January 23, 2025

KE ON CAMPUS

Student homes see spike in break-ins over winter break

MABEL ZHAO NEWS EDITOR

Laura Tamburro realized something was wrong when she opened her bedroom door and saw her window wide open.

“There were leaves all over my bed and on the floor and my closet and drawers were open,” said Tamburro. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is not how I left it.’”

The second-year English and creative writing student had returned to her off-campus house the weekend before classes were scheduled to resume after winter break — she had been gone for about two weeks.

“The first thing I did was run to my drawer because all my cash was in there,” said Tamburro. “All of it was gone.”

Tamburro had left a substantial amount of money — savings from her summer job meant to cover her living expenses — tucked away in her drawer.

“And then I screamed, ‘Guys we got robbed!’”

Two of Tamburro’s housemates had returned from winter break before her and, other than the place being a little messy, neither noticed anything concerning. But after a quick search of the house, they found more cash missing and wood on the floor in one of the bedrooms from when the door was kicked in.

One of Tamburro’s roommates called the police while she called her landlord.

“My landlord was freaking out because it’s never happened before,” she said. “It was really scary.”

Ciara Chisholm, a second-year King’s University College psychology student whose house also

got broken into over winter break, echoed Tamburro’s statements.

“We were just shocked,” she said. “You never think that it’s going to happen to you.”

Chisholm found out her home had been broken into when she came back to London on Dec. 31 for New Year’s celebrations.

Chisholm said that she discovered her bedroom door open and cracked and, while her room looked fairly undisturbed, her roommates’ bedrooms were in disarray.

She added the police identified the perpetrator’s point of entry as a window above the sink in the kitchen, where the forensics team also dusted for fingerprints.

“The constable sat on the couch with us and explained that it’s been happening to lots of people,” Chisholm said.

“It was a good experience with the cops and they were really, really helpful,” she added.

London Police Service’s media officer constable Matthew Dawson said that while there isn’t a single reason student houses are more vulnerable to break-ins, unoccupied-looking residences are frequently targeted.

The LexisNexis Community Crime Map shows a cluster of residential burglaries in the past month around Oxford Street and Wharncliffe Road, a popular student neighbourhood.

Tamburro said she was so disturbed by the break-in that she has spent several nights in one of her roommate’s rooms.

“For a couple days, I just couldn’t even be in my room because I’d immediately start crying or just get so scared,” she said.

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MADELEINE MCCOLL MANAGING EDITOR

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According to Tamburro, the first question the police asked when they arrived was whether it was a student house.

“They came into my room to check for fingerprints, and that’s when I realized how real it was,” she said. “I was like, “This is terrifying, my house is a crime scene now.”

The investigation into the burglaries of Tamburro and Chisholm’s homes are ongoing. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, collecting evidence like fingerprints or DNA at the scene can help solve the case.

In 2022, the London Police Service linked a man to 12 break-ins that occurred between 2017 and 2021 in the city’s Old North neighbourhood due to DNA evidence found at each crime scene.

Dawson advises students who suspect a breakin to call 911 immediately and avoid entering the property so police can secure evidence left behind and make sure no one is inside.

Halle Hogg, a fourth-year pharmacy technician student at Fanshawe College, also had her house broken into over winter break — all the burglar stole was a pack of cigarettes and a grocery store gift card.

Hogg said that while the residents had put a wooden rod onto a basement window to prevent break-ins, the perpetrator managed to break the window and get into the house.

“It’s really crazy,” she added. “I’ve been in school for three years now and I’ve never had an issue with break-ins, so it definitely makes me kind of worried.”

Hogg said that while the police looked for fingerprints, they were unable to find any because they suspected the perpetrator was wearing gloves.

“It’s really unfortunate that it happened, but it’s a learning curve for us,” said Hogg, who added that she’s trying to be more cautious about locking doors and has spoken to her landlord about potentially getting cameras.

Chisholm and her roommates installed cameras after the break-in and she recommended that students who live off-campus invest in them as well.

“It might not stop them from going and breaking into your house, but it would definitely be helpful for the police,” she said.

Tamburro is also looking into more security measures for her house.

“Since the break-in, my landlord installed this bar on the window so it doesn't slide anymore and we’re looking into getting motion sensor lights or cameras,” said Tamburro. “It’s just really expensive.”

Dawson advises students to ensure windows and doors are locked and leave lights on when they are leaving for a prolonged period of time.

He also adds that students should try and arrange for someone to come by and check on their residence while they are away.

Tamburro agreed, adding that students should try to make it look like someone’s always home.

“We made our house look really abandoned,” she said. “I think that’s why we were at a bit of a higher risk of being broken into.”

Chisholm said that she and her roommates now frequently check in with each other to confirm if someone is home.

“It definitely was scary,” she added. “It’s also making us closer though, and I think we’re all doing pretty good now.”

Western redirects surplus food to London community

CHIRAG K SINGHAL NEWS EDITOR

Afooddiversion program at Western ensures surplus food across campus is directed to local charities in need — with the help of organizations like Second Harvest and MealCare.

As of fall 2024, all Western University dining halls, eateries and catering services participate in the program.

After each meal service period, hospitality services staff identify surplus food and move it to cold storage, according to Shawn Finkbeiner, Western’s acting director of hospitality services, in a statement to the Gazette

“At the end of the day, our staff or student volunteers post the available food for donation onto the Second Harvest system, and the following day, the partner organization that claimed the donation comes to campus to pick it up,” said Finkbeiner.

Second Harvest connects Western with organizations such as Ark Aid Mission, Bethel Church, St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church and St. Paul’s Social Services Food Bank and Fellowship Centre. Finkbeiner said these organizations then distribute the food they collect from Western to Londoners in need

Kiera Toffelmire, vice president of innovation at Second Harvest, said Western is one of several institutions across Canada that use the Second Harvest Food Rescue app for redistributing surplus food.

Toffelmire added the app has a dashboard that tracks various metrics for both the food business and the nonprofits, like the amount of food rescued, statistics on greenhouse gas emissions prevented through food donations and the cost savings from redistributing food instead of wasting it.

Finkbeiner said that from May to October 2024, Western donated over 8,000 meals to 20 non-profit agencies and saved more than 15 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions through the Second Harvest platform.

Second Harvest began in 1985 with two women who were appalled by the volume of food wasted and used their connections to Toronto’s restaurant industry to make a change, said Toffelmire.

“They started picking food from seven restaurants and redistributing it to seven different agencies, and the organization has since grown into what it is today,” she said.

Toffelmire added that almost 40 years later, Second Harvest operates nationally, working with around 8,500 food businesses and around 5,000 nonprofit food programs.

Finkbeiner also highlighted the role of MealCare in Western’s food diversion program.

Finkbeiner said MealCare Western — a student volunteer group — launched a pilot project with Ontario Hall’s dining hall in 2023 to measure Western’s food donations and their impact on the community. MealCare expanded to all of Western’s seven residence dining halls by April 2024.

Liam McCullagh, president of MealCare Western and a master’s student at Ivey Business School,

explained MealCare becomes involved in Western’s food diversion program once residence dining halls package all the surplus food.

“We weigh and label all the different food,” he said. MealCare volunteers then use Second Harvest’s platform to post all the food information that is publicly available to food distribution organizations in London.

McCullagh was inspired to redistribute food waste in the summer of 2021. Along with his friend, he convinced Huron University College dining hall chefs to let them help with redistributing surplus food.

But when campus was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2022, they lost momentum.

“We came back in 2022, and at that point we had partnered with Huron, so we kind of had this proof of concept that our idea worked,” said McCullagh. In 2023, when MealCare audited Ontario Hall, McCullagh said they discovered that “while there’s not tons of food waste, there is food waste that can be put to good use.”

According to Finkbeiner, Western is “committed to reducing food waste and repurposing leftover food to support local organizations.” He feels organizations like MealCare and Second Harvest help achieve this goal.

“Our partnerships with MealCare and Second Harvest have significantly expanded our impact in the community, allowing us to better serve those in need,” he said.

Taken from the LexisNexis Community Crime Map Jan. 15, 2025. Purple houses represent break-ins.

KAI WILSON GAZETTE Cafeteria leftovers and trash rides a conveyer belt to be sorted at Saugeen-Maitland Hall. Dec. 4, 2023.

Human Rights Office sees spike in contacts, about half tied to Middle East conflict

GABRIELLA MCKENNA NEWS EDITOR

Western’s Human Rights Office reported a 32 per cent increase in contacts during the 2023–24 school year, with around half related to the regional conflict in the Middle East.

Of the 651 contacts received by Western University’s Human Rights Office, 371 were made by “students, faculty, and staff with experiences related to the geopolitical conflict that began on October 7th, 2023,” read the office’s annual report.

Western wrote in a statement to the Gazette that global events had a “noticeable impact” on some community members, including experiences named by complainants as anti-Palestinian, antisemitic, anti-Jewish and Islamophobic.

The Human Rights Office provides support, consultation and training to Western University community members with concerns related to discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct.

The report’s data represents contacts made through the office’s online reporting tool, email, phone calls and walk-ins from May 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024.

In the 2022–23 school year, the office received 492 contacts. This year’s 651 contacts reflect a 32 per cent increase.

Of those who contacted the office, 36 per cent of reportees were directly affected by discriminatory behaviours. 54 per cent reported witnessing discrimination, while the remaining 10 per cent contacted the office to request information.

Western said the data includes reports from students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of the

external community. Students at the undergraduate or graduate level accounted for 36 per cent of reports.

Of the 488 contacts made related to discrimination or harassment in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code, 304 were said to be related to the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. These contacts were usually filed as racial discrimination.

The most commonly reported type of codebased discrimination unrelated to the conflict was racial discrimination, with 88 complainants recorded in the 2024 report.

When asked if the university planned to implement new strategies to reduce discriminatory behaviour related to international conflicts, Western president Alan Shepard told the Gazette the school plans to continue allowing open dialogue about sensitive issues.

“We put a lot of time and effort into creating an environment where that was true, and we have no intention of backing away from those efforts,” said Shepard, noting that over 40 protests took place on campus in the year following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

In the report, 41 contacts were made on the grounds of sex, including reports of sexual harassment, discrimination and misconduct.

In June 2023, Western updated its non-discrimination policy to include incidents of sexual misconduct, which the report defines as physical or sexual advances, sexual remarks or threats of repercussions by university employees. In the report, four instances of sexual misconduct were documented.

Western added that not all reports of discrimination were based on in-person interactions, with an unspecified number of reports made based on online behaviour.

The university added that students who experience unwanted behaviour should access the services provided by the Human Rights Office.

Rec Centre unveils second weight room

NIKHIL REYNOLDS CONTRIBUTOR

Western’s Rec Centre has converted its fourthfloor blue gym into an additional weight room which opened Jan. 3.

The new space increases the Western Student Recreation Centre’s weight room capacity by nearly 60 per cent, adding 5,800 square feet to the existing 10,000-square-foot main floor weight room. Steve Barry, the Rec Centre’s director of recreation & active well-being, described the expansion as “student-led.”

“I did a lot of consultations with students,” Barry said. “We actually had about 1,400 responses from students once we kind of spearheaded this idea.”

The Rec Centre announced plans to convert the upper blue gym — room 4240A, one of its six gyms — into a second weight room in February 2024. They sent out emails to students to gather input on the preferred equipment selection for the new space.

“This provides another opportunity, another safe space within our facility, for students to work out,” Barry added.

The new weight room features four squat racks, four Smith machines, six cable machines, nine adjustable benches and new custom dumbbells and plates with the Mustangs logo. It also adds four multipurpose units that include lat pulldown machines, low row cable machines and adjustable pulley machines.

Hansel Awogu, a fourth-year computer science student and Rec Centre employee, said congestion in the weight room on the main floor could be frustrating for students.

“When you go into the gym and you see the crowds that are already there before you even step in, you’re already a bit discouraged,” he said.

Fourth-year biology and medical sciences student Kush Khosla has been working out at the Rec Centre since his first year at Western University and agrees that the congestion in the main weight room was a problem.

“Sometimes it’s really packed. It kind of sucks,” said Khosla. “That’s the main problem.”

Barry said the high levels of foot traffic in the main weight room were a key reason for the con-

“The Human Rights Office is dedicated to fostering an environment where members of the campus community feel comfortable reporting their concerns,” wrote Western.

“We have several supports and resources in place and encourage our community to reach out to us with any questions or concerns they may have.”

version of the blue gym into an added weight room. Before the conversion, the blue gym was used to host a variety of recreational programs, including drop-in badminton, drop-in futsal and table tennis. Barry noted these programs would not be affected by the conversion, as the five other gyms would accommodate them.

Awogu said he feels the added space will lead to Rec Centre patrons having “quicker, easier, more efficient workouts.”

Khosla agreed, adding that he’s enthusiastic about the new facility.

“It is a game changer,” he said.

Western alum wins $1M investment on Dragons’ Den

GABRIELLE WADE NEWS INTERN

Western alumnus Devin Powell and his business partner won a $1 million dollar investment for their health food start-up, Protein Candy, on CBC’s Dragons’ Den Powell and Michael DeLorenzi pitched their company, Protein Candy — which produces low sugar, high protein candy — in an episode that aired Nov. 7, reaching a deal with investors.

Dragons’ Den is a Canadian reality television series where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, known as “Dragons,” to secure funding and mentorship.

Powell described Dragons’ Den as a stressful experience, but he and his partner successfully pitched Protein Candy.

Dragons Arlene Dickinson and Michele Romanow went in together to offer the pair $1 million in exchange for 15 per cent of the business.

Ivey Business School alumnus Simu Liu is also a guest judge on this season of the show.

Powell, a Western University criminology and sociology alumnus and vice-president of retail at Protein Candy, said the idea behind the product was to create high protein, low sugar candy while maintaining good flavour.

“It’s really difficult to put away isolated protein or a complete protein into a candy. It ends up tasting like burnt milk or chalky protein, said Powell.

“It took us several years of research and development to figure it out.”

Each bag of Protein Candy has four grams of sugar and six grams of fibre, in addition to its protein content.

Powell said he had no intention of entering the consumer packaged goods industry after graduating from Western in 2013.

“My plans weren’t to be in business,” he said.

“But when I got involved in Pulp and Press in 2018, the natural products industry, I realized it was a space I loved.”

Powell said his experiences at Western contributed to his success, even though his career path was untraditional.

“I credit a lot of my sales skills to my time at Western in the sociology program,” said Powell. “London is my network, and my time at Western was a huge part of that.”

Protein Candy was started by current president Trevor Lenders in collaboration with food scientists. Lenders had the idea and approached Powell and DeLorenzi — who he knew through his business network in London — in order to turn his concept into a marketable product.

“Trevor Lenders had the innovation,” said Powell. “But Michael and I helped take it from an idea to a brand.”

The Dragons’ Den win is the latest milestone for Protein Candy, with the company expanding to retail stores across Canada and the U.S. since it was founded in 2021.

“Don’t let anyone stop you or tell you what you can’t do,” Powell said when asked what advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs.

“If you have an idea that resonates with you and you’re passionate about it, put in the work,” he added. “Hustle, grind and see it through.”

GABRIELLA MCKENNA GAZETTE

ANGWARA NILANONT GAZETTE

Op-Ed: Some profs are stuck in the stone age

EDIE BRAY CONTRIBUTOR

While most classroom doors at Western buzz with the satisfying click clack of students typing away, others echo the anxious scritch scritch of pencils on paper, thanks to strict — and archaic — technology bans.

Some professors are entirely opposed to laptops and tech in classrooms, with “no-tech” policies written into their syllabi requiring students to scribble handwritten notes.

These bans are usually rooted in concerns about distraction, with some professors fearing laptops will tempt students to play Wordle or shop online. These professors worry this could cause a “distraction domino effect” with these students being disruptive in some way. Now, I am no stranger to the urge to play The New York Times games while in my lectures — but I don’t think me and my crosswords warrant a total tech ban.

Laptops allow for simple access to outside resources, make it easier to share notes and one study even suggested they improved performance on tests. Not only have studies shown that the effects of laptops in classrooms may actually be beneficial — but this issue of distraction doesn’t actually seem to be rooted in tech at all.

Concerns about students paying attention have always existed — is texting on a phone or laptop not just a modern version of passing notes? Is quietly playing solitaire online not on par with doodling during a lecture?

We’ve all been there when a professor is speaking at lightning speed during a lecture, talking about terms that fly over your head. Trying to wrap your brain around what they’re talking about while simultaneously writing that exact thing down to retain everything is a task even the best multi-taskers can’t beat.

Distraction in class isn’t anything new — whether that’s because the girl in front of you really sucks at Wordle or because the guy beside you is drawing the professor in an unflattering light.

People who aren’t going to listen aren’t going to listen — and this strange collective-punishment strategy is not going to fix anything.

Truthfully, it’ll make things worse.

Technology is an undeniably valuable resource to students with disabilities. We are lucky to live in a world where technology has led to the creation of assistive technologies like audio recorders and adaptive keyboards. Now, students can take notes and participate fully in lectures, thanks to technology.

Professors who ignore the need for these assistive technologies are also ignoring Western University’s commitment to accessibility.

Western does offer academic accommodations, which can allow certain students to bypass tech bans, but to the suggestion that students seek accommodation, I say: why make things harder than they have to be?

Students should not have to seek academic accommodations, especially for something that is not a university-wide policy.

If only one student has a laptop out in class, it will be noticeable and draw attention. There’s nothing wrong with needing accommodation, but making those students stand out and scream “I have accommodations!” could result in the “othering” of those students.

Western says that they are committed to accessibility without barriers. But banning tech and expecting students who need it for accessibility reasons to go through the process of getting an academic accommodation doesn’t seem “barrier free.”

When it comes to rules about tech use in class, Western is the Wild West. There’s an inconsistency in policies among syllabi and classrooms which is unfair at best and harmful to students with accessibility needs at worst.

Opinion: Stop romanticizing hustle culture

Professors who are keen on tech-bans seem to long for “simpler times.” They sometimes suggest that pen-and-paper notes help with memory and prompt students to be more “present.” Some professors believe that screens divide us. Typing isn’t seen as listening and learning, it’s seen as rude. I am understanding of this mindset. I’m not saying I’m for students doing Wordle in class and distracting the professor and the rest of class. The development of tech is often scary, especially with the rise of AI. But, that doesn’t mean all development is bad.

In the case of note-taking, laptops aren’t the enemy. Punishing students out of fear of distraction — a problem which existed long before the time of glowing screens — is harmful. Not only are tech bans old-fashioned, but they could also lead to a worse learning experience for many students — me and my bad handwriting included.

If students in a class aren’t paying attention and are visibly scrolling Aritzia’s newest winter drops, maybe it’s the classroom system that needs to be improved to be more engaging so students want to participate.

The million-dollar question here is: if tech use is such a legitimate issue, why do so many professors get by without banning it from their classrooms?

COOPER

GLUSKIN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Wake up at 6 a.m., put on your best suit — or hoodie — and start hustling.

Your day consists of school, extracurriculars and internship applications, with little sleep and not enough socializing. Looking down at your phone, you sigh. There’s still 12 hours to go. You wonder: am I really living the dream?

This workaholic routine is the reality of hustle culture — and it’s far less captivating than the inspirational quotes like “Rise and grind” and “Sleep is for the weak” lead you to believe. Statements like these meant for pumping a person — to keep on “hustling” every single second without really paying attention to a thing called life — are outright unhealthy and should be abandoned for good.

Hustle culture glorifies working nonstop to achieve success, often at the expense of personal

well-being. This phenomenon has gained popularity thanks to social media, where curated posts celebrate constant productivity and the “grindset” mentality.

The mindset views success as the most important part of life and downplays the importance of rest, balance and fulfillment outside of work.

A study showed that 37 per cent of people are working longer hours, and 75 per cent feel work-related stress is taking a toll on their mental health.

At just 20 years old, I’m seeing people sacrificing their well-being for careers they aren’t even passionate about — all in pursuit of what will bring home the best grades and the biggest paycheck.

This mindset only worsens as we get older, as responsibilities grow and financial pressures increase. Now is the time to find yourself and determine why you choose to shut off that alarm and get out of bed every morning.

Yes, studies have shown that working longer hours can pay off — incomes tend to jump by 42 per cent when putting in 45-hour work weeks instead of 40. While this is part of the recipe for success, this mentality has flaws that fly under the radar.

There’s no question about it — a lifestyle like this is proven to potentially lead to burnout and increased levels of stress and anxiety.

Forbes found that hustle culture almost always results in excessive burnout, lack of work-life balance and long-term mental health challenges. Yes, adding those five hours might pump up your paycheque, but it can come at the expense of your well-being.

I don’t want to work 50-hour work weeks just so that my boss can go home with a paycheque that’s 10 times mine without even having to “grind” — and that shouldn’t be expected of me. My own experiences have allowed me to resist the pressure of hustle culture and question the worth of sacrificing myself for someone else’s gain.

All this being said, I don’t want to devalue the worth of working hard to achieve your goals and aspirations. I do extracurriculars outside of school — like the Gazette — and it’s something that I both enjoy and will get me further after graduation.

Instead of glorifying the hustle, we should prioritize a mindset that puts mental health, balance and sustainable success first. True ambition shouldn’t have to include such a big sacrifice of one’s mental health in order to achieve success.

Success should focus on working smarter, prioritizing meaningful goals and having time for yourself. I believe that rejecting hustle culture leads to a healthier, more sustainable approach to accomplishing lifelong goals.

This may look different for everybody, but for me, rejecting hustle culture is putting myself and my goals at the forefront, ahead of what other people may wish for my future.

In shifting this narrative, we can live in a society that puts you before your job.

When it’s all said and done — you’re going to be reminiscing on the moments between your logged hours and LinkedIn posts. So remember to keep your priorities in check.

Breadth requirements make you a better learner

We’ve all been there — carefully crafting our schedules, filled with dread as we add our breadth requirements.

While they might suck, they’re a necessary part of an undergraduate degree. Your undergrad is for exploring beyond your horizons, especially since some of those horizons were chosen when you were a stressed-out high school senior — or by an overbearing parent.

Before graduating, every student must complete 1.0 credits from course categories A, B and C. The three categories cover a range of disciplines taught at Western University. For example, category C includes most science and engineering classes.

We’re definitely not all in the same programs we started in. Breadth requirements are a some-

times frustrating way to know what you really want to get out of your degree. Maybe you were an English major who fell in love with Intro to Environmental Science or an engineer with a passion for politics.

Restricting yourself to courses you need for your specific degree could be detrimental to your future — even if it doesn’t feel that way while you’re fighting with Draft My Schedule for a science class that doesn’t start at 8:30 a.m..

Breadth requirements are a little push outside your comfort zone that can equip you with critical thinking skills you might not get in your degree, even if the information from the class doesn’t stick.

For some, that’s learning to understand complicated texts effectively. For others, it’s how to

approach your problems from a mathematical perspective you might not have known before. Maybe it’s just how to send a good email. Whatever it is, the classes you really don’t want to take can make you a more well-rounded learner in the long run.

We get it. If you’re forking out thousands of dollars for a degree of your choice, being forced to take a class you don’t need for your education can be … infuriating. Especially when they can drag down your GPA and take your focus away from classes you need to do well in to graduate.

A lot of us start our undergraduate degrees by searching “bird breadth requirements” on Reddit for the easiest way out, and it’s hard to see why a class built to be easy can really impact our education.

Trust us, we know why you hate them.

Sure, Western could just suggest course categories that would make you a more well-rounded learner instead of making them mandatory. But who would take a class based on a suggestion? Very few people, we think.

University is a place for us to develop critical thinking skills — and that’s rarely a comfortable experience.

So get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and immerse yourself in a class you wouldn’t otherwise take. You’ll learn something. Even if that something is you really, really hate that class.

COOPER GLUSKIN GAZETTE A student moves quickly through the Entrepreneurship building, Dec. 3, 2024.

Opinion: Western must implement a Good Samaritan drug overdose policy

SOPHIA SCHIEFLER COORDINATING EDITOR

On Jan. 26, 2024, University of Victoria student

Sidney McIntyre-Starko died after being exposed to fentanyl poisoning in a University of Victoria residence days earlier. She was 18 years old. After McIntyre-Starko fell unconscious as a result of an overdose, a student bystander delayed telling first responders that drugs were involved because she was afraid of the consequences. She was declared brain-dead because of a brain injury from lack of oxygen after waiting 13 minutes for someone to administer naloxone and 15 minutes for someone to perform CPR.

I believe a student should never have to delay providing necessary details to emergency responders out of fear of consequences at a Canadian university. In Canada, the federal Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act protects individuals who have tak-

en, or are in possession of a controlled substance when they call 911 to report an individual experiencing an opioid overdose.

But, at Western University, a student can be sanctioned under the Code of Student Conduct if they are found to have used, distributed, or possessed “a controlled or restricted substance.”

Sanctions range from written warnings to expulsion, sentences that students may understandably try to avoid — even when their health or the health of others is on the line.

If a student seeks emergency help during an overdose on campus, Western told the Gazette “the specific details of the situation would be carefully considered when deciding if any action is required under the Code of Student Conduct.”

This is not enough.

I think a student’s academic standing must be protected — like their criminal liability would be — if they make the courageous decision to call 911 to save the life of an individual experiencing an overdose.

Western should implement a Good Samaritan policy, much like the federal act, which would protect students from facing sanctions if they are calling for help.

Many American universities like Harvard University, Miami University and Cornell University already have similar policies in place.

In 2002, Cornell implemented a Medical Amnesty Protocol to protect students from facing consequences when they required medical care due to underage drinking, or had called to get another help.

In the first two years following the implementation of the protocol, alcohol-related EMS calls from the university rose by 22 per cent — students felt more comfortable reporting emergency situations, knowing they would not face consequences.

As of October 2024, there has never been an incident on Western’s campus that required staff to administer naloxone — but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Opioid toxicity deaths are the highest among adults aged 25 to 44 years, but the onset of opioid use disorder typically occurs during late adolescence and young adulthood in Ontario.

Since 2016, there have been more than 49,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada.

A 2022 survey found that approximately one in 10 Canadian postsecondary students use some kind of illegal drug. This is a reality I can’t ignore, and neither should you.

Opinion: 4th-year film studies failed me

MINA AHMAD CREATIVE DIRECTOR

My fourth-year film education is leaving me academically uninspired and pessimistic.

The sun-lit halls of Somerville House quickly became the highlight of my week in first year, where like-minded cinephiles would break down the watch of the week in “Introduction to Film Studies.” Watching classic films like Vertigo and Bicycle Thieves and reading film literature opened a new realm of academia for me.

I decided I wanted — no, I needed — to attain a more critical film education, which I thought would pair well with my degree in media information and technoculture. As an aspiring filmmaker and lover of video production, this was a program that I thought would give me the critical background I needed to improve my work.

While second- and third-year courses expanded my education, my final year has left me feeling disheartened with my program.

Film studies is a literature-heavy program — there’s nothing like a 30-page reading to accompany a silent German film to understand cinema. But, the syllabi for my fourth-year classes have similar material to what I studied in my early years.

This makes me wonder: if I have advanced academically, why are the texts I’m reading the same ones I studied when I was 19?

While drafting my schedule, I struggled to meet my course requirements to graduate. I had no option but to take 3000-level courses because the department does not offer any 4000-level courses other than a thesis and an internship course.

I think this is a missed opportunity for advanced academic study, like offering seminar courses that could help students segue into postgraduate film studies.

In the 2022-23 school year, the department of film studies offered 25 varied courses that touched on topics like race in cinema and different international and national cinemas. In the 2024-25 aca-

Western has done an admirable job at training staff to respond in the case of a suspected overdose, and keeping emergency medical supplies accessible. Western special constables and the Student Emergency Response Team carry naloxone, and are trained to use it along with CPR.

In residences, students, guests and staff can access Narcan kits attached to defibrillator devices in the lobby. Residence staff like dons and safety assistants are trained in first aid, including the use of Narcan and CPR.

These measures are commendable, but are only a part of a broader solution. These solutions won’t matter if someone is too scared to call for help. Without a guarantee that students can call 911 without risking academic consequences, these measures may be ineffective when a real emergency arises. The preventable death of McIntyre-Starko should serve as a call that no student’s life should be put at risk because others fear punishment. By implementing a Good Samaritan Policy, much like the federal act, Western can foster a campus where students feel safe and comfortable reporting an emergency.

When every second counts, saving someone’s life should never come with academic consequences.

demic year, the course offerings have been reduced to only 18 courses.

The reasons for fewer course offerings and decreasing faculty are the ripple effect of declining enrolment numbers, which is understandable to an extent. From 2017 to 2022, enrolment in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities has reduced from 985 to 853 students.

We should be actively promoting Arts and Humanities courses to incoming students, not reactively compromising on the education of existing students.

Post-pandemic, the film studies module changed substantially. Previously, film classes accounted for in-person screenings, where films were watched communally with your classmates. The program paired critical evaluation of films with actively watching and thinking about them on the spot.

After the pandemic, the model shifted to virtual screenings, which are less productive, lack ac-

countability and are simply not fun to watch alone.

Three years post-pandemic, the department needs to consider reverting back to in-person screenings.

These screenings promote class discussions after freshly watching a film, a theatre experience crucial to studying cinema and connections among your classmates as you bond over watching The Silence of the Lambs at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday morning.

The academic and extracurricular world of film has so much potential at Western University and in the growing London, Ont. film community. Organizations like the Forest City Film Festival uplift London talent and screen regional films and Film London works to draw productions to the city.

The Hyland Cinema screens new independent cinema and cult classics, bringing together film aficionados. Students must be made aware of these opportunities and communities right outside their classroom.

I know the film department is small, putting a strain on professors and making it harder to add

more courses and opportunities. Compared to film industry centres like Toronto and Vancouver, London comes with its own set of challenges.

But students who chose Western to study film deserve the same improvement to their program progression that other faculties and universities have.

I have seen Western Film close and many of the film professors I admire go on sabbatical. As I prepare to graduate, I seek resources for career management and alumni connections in the film industry — and end up at a loss.

The film studies program at Western is made of passionate, knowledgeable professors and dedicated, cinephilic students I am honoured to call my peers.

My love for film hasn’t diffused as I prepare to graduate. But as the lights turn on and the credits roll, I look back and wish my fourth year film education had been the perfect conclusion to my university saga — which it fell short of.

MINA AHMAD GAZETTE

INKED ON CAMPUS

MADELEINE MCCOLL MANAGING EDITOR

Some people view their body as a canvas — a space to express their personal aesthetic and keep memories through intricate ink designs.

Seven tatted students spoke to the Gazette to share their tattoo tales and tips with the Western community.

Rose Yang

FOURTH-YEAR IVEY BUSINESS STUDENT

Rose Yang, a fourth-year Ivey Business School student, features black and white tattoos on her right arm and colourful pieces on her left.

The incredible dragon tattoo that spans across Yang’s back took around six hours to complete.

Yang got her first tattoo during her second year of university when she was feeling lost and stuck between her home in China and her new home in London, Ont. Her rose in a coffin tattoo has multiple meanings, connected to both her name and inspired by Lana Del Rey’s album Born to Die

“I was listening to Lana Del Rey too much during that period of time,” says Yang.

Max Sefton

Tattoo Tip:

“Don’t consider too much how other people will think about it … it’s very personal. It’s about you,” says Yang.

THIRD-YEAR IVEY BUSINESS STUDENT

Max Sefton, a third-year Ivey Business student and lover of film plans to get more movie-themed tattoos in the future including ink inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road, Lord of the Rings, The Iron Giant and The Matrix

“There’s not a lot of things in my life that have made up my identity more than movies have,” he says. “So, movies are like the things that come to mind that I kind of want to remember and to place on my body.”

Sefton’s tattoo includes depictions of scenes from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction with a reference to the rewritten Bible passage, Ezekiel 25:17, that he memorized when he was a child.

Maren Burgoyne

FIFTH-YEAR, HISTORY

Maren Burgoyne got a realistic dime tattoo to honour her late grandfather.

“When my grandpa passed away, we kept finding dimes everywhere whenever we talked about him,” she says. “I was telling someone about that, and I just put my hand in my pocket and I found a dime.”

That moment cemented in her mind that the dime would be her first tattoo.

Burgoyne got her Keith Haring inspired piece with her sibling at a local London fundraiser called “Food for Queers.”

Tattoo Tip:

“The night before you get your tattoo, I really recommend getting good sleep, and I really recommend downloading action movies,” Sefton suggests.

Tattoo Tip:

“My main piece of advice would be research your artist and don’t cheap out,” she says.

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Lexi Alarie

THIRD-YEAR, ENGLISH AND CRIMINOLOGY

Lexi Alarie got her guitar tattoo after her uncle’s passing.

“He taught me how to play guitar, and then when he passed, he gave me his guitar … in the case, it said, ‘Why? Because freedom.’ So I got that done,” she says.

Alarie draws many of her tattoo designs, includ ing her “third eye” tattoo. Her finger tattoos are Indigenous-inspired stick and pokes.

Heidi Locking

SECOND-YEAR, GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS

Heidi Locking got her first tattoo — a rose — with her twin sister on her 18th brithday.

She also has an intricate black and white floral heart tattoo, located on her left bicep.

Locking got matching teacup tattoos with her sister and cousin.

“We all decided that we wanted to get tattooed together. We’re really close,” she says.

Tattoo Tip:

“Once you get one, you’re gonna want more,” Locking warns.

Mo Kajan

THIRD-YEAR, SOCIAL WORK

Mo Kajan, a third-year social work student, has symmetrical sun and moon pieces on both of their arms. They got the celestial tattoos purely for the aesthetics.

“Don’t let people say that they have to have meaning … you can just think it looks cool,” Kajan says.

Kajan got their floral arm piece to cover their self-harm scars from when they struggled with their mental health in high school.

“It’s really given me my confidence back, like, I wear short sleeves all the time. I don’t think about my scars anymore,” they say.

Kajan’s tattoos are all black and grey.

“Some people like colour. Some people don’t. I just like the black and grey because I think it’s pretty timeless,” they say.

Kamraan Ahmad

FOURTH-YEAR, ECONOMICS

Kamraan Ahmad, a fourth-year economics stu-

dent, has had an appreciation for tattoos from a young age. “I would tattoo my friends at school and be like, ‘Yo’, you know, ‘pass me the Sharpie,’” he says.

Many of Ahmad’s tattoos, including his snake, panther and bird pieces, are inspired by American Trad, a.k.a. American Traditional style.

“The cool part is, you can still walk down downtown Toronto, or in any city and find an old man with the same tattoos as you. So it has a very historical implication behind it,” he says.

The tattoo on Ahmad’s right tricep is inspired by the late Mac Miller’s 2016 album, The Divine Feminine

“As a teenager, Mac Miller was everything for me,” Ahmad says.

“Do your research. Go to a good artist. Take your time picking an artist,” says Kajan.

Tattoo Tip:

“Being fixated on having a meaning is, I think, counterintuitive. I think we give it meaning, rather than the tattoo giving meaning to you,” he says.

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MADELEINE MCCOLL GAZETTE

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Tattoo Tip:

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From textbooks to campus looks: Life as a Western influencer

KAVIA SHARVANANTHAN CULTURE INTERN

All those years of ignoring your parents when they told you to “get off your phone and go outside” have paid off for these Western influencers.

Braedon O’Brien, a Western University alumnus and bachelor of management and organizational studies graduate, is known for his digital drawing videos on TikTok, where he draws portraits and takes on different drawing challenges.

He started posting his artwork in Grade 11 and describes his first memory of going viral when he drew Pennywise as a VSCO girl — someone whose aesthetic is influenced by the VSCO photo-editing app — during Halloween and received over a million likes. Now he has gained 2.4 million followers on TikTok and over 35,000 on Instagram.

“It was just the most random video ever. It wasn’t even a good drawing, at all. It was literally just a PNG and me drawing over it, making him look like a VSCO girl,” laughs O’Brien.

Selma Purac, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, says the rise of influencers represents a more accessible form of fame than traditional celebrities.

“Most influencers started out as ‘regular’ people, which can make them seem more relatable than your average celebrity, even if those influencers eventually end up becoming well-known themselves,” explains Purac.

Reese Levy, a third-year health sciences student and lifestyle influencer, says she pursues social media as a side passion project.

She started posting toy unboxing videos onto YouTube and Instagram six years ago and has since shifted her content to lifestyle, fashion, food and other interests to focus solely on her passions.

“I want my content to be the most genuine, ‘This

is me as a person.’ This is not an Internet persona or fake person. This is me,” says Levy.

For third-year Ivey Business School student

Joanne Shao, social media is a way to build community with her followers and provide valuable advice and experience to support people on their Ivey journeys to her followers.

Shao began posting about her internship at Deloitte last summer and has since expanded to offer tips on navigating Ivey and securing internships.

“I feel like Ivey is almost a very different experience,” says Shao. “There are so many parts of Ivey I didn’t know that I would have loved to know, and so I feel like it’s important for that information to be out there.”

Content creation is increasingly attractive among Gen Z, as more than half want to become influencers, according to a 2023 survey. But despite their online success, all student creators prioritize school, extracurriculars and their social life over content.

O’Brien shares that there are moments when content creation can take a toll on his mental health. He can spend anywhere from five to 12 hours on a single portrait, only to feel dissatisfied when engagement is low, and the numbers don’t reflect his effort

After graduating in 2024, O’Brien pursued a full-time marketing job, citing the financial instability of content creation and the constant search for brand deals as major stressors in his life. He explains that Canadian TikTok doesn’t pay Canadian users for posting videos and compares himself to his American friends who can live comfortably on their content creation alone.

“It’s kind of funny because even when I talk to my content creator friends, they’re like ‘What do you mean you want a job? Isn’t this your full-time job?’ Because all of them quit their big corporate jobs to do this,” says O’Brien.

Similarly, Levy plans to pursue the sciences after graduation and isn’t actively trying to gain as many followers as possible. She is currently the promotions assistant for the Health Studies Students’ Association and vice-president of social for the Western Pre-Dental Society.

Levy’s content goal is to remain authentic in her posts, even if this means turning down brand deals or events that could further her career.

But the pressure to maintain a perfect image isn’t lost on these creators. Purac notes that social media can take a toll on its users. She explains that social media creates substantial pressure because it displays people’s ideal lives until they start comparing their reality to pictures — an unsavoury combination.

Shao agrees with this sentiment, as she’s struggled to find the middle ground between remaining authentic and vulnerable with her audience, while maintaining some of her privacy.

“You’re painting an image of who you want people to see versus who you are actually,” says Shao. “On social media, it’s a little bit hard to be vulnerable because to a certain extent, you don’t know what the reactions will be.”

“‘My video only got this amount of views today.’ Well, now I have to draw even more tomorrow,” says O’Brien. “Once you start seeing all of those numbers increase, it’s almost like a drug.”

Staff Only offers a speakeasy-style experience

MIKAILA KIMBALL REPORTER

“No smoke, no fire, no-nonsense,” is Ryan Ford’s motto.

Tucked away in the back half of a hair salon in the city’s south end, Staff Only offers a speakeasy-esque experience for all who venture through its back door — well, all 16 people who can fit.

Ryan runs Staff Only, a small bar in London, Ont.. With the re-emergence of cocktail culture and creative drink making, even a seasoned bartender like Ryan can’t recognize a good chunk of what restaurants serve.

“The essence of tradition has been lost, so I wanted to do the classics and do them really well,” says Ryan.

Staff Only aims for a stripped-down experience that takes you back to the basics. Their menu contains around 20 cocktails, all of which could earn the label of a classic.

Martini, Negroni and Manhattan galore — you won’t find any soda mixers or vodka cranberries in this bar.

Ryan, who used to work as a sommelier — a trained wine expert — in Toronto, says they also carry a small, curated selection of high-quality wines.

“You’re not coming in and getting a bottle of wine you could get at LCBO,” says Ryan.

Ordering cocktails can be intimidating, but with an emphasis on premium spirits and ingredients, it’s easy to find your way here. Confused about what to order? Tell Ryan your spirit of choice —

he’ll guide you

Ryan says their Old Fashioned — a bourbon-based drink with brown sugar syrup and caramel notes — “has quickly gained a reputation for being one of the best in the city.”

While they don’t serve food, Ryan notes they are considering offering a small snack menu in the future.

The idea for Staff Only came after Ryan opened J.S. Ryan & Co., a barbershop and salon, in July 2020. When COVID-19 restrictions lifted in April 2023, he had the idea to turn the staff room in the back section of the salon into a bar. The name “Staff Only” came from a sign on the back door. Staff Only was initially geared towards their neighbourhood and current barbershop clientele, located near Ridout Street and Base Line Road — a little further from the Richmond Row scene. But as the bar has gained notoriety, people from all corners of London have shown up to give the cocktails a go.

A Dine in 519 post featuring the bar went viral on Instagram, garnering over 300,000 views. Ryan wants everyone to experience the bar but is adamant about making a reservation due to limited seating.

While exclusivity wasn’t Ryan’s original intent, it’s become a defining factor of Staff Only. The bar’s liquor license restricts them to 18 people, limiting the space to 16 guests and two staff members.

Staff Only hopes to pay homage to hidden-gem punk rock bars you’d find in the likes of New York and Los Angeles. A dimly-lit back alley entrance and a door covered in eclectic stickers all work together to curate the intended aesthetic. They are open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m..

Staff Only also hosts a monthly ticketed tasting series featuring a select spirit or wine region. But when the lights are on and the barbershop is running, the Staff Only section of the establishment is still exactly that.

“They’re all busy with their clients right now, but when they finish up, they have a nice little space that’s staff-only during the day,” says Ryan.

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE

VERONICA MIRANDA GAZETTE Carlos Jimenez, part-time bartender, pours a drink at Staff Only, Jan. 17, 2025.

VERONICA MIRANDA GAZETTE Inside of the Staff Only speak easy, Jan. 17, 2025.

Browned Cafe: Home to London’s best cookie

ARISIA QARRI GRAPHICS EDITOR

After several visits to Browned Cafe, I can confidently say I’ve found the best cookie in London.

Located on the corner of Western Road and Oxford Street, Browned is a small, cozy shop serving a variety of beverages, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and, most notably, the cookie of my dreams.

These cookies are not only huge — they’re perfectly soft, chewy and crunchy in all the right ways and places. They’re kept warm in an oven before serving to ensure each bite is satisfying. Try the salted caramel chocolate chip cookie if you think I’m exaggerating — just trust me.

On the downside, the cafe doesn’t offer gluten-free or vegan options, which means not ev-

eryone can enjoy their desserts. There’s also no indoor seating, only a few small tables and chairs outside, making it less ideal for getting together with friends.

Getting there can be a hassle unless you live nearby or on a bus route. Owning a car has only fueled my Browned Cafe addiction, but accessibility might be an issue for some.

An upside is their rewards system. You can accumulate points with each purchase and earn a free cookie, drink or sandwich. You get a free treat for every 35 points earned, which is around seven cookies.

Each cookie costs a hefty six dollars, but they’re substantial and filling. As a frequent visitor, I can vouch that the taste is worth the price. Plus, with

the reward system, I’ve saved money on cookies by getting more cookies.

I’ve also tried their salmon and roast beef sandwiches. The roast beef was exceptional, with each ingredient adding to a flavorful bite, all tied together through buttery focaccia bread. The salmon sandwich pleasantly surprised me — I’m used to salmon on a bagel rather than in a sandwich. Their strawberry matcha latte was just right — not too sweet and a good combination of the strawberry and matcha. It’s a refreshing drink option if you’re looking for something to accompany your food. Yes, Browned has room to grow when it comes to indoor seating and accommodating for people with dietary restrictions. But if that’s the only place the cookie crumbles, I’m happy to stay.

The grandma era is aging well

KAYLA FOISY STAFF REPORTER

You might be free of wrinkles, back pain and grey hairs, but this doesn’t mean you can’t be in your grandma era.

The rise of the “grandma era” is the latest term for young adults who would rather have a chill night in than go out drinking.

Despite Western University’s renowned party persona, the bars can get expensive, repetitive and often so packed you feel more like a sardine than a ‘Stang.

Much like a real-life grandma, someone in the grandma era would find more comfort staying home with a few people rather than socializing in a crowd.

Olga Duvnjak, a second-year mechanical and biomedical engineering student, says her reason for staying in is due to her and her roommates’ class schedules — running from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day — but actually wants to act her age.

“We’re trying to go out more, but it’s like a struggle to go out,” says Duvnjak.

There seem to be more reasons for staying home than not — the price of an Uber ride, drinks and cover tops the list.

“It’s definitely super expensive and we’re trying to ball on a budget, you know, get groceries,” adds Duvnjak.

Vivian Zhao is a first-year health sciences student who has opted for game nights and chat sessions with close friends over residence parties.

Unlike old age, the grandma era is not permanent — you can choose how to spend your time. Zhao says she doesn’t party every weekend, but maybe once a month when she’s feeling it.

The grandma era also has nothing to do with laziness, at least in the case of Jordan Bombier, a third-year management and organizational studies student who has been staying partially sober to prepare for a half Ironman — a marathon that combines running, swimming and biking.

“I’m pretty goal-oriented, and this was just another challenge I wanted to throw on the list,” says Bombier. “My biggest thing was trying to disassociate alcohol with relaxation.”

Bombier started with a commitment to Dry January — a trend for a first month of sobriety in the New Year — and is attempting to stay mostly sober until the Ironman in July. But this doesn’t mean he’s staying in every night, either.

“I wouldn’t say I’m really going out less than I was before, but just maybe coming home a little bit earlier after saying a few hellos,” says Bombier.

Bombier says he still has a good time going out, but it gets more awkward as the hours go on because everyone else is on a different level than you.

Once you get comfortable in the grandma era, you might not even want to hit the bars altogether. Some of your hard-core clubbing friends might even call you lame or boring, but it’s part of your newfound maturity to resist the accusations.

Christy Gendy, a second-year health sciences

student, is also marking her own coming-of-age moment by not having gone out since August 2024. “You just wait in line for hours, and then it’s the

same rodeo over and over,” says Gendy. “I feel like my bed is always gonna be there, but me getting into Ceeps isn’t always gonna happen.”

Chiara’s Confessions: I think I’m cursed

CHIARA WALLACE

SENIOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND LAYOUT EDITOR

“Everybody’s falling in love and I’m falling behind,” sings Laufey.

It feels that way, at least.

I’m close to finishing my fourth year, and with graduation and life after university quickly approaching, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m running out of time.

I’ve been single for almost all of my time at Western University and I feel like I’ve been missing out on the clichéd college romance I’ve always dreamt of. Library meet-cutes, holding hands in hallways, dating the star player and Instagram soft launches. None of it’s in the cards for me anymore.

Don’t get me wrong — being single has given me the freedom to focus on myself, spend time with my friends and work a job I love. I’ve had time to hurt and heal, but more importantly, I’ve learned about the person I am and the person I want to be. But I guess the universe has more learning in store for me, or it’s just playing a sick joke on me.

I’ve admitted my troubles with dating apps, having awful first dates and bad taste in general, but I thought karma would work in my favour at this point.

Am I doomed? Is it too late to experience a stereotypical campus love story before I walk across the stage at graduation?

In an effort to break free from what I’m convinced is a curse on my dating life, I’m changing my perspective. Here are three of my dating New Year’s resolutions that’ll hopefully change the outcome of my love life in 2025:

Getting off dating apps

I’ll admit that this isn’t my first time doing this. I’ve done it so many times that I wrote about it four months ago — but this time, I’m serious.

Dating apps have never worked for me and it’s time to stop pretending they ever will. The swiping, scrolling, likes, matches, pick-up lines and ghosting have gotten tiring. The never-ending cycle has left me more jaded than optimistic.

I’m happy if they’ve worked for other people, but what I want and am looking for won’t be found on a dating app. And how embarrassing would it be to admit I found my next partner on Hinge or Tinder?

I think I’m better off putting more faith in the universe and its invisible string theory or whatever it has in store when it’s finally ready to find me.

Putting myself first

As the iconic RuPaul Charles once said: “If you

can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

Being single has sometimes felt like a punishment, but I have to remind myself that it’s an opportunity. Instead of worrying and stressing over things I can’t control — my dating life — I should focus on what I can control — myself.

In the least narcissistic way possible, I’m putting myself, my feelings, my goals and my career first. No relationship or situationship is worth losing what makes me happy and what makes me the person I am.

I don’t subscribe to the concept that a relationship should “complete me” and that my partner should be my “other half.” I’d rather be complete on my own and have someone to share my life with than wait around for someone to fill a gap in my life that just doesn’t fit.

Putting myself out there

I think everyone makes resolutions they’ll never realistically achieve. This one is that for me. Will I actually put more effort into meeting new people? No. But it’s a nice intention to have going into the new year.

I want to embody more of a yes-man mentality this year … or at least try. Whether that’s going out for drinks with friends, a movie screening or a varsity sports game — which realistically, I am forcing my friends to attend — I want to make every second count.

The clock may be ticking, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up — as much as I might want to. Some people say if you work hard at something, it will eventually work out. Others say that things happen when you least expect them. I’m not sure which one I believe — but one is bound to be true.

MINA AHMAD GAZETTE Browned Cafe has a great selection of baked goods including cookies, croissants, sandwiches and more, Dec. 5, 2024.

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE

Kathy Gannon is setting the record straight

PANIZ VEDAVARZ CULTURE EDITOR

Shot seven times while reporting on elections in Afghanistan during an attack in 2014 that claimed the life of her colleague and photographer Anja Niedringhaus, Kathy Gannon underwent 19 operations. Nevertheless, she returned.

“I knew I had to go back because I knew Anja would never have accepted that some crazy gunman would decide my fate — our fate — and also, I didn’t want to be held hostage to fear,” Gannon recalls.

For 35 years, Kathy Gannon has reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and the broader Middle East. Now serving as the Faculty of Information and Media Studies Asper Fellow for the winter 2025 term, she intends to teach the next generation of journalists with her course: “Independent Reporting: Illusion or Reality.”

While many consider her a conflict journalist, she does not believe in labelling journalism. Before extensively reporting on international communities and conflicts, Gannon began her career at a newspaper in Timmins, Ont. eventually working in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

“[I] worked my way through Canada and got to know my own country and honed my skills in my own country rather than going overseas,” says Gannon. “I think that’s very disrespectful to feel that you could go overseas as a Canadian and hone your skills in someone else’s territory.”

Gannon served as the Associated Press’s news director for Afghanistan and Pakistan until her retirement in May 2022, concluding a 35-year tenure covering the region. In fall 2022, she was a Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

Gannon is also the author of the 2005 book I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror: 18 Years Inside Afghanistan, providing an in-depth look at Afghanistan’s history during and after Taliban rule.

She was inspired to write the book after seeing false narratives coming out of Washington, London and the European Union after 2001. She was concerned about Western narratives that portrayed Afghan leaders with violent histories as he-

roes, effectively rewriting the country’s past.

“It made me think very seriously — which I probably hadn’t done before — how much history can we really trust because it’s written by the victors. It’s written by the powerful. It’s written by the men. It’s written by white men,” she adds. “The book itself was to try at least to set the record straight.”

She often critiques Western narratives, noting that while Western nations define themselves by their best qualities, they often define others by their worst.

She recalls a 2001 interview with Mohammed Khaksar, a former Taliban official, conducted after the Taliban was ousted from Afghanistan and the U.S.-led coalition had taken control. It was the first time she had participated in an interview with a group of journalists from around the world.

Instead of asking questions about the Taliban or his connections to Mullah Omar — the then-leader of the Taliban — Gannon was shocked that much of the conversation centred on his views about women, whether he should be tried as a war criminal, and other questions rooted in Western narratives.

“It was deeply disappointing, and it was also really eye-opening for me because I understood better how we have, as journalists, made it difficult for the news-consuming public to better understand our world because we don’t want to understand,” says Gannon.

For Gannon, a reporter’s role is not to champion democracy or advocate for specific ideas — but to inform. She says journalists and outlets failing to maintain their independence are partly to blame for the growing polarization in media.

She also highlights the 24-hour news cycle, television programming and the blurring of lines between news and entertainment, especially in the post-9/11 era, as contributing factors.

Gannon is currently in the early stages of writing her second book, focusing on her relationship with Niedringhaus — an acclaimed German photojournalist known for her work covering conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

On April 4, 2014, while on assignment covering Afghanistan’s elections, Niedringhaus was killed by

an Afghan policeman in Khost province. Gannon, who was with her at the time, survived the attack.

Gannon states that while many stories highlight collaborations among men in various fields, stories of women working together are less common.

“Anja was a prize-winning photographer, and I was a writer and none of us liked to work with other people,” says Gannon. “We were very much solo-type travellers, and so I want to tell that story

of that collaboration,”

She also hopes to tell Afghanistan’s story moving forward and Western missteps in the region by drawing on the personal insights she and Anja gained while working there.

“I think the more we stop justifying our failings as journalists and confront them, the more we’ll be able to regain a little bit of our independence,” says Gannon. “And I think it really has become more and more crucial in my mind.”

Sink your teeth into Nosferatu

MIKAILA KIMBALL OPINIONS EDITOR

Begone, Twilight. A new vampire romance has stolen the spotlight — and these ones don’t sparkle.

Nosferatu director Robert Eggers breathes life into the classic myth of Dracula, drawing audiences into an alluring and atmospheric 1838 Germany where superstition reigns supreme.

In a style Eggers established in his 2015 horror-hit The Witch, historical costumes, haunting visuals and slow-rising tension are combined to craft a narrative that was successful in leaving me both entranced and exceedingly compelled.

Despite its sometimes-slow moments, Nosferatu is easily a masterpiece of gothic horror.

A remake of a 1922 film of the same name, Nosferatu opens on a young Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) as she calls into the night for companionship — and the night calls back.

Plagued since childhood by terrors that only her husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) seems to subdue, Ellen is left distraught when he ventures to Transylvania to meet with the elusive Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) for a business proposal.

Overcome by dread, a hysterical Ellen is stalked by an evil that lurks just beyond the mortal realm.

Count Orlok describes himself as an “appetite alone,” and that’s what the movie felt like: a collection of characters with a deep, carnal desire for something that felt almost uncomfortably voyeuristic to watch, peering into someone’s most intimate moments without their consent.

Depp’s body acting is uncanny, particularly the contortions. Her fits of terror and convulsion appear equally torturous and orgasmic as she yearns for Orlok in her possessed state. The nature of the performance gave me the impression that Orlok serves as a metaphor for sexuality and shame.

While Hoult was solid as Thomas, his performance certainly wasn’t the most memorable.

Cloaked, creepy and a bit goofy, Skarsgård gives a chilling performance as the imposing Orlok — whose fear factor is slightly dampened by a huge moustache and thick German accent.

Willem Dafoe offers comedic relief as Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a local professor who is trying to convince everyone that they might just have a vampire problem.

Despite some strong performances, the direction and cinematography were the true stars of Nosferatu

Now bear with me as I embrace my inner film bro. Perfectly restrained in its execution, Eggers

is a master at commanding light — or lack of it. Sweeping shadows paired with a cool colour palette reminded me of 19th-century dark romanticism paintings.

This style typically features twisted scenes that address the darker parts of the human condition — death, violence and suicide — but are still harrowingly beautiful to observe, a feat Eggers accomplishes in Nosferatu

The few shots of warm light produced a visual contrast that was both pleasing to the eye and thematically relevant, reminding audiences that this is a story of dark versus light.

Shots were well-crafted and hyper-aware of the space available, with limited characters and props forcing you to focus on everything in front of you. This is most noticeable in shots featuring visual symmetry, which creates a balance on the screen you can’t help but notice.

The scene featuring Thomas stopped at crossroads before Orlok’s castle — light behind him and darkness before — was particularly breathtaking. Nosferatu, if nothing else, is a commendable achievement in direction and visuals.

The movie does fall slightly flat in the third act. It leads audiences to understand how the story will conclude just a touch too soon and left me feeling like I had no real stakes in the last thirty-odd minutes. Sometimes, the slow-building terror was just that — too slow.

If you’re looking for something to scratch that Edward Cullen itch of your youth, this might not be the perfect pick. But hey, a vampire romance is a vampire romance … right?

MIK’S FLICKS

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

Kathy Gannon, the 2025 Faculty of Information and Media Studies Asper Fellow, in her office at Western University in London, Ont., Jan. 16, 2025.

Soccer’s growing fanbase at Western

ZACHARIAH GOMES SPORTS INTERN

For many, weekends are a time to rest — sleeping in after a long week at school or work. But soccer lovers start their weekends bright and early, with breakfast in hand and hours of soccer action on the TV ahead.

Sure, you have hockey, football, basketball and baseball — but soccer is quickly rising as a major sport across North America.

Soccer made a successful breakthrough into the continent after the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup and created Major League Soccer, a professional soccer league that represents the highest level of soccer in the country.

The sport is growing in the U.S. and Canada, which will prepare to host their World Cup games in 2026. The Northern Super League, Canada’s highest level of women’s soccer, will debut in 2025.

Western University’s campus isn’t immune to catching the soccer fever. Diligent members of the Western Soccer Association attend watch parties for the UEFA Champions League, where fans gather to cheer on some of Europe’s biggest teams.

But Ahmed Khan, co-president of the WSA, admits there’s a better way for some to get into the sport.

“Some people might get intimidated by watch parties, so playing video games can be another great way to get into soccer,” he says.

The WSA hosts a variety of events to cater to fans at all levels, like team scrimmage tournaments, esports competitions, watch parties and paid tournaments.

“I first got into soccer because my dad put me in it, but I ended up liking it and have stuck with it ever since,” says Leah DeFrancesco, a second-year management and organizational studies student.

After a long day of classes, DeFrancesco and her friends hit the soccer fields next to Alumni Stadium for drop-in scrimmages. She’s also an

avid watcher of the sport and tries to catch a game whenever she can.

“If I miss a game on Saturday, you just know I’ll pull up the highlights without a thought,” she says.

The beauty of soccer is that you can still enjoy traditional North American sports.

You can catch an early English Premier League game in the morning, the famous white of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol playing a Spanish League match in the afternoon and a Toronto Maple Leafs game later that night.

Living in London, Ont. means being lucky that you just need to wake up slightly earlier on the weekend to watch European or English soccer, unlike those poor fans from Australia or Japan waking up in the middle of the night to tune in.

But there are some downsides to being a soccer fan. In Canada, you need four different subscriptions — DAZN, FuboTV, TSN, beIN SPORTS — to watch Europe’s five biggest soccer leagues, and many fans end up making compromises to have few subscriptions.

“I usually just rely on watch parties or my friends and family for subscriptions now,” says Diana Cruz, a second-year science student.

Competitive soccer is famously a pay-to-play sport in Canada, and many can not afford the investment of grassroots soccer, discouraging them from being involved in play.

“If an [activity] is one where I have to join right away, and you have to pay your money, you don’t have an opportunity to try and see if it works for

Virtual Reality: The future of sports training

ALEX ZARENDA SPORTS EDITOR

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year frontrunner and recently became one of four rookie quarterbacks ever to win an away playoff game. The secret behind his success? Virtual reality.

VR is no longer just used for video games. Its true potential is being realized through sports training.

In a typical week, quarterbacks can expect to spend “anywhere from 15 to 20 hours a week just on film,” says Western University Mustangs quarterback coach Ben Schmidt.

With technology improving every year, teams are always looking for ways to improve their training to get a competitive edge.

Daniels’s experience with VR training dates back to his time at Louisiana State University, where he trained with Cognilize, a VR system designed to train at speeds faster than in real life.

“By practicing in virtual environments, aspects such as reaction times, aspects related to cognitive speed for reacting to certain actions will help you to train and to shape your brain to be more sharp,” says Dr. John Muñoz, an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo who specializes in systems design engineering.

A recent study on VR football training found that over a three-day training period with 17 quarterbacks, VR training resulted in an average 30 per cent improvement in decision-making skills, particularly with pre-snap reads and finding open receivers.

Daniels credited VR training with improving his quarterback skills, allowing him to develop the elite instincts that fueled his Heisman-winning season while in college.

Cognilize worked effectively by simulating the actual stadiums and defensive schemes Daniels would face, allowing him to get practice in the pocket and become comfortable with his environment every week without risking injury.

“One of the benefits that we always mention about virtual reality is how you can control, personalize and modify individual elements of any scenario,” says Muñoz.

After being drafted second overall to the Washington Commanders, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury integrated Daniels’s VR training, building on his success in college. This decision paid off immediately as Daniels separated himself as the best rookie quarterback.

While VR training may seem far-fetched and unrealistic, it follows the same trajectory as past technologies used to study film, which Schmidt says have since become widely accessible.

you,” says Laura Misener, a professor at Western’s kinesiology department.

Misener’s research focuses on ways to use sports like soccer as an instrument of social change — including community accessibility and social inclusion.

“It can be easy to get deterred from an activity that is dominated by people who already know so much, and you’re a person who only got into the sport last week,” she added.

Misener encourages clubs and programs to offer “try it days,” where aspiring sports fans are encouraged to try the sport without committing to it. She recently ran a successful pilot project involving para-sport organizations in London that encouraged those with disabilities to try out activities to see if they worked for them.

Intramural soccer teams at Western commonly require payment, but there are alternatives for newer fans. Recreational soccer leagues are run by the university free of charge.

The WSA offers free organized pickup games for people of all levels, which aren’t as competitive as intramurals. The WSA also arranges paid tournaments in a more professional setting for fans who are up to it. WSA watch parties are also free for members.

For many, there’s a community aspect that comes with being a fan. There’s a certain joy about finding someone who likes or hates the same team as you.

“I met my best friend playing soccer, and I could not imagine playing or watching soccer without her,” DeFrancesco says.

Though soccer still trails behind other sports in Canada, it’s rapidly growing — and with that comes a tight-knit community.

“We are hoping that our efforts in attracting new fans can hopefully lead to the growth of the soccer fan base on campus and, in turn, a growth in our community,” says Khan.

Schmidt believes VR training will follow the same path, gradually becoming more accessible at lower levels of competition.

“Right now, NFL teams and some high-level U.S. college programs are using VR, but it will absolutely eventually trickle down into our programs and even into high school programs for training,” says Schmidt.

With increased accessibility, it might not be long before we see this technology used by Ontario University Athletics teams, such as the Mustangs, who have already “discussed the benefits and the possible uses for it,” according to Schmidt.

The applications of VR training in sports extend beyond just football, with high-end soccer teams

like Liverpool and Manchester United, as well as Formula One team Mercedes, already using the Rezzil VR system to train their athletes.

“There’s a lot of interest from elite sports teams to start using it more frequently because the technology has evolved and is now more affordable than it was years ago,” says Muñoz.

VR is relatively accessible to the general public, with a popular headset such as the Meta Quest 3S starting at $399.99, a price cheaper than most phones.

As VR technology becomes more advanced and accessible, it becomes evident that what was once considered the future of sports training is already here.

TIFFANY CHENG GAZETTE

ANGWARA NILANONT GAZETTE

January Crossword

ACROSS

1. Q&As on Reddit

5. Non-profit URL ender

8. Big leagues ... or what can be found in the starred clues

14. We’re on the same page, say 15. For every 16. Decorates

17. Flour in Indian cooking

18. Windows 95 start-up music creater, Brian

19. Emperor title for Ottomans and Romans alike

20. Act of giving to charity generously*

23. Wiring medium in your devices, in short 24. Frequent victims of a laundry cycle

28. “__w-Mo Guys”

31. BFF of man

33. Two come out of a failed relationship

34. -Town, home to O’Hare and Midway

35. Fruit on evergreens*

38. Arctic ones migrate longest

39. Some of these are electric

40. “Good job”

43. Medium site offering

44. Oft forgotten past participle, meaning descended

45. Introvert’s answer to “Where are you?”*

47. Swanson, DeSantis and Weasley among others

48. “__ you in?”

51. Standardized test, for PhD hopefuls

52. Mosby and Cruz, among others

53. Knitted gifts

56. Gift of the ___

58. What the bar at the top of your inbox lets you do*

63. US pacific northwest airport, familiarly

66. A long time, geologically

67. This is taken when proposing

68. At a maximum

69. “Do __ Disturb”

70. Warmest Great Lake

71. Stephen King is _____ most famous author

72. Screen reader, in short

73. Backside

DOWN

1. Right now, from your boss

2. Legend

3. Against prefix

4. Source of some bowls

5. Some exams

6. Landlord’s demand

7. Drummer of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame

8. Apple operating system, in full

9. Changes to fit

10. Kangaroo babies

11. Partners of eithers

12. Second part of the central dogma

13. Belarus, Latvia and Tajikistan, once

21. T.N.T. creators from Australia

22. Egg delicacy

25. Spotted wild cat

26. Edge competitor

27. Got to the end of the checkerboard

28. Skewers

29. What a fugitive should do

30. Chronically ____

32. African ungulate

36. Ont. time zone during the cold months

37. Organizational framework, often with initiatives

38. Txtr’s truth

41. “r u fr?!”

42. John Singer ____ work includes “Madame X”

46. There’s no “I” in one of these

48. Relaxed position, sometimes commanded

49. Flinches, say

50. “To ___ is human, to forgive is divine”

54. with Martin, a luxury item

55. Homophone of a penny or an email category

57. This role has a unique dozen

59. Owl’s song

60. Subject line on a response memo

61. Space princess

62. Fortune-teller, e.g.

63. To add

64. You can see this on the GPS

65. French friend

Email your comics or crosswords to managing@westerngazette.ca or come to UCC 263 and ask about volunteering for our Graphics section!

OM SHANBHAG GAZETTE