Cup. Fourth-year defensive back Mackenzie Ferguson was also honoured with the prestigious Russ Jackson Award, recognizing his excellence in football, academics and citizenship. The award was a testament to his on-field success, as well as to his dedication and selflessness off the field and in the wider London community.

Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall’s unmatched coaching display this season merited him his second career selection as U Sports Coach of the Year. He was

COURTESY OF U SPORTS

last honoured with the award in 2000 after leading the McMaster Marauders to a 7–1 record and a Yates Cup championship. Marshall

gave a heartwarming speech at the banquet in which he heaped praise on those who helped him throughout his coaching career.

culture

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 •

• 10

Herb: The Voice of Weed

KYRA KARAKATSANIS GAZETTE

KRISTIN LEE CULTURE EDITOR @KRIIISLEE The legalization of cannabis has come with the potential for the herb to become as pervasive in our lives as coffee.

Out of the ashes of thousands of sparked blunts and joints, cannabis culture is rising and being redefined after its legalization. That means its prevailing acceptance among Canadians will probably bring about lucrative cannabis-related business opportunities.

Herb — a cannabis community hub with over 16 million “Herbivores,” as CEO Matt Gray calls them — wants to routinize cannabis.

To do this, Gray founded a community and a platform that resonates with diverse cannabis consumers all over the world. Even if you’re not a marijuana enthusiast, there’s still a lot to explore and learn through Herbs tasteful weed etiquette.

“That’s kind of our vibe,” says Gray, an Ivey Business School graduate. “We want to be authentic enough to be OG and tasteful enough to a newbie, and help

bridge those two worlds.”

Already, the cannabis industry is predicted to generate $6.5 billion in retail sales by 2020. Earlier this year, Statistics Canada reported that 14 per cent of Canadians, an estimated 4.2 million people, have used cannabis in the past three months. These statistics are some of the reasons why Herb took the opportunity to grow a massive community of people who smoke weed, a space which Gray felt lacked an authentic platform for the modern cannabis consumer.

The budding five-year-old brand has been cultivating a shared safe space that brings together cannabis enthusiasts online through their website and their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

They will also run 10 large-scale events next year to grow their brand in the real world.

“Our purpose at the end of the day is to spread good vibes,” says Gray, who has lit a joint with rapper 2 Chainz. “I think we live in a world where cannabis is an amazing tool that can help people in so many ways, not just medically, but just to have a good time.”

Aside from building community, Herb’s online presence includes articles about celebrities like Oprah smoking weed and videos about how to make a gravity bong.

It’s an entertaining and friendly way of informing the public about weed and its strains; Herb even sells vapes, bongs and accessories from high-end brands, including Grav Labs, Marley Natural and the Famous Brandz Snoop Dogg Pounds collection. Soon, they will release branded items with the Herb logo, and they’re rolling out other merchandise like hats and T-shirts.

“We’re like Google for weed, in a sense. If you have questions, we have answers,” explains Gray.

“The answers we have are going to be well-researched and well thought through. It’s going to be real, backed knowledge, but they’re going to be presented in a way that’s digestible, human, approachable and accessible.”

It’s community hubs like Herb that shape the voice of cannabis culture because they aren’t just about surface-level talk; they dive deep into the roots of authentic

cannabis culture to get different perspectives and profound nugs of information on this widely recognized green herb. Over the course of five years, Herb has developed into a massive and successful international cannabis community, and being personable and relatable with their users, team members and community members has had a huge hand in forming this brand.

“We smoke weed; we know all about it; we take edibles; we’re productive; we’re amazing everyday human beings, just like you,” says Gray. “So the voice that we embody is just that friend that knows a lot about weed. And we want to be that person in your circle that’s the plug.”

The way Gray sees it, Herb is going to revolutionize the culture surrounding weed, just like Steve Job’s iPod transformed the way we listen to music.

Herb’s position is similar to Apple’s in that they are both brands that are changing and paving the way to a new technological era where access to accurate and reliable information and products is convenient. In this way, Herb helps

consumers find the best experience and knowledge about weed, and the brand helps consumers navigate so they don’t get lost in a sea of untrustworthy websites and false information.

Gray has always been incredibly passionate about cannabis, which is why he’s been able to create a successful platform for those who are also cannabis enthusiasts, allowing them to “come out of the green closet and be open about their use and find people that are just like them.”

“Most mornings, I wake up, and I have to pinch myself that this is how I get to spend my days,” says Gray. “Because if you told me back when I graduated university that this is what I was doing, I’d tell you you’re fucking high.”

The voice of cannabis culture is just as important to cannabis consumers as the people who are behind it. As the culture grows and becomes redefined, Gray hopes to define the next generation of cannabis brands that show people how beautiful cannabis is — just like coffee.

Hollerado wows Wave with intimate show CARMEN MALLIA CULTURE EDITOR SARAH RHYDDERCH CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR @CARMMALLIA Even though it was their first show in three months, Ottawa indie-rockers Hollerado provided the perfect Thursday-night de-stressor for students, performing a psychedelic set with a number of light-hearted and well-performed songs, humouring the crowd with hilarious stage banter and bringing out a couple of students to perform throughout the night.

On Nov. 22, the Wave was transformed from a chic, rustic restaurant into an intimate and energetic punk show hosted by Hollerado.

The versatility of the fourpiece group was clearly evident throughout the night, with the band performing their recognizable melodious and yet energetic sound, which typically includes playful melodies accompanied by animated guitar licks and riffs.

A powerful harmony was one of their strong points, with students dancing graciously to an upbeat “Grief Money,” a slowed-down “I Got You,” and the electric “Born Yesterday”: all songs off their new pop-centric album, Born Yesterday.

By analyzing the energy of the crowd, it was clear that the Ottawa-bred indie-rockers’ older songs, from their 2009 debut album Record in a Bag, took the forefront.

A rambunctious “Juliette” — which was performed with the help of student-musician John Muirhead — is arguably the song that skyrocketed the band to fame, and the live performance had the whole room jumping in symphony. “Fake Drugs” set more of a calmer tone but still had the audience engaged, and “On My Own” provided an emotional outlet for the audience of 240 students.

The direct energy emanating from lead vocalist Menno Versteeg was clearly evident, with stage banter that kept the audience engaged between songs. In one instance, he poked fun at their tour mates Tokyo Police Club, jokingly calling them “crappy” artists and telling everyone to tweet at them to tell them they’re bad. Versteeg was even able to get the entire crowd to be completely silent midway through a noisy “Eliose” while he and guitarist Nixon Boyd had a minute-long strum-off.

The show wrapped up with the band performing a nostalgic cover of Blink-182’s “Dammit,” which left the crowd disoriented: the mosh pit was in full effect, and somehow, students managed to get one crowdsurfer across the audience.

Toronto-based punk quartet Bad Waitress delivered a zestful and raucous set consisting of songs from their first EP Party Bangers: Volume 1, including a weary rendition of

KRISTIN LEE GAZETTE Guitarist Nixon Boyd (left) and lead singer and guitarist Menno Versteeg (middle) in the band Hollerado, performing at the Wave, Nov. 23, 2018.

“Acid Brain” and a rigid and youthful “Let’s Get Fucked Up” with furiously long guitar slides and a heavy reverb delivery that shook the entire restaurant, probably leaving students studying on the first floor below the Wave with veins popping out of their heads.

Drummer Eva Moon’s performance was astounding: her energy was supersonic while furiously drumming to the beat on “I Want to Die” and “Spit It Out.” Things were no different for the opening act, with Pacific Estate’s

drummer, Grady Evans, dripping with sweat by the time their set finished.

The Burlington-based band stepped onstage and, immediately, the mellow room transformed and became lively. Although there were only about 20 people in attendance, the band, led by Western’s Cam Hart, brought the energy to the crowd to make the room appear fully saturated.

On vocals and guitar, Cam Hart was explosive. Although people were already dancing, his voice and the

band’s songs took some time to grow on other members of the crowd; after a few songs though, students were flailing their hands while dancing around and headbanging to songs, including an emotional “Second Chances,” which works much better live compared to the album, and a heat-throbbing cover of All Time Low’s “Dear Maria, Count Me In.” All in all, the event created an electric and buzzy mood in an intimate but uncommon punkshow setting.

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culture

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Western alum unearths ’91 Kurt Cobain interview with CHRW

He was quite patient because he knew I was from a small indie radio station. I was clearly a person that was passionate about music and was interested about talking to him as an artist. He was kind and polite, but he also did seem tired and a bit indifferent in some way.

ROBERTO LORUSSO

A

fter Western physics alumnus Roberto LoRusso released a nine-minute recording of his awkward, ill-prepared interview with Kurt Cobain on CHRW Radio Western back in 1991, he threw the tape cassette in a box without thinking twice.

“To be honest, it was an accident in history that happened to me. I was in the right place at the right time,” says LoRusso, who only recently listened to the entire interview. “At the time, I boxed it up because I thought it was terrible.”

After the local physics teacher and singer and guitarist for Red Arms was pestered by friends who wanted to hear the entire audio-clip, LoRusso finally posted the interview online this month — 27 years after the fact.

With the release of Nevermind on the horizon, the then-21-year-old, long-haired LoRusso was anxious but excited to interview Cobain. In the interview, the Nirvana-frontman discussed his indifference toward the music industry, despite having recently signed a major record deal with DGC Records at the age of 24, as well as his struggle with homelessness, among other topics.

LoRusso, a DJ at CHRW at the time, received the interview after harassing Cobain’s record label representatives, sending them four or five calls until he finally landed the interview spot. LoRusso was so new to the music scene that he had no idea the interview would include free tickets to the show.

“I was like, ‘I guess I should buy tickets,’ and then there was this uncomfortable pause, to which the label rep responded, ‘Clearly you haven’t done interviews of this magnitude before.’ I was like, ‘Yeah… No, I haven’t,’ ” says the 48-year-old.

There was no internet at the time, so LoRusso was stuck crafting questions based off information he’d found in rock magazines lying around CHRW’s office. A lot of the articles he based his questions off of were hearsay, making the conversation with the grunge-megalith all that more nerve-wracking for LoRusso, since it made him feel “ill-prepared.” On top of that, he had only racked up interviews with local bands and smaller acts, adding to his nerves.

Walking into the Opera House — the mid-sized venue where the

By Carmen M a

llia

band was playing — while the opening act was doing their soundcheck, LoRusso waited side stage as MuchMusic interviewed the band. To LoRusso, the trio seemed completely uninterested in the interview, and as a result, walked off halfway through.

“I don’t think there was anything malicious about it, but when they walked off, [they] accidentally knocked off and broke one of the very expensive lights that was set up for the shots,” says LoRusso. “I remember it smashing on the ground, and I’m like, ‘Oh, jeez. I’m up next after that.’ ” Despite LoRusso’s lacking experience and subpar questions, the local physics teacher and musician believes that Cobain was much more open and honest with him than he was with MuchMusic because LoRusso was coming at the interview as a musician and a fan as opposed to an “industry schmuck.”

“He was quite patient because he knew I was from a small indie radio station,” says LoRusso, who believes Cobain saw him as an ally in the music industry. “I was clearly a person that was passionate about music and was interested about talking to him as an artist. He was kind and polite, but he also did seem tired and a bit indifferent in some way.”

In the muffled interview, a weary Cobain describes his inferiority within the music industry; the band only made $20,000 from their label, despite a $175,000 payout. “$175,000, 33 per cent tax bracket, 15 per cent to our lawyer, 10 per cent to our manager, $70,000 dollars to [the record company], left us with about $20,000 to buy equipment. I don’t have a place to live at the moment,” said Cobain.

LoRusso was genuinely curious about the inner workings of signing to such a major label, because at the time, these labels would take advantage of

FORMER CHRW DJ AND CURRENT HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS TEACHER. artists and their creative control.

According to LoRusso, there weren’t any successful examples of independent bands crossing over to the major label. Before Nirvana, major label bands didn’t have a long-term, sustainable career and their production value changed for the worst.

According to LoRusso, there was a certain darkness that he saw in Cobain’s body language and disposition, even though the two had only chatted for nine minutes.

That feeling was with him up until Cobain took his life in ’94.

“I was really bummed out about it. These creative people that are

often struggling with their own mental health are in an industry that is designed to consume you and leave you with nothing,” says LoRusso, who was struggling with his own mental health issues around the time of Cobain’s passing.

Now, LoRusso looks back at his time at CHRW Radio in awe.

For him, it was the first time he’d felt a sense of belonging at Western, meeting like-minded music nerds in what was, at the time, a mostly conservative, preppy school. It’s where he got his foot in the door within the music scene, and even though

GRAPHIC BY SISSI CHEN

he’s teaching physics to high school students, it’s the reason his music endeavours continue to thrive today.

Even though the interview with the influential and empathetic musician has made international headlines in recent days, LoRusso is still hesitant to admit the worth of the interview and is surprised at how prevalent it has become.

“Let’s be real: it was an unprofessional interview that I did 27 years ago. In my mind, it’s not that big of a deal,” says LoRusso.

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gazette crossword

MARTIN ALLEN GAZETTE March in the park. Individuals march in support of trans rights in Victoria Park, Nov. 25, 2018.

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•

CLUES ACROSS

CLUES DOWN

1. __ fi (slang) 4. Anecdotes about a person 7. Central Standard Time 10. Beverage receptacle 11. Football’s Newton 12. Be in debt 13. Tattles 15. Musician __ Lo 16. Arrange again 19. A binary compound of carbon with a metal 21. Brazilian futbol great 23. Feared 24. Annoy 25. Unit of heredity 26. Small freshwater fish 27. Muscular weaknesses 30. Fined 34. One-time EU currency 35. Egyptian unit of weight 36. Winged horse 41. Increments 45. Abnormal rattling sound 46. Middle Eastern country 47. A type of greeter 50. __ inning stretch 54. Reaches 55. More gray 56. Football term 57. Swiss river 59. Ninth day before the ides 60. Grow old 61. Don’t know when yet 62. College hoops tournament 63. Japanese monetary unit 64. Medical device 65. Antidiuretic hormone

1. Put fear into 2. Partner to corned beef 3. Interiors 4. Agrees to a demand 5. No (Scottish) 6. __ Hess Corp.

7. Ornamental molding 8. Garment 9. Electric car company 13. Decimal digits in binary (abbr.)

14. Gibbon 17. Sun up in New York 18. __ the line 20. A vale 22. Old Irish alphabet 27. A type of band 28. A team’s best pitcher 29. Floor covering 31. A __ in the machine 32. Supplement with difficulty 33. Prosecutors 37. Place in order 38. Japanese lute 39. Mongolian city __ Bator 40. Perceived 41. A cloth for washing dishes 42. Chocolate cookie with white cream filling 43. Grassy plain 44. Barometer 47. Father 48. Of the ear 49. Thomas __, British dramatist l652-85 51. After eighth 52. Where golfers begin 53. Time units (abbr.)

58. Basics

For crossword solution, see page 4

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