September 2022 - FROSH by Western Gazette

Why Western axed self-reported absences and what comes next

As for his retirement, Greaves is looking forward to spending time with his wife and two daughters. He’s not sure about the details — he’s never been much of a planner — but he hopes to make up for all the vacations he didn’t take while working at the Gazette

media landscape for almost 40 years.

Narain said the Senate meeting didn’t involve discussions of any replacement policies for the SRA. But, he believes there is faculty interest in a policy that would allow SRAs for assignments only and not make-up exams.

YIFEI ZHANG GAZETTE Autumn leaves fall in front of the Physics and Astronomy Building, Oct. 8, 2020.

“The problem is that to remake a quiz, remake a lab, track all the students week per week [are] humongous amounts of workload,” explained Nigmendra Narain, a political science professor and former president of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association.

“When there are several deadlines in a week, I use the SRA to strategically postpone one of them so that I don’t have to stay up all week to meet the deadlines,” said Conor Zhang, a fourth-year computer science student.

Narain said this phenomenon of students using the SRA policy to choose their own deadlines was part of his objection to the policy.

Western said they aim to roll out an alternative policy in the fall developed in consultation with student and faculty leaders. The university is reviewing the current policy on accommodation for medical illness.

Western’s Senate defeated a motion to extend the pilot program by an additional year in April, citing faculty complaints of the added workload from needing to accomodate large numbers of students.

Greaves started out at the Gazette as a young man. He had spent time in the armed forces at the Royal Military College, worked at the London Free Press and then the Toronto Sun, before a “chain of coincidences and ﬂukes” brought him to the Gazette in December 1983.

“Self-identiﬁcation in terms of absences is really important,” explained Lauren Jarman, vice-president university a airs at the University Students’ Council. “Because it means that there’s not the extra time needed to get a doctor’s note or get a professional note. And it’s something that, for some students, can present a barrier.”

In his first years at the Gazette, Greaves had already witnessed major innovations at the paper: the switch from manual to electric typewriters and the introduction of the o ce’s first photocopier. After seeing an Apple Macintosh at a trade show in the mid-1980s, he was determined to bring computers into the o ce. This led to one of his most significant accomplishments at the Gazette: persuading the USC to give the paper capital money for computers in the late ’80s.

ESTELLA REN NEWS EDITOR

To truly know Greaves, to understand the dark and twisted mind of a man who was willing to work at a student newspaper for nearly four decades, one needs to go back to his origin story.

The self-reporting tool was designed to accommodate students who experienced illness or a sudden, unexpected change in their life that prevented them from performing their academic duties on time. Students did not require any proof, such as a doctor’s note, for their SRA to be approved.

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CAT TANG CULTURE EDITOR

Narain said he received many complaints from faculty members over the last two years about the tremendous amount of SRAs, with some faculty responding to 400 SRA-related emails per assignment and some spending up to nine hours sorting out SRAs for one class.

Western University’s o cial student newspaper since 1906

“It’s not what SRA serves for,” Narain said. “In the world, you can’t work on whatever deadlines youUntilwant.”the new replacement policy is announced, students will need to submit appropriate documentation to their faculty’s academic counsellors for accessing accommodations — for example, the Student Medical Certificate signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner to be excused for medical absences or a family member’s death certificate for non-medical compassionate reasons.KimClark, an anthropology professor — and a former senator who attending the senate meeting in 2019 when the pilot policy was first in place — said getting rid of the SRA policy “is a mistake.”

“My self-conﬁdence had taken a bit of a beating and I was looking to make a success of it,” says Greaves. “That initially was a big part of it: I was bound and determined that I was not going to do anything but succeed at the Gazette.”

While his formal role was known as the manager of advertising and composing, Greaves has more often been used as a fountain of institutional knowledge. Whether it’s recalling old anecdotes or pulling up constitution records to defend the Gazette’s editorial autonomy, Greaves has been the rock of a student newspaper navigating a changing

Huang said she often waits over a week to see a family doctor or medical worker at Western’s Health and Wellness Centre. She said going to a walk-in clinic has been a faster way to obtain a doctor’s note but cost her $30. Some senators also suggested that having students pay for medical notes could be a detrimental ﬁnancial burden, according to the April’s Senate meeting minutes.

he Gazette’s o ce is full of artefacts: polaroids of former editors, posters from old University Students’ Council elections and shelves stacked with bound editions of past volumes. Whether it’s the rotting leftover Thai food in the fridge or the mysterious stain on the couch in the back room — there is nothing you will ﬁnd in the o ce older than Ian Greaves.

Many students also used SRAs to gain extra time to complete assignments, taking advantage of the policy’s no-proof basis.

Gazette composing manager Ian Greaves retires: “I want to see the Gazette ﬂourish”

“When I came to the Gazette, the paper was being written on manual typewriters,” says Greaves. “It was blue pencils, literal cut and paste — every desk had a [pair of] scissors and a jar of rubber cement.”Hestarted by pasting up type, became the manager of unigraphics and then took on the composing room and management of the advertising o ce.

“I think I gave a bit of continuity and some stability,” says Greaves. “In the end, I was kind of a reassuring presence. Like a familiar building that you pass by every day on the walk to work.”

“In my own class, around 30 to 40 per cent of the class submitted on time. Everybody else has a SRA or sort of accommodations,” said Narain.

Greaves, the Gazette’s composing manager, is ﬁnally retiring after 38 and a half years. He’s seen the paper go from typewriters to computers, a fourtimes-a-week print schedule to an award-winning digital-only publication, the Student Choice Initiative to a global pandemic and everything in between; the history of Greaves is the history of the Gazette.

VOLUME 116, ISSUE 1 SEPTEMBER 2022 University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial editor@westerngazette.ca EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HOPE MAHOOD DEPUTY EDITOR ALEX MCCOMB MANAGING EDITOR SARAH WALLACE COORDINATING EDITOR (VIDEO AND FEATURES) LUCAS ARENDER COORDINATING EDITOR (CULTURE AND SPORTS) BIANCA COLLIA ART DIRECTOR CASSANDRA KACZMARSKI NEWS ANDY SONIAADSHAYAHESTELLAYANGRENSATHIASEELANPERSAUD CULTURE LAUREN MEDEIROS CAT DANIELLETANG PAUL SPORTS MILES RYANKIERANBOLTONDROVERGOODISON OPINIONS JORDAN BLOOM HANNAH ALPER COPY ELIZABETH HART SCOTT YUN HO GRAPHICS REBECCA STREEF KAT HERINE G UO ERIN GRACE PHOTO SOPHIE BOUQUILLON VIDEO REBECCA MINAROMANOMADELEINEBARTKIWMCCOLLWATTAHMAD SOCIAL MEDIA ELIZABETH HART PE’ER KRUT All articles, letters, photographs, graphics, illustrations and cartoons published in the Gazette both in the newspaper and online versions, are the property of the Gazette. By submitting any such material to the Gazette for publication, you grant to the Gazette a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to publish such material in perpetuity in any media, including but not limited to, the Gazette’s hard copy and online archives. GAZETTE ADVERTISING & COMPOSING DAN/@WESTERNGAZETTE@UWOGAZETTEBROWNWESTERNGAZETTE //UWOGAZETTEWESTERNGAZETTE Interested in contributing? Send us an email at CONTRIBUTEmanaging@westerngazette.ca

But, what stands out to Greaves most after all this time is the sense of community and belonging he found at the paper.

estern ended self-reported absences — a tool students used to avoid penalties for missing coursework — last spring, but the university is exploring new systems to replace them.Western introduced SRAs as a pilot project three years ago. Students were able to use two SRAs between September and April to automatically receive a 48-hour deadline extension on any coursework worth 30 per cent or less of their ﬁnal grade.

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“It wasn’t a good use of the healthcare system to have students taking up medical resources by going to an appointment just to try to get a doctor’s note,” said Clark. “That would be a terrible use of very scarce resources now.”

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE Ian Greaves claps after a speech during his Gazette retirement party in Toronto, Aug. 13, 2022.

“I want to see the Gazette ﬂourish,” says Greaves. “I want to see people come into the Gazette and give it the devotion I’ve seen other people give to it in the past — without, you know, destroying their academic careers or whatever.”

“I will miss the people I worked with most,” says Greaves. “Working with this never-changing cohort of students who are always the same age allowed one to forget that one, in fact, was getting older.”

The policy change has also raised concerns for some students who fear barriers with accommodation.“Getting a doctor’s note is much slower than the SRA,” said Alice Huang, fourth-year media, information and technoculture student.

The Gazette editors researched the connection between “frosh” and Italian homophobic slurs, ﬁnding minimal results. Urban Dictionary, a crowdsourced online dictionary for slang, was the only source editors found indicating the term with that spelling is homophobic from community posts published over 10 years ago.

“Taking care of residence buildings is a community responsibility. We encourage individuals with information about damages to come forward so we can initiate an investigation, with the intention of identifying the responsible parties and assigning the cost of the speciﬁc damages solely to them,” addedFiftyLengyell.to75per cent of damages found in residence are charged to a whole residence buildings rather than individual students, according to him.

And ﬁnally, everyone’s favourite: the ceiling tiles.

So maybe reconsider next time before you decide to headbutt a ceiling tile or spray gas station champagne on the walls. Your spring pocketbook will thank you.

Giovanna Cacciola, a ﬂuent Italian speaker, said frosh is “very close” to frocio, an Italian homophobic slur, but the spelling and pronunciation are different.“When I started university and heard the word ‘frosh,’ I did make the connection [to frocio] in my own head,” Cacciola recalled. “Although it’s not exactly the same word, it’s very similar.”

Frosh and frocio’s etymologies also appear to have no connection, according to the o cial website of Giovanni Dallorto, an Italian writer and historian specializingin LGBTQ2+ studies, and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

lmost every Western student is assigned their residence building by lottery. But how random are Western’s building assignments? And do your housing questionnaire rankings really Westerncount?University’s residence system has long been “lottery-style,” with each student being assigned a random computer-generated number after submitting their residence placement questionnaire. When a number is drawn, the university will assign the student to their ﬁrst choice residence building. If that building is at full capacity, the student will be assigned their second choice, and so on, based on their ranking from the questionnaire.

Luca Boccia, also a ﬂuent Italian speaker, said frocio can also be pronounced “froh-sh,” another regional variation. He also felt there is no connection between frosh and frocio.

“No chance,” said Boccia, speaking about any connection between the two terms.

Residence cost varies in single or double room accommodations across the three styles: traditional, hybrid and suite style.

“With Western students’ [admission] average increasing year over year, so have the number of students who meet this criteria, which has made it challenging to continue this building-choice guarantee,” said AccordingAlleyne.todata from the Council of Ontario Universities, the percentage of Western students with at least a 90 per cent admission average has increased over 30 per cent in the last decade, with approximately 65 per cent of students achieving the 90th percentile in 2018-19.

“I don’t mind the lottery system … however, I do think that the school should be more accommodating to students who request a change due to ﬁnancial reasons,” said Mayureeka Nadarajah, an incoming ﬁrst-year health sciences student. “Forcing a student to live in the most expensive residence [because] of their poor chances with the lottery system is completely unfair.”

For every ceiling tile that breaks or disappears, it will cost $4 to $9 to replace. If you live in a loud residence, expect your ceiling tiles to look like snowﬂakes in your hallway — each one unique and detrimental to your chequing account.

Western said the term “has been reviewed and discussed several times by students and sta over the past number of years.”

Traditional style residences cost approximately $8,725 for shared double rooms and $9,415 for single rooms, with washrooms shared with approximately 15 residents per ﬂoor. Hybrid style residences include in-suite washrooms and cost between $9,290 to $10,185 for shared double rooms and $11,015 for single rooms.

One Urban Dictionary post from January 2010, from the username “Mario Zanelli,” reads, “frosh is one of the words used, in Italian, to describe a homosexual male.” A second post in August 2009 written by the username “Gianni Devino” reads, “Italians primarily use this word to describe a homosexual male, or someone acting like one, in general.”Italy has several dialects, and many words with the same spelling and meaning have di erent pronunciations, sometimes depending on where one is from in the country. Cacciola said frocio has at least two pronunciations she is aware of with a rolled “r”: “froh-shoh” and “froh-doh,” but conﬁrmed both are spelled “frocio.”

Last year, Housing and Ancillary Services began dividing damage bills that could not be assigned to speciﬁc students across whole buildings, rather than just those living on the damaged ﬂoor.

Getting assigned your residence building is one of the first steps that defines the Western student experience. Then there’s moving in, meeting your roommates and floormates and eating in the dining hall, so make the most of it.

io students’ admission average overall was 86 per cent. In comparison, Western students’ overall admission average in 2008-09 was 86 per cent, with 82 per cent for all Ontario students.

Suite style residences operate like apartments, with a full kitchen, living room and washrooms. These residences only come with single rooms, ranging from $9,165 at Alumni House to $11,425 at Essex

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Every stain the cleaning sta scrubs out is $30. That’s not much compared to when your floormate decides to break the fire extinguisher out of the wall, but just wait until your entire floor hosts a party that results in jungle juice spills all over the carpet.Additionally, for each beer bottle found in a residence hallway, your building will be charged with a $30 beer bottle fine. Think twice before shotgunning Bud Lights in the halls next time.

From microwave fires to unattended stoves, those who trigger alarms with real accidental fires are subject to a $200 fine. Any unintended fire alarms — playing hallway sports or pulling pranks with floormates — will run you anywhere from $700 to $950. There’s also an additional $200 cost for resetting the fire alarm and another $50 fine for tampering with fire equipment. When the perpetrating students cannot be identified, these costs are split among the entire building.

Alleyne emphasized Western also manually audits placements to ensure results from the computer software program are accurate. They also manually review lifestyle responses when processing room changes or admitting new students later in theInyear.past years, Western has implemented several ways to skip the queue altogether and be promised a top choice, regardless of the computer-generated number. Speciﬁcally, they guaranteed ﬁrst-year students with at least a 95 per cent admission average one of their top three building choices since 2013. But that priority was removed this year.

This guarantee has remained the same over the past years.

To address these challenges for the 2022-23 academic year, only those who received the Western Scholarship of Excellence are guaranteed one of their top three residence choices, according to Alleyne. The random draw is still used to determine whether these students are accommodated in double or single rooms.

AccordingHall. to the Western Residence website FAQs, there are generally no vacancies in residence for the ﬁrst academic quarter. As a result, building and room changes are only considered after Thanksgiving, at the discretion of the Residence Life Management Team.

One other exception is if students received a Western National Scholarship Program, President’s Entrance Scholarship, Faculty Entrance Scholarship or Schulich Leader Scholarship, they will be assigned a single room in their ﬁrst-choice residence, unless they’ve requested a double room.

But, of course, it’s a bit more complicated than that. The software also takes into consideration students’ housing preference — single-gender or mixed-gender housing — and responses to the 10 lifestyle questions and room availability, according to Chris Alleyne, associate vice-president of Housing and Ancillary Services. Though he noted lifestyle preferences were only used for students who do not select their own roommate.

Residence: The lottery all Western frosh want to win

ANDY YANG NEWS EDITOR

Mad money: A guide to residence damage charges

the alteration and shortening of the term “freshman.”“Frosh” is also used across universities in Canada to refer to ﬁrst-year students, including Queen’s University and McGill University.

estern says the word “frosh,” used to refer to ﬁrst-year students across Canadian universities, is an Italian homophobic slur, but some Italian speakers have cast doubt onWesternthis. University is encouraging sophs to use terms other than “frosh” to refer to ﬁrst-year students. Melissa Steadman, associate director of residence engagement at Western, told sophs during an online summer soph orientation meeting that “we also know that the terminology ‘frosh’ is quite derogatory. It is a gay, derogatory term in Italian.” Steadman said using alternative terms to “frosh” is part of the university’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion principles.

Western says ‘frosh’ is an Italian homophobic slur, Italian speakers disagree

Screenshots from Western Savages’ Instagram account show damages in Delaware Hall from Mar. 12, 2020.

According to Housing, last year, some buildings had community damages as low as a few dollars per student, while others were as high as $40 per student.The loudest, most frustrating and most expensive fine for your building is the fire alarm. Students who decide to evacuate your entire residence building will be subject to a hefty fine.

“In the past, student representatives have brought forward concerns to the Orientation Planning Committee that the term ‘frosh’ can be seen as condescending. Others have suggested that the term can be interpreted by some as a homophobic slur,” the university wrote in a statement to the Gazette. Western also did not provide a source for its Italian meaning of the word “frosh.”

According to Chris Lengyell, director of Housing and Ancillary Services, the decision was made after consulting with students in residence and student leaders, and “is intended to be a more e ective deterrent to residents doing intentional damage to ﬂoors other than their own.”

Dallorto writes on his site frocio’s etymology “relates to the perverse customs (sexual and otherwise) of the pope’s lansquenets.” According to Merriam-Webster, the English word “frosh” means “a college or high school freshman” and comes from

ANDY YANG NEWS EDITOR ALEX MCCOMB DEPUTY EDITOR

@WESTERNSAVAGES INSTAGRAM

That may not sound like much when it’s split over 600 people, but just wait until an alarm gets pulled three times every weekend — you can expect to rack up a long bill at the end of the year. And ﬁre drills are only the start of what could drain your wallet. From juice spills to vomit, or pushing a cart down the hall, stains are going to happen, too.

Western students’ overall admission average for Western in 2018-19 was 91 per cent, while Ontar-

ADSHAYAH SATHIASEELAN NEWS EDITOR

For any other damage found within residence, your building will rack up a $25 malicious damage ﬁne plus restitution.

eeing damage in your residence is part of everyone’s ﬁrst-year experience. But not everyone knows how the bill works.

Lisa Highgate, associate director of residence conduct and conflict resolution at Western, confirmed the university believes “frosh” is an Italian homophobic slur in a statement to the Gazette, but did not indicate a source. She also noted the university dislikes the term “frosh” as it can “imply a power“Overimbalance.”thepastseveral years, the university has recommended using the phrase ‘first-years’ instead of ‘frosh,’ as the word ‘frosh’ can imply a power imbalance and is a term used as a homophobic slur in Italian,” wrote Highgate.

What does the incident say about Western’s campus culture?

One-thirdyear. of Western students reported they had witnessed or experienced GBSV on campus in the past year, according to a survey with over 900 participants in the report from Western’s internal Action Committee on Gender-Based and Sexual Violence.Western’s external report also noted “the practice of “roofying” [being dosed with a date rape drug] appears to have acquired normalcy within the community.”

What happened the night of Friday, Sept. 10?

Starting at 10:15 p.m., two ﬁre alarms sounded at Medway-Sydenham Hall, forcing about 600 ﬁrst-year students to leave the building. Sophs, who were mostly second and third-year students, rushed there from all over campus to help students evacuate safely.

This year’s OWeek will also have 24-7 support for those who have experienced GBSV and care tents around the campus o ering food, water and mental health support from professionals. First-year residences will also have upper-year safety ambassadors in addition to regular residence sta .

The members of the coalition collected over 500 signatures on a petition to introduce legislation regarding upstream prevention education and sexual violence policies — the petition was presented at Queen’s Park on International Women’s Day. They plan to keep pushing for the legislation in the up-

The coalition was o cially formed after the demonstration, when the team decided that a walkout was not enough. The core team now consists of eight members — half undergraduate and half graduate students, and now includes a few men. The group is currently in the process of registering as a Ziyananot-for-proﬁt.Kotadia, a ﬁfth-year global gender studies student at Huron and more recent core member of the Safe Campus Coalition, was the University Students’ Council’s vice-president university a airs at the time. She described her experience at the protest as surreal.

“Just because we aren’t seeing the same kind of headlines as last year doesn’t mean things are not happening, and we should be stopping the conversation.”

Sophs present that night said they saw six to eight female students at a time unconscious outside of Med-Syd on the Friday who they suspected might have been drugged, according to a Globe and Mail

Will OWeek 2022 be safer?

LIAM AFONSO GAZETTE

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

Campus police o cers patrol outside Med-Syd Hall, Sept. 17, 2021.

How many students were sexually assaulted in the Medway-Sydenham Hall?

Posts that went viral on social media the following weekend claimed dozens of women had been drugged and sexually assaulted that Friday and quickly drew the attention of the university and LondonLondonpolice.police interviewed over 600 students in residence in the days after the alleged incident, but told Western that no formal complaints had been received and that no charges had been ﬁled. Though, experts noted at the time it is not unusual

that survivors of sexual violence decide to report later or not to contact police at all.

Protestor marchers at campus walkout in support of survivors of sexual violence, Sept. 17, 2021.

The university has also committed to establishing a new GBSV Advisory Committee to guide its future actions. Western will also hire more GBSV-related sta such as a GBSV support case manager, a GBSV prevention and education coordinator and residence health and safety advisors.

Police conduct an investigation into reported sexual assaults at Medway-Sydenham Hall, Sept. 13 2021.

Anreport.external review on the allegations of sexual assults commissioned by Western found that there was “at least one instance of sexual assault at MedSyd between Sept. 10 and 11.

Here’s everything you need to know about OWeek 2021 and the response that followed.

What happened at Western OWeekFROSH2021?ISSUE

REN NEWS EDITOR

In March, the team worked with the USC and London North Centre Member of Provincial Parliament, Terence Kernaghan, to introduce legislation mandating anti-gender-based and sexual violence training for all Ontario post-secondary schools.

Multiple female students later told sophs they were o ered a cloudy white liquid out of clear water bottles that night. Some students said they were sexually assaulted in their dorm rooms earlier that week and later reported it to sophs or residence dons but didn’t ﬁle any formal complaints.

The coalition is planning an art-based community event and educational campaign for Sept. 16 both at Western and Gibbons Park. Organizers hope to expand their reach further than Western and collaborate with student-based and local groups on a London-wide event.

ne year after reports of mass druggings and sexual assults in a Western residence building began circulating campus, the community is still feeling the repercussions.

“The big thing we are focusing on is making sure that the conversation we participated in last year is not ending as the new school year starts. All the events that happened last year are not anomalies. Sexual violence is something that happens every single year on every campus in Canada and globally,” said Poirier.

Western has made a series of commitments in response to the recommendations from the two reports released in May.

All incoming students need to complete a GBSV education module before arriving on campus and soph leadership teams are required to attend a new two-week paid training program to better support students during orientation.

“I have never witnessed the momentum for change that I did that day,” said Kotadia. “It was inspiring to see our student body so united. At the same time, it’s devastating that it takes acts of vi-

The university president, Alan Shepard, told the Globe that Western recieved ﬁve formal complaints of sexual assault on campus in the ﬁrst two weeks of the fall semester, but none were related to Friday’s allegations at Med-Syd.

The survivor support case manager at Western responded to 164 cases of GBSV in the 2021-22 school year, which nearly doubled the number from the previous year and 46 more the 2019-20 school

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coming school year.

ESTELLA

Ending the use of soph names — a Western OWeek tradition that involved sophs adopting fake names for orientation activities and only revealing their real names at the end of the week — was the most controversial change that stirred criticism from soph Westerngroups.explained they ended the practice due to “the sexually-charged nature” of many soph name origin stories. The university also hopes to foster a more authentic relationship between sophs and ﬁrst-year students. The idea, according to the external report, is that sophs and students alike will be more accountable when their names are not anonymous.

ADSHAYAH SATHIASEELAN NEWS EDITOR

Thousands of students attended the student-led walkout protest, Sept. 17, 2021.

olence before conversations about patriarchy and sexism are prioritized by the university.”

On Sept. 10, 2021, several female students were seen lying in the grass in front of Medway Sydenham Hall and appeared too intoxicated to move. The following weekend, rumors of up to 30 young women being drugged and sexually assaulted in the ﬁrst-year residence snowballed on social media. But, despite police involvement, no one has been charged.Theresult was an unprecedented walkout of over 12,000 students, faculty and sta demanding Western University change its approach to gender-based and sexual violence. In response, the university launched two independent reviews which both revealed deep-rooted cultural problems, speciﬁcally during Orientation Week, and provided numerous recommendations to address them.

The coalition has not slowed down since September, organizing various other events, including coordinating a nation-wide campus walkout on Dec. 6 to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre, when fourteen young women in a mechanical engineering class were killed as a result of gender-based violence.

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE

he Safe Campus Coalition is not backing down in the ﬁght to end gender-based and sexual violence on Canadian post-secondaryThecampuses.groupinitially came together last fall after seeing reports circulating on social media that at least 30 girls had been drugged and assaulted at Western University’s Medway-Sydenham Hall residence.Two separate protests had been in talks, according to Emily Poirier, a fourth-year global health studies student at Huron and co-founder of the Safe Campus Coalition, but after the group connected online, decided to combine them. When the team organized the Sept. 17 walkout, it consisted of more than 20 people who identiﬁed as women or non-binary.

The Safe Campus Coalition and the ﬁght to end GBSV

Sophs reportedly saw numerous female students who were so intoxicated that they couldn’t walk out of the dorm and had to be carried onto the lawn outside Med-Syd. They stood in circles facing outwards to protect the privacy of the students who vomited and couldn’t take care of themselves, handing over water and waiting for paramedics if needed.Thenumber and the degree of intoxication of these students was alarming to sophs in addition to the fact that they were all women.

The walkout was attended by over 12,000 students, faculty and sta , sporting teal apparel to march across campus in support of GBSV survivors.

The school’s equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization working group spearheaded the census as part of a nationwide response to backlash over the lack of race-based data collected by CanadianThereuniversities.areavariety of opinions online about what the typical Western student looks like. As Vice puts it: if you go to Western, “You are probably white. And rich.”But the university’s equity census results suggest approximately 49 per cent of Western students identify as a visible minority, compared to 40 per cent of undergraduates and 45 per cent of graduate students nationally.

SONIA PERSAUD NEWS EDITOR fy as Butnon-white.manyschools are still in the process of completing an equity census or have not yet made racial demographic data publicly available.

Western University’s equity census began collecting data in fall 2021. It received a 25 per cent response rate for students, 54 per cent for sta and 34 per cent for faculty members.

plication will deliberate and issue a decision with written reasons that explain why the LAT reached its decision.” The LAT’s communications sta also conﬁrmed to the Gazette that Pollock is adjudicating the Heapcase.believes

“I don’t see any reason why any of the parties should want a person who has a reasonable apprehension of bias to remain as the decider,” he said.

“Whether you like the decision or you don’t like the decision, it’s a decision which can be called into question. This is the problem with even apparent conﬂicts of interest, and people say, ‘hey, that doesn’t look right, it doesn’t smell good.’”

SARAH WALLACE GAZETTE

The hearing lasted over ﬁve hours with only preliminary matters — mostly Heap’s recusal motion — being discussed. After learning the hearings would not be recorded and that there would be no transcripts, Heap motioned for the hearings to be adjourned for at least 10 days to make time for him to ﬁnd a way to record the proceedings, which was denied. He made another motion to adjourn the hearings until Aug. 23 for the same reason, and was deniedHeapagain.hadassumed this part of the proceedings would take less than an hour. He said he was disappointed so much of the hearing was spent on his motions, saying he was interested in hearing from other community members, residents, local businesses, city councillors and colleagues on the matter.

Western prof calls for recusal of 7-Eleven alcohol hearing vice-chair over alleged conﬂict of interest

women to earn a PhD in educational studies from IndigenousWestern.students at Western have access to the Indigenous Students’ Centre, which aims to foster community on campus and a safe space for Indigenous students through its sta and programming.The

“I expected to be hearing not from myself so much as from other people,” he said. “I hear quite enough of my own voice in this line of work, I don’t need to hear from myself in an LAT hearing.”

The 7-Eleven location at the corner of Western and Sarnia Road, Aug. 17, 2022.

LAT hearing proceedings for this case will resume after Sept. 29 once the LAT has made their decision on the motion.

ALEX MCCOMB DEPUTY EDITOR

Western professor is pushing for the vicechair of the tribunal hearing the 7-Eleven alcohol license application case to recuse himself from proceedings due to an alleged conﬂict of interest.GeoPollock, the vice-chair of the Licensing Appeals Tribunal hearing the case for the 7-Eleven near Western University’s campus to acquire an alcohol license, is a member of the university’s Board of Governors appointed by the Ontario government.Western previously submitted a motion as an interested party to oppose granting an alcohol license to the 7-Eleven at the Western and Sarnia Road intersection, near multiple ﬁrst-year residence buildings, but was denied by the LAT. The university submitted an additional motion for the LAT to reconsider their decision, which was also denied.

Approximately two per cent of student respondents identiﬁed as Indigenous. Of the two per cent, the majority — 54 per cent — identiﬁed as First Nations, with 27 per cent identifying as Métis and two per cent as Inuit.

SONIA PERSAUD GAZETTE Created with Datawrapper.

FROSH ISSUE NEWS | P5|

Heap, who is acting as an interested community member in the hearing, said he was “surprised” to see a Western Board of Governors member sitting as the LAT vice-chair hearing the proceedings and in charge of deciding the case.

Although the equity census data somewhat helps to discredit the stereotype regarding Western’s lack of racial diversity, the census does note an underrepresentation of Indigenous students.

Heap took to social media to share his motion plans in a statement after the hearing. Heap had until Aug. 29 to submit the motion.

In 2021, Western added four Indigenous faculty members and initiated the process of hiring up to eight more Indigenous faculty, including two Canada ResearchUltimately,Chairs.Western’s student body may be less white than its reputation suggests — but as the authors of the equity census write, the university still has work to do to make Western a “school of choice for Indigenous students.”

ISC also works with the Indigenous Students’ Association, the University Students’ Council’s Indigenous relations coordinator and the supporting Aboriginal graduate enhancement coordinator.Alongwith students, Bresette said Indigenous faculty are “key leaders” in the process of creating a welcoming and inclusive environment by integrating Indigenous ways of “knowing and doing” into the curriculum.

it’s in “everybody’s interest” for Pollock to recuse himself before the LAT decides on the 7-Eleven’s alcohol license application case.

Pollock and Western did not respond to a request for comment. The LAT has declined to comment.

After Heap’s motion proposal is submitted, 7-Eleven Canada’s counsel and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario have until Sept. 16

to submit a written response. Heap then has until Sept. 29 to submit a ﬁnal written response.

National data suggests approximately three per cent of undergraduate university students in Canada identify as Indigenous. In Ontario, four per cent of youth aged 15 to 24 are Indigenous.

Census signals Western may not be so white— but must work for Indigenous equity

This finding holds true in comparison to U15 schools — an association of 15 Canadian public research universities, including McMaster University, Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo — where 45 per cent of first-year and 41 per cent of final-year students identi-

Available data for the percentage of Indigenous-identifying students shows Western is comparable to peer institutions. Christy Bressette, Western’s vice-provost and associate vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives, said a larger Indigenous student presence on campus would be a “welcomed enhancement” to the Indigenous student experience.“Greater numbers would provide a greater sense of being welcomed at Western, greater opportunities for interaction with fellow Indigenous students, and greater cultural, social and personal support,” she said. Bressette herself was one of the ﬁrst Indigenous

David Heap, an associate professor of French at Western, brought forward the motion calling for Pollock to recuse himself in the tribunal hearing on Aug 19., arguing that Pollock’s relationship with the university constitutes a conﬂict of interest given Western’s stance on the case.

A ccording to Western’s ﬁrst-ever equity census results, the university has a more diverse student body than stereotypes would suggest — but Indigenous students continue to be underrepresented.

Pollock said that, though he is hearing the case, the member hearing the case is never the adjudicator, however, according to the LAT’s website, “... the tribunal member(s) hearing the appeal or ap-

Cheapside Street

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Route 2 Route 93 Route 27 Route 10

The

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Shuttle BroughdaleAve Staple Bar Nights Old North Near West Near South Masonville Downtown REBECCA STREEF GAZETTE

Jack’s Dollar Beers (Mon/Wed)

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Express VIA Rail TheWesternStationUniversityWesternGazette Office Masonville Mall Featured Restaurants HappinessBTRMLKGradClub Under the Volcano WolfpackYasmine’s

Grocery Stores with Student Deals (Tues)

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Student Parking Lots (With Permit)

Silver Line Purple Line

Brescia / King’s

Spoke’s Rick McGhie (Wed)

Molly Bloom’s Karaoke (Sun/Mon)

Gazette office (UCCWolfepack263)

Wink’s Rock N’ Roll Bingo (Tues)

Mustangs

Benni describes Lebanese food based on the Mediter-

Haidar and his wife, Monia Elhayek, opened BTRMLK — a premium, fast-casual, fried chicken experience on Wharncli e Road — in 2020. After noticing a gap in London’s restaurant scene for high-quality fried

appiness is a chic Ukrainian-owned cafe featuring a variety of European sweet treats, a few lunch options and high-quality co ee. Opened in 2018 by Olha Prytkova and her husband, Anatolii, who moved to Canada from Ukraine in 2016, the couple owns and operates two locations — their original location near Victoria Park and another in Masonville Mall.

t’s not every day you ﬁnd a place that o ers an egg and bacon breakfast in the morning and a plate of hot wings and craft beer at night.

Wolfepack Company Bar

hen Shad Haidar graduated from King’s University College in 2015, he had no idea that six years later he would own and operate his own fried chicken restaurant only a few minutes up the road.

Happiness is centered around handcrafted pastries that combine European ﬂavours with an American twist. Prytkova says their donuts — often covered with di erent types of chocolate and fruity ganaches — are some of their bestsellers. Everything at the cafe is homemade by Prytkova and her sta who are focused on producing the quality co ee and sweet treats.

chicken sandwiches, the couple experimented with an at-home fryer, developing recipes for their family and friends to review, before it snowballed into a pop-up shop out of Haider’s parents’ garage in London.

evening approaches and table service begins, often accompanied with live music or trivia. It’s one of the few places on campus that serves alcohol, keeping its pricing lower than its competition.Marc Lalonde, general manager of The Grad Club for almost 18 years, describes the pub’s atmosphere as laid-back and more mature. Despite its reputation of being for mature students and attracting professors as an after-class hangout spot, Lalonde says undergraduate students are always welcome at The Grad Club.

rothers Justin and Gregg Wolfe opened Wolfepack Company Bar to try to be out of the box.

alking into Yasmine’s is transportive: elegant decor, warm colours, a high ceiling and an overall ambience can make you forget you are in the unremarkable Hyland Centre next to Masonville Place. Owner Farah Benni says the original vision of the restaurant was to give Londoners a true Mediterranean experience.“Therewas a void and a need for a true, authentic Lebanese restaurant,” says Benni. “We wanted to be the ambassadors for that here and ﬁll that gap.”

The pair currently owns four other well-known London restaurants — Los Lobos,

ranean diet as healthy and well-balanced — full of ﬂavours and spices, while being light on the stomach. A stand-out of Yasmine’s is their manakeesh — Lebanese ﬂatbread — which is freshly baked in their in-house oven and varies with either thyme, cheese or meats. Yasmine’s menu also features 24 di erent hot and cold appetizers, making the restaurant well-suited for big groups. While Benni notes that many Arabic students “used to their mum’s cooking back home” appreciate their home-cooked style, their food is appealing to people from all walks of life.

Many students don’t know one happens to be located right in the heart of campus in the basement level of Middlesex College. Established in 1979 by the Society of Graduate Students, The Grad Club o ers three distinct services as the day goes on — doors open at 8 a.m. with hot pots of co ee waiting, up until lunchtime where it shifts into a cafeteria-style eatery with burgers, wa e fries and wraps. The lights dim once the

resh, tasty and ﬂavourful are hallmark descriptors of Mexican cuisine. Under the Volcano has been cooking up just that for almost 50 years, winning students over for generations.Theestablishment opened in 1974 and takes the title of London’s ﬁrst Mexican restaurant. The restaurant o ers a variety of Mexican cuisine including burritos, tacos, fajitas and deep fried ice cream, with everything made from scratch. Under the

The Grad Club Under the Volcano Happiness

LAUREN MEDEIROS, CAT TANG, DANIELLE PAUL CULTURE

Yasmine’s

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

The restaurant prioritizes farm-fresh, seasonal ingredients from as many local suppliers as possible while trying to limit waste. The Company Bar has a stand-out cocktail, wine and craft beer program, pulling exclusive small batch beers from independent breweries not even on shelves yet.

Wolfe of Wortley, The Early Bird and Night Owl — but say Wolfepack is the most unique. Whether you’re ordering the karaage mushrooms or the tofu banh mi sandwich, one thing is for sure: your meal will be Instagram worthy. The aesthetically pleasing menu of the Wolfe brothers’ restaurant has captured many university students’ attention since its opening.“Wewant to be able to give people beautiful food at pub prices and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” say the brothers.

Volcano prides themselves on their food having no preservatives or additives while o ering gluten free, vegetarian and vegan“Whereoptions. we’re located right now has a deep history of previous restaurants. It’s a great location, close to downtown [and] we’ve been really blessed with the support and loyalty of customers that helped us get through the pandemic,” says Steve Callipari, the owner.

FROSH ISSUE CULTURE | P7|

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTESOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

BTRMLK

BTRMLK began with one item: their original chicken sandwich. It has since grown to include two more sandwiches, three mac and cheese ﬂavours and deluxe fries topped with jalapenos.

Mustangs’ Map: Western student haunts and London’s local culinary gems

The way my high school experience ended made my in-person Orientation Week last fall all the more special. I was able to join clubs, go to concerts and meet people in my program — not through online group chats, but by making strong connections in-person.

My University Students’ Council executive team is so excited for you to join us on campus, and we’re ready to introduce you to everything this community has to o er. You’ll see us front and centre during Orientation Week, at our concerts and events and on social media.

HANNAH ALPER OPINIONS EDITOR

Sophs were the reason why last year’s OWeek events didn’t lead to even greater chaos. Yet, we are becoming the scapegoat for the chronic, nationwide cultural problem of campus safety.

Nicknames help new sophs and their frosh get to know each other. When I was a ﬁrst-year, I called my sophs by their soph names the whole year because having a fun story associated with these names helped to break barriers between them and me as an incoming student.

A letter from this year’s USC president, Ethan Gardner

no evidence that the sophs supposed perception of anonymity or lack of accountability played a role in last year’s tragedies, then why is Western’s administration unnecessarily intervening with the program’s culture?

But what I know now is I was doing more than just following — I was joining communities that helped shape me, and I was ﬁnding my footing as a leader. Without the guidance of my family, sophs and friends, I wouldn’t be who I am today. My time at Western has helped me ﬁgure out what I’m doing and where I’m going. Now, it’s your turn.

writing this to you.

At the USC, we believe students have the power to change the world, and we’re looking forward to seeing how you change ours.

Like most of my class of 2021 peers, I took classes online for a year and a half, then threw on a cap and gown to collect my diploma in a drive-thru graduation from my parents’ car.

FROSH ISSUEOPINIONS | P8 |

I’ll tell you what I’ve learned — what’s to come is the most challenging, rewarding and fun four years of your life.

Join a club, come to an event, run for your faculty’s council, volunteer or work with us. There are as many ways to get involved with the USC as there are students on this campus, and there is, without a doubt, a place for you here.

Traditionally, sophs have nicknames, like the tactical call signs in Top Gun, that their ﬁrst-year students call them during OWeek and beyond. Every name has a story, and this tradition is a large cultural component of Western University’s orientation program. Western’s administration has ended the use of these nicknames after an independent review recommended it in response to last year’s OWeek.I’vebeen a Faculty of Information and Media Studies soph for two years and am a programming assistant on the team this year. I was on duty the night of Sept. 10, 2021.

To the class of 2026

Instead of cutting the cord on the naming tradition, Western should take a more prominent role in regulating names and their associated stories to ensure they’re appropriate.

I couldn’t be happier that I made that e ort because if I hadn’t really gotten more involved with the Gazette and opened that in-person door at the o ce, I know I wouldn’t be sitting here today

Ethan Gardner, 2022-23 USC president

MILES BOLTON SPORTS EDITOR

isn’t a big deal. But FIMS is small to begin with. Seven sophs accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the team, not including leadership positions. The sophs who dropped out also included multiple returners who would’ve provided valuable experience to our young team.

COURTESY OF THE USC

art of me still does not entirely feel like I graduated high school.

Bottom row, left to right: Ethan Biswurm, Cameron Cawston, Ethan Gardner

I had developed relationships with professors and TAs so much so that when we went back online, I actually felt comfortable reaching out to them. Not

But leaders at the university have repeatedly emphasized that sophs were not at fault for last OWeek.Ifthere’s

Our school is ﬁlled with incredible people, life-changing opportunities and great bagels, too. This change may feel daunting, but you’ve overcome so much already to get to this point, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.

If you see me on campus, come say hi, or reach out to me and my team anytime. That’s what we’re hereWelcomefor. home, Mustangs. We’re so glad you’re here.—

In a bigger faculty, having seven sophs drop out

only that, but it made me inﬁnitely more grateful for how I spent my time the ﬁrst few months — knowing how necessary those in-person experiences are made me work even harder when we returned to make those bonds stronger.

What happened that night will not be ﬁxed by eliminating soph names.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the morale and spirit around the team is lower this year. Even though sophing is primarily focused on helping new students, it matters that the experience isn’t as fun for us anymore.

Western needs to focus on the big issues and not look for people to blame for last year — especially people who responded to the crisis in the ﬁrst place. Removing soph names is not going to eliminate gender-based violence on campus; it will make the orientation program worse.

As volunteers trained for harm reduction and support situations, sophs need to be easily identiﬁable. Wearing a nickname on the back of our uniforms di erentiates us from sta members.

Don’t take in-person university for granted

The naming tradition gives sophs conﬁdence by allowing new and introverted sophs to embrace their role and identity as student leaders, which is key to being an e ective role model.

Western has stated that some soph names and stories in the past were sexually charged. This may be true, but it’s Western’s job to approve these names in the ﬁrst place.

Ending soph names does more harm than good

Take university as a fresh start. A fresh start ﬁlled with opportunity. An opportunity to socialize, to meet new people. To join. To belong.

At times, it might seem like you’re not sure what you’re doing or where you’re going. It’ll feel like you’re just following in the footsteps of those who came before you. I also felt that way — I followed my sister from our hometown of Toronto to Western University, I followed my mentors to the social science soph team and I followed my peers as we navigated the virtual world together.

When I experienced that gratitude and renewed sense of belonging and excitement for a fresh start, I realized the same thing that all of you should — I will never take school and the pre-pandemic university experience for granted.

Top row, left to right: Jessica Look, Keemia Abbaszadeh, Lauren Jarman

And remember, if you’re feeling uncertain, awkward or like you might be doing the wrong thing when it comes to this not-new-but-new normal — so is everybody else.

You’ll also ﬁnd us behind the scenes — providing mental health support, looking after your health plan and bus pass and doing our absolute best to

My team this year had seven people drop out of the program by the start of soph training. Though this is due to a number of reasons, I’m convinced if soph names were still around, we wouldn’t have lost so many.

couldn’t be more excited to be the one to welcome you to our Western family. Four years ago, I was in your shoes, nervous, excited and incredibly unsure of what was to come.

If Western expects sophs to stay on campus through the early hours of the morning during OWeek as volunteers and take away a tradition that has made it an enjoyable experience for us, they will ﬁnd themselves lacking in people willing to take on this free labour.

While the ﬁrst few in-person months at Western were amazing, they were also really overwhelming. It almost felt awkward at times and I wanted to take it slow.Ifelt that hesitation shift when we returned to being back in-person second semester. I understood the opportunities we had could be taken away, so I reached out to more people and mustered up the courage to go to club meetings in-person.

These last few years took away so many of those things that gave us somewhere to go and feel connected to So, join clubs and teams. Make the most out of OWeek and try to really get to know each person you meet.

Western is a place for you to discover who you are, make friendships that are truly lifelong and ﬁgure out how you want to change the world. That all starts right here, right now.

The next four years are deﬁnitely going to be a rollercoaster, but I can conﬁdently say that they’re worth it. Western is more than just a pretty campus, more than classrooms you’ll attend lectures in and more than just a degree.

make sure your voices are heard.

The reason the report gave for recommending the end of soph names was the use of nicknames “reinforces the sense that one must be a di erent person during Orientation, anonymous, and possibly less accountable for one’s actions.”

he removal of soph names, one of Western’s responses to the tragic events of last year’s Orientation Week, is a mistake and is damaging the orientation program.

“The most important thing students can do is be honest with themselves,” says Wedlake. “There’s no shame or blame here, [university] is really about identifying where you are at this point in your development.”Taking time to recharge during OWeek can also make the following weeks less draining for new students. Lesley Oliver, the equity, diversity and inclusion specialist at Western, says spending time alone and doing things you enjoy are helpful ways to recharge.

ood can tell a story and bring people together unlike anything else. When the Western Farmers Market was given the go-ahead to reopen this season, Anne Zok jumped at the opportunity to reforge the campus community’s relationship with local produce.Zokis

LAUREN MEDEIROS

niversity is supposed to be like the movies: Orientation Week, parties, new friends and life in residence. But for Sophia Brown, a student from Vancouver who started at Western University in September 2019, it wasn’t quite like that.

ive days of early-morning wake-up calls, residence chants and watching late-night concerts on University College Hill. University is always this fun – right?

method to reduce transition fallout.

While it may seem like a phenomenon reserved for kids going to sleepaway camp for the ﬁrst time, homesickness can a ect anyone from ﬁrst-year students to faculty members.

“When I was a student, going to the grocery store was a huge hassle,” says Bortoluzzi. “If I could have stepped outside of my classes and picked up a bag of washed salad or a pint of cherry tomatoes to snack on the way to my next class, that might have helped me avoid all the French fry options at the cafe.”

DANIELLE PAUL CULTURE EDITOR

“Everyone goes through a period where they feel, ‘this isn’t what

I signed up for or what I expected, and I miss those aspects of being home,’” says Western’s associate director of transition, leadership and enrichment programs Leslie Gloor Duncan. “It’s di erent for everybody, but I think it’s a human experience to feel those feelings of homesickness.”Thephenomenon most likely developed as an evolutionary side effect, according to Duke University professor of psychology and neuroscience Mark Leary in a 2014 interview. Our ancestors survived by living in cohesive social groups, which led humans to be highly sociable and desire to stick to a group. If you wandered o on your own, you would probably become a predator’s dinner.

Skilled Accents is a social enterprise that recruits and trains refugees and immigrant women to upcycle textiles. The organization creates decor items including pillowcases, table runners and tote bags out of fabric donated by London furnitureBusinessstores.development director at

Fresh produce sold by Harvest King. Local farm Our Fields provides an array of organic vegetables.

COURTESY OF ANNE ZOK

Marnie Wedlake is a professor in Western’s Health Sciences faculty and a registered psychotherapist who specializes in mental health. She believes that being proactive rather than reactive is the best

“Students need to remember that OWeek is just one week,” says Wedlake. “The university term is super short, just 13 weeks, and the expectation is high right from the start. Starting university [being] overwhelmed and exhausted is not a recipe for success.”

“When you’re away, you build up this fantasy that your house and family are so perfect,” says Brown. “I didn’t go home for so long that when I did, I realised I was building up how much I missed it.”

“But most importantly, if you need help, be honest with yourself and get support,” says Wedlake.

COURTESY OF ANNE ZOK

Among them was organic vegetable farm Our Fields, operated by the husband and wife duo Romina Bortoluzzi and Western alumnus Roger Thiessen.

Skilled Accents’ booth on the boardwalk featuring fabric options donated from furniture stores in London.

COURTESY OF ANNE ZOKCOURTESY OF ANNE ZOK

Western University’s Orientation Week can be an exciting time, but also extremely draining. It features a series of events including campus tours, concerts, charity events, faculty day and early wakeup calls. The schedule is very di erent from typical university life, which can confuse students living on their own for the ﬁrst time.

When Brown returned home to Vancouver for winter reading week in 2020, she discovered many of her preoccupied thoughts of home could be attributed to rose-coloured nostalgia.

Structuring a sleep schedule, eating healthy food, starting a morning routine and exercising regularly are a few of the ways Wedlake suggests students implement early on.

Harvest King is another vendor at the Western Farmers Market, o ering fruit and vegetables sourced directly from farmers. Tulio Hernandez, a second-year music student at Western and the son of Harvest King owner Fernando Hernandez, says he understands the importance of having healthy food options on“Wecampus.study hard and our brains need [healthy] nutrition to fuel us,” says Hernandez.Having a positive impact on the community is also at the forefront of Skilled Accents’ business, one of the non-food vendors at the Western Farmers Market.

to focus on my academics first and then I’ll get involved later,’” says Sager. “But we know from research and experience that getting involved — either through a part-time job, a club or attending an event — opens the door for other conversations and [expands] your support network.”Whileit might look like everyone in residence is having the time of their lives, a 2019 study in the International Journal of Psychology showed the majority of first-year students experience some form of homesickness.“Inthemoment, I wished other people talked about it more,” says Brown. “I felt like I was the only one on my floor [feeling homesick].”

Science behind: homesickness

Skilled Accents, Cecile Klerks, jumped on the opportunity to sell at the university after sales were hit hard by the pandemic. Selling at farmers markets and trade shows have encouraged the organization’s growth.

Western Farmers Market makes momentous comeback

“They always tell you September is the best month: frosh week, FOCO,” says Brown, now a fourth-year history student. “It’s the best time and you have to enjoy it. I felt guilty, like ‘I have to be enjoying this moment. I can’t be sad.’”

Leaving home for school or work in today’s society will likely not result in you being eaten. But being separated from a familiar environment can still spark the same distressing feelings that it did for ourWestern’sancestors.director of international student services Megan Sager advises students experiencing homesickness to get more involved on campus.“Alot of people approach the cultural transition as, ‘I’m just going

what your voice tells you to do. If you feel like you need to disengage, it’s okay. Find something that helps you to recharge, whether that be playing online games, being active, reading or missing a social event,” saysUnderstandingOliver. who you are entering orientation is important for new students. The best solution for succeeding after OWeek is to be honest with yourself as you navigate the ﬁrst weeks on campus.

CULTURE EDITOR

The market made its o cial return on June 28. Zok arrived on campus that morning ﬁlled with nerves, hoping the weeks of recruiting vendors from local markets would pay o .

“The key is not to let other people’s expectations of you override

Now when Brown goes home to Vancouver, she misses London.

Thiessen graduated in 2008 with a bachelor of education and the couple started the three-acre market garden in Aylmer, Ont. nearly a decade later.

“First-years are new, naive, young people and we are asking them to join this large crowd, which is essentially a week-long mosh pit,” explains Wedlake. “We need to ask ourselves if this is helpful for incomingWedlakestudents.”points

CAT TANG CULTURE EDITOR

The Western Farmers Market runs every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the boardwalk outside of McIntosh Gallery. The market will be open weekly until the end of September.

“I thought ‘oh my goodness, it’s going to be a tent or two and no one’s going to notice us.’ But that wasn’t the case,” says Zok.Four produce vendors lined the market’s walkway, each with multiple tables overﬂowing with fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and meats.

out that although OWeek can be appealing to extroverted personalities, there are many students that orientation is not geared towards.

Homesickness is a state of emotional distress someone can experience when they are separated from loved ones in a new environment. It’s characterized by feelings of loneliness, displacement and a strong urge to return to a familiar setting.

Father and son duo Fernando and Tulio Hernandez of Harvest King.

FROSH ISSUE CULTURE | P9|

The vendors have been recruiting others through word of mouth and social media as the season goes on. Zok says more people have been attending including many of the university’s professors and graduate students.

the nutrition manager with hospitality services at Western University. She was tasked in June with organizing the return of the Western Farmers Market after a two-years hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

How to navigate the exhaustion from OWeek

After high, intense energy all week long with student mentors there every step of the way, students can feel abandoned after OWeek ends, leaving them feeling unbalanced and even lonely.

They plan to go back-to-back in 2022 and, for the ﬁrst time in history, the national championship will be played at Western University.

The familiar faces of Keon Edwards and Edouard Wanadi will also be back in the fall. Maintaining the legendary Marshall method on the ground, Western will use a combination of both running backs to maximize the running game.

wa RedBlacks’ practice squad. Valente Jr. was selected 31st overall in the Canadian Football League draft in “We’reMay.really happy with [Valente Jr.],” said Gleason.“Through the spring, we were planning on him not being there and made some changes, but this is a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m not a maths, physics, biology or chemistry person,” says Sydney De Cicco, a third-year King’s University College student in criminology and human rights, who took earth sciences. “They were very straightforward and pretty interesting. I didn’t feel at a disadvantage [being] a non-science student.”

“It’sseason.the next man up. I think we’re going to have guys step up on the defence. We got to trust all the guys that step on the ﬁeld and play,” said Hillock.

Hillock has gone to work this o season, putting on weight and working on his mechanics, so his arm is ready for playing season. But the young quarterback has also continued working on his starter mentality.“Lastyear, I came mentally prepared as a starter even though I wasn’t going to start at the beginning. I’m just coming in ready to go, and [I] deﬁnitely feel more comfortable in the playbook after a year of playing in it,” Hillock said.

You don’t need to be a coding genius to excel in these courses.

DANIELLE PAUL CULTURE EDITOR

Western defeated the University of Guelph Gryphons 34–11 in their season opener Aug. 27.

Computer Science 1033: Introduction to Multimedia and Communications and its continuation, Computer Science 2033, explore how to use di erent media components with topics including how to use media and editing tools to create innovative websites, graphics, sound, animation and video ﬁles.

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE Western University’s Middlesex College, February 26, 2018.

The Mustangs have an incredibly experienced group returning this year on o ence.

last season created, so they want to get back at it.”

Every Western University program is unique, with their own requirements to complete a degree, but whether you’re a medical science or anthropology student, you have to complete 1.0 credits from each of three categories, with a few exceptions. Category A focuses on social science, interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary courses, category B includes arts, humanities and languages and category C covers maths and sciences.

Year Deionte Knight will not be returning this year.

Recommend: Computer Science 1033 and 2033

“I’ve been telling Greg [Marshall] and Richard all spring that, as long as the o ence scores 50, the defence will be ﬁne,” said Gleason.

most real-world applicable and I was able to succeed in the course. Some students may struggle with them though, it depends on your learning style,” explains Sophie Luo, a second-year student in MathPsychology.1229only requires a university or mixed grade 11 math. The content is focused on vectors and progresses at a slow pace that is easy to follow along with.“Ithink anyone can do well in it — you really don’t need any strong technical skill in math,” Luo says.

“Those are two kids [Franzisi and Gonzalez] o the defensive line we hope can come in and give us a little bit of a spark,” said head coach Greg Marshall.

RYAN GOODISON SPORTS EDITOR

hen you start a liberal arts degree, you may come in with the expectation you’ll never have to take a math or science course again. You would be wrong.

are di erent from any other category C course o ered at Western as they focus on learning di erent types of computer software to produce media rather than more traditional math and science.

Richard is excited about Wanadi getting more touches now that he’s moving into the number two spot on the running back depth chart following Trey Humes’ graduation.

Maybe not? Astronomy 1021 and Data Science 1000 Astronomy 1021 is a full-year course many non-science students take, but that requires a large time commitment. Last year, there were close to 40 listening assessments which take anywhere from 15 to 50 minutes to complete, says second-year computer science student Dylan“ThePatrascu.course is very textbook-heavy,

ast December, the Mustangs football team won it all, bringing home an eighth Vanier Cup championship following an entire season without play.

“[Hillock]’s an ultimate competitor,” said offensive coordinator Gaetan Richard. “He’s always looking to make exceptional plays. Everybody’s collectively gotten better at working together.”

What are the best category C courses?

Hillock will be looking to improve his play this season after winning the Most Valuable Player award in last year’s Vanier Cup — an impressive feat for a rookie signal caller.

But the Mustangs aren’t focused on November quite“Youyet.don’t win the Vanier Cup in August,” said Hillock. “We’re not thinking about it. We’re focused on getting better every day, every rep, and when that time comes, we’ll be ready to go.”

YIFEI ZHANG GAZETTE

er than needing a mathematical base to succeed. Earth Science 1023 focuses on introductory content of the origins and developments of the Earth and the solar system, while Earth Science 1086 focuses on the inner workings of the solar system and how the Earth’s geology applies to the solar system.

If the Mustangs go undefeated this season, they have the chance to earn home ﬁeld advantage for the entirety of the OUA and U Sports playo s, including the Yates Cup, Mitchell Bowl — the OUA champion will host the RSEQ champion — and Vanier Cup.

Season preview: Mustangs football prepares to defend championship on home turf

Defensive coordinator Paul Gleason is experimenting with di erent fronts, and looking for new faces to ﬁll holes in the trenches. Gleason hopes London, Ont. locals Christian Thomson and Zach Dahlberg will step up and be a part of the new startingButcorps.the team also has veterans who have developed over the past few years and transfer students Connor Franzisi from Alabama A&M University and Nate Gonzalez from Simon Fraser University.

Math not really your thing? No problem! Earth Science 1023: Planet Earth: Shaken and Stirred and 1086: Origin and Geology of the Solar System are great category C courses for non-science students.Both worth half a credit, these courses emphasise memorizing of content rath-

“I found [the word problems] the

Students completing a bachelor of arts degree can struggle choosing category C courses. Luckily, we’ve researched them so you don’t have to. Here are some of the most popular category C courses and what Western students think of them.

Recommend: Math 1228 and Math 1229

“I’m deﬁnitely not someone who loves math and science courses, so Comp Sci 1033 was perfect because I love graphic design and I got to learn about coding, design websites and working with photoshop,” explains Kamae Dinnall-Nget, a fourth-year student in media, information and Computertechnoculture.Science1033 and 2033

“[The o ensive line] are not just good players, but great leaders, and I think their leadership will keep everyone on our team motivated and in line,” said Marshall. “They want to do well and do it again. They’ve been there and felt the excitement of what

FROSH ISSUE CULTURE | SPORTS | P10|

Linebacker Brendan Murphy runs the football back after forcing a fumble with defensive teammates around to block during the 113th Yates Cup, Nov. 20, 2021.

Though the Mustangs’ bread and butter has, historically, been on the ground, Hillock aims to build a better passing game. Western was sixth in U Sports for passing yards with 1,523 last season.

Math 1228 covers the basics of counting, probability and variables. Any grade 12 math is a prerequisite for this course and the content is more application-based, as students will have to complete mathematical word problems.

“Nothing beats a home-ﬁeld advantage,” said fourth-year defensive back Kojo Odoom. “That’ll mean a lot to our team and the city.”

Recommend: Earth Science 1023 and Earth Science 1086

Quarterback Evan Hillock has complete faith in the team’s defence despite the uncertainties this o

The Mustangs’ running back corps was a critical part of the national championship season. Western came ﬁrst in U Sports rushing yards with an incredible 260.2 yards per game.

The national championship will be played at Western Alumni Stadium on Nov. 26. For the ﬁrst time in history, the Western community will have the chance to possibly watch their team lift the Vanier Cup in their own backyard.

Math in university doesn’t have to be scary! Both Math 1228: Methods of Finite Mathematics and 1229: Methods of Matrix Algebra are often cited as some of the easiest in category C courses on “‘Must Knows’ for courses at UWO,” a popular Western Facebook group. These half-credit courses are o ered back-toback, with 1228 running in the fall semester and 1229 running in the winter.

Free safety Daniel Valente Jr. will return to the team this season after being relegated to the Otta-

Another popular course is Data Science 1000, which is a half-credit course that focuses on how to visualize and analyze continuous and categorical data using modern data science tools.

But a new season comes with new problems to address.TheMustangs lost three of their four starting defensive linemen from the 2021-22 season — Austin Fordham-Miller, Nicolas Theriault and U Sports and Ontario University Athletics Lineman of the

the lectures tend to be dense with content [that’s] often taught in an overwhelming manner,” he explains. “I was looking forward to learning more about space and I was unfortunately let down.”

Data Science 1000 is typically thought to have less engaging material and is recommended students have a background of coding, as well as needing to take any math in grade 12.

The o ensive line is mostly intact from last season, with Saskatchewan Roughriders 2022 draft pick Zack Fry returning to the squad for at least one moreMarshallyear. believes this year’s o ensive line will be the most vital part of the Mustangs’ play this fall.

Labatt Park is home to the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League. But few know just how historic the ballpark really is.

KATHERINE GUO GAZETTE

“I am excited for many things this upcoming season,” said Stapleton. “I am always excited to have students return and new students start at Western. They bring an energy to campus that I always look forward to.”

1950: The Mustangs reverted to a plain white jersey design.

Mustangs football jerseys over the years

“[Upon] returning to campus back in the 2021-22 school year, we saw a pent-up demand for sporting events and programming,” said Christine Stapleton, director of sports and recreation at Western University. “We anticipate [interest] will only continue this year and that Western students will come out strongly in support of their student athletes and our Mustangs varsity teams.”

FROSH ISSUESPORTS | P11 |

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE

2017: An all-black alternate jersey was introduced. In this design’s three-year existence from 2017 to 2019, Western went to two straight Vanier Cups in 2017 and 2018, winning the ﬁrst one after a 27-year national championship drought.

Budweiser Gardens is the place to be for an electrifying atmosphere. This hockey rink is home to the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.

MILES BOLTON SPORTS EDITOR 1985: Western re-introduced the sleeve stripes but with a new pattern. The new striping pattern had the Mustangs’ logo integrated with the players’ numbers now on the jersey’s shoulders.

1957: The sleeve stripes reappeared but with a thin, thick line pattern on a purple jersey.

1945: The shoulder yoke was slightly changed and the sleeve stripes disappeared. The players’ numbers also became a few shades darker.

KIERAN DROVER SPORTS EDITOR

The city’s sports teams possess character — from a semi-professional hockey team to a minor league football team with a name like the Beefeaters, Forest City has many options for students to enjoy.

When students return to campus this fall, there will be no shortage of sporting events to attend. Most teams will play more games than in 2021 — the Ontario University Athletics had to reduce last year’s schedule to mitigate COVID-19 impacts.TheOUA has reverted to its original conference format after a 2021 season that featured teams split into divisions to minimize overnight travel. Teams played in altered divisions last year that saw matchups primarily against teams within their respective regions.

The Knights are also known for their impressive alumni. Patrick Kane, Mitchell Marner and Brendan Shanahan are only a few of the many National Hockey League’s superstars who once called the Gardens, and London, home.

2011: The jersey’s striping pattern was slightly changed but the collar now featured two outward-facing stripes. Welcome to the Will Finch era.

ustangs athletics will look more familiar in the upcoming 2022-23 season.

2021: The latest jersey features two horizontal white stripes on the sleeves with the players’ numbers on the front and shoulders, resembling a modern version of the 1949 design. Like the 2017 jersey, this design has also seen a national championship after the Mustangs won the Vanier Cup last season.

1926: Western University’s ﬁrst football jersey — technically a rugby team uniform at this point since football was still an unpopular sport without the forward pass — under the Mustangs name featured horizontal purple and white stripes arranged in a barber pole pattern.

The Gardens is also the home arena to the London Lightning — a professional team in the National Basketball League of Canada.TheLightning are coming o a championship season, though they may not boast a comparable group of alumni as the Knights. As part of their title run, London went 16–0 at home — another reason for hometown fans to continue showing their support.

Empty bleachers awaiting fans at Labatt Park, Aug. 14, 2022.

1971: Western reverted to a minimalist jersey design, removing the sleeve stripes and expanding the numbers. Some may remember current head coach Greg Marshall sporting this design during his days as an all-star Mustangs fullback.

This led to the absence of regular season rivalry matchups, including games against the Queen’s University Golden Gaels, who had to wait until the 113th Yates Cup to get shutout 29–0 by the purple and Western,white.USports and the OUA also recently announced the university will be hosting a number of championships this season. The Vanier Cup will be played at Western Alumni Stadium on Nov. 26 — the trophy the Mustangs football team will try to defend this year after winning the national championship lastWesternyear. will also host the OUA cross country championship at the Thames Valley Golf Course on Oct. 29 and the OUA swimming championship in February 2023.

An outside view of the front entrance at Budweiser Gardens, Aug. 14, 2022.

London Majors at Labatt Park

2000: The jersey underwent another redesign that placed the stripes higher on each sleeve. The Mustangs logo also replaced the players’ numbers on the jersey shoulders.

1939: Western made the primary jersey colour white, adding a purple shoulder yoke and sleeve stripes.

The Beefeaters are a junior football team in the Canadian Junior Football League — often a pathway to the Canadian Football League for those who couldn’t get to U Sports.

London Beefeaters at City Wide Sports Park

feeder team for Toronto FC — a professional soccer franchise in Major League Soccer. FC London plays at Tricar Field which hosts over 1,000 fans.

1931: The jersey became solid purple and began displaying the players’ numbers on the front. A stripe band was also placed on the front directly beneath the numbers.

London Lightning at Budweiser Gardens

London’s sports scene beyond the Mustangs

KIERAN DROVER SPORTS EDITOR

their respective league, ﬁlling the arena’s 9,100 fan capacity on a regular basis.

London Knights at Budweiser Gardens

Built in 1877, this park is the longest-operating active baseball diamond in the world and has been well-recognized for this achievement. Fans who purchase a Majors ticket will be visiting a piece of baseball’s rich history.

While London may not be recognized as one of Canada’s premier sporting cities, there are plenty of talented players, teams and beautiful venues to discover.

Located in the heart of the city, the Gardens has the highest attendance in

2008: The shoulder stripes became smaller and the team name appeared on the front of the jersey, replacing the logo.

The “Beefs” are also an uno cial development squad for the Mustangs football team. Some former players have been able to walk on at Western after an impressive season in the CJFL — Mustangs alumnus and current B.C. Lions defensive back Hakeem Johnson is just one example.

FC London at Tricar Field

2014: The Mustangs introduced a silver uniform to their lineup and the stripes became simpliﬁed.

The past two years have been ﬁlled with uncertainty for varsity sports. Teams returned to divisional play, empty bleachers and complicated training schedules after missing the entire 202021 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.This upcoming year, Mustangs will be returning to life before the pandemic.

ondon has no shortage of sports teams that can spice up your weekend, whether it’s a Friday night or Sunday afternoon. When compared to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or Vancouver, the city is often overlooked because it doesn’t host any major league franchises.Butrest assured, the Forest City has more to o er than what meets the eye.

1949: The shoulder yoke disappeared and the sleeve stripes reappeared.

London is home to a few semi-professional teams that play at incredible venues. With many health and safety restrictions lifted, Western University students can go back to enjoying these authentic game-day experiences — an endless supply of entertainment, passion and lots of hooting and hollering.

FC London is the city’s men’s and women’s soccer academy. They’re a

The men’s football team typically plays without divisions, but in 2021, the conference was split in two: East and West. The Mustangs played in the West division, only able to square o against the Windsor University Lancers — having to play and beat them twice — University of Waterloo Warriors, Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks, University of Guelph Gryphons and McMaster University Marauders.

Returning to ‘normal’ for Mustangs athletics

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FROSH ISSUEP12 | Think you can do better? Email your comics to comics@westerngazette.ca or come to UCC 263 and ask about volunteering for our Graphics section! HOPE MAHOOD GAZETTE

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