The Fulcrum, Vol. 83. Issue 2.

VOLUME 83 ISSUE 2

PEDRO COMES HOME

ISSUE 2, october 2022 TheFulcrumFB

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(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

VIDEOGRAPHER

Features Editor

Social Media Manager

Opinions Editor

Jasmine McKnight Hailey Otten

News Editor

Staff Writer

Managing Editor

Arts Editor

News Associate

Graphic Designer

Sports Editor

Photographer

ScienceS & Tech Editor

Editors-in-Chief

Sanjida Rashid Kai Holub

Bardia Boomer 2

Vacant

Noah Bailey

Desirée Nikfardjam Victoria Drybrough

Bridget Coady

Matthew McConkey Grace Kim-Shin Yannick Mutombo

Brandon Adibe Emma Williams

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NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Desirée Nikfardjam news.editor@thefulcrum.ca

Iranian Student Association hosts protest and vigil for Mahsa Amini Members of the U of O and Ottawa community come together

action.”

Desirée Nikfardjam The Iranian Student Association of the University of Ottawa (ISAUO) came together on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. at Taberet lawn to mourn and protest the death of Mahsa Amini (#MahsaAmini,) a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was beaten into a fatal coma while in the custody of the morality police in Iran after being arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab loosely.

The ISAUO believed it was important to hold a protest on campus, and in Ottawa, in solidarity of the Iranians who are fighting back in their country.

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

Friday evening began with people making signs on the grass and coordinators lighting candles. Many young adults and families with young children arrived while the hosts played Persian music. A young woman handed informational flyers to passersby with a

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

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

Prior to the event’s start, hosts kindly asked that people be careful 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 attendance still have family in Iran, and feared repercussions if or when they return to the country.

Event coordinators began by welcoming and introducing the reasons behind their gathering. 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 anthem of the people, later in the evening. But the pain and hate for its regime and the suffering of civilians was strong and voiced through chants.

Various chants were yelled in Farsi by protesters including, “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi,” which translates to “Women, Life, Freedom.” Another chant: “Irani Mimirad Zelat Nemipazirad,” 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 important for him to bring his daughter, even though she might not understand everything that was happening.

“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 individual 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 protesting 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 awareness, one said, “It can be [effective], but it’s more effective that other governments help and take

The ISAUO expanded on this, saying, “People are trying to convey their message and reveal what is happening in Iran. Social Media is the fastest and most accessible way to share information and increase peoples’ awareness.”

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

“We will no longer be quiet, we will transfer 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 confirmed and vetted by the Fulcrum. Due to the nature of the article, their names have been omitted, as they still have close connections 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.

Hailey Otten Last year’s Panda Game festivities ended with at least eight official charges, several individu-

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als hospitalized, and one car overturned in relation to a street party on Russel Avenue. An estimated 2,000 students attended, 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 annual rivalry game in jeopardy.

The University has made several social media posts urging students to #PROTECTTHEPANDA, stating,

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

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has

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made similar warnings, stating there will be a zero-tolerance policy surrounding disruptions and disorderly conduct this weekend.

In an interview with the Fulcrum, Cst. Sébastien Lemay, Community Police Officer for the Byward Market, Lowertown 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 dissemination within the student population of, again, some possible consequences.”

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 parameters of the law.

“We definitely want everybody to be safe.

That goes to say the partygoers as much as the residents 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 response is required.”

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

Sandy Hill area, could be usual noise could be looklooking at fines under the ing at fines of $1000.

Liquor License and Control “If a neighbour Act. does ask a party host guy to turn a dial, that would What about house par- that should be the first ties? warning that perhaps your While private next call is going to be to parties are allowed with- police or to bylaw to issue in reason, OPS urges stu- a ticket.” dents to respect their

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 solution.”

“I’m a fan of sports, and it would be unfortunate to see a sporting

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

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

In Ontario, it is illegal to consume open alcohol in public. Anyone caught with an open container 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 celebration, are really wishing for this to be as non-disruptive 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 students 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

event cancelled because of unruly behaviour,” said Lemay. “But, again, to summarize it: unfortunately, 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 Yannick Mutombo Jamal Boyce has always loved the outdoors.

Even so, he says it took him a few years to fully immerse himself in activities like backcountry camping, canoeing, and rock climbing.

Boyce, who just recently graduated from the University of Ottawa

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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 opportunities for Black and racialized people to “engage with the outdoors, one another, and the histories/ futures of the land they live on.”

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 observed in many outdoor activity spaces.

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

ing any representation,” to bring other people into he said. it. I was making friends However, Boyce in this community that I wasn’t bothered by this could go camping with, until his hobbies became only I wasn’t seeing peoan integral part of his iden- ple that looked like me. tity — one that he wanted So, with that in mind, I was to share with family and like: I’m gonna make the friends. outdoors more accessi“As I got deeper ble.” into these spaces, I started posting about it more and Dismantling racial stereotelling my family — there types was just so much interest Over the years, in it. And I started wanting Boyce took many of his

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

Black friends camping and hiking for the first time, and seeing how much they enjoyed it led him to reevaluate some preconceived 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 Fulcrum.

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

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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 American. I really started craving this information and looking for it.”

Moving from thought to action After his graduation, 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 Indigenous 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 family have also been super supportive in terms of driving people up, providing the carpooling.”

In the future, Boyce hopes to recruit volunteers and take suggestions for events.

“The whole point is to bring more people into the outdoors, Black and racialized folk specifically, and I feel like having a broader input is important. So, that’s kind of the biggest step right now.

After that trip we had, there’s been a lot of interested people reaching out to volunteer.”

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

“My favourite part of it was the laughter, to be honest. Despite all these different people coming out, and being from different 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.”

A successful launch Follow @ColorOn Sept. 16, Col- inpractice on Instagram if or in Practice launched its you would like to stay upvery first event — a guided dated with their activities. hike through Gatineau

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ARTS

ARTS EDITOR

Victoria Drybrough arts@thefulcrum.ca

Indigenous representation at the National Gallery of Canada Highlighting Indigenous artworks at the NGC Grace Kim-Shin 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 Indigenous resurgence. Exploring Indigenous art gives viewers a unique glimpse into Indigenous perspectives and their deep-rooted connections to their ancestors and traditional lands.

At the National Gallery of Canada, visitors can deepen their understanding of Indigeneity in Canada by exploring numerous Indigenous artworks on display within the Indigenous and Canadian Art section of the gallery.

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

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

Mi’kmaq artist Jordan Bennett perfectly exemplifies a union of history and contemporary painting in his work “Histories Between and Through Time.” Bennett uses bright colours found in Mi’kmaq quillwork and familiar forms from Beothuk bone pendants to create a piece of contemporary 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 gallery holds multiple paintings from Norval Morriseau, otherwise known as “the Mishomis, or ‘grandfather,’ of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada.”

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

white gallery walls. Morrisseau’s paintings evoke feelings of interconnectedness and harmony between man and nature.

Through the woodland style, he shares the cultural and worldly perspectives of the Anishinaabeg and his ancestors.

M o r r i s s e a u ’s lasting influence and impact 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 paintings echoing themes of ecocentric unity.

Widely celebrated and respected Indigenous artists such as Daphne Odjig and Alex Janvier have their artworks on display as well. Janvier’s colours are full of expression, 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 stories just as much as paintings 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 gallery wall. Pottle provokes discussion on how Inuit people in Canada have reclaimed or rejected their disc numbers, by creating visibility for those who proudly wear them on shirts, and others wearing them around their necks.

Numerous Inuit sculptures carved from ivory populate sections of the gallery space. They depict a plethora of subjects, movements, and symbols unique to the Arctic. Culturally 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 political 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 commemorate this day to honour survivors of residential schools and those who lost their lives from colonial practices. However, our learning and unlearning of colonial practices are to be done all year.

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

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

According to Jennifer Macklem, who has been a professor at the University for 14 years, “registration and enrolment are up a lot, there seems to be a lot of interest in visual art.” The

department saw a higher number of first-year students than in recent years, as well as a growing graduate program.

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

David McDougall, a parttime professor in sculpture and a full-time technician in the department,

600 Cumberland St. is home to the virtual arts department at the University of Ottawa, and Gallery 115. Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum.

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

McDougall, who has been teaching courses 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 virtual learning “reaffirmed the value of having fluency in digital technologies.”

That isn’t to say the transition went seamlessly. 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 virtual learning, Yu modified her courses to avoid colour-specific projects and instead had her students focus on composition. Being back in the classroom will allow Yu and her students to look at the same painting together.

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

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

Macklem said she herself feels “more attuned to the emotional 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 Gallery 115, a gallery dedicated to student exhibits on campus.

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

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

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 cooking tools. The familiarity of these artifacts reminding viewers that although humans change over time, we remain the same in many ways, whether it’s through our cultural practices 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 Byzantine period.

Vigneux mentioned that they are trying to digitize this collection in order to increase its visibility. She explained that digitizing artifacts can be helpful, as it allows viewers 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. Researchers have deduced the stories behind the amphoras, and other artifacts, through information about where they were discovered and the stylistic elements of the object.

One was used to transport 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 passionate 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, students can attend Archaeology Day, an event hosted by the museum in partnership with the Classics and Religions Students’ Association, 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 Desmarais Building, room 3104.

A glimpse into the Ancient Mediterranean at the Museum of Classical Antiquities Exploring ancient societies through artifacts Grace Kim-Shin The department of classics at the University of Ottawa harbours a special place for archaeological discovery on campus.

Since 1975, the Museum of Classical Antiquities has curated and displayed a collection of diverse artifacts from different regions of the Ancient Mediterranean.

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 Cypriote, Etruscan, Roman, and North African regions. One of the museum’s oldest artifacts, a Cypriot terracotta juglet from 21001900 BCE, designed with

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

The pottery showcased at the museum is painted and incised with a range of colour and forms, some in the red-figure or black-figure style and others with simple linear designs. Earlier pottery primarily focuses on geometric designs, however, as time goes on the subject matter of battle emerges. Particularly by the Classical Period, pottery begins to reflect Greek and Roman mythology.

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

“Everyone had an influence on each other. You can see similar mo-

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SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR

Brandon Adibe sports@thefulcrum.ca

Gee-Gees successfully protect the panda A DOMINANT PERFORMANCE BY THE GEES SECURES A PANDA VICTORY FOR THE FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR Matthew McConkey

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

The Gees didn’t respond until the end of the quarter. Maracle connected with wide receiver 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 second quarter, a fumble

by Cimankinda gave the Ravens possession at the Gees’ 50-yard line. At this point, the chants had returned, louder than before.

After two unsuccessful attempts at gaining a first down, the Ravens punted the ball to Ottawa’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 students were loud and ready to cheer on their respective schools into the second half.

The second half started with the Gees getting 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 quarter.

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

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 Zachary 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 Victome, 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 possession 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, Ottawa U” chants erupted from the Carleton stands.

They were immediately returned 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 resulted in a punt.

The Ravens began their second series Pedro is ours, once again. Image: Bardia Boomer/Fulcrum. with a bang. A long throw moved the Ravens to the ended with a successful ly-Pierre Dimbongi in the Gees’ 30-yard line, and an field goal by Fair — 10-7 end zone. The extra point

by Fair was good once end-zone pass gave the for the Gees.

The second again as the Gees added to Ravens the game’s first

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

The Gees’ defence 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 continued their trend of being forced to punt on third downs deep into the second 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 complete with a stiff arm that knocked a Ravens player to the ground.

Fittingly, Cimankinda finished the series with a touchdown, and the Gees were up 30-7 with under 4 minutes remaining.

After this touchdown, 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 offence took the field, and had their first pass intercepted by Gees’ linebacker, Emmanuel Aboagye-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

tiple times during the point, the Gees added to same series. One of Ci- their lead — 37-7. mankinda’s rushes during There were 10 the drive went for over seconds left in the fourth

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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 Pedro home once again.

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

Must-watch Gee-Gees vs Ravens sporting events Here are the best rivalry matchups to catch this year Brandon Adibe 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 Ottawa — here’s a list of mustsee, live sporting events that the Gees will be participating in this season.

Panda Game This is the premier sporting event in Canadian 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 football, but I can guarantee

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

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

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

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team wins. This was especially 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 believes that, then you will not want to miss this battle 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 University, 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 usually 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 usually happens sometime between October and November so keep your eyes out for more information.

Capital Hoops Classic Capital Hoops is a doubleheader of basketball games. Like the aforementioned events, the Gees will take on the Carleton Ravens. The men’s and women’s basketball 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 rendition of this rivalry series matchup. In recent history, the game was held at Carleton University, but the year before the pandemic, 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 University, where it saw the Ravens sweep the Gees— but maybe that was just home-court advantage.

U n fo r t u n ate l y 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 Ottawa has won two of the last three.

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

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

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SCIENCES

SCIENCES & TECH EDITOR Emma Williams science@thefulcrum.ca

U of O researcher examines factors that influence people’s performance in math WHO YOU GONNA CALL? I AIN’T AFRAID OF NO (GHOST) MATH. Emma Williams 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 student? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, 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 pertains to academic achievement.”

On the cognitive side, they are looking at spatial skills and different types of memory as opposed to the emotional side, which examines anxiety, stereotypes and their effects in the classroom. Maloney examines the types of factors that influence people’s performance in math and science — one of which is known as math anxiety.

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

feeling anxious, whether in math or something else.

Oftentimes negative emotions or ruminations will arise, and the anxiety coopts important memory resources that would otherwise be used for something 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 opportunities to really hone those math skills. So. over time, you do end up being a little bit less skilled than your peers and students who are anxious about math are less likely to do their math homework. So, I think you end up getting this snowWhat is math anxiety? balling effect,” explained According to Ma- Maloney. loney, math anxiety refers to feelings of fear, ten- How to alleviate math sion or apprehension that anxiety? many people tend to feel When asked when they’re engaging about possible ways to with math. mediate math anxiety, “When you’re Maloney said, “what you anxious about math, you want to do is target both tend to do worse, but it’s the anxiety and the math not just that people who achievement. So, for tarare anxious in math are geting anxiety, you can do bad at math. It’s actually things that the anxiety itself can like mindfulness type incause you to do worse,” terventions — like focused said Maloney. breathing, or you can do Now consider a so-called expressive situation in which you’re writing. So, that’s one of

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my favourite ones, just because there’s some pretty strong evidence to suggest that it’s really effective.”

According to Maloney, 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 repercussions 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 challenge that you have the ability to overcome, rather than viewing it as a threat to your identity,” said Maloney.

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

your attention away from the anxiety for a minute and calm yourself down, and get that physiological 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 homework, then you tend to adopt those attitudes too, and you also become anxious. So there seems to be a bit of a social component at play,” said Maloney.

She continued, “we have some preliminary 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 homework. 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 socio-emotional learning in the classrooms — meaning: teaching students how to regulate and deal with their emotions.

“A lot of these emotion regulation strategies 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 certainly not something that was in the Ontario curriculum when I went through elementary school,” said Maloney.

Throughout Maloney’s research, they’ve found evidence to suggest that if the teachers themselves are anxious, on average their students tend to learn less than students in a classroom with teachers who are not anxious about math.

Final remarks In addition to regulating our anxiety towards academics, Maloney stressed the importance of practising science-based, effective study techniques, such as spaced repetition and active recall.

Space repetition is a technique that suggests 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 students to practice quizzing themselves or complete practice exams rather than passively re-reading lecture notes.

For more information on Maloney and her research at the Cognition and Emotion Laboratory, visit her website.

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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 Emma Williams How are amphibious centipedes able to walk and swim? How are they able to coordinate their bodies as they transition 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 Tohoku 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 involved 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. Examples that commonly come to mind are animals like salamanders or frogs. Not many think of amphibious 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 lifestyle, 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 centipedes, 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

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

Three components of neural control For background, “there’s a basic understanding that there are three components to neural control, the brain that provides a top-down sending motor signals to the body. There are central 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 interested in the interplay between all three of these control components.

She continued, “amphibious centipedes are an excellent model because moving through water and over land provide very different sensory inputs to the locomotor system allowing researchers to modify the sensory signals provided to the system. In addition, the segmented body plan of a centipede allows a researcher to lift the exoskeleton of a single segment, cut the descending nerve cord coming from the brain and essentially block any top down signal from reaching the posterior segments.”

In this way one can compare the behaviour of the anterior segments that are receiving 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 controlled by sensory feed-

back and CPGs compared ming because it still gets top down brain control. a message from the brain, but the back end can’t.

How do their movements Although segments were differ on land and water? able to walk normally with Through obser- no signal from the brain vations, they were able Standen stresses that the to identify that when am- brain signal is still importphibious centipedes are ant for eliciting the swimwalking at relatively slow ming behaviour. speeds on land their body Standen and stays relatively straight, her colleagues, were able and they have a tenden- to conclude that sensory cy to pass waves of leg feedback from each limb motion down their body as it connected with the which propels them for- ground in the terrestriward. al environment provides As opposed to enough stimulation to the swimming where they fold local segment CPG to elictheir legs along their body, it a motor signal to move meaning their legs aren’t the leg without need of used at all and are able to a top down signal from pass a wave down their the brain. In essence the body similar to the way CPG was driving the leg a snake moves or a fish locally. In swimming, the swims. This movement forces felt by the legs are could also be described as not enough to trigger any an undulation. sort of motion. In addition, To understand because the limbs remain how they’re controlling outstretched and the body these movements re- still, it can be hypothesized searchers “removed the that leg position and body ganglion of a segment- undulation in swimming ed partway along the are driven by a top down body-severing the spinal signal from the brain. cord and removing any signal from the brain to the How do they switch beposterior section of the tween land and water? animals. What’s amazing U n d o u b t e d l y, is that body segment pos- this begs the question: terior of the severed cord how do centipedes flip beshowed normal leg move- tween manoeuvering their ments. Essentially, with no bodies for walking and for signal from the brain they swimming? were able to walk normalStanden rely,” explained Standen. sponded, “the transition She continued, between walking and “If you put that transect- swimming is also exed animal in water, the plained by the sensory anterior segments that feedback felt by each leg. have a connection with As a centipede walks into the brain fold their legs water, the front legs lose and the body undulates as contact with the ground, in normal swimming, but the lack of contact reposterior of the cut, the moves the sensory feedsegments look paralyzed, back sent to the CPG and No leg folding, no body os- the resulting motor signal cillation.” sent to oscillate the leg Meaning that the stops. The leg stops movfront part of the body can ing. Shortly after, the brain perform the undulation sends a top down signal normally seen in swim- to fold the legs and start a

body oscillation for swimming.”

She added, “the same process occurs in reverse when the animal leaves the water. A swimming animal with all legs tucked and body oscillating 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 signal 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 segment such that it is in a walking configuration by the time it hits land.

This data suggests that controlling so many legs is actually not so difficult. Meaning, that the animal isn’t thinking, “legs at the number seven position need to move and then after the number eight legs need to move.”

Rather, the sensory feedback from the legs to the CPGs are doing it automatically based on environmental conditions.

For more information on the fascinating work being done in Standen’s lab regarding evolutionary and comparative biomechanics visit her website here.

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FEATURES

FEATURES EDITOR

Bridget Coady features@thefulcrum.ca

Digital consumerism in the Metaverse METAVERSE AND THE RISE OF DIGITAL MARKETS Grace Kim-Shin Developments in extended reality (XR) technologies have been rapidly advancing and tech giants.

Meta, Microsoft, Sony, and HP have begun to roll out their respective XR products. Mark Zuckerberg has been promoting the metaverse platform since October of 2021, and appears committed to the integration of XR technology into our professional and personal lives.

Understanding the metaverse is both perplexing and fascinating. As we navigate the fourth industrial revolution, artificial intelligence and virtual reality (VR) are on their way to dominating our economic markets, social lives, and even creating new constructions of reality.

Imagine if your video game was no longer simply a fantasy world, but instead reflected and integrated the trivial routine of your day-to-day life.

Zuckerberg envisions a world where people globally can meet, play, and shop. Commercial goods no longer have to be physically present, but instead, they can be exchanged digitally.

Zuckerberg anticipates new avenues to promote and expand the market for commercial goods through the metaverse. There’s no doubt his confidence in VR has spilled into the rest of the retail market. Most recently, the multinational retailer, Walmart has plunged into the Roblox metaverse to reach younger demographics.

VR opens the world to faster connec-

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tions and communications and Zuckerberg is hoping to tap into a new economy 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 Myriam Brouard specializes in digital consumption and spoke with the Fulcrum about where the technology currently stands. “The metaverse platforms as they are right now, in my opinion […], don’t really add that much to the online shopping experience.

I think that they will once they get more immersive and once they include more sensory information.”

Brouard explains how the technologies currently in development will eventually improve upon the virtual shopping experience, 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 maybe even sort of haptic-ly touch it, but that technology 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 information that you’re going to be adding is going to improve upon an online experience,” shared Brouard.

“There’s a lot

Who truly benefits from the creation of virtual reality? Photo: Dima Solomin/Unsplash.

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 bigger […] We’re definitely seeing it now. There’s a lot of money and wearables in decentral and/or these kinds of metaverse platforms.”

Ownership and intellectual property rights, for instance, are commodities that are being traded, bought, and exchanged in the metaverse.

Your conference room in the metaverse can be decorated with NFT artwork, and you can buy designer clothes for your avatar from the comfort of your own bed.

H o w e v e r, 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 definitely 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 conspicuous outer display.”

Having a digital

identity and the value we continue to place on our virtual selves will be a driving force in popularizing digital goods and immersive 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 benefits as we expect. Instead, they predict that XR technologies will be unable to sufficiently replace real human interaction and by 2040, the metaverse will be used mainly in niche areas 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 quickly and become integrated rapidly, as investors see large earning potential through the digital markets it creates.

However, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, a scientist and educator specializing in immer-

sive world technology, expresses that for the metaverse to be successful, 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 humanity.”

In short, if the metaverse is simply developed with the profit incentive in mind and constructs users as mere consumers, 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 access to wifi at all? If the metaverse does in fact help advance metropolises across the globe, will these advancements only occur in OECD countries?

Although Zuckerberg and others working on the metaverse are undoubtedly leading a radical shift in our day-to-day life, who will truly benefit from the creation of virtual worlds?

As large corporations like Meta gain monopoly over global technology markets, they steer the world into the direction they see fit. Profit incentives drive global innovation, allowing private actors to make decisions for the world’s technological 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.

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OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR

Matthew McConkey opinions@thefulcrum.ca

Why am I forced to buy a U-Pass?

STUDENTS CAN NO LONGER OPT-OUT OF THE U-PASS Matthew McConkey For the first time in over a year, all full-time U of O students who do not meet the University’s exception criteria are required to purchase a U-Pass. For many of the students who are just learning about this, I’ll explain what it means and why it’s ridiculous.

The U-Pass is the University of Ottawa’s mandatory student transit card, which grants eligible 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 option to opt-out of purchasing the $446.96 pass for a number of reasons, including transit restrictions from the lockdowns. But this year, that isn’t an option.

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

dent fits narrow eligibility requirements. Otherwise, all students taking more than 4 courses per semester 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 Ottawa 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 students 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.

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 victim of a glitchy machine.

Without a doubt, the U-Pass is useful for some students. It’s a pass that offers affordable travel to students who may live too far from campus to walk. But it remains perplexing 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.

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 recommend everyone participating in the celebrations utilizes a break. My homecoming 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 begins 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 hydrate and eat before you get back into the swing of things. If you don’t utilize 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 celebration, 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.

How to avoid the ’worst case scenario’ homecoming SOME TRIED AND TRUE TIPS FOR HAVING A SUCCESSFUL PANDA GAME DAY Matthew McConkey We are dangerously close to the biggest 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 essentially two directions your homecoming can take.

The first direction is ideal; it’s the fun type of day that some of your annoying friends might call, “a movie.” The second outcome, however, is much different. It’s an absolute nightmare that will probably haunt you for the rest of your life.

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

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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 unsuccessful 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 necessary structure. It will also help prevent your annoying friends from suggesting 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 pacing yourself. We all know that one unfortunate person at the pre who flew too close to the sun and ended up getting burnt before the day even started. This Saturday will be a long day, and your mantra should be, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

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

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T MAT

MANAGING EDITOR

Sanjida Rashid admin@thefulcrum.ca

Dry HOCO event leaves students parched Bridget Coady 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.

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DEAR DI

Graphic Designer

Kai Holub multimedia@thefulcrum.ca

Di Daniels solves your Halloween Dilemma: Couples costumes for doomed relationships Spooky season priorities Di 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 relationship 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.

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ARCHIVES

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Hailey Otten & Jasmine McKnight editor@thefulcrum.ca

Be kind to animals, don’t kill Pedro Originally Published in Oct. 1988.

1988-9 Editorial Board Traditionally, the third weekend in October is a time of much celebration 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 fever-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 rescheduling homework, if that much ambition exists

among students.

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

Why? Because city administrators have finally become tired of the perpetual annual overindulgence of 15,000 students and, using last year’s half-time tragedy as an excuse, have implemented new rules regarding Panda.

They have limited the number of tickets available to each university 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 overindulgence; maybe it is not necessary for 15,000 students to march along the canal, screaming obscenities, 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, maybe another 30 people will spill over the railing this year. Then what happens?

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

The banning of university football?

No. The ‘solutions’ formulated by City Council are no more than robbery. They are robbing first year students of the right to take part in tradition. 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 security 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 anybody,’ attitude.

Let’s prove we are responsible. Let’s party, party, party and not hurt anybody. Let’s watch the football game. But let’s keep the only social event on campus that everyone 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 archived 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.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Treasurer Claire Liu

Community Rep Mark Asfar

President & Continuity Rep Kalki Nagaratnam

Student Rep Amit Shanbhoug

Student Rep Erik Chin

Vice-President & Staff Rep Brendan Keane

Fulcrum Alumnus Emma Godmere

Executive Director Ludvica Boota

Chair & Community Rep Sam Coulavin

Staff Rep Keelan Buck

The Fulcrum is hiring a

Videographer

To apply, visit www.thefulcrum.ca/were-hiring or email the Editors-in-Chief at editor@thefulcrum.ca

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Noah Bailey social@thefulcrum.ca

FEATURES EDITOR Bridget Coady features@thefulcrum.ca

NEWS EDITOR Desirée Nikfardjam news.editor@thefulcrum.ca

OPINIONS EDITOR Matthew McConkey opinions@thefulcrum.ca

MANAGING EDITOR Sanjida Rashid admin@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS EDITOR Victoria Drybrough arts@thefulcrum.ca

STAFF WRITER Grace Kim-Shin staff.writer@thefulcrum.ca

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kai Holub multimedia@thefulcrum.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Brandon Adibe sports@thefulcrum.ca

NEWS ASSOCIATE Yannick Mutombo associate.news@thefulcrum.ca

PHOTOGRAPHER Bardia Boomer photographer@thefulcrum.ca

SCIENCE & TECH EDITOR Emma Williams science@thefulcrum.ca

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Jasmine MckKnight Hailey Otten editor@thefulcrum.ca

THEFULCRUM.CA

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