The Cord February 1, 2017

THE CORD THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 57 ISSUE 20 • FEBRUARY 1, 2017

THIS IS ENOUGH TO KILL YOU Just two grains of salt worth of fentanyl is enough to kill the average human being. Read about Ontario’s battle with this potentially lethal opioid.

Features, page 8

COMING TOGETHER

SO LONG, BETA

THE C-WORD

LOOKING FOR REVENGE

Vigil held at Kitchener City Hall

Waterloo nightclub closes its doors

Giving a name to cancer in ‘A Monster Calls’

Men’s basketball beats Warriors 82-75

News, page 4

Arts & Life, page 11

Opinion, page 14

Sports, page 16

2 •

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

VOCAL CORD

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Letter to the Editor: LSPIRG fee

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

What’s the least amount of money you’d reach into a used toilet for?

“$20 minimum. Wait, how used?”

–Tiffany Chan, first-year business administration

“$10 bucks, $20, $50 bucks I wouldn’t think twice, $100 for sure.”

–Noor Ahmed, fourthyear psychology and sociology

PAIGE BUSH/PHOTO EDITOR

Celebration breaks out as Kanwar Brar is announced as Students’ Union President.

“$100 dollars.”

–Keira LaPierre, fourthyear psychology

“I would say $50.”

Want to write a Letter to the Editor? Visit thecord.ca. Letters must be under 250 words and be submitted by Monday at midnight.

Compiled by Nathalie Bouchard Photos by Marco Pedri

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

CORD STAFF

FEATURES EDITOR Mitchell Consky features@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Nathalie Bouchard news@thecord.ca

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Manjot Bhullar arts@thecord.ca

LEAD SPORTS REPORTER Pranav Desai sports@thecord.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bethany Bowles editor@thecord.ca

OPINION EDITOR Madeline McInnis opinion@thecord.ca

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Will Huang creative@thecord.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Rob Fifield sports@thecord.ca

WEB DIRECTOR Brian Phillips online@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Fani Hsieh graphics@thecord.ca

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Kaitlyn Severin news@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Paige Bush photos@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Safina Husein news@thecord.ca

ONLINE EDITOR Andreas Patsiaouros online@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR Shyenne MacDonald news@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR Garrison Oosterhof video@thecord.ca

We at Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group want to thank Erik Danudjaja for raising the important issues of student debt, inflated tuition fees and the financial barriers that students across Canada, and specifically at WLU, face in accessing post-secondary education. As university grads (and Laurier alumni!) we understand the pressures students face.

It is true that LSPIRG’s fee is completely voluntary and we love that our online system of opt-outs is easily accessible to students.

Most undergrads choose not to opt-out of our funding once they realize how important the the many volunteer opportunities and services we provide are to their community.

While, yes, we work on important issues like cultural appropriation and developing more accountable spaces for students, we also support research by funding all of the Centre for Community Based Research Learning and Action’s SCRP internships, provide $24,000 in funding to student and community-led Research and Action Groups, and help with funding and guidance for projects from students, like celebrations of Black History Month.

We’ve collaborated on research projects that took on international students’ awareness of tenant rights and recently signed an Action Group looking to secure fair work and living wages.

Accountability and transparency are so important, even for a few dollars per semester, and we are always pursuing ways to be better.

We want to find new ways we can support students and address issues of student poverty, like helping to fund the Student Food Bank. Here at LSPIRG, community always comes first.

-Laurier Students Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG)

–Danielle Bain, fourthyear kinesiology

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COLOPHON The Cord is the official student newspaper of the Wilfrid Laurier University community.

Started in 1926 as the College Cord, The Cord is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within The Cord are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, The Cord, WLUSP, WLU or CentraWeb Printing Inc. All content appearing in The Cord bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Cord is created using Macintosh computers running OS X 10.10 using Adobe Creative Cloud. Canon cameras are used

for principal photography.

The Cord has been a proud member of the Ontario Press Council since 2006. Any unsatisfied complaints can be sent to the council at info@ontpress.com.

The Cord’s circulation for a normal Wednesday issue is 4,500 copies and enjoys a readership of over 10,000. Cord subscription rates are $20.00 per term for addresses within Canada.

The Cord has been a proud member of the Canadian University Press (CUP) since 2004.

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

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.

The Cord will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of the student press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our newspaper.

Quote of the week: “I’ve never been quote of the week, so now I am since I’m in charge tonight” - Web Director, Brian Phillips, regarding quote of the week

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

News

• 3

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR KAITLYN SEVERIN news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR SAFINA HUSEIN news@thecord.ca

NEWS EDITOR SHYENNE MACDONALD news@thecord.ca

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Reviewing the Students’ Union elections The 2017 elections brought in 22.22 per cent of the Wilfrid Laurier University student population

conversation that we should be having,” DeSumma said.

DeSumma also explained that with 11 new directors starting in May, it will be crucial to begin the transition process as soon as possible.

Tarique Plummer, who received the majority of the student vote, is the only returning director from the current board. Other board members elected for next year’s board are Michael Del Bono, Emily Rezkalla, Klaudia Wojtanowski, Ilana Roitman, Idris Omar Hassan,

Kevin Bonnell, Zemar Hakim, Moumita Paul, Dana Toameh, Ricky Liu and Joseph Small.

“They’re all leaders, but it’s easier to transition some new directors when you have directors who’ve been there before because you’re not teaching them all the ropes,” DeSumma said.

By bringing current directors to various training sessions, this issue will hopefully be resolved.

Since elected, Brar said he has been busy thinking about Students’ Union vice-president applications and getting ready for their interviews. He said he has been focusing on picking the best team possible and hiring those who are best suited for the roles, while making sure both his goals and his team’s goals align so that they can work well together.

Additionally, Brar has spent the last few days shadowing Tyler Van Herzele, current Students’ Union President. Brar has been attending meetings alongside Van Herzele and working with him in the office in order to learn the essential details of the role.

“I think that’s [going to] be really beneficial for the next three months in preparation of me taking office on May 1,” Brar said.

because of their race or sex—It’s a major issue.”

The struggle, Lindo explained, was wanting a diverse Board of Directors, but also not wanting to have candidates to simply fill a spot.

“On one hand, you want to have a diverse leadership. On the other hand, you want people to feel like they want to lead. Traditionally, people would say that we should

make a space, similar to how we encourage both Waterloo and Brantford candidates to work collectively. There’s two seats for Brantford and two seats from Waterloo, so should there be a mandatory seat for women? I think it’s a good question and something that will have to be debated the pros and cons because it’s not all pros to make a seat that looks good on the surface.”

SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS EDITOR

On Jan. 26, Kanwar Brar was officially elected as the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union president for the 2017-18 term.

The results for both Students’ Union president, Board of Governors, Senate and Students’ Union Board of Directors were announced at the #LaurierVotes Results Party held at Wilf’s. For the 2017 Students’ Union election, voter turnout was 22.22 per cent of student population of Laurier, which dropped from approximately 26 per cent from 2016.

“When you put it into perspective, [last year] there were two presidential candidates and 20 board candidates and the turnout was at 26 per cent. Whereas this year was only one presidential candidate and 15 board candidates … I think the turnout could have been much lower [sic],” Kanwar Brar, incoming Students’ Union president and CEO, said.

Nick DeSumma, chair of the board of directors, also reiterated that student turnout throughout the campaign period and voter turnout were low. “[It was] very engaged on the

VICTORIA PANACCI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

President-elect, Kanwar Brar, will be working with president Van Herzele on transitioning into his new role.

candidacy front and the campaign front, but the turnout front just wasn’t there. There was low attendance to events. It felt a lot of the time that we were pushing to get votes, but it was a good campaign period. I’m happy that we had 22 per cent … so I’m satisfied but I still feel that we can do so much more,” DeSumma said.

DeSumma explained that thinking of ideas and strategies to get a larger voter turnout has been a focus of his.

“Even two candidates just isn’t

enough to get 74 per cent of the population voting, it’s how do we reach those students that just don’t want to be reached,” DeSumma said.

He explained that it can be difficult to accommodate such a large variety of students, such as mature students, students who commute and those who don’t necessarily stay on campus long enough to vote or hear about the candidates’ campaigns and platforms.

“How do we locate those students, that’s, I think, the next

DIVERSITY

Gender representation on the Board of Directors SHYENNE MACDONALD NEWS EDITOR

With the 2017 Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union elections over, the gender ratio on the Board of Directors has increased its female board presence.

Seven men and five women have been elected onto the Board of Directors.

The five women who have been elected are Emily Rezkalla, Klaudia Wojtanowski, Ilana Roitman, Moumita Paul and Dana Toameh. The five women are the only five that ran this year.

The year prior, three women were elected with four running and the previous year only one director, Melody Parton, was elected to the board.

Despite the ongoing disparity of gender ratio within the Board of Directors, Laura Mae Lindo, director of the Diversity and Equality office, is encouraged by the rise through the years.

“As small and insignificant some people might believe the shift has been, that’s not insignificant; at

least to me it’s not. If at one point you only had one woman running and now you have more women running and all [of ] them elected, then that’s a very clear sign that change is happening,” Lindo said.

It was in 1962 that all Canadian women won the right to stand in elections with no restrictions or conditions.

“When addressing gender diversity on boards, I believe that when there is a continuous trend of female-identified individuals being less likely to run, than a proactive approach needs to be taken to have a board that reflects the student population. This can look like increased outreach and mentorship opportunities for potential female candidates,” Adria Joel of the employment equity and AODA office at Laurier said.

“I feel that regardless of who you are or where you came from, if you have the passion to do this, the passion for the position, then that’s all that should matter. When you see 12 directors at a board table, you want to know that it is 12 of the best, not the 12 that fit a certain

category,” said Nick DeSumma, current chair of the board and chief governance officer.

Currently, the only fixed edict for the Board of Directors is that there must be two candidates from Laurier’s Waterloo campus and two from the Brantford campus.

“I would be more inclined to ask not whether we need to have a mandatory seat for women, but what is it about our leadership that isn’t calling diverse people to it. What is it that is suggesting to women that this isn’t a space for them? How do we work on changing the climate around this, to bring more people to the table,” Lindo said. “[Students’ Union is] working with DEO, with gendered violence and the policies related to moving forward to eliminate those barriers,” Tyler Van Herzele, Students’ Union president and CEO, said.

“We are facing this time where we firmly believe that anyone can be a leader and anyone can make a difference. Yet, at the same time, there’s still these systematic barriers telling people they can’t

MEAGHAN INCE/GRAPHIC ARTIST

4 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

LOCAL

JESSE BAUMAN/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

Since the attack at the Quebec mosque, there has been a rallying of Canadian citizens, such as the K-W vigil, to support those who feel targetted or unsafe in Canada, as well, mourn those lost.

Vigil held to mourn shooting in Quebec Community members and leaders gathered to pay their respects in wake of the terrorist attack NATHALIE BOUCHARD LEAD REPORTER

On Sunday Jan. 29 at 7:50 p.m. emergency responders received a frantic phone call from various individuals reporting an attack at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec. The attack involved several gun shots, killing six men and putting five others in critical condition.

The shooting took place in a mosque, where people of Muslim faith visit to pay their respects in religious fashion by praying.

The gunman is currently under investigation by police and is charged given the evidence available. During the past year, Carl Zehr Square in Kitchener has hosted many vigils to pay respect to those affected by violent attacks around the world.

After the tragedy in the night club in Paris and in the LGBTQ+ night club in Orlando, people gathered to discuss social implications of violence, but also to highlight

the importance of a diverse community.

On Monday Jan. 30, a vigil took place at Kitchener City Hall at Carl Zehr Square to show respect and support to the local Muslim communities.

The vigil included guest speakers from all religious backgrounds and spiritual affiliations. Numerous politicians and community leaders spoke about the importance of keeping our diverse community within Kitchener-Waterloo alive.

The speakers included Sandy Shantz, mayor of the Township of Woolwich, Berry Vrbanovic, mayor of the City of Kitchener, Doug Craig, mayor of the City of Cambridge, Bryan Larkin, Waterloo Regional Police Chief, Rania Lawendy, spokesperson for the Waterloo Chapter of Muslim Association of Canada, and many more.

During the vigil, Lawendy shared with the crowd that one of her friends lost their son in the shooting when he while he attended a daily prayer at the Mosque.

Lawendy encourages her fellow Canadians to ask questions about the Muslim community and to those who identify as Muslim.

Today, more than ever before, we must stand together as Canadians, as friends and neighbours -Berry Vrbanvoic, mayor of the City of Kitchener

“We might feel fear that the politics of division is [creating] fear within our society and our planet, something that cannot have a positive ending and we certainly feel sadness that yet again someone has tried to rip away our sense of peace, hope and love,” Vrbanovic said.

A speaker also quoted Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who stated at a United Nations meeting last year that everyday we need to choose hope over fear and diversity over division.

In his quote, he explained that these emotions of fear cannot govern Canadians and be allowed to take root.

Vrbanovic also included the importance of keeping our region alive with its already inclusive and diversified environment by encouraging people to welcome diversity rather than shy away from it.

“Today, more than ever before, we must stand together as Canadians, as friends and neighbours with the Kitchener Waterloo Region and look at the ties that bind us and not those [that] separate us; we must believe that we can achieve more together,” he said.

Shantz began her speech by stating that she had no words to describe the incident that took place Sunday evening.

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“I want us to remember that there is [more than] enough love and acceptance to overcome any and all of the darkness that sometimes seems to overtake us,” Shantz said.

During Larkin’s speech, he greeted the crowd both in English and in French with a question, “Why, why is this happening?”

He said that he didn’t understand why this act of hatred would happen in an inclusive country like Canada that accepts all religions and races.

“We all feel a sense of trepidation and a sense of anxiety. I know from a policing perspective, that I spent a lot of time on the phone and the email system to ensure that we had a plan in place and as I went to sleep deeply troubled, I was reassured this morning that our commitment and connection as we traveled across the region to the various mosques and Muslim schools … [This] is the message from your police service,” Larkin said.

NEWS • 5

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017 BUSINESS

ADVOCACY

EPOCH plans to aid refugees A phone app may offer further support for new citizens SHYENNE MACDONALD NEWS EDITOR

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

Hip-hop artist Shadrack “Shad” Kabango spoke to attendees at the event.

Entrepreneurs connect through startup seminar NATHALIE BOUCHARD LEAD REPORTER

On Jan. 26, Startup Laurier hosted an event in Kitchener called Entrepreneurs Exchange. Tickets were sold on campus and online for $20, which included transportation, networking games, activities, workshops and guest speakers.

Startup Laurier is a club part of the Lazsoc Student Association who puts on events with a startup and entrepreneurial themed premise.

One of the keynote speakers of the event was Shadrach “Shad” Kabango, a Wilfrid Laurier University alumni and hip hop artist who has created an influential entrepreneurial endeavour through music.

“Our aim is to connect students with the entrepreneurship community on the Kitchener Waterloo Region so we run a variety of events, programs and competitions,” Saheba Segu, co-president for Startup Laurier, said.

Segu also explained that Startup Laurier wants to develop more genuine conversations surrounding entrepreneurial culture.

Startup Laurier has been running the Entrepreneurs Exchange event for five years now and it has been recognized as Laurier’s flagship event of the year and overall club of the year.

The event took over four months to plan and came with a positive reputation from Laurier students.

“To be honest, the event was absolutely amazing,” Segu said.

“The team and I have been working so, so hard for the last four months to make this event come to life and it went according to plan.

Everyone that attended was able to gain a lot of valuable insight into the entrepreneurial community.

They got to hear Shad speak, which was amazing.”

Startup Laurier continues their legacy of creating innovative enjoyable events by always wanting to improve upon previous years.

Students and Alumni at the University of Waterloo have started a new social enterprise project called EPOCH and their goal is to provide relief and assistance to refugees in the Kitchener- Waterloo Region.

The project was founded by Jade Choy, an accounting and finance alumni, Keith Choy, masters of accounting alumni and CPA candidate, and Lisa Tran, science and business undergraduate.

“EPOCH, it means new beginnings,” Tran said.

“It started as a competition, but it has evolved into a social enterprise. As we did more research, we realized that this is a prominent issue within the K-W region with the Syrian refugee crisis, “Since there’s a lot of attention on it right now, there’s a lot of things we can learn and incorporate it within our own research,” Tran said.

Right now, EPOCH is still in their startup stage, working with the

University of Waterloo’s Velocity entrepreneurship program to further develop their project.

“What we’ve done is reach out to local organizations to see how they can work with us, in a sense,” she said.

“We started to get in touch with a local organization, Shamrose for Syrian Culture, that helps Syrian refugees integrate into the K-W region. What we learned was that a lot of Syrian refugees that come to K-W all depend on each other, although they don’t know each other,” Tran said.

“Their form of communication is through a WhatsApp group, filled with hundreds of people which Shamrose organized, “We thought that this is such a great target group. Together with Shamrose, my team and I have been going to their Tuesday evening coffee shops, where Syrian refugees meet and speak with one another, and local communities get to come out as well.”

EPOCH hopes to further the work of Shamrose and create a

phone app that is specifically designed to help Syrian refugees rebuild their lives in Canada.

“The goal is to connect refugees with their community members and by connecting them we’re fostering an exchange of services for time credit,” Tran said, regarding how the application would potentially work.

“For example, how it works is you open the application, as a refugee and you need help learning English. If there’s someone on the application who is a local community member, that can teach you English [and] you get paired up.

You exchange the service, and the refugee would exchange a time credit for an hour of the person teaching English,” she said.

“In a sense, it would create a battering system that would encourage volunteering in the community,” Tran said.

“What we really hope to do is to develop a mobile platform and start testing it in the K-W region, then branch out further into Canada.”

“Coming into this year and approaching and creating new events had us kind of thinking ‘Why were last years events so successful?’ and ‘How do we maintain that standard? How do we go above and beyond what people are expect-

We had everything from communitech as well as local small business owners and we also had people that support small business initiatives -Saheba Segu, co-presiden

ing?’’’ Segu said.

The goal of the event was to expose and explore different areas of entrepreneurship, such as small business ventures to other more large scale entrepreneurship.

Startup Laurier hopes to inform students that they don’t need to be the next Mark Zuckerberg to be an entrepreneur; there are different kinds and avenues of startups and businesses.

“We had everything from Communitech as well as local small business owners and we also had people that support small business initiatives,” Segu said.

While Entrepreneurs Exchange is a different kind of event that students wouldn’t normally see from a university club, Startup Laurier hopes to focus more on bringing the best kinds of resources to students on Laurier campus.

“Startup Laurier has just been working so hard to provide students with any possible route to be engaged with the community at large and we really hope that people gain valuable insights through the initiatives that we support and to get outside of your comfort zone,” Segu said.

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6 • NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

LIBRARY

Balderdash series brings sense of literary culture KARLIS WILDE STAFF WRITER

The Balderdash Reading Series held their first event on the night of Jan. 25, in the Wilfrid Laurier University Robert Langen Art Gallery.

Eager bibliophiles filled the room, excited to hear selected readings from a few of the best modern Canadian authors.

The event was created to fulfill a need in the Laurier literary community.

“There’s a lot of stuff happening at St. Jeromes, but nothing happening at Laurier,” Sanchari Sur said, co-founder and organizer of Balderdash and third-year doctoral student in English and film studies.

St. Jeromes is a university-college at the University of Waterloo, but Sur was specifically referring to The New Quarterly, a literary journal published there with a vision of seeking out and featuring distinctive Canadian voices.

Several authors appearing in the new series have been involved with the magazine.

Sur explained that the readings are a student response to the single term Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence program organized by professor Tanis MacDonald.

While that program is successful

and an exciting way to tie Laurier into the larger Canadian literary community, it only occurs over the course of three months each year and is entirely organized by faculty.

“We wanted something as students,” said Sur. She felt it was important to connect the Laurier community with the larger Canadian literary world.

The events, made possible by funding from the Laurier Library, are in the newly opened space for the Robert Langen Art Gallery.

It’s my attempt at rendering whole all the parts of my life which are often foreign to one another conceptually ...

-Madhur Anand, Trillium Award nominated poet and Ecology Professor at University of Guelph

The first in the series featured readings by Madhur Anand, a Trillium Award nominated poet and professor of Ecology at the

University of Guelph. “[M]any, if not all, of the poems contain ecological language and/ or an ecological concept,” Anand said, explaining how her work at the university plays into her art.

Her first volume of poems, A New Index for Predicting Catastrophes, was released in 2015.

“It’s my attempt at rendering whole all the parts of my life which are often foreign to one another conceptually, geographically, linguistically, ethnically, etc., especially art, science and my Indian origins.”

Following a career of writing scientific articles and co-authoring a textbook, Anand said that she has no stable, specific plans for future projects, but continues to write poetry and is experimenting in prose.

Sarah Tolmie and Jana Omar Elkhatib also performed, reading selections in fiction and poetry from their own portfolios. Each author has had their work featured in issues of The New Quarterly.

The vision for the series is to continue in perpetuity.

The next event is on Feb. 9 and features a reading from Kitchener author Tasneem Jamal.

A former journalist with The Globe and Mail, she has recently released her first novel, Where

EMI ZIBAEI/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

After their first event on Jan. 25, the series will continue monthly events.

the Air is Sweet, through Harper Collins Publishers.

Spanning more than 50 years and three generations, the novel dissects cultural identity, filtered through the author’s own unique experiences.

The novel also received positive reviews from both The Toronto Star and The National Post, amongst others.

At another event that is part of

the series on Mar. 16, the featured authors will be Phoebe Wang.

Her debut poetry collection, Admission Requirements, will be published by McClellan & Stewart later that month. Another author, Doyali Islam, author of Yusuf and the Lotus Flower, will also be present at the event.

The events run from 7-9 p.m. and free snacks are provided, with a cash bar available.

ENVIRONMENT

Changes to waste collection to begin in March Garbage will be collected once every two weeks to encourage the use of green bin and blue box SAFINA HUSEIN NEWS EDITOR

Changes to how waste will be collected in the Waterloo Region will come into effect this March 2017.

The new changes will affect all single family homes that qualify for curbside collection, as well as small apartments that have up to six units.

Single family homes will be limited to four bags or cans of garbage every two weeks and small apartments with two to six units will be limited to 10 bags or cans of garbage, which will also be collected every other week.

The collection of green bin and blue box items, however, will continue its unlimited weekly collection.

Cari Howard, project manager of Waste Management, explained that the decision to alter waste collection was made by the regional council in June 2015.

“There were a couple of different reasons. One is the cost savings on our collection contracts,” Howard said.

With fewer trucks on the road due to garbage being collected once every two weeks, there will be a significant cost savings for what was paid to collect each week.

“As well, we are hoping to drive

We are hoping to drive more sustainable behaviour ... by collecting garbage every two weeks.

-Cari Howard, project manager of Waste Management

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

With less garbage collected, there will be significant cost savings while striving towards sustainable behaviour.

more sustainable behaviour. By collecting garbage every two weeks, but continuing to collect green bins and blue boxes every week, we hope we’ll encourage residents to maximize their use of the green bins and blue boxes,” Howard said.

Region of Waterloo also hopes to strive towards better air quality, preserve and protect the environment and save space within the landfill through these changes.

Howard also explained that any students who live off-campus in single family homes will be expected to follow the new rules as well and can begin to do various things in order to prepare for the new regulations.

Each eligible home in the area will receive a new waste collection calendar. In addition, residents can download the My Waste App which will allow them to enter in their address to get the rules for the

specific area they reside in.

“In addition to being able to download a personal schedule, you can set reminders so if you want to get a notification to remind you that this week is garbage week, you can,” Howard said.

The app will also provide users with notifications from the Waterloo Region when they have news or alerts which they want to send out proactively.

“You can also access our waste

wiz search tool through the app, which is our lookup system. If you’re not sure if something goes in the green bin, blue box or the garbage, you type it into the search box and it will tell you where it should go,” Howard said.

In order to get accustomed to the new rules before they come into effect in March, students are encouraged to start using their green bins and their blue boxes as much as possible. The use of a green bin can reduce amounts of garbage produced by one single family home by approximately 30 to 50 per cent, “Using the green bin and blue boxes as much as possible really is what will make people successful with these changes,” Howard said.

GAMES • 7

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

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 Education System, We should #BellLetsTalk everyday to anyone anywhere. There are so many beautiful and extraordinary people persevering day after day, while suffering in silence. The biggest costs to the students mental health are the 3 hour draining classes, deadlines, restrictions, petitions, policies, living up to unrechable standards ... And at the end all you want is just to get it over with and breathe. Get to the end just to forget why you started and how you got here.

So you get your 4.0 GPA and realize that you haven’t slept in days, ran out of pizza pops a week ago, forgot the names of the friends you once had, and can’t manage to get up in the morning, nor have the energy to shower, eat or even send that one text.

If you want intelligent, bright and capable future leaders, then they must be physically and mentally healthy.

Stay strong — don’t let the workload, stress, and beaurocracy kill your passion, drive and mental

HURRY! Deadline to apply to most positions is Jan. 31!

Are looking for a motivating, energizing and rewarding summer job working with children and youth?

We’re looking for 175+ dynamic staff to join our team!

VISIT

www.kitchener.ca/hiringnow or scan to learn about the exciting opportunities available and apply online.

wellness.

So #BellLetsTalk because #yourenotalone & #mentalhealthmatters Sincerely, #BellLetsTalk Dear Life, Four suicides in a year on Guelph’s University Campus. Sad... Pondering... Understanding... Wondering where I’ll be soon and no I’m not depressed or suicidal but what if school is to blame? There’s too much obsession with grades, opening emails and keeping up.

The mind, I assume, has a certain capacity and it’ll fall apart like a drawer with too many clothes.

I couldn’t fall asleep last night because I was thinking too much about the future. Maybe I should have went to college; less years and everyone seems to be getting a job after it. Maybe I should have forced myself to like science and math because an English major like me is struggling to put passion and money together. You can’t make a fortune writing but I wish I could.

The writing industry seems like lottery to me. Me, a writer? Maybe just a bedroom writer. A bedroom artist. And not everyone likes what I write, less people do actually unless it’s my mom and a few of my best friends. My poems make them cry that’s how good they say it is but my creative writing class told me otherwise with grade ranges of C- to B. B’s aren’t bad but they start to feel bad when you add up your gpa and realize an A is better, A’s get you a career and further. We’re not robots, computers... I could never beat the computer at chess or any game when I was little. But that feeling persists. I feel like a failure. And I know someone out there feels my pain. This is my first time writing here, maybe I should come back? Tell you all if I feel the same... If things got better...

Sincerely, Struggling Student Dear Struggling Student, I have found myself in your place so many times. As someone who loves to write and graduated Laurier with an English degree, I’ve often wondered if my passion will get me anywhere in life. Then I joined The Cord, without ever thinking I’d even like journalism. But, there’s a high that coincides with having other people reading your work.

And if journalism isn’t your thing, our arts magazine, Blueprint, gives you a place to publish those poems

you were talking about. Don’t give up. Keep trying. You’ll only get better if you keep trying. Don’t ever let anyone tell you the words that you write are not important. Someone, even if it’s only one person, will read what you write and be affected by it.

Also, employers will never ask for your grades. As a Laurier grad, I can attest to that. All that matters is that you get that degree. Don’t worry about those C’s. www.thecord.ca/volunteer OR editor@thecord.ca for more information about volunteering. We’re all like you here. Trust me.

Sincerely, Bethany Bowles, Editor-in-Chief of The Cord Dear Life, Fuck business and their events Sincerely, I thought there was more to this school Dear Business Faculty Event Organizers, YOU ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVERYONE ELSE. Get it through your thick skulls that just because you have capitalists who can fund your fancy new building and class competition does not mean that you have carte blanche at this school. If you want a room booked, do what everyone else does and book it 3 months in advance. If you find out the room you want is already booked, don’t ask “but do you need it for the whole time?” ITS FUCKING BOOKED YOU ENTITLED PIECES OF SHIT. WHAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? Your persistence has fucked over a bunch of undergrads this week and yes, I want you to feel bad about it.

Sincerely, Learn some fucking humility Dear Life, Roses are red Violets are blue Go see moonlight It’s fucking good Sincerely, A boy who misses his ape Dear Life, Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb In the shape of an “L” on her forehead Sincerely, This song is stuck in your head

fill a gap in your program Athabasca University has over 850 courses for you to choose from to meet your needs. Monthly start dates of undergraduate courses fit into your schedule so that you can work at your own pace.

Fill the gap and save a semester.

go.athabascau.ca/online-courses open. online. everywhere.

8 •

FEATU

FEATURES EDITOR/MITCHELL CONSKY/

F

entanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Like many opioids, the drug, with many variations of potency, has reached far beyond the boundaries of medical prescriptions.

Unfortunately for students and the Kitchener-Waterloo community, these boundaries are unknown — potentially leading to a spike in overdose deaths and seizures throughout the K-W region.

“Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. It’s originally for pharmaceutical usage such as pain or anesthetic,” explained Detective Ian Young with the drug and firearm branch of the Waterloo Regional Police.

Targeting opioid receptors in the brain that also control one’s breathing rate, high dosages can halt breathing completely, leading to sudden, uncontrollable death.

Young went on to explain the rapid acceleration of drug overdose in the last two years within the region.

“In 2015 we had 12 drug related seizures. In 2016, we were up to 67.”

There is no direct indication of whether or not these incidents were a result of fentanyl overdose, but detections throughout the city suggest that the drug may play a role in the rise.

“There’s been an increase across Canada with the usage [of fentanyls] and the availability of it,” explained Young.

“It’s a pretty cheap drug to purchase. It creates some rather large profit margins for dealers.”

Originally used as a solution to treat patients with severe pain, Young explained that highly toxic dosages could be laced in illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, crystal methamphetamine, or crushed pills such as MDMA — being added without consumer knowledge.

While students may think that they are not at risk of accidentally ingesting fentanyl, MDMA and cocaine are common amongst the student population. It’s not just daily drug users that are at risk of fatal overdose; recreational party drugs can have traces too.

The ultimate problem is that users are left completely unaware of the dangers of their consumption.

“We’re an enforcement agency, so we’re focusing on trafficking and enforcing the drug laws,” Young said.

“As well, we are trying to take a role in educating and communicating with our other community partners.”

One of these partners is Michael Parkinson, the coordinator for Community Engagement, who has taken a major role in combating the consequences of fentanyl and other laced opioids in the K-W region.

“It was quiet for a while and then it really started to pick up again in March of 2015,” Parkinson explained.

Parkinson mentioned that 2016 had been a record-breaking year for the detection of fentanyl victims.

“People who are using [illicit drugs] daily or occasionally are at risk of an accidental overdose. This is a serious threat to public health and safety,” he said.

“Up until recently, there hasn’t been any monitoring or response in place for bootleg fentanyls. That’s starting to change.”

According to Parkinson, a regional advisory was issued this past August, with the focus of community awareness, education, monitoring of incident detection, law-enforcement of drug distribution, along with implementing steps of emergency precaution.

“Preliminary data shows that the detection of bootleg

fentany l s in seizures [with records] submitted to Health Canada has gone up to 575 per cent over those in 2015,” Parkinson said.

“As of October, those detections were up more than 40 per cent right across the province.”

Communities throughout Ontario are struggling to react to bootleg fentanyls, with the drug’s rapid rise having detrimental effects on civilians.

“This all really represents a crisis within a crisis,” explained Parkinson.

“Overdoses in Ontario were a problem but less of an issue before early 2000. Following the addition of oxycodone, we started to see a rise in opioid overdoses. This got to the point where in 2015, one person died in Ontario every 13 hours because of an opioid related overdose.”

So let’s review some statistics: According to preliminary data, we know that in 2015 there were 1063 drug related overdoses in Ontario. Of those 1063 incidents, opioid related overdoses were at 707. Fentanyl, which is a type of opioid, was detected in 203 of those victims across Ontario.

According to Parkinson, fentanyls are just one problem in a growing colossus of drug distribution complications.

But what caused this rise? What is the motive behind lacing illicit drugs with an opioid so dangerous in high dosages? I mean, if I were a dealer, I’m not so sure I’d see the financial benefit in killing my customers.

Parkinson went on to explain that there is an underlying market value for many people who are previously addicted to opioid use. Some addiction can initially derive from medical prescriptions.

“You get into a car accident, you’re given opioids. And like anyone, you become dependent on those opioids.

We’ve seen patients who’ve been put on prescriptions of opioids for months, and sometimes years. That gives you a ready-made market.”

In other words, those that are already addicted to the drug will be more inclined to pay the extra buck.

But let’s look a hundred years into our past to consider another pharmaceutical aid that eventually joined the dark side of addiction and bodily detriment: heroin.

Yep, history tends to repeat itself.

As Parkinson explained, pharmaceutical companies do not often consider the potential consequences of their synthesized products beyond the control of prescriptions.

“Oxycodone, for instance, was introduced by a pharmaceutical company. It was approved by regulators. It was subsidized by governments and their drug benefit plans. It was prescribed by doctors. It was dispensed by pharmacists. What could’ve gone wrong?”

But dealers aren’t only trying to capitalize on addiction and the pharmaceutical accessibility of the drug.

“From a dealing point of view, many of them are un-

der the impression that they could increase the potency of their drugs with the inclusion of fentanyls,” Parkinson explained.

“The problem is, because the fentanyls are so toxic at such miniscule amounts, with harmful dosages ranging from 20 micrograms to two milligrams, the way they are applied is really quite amateur. Those labs are what is killing people.”

Parkinson explained that these makeshift resolutions, where laziness overpowers precision, is a thoughtless result of dealers hoping to make a quick buck. The lack of care for what producers have been mixing has become detrimental to the lives of countless people.

So what’s being done about it?

Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy (WRIDS) is a collaboration of a number of different agencies and organizations across Waterloo region. The work is really focused on four different areas, which are prevention, harm reduction, rehabilitation and recovery, and justice and enforcement. Those are the four areas that the strategy works on.

Lindsay Sprague, the coordinator of WRIDS, explained that there are different committees that fall under the four categories.

“Our prevention committee has been working on compiling and summarizing some of the new resources for youth and the community.”

These specific resources can be found on the WRIDS website.

“Our harm reduction committee is chaired by the Region of Waterloo Public Health,” Sprague explained.

“Rehabilitation and recovery focuses on how can we bring a rapid access clinic to the Waterloo Region. A rapid access clinic is a medical service where an addiction physician becomes partners with a counselor that helps by seeing individuals with substance abuse issues in a more timely way — whether within seven days of referrals, or in a walk in basis when the clinic is open.”

The final committee falls under justice enforcement.

As Detective Young explained, their primary focus is on drug law enforcement, distribution prevention and criminal apprehension. But they also play a big role in helping to educate the community.

“The partnership with them focuses on how justice and enforcement can create opportunities for us to provide better support for people who are using substances,” explained Sprague.

One of the larger projects that the organization is looking at implementing is the re-launch of their Overdose Monitoring Alert and Response System, which helps gain a better understanding of how many overdoses are happening in Waterloo Region through online reports and gathered data.

It is clear that responsive measurements have been taken with the dangers of drug overdose and fentanyl distribution growing throughout Waterloo, Ontario and Canada, however, only so much can be done. Countless community members of different socioeconomic status are at risk; students remain uninformed.

For now, the best resource of prevention is staying far away from illicit drugs. But if that’s not an option for you, please remain informed and ready to access community resources if need be.

It’s essential that we remain aware; you never know what could be right under your nose.

URES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017 • 9

10 •

Arts & Life

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017 ARTS & LIFE EDITOR MANJOT BHULLAR arts@thecord.ca

PODCASTS

Podcasting a lifeline KARLIS WILDE STAFF WRITER

Differences between story-telling formats highlight pros and cons.

While television, arguably the most popular method of modern entertainment, is an incredible invention that connects people by an intensely specific craft of art, it is a method that requires little engagement from its audience.

By offering less, the radio format was able to influence people in incredible ways; nothing could be more significant than the 1938 broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, a radio drama adaptation that, while heavily exaggerated by history, did have an enormous impact on its listeners; some people genuinely feared that the world was under attack by extraterrestrial life.

The podcast is a little bit different, although it still adheres to the same traditions. Welcome to Night Vale, one of the most popular dramatic podcasts, is all about fear-mongering; realizing a town where every conspiracy theory is actually true.

Knowledge is a heavy factor when considering the podcast, but it’s important to recognize that the format is even more varied and unfixed than television. Some use the format to discuss politics and science, others use it for scripted dramas. Some use it to engage with religion.

The Nexus Church in Kitchener uses podcasts as a supplement to their ministry.

“We have a much younger congregation,” said Brad Watson, pastor. “Younger people listen to podcasts a lot … they don’t go to church as regularly as they used to.

They wanted a way to keep up with what we were doing.”

By recording and online-publishing weekly lessons, Watson is not only able to reach a younger crowd — he’s also able to communicate with a more distant, varied audience, ranging from those who live outside the province to locals who simply don’t want to get out of bed on Sunday morning.

It’s the influence of this on-demand world that empowers the podcast. It sources radio to that same end, with a focus on less

disposable, engaging content.

Data has recorded that people strive for that content, with the number of podcast listeners increasing every year. In 2016, 21 per cent of Americans listened to at least one podcast monthly; that’s about the same percentage who use Twitter.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith used podcasts to create a new brand for himself. NPR used the format for immersive, investigative journalism with Serial. Podcasts have been used to audit university lectures from all over the world.

They give a platform for enormously long, nuanced discussions of popular television, like Seincast and Worst Episode Ever.

The bottom line is that podcasts extend the appeal of radio with a no-holds-barred, consumptive approach; they discuss the things people want to hear about in as much or as little detail as the listener wants. They can be big enough to have worldwide appeal, or they can be small enough to be personal and intimate.

Whether for education, recreation, or something else altogeth-

ALEX TRKULJA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

er, it’s difficult to narrow down the specific appeal of podcasts because, by their nature, they are incredibly varied.

That is the most unique feature of a podcast: it can be anything.

While television has to receive a budget and be confined to a

certain length, a podcast can spend 30 seconds or 500 hours discussing the tiniest nuances of the most insignificant things. It doesn’t need to be approved, it doesn’t need a budget and it doesn’t have to take time. The distance between idea and execution is minuscule.

UNIVERSITY

Anonymity within university culture persists ELIZA MORATZ CORD ARTS

With a new semester comes new courses and new professors. And with that, new feelings of anonymity — the feeling of being anonymous in the classroom.

Although some of the content from our courses from last semester may have slipped our minds, they still have the opportunity to impact us and even teach us a lesson.

Last semester, in a first-year global studies class taught by Ali Hassan Zaidi, associate professor in the department of global studies and coordinator of the Muslim studies option, many students swiftly left the lecture hall as soon as an iClicker quiz was over, even though the class was not over.

After the lecture, a few students went to speak to Zaidi, particularly to express that they thought it was very disrespectful of the students to leave.

While similar events had occurred in many of his previous classes, he decided to reach out via email that night, after deciding that staying silent was no longer benefiting him nor the university.

The email became a major point of discussion among students in the class and multiple references to it were seen on the Spotted at Laurier Twitter page. In the email, Zaidi stated that he understands that the people that did leave, did

like a community.”

When a student does something such as leave a lecture hall while class is still going on, they’re comfortable to do so because they feel anonymous and therefore they’re contributing to this culture.

Five years after you graduate you won’t remember many of the theories and concepts ... but you will remember how you were treated.

-Hassan Zaidi, associate professor

LUKE SARAZIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

so because they felt protected by their anonymity.

Even on a small campus like ours, it’s easy to feel anonymous, especially in larger classes. This culture of anonymity is threatening our community, and many students are feeling it.

“One of the sad things that I learned … is that some students have told me that some professors actually do treat them like a number and they come to see them-

selves as an anonymous person … even in small classes with only 30 students,” said Zaidi.

If we’re just here to learn, then how will these feelings of anonymity affect us?

A university culture that promotes this can be more dangerous to individuals and the community than realized. Students need to feel connected to their university, their peers and their professors if they want their education to be

meaningful.

Both faculty and students have an important role in fighting anonymity. Zaidi urges professors to adopt interactive technology or perhaps a discussion forum on MyLearningSpace, both of which he used in GS101.

“Students also have a part to play in trying to overcome that anonymity,” Zaidi said.

“They have to also recognize the sense of community and treat it

Not only are feelings of anonymity hurting a student’s education, but they have the ability to impact them for years to come.

“In the end, long after you’ve left Laurier, it’ll be the human connections that’ll matter,” Zaidi said, completing his email.

“Five years after you graduate you won’t remember many of the theories and concepts that you learned here. But you will remember how you were treated. I hope you will be treated with dignity, recognition, respect and kindness.

And I hope you will do likewise.”

ARTS & LIFE • 11

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017 POETRY

Poets begin lifting heavy on the ‘gram BETHANY BOWLES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

When Instagram came into the world six years ago, it was geared towards photographers. The point of this new social media platform was to tell stories visually, with only a short caption to complement the photograph.

Like Facebook, Instagram has evolved as more and more users test different ways they can use the platform. Instagram isn’t just for photography anymore. Poets are using it to post their words.

When I think of poetry on Instagram, I think of Rupi Kaur. She was the first poetry account I followed, and after that, I found a bunch of other modern poets that are showcasing their work on Instagram.

As someone with an English degree, I feel conflicted about Instagram as a platform for poetry.

On one hand, it’s making poetry, a stereotypically pretentious or challenging literary form, more accessible to those who may not be buying poetry from a bookstore.

But it’s also making poetry seem easier to create than it is. To me, there’s a slight undermining of the art form.

“It’s hard to say whether it denigrates the form, because I think the form itself is somewhat capacious,” said Tanis MacDonald, poet, author and English professor at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Capacious, meaning poetry does not have strict borders that the

writer must work within. Concrete poetry or visual poetry, for example, must take into account the shape of the words and phrases. The words, and the shape the words make, must work together to create meaning and effect.

Instagram is a great platform for poetry that also relies on a visual component.

Back to Rupi Kaur — she uses simple sketches to coincide with her words, too. While her poems posted on Instagram may only be three lines long, the image that corresponds with the text also pushes that meaning forward.

When poets market themselves on Instagram, their work is also reaching a wider audience. MacDonald explained that this isn’t a totally new idea.

“In the 18th century, poets would publish their poetry in broadsheets that could be bought for a nickel,” MacDonald explained.

Instead of waiting a year or so for a poet to publish a whole new book, new poems could be read more often and regularly.

“It was like 18th century Twitter,” MacDonald said. ‘“People would talk about it like it was news: Have you read so-and-so’s new broadsheet?”’

“In some ways, that’s an old idea that has come around again.”

We know Instagram is an excellent marketing tool. Almost every clothing store, restaurant, bar, etc. has an Instagram account. So may-

be poets and writers should take advantage of it, too. It’s a fast way to stay updated with the writers you like, but also find new writers you haven’t heard of before. The popular tag, #poetsofig can help you find new writers very quickly.

“It gets people reading and thinking about poetry differently,” MacDonald said.

Popular Instagram poets, too, seem to be talking more and more about relatable, real life issues. It isn’t just the platform that’s accessible; it’s the content, too.

Writers like R.M Drake share brief poems about heartache and feeling lost. Kaur writes about feminism and sexual violence.

R.H Sin writes about finding love, even when it seems hopeless.

These modern Instagram poets are writing about relatable topics for a social media hungry audience.

And they’re eating it up.

So maybe not every single one of R.M Drake’s 1.6 million followers owns a copy of his newest book, Broken Flowers, but I’d bet that the ones who do bought it because he’s marketing the shit out of it on his Instagram account.

Being “Instagram famous” doesn’t just apply to photography, anymore. The platform is always evolving and writers are adjusting their ways of presenting art in accordance with the changing times.

“Is it the ultimate platform for poetry?” MacDonald said. “Maybe not. But it’s a good way to supplement.”

MEAGHAN INCE/GRAPHIC ARTIST

NIGHTLIFE

VICTORIA PANACCI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Omega, the rumors are true KAITLYN SEVERIN SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Last Saturday, Beta, one of Waterloo’s most infamous nightclubs, closed its doors for the last time.

The club’s final night — “The Final Chapter” — paid tribute to the artists who have played at Beta in the past and for the EDM fans who have been followers of the club since their beginning. As a way of paying respect to their fellow

club-goers, the nightclub sold their tickets for $20 and told guests they wouldn’t announce the headlining act until the event was sold out, “the first person to ever hit play at Beta will be the last one to.”

The artist ended up being Deko-ze, a Toronto-grounded DJ with a long history of being a part of Canada’s electronic dance scene.

When opened on Nov. 11, 2010, Beta Nightclub played host to various globally famous producers

and DJ’s, including Steve Angelo and Steve Aoki.

Over the last few years, Beta became a hot spot for the latenight club scene. Students from the Kitchener-Waterloo Region were attracted to the infamous nightclub for their mainstream and niche acts.

In late December, Beta announced on their official Facebook page that after six years of operation, they would be closing to the

public. Their last events began on New Years Eve and continuously took place during the month of January. Events featured musical performances and events by Ben Gold, Gareth Emery and Green Velvet, among others.

In a region where post-secondary students take up a large number of the overall population, the nightlife and electronic dance music scene played a significant role in how these students spent their weekends.

It also played a part in how musical acts from around K-W were able to break out through various clubs such as Beta, Pearl and Elements.

In a town where massive EDM clubs have continuously been closing down or changing their scene to accommodate other music fans, does this mean the end of the EDM music scene in the K-W Region?

Isuri Kuruppu, the Waterloo campus manager for XL Lifestyle, has also been a club promoter for the last four years. While clubs such as Beta and Pearl were always packed on the weekends when they first opened, the main attraction to these clubs were the various DJs and musical acts.

“Six years ago, [these clubs] could bring in big top acts for not that much and a lot of people would be going. But as EDM blew up, DJ rates also skyrocketed so like these smaller bars and smaller towns couldn’t really afford them.

So [by] not bringing these big

names in, people started to get a little discouraged so they weren’t coming in as often,” Kuruppu said.

When asked about how the closing of these clubs has impacted the K-W EDM scene, Kuruppu explained that the age of massive clubs may soon be over. Big, multi-purpose clubs in Toronto, such as Rebel, have seen success through their big musical acts, but clubs such as The Guvernment have shut down.

Instead, smaller niche clubs, such as Brixton and the newly opened Becky’s Apartment, have been a greater attraction to students in the area.

“More niche, smaller bars are getting more attractive with students. I think the age of the giant clubs is ending, but interesting with like Rebel being massive in Toronto as well,” Kuruppu said.

Fortunately for EDM fans in the area, Ever After Music Festival will be taking place at Bingeman’s sometime in June. With Beta and Pearl’s closing, there is little opportunity for after-parties to take place in the area.

Maxwell’s Concerts and Events, however, has begun to serve as a different type of space for EDM fans. Last week, REZZ, a 21-yearold techno artist, headlined her own show at the venue.

“It’ll be interesting to see if Maxwell’s will be picking up more EDM artists just because there’s going to be a lack of in Waterloo,” Kuruppu said.

12 •

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Editorial

OPINION EDITOR MADELINE MCINNIS opinion@thecord.ca

HMV’s closing is the end of an era for the music industry to them from a real person, not an algorithm.

There is an emotional affect in real life conversation and that’s no longer an option.

What about the classic hardcover books vs. e-books debate? Why don’t people treat their music the same way?

When you look at it closely, certain groups of people no longer have easy access to music because of the HMV closure.

Take elderly people, for example.

Grandma may not be listening to the latest Drake album, but this shift to downloading music is going to affect how — if ever — she’ll be able to get a copy of the music she enjoys.

There’s no more adventure of the new find. If you want a CD, DVD, or vinyl now, you’ll have to special order it or hope to find it in a bigbox or second-hand store.

It’s not the day the music died, but now it seems pretty close.

Last Friday, HMV announced that they are closing their Canadian doors for good. As the last major chain music store in Canada, this represents the end of an era.

A lot of people have had the rhetoric of “it’s about time,” or “it’s a long time coming.” These people are missing the humanity in the situation.

Many people just lost their jobs — people who have known nothing but HMV their entire lives, people with children, people trying to put themselves through university.

The internet downloading age has become our only option now.

It’s not that the online music industry is any better or worse; it’s that now the alternative has been completely eliminated.

People used HMV as a social gathering. It was an outing for some and they bonded over musical preferences. People bought albums that were recommended

The fine line between fun and bullying in meme culture We know bullying isn’t ethical, but it seems okay to do it through memes.

We’ve become the perpetrators and bystanders we were warned about. These people don’t know us and we don’t know them. They’re just faces and text for us to joke about.

And we laugh at them.

We participate in this cycle because we find it funny. But when you step back, it doesn’t seem funny at all.

A 13-year-old with a broken family and no education. Women with skin diseases and chronic illnesses.

A zookeeper that had to shoot and kill a gorilla. Hilarious, right?

There are lots of ways to be funny without making fun of someone who’s already drawn a short straw in life and ended up in a bad situation.

It’s so easy to do that with memes.

Let’s stick to the wholesome memes, how ‘bout ‘dat?

If you’ve been keeping up with your internet culture lately, you’ve likely seen a sassy 13-year-old who appeared on Dr. Phil with a “street accent” and is now the latest meme.

“Cash me outside” has become our newest trend, but at what cost to this child?

We’ve all done a lot of things when we were 13. Some of us went through the “emo phase” and some of us had the awkward stage. It’s safe to say that most of us didn’t have the best confidence.

This girl now has that 13-yearold phase spread across the world for everyone to see.

Another popular meme right now is the “tag my boyfriend”: taking pictures of people who are not conventionally attractive and making fun of them all across the internet for people to spread and share, laughing together at someone.

Of course, then there’s good ol’ Harambe.

These unsigned editorials are based off informal discussions and then agreed upon by the majority of The Cord’s editorial board, including the Editor-in-Chief and Opinion Editor. The arguments made may reference any facts that have been made available through interviews, documents or other sources. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of The Cord’s volunteers, staff or WLUSP.

THE CORD IS PUBLISHED BY WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY STUDENT PUBLICATIONS 205 REGINA ST. N., WATERLOO

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

DIRECTOR Matt Burley

CHAIR Meghan Roach

TREASURER John Pehar

VICE-CHAIR Abdiasis Issa DIRECTOR Maddy Cutts DIRECTOR Mynt Marsellus

PRESIDENT Meghan Roach president@wlusp.com FINANCE MANAGER Randy Moore randy@rcmbrooks. com ADVERTISING MANAGER Caroline Schummer care.schummer@ wlusp.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp. com HR MANAGER/CORPORATE SECRETARY Taylor Berzins hr@wlusp.com

FANI HSIEH/GRAPHICS EDITOR

O’Leary Canada’s Trump?

GARRISON OOSTERHOF VIDEO EDITOR

Have you ever heard the saying that Canada is the same as America, just a few years behind? That saying may prove very true when considering the future of Canadian politics.

The hugely controversial American election process that started several years ago is resurfacing in Canadian politics right now.

I have been surprised at the lack of response from the Ontario media in regards to Kevin O’Leary’s candidacy.

Though I do not believe the media should obsess over O’Leary as they did with Trump, ignoring O’Leary’s strong start would be to make the same mistake that led to Trump’s presidency.

I believe one of the fatal contributing factors for the American election was that the media refused to investigate just how many followers Trump had. The same circumstances are being echoed in Ontario.

Not a lot has been said over O’Leary’s quick leap to the front of

the Conservative polls.

Currently, O’Leary boasts twice the popularity of the second place Conservative candidate.

Paired with the strong push for Conservative government in Alberta and the push against Liberal government in Ontario, the conditions seem fair for O’Leary’s success.

In the same way that Trump’s platform resonated with Americans from Detroit and southern states, O’Leary’s personality is convincing for the fragile Western economy.

Alberta’s slippery economy has many business owners and trade workers longing for stronger fiscal authority in their federal leader.

O’Leary has made a career of being a formidable and successful businessman shown through the many businesses he runs.

Ontarians who are not happy with the provincial government’s mishaps may also vote for O’Leary if it means lower energy prices.

Another reason to be wary of the popular new Conservative candidate is his experience being on TV. The intensity of shows like CBC’s Dragon’s Den exhibit O’Leary’s skills for thinking on his feet.

However, the moment of excitement that comes in debates is rarely a good indicator of a leader who is capable of responsible authority.

Even running a multimillion-dollar business is not an indicator of a good leader.

O’Leary gets to leap from one project to the other and doesn’t need to demonstrate the dedication to a single task that as such is required for prime minister.

Trump also shows these traits, seemingly more interested in controversial tweeting than listening to half of the country. Unable to calmly hold power, Trump thrives on dramatics to maintain disillusionment and O’Leary shows much of the same.

Running a campaign is easy for entertainers like Trump and O’Leary, running a country is much harder.

However, the most formidable similarity between Trump and O’Leary is their inflated identities.

Both men are famous in their respective countries and have built an image of being a certain kind of person.

In their cases, they have made many people believe they are excellent business men and that they can even make an entire country profitable.

I am wary of these two politicians because I know how deceptive an image can be. The truth is easily choreographed and both of these men have had a lot of time to polish their routine.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Opinion

• 13 OPINION EDITOR MADELINE MCINNIS opinion@thecord.ca

Opposing Trump: now and then ANTHONY ZAMBITO OPINION COLUMNIST

MEAGHAN INCE/GRAPHIC ARTIST

The real monster Avoiding the use of “cancer” in film

CHRIS LUCIANTONIO STAFF WRIER

I recently saw a film about the trials a young child experiences once a family member is affected by “the illness.” The protagonist of this story had to watch in disbelief as “the big one” took hold of his mother and she grew weaker and paler after every “treatment” failed and every “medicine” had no effect.

The film is trying to open a dialogue with a young, impressionable audience about the feelings they might experience when something as close to them as their own mother gets diagnosed with “it.”

That movie was J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls. Oh and by the way, if you didn’t catch it, the mother has cancer.

I must admit, even though I was engrossed in the film’s blending of fantasy elements and all too real subject matter, I was baffled that within Patrick Ness’s moving script, the word “cancer” never makes an appearance.

It becomes painfully obvious that the mission of the film was to never give a name to its subject matter (a he-who-must-not-benamed, if you will) and instead perform a Mad-Lib-esque gymnastics to avoid saying the C-word in all its ugliness.

Anyone who knows the steps the film does to dance around the disease would be in the know. But I began to wonder about the younger audience in the theatre with me — the intended audience.

Why shield them from the all too real truth that, as statistics show, they in all likelihood have tangentially come into contact with?

The film pretends to be straightforward with its audience and prepare to tackle the issue, but can’t drop the “you’ll understand when you’re older” mentality and give a name to its source of drama.

Because of this, how can we be

expected to apply it to our own alltoo-real lives?

This is what a film like A Monster Calls is supposed to do for us: to become our reference point to use for our own lives.

Popular media is a teacher in its own right to the young. It’s where we learn morals, identities, behaviours and how our decision making gets primarily influenced.

So by not saying the word “cancer” and treating your audience with respect enough to handle the hard lesson, you’ve deprived them of internalizing or relating to your message.

It becomes painfully obvious that the mission of the film was to never give a name to its subject matter ... to avoid saying the C-word in all its ugliness.

What if the kid didn’t pick up on the subtle nudges and winks you used to signal “cancer”? What if they felt condescended to like you gave them too little credit when they’ve already lost someone to the disease?

I am not asking for you to stop your movie and offer a lecture on “the illness.” All I want is for you to give it a name so we can move away from these hush-hush attitudes and really talk about it.

If you don’t, your film will never resonate because you’ve denied it the impact it could have in being true to life.

Cancer, cancer, cancer — see how easy that is to print? The hard thing is actually experiencing and dealing with it, either in yourself or a loved one.

That is why we need popular media in all forms to help soften the blow without ever trying to deny us our reality.

On Jan. 20, Donald Trump was sworn into office, marking the official beginning to his first presidential term.

Over the past year, we stood in awe as Trump effortlessly overwhelmed the Republican Party’s most accomplished politicians.

The rise of Trump represents something different to each person. If you are an admirer of Trump, you are probably glad to finally see someone take a genuine approach against the government’s most entrenched elites.

If you aren’t a fan of Trump, then his rise probably represents something less optimistic and certainly grimmer.

Regardless of how you feel about the outcome, Donald Trump will be the one to sit in the Oval Office on behalf of the American people and he will enact the most anticipated agenda of our time.

Now that the president has been sworn in, it is important that we take a critical look at U.S. politics in order to understand what led to the rise of Trump, especially if we don’t want to see a similar movement take place in Canada.

Trump’s behaviour during the election has been unacceptable by many standards — I found it especially ironic when he swore to protect a constitution declaring all men equal despite having declared Mexicans rapists in his first campaign address.

Trump’s rise still amazes me, but I can’t say that I was surprised when I found out that he won.

If you think about it, Donald Trump didn’t introduce many new ideas throughout his campaign:

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

everything that he discussed has been on the agenda of Tea Party republicans since before they protested Obama’s inauguration back in 2009.

While the liberal population was rejoicing the arrival of Obama, Tea Party activists were going out to local town halls and bellowing about how all their jobs were being moved to Mexico, or about how the “lazy illegal immigrants” were stealing all the work.

Just as there were many angry Republicans who vowed to oppose Obama, the progressive left must come together in opposition to the rise of right-winged populism.

Tea Party activists then went out and elected likeminded conservatives to local and state positions, setting the stage for a presidential candidate who “wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is.” If you feel threatened about the rise of Donald Trump, please take comfort in the fact that the majority of Americans feel your

displeasure to some degree.

Trump’s words have not only offended some of us, they have threatened some of our civil liberties. Rest assured, for every political revolution that has ever taken place, there is a counter revolution to oppose it.

As an example, look at JFK International Airport this weekend. The American people aren’t going to take Trump quietly.

Even though the Republicans control the Presidency, the House, the Senate and many state legislatures, this consolidation of conservative power only illuminates the cries of the alienated left.

Just as there were many angry Republicans who vowed to oppose Obama, the progressive and hopeful left must come together in opposition to the rise of rightwinged populism.

In North America, our political parties have tended to veer towards the centre as a means of adhering to everyone’s opinion.

As it turns out, this practice has effectively alienated both the farright and the far-left to the degree that a former Secretary of State lost miserably to a man whose key phrase is “you’re fired.”

If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this, it’s that the left needs to unite and organize itself so that its populist message can one day be embodied by a likeminded populist of their own.

14 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Fees-ing students together Response to a view on opting out — and why we shouldn’t

MYNT MARSELLUS STAFF WRITER

Last week’s edition of The Cord contained an article about student fees that I found concerning. The author argued that students who feel they are not directly benefiting from services funded by their student fees should opt-out.

That is a monumentally bad idea, not just for the person opting out, but for all the other students at the school.

To explain, I want to specifically talk about two of those service fees: health & dental and the bus pass.

Both services benefit the group at large because everyone is paying a marginal fee. For the GRT Bus Pass, you are charged an $80 fee for which you get year-round bus service.

Even if you don’t use the bus service much, you still have transportation security. Your car breaks down but you still need to get across town? It’s not going to cost you a dime.

However, the real benefit is for those people that do need the bus pass. Imagine being a Laurier student living in Cambridge without access to a car. Because everyone is paying that fee, they don’t need to spend the $70 a month to buy monthly bus passes.

GRT would never in a million years offer an opt-out option for bus passes because there would be no benefit for them offering that

lower price if they can’t guarantee a profit from the deal.

The same goes for the health and dental plan. Because we all pay that fee at the beginning of term, thousands of Laurier students now have access to necessary health and dental services.

If students started opting out from the health and dental plan en-masse, the rate charged would go up because that’s how health inurance works.

The insurance company gives a highly-reduced rate on coverage because they have a guaranteed income from having almost all students buying in. If students started opting out from the health and dental plan en-masse, the rate charged would have to go up because that’s how health insurance works.

The people who need it most are subsidized by the rest of society.

But the most dangerous problem with last week’s article is that it tried to justify certain services for “contributing to the sense of community that Laurier has become known for.”

This was said at the same time as the author criticized a host of other fees because he just didn’t see

them as important.

The author saw value in The Cord’s student fee, as it published his work but not in a group like LSPIRG, where he likely has never set foot in their office or utilized their resources, while other students do. This kind of justification for certain fees over others is evidence of a larger problem though — all of our eyes are off the target on tuition.

Universities in Ontario used to be publicly funded. I say “used to” because in the past few years, the province’s funding dipped below 50 per cent for the first time.

The province is no longer providing adequate funding for universities, which contributes to the continual rise in tuition. If the province increased university funding, they would have more power in keeping tuition costs down.

If you don’t like how expensive tuition has become, blame the province, not the marginal student fees. Those are just easy targets for cowardly criticism and they keep our eyes off of the real problem.

All of the fees we pay as part of our tuition do something for us and all of them provide access for all students to services, groups and funding that we can use to change our environment and our university experience.

Critiquing those fees rather than the larger problem of university funding lets the government off the hook as we squabble.

We do have a better solution to these issues: it’s called voting and protest. But that would require getting out of our comfort zones.

Are you up to the challenge?

SERENA TRUONG/GRAPHIC ARTIST

initially thought. I found many testaments of minortized women who felt as if their own rights had not been respected and recognized at the march.

Many of the women that were participating in the march were white and did not seem to account for the different circumstances of women of colour, which made minoritized women feel like they weren’t welcome.

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March representing women?

Washington protest shows problems with white feminism

MASON GIBSON OPINION COLUMNIST

On Jan. 21, millions of people came together across the globe to advocate for women’s rights.

The main march that took place in Washington, the day after Trump’s inauguration, was recorded as the largest mass march in American history. These peaceful protests were concerned with women’s

rights to their bodies, reproductive rights, gender-based violence and overall gender equality.

I love that these people were passionate enough to go out of their way to have their voices heard, as they know that the government and society as a whole are not respecting personal rights.

I find the concept of the march inspiring, especially since there is currently a trend of girls attacking each other, especially through social media. Instead of “slut-shaming” or body shaming, women are working together for their own greater good.

Another great aspect about this

march is that these women are standing up not only for their individual rights, but also for the rights of all women internationally.

In North America, we are not exposed to some of the horrible realities of women in other places in the world. There are many women and young girls in other countries that are denied basic rights such as not receiving an education or being sold as child brides.

It’s wonderful to see so many people standing up for those who can’t have their voices heard.

When I was reading up on the march, I discovered that it might not have been as successful as I

While at first I loved the idea of the marches, hearing these testimonies and stories broke my heart. This march was an opportunity to be inclusive, yet failed to do so.

I came across an example of this exclusion from an Indigenous woman named Sydne Rain. Rain tweeted out her experience of the march, saying that she, along with some fellow Indigenous women, participated in the march to protest colonization and matters regarding their land.

This quickly caught the attention of white women, who were also participating in the women’s march, and began to act very ignorantly such as taking pictures of the Indigenous women without asking for consent, as well as mocking their culture.

Trans women were also excluded from the march. There were a lot of protest signs relating to female anatomy, suggesting that women can only be defined by their biology. These signs were not validating trans women as “true” women and, in turn, did not validate their own rights.

These are just a couple of examples from the numerous of stories that are floating around the internet.

While at first I loved the idea of the marches, hearing these testimonies and stories broke my heart.

This march was an opportunity to be inclusive, yet failed to do so. As a white woman myself, I will never truly understand how it feels to be marginalized, but I still believe that everyone has a fundamental right to be treated with respect.

We must update our feminist views so that they are inclusive to all genders and their own concerns. Our fight for equality is far from over and I encourage everyone to educate themselves so that we can be more inclusive while celebrating our diversity.

• 15

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR ROB FIFIELD sports@thecord.ca

PROFILE

Ballantyne named to top 100 list Baseball coach named to top 100 most influential Canadians in baseball DYLAN HINES CORD SPORTS

Bob Elliot, long-time Toronto Sun baseball reporter and what most consider to be the premier reporter in his field, has released his 2016 edition of “Bob Elliots 101 most influential Canadians in baseball.”

it’s very imporant to me and the other OUA coaches to continue to grow our game at the national level.

-Scott Ballantyne,head coach

This year’s edition included the likes of Russell Martin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Major League Baseball hall-of-famer, Fergie Jenkins.

One name on this list hits a little bit closer to home here in Waterloo: Laurier’s men’s baseball team head coach, Scott Ballantyne.

Ballantyne took over the head coach position for the team back in 2007, where he was honoured with OUA coach of the year.

However, Ballantyne’s influence was unnoticed by Elliot until the team’s hazing scandal in 2012, where he was able to turn the team around the following year and lead team to victory at the aforementioned OUA championship.

MARCO PEDRI/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Ballantyne was also the general manager of the Kitchener Panthers, president of OUA Baseball Coaches Association, and head coach for his son’s minor rookie baseball team in Waterloo. He also sits on the board of directors for the league.

“It is definitely an honour to be

on the list. Knowing that all the people on the [list] and the vast majority of the honourable mentions are involved in baseball fulltime, it’s gratifying to know that as someone who has a full-time job outside of baseball I can still make the list,” Ballantyne said.

Ballantyne credits his coaching

success to the years of experience his assistant coaches – past and present – bring to the team.

Dennis Schooley, Dan Creechan, George Moore and JD Yari have really stood out for Ballantyne in the years that he has coached at Laurier.

The university holds a special place in Ballantyne’s heart, as Laurier is where he completed his undergraduate degree and played baseball. He credits his drive as a coach to his ability to continue to grow the program he once played for.

“Being a former player, I can put myself in the shoes of the student-athletes and know the demands that are put on them, especially around exam time and I think that helps me to keep baseball into perspective as they are students first,” Ballanytne said.

After making the playoffs this season and losing two close games, Ballantyne looks to continue success in upcoming years.

Callum Murphy of the Golden Hawks will continue to improve from his experience as he played for Team Great Britain at the European Baseball Championship this past fall.

“Any chance you can get to represent your country is special and my two stints with Collegiate Team Canada were unbelievable experiences. One of the key goals for us in the OUA is to grow our sport nationally and establish a National Championship in Canada,” Ballantyne said.

“It’s very important to me and the other OUA coaches to continue to grow our game at the national level.”

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16 • SPORTS

WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 1, 2017

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Golden Hawks avenge loss to Warriors PRANAV DESAI LEAD SPORTS REPORTER

The Hawks were out for revenge against Waterloo after they were upset by the Warriors earlier this month.

Laurier responded well in the rematch and ended up winning by a final score of 82-75.

The Hawks have now won two straight games and seemed to have found their rhythm after a rocky stretch at the start of 2017, where they lost three consecutive games.

Head coach Justin Serresse discussed what he liked and didn’t like against the Warriors.

“Our offence has been a positive, recently. We have been sharing the ball extremely well. It was a big exercise after the game against Waterloo at home, where we were extremely selfish,” he said.

“From top to bottom, everybody tried to come in and make hero plays right from the start of the game. After that game, the exercise was that we have to make at least two passes before trying to score. It was all about ball movement and we had 18 assists against U of T, and 17 against Waterloo. For me that was the key — everybody’s involved and everybody’s contributing.”

The Hawks put on a playmaking clinic and the new philosophy of sharing the ball on offence seems

ALEX TRKULJA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

to have lit a fire in them.

Their offence has looked unstoppable during this 3-game win streak.

Some inconsistency has to be expected with this team as there are numerous first-year players who play major minutes.

“Happiness is dependent on the expectations. Losing three in a row against top 10 teams, it’s not something that I am going to be depressed about. We are looking at the big picture and we’re looking at how we’re playing,” Serresse said.

“We actually played very well considering who we were playing,

even though the score didn’t reflect it. We counted in those three games. We left a total of 94 points by missing open layups and shots.

That’s almost 30 points per game that we left on the table due to us not finishing plays and not doing what we’re capable of doing.”

Although the Hawks offence has been fun to watch the entire season, the same cannot be said about their defence.

The Hawks have lost their best rebounder Nicholas Broady due to injury and this has dented a hole in their overall effort on defence, especially inside the paint.

“Our defence is something that I’ve been really upset about. We lost a key rebounder with Nicholas Broady breaking his hand and this has been an issue for us in 2017,” Serresse said.

“Our defence was ranked top four in OUA before the break, since then we have struggled, especially on the ball and in the paint. So yes, there have been many ups and downs this season, but the end result is not only winning or losing, it’s are we moving in the right direction for years to come?”

Starting guard Tevaun Kokko has been a bright spot throughout the

season.

He is averaging 19.1 points per game, making him third in scoring in the OUA. Kokko is just one of the key first players for the Hawks.

With how well the rookies are playing, it looks like the ceiling is unlimited for this team.

Serresse mentioned that it is going to take more than just talent for these guys to fulfill their potential.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how those guys grow. I find that year two is always the hardest. You have to adjust every single game.

You’re going to get scouted, the opposing team will know what you want to do,” Serresse said.

“This year in preseason, we had a lot of success early on because nobody knew what we were going to do. Next year will be tougher for those guys but they will put in the work in the summer. With all these talented young guys, I definitely think we can do some damage in the future. I’m excited for sure.”

This is an exciting time for Hawks fans, as Laurier is now tied for first in the OUA West division with a record of 8-8.

With the season winding down, every game is a must-win and the room for error is minimal.

Next up for the Golden Hawks is Brock University, where they take on the Badgers next on Saturday, Feb. 4.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Blues take down Hawks ROB FIFIELD SPORTS EDITOR

The Laurier Golden Hawks had a busy weekend of hockey playing host to the Guelph Gryphons and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

The weekend began on a sour note as the Hawks dropped a 4-1 contest Saturday night to the Gryphons with the Hawk’s lone goal coming from first-year Emily Woodhouse.

“I wasn’t really happy last night.

I thought Guelph was a team that could be had last night in the first period. They showed up and took us a bit lightly and we weren’t ready to play,” said head coach Rick Osborne.

Sunday evening, the Hawks were looking for some redemption against the Varsity Blues — a team that sits third place in the league.

The Hawks got off to a fast start, but it was the Blues that were able to score first, as Katherine Gale was able to beat Amanda Smith and put the away side up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go in the opening period.

There was some eaerly controversy at the four-minute mark. It appeared that the Blues had found their second goal of the game, but it was waived off by the referee who lost sight of the puck and blew an early whistle.

After the first period, the Blues

led 1-0 and were outshooting the Hawks 13-7.

The second period got going with Smith flashing the leather to keep the Laurier deficit to one.

The Hawks got the first power play of the game, as Jessica Robichaud was shown the gate for

Sometimes our team gets its priorities a little bit upside down.

They put school and social ahead of hockey.

-Rick Osborne, head coach

hooking .

The Hawks main advantage came to an early end as they took a penalty of their own.

Just after the midway point in the second period, the Hawks found the equalizer as Julia Talman was able to was able to jump on a rebound and tie the game at one.

The teams would break for the second intermission all tied up with the Blues still outshooting the Hawks 26-15.

It was a close third period but

the Varsity Blues were able to find the back of the net just before it was knocked off its moorings and restore the Varsity Blues’ one goal lead.

That’s all it would take, the Hawks were hemmed into their own zone for almost the rest of the game, even unable to pull their goaltender to push for the tying goal.

Osborne was reasonably displeased with his team’s effort in not only this game, but the way that the Hawks played the entire weekend.

“Sometimes our team gets its priorities a little bit upside down, they put school and social ahead of hockey,” he said.

Osborne, however, noted another solid performance from Smith, who he referred to as the Tim Thomas of the second period.

With a disappointing weekend all wrapped up, the Hawks will look to get back on track as they visit Nipissing and Laurentian next weekend.

“Nipissing and Laurentian are both teams that we usually play tough, strong games against,” Osborne said.

"Tables are turned a little bit on us this year. We need to take time and space away from other teams.

More often, they need to take it away from us. We need to be really good when we don’t have the puck in order to give ourselves a chance

MARCO PEDRI/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER