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NEWS

172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

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U of G transplant recipient advocates organ donation

Tara Bourque encourages everyone to give the gift of life Braeden Etienne

With Thanksgiving this past weekend, we may have all taken some time to reflect and consider the things we are thankful for.

However, it sometimes becomes too easy to take certain things for granted. For most people, breathing is something that is not frequently thought about.

For 20-year-old lung transplant recipient Tara Bourque, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 14 months, breathing wasn’t always as easy for her as it is now. This Thanksgiving, Bourque is extending an extra helping of gratitude to her donor for giving her the gift of life.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a mutation in the lungs that causes a mucus build-up, making breathing difficult and causing the lungs to be prone to infection. Although the degree of sickness varies across patients, people who struggle with the disease need to partake in daily therapy and medication in order to combat it, and most people end up requiring lung transplants to survive.

Although Bourque was born with the disease, it never stopped her from living a normal childhood in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. “I was considered the healthiest CF patient as a child in clinic,” she said. “I was able to play soccer, volleyball, and basketball with only having to take about an hour or two out of my day to do my treatments.” Her treatments consisted of inhaling medications through a nebulizer as well as daily physiotherapy routines to clear the mucus from her lungs. The disease also didn’t allow her to digest food properly, so she needed to take three to four pills anytime she had a snack or five to six pills before a meal.

In January 2011, her final year of high school, Bourque’s health started to decline and she was checked into a London area hospital for two and a half weeks.

Afterward, she was sent home with an intravenous drip and an oxygen tank that needed to be hooked up to allow her to sleep at night. Later in May, on the day after her prom, she was admitted into Sick Kids Hospital for a month and a half stay, where it was first mentioned that she might need a lung transplant.

“I ignored it and pretended no one had said anything,” said

Bourque. Later that same year, Bourque was accepted to the University of Guelph for Criminal Justice and Public Policy.

However, the problem couldn’t be ignored, her disease worsened and her daily treatments kept increasing. In October 2011, Bourque was forced to leave school and admit herself into a CF clinic in Toronto for an additional two and a half months.

“I was officially named the sickest patient at the clinic,” said Bourque.

“At my worst I was spending six hours a day on treatments and meds. I was short of breath just walking down the stairs from the bedroom to the living room. I had no energy to shower, eat, talk or do anything. At this point I was down to about 78 pounds and lower than 16 per cent lung function. CF controlled my entire life and my ability to do anything.”

Bourque wanted to go home for Christmas that year, so she wasn’t able to put herself on the waiting list for new lungs until January 2012 (in order to be on the list, you must be within 2 hours of Toronto). Although she was told that her wait for lungs would be anywhere from six to nine months, Bourque was incredibly surprised and grateful to receive news that she would be

receiving a new pair of lungs only 11 days after listing.

After her transplant, Bourque remained in the hospital for 18 days recovering and required another three months of physiotherapy.

The following May, she received the great news that she would finally be able to move back home.

Bourque maintained a positive and courageous demeanour throughout the transplant process, but admits that it would have been very difficult to do so without all the support she received. “My friends, family and boyfriend were all huge supports throughout everything. I wouldn’t have made it through all the ‘bad days’ and rough times without them,” said Bourque.

She kept updating her Facebook status to keep friends and family in the loop and received numerous comments of support in return. She expressed special gratitude to all her friends for the emotional support, to her sisters for keeping her in the daily loop, helping her feel like she had a “somewhat normal life,” and to her boyfriend, who Bourque said was someone who, even from out of town, was able to support her and be someone she could rely on and talk to about anything. In her hometown, friends and family in

the community held a fundraiser and raised $25,000 to help relieve the financial burden of additional living expenses and medications.

This past April, Bourque began working with both the Trillium Gift of Life network and Cystic Fibrosis Canada, telling her story and doing a great deal of work advocating for organ donation.

“I now can go out and do whatever I want to do without thinking about how exhausted or tiring it will be to do so,” says Bourque. “My outlook on life is a little different – [I] definitely appreciate the little things and make sure that whatever I’m doing makes me happy.”

When asked why people should sign up to be donors, Bourque said, “My organ donor is my hero, and who doesn’t want to be a hero?” Bourque is back at Guelph working on her degree in Psychology with a Minor in Child and Family studies, and hopes to work in hospitals as a counsellor and social worker after graduation. She encourages everyone to sign up to be donor.

“You can save up to eight lives once you’ve passed away,” she says. “There is no negative side to organ donation…you’re giving someone a second chance at life – a chance at a life they never could have even imagined to be possible.”

Billion-dollar headache for Kathleen Wynne

Scrapped power plants in the GTA cost taxpayers dearly, audit reports Mike Ott

Political decision-making is usually shaped by multiple factors, not the least of which is holding on to power. When a political party is attempting to hold onto a riding, they will sometimes make rash decisions in the moment that have dire long-term consequences. Such was the case with the issue of the

half-finished power plant in Mississauga, which is now causing much stress for the new premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne.

In 2011, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government was partway through the construction of a new natural gas power plant in Mississauga, while another in Oakville was slated to be built but had not yet broken ground. Residents of the area expressed some concerns and fought against the building of the plants. McGuinty caved and cancelled their construction.

This move was not one of

pure goodwill, but rather a politically strategic move that allowed McGuinty to save face and save Liberal votes. Both the plants were to be built in Liberal ridings, and McGuinty appeased the protestors to gain their support just in time for the upcoming election. The full, long-term consequence of having to relocate the power plants was not foreseen.

Now, in 2013, with the election of a new premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, the cancelled plants are posing quite a bit of a problem. The cost of moving the

plants is estimated to be about $585 million dollars according to the Globe and Mail and the National Post.

The Globe and Mail warns that the cost could total more than $1 billion after the entire situation is finished because of legal costs, the money already invested, and the fact that a new plant still has to be built somewhere else.

Due to McGuinty’s attempts to hold onto power in those two ridings, Wynne is now faced with the consequences. The public wants a solution to the enormous cost of the cancellation of the plants,

and wants to know what the new premier is going to do about it.

Wynne has said that this sort of thing will not happen a second time, saying, “We have the responsibility to move forward to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. That is what I’m focused on. That is my commitment.”

But the future of the plants is unknown, and it is inevitable that the money required for settling the score will be a huge blow to taxpayers, and the Liberal Party of Ontario will likely not be let off the hook for this mistake.

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NEWS

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PPP town hall highlights widespread cynicism

Alastair Summerlee meets misconceptions and fears head on Somali pirate lured to Belgium for film – and arrest

Just one day after the film “Captain Philips” opened in theatres in the United States, Mohamed Abdi Hassan, one of the most notorious pirate leaders in Somalia, flew to Belgium to work on what he thought would be a film about his life as a pirate in the Arabian Sea. Police arrested him as soon as he stepped off the plane.

The sting, orchestrated by the Belgian federal authorities, invited the pirate leader to “collaborate as adviser and expert…on a film about maritime piracy.”

Hassan took the bait.

Belgian authorities have been after Hassan since 2009, when a dozen pirates held the Belgian ship Pompeii hostage for 70 days.

Two Somali conspirators were arrested in the immediate aftermath, but Belgian authorities also intended to prosecute the leader and financier of the crime.

Hassan “is considered by the international community, notably the United Nations, one of the most important pirate leaders, responsible for a dozen attacks,” said Johan Delmulle, the coordinating Belgian federal prosecutor.

Hassan had an international warrant for his arrest, but was considered unreachable in war-torn Somalia.

Buckingham Palace in need of monumental repairs

Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to Her Majesty the Queen, has informed the Public Accounts Committee that it may take 10 years and £50 million ($82 million) to restore Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s official residence, back to basic construction standards.

According to the Globe and Mail, the Committee was informed there are “cracks in the roof, the heating system is decrepit, most of the furniture is worn out and some of the walls are literally falling apart,” among other things.

The Sovereign Grant, the annual allowance that funds the expenses of the royal family, has shrunk since the recession, and its reserve fund has been nearly depleted. Thus it is unclear where the money will come from to bring the palace back up to shape.

The Queen’s office has already scaled back travel costs, frozen wages for most of its 436 employees, and has attempted to increase revenue by charging for private tours of Buckingham Palace.

Compiled by Michael Long

Alicja Grzadkowska and Michael Long On Oct. 10, an Open Community Forum on the Program Prioritization Process (PPP) welcomed students, staff, and faculty to Peter Clark Hall to discuss the implications of the PPP with senior administrators and University of Guelph President Alastair Summerlee. Peter Clark Hall was filled to capacity and the audience appeared anxious to see how the executive would react under pressure. Since the PPP report was unveiled on Oct. 2, speculation about its consequences has been rampant.

“I want to underscore for you the challenging environment in which we’re in,” said President Summerlee at the outset, referring directly to flatlining government funding and the projected $32.4 million budget gap. “The government is moving to performance-based allocation of resources; if we are not positioned to respond to that, we will get zero – or less.”

President Summerlee was most keen to stress that being in the top quintile of the PPP rankings does not mean more money, and that being in the bottom quintile does not mean less. In fact, it might be the case that programs in the bottom quintile are highly valuable and are deserving of

more resources. “Cutting is not the only thing we need to do.

We need to identify the things in the university that are underresourced and resource them,” said Summerlee.

And, as the president would repeat throughout the afternoon: “The PPP is not designed to determine the quality of a program.”

“Each year, we are forced to think about how do we continue to do the things we’re doing with either the same, or in fact less, money,” the president added.

This will result in a situation where the university is compelled to differentiate based on its strengths. That will mean becoming “better in fewer activities.”

Maureen Mancuso, Provost and VP (Academic), helped facilitate the forum (a podcast of which is available on the university’s homepage along with the relevant PowerPoint presentation) and reviewed how the PPP was conducted, what key recommendations resulted from the report, and spoke of how the process will be used in the upcoming Integrated Planning (IP) cycle.

“The PPP was not and is not the sole determinant of any program’s or service’s future,” said Mancuso. The provost further noted that when the time comes to reallocate resources and reduce the budget, the PPP will account for only 18 per cent (or $4.4 million) of the colleges’ share of the budget reduction – considerably less than other integrated planning metrics.

This information often seemed

lost on the audience, whose skepticism was perhaps more deeply seated than the administration had anticipated. When it came time for questions, President Summerlee fielded a host of comments from faculty, students and at least five representatives of the Central Student Association (CSA).

President Summerlee’s frequently impassioned responses suggested an earnest desire to show that he wants, perhaps more strongly than most, to do what is best for the university. By the end, he appeared visibly disappointed that the audience was not responding to the administration’s perception of the severity of the budget gap, the modesty of the PPP, or the university’s consequent need for difficult action.

At one point, a group of seven International Development (IDEV) students attracted the president’s attention with their “I Support IDEV” t-shirts. The PPP report had singled out the IDEV program and made some strong recommendations for its future, calling it an “an orphaned and fragmented unit” among other things. The president spoke to these students directly and said that, by wearing the T-shirts, the students were fundamentally “misunderstanding the purpose” of the recommendations.

When a student from the group attempted to counter this indictment, the president responded saying that IDEV was “a real jewel for this institution” and, from the way report reads, the intent

is to focus, create a home for, and invest more heavily in the program.

Tom Heeman, a senior International Development student who was in the audience, but not affiliated with the T-shirt group, said that these dramas are partly the result of the PPP’s complexity.

“The PPP is an incredibly complex document,” said Heeman.

“As such it’s difficult to communicate all the internal logic behind the innumerable decisions that constitute it. Unfortunately, the simplified narrative that arose form this deeply complicated process was one of fear driven by the threat of cuts. In this environment, I consider the group of IDEV students to be completely rational; they were showing concern for the program they come to campus for every day.”

That being said, according to Heeman, students have an obligation to contribute to the debate by informing themselves of the facts.

“The university’s financial restrictions are real and will not go away anytime soon…The most proactive strategy in this scenario is to work creatively and collaboratively within the report’s recommendations…All parties entered into the process in good faith over a year ago, and by entering into petty squabbles, we as students will miss out on a seat at the table and the opportunity to ask the questions that really matter to our educational experience, and the fate of our institution.”

Sexposé on sexual health Wellness Centre event promotes open dialogue about sexual health Stacey Aspinall On Oct. 10, the Wellness Centre (part of Student Health Services) hosted an annual event called Sexposé in the courtyard of the University Centre. The focus was on promoting healthy relationships, consent, sexual health and STI awareness.

“Sexual health has been such a taboo subject for so long that people are often embarrassed to discuss it, but it’s very important to get rid of that stigma so that we can hopefully increase everyone’s comfort levels around getting tested for STIs, reproductive cancers, and other health concerns,” said Eve Lampert, Educator Assistant at The Wellness Centre and Student Health Services.

“It’s also important in increasing communication between partners and hopefully making it an

easier and more natural conversation to have.”

The event brought together organizations from both on and off campus who offered an interactive approach to sexual health, showcasing a multitude of sexual health resources including sex toys, free condoms, and informative pamphlets. Topics included safe body art, the issue of consent, birth control methods and effectiveness, and information about events such as Slutwalk.

Kara Carder, one of the cofounders of Slutwalk Guelph, spoke about this initiative, inspired by the original Slutwalk started by Heather Jarvis in Toronto. Jarvis started the movement in 2011 in response to a Toronto police officer’s comment that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

“For Slutwalk Guelph, our mission is advocating against victim-blaming, slut-shaming and sexual assault, so those who do experience sexual assault are never at fault without exception,” Carder said.

“What you wear, how much you drink, or how you act [are] not the reasons for victimization – it’s the perpetrator, it’s not the victim’s fault. We live in a society that often victim-blames, and women are held responsible if they are drinking, but really, nobody ever asks how much the perpetrator was drinking.”

Teresa Wang, a volunteer at Wellness Centre, and a member of Sexual Assault Free Environment (SAFE), also spoke about the issue of consent and how it pertains to social life on and off campus. One instance where consent becomes complicated, for example, is when alcohol is involved at parties on campus. “A lot of people think that just because someone is drunk, and because they themselves decided to drink, that means that they’re giving their consent, but anyone under the influence can’t properly give consent,” Wang explained.

“It’s really just important to know that if it’s not a definite yes, if no one’s said yes or verbally stated ‘OK, of course,’ that

means no. When there’s no yes, it always means no. So don’t assume anything.”

Wang also offered suggestions on how to support a friend who may have experienced sexual assault.

Wang said that it’s important to avoid using language that may be offensive or triggering, or may imply that they did something wrong. Instead, offer support and listen to any concerns, or direct them to a professional if there is a crisis situation. “We have counsellors on campus to deal with these kinds of situations,” said Wang.

Lampert also emphasized the importance of being proactive when it comes to sexual health and wellbeing: “When in doubt, get checked out. The doctors in Student Health Services are very well versed in matters surrounding sexual health and are a great resource of information. If you’re worried about something (itchiness, lumps, bumps, a late period, etc.) don’t hesitate to call Student Health Services or go to the drop-in hours to see a doc there,” said Lampert.

ARTS & CULTURE Adrien Potvin Outer space is a tricky thing to film. The issue by and large for many filmmakers is what not to film, not only for the sake of scientific accuracy, but also to develop an honest visual narrative that immerses the viewer into the anxieties of humankind in the vast infinity of space. Movies like Alien and the second half of 2001: A Space Odyssey belong to this group – ones that utilize a personal sphere of human psychology within outer space. Mexican auteur Alfonso Cuaron’s latest film is one of these - at once,

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172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

Film Review: Gravity

Gravity is a big budget science fiction thriller and an intimate, achingly beautiful meditation on humankind’s place in the great beyond.

The plot is fairly simple. Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first spacewalk, and is accompanied by veteran spacewalker Matt Kowalski (George Clooney). When debris annihilates the satellite the crew is working to repair, the two are left floating in space, hoping to reach a nearby Russian satellite by any desperate means they can muster. Running out of time and running out of oxygen, Dr.

Stone must improvise her way to safety using the little experience she has in space.

A nearly fifteen minute unedited camera-take opens the film, and sets the tone for the skewered and frantic point of view that the cinematography utilizes throughout its lean 90-minute runtime. The point of view Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Luzbecki opt for is an important artistic decision, as the whirling camera immerses the viewer in Stone’s perspective. As a result, the incredible images of space and the claustrophobia of being aboard a satellite or stowed

in an escape pod seems all the more genuine, considering the inexperience of the main character. Without giving too much plot away, Stone goes through a sort of personal rebirth in her crisis, having to confront her own weaknesses, personal and professional, to return to Earth in one piece.

While the visuals, narrative and subject matter are fascinating and well done, some issues do arise in terms of scientific possibility (some of it flat out impossible), and the script itself, which comes off at points as sentimental and derivative. Clooney plays the

part of the archetypal suave space cowboy, constituting much of the sexual dimension of the “personal” space between the two characters, but the characterization comes off as hackneyed and ridiculous in some ways. That being said, this barely detracts from the stunning camera work and powerful focalization the film employs. As a filmmaker, Cuaron often walks a fine line between making a personal art-house picture and bigbudget commercial item, and Gravity showcases his keen eye for visuals and heartfelt reflections on the human condition.

The building, which is now fully accessible, serves not only as a space for local artisans to share their work, but also a chance for the community to indulge their inner artisan.

Each Friday, the shop features a free “Craft Night,” which allows visitors to be instructed through the creation of a simple craft by a local artist. The lineup

includes a chance to work with Wheeler on the creation of “Whimsical wire art,” which offers children, parents and students instruction to create simple and easy crafts with this unique medium.

While Wednesday afternoons from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. usually offer a chance for children’s face painting and balloon art, but free face

painting will also be available on Halloween for visitors wishing to stop by the store.

While wandering is certainly a part of any adventure, those hoping to inspire their imagination will not have to wander too far to stumble upon this creative haven. Bus routes 9

and 10 will land visitors near the entrance, while off-street parking is also available.

The friendly staff also encourages local artisans who are interested in displaying and selling their work to contact the store. “There is always room for more,” said Wheeler.

Miracle on Edinburgh Road

Bringing the community together with art Laura Castellani

There is something to be said for wandering off the beaten path.

Particularly if you find yourself wandering towards the doorstep of 14 Edinburgh Road, the site of one of Guelph’s newest craft shops, “Crafts 4 U.” The store, which officially opened in June, celebrates the work of 27 local and regional artisans and boasts a wide collection of crafts. Sharing the work of three potters, as well as collections of copper enameling, painted and stained glass, woodwork and photography, to name a few, the choices of one-of-kind treasures seem endless.

Local artisan Patti Wheeler helps staff the shop and is quick to embrace the unique blend of items that can be found lining the shelves. “We offer a little bit of everything in our store.

You could spend hours in here and still not see everything,” Wheeler said.

Still, the talented collection of crafts is only a part of the shop’s spirit, which aims to inspire imagination and creativity across the community.

Before renovations, the store sat lifeless on the land as a vandalized and vacant building. Envisioning the site as a perfect nook to house the creations of local artisans, Maureen Gaskin, a 75-year old local widow, came out of retirement from the Guelph art community and took hold of the transformation. With time, patience, personal finances and friendly support, Gaskin succeeded in crafting the framework that would house so many other creations.

STYLE PICK OF THE WEEK: SARAH

PHOTO BY JESSICA AVOLIO

PHOTO BY LAURA CASTELLANI

Patti Wheeler smiles proudly on Oct. 11, sharing her knowledge and skill, working with wire to craft wire bookmarks at the first of many Friday evening craft lessons at Crafts 4 U.

Sarah’s style is androgynous, mixing together a cropped tee with an oversized button up flannel. Pairing the look with delicate jewellery, a bold yellow toque and fun, cuffed acid washed jeans. A relaxed transition into the fall weather.

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“UNTITLED” Balmore Gamez From Oct. 7 to 11, Zavitz Gallery showcased the work of two artists from the University of Guelph’s MFA program. Jen Aitken and Matt Schust collaborated in an exhibition called “UNTITLED.” It presented the audience with a compelling show of found objects, all from the University of Guelph campus, elevated to the status of art within the space.

Jen Aitken, a BFA graduate from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, is a second year MFA student at the University of Guelph. Her practice involves sculpture and drawing with a developed formal vocabulary, used together with certain restrictions such as the use of only 90 and 45-degree angles and circular radius to create geometric forms of various volumes. Matt Schust, BA graduate with honours in Fine Art from the University of Waterloo, is also a second year MFA student at the University. His practice

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A to Zavitz mainly focuses on painting, but he also has a background in sculpture. His work is concerned with the history of abstraction, particularly minimalist and post-minimalist practice.

Every piece in the exhibition was a complete collaboration between the two artists. “The general concept for the show was to select a single day to search and install material from the immediate campus environment into Zavitz gallery to create a collaborative show,” said Schust. “It turned into a process that created a show of found objects that were elevated and treated as sculptures without actually sculpting anything.”

Upon entering the gallery, the first that piece that was presented to the audience was three connected pipes (found on campus) that spanned across the room from wall to wall. The artists wanted to make a piece that spanned the whole length of the room without allowing it to come into contact with the floor.

This was a difficult task, given the natural weight and flexibility of the pipes. This made it a fragile

piece due to its dimensions, and was only held from two connections to the walls. This piece provided the viewers with a notion and reference to the infrastructure that exist within buildings because the piece was installed in a manner that gave the impression that they are naturally connected and continued through the walls.

The right wall of the gallery held a piece of a combination of elements that gave the work an essence of great mass. A concrete bike rack was locked to the wall with a combo lock.

The piece had precariousness as well as a comedic component, as some would articulate that it would be inappropriate to lock a bike rack to a wall with a dainty bike lock. Even though the piece had a comedic organization of elements, it was elevated to a height on the wall that allow for it to be read as sculpture with density.

On the right side of the back wall, was a window that allowed for people to look inside the gallery. The two artists incorporated a piece to be viewed through glass on one

ARTS & CULTURE

side, with the other side presented directly to the audience inside the gallery. This work was a long, thin piece of metal from the ceiling of McNaughton building that had fallen off. The color and finish, on the side presented inside the gallery, was matte and bright, similar to colours used in the 1970’s. Through the glass from outside the gallery, the audience was able to see the beautiful dust and fingerprints on the back of ceiling piece.

On the left side of the back wall was a piece that served, in a small manner, as a punch-line to the show. It was a simple gesture where the artists connected the top of a water bottle on the wall with water still in it. It was the most evident found object within the show and perhaps was the most difficult to elevate to the status of art. The water bottle gave the notion that it was meant to be an absurd, subtle gesture in a show that might otherwise been seen as sparse and serious.

The most visually dominant piece was on the left wall of the galley. Aitken and Schust used a found/reclaimed-painting

from the billboard that lies between Zavitz and the Bullring. The Artists removed one-sixth of it and showed the backside as a painting in the exhibition. “I’ve always admired the material beauty of all that paint and have been wanting to do something with it since coming to Guelph,” said Schust. This show presented the perfect opportunity for the two artists to discover much of the billboard’s history, painted on in layers. The manipulation within this piece was the removal of certain areas of the billboard to allow for the audience to view the various colours that existed within its layers and provide an overall aesthetic beauty. After the exhibition ended, the portion of the billboard was returned to its original location.

Essentially, the show “UNTITLED” was successful in elevating quotidian materials to the status of art. The general theme that came through was that of precariousness, as each work evoked a sense that it might not quite work, that it might fail or collapse.

Album Review: Good Lovin’ Emily Jones

Andria Simone’s Good Lovin’ is a look inside the life of a young women who is coming to terms with coming of age in the twenty-first century. Simone was born and raised in Toronto and is a lover of a vast range of music and artistry.

Her album is a collection of soulful sounds that display her experiences and struggles that have made her into the person she is today. Simone cowrote ten of the twelve tracks on the album and also had her hands in the production element of her music-she wanted to be as hands on as possible.

Simone’s album begins with a track titled “Change,” which sets up the listener to realize and investigate the ways positive change can affect the way life is lived. The next song “Do What I Want,” is an anthem for individuals who take no solace in living their lives in any manner other than being free.

The following this song is “Good Lovin’,” for which the album is named. The album as a whole is truly a dedication to women that enables them to realize their potential in today’s society, making it clear that

women’s lives are full with responsibilities that go far beyond their daily career obligations.

Simone’s voice is raw, powerful and full of passion. She is able to express the feelings each person feels throughout their young adulthood, spanning across all generations.

The album is a moving piece of interconnectivity between external society and one’s internal self.

The lyrics, the depth of the music and the skill of Simone’s voice tug at the deepest of heartstrings with her honest representation of love, loss, identity, and confusion.

Simone’s own self-discovery has enabled her to create the beautiful masterpiece. This album is a testament to her dedication and appreciation for life and spreading authentic and original music throughout the world.

Simone’s style and vocals are comparable to other great female vocalists and writers of the past few decades, such as Adele and Annie Lennox, and her stance and determination to profess the trials and errors of life are implicit and strong characteristic of her music.

Andria Simone is an artist to watch out for.

ARTS & CULTURE

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172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

Nobel Prize 2013 comes to a close

Recipients of the Nobel Prize receive mixed reactions from public Mike Ott

This year, the Nobel Prizes were awarded in the six regular categories – physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, literature, and peace. The choices of recipients for the various awards have been stirring a strong reaction

from many.

First, the prize for Medicine went to a trio of scientists – James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof – for solving the mystery of how cells organize their transport system.

The prize for Physics was awarded on Oct. 8 to François Englert and Peter Higgs for pioneering research on the Higgs particle. This particle was finally extracted in the Large Hadron Collider by a team of scientists

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: ...LIKE CLOCKWORK

and has now been proven to exist.

The award for Chemistry was awarded on Oct. 9 to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel for their invention of computer systems that demonstrate chemical reactions and structural diagrams.

The Economics prize was given to Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen, and Robert Schiller for their work in building a system to predict long-term trends in the stock market.

Aside from these four prizes, the two remaining – Peace and Literature – have most definitely been newsworthy.

First, the prize for Literature went for the very first time to a Canadian woman. Alice Munro, named the “master of the contemporary short story,” was awarded the prize on Oct.10. Not only was she the first Canadian woman to win the prize, but she was one of only 13 woman to win since the prize was first awarded in 1901. Bringing the Nobel Prize back to Canada is definitely an achievement that will keep Alice Munro immortalized in history.

The second prize that made headlines is by far the most popular every year: the Peace Prize. The favourite to win was

a young woman who had been attracting an astounding amount of media attention. The Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai in the head when she was just fourteen, because she advocated for girls’ education in Pakistan.

After this, she continued to champion a protest against Taliban rule, and preached education as a human right that should be afforded to every person, regardless of where or how they live.

The Taliban were continually issuing threats against not only Yousafzai’s life, but also against her father for supporting her.

Despite this, Yousafzai, now 16, continues to campaign for education for girls in the Middle East.

She recently appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and rendered him speechless with her ability to speak so intelligently.

She was invited to visit President Obama this weekend in the White House, and she lectured him on his use of drones overseas and their impact on innocent civilian lives. Being so young, so intelligent, and fighting for such a noble and just cause, many favoured her as the potential winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The prize was unfortunately not awarded to Yousafzai, but

rather to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Based on their work in Syria, the Organization was definitely deserving of the prize.

However, there has been a lot of controversy over whether or not it is fair to award the prize to an organization when there was a single person who was equally as deserving.

Whether or not you agree with the decisions of the Nobel Prize Committee, it is extremely impressive to see what a teenage girl is capable of in the face of adversity. Yousafzai said she is “unconcerned,” as winning the prize was not her intention. She simply wanted to change the world.

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Amidst a sea of soft, folky radio-ready indie-rock bands, Queens of the Stone Age’s ...Like Clockwork (2013) can be relied on the deliver rock songs that retain an edge, with heavy, hypnotic guitar riffs and straightforward lyrics delivered with slick (and sometimes facetious) bravado by front-man Josh Homme. Their sixth studio album, released last June, is no exception, despite a tumultuous production process and Josh Homme’s existentially fraught recovery from unexpected complications due to surgery; the experience offered a perspective that influenced the depth of the album.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Blake Skjellerup sets sights on Sochi

Hopes to become first male winter Olympian to be openly gay Andrea Connell

Blake Skjellerup is trying to become the first male Winter Olympian to compete while being openly gay. The short track speed skater from New Zealand has set his sights on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia but he first has to compete in four World Cup events and finish in the top 32 to qualify. The athlete has also mounted a crowd funding campaign on indiegogo.com,

a website that helps people raise funds for causes they are passionate about, to raise the $33,000 he needs for travel and training costs.

If the task of qualifying for the Olympics isn’t challenging enough, Skjellerup plans on defying Russia’s recently passed anti-gay laws. In June of 2013, Russia passed a law banning the spread of homosexual propaganda among minors, raising outcries from countries around the world that deemed the move extremely discriminatory.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned the waving of rainbow flags or any pro-LGBT commentary could

violate its rules. The IOC has also rejected calls from athletes and critics of the laws to move the Winter Games from Russia.

The IOC said that, “it had assessed that a Russian law banning ‘gay propaganda’ does not violate its charter and the city of Sochi would be ready to host the 2014 Winter Games,” in an article published on Sept. 26 in the Globe and Mail.

Many have advocated for a boycott of the Games to show support, but others think that would only punish athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to training just to get to the Olympics.

Among those expressing disdain

for Russia’s new laws is president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames, Brian Burke.

Burke has taken a tough stand against the laws he believes to be “reprehensible.”

The former Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager criticized the laws, which criminalize any public behaviour deemed to be pro-gay.

For example, if charged with holding hands in public with someone of the same sex, a person can spend up to two weeks in prison. Burke said that such laws have made it illegal for parents to openly show support for their gay children.

Burke became an advocate

for gay rights in honour of his son Brendan, a gay athlete who came “out” shortly before tragically dying in a car accident in 2010. Burke’s older son, Patrick, started You Can Play, an organization with the goal of eradicating homophobia in junior and professional sports, for which Brian Burke sits on the board. He is urging people to wear rainbow pins in support of gay rights at the Olympics, and to learn the Russian phrase, “I am pro-gay.”

You Can Play is one of the sponsors backing Skjellerup’s online fundraising efforts to get himself to Sochi. The campaign has raised more than $26,000 since it began.

Cheerleading as a varsity sport?

Mike Ott A varsity sport is one that represents the university when abroad – yet the University of Guelph does not consider their cheerleading team a varsity sport. The cheer team is considered a club sport, meaning that it has to almost completely fund itself through its members - and the price is not cheap.

The university allocates resources and money towards the varsity teams, teams like football, hockey, and rugby – sports that it says “represent the school.” While a lot of this

money does come from alumni grants and sponsors like Russell Athletics, the university still decides which sports they put the money towards. Unfortunately, cheerleading is not one of them.

According to Rebecca Owen, the co-president of Guelph’s cheer team, members pay between 700 and 1100 dollars each to fund the team. Owen said the university does provide a bit of funding, which they appreciate, but cheerleading is “an expensive sport” – it is not near enough, so the cheerleaders have to pay the extra costs.

According to Owen, the cheer

team puts in “just as much effort and training as any other varsity sport.” There is a prevalent “cheerleading boot camp,” and one can see the amount of work the team has put in while attending any Gryphon football game. The cheer team is one of the primary sources of school spirit and does an incredible job of getting the crowd enthusiastic and excited.

Owen states that the team does not always travel to other cities, but they do travel enough that their presence is well known and other schools are aware of them. The all-girls team and the co-ed team have dominated in competition as

both teams have taken the title of National Champions at the Cheer Evolution Collegiate Nationals and Cheer Limited Collegiate Nationals, and the all-girls team also had the title at the PCA Nationals. The team has also won several first and second place titles for many years.

Owen explained that they are representing the team at the Queens campus during the football game against Guelph this Saturday.

Other universities like Western, Waterloo, and Laurier consider their cheer teams as a varsity sport. Owen insisted that the team always represented the university to the best of its

ability. “We always have Guelph apparel on, and we know when we are wearing that apparel we need to be on our best behaviour.” The point of a varsity team is that it represents the university, and it is arguable that no one does it better than the cheer team. They represent the university and do all they can to raise school spirit.

Why the team is not considered a varsity team is a valid question.

Whether or not it is, the cheer squad works extremely hard to do all they can to represent our school, and make us proud to be Guelph Gryphons.

Newly discovered hangover cure?

Anthony Jehn

Most people know what can happen after a night of excessive drinking: the morning after can be accompanied by that familiar “hangover” feeling. Most people will likely know some of the more commonly suggested hangover cures; these include drinking plenty of water or tomato juice or eating a greasy breakfast. There are also traditional cultural cures such as drinking pickle juice, which is common in Poland, or burying the person up to their neck in moist river sand, made popular in Ireland. Recently, however, there was a group of researchers from China who took a scientific approach to finding a hangover cure.

A study, published in the academic journal Food & Function in late September, first examined the chemical causes of a hangover. When an individual consumes alcoholic beverages, their body begins the process of breaking down the ethanol it contains. The first stage of the process

turns ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is the chemical component considered to be the cause of hangovers. Therefore, the more alcoholic beverages an individual consumes, the more ethanol their body will need to process, and the longer it will take. The body then needs to process the acetaldehyde into acetate, which is a harmless chemical by-product for the body in terms of the hangover symptoms. The researchers involved in the study sought to disrupt these stages of ethanol processing by accelerating the process.

By using a wide range of common carbonated beverages and herbal teas, these researchers systematically tested the individual effects the drinks had on hangover symptoms. Some of the tested drinks actually had negative outcomes – they hastened the formation of acetaldehyde, but prevented the removal of it.

The one solution they did come up with was Sprite. They found that this carbonated drink helped minimize the potential harmful effects of consuming alcoholic

PHOTO BY MISLAV MAROHNI´´çåC AND WENDY SHEPHERD

That’s not a typo! A new study out of China claims that your cure for those morning hangover blues begins with a dose of Sprite. beverages. This new finding is definitely worth a try, because after all, it was scientifically

tested. It might be exactly what a hungover individual needs to prevent the possible

alcohol-withdrawal symptoms commonly experienced the day after drinking too much.

SPORTS & HEALTH

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172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

No.4 Gryphons triumph over winless Ravens UoG improves to OUA best 7-0 Andrew Donovan As students and staff returned to their homes for the Thanksgiving holiday, the 7-0 Guelph Gryphons travelled to Ottawa to play the Carleton Ravens in what ended up being a big win for the OUA’s No.4 ranked squad, who put away the Ravens 48-12.

The stats sheet tells a different version of a game that, looking at the score alone, seems like a blowout.

Carleton amassed a highly efficient

494 yards on offense, 20 more yards than Guelph. The Ravens also ran more offensive plays, passed for more yards and had a higher yardsper-carry average on the ground, possessing the ball for roughly five more minutes than the Gryphons.

The first quarter began with a Carleton drive that ended in a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Banerjee for the home team to obtain their one and only lead of the game up 3-0.

Guelph responded two minutes later with a 24-yard field goal by Daniel Ferraro, and two minutes after that, a 23-yard rushing touchdown by veteran running back, Rob

Farquharson, put the Gryphons up 10-3 going into the second quarter.

Early in the second, Ravens quarterback Nick Gorgichuk threw his first ever CIS touchdown pass to Dexter Brown on a 49-yard catch and run.

However, the Brown touchdown reception was the last time the game was close. A combination of a Jazz Lindsey one-yard rushing touchdown and a special teams touch down on a 66-yard punt return by Andrew Graham, sent the Gryphons into half up 24-10.

The second half was more of the same, with Farquharson getting

Super foods boost immunity Andrea Connell Thanksgiving is over, night falls sooner, and December is just around the corner. Mid-semester is the time to start thinking about building up your immune system to fight off the dreaded cold and flu season. According to naturalnews. com, there are four “super foods” that can help you stay healthy all year round.

Garlic has long been called the “Stinking Rose” and is referred to as Russian penicillin due to its anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial properties. Garlic is a main ingredient in many recipes, and making your own Caesar salad dressing with a freshly crushed garlic clove is an easy way to eat it.

Invite your friends for dinner and “wow” them with your culinary skill. Garlic taken in capsule form is an alternative to eating it raw.

Green tea is also on the list. The tea contains certain chemicals called catechins, which some say kill influenza viruses. Long a staple in Asian cultures, green tea has recently become a super popular menu item in North America.

Coffee bars have even added it to

their lattes and juices.

In an article for eatingwell.com, Professor Rachel Johnson wrote about her colleague Mingruo Guo, PhD, a professor of food science at the University of Vermont and an authority on the immune-boosting potential of foods, who drinks five to six cups of green tea a day. He is convinced that it has immuneenhancing effects on the body.

Blueberries also made it on this list, and who doesn’t love a blueberry pancake? Blueberries are packed with vitamins A, D, and C as well as other antioxidants. Antioxidants boost immunity and can prevent or slow down the effect of free radicals, which are catalysts for oxidization, from damaging cells in the body.

In an article for Yahoo, health guru Monique Roy says, “using a test called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), researchers have shown that a serving of fresh blueberries provides more antioxidant activity than many other fresh fruits and vegetables.” Consider adding fresh blueberries to cereal, or stir a handful into yogurt for a healthy snack.

Unpasteurized or raw honey is

also recommended throughout the flu season. Raw honey is packed with nutrients that according to the Applied Health Journal contain “22 amino acids, 27 minerals, a full-range of vitamins, and 5,000 live enzymes.” Pasteurized honey is usually heated to 60 degrees Celsius to kill bacteria, yeast spores and fungi that could be in the honey, but this may also harm the enzymes that are antibacterial.

The Applied Health Journal claims that raw honey has been shown to be more effective than overthe-counter cough medicines for treating cold symptoms.

A lot of research has also shown that large doses of vitamin C are effective in shortening the length of a cold. Dietitian Leslie Beck wrote in the Globe and Mail recently that, “most research shows that taking 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C per day (divided as 500 milligrams for times daily) decreases the duration of a cold by 24 to 36 hours.”

Are there other ways to boost your immune system? Yes. Ensure you get enough sleep, make healthy food choices, and wash your hands regularly to stop the spread of germs.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

PHOTO BY PABLO VADONE

The Gryphons women’s hockey team beat Ryerson 2-0 on two goals by Christine Grant.

Guelph moves to 2-1 on the season.

an early third quarter touchdown.

With a comfortable lead, Guelph sat Lindsey and gave backup quarterback, Lucas Nangle, a chance to throw. Nangle finished the game strong, going 4-6 passing for two touchdowns and 61 yards through the air.

The Gryphons have now won an unprecedented 15 straight regular season games; their last loss coming away to last years OUA champions, the McMaster Marauders, on Sept.

3, 2012.

The final test for Guelph will be in Kingston on Saturday, Oct. 19 as the nations No.5 Queen’s Golden Gaels

will host the Gryphons in their nationally televised homecoming game. The Golden Gaels are 6-1 on the season, their only loss coming to No.1 ranked Western Mustangs, and are going to be looking to exact revenge on a Guelph team that managed to score 22 points in under 10 minutes in what is touted as the greatest comeback in Guelph football history – last year’s final regular season game at Alumni Stadium.

The game will air at 1 p.m. and will ultimately decide whether Guelph finishes a school-best – first place overall in the OUA – or drops as low as third.

What’s the obsession with “thigh gaps”?

How a well-intended term produced unintended consequences Andrew Donovan Earlier this month, the Associated Free Press released an article on a dangerous new fad among teenagers in Western culture: the “thigh gap.”

The thigh gap is exactly what it sounds like: a gap in between one’s thighs, even when one’s legs are close together. It is achieved by the most obvious of channels – namely poor dieting, malnutrition and eating disorders – and the term is growing in popularity.

A simple Google search produces countless Tumblr accounts, Wiki pages, Yahoo! answers, and blogs dedicated to the coveted successor to cleavage. Scrolling through the countless posts of confused and curious teens and images of Photoshopped legs, it is hard to forget that two years ago, the thigh gap had nothing to do with eating disorders and size zero jeans.

The fraternity over at the now über-famous website, The Chive, began praising the sorority of thigh gaps in early October of 2011 when they began a weekly post title, “Mind the Gap Monday;” which featured pictures submitted by female fans of the site. It undoubtedly began as a homage to women who were able to achieve a thigh gap, but at no point did the pictures show women who were dangerously underweight, and it certainly didn’t just praise thigh gaps in “skinny” women. Some pictures featured women with wide spread legs, some women were skinny, and others were just very fit and healthy women who – because of their affinity for squatting and weight training in general – were able to produce a diamond shape between their thighs and pelvis.

It wasn’t long after The Chive

began praising the thigh gap that it became a success on 4chan; an image board on the internet.

Again, many of the posts were displaying athletic women who were able to achieve the coveted diamond gap.

Somewhere down the line, it was decided by the internet that the thigh gap was best expressed as a synonym for “skinny.”

“Together we can lose weight. Together we can be skinny,” raves one Tumblr user.

“Together we can be a size zero with a beautiful thigh gap and flat stomach. Together we can be happy and finally say that we love our bodies.”

The craze is explained by clinical psychologist, Barbara Greenberg, as being a “pipe dream via extreme dieting and exercise.”

Greenberg continues, “Most women are not built that way to have that space between their thighs...It is a matter of bone structure [which] the majority of women do not have.”

There is a backlash to this trend happening across the internet though – a simple Twitter search reveals that young males and females are using satire, recognition of the beauty of different body types, and a strong dose of common sense to point out the flaws in the messages sent out about the modern thigh gap.

The phenomenon of the thigh gap needs to end. Its reputation is now laden with the self-loathing, depression and even suicidal behaviour by young women who place stigma on themselves for a trend that, in most women, is genetically impossible. Teenagers who look to adults for cues on fashion, health and lifestyle is not a new trend, but it is one that must be paid more attention to by the parents of children. They must to be privy to the fact that the internet knows no regulation and possesses wealth of information – information that in this case, can be detrimental to their teenager’s health.

CHARLIE L

Charlie LeDuff to speak with Guelph

The Ontarion chats with the Detroit reporter about journalism, politics, and the motor city Michael Long

While it is not uncommon for a journalist from the New York Times to become a bestselling author, it is perhaps a bit unusual for a reporter from a local television station to achieve international fame as a people’s champion. Detroit native Charlie LeDuff has the distinction of having done both, though not in the order you might guess.

The reporter will be speaking about his life and his latest book, “Detroit: An American Autopsy,” at the University of Guelph on Oct. 17 and Oct.18.

LeDuff has been a reporter at My Fox Detroit since 2010, yet this was, by all accounts, a step down from his previous job at the New York Times. It was at the Times that LeDuff penned the 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning series “How Race is Lived in America” and worked on other nationally-syndicated articles, books and television programs.

It was also at the Times where he began to feel the pressure to return

to his hometown. As LeDuff tells it, he wanted to report on the issues he wanted to report on, in the way he wanted to report on them. With experience comes privilege, and at My Fox Detroit, LeDuff has the enviable freedom of reporting with tremendous creative license.

On television, LeDuff has ruthlessly exposed Detroit’s notoriously seedy political underbelly, and in the process become something a workingman’s hero. It would not be inaccurate to think of him as the Bruce Springsteen of the news, or an old-fashioned reporter in the best sense. His exposés uncover political charlatanism of all sorts, and showcase, in no uncertain terms, the human consequences of a neglected and, as he puts it, dead city. His forthright style, his humour, and his unconventional methods have made him something of a popular icon, and LeDuff’s reports on Detroit’s struggles frequently reach an international audience via social-media sites like Reddit.

In advance of his visit to Guelph, I spoke with Charlie LeDuff on the phone about his journalism, his politics, and what’s going on in his floundering city. Here are some highlights:

On Journalism LeDuff’s had a rough day, but

he’s not one to be coy. He’s on fire before I can get a word in. I ask him about making the transition from print to TV journalism, and about why he adds humour to his stories.

“There’s a rule in television that people that don’t understand numbers,” says LeDuff. “When you’re giving them numbers and budget numbers they get confused.

And I said [to the producers], I’m gonna bet they don’t. If you put in the right context, if you actually put the number on screen, if you make the number the story they will completely understand it. And two, let’s interject some humour, and everybody take a breath, take a laugh, see what a circus this is, and let’s look at the number again.”

In his investigation of Detroit’s outsourcing of the Meal on Wheels program (to a company that makes prison food), the number: $138,000 in “savings,” is repeated between clips of LeDuff visiting homebound seniors and eating cat food. LeDuff is under no illusions of formality; he believes reporting should appeal to a mass audience.

“You’ve got to distill it… We’re not fine artists, we’re using a mass medium, you and I, and so how do you say it generally but intelligently, where it’s not so watered down that there’s nothing being pointed out.”

On Politics LeDuff believes passionately that people want to know what’s going on around them. Yet he also believes that most need someone to give it to them straight - that’s where he comes in. “[The people] want to know what’s going on with the government, they want to know what’s going on with their money, with schools and jails and pensions.

They want to know.”

While LeDuff is clear about that much, it’s also clear that he takes pride in being hard to define beyond that.

“I bet you couldn’t guess my politics,” he asks. “You don’t know if I’m a Democrat or a Republican or a conservative or a liberal do you?”

I ask him what category ‘populist’ might fall under.

“Right! Common sense!”

And if LeDuff had a mantra, that would be it. It’s those betrayals of common sense, those obvious depredations, which get him most irate. Everything else is secondary.

“Stop fucking stealing from us,” he says. “Stop mortgaging my child’s future. I’m angry.

And everything else we can discuss. We can discuss raising taxes, cutting government, whether a

grown man should whether his child sho health care. We can shit.”

His investigations o are a reflection of tics,” because, accord the bottom line is tha don’t want to be screw “We want things they should, want to and we want the man of our business and pocket. And then, wh you money, you do work and not your ow simple.”

I ask him if he’s alw sionate about politic ever turn it off.

“It’s hard to turn LeDuff. “This is who just do it to make a bu

On Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick mayor from 2002 to recently sentenced in prison for various related charges. I as Detroit’s extraordin lems make him reporter; if Detroit a be extraordinary.

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k, Detroit’s o 2008, was to 28 years s corruption sk LeDuff if nary proba different allows him to

ce in time, ectacular in epopulation,

its corruption, all of that. But people are paying attention to Detroit. I’ve been all over the country, I’ve been all over America, I’ve slept in every state in this union, and I know it and I know that these problems are the same ones facing Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and almost everywhere except Lower Manhattan.”

To use his words, Detroit is a “bell weather” for America’s current state of affairs – a indictment of societal problems of every stripe, and a warning for the future of the country. It’s hard to see the hope in his portrayal, for his stories are not often ones of change for the better.

“Our factories aren’t shuttered waiting for a better day, they’re gone. So how are we going to pay 17 trillion dollars back flipping hamburgers, or taking tolls from Canadian trucks coming over…

We’re in the midst of something and I think everybody feels it.”

But it’s that last bit, the fact that “everybody feels it,” wherein hope lies. LeDuff’s goal as a reporter – don’t call him a media personality – is to help people of all backgrounds and of all levels of education understand what they’re feeling just a little bit better.

LIFE

172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

13

Alumni Spotlight: Robert Gibson

Former Ontarion Sports Editor now holds Executive Producer title Stephanie Coratti

For many students, choosing a university and an academic program means simultaneously choosing a future career plan – or that’s the dream, anyways.

Truth be told, a lot of students find themselves switching career paths once or twice before really settling in. Robert Gibson, executive producer of Sun TV’s The CasinoRama Grill Room, could very well be the poster boy for this kind of student.

A few major accomplishments, decisions, and years removed, Gibson took the first step towards a career he couldn’t yet envision by choosing to attend the University of Guelph for Political Science. “Knowing that I was pursuing a BA, I really could have gone to a number of schools,” Gibson said of his choice. “It was the beauty of the campus that made the decision obvious.

It looked like a big Ivy League school to me when I was 19.”

A registered Gryphon with big dreams, Gibson went through an experience that isn’t uncommon for a lot of students. “I took [political science] because I really did think I was going to be Prime Minister one day. Hilarious to think I thought that now,” Gibson said of the transition from one aspiration to the next. “Once I realized I didn’t like glad-handing enough and liked late nights way too much, I knew the Ottawa thing wasn’t on.”

Gibson would eventually pursue a Journalism degree at Sheridan College after graduating from the University of Guelph. However he credits his position as the Sports & Health Editor of the Ontarion as a defining moment in the switch from the world of politics to the world of journalism. “I always enjoyed writing and sports, so when the Ontarion was looking, applying was a no-brainer,” Gibson explained.

“I was offered the job and have never looked back.”

A potential career in journalism didn’t seem to hold the same kind

of benefits that a government job promised, and Gibson’s father pointed this out, only wanting the best for his son. “My Dad was a tad put off. He always wanted me to get into politics,” Gibson said.

“He knew the life those folks in Ottawa have. High paying, vacation-heavy, protected jobs. He wanted me to reap the benefits.”

Gibson did end up reaping the benefits, and still is today. Those benefits just belong to a different set of priorities. Gibson’s show, The Grill Room, has included heavy weight names such as: Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark from the Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA-players Jalen Rose and Jamario Moon, and race-car champions Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy. But even these benefits don’t top Gibson’s list. “I tell myself all the time how lucky I am to be in this industry,” the Executive Producer said. “The pay isn’t out of sight, but I enjoy coming to work every day.”

Before landing at SunTV, Gibson recognized his strong interest for the broadcast world, and had the amazing opportunity of working for The Sports Network,

Canada’s leader in sports television. “This really got me in the game,” Gibson said of the experience. “I was fortunate enough to be hired by TSN before I had even finished my post-grad degree. I have never been without a job I loved since.”

As great as the bragging rights that came with working for TSN, Gibson looks to his roots at the University of Guelph as the backbone of his career, and life in general. “For one, I never would have been hired by TSN if I didn’t graduate from Guelph,” Gibson explained of the degree itself. “Secondly, my university experience in general, I think, largely shaped the person I am now. I found myself there. What made me tick, the type of people I wanted to call friends, my artistic and academic interests.

My whole experience at Guelph helps me in life.”

In addition to the position with Sun TV, Gibson has added business owner to his resume with the beginning of his own independent music label called Optical Sounds. “When I moved to Toronto I found myself in the

middle of a bunch of excellent and unique artists,” Gibson explained of the label’s beginning. “It seemed a shame to me that these people didn’t get the recognition they deserve.” Gibson and his younger brother started the label as a “platform” for these artists, and it’s been going strong for the past five years.

Looking back on his career thus far, Gibson doesn’t shy away from keeping some of the credit for himself. “I have more often than not made my happiness a priority for myself since I can remember,” Gibson said, joking that it isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds.

“If you can make yourself happy, my guess is that being happy with everyone else in your life is that much easier. My continued emphasis on myself has lead me to the position I cherish in a job I love doing every single day.”

Gibson doesn’t think of himself as the type to give advice, but believes students today should ask themselves if they’re happy.

“Make yourself happy and life itself will be more fun and a lot easier to handle,” the former Gryphon explained.

Perfecting being perpetually poor

Eating inexpensively Gabrielle Dickert

So, you spent a bit too much money at the bar this weekend. We’ve all been there at one point or another. But now the question stands – how are you going to pay for food until the next time you get paid?

There are a few things you can do to make it through the next week or two, and a few other preventative measures you can take to prepare yourself for the next time this happens – because let’s be honest, it will happen again.

One thing you have to know from the get-go is that saving money is going to require spending a little more time actually preparing food. While you may be used to buying 2 or 3 meals per day on campus, this is generally not sustainable for most students over their university career. If you are buying a lot of meals from on-campus venues, you’re probably spending more time standing in lines than it would take for you to make healthy, inexpensive meals.

Making food at home requires you to grocery shop, so make sure that when you go to the store, you have a list prepared.

At the very minimum know what you want to get and stick

with it. So often, you can get caught up in sales, or food that just looks delicious – especially when you go grocery-shopping hungry.

A great investment (especially for autumn/winter) is a slow cooker. Not only can you make delicious meals and have them ready for you when you come home from school, but you can actually make most things in a slow cooker – even bread. My favourite thing to make in the slow cooker is chili, and if you make a vegetarian version, it costs about $6 for five meals.

If you’re on good terms with your roommates, consider doing a dinner-share. Each person can be responsible for making dinner one day of the week, and then, depending on how many roommates you have, the extra nights can just be a free-for-all, or a pizza night or something else fun. By splitting up the cost of dinner, you can make greater quantities, which will save you money in the long run and you won’t have to worry about dinner every single night.

As for breakfast, I have two things to say: eat it, and do so at home. A bowl of cereal, oatmeal or even an English muffin in the morning will help hold you over until lunch.

Side note: If you drink coffee, make as much of it as you can at home and take it with

you in a travel mug. Worstcase scenario, you run out at school and you get a discount for having your reusable mug with you – and even better, if it’s a Monday, you get an extra stamp on your coffee card.

At this point, years of sandwiches have taken a toll and have inevitably gotten pretty boring. Change up your sandwich routine. Most days you can have meat, cheese and lettuce on bread, but why not switch it up? PB&J never hurt anyone. The ingredients don’t go bad and if you ask me, it’s like having dessert for lunch – a nice sugar fix to get you through the day. Wraps that include hummus, beans, or salads are great and healthy alternatives to get you out of that lunchtime funk.

Make sure you prepare snacks if you’re on campus for long days. I like to keep a bag of almonds in my backpack in case I just need a quick nibble. I’m also a fan of carrots and celery if you need a little crunch in your life. One thing I like to do to ensure my veggies don’t go bad (what a waste of money that is) is to prepare them as soon as I come home from the grocery store. Just a little preparation makes it so that every time I look in my fridge for snacks to eat or take to school, they’re there and waiting for me.

Another great money-saving

PHOTO BY CADEN CRAWFORD

Don’t procrastinate heading to the grocery store. Taking a little extra time and effort to plan out and make your own meals will stop you from eating on campus so often, and will save you a lot of cash. tip is to keep all of the food in your fridge as two-dimensional as possible. If you can’t see it, you won’t eat it – you’ll probably forget about it and eat something that was in front of it. If you share your fridge with a bunch of people and you can’t keep everything in eyesight, make a list of the things you buy and keep it on the fridge.

If you pay utilities, this will be even better for cost efficiency, because you won’t be standing looking in your fridge and wasting electricity.

Remember, if you’re in a particularly tight situation money-wise, the CSA offers a student food bank. While you might be pinching pennies, you still need to eat.

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LIFE

www.theontarion.com

You’ve probably seen this on Pinterest

In defense of the pumpkin spice latte Alyssa Ottema

Thanksgiving is arguably one of the favourite holidays among students, being the one time of the year when it is politically and socially acceptable to gorge yourself as if you’ll never eat again. Its aftermath, and the consequent leftovers, keeps the student who lives on ramen noodles and beer, eating like royalty for weeks afterwards. Perhaps my favourite thing about Thanksgiving, however, is that it marks the beginning of what

Looking to change your tone?

Wendy Shepherd Filters don’t get enough credit; they work really hard to try to satisfy all the elements of a photo. However, sometimes it’s just not enough.

If you choose the wrong one, no one will be fooled into believing there could be a professional photographer behind your phone – and let’s be real, isn’t that the goal?

Apps that allow editing photos beyond filters are exciting. One of the most fine-tuned aspects I’ve come to love is the ability to edit different tones. There are three separate tones (more simply described as levels of brightness within an image) that should be taken into account while editing.

These include shadows, midtones and highlights.

It’s important to pay attention to these aspects when adjusting for contrast, as the brightness

I like to think of as “the season of the pumpkin spice latte.”

Now, I love pumpkin, and whipped cream, and cinnamon, and nutmeg. Subsequently, I love pumpkin spice lattes. You know who doesn’t love pumpkin spice lattes? My wallet and my bank account. For years, I’ve searched for a way to satisfy my inner pumpkincraving frugal goddess goddess.

Then one day, while idly Pinterest-ing, I happened upon it – the Holy Grail. This, my friends, is what those guys in Monty Python were really looking for.

May I present to you the pumpkin spice latte muffin. (Note: we call them muffins so that we can

compared to one another is important. However, I find the real creative fun begins when tones are changed by adjusting the hue (the colour of the tone) or saturation (the intensity of the colour).

Many people have an eye for the correct filter to get a desired effect, but why do some of them look horrible? There are apps out there that provide more control over tonal adjustments, but using them takes practice. At first, finding midtones in colour photos can be challenging. Over time, your ability to predict where the boundaries lies between highlight and midtone and between midtone and shadow will improve.

These boundaries can make it difficult to predict how a photo is going to change when the colour of a specific tone is adjusted. For example, a filter that is intended to change the hue of midtones by giving them a blue tint will have a different outcome than one that is intended to adjust the hue of only the highlights in the same image.

justify to ourselves eating them in the morning. Remember this for future reference.)

Makes approximately “muffins”

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Ingredients: 2 2/3 c. flour 3 tbsp. espresso powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 1 tsp. salt 1 c. pumpkin puree 1 c. sugar 1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. vegetable oil 1/2 c. milk 4 large eggs (beaten)

Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cloves and salt. Stir together, create a “well” in the middle for the wet ingredients, and add the pumpkin, milk, eggs and oil. Mix to combine.

3. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20

minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

4. Now, this recipe calls for some fancy homemade icing concoction, but let me let you in on a little secret – it is WAY cheaper to use store-bought icing, and it tastes identical to anything you’d be able to make. So, run to the grocery store and buy a can of whipped cream and a squeeze bottle of that caramel stuff that you’re supposed to put on ice cream. Put both of these things on the top of each “muffin” in any fashion you so choose, and voila – pumpkin spice latte muffins.

You’re welcome.

PHOTO BY WENDY SHEPHERD

Comparison of the two images above indicates midtones in this particular portrait. Midtones from the image on the left have been given a solid grey colour in the image on the right. This helps illustrate the boundary between highlights and midtones and mid tones and shadows.

This would especially be true if the image contained significantly more highlights than midtones (or vice versa). Similarly, a filter

intended to add hues would vary depending on the original colour of the photo. For example, adding hues of red to a photo that is

predominantly blue would likely produce “cooler” colours than adding a red hue to a predominantly green photo.

Choosing your family over food

Why my parents matter more than my plate Carleigh Cathcart

Thanksgiving reminds us of many things we have to be grateful for – family, friends, health, and freedom. It’s a calendar reservation to take a moment from our hectic lives, step back, and appreciate how truly good we have it. Going into Thanksgiving, we usually have only the best of intentions. But, like almost all holidays, Thanksgiving allows our priorities to stand out for their misplacement and misdirection.

The biggest thing I hear from my fellow university students regarding going home is their excitement

for food. Home cooked, steaming hot, mother-made food - and lots of it. This is understandable, of course, but it’s also a surprisingly large component of the discussion when speaking about the holiday.

What bothers me isn’t the anticipation for turkey deliciousness, but the unfortunate emphasis placed upon it.

Here’s what I look forward to at Thanksgiving: 1. Seeing family again: Now that I’m a full-time scholar, I feel like a less-than-part-time daughter. Being extremely close to one’s parents is a good thing, but it also makes things difficult when midterms and deadlines rear their ugly heads. Calling my dad or Skyping my mom is great for staying ‘in

touch,’ but nothing beats the real touch of a mother’s hug or a father’s hair tussle. And, despite the shock from admitting this, I kind of miss my little sisters, too – kind of.

2. Reuniting with my pets: This is as big as seeing my human family members. As is likely the case with many, my dog is one of my best friends. And my lazy cats and weirdo rabbit are amusingly characteristic – playing with them brings an immense surge of happiness.

3. The gorgeous Canadian fall scenery: I don’t think much needs to be said when our eyes let the colours do all the talking. Whether or not fall is your favourite season, I’d declare you soulless if you said you didn’t, in some way, enjoy the breathtaking views nature

provides for us at this time of year.

Some may feel like fall is an ending, with lifeless leaves and bare trees, but I feel as if it is the start of a new beginning. Much like the shedding of chlorophylldeprived foliage prepares a tree to endure a cold winter and rebirth in the spring. This season is marked by kicking into full swing for a new school term and reflection on the goodness of your reunion with friends, the hard work you’ve done to be studying something you love, and the fortune of living in one of the greatest countries in the world.

Food is a bonus of Thanksgiving, but it certainly doesn’t come close to driving my excitement for the long October weekend. My heart is so happy being with loved ones

that my stomach doesn’t even have a chance to get a word in.

Even when it finally arrives, my time with family is so darn brief that on the ride back to Guelph, I find myself fondly recalling our short visit, and forgetting entirely about what had been on my plate.

There will always be food. Maybe not always the same kind of food, but it’s there, it’s available, and it’s never going away. But family – well, you only get one, and you certainly can’t find a replacement at Creelman’s. The pumpkin pie is sweet, but relishing my moments with family is far sweeter – cheesy (I’ve had enough of the food metaphors for now), yet true. I hope you’ll agree.

And if not, well, there’s always Halloween, which means free candy!

OPINION

172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

15

An argument against euthanasia Tom Oberle Shortly before his death, Dr. Donald Low recorded a video of himself proclaiming his wish that euthanasia be legalized in Canada. Euthanasia has since become a hot topic in Canada with many in favour of the legalization of the practice.

However, I would argue that human life is not an entitlement, but a gift and a privilege, and that humanity has intrinsic self-worth.

Many hold the common mentality that they are entitled to live a healthy, happy, and pain-free life. There is, however, a fundamental distinction between entitlement and human right - the difference between a right to life and an entitlement to life is debt. People feel they deserve a good life, that someone or something (call it fate, the universe, God, etc.) owes them a good life. This sense of entitlement is mostly governed

by the notion that one’s life belongs to them, and that they have the right to do with their lives whatever they please.

We are not the ‘owners’ of our own lives for one basic reason: we do not have absolute free will. We do not decide when or where we are born, who our parents will be, or which political, religious, and social institutions will influence our beliefs. We are not in control of the events that surround us, and reality does not adapt according to our desires. How then is it possible that we are the ‘owners’ of our lives? You come to own something by three ways: creation, purchase, or benefaction, none of which we have done in regard to our own lives. It would then seem more logical to suggest that life has been granted to us.

Those who argue in favour of euthanasia usually do so on the basis of “it’s my life and I

have the right to do with it as I please.” They preach about the right to die with dignity. However, if life is a privilege, then we do not necessarily deserve anything, it is not ours to do with as we please, and there are moral implications for doing so.

Taking your own life, or having someone else take it for you is not dying with dignity, it is the opposite: it is disgraceful and cowardly. Is it really so appalling and horrid that we suggest someone endure hardship and pain in life? How conceited is this view of what we think we deserve? Is pain not a part of life?

Those who argue in favour of euthanasia also assume that humanity’s value and worth is extrinsic, meaning that worth and value are bestowed upon humanity by society or government, or perhaps some other form of social or political organization. This assumption must be made for the following reason: euthanizing is the act of

removing worth and value from human life. If human value is extrinsic and given to us by the government, then it can also be removed by the government.

The decision to euthanize a life is essentially deciding that said life is no longer worth living, and any worth that life may have is removed.

This is a huge claim – think about it for a moment. What makes human life meaningful and what sets us apart from mere deterministic biological organisms, is simply a bestowment from a social entity – an entity that is comprised of human individuals in the first place. I do not believe human value is extrinsic because I do not believe that human value can be removed for any reason. If human life has intrinsic worth, then euthanasia brings about serious moral implications.

If Canada as a nation wants to seriously discuss and consider

euthanasia as a legal practice, then we must also seriously consider these implications.

Once the door to euthanasia is opened, it may be hard, if not impossible, to close and the lines of human value and morality will become even more blurred. If euthanasia is made legal, what is next?

What makes us human is more than the cognitive, physical, or social capabilities we have as a species. The grounds upon which we derive or receive human value and worth is also more than that which our social entities and institutions can provide us. If human life is a privilege and humanity has intrinsic worth, then the sacredness of life is not something to be taken lightly.

Human life is worth so much more than what we think we deserve in terms of our rights and our dignity, and it is time Canadians take these considerations seriously.

actually want #UOGPPP

of Q1 is non-academic! What’s the point of a University if not academia?? #stoptheppp #uogppp

Increasing tuition fees just makes education inaccessible #UOGPPP

have town halls that merely seek to inform us.

Where was our input gathered?

At what stage will they actually talk to the community? At what stage will they factor in workers, students, and community members into this process?

There has been an increasing amount of double speak from the administration, and the town hall was a pretty clear indicator that students and workers will not stand for this any longer. While the government sets a framework, it is up to us to determine where the future of our university lies. We need a university that pushes for more public funding for education so we can actually increase the quality, diversity and accessibility of our education – not one that jumps at the opportunity to raise fees and cut programs and then turns around and tells faculty, workers and students that this is actually a good thing. We need to put our differences aside and question the administration’s rhetoric now more than ever before.

Confused about the PPP?

No wonder!

Denise Martins Last week, the university’s administration unveiled the masterpiece that is the Program Prioritization Process (PPP).

After attending the Senate meeting and the town hall, it became clear that the University was not prepared to budge on the PPP, regardless of the amount of backlash it has received. So I decided to piece together what I see as the Administration’s stance and the community’s response.

Administration: The PPP is a new way of doing cuts. It makes cuts more transparent than ever before, and overall is a super great process that you just don’t understand. @BrittanySkelton tweets: It would be great if pres. Summerlee actually listened to the questions being asked and responded respectfully #UOGPPP The report is supposedly in place to revolutionize our practices and make us a better University overall. You see, $32.4 million in budget cuts will give the University an opportunity to reinvent and be better! @TESSGuelphU tweets: There’s an opportunity for new things!

All the wonderful new things while they cut the things we

This brings us to the hilarious moment in the town hall where a student got up and asked Alastair Summerlee to be honest and admit that the budget cuts are a bad thing. Summerlee basically said that people who think that cuts are bad are just afraid of creativity and change. No. We’re afraid of the administration and the government attacking the programs that we love, the services we need, and implementing the further privatization of education that will lead to increased tuition fees and less diverse, lower quality education. We are afraid that when you tell some of our colleges, like the College of Arts, to cut 25 per cent of their budget, they might just look over at the PPP in order to determine where to trim the excess fat, and that this “excess fat” will be the programs that ranked low on the PPP, like practically all of the languages and minors. @RDubh tweets: Concerns raised: “I don’t know how the college of arts can just find that much money by simply *collaborating* better” Administration: The PPP exists without bias. Everyone was given the same opportunity to show how great they are, and that data was analyzed. The results released are based on this data. @GarvieDrew tweets: Majority

Any process that ranks Parking Services above majors, MAs, PhDs, and Research in Philosophy, Geography, Physics, and Social Anthropology is intrinsically flawed – period.

Administration: We must get more international students! Students are “revenue generators”!

This is an old line. We’ve all heard it all before. We need to increase the diversity of students in our University. I agree, however, international students are often brought into question when it comes to budget deficit. This is because they pay exorbitantly high tuition fees (something the report actually acknowledges).

It is also because, unlike domestic students, their tuition fees are completely deregulated. This means that the administration can wake up suddenly tomorrow and choose to increase tuition fees for 2014-2015 students by as much as their hearts desire. In fact, international students pay close to three times higher fees than domestic students already, so they’re convenient “cash cows” for the administration.

Increasing international student enrolment is not a sustainable solution to a budget crisis. @awildnathalie tweets: We need to push for government funding of postsecondary education.

The report also indicates the “opportunity” to increase tuition fees so as to have more prestigious programs pay more. Comments were also made by the administration about the nuisance that is government regulation of tuition fees. However, increasing tuition fees is not a solution in the students’ interests, as we know that Ontario students are currently graduating with an average debt over $35 thousand after an undergraduate degree. Thus, increasing tuition fees would only serve to make our education less accessible and student debt increase.

Administration: Don’t look at us! It was the task force’s report. @BrittanySkelton tweets: Pres.

Summerlee might not have been shocked by the student response if he and the task force had actually engaged with them. #UOGPPP The University continuously brought up the “task force” when asked about the rankings.

They did not see their decision to pursue the PPP in the first place as the problem, and despite any amount of community concern, it does not seem like they will rethink this strategy. How is this not a problem? We are a public institution and we are all stakeholders of this institution. We are concerned, but rather than having a democratic voice, we

@jessilauryn tweets: Question everything, think critically and engage. #uogppp #studentsunite #idlove

The views represented in the opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ontarion nor its staff.

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LETTER TO EDITOR

www.theontarion.com

Re: Prioritization Planning Process I agree with the CSA that students should take the time to better understand the Prioritization Planning Process. The best way to do so is to watch the podcast of the town hall meeting where this was discussed (on the U of G homepage). You may notice some incorrect statements in the CSA article on the PPP. For instance, the PPP is not assessing programs solely on revenue generation abilities. There are 10 criteria and it is the criteria such as demand, quality of outcomes, impact and

The Central Student Association The Town Hall on the Program Prioritization Process (PPP) was well attended, with some students filing in before and after classes to hear as much as possible. Attendance was a good representation of our institution – full of students, faculty, staff and administration.

However, despite a lengthy presentation and a tension-filled question and answer period, the CSA is left with some questions and concerns. Our disappointment with the criteria remains; there were 10 criteria used to measure academic and non-academic programs that were not developed by the university community.

There was no defined role for student leaders and students to participate and it was on a college-by-college basis that opportunities to provide input were potentially available. Student leaders attempted to get involved

opportunities that drove the rankings. The CSA also states that little has been communicated to students about this process. I struggle to understand this comment. We have been working on this process for over a year and it has been a standing item at all student leaders’ meetings; students were invited to college and division meetings where it was discussed; and, all of the material has been posted for public viewing.

This is a highly transparent process. While we can always improve

on our communication, the subtle suggestion that we have kept students in the dark is not fair. I am not sure why the CSA is suggesting that this is a top-down process simply adopted by an American consultant.

It has involved every department. In fact, unlike other universities that have engaged in this process, we remained true to our values: there were no senior administrators on the taskforce; the templates were filled in by 161 authors – not just a few senior administrators; we included

students on the PPP task force; and, any recommendations arising from the review process will go through the normal governance process.

Oh, and just in case you might not have known this, the President CONSTANTLY, PERSISTENTLY AND AGGRESSIVELY advocates for more funding for higher education. In fact, post secondary education has fared better than almost any other sector as a result of constant advocacy. We have a challenge ahead of us and the PPP is just one tool to help

Response to Town Hall in the process and a select few were fortunate enough to help fill out several Program Information Request (PIR) forms, however the actual development of criteria went untouched. Faculty has also expressed discontent in their exclusion from this process, as stated in one of the Faculty Association newsletters: “the Administration has imposed these [criteria and templates] on the basis of an external consultant’s recommendations.” Some faculty that were involved in filling out the PIR forms noted the time required meant less time for teaching, research and service (Distribution of Effort requirements).

A good example of involving the university community took place at the University of Regina with their Academic Review Program (ARP), which was largely based on Robert Dickeson’s book. They extensively consulted their faculty, alumni, staff and students through surveys about the configuration of the two

sets of criteria to assess programs against. This is what we mean by the PPP being ‘top-down’ in its implementation.

A member of the audience challenged this ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, with concern stemming from assessing academic and nonacademic programs and services together when revenue generation (8 points) and cost (10 points) are factored in. At the Town Hall, it was indicated that revenue generation was not a main factor that influenced the rankings of the programs. We would like to see how this was done.

We are curious to learn why programs that tend to bring revenue to our university (e.g. Parking) or are funded primarily on Incidental Fees (e.g.

Fitness Recreation) scored in the top quintile, whereas programs unable to adequately account for costs or revenue generation were in the bottom quintiles (e.g. minors and the bachelor of arts, general program). The process of ranking programs and informing cuts to programs remove

an impending $32.4 million structural deficit is problematic.

In regards to the PPP Taskforce, we recognize that a graduate and an undergraduate student were part of its membership, however these positions were hired as university employees, and thus they were being bound to think institutionally. The study body did not vote for these members, and they are not representatives. This is further demonstrated through the division of the Task Force into groups of four when ranking and scoring of programs. The Report states on page 11 that “the 21 members of the Task Force were divided into four groups that included representation of colleges, faculty, staff and students.” How were only two students involved with all four groups? Although there was not administration on the Task Force, it was the administration that decided to implement the PPP, and who held the power to communicate with students and ask for the university’s input while developing the criteria.

with our integrated planning. What was articulated so beautifully at Senate was how we are an institution that can move forward in a collegial and innovative fashion, collectively working on solutions. It is my hope that students will engage proactively in these discussions, helping us to shape the future of this amazing place.

Brenda Whiteside Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs)

OPINION Alastair Summerlee, President of the University, said he does lobby the government for increased funding, however in April 2013 he said, “tuition fees have gone up considerably, and if this was a world in which we had a government who had the money to be able to invest, I would be very strongly pressing the government to invest and not to increase fees.” Does the administration require stronger support and demand from students in these lobbying efforts?

If PPP is just one tool, to what extent will students be engaged moving forward with the PPP and other tools involved, like the carrying out of the integrated plan?

The University of Guelph should think of itself as an academic public institution of higher learning seeking to better the planet, rather than a business failing to make its bottom line. The CSA is dedicated to participating in discussions moving forward to uphold the value of our university.

EDITORIAL

The detriment of cultural Halloween costumes

The annual celebration often includes dressing up as something you’re not - but could your ensemble go as far as to offend others

The origins of Halloween have long been forgotten as the holiday has turned into a celebration that includes dressing up in a guise – a seasonal point of controversy for those who choose a costume that appropriates another culture.

While the adoption of cultural elements by another cultural group occurs on a daily basis, the appropriation that occurs every Halloween can often be insensitive, even if done unknowingly. Many choose to adopt the dress, adornment, and sometimes even the social behaviour of a cultural group that is not their own, making dressing up for Halloween a tradition that nurtures stereotypes.

Most commonly, we see people dressing up as a “Native American.” In the blog “Angry Navajo/ Indian Girl,” the author stated: “Why is it socially acceptable to dress like the stereotypical Indian: ‘Brave,’ ‘Chief,’ ‘Princess,’ ‘Squaw,’ ‘Maiden’? ...When did the Native American enter the realm of Wizards, Fairies, Super-heroes, Goblins or Ghouls? When did it become OK to reduce the diversity, language, and culture of nearly 500 different Indigenous tribes into a tacky ‘costume’…?”

Cultural appropriation through costumes seems to occur most in the inaccurate portrayal of Native Americans, but it also extends to other cultural groups. Costumes such as “Dia De Los Muertos Darling,” a sugar-skull outfit that references the Mexican Holiday; “Mexican Style,” which equips the costume-wearer with a

colorful sarape, traditional sombrero, and giant mustache; and “Bollywood Beauty,” supplied with a bindi, traditional jewelry and a head and body veil; are just a few of many.

Each of these examples often displays a hyperbolic representation that propagates the typecasting of a culture, especially of those who have been oppressed throughout history.

In the article “Cultural Appropriation and Costumes,” Kjerstin Johnson explains a situation where “someone who does not experience that oppression is able to ‘play,’ temporarily, an ‘exotic’ other, without experience any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures.” Therefore, appropriation could be harmful and offensive when the culture being clumsily replicated is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited, or when the object of appropriation (such as sacred objects) becomes mass-produced and therefore loses meaning.

So, what about those who do it for fun or irony? “I think it’s almost impossible to be ironic while being racist, so irony is lost,” said Jelani Cobb, a professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University. “To treat a character like Batman or Superman as a Halloween costume is one thing, but to treat an entire ethnicity as a costume is something else. It suggests that people conflate the actual broad diversity of a culture with caricatures and characters.”

Unfortunately, the companies who reproduce these looks do not accurately represent the long-established traditions, and as a result these companies are left propagating negative stereotypes for profit. The costumes present elements of a culture removed from their original contexts, and thus can often take on different meanings that could offend those who wish to

On a petition prepared by the Guelph Student Mobilization Committee – and posted to the Central Student Association (CSA)’s website – were copies of a petition, making available the names, student numbers, emails, and signatures of numerous students.

Making this information available publicly may increase the risk of identity theft for students. Attached below are the instances of the privacy breach, with the personal information of students redacted in order to

According to the CSA Policy Manual: The CSA believes that every individual has the right to access information kept pertaining to their self. Each individual also has the right to privacy when

University Centre Room 264 University of Guelph N1G 2W1 ontarion@uoguelph.ca

Editorial Staff: Editor-in-Chief Jessica Avolio News Editor Michael Long Arts & Culture Editor Emily Jones Sports & Health Editor Andrew Donovan Associate Editor Stacey Aspinall Copy Editor Alyssa Ottema Production Staff: Photo & Graphics Editor Wendy Shepherd Ad Designer Justin Thomson Layout Director Stephanie Lefebvre

COURTESY PHOTO

Halloween costumes such as the “sugar skull” are cultural appropriations of the dress and adornment of another culture. Often times, these replications propagate stereotypes about certain groups of people and reduce their traditions to a cheaply manufactured outfit. preserve their traditions.

It is doubtful that anyone’s goal when dressing up for Halloween is to be disrespectful towards another culture, but it is important to reflect on what your costume may portray.

The line between what may be offensive or what is not is often tricky, and the best solution is to try and discuss the idea with those from other cultural groups – or if in doubt, choose another costume idea.

With endless options for Halloween costumes, one must ask

if the fun of dressing up has to come at the expense of others.

If it simply means choosing another costume to create a positive experience for all, what is the harm?

Have a question, comment or complaint?

Send us a letter to the editor at ontarion@uoguelph.ca.

Deadline is Monday at 4 p.m., 300 word max.

Office Staff: Business manager Lorrie Taylor Ad manager Al Ladha Office Coordinator Vanessa Tignanelli Circulation Director Sal Moran Web Editor Alexander Roibas Board of Directors President Bronek Szulc Treasurer Lisa Kellenberger Chairperson Michael Bohdanowicz Secretary Alex Lefebvre Directors Aaron Francis Harrison Jordan Heather Luz Shwetha Chandrashekhar Contributors

Re: CSA privacy breach – An open letter protect their privacy.

The RCMP notes that identity thieves are always on the lookout for information like full names and signatures of individuals.

The Criminal Code also acknowledges that “identity information” includes names, addresses, and signatures (s. 402.1).

The Ontarion Inc.

Phone: 519-824-4120 General: x58265 Editorial: x58250 Advertising: x58267 Accounts: x53534

LETTER TO EDITOR Dear Brenda Whiteside,

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172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

information of a confidential nature is given to the CSA. (app.

B, s. 4.2) Furthermore: Any information about an individual will not be given out to other parties unless consent is received by the individual in question. (s. 4.3) All information of a personal nature may be accessed by the individual to whom it pertains only. (s. 4.4) The CSA will collect individuals’ information only with their explicit or implicit consent except when information pertains to […]

an award [… or] performance evaluation. (s. 4.5) I hope that the CSA will use this as an opportunity to strengthen its privacy practices to avoid such breaches in the future. The document is dated April 15, which means that this was uploaded by last year’s executive.

This letter will only be released once the personal information has been removed from the website, in order to protect the personal information of these students.

Samuel Mosonyi

Mandeep Arneja Laura Castellani Carleigh Cathcart The Central Student Association Andrea Connell Stephanie Coratti Gabrielle Dickert Braeden Etienne Balmore Gamez

Alicja Grzadkowska Denise Martins Samuel Mosonyi Anthony Jehn Tom Oberle Mike Ott Adrien Potvin Pablo Vadone Brenda Whiteside

The Ontarion is a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors.

Since the Ontarion undertakes the publishing of student work, the opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Ontarion Board of Directors. The Ontarion reserves the right to edit or refuse all material deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for publication as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Material of any form appearing in this newspaper is copyrighted 2011 and cannot be reprinted without the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. The Ontarion retains the right of first publication on all material. In the event that an advertiser is not satisfied with an advertisement in the newspaper, they must notify the Ontarion within four working days of publication. The Ontarion will not be held responsible for advertising mistakes beyond the cost of advertisement. The Ontarion is printed by the Guelph Mercury.

FUN PAGE

172.7 • Thursday, OCTOBER 17, 2013

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COMMUNITY LISTINGS Friday Afternoon Jazz Series at the Bullring starts this Friday October 18th from 2pm-4pm. This week features the jazz trio, Threefold Standard! Free!

GIANT USED BOOK SALE.Friends of the Guelph Public Library, Oct 25-27. Friday 6-9 pm, Sat & Sun 10-4. Fastforms Building 251 Massey Rd. 40,000 books, CDs, DVDs, videos $1-$3 CASH ONLY. Proceeds to Guelph Public Library Human Rights and Animal Rights, a day-long conference with 7 speakers discussing their perspectives and ongoing campaigns for issues of animal rights and another human rights issues (including patriarchy, queer rights, ableism, racism, worker rights, prisoner rights, indigenous rights, etc.). Saturday Oct 26th in War Memorial Hall. Addition info email Mike at mnichols@uoguelph.ca Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Guelph Food Bank runs through the month of October. Donations can be dropped off at Guelph local grocery stores, fire halls or the Guelph Food Bank located at 100 Crimea Street. This year’s goal is 90,000 pounds of non-perishable canned and packaged goods.

Guelph Contra Dances at St. James Anglican Church, 86 Glasgow St N. Second Friday every month. 8:00pm. Admission $10.00 Free parking. No partner or previous experience necessary. www.guelphcontradances.com BestCrosswords.com

Across 1- Indy 500 sponsor 4- John of “Full House” 10- French summers 14- Always 15- Prepare an exhibition 16- Windmill part 17- “Hold On Tight” band 18- Coming before 20- Terrif 21- Hula hoops?

22- Mary of “The Maltese Falcon” 23- Tusks 25- Severe 28- Opposite of post29- Fork feature 30- Magna ___ 31- Fibbed 32- Obsidian 35- Comparative suffix 36- Neth. Neighbor 37- Bliss 44- Make reference to 45- In front 46- Drug-yielding plant 48- So there!

49- Commoners 50- Ignited again 51- Not quite right 53- Canadian gas brand 55- Volcano output

56- Indigent 59- Miss Piggy’s query 60- Former Russian ruler 61- Winter hanger 62- Onetime Jeep mfr.

63- Actress Ward 64- Rumpus 65- Some MIT grads Down 1- Deem appropriate 2- City in W central Israel 3- Free; 4- Snakelike 5- Melody 6- Craftsperson 7- Conductors 8- Non-Rx 9- Get it?

10- Nights before 11- So much the worse 12- Curtain calls 13- Hit the roof 19- Rockers Steely ___ 24- Experience again 26- Catchall abbr.

27- Tattered 30- Worldly 31- Immature insects 33- Bee follower 34- Grazing spot 37- Like some cats 38- In the right 39- Common article 40- Pertaining to puberty

41- Cushion for kneeling 42- “Cow Cow Boogie” singer Morse 43- Noxious 44- Intones 47- Morals 49- Ltr. Addenda 50- Thorny flowers 52- Lab fluids 54- “Star Trek” role 57- Round Table title 58- Hosp. area

SUBMIT your completed crossword by no later than Monday, October 21st at 4pm for a chance to win TWO FREE BOB’S DOGS! Last Week's Solution

Congratulations to this week's crossword winner: Kayla Sangster. Stop by the Ontarion office to pick up your prize!

Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) is encouraging all Ontarians to register their consent to become organ and tissue donors. By registering as a donor, you could one day save up to eight lives and enhance as many as 75 more. Online donor registration is now available at BeADonor.ca. It’s easy and it only takes 3 minutes to register. www.beadonor.ca

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