November 17, 2023

NOVEMBER 17, 2023 VOLUME 117 ISSUE 5

since 1906

PURPLE REIGN: Western captures third straight Yates Cup RYAN GOODISON SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR MANAN JOSHI SPORTS EDITOR

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he Mustangs football team won their third straight Yates Cup, defeating the Golden Hawks 29–14 at Western Alumni Stadium.

The Nov. 11 win makes it Western University’s first Yates Cup “three-peat” since 1988-1990.

“It’s pretty special what everyone’s done so far this year,” said Mustangs fifth-year centre Alex Berwick. “Everyone had to come out and write their own history tonight and I’m pretty proud of the whole team.”

En route to their 35th Ontario University Athletics championship, Western was able to stand tall against an impressive Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks offence, shutting them out in the second half.

“The kids executed the game plan, they stepped up, it was the best game they’ve played all season,” said Mustangs defensive coordinator Paul Gleason. “We were up against the league MVP at quarterback and our kids did a great job. I’m so proud of them.”

The Mustangs did well to shut down Laurier’s star fourth-year wide receiver Ethan Jordan and Larry Hayor Trophy winning quarterback Taylor Elgersma.

The Mustangs intercepted Elgersma twice and kept him to just 242 yards and one touchdown. In

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Defensive Coordinator Paul Gleason with the Mustangs defence following their Yates Cup victory, Nov. 11, 2023.

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‘Cash cows’: Why international student tuition is so high ESTELLA REN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ne morning in November 2021, Asma Muhammad, then a second-year psychology student at Western University, woke up to a devastating text message that her father, who had worked in Qatar for 17 years, lost his job.

As Muhammad tried to process the news, she couldn’t help but worry about her family members, Pakistani expats living on residence permits in Qatar. Unemployment meant they would lose their status and the income to support Muhammad and her two older sisters, who were also studying in Canada and paying sky-high international tuition.

From across the world, Muhammad’s family remained resilient, rebuilding their life in Pakistan, running a business and selling land they had owned for years to fund their daughters’ education.

As Muhammad begins her fourth year this fall, her tuition is $37,712, six times the $6,050 tuition paid by domestic students. She has never under-

stood the disparity in what Canadians and non-Canadians need to pay to get an education.

“We add value to these institutions. We give you diversity, we bring our own sets of talents … it shouldn’t have as many obstacles and barriers as it does, but it does because they look at international students like cash cows, they will increase the tuition,” says Muhammad.

While international tuition has long been much higher than domestic, the gap has widened dramatically in recent years. In 2002, a first-year international student studying Arts and Humanities at Western paid $9,300 in tuition and a domestic student paid $4,000. Twenty-one years later, international students in the same program paid $42,233 while domestic tuition was up to $6,050.

Western told the Gazette, international students contributed about 32.5 per cent of student tuition fees and 12 per cent of total revenue in 2022 — while 9.5 per cent of Western undergraduate enrolment is international.

Drawing on nearly two decades of Western tuition history, operating and budget documents and interviews with students and experts, this is the story of how Western has increasingly relied on international tuition, while at the same time experts say Ontario has been “underfunding” its universities.

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n 2020, when COVID-19 was sweeping the world and Western moved all courses online, Muhammad spent the fall semester of her first year studying remotely in Qatar.

Distance learning didn’t lower tuition fees paid by international students — which are not JENNY ZHANG GAZETTE

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OPINION

NEWS

‘Maltreatment’: Federal minister speaks on Western women’s hockey

Opinion: The arts will thrive in spite of AI

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SPORTS

CULTURE

Western has your parents’ new favourite sport: Pickleball

From L.A. to London: Denis Jiron’s musical journey P8

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NEWS | P2

London invites community feedback on 25-year mobility strategy TIANA O’CONNOR NEWS INTERN

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Western University’s official student newspaper since 1906

VOLUME 117, ISSUE 5 November 17, 2023 University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial editor@westerngazette.ca

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ESTELLA REN DEPUTY EDITOR MILES BOLTON MANAGING EDITOR MADELEINE MCCOLL

COORDINATING EDITOR (NEWS) ADSHAYAH SATHIASEELAN COORDINATING EDITOR (CULTURE AND SPORTS) CAT TANG

OPINIONS HANNAH ALPER FEATURES SONIA PERSAUD DIGITAL SCOTT YUN HO ALEX D’ENTREMONT-SMITH

ART DIRECTOR KATHERINE GUO

GRAPHICS JESSICA COUNTI ARISIA QARRI

NEWS JESSICA KIM VERONICA MACLEAN SOPHIA SCHIEFLER OM SHANBHAG ANDY YANG

PHOTO SOPHIE BOUQUILLON KAI WILSON VIDEO MINA AHMAD SHYLAJA KUMARASINGHAM ARIEH LEVING LEAH MARSHALL

CULTURE ELA KANG DANIELLE PAUL PANIZ VEDAVARZ

SOCIAL MEDIA PE’ER KRUT CHIARA WALLACE

SPORTS RYAN GOODISON MANAN JOSHI VARUN REDDY

EDITORIAL SUPPORT MANAGER DAN BROWN

TRINITY LEE GAZETTE A bus stops at Natural Science Centre, Mar. 17, 2022.

According to Western University’s 2018 Open Space Strategy, the university planned to support a bus rapid transit system connecting the city’s northern and western regions through campus.

While Western’s Board of Governors approved the planned BRT route through campus, the London city council ultimately voted against it, citing greater traffic in the routes’ surrounding areas and potential harm to nearby businesses.

The Board of Governors June 29 meeting agenda states “a transit solution for these areas won’t likely be clear until the city completes its ‘Mobility Master Plan’ in about 2 years.”

University Students’ Council vice-president external affairs Emily Poirier said she was consulted on the Mobility Master Plan which aims to refine bus routes in and around campus.

“They do want to improve the service area and connections on the north end of campus,” said Poirier. “Those are things that the USC has been bringing forward to the LTC and to the city for quite a long time.”

Poirier said the city is also looking into having more bike lanes and walking routes. She hopes students will have more options for commuting to campus.

In line with the city’s commitment to alternative transportation options, Grady raised the po-

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tential for bike share programs in London where residents can borrow public bikes and return to a different location.

Phase three of the Mobility Master Plan will refine key policy recommendations, implement phasing and develop a monitoring program to track and measure success.

“The key thing to note is it’s a master planning study and it’s really long-term,” said Grady. “So it’s looking at improvements from today as soon as the plan gets approved, right up to 2050.”

Grady emphasized the importance of community feedback throughout the project’s development. The team is now looking for input on the plan’s development strategies, mode share targets and project evaluation frameworks, which can be completed by filling out London’s Mobility Master Plan feedback forms.

“We would love to hear people’s feedback,” said Grady. “We want the plan to reflect what the community wants, and the best way we could do that is [by] hearing from the community.”

City staff will continue to develop the plan until winter 2024 when London City Council will finalize the plan for its implementation in 2025.

The city does not limit input to locals, and welcomes students and temporary residents in London to have their voices heard.

Ontario government expands mental health accessibility to London KAMRAAN AHMAD NEWS INTERN

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GAZETTE CONTRIBUTORS KAMRAAN AHMAD JESSICA AVSENIK GISELLE D’ANNA COOPER GLUSKIN HANNAH GUTIERREZ JI WOO KWON

he City of London is inviting community input on future mobility and transportation plans for the next 25 years.

London’s Mobility Master Plan, which will be developed over the next two years, aims to reshape the city’s mobility landscape to make the city more accessible, sustainable and affordable for its residents by 2050.

This plan combines aspects of London’s Smart Moves 2030: Transportation Master Plan and London ON Bikes: Cycling Master Plan, unifying all aspects of mobility under one initiative through three phases.

London has completed phase one, which started in April 2022 and focused on community consultation to steer future decision-making processes.

According to London traffic and transportation engineer Sarah Grady, London is a car-dominated city where residents are dependent on owning a vehicle to commute, influenced by city developments.

Grady said the feedback they received helped the city understand mobility barriers like no transit service in some areas of the city or infrequent service — which they will consider when developing future plans.

The plan is currently in its second phase, which aims to explore potential solutions to the mobility concerns raised by the community.

“We’re going to try our best to address these issues, so it’s easier for people to walk, cycle or take transit, which are much more affordable in comparison to owning a personal vehicle,” said Grady.

The plan also recognizes London as a regional transportation hub. It aims to improve existing intercity transportation options to ease travel within the city — to accommodate London’s growing population.

Economists predict the city’s population of over 420,000 as of 2021 is likely to rise to almost 650,000 by 2051 in a medium-growth scenario — a 1.3 per cent growth rate over the next 30 years.

ondoners aged 18 and older now have access to cognitive behavioural therapy at four local sites through the expanded Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program.

The program provides services to people who have depression, anxiety or anxiety-related conditions, including guided self-help resources supported by a therapist or coach and cognitive behavioural therapy — both offered in-person or virtually.

OSP services can be accessed through a referral by either a primary care provider — such as a family doctor — or an online self-referral process.

It is available to all Ontario residents, including international and out-of-province students living in the province at the time of receiving services.

“There’s a huge demand for this, with 5,000 new intakes in the past quarter accessing free, very high-quality psychotherapy,” said Jodi Younger, vice president of patient care and quality at St. Joseph’s Health Care, the lead network for healthcare services in London and surrounding areas.

The OSP program began as a pilot project within four regional mental health care networks across the province in October 2017. Through the recent expansion, the program is now covering all regions in Ontario.

The four new London sites offering the OSP program are St. Joseph’s Hospital, Parkwood Institute, Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care and the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care.

COOPER GLUSKIN GAZETTE St. Joseph’s Urgent Care Centre, Nov. 7, 2023.

“It’s virtually enabled and flexible which we see students feel more comfortable with. You can get treatment from your dorm room,” added Younger.

OSP provides a form of evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy that focuses on dealing with everyday challenges and teaches practical skills to reduce symptoms, enhance strengths and improve quality of life.

The program is based on a successful initiative in the United Kingdom called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies which also provides cognitive behavioural therapy.

The initiative’s annual data shows over half a million people completed the IAPT treatment, with more than half completely recovering and more than two-thirds reporting worthwhile benefits.

“Good psychotherapy is as effective as medication,” explained Younger, who has spent over 35 years in the mental health industry. “It’s no

surprise that in Ontario, more than half of people have their first mental health experience in the emergency room. That’s not good.”

This expansion comes as students have advocated for better mental health resources, in light of a lack of on-campus accessibility and long wait times.

Rhea Gupta, a third-year Health Sciences student, supported the usage of the new service, emphasizing the versatility of treatment delivery.

“A lot of people feel nervous confronting somebody face to face — it makes it too real — the virtual aspect is a game changer,” said Gupta. “[OSP] could take some load off the university’s mental health services.”

Second-year philosophy student Talyiah Lerant praised the expanded program but noted the lack of mental health service accessibility on campus, leading students to turn to off-campus services.

“I feel like Western could do a better job accommodating everyone,” explained Lerant. “It’s a universal issue.”

OSP services are accessible in English and French and offer translators for many other languages.

“The ultimate goal is to build cultural competence across all networks,” Younger emphasized.

According to the Ministry of Health, over 66,000 people have enrolled in the OSP program to date in all regional health networks across the province.

NEWS | P3

Three-year construction coming to Western and Sarnia intersection ANDY YANG SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

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he City of London has planned a $27.1 million redevelopment for the Western Road and Sarnia Road intersection to begin in 2024.

The intersection will be rebuilt to improve traffic mobility and safety in the intersection for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians and to expand Philip Aziz Avenue.

According to an environmental assessment completed by the city, the intersection accommodates 41,000 vehicles a day, including transit buses carrying thousands of passengers. A pedestrian count in 2022 identified 203 cyclists on a given day, with thousands of pedestrians crossing in both directions.

For Ward 6 councillor Sam Trosow, the improvements to this intersection are “very much needed.”

“The improvements on Philip Aziz Avenue must be done right away — that is a hazard,” said Trosow.

“Every time I go by there, I see somebody trying to try to walk in that narrow path — somebody’s really going to get very seriously hurt.”

For years, students have walked on the vehicle lane of Philip Aziz Avenue because there are no pedestrian walkways.

The construction is set to begin in the fall of 2024 with a full closure of Philip Aziz Avenue.

Construction on Western Road and Sarnia Road will start in 2025 and is planned to last approximately three years in total.

“We’re not expecting a road closure [at the intersection], we’re expecting that two lanes will be maintained — one in each direction.” said Karl Grabowski, project manager and manager of transportation planning and design for the City of London. “We’ll try to accommodate as best as we can to limit the impacts for traffic as well as the student population there.”

The project officially commenced in June 2015, with the proposed construction set in two phases.

The first phase will include adding bike lanes, sidewalks, curbs and street lights on Philip Aziz Avenue between Western Road and the Thames River.

The second phase will see construction work done on Western Road between Platt’s Lane and Burnlea Walk, and on Sarnia Road between Sleightholme Avenue and Western Road.

Construction includes three new bus bays on Western Road to improve transit operations efficiency while also improving traffic flow during peak times.

Other construction items include new bike lanes, wider pedestrian sidewalks, new storm sewers and street-side curbs on both Western Road and Sarnia Road. The current westbound-turning lane on Western Road to Sarnia Road will be extended past Elborn College.

Both Western Road and Sarnia Road will be resurfaced near the completion of the project, with additional trees planted on the side of the roads.

COURTESY OF THE CITY OF LONDON Map of proposed construction at Western Road and Sarnia Road intersection.

ANDY YANG GAZETTE Traffic at the intersection of Western Road and Sarnia Road, Nov. 7, 2023.

According to the environmental assessment cost estimate, of the $27.1 million budget, $10.5 million will go toward road work, $3.4 million toward storm sewer servicing and $1.4 million toward removal to prepare for construction.

City documents also show discussions with Western University, Brescia University College, Huron University College and the London Transit

Commission formed an “integral part of the consultation process.”

In a statement from Western to the Gazette, it said the project is led by the City of London and is still in the “early stages of planning.”

“At this point, there is no firm timing on the roll out and we can’t confirm that it will begin next year,” read Western’s statement. “As plans are fi-

nalized, Western will continue to work with the city to ensure disruption to traffic and pedestrians at the intersection is minimized, and we will share more details when available.”

First-year economics student and Ontario Hall resident Edward Yang crosses the intersection “basically every single day” as it is “one of the only ways to get to main campus.”

Yang said the plan sounded “horrendous” in terms of the impact of potential construction on students.

“I don’t know how London collaborates with the school … but I’m sure pedestrians will still be able to get where they want to go,” said Yang. “It’s going to get a lot more difficult for drivers. I already know the intersection is quite busy as it is.”

When asked about pedestrian safety and how students will get to class on time, Trosow responded, “they won’t.”

“If they’re doing all this construction at the same time [as school], you know what it’s like when you try to cross a construction site. It’s impossible,” said Trosow. “It’s gonna be very dirty and dusty for a period of time.”

Trosow also pushed for more changes to better protect pedestrians during a Civic Works Committee meeting in April by calling for a pedestrian scramble at the intersection. A pedestrian scramble is a traffic signalization strategy that temporarily stops vehicular traffic in all directions so pedestrians can cross an intersection diagonally in an X shape at the same time.

“You can actually walk diagonally through the intersection, and it’s safe,” explained Trosow. “You don’t have to stand at the intersection and then wait for the light to change again.”

Scrambles can be found in high-density pedestrian traffic crossings. Queen’s University implemented a pedestrian scramble on its campus in 2015 to “prioritize pedestrian safety” and has received positive feedback.

Grabowski said there are no pedestrian scrambles in London. According to him, the scramble was previously under consideration, but the intersection design needs to comply with the Accessibility for Ontario with Disabilities Act. “If you get too many lights going at the same time, it would become confusing for people with visual challenges,” said Grabowski.

During the committee meeting, director of transportation and mobility Doug MacRae explained a pedestrian scramble “indicates that the delays to vehicular traffic would approximately double.”

“They don’t want to do anything that’s at all different, they’re very conservative and traditional, and they have no sense of exploring something new,” said Trosow in an interview with the Gazette on the Civic Works Committee’s decision to reject his proposal.

“It was clear to me from the beginning … just absolutely clear that they were hostile to the idea of a scramble, they did not want to be bothered with it.”

USC reallocates $18,000 to food bank, grants, outreach JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR

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he USC voted unanimously to reallocate $18,000 to Food Support Services, grants and recognition and Early Outreach following a decision not to hire for two coordinator roles in the 2023-24 academic year.

In previous years, the University Students’ Council has hired a governance coordinator and clubs policy coordinator to support the vice-president student services. In the 2023-24 budget, the USC allocated each coordinator $9,000.

The USC voted on a motion Wednesday to re-

distribute the $18,000 total with $9,000 going to Food Support Services, $2,000 for Grants and Recognition and $7,000 for Early Outreach — a USC conference to introduce 250 youth attendees to post-secondary opportunities. The motion passed unanimously.

“The $18,000 are being allocated to portfolios who were the most severely under-budgeted for,” said Tamsen Long, the USC’s vice-president communications and public affairs, in an email statement to the Gazette.

At the Oct. 25 council meeting, Social Science Students’ Council president Sofia Ouslis ques-

tioned why a governance coordinator was not needed.

“Governance is something that each of us as VPs should be considering holistically throughout our roles,” explained Bianca Gouveia, the USC’s vice-president student services. “But also something that our full-time staff who work with policy every day have a really strong take on.”

In an email statement to the Gazette, Long said “there was no organizational demand for a clubs policy coordinator” as associate vice-presidents work full-time over the summer and this year, a

new full-time staff role was created in the clubs department.

The additional funding to FSS is around a 78 per cent increase to its budget, coming after the on-campus food bank was forced to close to walkins in mid-September. Walk-ins are still closed at the time of publication, according to Long. Before the reallocation, FSS received $1,500 towards initiatives and $10,000 towards operations.

The USC previously allocated $6,000 towards recognition in the 2023-24 budget and $1,500 towards Early Outreach.

NEWS | P4

BMOS and computer science ‘Yet another example of tuition increased for incoming the maltreatment’: Federal fall 2024 students minister speaks on Western JI WOO KWON NEWS INTERN

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he provincial government has approved a tuition increase for Western computer science and BMOS programs that will impact incoming students in fall 2024.

Computer science tuition is set to rise by 7.5 per cent over five years and 4.9 per cent for the sixth year while the bachelor of management and organizational studies tuition is set to increase by 7.5 per cent per year over eight years.

Western University computer science students currently pay $6,050 a year for tuition, and the new allowable tuition will be $9,108 a year. Western BMOS students also pay $6,050 a year for tuition, and the new allowable tuition rate will be $10,358.

In both cases, the increases are limited to a maximum of 7.5 per cent per year until the university reaches the new allowable tuition levels.

On March 2, the provincial government released the 2023-24 Tuition Fee Framework, which allowed for universities to request a tuition anomaly adjustment for up to three programs that were at least 15 per cent below the sector average.

Due to the fact that Western’s BMOS program tuition was more than 37 per cent below the sector average and computer science program tuition was more than 32 per cent below the sector average, the university requested tuition anomaly adjustments for these two programs. Western did not have any other programs that met the 15 per cent threshold.

“It is important that our tuition is on par with that of comparable and competitor institutions so we can continually enhance our curriculum and experiential learning opportunities to improve our students’ educational experience,” wrote Jeffrey Hutter, acting dean of the Faculty of Science.

But Western computer science students may not support the increase.

“I think the current Western tuition is reasonable, at least for the quality of education experience,” said Khushal Mehta, a second-year computer science student.

Mehta disagreed with the increase as he believes it does not justify the standard of the current computer science curriculum compared to other universities, including internationally.

He also expressed his desire for Western to provide a more up-to-date curriculum as well as more opportunities for students to interact with professors and their peers.

“The professors that I do have are extremely smart and extremely good, but I don’t have any opportunities to talk to them one on one, or even in like a group environment,” said Mehta. “The professors themselves are really good. But the materials that they provide, maybe are not up to the bar.”

Although the approval was made in time to be applicable to 2023-24 incoming computer science and BMOS students, the tuition fee will only apply to incoming fall 2024-25 students and incoming students in the following year.

“Because the government announcement was made late in the spring and provided short notice to students, Western’s board chose to approve an increase for incoming students for the 2023-24 school year, but not charge this increase to students,” wrote Nicholas Harney, dean of the Faculty of Social Science.

Although Mehta “may not agree with the increase like right now”, he does think that Western was fair about not increasing it for students this year.

Incoming Western computer science and BMOS students who start in fall 2024 can expect to pay $6,504 — an increase of $454 or 7.5 per cent.

It is unclear how both faculties will use the additional revenue from the tuition increases.

Hutter added 10 per cent of incremental domestic tuition revenue will be set aside for needs-based student financial aid, as required by the province.

“This incremental amount will augment the student financial support programs already in place, which total over $39 million,” wrote Hutter.

women’s hockey JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR

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anada’s federal Minister of Sport and Physical Activity called out allegations of misconduct against coaches of the Mustangs women’s hockey team and the university’s response as an example of normalized “maltreatment” in Canadian sport.

In a statement to the Gazette on Nov. 14, Carla Qualtrough extended her support to the players and emphasized Western University’s obligation to ensure athletic programs “are free from all forms of harassment and discrimination.”

Western launched an external investigation into allegations of misconduct against head coach Candice Moxley and former strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watson on Sept. 23 — 18 months after players first began making formal complaints, according to TSN. The investigation closed this month and found some allegations against Watson to be substantiated and allegations against Moxley to be unsubstantiated. Watson is no longer with the university and Moxley has since returned as head coach.

Qualtrough agreed with Western’s decision to conduct an external investigation, but pointed out the decision only came “after concerns were raised about how complaints are handled internally.”

“This is yet another example of the maltreatment that has been normalized within the Canadian sport system.”

London lawyer Elizabeth Hewitt, who was hired to conduct the investigation, found no formal complaints were filed before 2023. She found the informal concerns made in February 2022 were handled appropriately.

When asked for a response to the minister’s comment, Western said the university “remains committed to providing our student-athletes with a safe and positive experience” in an emailed statement to the Gazette.

“A full and independent investigation was conducted, and its findings are guiding our actions as we move forward,” the statement read.

TSN’s report alleges Moxley pressured players to play through injuries, dismissed concerns about mental health and criticized them for wearing revealing clothing on social media. Watson faced accusations of making inappropriate comments about players’ bodies and touching of players, and Moxley allegedly did not address multiple complaints about Watson.

On Oct. 26, over 50 current faculty members and alumni called for a broader investigation of the university’s sports and recreation department in a signed letter to Western president Alan Shepard.

At the time of publication, Shepard has not commented publicly on the call for a broader investigation.

Western has since appointed kinesiology professor and program director Laura Misener as the senior advisor on safe sport for the university.

Following the announcement Moxley would return to the team, some players wrote a letter to Shephard on Nov. 2, planning to boycott all games and practices Moxley was involved in.

Western sent players a survey last Tuesday asking if they intended to continue playing under Moxley’s leadership. The majority of players responded they want to continue in the survey, according to the university.

Moxley reportedly returned last Friday, and the team beat the University of Windsor Lancers 3–2 in overtime on Saturday and lost 3–0 to the Queen’s University Golden Gaels on Sunday at Thompson Arena. Moxley was not present on the bench.

Canada reforms international student system, attempts to counter fraud MABEL ZHAO NEWS INTERN

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he Government of Canada has announced measures to better protect international students from fraud and exploitation, including a new verification process for letters of acceptance to international students.

Starting Dec. 1, all universities and colleges must verify each international student applicant’s letter of acceptance directly with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada before a study permit is issued.

Letter-of-acceptance fraud is an important issue for IRCC. In June 2023, around 700 students from India risked deportation when it was discovered they had unknowingly obtained student visas based on faked letters of acceptance doctored by immigration agents.

In a statement to the Gazette, Western University registrar Marisa Modeski said the university — which welcomed 4,690 international students in the 2022-2023 academic year — is working with IRCC to implement these new changes to the international student program.

Canada’s international student system itself has also been under increasing scrutiny with al-

legations of post-secondary institutions using international students as “cash cows,” a term used to describe someone or something that generates significant revenue for an organization.

International students pay up to five times the tuition that domestic students pay and account for $22 billion of Canada’s economic activity annually.

Western political science professor Nigmendra Narain blames the underfunding of public universities as a reason why these schools rely on international student recruitment for money.

“Ontario remains the jurisdiction across Canada with the lowest amount of per capita student funding,” Narain said. “The exploitation of international students is a way to shore up the lack of provincial funding … of our post-secondary education system.”

According to government data, Canada welcomed over 739,000 students in 2022. But an ongoing housing shortage and the unstable economy left many students unable to secure adequate housing and part-time employment to pay for their living expenses.

Critics have suggested a cap on international student intake and raising the amount of money a

prospective student must have on hand to qualify for a student permit — which is currently $10,000 due to the growing cost of living in Canada.

“Regulating the amount of international students can be helpful,” said Narain when asked about the proposed cap. “But we have to have our public universities properly funded so they have the resources to succeed.”

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said Canada has no intention of putting a cap on international student recruitment and will stick to their plan of welcoming 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024.

But the government is re-examining the recruitment of temporary residents, including international students and seasonal workers, to minimize the opportunity of fraud and exploitation.

Post-secondary schools leading the international student recruitment efforts have come under fire for over-enrolment, lack of proper accreditation and acting as “diploma mills” for students looking to acquire permanent residency in Canada through a student visa.

A “diploma mill” refers to an educational institution that is unaccredited and issues academic

degrees without proper academic assessment.

In 2022, international students enrolled at Alpha College of Business and Technology — a private career college in Toronto — protested when the college suspended classes due to over-enrolling for the spring semester.

Alpha College was one of the many post-secondary institutions accused of partnering with poorly-regulated overseas recruiters who use false promises about the education and employment prospects in Canada to convince students to apply.

To combat the rise of diploma mills, Miller plans to implement a system that expedites the processing of study permits for international students applying to post-secondary schools that have higher standards for service, support and outcomes for students.

But Canada has chosen to opt out of the “London agreement” — a joint statement between Ireland, England, Australia and New Zealand for the ethical recruitment of international students — which includes deterring recruiters from making false claims to prospective students.

NEWS | P5

Western commits to keeping all-women’s residence SOPHIA SCHIEFLER NEWS EDITOR

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estern pledged to preserve Clare Hall as a women’s residence, among several other commitments to support Brescia students, at the Nov. 10 University Senate meeting.

The university will create a student lounge for Brescia University College students, provide transition packages and support as well as organize distinct convocation events for 2024 graduates besides keeping the all-women’s residence — as the affiliate college prepares to integrate with Western University.

Although at the October’s Senate meeting, Western’s provost and vice-president academic, Florentine Strzelczyk, said she would bring the specific details of the merger to the Senate floor at the next meeting, Strzelczyk or other Western administrators did not present them at the meeting on Nov. 10.

Rachel Heydon, University of Western Ontario Faculty Association president, sought clarity, saying she had been asked by other faculty members for specific details about the merger including the number of affected students, programs and faculty.

Heydon said she was unable to provide people with the answers.

“Has there been a decision not to bring the motions related to the integration to Senate and, if so, is there fulsome information available to senators about what they are not going to be seeing?” asked Heydon in the meeting.

President Alan Shepard acknowledged not all of the information had been presented to Senate but said they were still trying to “figure that out” through senate committees.

Heydon’s sentiment was echoed by Jacques Lamarche, a French studies associate professor.

“I feel that a lot of faculty members and a lot of people who are working at Western don’t feel like they’re involved in this,” said Lamarche.

A student senator at large also inquired about admission standards for incoming students following the Brescia-Western merger.

Brescia president Lauretta Frederking responded saying that admission standards would follow Western.

During the meeting, Western’s vice-provost of students, John Doerksen told senators that Clare Hall residence building will remain designated for woman-identifying students and will have a Brescia soph team, subject to student demand.

Frederking and Doerksen first announced the commitments in a joint email sent to Brescia students on Nov. 3.

Emma McBean, a first-year French for teaching student at Brescia, said having all-women spaces can be valuable for students who require religious accommodation, have disabilities or past trauma.

First-year Brescia political science student Alex Wild echoed McBean’s sentiments.

“I think that’s really important, that’s something that we were really working hard for as students, because it’s kind of a conditional aspect where a lot

of students won’t be able to study at Western otherwise, without an all-female space.”

Western will also designate a student lounge for Brescia students, allowing them to have a space to connect outside of their classrooms, explained Doerksen in the email.

At the June 2024 convocation for graduating students, Western will plan a walk from Ursuline Hall to Alumni Hall before the ceremony. Following the ceremony, there will also be a reception on the Brescia campus for graduates and their families, the email read.

“I know this is really important to a lot of graduating students this year. As students that completed all their years at Brescia, they have this foundation, this connection to their Brescia community, to their faculty, to their friends that they’ve made here. I think it’s important for them to have that closure of their journey,” said Wild.

When Brescia students transition to Western’s main campus, the university will provide students with transition packages that include information about available on- and off-campus supports.

Western has also committed to developing Brescia-specific student supports with Student Experience, allowing students to connect to assistance when needed.

Doerksen also said he is currently available for conversations with Brescia students on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on Brescia’s campus and encouraged students to schedule a time by email.

According to Doerksen, the University Stu-

dents’ Council will accept Brescia’s clubs into the USC with a one-year grace period before meeting ratification requirements.

Western announced that Brescia would wind down operations as an affiliate and integrate with the university beginning in May 2024 in a press release on Sept. 21. Brescia students will be able to complete their degree in programs they are currently in and student scholarships will remain in place until the merger.

Despite the recent announcement from Western, Wild and McBean don’t plan to stop advocating for Brescia students.

McBean hopes to see Western commit to more support for disabled Brescia students, and said there has not been enough insight into how these students will be accommodated.

“Brescia is such a great environment for students with physical disabilities, just in terms of the walk to classes is three minutes at most…and I don’t think that that’s something that’s super accessible at Western,” said McBean.

“We were really happy to have some kind of communication from Western in terms of their commitments to Brescia’s students, because there hasn’t been a ton of clarity throughout the process,” said Wild.

“I think this is a continued process. Even with these safeguards in place, we want to continue to be advocating for what these will look like.”

USC to add in-app waste sorting page, collaborates with student group JESSICA KIM NEWS EDITOR

T

he USC is launching a new sustainability section of its USC Now app — in collaboration with student-led GreenSort initiative — to encourage students to properly sort their waste.

The GreenSort team, consisting of second-year students Maya Lekhi, Daniel Wang, Rachel Chen and Jasmine Virdee, developed the idea to educate students on proper waste-sorting practices at a hackathon, “Climate Changemakers Challenge,” in May. They brought the idea to the University

Students’ Council in August.

The app’s sustainability section will depict each stream of waste and what goes into each stream, as well as a link to the existing Western University Facilities Management’s waste and recycling portal.

Through the portal, Western faculty, staff and students can submit requests for Facilities Management to pick up recycling — including batteries — landfill and organic waste at buildings on campus.

Chen, a second-year computer science student, explained she believed the visibility of resources is

an area in need of improvement. She said people wouldn’t know this link to the Western facilities portal exists until they look for it.

Lekhi, a second-year computer science student, explained the idea for the educational initiative came from improper sorting she noticed when living in residence last year.

“We were just going and dumping everything from our trays into the same bin,” said Lehki.

“That was a very core memory for me in first year.”

When asked about the efficacy of the USC Now app, USC vice-president communications and

public affairs Tamsen Long said, “Right now it’s the easiest and most effective way to get that information out there.”

“I think it’s the first step in lots of informational campaigns that will need to happen to make sure our students are really informed about the different waste management chains,” added Long.

The USC Now app currently has 14,890 users according to Long.

The GreenSort team also participated in the Youth Challenge International’s hackathon, placing second and receiving a $1,500 grant.

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‘Cash cows’: Why international student tuition is so high ESTELLA REN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE CONTINUED FROM P1

regulated by the provincial government. Muhammad’s first-year tuition was $33,526, then rising to $34,867 the next year. On the other hand, the Ontario government rolled back domestic tuition by 10 per cent in 2019 and has frozen the fees for four years since then.

Muhammad says while the world’s economy was in collapse during the pandemic, Western’s decision to increase international tuition showed her “exactly where Canada and Western’s priorities are when it comes to international students.”

Many Western international students shared the same grievance on social media in the summer of 2020 and emailed Western’s administration to fight against tuition hikes.

One of those vocal students is Kanvi Gupta, an international student from India who started a petition called “Help Stop Tuition Fee Hikes,” which received nearly 3,000 signatures.

In June 2020, India experienced a month-long lockdown and enforced a night curfew in all areas, leaving Gupta’s father unable to fully operate his business for two months.

Gupta was about to enter her final year of the King’s University College’s bachelor of management and organizational studies program and would have needed to pay $34,624 in tuition for 2020-21, a four per cent increase from her third year.

Gupta started the petition while studying for two summer course credits, working 20 hours a

week at TD Bank, five hours in a shoe store and five hours on campus. Not only was she stressed about saving money to pay for tuition, but she also wanted to send money each month to help her parents back home.

She also sent emails to a group of Western top figures, but none of them replied to her.

King’s president David Malloy arranged a meeting online with Gupta and around 50 King’s international students who came forward and shared their stories — some unable to afford basic necessities and some not attending school for the year because they could not afford the fees.

Affiliate administrators told students they did not have the authority to set a different tuition than the main campus, but offered a $250 stipend to all international students who applied.

“At the meeting, I would say it was better in a way because we all felt heard,” Gupta says. “I think [the petition] was worth it in the end I would say because we still made a point where people knew this is happening to international students.”

A 2020 Carleton University survey of 1,000 international students in Canada found nearly 80 per cent of respondents said they were “concerned” or “very concerned” about whether they could afford education due to the loss of parental income and wages from off-campus employment.

The futility of the petition touched two domestic students who witnessed their international friends’ financial woes and launched an Instagram account to educate people on soaring international student tuition.

This time, they received an email from Western president Alan Shepard outlining “substantial increased costs” due to COVID-19 — but there was no justification provided for the rise in international student tuition fees.

In an interview with the Gazette, Shepard says international tuition reflects the cost of a high-quality education without support from the government.

“If you’re a domestic student — an Ontario student or a Canadian student — the government gives us funding to help with your education and they subsidize it effectively. And for international students, that number is zero. So the international tuition is definitely going to be higher,” Shepard says.

...it shouldn’t have as many obstacles and barriers as it does, but it does because they look at international students like cash cows...

I

n 2021, the university introduced a guarantee on its website that international undergraduate tuition would not increase more than four per cent every year after a student’s first year, in what Shepard says is a move to reinforce the predictability of international tuition.

What Western did not tell students was that the four per cent cap was nothing new, but the ground rule for more than a decade.

The university has raised the tuition fees for upper-year international students by four per cent annually since 2010 and has increased first-year tuition by eight per cent annually since 2011 — up from about five per cent annually between 2003 and 2010.

The increases aimed to raise Western’s international tuition from “well below” the level of comparable Ontario institutions to parity over “a three- to four-year period,” Western argued in its operating and budget documents.

Western’s first-year arts program tuition ranks seventh-highest among U15 schools — an association of 15 Canadian public research universities — but lowest of the Ontario U15 schools in 2023.

The early 2010s also marked a turning point in Ontario government funding for post-secondary institutions.

The provincial Reaching Higher program that provided a $6.2 billion commitment to universities and colleges came to an end in 2011. Over the next four years, as the Ontario government faced significant financial pressures, it reduced grants across the university system and phased out many student aid programs.

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Per-domestic student funding in Ontario has been declining over the past decade, from $8,926 in 2007-08 to $8,666 in 2020-21, according to calculations provided by Michael Savage, senior research analyst at the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.

But Alex Usher, president of the Canadian consulting firm Higher Education Strategy Associates, told the Gazette 2010 was far from the beginning — the Ontario government has underfunded universities for 40 years. In 38 of those 40 years, Ontario has been dead last among all provinces in per-student governmental funding for higher education.

“Basically, there’s been no change in Ontario’s money to institutions over the past 15 years,” says Usher, adding government grants have been frozen but are worth less due to inflation.

Western’s revenue history also shows the government’s share of the university’s operating budget fell from 85 per cent in the late 1970s to 35.3 per cent in 2022 — while the share contributed by tuition increased to 36.9 per cent.

What further exacerbates financial pressure on universities is the 10 per cent tuition rollback introduced by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in 2019. The reduction was popular among students but resulted in a 31 per cent revenue loss for universities, according to Usher.

“I would argue that the government does not feel pressure to spend money on universities and colleges so it doesn’t,” he says.

Peggy Sattler, Ontario New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament for London West and official opposition critic for colleges and universities, echoed Usher’s sentiment. She says the Progressive Conservative government has a complete lack of interest in post-secondary education.

“There was a $400 million cut to OSAP that universities have been making up by increasing the student financial aid that they’re providing. There were the cuts to operating grants, this nine per cent decline over the past five years,” she says.

Sattler and Usher both point out that, almost inevitably as a result, the higher education institutions look for other sources of money they can change — and they look at international tuition.

“There has to be some regulation of international student tuition,” said Sattler. “Their tuition fees are really what was keeping the sector afloat. We have a very serious obligation to make sure that those students have the support that they need and deserve.”

The Gazette reached out to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for a comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

“There’s chronic underfunding in the Ontario system,” Shepard told the Gazette in an interview but added Western never looked to international students to strengthen their bottom line.

S

ince 1996, Canadian universities have been given discretion to set international fees as they wish, while domestic tuition is still subject to regulation by the provincial government — for ex-

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ample, capped at three per cent between 2013 and 2019 and frozen since.

Along with tuition fees, the number of international students at Western has ballooned.

In 2007, the university incorporated “internationalization” into its strategic plan for the first time and suggested establishing an international centre on campus. Since then, the number of international undergraduate students has increased from 113 to 610 in 2022, from 2.5 to 9.5 per cent of the student body.

In “Towards Western at 150,” the university’s strategic plan, Western says it wants to increase its international undergraduate student population to 20 per cent. In comparison, undergraduate international students at the University of Toronto represent 36 per cent of the total student body while McGill University and the University of British Columbia reported 29 and 28 per cent of international enrolment.

“They are subsidizing domestic tuition and nobody recognizes it,” Usher says.

Usher notes that Canadian universities look at similar institutions in the country and the United States to understand the market they are competing in and how much they can charge.

“It’s the numbers increasing every year that gives you some idea that there’s probably more of a market to go to. They haven’t killed the market yet,” says Usher.

He added because students pay most of the bills, universities are structured differently — considering themselves a more customer-oriented organization rather than a public service organization.

“You worry more about things like student amenities … and so more money ends up going into those kinds of things,” Usher says. “I think where you start to have a problem is where international students seem to be crowding out domestic students.”

The revenue structure which relies heavily on revenue from international student fees can be risky.

An Ontario auditor’s report warns large numbers of students could be lost if individuals from one country were suddenly unable to obtain study permits or were restricted from entering Canada.

The enrolment of international students in Canada shows a huge intake from China and India in the past decade — the two countries together make up half of the international students at Canadian universities, up from just one-third a decade earlier.

David Robinson, the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, says international student fees are “subject to changes in the geopolitical environment where the fight that Canada is having right now with India may have a potential impact on the number of Indian students who come to Canada.”

Shepard told the Gazette that because of the

geopolitics risk, he would never want a 30 per cent international enrolment for Western.

A

n argument Saarah Mohamed Nafeez, a fourth-year international student studying biology often hears but disagrees with is that all international students are wealthy.

“My dad’s income is spread through different streams like me, my sister and my brother, my mom — it’s spread everywhere. So it’s not like we have extra income to take a vacation or buy a house even. It’s not like that. It’s just enough to support us,” says Nafeez.

Seeing her dad working hard seven days per week to pay her tuition, Nafeez felt guilty about asking for more money. She lives frugally — she doesn’t eat out at restaurants and keeps her budget to the minimum she can sustain. At times, she works 20 hours a week off campus.

Muhammad echoed Nafeez, saying it’s difficult to live in a country where she does not feel financially-empowered but financially-exploited.

When Muhammad struggled to pay her tuition in her second year, she sought financial aid from the university and found the channels for international and domestic students to apply for bursaries and work-study positions were separate.

Muhammad says at that time the only thing she could apply for was a $500 international student emergency loan, which she adds is “nothing compared to what international students pay.”

Western recently introduced a new grant for international students in 2023 that provides $1,000 for every first-year student who is new to Canada.

Muhammad was also interested in the international work-study program but missed the

student money, that tuition, goes.”

The undeniable fact is that despite rising international tuition fees, more and more students are travelling from all over the world to study in Canada.

“People bring up the argument that, ‘oh, if it’s too expensive why did you come here?’” says Muhammad. “I deserve a chance to reach my full potential. And if this was the means to do it, I deserve that.”

Following her two older sisters, Muhammad came to Canada because she wanted to receive a higher-quality education and explore her interest in psychology research.

Muhammad’s father is his daughter’s role model and the biggest supporter of her education, spending many years of his youth studying on his own in the library and working his way up to a master’s degree in the United States.

“He knows the value of education … so that’s why he sacrificed so much for me and my sisters,” says Muhammad. “He’s given his all to make us all have a quality educational experience.”

For both Muhammad and Nafeez, another factor in choosing to study in Canada is that the country’s known for being more welcoming to immigrants than in other countries.

The federal government announced a plan last November to take in 500,000 immigrants in 2025, up from an estimated 465,000 in 2023. Immigrants made up 23 per cent of Canada’s population in 2021.

By comparison, a permanent residency is issued only for foreigners living in Qatar for at least 20 years.

She says she never had the feeling of perma-

Their tuition fees are really what was keeping the sector afloat. deadline to apply given the application window is typically less than two weeks — which is in stark contrast to the domestic work-study program that opens its application for six months from the end of August through February.

Western said the university provides over 2,000 work-study positions for domestic and international students, but according to the Western International website, only 50 positions are available for international students every year.

“International students are giving so much and yet we still are in different streams and there’s a limited amount of us that can actually get workstudy — it does not make sense to me,” says Muhammad. “I don’t know where my international

nency living in Qatar as the future was shrouded in uncertainty and dependent on her father’s job security.

Muhammad is proud of her oldest sister who has received her Canadian permanent residency and says she “finally has a place that wants her and is a home that she is welcome to.”

One thing Muhammad believes is unique to international students is the guilt and burden — she knows her parents invested in her “through sacrifice, through the blood, sweat and hard work.”

“I think Canada is the home I’m trying to make,” said Muhammad. “In Canada, as hard as it can be, I am so grateful for this opportunity and I am committed to making the most out of it.”

CULTURE | P8

‘Small reach, big impact’: Meet Science behind: Stress the Short Kings at King’s JESSICA AVSENIK CONTRIBUTOR

VERONICA MACLEAN NEWS EDITOR

I

n a world where big dreams often overshadow the smaller joys in life, one King’s student is challenging the status quo.

Third-year social justice and peace studies student — and self-proclaimed “short king” — Isaac Lima set out in September to create one of King’s University College’s first social clubs to celebrate the smaller things in life.

Lima, who is five-foot seven-inches tall and a part of the King’s soph team, spent the latter half of his summer joking with his fellow sophs about creating a club called the Association of Short Kings at King’s.

“But as I started talking to people in the King’s community — like the students and whatnot — I saw that there was a push for some sort of social club, a club that went beyond academic barriers,” says Lima.

At the beginning of the school year, Lima spent about five hours one day on King’s campus talking to students and gauging interest in the club. By the end of the day, he wound up gathering over 70 signup signatures.

“I wanted to create a space where people can build that community connection, their social connections, without having to put in all that effort,” explains Lima.

Although the club’s name alludes to a gender or height requirement, anyone is allowed to join.

Lima says the name is just meant to “give you a little chuckle on the way in.”

While you don’t have to be short to join, the club plans to stick to short-themed events such as reading short stories, limbo competitions and watching short films. Lima says he also hopes to hold a barbecue fundraiser where club members can eat short ribs.

“Being a university student’s a lot of pressure, and sometimes you can feel very small in a big world,” says Lima.

Lima also does not want to have any required fees for the club to further increase membership accessibility.

Mackenzie Mercer, a third-year French and Catholic studies for teachers student and vice president of events for the club, met Lima while sophing this year.

“We went through and did a lot of networking at the school and got a lot of people on board,” says Mercer.

The King’s University College Students’ Council officially ratified the Association of Short Kings at King’s on Oct. 21.

COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SHORT KINGS AT KING’S Four executive members of the Association of Short Kings at King’s after the club was ratified, Oct. 21, 2023.

W

e’ve all been there — waking up in the morning, ready to face a new day when the heavy burden of stress weighs us down. While stress may seem minimal, can it affect our health over time?

Tarun Katapally, a researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences, comes from a family with a history of healthy living. Despite his father’s active and smoke- and alcohol-free lifestyle, he had to undergo triple bypass surgery at the age of 65.

“I know that the biggest factor for that to happen is consistent stress,” Katapally shared. “There’s a lot of evidence that stress has an impact on your physical health outcomes.”

There have been many studies on how the stress hormone cortisol can affect the body in high levels.

According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress can disrupt almost all of the body’s processes and increase risk of digestive issues, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Stress is a subjective experience, but it can be loosely defined as a sense of mental strain due to responsibilities. Stress has been around forever, but in recent years, it seems to have intensified, partly due to social media and the “toxic productivity” phenomenon.

Brightside Health points out that while social media is a popular way to pass the time and keep up to date with current news, it also is a big contributor to stress and anxiety among users.

Carly Bongard, a fourth year MIT student, pointed to deadlines as a significant stressor and that “you can’t avoid them.”

All of this considered, how can students alleviate stress in their lives?

There are many resources at Western University for mental health including individual counselling, peer support, group workshops, and more.

But not everyone is aware of this.

“I do think that Western should do more advertising when it comes to their resources,” Bongard said. She personally doesn’t use the services, but if she needed them, she wouldn’t know where to go.

Bongard explained how over the years, she has found ways to cope with stress such as going to the gym or going for a walk, but her main piece of advice is to write down the tasks that are the most stressful so you have a list of what to do. She continued describing her list of responsibilities that she makes everyday.

“That way, I can physically see myself cross it off, or physically see that I don’t have that much to do,” she explained, adding that this helps her plan out her day accordingly, or give her peace of mind.

Bongard is a new personal trainer at a gym in downtown London and said fitness is critical to staying grounded. She explained exercises like weight lifting and walking have positively impacted her mental health and self-esteem.

“I feel like when you start working out for the first time, it’s like a whole new life,” Bongard said.

“My mental health is so much better, I feel so much less stressed, I feel more confident.”

Katapally, however, gave his own straightforward advice to how he got through the stress of medical school.

“Always surround yourself with good people,” he said. “That’s your greatest buffer, in my opinion.”

JESSICA COUNTI GAZETTE

From L.A. to London: Denis Jiron’s musical journey HANNAH GUTIERREZ CONTRIBUTOR

D

enis Jiron splits his time between playing with a world-renowned orchestra and directing a student salsa band named after geese.

The assistant professor of trombone at Western University was born and raised in Los Angeles. His vast professional experience — which ranges from founding an Afro-Cuban band orchestra to playing for the Los Angeles Philharmonic — has helped him mentor his students.

He founded and directs the pop band and salsa band courses offered by the Faculty of Music. The salsa band, Los Gansitos, is named after Western’s unofficial mascot: the Canadian goose.

Denis’ musical interests range from piano to timbales, bongó and congos — percussion used in Afro-Cuban salsa. Denis can play every type of trombone, but the tenor trombone is his preferred instrument for performances.

He has played with Kayne West, Queen Latifah and his personal favourite, Earth, Wind & Fire.

“As a horn player, it’s one of the bands that you hear growing up. It’s one of the best horn bands in the world in history,” says Denis. “When I was hired to play with them, I thought, ‘wow, I’m actually playing with Earth, Wind & Fire, a band I’ve heard from when I was a kid.’”

Denis recalls his first memory of loving music: his fifth-grade field trip to a symphony. He joined his school’s band a couple of years later, which further solidified his love for music.

In his 20s, Denis started playing freelance gigs

COURTESY OF ULF BJORLIN

in salsa bands. He became dissatisfied with constantly playing the New York style of salsa, which originated from Puerto Rico, and wanted to show L.A. what else salsa has to offer.

This led to Rumbankete, an Afro-Cuban band orchestra Denis founded, and an experience that tested his leadership skills.

“It was hard because I didn’t know how to be-

have,” says Denis. “You go to school and they don’t teach you how to be a bandleader, you learn it all along the way.”

While Denis had played with famous orchestras like the L.A. Philharmonic as a substitute, his long-term goal was to get a permanent position in an orchestra.

This finally came true in his 30s, when he won a

permanent position in a German orchestra.

“When I finally won my permanent position in Germany, that’s when I felt I finally made it,” says Denis. “I was like, ‘Oh, man, I’ve done it. Now what?

I don’t know the feeling of how not to struggle.’”

It was a desire for change that brought Denis to London.

“I freelanced my whole adult life,” says Denis. “I just felt like it was time for a change.”

Denis got his DMA, a doctorate-level degree in music, at the age of 40 and began his job search for a full-time position at a university.

He received a couple of job offers and decided London was the best option for him.

“London is big enough that it still feels like a city, but small enough that I don’t feel like everyone’s on top of each other,” says Denis. “I didn’t expect London to be as diverse as it is. I really expected it to be much more homogenous.”

Despite Denis’ own musical success, he warns those who want to pursue this path that it can be a challenging and competitive industry.

“Only do music if you cannot imagine in your life doing something else,” says Denis. “You don’t have to pay your rent with music to be a fulfilled musician.”

Denis encourages any student — even non-music majors — to join the pop band and Los Gansitos.

“Some of the most critical components of last year’s Los Gansitos were a couple of non-majors and they were great,” says Denis. “Music is for everybody.”

CULTURE | P9

I didn’t go to school for this: The connection between degrees and careers DANIELLE PAUL SENIOR CULTURE EDITOR

G

raduating university is hard, but the question many graduates face after university may be even harder: what do I do now?

Many university students may not know what they want to do after school or how their degree will relate to their careers. But often, people end up in jobs that have nothing to do with their program after graduation.

Leagh Turner graduated from Western University with a degree in English and is now chief executive officer at Ceridian, a global human capital management company. She also sits on the board of directors for Manulife, Ceridian and Plan International Canada.

While human capital management and reading Paradise Lost may not seem correlated at first, Turner explained she uses many of the skills developed from her English degree in her career.

“When I think back to an English degree, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it,” said Turner. “But I would say in its macro, I use it every day.”

Turner explained one of the strongest skills she got out of her degree was the ability to communicate effectively and become a well-rounded leader.

English taught her clear communication, clarity of thought and the ability to take large volumes of information and simplify it.

Dani Wah, program manager of leadership development at Bell for customer experience, artificial intelligence and data engineering, said she learned similar communication and reading comprehension skills from her Western history degree.

Like Turner, Wah also uses skills she learned through her degree — like researching, writing, proofreading and summarizing large volumes of information — on a daily basis at her job.

“When you’re writing an essay, you’re using sources from 25 books, and even just on a weekly basis reading literally hundreds of pages and then having to talk about it in a tutorial for 30 minutes,” said Wah. Craig Ingram, manager of career education at Western, said it’s common for people to be working in careers that don’t seem traditionally related to their field.

A 2013 study shows only around 27 per cent of university graduates are working in the field related to the major they studied.

“One of the elements we speak with students about is the fact that there’s a bit of a misconception that there’s this very clear degree-to-career connection,” said Ingram.

Ingram explains only 20 per cent of professions are formally regulated — meaning they need a specific background or credentials. Eighty per cent of professions that are not formally regulated are opportunities for those who have a combination of interests as well as the general skills and in-setting experience to do the work.

But it’s not just arts degrees that lead alumni into “unrelated” fields — science, technology, engineering and math degrees can too.

Rick Chiarelli, senior alliance lead at Deloitte, got his degree from Western in biology. Chiarelli said that after graduating from Western, it was difficult to know where he wanted to go next.

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE

He then went to Humber College and completed a degree in public relations and marketing.

“I think there is so much excitement mixed with a bit of fear, right? Where will I go?” said Chiarelli. “But so many people go through it — I’m not the only one.”

In large companies, there are many roles that don’t require a technological background and are just as important.

Chiarelli is working in a field completely different from biology and he believes one of the keys to success is using your skills to their advantage.

“We all have strengths and superpowers. When

you work at a place like Deloitte, once I got there, I understood that I might not be a computer engineer. They bring in different strengths, I bring a different strength and all of us realize that we can go in packs and work as a group. I don’t have to be an expert in all things.”

Wah believes it’s important to study what you enjoy in university, and the skills you learn will help in the future — even in unexpected ways.

“If you’re going to spend four years and a whole lot of money on something, it might as well be something you love,” said Wah. “So I don’t regret it and I love my career that I have today.”

Western students create documen- Bar Crawl: Grad Club Trivia Night tary highlighting Ukrainian resiliency W H TARA YANG CULTURE INTERN

GISELLE D’ANNA CULTURE INTERN

umanitarian crises can often feel a world away — Cole Rutman is looking to change that.

“Voices,” a documentary directed and produced by the second-year creative arts and production student at Western University, is a deeply emotional and personal telling of the journey undertaken by Ukrainian refugees to come to Canada.

The documentary is made up of a compilation of interviews with refugees spanning from children to adults.

Rutman could never have anticipated that what he learned in class could provide everything necessary to make a difference in the world.

He led the project hoping to inspire students to use their creative voice to make an impact where they thought it wasn’t possible.

“I want to do things that can inspire change, I want to have an impact on the world. And I think a lot of university students want that. Our hope for the documentary is that it reaches the people that we want it to reach,” explained Rutman.

Rutman brought together 25 students to work on the “Voices” production team by successfully pitching his idea to the Arts and Humanities Students’ Council’s Student Donation Fund and sending a mass email to offer the opportunity to Western students.

The production and direction of the film encountered significant struggles — the shooting was set to begin in May, but at one point in April, the team didn’t have anybody to interview.

“That was a huge problem, because what was this project going to look like if we didn’t have any stories to bring to the spotlight?” asked Cole.

But the team was able to create connections with organizations like Catholic Community Services of York Region that allowed them to make their ideas come alive.

“I was really impressed that Cole and his team were so passionate about telling this story,” said Leonilda Bastone-Patey, executive director at

MASON LYN GAZETTE The screening of the Voices documentary in the McKellar Room.

CCSYR. CCSYR worked closely with the production team and helped them gather many inspiring Ukrainian refugees willing to share their stories.

“Reliving the story can sometimes be triggering,” said Bastone-Patey. “It was also a moment of healing, because they’re in a different place now than they were a year ago.”

The documentary’s first screening took place at Toronto’s Welcome Centre in front of a crowd of 100 people, including the mayors of Richmond and Vaughn.

“It humanized a conflict that seemed so far away from here, it really changes your perspective,” said Kaitlyn Maddox, a fourth-year popular music studies student who watched the film at the screening at Western on Oct. 13.

This documentary aims to continue a difficult conversation of humanity and resilience. CCSYR has grand hopes for “Voices” and soon plans to share the documentary with all levels of government and community partners ro raise awareness and call for action.

“No one says it more powerfully than someone who’s lived it, who’s been so resilient and is doing the work and is continuing to hold it all together while everything else is falling apart,” explained Leonilda.

estern’s Grad Club hosts Trivia Nights biweekly, providing quizzical fun through memory-engaging games and socialization with other participants.

Trivia Nights at the Grad Club take place at 7 p.m. every Tuesday for general trivia and Thursday for themed trivia.

The Grad Club, located in the basement of Middlesex College, is run by the Society of Graduate Students and is a popular spot for undergraduate and graduate students and the Western community to socialize and participate in events like trivia nights.

The laughter and chatter from the pub could be heard far down the hallway. Compared to the rest of Middlesex’s dim lighting and peeling-yellow walls, the Grad Club immersed me into an entirely new world with its ambient lighting and fun music.

The Thursday I attended featured sportsthemed trivia, including questions on introduction music in sports movies and odd water sports.

For newcomers like myself, a game of trivia generally consists of the host asking various questions about various trivia topics, and each participant is given a sheet of paper to answer accordingly. Winners are whoever gets the most amount of correct answers and are rewarded with a prize from the host.

Ava Schonberg, a Grad Club bartender and third-year medical sciences student at Western University, says she finds the trivia questions hard and has never gotten a right answer.

“I’ve tried the questions. They’re really hard and I get them all wrong,” Schonberg says, explaining that now she prefers to opt out.

As someone who doesn’t know much about sports, I found the questions difficult and did not know many of the answers.

Regular participants, however, seemed very knowledgeable with their rounds of trivia. Shonberg explains she had not yet heard a regular complaint about the difficulty level of the trivia questions. Perhaps it’s possible to catch on to the trend and gain some skills after enough participation.

Though I found Thursday night’s theme-based questions particularly niche, I did enjoy the Grad Club’s food.

The pub serves a variety of foods, including burgers, wraps and chicken fingers. I found the food to be fairly priced given the size of the servings. The fries: a true must-have.

If Dollar Beers nights at Jack’s are too rowdy for your taste, the Grad Club’s cheap $6 beers may be a viable alternative.

Although the atmosphere was fun, as a second-year student I felt slightly out of place. This event felt catered more towards graduate students with the main audience being an older crowd.

Despite this, Trivia Nights are open to all members of the Western community.

The Grad Club has free admission for everyone — both undergraduate and graduate students, with certain nights catering more to certain students depending on the event.

“I would say it really is for everybody,” says Schonberg.

Schonberg says many undergraduate students and students from various faculties come in, despite mainly attracting graduate students.

“You’ll see a lot of English majors. But we have a group of biochem students,” she says, explaining many science students also pay a visit after their labs in Middlesex College.

The pub is also a popular venue for Western alumni to gather with old friends and revisit their school days.

Corey Smith, a recent doctoral graduate, was among a group of high-energy trivia participants and described the Grad Club as “the place to go,” saying the best part was the consistency.

“Our team comes out every weekend and pencils it in every week,” says Smith, explaining that he and his friends make an effort to schedule trivia nights weekly.

Although I don’t think undergraduate students will find as much appeal in the Grad Club’s Trivia Nights, perhaps their parents might. The weekly programming serves as a fun, light-hearted event for Western grad students and alumni.

OPINIONS | P10

Opinion: The arts will thrive in spite of AI ALEX D’ENTREMONT-SMITH DIGITAL EDITOR

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f you’re a student in STEM, the rise of artificial intelligence might be a miracle. Writing up labs and little chunks of code is now just a simple request to ChatGPT and some editing along the way.

Even if you’re not using it to write full assignments, it’s still a great tool to inspire ideas or pick out errors in your work.

The story reads a little differently for the arts — but the doom and gloom we feel as a faculty is, I think, misplaced. AI will never be able to create and tell stories the way that people can.

When the news of ChatGPT came out, it was a worst-nightmare scenario for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Every arts professor took the first opportunity to shame its use in the classrooms, begging us not to plagiarize our work with AI. They’d ask the class if they’d heard of ChatGPT, and marvel at some of the stories students told about their friends in other faculties — who used it and were rewarded for it.

Thinking about my upcoming graduation, I was once also worried. Who would hire a content creator when AI is free? AI doesn’t demand compensation for producing a 1,000-word piece.

In my paranoia it seemed like every company would just delegate the role of “AI Editor” to an existing worker. My life and everything I worked for felt, for a long moment, unnecessary.

But I later realized this idea was as far from

ARISIA QARRI GAZETTE

the truth as a person can get. The shape of work is changing with the introduction of advanced AI for sure — but it does not diminish the value of human creativity.

On these days where the fear of being replaced becomes overwhelming, I’ve begun to remind myself: art existed long before capitalism — and long, long before AI. Humans have needed to tell stories through art and words since the dawn of human civilization. AI might seem like a problem now, but it will disappear long before humans stop making art.

All we have to do is fight for our space in this scene — and I’m not the only one who thinks so either.

The United-States-based collective of famous authors, the Authors Guild, is suing the creators of ChatGPT for using their copyrighted works without permission to train the AI. Western University just appointed Mark Daley as their chief AI officer to help guide conversations and create strategies to use AI healthily.

And this fight is something we can win — no compromise needed. After 148 days of strike, the

Writers Guild of America had every one of their conditions met for the new three-year contract they would sign with Hollywood. This list of demands included a prohibition of AI writing or rewriting any material. WGA refused to be replaced

by AI, and fought until they were respected.

If WGA can make Hollywood kneel, there’s no telling what we can do.

The fear creatives feel in the face of AI is understandable. Writing and original thought are the foundation of our work. ChatGPT and art-based AI threaten to replace everything these professors teach, everything they believe in. How can they convince students to study communication or art if machines churn out content an audience will happily eat up?

But above all else, there is one thought that inspires me to keep working hard on my craft: technology will never produce art to the same quality of something handmade.

AI does not think — it simply takes information and predicts the next word or pixel colour. Just imagine: in the comics world, hand-inked works are sought after because of how rare they are in the age of digital inking. The texture and quality of the work is completely different when it’s inked and coloured by hand.

Now imagine the ineffable difference between something you wrote and something ChatGPT produced. Human-made art will become a valued commodity for the thing that sets it apart from AI. It’s no longer just content — it’s human content.

The words were carefully chosen and edited. The painting has texture and shine, and was thought about over and over again. “Human-made” will become a gold stamp on the bottom of the page.

AI will never replace us. It can mimic us, but it will never tell stories like we do.

EDITORIAL

Western should tackle root gender-based issues as Brescia becomes history A

s Brescia winds down its operation as an affiliate for the merger next Spring, it’s time for Western to confront the systemic issue of how to create a campus environment where all students feel secure and supported.

In a recent move September, Western University announced the all-women college will integrate with the university. While the decision may have been financially justifiable, the repercussions on the safety and well-being of women and gender non-conforming students cannot be ignored.

Women’s colleges were originally established to address imbalances in gender ratios at universities. As the last all-women college in Canada — founded in 1919 by the Ursuline Sisters with a goal of bridging gaps in women’s education — Brescia University College students have continued to speak against the merger, citing the need for safe spaces.

Western and Brescia administrations have explained that women now make up the majority of

post-secondary students in Canada, so there is not as much of a need for an all-women college.

While there is more of a gender-balanced ratio at universities, this is not why current students go to Brescia. As evident by the large reaction from students, women applied for Brescia for years because they knew it is a space they would feel safer, especially considering Western and other universities’ cases of gender-based sexual violence.

At an all-women’s college, there is also a sense of community and a space to discuss gender-based issues that would not necessarily be talked about on mixed campuses.

Indeed, there’s the need for an all-women’s college — especially for survivors of GBSV. But this is not a permanent solution.

Western should work harder to tackle the root problem on main campus as Brescia becomes history.

Rather than treating the symptom of having an entire school for people who justifiably feel unsafe, we need to treat the systemic problem of not enough people feeling safe to be at Western.

Systemic problems, including the prevalence of gender-based violence, should be acknowledged and actively addressed. Additionally, Western must consider the cultural aspects that may deter women from pursuing education in a mixed-gender environment, making the presence of all-women’s spaces crucial for some communities.

So far, Western is already in the right direction in ensuring that Brescia’s residence Clare Hall stays an all-female one. Originally, the loss with Brescia meant the loss of a residence for all women and gender non-conforming people. If there are no places for only women to live in Canada, that creates a real issue.

Western keeping Clare Hall as an all-female and gender non-con-

forming residence gives students — Brescia enrolled or not — that extra sense of security.

Also, just because there’s a more equal gender ratio doesn’t mean it’s an actual gender-equal space. Gender stereotypes can still be reinforced and perpetuated in classrooms and on campus, making women and gender non-conforming students feel unheard and uncomfortable. Western must continue working to create that equal space, and it’s up to students to make their peers feel like they have an equal chance to excel.

If there was a way to keep Brescia going, that would be the ideal option to support the students who are shocked and hurt by the merger.

But since that’s not financially feasible and the merger decision has been made, it’s time to start thinking about the future.

While maintaining Brescia’s all-female residence is a step in the right direction, it is crucial for Western to address the broader issue of safety on the entire campus.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Brescia Chapel, Sept. 22, 2023.

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 Gazette, its editors or staff. To submit a letter to the editor, send an email to hannah.alper@westerngazette.ca.

SPORTS | P11

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the third quarter, the Golden Hawks did not gain a single down against the Mustangs.

“I thought our coaches did a great job, and defensively that second half was outstanding,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall.

The Mustangs offence struggled at times during the game, but fifth-year kicker Brian Garrity put the team on his back, scoring six field goals — his last being 45 yards and putting the game on ice for Western.

“Brian Garrity did a great job. Because we needed that one, that one long field goal he was bang on and on the other ones too, but that long one made it a two plus score game for us,” said Marshall.

The hometown hero Garrity was awarded the Yates Cup Most Valuable Player for his performance on Nov. 11.

“It’s a great feeling,” Garrity said on winning MVP. “We got two more to go. We gotta stay ready.

We’re prepared — we’re the most prepared team in the league.”

But the game didn’t start as clean for the Mustangs as the final score suggests.

Western had a nightmarish first half, as the team went into halftime trailing 14–8 with injuries piling up.

Mustangs fourth-year quarterback Evan Hillock went down in the second quarter after trying to extend a play in the pocket. The signal-caller ran off the field in a panic, holding his left, non-throwing shoulder.

Third-year backup quarterback Jerome Rancourt came in but could only complete one of six passes and gain 28 yards for the Mustangs.

Hillock would return to start in the second half, and he made sure not to let his team down, finishing with 173 yards and one touchdown.

The Mustangs broke through in the third quarter when fifth-year defensive back Ryan Barthelson got a much-needed interception on Elgersma.

The Mustangs’ offence came out the next play as Hillock threw a beautiful deep pass to fourth-year receiver Seth Robertson for their first touchdown of the game.

Robertson finished with 59 receiving yards.

Sixth-year receiver Savaughn Magnaye-Jones came up clutch for the offence, picking up 107 yards off just seven receptions.

“We came up with some adversity in the first half, but you know the guys rally together — shout out to the coaches for believing in us and making the right calls,” said Magnaye-Jones. “Shout out to the defence, ballin’ out there and making stop after stop.”

Western was led by an impressive ground game, as the Mustangs running backs tore up the Golden Hawks defence for 274 yards on the ground.

Second-year running back Ethan Dolby and

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Western Mustangs secure third Yate’s Cup in a row, Nov. 11, 2023.

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Paul Gleason cries with glee following the Western Mustang’s third Yate’s Cup victory in a row, Nov. 11, 2023.

sixth-year running back Troy Thompson both had over 100 yards against Laurier.

The Golden Hawks had no answers for the Mustangs offensive line, who created holes for the running backs all game long.

“It looked like some Western football today, that’s for sure. We ran the ball and we’re loving it.

We take a lot of pride in that here,” said Berwick.

The Mustangs offensive line was strengthened

by the return of fourth-year left tackle Erik Anderson, who had been out since week six of the regular season after sustaining an injury against the University of Windsor Lancers.

“I love that guy, and seeing him come back meant a lot for us to win that game today with him,” said Berwick. “He fought like hell today and made us be able to run the ball.”

The Mustangs will travel to Montreal to take on

SOPHIE BOUQUILLON GAZETTE Bryan Garrity with Dalt White Yates Cup Player of the Game Trophy, Nov. 11, 2023.

the University of Montreal Carabins in the Uteck Bowl on Nov. 18, the national semi-final. Montreal defeated the Laval University Rouge et Or 12–6 in the Dunsmore Cup. “I think we can do it. I think everybody believes that we can do it. And if we all come together, it’s a repeat of 2021,” said Garrity, referring to the Mustangs’ chances at a national title.

Western has your parents’ new favourite sport: Pickleball MANAN JOSHI SPORTS EDITOR

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our mom plays it. Her mom plays it. But what is pickleball and how did it become popular at Western University?

Pickleball is a racket sport that is a mixture of tennis, badminton and ping pong. A pickleball court is a quarter of the size of a tennis court and is most commonly played with a pair on each side of a low-hanging net.

The pickleball itself is a hollow, plastic ball, and the pickleball paddle is rectangular and much larger than a ping pong paddle. Each team can score points through a rally and games are typically played up to 11 points, with the winner having to win by at least two points.

While the sport has been around for over 50 years, it’s only recently become mainstream and made its way to Western’s intramural options. In January 2022, Pickleball Canada found the number of pickleball players in the country had tripled in the last two years.

“I get a lot of requests to start new leagues every year, and for this one, I started getting a little more requests than usual,” says intramurals program coordinator Guy Schultz.

Schultz decided to include pickleball in Western’s intramural program in the 2022 fall session, where students like fourth-year psychology stu-

ANGWARA NILANONT GAZETTE

dent Samantha Cates have been swarming to connect with other pickleball-enthusiasts in London.

“It’s gotten very popular amongst all of the moms mostly in Oakville,” says Cates, who adds she’s joined her mom and her friends for games back home.

The Association of Pickleball Players found the average age of pickleball players in 2023 is 35

years. Alison Doherty, a kinesiology professor at Western, suggests the social aspect of the game is a major contributor to its surge in popularity.

While many different types of sports are referred to as social, it’s difficult to actually talk with the people around you while playing the sport. The smaller space of the pickleball court allows players to easily talk to their partner and opponent.

Pickleball spiked in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic for being able to provide a friendly, outdoor atmosphere while being socially distant.

Schultz says adding pickleball to the university’s intramurals presented a challenge: the Thompson Recreation and Athletic Centre is 98 per cent booked and adding a new gym sport inevitably means removing a current intramural sport.

“On Sundays, across all our spaces, we have something like 320 teams … close to 6,000 students at play,” says Schultz.

The inclusion of pickleball also meant buying new equipment such as rackets, balls and nets.

Pickleball went on to fill up completely in each of its categories — men’s, women’s and co-ed — ever since its debut.

New intramural sports at Western are evaluated after the first two years. Depending on how pickleball fills this upcoming winter semester, the intramural program coordinator will determine if they want to increase or decrease time slots and space for the sport.

Cates says she and her partner have found the intramural to be “a lot of fun.”

“This is our first time doing it, but we’ve really enjoyed it so far,” she adds.

Your mom plays it, her mom plays it — maybe next time you could play too.

P12

Building Character ACROSS

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* Vehicle 5. Erupt, as a volcano 9. Vowel-shaped construction material 11. Push 12. * Doctor’s place?

14. Feeling blue 15. ___ Paulo (City in Brazil) 16. Many a WWE takedown 17. * Popular Californian newspaper 19. Continent home to Japan 22. Bird’s home 23. * Iconic building on a farm 27. All-time great boxer Muhammad 28. What syrup starts as 29. QB Manning of the NFL 32. What has been covertly inserted into each of the starred entries (as indicated by the circles) 35. Long rides?

36. It may be on a plane, train or automobile 37. Site that sells handmade products 38. Gas found in signs

DOWN

1. A smoker uses them, for short 2. “____ cadabra!” (magic words) 3. Go to the library, maybe 4. Young man 5. “Quiet!”

6. “This really sucks” 7. Brings to mind 8. “My team didn’t win” 10. Flat-topped hill 11. Person who may wear a tam 13. Droop 17. Place where experiments are conducted

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JEFFREY MARTINOVIC GAZETTE

18. Motel alternative 19. Like fertile, farmable land 20. Tell a lie really effectively 21. “The early bird gets the worm”, and others 24. Queries 25. North Carolina’s capital, abbr.

26. Big oil group

29. To be in Montreal?

30. Word aptly spelled out by this puzzles extra letters 31. Heavy metal?

33. Evasively shy 34. Catch some rays

MADELEINE MCCOLL GAZETTE KATHERINE GUO GAZETTE

Email your comics to managing@westerngazette.ca or come to UCC 263 and ask about volunteering for our graphics section!

A R A B L E

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C A R L S P E W I B E A M S H O V E G R A D E S C H O O L S A D S A O R K O L A G T I M E S I A N E S T D B A R O N I S A P E L I O C K L E T T E R M O S C A R G O S Y N E O N