The Fulcrum, Vol. 83. Issue 2.

PEDRO COMES HOME

ISSUE 2, october 2022

TheFulcrumFB

Fulcrum

news

(PP. 3) Iranian Student Association hosts protest and vigil for Mahsa Amini (PP. 3) ‘#ProtectThePanda’: OPS speaks on staying safe and respectful for 53rd Panda Game (PP. 4) Former University of Ottawa student starts grassroots non-profit for Black and racialized nature lovers

ARTS

(PP. 6) Indigenous representation at the National Gallery of Canada (PP. 7) Teacher talk: visual arts professors on teaching art virtually and in-person (PP. 7) A glimpse into the Ancient Mediterranean at the Museum of Classical Antiquities

SPORTS

(PP. 8) Gee-Gees successfully protect the panda (PP. 9) Must-watch Gee-Gees vs Ravens sporting events

SCIENCES

(PP. 10) U of O researcher examines factors that influence people’s performance in math (PP. 11) U of O researcher examines underlying mechanism involved in the locomotion of amphibious centipedes

FEATURES (pp. 12) Digital consumerism in the Metaverse

OPINIONS

(PP. 13) Why am I forced to buy a U-Pass? (PP. 13) How to avoid the ’worst case scenario’ homecoming

STAFF

Jasmine McKnight

Otten

Editor

Sanjida Rashid

Designer

Holub

Boomer

VIDEOGRAPHER

Vacant

Social Media Manager

Bailey

Editor

Desirée Nikfardjam

Editor

Victoria Drybrough Sports Editor

Adibe

& Tech Editor

Williams

Features Editor

Bridget Coady

Opinions Editor

Matthew McConkey

Writer

Grace Kim-Shin

News Associate

Yannick Mutombo

NEWS EDITOR Desirée Nikfardjam news.editor@thefulcrum.ca

Iranian Student Association hosts protest and vigil for Mahsa Amini

action.”

The Iranian Stu dent Association of the University of Ottawa (IS AUO) came together on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. at Ta beret lawn to mourn and protest the death of Mah sa Amini (#MahsaAmi ni,) a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was beaten into a fatal coma while in the custody of the moral ity police in Iran after be ing arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab loosely.

The ISAUO be lieved it was important to hold a protest on campus, and in Ottawa, in solidari ty of the Iranians who are fighting back in their coun try.

“No matter whose freedom and right is compromised, students seek to promote every one’s right for having jus tice and equity … It is ex pected to raise awareness for Canadians and every one in the world toward what is happening in Iran,” said the ISAUO in an email to the Fulcrum.

Friday evening began with people mak ing signs on the grass and coordinators lighting can dles. Many young adults and families with young children arrived while the hosts played Persian music. A young woman handed informational fly ers to passersby with a

photo of Mahsa Amini and a QR code which, when scanned, led to a Wikipe dia page shedding light on the current situation in Iran.

Prior to the event’s start, hosts kindly asked that people be care ful when taking videos and posting photos on social media, warning them not to get anyone’s faces in their videos and photos. Many of those in atten dance still have family in Iran, and feared repercus sions if or when they re turn to the country.

Event coordina tors began by welcoming and introducing the rea sons behind their gather ing. This was followed by a poem in Farsi.

On the ground in front of signs that read ‘Stop Violence in Iran,’ and ‘Why Is The World Silent?’ candles were placed in the shape of Iran. Throughout

the night, the love for their country and its people was clear; they sang “Ey Iran,” the unofficial national an them of the people, later in the evening. But the pain and hate for its re gime and the suffering of civilians was strong and voiced through chants.

Various chants were yelled in Farsi by pro testers including, “Zan, Ze ndegi, Azadi,” which trans lates to “Women, Life, Freedom.” Another chant: “Irani Mimirad Zelat Nemi pazirad,” can be translated to, “Iranians Die but Will Not Be Suppressed.”

One man was present with his young daughter and her friend. He said that it was im portant for him to bring his daughter, even though she might not understand everything that was hap pening.

“I told her it is in order to protest against a

law in Iran that is against Human Rights … when we are in a country where we have freedom, it is our duty to do something about it,” he continued. “I am Muslim, I pray three times a day. My wife wears a scarf, and that is the choice of my wife. But I know religion is an indi vidual issue for everyone, and no government has the right to interfere in the individual issues of the people.”

The Fulcrum also spoke with two female graduate students who said they were protest ing to support the people in Iran — especially the women.

When asked about their thoughts on the use of social media as a tool to spread aware ness, one said, “It can be [effective], but it’s more effective that other gov ernments help and take

The ISAUO ex panded on this, saying, “People are trying to con vey their message and re veal what is happening in Iran. Social Media is the fastest and most accessi ble way to share informa tion and increase peoples’ awareness.”

On Sept. 25, Ira nians came together again in front of Parliament Hill to protest. At 12 p.m., they marched to 181 Spark St. — the home of CBC Ra dio-Ottawa.

“We will no lon ger be quiet, we will trans fer the voice of our people to the world… A few words to Canada: ‘We need your help!’” said one protestor outside the CBC office.

Iran has blocked access to the internet and some social media platforms in certain areas of Tehran and Kurdistan, making it difficult for locals to reach the international community.

If you are curious about how to help, ask your Iranian friends what you can do or check out the different options on Green Matters‘ website.

The identity of the unnamed sources in this article has been con firmed and vetted by the Fulcrum. Due to the na ture of the article, their names have been omitted, as they still have close con nections to Iran.

‘#ProtectThePanda’: OPS speaks on staying safe and respectful for 53rd Panda Game

This year’s Panda Game will take place on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Last year’s Pan da Game festivities ended with at least eight official charges, several individu

als hospitalized, and one car overturned in relation to a street party on Rus sel Avenue. An estimated 2,000 students attend ed, and several incidents of criminal behaviour

sparked outrage amongst Sandy Hill residents and community officials soon after.

Leading up to the 53rd Panda Game, officials have warned students that

a repeat of last year could put the future of the annu al rivalry game in jeopardy. The University has made several social media posts urging students to #PRO TECTTHEPANDA, stating,

“the Panda Game is a unique rivalry that [rallies] our community together –and one we have taken for granted.”

The Ottawa Po lice Service (OPS) has

Members of the U of O and Ottawa community come together

Hailey Otten

Iranians of Ottawa band together to protest against the regime of Iran. Image: Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum.

made similar warnings, stating there will be a ze ro-tolerance policy sur rounding disruptions and disorderly conduct this weekend.

In an interview with the Fulcrum, Cst. Sébastien Lemay, Com munity Police Officer for the Byward Market, Low ertown and Sandy Hill, said, “We will go with a zero-tolerance policy over the weekend. We’ve done a lot of outreach, we’ve issued a news release … We’ve worked with you uOttawa for I’m sure dis semination within the student population of, again, some possible con sequences.”

So, is it about stopping students from having fun?

Short answer — no. It’s just a matter of ensuring students do so safely and within the pa rameters of the law.

“We definitely want everybody to be safe. That goes to say the party goers as much as the resi dents of the city, but more specifically, Sandy Hill,” said Lemay. “So we want to encourage anybody that’s going to engage in consuming alcohol to plan their rides and drive sober, [and] keep alcohol where it belongs.”

“Watch out for your friends, and again, encourage them to drink

responsibly, … and do not hesitate to call 911 if ever a friend is feeling ill or there was a situation that somebody who’s been drinking alcohol doesn’t feel comfortable in, and they feel that a police re sponse is required.”

“We don’t want to ruin anybody’s celebra

Sandy Hill area, could be looking at fines under the Liquor License and Control Act.

What about house parties?

While private parties are allowed with in reason, OPS urges stu dents to respect their

usual noise could be look ing at fines of $1000.

“If a neighbour does ask a party host guy to turn a dial, that would that should be the first warning that perhaps your next call is going to be to police or to bylaw to issue a ticket.”

been floating around. For obvious reasons, with what happened last year, it’s been kind of brought up again that, you know, maybe [cancelling future games] should be the solu tion.”

tion, but unfortunately, if we do see infractions, like I said, open liquor con sumption on the roadway is a ticket.”

In Ontario, it is illegal to consume open alcohol in public. Anyone caught with an open con tainer on public property, including streets in the

neighbours and keep noise to a minimum.

“Residents of Sandy Hill that do not get involved with Panda cele bration, are really wishing for this to be as non-dis ruptive as possible,” said Lemay.

Hosts of parties that cause excessive or un

What’s at risk?

The University and community officials have warned that if stu dents don’t “behave,” this year’s Panda Game could be one of the last.

“It has been in the discussions for the past couple of months, … but it’s always kind of

“I’m a fan of sports, and it would be un fortunate to see a sporting event cancelled because of unruly behaviour,” said Lemay. “But, again, to summarize it: unfortu nately, that’s the risk on kind of a grander scale in regards to the game.”

Former University of Ottawa student starts grassroots non-profit for Black and racialized nature lovers

Color in Practice aims to provide low-cost and inclusive opportunities to engage with nature

Jamal Boyce has always loved the outdoors. Even so, he says it took him a few years to fully im merse himself in activities like backcountry camping, canoeing, and rock climb ing.

Boyce, who just recently graduated from the University of Ottawa

with a degree in conflict studies and human rights and a minor in economics, created his own grassroots non-profit, giving low-cost and inclusive opportuni ties for Black and racial ized people to “engage with the outdoors, one another, and the histories/ futures of the land they live on.”

A matter of representa tion

The Fulcrum spoke with Boyce about how Color in Practice came to be. Boyce explained that he was motivated by the lack of diversity he ob served in many outdoor activity spaces.

“I started doing more backcountry camp ing, canoe camping, stuff like rock climbing … but it was all white people around — just that kind of common story of not see

ing any representation,” he said.

However, Boyce wasn’t bothered by this until his hobbies became an integral part of his iden tity — one that he wanted to share with family and friends.

“As I got deeper into these spaces, I started posting about it more and telling my family — there was just so much interest in it. And I started wanting

to bring other people into it. I was making friends in this community that I could go camping with, only I wasn’t seeing peo ple that looked like me. So, with that in mind, I was like: I’m gonna make the outdoors more accessi ble.”

Dismantling racial stereo types

Over the years, Boyce took many of his

Yannick Mutombo

This year’s Panda Game could be one of the last. Image: Parker Townes/Fulcrum.

Black friends camping and hiking for the first time, and seeing how much they enjoyed it led him to reevaluate some precon ceived notions about what Black people do or don’t do.

“I always thought camping and outdoor shit was some white people stuff, to be honest. But when I got into it, I found that really wasn’t the case,” stated Boyce in an interview with the Ful crum.

As his feelings changed, he did some re search to create a more accurate perspective. He cites Matthew Henson,

who “may have been the first man, black or white, to reach the North Pole” as an inspiration.

“As I learned more about history … Black people have been doing this stuff forever. You know, one of the first people to go to the North Pole was a Black Ameri can. I really started craving this information and look ing for it.”

Moving from thought to action

After his gradua tion, Boyce was accepted into the 2022-2023 Pathy Foundation Fellowship at St. Francis Xavier Universi

ty. There, his project aims to “build a formal network among Black and Indige nous activists engaging in anti-racist and decolonial organizing across Ontario.”

He received a small grant through the program, some of which he used to fund Color in Practice.

“I was like, you know what? I’m gonna dedicate that money to building this. My partner, Judy, helped a lot with graphics and some of the logistics. Friends and fam ily have also been super supportive in terms of driving people up, provid ing the carpooling.”

In the future, Boyce hopes to recruit vol unteers and take sugges tions for events.

“The whole point is to bring more people into the outdoors, Black and racialized folk specifi cally, and I feel like having a broader input is import ant. So, that’s kind of the biggest step right now. After that trip we had, there’s been a lot of inter ested people reaching out to volunteer.”

A successful launch

On Sept. 16, Col or in Practice launched its very first event — a guided hike through Gatineau

“My favourite part of it was the laughter, to be honest. Despite all these different people coming out, and being from differ ent places, they were all able to come together in nature and share laughter and joy. Honestly, seeing that just warms my heart because at the end of the day, that’s all I really want from this.”

Follow @Color inpractice on Instagram if you would like to stay up dated with their activities.

Park in collaboration with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG).

Color in Practice is a grassroots non-profit for and by Black and racialized nature lovers. Image: Tyler Boyce/Provided.

ARTS

ARTS EDITOR Victoria Drybrough arts@thefulcrum.ca

Indigenous representation at the National Gallery of Canada

Highlighting Indigenous artworks at the NGC

Many Indigenous peoples in Canada use the arts to transmit cultural messages through line, colour, and shape. Paint brushes, beads, needles, carving tools are some tools that empower them to visually convey shared histories and mark Indig enous resurgence. Explor ing Indigenous art gives viewers a unique glimpse into Indigenous perspec tives and their deep-root ed connections to their ancestors and traditional lands.

At the National Gallery of Canada, visitors can deepen their under standing of Indigeneity in Canada by exploring numerous Indigenous art works on display within the Indigenous and Cana dian Art section of the gal lery.

Throughout the gallery, you can get a glimpse of how contem porary Indigenous artists have been able to balance

and integrate Indigenous beliefs, cultures, and his tory with modernist and contemporary methods of painting and photography.

Mi’kmaq artist

Jordan Bennett perfect ly exemplifies a union of history and contempo rary painting in his work “Histories Between and Through Time.” Bennett uses bright colours found in Mi’kmaq quillwork and familiar forms from Beo thuk bone pendants to create a piece of contem porary abstraction. Not only does he unite and revive the lost history of the Beothuk people, but also he manages to create a colourful and geometric balance between stylistic elements.

Another room in the gal lery holds multiple paint ings from Norval Morri seau, otherwise known as “the Mishomis, or ‘grand father,’ of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada.”

His woodland style and vibrant colours are imme diately recognizable and exude energy against the

white gallery walls. Mor risseau’s paintings evoke feelings of interconnect edness and harmony be tween man and nature. Through the woodland style, he shares the cul tural and worldly perspec tives of the Anishinaabeg and his ancestors.

Morrisseau’s lasting influence and im pact is felt throughout the style of other Indigenous artists. Roy Thomas has a distinctive woodland painting, “We’re All in the Same Boat,” displayed adjacent to Morrisseau’s phenomenal “Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds,” with both paint ings echoing themes of ecocentric unity.

Widely celebrat ed and respected Indige nous artists such as Daph ne Odjig and Alex Janvier have their artworks on dis play as well. Janvier’s co lours are full of expres sion, and although Odjig’s thick lines remind us of Morrisseau’s, they flow in graceful curves that are uniquely reminiscent of

her technique.

Photos tell sto ries just as much as paint ings do. In another room, Inuk artist, Barry Pottle, displays his Awareness series on one wall of the gallery. Photographs of the identification disks Inuit were forced to wear in the late 1940s and beyond, and the Inuit subjects wearing them, line the gal lery wall. Pottle provokes discussion on how Inuit people in Canada have re claimed or rejected their disc numbers, by creating visibility for those who proudly wear them on shirts, and others wearing them around their necks.

Numerous Inu it sculptures carved from ivory populate sections of the gallery space. They de pict a plethora of subjects, movements, and symbols unique to the Arctic. Cul turally significant clothing items are also displayed throughout the gallery.

Indigenous art is significant not simply for aesthetic value, but for its power in the ongoing pro

cess of decolonization in Canada. Art often acts as a window allowing us to observe and understand the cultures and the polit ical or social identities of many. We must continue to shift our lens to include Indigenous perspectives when we discuss, curate, and philosophize about art. We enrich ourselves and others by giving space to Indigenous creators, and opening our minds to Indigenous history and ways of life.

Last Friday, Sept. 30 marked National Truth and Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day. Canadians com memorate this day to hon our survivors of residential schools and those who lost their lives from colo nial practices. However, our learning and unlearn ing of colonial practices are to be done all year.

Grace Kim-Shin

Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1980, acrylic on canvas. Image: Norval Morrisseau/National Gallery of Canada.

Teacher talk: visual arts professors on teaching art virtually and in-person

The visual arts department at the University of Ottawa is bigger than ever this year, in more ways than one

The Fulcrum spoke with three visual arts professors from the University of Ottawa about their experiences teaching art both online and in per son.

According to Jen nifer Macklem, who has been a professor at the University for 14 years, “registration and enrol ment are up a lot, there seems to be a lot of in terest in visual art.” The

department saw a higher number of first-year stu dents than in recent years, as well as a growing gradu ate program.

Macklem said one challenge the depart ment faced during the COVID-19 pandemic was that they “had to get real ly creative and inventive” in delivering their cours es. The “scale of the work changed a lot, especially for the undergrads.”

David McDougall, a parttime professor in sculp ture and a full-time tech nician in the department,

mirrored Macklem’s sen timent. As a department, they tried to “make the transition as seamless as possible,” with kits being packaged and sent to vi sual arts students to allow them to complete their work at home.

McDougall, who has been teaching cours es since 2008, had seen that the department was going in the direction of using more technology in the process of creating art. Having to transition to vir tual learning “reaffirmed the value of having fluency in digital technologies.”

That isn’t to say the transition went seam lessly. Jinny Yu is a painter with more than 20 years of experience and has been teaching at the U of O for 16 years. This year, Yu is teaching first- and fourthyear painting courses. She said in recent years teaching these subjects has been difficult, because colour doesn’t always

translate well through a webcam.

“Just in my case, in terms of painting, you have to see the colours. And the colours that come through the student’s camera in bits and that get conveyed on my screen are not the same colour as what it will be on the painting.”

To adapt to vir tual learning, Yu modified her courses to avoid co lour-specific projects and instead had her students focus on composition. Be ing back in the classroom will allow Yu and her stu dents to look at the same painting together.

In Yu’s classes, both first- and fourth-year students get the opportu nity to paint during class and get individual feed back, allowing for lots of “one-to-one learning.”

All three profes sors also pointed out how resilient students were during the pandemic.

Macklem said she herself feels “more attuned to the emotion al needs of the students” after returning to the classroom. Students and professors alike seem to be happy to be back in the classroom, and excited to be creating art in a space dedicated to it.

Yu, Macklem, and McDougall each took the time to mention Gal lery 115, a gallery dedicat ed to student exhibits on campus.

For those who are interested, Gallery 115 is set to open an ex hibit of work by first-year graduate students called Fragmented Collections on Oct. 3. The gallery is locat ed at 600 Cumberland St., on the U of O campus.

There is also an upcoming Stonecroft lec ture on Oct. 6. This year, Stan Douglas is the artist who will be speaking at the lecture.

A glimpse into the Ancient Mediterranean at the Museum of Classical Antiquities Exploring ancient societies through artifacts

straight and curved incised lines, sits in this display case.

The department of classics at the University of Ottawa harbours a spe cial place for archaeologi cal discovery on campus. Since 1975, the Museum of Classical Antiquities has curated and displayed a collection of diverse ar tifacts from different re gions of the Ancient Medi terranean.

As you enter the museum, you’re faced with display cases ranging from pottery to everyday objects. In one section, the museum displays an extensive collection of vases from the Early Cypri ote, Etruscan, Roman, and North African regions. One of the museum’s oldest artifacts, a Cypriot terra cotta juglet from 21001900 BCE, designed with

The pottery showcased at the muse um is painted and incised with a range of colour and forms, some in the red-figure or black-figure style and others with sim ple linear designs. Earlier pottery primarily focus es on geometric designs, however, as time goes on the subject matter of bat tle emerges. Particularly by the Classical Period, pottery begins to reflect Greek and Roman mythol ogy.

Sophie Vigneux, one of the museum’s cu ratorial interns, explained how the pottery across regions is unique, but also greatly enmeshed with one another.

“Everyone had an influence on each oth er. You can see similar mo

tifs, themes, [and] forms of pottery across literally all of the Mediterranean because it was one of the first times that such a vast area was so connected by trade. And so we try not to think of any culture in its own sort of vacuum.”

Vigneux then referenced several cases placed in the middle of the museum space displaying everyday objects such as jewelry, makeup boxes, clothing textiles, and cook ing tools. The familiarity of these artifacts reminding viewers that although hu mans change over time, we remain the same in many ways, whether it’s through our cultural prac tices or simply our daily routines.

A major collection at the museum is their exhibition of ancient coins, Roman and some Greek, spanning from the advent of the Ro

man Empire until the Byz antine period.

Vigneux men tioned that they are trying to digitize this collection in order to increase its visi bility. She explained that digitizing artifacts can be helpful, as it allows view ers to see intricate details on the coins that they may not be able to see with the naked eye.

In two corners of the museum space, two large amphoras stand out and sit across the room from one another. Re searchers have deduced the stories behind the amphoras, and other arti facts, through information about where they were discovered and the stylis tic elements of the object. One was used to trans port garum, a type of fish sauce, and was discovered in the sea, where it likely fell from a boat.

Exploring the Museum of Classical Antiquities is an enlightening experience allowing visitors to reflect on and learn about the mass of civilizations that came before them. Thanks to the museum’s passion ate team of students and professors, visitors can discover and reflect on the living and often enigmatic remnants of Ancient Greek and Roman societies.

To learn more about the museum and the archeology field, stu dents can attend Archae ology Day, an event hosted by the museum in partner ship with the Classics and Religions Students’ Asso ciation, on Thursday, Oct. 13.

The Museum of Classical Antiquities is open Wednesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it is located at Desma rais Building, room 3104.

Grace Kim-Shin

Boomer/Fulcrum.

SPORTS

Gee-Gees successfully protect the panda

SPORTS EDITOR Brandon Adibe sports@thefulcrum.ca

A DOMINANT PERFORMANCE BY THE GEES SECURES A PANDA VICTORY FOR THE FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR

lead shortly after — it was 7-0 for the Ravens midway through the first quarter.

The Gees and the Ravens were welcomed by a sold-out TD Place for the 53rd Panda Game.

The Gee-Gees opened the game with a kickoff from Zacha ry Copeland that placed the Ravens deep in their own end. The game’s first series was short-lived, though. A quick two and out was brought on by a fierce tackle from Gees defensive end, Kevin Vic tome, which forced the Ravens to end their first series with a punt.

Next up, Gees’ ball.

The Raven’s punt was caught and the Gees were given posses sion at their 23-yard line. Quarterback Ben Maracle handed the ball to running back, J-P Cimankinda, who rushed for a fresh set of downs. After setting up the drive, Maracle made his first pass of the game to wide receiver Maxim Malenfant, who picked up another first down — the Gees keep the drive alive.

The next series began with a Gees false start — this is when the heckles started.

“Fuck you, Ot tawa U” chants erupted from the Carleton stands. They were immediately re turned by a chorus of “fuck you, Carleton U” from the U of O side. The crowd’s energy didn’t seem to help the Gees, though, as their opening series also result ed in a punt.

The Ravens be gan their second series with a bang. A long throw moved the Ravens to the Gees’ 30-yard line, and an end-zone pass gave the Ravens the game’s first

The Gees didn’t respond until the end of the quarter. Maracle con nected with wide receiv er Nicholas Gendron for an 80-yard reception that ended up in the end zone. Campbell Fair’s extra point was good, and the game was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the sec ond quarter, a fumble by Cimankinda gave the Ravens possession at the Gees’ 50-yard line. At this point, the chants had re turned, louder than be fore.

After two unsuc cessful attempts at gaining a first down, the Ravens punted the ball to Otta wa’s 4-yard line. On their returning drive, Maracle connected with Gendron for a second time to gain over 50 yards. The series

quarter concluded with two unsuccessful drives for both the Ravens and the Gee-Gees. At half, the Gees held onto their 10-7 lead.

During halftime, the stadium continued to fill up. By the start of the third quarter, both sides of TD Place were packed. Carleton and U of O stu dents were loud and ready to cheer on their respec tive schools into the sec ond half.

The second half started with the Gees get ting possession at their 34-yard line. Maracle’s connections with both Gendron and Cimankinda helped to march the Gees deep into Carleton’s end early on in the third quar ter.

Ottawa’s first se ries of the third quarter ended in a touchdown when Maracle connected with wide receiver Wil

their lead early in the third quarter, 17-7.

The Gees’ de fence continued to hold the Raven’s offence to no points throughout the third quarter. The closest Carleton came to putting points on the board was an attempted field goal, which hit the upright.

By the time the fourth quarter began, the Gees’ offence was rolling.

Fair started the quarter with back-to-back field goals that brought the Gee-Gees’ lead up to 23-7. And after a striking defensive performance by the Gees, the Ravens con tinued their trend of being forced to punt on third downs deep into the sec ond half.

One of the more electric series’ of the game came late on in the fourth quarter when the Gee-Gees’ running back, Cimankinda, carried mul

15 yards and was com plete with a stiff arm that knocked a Ravens player to the ground.

Fittingly, Ciman kinda finished the series with a touchdown, and the Gees were up 30-7 with under 4 minutes remain ing.

After this touch down, Gees fans began to make their way down to the field level. The table was being set for a U of O field rush.

But the game wasn’t over yet.

Carleton’s of fence took the field, and had their first pass inter cepted by Gees’ lineback er, Emmanuel Aboag ye-Gyan. With that pick, the Gee-Gees’ offence returned to the field at Carleton’s 45-yard line. After picking up a first down, Cimankinda got on the board once again and with Fair’s successful extra

ended with a successful field goal by Fair — 10-7 for the Gees.

The second

ly-Pierre Dimbongi in the end zone. The extra point by Fair was good once again as the Gees added to

tiple times during the same series. One of Ci mankinda’s rushes during the drive went for over

point, the Gees added to their lead — 37-7.

There were 10 seconds left in the fourth

Matthew McConkey

Pedro

ours, once again. Image: Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum.

quarter — but Gee-Gees fans didn’t care. With time still on the clock, U of O students stormed the field to celebrate their school’s fourth straight Panda Game victory, bringing Pe dro home once again.

Must-watch Gee-Gees vs Ravens sporting events

Here are the best rivalry matchups to catch this year

you’ve never seen a Ca nadian university sports event as big as this one.

It’s been a few years since the campus was this lively, with so many new students who haven’t had in-person classes prior to this past week, and haven’t had the experience of sitting in the stands at Gee-Gees games.

So for those new to the University of Otta wa — here’s a list of mustsee, live sporting events that the Gees will be par ticipating in this season.

Panda Game

This is the pre mier sporting event in Ca nadian university sports. Not many games are as big between schools, but the rivalry between these two Ottawa-based universities is intense. You may know about the epic highs and lows of high school foot ball, but I can guarantee

The Panda Game is an annual football game which sees the University of Ottawa take on their cross-town foes, Carleton University. The winning team receives the prized ‘Pedro the Panda’ trophy, along with the bragging rights of being the best in the city until the next fall.

This year marks the 53rd Panda Game in history. The Gee-Gees currently lead the headto-head series 35-17 and are looking to further their dominance, as they’ve won the past three Panda Games.

This event is still fun even if you aren’t a regular football goer or don’t know the rules. The comradery and school spirit is at an all-time high, and you can feel it when the winning school’s fans invade the field after their

team wins. This was es pecially evident one year, when Carleton won on a last-second hail mary, but the game never officially ended as fans stormed the field before the extra point attempt.

Tickets are all but gone, so if you want to indulge in the festivities, you have to act fast, or you might have to try your hand at resellers to obtain a ticket.

The game will be on October 1st at TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne.

Colonel By Classic

In Canada, there’s no game like the good old hockey game. If you’re someone who be lieves that, then you will not want to miss this bat tle on the ice.

Out of the three events on this list, this is the youngest. The Colonel By Classic is a hockey game which sees the University

of Ottawa take on their rivals, Carleton Universi ty, on the ice. This annual event started in the 20162017 academic year.

The game used to be solely the men’s teams playing, however, the last iteration included the women’s sides for the first time.

The game is usu ally hosted at TD Place, where the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) play.

If you want to see end-to-end action, big hits, dirty dangles and top-shelf snipes, this is the game you’ll want to go to.

The event usu ally happens sometime between October and No vember so keep your eyes out for more information.

Capital Hoops Classic

Capital Hoops is a doubleheader of bas ketball games. Like the aforementioned events, the Gees will take on the Carleton Ravens. The men’s and women’s bas ketball teams participate in this sporting event on the same night, one after the other, making for an exciting spectacle.

This year, it’ll mark the fifteenth rendi tion of this rivalry series matchup. In recent histo ry, the game was held at Carleton University, but the year before the pan demic, it was held in TD Place. Once and prior to that, it was held at the

Canadian Tire Centre. The last Capital Hoops Classic was held at Carleton Uni versity, where it saw the Ravens sweep the Gees— but maybe that was just home-court advantage. Unfortunately for the Gee-Gees, Carleton has dominated the series over its lifespan on both the men’s and women’s sides. On the men’s side, Carleton is 12-3 against the U of O, and on the women’s side, it’s a bit closer, but Carleton still leads 9-5. Still, it must be said the University of Otta wa has won two of the last three.

The games usu ally average around 800010000 people, so it’s a decent-sized crowd, but in an arena, the sounds car ry well. This event is more of a fast-paced sporting event than Panda, which helps keep everyone en gaged. Basketball is a game of runs, and when teams start heating up, you can feel the passion from their school’s fans.

This game usual ly takes place in the early winter months of the year, so be on the lookout for when the date of the game is posted.

Brandon Adibe

Panda Game is on Oct. 1. Image: Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum.

Nicholas Gendron receives Ben Maracle’s long throw for a touchdown. Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum.

SCIENCES

WHO YOU GONNA CALL? I AIN’T AFRAID OF NO (GHOST) MATH.

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread before or during your studies? Have you or any of your family ever seen a math-anxious stu dent? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any of these ques tions, don’t wait another minute: pick up the phone and call the professionals.

Erin Maloney, a psychology professor at the University of Ottawa, sat down with the Fulcrum to talk about her research. It was described as, ”the intersection of cognition and emotion, as it per tains to academic achieve ment.”

On the cognitive side, they are looking at spatial skills and differ ent types of memory as opposed to the emotion al side, which examines anxiety, stereotypes and their effects in the class room. Maloney examines the types of factors that influence people’s perfor mance in math and sci ence — one of which is known as math anxiety.

What is math anxiety?

According to Ma loney, math anxiety refers to feelings of fear, ten sion or apprehension that many people tend to feel when they’re engaging with math.

“When you’re anxious about math, you tend to do worse, but it’s not just that people who are anxious in math are bad at math. It’s actually that the anxiety itself can cause you to do worse,” said Maloney.

Now consider a situation in which you’re

feeling anxious, whether in math or something else. Oftentimes negative emo tions or ruminations will arise, and the anxiety coopts important memory resources that would oth erwise be used for some thing like a math test.

“On the flip side, we also know that people who are really anxious about math tend to avoid math classes and opportu nities to really hone those math skills. So. over time, you do end up being a little bit less skilled than your peers and stu dents who are anxious about math are less likely to do their math homework. So, I think you end up getting this snow balling effect,” explained Maloney.

How to alleviate math anxiety?

When asked about possible ways to mediate math anxiety, Maloney said, “what you want to do is target both the anxiety and the math achievement. So, for tar geting anxiety, you can do things like mindfulness type in terventions — like focused breathing, or you can do so-called expressive writing. So, that’s one of

my favourite ones, just be cause there’s some pretty strong evidence to suggest that it’s really ef fective.”

According to Ma loney, people who practice expressive writing before a math test may begin by writing feelings of stress about performing well on said test, or about the re percussions of reporting a bad grade back to parents. As they continue to write, they tend to re-frame their thinking and realize they have actually been studying hard. Eventually, they’ll start to feel much better about their test.

“The idea is to view the test as a chal lenge that you have the ability to overcome, rather than viewing it as a threat to your identity,” said Ma loney.

In addition, she suggested that those who are feeling anxious about math can practice some breathing exercises.

“Hold up your hand and imagine it’s like a mountain. When you climb up the mountain, you breathe in, when you go down the mountain, you breathe out, and just kind of tracing your hand as you do it. And that’s a good way to just draw

SCIENCES & TECH EDITOR Emma Williams science@thefulcrum.ca

your attention away from the anxiety for a minute and calm yourself down, and get that phys iological reaction down,” she explained.

The role of parents and math anxiety

“If you’re a child whose parents are really anxious about math, and those parents help you a lot with your math home work, then you tend to adopt those attitudes too, and you also become anx ious. So there seems to be a bit of a social component at play,” said Maloney.

She continued, “we have some prelimi nary evidence to suggest that when the parents are anxious, they might be a little bit more controlling, in terms of how they teach kids to do their home work. So those parents might be a little bit more likely to actually do the homework for their child. So, our thought is that it’s probably something about the way that parents who are anxious are teaching their children.”

Changes being made in schools

In terms of policy implications, the Cognition and Emotion Laboratory is

working on developing so cio-emotional learning in the classrooms — mean ing: teaching students how to regulate and deal with their emotions.

“A lot of these emotion regulation strat egies such as the deep breathing and reframing techniques are all things that I think are being taught now in elementary schools to help children learn how to handle big feelings. So, that’s certain ly not something that was in the Ontario curriculum when I went through ele mentary school,” said Ma loney.

Throughout Ma loney’s research, they’ve found evidence to suggest that if the teachers them selves are anxious, on av erage their students tend to learn less than students in a classroom with teach ers who are not anxious about math.

Final remarks

In addition to regulating our anxiety towards academics, Ma loney stressed the im portance of practising science-based, effective study techniques, such as spaced repetition and ac tive recall.

Space repetition is a technique that sug gests students space out their studying throughout the semester rather than cramming it all in at the end. Active recall — also known as the ‘retrieval practice’ — implores stu dents to practice quizzing themselves or complete practice exams rather than passively re-reading lec ture notes.

For more infor mation on Maloney and her research at the Cogni tion and Emotion Labora tory, visit her website.

U of O researcher examines factors that influence people’s performance in math

Emma Williams

Lofi girl studying with brain exposed Image: Kai Holub/Fulcrum.

U of O researcher examines underlying mechanism involved in the locomotion of amphibious centipedes

BUT I WOULD WALK 500 MILES, AND I WOULD WALK 500 MORE

new found appreciation for their incredible capac ity to move.” she said.

How are amphib ious centipedes able to walk and swim? How are they able to coordinate their bodies as they tran sition from land to water or vice-versa? To better answer these fascinating questions, the Fulcrum sat down with Emily Standen, a U of O professor within the department of biology.

In 2019, she worked in collaboration with researchers from To hoku University located in Japan on a study titled, “Decoding the Essential Interplay Between Central and Peripheral Control in Adaptive Locomotion of Amphibious Centipedes” to learn more about the underlying mechanism in volved in the locomotion of these invertebrates.

Amphibious Centipedes

At their cores, amphibious animals are those that are adapted to live in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Exam ples that commonly come to mind are animals like salamanders or frogs. Not many think of amphibi ous centipedes, including Standen prior to doing this work.

For those that are terrified of the idea of swimming centipedes, not to worry, to date only a few species of the genus Scolopendra are known to have an amphibious life style, with a keen ability to both walk and swim and these do not exist in North America.

“I really had to adjust my feelings on cen tipedes, and aquatic ones at that, to work with these animals, I’m happy to say, although I am still glad I won’t stumble upon them in my backyard, I have a

Three components of neural control

For background, “there’s a basic under standing that there are three components to neural control, the brain that provides a top-down sending motor signals to the body. There are cen tral pattern generators (CGPs), which are groups of neurons that exist along the spinal cord, capable of producing rhythmic signals to the muscles. And then there’s sensory feedback, receptors and neurons that bring information from the world back to the CGPs and to the brain.”

Standen is inter ested in the interplay be tween all three of these control components.

She continued, “amphibious centipedes are an excellent model because moving through water and over land pro vide very different sensory inputs to the locomotor system allowing research ers to modify the sensory signals provided to the system. In addition, the segmented body plan of a centipede allows a re searcher to lift the exo skeleton of a single seg ment, cut the descending nerve cord coming from the brain and essentially block any top down signal from reaching the posteri or segments.”

In this way one can compare the be haviour of the anterior segments that are receiv ing a signal from the brain, with those posterior to the cut that are not receiving signal from the brain. How those segments differ in their behaviour provides insight into what leg and body movements are con trolled by sensory feed

back and CPGs compared top down brain control.

How do their movements differ on land and water?

Through obser vations, they were able to identify that when am phibious centipedes are walking at relatively slow speeds on land their body stays relatively straight, and they have a tenden cy to pass waves of leg motion down their body which propels them for ward.

As opposed to swimming where they fold their legs along their body, meaning their legs aren’t used at all and are able to pass a wave down their body similar to the way a snake moves or a fish swims. This movement could also be described as an undulation.

To understand how they’re controlling these movements re searchers “removed the ganglion of a segment ed partway along the body-severing the spinal cord and removing any sig nal from the brain to the posterior section of the animals. What’s amazing is that body segment pos terior of the severed cord showed normal leg move ments. Essentially, with no signal from the brain they were able to walk normal ly,” explained Standen.

She continued, “If you put that transect ed animal in water, the anterior segments that have a connection with the brain fold their legs and the body undulates as in normal swimming, but posterior of the cut, the segments look paralyzed, No leg folding, no body os cillation.”

Meaning that the front part of the body can perform the undulation normally seen in swim

ming because it still gets a message from the brain, but the back end can’t. Although segments were able to walk normally with no signal from the brain Standen stresses that the brain signal is still import ant for eliciting the swim ming behaviour. Standen and her colleagues, were able to conclude that sensory feedback from each limb as it connected with the ground in the terrestri al environment provides enough stimulation to the local segment CPG to elic it a motor signal to move the leg without need of a top down signal from the brain. In essence the CPG was driving the leg locally. In swimming, the forces felt by the legs are not enough to trigger any sort of motion. In addition, because the limbs remain outstretched and the body still, it can be hypothesized that leg position and body undulation in swimming are driven by a top down signal from the brain.

How do they switch be tween land and water?

Undoubtedly, this begs the question: how do centipedes flip be tween manoeuvering their bodies for walking and for swimming?

Standen re sponded, “the transition between walking and swimming is also ex plained by the sensory feedback felt by each leg. As a centipede walks into water, the front legs lose contact with the ground, the lack of contact re moves the sensory feed back sent to the CPG and the resulting motor signal sent to oscillate the leg stops. The leg stops mov ing. Shortly after, the brain sends a top down signal to fold the legs and start a

body oscillation for swim ming.”

She added, “the same process occurs in reverse when the animal leaves the water. A swim ming animal with all legs tucked and body oscillat ing hits land, those first legs experience the force feedback of contact with the ground. This contact is enough to trigger the CPG to send a walking sig nal to the leg in question. The walking signal trumps the swimming signal being sent by the brain at that local segment. In this way, the legs in contact with ground walk, while those still in the water swim. In this way the legs open up and start walking one by one, in a very elegant way.”

In addition, there is local communication from one segment to the next posterior segment. The posterior segment copies the anterior seg ment such that it is in a walking configuration by the time it hits land.

This data sug

gests that controlling so many legs is actually not so difficult. Meaning, that the animal isn’t thinking, “legs at the number sev en position need to move and then after the number eight legs need to move.” Rather, the sensory feed back from the legs to the CPGs are doing it automat ically based on environ mental conditions.

For more infor mation on the fascinating work being done in Stan den’s lab regarding evolu tionary and comparative biomechanics visit her website here.

Emma

FEATURES

Digital consumerism in the Metaverse

METAVERSE AND THE RISE OF DIGITAL MARKETS

Developments in extended reality (XR) tech nologies have been rapidly advancing and tech giants. Meta, Microsoft, Sony, and HP have begun to roll out their respective XR prod ucts. Mark Zuckerberg has been promoting the metaverse platform since October of 2021, and ap pears committed to the in tegration of XR technology into our professional and personal lives.

Understanding the metaverse is both per plexing and fascinating. As we navigate the fourth in dustrial revolution, artifi cial intelligence and virtual reality (VR) are on their way to dominating our economic markets, social lives, and even creating new constructions of reali ty.

Imagine if your video game was no longer simply a fantasy world, but instead reflected and inte grated the trivial routine of your day-to-day life. Zuckerberg envisions a world where people glob ally can meet, play, and shop. Commercial goods no longer have to be phys ically present, but instead, they can be exchanged digitally.

Zuckerberg an ticipates new avenues to promote and expand the market for commer cial goods through the metaverse. There’s no doubt his confidence in VR has spilled into the rest of the retail market. Most recently, the multination al retailer, Walmart has plunged into the Roblox metaverse to reach young er demographics.

VR opens the world to faster connec

tions and communications and Zuckerberg is hoping to tap into a new econo my with the rise of VR. But what will the metaverse look like, and who will be the new-age consumers of this technology?

Consumerism in a digital age

University of Ottawa professor Myri am Brouard specializes in digital consumption and spoke with the Fulcrum about where the technol ogy currently stands. “The metaverse platforms as they are right now, in my opinion […], don’t really add that much to the on line shopping experience. I think that they will once they get more immersive and once they include more sensory informa tion.”

Brouard explains how the technologies cur rently in development will eventually improve upon the virtual shopping expe rience, making platforms like the metaverse a new avenue for consumerism.

Speaking to the current abilities of the platform, Brouard said, “If I just ‘click, click’ [and] look at something, it’s not the same as if I’m in a 3D space with a VR headset, and I can sort of look at all aspects you know, of the shirt, and then I can may be even sort of haptic-ly touch it, but that technol ogy is in development.”

“As they will be developed in the future, when you look at including more sensory information like haptics or olfactory or any extra sensory informa tion that you’re going to be adding is going to improve upon an online experi ence,” shared Brouard.

“There’s a lot

of work that’s been done on digital materiality and people’s extended sense of self,” said Brouard. “And the more people move to living online or to having online self-concepts, the more we’re gonna have people who are going to invest in better and big ger […] We’re definitely seeing it now. There’s a lot of money and wearables in decentral and/or these kinds of metaverse plat forms.”

Ownership and intellectual property rights, for instance, are commodities that are be ing traded, bought, and ex changed in the metaverse. Your conference room in the metaverse can be dec orated with NFT artwork, and you can buy design er clothes for your avatar from the comfort of your own bed.

However, Brouard acknowledged some of the skepticism behind VR e-commerce, saying “People will be like, ‘oh, why would somebody pay like $200 for a Gucci pair of shoes in a virtual world?’ Well, why would somebody pay for a $200 Gucci pair of shoes in the real world, right? It’s defi nitely not for functionality. You could buy a $10 pair of shoes and it will get you to the same place. It’s really for that sort of conspicu ous outer display.”

Having a digital

FEATURES EDITOR Bridget Coady features@thefulcrum.ca

identity and the value we continue to place on our virtual selves will be a driv ing force in popularizing digital goods and immer sive virtual life.

But, will the metaverse go beyond e-commerce and become a functional tool for daily functions such as business meetings, everyday social interaction, and medical appointments?

The opinion of academics and researchers on this remains split. Some digital experts surveyed by the Pew Research Center argue that the metaverse will not bring as many ben efits as we expect. Instead, they predict that XR tech nologies will be unable to sufficiently replace real human interaction and by 2040, the metaverse will be used mainly in niche ar eas and the entertainment industry, rather than in everyday interaction and business matters.

Others are more optimistic about the metaverse and argue that it can become a versatile tool for providing services and public functions. They predict it will evolve quick ly and become integrated rapidly, as investors see large earning potential through the digital mar kets it creates.

However, Jac quelyn Ford Morie, a scientist and educator specializing in immer

sive world technology, expresses that for the metaverse to be success ful, it must “offer value to its participants, and not simply treat them as money sources. If it has to make tons of money for companies and the top 10%, it is doomed to be niche-driven and not a true evolution of humani ty.”

In short, if the metaverse is simply de veloped with the profit incentive in mind and con structs users as mere con sumers, it can thwart the possibility of widespread and versatile use across the globe.

Lingering questions

As we venture into VR, we cannot forget its impact on the digital divide. How will Meta be relevant to countries who struggle to even have ac cess to wifi at all? If the metaverse does in fact help advance metropolis es across the globe, will these advancements only occur in OECD countries? Although Zuckerberg and others working on the metaverse are undoubt edly leading a radical shift in our day-to-day life, who will truly benefit from the creation of virtual worlds?

As large cor porations like Meta gain monopoly over global technology markets, they steer the world into the di rection they see fit. Profit incentives drive global in novation, allowing private actors to make decisions for the world’s technolog ical advancement. As large corporations continue to invest in this virtual reality, consumers will be faced with choices — whether to live in it, or to not.

Grace Kim-Shin

Who truly benefits from the creation of virtual reality?

Photo: Dima Solomin/Unsplash.

OPINIONS

Why am I forced to buy a U-Pass?

OPINIONS EDITOR Matthew McConkey opinions@thefulcrum.ca

For the first time in over a year, all full-time U of O students who do not meet the Universi ty’s exception criteria are required to purchase a U-Pass. For many of the students who are just learning about this, I’ll ex plain what it means and why it’s ridiculous.

The U-Pass is the University of Ottawa’s mandatory student transit card, which grants eligi ble students use of both the STO and OC Transpo systems. City buses and the new light rail train all accept the U-Pass and al

low students to use them from the beginning of the fall term to the end of the winter term. For a more comprehensive overview of the system, click here to visit the University’s U-Pass page.

While the U-Pass might be mandatory, since the fall of 2020, students have been given the op tion to opt-out of purchas ing the $446.96 pass for a number of reasons, in cluding transit restrictions from the lockdowns. But this year, that isn’t an op tion.

The cost of the pass is automatically add ed to any full-time stu dent’s tuition and cannot be removed unless a stu

dent fits narrow eligibility requirements. Otherwise, all students taking more than 4 courses per semes ter are required to pay.

I understand that there are students who benefit from having a U-Pass. Many students rely on the transit systems to commute around Otta wa and having the ability to do so at a reduced cost is definitely advantageous for them. However, I also understand that many students have no need for a U-Pass. And these stu dents are just paying an extra $450 on top of an already expensive tuition bill for something they will get no use out of. Clearly, there’s a discrepancy here.

How to avoid the ’worst case scenario’ homecoming

SOME TRIED AND TRUE TIPS FOR HAVING A SUCCESSFUL PANDA GAME DAY

As a student in 2019, I took the bus a total of two times. If my math checks out, that means I paid a total of $223.48 per ride. That’s too expensive to ride a bus in what is arguably one of the most walkable cities in Canada.

It’s also worth discussing the hoops that students jump through to either get or renew their U-Pass. At the beginning of the semester in Montpetit Hall, there is the U-Pass line that might take any student an hour or two to get through. And once they reach the front of that line, they better cross their fingers that the card renewal machine doesn’t glitch out. Sure, this is a

mild complaint about the whole process, but I feel compelled to express it here because I was a vic tim of a glitchy machine.

Without a doubt, the U-Pass is useful for some students. It’s a pass that offers affordable trav el to students who may live too far from campus to walk. But it remains per plexing to me that all fulltime students are required to purchase a pass that some may never use. A pass that adds a large sum to an already expensive tuition bill. There must be a way to find balance here. Perhaps it’s time the University reconsiders the mandatory nature of their U-Pass.

We are danger ously close to the big gest day of the year for all Gee-Gees: the Panda Game. This is unofficial homecoming for the U of O community, and for all who choose to celebrate, there are things to keep in mind to ensure the best weekend possible. There are essen tially two directions your homecoming can take. The first direction is ide al; it’s the fun type of day that some of your annoy ing friends might call, “a movie.” The second out come, however, is much different. It’s an absolute nightmare that will proba bly haunt you for the rest of your life.

Luckily for you, I’ve ex perienced both types of homecomings. I’ve had the successful day that

lasted from sunrise to sunset. I’ve also had the messy homecoming — a day that makes me cringe just thinking about it. The latter homecoming is an experience that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. And with my background in successful and unsuc cessful homecomings, here are some of my tips to make the most of your Panda weekend.

My first piece of advice is to plan your day ahead of time. Specifically, pick the people you want to be with and the places you want to go to before Saturday. This will give your day a sense of neces sary structure. It will also help prevent your annoy ing friends from suggest ing those ridiculous ‘spur of the moment’ plans — its never a good idea to Uber to Vanier after 11 p.m. Having this structure eliminates some of the

unpredictability that can easily derail your day.

A quintessential part of any homecoming is the pre-party. Whether people are getting ready for the game, or just there to celebrate with friends, the morning of is a time when people hangout, and often start drinking.

At the pre-party, I will wear my responsible adult hat and advise pac ing yourself. We all know that one unfortunate per son at the pre who flew too close to the sun and ended up getting burnt before the day even start ed. This Saturday will be a long day, and your mantra should be, “it’s a mara thon, not a sprint.”

I will also say a word on food and drink strategy. For those plan ning to attend the game, I recommend having both breakfast and lunch before arriving at the stadium —

pancakes in the morning are always a great idea. This is a good strategy not only for your drinking plans, but also for your wallet. Unless you’re Bill Gates, I’d advise avoiding expensive arena food.

Finally, I recom mend everyone partici pating in the celebrations utilizes a break. My home coming experience has taught me that the day can be divided into two parts: the morning, which lasts until the end of the game, and the night, which be gins once the game is over. Once the game has finished, there is a brief break period. I advise people return home, and take about an hour to hy drate and eat before you get back into the swing of things. If you don’t uti lize this break, you’ll be punching a one way ticket to passing out at 6 p.m. in someone’s washroom as

you ask yourself, “why did I have all that Crown Royal Apple?”

The Panda Game is a wonderful time to be a Gee-Gee. You only have a few real opportunities to participate in the celebra tion, and making the most of it should be paramount for everyone. The worst outcome for homecoming is always looming in the distance, but by learning from some of my mistakes, hopefully you can have a successful weekend.

Matthew McConkey

Matthew McConkey

T

Dry HOCO event leaves students parched

Bridget Coady

MANAGING EDITOR Sanjida Rashid admin@thefulcrum.ca

A campus group is apologizing for what they call an “oversight on the importance of hydration” after hosting a dry homecoming party.

The Every Week Walkers (EWW) are a new and unregistered club at the O of U which has met weekly since September on organized walks near campus and “aims to promote an anti-street gathering lifestyle.”

EWW was founded by 3rd-year student Gus Falters, who explained the club’s creation as “an agreement with school administration that I can not discuss further than to explain that I ‘flipped out’ at last year’s HOCO.”

EWW’s event was hosted underground near campus where attendees gathered to discuss the dangers of drinking. As to avoid such dangers, no water bottles, cups, or drink containers were permitted at the event.

“All started well,” Falters said in an interview with the Tomato, “but around 3 p.m., people started to get parched, and we had no plans in place for such an issue. We were so focused on drinking being bad that we overlooked hydration. Silly, I know.”

One attendee spoke with the Tomato anonymously to share that “as a first year, I would never consume a sip of burn-y juice in this province, but the fact that EWW somehow forgot that people need water is a colossal fuck up. People need water — seems like common sense to me.”

EWW thanked attendees in a social media post and promised to be better prepared for the realities of hydration at subsequent events.

DEAR DI

Graphic Designer Kai Holub multimedia@thefulcrum.ca

Di Daniels solves your Halloween Dilemma: Couples costumes for doomed relationships

Spooky season priorities

Daniels

Dear Reader,

I have been inundated with questions regarding couples’ costumes for relationships that feel doomed to end sooner rather than later. If you think this Halloween will be your last (with your current partner), here are 10 couples costumes that highlight the potential incompatibilities with your significant other.

1. The Tortoise and the Hare

Have you come to assume that your partner will always finish first? Advertise it. Stay slow and steady — you’ll finish, just not with them.

2. A maid/butler and an ungrateful douchebag

This one might be too on the nose to suggest, but if you’re feeling resentful of the amount of effort they put in compared to you, suggesting this pair of costumes would get the ball rolling on the break-up.

3. A night owl and an early bird

Are your sleep patterns inconsistent? Dress as your respective feathered metaphors. Extra points if your morning bird is a cheater, and has been getting plenty of worms.

4. Players from rival sports teams

Do you each cheer for a different team? Don the jerseys and spend the evening trash-talking in character. If you’ve recently found out you might “play for the other team,” this could be a subtle nod for them to pick up on when they look back on photos in a decade.

5. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell

This costume pairing tells a story — one of you refuses to grow up, and the other needs constant validation.

6. A Bull and a Red Flag

This is a great way to clearly mark your partner as a walking red flag under the guise of a couple’s costume.

7. Ventriloquist and Dummy

Is one of you always speaking for the other? There are a lot of avenues for mockery here. I will leave it to the imagination.

8. Where’s Waldo

Spend the night avoiding each other and half-heartedly pretending to care.

9. A Cow and the Earth

Are their farts slowly killing you? Ok, the death of our planet is a lot more complicated than that, but the demise of your rela tionship might not be. A selling point of this option: you won’t look like you’re part of a couple’s costume unless you choose to explain it.

10. Any costume combo where you get to look hot, and they have a hard time getting through doorways or using the toilet

This is petty. Do it.

ARCHIVES

Be kind to animals, don’t kill Pedro

Originally Published in Oct. 1988.

among students.

Traditionally, the third weekend in October is a time of much celebra tion in the normally staid university communities of Carleton and Ottawa. Students who are often accused of being apathetic suddenly develop a huge sense of school spirit as they hurl water balloons and obscenities across a football field. Lansdowne Park, for one Saturday in October, sees more fe ver-pitched excitement than it does in a whole season of professional ball with the ‘Riders.

Usually the week before Panda is spent planning the weekend — parties, space for guests, and maybe even resched uling homework, if that much ambition exists

The inevitable dilemma arises — which parties to go to on Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday night. This year, however, will be dif ferent, because Panda XXXIV will take place on a Monday — Thanksgiving Monday — when a lot of students will be back in their hometowns, enjoy ing turkey with their fam ilies.

Why? Because city administrators have finally become tired of the perpetual annual overin dulgence of 15,000 stu dents and, using last year’s half-time tragedy as an ex cuse, have implemented new rules regarding Pan da.

They have limit ed the number of tickets available to each univer sity to 4,000 and have

decided that none will be sold at the gate.

If they are trying to curb the rowdiness, it would seem that they will be successful. To date only 400 tickets have been sold at the U of O.

All right, maybe the students who have taken part in Pandas past are guilty of overindul gence; maybe it is not necessary for 15,000 stu dents to march along the canal, screaming obscen ities, heaving bottles into the water and urinating on lawns. But all of this went on long before the thirty people tumbled to the tarmack last year due to faulty construction. The officials have reacted to one problem by assaulting another. Who knows, may be another 30 people will spill over the railing this year. Then what happens?

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Hailey Otten & Jasmine McKnight editor@thefulcrum.ca

The banning of university football?

No. The ‘solu

tions’ formulated by City Council are no more than robbery. They are robbing first year students of the right to take part in tradi tion. They are trying to kill Pedro.

Tighter security along the parade route would be a good way to curb the stupidity during the march. Stricter securi ty at the gates and along the railings would help

control what goes on in the stadium. But ace it.

Until now there was no control, just containment. It was sort of an ‘as long as we can keep an eye on them they can’t hurt any body,’ attitude.

Let’s prove we are responsible. Let’s par ty, party, party and not hurt anybody. Let’s watch the football game. But let’s keep the only social event on campus that ev eryone recognizes.

About this Article

• Originally published in 1988, this editorial was published in the year following the collapse of one of the guard rails during the 1987 Panda Game, after which roughly 30 students were rushed to hospital. Check out our ar chived post from 1987 here.

• The U of O scheduled the 1988 Panda Game over Thanksgiving weekend — a time when many students would be away from campus, visiting family.

• The heavy police presence, combined with the lowered number of ticket’s available for sale, led to a general lack of enthusiasm over the event.

Live From the Archives. Photo: Kai Holub/Fulcrum.

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