Wednesday, October 9, 2013

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Still perfect at home!

The Mustangs Men’s lacrosse team defeated Laurentian 11-5 to remain undefeated at Alumni Stadium >> pg. 7

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

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CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906

VOLUME 107, ISSUE 21

Fire at campus tennis domes OUSA, USC fight Flames erupted just before noon yesterday

tuition deferral fees Megan Devlin NEWS EDITOR

Logan Ly GAZETTE

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, THERE’S TENNIS. No injuries were reported after a fire broke out at the university’s tennis domes.

Players were evacuated by Campus Police and the London Fire Department took several hours to contain the fire in the domes.

Richard Raycraft NEWS EDITOR A fire broke out at the tennis domes on Perth Drive across from Talbot College yesterday just before noon.

Emergency services responded and at the time of writing were still attempting to douse the flames for good.

No injuries have been reported.

Ryan Austin, a sergeant with the Campus Community Police Service, was the first to arrive at the domes.

He explained the conditions as he arrived at the scene.

“When we arrived the building was basically full of smoke,” he explained. “We still had a few people inside the bubble itself playing tennis, so we evacuated everyone out of the building.”

“The fire and the smoke inside the building was quite heavy at that point, so really our goal at that point was to make sure to get everyone out of the building and to a safe distance so that [the fire department] could get in and do their job,” he continued.

The London Fire Department arrived shortly after, engaging in a primary inspection upon entry to ensure that everyone had been evacuated to safety.

“Upon arrival the fire fighters were met with heavy smoke conditions. They made entry and did a primary search, made sure there

That’s just something to remind people that if there’s a fire alarm going off, they need to get out of the building immediately because things get out of control really, really quickly.”

— Ryan Austin

Campus police sergeant

were no occupants within the structure at the time,” Jim Jessop, deputy chief of the Fire Department, said.

“There are no injuries at this time — the primary search has indicated all-clear, and we’re still engaged in active fire-suppression activities at this time.”

Jessop explained that the oxygen of the domes was feeding the fire, making it more difficult to fight.

“The suppression of the fire is being compounded with the fact of the pressured domes right now that are feeding the fire with the oxygen,” he said. “We’re slowly decompressing the domes to ensure that we can save them.”

The fire fighters were attempting

to cut through the roof of the building between the domes in order to douse the fire still raging through it, but the construction of the roof made this difficult.

“The fire fighters are having a tough time but they’re doing a great job getting through the roof,” Jessop said. “Our biggest concern is trying to minimize the damage to the owners at this time.”

The origin of the fire is currently unknown, but the Fire Department will be investigating further.

“We have an investigator on scene right now, obviously it’s way too early to be determined,” Jessop explained. “The office of the Fire Marshal has been notified, and it’s not determined if they’re going to attend at the scene, but London Fire will be investigating once the fire has been suppressed.”

For Austin, the intensity of the blaze and the speed at which it expanded serve as a safety warning.

“What seems like a small bit of smoke at the beginning very rapidly turns into such thick smoke that you can’t even see where you’re going,” he said. “I really sort of got out of the building at the end by touch, because I couldn’t see anymore.”

“That’s just something to remind people that if there’s a fire alarm going off they need to get out of the building immediately because things get out of control really, really quickly.”

The Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities has released a proposal combatting unfair tuition deadlines, ancillary fees, and flat tuition fees that target students in financial need.

Western’s tuition deadline is August 3, the earliest in Ontario and a full month before students in financial need receive their loans from the Ontario Student Assistance Program.

Melissa Fox, a fourth-year English and Women’s Studies student, ran into trouble with Western’s strict tuition deadlines this year.

Fox receives full coverage from OSAP, but she received an e-mail Saturday informing her she hadn’t paid her full tuition. The e-mail said if she didn’t pay she would be taken out of her classes — essentially kicked out of school.

“That was a shock to me because, as someone who’s received full coverage from OSAP for the past three years, I assumed that since this year I had full coverage and it would all just go right to my tuition,” Fox said.

However, Fox discovered she still owed Western $800.

Her shortfall happened because Western allows students to defer 30 per cent of their tuition payment until January. But OSAP grants are split up 60 per cent now, 40 per cent later.

This leaves students like Fox to come up with the 10 per cent difference on their own.

“They kept on saying to me, ‘Why don’t you just borrow the money from your parents?’ And that is something that is not financially possible for me to do,” Fox said.

If students do choose to defer, they must pay a $56 deferral fee — plus a possible $124 late fee — to do so.

“If your tuition is due a month before OSAP comes out, people who rely on OSAP don’t have money at that time. So they are forced to pay a deferral fee,” said Amir Eftekarpour, vice-president external for the University Students’ Council and president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.

“It’s unfair to levy those fees on students when they simply don’t have money […] It’s illogical. It’s unfair,” Eftekarpour continued.

Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

The proposal put forward by the Ministry would abolish deferral fees across the province, and reduce late tuition interest to a maximum of one per cent.

In addition, should the proposal pass, universities will not be able to charge late fees on tuition until after OSAP has been released.

In a study last year, 58 per cent of Western students reported having to pay an examination fee in class — meaning they had to pay extra to be evaluated, such as being charged for a mandatory online access code in order to do a quiz.

“We think that’s unfair because you pay tuition to be evaluated, to go to class, to get your degree. If you’re getting charged again to be evaluated that’s just not fair,” Eftekarpour said.

The proposition also changes the minimum full-time course threshold to 4.0 credits across Ontario. Western currently charges full-time tuition for students taking 3.5 credits or more.

However, Eftekarpour was disappointed the proposal didn’t go with a pay-by-credit model.

A representative from Western was not available for comment by press time, but Keith Marnoch, media relations director for Western, said a spokesperson would respond in the coming days.

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thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Caught on Camera

Haida Liu GAZETTE

JEWELRY SALE. Colourful rings, necklaces, and arm candy are being sold on the main level of the UCC from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. this week. There are some great deals to be had — come pick your pieces and get dressed for fall.

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

News Briefs

Toll roads in London?

Although London’s transportation network may be bothersome to some — as anyone who takes the bus can testify — not many realize the drastic financial situation behind the city’s ailing transport network. London may be considering toll roads as part of a “basket” of options as city hall scrambles to cover a massive transport network shortfall.

The shortfall, currently worth $34 million, is on the rise and by 2022 could reach an astronomical $640 million.

This grim prospect came to light after mayor Joe Fontana, along with other Ontario mayors, examined different revenue tools, including road tolls, to combat municipal shortfalls around the province.

“Municipalities are strapped, getting nine cents on the tax dollar and [the provincial and federal governments] expect us to do all of this work on infrastructure but they don’t want to give us the tools or the money,” Fontana said.

“We have indicated that we need

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some new revenue tools that may include tolls as a way of funding infrastructure, as well as other tools such as a portion of the HST rules and laws that Toronto has.”

When asked about the possibility of road tolls, Joni Baechler, Ward 5 councillor, said she thought they were unlikely. “I don’t think there is any likelihood of council supporting road tolls,” she said, adding that the idea was “ridiculous.”

The shortfall comes from the difference between what London spends and what is necessary to spend on the ailing transportation system.

—Luke Sabourin

London housing market grows, sort of The London housing market surged in September according to statistics released by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

In September, 260 new housing projects broke ground compared to only 128 in September 2012.

Amongst the 260 projects, 148 were apartment units, 26 were row-housing units, 84 were single detached units, and two were semidetached units.

Although London real estate may seem to be on an optimistic swing, the reality of the numbers is not as positive as it appears.

“The increase is due to an increase in the number of apartment starts. In a market such as London, apartment starts do not follow any regular cycle. It just so happened that September was the month where apartments were started which boosted the number of starts,” Alexander Bonnyman, a senior market analyst for CMHC, explained.

The increase in September has compensated for the sluggish annual start in total housing projects.

“Overall, the market is as steady as it goes — things were slow at the beginning of the year and the numbers in September have normalized the number to 2012 levels,” Bonnyman said.

—Emory Liu

Modern women rejecting homemaker role Look around during your next walk through campus and you may very well notice the population of women outweighing that of men. According to a new analysis of various research studies, this may be because professional aspirations of women have been shaped from as early as their elementary school education.

“Very few of these girls see themselves as full-time homemakers,” Nicole Fortin, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia said. According to her research, there have also been changes within the marriage patterns of these women, showing that well-educated women are more likely to be paired with less-educated men, and that less-educated women struggle to find partners.

Should a young male achieve poor grades at an earlier age, it’s possible for those results to branch into visits to the principal. According to the study, for the girls in the classroom that witnessed their classmate’s actions, the possibility of earning a post-secondary degree may very much be more likely for them.

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•3

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

UCC gets its ghoul on with new store Julian Uzielli EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Just when you thought the basement of the University Community Centre couldn’t get any more terrifying — what with that horrific microwave and all — it’s about to get a whole lot scarier.

Opening today, Mustang Halloween will be haunting the basement of the UCC for the month of October to provide students with all their Halloween costume needs — though you’ll still have to load up on pumpkin beer elsewhere.

“I saw that a Halloween costume store was open downtown on Richmond last year or the year before, and there was just crazy demand, and so many students wanted it, so I wanted to think ‘how could I get the same priced costumes that they’re going to have, but bring it right to the UCC?” Chris Janssen, co-founder of the store, said. “I just wanted to give this a shot, and I really saw an opportunity here — a ton of students love Halloween costumes.”

Janssen, a recent Ivey grad, and his former classmate Alex Jepsen started the store with the help of BizInc, the “business incubator” program run by the University Students’ Council that helps

students get their business ideas off the ground.

“We have the storefront, and it’s available to any student who has an idea for a business that they want to test in front of customers, so the pop up store changes as often as we have someone who wants to use it,” John Pollock, a spokesperson for BizInc, said.

The store will stock everything from coloured contacts to morphsuits — full-body, skintight suits that leave only the wearer’s face to the imagination.

“We do have probably 50 different coloured morphsuits — the business suit morphsuit is my favourite one,” Janssen said.

The pop-up store will only last until October 31, but Jannsen said if everything goes according to plan, this won’t be the last we see of the shop.

“If it goes well and a lot of students are checking out the store — I know we’ve already had a ton of people asking about it — if this goes well we’d definitely consider doing it in future years at different universities and things like that,” he said.

“We’re probably going to be around for St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll have the whole store green for two weeks.”

—With files from Megan Devlin

Kelly Samuel GAZETTE

LTC hopes to improve with BRT Proposal before city council for fast buses

Taylor Lasota GAZETTE

Hamza Tariq GAZETTE STAFF A bus-rapid transit system is in the pipeline to address London’s transportation woes.

On Monday, the BRT was included in the recent London 2030 Transportation Master Plan, and was discussed during a meeting of the civic works committee.

The BRT system would achieve better transit times, be beneficial for the environment by conserving energy and reducing greenhouse gases, attract citizens to use public transport more, increase property values and attract future development. “[BRT] maximizes existing infrastructure and it provides for more efficient travel between point A and point B,” said Larry Ducharme, general manager of the London Transit Commission.

At the meeting, Ducharme denounced the London transit system for providing “poor service” in a surprising admission that echoed common complaints.

“We have fundamentally outgrown the capacity of the system,” Ducharme said. “We have unmet demands in terms of service

expectations of well over 200,000 hours that we simply can’t afford to put in to address under this current system design, it’s inefficient and ineffective.”

“It is a much bigger city — so the city in geographical size has grown by two and half times — so you’re providing less hours to more people and in a bigger area,” he explained.

According to Ducharme, a lot of the service challenges will be addressed by the BRT and it can redefine London’s transportation.

The new transit system, if approved, can make pilot appearances, like the BRT Lite by 2015, and a proper start potentially by 20162017, according to Ducharme.

Inadequate funding plays a big role in the current crisis of the transit system, with buses now leaving behind passengers due to overcrowding, according to Sean Quigley, executive director at Emerging Leaders London.

He added that increase in taxation and more funding for the transit services is needed if the city is to build and operate a new rapid transit system, and the federal and provincial governments also need to come through.

A transit system which would

Whoddunit? Filthy microwave cleaned Katilyn McGrath ASSOCIATE EDITOR The heat is off. The microwave in the University Community Centre has been cleaned.

Last week, The Gazette reported the grisly state of a microwave located in the basement of the UCC. The interior of the microwave, which is the only one in the building accessible to students, was covered in hardened food and many students were upset over its repulsive state.

Both the University Students’ Council and Hospitality Services said they did not own the microwave and were therefore not responsible for its upkeep.

However, yesterday, The Gazette discovered the machine had been thoroughly cleaned and the interior is free of all stains. The putrid smell, too, has subsided.

But the case of the microwave spins on because the person who cleaned it is unknown.

Lisa Johnson, Hospitality

allow citizens to move efficiently will attract young professionals and entrepreneurs, according to Tyler Sutton, senior research analyst at Emerging Leaders.

“With London in a position to leverage funds from senior levels of government to help finance the BRT system, this project should be implemented in a financially sustainable way,” Sutton said.

“As cities across Canada compete for the best and brightest talent, London cannot afford to think short-term on transit,” he continued.

“We anticipate the movement of people will benefit the environment and reduce financial impact on road maintenance and growth,” Joe Swan, Ward 3 councillor, said. “It is a worthy project that needs to be well-planned now so future generations are not gridlocked by traffic in the future.”

“Rapid transit will benefit the city by providing an alternative method of moving people that is fast, efficient and will reduce congestion and the cost of building an expanded roadway system,” Joni Baechler, Ward 5 councillor, added.

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MESSY NO MORE. After The Gazette’s article Friday, the microwave in the basement of the UCC was cleaned. But just as no one claimed it was their microwave to clean, no one is claiming responsibility for having done the deed.

Services’ assistant manager of the UCC, said she did not know who wiped down the machine.

“I’m not aware of any of our staff cleaning it,” she said.

The USC also did not take credit for the appliance’s spotless condition.

Fourth-year foods and nutrition student Natalie Bolichowski, who sent the initial email informing The Gazette about the microwave’s state, is pleased the problem has been solved.

“I am happy that someone has gone out of their way to clean the

microwave,” she said in an e-mail.

With no rightful owner and an anonymous caretaker, much intrigue still surrounds the basement microwave. But at least, for now, the mystery stains are gone.

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4•

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Arts&Life

word of the day Pernicios.

Adjective. Having a harmful effect, esp. in a gradual or subtle way.

Eight cups a day keeps the body ok Jenny Jay GAZETTE STAFF The axiom of “drink eight glasses of water a day” is notorious for the health-conscious. And recently, in an effort to reduce obesity rates, there has been a further push to ensure that individuals are drinking their recommended daily quota of water.

“It’s actually eight cups of fluid,” clarifies Danielle Battram, professor at Brescia University College’s Faculty of Food and Nutritional Sciences.

According to Battram, the eight cups of fluids can also be taken from fruits and vegetables, which many people fail to realize contain high amounts of water. While people may not recognize it, they do end up getting hydrated through many different sources.

However, she does note that the best way to ensure the appropriate amount of fluid is consumed is by drinking them directly.

“We do recommend that we try to concentrate on getting the eight cups […] from low-calorie drinks, such as water,” Battram suggests.

While there are many methods to ensure a person is hydrated,

consuming low-calorie sources helps curb obesity rates and other health issues that may arise from a consistently high-calorie diet.

However, with a plethora of drinks now available for the thirsty consumer, options such as juice or pop become competition for the mere water bottle.

“Pop is very energy dense, but it doesn’t have any nutritional value, besides giving you some sugar,” Battram says.

While pop beverages may trick the consumer into thinking they are staying hydrated, they are simply empty calories that have a way of sneakily adding up.

“If you’re having three or four [cans of] pop a day it would be very easy to add an extra five to six hundred calories to your diet without even thinking about it, ” Battram says.

This is definitely a concern — especially with the classic North American diet consisting of larger amounts of carbonated beverages often part of main meals. Such habits are known to cause increased health problems and are linked to high obesity rates.

Fruit juice, however, can keep a person hydrated as well as water.

Logan Ly GAZETTE

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE AND AT LEAST EIGHT CUPS TO DRINK. In order to stay hydrated, people need to drink eight cups of fluid per day. Unfortunately, many are far below that quota contributing to an unhealthy lifestlyle.

While there are the additional calories, Battram notes there are benefits of drinking 100 per cent fruit juice such as getting nutrients like vitamin C. Battram recommends that while juice is still better than pop, the amount of juice a person takes should be limited, and instead, “Have an apple rather than have apple juice.” If that isn’t an option, diluting juice with some water will reduce the amount of calories and sugar.

Drinking liquids, regardless of the type, is the best option for curbing dehydration and individuals should make an effort to regulate their liquid intake.

“If you keep it around you, […] you’re more likely to drink more,” Battram says of unhealthy drinks like pop.

The secret to staying hydrated is making sure individuals are aware of the telltale signs their body gives them.

“Dogs are constantly going to

their water bowl all the time — they’re very good at judging their thirst — human beings are not.”

People should look out for signs such as a dry mouth, lethargy, poor concentration and thirst disguised as hunger — all symptoms of the beginning of dehydration.

Whether it is one cup a day or eight, be sure to monitor dehydration symptoms and keep thirst quenched to stay hydrated and healthy.

•5

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Editor’s Picks > What’s hot this week

ON TV American Horror Story: “Coven” So the first episode is called “Bitchcraft.” Yes, that’s correct and the only appropriate response to this new installment of American Horror Story is excitement. Witchcraft and strong women are a main theme of this season. In addition to badass Jessica Lange who has frequented the series, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett join as new HBI’s (head bitches in charge) this season. Taking place in Louisiana, this swampy season will surely be fantastic.

ON DISC Bangerz by Miley Cyrus We can’t stop talking about Miley Cyrus...and we won’t stop.

Bangerz has to be the trashiest album name in the history of popular music. Searching for the origin of the world “Bangerz,” it reportedly (according to the one Urban Dictionary entry) means someone who has a ton of “swag.” Obviously that’s Miley Cyrus and her new collection of pop oriented R&B songs.

Mocking aside, Bangerz does provide a number of songs that you can dance to!

ON THE CHARTS “All Me” by Drake ft. 2 Chainz & Big Sean The first thought that surely would pop into anybody’s mind who is subjected to listen to this atrocity that has been labeled music is “what am I listening to?” Drake and his collaborators are very aggressive in this rap song that really doesn’t seem to have any meaningful lyrics.

What “All Me” does offer is misogyny with lyrics like “baby girl, fall in line.” Isn’t that fantastic? Another top 20 song that makes a whole gender of people sound like the other’s property. Thank you, Drake.

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The Purge

On the television show, Veep, one of the characters suggests that “Tom Hanks could die” and thus, dominate news coverage for the next week. Horrified characters double back in shock at such a suggestion. In Captain Philips we’re confronted with that grim potential. Tom Hanks plays a merchant mariner whose ship is hijacked by Somali pirates. Tom Hanks could die and that is horrifying, but fear not! He’s merely playing a character.

The Purge takes place in the year 2022 — America has no poverty, a very low unemployment rate and is pretty much a wonderful place.

All this sunshine, lollipops and rainbows inevitably creates a fair bit of tension so the government shuts down (how relevant, eh?!)

For twelve hours where there is no governance. You can pretty much murder anyone you want to relieve stress for this one night a year. It’s like a sadistic version of Halloween and it sounds quite interesting.

Weight bias a big problem Stereotypes create negative body images Cheryl Madliger ARTS & LIFE STAFF The Academy for Eating Disorders recently highlighted the issue of weight bias, setting guidelines for obesity intervention programs targeted at children and addressing the stigma that can result from traditional anti-obesity efforts. The issue goes beyond children, though. Even at university, where we might hope brains are more important than beauty, weight bias is a problem.

“There’s lots of evidence of weight discrimination in academia,” says Samantha Brennan, professor of philosophy at Western. Brennan cowrites “Fit, Feminist, and (Almost) Fifty,” a fitness blog where she has written about weight bias and health at every size.

“Weight bias is one of our unconscious or implicit biases — the kind of bias where we would say it’s not something we care about but in fact we do make judgments about others based on characteristics which we assume we know something about,”

she says.

The assumptions people make about fat people go beyond the physical, says Brennan.

“People assume that fat people are lazy. They assume that they don’t exercise or that they eat badly or that their work will be messy and slovenly because they just can’t take care of themselves,” she says. “There’s this whole package of unfortunate beliefs that go together and even when we think we’re not making those mistakes it’s very hard to be sure.”

These judgments aren’t just confined to students. For one selfdescribed overweight Western student and employee who wishes to remain nameless, Western has not been a weight-friendly place. From a female teaching assistant who wasn’t willing to answer his questions in a lab course to a supervisor who chastised what was in his lunch, the student says, looking back, weight bias made for some challenging experiences.

“I did not realize how profoundly

it affected me until I left the job,” he says. “I realized that I had become self-conscious that other people were monitoring what/how much I ate and silently judging me for it.”

For students and employees alike, creating a weight-friendly campus means being careful about the assumptions we make.

“I think we need to be very careful about what our criteria are when we’re in a position to judge others,” Brennan says. “We need to have objective criteria that we can apply as much as possible.“ For the student employee facing discrimination, a campus free of weight-bias is possible, at least in his mind.

“It would be one that encourages physical activity and healthy eating for health reasons without getting bogged down in body image issues or trying to motivate people through shame. People should want to avoid obesity for the health benefits therein, not because they hate how they look or cannot bear to hear more critical comments he says”

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6•

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Opinions Western Scrooges students In a statement released yesterday, The University Students’ Council formally took a position against Western’s early tuition deadlines. With tuition due August 3, Western’s deadlines are the earliest in Ontario.

Western students are expected to pay their tuition over a month before loans from the Ontario Student Assistance Program arrive, and are charged a late fee of $124 plus a deferral fee of $56 if they wait to pay until their loans arrive.

So, though the administration is aware that OSAP does not come out until a month later, and that many students on OSAP have no way of making this deadline, the due date stands.

While the deferral fee may seem insignificant next to the thousands students pay in tuition, it seems like an excessive attempt to nickel-and-dime students who, by virtue of being OSAP recipients, belong to a demographic that cannot afford additional bureaucratic charges. And though it’s not a huge amount of money on an individual basis, when multiplied by the number of students on OSAP at Western, those fees add up to a shocking amount of extra money going to the administration every year.

Making matters worse, the early deadline denies students a full month of the summer when they could be working to pay off their tuition on time.

Whether this deadline is due to inconvenient administration policy, early budgeting, or any other semi-justifiable reason, the fact remains that it is wholly inconsiderate of the needs of the student population.

That said, students at Western are lucky in a number of respects. Western’s tuition is nowhere near the levels of some universities, and the government actually subsidizes a considerable amount of the cost per student.

But just because it could be worse, that doesn’t make this unfair and predatory policy acceptable.

The toughest pill to swallow in this matter is being unable to follow the money trail. If there was a transparent reasoning behind these extra fees, that would be easier to accept.

Knowing that deferral fees for tuition deadlines students couldn’t possibly make help, say, to maintain our libraries or provide students better services — any explanation at all — would help us to stomach this unfair policy.

As for whether or not the USC’s new stance against these fees will effect any change, a policy that lines the pockets of the university does not seem like it will go away with any ease — but you wouldn’t find any of us complaining if it did.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

— Aristotle

The seven “signs” of workplace grief Seven Minutes in Kevin Kevin Hurren OPINIONS EDITOR In my column about working at Western’s call centre, I alluded to several other “bad jobs” I had over the summer.

But there was one job so embarrassing I hoped to keep it a secret forever.

However, I feel my story needs to be shared.

I was a sign holder.

That’s right. When I wasn’t at the call centre or one of my other workplaces, I planned to make a bit of extra money by holding a large two-by-four-foot cardboard sign at a busy intersection.

The letters on the sign constantly changed, but the job remained the same: Stand at the side of the road for four hours holding a sign. My natural optimism mixed with my desperation for some cold, hard cash made me believe the job was possible. It wouldn’t be so bad, I said. I was getting paid for doing nothing.

Never could I have anticipated the emotional and psychological ordeal on that first day of work.

The best way to describe my experience is through the seven stages of grief.

First was shock and denial. There was no way this could be happening, right? I even chuckled at how ridiculous I looked in the mandatory shirt and hat, sign in hand. Someone else was holding the sign, not me.

But such thoughts were quickly taken over by the second stage of grief, suffering. As the sun beat down on the hard pavement, I felt my resolve melt away.

Dear Life Your anonymous letters to life

My knees began to ache from pacing, and I longed to sit down. I looked at my watch — only 45 minutes of the four hour shift had passed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

From constantly checking the time, the third stage of grief began — bargaining. With three hours left to go, I didn’t believe I could make it. Maybe if I wave the sign with extra enthusiasm I could leave an hour early? If it starts to rain, does that cancel the rest of my shift?

The fourth stage, loneliness, was the worst. Since my employers could drive by to check on my status at any moment, I couldn’t pull out my phone and spend the time chatting with a friend. I was completely alone with my thoughts — a rare occurrence in our hyper-connected world.

After hitting rock bottom, the fifth stage kicked in. The upward turn.

Reaching the halfway point, I began quantifying my time. I had completed 50 per cent of what needed to be done, so how many more minutes did I have? How many more seconds? I busied myself with this kind of mental math.

The sixth stage, reconstruction, brought some hope. My mind started functioning again, and with that I did puzzles in my head. I thought of the lyrics to my favourite songs, and traced my name with footprints on the sidewalk.

And, finally, the sweet release of stage seven arrived — acceptance. I was three and a half hours in, and as I approached the end I realized this was possible. In retrospect everything seemed better. It was when I got my cheque that I signed up for five more shifts.

So now, when I’m walking downtown or driving through London and I notice sign holders, I raise a fist in solidarity, wondering what stage of workplace grief they’re currently on.

Dear Life, I can’t help but hear “I declare a thumb war” every time someone counts to four.

Dear Life, Why can’t I ever make it to the morning spin classes?

Dear Life, Western is breaking my Word spell check.

“Polyvarietal”? If Word doesn’t know it, it shouldn’t count.

Dear Life, There was no toilet paper, so I had to use my hand.

Dear Life, Please tell me the above Dear Life is not real.

Dear Life, Why did Ariel wear seashells? Because she out grew her B-shells.

Dear Life, Please start a petition to renovate Natural Science 1 and install outlets.

Dear Life, Hi, my name is Asiago Sourdough and I’m addicted to Spoke bagels.

Dear Life, Next time you need another front-page story, the urinals at Taylor are far too low compared to the rest of campus. Please investigate.

Dear Life, Why do I feel like a loser as soon as my friends get a job offer? wgaz.ca/dearlife

thegazette

Volume 107, Issue 21 www.westerngazette.ca

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

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

Diana Watson

Gazette Staff 2012-2013

Danielle Bozinoff, Jaclyn Carbone, Jonathan Dunn, Andrew Evans, Chelsey Gauthier, Ross Hamilton, Danny Huang, Amanda Law, Jared MacAdam, Sarah Mai Chitty, Sarah Manning, Kaitlyn Oh, Sarah Prince, Chen Rao, Herb Richardson, Nathan Robbins-Kanter, Lily Robinson, Katie Roseman, Jasleen Sembhi, Nathan TeBokkel, Jacqueline Ting, Caroline Wang, Kate Wilkinson, Zoe Woods, Usman Zahid, Mason Zimmer

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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• Please recycle this newspaper •

•7

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Sports

saywhat?

“So he gave me the death stare, eyes locked on me like he wanted to come out so I said ‘Eh man, if you want to stare me down like that and you’ve got a problem then come on out.’ I don’t really care, so he came out.”

>> Grant Balfour of the Oakland Athletics on his altercation with Victor Martinez in Monday’s playoff game.

Rundown >> Western’s squash teams started their seasons off strongly at a competition this weekend > The men’s team remained undefeated after four games > The women’s team fell only to the Waterloo Warriors, taking home two victories against Laurier and McMaster.

Women’s basketball defeated by Pandas U of Alberta hand Mustangs their first loss Priscilla Cheung CONTRIBUTOR To end off their stellar three-game weekend, the Western Mustangs women’s basketball team had their first preseason loss against the University of Alberta Pandas in Alumni Hall on Sunday October 6.

The Mustangs had a phenomenal weekend easily defeating Bishop’s university 83–38 on Friday and Thompson Rivers university 63–60 on Saturday. On Sunday, however, competition was fierce in the upbeat and aggressive game in which the Pandas defeated the Mustangs 66–47.

“Alberta gave us a gift in the Sunday game. They [showed] us how a top-level team attacks on the offensive glass,” Brian Cheng, Mustangs head coach, said.

Having a powerful start, the Mustangs were up 7–0 in the first few minutes. But the Pandas quickly switched things up and pulled ahead in the second quarter outscoring the Mustangs 22–9, which concluded the first half with a score of 34–22.

Their loss was the result of their 4.3 shooting percentage from the three-point line and being outrebounded 36–14 in defensive rebounds. With that, Cheng plans to work on changing the team’s rebounding mentality.

With nearly half of the Mustang squad being first-years, these rookie

Courtesy of Grace Chung

mistakes are not surprising; coach Cheng and the team still have a lot to work on before their regular season starts.

“Our expectations for everyone on the team is to improve daily — be better than before and be better

than your last. That is how we will get better,” Cheng said.

Pandas coach Scott Edwards applauded the Mustangs for their on-ball defence and the energy that was brought onto the court by the team.

“They are talented and certainly have a bright future in the [Ontario University Athletics], a force in the making, I think,” he said.

Despite the loss, the Mustangs fought hard to recover from their deficit and their effort and hustle

do not go without credit — especially when it comes to Mustangs star Jenny Vaughan.

“Jenny was a force. Such a talented player, one of my favorites in the country to watch,” Edwards said.

As a team, the Mustangs raised their lowest field goal percentage from 21.43 in the second quarter to 30.77 per cent in the fourth. Vaughan led the Mustang scoreboard with a total of 24 points. Mackenzie Puklicz and Melissa Rondinelli contributed eight and six points respectively as well.

The Mustangs also welcomed Kelcey Wright to the team, who previously played for the Ryerson Rams.

Being in different conferences, the Mustangs will not face the Pandas in their regular season games. However, this game prepares them for the tough competition in their upcoming OUA sanctioned games.

The combination of experienced veterans, fresh talent and wise coaching will be the key to the Mustangs’ success as they play in a highly competitive conference this season against powerhouses like the reigning champions, the Windsor Lancers.

Catch the Mustangs in action on Friday October 11 in Alumni Hall when they battle the Fraser Valley Cascades.

Mustangs extend perfect home record Men’s lacrosse defeats Laurentian Voyagers Graeme Allison CONTRIBUTOR Western’s men’s lacrosse team hosted the Laurentian Voyageurs at Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the second game of a Friday-Saturday double-header.

The Mustangs were looking to build a winning streak after suffering only their second loss of the season last week against Brock, leading to a tightly contested 13–8 victory on Friday night.

The result was a favourable one, as the Mustangs secured an 11–5 victory against Laurentian on Saturday afternoon — all the while maintaining the team’s perfect home record of 5–0–0.

The first half of Saturday’s game, however, painted a much different picture than the overall result.

Laurentian was intent on slowing down the pace of play by holding on to the ball until there was a clear opening in the Mustangs’ defence.

This strategy limited the Mustangs opportunity to strike offensively and put the emphasis into patience on the defensive side of the ball. This change of pace led

[Laurentian] plays a lot differently than a lot of teams in our league.

They like to slow it down, keep the ball for a long time.

— Zachary Grace

Mustang’s lacrosse goalie, On his feelings about playing the Laurentian Voyageurs

to an early 4–3 second-quarter lead for the visiting Voyageurs. “[Laurentian] plays a lot differently than a lot of teams in our league,” Zachary Grace, Mustangs goalie, said. “They like to slow it down, keep the ball for a long time.”

Mustangs attacker Sam Neeb leveled the score on a man-advantage goal as he dodged his defender, cut to the middle and scored — finally taking a tough hit after the play. The score remained tied until the half.

The second half ended with a >> see LAX-MEN pg.8

Jonathan Dunn GAZETTE

8•

thegazette • Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Baseball is back to battle

Lax-men win 11–5

‘Stangs to play again after weather postponement Nusaiba Al-Azem SPORTS EDITOR The Mustangs baseball team is gearing up to play against the defending Ontario University Athletics champions today.

The Toronto Varsity Blues are currently in sixth place in the OUA, and are entering the game on a losing streak.

Mustangs head coach Mike Lumley is not worried about their match-up.

“Just as long as we play tight defence and strong pitching, we’ll be fine,” he said. “You can’t really prepare for somebody else and what they do. We have to prepare what we do best, and get our weaknesses better.”

This year’s Mustangs team contains much more youth than in previous years, which means that they start more often than in prior

seasons.

“In the past, you have [a] majority [of] players that have returned that can start the younger players in, but this year there are so many new players,” Lumley said.

Bad weather led to the cancellation of the Mustangs’ games this past weekend, which has resulted in a series of games for the team to make up. These games, while difficult to execute after days of inaction, will be good for the team according to coach Lumley.

“The biggest toll [of these weather conditions] is just days off right now,” he said. “We’re a team that plays very well when we play continuous games, and coming down the stretcher we have seven games in five days so that’ll be good for us.”

Western will be treading on familiar ground today, having faced off against the Varsity Blues before

>> continued from pg.7

in their first game of the season a month ago. The Mustangs walked away from that game with a 10–7 victory.

Lumley stressed the importance of assessing each match and situation uniquely, and not getting caught up in standout players.

“You never know,” he said. “They have a strong team, so you just never know what you’re going to face. As much as it’s individual players, it’s still a team thing and you take every situation the way it is. Their top hitter in the league could not be playing today, and becomes a non-factor, but their number nine hitter maybe becomes best hitter of the day that day, so you have to defend that. Every situation comes out a little different each game.”

Be sure to catch the Mustangs on the diamond at Labatt Park today at 5 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m.

bone-crushing hit on Laurentian goaltender Ian Walters by Ryan Taylor behind the net. The Voyageurs goaltender was forced to leave the game with an apparent head injury after playing a fantastic two quarters, which saw him make a multitude of key saves coupled with several long dashes up the field.

In the second half the Mustangs took control of the game. The team capitalized on terrific second-half defensive and goaltending play, allowing only one goal in the final 30 minutes of play.

“We did a lot better [defensively] in the second half,” Jeremy Tallevi, Mustangs head coach, said.

“We made a few adjustments at half.”

Tallevi also gave a glowing review of his goaltender’s play.

“I think Zach played really well,” Tallevi said. “Especially when we

really needed him in the second half he really shut the door.”

After the Voyageurs opened the second-half scoring with a quick goal, the Mustangs scored seven unanswered goals to close the game, and secured the 11–5 victory. The Mustangs were led offensively by Kyle Childerhose, Kyle O’Donnell and Ryan McCrory, who each had two second-half goals.

The Mustangs closed the weekend with a 9–5 victory at the University of Toronto to build their winning streak to three games.

Coach Tallevi, however, has no interest in looking into the past.

“It doesn’t matter what we’ve done before,” Tallevi said. “We’re just looking to get that next win, and we’ll look to go from there.”

The Mustangs, now 7–2–0, close out their regular season matchups with games against Guelph, Toronto, and Laurier — at which point they will turn their attention to the playoffs.

Jonathan Dunn GAZETTE Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

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