Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Fap fap fap fap Porn’s not a problem but masturbaion can lead to procrastination >> pg. 3

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

VOLUME 107, ISSUE 38

Whelan prepares speech Leaders largely Annual address to focus on student advocacy leaving London Stephanie Grella GAZETTE STAFF

Julian Uzielli GAZETTE

FRIENDS, MUSTANGS, STUDENTS, LEND ME YOUR EARS. University Students’ Council president Pat Whelan will give a speech to students in just under two weeks, focusing on the state of student advocacy.

Richard Raycraft NEWS EDITOR As per the University Students’ Council strategic plan, USC president Pat Whelan will address students in a speech and emphasize a theme of student advocacy.

Tentatively titled “A Seat at the Table,” the talk will take place on November 25 at 5 p.m. in the Mustang Lounge West. Though the speech from the president is an annual event, this will mark only the second time it has taken place. Former USC president Adam Fearnall delivered the first speech last year.

The speech is part of the USC’s strategic plan passed by former USC president Andrew Forgione two years ago. The hope was that the USC would convey a vision to students early in the year.

“We will be discussing the state of student advocacy and the student movement in the province but here at Western as well, and some of the really exciting partnerships that the USC has with administrators and also within the city and the next steps for those partnerships,” Whelan said. “I think the emphasis is going to be on what students can do, in the context that they are currently working in.”

In addition to students and student leaders, university administrators and city officials will also be in attendance. An open question period will follow Whelan’s 30-minute speech.

Though the annual speech is usually planned for earlier in the school year — typically September or October — the Mustang Lounge had been swamped with bookings

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up until this point. Despite this, Whelan still believes that the time is right for the speech.

“I think it’s an opportune time, people can think about it as they go into exams and home for the holidays,” he said.

The late timing of the event will allow the USC to promote the speech to students in advance. Whelan also hopes for good attendance from students, since the event will have student advocacy as one of its core themes.

“We’re going to be trying to promote it as best we can, trying to get as many people as we can there — I think it’s most important that they hear the message,” he explained.

“Student advocacy is part of your civic responsibility as a student in a lot of ways, so we’re hoping to see a lot of students there.”

London’s post-secondary students have little intention of remaining in the city after graduation, according to a recent survey by Emerging Leaders in London.

Emerging Leaders is a nonprofit organization striving to retain London’s workforce in order to create a more welcoming, vibrant city.

Surveying 400 students, Emerging Leaders found that almost onethird said they are not likely staying in London after graduation — a slightly higher number than last year’s survey.

“I think London as a community has to come together to decide how to address this issue, and we haven’t done that yet,” said Sean Quigley, executive director of Emerging Leaders. “How do we address the issue of talent and how do we attract and retain that talent in our city? These will be the questions addressed at the Pre X conference.”

Emerging Leaders will be hosting the Pre X Conference on Saturday, November 16 at the Goodwill Centre in London — a free event open to anyone interested in bringing forth their ideas on the issue.

Many London organizations will be attendance, including members from Western’s University Students’ Council, Fanshawe’s Student Union, London Youth Advisory Council, and African Canadian Confederation of London.

Special guests include Keanin Loomis, CEO of Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, along with Alex Himelfarb, author of Tax is Not a Four-Letter Word, a book about tax cuts’ negative effects on the economy.

“We can pull together and work collectively, and students are incredibly valuable to that process,” Quigley said. “We need everybody’s energy, ideas and input.”

Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

Pat Whelan, USC president, will be in attendance representing Western’s voice on the issue.

“Our role is how to make London the best city to live in as a student,” Whelan said. “We [USC] work here to identify some of the issues that students are facing, from transportation to community relations.”

While the main objective for this conference is addressing the issue of student retention, Quigley stressed that London’s overall workforce needs improvement, as it is still recovering from the recession.

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thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Caught on Camera

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer Haida Liu GAZETTE

MAKE YOUR MARK. For International Week at Western, in the University Community Centre, students were invited to put a sticker on which country they were from and where they were planning to go.

New program to train TAs Lead TA program has TAs teaching TAs Julian Uzielli EDITOR-IN-CHIEF A new program for Western’s teaching assistants is aiming to improve the quality of teaching among grad students across campus.

The Lead TA program, run through Western’s Teaching Support Centre, has placed eight TAs in different faculties on campus whose full duties consist of training other TAs to be good teachers.

Western has around 1,500 TAs, a job that requires graduate students and PhD candidates to spend 140 hours per term teaching undergraduate students. While the Teaching Support Centre has existed for some time as a resource for TAs and professors alike, there was no department-specific training offered to TAs until now, said Nanda Dimitrov, associate director at the Teaching Support Centre. The Lead TA program, she explained, is about “getting it to where they are.”

“Sometimes TAs are more willing to attend something if it’s held right in their department, and they perceive that it’s relevant to them,” she explained.

Although having graduate and post-graduate students teach classes and tutorials is an essential part of many programs at Western, TAs are not officially required to have any instruction on teaching. Dimitrov argued, however, that while such a requirement might seem logical, it would actually be counterproductive for the Teaching Support Centre. “[Mandatory training] would not help because it’s something that they have to want to engage

Solution to puzzle on page 8

in, want to develop. Having unwilling participants in these workshops would negatively impact the climate of teaching,” she said.

Mel Atkins, a second-year PhD student in the Faculty of Education, is one of the eight TAs in the Lead TA program. She acknowledged that while there may have been problems in TA teaching quality at Western in the past, the new program is meant to address that.

“I know that the Lead TA program was actually designed to address the gap between, maybe the kind of teachers that graduate students want to be and the feedback they were already getting,” she said.

“Western is recognizing that there is a gap, and they’re putting forward a number of different ways to address it.”

The Society of Graduate Students praised the creation of the new program.

Kevin Godbout, SOGS president, saw the program as a positive step towards improving teaching quality.

“I think training is an important

component of becoming a TA, because I know that a lot of TAs — and again, it varies from department to department — are just sort of thrown into it. There is, of course, orientations that happened at the beginning of the year, largely led by the Teaching Support Centre […] Could there be more done? Of course,” he said.

“I think the LEAD TA program is a really good thing, and I think that Western and the TA union are both interested in seeing that expand, but right now it’s a pilot, so they’re trying it out.”

While the Lead TA program is still only in its first semester, Atkins was optimistic about its prospects.

At the end of the year, she said, the Teaching Support Centre will collect feedback from every session in the program, as well as focus groups and surveys, to see how well it worked.

“The nice thing about a researchintensive university is that we are big fans of data,” she laughed.

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thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

USC to propose CASA reform at next meeting Iain Boekhoff NEWS EDITOR A group of student government representatives from Ontario is looking to put forward reforms for the federal student lobby organization they are all members of.

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations will hold their general meeting next week and some proposals coming to the meeting will include institutional changes. These changes are coming from a group of Ontario universities, including Western’s University Students’ Council, University of Waterloo’s Federation of Students, the Brock University Students’ Union and the McMaster Students Union.

The plan was revealed at a meeting of the USC’s provincial and federal affairs standing committee last Thursday, when Amir Eftekarpour, vice-president external for the USC, said he was working with several other student governments to make CASA more effective, in their view.

“At the USC we do have some very grave concerns about CASA. Its policy is not very robust, it’s not been very effective,” Eftekarpour said at the meeting.

He noted CASA’s ineffectiveness was a concern for past years’ executives in their year-end reports.

The proposed reforms would

include having CASA policy papers include a vision along with recommendations, just like the Ontario Undergraduate Students Alliance does. Eftekarpour was hopeful they would go through, considering the proposal is coming from schools that make up one third of CASA’s budget.

Eftekarpour said if the changes did not go through, then the USC would look at other options — including possibly leaving. To leave CASA, it would take two negative reviews from the USC council, something that can be accomplished in the next two years since the automatic review last year was pushed back to this year. This means the two negative reviews would be completed this year and next, thereby ending the USC’s relationship with CASA. “We’re really looking at due diligence to do some effective reform because we think it is important to be lobbying federally, and CASA right now is the best place to do that, but if it’s not an effective body to start exploring alternatives,” Eftekarpour said.

Something the USC could do this year is vote to go down to associate member status with CASA, which would mean they lose a vote, but it would cost half as much in fees.

“We can’t keep spending $1.87

Megan Devlin GAZETTE

MI CASA ES SU CASA. USC vice-president external Amir Eftekarpour (right) is in talks with other Ontario student leaders to reform the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, a national student advocacy group.

per student and anywhere from six to $10,000 in travel costs that we have to pay for without really thinking about the use of that money,” Eftekarpour said.

Another possibility would be for the USC to join the Canadian

Higher education reforms Kevin Hurren OPINIONS EDITOR For once, the Canadian government is looking to the United States for guidance — at least when it comes to education.

At two conferences in Toronto this past week, members of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario and the Conference Board of Canada gathered to find problems and potential solutions in our post secondary schooling system.

Several innovative ideas were discussed, most of which were variations of strategies that have been found successful in other international schools.

For instance, one proposal came forward suggesting that Canadian colleges and universities receive funding based on a structure similar to that of schools in Tennessee.

Currently, Canadian schools are awarded government funding based on the number of students they accept. Thus, the more students a school takes in, the larger

its government payout.

Tennessee, however, functions off a performance based model.

Budgets are determined by the number of students receiving degrees, how long they take to do so, and how many find post-grad jobs.

Many at the conference feared an adoption of this payment method would encourage schools to accept only the highest performing students, but Russ Beaton of the Tennessee Higher Education Committee explained this concern holds little weight.

“Our model includes extra premiums for low income and adult students.” said Beaton, outlining that such potential students are worth 40 per cent more than an average high school graduate. This means that schools have an incentive to approach marginalized communities in addition to already high performing students.

“There’s also a concern among some folks that it’s too volatile — because all of the money is back up for grabs, so you have to earn your

dollars every year — but that’s a feature, not a bug in our judgment,” he said.

Not all proposals at the conference seemed as foolproof. For insta nce, not all considered a push for greater online and digital presence in courses as beneficial. “[Online classes] miss that human interaction, discussion, and feedback,” said Eileen Herteis, director of the Purdy Crawford Teaching and Learning Centre. “Lots of courses like philosophy or English that emphasize a seminar approach just aren’t suited to technology,” While Herteis believes that digital components allow for teaching advantages — like incorporating international speakers and more accessible education — she argued that class material is rarely understood and effectively applied when disseminated online.

“For me, the technology should never come first. Moving forward, student learning should always come first,” Herteis said.

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Federation of Students, but for that to happen, the USC would also have to become a member of their provincial lobby group as well. The USC is already a member of OUSA, a provincial lobby group.

Eftekarpour and the USC

declined to comment for this story, other than what was said at the public meeting. Other university student organizations contacted to comment for this story also either declined to comment or could not be reached for comment.

London seeks ways to retain talent, leaders >> LONDON continued from pg.1

to recognize and deal with,” Quigley said. “We have to consider that across the Canadian economy, the fastest growing sector is the service industries — that’s 45 per cent in London as a sector, 45 per cent in Ontario and 45 per cent in Canada.

Not only is it a London problem, but a national problem as well.”

These economic issues are reflected in the conference’s name, ‘Pre X Conference.’ “X is a variable and we live in variable times,” Quigley said. “We are not going to have a kind of economic growth that

we’ve previously had.”

After this weekend, Quigley expects to have a concrete series of steps before hosting the followup conference that will be held in March. From working on transportation and bike lanes to improving the arts and family life community, the Pre X Conference is intended to set the stage for London’s prosperity and long-term economic well being.

“Trying to share the best parts of the city with students is what we have been trying to do,” Whelan said. “There are some hidden gems out there that just don’t reach everyday student life.”

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thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Arts&Life

saywhat?

“You cannot blame porn. When I was young, I used to masturbate to Gilligan’s Island.”

— Ron Jeremy

Singing about GIFs and bioluminescent bears Brent Holmes ARTS & LIFE EDITOR What can fans expect from indie band Boats’ upcoming performance at Call the Office?

“Mandatory rabies shots,” promises Mat Klachefsky, lead singer of Boats.“You’ll have to get them afterwards, it’s going to be crazy.”

The Manitoba-based band started in 2004 and has released three albums during their 10-year history. Their most recent album, A Fairway Full of Miners, opens with “Animated GIFs”— a bizarre and hilarious song contrasting a higher pitched harmony with a much lower one and referencing Internet culture. “[Mixing these elements] just felt like the right thing to do,” Klachefsky says. “I think people are kind of afraid in indie rock to write songs about [social media and Internet technology]. It’s unavoidable.”

For Klachefsky, song writing is often a humourous process. The songs “Advice on Bears” and “Advice on Bioluminescent Bears” form a buddy pairing that became a structuring method for their latest album.

“It was kind of just a joke. I forget which one came first,” Klachefsky remarks. “I just thought people wrote too many songs about bears, so I thought I’d add two more. With

Photo courtesy of Mat Klachefsky

ADVICE ON BOATS. Manitoba indie band, Boats, will be bringing their distinctive style of music to London on November 30th. The band recommends bringing rabies vaccines promising a show that will be dangerously crazy.

the ‘Advice on Bears’ song, I knew that it already had a partner and then I worked out that there were another two songs that were very similar. I just decided to change the names of songs so that each song

had its counterpart.”

Boats will be bringing a wide collection of instruments with them on tour. Their music often incorporates unheard-of instruments brought in for a specific effect on songs — and

they bring all of them with them wherever they go.

“We try to bring everything [when we perform live]. Some guys really hate us because there’s so much crap on stage,” Klachefsky

jokes. “And we will play one thing once and then you’ll never hear it again — it’s just the one song. When I become a more skilled songwriter I’ll write songs with less bells and whistles with them, but for now I’ll keep masking my weaknesses with ridiculous instruments.”

Klachefsky and the band have already started the writing process for their next album. The group recently attended an indie band residence in the Banff Centre with indie artist Kevin Drew and will be bringing the songs with them to London.

“We were there for the first half of October, that was really enjoyable and we got a lot of work done. We will be playing some of the songs we wrote up there on the tour,” Klachefsky adds.

As Boats starts work on their next album, they are considering how they want to change things up and write fresh music.

“I think we are at a bit of a crossroads. If we do keep putting out albums, I think they are going to be very different, but we will see how it goes. I don’t have any plans for the short-term — just keep writing songs,” Klachefsky says.

Boats will be performing at Call the Office on November 30 at 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and will be $15 at the door.

Pokémon still the best like no one ever was Catching them all still a priority for the sixth generation of Pokémon David Cosman CONTRIBUTOR Pokémon X/Y GGGGH Nintendo Pokémon X / Y arrived to the Nintendo 3DS one month ago showing off how much life there is to the series. The series has gone through a massive update this time around with the addition of new battle mechanics and gameplay elements, while maintaining the classic and nostalgic experience that makes the games a joy to play. The sixth generation of the series begins with what is an incredibly addictive and amazing experience.

X / Y stays true to the heart of the series by being a simple, easyto-understand and fun experience that everyone can enjoy. The game does a fantastic job of teaching new players how to play while giving competitive players a new learning curve through the new battle mechanics. Everyone who picks this game up will be learning and adapting to something new, while at the same time it remains a great and easy-to-understand Pokémon experience.

The story takes place in the Kalos region, heavily based around French culture as is seen throughout the city’s architecture and the fashion styles of the characters. You don’t have to play the previous games to understand any of the stories, although there are references to the previous regions that fans of

Courtesy of Nintendo

the series will appreciate. Each one of your companions has their own goals and characteristics that give a slight variety to cast. Despite these positive attributes, the story feels and is essentially a recycle of a template that has worked before: You and your companions/rivals go on a journey to complete the Pokédex, beat all the eight gym leaders to become the best and occasionally battle the over-the-top mob team that wants to harness the power of

Pokémon to control the world. While the story is not original or spectacular, the simplicity of the plot does give X / Y charm.

That’s not to say there’s nothing new. The Kalos region has many routes, forests, caves, cities, towns and dungeons to explore, all in beautiful 3D environments and accompanied with new and familiar catchy music. Instead of simply picking your gender, you can now customize your avatar and change

your clothes to differentiate yourself from other players. You can interact, battle and trade with other players online and locally with anyone you pass by tapping their profile on the touch screen. The heart of Pokémon really lies in the battle system. It retains the same formula that has worked for the past 17 years and the 2 vs. 2 and 3 vs. 3 battle modes are still there. This new generation also introduces new Pokémon, items and abilities. New is the addition

of the Fairy type (who are immune to Dragon moves) and the revamp of Steel types (they no longer resist Ghost or Dark), drastically changing strategies and shifting the game.

It doesn’t matter if this is your first time playing Pokémon, if you used to play it on Game Boy when you were a child or if you are a Pokémon Master: Pokémon X/Y is a fantastic adventure and a superb game that will keep you entertained for a very long time.

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thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Procrastinating with porn Black women on SNL better be angry Breaking Bad

Bradley Metlin ARTS & LIFE EDITOR

Haida Liu GAZETTE

Jenny Jay GAZETTE STAFF Pornography often tends to be associated with a list of sins — seen as the most taboo genre in the world of film.

However, this may not always be justified.

“Pornography can be a healthy part of an individual’s sex life,” says Cynthia Galloway, registered sex therapist in London. “Depending on the type of pornography viewed, and provided its use does not interfere with work and school activities or other healthy pursuits.”

While individuals shouldn’t take this as means of justifying hours spent on various X-rated sites, it should be noted that the occasional indulgence in porn could in fact be beneficial for one’s sexual health.

On the other hand, indulging in porn may lead to cumpulsive viewing of it that, once it begins to affect an individual’s work, school or personal life, can be unhealthy for the individual and those around them.

“Some [individuals] spend hours every day compulsively switching from one porn site to another, neglecting social connections and activities,” Galloway says.

In some instances, individuals may even turn to porn to isolate them from the real world, especially when reality involves issues that they may have trouble dealing with.

“In some cases it is a matter of ‘procrasturbation,’ such as using masturbation to avoid homework, while others use pornography compulsively to avoid dealing with other negative emotions,” Galloway explains.

While procrastination tends to be one of the most common habits with students, “procrasturbation” may lead to consequences not just with the books, but in the bedroom too.

“What sometimes happens though is that individuals turn to pornography for sexual release instead of turning to their partners because partners, frankly, are more work,” Galloway says.

If individuals are ever looking for an easy way to scorn their partner, this would be it.

“Many women find it hurtful when they are ready and willing to be sexual,” Galloway explains. “But their partners are turning to Internet pornography instead.”

The only thing that may be worse is the expectation that individuals

live up to the standards of a porn star. While these actors can go on for hours, expecting the same from the average individual isn’t realistic. “[Individuals] believe they are sexually dysfunctional when they are perfectly normal but have distorted ideas about what sex should be like from viewing pornography,” These unrealistic expectations can eventually lead to problems in a relationship or between sexual partners. Even if an individual does not watch porn, they may be subject to these standards if one person in the relationship uses it as a guideline.

Another aspect to consider is that while some couples use porn as a way to stimulate their sex lives, some women find it gender-offensive.

“Some women are ethically opposed to pornography out of the belief that it is degrading to women and object to any pornography use at all by their partners,” Galloway says.

According to Galloway, while most porn tends to aim to please the generic desires of males, it is suggested that women opposed to porn should look for porn catered to their interests instead.

The World of Saturday Night Live has produced a wide variety of characters throughout its long and sordid history. From the Coneheads to the Target Lady, SNL knows how to keep us all laughing. Yet, there’s something almost suspicious about this array of characters­­— much like the landscape of London these past few days, it’s pretty white.

There have only been four black women on the cast of SNL throughout its 38-year history: Yvonne Hudson, Danitra Vance, Ellen Cleghorne and Maya Rudolph.

With the exception of Rudolph, who was light skinned enough to play white, Asian and black characters, these other three women have been relegated to playing stereotypical images of black women. Vance played a 17-year-old, named after an infamous housing project, with two children. Cleghorne played a woman, dressed in traditional African garb, who would spew her loud opinions pretty aggressively.

Not only has there been a lack of black women on the cast but there’s also a lack of black female hosts.

There have been only nine instances of a black woman host. Interestingly enough, Whoopi Goldberg, arguably the most influential black entertainer in the past 20 years is absent.

Goldberg has gone on record saying this beef about a lack of a black woman on the cast is 15 years late.

To rectify this situation, the folks at SNL thought the best solution was to offer a hot, Emmy nominated

actress the hosting gig this past Sunday. Kerry Washington was very compelling as a host but the race rock was not left unturned. They tackled it head on; bringing attention to the fact that SNL is a pretty unforgiving place for black women.

Herein lies my problem. SNL is being ridiculously irresponsible with their lack of black women in their cast history. They have a situation where black men have to wear drag in order to portray people like Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. To have them mock their discriminatory practices is disgusting.

Yes, I said it. When you have current cast member Kenan Thompson say there have been no black women talented enough who have auditioned, you have to raise an eyebrow.

When executive producer Lorne Michaels says “it will happen” to multiple media sources, after hiring six new cast members — all white and one woman — you have to wonder.

Why couldn’t Tina Fey be black?

I’m serious. Why could there not have been an intelligent woman on SNL who played multi-layered characters? Are you trying to tell me none exist?

I find it absolutely outrageous that no black women have been on the cast since 2007. I find it crazy that when black women are allowed on the SNL stage, they’re relegated to stereotypes. This fills me with rage — if I was a black woman, this would be perfect to slightly increase my slim chances to be on SNL.

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OPEN HOUSE A Farewell to Arms (1929) Ernest Hemingway This Thursday we’re throwing all the way back to 1929 when Ernest Hemingway had his legendary novel A Farewell to Arms published.

Of course, like many of his books, Hemingway based A Farewell to Arms on his own experiences fighting in World War I. Only Hemingway could experience such horrors, passion and love and convey it in his frank and terse manner.

The story follows Frederic Henry, an American fighting for the Italians in World War I as he falls in love with the nurse Catherine Barkley who cares for him after being wounded.

It has all the elements of a classic:

War, action, passionate romance, and tragedy.

Oh, the tragedy. A Farewell to Arms has undoubtedly one of the saddest, most heart-rending endings in literary history. Hemingway pulls no punches with this story, and if you desire to have your heartstrings tugged, this is a great book to do so with.

It’s excellently written, with a stark, straightforward plot that still manages to be captivating. Grab a glass of whisky, kick back, and indulge yourself in this classic. Just make sure you have a box of tissues handy to deal with the inevitable tears.

— Cam Smith

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thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Opinions

A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one.

— Aristotle

London asking Outdone by an underdog the wrong questions Wrath of McGrath

Poor London. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Thousands of students choose to uproot themselves for years and come to London to study at one of its fine postsecondary institutions, but unfortunately for Forest City, they don’t seem to be staying.

However, asking why students don’t stay bespeaks a lapse in logic. There is another question that needs to be answered first — why should students stay?

Many students simply go home after their university or college career is over. As job prospects become scarcer, more and more students are reverting to living at home after graduation to save money and find employment. Additionally, some student may choose to explore post-graduate studies in other cities or countries.

But even for those applying to jobs and looking to start their careers after graduation day, the same question applies — why should they stay in London? There aren’t enough career opportunities in the city for students to restrict themselves from looking elsewhere, so what else is there to keep students?

The truth is that there’s nothing wrong with London.

It’s a city that has some very nice parts and some not sogreat-parts. It definitely is not lacking in accommodation, entertainment or things to do, but neither is it overflowing with these things. London is a lot like a dozen other medium-sized cities in Ontario — it has one of everything and two or more of very few. It lacks an individual character that entices visiting students to put down roots.

If one is from London, there is every reason to stay in this very livable city. But to transitory residents, “livable” isn’t enticing — not when other cities like Vancouver or Toronto offer seemingly endless possibilities. London is a place that will do if necessary, but picking it over Montreal seems like limiting oneself.

That’s the important part. Yes, London is livable, but what else is it? London is like a “nice guy” looking for a girlfriend.

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with him, but who’s going to choose him when there’s a metaphorical astronaut who speaks four languages and can cook just two hours down the highway? Even if said astronaut can be a little rough, the excitement he provides is way more enticing than just a nice guy.

The question shouldn’t be why do students leave London.

The question should be why should they stay in the first place?

—The Gazette Editorial Board

thegazette

Volume 107, Issue 38 www.westerngazette.ca

Julian Uzielli Editor-In-Chief Cameron M. Smith Deputy Editor Jason Sinukoff Managing Editor

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Kaitlyn McGrath ASSOCIATE SLEDITOR It’s official. A dog named Rupee is more accomplished than me, and — I’ll be blunt — probably most of you.

Yesterday morning news broke that a dog named Rupee successfully climbed to the top of Mount Everest. That’s right — a damn dog reached the highest peak on earth. And the only thing I accomplished yesterday was not slipping on the ice on my walk to school.

Okay, I didn’t even do that — I completely wiped out outside Somerville House, which I’m sure would never, ever happen to Rupee.

And here’s another thing; scaling the highest peak is not even the most astounding part of this dog’s life story.

According to an article in the Daily Mail, a newspaper from the United Kingdom, at one point, Rupee was a stray living in an India dump. The down-on-his-luck pup was eight months old, starving and barely clinging to life when his current

owner Joanne Lefson rescued him.

In fact, in the article Lefson was quoted as saying she thought Rupee “couldn’t have had more than an hour to live” when she found him.

Okay, so not only did this dog achieve something that only a very small fraction of the human population ever will, but Rupee came back from the brink of death to do that.

Oh — if that’s not enough for you to question why you should even bother doing anything, he’s also super cute.

Rupee is the classic underdog story, literally. He is not only a survivor, but also when life dealt him a bad hand he spit it back in its face. And I have one thing to say — seriously Rupee? You’re making us all look bad.

I’ve been in the midst of a cover-letter writing blitz for future jobs. Recently, one application asked me to discuss any travel experience I have and, if applicable, discuss some of my extraordinary accomplishments.

But because I’ve lived an extraordinarily average life, I promptly tried to play up my ability to multi-task and meet tight deadlines, hoping that would distract the prospective employer from my lack of life accomplishments.

But I can just imagine how an interview would go:

So Kaitlyn, we noticed you didn’t mention any big accomplishments — you do know a dog just climbed Mount Everest, what have you done?

There’s no reply I can think of because I would immediately show myself out.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a tad sensational and the story of a dog climbing a mountain doesn’t have to result in a spiral of self-doubt. But it has left me contemplating my vanilla lifestyle.

It’s often tasks that you never imagined you’d complete or places you never thought you’d visit that end up being the experiences that colour your life the most. But that’s never really been how I approached life.

For the better part of five years, I’ve gone through my existence with blinders on, staring straight ahead at my future goals and ignoring opportunities for experiences that might provide more than just another point on my resume.

But I’m going to challenge myself — and all of you — to try and live life outside the bounds, at least a little bit. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but today I learned a valuable lesson from a dog.

He seized life and it’s about time I try doing that too.

After all, if Rupee can climb Mount Everest then surely I can manage to do something.

fighting, the nameless innocent victims they met or discovered.

Some even remember the enemy they had fought, captured or killed.

They remember too that these people also had family and friends, and knowing the small margin of fate, fortune, or divine providence which allowed them to be the ones who survived.

The poppy, despite your claims of being a symbol of war, is a universal representation of those lost and the numberless dead killed in violence. We wear it as a sign of respect and as a call to remember. To commit a small amount of your active day to reflect, take pause, and give thanks to those who died to safeguard this country. To pray for the dead of all wars, and to hope for a better future without war.

— Matthew Gillies

at least a rung above that of Sun Media, but articles like this one put such a idea into doubt.

Crack cocaine may be Ford’s idea of a good time, but the drug itself is historically one of the most horrific repercussions of a violent drug trade. Not only has it crippled cities like Baltimore and Chicago, but it has also produced an endless pattern of gang violence in Toronto itself.

Ford’s contemptible buffoonery is not some peripheral scandal. It is an insult to all neighbourhoods and cities corroded by the drug. Likewise, it is shameful that he can get away with such an act while teachers in the GTA must persuade highrisk youth that they can make positive changes in politics and, you know, not decide to resort to the drug trade.

Ford has lied to the public and it has even been revealed that he hired a hacker to erase the content of the illicit video.

To peg the Star for “tabloid journalism” by revealing that a politician broke the law on several occasions really puts into question what you — as a journalist — are currently arguing.

But hey, I’m sure that your ham-fisted jabs at Trudeau junior and your indifference towards vehement corruption will open up a lot of opportunities for quality journalism, but then again, I’m not too sure if the Sun News Network will be hiring anytime soon.

— Phil James

Letters to the Editor

Poppy will forever be a sign of peace Re: “The Poppy: Patriotism or Propaganda?” Tuesday, November 12, 2013.

To the Editor: First, let me say that any association between the poppy and the glorification of war in Canada’s or the other Commonwealth nations’ Remembrance/ Armistice Day commemorations is based upon misconceptions rooted in ignorance — whether willful or innocent.

The poppy has ever and shall remain a symbol of peace, loss, and sacrifice.

There is no glorification of war associated with wearing it. Indeed, it reminds us today of the wholesale slaughter of an entire generation in the senseless conflict that was the Great War. And, if you or anyone else were to speak to veterans of the Second World War (a more purposeful conflict), or those who served in Korea, or peacekeepers in Afghanistan, they would tell you the poppy represents the comrades they lost.

One veteran from WWII on CTV News is quoted saying that each year he names his poppy after a friend killed in action.

For other veterans, they wear the poppy in remembrance for other victims of

Editorials are decided by a majority of the editorial board and are written by a member of the editorial board but are not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial board member. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff.

To submit a letter, go to westerngazette.ca and click on “Contact.”

All articles, letters, photographs, graphics, illustrations and cartoons published in The Gazette, both in the newspaper and online versions, are the property of The Gazette. By submitting any such material to The Gazette for publication, you grant to The Gazette a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to publish such material in perpetuity in any media, including but not limited to, The Gazette‘s hard copy and online archives.

History IV

Ford should not be excused Re: “Robbing Rob of his privacy.”

Wednesday, November 13, 2013.

To the Editor: Iain, your opinion piece defending Rob Ford’s crack use is laughable at best. For a university publication, I would hope that The Gazette would put out content

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising Ian Greaves, Manager Maja Anjoli-Bilic

Diana Watson

Gazette Staff 2013-2014

Christine Bonk, Hamza Tariq, Stephanie Grella, Kevin Heslop, Lily Robinson, Sara Mai Chitty, Taylor Lasota, Anne Wozney, Nathan Kanter, Emory Liu, Jenny Jay, Jonathan Dunn, Sam Frankel, Cheryl Madliger, Josh Teixera

News Richard Raycraft Megan Devlin Iain Boekhoff Jeremiah Rodriguez Arts & Life Brent Holmes Mary Ann Ciosk Bradley Metlin Sports Daniel Weryha Nusaiba Al-Azem Caitlin Martin Newnham Opinions Kevin Hurren

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Associate Kaitlyn McGrath Aaron Zaltzman Photography Logan Ly Bill Wang Kelly Samuel Graphics Naira Ahmed Illustrations Christopher Miszczak John Prata Online Jesica Hurst Graphics/Video Mike Laine

• Please recycle this newspaper •

•7

thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Sports

tweet of the week Thanks to all my family, friends, and fans for all the well wishes! I will be back as soon as possible!!

>> Steven Stamkos, (@RealStamkos91) the Tampa Bay Lightning’s star forward, on his recent injury.

Rundown >> Mustangs wrestling phenomenon Steven Takahashi was honoured at Rideau Hall for his academic accomplishments > Takahashi is one of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s top eight Academic All-Canadians.

‘Stangs end the season with a silver medal Head coach retires, cross-country at crossroads Nusaiba Al-Azem SPORTS EDITOR This past Saturday marked a happy ending in many respects for the Mustangs cross-country team. The team ended their season on a high note at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship meet in London.

The event also marked Mustangs’ head coach Bob Vigars’ end of his professional career due to retirement. Additionally, many of the top runners similarly bid their cross-country student athletic time goodbye with fondness.

The women’s team, entering the meet in second place provincially, maintained their silver position while the men’s team finished 10th overall. Additionally, two Mustangs — Amanda Truelove and Gracy Kary — were named All-Canadians.

“I have been close to being an AllCanadian in the past, so being able to finally pull it off in my last year was a great way to end my varsity cross-country career,” Kary said.

Truelove, who finished sixth out of 141 runners, reflected upon her performance positively.

“I am truly ecstatic about the results from this past weekend,” Truelove said. “Individually, it was a great honour to be named First Team All Canadian. Team-wise, I couldn’t have been more proud of all of the girls. Everyone stepped up and ran a great race to secure the silver medal. It was a very successful weekend, and it was made even more special given that it was coach Bob Vigars’ last meet as the head coach of Western cross-country.”

Kevin Blackney, who helped

Everyone stepped up and ran a great race to secure a silver medal. It was a very successful weekend, and it was made even more special given that it was Coach Bob Vigars’ last meet as the Head Coach of Western CrossCountry.

— Mustangs’ Amanda Truelove

Courtesy of Geoff Robins

RUN FORREST, RUN. Mustangs Becky Pieterson (right) and Amanda Truelove (left) racing on Saturday in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship. The team came in second place.

lead the men’s team to their 10th place victory, expressed similar sentiments.

“As a fourth-year athlete I could not be happier to run my best performance as a Mustang on what could be my last ever cross-country race for the university at the biggest possible competition, not to mention for the last race coached by the legendary Bob Vigars,” he said.

Vigars was named CIS Head Coach of the Year, an honour he felt

was merited.

“I think [the coaches voting] recognized that [the team] had improved. I mean last year we were the bronze medalists and this year we were the silver medalists, plus two weeks ago we were only ranked third in the country. We started off ranked second but then we dropped down to third for the longest period of time. So for us to kind of show up and maintain our position at the national championship when it’s

easy to cave in, maybe that’s what they considered,” Vigars said of the award. “What a gift to have retiring with.”

Vigars remains optimistic about the program and its new beginnings.

“I know it’s in good hands from a coaching perspective because one of my former athletes, and he’s been a long time coach with me, Guy Schultz, [...] he’s going to be my successor and he’s a great coach. The athletes love him [and] he knows his

stuff very well,” Vigars said.

“He’ll be at the helm. I just hope that our athletic department honours and respects not only Guy, but honours and respects the fact that cross-country at Western has won more national titles than any other sport.”

Vigars identified lack of expectation as the key to gleaning results.

“I’ve learned as a coach, as a former athlete, as a professor, teacher, that expectations are often not good things to have when you’re trying to achieve a particular goal at a particular time, whether it be getting good marks on an exam, getting a particular job — in this case, our athletes trying to get a particular performance at a particular time.

They tend to put a lot of pressure on you,” he explained.

“We didn’t have expectations, but what we did have was goals and what we’d hoped we could achieve.

And it was so fantastic for me that all those hopes, all those things we strived to get, we did.”

Courtesy of Geoff Robins

Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

JILL AND JILL WENT DOWN A HILL. Amanda Truelove leads the pack this past Saturday at the CIS national meet in London.

She placed sixth out of 141 runners to earn First Team All-Canadian status.

8•

thegazette • Thursday, November 14, 2013

Mustangs should remain hopeful for future Returning vets and young guns give Western talented team Bryn McDonnell CONTRBUTOR The Western Mustangs baseball season ended a few weekends ago in heartbreaking fashion. After finishing a promising regular season with the second best record in Ontario University Athletics and posting a team record 17 wins, the Mustangs lost their first two games of a double elimination playoff tournament.

After dropping the first game of the playoffs to the Guelph Gryphon’s 10–1, the Mustangs put together a strong effort in game two against the Brock Badgers. Taking the mound for Western was Second Team AllCanadian pitcher Owen Boone, who posted a 5–0 record and a 1.70 ERA. Western jumped out to an early 3–0 lead after just two innings and appeared to have complete control of the game. But Brock battled back, stringing together hits and cutting the lead to 3–2 after the fourth. The game stayed that way until Boone left the game, and Brock again kept making contact with the ball and capitalized on Western errors.

A three-run sixth inning gave Brock the lead, and after adding an additional two runs in the eighth, the Mustangs fate was sealed in a 7–3 defeat.

While the season didn’t end the way the Mustangs players and coaches expected, there were some highlights to take from it. “[It] was a great improvement from the start where we started 3–4, and then put together an 11 game win streak […] we have a young team and took some time to put it

Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

together,” said Mustangs’ secondbaseman Simon Weisz, whose spectacular play thoughout the season earned him both first-team OUA Allstar and second team All-Canadian nods.

Despite the Mustangs losing some notable veterans for the

upcoming season, such as Weisz and former Pitcher of the Year Adam Paish, there is no need for Mustangs fans to worry.

With a good core of young players and a coaching staff Weisz believes fans can expect another successful upcoming season.

Oilers looking to Bryz Wild Danimal

Daniel Weryha SPORTS EDITOR The Edmonton Oilers acquired Illya Bryzgalov on Sunday after completing a trade that moved Oilers’ defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Calgary Flames. The deal cleared a $3.5-million cap hit and allowed the Oilers to sign Bryzgalov to a oneyear, $2-million contract.

The Oilers have reached a point in their season where decisions need to be made. The expectations were high for this young Oilers team and they’ve done nothing more than disappoint. The Oilers are 4–13–2, they have the ninth lowest goalsper-game average and the highest goals-against average. While their inability to put pucks in the net is somewhat disconcerting, their ability to keep them out is substantially worse.

Ladislav Smid is one of the Oilers’ top defensive defencemen. In 17 games played he has one of the best plus-minuses out of all the Oilers’ defencemen. However, he still sits in the minus column. At this point, the Oilers management is looking at their defensive core and seeing a unit where no player is irreplaceable.

With his cap hit, Smid was expendable. The Oilers do not have a single defensive pivot so build around.

With the lowest GAA in the league, change has to start from

the net out. When you think of the National Hockey League’s past three Stanley Cup champions — the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and the Boston Bruins — you see the results of defensive and netminding prowess.

While he may have struggled with the Philadelphia Flyers, Bryzgalov has had seasons where he’s shown flashes of elite-like play. In his final two seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes, Bryzgalov had a 78–40 record and posted a 2.38 GAA. Even in his two seasons with the Flyers he finished with an above .500 record.

Devin Dubnyk has failed to show any sign of being able to compete at the NHL level. He falls short when his team needs him to perform, and if the Oilers expect to turn their season around, “Scooby-Dubnyk” is not the answer.

Bryzgalov offers experience and the possibility of some solid net minding down the stretch. The Oilers have a core of young offensive stars that need to be kept in games by defence and goaltending. The team can’t expect their young stars to score four goals a game in order to outscore their opponent. The Oilers can’t afford to have another tanking season. This change moves the team in the right direction. A timeshare is definitely in store for these goaltenders, but expect Bryzgalov to eventually take the majority of the team’s starts.

UCC Rm.263

Come Volunteer

“One area that is a strength with Western is pitching, and we have one of the best [coaching] staffs in Ontario if not all of Canada […]

I think the fans can expect a team that picks up from where we left off.”

With a young core of players returning the Mustangs hope to

return to glory. And while the season concluded in surprising fashion, the team will again field another extremely talented team, which will brings high hopes and expectations into the coming season next fall.

(Disclaimer: Bryn McDonnell is on the baseball team).

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For solution, turn to page 2