Tuesday, January 29, 2019

SINCE 1906 TUESDAY JANUARY 29, 2019 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 18

Western University’s Student Newspaper

SHAKING HANDS AND KISSING BABIES SINCE 1906

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 •

• 2

terence kernaghan

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Western alumnus Terence Kernaghan has always been a familiar face in London, often seen gripping a picket sign or a megaphone outside of City Hall or Victoria Park, participating in a number of social justice protests in the Forest City.

While he’s well over six feet tall, it’s his soft-spoken yet powerful voice that stands out during each protest he attends — whether that be the March for Trans* and Intersex Rights, the march against Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s mandate on Ontario universities to create freedom of speech policies or, most recently, the student rally against Ford’s post-secondary education cuts.

“One of the reasons I got into government was because I felt that our province was taking a very scary turn,” says Terence, who is currently serving as the New Democratic party MPP in London North Centre and the official opposition critic for LGBTQ Issues at Queen’s Park. “We need to make sure that we’re standing up for others. The most important thing we can do here as human beings is ensure that we support others.”

While he views the cuts that the provincial government is currently making to education, health and wage distribution as regressive and heavy-handed, he uses his disapproval of the Progressive Conservative Party’s actions as fuel to keep pushing forward.

The former elementary school teacher is not afraid to question the provincial government, even in the face of what he thinks is an absolute disaster.

Standing head-to-head with Ford at Queen’s Park in early November, Terence asked the Premier if he’d be attending the Transgender Day of Remembrance flag raising, but was swiftly turned down, without even a response from Ford.

“He refused to even dignify it with an answer. He passed off the direct question. It made me feel completely disregarded,” says Terence. “That’s how he’s made the entire LGBTQ community feel.”

Terence, who graduated from Western with distinction in English and visual arts, wasn’t always planning on going into politics. Since the age of 10, he was interested in pursuing a career as a minister in the Anglican

church. But the MPP did regularly not attend a church congregation, and took up the study of religion on his own.

“I read the Bible quite extensively, and it’s not so kind [to] LGBTQ individuals, or women, for that matter. A lot of that was internalized,” says Terence. “There was that internal struggle of wanting to become a minister and not fully being accepted by the Anglican church at the time.

They’ve come a great deal further, but it was tough at the time.”

As the first openly gay MPP in London and a former teacher, Terence offers a unique political perspective during a time when LGBTQ2+ representation doesn’t seem to be a priority for provincial government officials.

He was particularly frustrated after catching wind of the the Progressive Conservatives’ controversial rollback of the health and physical education curriculum for elementary students, which he finds discriminatory and counter-intuitive.

Terence believes that when students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, they thrive both emotionally and educationally.

When teaching a former Grade 8 class about consent, Terence brought in community members to share their stories, which he describes as moving, upsetting and powerful. After one woman told her story about the abuse she had suffered, he asked his class to write a reflection paper based off of the messages they had heard.

One response left the former schoolteacher considerably optimistic about his educational practices. It read, “I never knew that I could accidentally hurt someone.”

“I thought, ‘Wow, there’s someone who understands it,’ ” says Terence. “That’s going to inform all of his relationships in the future; he can share that information with all of his friends. Sexual assault is something that can totally change someone’s life. The more that we can educate and the more that people understand consent, it’s a beautiful thing.”

His optimistic attitude is the reason he’ll continue to watch the provincial government like a hawk and fight for values he holds close to his heart.

■ CARMEN MALLIA

Western by the Numbers HIGH -8 LOW -22

HIGH -19 LOW -26

TODAY

TOMORROW

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.

4,922 votes for Mitchell Pratt and Danny Chang in the 2018 USC election.

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

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

26 former USC presidents called on MPP Stephen Lecce to protect student unions.

$800,000 directed

by Western to new campus mental health initiatives.

3 •

news

• TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019

DANGEROUS BY DESIGN

Campus cycling infrastructure JUDY BASMAJI NEWS EDITOR @JUDYBASMAJI Jörn Diedrichsen bikes from his home in Old North London to Western’s campus almost every day, year-round. Along the way, he rides through congested roads with no bike lanes, passes road lights that cannot be triggered by bikes and struggles to share narrow streets with impatient drivers.

When he arrives on campus, his options for bike storage during the workday are mostly limited to open, unsecured bike parking racks that are often ill-maintained in the winter. The bikes are vulnerable to rusting in the wet weather and being stolen, but university policy strictly forbids bringing bicycles into any campus buildings, issuing $50 fines for violations.

For Diedrichsen, the commute to campus became slightly easier when the University Drive bridge closed in October, freeing the bridge to pedestrians and cyclists. He tweeted this view in November, garnering significant support and approval from several faculty members. As it turns out, Diedrichsen’s experiences with cycling on campus are shared by many.

A Western University professor of anatomy and cell biology, Marco Prado has been biking to the university during the summer and winter for the past five years. “[There is] a clear lack of facilities,” he said. “One of the major issues that I’ve had for many years is cars pass me on the University [Drive] bridge.”

Diedrichsen and Prado are among many Western faculty and community members who choose this active method of transportation for its recognized health benefits and its role in decreasing their carbon footprint.

“That gentle exercise before going to lectures is good for your brain, … it’s good for your body, it’s exactly what prevents obesity [and] it’s good for the climate,” said Diedrichsen.

To address their shared concerns, members of Western’s faculty came together to create the Western Active Transportation Society in December: a group of faculty, staff and students dedicated to promoting safe cycling and walking as means of transportation on campus.

“We decided that it was time to really have a community gettogether and talk to the university, talk to the city and try to improve the infrastructure,” said Prado.

In less than a month, the WATS online community began to thrive with over 100 members on Twitter.

The group is in the early stages of a collaborative effort to put in motion several initiatives that aim to improve Western’s cycling infrastructure.

‘INFRASTRUCTURE DETERMINES BEHAVIOUR’ Diedrichsen, a Western professor of computer science and statistics, grew up and completed his undergraduate studies in Germany. He explained it was the norm for up to 40 or 50 per cent of his university campus community to commute by bike.

“There was a sea of bikes in front of the central lecture building, and nobody was driving, because it was just not feasible,” he said.

“Infrastructure determines behaviour,… and the infrastructure here gets people to drive more.… [It] is laid out very much for cars, and until

you start riding your bike or walking to campus, you don’t notice that.”

WATS members emphasized that Western’s and London’s infrastructure deters, rather than encourages, people from cycling to university due to a number of issues.

Only one per cent of London’s population cycle to work, compared to 2.5 per cent of Ottawa, 1.7 per cent of Toronto and 10 per cent of Victoria, according to London’s campus master cycing plan. Further, comparable municipalities internationally range from 2.6 to 36 per cent.

For one thing, Diedrichsen pointed out that several roads within and surrounding campus do not have bike lanes, such as Perth Drive, Lambton Drive, Huron Road and University Drive bridge.

“Infrastructure determines behaviour,… and the infrastructure here gets people to drive more.”

JÖRN DIEDRICHSEN WESTERN PROFESSOR

“I have always ridden, and I am not scared of taking my full lane, but many people do not feel safe riding their bike,” he said.

Further, lights at the intersection of Sunset Drive and University Drive cannot be triggered by bikes, and buses turning in the intersection often cross over the bike lane.

Diedrichsen added that the Western Road and Sarnia Road intersection is particularly dangerous for cyclists.

In terms of bike storage, the university provides bike racks throughout campus; most are uncovered. It provides a total of 20 bike lockers located on Concrete Beach, behind the Health Sciences Building and behind the Support Services Building. The lockers are rented at a rate of $100 per 12 months, and all the lockers are currently rented out. Students need to be placed on a waitlist to rent a locker.

These options pale in comparison to storage options at other universities. On top of bike racks and lockers, McMaster University offers two secure bike storage facilities with video surveillance and swipecard access, and bike storage within residence buildings.

Queen’s University, the University of Ottawa, the University of Calgary and Concordia University offer similar secure bike storage facilities with fees ranging from $20 to $85 per year.

The present challenges to bike parking at Western have led several faculty members to store their bikes within campus buildings, against university policy.

Providing sheltered and secure bike parking throughout campus is one of the key goals of WATS. “The vision is to have sheltered units in front of each building where there’s an open bike parking, and one part of the bike parking that is only accessible with the Western ID,” explained Diedrichsen.

Further, members of WATS noted current parking permits provide an 80 per cent discount over daily rates.

Therefore, individuals who choose to drive one day per week pay as much as those who have a permit and choose to commute by car on a daily basis.

“There are days that you actually

need to come by car, but to come by car, you have to pay $30 to $50 for parking because you don’t have a parking permit,” said Prado.

This system presents a strong disincentive for exploring active methods of transportation. As an alternative, WATS is proposing a pay-per-use permit that should be the cheaper option when used on fewer than half of working weekdays.

In alignment with Western’s Open Space Strategy, WATS hopes to see the University Drive bridge permanently closed, provided that plans are made to adjust bus routes and prevent congestions in other areas.

“That’s a controversial issue.

We feel that the bridge closure has encouraged a lot of people to engage in active transportation, and we would argue that it’s ultimately a good step for the university,” said Diedrichsen.

Further, WATS members hope to work with Facilities Management to create an improved bicycle network and winter maintenance. They have also partnered with several local cycling organizations to advocate for improvements beyond Western’s campus.

“Infrastructure and active transportation are intimately interlinked, and the quality of life at Western’s campus could be so much better if we do something,” said Diedrichsen.

IMPROVEMENTS IN PROGRESS Since the recent initiation of the group, WATS members have had one informal meeting with Facilities Management, who seem to be interested and supportive of the group’s initiatives.

“We’ve looked at the existing cycling network on campus and recognize that there are some gaps. We want to make sure that over time, as we look at upgrades to the open space on campus, we address the cycling network and connect those gaps,” said Mike McLean, Western director of facilities planning, design and project administration.

McLean explained the Open Space Strategy contains multipronged improvements to campus open space related to circulation, pedestrian movement and safety. It aims to decrease conflicts between pedestrians, vehicles and cyclists.

The strategy’s draft plan briefly addresses the need for improved bicycle circulation and parking on campus. Specifically, McLean highlighted the need for bike racks to be provided in close proximity to all building entrances, transit stops and programmed outdoor spaces, and in highly visible locations to decrease the likelihood of potential bike thefts.

He also explained that stakeholders, such as Campus Police, are being engaged in the process to address this issue. Specifically, the number of bike thefts on campus have steadily decreased over the past four years, from 116 in 2015 to 89 in 2018.

Staff Sgt. J.C. Aubin, Campus Police operations leader, explained the decrease in thefts is due to efforts for improved security, such as increasing patrols in areas with bicycle racks, increase of security guards during high-risk times of the year and emphasis on the use of the more secure U-locks instead of cable or chain locks.

Otherwise, minor improvements to the cycling network have been made since the open space strategy

JUDY BASMAJI GAZETTE

COURTESY OF WATS WATS members’ vision for secure bike parking is reflected in this structure at Maastricht University in the Netherlands; part of the bike parking is enclosed and accessible with ID cards.

JUDY BASMAJI GAZETTE Statistics on bike theft locations on Western is campus over the past four years, as obtained from Campus Police.

draft plan was published in January 2017, including line-painting and signage. McLean explained progress was partly impeded by the closing of the University Drive bridge and the rerouting of buses. He hopes to carry forward with improvements this year.

In particular, while negotiations between faculty and Facilities Management for indoor bike parking within new campus buildings failed in the past due to university policy, plans for an indoor bike parking space may be in the works.

“There is a large demand for bike storage,” said McLean. “It’s difficult to have storage in existing buildings for bikes,… but with our Thames Hall project, which is just in design right now, there’s an opportunity there to provide some indoor bike storage, [and] we’re looking at that possibility right now.”

Diedrichsen explained WATS members hope to have a formal meeting with Facilities Management in a few weeks’ time to lay out the vision of WATS and discuss details of potential initiatives.

“It’s great to have them as a stakeholder group when it comes to active transportation on campus and anything with regard to the open space plan,” said Brandon Watson, communications officer of Facilities Management. “We’ll

continue to work with them as we move forward on improvements to the cycling network on campus.”

Looking ahead, WATS members are planning a survey led by Western computer science professor Dan Lizotte to understand the community’s perspectives on cycling, such as how often people bike on campus and the barriers to doing so. They may also look into technological solutions, such as camera-based bike counting, to collect further data on cycling behaviours.

Further, they are organizing a Winter Bike and Walk to Work Day on Feb. 8, where they will be present at the University Drive bridge during the morning commute with free coffee, hot chocolate and more information on WATS. Group members currently meet every Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Grad Club to discuss their next action steps. While core members are mainly faculty members, they hope to see higher involvement from the graduate and undergraduate student communities as they move along.

“If there’s no clear advocacy for cycling and biking on campus, things won’t change,” emphasized Diedrichsen.

Through their united efforts, they hope to effect some significant changes to cycling culture at Western.

elections

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 •

• 4

Analysis: This election is more important than ever LIAM AFONSO NEWS EDITOR @LIAMAFONSO Editor’s note: the Gazette is funded in part by ancillary fees.

Ontario’s recent changes to post-secondary funding have made this year’s USC election one of the most decisive in recent history.

A recent Progressive Conservative announcement includes plans to reduce tuition fees by 10 per cent, implement opt-out ancillary fees, eliminate free tuition for low-income students and remove the six-month grace period to repay loans.

In light of these changes, the next University Students’ Council president will be responsible for ensuring that the union can survive despite large potential cuts. The vice-president has the opportunity to lobby the provincial government directly, in hopes of reducing the cuts.

OUR NEXT PRESIDENT’S TASK Under the proposed legislation, the PC government will allow students to opt-out of ancillary fees that are deemed “non-essential,” threatening many of the services and supports provided by the USC. These

will likely include the bus pass, Orientation Week, club system and The Spoke and the Wave.

To mitigate this, the next USC president can work to increase engagement: the more students actively engage with the USC, the more likely they may be to opt-into fees.

The incoming president will also need to manage a bleeding budget.

The already competitive process to secure funding will have even more services asking for help, and the president is often the best liaison to the administration — a lifeline for a struggling student experience.

“We believe this provision will reduce essential student services and make support services more expensive for individual students,” said the USC in a statement in response to the proposed changes.

OUR VOICE IN QUEEN’S PARK The vice-president will serve on the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s steering committee, where they will lobby the provincial government on behalf of the organization’s 150,000 members.

Our next VP’s task is off-campus in Toronto. Many vice-presidents,

including Danny Chang and Landon Tulk, served as OUSA’s president, where they acted as the organization’s chief student representative to the media and government. OUSA’s presidency has produced a muchneeded relationship with the PCs this year, who swept into government with several reversals to the university-friendly policies of the previous Liberal government Team ForYe’s Frank Ye said in Wednesday’s debate that Jared Forman would run for the OUSA presidency, and Bardia+Cat’s Catherine Dunne said she would

“seriously consider it.”

In addition to their OUSA role, next year’s vice-president can lead the USC in steadying its contract with the London Transit Commission.

Currently, each student receives a bus pass, which accounts for around $240 of the USC’s ancillary fees per student.

Since the bus pass is a mandatory fee, the USC has been able to negotiate a lower price through a bulk purchase. As a bargaining front, the USC will be hamstrung by the potential cuts, as they can only offer a fraction of the same foot-traffic to

the LTC’s busses.

A student bus pass with unlimited ridership, purchased from the LTC, currently costs $70 per month.

The next USC president, vice-president and the additional three executive members will be tasked with steering the organization through unprecedented challenges.

“We need to make sure that the impact of this government announcement does not harm the services we provide to our students,” said Danny Chang, OUSA’s sitting president and the USC’s vice-president.

OSAP

PC

PC PC

KYRA KARAKATSANIS GAZETTE

26 past USC presidents call on MPP to protect unions

MARTIN ALLEN GAZETTE

MARTIN ALLEN NEWS EDITOR @MTRALLEN Nearly half of all the USC presidents from as early as 1969 wrote a letter to an MPP and fellow former president, campaigning to protect student governments from Ontario’s funding shakeup.

Stephen Lecce, Progressive

Conservative MPP for KingVaughan, received the letter with 26 signatories that preceded and followed his own 2008–09 term as president of the University Students’ Council.

Merrilee Fullerton — Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities — announced last week that mandatory ancillary fees,

which fund many student services, could now be opted out of, except for “essential services” like health insurance. The USC’s main revenue source are these fees, which prop up everything from The Spoke and the Wave and bus passes to insurance, Orientation Week and the University Community Centre.

“The announcement was unexpected and disappointing for many alumni of the USC,” the letter stated. “Today, we are writing to you with unanimous concerns about what changes to mandatory student fees will mean for student governments.”

The letter asked Lecce to speak to his PC colleagues and the post-secondary minister to clarify the details of last week’s bombshell announcement. Students around the province are in the midst of electing new student leaders who are pushing platforms promising the survival of their

government.

“Stephen, we need you to encourage the government of Ontario to trust the decisions these students are making around their campuses: they should empower students to make decisions for themselves and hold themselves accountable,” they wrote. “It is this democratic process that legitimizes the representative power of student leaders. It made you the voice for students during your tenure as President.”

Lecce could not be immediately reached for comment.

The former presidents said that students can already affect fees and funding by electing leaders who will change their budgets; the USC’s budget is put through referenda and passed by its council and Western University’s Board of Governors.

They also emphasized that much of what the fees fund requires maximum participation as a bargaining

collective. The bus pass, for instance, is $700 less per person for one year under a mass-contract from the USC than if a student were to buy their own pass independently.

They also argued that strong student governments are a benefit to the government. Health and dental insurance paid from the USC’s plan does not take from OHIP+, they mentioned.

Lecce, who was elected in the 42nd parliament in June as part of the PCs rise to majority status, is a parliamentary assistant to Premier Doug Ford. Former presidents Tobi Solebo, Eddy Avila, Matt Helfand and Patrick Whelan are the most recent alumni to call on him.

Alfred Apps, former president of the federal Liberal Party, and Michael Burns, president and CEO of Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation are also among them.

ForYe says EGC response to mistake “unacceptable” MARTIN ALLEN NEWS EDITOR @MTRALLEN ForYe rejected an EGC statement that apologized for an error but upheld a $100 fine against the slate for pre-campaigning.

Frank Ye and Jared Forman were fined $100 after the Elections and Governance Committee found two ForYe volunteers had liked a Gazette article about their candidacy before

the campaign period had begun.

A hearing on Monday led to the committee’s Tuesday decision, but it was revealed ForYe did not have access to all of the evidence that an anonymous complainant had submitted against them.

Shortly after the decision, the committee released an apology, though they announced would be upheld their original decision.

“We apologize for this error, and

CROSSWORD SOLUTION Solution to puzzle on page 11

in an effort to ensure that the elections are fair and honest, we are publicly acknowledging and apologizing for our mistake,” they said.

ForYe campaign manager Rachel Park sharply criticized the committee for maintaining its verdict.

“We acknowledge the public apology by the CRO (chief returning officer) and committee for making an error in following the bylaws that govern their own due process,” she said. “However, when mistakes are made, they should be corrected, and the CRO and committee’s unwillingness to revisit their decision is unacceptable.”

ForYe has been granted an oral appeal, but Park said she invited the EGC to redo the hearing.

The original complaint to the EGC likely provided a copy of information from within the slate’s private Facebook page, though the committee did not comment Wednesday on whether they possessed this information. ForYe was

not shown any such evidence in the hearing.

Though the committee’s statement says any undisclosed evidence did not “impact the substance of what was reviewed, nor the decision,” Park argues they needed the evidence to meet the committee’s standards; the EGC’s decision stated that ForYe had not genuinely tried to dissociate from the offending volunteers.

“By failing to provide the relevant evidence and details of the hearing to Team ForYe before the hearing took place, it became impossible for the slate to indicate the ‘attempts to dissociate’ that the EGC was looking for,” she said.

Park said she only knew the volunteers had pre-campaigned once the hearing was in session and removed them from the team immediately after. The committee cites the volunteers still being team members as of the hearing as part of their reasoning.

Though ForYe was not notified which volunteers had pre-campaigned in the pre-hearing notice, chief returning officer Michelle Wang told the Gazette that slates are responsible for knowing of violations on their own.

The clash between committee and candidates comes in the first run at applying dramatically new campaign regulations thatreplaced the old demerit point system.

Before, slates were given “points” up to a maximum, when they would be disqualified. Before disqualification, there was little punishment for breaking the rules.

The new system provides much greater punishment potential. ForYe was sanctioned with a minor violation, meaning they were fined $100, or one third of their total bond. If a slate reaches their bond value in fines, they are disqualified; in past elections, pre-campaigning would penalize candidates for a fraction of their maximum points.

5 •

elections

• TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019

The Presidential Playlist: What are the candidates jamming out to?

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that someone's music taste can say a lot about their personality. With elections just around the corner, we asked the USC presidential and vice-presidential candidates about what kind of music they'll be playing during the election’s lead-up and aftermath.

Bardia + Cat 2019

Team ForYe

Bardia Jalayer: presidential candidate

Frank Ye: presidential candidate

Celebration song............."September" by Earth, Wind and Fire Pump-Up song........................."Runaway (U and I)" by Galantis Study song................."Paradise" by Coldplay or "Firestone" by Kygo Guilty ft. Conrad Sewell Pleasure song................................."Tiny Dancer" by Elton John Chilling song..............................."Lucid Dreams" by Juice WRLD

Celebration song................"This is Me" by Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman Ensemble Pump-up song.............”American Land" by Bruce Springsteen Study song.....”Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" by the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton Guilty Pleasure Song....................................."LGBT" by CupcakKe Chilling song............”Yellow (Coldplay Cover)" by Katherine Ho

Catherine Dunne: vice-presidential candidate

Jared Forman: vice-presidential candidate

Celebration song..............”All These Things That I’ve Done" by The Killers Pump-up song............................"successful" by Ariana Grande Chilling song................................."Fool For Love" by Lord Huron Guilty pleasure song............"Party In The USA" by Miley Cyrus Study song.........................."Bobcaygeon" by The Tragically Hip

Celebration song................................."All Star" by Smash Mouth Pump-up song.............."River Deep Mountain High" by Ike and Tina Turner Study song..........................."Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran Guilty pleasure song......................”Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift Chilling song................................."The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac

KYRA KARAKATSANIS GAZETTE

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“Instructors aren’t just teaching you the theory of something. They're teaching you how to do what needs to be done. That was a really great aspect of the program: people who are already doing it are teaching you what to do.”

Tamara Tatiossian Music Business Graduate

creativearts.humber.ca/gradstudies

elections

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 •

ForYe

Frank Ye and Jared Forman

• 6

By Martin Allen

T

eam ForYe emphasized the research that backs their platform, and in many cases this is true. But at some crucial points, what research was done is not clear. It is a platform of highs and lows, with favourable and unfavourable comparisons with Bardia + Cat. In choosing a slate, students should choose which of these sections they believe is most important, and hope it is a ForYe-high, not a low.

THE PROVINCIAL RESPONSE

SEXUAL VIOLENCE PREVENTION

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

The very presence of this section became an issue at this year’s media debate: Bardia + Cat do not have a response to the announcements, which were made just days before the platform deadline. Undoubtedly, it is commendable that there is some material to address what is now a forefront issue for students. But, students should read the material as a sort of prospectus for how post-secondary funding could play out, not for what to do about it.

Their main proposal is to switch to a voluntary student unionism model; how the University Students’ Council is to switch to this model in a year’s time is not specified for obvious reasons. The voluntarism model also bodes poorly for services which the USC could not easily deny access to, but which still rely on fees, including The Spoke and the Wave or the Gazette.

As a slate, it is important to have official responses to such important news, and ForYe producing this material immediately is a sign of transparency. They have made their intentions clear, which is certainly positive (while their opponents have not), even if they provide little more.

This is a low point for ForYe, especially in comparison to their opponent’s platform.

The sexual violence epidemic on campuses is defined by attacks in private spaces by people the victims know. But the ForYe platform focuses on increased policing, self-defence programs and violence prevention training for foot patrol. None of these cases would be effective in stopping the archetypal campus sexual assault, which occurs with drugs or alcohol either in residences or frat and sorority houses — where police and Western Foot Patrol do not reach, and when self-defence is not a victim’s first thought, because they are with a person they thought they could trust.

How ForYe do address this type of assault is through an optional course on violence prevention for a co-curricular credit, though courses like this already exist on campus. The research does not shine through here.

The platform’s two most substantive points are hiring more counsellors and training faculty and staff about mental health; both are possible and desirable.

Wait times are consistently cited as one of students’ greatest concerns. The university has dealt with this partly through better triage counselling. But, as the current USC executive and ForYe argue, Western University’s new consolidated mental health building needs a full staff to reach its potential. ForYe also make an important nod to hiring diverse counsellors, so members of marginalized communities can speak to professionals that better understand their experiences.

Faculty and staff training would also be a great help, as students often deal with professors who simply don’t understand or are indifferent to mental health problems and become a barrier in seeking the accommodations students deserve.

In these cases, students have to circumvent the academics for the academic counsellors, adding time and stress to an already laborious process. It is not a coincidence the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance is also advocating for this province-wide.

SAMIT KHALSA GAZETTE

SUSTAINABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY On sustainability, this platform contains a few doubtful, if not confusing, points.

Firstly, eliminating the sale of plastic bottles from third-party businesses like Subway and Tim Horton’s, whose revenues the USC will now need more than ever, will be an uphill battle.

The platform then says ForYe will advocate for the construction of a parking garage. It is hard to imagine Western green-lighting a garage when there are currently none on campus and the administration is set on a carfree campus in the future. As ForYe themselves point out, Western is looking to cut spaces. Even if they renege on this principle and add more, it seems absurd they would invest millions in a whole garage structure.

It’s also worth noting that ForYe claims parking passes sold out in one day, highlighting the greater need for more spaces. This is wrong — the passes were open for purchase in the summer, and they sold out within the first day of classes; they were available for weeks.

But on accessibility, the platform does well. All of their points about increasing the accessibility of lecture halls and elevators illustrate how simultaneously obvious yet ignored accessibility concerns are. And the slate’s record in adding gender-neutral washrooms to campus bolsters their credibility.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS Open Educational Resources, or OER, is the centerpiece of this section. As students face OSAP cuts, and as textbooks remain exorbitantly overpriced, this is only more important. Notably, they would push OER across all faculties, not only the biggest ones, which is the first of several nods to small faculties like FIMS, Arts and Humanities and Music.

The platform also addresses grace days (which alleviate late penalties) and the upcoming review of Fall Reading Week and Sunday exams. All three would help students with school — and reading week, which is widely loved by students, is a crucial piece of governance to maintain.

7 •

elections

• TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019

Bardia + Cat Bardia Jalayer and Catherine Dunne

By Katrina McCallum

B

ardia Jalayer and Catherine Dunne are fourth-year students running for USC president and vice-president, respectively. Their platform includes seven pillars: health and wellness, the student voice, academic success, student safety, life in London, student experience and affordability. Bardia + Cat outline that the core of their platform reflects the actual challenges and concerns that students need to overcome.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE PREVENTION

PROVINCIAL RESPONSE

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

ACADEMIC SUCCESS

AFFORDABILITY

Sexual violence prevention is the area where this platform truly excels.

The recommendations to reform police “approaches” regarding sexual violence at Western University are not only specific but survivor-centered. These include appointing an independent investigator (ideally from Anova), introducing rape-shield protection, and faceto-face protection for survivors.

The platform also focuses on informing people about the process to report sexual violence and being sure to keep those who do report in the loop about progress.

Further, Bardia + Cat want to create a process for sexual violence outside of the student code of conduct. The creation of a stand-alone policy is something that Western lacks, but needs. Overall, their platform points on sexual violence contain concrete recommendations that provide insight into how to best protect women. The concreteness of these policy points stands in contrast to the vague ideas that ForYe provides in their platform.

The most important question hanging in this election is how each slate will deal with the probable provincial changes to universities. With the University Student’s Council’s funding coming mostly from ancillary fees, the prospect of an opt-in option threatens the very existence of a student government. As such, the primary question on voters’ minds is how the incoming PVP will deal with this change if it occurs.

Here is where the gap in Bardia + Cat’s platform lies.

There is no information about how they would deal with this change included in their platform. In the media debate last Wednesday, Cat insisted that the inclusion of a plan would be premature as details of the provincial government’s plans have not been released. However, Team ForYe includes an extensive plan to inform students about the necessity of ancillary fees. This sentiment is surely welcomed by voters, especially those who are worried about the changes.

Bardia + Cat may be able to develop a plan once voted into office, but by then it may be too late.

Deferring questions about plans for these changes seems like an idealistic way of dealing with an issue that — looking at the PC track record — will most likely come to fruition.

Though mental health is usually the centre of this platform point, Bardia + Cat focus on other parts of wellness.

There is a direct focus on promoting women’s health. This can be seen through the promises of free menstrual products and the removal of 45 minute mandatory videos to receive birth control. These are areas where female students face more hurdles than their male counterparts.

When it comes to mental health, they mention expanding crisis counselling and creating a system to help students receive the most specific help for their needs. Further, they want to increase privacy in the Wellness Education Centre as they see an issue with the glass walls it currently adorns. They also focus on education by creating programs to educate students on mental health first aid.

Another area of wellness covered is healthy food. They hope to introduce an ingredient list for The Spoke and the Wave to help students make healthy decisions and to provide more Halal, Kosher and vegan options.

These policy points are both specific and achievable — a theme throughout this platform. These ideas can help students make better choices and specifically help minority groups.

Bardia + Cat focus on reforming academic accommodation in their platform, though they mention keeping the Fall Reading Week and increasing study space. The specific policies to help students control their academics is the stand-out here. They advocate for missed academic work relief, which would allow students to self-report missing any assignment under 15 per cent. This strategy would surely be welcomed by students and could prove effective for reducing stress.

They are also looking to revolutionize academic counseling to introduce online booking. This could certainly help students access academic counseling as the current drop-in system has many flaws.

Another point in the platform is to adequately train counselors in mental health support and cultural sensitivity. Some students report having negative experiences when trying to get accommodation and this initiative may have the potential to help students.

The final major platform point focuses on helping students receive the best student experience without spending too much. As such, they will introduce tax-free Thursdays to help students save money while eating out at The Spoke and the Wave. This is an interesting goal, as the savings for students will be minimal and may promote more spending on this day.

They also advocate for freezing tuition, which, while important, is most likely unachievable if the 10 per cent tuition decrease is introduced next year. This illustrates again the fact that the platform did not adapt to the Ford government’s announcement.

There is a point on expanding financial aid and offering more grants, but there is no direct plan on the execution of creating more grants.

Overall, this platform excels in areas such as sexual violence, health and wellness and academic success.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of preparedness regarding the provincial changes, the affordability section is lacking tangible changes that will help students. This is not to say that Bardia + Cat will be unable to react to changes in ancillary fees, but it is difficult to guess their strategy when we do not know their views.

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

elections

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 •

• 8

Meet (some of) the presidential candidates Social Science

CAMELLIA WONG Third-year political science and transitional justice Why are you running?

Representation matters. And I believe that everyone deserves to see themselves in their role models. Over my past three

ADRIANNA WILEY Third-year anthropology, minor in biology Why are you running?

Running for Social Science President is

NIKOL KAMENETSKY Second year management and organizational studies Why are you running?

The overflowing pride I have for Social Science is not a temporary feeling - it is a

years at Western, neither the USC or SSSC Presidents have been women - let alone women of colour. I hope that by running, I will be able to encourage at least one person from an underrepresented community to take on a leadership role at Western, whether that be in student politics, the clubs system, or the Orientation program.

On top of this, the Western community has provided me with so much and through student politics, I found a place where I truly fit in. I believe that it is important to give back to this community by giving students the same wonderful experience that I had at this school. not something I would have considered doing on my own. I am running because a group of my peers/constituents in the Department of Anthropology asked me to consider taking on the role. After some thought, I realized it was an opportunity and a responsibility I could not ignore.

Ultimately, I want to be Social Science President for the people who told me to run, for the people who often get left out of student politics. I am running to listen to ALL the students of Social Science and to support their diverse needs. permanent call to action. When I started off as a First Year Representative, I immersed myself into every event, conversation, and learning opportunity I could find and make time for. My love for the council grew exponentially after being elected into the USC as a Councillor, and I explored the ins and outs of the USC sphere of policy, debate, and hardcore student advocacy. Bringing this knowledge back to the SSSC and continuing to explore ways of making the student experience more convenient, more accessible, and overall more enjoyable is a priority with no plans of slowing down.

Science

HASAN AHMED Third-year computer science and medical science Why are you running?

I want to change the dynamic that currently exists between the Science Students’ Council and the rest of the Faculty of Science. Being on SSC this year I have seen all the amazing things council has done but it is either not communicated to the rest of the student body or it can be greatly improved. We need to provide more resources, more transparency, and more direct help for our students.

What makes you best suited for the role?

The reason why I’m the best suited candidate for this position is because I am very results- focused. I make sure the job gets done and this is exactly what students are not seeing from our student leaders, pushing them away from getting involved. We are also at a very unique moment in time, with severe budget cuts around the corner and we need a President with a strong financial background – clearly evident with myself, through SSC as the current Finance Commissioner, and also external to the SSC.

VICTORIA BARROSO Third-year biology Why are you running?

I have been involved with Science council since my first year at Western. Over the last 3 years, I have seen a lack of connection and engagement between the SSC and Science students. I am running for Science President not only because of my passion for this council and what it can do for students but also because of the lack of female representation in elected student leadership positions I have seen in my time at Western, especially in the Faculty of Science.

What makes you best suited for the role?

Over the past three years, I have served on Science Students’ Council as a department representative, core member of the Science Student Donation Allocation Committee and twice as a USC Councillor, serving this year as the Vice-Chair of the USC’s student experience standing committee.

It is through roles such as this, that I was able to successfully translate the needs of students to a motion which addressed issues of the Accessibility and Inclusivity of organized events on campus. … I believe it is my breadth of experience that makes me best suited for this position.

Arts & Humanities

SEAN HASHIMOTO Second-year philosophy and SASAH

JERIKA CADUHADA Second-year English language and literature and SASAH Why are you running?

Taking on the role of AHSC President is the best way for these to come to fruition.

As daunting as election season is, I trust that these various goals and plans, which have since been expanded, sharpened, and detailed by me and the people I’ve had the honour of consulting, will craft an A&H community that is even more cohesive, supportive, and effective than it is now.

What makes you best suited for the role?

In high school, one of my favourite English teachers pulled me aside, and what she said has been ingrained into my mind ever since. In an empty hallway with the muffled sound of classes in the background, she told that there are three types of people: those who are motivated, those who are capable, and those who are both. The motivated person has a vision but lacks action; the capable person can take action but has no drive to do so. The person who has both has the invaluable ability to persevere and create long-lasting, impactful change.

Why are you running?

As I see it, council has two purposes: to run events that are too niche for the USC to run, and not academic enough for the faculty to run; and to be the voice of students that brings changes in and around our classrooms. Both of these things rely on people being invested in council—invested in its ability to host events that are worth showing up to and invested in council’s ability to communicate with the school.

If people don’t know about the events we run or the changes we’re capable of bringing, who’s going to invest their time and money into us?

What makes you best suited for the role?

Because I see the potential that council has, and I want to make use of every ounce of it. That requires someone with a vision and someone who can get others to rally behind that vision. I never saw myself as someone who would be interested in politics but when you see something that’s trying this hard to blossom, you can’t help but to want to help it grow. Even if every single one of my platform points fall through, I have the direction and tenacity to ensure council is going in the right direction.

MIT

KYRA BALOGH Third-year media, information and technoculture, minor in English

CAMERON HART Third-year media, information and technoculture

Why are you running?

I am running for this position because although I have been able to grow on the FIMSSC for the past three years, I have also seen changes that need to be made to better student experience and increase student opportunity.

Why are you running?

I am running for FIMSSC president because I want to create a student government accessible to all students, seeks every opportunity to improve their day to day life, and reminds them they are never alone.

What makes you best suited for the role?

I believe that I am best suited for this position because I am experienced, passionate and driven. My experience as a student leader in FIMS has been ongoing, providing me with a thorough knowledge of policy, as well as opportunities to foster a great relationship with student leaders and administration. This experience has stemmed a passion, not only for leadership, but for a faculty that I have grown to love over the past three years. This has ignited my drive to be the best leader I can be and implement changes that ensure that all students are truly happy with their FIMS experience.

What makes you best suited for the role?

I am best suited for this position because I have experienced the way our council serves the student body both as a member, and as a regular student. My two different experiences have allowed me to best understand what is done right and where FIMSSC’s efforts fall short. As FIMSSC President it will always be my number one priority to ensure that our council is always doing everything in its power to improve the lives of every student equally.

9 •

opinions

• TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019

The chain reaction: Why your vote matters Judge Judy

JUDY BASMAJI NEWS EDITOR @JUDYBASMAJI Last year, only 23 per cent of Western’s student population voted in the University Students’ Council elections. This was a five per cent drop from the 2017 elections, which saw the highest voter turnout of 28 per cent since 2012.

In most cases, students’ disengagement from student politics stems from the belief that student leaders can only have so much ‘reallife’ impact at the end of the day. Year after year, slates’ platforms address similar issues and take baby steps towards enacting improvements in the following year. For a few, these steps may be monumental, but to most, they seem insignificant. While the latter view is somewhat understandable, let me explain why it is worrying.

Studies show that participation and engagement in school elections is a good predictor of political engagement in adulthood. Adults who vote in federal or provincial elections are more likely to have participated in student politics than those who do not. Voting in school elections leads to political knowledge and better preparation to vote later in life.

Youth participation in elections has been declining for several decades, studies show. Although voter turnout for 18 to 24-yearolds increased by 18.3 per cent in Canada’s 2015 federal elections, the overall turnout of 57.1 per cent pales in comparison to what it was prior to the year 2000, when it first hit 60 per

cent; the lowest turnout since 1965.

And do you know what happens when voter turnout is low? Donald Trump happens. After Trump’s win in 2016, several articles argued that it was the non-voters, rather than the voters, who decided the elections’ outcome. The aftermath of the 2016 elections led to a record 2018 midterm election turnout.

Each of those who stood on the sidelines may now shoulder part of the responsibility for the decisions he makes every day.

Responsibility. That’s the key word. The state of Canada’s politics may be better off than it is on the other side of the border, but it is each person’s responsibility to ensure we remain on the right path by being politically engaged. And political engagement does not take place overnight; it is an attitude and a culture.

While the provincial cuts to education may result in an increased turnout for this year’s USC elections, the increase will likely be small, because the culture of political disengagement among youth is deeply ingrained. But this must change.

For the people on campus who are significantly affected by the USC’s decisions, for those who require improved mental health or survivor resources, for those with accessibility and specific learning needs, for the mature students who need greater representation on campus — this must change.

You may believe your vote does not affect you in any way, but it certainly affects them, and they can’t get far without your participation.

Hold your candidates accountable, so we can avoid Ryerson University’s and the University of Ottawa’s student union scandals, and do your part by casting your ballot on Feb. 4 and 5.

we get letters

Your vote for student senators matters If you’ve ever taken a course at Western University or one of its affiliates, the rules governed and motioned by Senate have surely affected your academic experience.

With a wide range of members, including administration, faculty, observers and students, Senate is responsible for all academic policy at the university.

Out of the 102 voting members on Senate, only a mere 20 are students. While it may seem unlikely that student senators can have a major impact on academic policy, the Western Student Senators, comprised of student senators and directors, have accomplished a lot. In previous years, WSS spearheaded the introduction of Fall Reading Week, the 15 per cent rule (all courses are required to provide at least 15 per cent of a grade to

students before the course-drop deadline), the earlier release of final exam schedules and the implementation of Discovery Credits.

This past month, WSS met with Western provost Andrew Hrymak and vice-provost of academic programs John Doerksen to discuss student priorities. Topics included Sunday midterms, Academic Accommodation and a course waitlist system, which will be piloted this summer.

As your outgoing WSS chair and vice-chairs, we cannot stress the importance of an engaged student body enough. Your voice and your vote will shape the academic experience not only for you, but for the entire student body. The individuals who you elect will be your voice and represent your concerns.

As most candidates have released

SAXON LANE GAZETTE

EGC penalty system still faulty

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD

We’ve said it once, we’ve said it again, and chances are that we’re going to keep on saying it: when it comes to penalizing slates, the University Students’ Council’s system is in need of reform.

Last week, Team ForYe received one strike out of a potential three-strike maximum before disqualification. The strike was also accompanied by a $100 fine. Their violation was dubbed “pre-campaigning” — two ForYe volunteers liked a Gazette Facebook post about the slates before the official campaign period began.

If you think this sounds harsh, you’re not alone.

ForYe themselves have been vocal about the decision, feeling that they were subject to an unfair trial. It was revealed that, at a committee hearing to decide the slate’s penalty, the slate wasn’t provided with the evidence that had been submitted against them. As a result, ForYe wasn’t able to properly defend themselves.

Despite apologizing for the mistake, the Elections Governance Committee upheld their original decision, maintaining the fine as well as the strike.

Prior to this year, slates campaigning for the USC presidency and vice-presidency were subject to a demerit point system. The EGC chose to sanction demerit points based on how severe a violation was. Slates didn’t face consequences until they reached 30 demerit points, which meant that disqualifications were rare — slates could violate the rules for the sake of their campaigns without facing any real consequences. We saw this happen last year, when Social Science presidential candidate Adam Khimji sent a mass email to nearly 10,000 students and subsequently received only 10 demerit

points, allowing him to keep campaigning without fear of disqualification.

This year, the system was finally overhauled for a new one: rather than racking up demerit points, slates are now subject to a three-strike system that separates major and minor infractions. Major violations, which include failing to comply with committee decisions and interfering with ballots, result in immediate disqualification. Minor violations, which range from “general sabotage” to “pre-campaigning,” can lead to disqualification if a candidate commits three of them.

In theory, this new system sounds ideal — it holds candidates accountable for their infractions in a fair and balanced way. However, as we’ve seen this past week, it leaves something to be desired in the way it is moderated and administered.

ForYe’s team did violate the pre-campaigning rule when some of their volunteers liked an article about the team. Given that each slate has access to information about minor infractions, they should have educated their volunteers better about how to avoid pre-campaigning. That being said, a $100 fine and one out of three strikes seems like a steep penalty — especially given that the committee has outwardly apologized for the way the situation was handled.

Perhaps the committee’s mistake was simply a result of the growing pains of this new system.

Hopefully by next year’s elections, the kinks of the three-strike system will be sorted out and issues like this can be avoided. Because while this system is a step in the right direction, it isn’t quite there yet.

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.”

their platforms on social media, we encourage you to read them to make an informed vote. A list of the candidates and a short bio for each of them can be found on Western’s University Secretariat website.

Voting polls will be open from 8 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Advocacy begins with you, and we encourage you to vote in this upcoming election. Like always, do not hesitate to contact any of your current Student Senators with any questions or concerns you may have.

• MASSIMO PERRUZZA WSS CHAIR • MATTHEW NOVELLO WSS VICE-CHAIR • JUSTIN KIM WSS VICE-CHAIR

MARTIN ALLEN GAZETTE President Chakma speaks in front of senate, Nov. 16, 2018.

sports

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 •

• 10

J-P Circelli to take over Windsor program MIKE DEBOER MANAGING EDITOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE The off-season of coaching staff upheaval continues for the Western Mustangs football program, as offensive line coach Jean-Paul Circelli has been hired as the head coach of the Windsor Lancers.

Circelli spent the last four years coaching at Western, where his linemen helped the Mustangs lead the nation in points and yardage throughout his tenure with the program. During that period, 15 Western offensive linemen earned Ontario University Athletics All-Star honours and seven were named U Sports All-Canadians.

A native of London, Circelli began his university football career as a player at McMaster University, where he suited up for then-Marauders head coach Greg Marshall from 2001–05 and won three Yates Cup titles in a row.

After his playing days, he took over the London Catholic Central High School football program from his father, Mike Circelli.

In 2014, the younger Circelli moved to Montreal to coach the offensive line at Concordia

University. After a one-year stint with the Stingers, he again returned to London to join Marshall’s staff and lead the Mustangs offensive line. He also coached the London Junior Mustangs program to backto-back Ontario Provincial Football League titles and a 21–0 record in his last two seasons.

At every level he’s coached, he’s won. And now he fulfills his decade-long dream of leading his own university football program.

“I’m honestly just really excited about the opportunity,” said Circelli on his new job. “[It’s] something I’ve been working toward [for] the last 10 years, specifically the last five when I stopped coaching high school football to coach at the university level.

It’s an opportunity I’ve been looking for and was pushed by my mentor, Greg Marshall, to apply for it, and you can’t pass up a job like this.”

Circelli’s successful track record will be challenged at Windsor, as the program went 6–26 over the last four seasons and has recorded just three winning records over the last 18 years. Windsor athletic director Mike Havey hopes Circelli can be the one to bring sustained, consistent success to Lancer football.

COURTESY OF MUSTANG ATHLETICS

“I’m honestly just really excited about the opportunity.... It’s an opportunity I’ve been looking for and was pushed by my mentor, Greg Marshall, to apply for it, and you can’t pass up a job like this.”

JEAN-PAUL CIRCELLI HEAD COACH WINDSOR LANCERS FOOTBALL PROGRAM

“I am thrilled to welcome Circelli and his family to the University of Windsor,” said Havey. “[Circelli] is a passionate coach and leader, and he is very highly regarded in the football community. He has been successful at every level at which he has coached or played, and he has had championship level success throughout his coaching career. We look forward to seeing Coach Circelli lead our football program forward in the years ahead.”

While the program has struggled to compete in a loaded OUA conference, there is potential for success in Windsor. It’s one of province’s most fertile football recruiting grounds, populated by elite high school football programs and top-tier youth football organizations. Now it’s up to Circelli to forge bonds with local high school coaches and players to keep the best players in the city and Essex County at home.

“There is a lot of good football being played in Windsor, so [at] the end of the day, it’s about building relationships,” said Circelli. “If they see you’re serious in your area, they see you at practices and games; you can build those relationships. And then building a championship program,

people sharing that vision and believing that vision allows you to build a culture and a winning program.”

Circelli’s departure from Western marks another staff loss for Marshall and the Mustangs: former offensive coordinator Steve Snyder took the head coaching gig at Queen’s University and recruiting coordinator Joe Circelli will join his brother’s staff in Windsor as its new offensive coordinator.

After a 23–1 record, back-toback Yates Cup titles and a Vanier Cup championship over the last two seasons, Mustangs coaches are a hot commodity in the university football ranks. It’s a testament to the consistent winning culture Marshall has built in London.

“Greg taught me to control what you can control,” Circelli said of his former boss. “You put in work developing players, breaking down film, and that’s what you can control. But you can’t control weather, officials.

So do everything that you can control and then you can look in the mirror at the end of the day and know you did what you could to succeed.”

Circelli will face Marshall for the first time as a head coach on Sept.

28, 2019 at Windsor’s Alumni Field.

Kelsey Veltman a model of success SETH KADISH CONTRIBUTOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE

When she was younger, Kelsey Veltman wasn’t anywhere near the phenom she is today.

“I remember I was one of the only girls not able to get a serve over the net,” she reminisced. “But my dad would take me to the backyard, and he set up a string where I had to try to get the ball over. I would stand on one side of the yard and practice getting enough power to hit it this far and this high.”

A decade later, at the age of 22, Veltman’s backyard practice seems to have paid off. She recorded her 1,000th career kill, best among active players, in a 3–0 victory last weekend against the Brock Badgers.

“It was a goal I set when I was in first year,” she recalled. “I remember counting down like, ‘nine-hundred and ninety-seven... nine-hundred and ninety-eight.’ It was such a big relief, I was so happy and so excited.”

And considering her position, middle, where strategic, defensive substitutions are common, Veltman’s personal feat looms especially large among individual athletic achievements at Western.

Now in her fifth year, Veltman has been a pillar of Western’s women’s volleyball team over the last four years. Efficient on offence and intelligent on defence, she recorded 259 kills and 79 solo or assisted blocks last season, ranking her among the best in individual production in Ontario University Athletics.

This year, a little more than halfway through the 19-game regular season, she’s on pace for another staggering performance.

Yet her journey from backyard string-ball to the proverbial Alumni Hall rafters was not a simple one.

She initially chose lacrosse as her primary sport, playing the game that her uncle and father excelled at professionally.

Although she shone on the field — eventually playing for the under-19 Ontario Provincial team — Veltman grew uncomfortable

JORDAN MCGAVIN GAZETTE

with her tall stature among shorter competitors.

“You know, I would tell people ‘I’m 5-12, because I didn’t want to be tall,” explained Veltman. “I never wanted to say six feet. Lacrosse players are not normally that tall, so it got a little awkward on the field.

But then I started playing volleyball, where the girls are taller.”

Although her attraction to volleyball was well-reasoned, she endured a rough start to her playing career. “I was really bad,” she remembered. “I had no idea what I was doing.” But her father told her to stick with it, helping her to improve on the court and building confidence in her abilities.

By high school, Veltman’s true potential was beginning to show as recruitment offers came in from American colleges. In spite of that, the time she spent playing under Melissa Bartlett for Team Ontario convinced Veltman that Western would be the best place for her continued growth.

“There’s some of us who have been to a Final Four three or four times. So we’re trying this year with our young team to get everyone on the same page. We want to get them motivated to win.”

KELSEY VELTMAN And her presence was deeply felt, as the Mustangs went from 6–13 the year before her arrival to 16–3 in her sophomore season.

In her first season at Western, Veltman racked up awards and nominations, including OUA Rookie of the Year OUA West Division Player of the Year and OUA First Team All-Star honours. Her dominance followed into her sophomore and junior years, where she became the first player in at least a decade to win OUA Player of the Year in three straight seasons.

“The first time was actually pretty shocking, like I had no idea there

was an award system at all,” Veltman said. “You never really expect the coaches to vote like that and to keep doing it to the same person. I was just shocked the first time, and I was not expecting it at all again, two, let alone three, times in a row.”

And yet for all the personal accolades that Veltman has collected in her time as a Western Mustang, the most important of them all has continued to evade her: an OUA championship.

Not that she hasn’t been close in the past. With four straight OUA Final Four appearances — including a heartbreaking loss for championship gold in 2016–17 — Veltman knows the Mustangs are capable of winning the OUA. “There’s some of us who have been to a Final Four three or four times. So we’re trying this year with our young team to get everyone on the same page,” Veltman said. “We want to get them motivated to win.”

This season — considered by many to be a partial rebuild — the team is simply looking for a berth in

the Quigley Cup playoffs in March.

They currently sit tied for third in their division, just inside the top four they need to secure a playoff spot.

One potential roadblock is the 6–7 Windsor Lancers; a Feb.8 rematch with their OUA West Division rivals could serve as the ultimate test of the young Mustangs trajectory. In their last meeting on Nov. 23, the Mustangs were walloped in three straight sets.

“That was probably one of our roughest games,” Veltman said. “It was like one of those perfect storms.

You know, the last few times we beat them kind of handily, and maybe going in, we kind of underestimated them a little bit.”

But the key to success, Veltman says, is learning from those tough experiences. She says that improved communication and valuable mentorship opportunities have helped refocus the players since that game.

Off the court and inside the classroom, Veltman discovered a passion that combines both her athletic and academic pursuits. Now studying disability studies at King’s University College, Veltman is considering a career helping to train and develop future Paralympic athletes.

However, in the near future, Veltman intends to continue her dominance on the court, looking to make her mark overseas.

“The goal for me is to play professionally,” she said. “A lot of European countries have volleyball teams that actually pay very well. So the next couple of months, I’m going to start looking for an agent, start talking to people and maybe travel Europe a bit. I’m just going to go from there and try to play as long as I can.”

And for all that the future holds for this young superstar, Veltman still looks back on her time at Western with great pride. When asked about the advice she’d give to student athletes, she responded, “Just have fun. Play every game like it’s going to be your last. By the time you’re in fifth year, you don’t want to look back at those days and say ‘If only I tried harder.’ ”

11 •

culture

• TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019

WESTERN’S NEW PROGRAMS, TECHNOLOGIES AND IDEAS

Advances in mental health resources NADIA BUHOT CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR @GAZETTECULTURE Over the past few years, Western University has added to its roster of mental health resources, taking a more holistic and pedagogical approach that will hopefully respond to changing needs and advocacy from staff and students.

NEW PROGRAMS Last October, Brescia University College became the first university in Ontario to run Living Life to the Full, an educational program developed by Dr. Chris Williams. The group-based program is licensed by the Canadian Mental Health Association and allows students to learn approaches for managing life’s difficulties and coping with stress.

The 12-hour program uses cognitive behavioural principles to help students understand their emotions, thoughts and behaviours, as well as provide strategies for dealing with them.

Western also offers an additional set of services not for individuals in crisis or seeking help, but rather for those who wish to help others.

Part of Western’s 2018–23 Student Mental Health and Wellness Strategic Plan is to increase opportunities for students and staff to receive mental health and suicide prevention training.

“If you go back 20 or 30 years, there were next to no supports that existed within universities, and now very few universities do not have mental health supports. I think there’s more we can do — more we have to do — but it’s a vastly improved situation from a few years ago.”

BARRY CRAIG THE PRINCIPAL OF HURON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Last year, Brescia offered three training programs designed to teach participants how to identify and help others in need. Upstander Training taught participants to identify situations of sexual assault or harm and identify intervention strategies; safeTALK prepared participants to notice and respond to situations where suicidal thoughts might be present; and Mental Health First Aid taught individuals how to respond to someone showing signs of a mental health issue or experiencing a mental health crisis. Completion of these programs could be included on a student’s co-curricular record.

Although they are done for the year, these and similar programs will likely run for the 2019–20 academic year.

Unfortunately, students have not attended these services as much as some administrators hoped.

Not many students are attending because they “don’t necessarily see it as a need” until they’re in crisis, explains Sheldon Hill, a student wellness educator at Brescia.

Hill suggests the next steps are working around academic timetables and getting students to believe that these programs align with their perspectives of the world.

“We are trying to build this campus environment that is supportive, and due to that, we need everyone to play a role, which is a bit of an uphill battle right now.”

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

The principal of Huron University College, Barry Craig, says working toward entirely removing stigmatization will allow for students to access mental health support in the same way as academic support.

“It’s like going to see your academic advisor, or it’s like going to the health clinic because you know you have the flu. These are just things you do. It’s natural. It’s normal,” says Craig.

Although stigmatization may be difficult to remove entirely, resources are beginning to reflect the holistic nature of mental health.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES In addition to new programs, Western is implementing new technology to update their mental Health services.

Cynthia Gibney, director of Health Services, is part of a team working toward integrating Health Services with Psychological Services.

“Our first step was to share our electronic health record with the psychologists on campus. This is helpful when a variety of clinicians on campus have helped a student either collectively at one time or over the years in different capacities,” says Gibney. “Information sharing between clinicians gives a clear picture of the student’s history and documents therapy and treatments in one place.”

Further, the G. Emmett Cardinal Carter Library at King’s University College partnered with Student Services to promote mental health and academic success, offering all Western students the opportunity to try a Muse, as of September 2017, and SAD lamps, as of February 2016. The Student Developement Centre similarly offers Muse therapy and other treatments to aid in training relaxing one’s mind using EEGs. “The Muse headband works with the Muse app to help people meditate,” says Samantha Murrey, information services assistant for stacks maintenance and circulation. “The app has guided meditation sessions and works with the headband to give brainwave feedback. The SAD lamps work to fight Seasonal Affective Disorder by replicating the beneficial effects of natural sunlight.”

Student Health Services has adapted to meet the increase of mental health needs on campus. Within the past year, SHS has increased the number of social workers,

psychiatrists and family doctors.

In November 2017, Western announced they would move forward with their $20 million plan to convert Thames Hall into a centralized location for all health services as the new Wellness Centre, cited to open in 2021.

MORE IDEAS While some plans have been implemented already, others are in preliminary phases.

Active Minds Western, the largest student-run mental health club on campus, represents the mental health concerns of Western students, and they’ve been advocating for some changes.

In 2018, AMW conducted a student survey that came with a set of recommendations for mental health reform on campus.

The survey found that 75 per cent of nearly 700 participants considered their academics to cause difficulty in managing their emotions.

Students frequently cited their unpredictable exam schedules as a source of stress. The club suggested having exam schedules finalized before course enrolment as a means to mitigate exam anxiety and provide students with a fair opportunity to perform their best.

“If we have all of the exams for a student, for example, clustered within a single three- or four-day period, I think it’s time we ask questions,” says Craig. “There are things that have been built into the university system for decades

and generations I think are worth examining if we want to create a more humane environment where students can be healthy, learn in a positive, supporting environment and succeed.”

Although Western still has a long way to go, mental health resources on campus have been slowly improving over the years.

“If you go back 20 or 30 years, there were next to no supports that existed within universities, and now very few universities do not have mental health supports,” says Craig.

“I think there’s more we can do — more we have to do — but it’s a vastly improved situation from a few years ago.”

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