Tuesday, February 5, 2019 - Black History Month

SINCE 1906 TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2019 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 19

Western University’s Student Newspaper Stem drive for Jocelyn McGlynn PG3

Checking in with Candice Moxley PG10

Reference letters done right PG11 ALREADY COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW WARM IT IS SINCE 1906

The Black History Month Issue

SAXON LANE GAZETTE

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 •

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tebello nyokong often got to her.

“It was the first time that I realized you could be next door to someone and not even know their name. I think it was a part of the culture shock, but I went to go introduce myself, and they were really shocked. I just wanted to show humanity,” Tebello jokingly explains.

“Another culture shock was the snow. It snows in Lesotho, but the snow in Canada was more than I could deal with — it was huge!”

But for Tebello, Canada truly was her second home, as it was where she formed a myriad of new friendships and was allowed to enhance her love for science and research for almost 10 years.

“I like the freedom of thinking in research. You have the freedom to create and the freedom to think of new ways of doing things,” she says. “When we think of something, our brain is forever active, and I love that: finding new solutions to current problems”

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But a life of perpetual bliss is not a realistic one and Tebello’s relatively propitious story took a negative turn upon her move to South Africa in 1992.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MICHAEL CONLEY @MIKECONLEY4

“Not many people want to hear this, but the reality is [South Africa] was an apartheid state. I am a black woman, an African woman, so I was not an accepted person at all. It was very difficult,” explains Tebello. “I called it academic loneliness where you are just on your own, no one to talk to because you are not a white person. If you were not white, you were invisible in the sciences in South Africa. That alone is enough to break anybody.”

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COURTESY OF TEBELLO NYOKONG

With a life driven by a powerful perseverance, a passion for science and a desire to create, Western alum Tebello Nyokong has become a distinguished member of the world’s science community.

Without mentioning the various awards and accolades garnered during her life pertaining to her 20-plus years in academia, it’s apparent that her first love will always be science.

“A scientist is someone who can build and destroy things and create things,” says Tebello. “I strongly feel sometimes I was brought up to build things, even though I was a girl. Girls didn’t build; they didn’t do anything like that. They were at home cooking.”

Tebello’s passion for science stems from her childhood and her time as a shepherd in the fields of Lesotho.

Through her interaction with her natural environment, such as the whistling of the trees or the chirping of birds, Tebello developed a fondness for science and decided to pursue it.

However, as a shepherd, she did not always have the opportunity to attend school on a daily basis. Certain days would have to be allocated to school and certain days, for tending to the sheep. This was just the reality for those in her village.

Taking charge of her circumstance, Tebello eventually earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Lesotho in 1977, her master’s in chemistry at McMaster University in 1981, and her PhD in chemistry at Western University in 1987.

During her time in Canada, the inevitable culture shock

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Instead of allowing her circumstance to define her, Tebello bided her time and continued to work hard, remaining in South Africa until the dissolution of apartheid in 1994.

“You’ve got to overcome your environment, rather than run away from it. I really retreated into myself to work hard,” she says.

Tebello is now a distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology at Rhodes University in South Africa. Currently, she is researching ways to utilize nanotechnology to help purify water — an issue of major concern in certain African countries — at Kenya’s United States International University Africa and the University of Ottawa.

Despite her “science-encouraged” childhood, Tebello is aware that not all young girls around the world have the same opportunity to be encouraged to pursue science, just as she was. She affirms that these stereotypes need to be broken.

“In school, girls are given subjects like only cooking, and they don’t do carpentry; they don’t do hands-on things.

We as teachers are separating the two, unnecessarily,” Tebello affirms. “I think boys should do the cooking class; the girls should do the carpentry. Then we build science in everybody.”

A lesson can be learned from Tebello’s life: to never be defined by your circumstance. A passion for one’s aspirations will always prevail.

In actuality, Tebello’s passion for science does not simply drive her; she too drives science forward through her own innovation.

■ MUDIA IYAYI

Western by the Numbers

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Apartheid was an era of institutionalized, racial discrimination in South Africa, during which black South Africans faced harsh racism and discrimination at the hands of a white supremist ideology.

Tuition Changes Hi there, sdlskd sdhksjd l ddjs djskdjslad dskdjsrw ireor wjeowq wejowe wijeowjq ewejowq wjewoqe wjeowej wij wiwjeowq wewejw wejqpe j wjewpqoje ewoj opqwo wojepoq wqojeow s sj w[ opwwqoe sdlskd sdhksjd l ddjs djskdjslad dskdjsrw ireor wjeowq wejowe wijeowjq ewejowq wjewoqe wjeowej wij wiwjeowq wewejw wejqpe j wjewpqoje ewoj opqwo woje poq wqojeow s sj w[ opwwqoe sdlskd sdhksjd l ddjs djskdjslad dskdjsrw ireor wjeowq wejowe wijeowjq ewejowq wjewoqe wjeowej wij wiwjeowq wewejw wejqpe j wjewpqoje ewoj opqwo wojepoq wqojeow s sj w[ opwwqoe sdlskd sdhksjd l ddjs djskdjslad dskdjsrw ireor wjeowq wejowe wijeowjq ewejowq wjewoqe wjeowej wij wiwjeowq wewejw wejqpe j wjewpqoje ewoj opqwo woje poq wqojeow s sj w[ opwwqoe

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76 student unions who signed a letter denouncing PC tuition changes

SISSI CHEN GAZETTE

$11,500 raised by Motionball at last year’s Marathon of Sport

1 deer that trespasssed in Saugeen-Maitland Hall in January

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news

• TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Western study shows genetic component to loneliness KENDRA CAREY NEWS INTERN @UWOGAZETTE A new study led by a Western University professor has shown a link between loneliness and genetics.

Research collected from the reports of 764 adult pairs of Australian twins concluded there is a correlation between loneliness and genetics.

However, environmental factors still tend to impact emotions more significantly than genetic makeup.

Julie Aitken Schermer, a professor at Western’s DAN department of management and organizational studies, suggests that increased feelings of loneliness among young people can be explained by a heavy reliance on social media.

“You may have a lot of friends on Facebook or a social media site, but you’re not having a rich interaction with that person,” said Schermer.

“You learn so much more from sitting in front of somebody.”

Schermer measured loneliness throughout the study by defining it as a dissatisfaction with the interactions you are having with others.

The reports from the participants revealed that 35 per cent of loneliness was related to genetics.

The study also revealed that extroverted people tend to feel less lonely in comparison to others.

“I used to have to tell the class to pipe down and stop talking. It was a good environment, though, because these are the people that you can lean on for help if you are studying,” Schermer explained. “Now I walk in and nobody is talking to anybody, and I find that sad in a way [because] you’re not going to have the same depth of interaction texting somebody.”

Loneliness has been found to be predictive of insecurity, depression

and suicidal thoughts, which is something Schermer finds concerning, especially for students who are reluctant to seek help.

“Saying you are lonely can be perceived by people as some sort of pathetic characteristic, and I’m hoping that we can alleviate that stigma. So if you are lonely, tell somebody,” she advised. “I would recommend to students, especially the extroverts, to engage people more and bring them into the social environment.”

Research on loneliness is an area Schermer is familiar with, as she has previously studied the relationship between self-deprecating humour and loneliness.

Schermer plans to continue her work with her next step being a study on how much loneliness can be explained by feeling like you do not matter.

SURVEY

Med students’ mental health a growing concern NOJOUD AL MALLEES NEWS INTERN @NOUJOUDALMALLEES A survey conducted by the Canadian Medical Association demonstrates elevated burnout and susceptibility to mental health problems in the medical community, specifically among resident doctors.

The CMA found that of the 2,547 physicians and 400 resident doctors surveyed, about one third were experiencing burnout or depression.

Even more alarming is that 19 per cent had contemplated suicide at some point in their lives, and eight per cent had done so in the last 12 months.

Female physicians, medical residents and physicians in their first five years of practice were found to be the most vulnerable to mental health problems.

Caroline Just, a fifth-year neurology resident and a representative of the Professional Association of Residents of Ontario at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, voiced concern about the workload resident doctors face.

“The hours are very, very intense.

I’ve worked 80 hours [per week] regularly during my residency, and you don’t really get to see your patients get better because you tend to be mostly on the in-patient side,” said Just.

“The things that we know are important for resiliency, like eating well, sleeping well, spending time with family, exercising, are hard to find the time for,” she added.

Despite 82 per cent of respondents to the CMA survey reporting high resilience, one third met the criteria of depression while 30 per cent reported high levels of burnout.

When asked about what structural changes could make residency less stressful, Just emphasized the importance of ensuring there are jobs for doctors upon completion of residency, as limited openings in some specialties is a major contributor to stress.

In addition, she highlighted changes with regard to the culture in the medical community.

“So much of what I think needs to change is how we view each other. I think, in any stressful environment where you’re busy, one assumption we make is that we’re the only ones who are busy,” said Just. “So, there’s

somewhat of an increase in antagonism because of that.”

Jordan Ho, a second-year medical student at Schulich, says that while medical school is challenging, burnout doesn’t seem to be a problem yet.

“We’re definitely stressed and tired, but not yet burned out.…I will also say that it’s hard to estimate burnout levels because none of us really talk about it that much,” said Ho. According to Ho, one of the major sources of stress for medical students is finding a residency position.

While only 11 medical graduates were unmatched for residency in 2009, this number has been steadily increasing and is projected to reach 140 in 2021.

“We are more focused on the upcoming problem of getting into residency. That being said, many of us have ruled in or out specialties based on our perceptions of worklife balance,” Ho added.

The PARO 24-hour helpline is available to residents, their partners and family members, and medical students in need of immediate assistance or referrals for a range of mental health concerns. The toll-free number is 1-866-435-7362.

SAMIT KHALSA GAZETTE

fill a gap in your program Athabasca University has over 850 courses to choose from to meet your needs and courses start every month, AU has over 6,600 transfer agreements around the world (including with this institution).

Western Stem Cell Club organizes drive for student KENDRA CAREY NEWS INTERN @UWOGAZETTE A stem cell donor drive for a Western student put on by the Western Stem Cell Club has generated a large amount of support.

Jocelyn McGlynn, who was diagnosed with myelomonocytic leukemia in late November, is an undergraduate student in need of a stem cell donor as part of her treatment.

The stem cell drive was held at various locations on campus from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. A large turnout saw many of McGlynn’s friends attend, as well as support from those who had never met her.

“We’re really happy to see that the Western community has been so passionate, engaged and so willing to help out a fellow student in need,”

said Adriyan Hrycyshyn, president of the Western Stem Cell Club. “All of her friend group has come out to volunteer and it has made a huge impact.”

Olivia Pomajba, a longtime friend of McGlynn’s who helped organize a blood donor drive for her in December, expressed her gratitude for the support from students and the Western Stem Cell Club.

“Jocelyn is in great spirits, it makes her feel that much better when she isn’t able to be here when she sees all these wonderful people coming out of the woodwork to support her,” said Pomajba.

Pomajba added that McGlynn has completed chemotherapy and is currently at home with her family awaiting a stem cell match.

The Western Stem Cell Club set a goal of collecting 600 swabs during the three-day initiative, and exceeded

expectations by collecting 767.

Elena Kum, the club’s vice-president, believed they would reach their goal after reporting that the club successfully collected 417 swabs after their second day of the drive.

The club aims to increase the number of donors they have in the registry as the chances of finding a compatible donor are slim.

“Every little swab counts,” explained Romy Segall, vice-president of events for the club. “You really are saving someone’s life. It may not seem like much because it’s such a slim chance, [but] it’s so important to have many people on the registry.”

Part of the club’s mandate is to make donating easier for students, which they plan to continue by doing stem cell donor drives on campus some time in February and March.

CROSSWORD SOLUTION Solution to puzzle on page 11

Black history

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 •

W

e are the Black Students’ Association of Western University. Since 1993, the BSA has been a socio-political club dedicated to supporting the black community here at Western and enhancing their student experience.

We are an anti-oppressive space with a deep investment in the issues that affect black students on and off campus. The BSA fosters a positive environment that promotes community, unapologetic expression and kinship. We organize events that cater to various black experiences here on campus. In a world where tolerance continues to be a topic of heated debate, we hold reflections and openly discuss interesting topics that are also relevant to the black community. Students are provided a safe space to share their struggles, triumphs and opinions through dialogue. Through the events we host — fashion shows, charity basketball tournaments, socials, career panels, coffee houses and more — we remain conscious of the various black experiences present on campus and guarantee a space of acceptance, representation and shared experiences.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

A Foreword from BSA

MINGWEI HUANG GAZETTE

This year, we continue to celebrate BSA’s 25th anniversary. We salute and pay tribute to those who have paved the way for us. We celebrate the growth of the engagement of black students in the BSA, we celebrate the adversities that we

have overcome and we celebrate the past, present and future of BSA. None of this would be possible without the strong executive teams and dedicated BSA members that we have had over the years.

In commemoration of our

establishment and of Black History Month, we want to reflect on our experiences as black students at Western and in London. Every so often, we are overlooked, unheard and unseen. However, we are here to remind you that we are, have

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been and will be here. To be black at Western is to be in an incredibly unique and challenging position.

The discussion of representation is one that has been repeated over and over again, and the consensus has always been that it is up to us to support, promote and create the images that we want to see.

This year, the Black History Month Issue is an accumulation of unheard voices. It is an intimate display of our experiences, identities and journeys. It reflects everything we are and everything we hope to be. It is a platform for black students to use their voice and express themselves and for the Western community to recognize that we are not a monolith.

The BSA remains dedicated to the education, empowerment and student experience of black students on campus. The BSA will continue to support, nourish and create a safe space for black students to flourish. The BSA exists to enhance the experience of black students today and pave the way for the future black leaders of tomorrow.

BSA Executive Team 2018-19

Still searching for home: Loving black queerness ZAENAB OJOAWO Content warning: Sexual violence described in paragraph 15.

Do you know what stories my skin tells?

To you, I am a eulogy and an already forgotten tragedy. I have made myself small to fit in spaces, because you can never know that weight of all this emptiness inside. Where all this grief can’t ever fit in such a stream of unrelenting mourning.

Now, I write with a loss on my breath, as I make room to swallow my mother tongue for a language that hungers and twist with designs, descriptions and omissions of our own suffering.

I find myself a minority in every aspect of my identity here, whether I like it or not, cannibalizing words that describe myself with different groups on different days. It’s my life’s signature, a monument of memories I’m not allowed to forget, but am forbidden to claim.

I am pansexual. I am gender-queer, a black Muslim from Nigeria, who was raised as a woman. There are few like me. And it is difficult to find them. The nature of our identity makes coming out, just enough to know one another, nearly impossible.

I swear I tried to write something happier, but my skin grew hot and burned me. The heaviness of that grief gave base to my heart beat which taunted “traitor.” My lips asked me if I had learned to be this kind of liar, as if I had forgotten the noose around necks. That I owed just words to people like me, because we rarely ever are used to justice in relation to ourselves, as nothing in this world is just to us and we are never just anything to you.

I write this in part, for us, as a message for

SAXON LANE GAZETTE

Inaara Savani & Rhea Hirani Our whole continent was in a hot dense state and nearly 400 years of slavery couldn’t wait The British began to drool and imperialism was cool because Africa needed “school” School you said?

They took our fathers to cotton fields to fight the wars that needed no shields They had a head start and free labour and got this from dividing us from our neighbour With all our rubber, steel and diamonds they went only to start off an era of resent Then came WW1, 2 and a sense of liberation but it was all an act of deliberation of a new form of modern colonization The cold war that followed brought us a wall and atomic bomb as well as a series of western norms It also brought us India and Pakistan Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan We were promised world peace by the

that person who lives in your mirror, to love us gently, because we are the only ones who know how. With that, there’s hope that one day it’ll be different where I can finally find a world where I belong and am understood, but now it is not.

Despite this and having been in Canada for more than 10 years, I still find myself on the margins of society, not quite able to fit into any one particular group. I write this knowing I live in a country where queerness is relatively accepted and talked about. For me, it’s refreshing, but there’s still much work that needs to be done regarding inclusivity and intersectionality.

That work must be done because the base of the matter is that I live in societies that don’t want people like me.

In queer groups, there’s an unacknowledged yet pervasive racism that only shows itself in ugly, muted ways. Nobody says they don’t care about people of colour, yet we never see ourselves represented. When we experience violence or discrimination, there is no outrage. We’re the sacrificial lambs so they can protect themselves. It’s our blood that’s spilled to wash away the filth in their path.

At home, within immigrant families, there’s always a strong underlying threat of homophobia that I can’t escape. My family is from a place where people like me are considered either sick or worthy of death. There is no such thing as acceptance in a family where homophobia is a genetic trait, a part of the blood named sacred that gets passed down from generation to generation.

In my faith and spirituality, I find my only solace. My Islam is a kind, accepting and all-encompassing love that cannot be taken

500 YEARS

United Nations but all they did was test our patience, as our oil fueled their petrol stations The IMF handed out loans, ah what a fallacy to continue to feed us their development fantasy They encouraged the export of raw materials minerals, metals, breads and cereals They gave us pennies in return, what debt was, we had to learn Around the world, no Robin Hood was seen and money only mattered if it was green They devalued our currency education and health care were no longer an urgency They forced a reduction in social and government spending now the consequences are never ending The rich became Warner Bros yet the rest of us couldn’t even afford to watch

their shows The gap between the rich and the poor has grown along with the West, the 1% exploited their own 9/11 enough said, but was the Quran even read?

Al-Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS Say hello to the new global security crisis The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was not an invitation to enter our fights In the midst of creating the perfect society we forgot all about refugees anxiety “Africa is a land of savages” and “All Muslims are terrorists” they say how ignorant is your education system anyway?

Foreign aid always came with strings attached and the donor intentions never matched And now, Real wages have dropped massively yet we continue to complain passively

away from me. My God named me love and claimed me as His, regardless of what anybody else says.

On the snowy streets, I’ve had “Go Home” screamed as if we have no home on the rich Black Earth we came from, and as if we would leave that home for here had it not had been for what was stripped from our soil.

Back home, we split the seas in half, living corpses weigh the bet against death in the jaws Warsan Shire spoke of, against the barrels later pointed at black bodies within safer nations.

Even here, I stink of war, I know. There are entire cities burning in my throat. The space between my legs is a graveyard, where men bury themselves shallow before clawing their way to the surface again. If only home wasn’t one more man who looks like my uncle with his manhood in my mouth.

These facts of my existence make up the swaying silence you’re all too afraid to break.

I am the rope, tying man to woman, woman to woman, man to man, and here on this continent all blacks to back to the tree branch.

I can almost smell the names of the bodies in these words because we are not allowed to forget the way blackness tastes. I have words etched on my skin that others read and that remind myself of lives that weren’t my own, might have been mine, and deaths that are and will be because of my identities tones.

I know, nobody wants to come home to the world burning in their living room.

I know, nobody wants to reach out for hands and find only broken promises.

I know, nobody wants to hug shattered glass.

I know, but please love me gentle.

companies from afar are now in charge and locals lose their jobs at large Health care has become a luxury only the rich can afford surgery more children and mothers are dying why isn’t anyone crying??

Our resources are depleting yet our chimneys are still competing we try meeting after meeting but will we even have something to keep eating It is time to put a stop to this!

The constant meddling we won’t miss Africa doesn’t need to be saved definitely not with their fooling aid Our problems we will fix on our own no more of their god damn loan Hey but how?

A united civil society we will create one without tribal or cultural hate education, health care and peace is the way let’s remember that every day

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Black history

• TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

LYDIA MEHARI & DINA HADDISH

#Retweet: On discovering sex-esteem, relationships and Black girl magic

Lydia Mehari and Dina Haddish are the brilliant hosts of a locally grown podcast called #Retweet, where the two dish out hot tea and truths everything around and about the experience of black girlhood through womanhood. Together, they reminisce on learning about black love in relation to themselves and to the world.

Both growing up in London, a city lacking in diversity as many of you know, is quite dependent on the university population bringing many people of colour into the city, with students coming in from all over the world. Growing up in a mostly white space as black girls, early in our formative years, we both felt that we were labeled by social standards as the “ugly friend.”

Having the majority, if not all of our friends, being white, thin, upperclass girls, effectively, we were at the bottom of the food chain. Both of us struggled with always feeling like the secondary character to our friends or being the comic relief.

HOW HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES SHAPED OUR ABILITY TO DATE NOW? Dina: Today, despite being around more diversity and gaining more confidence, our experiences still shape the ways in which we interact with men now. Ugly girl mentality is what we like to call it; you face an inability to be flirty or understand that others see you as a sexual being.

This is a result of being repressed sexually for the majority of our lives.

Both Lydia and I very quickly had to learn to use our personalities as a means to attract others, through humour, kindness, intelligence, etc.

I still don’t know how to act when it comes to men showing an interest in me. I get super uncomfortable with men who express a lot of interest in me and find myself gravitating toward people who don’t see my value. When you are not used to receiving attention, it can get confusing.

WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE ENTERING UNIVERSITY IN REGARDS TO YOUR APPEARANCE? Dina: It’s not necessarily that we “glo’d up,” but that we started to conform to what normative beauty looks like for black women. For me, it was the baddie archetype — filled-in brows,

Fashion Nova, long curly hair, big butt and small waist. Our glo-ups were different because our body types offered different avenues to attaining conventional beauty. My glo-up led me to a style catered toward thicker women, but the artistic alternative style suited Lydia’s glo-up better.

Lydia: Understanding in which ways my physical aesthetic was appreciated definitely helped me navigate in which subgroup and fashion choices I made. Through these choices, I started to adhere to a different type of beauty standard that allowed me to flourish in both my creative mind and social desirability.

HOW HAVE THESE DIFFERENCES AFFECTED THE TYPES OF ROMANTIC ATTENTION YOU RECEIVE? Dina: I have experienced fetishization from non-black men, who think framing their compliments in a racialized way is flattering. Saying, “I love black girls,” expressing your affinity towards hip-hop culture; using words like “chocolate” or “ebony” is not a compliment. I think in the past few years, with the cultural appropriation from the Kardashians, the Instagram baddie aesthetic has become increasingly more popular. The body type that I was always shamed for has become the ideal body type. This obviously has helped me in dating, with people who wouldn’t even look twice at me in high school suddenly sliding into my Instagram messages, but it raises the question of what they really want me for: me or the aesthetic that I encapsulate?

Lydia: At the exception of attracting the rare black male creative — being my particular build — throughout the years, I have noticed I mostly attract white men. On the other hand, emphasizing on my skin tone, my lighter skin complexion has also garnered attention from self-hating darker skin men who desired me due to my lighter skin. My preference being pro-black men, there were definitely times I felt sexually excluded due to them typically liking more curvaceous body types and left me at times feeling uneasy over crushes liking extremely thick women’s photos on Instagram.

Diary of an angry black woman LILIAN ESENE & DANIELLE OTENG-PABI The policing of black womanhood and black femininity is not a new concept. The old and perpetual “Angry Black Woman” stereotype, along with newer phrases like “In a world full of Cardi Bs, be an Erykah Badu,” are used to control the behaviour and appearances of black women everywhere.

Black women are told to be curvy, but only in specific places. We should be sexual, but shouldn’t overdo it.

We should be hardworking and independent, but shouldn’t complain or be outspoken when we are cheated or treated unfairly.

Our emotions are not taken seriously. A very clear and recent example was the racist portrayal of

Serena Williams as an angry baby by Australian newspaper, The Herald Sun, for fighting a call that she felt was unfair. Her moment of anger was weaponized against her; meanwhile her white male colleagues were previously labelled as “passionate,” even when they smashed tennis rackets in moments of frustration.

As black women attending a predominantly white institution like Western University, we are often made to feel uncomfortable for many reasons that include comments on our skin, our hair, body and even the way we talk. In addition, black women often feel the urge to change or conceal who they are to make others around them feel more comfortable, for fear of being labelled as “uncooperative,” “angry” and

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR DIFFERENT BODY TYPES SHAPED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH “SEX-ESTEEM”?

Dina: Growing up, I was hyper aware of my body type and what it meant.

At 15 years old, I remember getting attention from men at my workplace who were 10 years older than me. Even after I shared my age, the attention did not stop. It made me feel uncomfortable but desired simultaneously, which is a weird place to be in.

I was forced to grow up quickly and face the realities of womanhood before I truly felt like a woman. In the era of R. Kellys, it is so important to recognize the ways in which we sexualize young black girls and strip them of their childhood. How easy it is for young black girls to become victimized; our hips, thighs and butts have long been a place of exploitation.

Sarah Baartman is a historical example of the sexualization of black women’s bodies; Baartman was a curvaceous women living in the 1800s who was put on display as a human freak show because of her body type (one that would be praised today). She informed a lot of the early assumptions about a black woman’s sexuality, and we are still being seen as these sites for sexual exploitation today.

The Jezebel stereotype paints black women as seductive, alluring, tempting: sexual beings by nature.

This caricature stems from early victimization of black women at the hands of white slave owners.

When you paint your victim as highly sexual and an almost insatiable being, it becomes easy to paint black women as beings incapable of being raped. This served white slave owners well, as they were able to continue victimizing black women through this process of dehumanization.

As a black woman, when you start developing, you are vilified.

“Cover up, don’t be fast”; having wide-set hips or large breasts instantly sets you apart and garners attention. Socially, we subject black girls to respectability politics — to be virtuous and virginal. To be pure and untouched. With every sexual encounter, your perceived worth is lowered. It is difficult to not internalize these ideas about purity and chastity and its relation to self-worth. It is also difficult to

make genuine connections when your body is a commodity.

Lydia: I’ve always known, regardless of what I felt, I reaped thin privilege.

This privilege exists in every institution, and regardless of what’s trendy, this narrative remains. Both institutionally within society and through the mass media, we’ve been bombarded and brainwashed with the messages that the only excepted size is thin, and anything outside of that is undesirable to the masses and can only be desired if fetishized.

Having these certain body type as a fetish means that they aren’t allowed to be simply a body type but an object and their love must be driven by the fact it’s extremely unusual. In comparison, people who like thin people are just seen as people who like people. This is because this love doesn’t need to be validating by an intense desire or obsession that is seen as a individual’s extremely strong devotion, regardless of the mass media’s obsession with thin bodies.

This allowed me to experiment more with ways that I dress, especially since clothing in my size is found locally and ordinarily, and I can always expect to find clothing in the latest styles and colours in my proportions.

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF INTERRACIAL VS. INTRARACIAL DATING? Dina: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dating interracially, but I can understand why it can hurt to see black men specifically date outside their race. If we look at the desirability scale, black women unfortunately seem to be at the bottom.

Tinder in particular is so very telling because it reflects an individual’s knee-jerk reaction while swiping on a photo — which reveals the implicit biases that are present

“rude.” While code-switching, (the act of switching one’s language and mannerisms in different situations or around different demographics), is something that a lot of black people can relate to, for black women, it can be a bit more involved. We change our hairstyles, our behaviour, our voices even, in the hope that we will not be perceived as too “different.”

We smile excessively and tolerate hard conversations or jokes, so as to be deemed “friendly,” instead of “difficult.” We aren’t truly able to be ourselves because the first priority is “acceptance,” in order to take up less space and make things easier for the people around us and, subsequently, ourselves.

Black women like Danielle OtengPabi are doing their best to change this long-standing narrative. A third-year criminology and political science student, Oteng-Pabi uses YouTube (@_Dee.Elle) as a creative outlet in producing original content that displays her fun, ambitious and unapologetically black self. She

has had her fair share of being sideeyed and being treated unfairly for being opinionated — some of this here at Western — and uses her YouTube channel to reflect on those experiences.

“Being a black woman online, you feel vulnerable at times. Sometimes, you get scared to say what you truly feel about a situation or scared to share your experience — especially those that are influenced by black womanhood,” she says.

Her recent upload, which involved a conversation about black women, weaves, hair extensions and the attached double-standards, resulted in a comment section filled with hateful and negative comments.

“There were comments like ‘y’all are ugly and dumb [expletive],’ ‘you were not raised properly,’ ‘you’re uneducated and do not know what you’re saying,’ ‘get those nasty nests off of your head,’ and ‘learn how to be a real black woman.’ These comments continued and still continue to this very day,” says the YouTuber.

in our society.

Seeing a black men date nonblack women can hurt because, when you are so unwanted, and the main demographic who usually rides for you does not want you either, what do you have left? How can we be so unwanted yet so highly sexualized? It is a paradox that we struggle with everyday. Black love is important. Black love is salvation, black love is acceptance, black love is a legacy.

Lydia: As mentioned before, growing up in a mostly white city, where whiteness was attributed to beauty, I too fell victim to the attitude that blackness equated to unattractiveness.

This was shown through the course of my crushes, both celebrity and boys in my real life. It was obvious that no matter how cute or charming a black boy was around me, his inability to naturally sweep his hair across his forehead like Justin Bieber already had caused me to be uninterested.

Coincidentally (or perhaps not-so-coincidentally), during this time, I had also suffered from an extremely warped self-image due to internalized racism that caused me to be anti-black. As I grew older and learned to love my blackness, my love for black men only grew more.

Simple attraction finally became crushes, and crushes became the desire to want to eventually be with a black man and have a greater understanding of the power of black love.

Despite this, I am not against interracial dating; however, from what I am trying to emphasize with my anecdote is that understanding where your “preferences,” — which often seem to be exclusive racial wants stem from, are telling.

Reflecting on how you perceive either yourself or said race you prefer can reveal reason to where your sexual desire derives from.

CHARU SHARMA GAZETTE

Situations like these are enough to deter some black women from continuing on with their craft, especially online, but this did not deter OtengPabi. Oteng-Pabi emphasizes the importance of black women retaining their confidence and ignoring the actions of others that are intended to be hurtful. However, she also recognizes the power of speaking up even when feeling vulnerable and fearful.

While there is no set definition of black womanhood, there is the common lesson learned, often at a young age, that we should be docile in the face of injustice and unfair treatment.

It is important, as black women, to recognize that it is okay not to be strong. Black women rightfully have a lot to be angry about. Our blackness and womanhood are intertwined and cannot be separated, which results in experiences of racism, sexism and misogynoir. We should be able to express what we feel, which includes emotions such as anger and pain, without being silenced or made to feel unimportant.

Black history

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 •

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LIVING IN COLOUR The Black experience is a spectrum, and like colour, it cannot be fully captured by a single lens. Our dreams are yellow, joyful and relentless, even when the future seems uncertain. Our confidence is red, strong and unshaken. The world is painted violet with our lives; we are the definition of popular culture. We set the curve. To be black at Western University is to be different and set apart. In this issue, our stories, the best reflections of ourselves, are exposed, intimate and full-bodied. It is through these words and photos that we are seen, heard, and are able to stand firmly in our truth: in full form, and in living colour.

Lilian Esene & Amal Matan Guest Editors in Chief

PHOTO CITATION: MICHAEL CONLEY, SAXON LANE, CHARU SHARMA & LUCY VILLENEUVE

7 •

• TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Black history

Black history

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 •

• 8

The time Western allowed free speech to go too far KHARISSA EDWARDS Content Warning: This article contains references to topics including sexual assault, as well as sensitive language.

“His research was not highly thought of. I work in neuroscience and I expect some academic vigor. He was not vigorous,” said Brian Timney, former dean of social science at Western University, on J. Philippe Rushton.

A few years ago, I was introduced to Medical Apartheid, a brilliant book by Harriet A. Washington that explores the history of unethical medical experimentation on African-Americans. As I read about the atrocities, ranging from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to forced gynecological procedures on enslaved women by modern medicine’s very own “father of gynecology,” Dr. J. Marion Sims, I felt a sense of relief that Canada didn’t have a history of dubious medical research on black people. Or so I thought. Canada does, and it happened on this very campus.

Western was once home to a scientist who was described by the Ottawa Citizen as the “most famous professor in Canada”. After stints at York University and the University of Toronto, in 1977, John Rushton became a full-time professor in Western’s psychology department. In 1985, he was granted tenure.

What set him apart from his colleagues was his research interest: Rushton believed that brain size and genital size were inversely related. Thus, he hypothesized that East Asians were the most intelligent race with a larger-than-average brain size, more sexual restraint, slower rates of maturation, greater law abidingness and more social organization. On the opposite end of his IQ spectrum were black men, whom he deemed cognitively inferior.

He made claims that black males’ supposed lack of intelligence caused criminality and stated that their virility was a causation for infidelity. A Caucasian man himself, he placed white males in the center of the spectrum of intelligence. He also theorized that black people had the greatest likelihood of contracting AIDS as they are more sexually active than Caucasians and “Orientals.”

In one study, Rushton surveyed first-year psychology students by asking them questions about their penis length, their distance of ejaculation and the number of sexual partners they had. In another study, he took his research to Toronto’s Eaton Centre, where he paid 50 white men, 50 Asian men and 50 black men to answer questions about their sexual habits. Rushton didn’t inform the students that the survey hadn’t been approved by the university, and many students likely felt pressured to participate so as to not offend their professor. This led George Pederson, Western’s president at the time, to label his offense as “a serious breach of scholarly procedure.” As a punishment, Western barred him from using students as research subjects, but he was still allowed to continue to his work.

Under the security of his tenure, Rushton continued to carry out his ill-advised work. In 1989, he debated David Suzuki at Alumni Hall before a crowd of over 2,000 students, reporters and television crews. After the event, Suzuki was quoted saying, “I do not believe that we should dignify this man and his ideas in public debate.… There will always be Rushtons in the world. We must be prepared to root them out.” Despite the uproar from members of both the London and Western community, this school refused to fire him. Instead, they allowed him to deliver pre-recorded lectures for his safety. When the University Students’ Council petitioned to ban Rushton from teaching, the university administration remained by his side.

On top of that, Rushton’s research endeavors continuously received funding from the Pioneer Fund, an American organization whose founder is

recognized as a Nazi-sympathizer. The fund’s original mandate was to pursue “race betterment” by promoting reproduction of those “deemed to be descended predominantly from white persons.” Put simply, they were proud white nationalists who supported the sterilization of those they deemed “unfit” and were anti-immigration, while vocally distancing themselves from Nazism. The group funded race-related studies that could “prove” inherent racial differences — usually differences that demonized black people. Rushton went on to become the president of the Pioneer Fund in 2002.

If you don’t already see a theme in his work, in 1995, he published Race, Evolution and Behaviour, where he emphasized that black people have “larger genitals, breasts, and buttocks” which were physical characteristics he equated with having a small brain.

Whenever he was criticized for his work, he vehemently denounced his critics as being too “politically correct,” which was a convenient defense for his bigotry.

While I agree that science should never succumb to political correctness, I also think that researchers have a duty to be socially responsible for their work and that institutions, like Western, should actively hold their employees accountable. As a student in the Faculty of Science, I am appalled that Western allowed a professor to use their facilities — and students — to carry out intellectually dishonest and racially-motivated studies for the sake of “academic freedom.” Even if this school wasn’t bothered by contentious race issues, there is something to be said about their willingness to financially support faulty scientific research based on false premises, error-ridden surveys and biased findings. Despite backlash against Rushton from many noteworthy scientists across North America, Western continued to house this abhorrent demonization of black people under the guise of science.

The work that Rushton flippantly regarded as “intellectual excitement” has destructive consequences. His rhetoric closely mirrors the verbiage of white American men in the 1800’s and early 1900’s who insistently labeled black men as rapists and predators. In 1903, a doctor from Baltimore by the name of William Lee Howard claimed that “black people are savages.... who hungered to rape white women” and that “education will reduce the large size of the Negro’s penis.” It’s not that this kind of speech is outdated or restricted to white men — Hillary Clinton has publicly called young black males “super predators.” Moreover, the belief that black people have small cranium sizes and low intelligence dates back to a time when our ancestors were called “sub-human” and “monkeys” as a justification for brutal enslavement.

In the wake of Western’s new free speech policy enacted under the instruction of Ontario’s ministry of training, colleges and universities, I find myself questioning the extent of Western’s policies on professional responsibility and research ethics. The policy states that universities and colleges should be “places for open discussion and free inquiry.”

I agree that free speech is imperative and should be protected. Alongside every professor on this campus, Rushton was entitled to hold any opinion he so desired. After all, Canada’s former Attorney General, Ian Scott, called his theories “loony but not criminal.” However, Western has an obligation to the scientific community and society at large to produce reputable research that is founded on the principles of integrity and social responsibility. The advancement of science should never be stifled, but Western’s history with Rushton begs the question: should limitations be imposed in academic discourse? If not, what prevents another Rushton-like professor from spewing ignorant racial rhetoric in the name of science?

5 brilliantly black films to check out this BHM MUDIA IYAYI Mudia Iyayi is a first-year medical sciences student. He is also an intern for the culture section of the Gazette, where he writes articles on issues pertaining to student life.

Black representation in movies is simply more than having a black cast or being set in a “black-centric” era. Instead, it is the ability of a film to represent the triumphs, struggles and tribulations of an entire race of people — whether it be 50 years ago or 50 years from now. These five movies brilliantly portray this idea of representation.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-nominated film based on James Baldwin’s novel of the same name, showcases the power of love, as Tish, a Harlem woman, struggles to prove her partner’s innocence against a false rape allegation. The movie covers themes of prejudice, love and justice — issues that are just as relevant today as they were in 1970s Harlem.

BLACKKKLANSMAN This movie is based on the true story of undercover African-American police officer Ron Stallworth, who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in an attempt to stop an upcoming attack in 1970s Colorado Springs. Spike Lee’s film perfectly blends comedy with the serious issues surrounding white nationalism and racial discrimination.

THE HATE U GIVE Based on Angie Thomas’ 2017 novel of the same name, this film follows 16-year-old Starr Carter as she navigates the duality of living in an impoverished, black neighbourhood while attending a mostly white prep school. When her childhood friend becomes a fatal victim of police brutality, Starr must take a stand and fight for what is right by testifying against the police officer in question.

BLACK PANTHER This film transcends the typical niche of a superhero blockbuster and follows T’Challa, the Black Panther, and his ascent to the Wakandan throne, a fictional African nation. However, its emphasis on storytelling is what sets it apart from other superhero films, specifically pertaining to retribution, family and personal identity.

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE Stan Lee’s Spider-Man comes to life in Brooklyn teen Miles Morales as he takes on the role of the titular superhero. The movie expresses the universality of Spider-Man and how Spider-Man can be embodied in any person, regardless of gender, age or race. The movie’s representation of Spider-Man as a woman — with Spider-Woman — or as a black teen — with Miles Morales — showcases a changing tide in what a “superhero” is defined as.

Spoken word JONATHAN KABONGO See when they refer to black history, they refer to slavery, and not how our ancestors paved the way for us. Like Omen said, we started as kings, forced into slavery, now held and pulled by chains, feeling forced to entertain: the LeBron James’ and Little Wayne’s.

See, a lot has been concealed from me, but now it will be revealed to me. They had me deceived, free to perceive, questioning what I believed. They say education is key to be free, dressed up now, Italian suit, luxury. I am a slave, ready to work on a plantation, not free, under another man’s vision, blind, can’t see my creativity, restricted, crazy me not to believe. Sixty years ago the same thing, however, now economically. So limiting, at the same time feel like I am limited but limitless to what I can be, freedom of speech Martin Luther King.

The truth is among me, behind me, in front of me, it is clear to me

not many, one of many an hour of my life worth a penny. Five minutes to me maybe three thousand dollars cash, I know my potential that’s why they fear me simple as that. See what was created something like a formality, want us to sit back and embrace it a normality. Welfare takes away a man’s strongest way for survival the will to survive. We need a revival, feel like I am a prophet sent down up above to spread truth and show love. Tupac said the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice, so why is there dark skin, light skin conflict within the youth. A slave’s mentality.

If I had one chance, just one time, give me one mic and a stage maybe I can help change human kind, or leave it to the divine. I’m sad not fine, poverty creates crime, and equality would be fine. However, we are all hungry for a dime. Living lovely, while their living in slimes.

Same old cliché we can ask the Lord for forgiveness this is my testimony and you all are my witness.

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opinions

• TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Western’s slippery approach to safety McFrickin’ Lost It

KATRINA MCCALLUM NEWS EDITOR @KATRINAGAZETTE We’ve heard it over and over again — Western is cracking down on FOCO partying over concerns for student safety.

A student could be injured by falling off of a roof, trampled in the crowds, doing one too many keg stands; the list is endless.

Reasonably, Western University administration has made it their priority to mitigate all of these risks to students.

But when student safety doesn’t directly impact the university’s reputation, Western seems to fall silent.

Though the winter season in London is nothing new, the weather last week was truly frightening. Not only were there about 15 centimeters of snow, but the temperatures were so low that Western sent out an email warning students about frostbite.

So the question here is, how can you tell students that they can get frostbite within minutes of being outside while also forcing them to leave their houses?

The reality is that unless you have the money to Uber to class, every way onto campus requires being outside for at least a few minutes.

And though the buses were coming, there were serious delays. I myself waited for 30 minutes outside for a bus, and I can tell you — it was cold! By the time I got to class, I had caught a chill that I couldn’t shake all day. To top it off, I touched a metal door handle and couldn’t feel my fingers for 30 minutes.

I saw students slipping on ice, heard of car accidents all across the city, and saw London Police Services tweet that you should not be leaving the house if you don’t absolutely have to.

So why, among all of these threats to student safety, does Western refuse to close the school?

The policy that Western has is as follows: “The normal process is to assess the conditions on campus, the status of London Transit operations,

the conditions of primary/main City roads and snow clearance confirmed via communication with the appropriate City of London official, and Environment Canada radar and reports for London.”

To me, this is a little vague, so I wondered what London Transit’s policy is for suspending service. In an email response, a representative told me, “London Transit will not shut down unless directed by the General Manager of London Transit.

In 34 years, the London Transit has only shut down twice.”

So to summarize: closing the university for adverse weather conditions can be up to one person from London Transit. Do you see the problem?

The issue here is not that Western should stop worrying about student safety with cases like FOCO, but that this concern should extend itself to other aspects of student life.

Western’s policy on closing for weather is vague at best, and could use some more concrete information about snow, road and temperature conditions.

Now, I am not saying that school should close every time it snows. But as of right now, it feels as though closing is never even an option for Western. Instead, they opt to send warning emails to release liability in case someone does get frostbite.

And if Western does remain open despite adverse weather conditions, the campus needs to be better prepared. Last week, students struggled on an icy, partially unsalted University College Hill. Students living in the Broughdale area had a hard time leaving their houses as their sidewalks were completely iced over. Even areas on campus were icy.

If Western is going to stay open, it needs to be committed to, at the very least, ensuring campus and its surrounding areas are safe.

Western continues to make the argument for Broughdale crackdowns that “one day, a student will die.” So why doesn’t the same measure of caution get applied here? Will Western only care about student safety when a student gets seriously injured in an accident or hurts themselves slipping?

Western needs to care equally about student safety across all avenues — not just when caring benefits their own image.

we get letters

In defense of optional ancillary fees Re: Ford’s funding plan puts student newspapers in jeopardy and Student journalism matters here This piece is a brief defense of only one part of Premier Ford’s government’s proposed changes to post-secondary education. The part in question is the decision to change certain ancillary fees, such as those which fund student councils, clubs and campus newspapers, from mandatory to optional. I will say nothing about the cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, which I am completely opposed to and so have no interest in defending. But giving students

the option to opt out of paying certain ancillary fees, on the other hand, is one which makes both economic and moral sense.

Why does it make economic sense? Because it will make university cheaper, and thus give more young people the ability to pursue post-secondary education. The OSAP cuts will unfortunately have the opposite effect, but that doesn’t mean that this policy, considered on its own, won’t be beneficial. In fact, the cuts to OSAP mean that it is even more important than ever that students should be able to save money on their education.

Why does it make moral sense?

MARTIN ALLEN GAZETTE

Bardia+Cat a strong, balanced USC slate

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD

This year’s University Students’ Council elections arrived during widespread uncertainty surrounding Ontario university education.

are. As the USC moves into uncertain times, it needs receptive leaders with a pulse on our campus community: Bardia+Cat appear to have this.

On Jan. 17, Ontario’s Provincial Conservative government brought sweeping changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, implemented a Student Choice Initiative that allows students to opt-out of some formerly-mandatory fees and cut post-secondary tuition by 10 per cent.

The Gazette editorial board voted to endorse Bardia+Cat for USC president and vice-president in a 16-2 vote with no abstentions.

To Team ForYe’s credit, their platform was designed with these changes in mind. The first pillar of their platform explained the changes and offered a detailed response to how they would approach running the USC if “non-essential” services lost funding.

But their proposed voluntary student unionism model doesn’t appear sustainable. A variety of campus resources, including the Spoke and the Wave, media and the University Community Centre itself could not realistically operate under this model.

Bardia+Cat 2019, despite being slow to respond to these changes, proposed an advocacy-based approach aimed at raising student awareness surrounding these cuts and how they would impact their student experience. This would run in tandem with student consultation to provide the best route through these changes.

This difference highlights the primary draw of voting for Bardia+Cat: they are an engagement-focused slate who can bring new students into the USC fold. Bardia+Cat seem to appreciate the necessity of finding fresh ways to meet students where they THE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS Newspaper editorial boards regularly endorse candidates in elections and the Gazette is no different in that regard.

The Gazette’s endorsement process for this year’s USC elections was as follows. Each slate was given a 30-minute question-and-answer period with members of the Gazette editorial board. Editors prepared questions ahead of time, and each question-and-answer period went the entire 30 minutes. Candidates were not informed of the questions beforehand.

Following the slate presentations, the editorial board discussed the important issues of the campaign and how the candidates stacked up in

Bardia Jalayer and Catherine Dunne appear ready to produce crucial on-campus change. Their focus on sexual violence prevention addresses a void that Western University students continue to highlight.

With Dunne, an individual experienced working in the vice-presidential portfolio, overseeing the USC executive’s array of advocacy efforts, it feels like campus can make great strides for campus safety.

Jalayer, while without the campus policy experience of Dunne or ForYe, strikes a character who will strive to improve Western’s student experience; guided by time in the sophing system and coaching flag football, areas such as residence life and Mustangs Athletics may see overall improvements through his leadership.

There are certainly risks associated with moving away from experienced candidates like Frank Ye and Jared Forman. They’ve built strong track records through working on council and prepared a detailed vision for what their USC would look like.

But for the USC to thrive on campus — especially so in this uncertain time — it needs engagement by leaders who students might identify with. Between Jalayer and Dunne, there are plenty of positives to emulate.

terms of their platforms, debate performances and their presentations to the editorial board.

Following that, a vote was held by secret ballot. The minimum threshold to endorse a candidate was 60 per cent, which was agreed upon before the editorial board’s discussion began.

The votes were counted in front of the editorial board and the 60 per cent threshold was met with 16 votes (89 per cent) for Bardia+Cat 2019.

There were no abstentions.

As editor-in-chief, I wrote the endorsement, and it was edited by the deputy editor and the copy editor.

■ MICHAEL CONLEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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.”

Because a student’s money belongs to them and to no one else. No club, student council or campus newspaper is entitled to their money. The burden of supporting these organizations should fall solely on those who freely wish to do so, not on students who may be apathetic or even hostile to them (no pro-choicer

should be obligated to fund a prolife club, for example).

Student governments, newspapers and campus clubs are all completely superfluous. This is not to say that they don’t provide benefits, they certainly do. But if students are willing to give up those benefits in exchange for keeping

more of their hard-earned money, then they ought to be able to do so.

If these organizations can’t exist without forcibly extracting their funding from the student body via mandatory fees, then they don’t deserve to exist at all.

To read the rest of this letter, visit www.westerngazette.ca

sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 •

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Checking in with women’s hockey coach Candice Moxley KARINA LEUNG SPORTS STAFF @SPORTSATGAZETTE With most of the regular season over, it’s clear that the Western Mustangs women’s hockey team hasn’t lost the momentum from their Ontario University Athletics McCaw Cup title last season. They’re currently 12–8 with four games left to play, which puts them in second place overall in the OUA, just a mere three points behind the Guelph Gryphons.

The main expectation going into this season for new head coach Candice Moxley was to sustain the same energy and competitiveness that won the Mustangs a title last season — and she hasn’t been disappointed by her team.

“I knew it was a good team; we had a lot of returning players that put up a lot of points last year,” said Moxley. “My goal coming in was to pretty much take the momentum from that prior year and just kind of ride it and see what we could do and [as well] get to know the players as quickly as possible so that we could kind of see where we ended up.”

She added, “I was definitely pleasantly surprised by a lot of players on our roster, and they’ve been having fantastic seasons. I think we have a really special team.”

Coming off a season assistant coaching the Markham Thunder to a championship title in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Moxley’s adjustments to U Sports and the Mustangs have been team-specific, as she already had coaching experience with student-athletes in the NCAA, where she led the Buffalo State Bengals to four consecutive post-season berths.

With the Mustangs in particular, it was their special teams that struggled early on in the year, but Moxley was optimistic about their progress and the adaptations of her coaching staff’s approach.

CHARU SHARMA GAZETTE

“My goal coming in was to pretty much take the momentum from that prior year and just kind of ride it and see what we could do and [as well] get to know the players as quickly as possible so that we could kind of see where we ended up.”

CANDICE MOXLEY MUSTANGS WOMEN’S HOCKEY HEAD COACH

“We’ve had to do a lot of video and [have] teaching moments, like, ‘If the defenseman’s stick is here, what are our options? If I do this, what are our options?’ ” said Moxley. “So, we put more emphasis on video this second half, learning that the majority of the players on our team are a little bit more visual, hoping that we can maximize those options that we have.”

This adaptability and clear communication within the program didn’t occur just because of the team — in fact, they’re some of the most important components of Moxley’s coaching style in developing strong athletes on and off the ice. She highlights the importance of the veterans on her squad, who play important roles in all aspects of the game and have helped her transition to coaching the Mustangs this year.

“They’re just a fantastic group of individuals and leaders, so it makes it kind of easy, because our conversations are very open and honest,” said Moxley. “We have candid conversations, like, ‘What did you guys see [based on this game]?’ or ‘What do you guys feel we can achieve?’ You definitely want the players to think for themselves on the ice.”

She adds, importantly, “You don’t want to be in their ear all the time, so that’s kind of what we’re gearing toward.”

When asked about a player who may have flown under the radar of spectators and the media, Moxley has a hard time choosing just one.

“Oh, man, we have so many. I mean, those players; April [Clark] and Carmen [Lasis] are great, but then someone else has to get the puck to [Clark] in order for her to get it — she can’t get it herself all the time.”

“We have freshmen who have been able to step up, like, we have Brooke [DiCicco] — she’s been fantastic, she’s a centreman for us,” Moxley said. “She had a huge defensive play against the [University of Ontario Institute of

Technology] in the final minutes of the game where she blocked a shot — like fully laid out to block a shot — and as a freshman, to see those things show up in the game, it’s exciting.”

Moxley also directed attention toward the key addition of power forward Sydnee Baker, who joined the team over the winter break after transferring from the University of Prince Edward Island.

“I’m hoping for her that she turns a corner, and she starts finishing, because she has a powerful shot, and again, she creates a lot of chances,” said Moxley.

Prior to the season, Moxley expressed excitement for one of the most important aspects of being a head coach: recruiting.

With the class of 2019 just being finalized and having already put pen to paper for players set to start their careers in 2020, Moxley’s recruiting abilities have certainly been put to work. However, she notes that one of the most important aspects of recruiting is not just selling the program to prospective players, but educating the athletes about the recruiting process as a whole, especially in comparison to the procedures and opportunities available in the NCAA, which Moxley is familiar with from her time playing and coaching there.

“The more knowledge [the prospective athletes] have, the better, and I feel like U Sports gives a great product here in terms of the quality of hockey and quality of programs available and the quality of education,” said Moxley. “So it’s, again, teaching all these student athletes that, ‘Hey, this is a good place to play as well, it’s not just about Division focus and going to the U.S. to play.’ ” Moxley and the Mustangs took on Guelph last Saturday, beating the Gryphons 3–2. The team will travel to Waterlooo on Friday to face off against the Laurier Golden Hawks.

Seeing double: Meet Western football’s favourite identical twins ALEX MCCOMB SPORTS STAFF @SPORTSATGAZETTE Playing linebacker for the secondranked university football team in the nation requires constant, consistent and effective communication with teammates. For second-year management and organizational studies students and twins Jacob and Zach Zynomirski, communication is like clockwork.

“The thing is, we don’t really need to communicate with each other to know what’s happening,” said Zach.

“We just have an instinct for what we’re supposed to do and how to work together as a team.”

2017 was a year to remember for the Zynomirskis. The twin brothers were part of a football team that went undefeated and won a Vanier Cup championship, a feat Western hadn’t accomplished since 1994.

The birth of the Zynomirski twins’ football careers came 13 years ago when the pair started playing in the London Minor Football Association Tyke division. They later went on to play five years of high school football at London’s Saunders Secondary School, eventually earning football scholarships to Western where they both currently play linebacker, as well as long snapper on

special teams.

Their parents, Wanda and Ed, have always been supportive, showing up to every single one of the twins’ football games. Ed played football for the Mustangs as a defensive end from 1983 to 1986, making it all the way to the Vanier Cup twice but falling short both times.

“They encouraged us to pursue a wide variety of sports and never missed a game or event,” said Zach.

“Jacob and I wouldn’t be here today without everything that our parents have done for us.”

Yet even after 20 years, the twins’ parents still manage to mistake one twin for the other.

“Sometimes they do, but if they really get a good look at us, then they know for sure which one we are,” replied Zach.

Distinguishing between the twins has also proved to be difficult at times for the twins’ former linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, Adrian Kaiser.

“I have been coaching them for a while and still struggle to tell them apart,” said Kaiser. “On the field, it’s easier because they have different colour mouthguards, but that doesn’t help me if I’m looking at them from the back. Off the field, I can’t tell the difference if they are

apart. If they are together, I can sometimes tell them apart by the shape of their face — however, it takes me a while.”

Kaiser also talked about the overall development he’s witnessed in the twins’ football careers as their positional coach. According to Kaiser, both Jacob and Zach were very soft-spoken when he first met the pair, adding that it was difficult to get very much out of them.

However, with time, Kaiser says the twins began gaining confidence on and off the field, as they became more vocal with their teammates, as well as their coaches.

“They are both very hard-working on the field and in the classroom,” said Kaiser. “They put in extra time working on their long snapping or studying for their courses. They have both shown great improvement. If they continue to put in the time, they will only continue to get better.”

Currently, the Zynomirskis have identical schedules in BMOS, just like their appearance.

After graduating from Western, Zach and Jacob plan to possibly pursue business careers or continue their education, all while applying the valuable life lessons that football has taught them over the course of their athletic careers.

COURTESY OF WANDA ZYNOMIRSKI From left to right: Zach, Ed and Jacob Zynomirski.

11 •

culture

• TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Securing a favourable reference letter from your professors

FERNANDO AMBROSETTI CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR @GAZETTECULTURE Every year, hundreds, if not thousands, of students across campus ask their professors for a favour essential to the success of their desired careers: to write the notorious and all-too-familiar “reference letter.”

Reference letters, although having developed into an unofficial “duty” professors take on, are by no means a part of professors’ job descriptions. Many students are aware of this and may be hesitant when approaching professors.

Nobody wants to be a burden. But at the same time, if you want to go to medical school, law school or grad school, a solid reference letter is critical.

Here’s how students ought to approach professors when asking for a reference letter.

WHO? A good reference letter starts with a good referee, or the person writing your reference.

Which professor can write you the best reference letter?

This doesn’t equate to which professor you like the best or the one whose class you got the best mark in.

Even though your course grade is a great place to start when thinking about potential referees, the most valuable talking points extend beyond a reiteration of your transcript.

The professor who knows you best and can genuinely talk positively about you as a student should be the referee of choice.

According to Anita Woods, a physiology and pharmacology professor at Western University, it’s critical for references to know their subjects well enough that they can offer more than the story that a student’s transcript tells. Even if it wasn’t your best grade, the professor who knows you best can still write you a very valuable reference.

If you exhibited valuable skills such as timeliness, willingness to participate or an improvement over the duration of the course, your professor of choice will be able to write you a useful reference.

Political science professor Erika Simpson emphasizes that, even if you earned a high mark in one of her second-year courses, she would be “doing you a disservice by writing you a reference because you will be competing with other students who obtained references from professors who taught them in smaller seminar courses at the third- or fourth-year

level.”

Professors who taught you in a small class or in a participation-based setting will likely know you best and will be the best option for the letter.

WHAT? It’s important that you ensure that your professor-of-choice also believes that they can be a great referee for you.

Professor Nigmendra Narain of the political science department says that students should ask any professors who they are considering as referees if they think they’ll be able to write a supportive letter on their behalf. The answer isn’t yes to every student — some may have exhibited misconduct, academic offences, or perhaps the professor simply doesn’t know them well — so be sure to confirm with your referee that they’ll be able to write a reference in your best interest.

WHERE? Usually, professors aren’t very picky about where you ask them the big question. Raising your hand to ask during the middle of lecture would be a terrible idea, but during office hours and via email are acceptable.

Simpson says that students should approach professors in-person rather than through email.

Asking your professor in-person will allow you to accurately gauge whether or not the professor will be a positive reference based on their body language.

“Remember, 90 per cent of communication is body language, so pay attention to your intuition and your ‘gut’ when you email or ask a professor for a reference letter. Seek out positive supporters, not lukewarm referees,” says Simpson. “Visiting them in-person is an easier way to gauge whether they’ll be helpful or not.”

WHEN? As a general rule of thumb, the sooner the better.

Narain suggests students approach their professor early in October when things aren’t too busy for professors. This will allow sufficient time for you and the professor to establish a timeline, as well as allowing them to keep a closer eye on you throughout the term, which will prove useful when they sit down to write the letter.

WHY? Finally, it is essential that you specify which programs you will be applying to. This information significantly alters the scope of work professors are about to embark on.

Woods pointed out that

all deadlines require different responsibilities. As such, agreeing to referee for one program does not mean that they can write a letter for every program you will be applying to. A medical school application to the University of Calgary, for instance, takes an enormous amount of time in comparison to other schools. Explicitly state which programs you will be applying to and what their deadlines are so your professor can have a clear idea of what sort of responsibility they will be taking on.

A reference letter is an essential piece of your application, so make sure you do what you can to help your referee help you get into that program you want so bad.

NOAH FAINER GAZETTE Getting the perfect reference letter takes a bit of work, Feb. 4, 2019.

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12 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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gazette crossword

MICHAEL CONLEY GAZETTE BHM 2019. This issue has been another successful partnership between the Black Students’ Association and the Gazette, Feb. 2, 2019.

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CLUES ACROSS 1. One-time money in Spain 8. “Got _ __ of one” 13. Set a framework for 14. Cover with drops of water 15. One who does something for a living 19. Germanium 20. An enclosure for confining livestock 21. Locks a door 22. Buddy 23. Supplement with difficulty 24. Not moving 25. Islamic unit of weight 26. Warmers 30. Hindu queen 31. Border river near Bosnia and Herzegovina 32. Analyzed 33. Caps 34. Pastime 35. Contrary belief 38. Walking devices 39. Accustom to something unpleasant 40. Singing methods 44. Shouts of farewell 45. Hand (Spanish) 46. Small constellation 47. Cardinals are this 48. Gives a hoot 49. Chatter incessantly 50. Thallium 51. Making very hot 55. Hours (Spanish) 57. Remove completely 58. Eyeglasses 59. Rubbed clean

CLUES DOWN 1. Blues Traveler frontman 2. Found it!

3. Killed 4. A helper to Santa 5. Male fashion accessory 6. Autonomic nervous system 7. US Attorney General 8. Greek sophist 9. The world of the dead (Norse myth.)

10. Excessive and dangerous dose 11. One who receives a legacy 12. Brooded 16. Hindu warrior king 17. Used to anoint 18. One point east (clockwise) of due north 22. Connecting part of the brain stem 25. Most uncommon 27. Do-nothings 28. Emerge 29. Neat 30. Herb of tropical Asia 32. Reviews poorly 34. Waterproof overshoes 35. Fireplace floors 36. Surround 37. Regretted 38. One who whips 40. Ticket price 41. Calming 42. Citrus fruit 43. Drooped 45. An explorer’s necessity 48. Speak profanely 51. Pouch 52. A type of date (abbr.)

53. Away from 54. Large beer 56. Once more

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