January 25, 2024

JANUARY 25, 2024 VOLUME 117 ISSUE 7

since 1906

MEET YOUR 2024 USC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

NAME: Dorian Jones PROGRAM: fourth-year political science THEIR EXPERIENCE: Jones was a Social Science councillor last year and is now the Social Science Students’ Council first-year representative coordinator. He currently serves as co-president of Western’s chapter of Black Future Lawyers, working his way up from being second-year representative and vice-president events of the club.

WHY THEY’RE RUNNING: Jones believes his continued involvement in student groups has positioned him to connect with different communities and understand their needs. Jones wants to be a leader who is approachable, honest about his priorities and will advocate for key issues that students care about. His platform aims to improve areas such as student supports, USC transparency, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion.

NAME: Emilie Kalaydjian PROGRAM: fourth-year management and organizational studies THEIR EXPERIENCE: Kalaydjian is a third-term Social Science senator and currently sits as the chair of Western University’s Student Senators.

She’s had various roles on campus including firstyear representative of Social Science Students’ Council, former president of One Love Western and shift leader at the Western Student Recreation Centre.

WHY THEY’RE RUNNING: Throughout her experiences at Western, Kalaydjian notes how meaningful it has been to see students make positive changes on campus. Kalaydjian wants to be a leader who listens to student voices and supports them in creating their vision of the university experience. Her platform aims to improve areas such as student supports, campus culture and professional development opportunities.

NAME: Adam Ursenbach PROGRAM: fifth-year mathematics and computer science THEIR EXPERIENCE: Ursenbach was a former president of the UWO Debate Society and is the current literary secretary for the Kappa Alpha Society. He was also the former president of Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate — an overseeing body for Canadian university debate clubs — and is now central ombudsperson.

WHY THEY’RE RUNNING: Ursenbach felt inspired to run after watching former president Bardia Jalayer speak during his Orientation Week. He wants to be a leader who provides students with the resources they need while also bringing a fun, playful side to the role. His platform aims to improve areas such as mental health, affordability and communication with students.

To read more of our elections coverage, visit our website through the QR code. The USC elections campaign period began Jan. 22 and voting will take place Feb. 1 to 5. Students will receive a link to an online voting platform via their Western email, where they will be presented with a ballot after logging in with their Western credentials.

READ MORE OF OUR ELECTIONS COVERAGE HERE:

OPINION

NEWS

Western stops using Turnitin AI written detection software

P3

P6

SPORTS

CULTURE

Review: Richmond Row goes bananas

Opinion: Three-hour lectures should not exist, or at least the way they work now

P5

‘You represent more than just yourself’: A Western student aims to play on Jordan’s national soccer team P7

NEWS | P2

Residents’ Council presidents call for action against Islamophobia on campus JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR DANIA LIU CONTRIBUTOR

Western University’s official student newspaper since 1906

VOLUME 117, ISSUE 7 January 25, 2024 University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial editor@westerngazette.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ESTELLA REN DEPUTY EDITOR MILES BOLTON MANAGING EDITOR MADELEINE MCCOLL

COORDINATING EDITOR (NEWS) ADSHAYAH SATHIASEELAN COORDINATING EDITOR (CULTURE) CAT TANG COORDINATING EDITOR (SPORTS) RYAN GOODISON ART DIRECTOR KATHERINE GUO NEWS JESSICA KIM VERONICA MACLEAN SOPHIA SCHIEFLER OM SHANBHAG CULTURE ELA KANG DANIELLE PAUL PANIZ VEDAVARZ TARA YANG

OPINIONS HANNAH ALPER FEATURES SONIA PERSAUD DIGITAL SCOTT YUN HO ALEX D’ENTREMONT-SMITH GRAPHICS JESSICA COUNTI ARISIA QARRI PHOTO SOPHIE BOUQUILLON KAI WILSON VIDEO SHYLAJA KUMARASINGHAM ARIEH LEVING LEAH MARSHALL SOCIAL MEDIA PE’ER KRUT CHIARA WALLACE

SPORTS MANAN JOSHI VARUN REDDY

EDITORIAL SUPPORT MANAGER DAN BROWN

Ten of 11 Residents’ Council presidents sent a signed letter to Western president Alan Shepard and university administration on Jan. 18, calling on them to address the rise in Islamophobia on campus.

In the letter, the Residents’ Council presidents of Saugeen-Maitland Hall, Bayfield Hall, Lambton Hall, Perth Hall, Elgin Hall, Essex Hall, Medway-Sydenham Hall, Delaware Hall, Alumni House and London Hall advocate for the Muslim student population, citing five hate-related incidents against Muslim students that have occurred on campus since Oct. 7.

Zainab Al-Rammahi, a first-year medical sciences student and the Lambton Hall Residents’ Council president, said she brought the idea to her fellow Residents’ Council presidents after observing students feeling unsafe on campus and in residence.

“It really isn’t a political stance that we’re taking.

It’s just a morality stance that all students should be safe on campus,” Al-Rammahi said.

Early in December, an individual was arrested and charged with two counts of assault in connection to two alleged spitting incidents targeting Muslim students on campus. According to the letter, some recent incidents on campus include several Muslim students being told they should be “raped and killed” on campus by strangers, some being called “terrorists” and some being spat on.

The letter says the lack of action from the administration against several acts of hate is “detrimental to the safety of our first-year students on campus.”

The Residents’ Council presidents have called on Western University to implement five actions: issue a public statement condemning Islamophobia and launch an awareness campaign, reinstate the Muslim Chaplain on campus who was removed by the university, enhance security protocols, establish a bias incident reporting system and expand counselling and support services.

“We just want to find a way for them to address the situation because the silence is loud and it hurts all those people who are affected,” said first-year kinesiology student and Essex Hall Residents’ Council president Rita Shweihat.

Residents’ Councils operate under Western’s housing department. As a result, some presidents held off from posting it on their respective social media accounts out of fear of retaliation, explained AlRammahi.

“Even if I get removed from this role, I know that I was signing something that was right, something that stood for the human rights of a group,” said Kamiylah Tynes-McKenzie, a first-year medical sciences student and the Medway-Sydenham Hall Residents’ Council president.

The letter was signed by all Residents’ Council presidents, except the president of the Ontario Hall Residents’ Council.

Since Jan. 18, the letter has circulated on Instagram, with Western’s Muslim Students’ Association and Palestinian Cultural Club, among others, commenting to express their support.

“That was important to us, to be able to create that kind of discourse and get people thinking, have opin-

ions and share those, because I think that’s the point of the letter,” said Riya Chakraborty, a first-year medical sciences student and the Bayfield Hall Residents’ Council president.

Chakraborty added that the Residents’ Council presidents were concerned the article would get taken down by Western’s housing department, who also monitors their social media accounts, but they haven’t heard from anyone.

“Historically speaking, res councils don’t really have much to do with Western ‘politics,’” AlRammahi explained. “But I think that should change because ultimately speaking, we are a voice for people who live on campus, which is a very big population to represent.”

In an email to the signing presidents obtained by the Gazette, Western University’s vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion Opiyo Oloya said, “thank you for taking the time to meet as student leaders to discuss these concerning issues on Muslim student safety on campus.”

Oloya also invited all the signing Residents’ Council presidents to a meeting with director of campus safety and emergency services Bill Chantler, associate vice-president of housing and ancillary services Chris Alleyne and vice-provost students John Doerksen.

“The safety of our entire community is a priority at Western. We are listening and working in many ways to provide support,” Oloya wrote in an emailed statement to the Gazette.

Chakraborty said her co-signing presidents are willing to meet with Western leaders but no date and time has been set yet.

Western pauses French immersion program to Trois-Pistoles for 2024 JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR VERONICA MACLEAN NEWS EDITOR Western’s French Immersion program in Trois-Pistoles, Quebec will not be offered in 2024 due to a decline in homestay families since the pandemic.

The program was established in 1932 — each year bringing students to the Quebecois city of just over 3000 people. This year marks only the second year in almost a century the program has not run, according to Western University’s provost and vice president academic Florentine Strzelczyk.

“Western is beginning a review of our French Immersion programming in Trois-Pistoles to identify

potential improvements and ensure we are offering the best experience moving forward. As a result, the programs will not be offered in 2024,” said Strzelczyk in a statement to the Gazette.

The French Immersion program is a five-week session offered during the summer and is part of Explore, the Government of Canada’s second language learning program.

In September, CBC reported host families were pulling out of the program due to a lack of adequate compensation to house and feed immersion students.

“I’m sad to hear that future students … won’t get to have Trois-Pistoles as one of the options,” said Anika Koskela who took part in the program in 2019.

Both Koskela and Ana Kraljević, a Trois-Pistoles program alumni for 2018, pointed to the homestay families as key in their experiences.

“It really encouraged me to speak French. They didn’t speak English, so I was really able to immerse myself that way with them,” Kraljević explained. She added she is still in contact with her host family despite taking part in the program over five years ago.

By integrating into the daily life of her homestay family through meals and daily activities, Koskela felt as though she was living in the town, not just visiting.

Strzelczyk said Western looks forward to continuing working with the Trois-Pistoles community as the university evaluates the program and seeks out potential future opportunities.

GAZETTE CONTRIBUTORS

USC cuts funding to student writer-in-residence role

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ELA KANG STAFF CULTURE WRITER

The USC has cut funding for the student writer-in-residence role it co-founded with the department of English and writing studies.

The student writer-in-residence is a role fulfilled each year by a fourth-year student who is engaged in creative writing, providing creative support to undergraduate students and in return receiving a $1,000 honorarium.

The current student writer-in-residence is fourth-year English and school of advanced studies in arts and humanities student Gray Brogden.

The English department and the University Students’ Council have co-funded the role since its conception in 2013, each contributing $500 to provide an honorarium to the student writer-in-residence. The student writer-in-residence program will continue without the USC’s contribution — the English department will fund 100 per cent of the program instead of their usual half.

“We’re disappointed. We also wished that there had been more consultation about it,” said Pauline Wakeham, vice chair of the English department and manager of the role.

According to Wakeham, the USC made the decision to cease the partnership without consulting the English department.

The student government did not confirm to the Gazette whether they consulted with the English department but said it communicated the decision to the department after it officially expressed its intention to withdraw from the program in 2022.

The USC gave the English department a formal notice of financial withdrawal last year.

“The USC is proud to have supported many students through the Writers-in-Residence program,” wrote the USC. “However, our involvement with the initiative diminished over time to only supporting the program financially.”

The program is the first of its kind in Canada and was originally pitched to the English and writing studies department by Adam Fearnall, the 2012-13 USC president.

Fearnall was inspired by the department’s writer-in-residence role — which has been running for 50 years — where a new author is hired each year to hold weekly office hours and consult with people on their creative writing.

Fearnall says he looked at the university’s “adult” roles — like writer-in-residence — during his presidency and asked why students weren’t doing these jobs as well.

“Students have their own way of seeing the world, and their own skill set to offer,” said Fearnall.

Wakeham and Fearnall said the loss of the USC as a partner for the role is more than just a loss of funding. The USC’s collaboration extended the student reach of the program with USC-led art events and brought students from other faculties to seek support from the role.

Brogden said that the support her role provides is not just limited to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Students from other faculties who are taking creative writing electives — or just want a creative outlet — go to her for support.

“I, for the rest of my term will of course, continue supporting creative writing all across campus and will get to interact with and mentor the next writer when they come in the spring,” said Brogden. “So the role is not going anywhere. We’re very certain about that.”

NEWS | P3

From the archives: A look back at past notorious USC elections SOPHIA SCHIEFLER NEWS EDITOR

From hacking scandals to “borrowed” Spoke kegs, Western University’s student council elections have seen it all.

Jan. 22 was the first day of campaign week for University Students’ Council presidential candidates — but before we find out how this year’s election unfolds, let’s take a look at some of the most notorious events to happen in past USC election seasons, pulled from the Gazette’s archives.

ence and physics student Sean Huggins claimed

THE ‘JUSTIN BIEBER’ HACKER, 2012

1661 votes.

More than 10,000 ballots were declared invalid in 2012 after Western alum Keith Horwood hacked into the online voting system, and changed the website’s title to read “Justin Bieber 2012, and Selena Gomez is wonderful.” It was later changed to, “Welcome to the Justin Bieber Hairstyle vote 2012. Justin Bieber is the hero of UWO. And Selena Gomez is phenomenal.” The final change to the website header read “USC erections.”

While the vote tallies were not affected by the website hack, Western’s administration ultimately decided to redo the vote and scheduled the election for two weeks later. Horwood later turned himself in to the police and received 100 hours of community service, a $10,219.84 fine and a year of probation.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BORROWS SPOKE BEER KEGS, 1988 USC presidential candidate of 1988 and thenUSC vice-president operations Mark McQueen faced a possible impeachment from his VP position during his presidential campaign after he took three kegs of beer from the Spoke and loaned them to a fraternity party.

McQueen claimed at the time that he was unaware that his actions had broken Ontario liquor laws. The possibility of impeachment was debated in council, with the motion failing to receive twothirds of the council voting in favour of impeachment. When the motion failed, four USC councillors and a USC board member announced their resignation from the council. McQueen ultimately placed fifth in the election with 769 votes.

PSYCHIC PREDICTS WINNER, 2002 In 2002, psychic Bob Masschelein accurately predicted the outcome of the USC presidential election in the Feb. 5 edition of the Gazette. According to the article, Masschelein was an expert in “receiving spiritual impressions from pictures,”

Datta had punched him in the head at a soph formal, resulting in a concussion. Datta confirmed the allegations at the time and later apologized to Huggins. Since the nomination period had closed, the Team Ocean slate — which Datta was part of — was led by presidential candidate Ocean Enbar and left with a vacant VP seat. The team lost by

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ACCUSED OF SEXIST REMARK BY OPPOSING CAMPAIGN TEAM MEMBER, 1992 During the 1992 presidential race, candidate Scott Bradley was accused of making a sexist comment at a Western charity ball event by student Lisa Norton who was also a member of opposing presidential candidate’s campaign team. The allegations were made at a public debate where Norton asked Bradley how the audience would be expected to believe the advocacy for women’s issues in his platform because Bradley had made a comment saying her date, Simon Wolle, was lucky to be

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE The Gazette bounds, Jan. 16, 2024.

and found the future president to be then thirdyear history student Chris Sinal. Masschelein believed that Sinal was intense with a high mental capacity but would prioritize his own interests based on his photo. Sinal won the election two weeks later on Feb. 20, besting six other candidates with 980 votes.

ELECTIONS WINNER DISQUALIFIED, 2015 After it was announced that Team Litchfield had won the 2015 USC presidential election, the slate was disqualified after receiving 32 demerit points for election violations. Before the 2019 elections, students voted for a slate — which includes the president and vice-presidents as a package, like United States presidential elections — instead of just the president.

The Team Litchfield slate — formed of presidential candidate Jack Litchfield, vice-president external candidate Richard Sookraj and vice-president internal candidate Dilani Logan — had major violations including post-campaigning and the

placement of campaign materials in off-campus residences. As per elections bylaw procedure, Team Sophie, the second-placed slate was automatically instated with USC president Sophie Helpard, vice-president external Lindsee Perkins and vice-president internal Alex Benac.

After taking office, Team Sophie was met with widespread criticism from students and council members. The USC planned to stage a plebiscite to replace Team Sophie the following September, but were instructed not to pursue the referendum by the USC’s lawyer, John McNair, because the candidates had been elected in accordance with the bylaws of the USC. Team Sophie continued as USC executives throughout the remainder of their term.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DROPS OUT OF RACE AFTER PUNCHING ALLEGATIONS, 2018 VP candidate Rav Datta dropped out of the 2018 campaign after a student alleged Datta had punched him. The then third-year computer sci-

with her due to the size of her breasts. Bradley denied he made the comment suggesting that it could be a misunderstanding, but acknowledged he had been drinking at the time.

Wolle, Norton’s date, later wrote a letter to the Gazette, trying to clear Bradley’s name, and suspected Norton was attempting to hurt Bradley politically. Despite the controversy, Bradley later won the election with 1903 votes — only 18 more than runner-up Sarah Nixon.

23 CANDIDATES RUN FOR PRESIDENT, 1986 1986 featured a record number of candidates with 23 people vying for the USC presidential seat.

While Western is not known for its high number of female presidents and candidates, 1986 exemplified it best, with only one female candidate out of 23. During the campaign period, numerous candidates were disqualified or dropped out of the race, leading to only 11 candidates being listed on the final ballot. Loron Orris later won the election with 22.8 per cent of student votes.

Western stops using Turnitin AI written detection software SOPHIA SCHIEFLER NEWS EDITOR

Western will stop using Turnitin’s artificial intelligence written detection software due to reports of inaccurate results on the platform.

Western Technology Services announced on Friday in a post to X that Western University had used a free preview of the software last year but decided not to move forward with the platform in January after it became a paid feature.

“Currently there are no fully effective tools available for accurately detecting the use of AI in assignments,” said Susan Lewis, Western’s vice-provost of academic programs. She added the university would wait until there is more evidence that the tool is effective before recommending its use at Western.

Western is not the only university that has turned off AI-detective software after adopting it.

Several universities in the US, including Northwestern University and the University of Texas at Austin, also raised concerns over Turnitin’s AI written detection software’s accuracy and a fear of falsely accusing students of using AI to cheat in 2023, reported by Bloomberg.

According to Lewis, Turnitin’s artificial intelligence detection tool was trained on earlier versions of AI platforms like ChatGPT. But it has proven to be less effective with newer versions of AI platforms as well as with the work of students whose first language is not English.

A study conducted by Stanford researchers found AI detectors are biased against non-native English speakers, flagging more than half of Test

of English as a Foreign Language essays written by these students as Al-generated.

“That’s really not a high enough standard of accuracy for us at this point to put our endorsement of the tool out there for all of our instructors and others to use,” said Lewis.

Turnitin chief product officer Annie Chechtelli claimed the sentence-level false positive rate — identifying AI-generated content where there is none — on Turnitin’s AI writing detection is around four per cent, in a May 2023 post on the company website.

When Turnitin’s AI detection was originally added to Western’s suite of tools, Lewis said that instructors were guided not to rely on reports as evidence of scholastic integrity.

That’s because while Turnitin AI reports can identify AI-generated content in a written submission, there is no evidence to support its identification and verify this claim, as noted on Western’s Centre for Teaching and Learning website. This is different from plagiarism detection software, which provides a link to the source of the plagiarized content.

Western’s Centre for Teaching and Learning is offering a series of modules for instructors on AI to allow them to learn about how AI affects the current learning environment.

“What we’re advising and what we’re seeing a lot of instructors do is really start to rethink their learning outcomes and their assessments with AI,” said Lewis. “It’s a powerful tool and I think it’s understandable that people want to learn how to use it and how to use it effectively.”

NEWS & CULTURE | P4

Huron guarantees residence to incoming first years ABBEY ANGEVINE CONTRIBUTOR

After years of overflowing waitlists, Huron University College will guarantee residence for all incoming first-year students next year.

The affiliate college’s new residence building is expected to open by September and house up to 311 students. This will nearly double the capacity of student accommodations at Huron, which currently has space for approximately just over 300 students.

Huron’s first-year enrollment has more than doubled from 253 in 2016-17 to 647 in 2023-24.

The number of high school students who chose the affiliate as their first choice university in

2023 increased by 66.9 per cent — the highest among all Ontario universities. According to Huron, the university expects modest growth next academic year, with an enrollment of around 600 to 650 students.

This increase in enrollment has strained Huron’s residences. Huron told the Gazette that in September 2023, over 100 students were on the waitlist for on-campus housing. Eighty-five additional students were placed at King’s University College or Brescia University College residences.

Naisaa Goawala, a first-year Huron psychology student, explained how living off campus impacted her abilities to socialize and appreci-

ate the small-scale campus experience Huron advertises.

“All of my friends live on campus, so they’re always together. At the end of the day, I have to go home,” said Goawala.

She added certain events this year were exclusive to off-campus first years, such as a lunch with Huron president Barry Craig. But after the affiliate’s Orientation Week, there were no events to introduce off-campus students to each other or assist their learning experiences.

Sean Lawrence, a first-year Japanese studies student at Huron, agreed with Goawala and said the support offered to off-campus students has been minimal.

“Ever since Orientation Week, we’ve kind of been on our own,” said Lawrence. “A lot of things seem geared towards residence.”

Huron has been encouraging Brescia students to transfer to its affiliate after news of the women’s college merging with Western University broke out in September 2023.

“At this time, we don’t know how many students will transfer from Brescia to Huron so we don’t know there will be a strain on resources,” wrote Huron in a statement to the Gazette. “Huron is committed to small class sizes and maintaining a faculty-to-student ratio that provides an optimal learning experience.”

Leith Mahkewa, Western’s Indigenous artist-inresidence, is weaving a path home PANIZ VEDAVARZ CULTURE EDITOR

Leith Mahkewa’s beadwork is not merely an act of self-expression — it’s the very thread that connects her to her roots.

In her 35th year of beading, Leith joined Western University as the Indigenous artist-inresidence for the 2023-24 year. Since then, she has been on a mission to forge stronger connections with her Oneida heritage, where her mother and grandmother were raised.

Her role has become a gateway to revisit London, recreate ties with her community and pursue artistic endeavours outside of financial constraints.

“I’m here in London at Western, and the world is my oyster,” Leith says. “I can do pretty much whatever I want, creatively or how I want to do things.

That’s really special, so I hopefully am not taking my time for granted here.”

Western’s department of visual arts created the Indigenous artist-in-residence program in 2021, which is dedicated to fostering the creative endeavours of First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists.

The initiative also facilitates the development of community engagement activities.

Leith’s interest in beadwork began in 1988, when her mother opened a bead store while Leith was receiving a bachelor of arts at Trent University.

Originally from the Oneida Nation of the Thames just outside of London, Leith spent much of her life in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, following her mother’s marriage to her stepdad.

During her visits home to Kahnawake from university, Leith would occasionally drop by her mother’s store and watch a women’s beading circle. She soon transitioned from a bystander to participant, joining the circle and connecting with Mohawk beadwork.

“We would meet weekly at each of our houses and just bead, gab and eat and just be women together,” Leith says. “If I didn’t have that group of women, I would not be the beader I am today.”

Becoming a mother marked a pivotal moment in Leith’s artistic evolution. After her first son was born, she felt inspired to dress her children in the best traditional clothing for ceremonies and delved deeper into her beadwork.

“The drive or the motivating of it was the longhouse and going to ceremonies. There was a resurgence of people who were feeling more confident and wearing more traditional clothing,” says Leith. “I wanted to make sure my kids had the best clothes too.”

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Indigenous Artist-in-Residence, Leith Mahkewa, in her office in the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre, Oct. 25, 2023.

Embracing these principles and her new identity as a mother and artist, Leith began participating in art markets and shows. The first piece she debuted was a bandolier bag — an Indigenous shoulder pouch — crafted with intricate beadwork of silhouette of men beaded on to it. She later gifted the bandolier bag to her son, with the colouring and imagery representing his spirit.

“Even though I had no time — I had three children, I was working full time, my husband was a stay-at-home father — here I was trying to do different things,” she says. “That’s really when I pushed myself to go to different shows.”

Leith’s beadwork goes beyond a mere homage to her heritage and family. It’s also become a catalyst for rebuilding her connection with her estranged father.

At a show at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Leith’s father, who is Tewa and Hopi from Arizona, surprisingly showed up. This marked the beginning of a stronger relationship.

“Although he wasn’t necessarily a part of the development of my art, he supported me as an artist, as a daughter and he took the time to do that and to be there and be proud,” explains Leith. “I think that if I didn’t go to the shows, I probably wouldn’t be able to have access to all of the family that I

had. I would be farther apart; I wouldn’t be who I am now.”

Leith now incorporates her Hopi and Tewa heritage in her choice of colours in her work, embracing the palettes of the southwest. Her palette is a departure from vivid tones, opting for woodland-inspired shades, such as more muted colours of green.

Presently, Leith’s residency is giving her the chance to fulfil her life goal of returning to the Oneida Nation of Thames, an Onyota’á:ka First Nations band government located 30 minutes outside London.

“I always had aspirations and dreams to live in Oneida because that’s where I’m from,” Leith says.

“And that’s home.”

So far, she’s spent her time creating and getting involved in community engagement and outreach initiatives like moccasin-making classes for Oneida women. While she has to live away from her children, she feels being able to dedicate herself to her art instead of multitasking has made her a more attentive mother.

“Before, I would be beading at the kitchen table and trying to do all that stuff and cooking. I would be short with my kids sometimes because I was so focused on what I wanted to do because that was feeding my soul and purpose,” Leith recalls. “I could be in the same room as somebody and not be present.”

COURTESY OF LEITH MAHKEWA Leith Mahkewa’s beadwork.

COURTESY OF LEITH MAHKEWA Leith Mahkewa’s beadwork.

Artist-in-residence programs give artists like Leith the space and time to commit to their craft.

For her, this opportunity has been integral to her transformation not only as an artist, but as a mother, daughter and member of her community.

“Art is bringing me back home,” she says.

CULTURE | P5

Review: Richmond Row goes bananas HANNAH ALPER OPINIONS EDITOR

If you were taking a stroll down Richmond Row last Thursday and saw thousands of bananas, no, you weren’t hallucinating.

Jan. 18 was London’s turn at the new phenomenon taking Canadian universities by storm: the Banana Bar Crawl, with nearly 2,400 people taking part, according to the event organizers.

The concept is simple: people dress up in banana costumes and go to different bars in university towns.

The event is run by a group of university graduates and gained popularity on its Instagram account. The crawl has already been to Waterloo, Guelph and Peterborough. Its next stops include Kingston, St. Catharines, Ottawa and various cities on the East Coast.

Tickets were $28 each and included a banana costume to keep, free entry into every bar and a special drink deal at every venue. Participants could win prizes for completing challenges like doing the worm, starting a banana conga line and taking a photo with a real banana.

The ticket price felt high for the event. The communication wasn’t the best either — the drink deals and challenges weren’t advertised. I often missed out on the drink deals because I didn’t know they existed.

Getting tickets for the crawl felt almost as chaotic as the event itself. My friends and I set an alarm for when tickets opened because we knew how popular it would be. So many people tried to buy tickets on Mosea — the payment and event ticketing app — that it crashed. I heard some people got accidentally charged for seven tickets instead of one, and the server charged me for two instead of one.

The organizers did provide refunds to those who wanted, and because many people couldn’t score tickets, ticket purchases later reopened.

There were eight teams of anywhere from 30 to 500 people and each had a different schedule.

The bar crawl venues were the Ceeps, El Furniture Warehouse, Banquet, Lost Love, Jack’s, Molly Bloom’s and Joe Kool’s.

The event was set to start at 8 p.m.. At the top of the hour, my friends and I were in the elevator sporting our tacky banana costumes, on our way to our first location of the crawl: Banquet.

I felt ridiculous, but that feeling quickly faded as I saw hundreds of bananas rushing to the bars.

How can you feel out of place when you’re just one of thousands looking ridiculous?

We spent just over an hour at the Banquet. At first, it seemed like people were sticking to who they knew, but over time they slowly peeled away and socialized with strangers. Some traded markers to sign their suits.

The banana costume was a great conversation starter. I enjoyed how easy it was to be social, compared to any other night out.

At around 9 p.m., it was time for the next bar — the Ceeps.

The Ceeps line was the most eventful one I’ve ever been in. Out of nowhere, people started chanting.

“This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.” I immediately knew this would become a core memory.

Not every team was scheduled for every bar.

But tons of bananas were staying at bars for longer than their scheduled time or switching to bars they weren’t supposed to go to because they had shorter lines.

The signature mascot of the crawl was, fittingly, a gorilla. Our team hadn’t spotted the gorilla until our third stop, Jack’s. There, someone in a gorilla costume about five times the size of me — I am not five feet tall — stormed in and started dancing with the bananas.

Any other night, I would have probably gone up to a bouncer and asked for this guy dressed up in a gorilla suit to be kicked out. But on Thursday, nothing was out of the question.

While it was chaotic running from place to place, I found the crawl ap-peel-ing and maybe even a newfound tradition.

What was the purpose of this night? I don’t exactly know. Maybe the crawl signified a sense of camaraderie in the Western community, imploring us to peel away the extra layer we all carry.

Maybe it was supposed to inspire us to find the ripeness of life and make the most out of our short time at Western.

Or … maybe it was just an excuse to party in a banana costume.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Banana bar crawlers run across the street at the intersection of Richmond and John Street, Jan. 18, 2024.

Musical on women spies coming to London DANIELLE PAUL SENIOR CULTURE EDITOR

Lipstick, lies and spies are coming to the Grand Theatre.

The unknown ladies of espionage from World War II are telling their stories in a historical-based musical. The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a Canadian musical production that tells the story of one of the most unknown but important roles women played in World War II: undercover spies.

The scene was bleak for the Allies in 1940. Nazi Germany had made huge headway across Europe.

It was a dangerous time for Britain.

But that June, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill established the Special Operations Executive — a volunteer organization that women across the Allies could join to be sent undercover behind enemy lines.

The musical’s director, screenwriter and composer Jonathan Christenson based the production off the SOE’s story. He believes the musical sheds light on the women who broke the traditional boundaries of femininity in wartime.

“The piece is really a celebration of these incredible women who were trailblazers. They were women who were prepared to step outside of the boundaries that were limiting and defining what

women were not allowed to do or expected to do at the time,” says Christenson.

In the musical, the unit is set up as a single cell of women, which isn’t historically accurate, as during 1940 the women in the SOE agents would have joined male units.

“Historically, they were never deployed as a single cell. They were split up and worked in male cells. But in our version, we imagined sort of, what if there was a female [cell]? They go off, and they fight, they have several successful missions, and then they disappear. And no one really is able to find out what happened to them,” says Christenson.

The musical draws on inspiration from the 1940s, while including a modern twist by making the music and choreography more familiar to today’s audiences.

“Much of the music, the dance really is about celebrating the strength of these women, the courage,” says Christenson.

The Grand is running a student rush program this year, meaning that same-day student rush tickets are available for all shows at a discounted price.

The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare opening night is Jan. 19 and runs until Feb. 3.

Odd Burger brings new vegan norm to UCC Food Hub VERONICA MACLEAN NEWS EDITOR

Get ready for a vegan fast food chain to enter UCC’s Food Hub, with the opening of Western alumni-owned restaurant Odd Burger this January.

Odd Burger is a 100 per cent plant-based eatery with an extensive menu including breakfast and lunch options like onion rings, breakfast sandwiches and plant-based burgers.

Originally founded in London in 2014 by Western University graduate James McInnes, Odd Burger has now opened 12 restaurants in three provinces and the expansion to Western marks its first university campus location.

“It really started as a grassroots vegan organization with a really simple mission, which was just to get people eating healthier, more sustainable food,” said McInnes, who added all of Odd Burger’s food is manufactured in London.

McInnes says the process of expanding Odd Burger to Western’s campus has been in the works for about a year and a half.

McInnes explains the goal of the expansion is “proving to students what is possible with plantbased foods, and how eating sustainably can still be delicious and [a] great experience and doesn’t have to be a sacrifice.”

This isn’t the first implementation of more plant-based options on campus. As of September 2023, 43 per cent of residence meal options are plant-based.

KAI WILSON GAZETTE Plant-based eatery Odd Burger located in the University Community Center Food Hub. Jan. 16, 2024.

“When you look at the variety that’s available on campus, with the campus eateries, we know there’s a gap there,” said Colin Porter, the university’s director of Hospitality Services. “So we knew we had to address that.”

Porter said Western’s Hospitality Services team has been working to understand the demographics of dietary needs and preferences for students and staff on campus.

“But I’m also hopeful that the community at large will not be fearful of plant-based foods and see that they are flavourful and nutritious,” Porter said.

OPINIONS | P6

Opinion: Western students please be nicer to service workers, thank you VERONICA MACLEAN NEWS EDITOR

I’m getting pretty sick of hearing fellow students treat service workers with blatant disrespect on the regular.

Believe it or not, both the barista brewing your coffee and the sandwich artist crafting your sub actually have feelings — surprising, I know! The least you can do is not be a terrible person.

There is obviously a lot of justified online discourse criticizing people who scream at flight attendants for asking them to sit down when there’s turbulence, but young adults can also be part of the problem too. Not only are they part of the problem, but it’s right here at Western University.

It’s all too common for me to be waiting in the line at the Subway in University Community Centre and see students ignoring staff or rudely asking for an egregious amount of mayonnaise on their sandwich.

I am constantly baffled by students who make weirdly-specific mayonnaise requests then still treat workers disrespectfully.

JESSICA COUNTI GAZETTE

Service workers are not soulless beings immune to insults and disrespect. They are parents, students and people — folks just trying to make a living.

And I’m not just standing on a soapbox preaching about being kinder to Western’s service work-

ers because I’ve worked similar jobs for most of my adult life. I have worked multiple retail and service jobs since I was 16 and throughout university, so I know how bad it feels to be ignored or scoffed at for simply trying to make minimum wage.

It makes an impact when you choose not to tip the Uber driver. It hurts when you ignore the store greeter who literally has to ask you how you’re doing and what they can help you find today.

Employees make mistakes sometimes, and sure, it can be a bit frustrating. I’m not saying you can never be upset when you’re inconvenienced, but it costs nothing to be kind.

Picture this: You’re at your favourite restaurant — Applebee’s — and your server brings you a long island iced tea instead of the blue bahama mama you originally ordered. What are you going to do?

Start screaming? Politely ask for the drink you ordered? I hope the latter.

I’m also preaching because the service workers at Western are among some of the kindest people I’ve met in my five years in university. It genuinely lifts my mood when the cashier at Food Hub says she hopes I’m not feeling too stressed during exam season and tells me to have a good day.

I’m not asking you to have a full-blown conversation with every server or McDonald’s drive-thru employee, but I am asking you to think twice before leaving without saying a simple “thank you” to the people who serve you.

Opinion: Three-hour lectures should not exist, or at least the way they work now HANNAH ALPER OPINIONS EDITOR

It’s halfway through the week. You’re in a dimly-lit, ancient lecture hall. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 9 a.m. or 7 p.m.. You’re tired from classes, work and the occasional social outing. There are students fighting a losing battle against sleep, typing aimlessly. Even the keen students at the front of the class are discreetly checking their phones under the desk.

All you’re thinking is, “why do three-hour lectures exist?”

Let’s be honest, who actually listens to class for three hours straight? If you said “not me,” you’re not alone. Three-hour lectures are extremely ineffective — or at least the way they are being taught now — and need to stop.

Being talked at for three hours just doesn’t work. Many students tune out after the first hour or so and even when we are really interested in the course, it’s near impossible for a professor to make content so engaging that we can stay completely focused for three hours and retain all the information.

People already complain about how low Gen Z’s attention span is, and forcing us to pay attention for three hours doesn’t help. Even my parents, who had far fewer technological distractions in classes, say they never took three-hour lectures and don’t understand how schools can even offer them.

While people talk about how our generation is always on our phones and gets distracted easily, students decades ago couldn’t even pay attention for a three-hour lecture. A study from 1985 tested students on their recall of facts contained in a

20-minute presentation. Students remembered far more of what they’d heard at the very beginning of the lecture and by the 15-minute mark, they’d mostly zoned out.

Most people can’t even watch a three-hour movie in one setting, so Netflix breaks them up into six 30-minute episodes and it goes through the roof for ratings. This is proof that sitting for a long period of time straight is not the best form of entertainment and education.

And I’m sorry, I understand the intention of giving a five- to 10-minute break every hour, but it honestly doesn’t make a large enough difference for us to actually focus.

Now, I completely understand that the content in the class curriculum needs to be taught. And yes, we have technological distractions that are going to be right there with our notetaking, whether we like it or not. But there are better ways to a) condense the curriculum or let students do it on their own or b) make three-hour lectures more interactive and make it engaging for students.

Western can’t be expected to immediately phase out the idea of three-hour lectures but for the sake of students, there are ways to replace passivity with creativity in the classroom. Especially after many students participated in online learning during COVID-19, many love being back in the classroom — so let’s make good use of learning in person, together. This can include workshops, discussions, Q-and-As and more.

Not being able to stay engaged for a three-hour lecture does not make us as students any less smart or dedicated. It just means we need a more effective way to spend our time and resources to make the most out of university. Let’s replace passivity and creativity — and if I didn’t make it clear enough, axe three-hour lectures.

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SPORTS | P7

‘You represent more than just yourself’: A Western student aims to play on Jordan’s national soccer team JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Joud Qaddourah, third-year medical sciences student and professional soccer player at Western Alumni Stadium, Nov. 29, 2023.

When Joud Qaddourah was born, Jordan’s women’s national soccer team had existed for under two years. Now, Joud is only a call away from achieving her goal of representing her country on that very team.

Joud, a third-year medical sciences student at Western University, started playing soccer when she was six years old, often playing on boys’ teams with her brothers.

Joud moved home to Jordan when she was 10 years old after growing up in Canada, where she joined a boys academy her brother played in.

There, she was quickly recruited to try out for the Jordanian women’s U14 national team — at only 11 years old.

She has since been torn between being a fulltime student and her evolving soccer career — separated by over 9,000 kilometers and national borders.

“When you wear a national team jersey, I feel like it’s a responsibility, you get to show people who you are and who your country is — you represent more than just yourself,” says Joud.

Joud describes her playing style as technical and dynamic, explaining she is able to adapt to the needs and skill sets of her respective teams, helping her move up quickly through Jordan’s women’s national team system.

She was a starter for the U14, U16 and U19 national teams and captained the U19 national team at age 16.

“My family is very soccer-oriented,” said Joud.

She shared her parents have been key in her success so far, spending time driving her to practices and games, as well as travelling back to Jordan to play nearly every year.

But flying between countries remains her biggest obstacle in balancing school and her sport.

Even now, she is unable to play with the senior Jordanian women’s national team — despite receiving a few invitations — as they compete and train when she is studying at Western.

Despite education acting as a barrier to her career, Joud isn’t willing to give up her studies.

“For me, studies will always come first,” she explains. “I do think education is important, and it shouldn’t be sacrificed even for sports.”

Across the ocean, the Jordanian women’s national team is working towards competing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, having won five titles — 2005, 2007, 2014, 2019 and 2022 — in the West Asian Football Federation Women’s Championship.

But more than their achievements on the field, the Jordanian national team has changed how women are able to compete internationally.

Until 2012, FIFA had a ban on the use of hijabs — an Islamic headscarf primarily worn for religious reasons. On July 5, 2012, the ban was only lifted after a campaign for the hijab run by the Prince of Jordan and then-FIFA vice-president and executive committee member, Ali Bin Al Hussein.

Joud believes a lot has changed since she began playing with boys growing up — there are more opportunities for women in sports.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Joud Qaddourah, third-year medical sciences student and professional soccer player at Western Alumni Stadium, Nov. 29, 2023.

“It’s like the world is starting to see that like females can play, they’re making more pathways to reach top levels and encouraging females to join sports,” says Joud.

Qualifiers have not yet been held for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. But when she finishes her studies and receives a call to play for the senior team, Joud will be there. Ready to lace up her boots, don her country’s kit and continue to make history for the next generation of women in soccer alongside the rest of the Jordanian women’s national team.

Underwater hockey is ready to make a splash in London ALEX ZARENDA CONTRIBUTOR

Yes, underwater hockey is a real thing, and with London having its own team, the sport is poised to become the next big sensation.

Divers in England invented underwater hockey during the 1950s as a means to keep themselves in shape during the winter. Fast forward 70 years and the sport is now played in over 40 countries, including Canada. Quebec even hosted the 20th Underwater Hockey World Championships in 2018.

Laura Muñoz-Baena, a Western University alumna and PhD graduate, is a defenseman and coach for the London’s co-ed underwater hockey club. She first discovered underwater hockey back home in Colombia, where the sport has grown in popularity.

Despite never playing ice hockey, Muñoz-Baena tried out underwater hockey after being invited by a friend to play. She ended up finding her new passion and joined a Colombian club called Galápagos.

“I was too old to start a sport from scratch and I really enjoyed the pool,” says Muñoz-Baena.

Muñoz-Baena is one of four players who help coach the team of more than 20 individuals who share a passion for the sport, along with Joe Dandeno, Juan David Hoyos Rentería, and Juan Esteban Piraquive Piñeros.

Looking forward to this March, the club will be competing in a tournament hosted in Guelph.

“I feel the future of this team will be very strong because of myself and the other three coaches who have a lot of experience. All four of us have been to the world championships that were hosted in Australia a few months ago, so we’ve all learned a lot,” says defenceman and coach Dandeno.

Canada Elite Women’s Underwater Hockey 1 A game of underwater hockey played at the World Underwater Federation.

For those wondering how the sport works, underwater hockey matches pit two teams against each other, where each team is typically made up of six players and four substitutes.

Players push a weighted puck on the surface of the pool floor with their sticks. Similarly to ice and field hockey, the winner is the team that scores the most goals on their opponent’s net.

Because the games are played underwater, there is no goalie and the nets have no stringed netting.

Oxygen scarcity is a key strategic challenge in the sport, as players need to balance the need to breathe while also defending their net and score on opponents underwater.

This constant balancing act results in shorter shifts of players going underwater for around 12 seconds at a time, before swapping out and get air.

“If you can be in a pool without drowning, that’s enough. You don’t need to be a great swimmer,” says Muñoz-Baena.

Another key difference is the equipment used: each player is equipped with fins on their

COURTESY OF CANADA ELITE WOMEN’S UNDERWATER HOCKEY NATIONAL TEAM Underwater hockey team poses for photo at the bottom of a pool.

feet, snorkelling gear, a small one-handed stick and a protective glove on their dominant hand.

With ice hockey equipment being quite expensive, underwater hockey could serve as a more accessible alternative for those looking to play, regardless of age and experience.

“You see people that are older than 40 or 50. We even have a player where I practice

that is 70-something,” says Muñoz-Baena.

With London having its own co-ed underwater hockey club, Western students and London locals are encouraged to try out the sport.

The team holds open practises on Fridays from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the Bostwick YMCA. “All you need to be is curious,” says Muñoz-Baena.

P8

Crossword 1

ACROSS 1. Despised 6. Reckless 10. “Doesn’t make any sense to me” 13. Using a wormhole, for example 14. Astronaut Jemison 15. Unit of measure for tire pressure 16. Leg a pirate may have 17. Springfield teacher Krabappel 19. Aura 21. Tropical storm 23. Mass excitement 24. Big ____ 27. Veer one way 28. Assist 30. Very large body of water 31. “Are you kidding me!?”

34. Shape of mathematical fame with a flowery name 35. Soul singer Redding 36. Second chances

2

1. Blackjack player’s request 2. Leading 3. One who might find you a spot on American Idol 4. Day before a holiday 5. Jack Sparrow portrayer 6. Triangular chip 7. Player’s performance?

8. Blow a fuse 9. Spotify tracks 11. They may be tweezed 12. One of twelve in a carton 18. Philosopher Rand

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DOWN

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JEFFREY MARTINOVIC GAZETTE

20. ___ potato 22. Grand instruments 23. Photocopying machine of old 25. String instrument 26. US president between Grant and Garfield

27. Nada 29. Member of Santa’s crew 32. The Coyotes, on scoreboards 33. Had dinner

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