The Cord January 26, 2020

THE CORD THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 60 ISSUE 16 • JANUARY 29, 2020

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

COMPETITVE CHEERLEADING

WELLNESS WOES

NUMBER 24

HOCKEY HIGH POINTS

Thrive Week provides events for students

Proving the value of an overlooked sport

Gwenyth Paltrow ain’t no guru

Honouring the life of a basketball icon

Laurier men’s team at their best

News, page 3

Features, page 8

Arts & Life, page 11

Opinion, page 14

Sports, page 15

2 •

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

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JANUARY 2020

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CordNews THIS DAY IN HISTORY: JANUARY 29

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

1595: William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is thought to have been first performed. Officially published early 1597.

DYLAN THOMAS // BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER

1781: Mozart's opera "Idomeneo" premieres in Munich.

IS IT REAL // BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

1845: Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Raven" first published (NYC).

WAITING ROOM // PHOEBE BRIDGERS

TOMB // ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE

1856: Britain's highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross, was founded by Queen Victoria.

GOLDEN DAYS // PICNIC PICNIC

1892: The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia

NEAR ENOUGH A WOMAN // OTTA

1896: Emile Grubbe is the first doctor to use radiation treatment for breast cancer.

1936: First players elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson & Walter Johnson.

MAKE OUT IN MY CAR // MOSES SUMNEY

FREEDOM FIGHTER // #1 DADS

1959: Disney releases the animated film Sleeping Beauty to theatres.

LOW (ACOUSTIC VERSION) // JR JR

1963: The first members to the NFL's Hall of Fame were named in Canton, OH.

ALL IS ON MY SIDE // SAM FENDER

1963: This was the date of Robert Frost's Death. He had accomplished much in his lifetime, such as winning the Pulitzer Prize four times, and also reciting a poem during JFK's inauguration ceremony.

ANTHEM FOR THE WEAK // THE HARMALEIGHS

CIRCLE THE DRAIN // SOCCER MOMMY

1964: Dr Strangelove, directed

by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, premieres.

DREAMS // JAPANESE BREAKFAST

1981: Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" tops the Charts as many identify with the song and the movie.

1987: "Physician’s Weekly" announced that the smile on the face of Leonardo DeVinci's Mona Lisa was caused by a "... facial paralysis resulting from a swollen nerve behind the ear."

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

NEXT ISSUE

OPINION EDITOR Jade Hosick opinion@thecord.ca

SENIOR COPY EDITOR Victoria Marshall copyeditor@thecord.ca

CORD STAFF

SPORTS EDITOR Mark Cascagnette sports@thecord.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Emily Waitson editor@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Jamie Mere graphics@thecord.ca

CORDCAST PRODUCER Jade Hosick, Victoria Marshall cordcast@thecord.ca

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Brit Kovacs creative@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Darien Funk photos@thecord.ca

WEB DIRECTOR Kashyap Patel online@thecord.ca

ONLINE EDITOR Kathleen McCullough online@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Sophia Cole news@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR VACANT video@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Riley Locke news@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER VACANT news@thecord.ca

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Alyssa Di Sabatino arts@thecord.ca

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER VACANT photos@thecord.ca

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Katelyn Tufford Amichai Abraham Jackson Carse Hayley McGoldrick Laura Thompson Jana Ibrahim Ian Schakel

"Statement win for Hawks over fourth victory" - Mark Cascagnette

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES All advertising inquiries can be directed to Kurtis Rideout at kurtis.rideout@wlusp.com or 519-884-0710 ext. 3560.

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PREAMBLE The Cord will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly.

The Cord believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a matter of controversy.

The staff of The Cord shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly.

When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to

1995: The 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowl titles.

reply at the earliest time possible.

Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff.

The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so The Cord will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on Wilfrid Laurier University, and the community of Kitchener-Waterloo, and with a special ear to the concerns of the students of Wilfrid Laurier University. Ultimately, The Cord will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Cord has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through The Cord’s contact with the student body.

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"That's wet and on my leg. Such a good girl! ” - News Editor, Sophia Cole while playing with Bowie, The Cord's mascot.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

News

• 3 NEWS EDITOR SOPHIA COLE news@thecord.ca

WELLNESS

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

Laurier kicks off sixth Thrive Week with campus events

Laurier’s Mental Health Advisory Committee oversees events centered in wellness and positivity KATELYN TUFFORD NEWS CONTRIBUTOR

Wilfrid Laurier University’s sixth Thrive Week is underway on Waterloo and Brantford campuses.

The last week of January consists of a variety of events centered around mental health awareness and positivity.

Overseen by Laurier’s Mental Health Advisory Committee, Thrive Week events are free for all students and do not require registration to attend.

“Thrive began at the University of British Columbia in 2009.

Laurier adopted the program in 2017 and now runs Thrive Week every October and January,” Sarina Wheeler, manager of wellness education at Laurier’s Waterloo campus said.

“We have over 30 activities this week for students,” Wheeler said.

Some special highlights are the “Let’s Taco Bout It” mental health resource fair on Monday and the keynote presentation speaker on Wednesday. Wheeler said that the presentation will be provided

by Ryan Martin, “a Laurier alum who cycled across Canada to raise funds for mental health supports.”

“In addition to our regular events, we are focusing on creating awareness of the diverse offerings of support both on campus and in the community,” Nathan Reeve wellness education coordinator said.

“Since every person is unique and requires unique support, it is important to know what works best

for you,” Reeve said.

On Monday, the “Let’s Taco Bout It” mental health resource fair in the concourse started off the week, providing students who attended the fair with free tacos.

In addition to our regular events, we are focusing on creating awareness of the diverse offerings of support both on campus and in the community.

- Nathan Reeve, wellness education coordinator

Tuesday featured free yoga classes in the athletic complex and the Wellness Centre.

In the evening, there was a speaker panel focused on networking and exploring careers in mental health at the Career Centre.

Students could also go to a Latin dance class or rock climbing in the athletic complex, followed by meditation.

Tuesday evening “Bingo With Twan” took place at Wilf’s restaurant. Wednesday is Bell Let’s Talk Day, where students can visit the athletic complex lobby to share their own messages of mental health awareness and read other messages of inspiration and resilience. The Wellness Centre will

also be hosting a drop-in self-care workshop before noon.

In addition, alumni Ryan Martin’s talk will take place Wednesday afternoon and will delve into his own journey with mental health.

Students can end the day with meditation, “Speak Up” with Bridging the Gap or enjoy rock climbing in the athletic complex.

To encourage students to get moving, the athletic centre will be providing free group exercise classes throughout the day on Thursday. Students are also invited to come out to the concourse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to chat with the Dean of Students, Kate McCrae Bristol, and the Wellness team over free hot cocoa.

For those who would like a little extra help destressing, Martin Luther University College will be hosting a “chilling with dogs” event from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Other events taking place Thursday include a mindfulness care package giveaway happening throughout campus from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and free rock climbing in the evening.

To end the week, the Wellness Centre is continuing their weekly “Fresh Fruit Friday” initiative, where you can stop by and collect a piece of fresh fruit while supplies last. The Wellness Centre will be hosting mindful activities, snacks, and resources until 4 p.m. as part of their Wellness Recharge Space event.

“In terms of stuff happening around campus [for mental health awareness], I think it’s absolutely

crucial given the amount of stress students are under,” Laurier Professor Jeff Heydon said.

“Overwhelmingly, profs want to help,” Heydon said. “But we’re also keenly aware of our limitations.

When it’s something as serious as mental health, you don’t want to get it wrong.”

In addition to Laurier’s Wellness Centre, students are encouraged to visit the Delton Glebe Counselling Centre, not only during Thrive Week, but any time throughout the year.

“The Glebe Centre is a counselling agency that provides therapeutic services to clients at large in the KW area,” Delton Glebe executive director Neta Deonarain-Gear said.

The Glebe was founded in October of 2013 and has developed a strong presence in the Waterloo community. Growing rapidly, the Glebe Centre employs therapists and counsellors with a wide variety of cultural skills, values and languages.

“We exist not to duplicate services, but to fill gaps,” Gear said.

Every Friday from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., the centre provides walk-in counselling provided by interns of Martin Luther University College.

“These are 50-minute sessions for anyone experiencing any crisis or needing to have access to services to determine what’s next to do,” Deonarain-Gear said.

“Someone will meet with you and help to ground you for that situation in that time frame and try

to determine with you what you can do now and what to do in the future.”

But we’re also keenly aware of our limitations. When it’s something as serious as mental health, you don’t want to get it wrong.

-Jeff Heydon, Wilfrid Laurier professor

Walk-in counselling works on a sliding fee scale, which are cheaper than the average standard market rate.

The minimum cost is $20 per session.

Gear states that the centre works to avoid waitlists, as they aim to support the community as promptly as possible.

“We believe in social justice and we work really hard to not have waitlists,” Deonarain-Gear said.

Clients also have access to services in multiple languages as a means of making counselling more accessible to the community as a whole.

For more information about the Delton Glebe Centre, visit their website.

A full week of Thrive Week events can also be found on the programming website.

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

TRANSIT

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

GRT strike impacts region commuters AARON WAITSON PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER

Following the Grand River Transit (GRT) bus strike, which began last Tuesday, Jan. 21, after the breakdown of discussions, talks to

resume transit services began once more on Tuesday, Jan. 28 — with a tentative agreement being reached until Thursday, Jan. 30.

The union representing Grand River Transit and MobilityPLUS operators, Unifor Local 4304, made

the decision to strike last week due to an inability to come to a collective agreement, which the union claimed involved issues with workplace safety.

“Just like on the first day of this strike, we remain committed

to bargaining the best possible collective agreement on behalf of Unifor Local 4304 members,” said Tim Jewell, Unifor Local 4304 president, in a Jan. 27 statement.

“Transit workers deserve a safe and respectful work environment.”

Some of these demands included “improvements on driver safety, an end to heavy-handed, excessive discipline and unfettered use of video surveillance, and wages,” according to the statement.

This includes a safety barrier for drivers, to reduce the possibility for physical and verbal harassment.

According to the Region of Waterloo, they had agreed to install these barriers on 278 GRT buses over the next three years, which will cost approximately $1.7 million.

Following a week of striking, and Tuesday’s talks, the Waterloo Region and Unifor have come to a provisional agreement that will hopefully see the buses back in service, and may be ratified following a vote on Thursday, Jan. 30.

However, this agreement does not necessarily mean that the end of the strike will happen just yet.

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the region released a statement indicating that the previous tentative agreement had been rejected by the union.

“The Region offered a comprehensive settlement including a six per cent wage increase over three years for bus operators, dispatchers and service attendants and 15 per cent over three years for mechanics. The Region believes that this is fair to our employees, and is responsible to Regional taxpayers.

Unfortunately, it was not accepted by the Union’s membership,” the statement read.

“We have worked hard over the last three months and especially over the last two weeks to identify and address concerns raised by the Union, including those related to safety. The Region’s priority remains achieving a negotiated agreement that includes a fair and reasonable economic package and

ensures the safety and security of the community and our staff,” said Mike Murray, the region’s Chief Administrative Officer, in the statement.

Unifor representatives released a statement following Tuesday’s talks indicating that more details on the agreement will be made available to the public if the new contract is voted on and ratified.

“On the line, and throughout bargaining, members were united in their call to improve safety and working conditions. That message was clearly heard,” said Unifor National President, Jerry Dias, in a Jan. 28 statement.

Transit workers deserve a safe and respectful work environment.

-Tim Jewell, Unifor Local 4304 president,

“Transit workers appreciate the support that they have received from the public during this time,” Jewell said in the statement.

“We look forward to settling this dispute in order to return to serving the people of Waterloo Region.”

The Region of Waterloo, releasing a similar statement on Tuesday, seemed equally eager to come to an effective conclusion to the strike.

“The Region appreciates the public’s patience and understanding as we work towards getting the buses back in service,” the statement concluded.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

NEWS • 5

GRANTS

Laurier UXD Program financial support HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK CORD ALUM

Laurier Brantford’s user experience (UX) design program will be receiving $852,000 over the course of four years in order to support different aspects of the UXD program.

The program allows students to work with real life companies in order to solve everyday problems and use technology to find solutions for the real world, while putting a specific emphasis on experiential learning.

The donation will fund these opportunities for students, as well as the creation of a UX design sprint competition, funding for scholarships and funding work experience.

“The funding will help us to bring in students who might not be able to afford it. There’s scholarship money, and I think there are a lot of students, because of their own circumstances, they might only pick programs they can afford to get to and live near,” said Abby Goodrum, program coordinator for user experience design.

“The funding will also allow students to go and work for community organizations and non-profits that otherwise may not have been able to afford to hire our students.

We thought that Scotiabank may advise against so students work for them but they were very supportive of that.”

The program is the first of its kind in Canada, with students getting a targeted approach to UX design and working with actual clientele versus figuring out the role for themselves from within a company.

“I spent about nine months doing research talking to UX designers in North America and talking to design educators who taught in programs that could be construed as being UX design. I also spent

time in Norway where a form of UX design is mandated by the government before they will purchase any kind of software,” Goodrum said.

“The thing about UX design is that there hasn’t existed any programs like ours in Canada and they’re not ubiquitous around the world, so UX designers are usually trained in a lot of different disciplines; people might have gotten their degree in computer science or engineering, they may have gotten a degree in psychology.”

Another key area, scholarship funding, will allow students of all kinds to pursue a degree in UX design regardless of their background or financial situation.

“We are as attractive to young men as we are young women, we also seem to be as attractive to people who took tech courses in high school and loved it as the people who took art and design classes in high school. The nice thing is that you get this rich mix of people who just really embrace the artistry and creativity, while the others love the technology,” Goodrum said.

The last part of the funding, which goes towards the design sprint, is aimed at one particular challenge facing humanity and gives students a limited amount of time to design the technology to create a solution.

“We take on a new theme every year. This year our theme was designing for inclusivity and diversity.

The way we operationalized those themes is that we do a film night about the theme, then in the spring we do a design around that theme and have a special topics course about it,” Goodrum said.

“Inclusivity and diversity is very front and centre to Scotiabank and their values are centred around [this], and that is what the keynote they held was about, ethics and design. Our theme next year is around designing for climate change.”

SIDNEY MACDONALD/PHOTO EDITOR

5 Ma nito u D r | 158 5 Vic tor ia S t N | S tagS h op .co m

6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

HOLIDAYS

Laurier International rings in the Year of the Rat SOPHIA COLE NEWS EDITOR

This past Saturday, Jan. 25, was the day of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, a holiday widely celebrated in many Eastern Asian countries and considered by many to be the most important holiday in China.

The Lunar New Year is the new year based on the Chinese lunar calendar, which operates on a twelve year cycle with one of twelve animals assigned to each year in the cycle.

This year, we are ringing in the Year of the Rat, the first of the twelve repeating animals in the cycle.

“In North American terms, it’s like a combining of Christmas and Thanksgiving together,” said Ben Yang, Director of Global Engagement at Laurier.

To commemorate this holiday, Laurier International hosted events on both the Waterloo and Brantford campuses.

On the Waterloo campus, Laurier International hosted a free lunch for all international students, with a particular focus on students coming from countries who celebrate the Lunar New Year.

“So we had 119 students come for lunch at Laurier International. We served rice, dumplings –

JAMIE MERE/GRAPHICS EDITOR

dumplings are a key Chinese new year food that people eat — and we had porage, soup, vegetables [and] Chinese pancakes,” Yang said.

The Brantford campus hosted a large dinner celebration with the theme “Martial Arts of East Asia.”

“We’ve had another celebration, a big dinner event at the Brantford campus, where we had over 100 students from all cultural back-

grounds who came to celebrate.

We had singing, line dance, a professor from the history department, she actually gave a little talk on the history and the story about Lunar New Year,” Yang said.

Both events had communal meals as the focal point of the celebration, a tribute to the traditional celebrations of the Lunar New Year which consist of celebrations,

cleaning and decorating and enjoying meals as a family.

These celebrations ensure that students who may not have the chance to be at home with their families to celebrate the holidays do not miss out entirely.

“As international students, you often do lose special occasions like the Lunar New Year and [other] special holidays. They miss their

home, they’re not at home, they are not with their families. So what we try to do is create a home away from home kind of experience, of course we know we can’t really replace them getting together with their family, but never the less I think it’s a great opportunity for them to get together to connect with other students,” Yang said.

In addition to helping international students feel more at home, celebrations like the Lunar New Year give domestic students a chance to expose themselves to new cultures and traditions and broaden their horizons.

“The second contribution I think is to really create an intercultural learning experience. At Laurier International, we not only celebrate the Lunar New Year, we also celebrate Ramadan, Diwali, any kind of a major international cultural holiday, we will try to create an opportunity for students who are not from those cultural backgrounds to participate, for them to learn, for them to experience a holiday or a tradition or a culture that is different from their own,” said Yang.

“That is why we chose to create a more inclusive environment for students, not only for international students, but also for domestic students to learn from each other as well.”

AWARDS

Laurier top employer for young people HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK CORD ALUM

Laurier has been named an outstanding employer for the second time this month, this time being recognized for being a top employer for young people in Canada, being only one of two post-secondary institutions to receive the honour and the only one in Ontario.

Only 100 winners in all of Canada are named, with the criteria for being selected based on efforts to attract and retain young employees, fair wages, benefits, mentorship, tuition assistance and paid personal days off.

“We have over 600 of our alumni who are working in staff and faculty positions here at Laurier, it certainly isn’t a requirement for the job but we certainly take a close look at our graduates and it’s a positive thing to give them an opportunity,” Pamela Cant, chief human resources and equity officer at Wilfrid Laurier University said.

“They’re already familiar with the Laurier community and what Laurier offers to our students so they can be really great ambassadors for the university, so we feel like our alumni add a lot of value to our workforce.”

Previously, Laurier was named one of the top 100 employers in

the Waterloo Region but aimed to place even higher next time around and become one of the top 100 employers in Canada.

Not only students but alumni make up a percentage of the young people working at Laurier in positions that range from communications to officer roles.

“I’m a graduate of Laurier, I do think that when you go here as a student you make that connection with the school and so our alumni seek out employment opportunities with the university after graduation or they come back,” Cant said.

Three of the main reasons Laurier was chosen as one of the top employers for young people was because of the tuition subsidies for continuing studies programs, the ASPIRE professional skills development training program which helps graduate students and postdoctoral in their post-graduate studies ,and early career researcher awards which are university wide for faculty early in their career making significant contributions to research.

“If you’re living on campus or close to campus and are able to work on campus as well it’s convenient, but it also allows them to keep a connection with the school; they may be working

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

alongside some of their classmates or friends,” Cant said.

“I know that when we seek student employment we certainly give preference to our old students before we would look at students from other universities or post-secondaries so we definitely try as much as possible to provide those opportunities for our own students.”

Laurier has now been named not only a top employer for both those in the Waterloo Region as well as young people, but has also been named #1 in student satisfaction for the fourth year in a row, pointing out that student employment is at an above satisfactory level on campus.

“I am proud that we offer employment opportunities and

benefits that are attractive to young people, I think it’s important to have young people into our workforce to make sure we have that succession planning,” Cant said.

“They’re bringing in fresh ideas and perspectives and to have that diversity within the work place in terms of our demographics is really important and I’m thrilled about it.”

GAMES • 7

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 SUDOKU (MEDIUM)

Dear Life Dear Life is your opportunity to write a letter to your life, allowing you to vent your anger with life’s little frustrations in a completely public forum.

All submissions to Dear Life are anonymous, should be no longer than 100 words and must be addressed to your life. Submissions can be sent to dearlife@thecord. ca no later than Monday at noon each week.

Dear Life, I am trying to get as Thicc as possible but I currently have the body type of a piece of plywood. I eat more than one person probably should and still have little progress.

How do I get the booty I desire? Or will I be destined to live the life of a stick insect forever?

Sincerely, Little Ass Lass Dear Life, Waterloo is the most mismanaged city I have EVER lived in. Never have I seen a city spend its money on such useless things like bike lane dividers in a city where I have seen maybe 5 people ride bikes.

Such a waste of time and resource.

Dear Life, Everyday when you’re walking down the street, everybody that you meet Has an original point of view And I say HEY! what a wonderful kind of day.

Where you can learn to work and play And get along with each other You got to listen to your heart Listen to the beat Listen to the rhythm, the rhythm of the street Open up your eyes, open up your ears Get together and make things better by working together It’s a simple message and it comes from the heart Believe in youself (echo: believe in yourself ) Well thats the place to start (to start) And I say HEY! what a wonderful kind of day Where you learn to work and play And get along with each other.

Sincerely, Bespectacled Aardvark Dear Bowie, Your energy brings us closer together on production nights and it’s great. Keep up that zest for life.

Sincerely, Annoyed Resident

Sincerely, Ily

RIDDLES 1. You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I? 2. I have cities, but no houses.

I have mountains, but no trees.

I have water, but no fish. What am I? 3. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat.

Why? 4. What word in the English language does the following: the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the

entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word?

5. What disappears as soon as you say its name?

6. How can the number four be half of five?

7. I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms. You can enter, but you can’t go outside.

What am I? 8. This belongs to you, but everyone else uses it.

9. First you eat me, then you get eaten. What am I? 10. How is seven different from the rest of the numbers between one and ten?

Answers:

10. Seven has two syllables and the other numbers only have one syllable.

9. A fishhook

5. Silence

8. Your name

4. heroine

7. A keyboard

3. All the people are married

6. IV, the Roman numeral for four, which is “half” (two letters) of the word five.

2. A map 1. A candle

SUDOKU (HARD)

CHEERLEADING: News Editor, Sophia Cole, gives us a spirited look at the athleticism behind the pom poms

When most people think of cheerleading, a certain image comes to mind. They think of skinny blonde girls, pom-poms and dancing on the sidelines at a football game. A cheerleader’s purpose is to amp up the crowd and motivate their team to win; they are the backbone of the teams they cheer on, holding them up when they are slipping, but they are not meant to be the center of attention. And while that may have been where cheer started, it’s sure come a hell of a long way since then.

For me, the term cheerleading draws a strikingly different image: one of teamwork, gravity-defying movements and adrenaline pumping through your veins as you push your body to the absolute limit. I spent six years of my life as a competitive cheerleader and I can certainly tell you it’s nothing like what you see in the movies.

While cheerleading may have started on the sidelines (and this form of cheerleading is still alive and well), it has grown into its own competitive sport. Competitive cheerleading typically falls into two categories: Varsity cheer, which is competitive cheerleading at a post-secondary level, and all-star or ‘club’ cheer where athletes of varying ages and levels form teams and compete across the country and, if they’re lucky, internationally.

Over the years, cheerleading has developed into one of most complex sports out there and it only continues to evolve and push its competitors to new heights each year. Cheerleading combines some of the most difficult elements of gymnastics, dance and acrobatics to create a 2 minute and 30 second routine that displays each competitors peak athletic abilities and their collective ability to work cohesively as a team.

“I think that the most unique feature of cheerleading is the teamwork that’s required in order to be successful with it,” said Tony Bentley, all-star cheerleading coach and judge. “Any team sport will teach you teamwork to a certain extent, but my personal feeling is that the nature of what we do – we’re literally lifting other people up in the air, we’re throwing them around, we’re doing very complex choreographed sequences of pyramids and stunts – that sort of thing takes a whole other level of trust, a whole other level of commitment to each other.”

The lack of accurate portrayal of cheerleading in the media is exactly why Netflix’s Cheer is such a monumental series.

Cheer is a Netflix original series centred around the experiences of the athletes and coaches of the Navarro Junior College cheer team, which is widely considered to be the best of the best in United States college-level cheerleading. We see the trials and tribulations the team and its individual members face in pursuit of the first-place trophy at the NCA College Nationals in Daytona Beach, as well as the challenges they overcame in order to get to where they are now.

Until Cheer, there were hardly any shows or movies in the mainstream media which showed cheerleaders as actual athletes. Sure, there are films like Bring It On (and don’t get me wrong, I am a DIEHARD fan) which scratch the surface on a physical level, showing some stunts and tumbling here and there, but focusing primarily on other story arcs. But Cheer looks at cheerleading and its top-tier athletes in a way like never before.

Cheerleading has been named the most dangerous sport for female athletes and it is easy to see why. According to Jennifer Martins, the athletic

therapist for Laurier’s varsity cheerleading team, the most common injury she sees among the team are concussions and when gearing up for a competition, there can be some form for injury happening almost every practice. Cheer viewers see the intense and uncensored physical trauma these athletes put their bodies through in order to be the best.

They train until their bodies are battered and bruised and well past the point of exhaustion, and most of the time, they continue past these points because that’s the name of the game. You give up and you may lose your opportunity to compete or you may feel like you’re letting your team down.

And the physical aspect is only half of it. The mental fatigue can be just as, if not more, intense. You push yourself over and over, trying to hit that stunt, nail that tumbling pass and sometimes, despite how hard you may be trying, you just can’t. Whether it’s a lack of confidence or a mental block, your brain can be your worst enemy on the mat. There were many times in my career that I left the gym crying and never wanting to go back. Fear of letting your team down, fear of not being able to do a skill correctly

They train until their bodies are battered and bruised and well past the point of exhaustion, and most of the time, they continue past these points because that�s the name of the game.

or fear of getting hurt are all perfectly reasonable, but they will be your worst enemy as a cheerleader.

By letting doubt creep in, you are sabotaging your potential and stifling your own abilities. And that’s what’s so scary.

What Cheer presents to its audience is the good, the bad and the ugly. We see times where stunts go wrong and people injury themselves so severely that they can no longer compete, people who have committed themselves to the sport for years and are now able to continue. But we also see how this group of imperfect people have come together to become a community that supports and encourages one another through thick and thin.

But while Cheer does a lot right, it unfortunately does not “hit zero.” While the show does a good job of showing that cheerleaders are a diverse group of individuals, it does reinforce some stereotypes about the sport.

“I think it reinforced some stereotypes that we have been trying to escape as a sport for a long time,” Bentley said. “There’s a stereotype about cheerleading that it’s full of ditsy girls and gay guys…and that’s not all that’s in our sport.”

The stereotype that all men who participate in cheerleading are homosexual is one that has followed the sport since its inception, often resulting in homophobic bullying towards men who chose to participate in cheerleading, no matter their sexuality.

This can serve as a roadblock for many men to join cheerleading, whether it is someone who has not openly come out yet, someone who simply fears the (often harsh) judgement of others or someone who believes they cannot participate in the sport because of their sexuality.

Another stereotype surrounding cheerleading is that, if you’re a female, you must be skinny in order to be a successful cheerleader.

“I think they kind of zeroed in on the fact that the girls were really light and that they were monitoring their weight,” Bentley said. “I thought that was kind of unfortunate.”

Bentley is referring to scenes in the series in which the athletes, primarily the flyers or “top girls,” are seen weighing themselves, with one girl clocking in below 100 lbs. The girls are shown to be nervous for the weigh-in, implying they are concerned about their current weight and whether it will be low enough.

“One could argue that it was implied that you have to be small and underweight to be a cheerleader if you’re a female, which is not the case, like in the least,” said Bentley. “What they didn’t portray is that there is a large section of cheerleading that is very accommodating of women of all body types.”

Cheer’s portrayal of the sport is gritty and honest to a fault, but it is important to remember that this particular show is not representative of cheerleading as a whole. The show portrays cheerleading at the highest and most intense level; and many of the events and practices taking place in the Navarro gym are not consistent with the practices of other varsity or all-star cheerleaders.

In Cheer we see many athletes, particularly flyers, who push themselves past injuries and ignore the advice of medical professionals in order to compete.

While this may happen occasionally in any sport, it is the exception, not the rule.

Coaches and athletic therapists alike take injuries very seriously and in most cases, athletes are not permitted back on the mat until they have the green light from a trained professional. Never in my experience as a cheerleader would an athlete who had been told continuing to practice could lead to fractured ribs and a punctured lung be allowed on the mat.

“Any head injuries, we remove them from all physical activity and deal with the symptoms accordingly.

No physical activity until we kind of manage everything and then we start a gradual return to play,” Martins said.

Practising or competing with an injury of any kind is never a good idea and can have detrimental effects in the short and long-term. Displaying athletes training through injuries and framing it as perseverance or devotion to the team is a slippery slope, and it could give other young and impressionable athletes the wrong idea about what is required of you as a member of a team.

The essence of the show is that cheerleading can and will push people to extremes – both good and bad. At times, it can make you hate it so much you want to give it up on the spot. But at other times, when you hit a perfect routine or you nail a new stunt, it can be pure bliss. And like many other sports, that is the nature of cheerleading – finding the balance between the two extremes, using your frustration to propel you forward rather than hold you back and developing confidence that allows you to soar.

Layout design by Brit Kovacs / Creative Director

10 • ARTS & LIFE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

Arts & Life

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR ALYSSA DI SABATINO arts@thecord.ca

COSMETICS

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

The best skincare products for the winter months EMILY WAITSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

One of the biggest drawbacks of the winter months that can be frustrating to deal with is the damage that the cold air and indoor heating can do to my skin. With drier air, both inside and outside, our skin is directly impacted, and as a result, can cause cracking, dullness, lack of hydration and inflammation.

Lately, skincare has become somewhat of an obsession of mine, and I love learning about it. I’m by no means an expert (so take this advice and these recommendations with a grain of salt), but if Jonathan Van Ness has taught me anything, it’s to love myself enough to look after my skin.

1. Exfoliate (but don’t overdo it) Using a gentle exfoliator every other day on my face has helped a lot with skin that usually looks flakey and rough. I’ve also started using a body scrub twice a week, and that’s been a nice little addition to my pampering routine that seems to have a noticeable effect on my overall skin softness. Don’t do it too much though (and try to

avoid using harsh options like the St. Ives Apricot Scrub), or it can do the opposite of what you want and cause over-drying. I currently like using the Origins GinZing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser and First Aid Beauty’s KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub with 10% AHA. 2. Use a gentle cleanser I can’t stress this enough: don’t use makeup wipes if you can avoid it. They never get rid of all of the makeup on your face (and the rubbing that you have to do in order to get it off isn’t great, especially for the sensitive skin around your eyes), they’re wasteful, drying and overall not a great investment unless you’re in a pinch and don’t have many other options. Instead, opt for a cleanser that can help break down the makeup and dirt sitting on your skin without being too harsh. Current favourites are First Aid Beauty’s Pure Skin Face Cleanser and Origins Checks and Balance Frothy Face Wash.

3. Hydrating haircare My scalp and hair are never

wonderful to deal with at the best of times, but the winter months certainly don’t make it any easier.

Reducing the number of times I wash my hair each week and letting it air dry 99 per cent of the time has helped a lot with the quality of my hair. Once a week I use the Living Proof shampoo and conditioner for colour treated hair, the Living Proof Restore Dry Scalp Treatment, and Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil and Moroccanoil Treatment Light.

4. Lipcare My lips become so chapped and unsightly from frigid temperatures that it’s pretty much become a requirement that I have to put more effort into keeping them moisturized every day (I also chew them as a nervous habit, so don’t do this if you can avoid it). A few times a week I’ll use a lip mask and a scrub, and I always carry about three different lip balms on me at all times to use when I’m out and about. I use Bite Beauty’s Agave Lip Mask, the Bubblegum Lip Scrub from Lush and the Vanilla Mint Lip Butter from Buck Naked Soap Company (they often sell this brand at Legacy Greens in DTK or

you can order from their website).

5. Face oils and mists I was initially hesitant to start using face oils for fear that they would make me start breaking out, but I quickly grew to love them.

Although they can get pricey, the brand The Ordinary (which you can order online from Sephora) is a very affordable line of skincare that I’ve been enjoying. Different kinds target various skin needs, but I’ve found the ones that I’m using really helpful for dry skin. Hydrating face mists are also nice to use, and they’re great for refreshing makeup and soothing your skin throughout the day. The products I use are the Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber and Green Tea, The Ordinary 100% Plant-Derived Squalane and The Ordinary Retinol 1% in Squalane (use this one at night).

during the winter months, and it’s important to continue using it on top of other skincare products. I like the Clarins UV 50 Sunscreen Multi-Protection.

7. Drink more water Making a conscious effort to drink more water has been stressed again and again and there’s a reason for it. I’ve upped the number of glasses I’ve been drinking each day and along with countless health benefits staying hydrating provides, it’s great for the quality and look of your skin.

8. Night creams and moisturizer

Just because it’s not summer, doesn’t mean you should abandon sunscreen altogether. Your skin is still affected by ultraviolet rays

I have rigidly been following a bedtime skincare ritual and it seems to be working better than splashing some water on my face and calling it a night. This is the time where I use heavier face creams after I use a lightweight moisturizer in the morning, and it seems to make a big difference for how my skin feels when I wake up in the morning and by the end of the day. My favourites have been the Origins GinZing Ultra-Hydrating Energy-Boosting Cream in the morning,

adoxes that come with this film’s realistic depiction of time travel is hard to wrap your mind around and is the most confusing element.

If you can understand exactly what happened upon first viewing then congratulations, but for me and many others, YouTube videos and multiple rewatches are required for a sufficient understanding of the events.

He directed it using the limited locations and resources he had to the fullest extent possible. It may be important to mention that this award-winning film was made for just a measly $7,000 USD. If you want a metric of quality, then consider that this film grossed over $840,000 USD. He starred in the film as Aaron and played the role very believably, revealing that he can act with the best of them.

If that wasn’t already impressive, Shane also produced the film, cast it, edited it, did the production design, was the sound designer,

and even did the musical score — additionally, this was the first film he ever made.

So accomplishing all of that and making back your budget 120 times over made for an impressive debut, no doubt.

Primer is one of those movies that’s hard to compare to any others. It’s hard to understand, which, to me, is refreshing considering that often nowadays we’re spoonfed information in films with little thought required.

I feel the film could’ve absolutely benefited from a larger budget, I’d be lying if I neglected to point out how certain instances of the film feel low budget and cheap.

Overall this film is a feat, and its ruthless ambition alone skyrockets the film to one of my favorite science fiction movies. Primer is unique in the way that the more you watch it, the more you understand, which is rare and honestly quite beautiful in its own way.

6. Remember sunscreen

MOVIES

The use of hard sci-fi in Primer AMICHAI ABRAHAM STAFF WRITER

Recently I re-watched my favorite time travel movie, Primer. I feel confident in saying that I have more admiration for this film and its creator, Shane Carruth, than I do with any other movie or filmmaker.

Many have not heard of Primer, which is understandable. It won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, but was never commercially released.

Many have never heard of Shane Carruth, which may be even more understandable. It is no doubt

surprising that an award-winning filmmaker wouldn’t have an active social media account or pop up in the news frequently for word on upcoming projects. What is Primer, though? It is a time travel movie as I mentioned, but unlike most other time travel movies, Primer’s genre is hard sci-fi.

The difference between that and the typical sci-fi genre being that hard sci-fi is when science fiction focuses on scientific accuracy. In other words, it tries to be realistic about fictitious concepts.

On paper, making time travel sound realistic and scientifically plausible without contradicting

itself sounds insanely complicated, and it definitely is. The plot follows two protagonists: Aaron and Abe, who are physicists working out of a garage trying to make a profitable invention.

While trying to make a device that messes with gravity, they discover that they’ve accidentally created a time machine. They originally planned to use the machine to make money on the stock market, but betrayal and personal stakes set the story en route for disaster.

To say this film is complicated is the understatement of the century.

A lot of the dialogue in this film is characters talking about physics and scientific concepts that go over most viewer’s heads during their first watch.

While writing the script, Shane Carruth refused to dumb the dialogue down, instead opting to keep the factual scientific terms in all of their brain-melting glory. The par-

ARTS & LIFE • 11

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 REVIEWS night, Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut will very likely stand as an all-time cult classic.

Marriage Story just made me want to hug my dad. Adam Driver is amazing. Enough said.

3. Avengers: Endgame

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

The best movies of 2019 JACKSON CARSE STAFF WRITER

The Oscar buzz is veering up again and there’s some questions to be answered. Will Joaquin Phoenix have an existential crisis on stage?

Is that Martin Scorsese or did Eugene Levy hire a stylist? Where’s Adam Sandler? Is Jared Leto still a thing? Why the hell is Elton John here?

Do we even care? All that red carpet hullabaloo and all the pre-established dramas are just a money grab that cinephiles roll their eyes at. We’re here for the films.

I struggled to rank these movies.

Even the top three could be con-

sidered completely interchangeable. I decided to leave out The Joker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Knives Out not because they aren’t wonderful films, but because they didn’t resonate with me past the theatre. A good movie makes you question everything you’ve ever believed in, even if just for a day.

Here are the best movies of 2019: Honorable Mentions 2019 was a strong year for movies. It’s impossible not to leave off some worthy contenders on a top three list. Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is a charming and engaging take on Louisa May Al-

cott’s classic novel. Sure, Timothee Chalamet is an utter, absolute bore — but it’s surprisingly easy to look past his bland, forgettable performance. Gerwig’s directorial followup to the Oscar-nominated Lady Bird was executed perfectly and deserving of your attention.

Rocketman makes Bohemian Rhapsody look like low-budget porn shot at a reasonably priced Airbnb. Taron Egerton plays Elton John to perfection, nailing the vocals while showing the harsh realities of drug and alcohol addiction.

Booksmart is today’s Superbad, excluding the blatant misogyny and homophobia. A story of two girls trying to jam all the high school fun they missed into one

I can’t seem to bring myself to watch The Irishman. Not due to disinterest — it looks fantastic — but who the hell has three hours to kill? That being said, I saw Avengers: Endgame twice within the first 24 hours after it’s release, and four times since.

Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel Studios have truly perfected the art of the superhero film.

What used to be a dopey, rather foolish visual genre (thanks to sixties television renditions) has morphed into a full out tear jerking cinematic universe.

Robert Downey Jr. deserves endless praise. Talk about Oscar snubs. It’s not often you see an actor throw that much dedication into the development of a character over eleven years.

I recall embracing the man beside me in the theatre during the heart wrenching climax. We wailed and sobbed together as we watched our entire world fall apart.

We mourned our heroes, holding each other tight like a mother holds her newborn. It wasn’t until the end credits finished that we finally let each other go, finally inhaling the shock and horror we’d been fed.

We exchanged nods as if to say “that is all” and never spoke. We left separately, he with his family and I with the date I wouldn’t be seeing again. I never did get the man’s name. I think about him a lot. But um, yeah. Go see this movie.

2. Jojo Rabbit It’s difficult not to put Taika Waititi’s cinematic masterpiece at the #1 spot. Nazi Germany and the destructive effects of fascism has never been satirized so well. Jojo Rabbit will have you crying when you want to laugh and laughing when all you want to do is weep. I have a hesitation — almost refusal — to re-watch this film thanks to a single chilling image I can’t bring myself to view again.

Scarlett Johansson reminds us why our mothers are the best, delivering a heartfelt performance while putting on a pretty decent German accent. Roman Griffin Davis is the most lovable Hitler Youth recruit you’ll ever meet and Sam Rockwell is, well, Sam Rockwell.

Other than the obvious miscasting of Rebel Wilson, this film is by all means impeccable.

1. Parasite A film about a manipulative family and differing social classes, Parasite is more than deserving of the top spot on this list. The dialogue is a work of art, leaving you with severe abdominal cramps from constant, sometimes unexplainable laughter. It’s difficult to explain what makes this movie so fantastic without spoiling anything, so instead, just go watch it. A healthy mix of boundless humour and uncertain fear always makes for a good late-night panic attack.

For those hesitant to watch a lengthy film full of Korean subtitles, consider director Bong Joon-ho’s quote from the Golden Globes: “Once you overcome the one inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” This movie may seem daunting to some, but believe me: it resonates in ways you won’t be able to shake for days.

LIFESTYLE

Not every wellness trend is good for you ALYSSA DI SABATINO ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR

I’m all for self care and wellness but lately I’ve noticed that the internet is bombarded with all sorts of wellness hacks and tips, many of which are conveyed under false pretenses.

It’s easy to fall for a lot of the health products that are promoted online, but with a little research, you’ll notice that a lot of this stuff is based on pseudo-science.

If you want to be an informed consumer, here’s a list of a few wellness trends that are misguided or cause more harm than good.

Literally anything on GOOP Gwenyth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand GOOP is notorious for perpetuating pseudoscience under the guise of wellness.

On Jan. 24, the new Netflix

feature The Goop Lab premiered, and is sadly bound to cause more people to fall for her misinformed wellness advice.

Even though the website claims to consult health care professionals, GOOP basically embodies every piece of bad advice Cosmopolitan has every published, and then tries to sell it to you for $100 and up.

From anti-aging oils, psychic vampire repellents, coffee anemas, and more, at this point it honestly seems like it would be hard to deny that everything on GOOP isn’t absolutely absurd, overpriced, and misguided.

Juice Cleanses Juice cleansing is another dieting regime that has proven to be harmful to your health, yet many people still turn to this method for weight loss.

By drinking only juice, it is believed that you will detox or “flush” the bad bacteria and toxins from your body, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Juice cleansing limits your ca-

loric intake, which is how you lose weight. But this also leads to being undernourished, which negatively affects your metabolism. It can also make your blood sugar spike and will just all around will leave you feeling hungry.

If you want to improve your health and wellbeing, eating a balanced diet is the best method to achieve that. You can’t “reset” or detox your body by drinking too much juice — it will have you visiting the bathroom more often, though.

Charcoal From toothpastes, to supplements, face masks and more, activated charcoal products can be seen everywhere lately.

Supposedly, activated charcoal is a multipurpose health solution and acts as another method for intestinal detoxing, as well as a skin detox product, and is also marketed as a method for teeth whitening.

In reality, charcoal is another non-scientific detox product, and has no credible evidence towards it being a health solution at all. It is

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

likely to cause you more problems than to cure them.

Lemon Water Lemon water is advertised by wellness gurus as a fix-all cure.

Some say it boosts your metabolism, others say it helps with digestion. The list goes on, but all

the claims are unfounded.

Adding lemon to your water (or mint and cucumbers for that matter) has yet to be proven to have any sort of positive positive effects.

It’s definitely the most harmless trend on the list but until proven otherwise, lemon will simply remain a nice flavouring when added to water, minus the health benefits.

12 •

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR Jade Hosick opinion@thecord.ca

Editor’s Note: Being mean

EDITORIAL CARTOON

to Markle isn’t necessary

EMILY WAITSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Whether you love the Royal Family, you can’t stand them or you’re somewhere in the middle, it’s been impossible to avoid the constant barrage of recent news surrounding Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle.

After announcing that they have decided to step away from their duties as official senior members of the Royal Family and split their time between Canada and the U.K., the internet has been a whirlwind of speculation and discussion over the controversial choice.

Amongst these conversations, there has been a significant amount of unabashed hatred, cruelty and venom directed towards Markle.

With baseless accusations and insults surrounding her “controlling” behaviour, blood-sucking ways and gold-digging aspirations, there’s been very little criticism directed towards her husband and an onslaught of backlash positioned against her instead.

In a time of supposed evolving progressiveness, I find it apalling that people will continue to baselessly tear apart a woman they don’t know over something as frivelous and insignificant as this.

The press has been ruthless in their crusade against Markle, endlessly picking apart every single thing she does, says or wears.

Her hurtful and selfish father has been poked and prodded countless times in order to defame and slander his own daughter to further tarnish her image.

And as a mixed race American actress, she has been portrayed by the media as a graceless witch, furthering the hateful commentary that has been generated against her.

Markle’s sister-in-law, Cather-

ine, Duchess of Cambridge, has been praised and adored in comparison, quite often, for doing and wearing the same things.

A narrative has been constructed around the two women that has placed one as a villain and the other as an angelic Disney princess.

Numerous articles were shared when Markle was pregnant with her son Archie of her cradling her baby bump.

Writers and commenters called this action “selfish,” “attention-seeking” and “ridiculous.”

Her mere existence is seemingly an insult to some people, and it doesn’t shock me that they made the conscious choice to seperate themselves from the toxcity that would ultimately negatively affect anyone who was forced to experience it.

Regardless of whether or not you like her, Markle is a human being who is worthy of basic respect.

Princess Diana was constantly harrassed by the paparazzi who ultimately played a role in her death.

And with the chances of Prince Harry becoming King slim to none, it isn’t surprising that he and his wife want to pull away from an environment that forces them to be placed under the unending scrunity of press for little to no fulfilment in return.

The energy that’s channeled into speculating the villainous intentions of Markle could be more useful if it was directed to other positive outlets instead.

It isn’t realistic to like everyone who steps into the public eye and acquires fame, people are entitled to have their own personal opinions about whoever they wish, celebrity or not.

However, it seems senseless to me to make an active effort publically announcing your intense dislike of someone, especially when it seems unwarranted.

If someone’s biggest offense to you is that they aren’t the “right” match for someone you don’t actually know, then maybe it’s time to take a step back from your keyboard and find a new hobby.

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WLUSP ADMINISTRATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

TREASURER Kashyap Patel

CHAIR Aaron Waitson

PRESIDENT Aaron Waitson president@wlusp.com

VICE-CHAIR Alyssa Di Sabatino DIRECTOR Arshy Mann DIRECTOR Rosalind Horne DIRECTOR Emily Crump

FINANCE MANAGER Randy Moore randy@rcmbrooks. com

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Editorial: Respecting choices JADE HOSICK OPINION EDITOR

If you know me, you know one of the things I say almost everyday is simply “let people live their lives.”

I am big on letting people do the things that make them happy as long as it is not hurting anyone else, and that is something I really want to get across in my writing.

If people want to take a year off school to backpack across Asia then they should be allowed to.

If someone needs to take a reduced course load because they cannot handle doing five classes at a time, they should be able to.

We only have one life; therefore, every person should be allowed to live the life that they see fit.

I am a twenty-year-old female currently in her third year at Laurier and I am still mind blown that so many people have things to say about the way that I live my life, specifically surrounding the things

that I want to do with my body.

When I was sixteen years old I started to tell people that I could not imagine myself ever having a child or giving birth (I think this was after I heard an intense birthing story).

This announcement seemed to strike a nerve in some people, saying that I am young, and that I will eventually change my mind.

Then people started showing me baby videos and things of that nature trying to get me to think that I will not be living life to the fullest until I have a child.

Just to clarify, I do not have a problem with children or people having children - maybe later in life I will change my mind about having said children.

I just have so much stuff I want to do in my life before I settle down and destroy my body by pushing another living thing out of it.

But as people keep reminding me, I have a biological clock; so if I do everything I want to do before having kids I will miss my chance.

I have also wanted a tattoo since I was sixteen years old as well, but it wasn’t until I turned nineteen that I really knew what tattoo I

would want to get. But people keep telling me that I will regret it later in life and it will sag and look ugly the older I get, or the best thing of all to hear about tattoos “you know its permanent right?”

The funniest thing about that comment to me is that people are worried about me regretting a tattoo that is permanent, but a child is also a permanent part of your life as well. One that definetly requires more attention than I am even willing to give most people in my life.

I am the one who must live in my body. Why do so many people care about what I do with it?

If you’re worried I will regret something later in life, please stop worrying cause that’s on me.

I am making these choices and most of the time they really do not affect your life (unless you’re my parents listening to me rant about how at this current moment in life you will not be getting grandchildren).

I really do not want to live my life worrying about what I might regret in twenty years. That will make me a million times more anxious than I already am.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

Opinion

13 • 13 OPINION EDITOR JADE HOSICK opinion@thecord.ca

The importance of voting in student elections JADE HOSICK OPINION EDITOR

When voting federally, provincially and municipally us, as young people, hear the same thing repeatedly: make an informed vote, or that our vote matters.

This logic does not just apply to voting for our governments every four years but also voting for student leaders every school year.

With the Laurier Students’ Union (WLUSU) elections currently happening, I think it is super important to vote for the individual that you believe best reflects the goals of the students currently enrolled in the school.

I’m sure you have already seen people boothing in the concourse or the posters around the Laurier campus of people promoting themselves as wanting positions that are a part of the Students Union.

I’m also sure you have also seen numerous people posting the candidates on their Instagram stories, showing their support.

Voting in the WLUSU elections is

very important as it gives students a voice to try and make the whole university experience better.

Both the Brantford and Waterloo campuses are tight-knit communities and the decisions that are made by these people at the Students’ Union are supposed to reflect how the community feels regarding certain issues.

Voting for both the President and the people who sit on the board should be weighed at equal importance, as they work so closely together.

With that being said, I want to take a moment and really stress that you should be making an informed decision on who you would like to be in these positions, just like you would be doing if you were voting for a leader at the federal level.

The focus should primarily be on

their platforms and what they are promising the student body. Your decision should not be based on who your friends are voting for or what dish you want to be at Wilfs the following year.

Both the president and the board of directors have a really crucial role in every student’s university experience.

The president’s main responsibility is to advocate for all the undergraduate students enrolled at Laurier, and the Board of Drectors works to ensure that the President is acting in a way that does advocate for the students and is using the fees collected by the union in an effective manner.

That being said, voting for both the President and the people who sit on the board should be weighed at equal importance, as they work so closely together.

Laurier also runs the election through a ranked-choice voting, meaning that you can rank each presidential and board of directors’ candidate depending on which platforms you relate to the most.

This allows for you to cast your vote for different individuals, just not at the same weight.

As a student who pays to go to this school, it is your right to have a representative in the Students’ Union that reflects what you want from your experience.

NAME/POSITION

Hot Take: #BellLetsTalk needs a change JADE HOSICK OPINION EDITOR

Today is #BellLetsTalk day, meaning your social media feeds will most likely be full of people sharing stories about their mental health struggles or simply posting the hashtag.

Every year for the past nine years on Jan. 29, Bell has donated five cents to mental health initiatives in Canada for every use of the hashtag #BellLetsTalk in tweets, snapchat filters and texts through their network.

The day has helped to start the conversation surrounding mental health and allow for the conversation to be open and informative.

But we need more than just one day where people are talking about their experiences.

The past couple years I have noticed that people are very open and engaged on the day, but in the days following life goes back to normal and mental health becomes somewhat of a taboo topic once again; A topic that is hard to discuss with people, regardless if a person post-

ed on #BellLetsTalk day, because the stigma is still there.

As a person who has poor mental health, I tend to look at this day in a different light then most people in my life. Yes, I will still be sending out all my snapchats with the filter and I will be tweeting about the day, but I almost see this day as kind of a downer.

The day cannot just be about posting a hashtag and forgetting about the people who really need help.

KASH PATEL/WEB DIRECTOR

I feel as though people really care about me and the struggles I face, but then I am reminded the next day that nothing has really changed, and I am not someone who needs help the most.

The biggest issue I see surrounding the day is that, regardless of how much money is raised and donated, nothing structural ever seems to change.

In a 2013 report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada it was stated that society “becomes

designed by and for people without mental illnesses” and makes it so there are structural stigmatizations that are reinforced by law.

This structural stigma can both intentional and unintentional, but nevertheless it still is prevalent in our society.

The day cannot just be about posting a hashtag and forgetting about the people who really need help.

There needs to be structural changes happening in our society

to help those who need it for more than just one day. There should be a bigger focus on reworking our institutional policies, which have ineqaulities woven into them.

When there are these inequalities, stigma becomes the norm and is brushed off as something that cannot be fixed. #BellLetsTalk needs to be reworked and readjusted for the changing world that we are in. I do believe that when it began in 2010 it was very much needed, as

the idea of mental health was very stigmatized.

But now that a culture shift is occurring and everyone is so open and willing to talk on the day, we need to move forward in planning a new way to improve the structural aspects surrounding it.

Simply talking about mental health is good, but until we can help people access proper mental health care and services, the issues surrounding mental health today will not change.

14 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 There are so many takeaways from their deaths, with the first being that basketball is more than a game.

There are so many takeaways from their deaths, with the first being that basketball is more than a game.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

Kobe Bryant, once a legend, forever a legend HAYLEY MCGOLDRICK CORD ALUMN

When I woke up Sunday morning at 3 p.m. with a raging hangover, I opened my phone to a text from my sister that TMZ had broken the

news that Kobe Bryant had died.

Refusing to believe the gossip news source, I saw that known NBA analyst Adrian Wojnarowski had confirmed it - the basketball legend had died in a plane crash along with nine others.

As someone who started playing basketball at age nine, I was already devastated. Even as a Boston Celtics fan, rivals of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe was just one of the players you respected no matter what.

One of the most iconic performances in NBA history is when Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors. Kobe even dropped 60 points in his final game before retirement in April 2016.

Hours later, the news came out that another one of the victims in the crash was his daughter, Gianna. They were on their way to Thousand Oaks for one of her travel basketball tournaments.

My heart was already aching; that news shattered it.

Being an obsessed sports fan, many people don’t understand the passion behind each match. They don’t understand that at the end of the day these are real people who worked their whole lives to be the greatest in their sport and still have so much to give beyond their career. They don’t understand that one player like Kobe can influence millions of people to start playing basketball, cheering for the Lakers or even wear number 24.

His stat lines and championships are part of history and changed the game of basketball.

Kobe was one of the first to ever be part of the prep-to-pro era, being the incredible player that he was drafted out of high school.

Beyond the game, Kobe spent much of his retirement being a dad and a coach to Gianna. He mentioned that he never cared to watch the NBA after retirement until his daughter became interested in the game - then he’d spend every night watching game film and breaking it down for her.

The news of both of them being gone is what was the dagger in my heart. My dad is my absolute best friend, but more importantly he was my coach - in both life and in sport. The reason I have such an intense passion for sports and played them for 16 years was because of him.

I think of all the times he would push me twice as hard as any other player only because he saw my potential and how I could be so much

better. As a 14-year-old I never saw it, but I do now. My heart hurt knowing that Kobe’s love for the game became much stronger when he got to share it with someone he loved - by seeing her grow and improve as a player As Kobe is a father of four, seeing him speak so highly of Gianna and how she was going to change the future of women’s basketball is admirable.

A father-daughter relationship is already precious, but sharing a love of sports and fostering a relationship between a coach and player takes it that step further. Kobe Bryant’s name was etched into the history books years ago for being a legend. The Mamba mentality dubbed for Kobe’s nickname the Black Mamba - is something many players channel when they try to be the best. Hell, he’s the only player to have two numbers retired by an organization.

But Kobe’s death is bigger than sports because it affects everyone: Fathers, daughters, wives,

He affected millions as a player but became even more of an idol to the casual fan when his passion for basketball was as a coach and a father.

teammates and fans. He affected millions as a player but became even more of an idol to the casual fan when his passion for basketball was as a coach and a father.

Forever a Laker, forever one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a basketball court. Most importantly, he is forever an incredible father who placed an importance on women’s sports because he saw millions of young girls like his own who loved the game as much as he did. We’ll miss you #24.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

Sports

SPORTS • 15

SPORTS EDITOR MARK CASCAGNETTE sports@thecord.ca

Statement win for Golden Hawks over fourth ranked MARK CASCAGNETTE SPORTS EDITOR

The playoff push is on in the OUA and the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks have played their best hockey in recent weeks.

An eventful past weekend for Laurier saw them compete against two nationally ranked teams, as they travelled to play the ninthranked Guelph Gryphons and hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues in a rematch from Jan. 18.

Coming off of a loss to Toronto in the Jan. 18 game, the Golden Hawks visited the Sleeman Centre in Guelph to play in the eleventh annual Frosty Mug game.

This is the fourth consecutive competition between the two teams battling for the coveted mug.

As one of the signature games of the year for Guelph, they sold out of tickets for the game four days before the event. The electric atmosphere featured 4,942 people in attendance to cheer on their Gryphons.

This became the third largest attendance for a men’s hockey conference game in OUA history.

Both teams battled it out in a hard-fought contest that saw Laurier leading in the second period.

Anthony Conti and the first line put together another dominant performance, as Conti received a great cross-ice pass from his veteran line mate Anthony Sorrentino which put the Hawks up 2-1 in the second period.

After allowing two goals in the third period, Conti scored on an unassisted goal to bring the game back within one and give Laurier a chance down the stretch.

Ultimately, Guelph and their goaltender Andrew Masters held strong and went on to win 4-3 in one of the best games of the OUA this season. Conti continues scoring at a high rate, having scored his first career hat trick a week prior against the Ryerson Rams.

With his two-goal performance, Conti was able to notch his fourth game of the season with two goals, while also entering the top 10 in

DARIEN FUNK/PHOTO EDITOR

OUA scoring.

Conti also became the first Golden Hawk player to reach the 25-point threshold since former OHL star Andrew Fritsch who had 27 points in the 2016-2017 season.

Coach Greg Puhalski was excited that his team had the opportunity to play in such a high energy game but reminded them to stay focused as they had to regroup to play the fourth ranked Varsity Blues this past Saturday.

The last regular season game at the Waterloo Recreational Complex saw Laurier host their annual community skate and activity day, which brought out a larger crowd than usual to cheer on the Golden Hawks.

It was a rematch from the weekend before, where Toronto was able to shut-out Laurier, beating them 3-0, despite the Golden

Hawks outshooting Toronto 40-20 on that night.

Freshman goalie Matt Williams was pulled in that game after allowing two goals on 14 shots. With Williams also allowing four goals on Thursday night, Coach Puhalski decided to start Tyler Fassl in net for the rematch against the Blues.

In what has been a lackluster sophomore season for Tyler Fassl, he was given his first start since Nov. 23, stopping a streak of eight consecutive starts for Matt Williams.

Having assumed a backup role and not starting in over two months, Fassl showed no signs of rust, as him and the Golden Hawks put forth one of their most complete games of the season.

Laurier received contributions from all over the ice. An offense who dominated shots and scoring

chances in the first and second period and a special team’s unit that capitalized when they were called upon.

“In the first two periods we were able to create a forecheck and were hounddogging the puck. We were in great position all night and that was the key for us, as we did not give up many scoring chances,” said Coach Puhalski after the game.

Laurier dominated play all game and outshot the Blues just like the first game: this time, however, Tyler Fassl posted 24 stops and recorded the first shutout of his season as the Golden Hawks were able to hold the second highest offense and the top-ranked team in the province off the score sheet, something no other team in the OUA has done this year.

Danny Hanlon opened the scoring for the Hawks in the first

period, before captain Will Cook scored in the second to extend their lead.

A critical third period ensued where Fassl made some huge stops and great team passing led to a Zach Dybowski power play goal, before Hanlon scored his second, an empty netter, to seal it for the Golden Hawks. Puhalski was delighted with his team after the game, stating, “Today was a real good team victory for us. We played strong defence and received contributions from everybody.”

“A really solid win put together by the whole team,” Puhalski said.

With the win on Saturday against the Blues, combined with Waterloo’s loss to Ryerson on the weekend, the Golden Hawks at 23 points, hold a three-point lead on the eigth and final playoff spot in the West division.

The Warriors do have a game in hand.

An OUA West Division, that is jam-packed at the bottom, has five teams separated by six points.

The Golden Hawks are also only three points back of the Brock Badgers who sit in fifth place, while Western and Lakehead both have 24 points, one point ahead of the Hawks.

With only four games left in the season, the push for the playoffs has intensified and all five of these teams will battle for seeding, as the playoffs are around two weeks away.

Laurier will have a chance to get a stranglehold on that eigth and final playoff spot and try to move up the standings Wednesday night when they play the Waterloo Warriors in their final home game of the regular season.

As has become tradition with the Hawks, they will end their season at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium for the fourth annual Battle at the Aud. Both schools are offering student packages for $10, that includes transportation to and from the game. Transportation will leave from the John Aird underpass at 5:50 on with puck drop at 7:07pm.

COMPETITION

Wilfrid Laurier curling makes its presence known MARK CASCAGNETTE SPORTS EDITOR

The men’s curling team continued their stellar season over this past weekend with a dominant performance at the McMaster Invitational.

An unbeaten weekend at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club saw the Golden Hawks post a 4-0-1 record.

This was carried out over two days of play in the tournament hosted by McMaster University.

Without their skip, Matt Hall,

Coach Matt Wilkinson was forced to field a different lineup.

John Willsey handled the duties at skip, Jordie Lyon-Hatcher was at vice, Adam Vincent at second and Graham Singer was throwing the lead stones.

Laurier curled well all weekend as they got victories over Brock, York, Ryerson and Sault College, while drawing with the Guelph Gryphons, 5-5.

This performance has the Golden Hawks men’s curling team at a

record of 6-1-1 this season against OUA and OCAA competition.

Laurier will return to action when they host the Laurier invitational, a one-day competition on Feb. 8, that will take place at the KW Granite Club.

This will be their final major tune-up before the provincial championships, which start in just over two weeks’ time. Three of the curlers on the varsity team will compete for the Ontario men’s curling championship at the On-

tario Tankard this week, hosted at the Cornwall Civic Complex.

Matt Hall, John Willsey and Jordie Lyon-Hatcher will compete on different teams for a chance to qualify for the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier and represent Ontario.

“We are always pleased to see the achievements of our athletes as we work hard to ensure they’re able to have success with their club teams and with the Golden Hawks,” Matt Wilkinson said this past week.

For Willsey and Lyon-Hatcher, this is their first time, while skip Matt Hall was here competing last year.

No doubt, it is an exciting time for curling around the Laurier campus as the men’s curling team prepare for the OUA Championships.While on the other hand, three of those curlers will compete this week for a chance to play at the Brier, along with several Laurier alumni curling professionally in the Tournament of Hearts.