Tuesday, November 26, 2013

W W W .W E STERNGAZETTE.C A • @UW OGAZETTE

Breakfast fit for a linebacker ... or four.

Jonathan Clarke is training to tackle four enormous breakfasts. >> pg. 4

thegazette Sticky rib fingers since 1906

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2013

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CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906

VOLUME 107, ISSUE 44

Whelan’s speech focuses Board of Directors facing overhaul on student advocacy Jeremiah Rodriguez NEWS EDITOR

Kelly Samuel GAZETTE

LEND ME YOUR EARS. University Students’ Council president Pat Whelan delivers a speech to a crowd of students and Western administrators last night in the Mustang Lounge. His speech emphasized the USC’s focus on student advocacy and student engagement.

Iain Boekhoff NEWS EDITOR A seat at the table for students for the future of post-secondary education was the theme of a speech delivered by University Students’ Council president Pat Whelan last night in the Mustang Lounge.

Whelan delivered the speech, followed by a question and answer period, to about 80 students, USC councillors, Western administrators — including Western president Amit Chakma — and community leaders. It was the second year the USC president delivered a speech to students on the role of the USC and the vision for the organization going forward.

Whelan focused on orienting the USC more towards advocacy and less about corporate interests.

He gave examples throughout the history of the USC of what the student government has successfully advocated for and how the USC has made students’ concerns heard at the upper levels of Western’s administration. These successes include getting more residences to guarantee every first-year student a spot, the Student Development Centre, Student Health Services and publicly available course and professor evaluations.

“Last year my predecessor

started the conversation about refocusing the USC more towards advocacy and we agree,” Whelan said. “We need to be a student government that cares less about corporate interests and more about being the voice of students.”

Whelan stressed it is up to students to make their voices heard to their council representatives and to Western officials.

“Student advocacy is your civic responsibility to engage in. The key to more support, to higher quality education, and to a better life in the city is advocacy.”

He outlined effective listening, developing strong solutions and building lasting partnerships as the “three pillars of strong student advocacy.”

“It was the number one reason I wanted to run for this job, listening to students needs to be at the core of everything a student government does. Why? Because what I heard is that we aren’t being heard enough.

We have made some big strides forward this year, but it is something we need to continue to work on.”

As part of listening more to students, the USC will launch two new initiatives next week. The Idea Forum is a platform where students can suggest ideas as well as vote and comment on other people’s ideas.

Concrete Speech is a website where

students can share their opinions in a public dialogue from a wider number of students rather than just members of the USC executive and councillors.

Developing a more robust research and policy development is also a priority of this year’s USC executive. This will take some of the power away from the president and vice-presidents and putting it into council.

Finally, he discussed building strong partnerships within the Western community and with government within the city. Whelan said a priority of this year’s executive has been strengthening the relationship with Western’s provost and vice-provosts and their teams.

City council has also been engaged with the USC and students have been granted roles on eight city committees.

Whelan highlighted some of the things the USC has been active in this year, including mental health, provincial and federal government policy change. He concluded by encouraging students at large to get involved and voice their opinions.

“Speak up, talk about how to make your university the best place to be a student. We have a lot of important discussions ahead of us, so make sure your views have a seat at the table.”

On Wednesday night, the University Students’ Council will vote on the future structure of the USC Board of Directors as part of the restructuring of the USC executive.

The proposal would increase the number of students-at-large that could serve on the board from five to eight. Five additional non-student community members would then serve on a separate advisory board staying away from student politics.

London community members would be able to sit on the advisory committee without having to deal with the student politics and just focus on policy recommendations.

The Gazette spoke to USC president Pat Whelan about what this proposed restructuring would mean.

“So council is our ultimate governing authority, elected students of the legislature who run the show. But the council delegates its authority of oversight of corporate resources to an elected Board of Directors,” he said.

Whelan said the external board would serve as an objective apolitical oversight body on management and corporate resources

which would report to and make recommendations to council for decision-making.

“When a council decision had a corporate resource impact, they’ll give advice about the budget — ‘If you do this, the long-term outcomes are that.’ Councillors will take the board’s advice along with feedback from their constituents, and make a decision,” Whelan said.

The structure of the Board of Directors has had a varied history.

In 1965 the USC was incorporated, and the original board of directors had very centralized power. Only recently has the council made an effort to give most of the power back to council.

Whelan explained that this step would be the intermediate one since the last year’s overhaul to the executive structure of the USC. Last year, the USC adopted two more structural reforms. The first introduced the slate candidacy system, where presidential candidates must run alongside candidates for vice-presidents internal and external. The other separated the Board of Directors from the USC executive, giving students-at-large the ability to sit on the Board, in order to eliminate a perceived conflict of >> see USC pg.3

Logan Ly GAZETTE

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thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Predicting the body’s movements Emory Liu GAZETTE STAFF

Naira Ahmed GAZETTE

Look here on Tuesdays for special Western student deals on food and entertainment from London businesses

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A Western psychology professor may be able to give insight into the way bodily senses may be able to predict future events, and their connection to developments in artificial limb technology.

Jody Culham’s research has shown that it is possible to predict movements in the body three seconds before it actually occurs. “We understand a lot about how the brain uses vision for action in other species, but we know surprisingly little about how it works in humans,� Culham said in an e-mail. “My lab is interested in how the human brain controls the body, particularly using the sense of sight.�

The research involves the usage of a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine to track brain signals sent out to the rest of the body. “Recently we began applying a new technique, sometimes called brain reading, to look at patterns of brain activation in specific areas while normal human adults plan and perform hand actions such as reaching, grasping and tool use.�

A clear application of Culham’s research is to contribute to the development of artificial limbs by identifying the areas of the brain that carry the most useful information and decoding the intended actions. “Just last year, researchers in Rhode Island implanted 96 electrodes into the brains of two quadriplegic patients. With training, the patients and the computer figured out how to make the robotic hand to do what the patient wanted it to,�

Culham said. “This was an amazing ‘proof of concept’ but there is still much room for improvement to expand the quality and range of the movements.�

Culham has been selected to speak at the “What Matters Now� event at the London Children’s Museum on November 26.

It is hosted by Research Matters in partnership with the Counsel of Ontario Universities. The purpose of the series is to showcases the various research topics from Ontario universities to the public. “Research Matters is the result of a collaboration between 21 Ontario universities. The fact that these institutions have made such great strides in working together on such a deep level is unprecedented. This cooperative approach is one of the things that makes Ontario’s university community such a global powerhouse,� Bonnie Patterson, CEO of the Counsel of Ontario Universities wrote in an e-mail.

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

business.humber.ca/postgrad

Solution to puzzle on page 8

The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error. Š 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

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•3

thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

USC eyes board changes >> USC continued from pg.1

interests.

“Hopefully this will attract more higher quality community members and keeping students in the governing realm of the USC. Community members could be alumni, local people from London, local government type of thing to provide expertise that maybe a student wouldn’t have,” Whelan said.

“You wouldn’t be there to represent students, but you’re there to say, what is best or would cause harm to the corporation [of the USC]. They play a crucial role when it comes to financial management.”

The sponsors for the motion, Health Science councillor Doug

Hopefully this will attract more higher quality community members — keeping students in the governing realm of the USC. Community members could be alumni, local people from London, local government type of thing to provide expertise that maybe a student wouldn’t have.

— Pat Whelan

Bricknell and Engineering councillor Tom Grainger, were unavailable for comment.

Regardless of whether the motion passes at Wednesday night’s USC meeting, plans are moving ahead to hold a pair of information sessions about the Board of Directors on Thursday afternoon from 12­–2:30 p.m. and Friday evening from 5–7 p.m. at the Wave.

Kojo Hayward, USC governance officer and organizer of the info sessions, will be letting students know what it takes to sit on the USC Board of Directors. Hayward urged any interested students to attend the sessions.

Mike Laine GAZETTE

USC president

USC attends CASA conference University student unions gathered in Ottawa Richard Raycraft NEWS EDITOR Representatives from the University Students’ Council were in Ottawa last week, advocating for and raising awareness of issues related to students, including speaking with senior government officials.

USC president Pat Whelan and USC vice-president external and Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance president Amir Eftekarpour left London for the capital on Sunday, November 17, returning Sunday. They were attending the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations’ Advocacy Week, held annually to bring student issues to the attention of the federal government.

“This year we had about 153 meetings with [Members of Parliament], ministers, some of the ministry staffers and sector partners to talk about how the federal government can affect student issues,” Whelan said. “This year we went and we talked about the Canadian Students Grants Program, Loans program, how to improve visas for international students, how the federal government can lead the charge on the stigma on mental health on postsecondary campuses, we also talked about support for Aboriginal students.”

CASA is a national body of student associations from across Canada. OUSA, the provincial counterpart of which Western is a member, is in turn a member of CASA. The group was there for approximately six full days, spending the first three planning and preparing, and the next three meeting with government officials.

“I think it was successful, we had a lot of really great discussions with members of all political parties,” Whelan said.

Whelan also elaborated on some of the issues discussed.

“We see, especially on the grants and loans front, those are sort of government programs that have existed for a significant amount of time and mostly what we were asking for are significant improvements, mostly tweaks to sort of protect particular groups,” he said.

“We talked about parental income too. There are a lot of students whose parents — in theory, according to how the government measures it — could afford to go to school, but not all parents make contributions,” he continued. “So the assumed parental contribution holds students back.”

Among the MPs Whelan and Eftekarpour spoke to were London MPs Ed Holder and Irene Mathyssen, former Liberal leadership candidate

Marc Garneau and government House leader Peter Van Loan.

The team was originally scheduled to meet with Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, but he was busy addressing the Senate expense scandal. They instead met with a policy advisor to Mr. Trudeau.

Eftekarpour spoke of the importance of that meeting.

“Getting on the policy platform [of an opposition party], that was the whole point of [the meeting],” he explained.

“Really our objectives were to communicate to the government where it’s been really ineffective in terms of its policies, and we definitely got a few of the conservative MPs to commit to bringing it up in caucus and talking about it to Mr. Flaherty [minister of finance], and I think we got eight questions in in Senate question period,” he continued.

Though both Whelan and Eftekarpour spoke of the week as a success, Eftekarpour commented that only time would tell the effectiveness of student advocacy at the federal level.

“Honestly, we’re just going to have to wait and see, but the big thing for us was engaging with Justin Trudeau’s office so for the 2015 election we’re on the platform.”

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Iain Boekhoff GAZETTE

JIAN, IS THAT FRENCH? Jian Ghomeshi was full of jokes at the Mustang Lounge on Friday night. Brought to Western by the Arts and Humanities Council, the near sold out crowd was enthralled by Ghomeshi’s life story and the philosophy behind his acclaimed show Q on CBC radio 1.

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thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Arts&Life

tuesdaytweet Christmas is also called X-Mas because Jesus grows up to be Wolverine.

@sween

How to be in great shape as a gluttonous gorger Jenny Jay GAZETTE STAFF Imagine being able to eat a pumpkin pie, two Dairy Queen blizzards, two boxes of Oreos, bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausages, fries and French toast, all in one day, and still manage to improve your physique.

Jonathan Clarke, a fourth-year music and composition student, is doing exactly this, as he experiments with a diet referred to as “junk food body building.”

This diet involves eating healthy and nutritious meals six days a week, while working out and bodybuilding. On the seventh day, Clarke takes the meaning of a rest day to a whole new level where he competitively eats junk food. His cheat days aren’t just a break — they’re for breaking world records as well.

“The premise is that you can make any diet work and have fun with it, and still make progress with regards to eating healthy or being healthy and improving upon your physique,” Clarke explains. “But my favourite part is getting to eat whatever I want in ridiculous quantities in one day.”

Clarke has already broken the records for fastest time to eat three Rice-Krispy treats (53.81 seconds), fastest time to eat a box of Oreos (two minutes 27 seconds), fastest time to eat 40 Chicken McNuggets

One day, no matter how extreme, isn’t going to harm your body.

—Jonathan Clarke

Fourth-year bachelor of music and composition student

(two minutes 16 seconds), fastest time to eat five Mars Bars (two minutes three seconds), and most Oreos eaten in five minutes (78 Oreos).

Currently, the next record to beat is the fastest time to eat four Linebackers at Christina’s Pub, a record that is currently held by competitive eater Furious Pete, who got his start in competitive eating right here in London, Ontario. To beat the record, Clarke is going to have to consume them in under an hour — but first he’s going to have to eat all four, a feat he has already attempted and failed at.

“A Linebacker is basically a plate with two of everything: bacon, eggs, pancakes, French toast and home fries […] if I could beat [Furious Pete’s] record for that, it seems like a pretty significant milestone,” Clarke says.

Extensively eating junk food isn’t his goal with this diet, however.

Clarke aims to help make a point to

Courtesy of Jonathon Clarke

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HUMAN. Jonathon Clarke sits behind his future junkfood conquests. Taking one of seven days to eat whatever he wants, Clarke spends the rest of the week working out and carefully watching his calorie and nutrition intake.

the general population that when it comes to diets and staying healthy, it’s the little actions that count — it’s possible to have the best of both worlds while still having a sustainable diet.

“One day, no matter how extreme, isn’t going to harm your body,” Clarke explains. “It’s what you do in the everyday […] making those

little choices and eating healthy the 90 per cent of the time that will dictate how well you do with your body and health.”

For Clarke, his 90 per cent includes a daily intake of approximately 2,500 calories, with a maintenance of 3,000 calories to make up for his cheat days — where on his seventh day Clarke consumes

anywhere from 12,000 – 15,000 calories.

“There’s people who have been concerned that it’s not healthy and it isn’t sustainable,” Clarke says. “But Furious Pete, he’s been doing this for about six years now and he’s still very fit and healthy, so if he starts developing problems then maybe that’ll be a sign that I should quit.”

to confront his dark past in a way that revolutionizes the show and changes the canon.

Unfortunately, the episode provided little resolution in terms of Clara’s (Jenna Louise Coleman) heroic act from last season’s finale.

Also, the appearance of Billie Piper as the consciousness of an all-powerful super weapon as opposed to her classic role of Rose Tyler is a disappointing absence.

Also, a cameo appearance of the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) at the very end of the episode, which was supposed to provide a throwback to longtime fans only leaves more confusion as to how he got there and what his presence means for

the series going forward.

Overall, “The Day of the Doctor” does not seek to accomplish anything more than a Doctor Who episode — it has monsters, comedy, and a TARDIS full of references and throwbacks, but it also moves the story forward, leaving Whovians begging for more.

With the 2013 Christmas special promising the “Fall of the Eleventh,” the introduction of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and the appearance of Daleks, Weeping Angels, Cybermen and The Silence — Doctor Who is poised for another 50 years of wibbly-wobbly-timeywimey adventures.

— Brent Holmes

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The longest running sci-fi TV series in history celebrated its 50th Anniversary this past Saturday. Since November 1963, Doctor Who has been taking viewers on adventures through space and time. Broadcast across the world with 3D screenings occurring at selected theatres, this episode was one of the biggest television events to occur on a global scale.

The special 75 minute episode, titled “The Day of the Doctor,” seeks to answer questions that have remained unanswered since the beginning of the 2005 rebooted series depicting the events of the never-before-seen Time War — a galactic conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords, as well as finally revealing why Queen Elizabeth I wants the Doctor’s head.

The 50th anniversary special brings together three incarnations of the Doctor — the Tenth (David Tennant), the Eleventh (Matt Smith), and a rejected regeneration introduced at the end of the seventh series finale (John Hurt).

The interactions between the three incarnations make for an often-hilarious collaboration of wit and comedic timing while simultaneously forcing the Doctor

Courtesy of BBC

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thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A spectre of its former self

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE Courtesy of Activision

Mark Staniuz CONTRIBUTOR Call of Duty: Ghosts GGGHF Activision The ninth game in the series in as many years, Call of Duty: Ghosts attempts to keep a familiar formula fresh, but fails to shake the same problems that have plagued the series for years.

The single-player campaign, though hardly the focus of many fans, is standard over-the-top fare.

Taking place in a not-too-distant future, the oil-producing nations of South America form what’s called “The Federation” in the wake of nuclear destruction of the Middle East. The newly formed nation quickly becomes a global superpower and threatens the US, going as far as hijacking an orbital super weapon and using it to destroy several cities in the southwestern United States.

The story follows two brothers and their father who are part of an elite task force known as Ghosts.

This family approach is more

character-driven than previous iterations in the series, and it effectively makes one invested in the well-being of the heroes. On the other hand is Rourke, an ex-Ghost turned traitor who acts as the villain. By actually playing a mission that delves into his backstory, you fully realize his sadistic motives making him someone players will love to hate.

The 10-hour campaign is full of cinematic flare. Huge set pieces and even bigger explosions are not new to the franchise, but it comes at a cost; the game often feels as if it is on rails. Scripted events will often happen no matter how you play. The linear nature of the game prevents you from approaching missions differently, and will result in a playthrough that will be eerily similar between players. Each mission often has a different novelty, such as a new vehicle, and it breaks up the monotonous shooting-gallery grind.

Call of Duty’s multiplayer has always been a huge draw for the series, and this time it’s no different.

Unfortunately, seven years after Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched with the highly touted “Create a Class” system and a flashy new

Tolerable body odour?

Good enough.

Volunteer for Arts&Life UCC Room 263

game engine, simply not enough has changed. The noticeably larger maps cater towards more organized play than the usual lone wolf mentality older games facilitated. The level of customization is impressive, keeping the innovation from the most recent Black Ops 2 where you could forego certain attachments and equipment for additional perks or vice versa.

There is no doubt this formula is fun, but at this point it is fair for a player to demand some innovation, and all fans have been getting for years are small, incremental improvements.

The saving grace for Call of Duty: Ghosts might be its “Extinction” mode. Similar to the endless zombie modes that have been a fan-favourite in recent games, this game type consists of up to four players trying to destroy alien hives as the invading creatures bombard them.

If you have never experienced a Call of Duty game or you are a loyal fan, Call of Duty: Ghosts is an enjoyable thrill ride. But if you have been growing restless with the lack of innovation in the last few releases in the series, do not expect to be won over with this one.

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thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Opinions

The scruffier your beard, the sharper you need to dress.

—Ashton Kutcher

Say yes to the dress code Uze Your Brain

Julian Uzielli EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Last week, Canadian indie band Arcade Fire made headlines for imposing a dress code at all the upcoming shows on their Reflektor tour. The announcement, if you can call it that, came by way of Ticketmaster. When fans went online to buy tickets, they were met with a simple request: “NIGHT OF SHOW: Please wear formal attire or costume.”

Predictably, there was some backlash.

Slate’s Megan Wiegand called it “a poor way to repay people for supporting the band’s music,” and in an oft-reported quote from earlier this month — used in most media coverage to illustrate the band’s supposed malice towards their less-stylish fans — singer Win Butler told a British crowd: “To anyone who

felt uncomfortable dressing up — I’m not sorry.”

In response to the uproar, the band posted a Facebook status last week asking everyone to “please relax.”

Stating the obvious, the post read: “It’s super not mandatory. It just makes for a more fun carnival when we are all in it together. So far these have been the best shows we have ever played.”

It’s not altogether surprising that critics thought the dress code was mandatory. It is, however, kind of sad.

Apparently, no one thought that the dress code might be a mere suggestion; no one acknowledged the distinct lack of the word “mandatory” anywhere in the notice to fans.

Every band has a gimmick, and for Arcade Fire, it’s their style of dress. If the band’s promotional photos are any indication, they themselves straddle the line between formal wear and costume on a regular basis. So what’s the matter with encouraging their fans to play along?

News flash: people like to dress up for concerts. It’s hardly unprecedented.

Fans of bands like KISS and the Misfits

regularly dress in costume for concerts. If you go to a Slayer show, you can safely expect to see a lot of black t-shirts and leather. If you go to a Phish concert, you will undoubtedly be met with a sea of tie-die. At NOFX concerts, mohawks abound. Even Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters mimic her latest outlandish get-ups.

As a seasoned concert-goer, I understand that style is an essential marker of music fan-dom. So if I were to go to an Arcade Fire show, I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself in a crowd of people who look like they belong at a black-tie Tim Burton convention.

Arcade Fire isn’t asking their fans to dress up because they’re too good for the unwashed t-shirt-clad masses. They’re trying to create an atmosphere to set their shows apart from all the others.

And you know what? It sounds like fun.

If you show up to the next Arcade Fire show wearing sweats, you won’t get turned away at the door, but you might find yourself feeling out of place. But then again, that probably would have happened with or without a dress code.

employees there actually do the laundry for you — and all that electricity and water consumption costs them money, not the USC. I understand the point Devlin’s attempting to make by claiming that the USC doesn’t use their funding for proper means, but should it really be their concern that students are remaining hygienic after they partake in physical activity?

Due to the fact that the health and wellness of students is very important to the WSRC, Devlin should have noted that compared to a major fitness chain like Goodlife, students pay close to nothing. Only $67.53 is allotted out of student tuition for a membership at the WSRC per year. That’s around $8.44 per month.

These fees are also fairly minimal compared to other university gyms.

As a self-proclaimed “sweaty, biased gym-rat” it’s very surprising that Devlin is unaware of how inexpensive most costs of the facilities are. If she’s worried about lugging a towel across campus, towel service is only $10.17 per month. That’s less than 40 cents per day. If she claims her back hurts from carrying textbooks and a laptop around in her bag, then why hasn’t she considered purchasing a locker? A half locker for the whole school year is $83.45 — that’s still less than 40 cents per day. They also have day use lockers in the change room, free of charge.

Free body wash and conditioner are not key deciding factors for me when I’m choosing a gym — if I get the opportunity to pay this little, I’m saving enough money to purchase my own bottles.

—Hillory Renkema Arts & Humanities IV

Truck stuck?

Snow problem

Letters to the Editor

Rec Centre works out for students Re: “Rec Centre neglects basics,” Thursday, November 21.

To the Editor: Let me just preface this by stating I work out every morning at the Western Rec Centre. I’m writing this letter because I want to correct a few inaccurate facts that were included in an article by Megan Devlin.

If she had spoken with an associate at either the Membership Services or Equipment Desk, she would realize that they do offer all the supplies a customer may need for a shower after their work out. They not only have students that visit the facilities, but a large amount of general members as well. If they considered providing every individual with free body wash, shampoo, conditioner and towels, the amount of funding they have in order to maintain the facilities would be significantly decreased.

The reason that they place minimal charges on these items is to provide customers with quality products. Let’s face the facts — if they placed soap dispensers in each shower, they would be filled with generic soap due to the large quantity they’d need to constantly refill them. As well, allergies to certain scents, brands and chemicals would be extremely difficult to factor in. The reason why towels have a small fee of $1.50 is because the

thegazette

Volume 107, Issue 44 www.westerngazette.ca

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

Contact: www.westerngazette.ca University Community Centre Rm. 263 The University of Western Ontario London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial Offices: (519) 661-3580 Advertising Dept.: (519) 661-3579

The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.

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

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

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

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising Ian Greaves, Manager Robert Armstrong

Diana Watson

Gazette Staff 2013-2014

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

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

To the editor: I would like to thank the students that helped me push my pickup out of traffic on Huron St. Sunday afternoon. There seems to be a lot of debate around the student housing in the areas around the university both good and bad, I just wanted to express my appreciation to those that took their time to help someone in need. Thanks.

—Andrew Silk Workshop Technician, Visual Arts Department

Dear Life Your anonymous letters to life Dear Life, Why can’t Christmas come as fast as I can?

Dear Life, I find it hard to fathom that the ATM in the Spoke continues to advertise only one dollar withdrawal fee (there’s a sign and everything), yet it charges $1.25. What the fuck?

Dear Life, Two hot chemistry TAs? I’ve been a good girl this year apparently! wgaz.ca/dearlife

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

• Please recycle this newspaper •

•7

thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sports

factattack Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is the first player in Broncos history to have at least 10 touchdown catches in consecutive seasons.

Rundown >> Former Mustangs football head coach Larry Haylor was announced as one of the members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame’s Induction Class of 2014 on Friday > The former coach, who retired in 2006, holds a career record of 178­–43–4.

Mustangs exorcise demons Chris Kunitz in Sochi?

Western men have first win of season

The Sin Bin

Jason Sinukoff MANAGING EDITOR

Jonathan Dunn GAZETTE

A LITTLE TOO FAR TO DEFEND. Mustangs guard Eric McDonald sails past Laurentian Voyageurs guard Alex Ratte on Friday. McDonald had a strong offensive game, shooting the ball well to help the Mustangs earn their 88–77 win.

Nusaiba Al-Azem SPORTS EDITOR Friday marked the first regular season victory for the Mustangs men’s basketball team after a six-game losing streak. Western faced off against the Laurentian University Voyageurs in what seemed to be a tale of two halves. Western finally emerged with a 88–77 victory.

Laurentian, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ninth-ranked team, came out strong, securing an early lead of 26–19 after the first quarter.

Despite trying to even the scoreboard in the second quarter, Western still walked away trailing 44–42.

Though Western connected with 50 per cent of its field shots during this time, Laurentian bested their performance with a 65.4 per cent connection rate, giving the Voyageurs the advantage.

A good lay-up by Mustangs’ forward Peter Scholtes, which was assisted by forward Greg Morrow, at 9:54 in the third quarter tied up the

game and demonstrated the kind of assertive play the Mustangs would employ for the rest of the night.

The Mustangs refocused on their defensive strategies in the second half, hindering the Voyageurs to only 16 per cent in three-point shooting and 43 per cent shooting from the field.

We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary with [the Voyageurs], just did a better job at the basics in the second half.

—Brad Campbell

Mustangs head coach

“We managed to defensive rebound and limit their offensive transition opportunities,” Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell said of the second-half comeback.

Offensively, the Mustangs

maintained their confident play during the second half to add 46 points to the scoreboard.

While the Voyageurs gained more points off of turnovers and in paint, the Mustangs ultimately defeated their opponents in second chance points.

Morrow had a spectacular offensive performance, clocking 27 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in the game to hand Laurentian their first loss of the season.

Though Morrow and a few other players stood out, Campbell was adamant to discern that it was a team accomplishment.

“We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary with [the Voyageurs], just did a better job at the basics in the second half,” Campbell said.

The basketball team extended their winning streak the next night with a win against Algoma University Thunderbirds, and will look to maintain this streak when they face the eighth-seeded Brock Badgers this Wednesday at Alumni Hall.

With the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia just around the corner, speculation has been running rampant for Team Canada in, what is in my opinion, the marquee event of the Olympics — the men’s hockey tournament.

Being Canada’s game, there is always an abundance of talent to choose from for Team Canada. It is definitely no easy task to narrow down what sometimes seems like an infinite number of players to a roster of just 25, especially when the only sample size to gauge potential players is the first quarter of the NHL season. With that short amount of time comes many questions regarding whether a player is legitimately ready for Olympic play or just off to a hot start. One such player is Chris Kunitz of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 24 games played thus far in the 2013-14 NHL season, Kunitz

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has 11 goals and 10 assists, which puts him in 30th in the league in scoring. Despite the strong start, Kunitz has never been known as one of the game’s elite, so the question that faces executive director of Team Canada and his chief lieutenants is as follows: is Kunitz primed for Olympic play?

Regardless of what they decide, I think it would be a mistake to overlook the 34-year old Penguin for Team Canada.

Kunitz has been performing at an incredibly high level since the 2011-12 season — where he scored 61 points in 82 games. Since that year he has been placed on a line with Sidney Crosby, and his already-high pace just kept getting higher. His chemistry with the best player is unprecedented, and even though he may not be as good as the Eric Staals or the Ryan Getzlafs of the league, that is reason enough to include him on the Canadian roster.

Just like the 2010 Olympic team in Vancouver, this incarnation will be Crosby’s team, and having him perform at his best will be necessary for Canada to defend their gold medal. And like it or not, Kunitz is necessary for him to perform at his best.

8•

thegazette • Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Mustangs make badgers bow in defeat Western women fight for win against Brock Badgers Caitlin Martin Newnham SPORTS EDITOR

The Mustangs women’s volleyball team was victorious against the Brock Badgers this past Sunday.

Western was on a seven-game losing streak until this regular season win. The women started their season with a 0–3 loss to the Badgers in October, but have since improved — allowing them to overcome their opponent 3–2 in game eight of the season.

The first set was a strong fight for points between the two teams until the Badgers propelled forward into a successful 25–22 set win.

Western retaliated with a 14­–7 lead early in the second set.

However, their momentum could not be maintained through to the end of the set when Brock fought back, winning the set 26–24.

In the third set, the Mustangs bounced back from Brock’s 14–7 lead and won their first set of the game 25–22.

This pattern continued when Western won the fourth set 25–22 after coming back from being down 7–14.

The fifth and final set was a memorable offensive victory for the Mustangs who held the lead through the entire set. They finally reached a 15–11 score to win the game 3–2 over the Badgers.

“I was completely impressed with Western’s tenacity and not giving up,” Badgers head coach

Jonathan Dunn GAZETTE

REACHING FOR THE STARS. Kenzie Macdonald, Mustangs’ offensive hitter, reaches for the ball in Western’s game against the Brock Badgers. After losing seven games in a row, the Mustangs were victorious 3–2 over Brock.

Dale Melnick said.

Stephanie Kreuter, Western’s right side, had an impressive 26 kills — the highest number of kills by any player in the game. She attributed her team’s success to cohesion, which had been missing in the last several games.

“Yesterday was the first time we truly stepped onto the court as a unit and we were successful,” Kreuter said. “And with all the

adversity and unfortunate injuries we’ve had to deal with in the past couple of weeks, we really had no choice but to play together because we had a few girls playing in positions they usually don’t play in.”

Mustangs’ setter Suzanna Campbell was one of those individuals who recently returned to the court after an ankle injury.

However, her 56-assist performance showed no hint of harm.

“She played a smart game, moving the ball around a lot, which gave me a ton of one-on-one situations which made it easier for me to score,” Kreuter said of Campbell’s performance.

The Mustangs will be facing Lakehead in a double-header this weekend on November 29 and 30. Lakehead’s 2–6 record is only slightly better than Western’s 1–7 record at this point in the season.

“Our losing streak had begun to take its toll on us mentally but we finally proved to ourselves that we are not that team and we now know what it is going to take to be successful for the remainder of the season,” Kreuter said.

Watch the women’s volleyball team try to improve their record to 3–7 this weekend and propel themselves further up in the rankings.

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