It’s back! Gazette Tested returns with best spots for a first date >> Pg 4
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WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
University enrolment down across Ontario
TODAY high 22 low 11
TOMORROW high 23 low 10 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 15
>> WESTERN GETS HIGH
Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR @KatieAtGazette
Enrolment for universities and colleges in Ontario directly from high schools is trending down, according to statistics released by the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre. Of the 28 colleges and universities included in OUAC’s monthly confirmation statistics, 21 schools registered decreased enrolment in September 2014, in comparison to September 2013. The downward trend is mostly attributed to children of the baby boomer demographic completing their post-secondary education. “What we’re seeing right now is we’ve hit the demographic plateau for people our age,” said Jen Carter, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. “The ministry of training, colleges and universities, and institutions in Ontario are very well aware that what we’re actually going to see is the amount of young people that are eligible and able to go to school are going to taper off a little bit,” she said. However, according to the statistics released by OUAC, Western’s overall enrolment is up 5.9 per cent. “We’re up across the board in terms of first, second and third choices as universities. We’ve had a really good year, a really positive year in terms of attracting really good students,” Jeff Renaud, senior media relations’ officer at Western said.
>> see ENROLMENT pg.3
Inside
•••
Fair Trade week at Western
• P2
Review: This is Where I Leave You
• P5
Editorial: Lower university enrolment is not a crisis
• P6
Softball team cleans up at the diamond
• P7
Our Purple Pipe winner is…
• P8
Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE
RESEARCH LIGHTING UP. Researchers at Western conducted a pharmacological study where they used marijuana in animal testing experiments to better determine the chemical results from drug use.
Ups and downs of getting high Kevin Hurren NEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE @KevinAtGazette
Researchers at Western have taken their pharmacological study to new heights – or at least new highs. After examining the effects of different marijuana doses in a variety of animal tests, a research team from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry came to better understand the chemical consequences of drug use. “Marijuana is a highly complex plant that has over 70 different chemical components,” explained professor and lead researcher Steven Laviolette. “Some of these compounds have positive effects and some of them have negative effects.” The negative effects Laviolette refers to include the paranoia and emotional imbalances caused by small doses of the drug. Specifically, Laviolette and his peers looked at the way these compounds interacted with cannabinoid receptors in the brain. These receptors, located in a region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, have a direct link to our dopamine system. This
system is a key factor in controlling our emotions. As such, the dopamine system becomes impaired and a state of emotional hyper-responsiveness is created. The researchers discovered, however, that this effect does not remain consistent with increased dosage. “When we injected a much higher dose of the cannabinoid drugs we basically flooded the entire prefrontal cortex [and] we saw a blunting of emotional responsiveness.” Laviolette observed that after a certain point of exposure test animals became numb to emotionally salient experiences – a finding that further supports existing perceptions on long-term marijuana use. “Often we see feelings of apathy in chronic users and this effect correlated with a shutting down of the dopamine system.” Though anecdotally supported, the findings were still a surprise for the research team. Michael Loureiro, a postdoctoral fellow, assisted Laviolette by writing and recording experimental tests concerning the dopamine patterns. “We didn’t know what we would
observe in the prefrontal cortex regarding fear conditioning – so the first step was to study a single dose of the compound,” Loureiro said. “To our surprise we observe a total opposite effect when we use the second dose.” These conclusions not only offer a better insight into drug use but can also be used to better control medical marijuana use. “Given that there’s so many people right now in Canada and around the world that are using medical marijuana for various conditions, ideally what you want to do is develop a way to avoid some of these undesirable side effects,” Laviolette said. As such, the research team also used antipsychotic medication to prevent both the paranoid behaviour induced by low doses and the blunted emotional responses brought on by higher doses. “What we’re doing now is sort of teasing apart these different chemical components of marijuana and trying to link these different chemicals to specific neurotransmitters in the brain,” Laviolette said.“The ultimate goal is to develop novel pharmaceuticals that contain all of the benefits of marijuana while at the same time preventing or reversing the side-effects that are associated with them.”
What the heck is that acronym: OUSA edition Amy O’Kruk NEWS EDITOR @AmyAtGazette
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Association is a coalition of seven student associations from across the province that advocate on behalf of undergraduates to the Ontario government. OUSA is made up of elected student representatives who together form OUSA’s Steering Committee, the body responsible for determining OUSA’s direction and initiatives. Western’s own University Students’ Council vice-president external, Jen Carter, is the current OUSA president. Since its founding in 1992, OUSA has been involved in many projects that have had a significant impact on undergraduate student life. In 2012, OUSA worked to introduce the 30 per cent off Ontario tuition grant program that reduced the overall tuition costs of over 300,000 students. This year, OUSA was heavily involved in the $42 million >> see OUSA pg.3