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SINCE 1906

westerngazette.caTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 • WESTERN UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 109 ISSUE 35

not seeing our shadow since 1906

Two slates withdraw from the USC elections leaving three teams to fight it out.SEE PAGE 3.

JENNIFER FELDMAN GAZETTE

Then there were 3

2 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 www.westerngazette.ca •

IAIN BOEKHOFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF@IAINATGAZETTE

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KNOW

Libraries fall victim to low Canadian dollar

Across Canada, libraries are look-ing for ways to cut costs after the plummeting dollar, including can-celling subscriptions and reducing book purchases. PG 4

INSIGHT

Card giving a long-standing gesture

The act of giving cards dates back to the 1800s and remains popular today; however, a Western pro-fessor reveals it wasn’t always the most romantic gesture. PG 7

EXPERIENCE

UWOpera’s new production hits all the right notes

Cavanagh’s rendition of Falstaff perfectly combines comedy and commentary, making it a must-see opera.

PG 10

IIf you follow Ally Western’s Facebook page, you’ve probably seen the student profiles of the community. But the man behind the posts is second-year mature student Kyle Stark, the media and marketing executive of Ally Western.Through introducing profiles, Kyle hopes to make Ally Western more accessible and relatable to Western students by uploading content to the Facebook page that goes beyond re-posting external articles and videos, and focuses on the Western community.

“I wanted to have students who were going here and showcase their struggles or what they’re going through so people can look at the people around them every day and be like, ‘OK, I know these people are going through things too,’ ” says Kyle.

At 27 years old, Kyle is considered a mature student, though he finds he gets the most judgement based on his physical appearance — most notably, his beard and tattoos. He says this judgement leads to him to being seen as unfriendly despite his efforts to help the Western community through his work on Ally Western.

Despite currently being undeclared, Kyle plans to bring his passion for writing to his academics by pursuing an honours specialization in creative writing. According to Kyle, a large reason why he writes his short stories and poems is to get to know himself and his emotions better.

“[Writing] allows me to explore my feelings in a way that I might not otherwise,” he says. “You have experiences, you go through them, you get it in your mind that it’s affected you a certain way or that you feel a certain

way. But if you actually stop and dive into why you feel a certain way, you get writing about it, you might even write out things that you weren’t consciously thinking before.”

Kyle recounts that strong influences on his writing come from his life experiences, such as past relationships he’s been in and his father’s passing when he was 19. So far he has heard positive feedback from professors singling out his writing skills in class settings.

Besides his impact through Ally Western and schoolwork, Kyle is also a single father to his five-year-old daughter.

“I have my daughter every weekend so then I will not do schoolwork, I will not do anything on the weekend other than spend time with my daughter, so that cuts out 48 hours where I can’t do the things everybody else does on the weekend,” Kyle says. “But then during the week I dedicate all my time to school and Ally. I make my posts, I come in for the meetings, I do that; I just don’t have a lot of time to socialize — that’s it, I cut that out.”

Though the balancing act can prove difficult, Kyle admits it’s worth it to inspire his daughter.

“She’s probably the biggest reason I do most of what I do, including just going to school,” he says. “I want to better her life, not just by progressing myself and getting to a point where I can provide whatever she needs, but I want to provide an example for her too. And I want to help better the world in a way that’s going to make her life better later on.”

■KATIE LEAR

PROFILE KYLE STARK

KYLE PORTER GAZETTE

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know

Two slates drop out of race for USC prez

Jenken elected Huron presidentKATIE LEAR NEWS EDITOR@KATIEATGAZETTE

Curtis Jenken has been elected as the next Huron University College Students’ Council president.

Jenken, who received 285 votes after accounting for demerit points, spoke favourably about how both candidates participated in the election.

“I think it was excellent — it was a really positive campaign,” Jenken said. “All kudos to Matt [Patterson]; he ran an excellent campaign and I was stunned, but I’m so grateful and really ready to represent Huron as a president.”

Matthew Patterson ran against Jenken and received 153 votes after demerit points. One of his focuses for the campaign was ensuring stu-dents drove the issues discussed during the election.

“I think the biggest connecting theme I had is really trying to be sure I was talking about the priorities stu-dents have, making sure that what students talked to me about was some-thing I brought up,” Patterson said. “I think I did a good job with that and I think Curtis [Jenken] did as well — we really talked about the issues that came up this week from students.”

However, a strong highlight for Huron was the high voter turnout.

“We got 503 votes,” Patterson recounted. “That’s 41 per cent of the population of Huron — that’s a huge turnout, way bigger than any previous year, so I think we’re all really happy about that.”

Nate Sussman, current HUCSC president, attributed the high turn-out to the candidates’ involvement.

“I think it speaks to how much both of the candidates spoke to people and brought people out and

were speaking about relevant issues that people cared about,” he said.

Both candidates lost votes on account of demerits received during the campaign period, according to a public brief released by the elections committee.

According to the release, viola-tions for Jenken concerned poster violations resulting in four demerit points. Patterson’s demerits were awarded for misrepresentation of facts and pre-campaigning viola-tions for a total of 10 demerit points, with seven of them attributed to pre-campaigning activities.

The incidents were explained in the brief as visible posters and a con-versation between Patterson’s cam-paign manager and two students concerning Patterson’s election before the start of the campaigning period at 11 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Despite the demerits, Sussman found a large priority for voters

were platform points that could be enacted in the upcoming year.

“I found that more than I have seen in previous years, there was this intense focus on scrutinizing the platforms for points that could actually be done,” Sussman said. “It’s clear that Huron’s voters this year were looking for a candidate that was going to promise them certain important changes for next year, not in the future.”

As Jenken plans to enact plat-form points such as a mental health resource for Huron, he was grateful to the students that elected him to the role.

“I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted for me and voted in general,” Jensen said. “I think Matt [Patterson] and I both appreciate it, and I really look forward to serving next year as Huron’s president.” n

See the video online at fb.com/westerngazette/videos

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTE

IAIN BOEKHOFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF@IAINATGAZETTE

The crowded field for USC presi-dent got a little slimmer as two teams dropped out of the race late last week.

In less than 24 hours, two slates announced they were ceasing their bid for president and vice-presi-dent of the University Students’ Council. Team MacMillan was the first to announce their withdrawal from the race on Thursday evening, followed by mel + twon on Friday morning.

That leaves three duos still in the race, with the first voting day less than a week away.

Robert MacMillan said on Thursday that their humourous campaign was not met positively by students.

“Our goal was to include sat-ire into the campaign and to provide students with a slightly more amusing reason to be inter-ested in student politics,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems like the Western community is not ready for this type of approach.”

Brandon Palin, presidential can-didate for the Palin-Cohen slate, said he spoke to Team MacMillan earlier Thursday and was caught off-guard by their decision.

“They received a lot of negative attention on their campaign and I think it speaks to the barriers that there are within the USC and actually running for the position,” he said. “The way he described it

was that it was taking a mental toll on them, and it wasn’t worth it to keep going.”

Kevin Hurren, USC communica-tions officer, wished the two former candidates the best in their plans moving forward.

“Team MacMillan brought a unique voice to the USC elections season. Their humour was a wel-come addition, and we wish them the best of luck with their future plans,” he said.

Then on Friday, Melissa Peterson and Antoinette Tarenets said they too would be quitting the race.

In a letter to The Gazette explain-ing their withdrawal, Peterson said she was disillusioned with the USC, arguing it was not representative of Western students, it was more of a corporation than student gov-ernment and failed students on a number of issues, including racial representation and mental health help.

“The reality is that not all stu-dents feel cared for by you. I must admit, I am one of them,” Peterson said. “Because as much as I appreci-ate the effort you make to improve Western, I just flat out don’t agree with some of your approaches.”

Andrew Chorney, chief returning officer of the USC, said the elections committee respects the decision the candidates made and will miss mel + twon’s unique perspective.

“Obviously I’d like to see a diverse group of students and there still is a diverse group of stu-dents running in the PVP election,”

Chorney said.”From my perspec-tive, it’s not that it’s disappointing. You want to see as many slates as possible, so to go from five to three it obviously changes our plans a bit but we’re still just as excited to move forward.”

Hurren expressed his dis-appointment as the number of eli-gible slates went from five to three.

“As disappointing as with-drawals are, the initial number of slates still shows promise,” Hurren said. “What this proves is that any

two students — regardless of back-ground, experience or ideas — can easily become legitimate candi-dates for USC leadership.”

The remaining slates — Team Avila, Palin-Cohen and Team Roy — will face off in the USC debate tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the UCC atrium. They meet again on Thursday at the same time and location for a media debate. n

With files from Katie Lear, Olivia Zollino and Hamza Tariq

TAYLOR LASOTA GAZETTELEAVING THE RACE. Melissa Peterson, left, and Antoinette Tarenets, right, dropped out of the race for USC president and vice-president on Friday. They were the second team in 24 hours to withdraw from the race, leaving three to vie for the positions.

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Libraries look for cuts in face of low dollarIAIN BOEKHOFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF@IAINATGAZETTE

The fall in the value of the Canadian dollar has made the jobs of Western’s librarians a little tougher as they search for ways to cut $3 million in costs.

The significant drop in the dol-lar has affected Western Libraries over the past year and in particu-lar over the past few months. The dollar started 2015 at $0.86 USD but fell to $0.72 USD by the end of the year, and currently sits at $0.71 USD.

Mike Moffatt, an assistant pro-fessor of economics at the Ivey School of Business, said the drop can be attributed to the decline in the price of oil, which has fallen to its lowest level in years over the past few months.

The libraries have felt the impact intensely as 77 per cent of their acquisitions budget is dedi-cated to ongoing subscriptions in U.S. dollars and a total of 84 per cent of their budget is in U.S. dollars. Each cent drop in value of the Canadian dollar costs the libraries $100,000, meaning they have about $3 million in spending to cut back in their $14.1-million budget this year. It also reduces their purchasing power by the same amount or more.

The declining purchase power is exacerbated by increasing publisher prices, which increase by three to five per cent per year — something Western has negotiated to keep lower than actual price levels.

“The rate to which the value

of the dollar has dropped at this point, I don’t believe that we can trim away what will be not noticed,” said Harriet Rykse, assistant univer-sity librarian.

Western Libraries achieved $815,000 in short-term savings last semester by freezing new serials subscriptions, reducing book pur-chases and identifying serials for cancellation. But more cost reduc-tions will have to be found in the coming months.

Western’s 30-odd subject librar-ians will have until March to con-sider both the cost and the effect of cancellations on researchers and students at Western. While many materials will still be available to Western scholars through borrowing from other libraries in Canada, the immediacy and breadth of Western’s collection is lost.

Chief librarian Catherine Steeves said serials cancellations will “pre-dominantly” make up the cost reductions in order for the library to stay within its budget. The effects of the cancellations will be felt once the subscriptions run out on each of the licenses.

“We have a team of subject librarians who manage funds for their subject area and they will be using the criteria ... to evaluate our current acquisitions and make some decisions about where we can reduce our costs with the least impact on academics and research,” Steeves said.

University libraries across the country are also feeling the pain of the fall in the dollar, including the University of Calgary, Memorial

University, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa, who have all had to cut back on spending.

A list of Western’s cancellations can be found on their website.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Steeves said. “Research libraries prefer to be growing and devel-oping their collections rather than restricting them, but it’s part of our important financial accountability to the University to make sure we manage our resources within our budget to the best of our ability.” n

Team Roy challenge the status quoAMY O’KRUK NEWS EDITOR@AMYATGAZETTE

Amplifying students’ voices. That’s third-year Faculty of Information and Media Studies students Mike Roy and Aidan Mckendrick’s man-date as they navigate the 2016 USC elections.

One of five slates, Roy is run-ning for president with Mckendrick vying for the vice-presidency. While Team Roy’s platform will be released later this week, the pair notably slipped into the USC’s elec-toral race at 3:45 p.m. last Friday — 15 minutes before the USC nominations cut-off and with well over the 50 signatures required for eligibility.

Roy and Mckendrick empha-sized their slate’s edge comes from their willingness to challenge the University Students’ Council’s status quo.

“We aren’t doing this to pad our

resumes, we really really want to see some changes happen,” Roy said. “The UCC is supposed to be a public space, and right now it’s the most corporate, sterile and unwelcoming space for discourse.”

Roy and Mckendrick explained they’re a good team because they’re ideologically on the same page and they’ve worked together in the past to organize off-campus initiatives with great success.

Neither Roy nor Mckendrick have roots in the USC, but both are involved in the London community through event planning and advo-cacy groups like Food Not Bombs. Roy previously owned a telecom-munications business with over 50 employees, which familiarized him with the spirit of entrepreneurship. At Western, Mckendrick helped launch the University’s NDP club and has links to EnviroWestern and Active Minds at UWO.

Mckendrick said the team

knows how to reach out to fringe groups, improve USC accessibility and bring a set of fresh eyes to stu-dent government.

“We’re trying to gauge what stu-dents want … and talk to all of the communities and see what every-one needs,” said Mckendrick.

As for campaign plans, Team Roy said they’re keeping things simple and plan on talking to as many students as possible, reach-ing out to affiliate campuses, too.

“We also learned that we had a budget of $1,500 … and it’s stu-dent money so we don’t really feel comfortable spending that, so we’re just trying to keep [the campaign] simple.” Mckendrick added.

Overall, Team Roy hopes to bring a different perspective to the USC elections.

“There’s not been a lot of change, push-back or questions,” Roy said. “I’d like to see representatives actually representing students.” n

Feeling the painThe dollar has fallen from $0.86 USD in January 2015 to $0.71 USD in January 2016.

Every cent drop in the Canadian dollar results in a $100,000 cost to the libraries.

The libraries are searching for $3 million in cuts to manage the impact of the drop in the dollar.

JENNY JAY GAZETTE

JENNIFER FELDMAN GAZETTE

USC Elections Media Debate

Thursday, February 4 at 6 p.m. in the UCC Atrium

Team Avila

Palin-Cohen Team Roy

All are welcome to attend!

knowsports • www.westerngazette.ca TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 • 5

BRIEFS

MEN’S SQUASHThe Western Mustangs men’s squash team won their 33rd straight Ontario University Athletics championship over the weekend, going undefeated in six matches.

On Friday, they took down the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors by scores of 8–0 and 6–2, respectively. The next day, they beat McMaster 7-1 and Toronto 6-2, and on the final day of action, they clinched the title with victor-ies over Brock and Queen’s.

The women’s squash team cap-tured bronze after winning three of five matches.

This is the last tournament of the year for the Mustangs as there is not a Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship for squash.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALLThe Western Mustangs women’s volleyball team made up some ground in the standings over the weekend, defeating both the Guelph Gryphons and the McMaster Marauders in four sets at Alumni Hall.

The 12–2 Mustangs are now tied for first place with the McMaster Marauders in the OUA west division and have an eight-game winning streak.

The Mustangs have now solid-ified themselves as one of the teams to beat in OUA and should be able to crack the top 10 in this week’s CIS poll.

The next true test for the team will come on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 when they travel to Toronto to take on the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams. These are the top two teams in the OUA east division and should deter-mine how the Mustangs stack up against the best teams in the OUA heading into the playoffs.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALLOn Saturday afternoon the Western women’s basketball team extended their winning streak to seven games, defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks by a score of 77–60 at Alumni Hall.

Western was led by an amaz-ing 32-point performance from Mackenzie Puklicz. She now leads the OUA in points-per-game with 19.4.

The team is back in action when they host the Nipissing Lakers on Friday, Feb. 5 at Alumni Hall.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALLThe men’s volleyball team split their weekend games against the Guelph Gryphons and McMaster Marauders at Alumni Hall this weekend.

Their record now sits at 7–7 on the season.

On Friday night, they made easy work of the Gryphons in four sets.

On Saturday night, the odds were stacked against the Mustangs as they were squaring off against the top-ranked team in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Even though the Mustangs ended up losing in four sets to the Marauders, they played one of their best games of the season.

Taking a set from the Marauders was an accomplish-ment in itself as only two other teams in the OUA have been able to do it this season.

The team will be back at it again next weekend in Alumni Hall when they face off against the York Lions and Nipissing Lakers. n

COURTESY OF SCOTT SERFAS / RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Mustang Days returns this weekendCLAIRE PALMER CONTRIBUTOR@SPORTSATGAZETTE

With a packed schedule of 10 dif-ferent home games being played on Western’s campus this upcom-ing weekend, the athletic depart-ment is encouraging thousands of students, alumni and Londoners to come out and support the ’Stangs for Mustang Days.

The weekend emphasizes Western’s strong athletic depart-ment while trying to get people from varying demographics out to support the Mustangs.

“We’re going to have stu-dents dress in purple and come out to the games,” Jason Young, Western’s manager of marketing, sponsorship and sales, said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere. A

lot of our alumni will be coming back to support the teams.”

This is the second year this promotion will run. The main event of the weekend is the men’s hockey team’s game against the Windsor Lancers, with puck drop set for 4 p.m. at Thompson Arena on Saturday, Feb. 5.

“We’ve already sold 1,400 tickets, but it’ll probably be closer to 1,600 or 1,800 come game day,” Young said. “Last year we had a total of 3,400 people come to campus for the nine games we had.”

Mustang Days is a tradition that dates back to the 1960s and early ’70s and has recently been revived. The athletic depart-ment believes it helps create more buzz around the strong

athletic programs that Western boasts and could increase the attendance of varsity games in the future.

“We have great attendance [to games], which we’re happy with, but we always want to do more,” Young said. “We’re encouraging different faculties to challenge each other to come out and show who’s got the most Mustang spirit.”

In addition to the 10 games being played by both hockey, volleyball and basketball teams, there are other events that will accompany the action.

There are inflatables for stu-dents who just want to blow off some steam, as well as hall of fame events for returning var-sity alumni. There are also a few

benefits for ticket holders — the Ceeps is offering anyone with a ticket free cover on Friday night.

The game has been labelled a rivalry weekend, with teams playing schools such as Nipissing, York, Laurentian and Brock.

“Every other school considers us their rival,” Young said. “They always come out wanting to com-pete against Western.”

Mustang Days is sure to be an entertaining weekend full of exciting matches. A full list of the games can be found on the Western Mustangs athletics website.

“Students are free to every game, but it’s going be a particu-larly good weekend,” Young said. “We want the students to come and have a great time.” n

SHANE ROBERTS SPORTS EDITOR@SHANEATGAZETTE

Imagine that every time you stepped into your office, there was a risk of serious injury.

This is what it’s like for Western alumnus Pete McLeod, a profes-sional air racer in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship since 2009.

The series was created in 2003 as an international circuit where pilots have to navigate a difficult obstacle course in the fastest time possible. Each pilot flys individually and have to manuevere around pylons and tight turns in a slalom course.

The risk involved with this aero-batic flying does not faze McLeod.

“The guys that are successful in this business, they’ve all got the ability to handle some stressful situ-ations and high intensity situations while still remaining calm and mak-ing good decisions, and that’s the key,” McLeod said. “You don’t get many panicky people in this game. They don’t last very long.”

Fortunately, McLeod has never had any major accidents himself. But that’s not the case with some of his friends and people he knows

well in the sport, who haven’t been as lucky. He is well aware of this evi-dent danger but does not like to go into much detail on the topic. He just says that he does everything he can to mitigate risk.

“The biggest risk we have for sure is equipment failure,” he explained. “We’re really out there pushing things to the limit and we need everything to work properly.”

Even while faced with constant danger, McLeod always stays cool and collected in the plane.

That’s because he’s been doing it for so long, getting his first flying lesson from his father at age three in his home town of Red Lake, Ontario. It’s this early start that has also led him to become the youngest pilot ever in the Red Bull Air Race series. He first started the series at age 25 and was about 20 years younger than the average pilot.

“It all back ends into a young start obviously,” McLeod explained. “You don’t just overnight become the youngest. You’re kind of the youngest all the way along in your career.”

The type of flying he did while growing up in northwestern Ontario in Red Lake also helped

prepare him for the aerobatic fly-ing he does.

“North bush flying is a pretty dynamic environment,” he said. “You learn a different skill than you would say if a kid was just out at the London airport flying around with a flight instructor getting their license.”

Even though flying itself is a crucial part of his job, McLeod also notes there are other important aspects that go into making every-thing work. He owns all his own equipment while also managing his sponsorships and business rela-tionships with the help of a staff he hires. It is this business side of the job where his experience at Western comes into play.

“I didn’t learn a thing about fly-ing at Western,” McLeod admitted. “But my time at Western definitely prepared me better for some of the other elements that allow me to run my business.”

McLeod mentioned how univer-sity is an important place to learn what you like. He originally came in with a different plan for university than what he ended up doing.

“There’s a lot of opportunity [at Western] to focus on what you

like to do,” he said. “I’m a prime example — I went there in science and found a stronger interest some-where else [economics] and was able to fill that.”

To this day, McLeod still res-ides in London, Ontario. He hasn’t moved outside of Canada yet because all his traveling has increased the pride he has for his country.

“For me, home is a special place,” he said. “All of the traveling I’ve done, if it’s done anything, it’s given some great perspective as to what a unique place Canada is and how nice it is.”

Moving forward, McLeod hopes to continue to compete on the Red Bull Air Race Series for as long as he can.

“The good thing with me is I’m still very young in the sport from an age perspective wise and I can do this for a lot more years,” he explained. “I’ve still got a lot that I’d like to achieve in this sport. I’d definitely like to win a world championship or two. I’m gonna stay with it and keeping doing that side of it as long as I’ve got the drive to be competitive and do it a high level.” n

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KYLE PORTER GAZETTE

HALA GHONAIM SPORTS EDITOR@HALAATGAZETTE

Grade school is commonly remem-bered for sharing lunchables during recess and sneaking indoors during the winter. For Guy Shultz, however, he vividly remembers keeping his eye on the clock. He couldn’t wait to escape the name-calling by hitting the track. The tween from Timmons was 4’11”, which was viewed as an irregularity by other kids.

He soon turned his “flaw” into his strongest asset.

Schultz, now 5’9”, has been split-ting his time up at Western as head coach of cross-country and assist-ant coach of track and field. He also works closely with athletes and employees from all faculties as program intramural coordin-ator. However, the man in charge of training athletes, hiring employees

and maintaining the budget con-tinued to endure a great amount of pain before turning tragedy into triumph.

Schultz was gearing up for the Sydney Olympic trials in 2000 by running up to 150 miles per week and following strict exercise rou-tines. He was running in a road race in Hamilton when he stepped on a rock that cracked the medial tarsal in his foot. The brutal pain, however, wasn’t the first thought that came to mind.

“I was upset. I thought I had a chance,” he says. “I was at the best shape of my life. My coach and sig-nificant other thought the same. But I guess it was good for me because I was getting into my mid-30s and it was time for me to move on.”

He dwelled on his stress fracture for a long time until he realized he needed to get a full-time job related

to running as a way of self-fulfill-ment and giving back to the com-munity. It was difficult enough to walk away after competing in the NCAA’s or getting close to the Olympics, but, his struggles didn’t end there. Even if Shultz has the opportunity to train athletes today the way he once trained himself before, he realized not all athletes have the same desires as he did.

“I think it’s because of everything going on in [students’] lives now,” he says. “When I was running there was a lot of other things going on around campus, [but] for them the Internet is a lot bigger than it used to be.”

Regardless of generational dif-ferences, running isn’t just a trip to the track — it’s about eating prop-erly, sleeping well and taking care of one’s health. Training the ath-letes has become more than just a physical job. The runners can

endure stress with practice, school and competitions; however, they know who they can reach out to. Shultz will play the role of “parent away from home” if the students are in need of a shoulder to lean on.

Schultz sees himself in his ath-letes, which is a part of the reason why he wants to lead them in the right direction.

He shares the same view with intramural coordinating.

Giving out a suspension to a ref-eree could be a result of skipping a shift or getting into a fight. Schultz believes when students receive emails regarding their misbehav-iour, they sometimes blame the person who sent the email before re-evaluating themselves.

“I remember someone once attacked me in an email saying ‘I don’t know what level of sport you played at but I played in NCAAs.’

[The attacker] didn’t know that I competed in NCAAs,” he says. “I guess I took it personally when I first started.”

Despite students getting upset over suspensions, Shultz handles their reactions by ensuring growth and education. He helps them recognize their mistakes and take action for improvements.

Even though Shultz is extending his hand out as an outcome of run-ning, he’ll never forget his first les-son. He started running as a way to combat his struggles and now that attitude is what allowed him to over-come roadblocks. Shultz generated a positive mindset that motivated him throughout his journey today.

You can still spot Schultz head-ing to the track; after all, running was and will always be a natural healer for him. n

Pursuit of happiness through running

I was at the best shape of my life. My coach and significant other thought the same. But I guess it was good for me because I was getting into my mid-30s and it was time for me to move on.GUY SHULTZINTRAMURAL COORDINATOR

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The art of card givingAMY SKODAK GAZETTE STAFF@GAZETTECULTURE

With all the cartoon GIFs available to email a happy birthday wish and Ryan Gosling memes that can be shared for exam motivation, it may surprise many that regular card-giving practices are still so popular. Why do we feel the need to celebrate everything with a folded piece of paper?

Associate English profes-sor Christopher Keep suggests the excitement and tradition of card-giving actually stems, in part, from Valentine’s Day.

“Valentine’s Day first emerged as a holiday with broad support and mass appeal in the Victorian per-iod,” says Keep.

He explains during the 1840s, cards were growing in popular-ity thanks to the invention of the postage stamp and cheaper mail services.

“This was a period in which it was often very difficult for many people to express their feelings, particularly romantic feelings, to someone with whom they were not already intim-ate,” Keep says. “The Victorian sense of reserve was very real.”

With this in mind, it’s

understandable why giving and receiving cards became so exciting. You might even say it was a non-digital form of Tinder.

However, history professor Jonathan Vance reveals greeting cards weren’t always so lovey-dovey.

“[Card-giving] was the way you’d send either good news or bad news,” says Vance. “What you used to see a lot [are] cards that said ‘mother’s sick, she won’t last the week, you’d better come soon.’ ”

Vance also explains what we choose to celebrate through cards says a lot about our generation.

“You see that a lot with the cen-tury I deal with, 100 years ago,” says Vance. “So like a ‘sorry you failed out of teacher’s college’ sort of card.”

But what about e-cards and text messages? Vance hopes digital greet-ings won’t soon take over.

In fact, Masonville’s Hallmark manager Marri-Ann Spencer agrees tradition is still going strong, espe-cially during Valentine’s Day — one of their busiest times of the year.

“We did a survey and people do want a tangible card in their hand in the end,” Spencer says. “I think it’s important that people do get a card and are able to set it somewhere and say, ‘You know what? These people

love me.’ ” First-year psychology student

Hannah Joseph appreciates cards that celebrate the little things.

“A few days before my friends left for university, they dropped off some really sweet cards and it meant a lot,” Joseph says.

Other than Valentine’s Day, Joseph’s opinion is divided.

“If I had a Valentine I would shoot them the typical ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ text,” she says. “But if we were going out to dinner, I’d probably bring along a card.”

Joseph says this is because cards seem more formal, making senti-ments more meaningful.

Whether handmade or store-bought, it doesn’t look like we will tire of giving or receiving cards any time soon.

Despite being in a world where nearly everything is immediately expressed on social media, Keep identifies card-giving as a practice where sentiments can be more intimately shared.

“Valentine’s Day perhaps still speaks to the sense that there are still some feelings one doesn’t share so easily or readily, and to the thrill of discovering that someone loves us,” says Keep. n

Slacktivism more than it seemsNOOR CHEEMA CONTRIBUTOR@GAZETTECULTURE

Posts and hashtags related to sup-porting Syrian refugees, police bru-tality and boycotting Trump flood feeds across the world. Discussion of international social movements have seemed to become a daily occurrence on social media — everyone feels compelled to show their support online. But is a social media post really going to change anything?

Slacktivism refers to action taken via social media regarding social and political issues that require little to no time and effort. As technology becomes a more prominent part of our lives, slacktivism has integrated itself into modern activism.

The ability to be in-the-know has increased as social media usage has become common around the world. Ruhmaa Bhatti, a first-year engin-eering student, notices this trend fuels slacktivism.

“The use of technology itself to communicate, it’s much eas-ier to find out about things going on around the world because of the Internet,” she says, “whether it’s a negative impact or a positive impact.”

Direct engagement is not always a possibility, especially in regards to international issues. For students who cannot readily donate money or time to these causes, online activ-ism creates a feeling of involvement through raising awareness.

“People who have less time to dedicate to the cause will go online and show that they care, but they can’t devote themselves to it,” says Elisa Chao, first-year medical sci-ences student.

Online activism is a quick and easy way to raise awareness or show your support for an issue. Due to its simplicity and convenience, online activism has become widely prac-ticed. But due to its lack of direct engagement, many argue online activism is apathetic and say its easy way out.

“Online things are kind of impersonal,” states Andrea Wang, first-year medical sciences student. “But of course, there’s more support online, [so] it’s easier to do it online than in-person.”

The legitimacy of online activism is not in the act itself, but rather the intent and devotion behind it. Many actively engage in activism through a variety of social media platforms and successfully raise awareness and advocate.

Online activism allows for everyone who has access to the Internet to participate in a move-ment, even if it isn’t a direct action people, like demanding policy changes by protesting. Whether it’s politicians affecting deci-sion-making processes, protesters marching to show their solidarity with a particular movement or a stu-dent sharing a hashtag supporting change, all forms of activism play

a role in creating discussion and advancement.

John Reed, a professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, believes “it’s like a sym-phony, you need it all.”

Direct activism prevails as the traditional form to take action, but Internet activism has more depth than what it appears to have; many organizations have begun online fundraisers and online petitions can be signed on websites such as change.org. Online activism does not simply act as a platform to raise awareness — you can take action from the comfort of your laptop.

“[Internet activism] is effective in regards to raising awareness,” says Bhatti. “The problem with Internet activism is if people aren’t acting upon it, it loses its effect.”

Organizations often choose social media as a platform to raise awareness for campaigns and move-ments, as it allows them to reach larger audiences. Many events, campaigns and fundraisers will have associated Facebook pages and hashtags that are used with the intent of sparking discussion and possible involvement for the promoted causes.

“We need all of it,” says Reed. “Usually a social movement or an issue doesn’t move forward, doesn’t break, doesn’t become an issue unless you have all levels of society interacting. We need slacktivists.”

However, online activism used independently is fairly ineffective compared to the grand scheme of things. Slacktivism contributes to engaging larger audiences and has the potential to generate interest that may extend further than the virtual world.

“I don’t think [slacktivism] is effective on its own, but it can be,” continues Reed. “It [is] as a sym-phony, there’s moments when just a few instruments are being used, and they can be powerful. But at some point you need the whole orchestra to join it.” n

Usually a social movement or an issue doesn’t move forward, doesn’t break, doesn’t become an issue unless you have all levels of society interacting. We need slacktivists.JOHN REEDFIMS PROFESSOR

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Chasing a prehistoric dream

VICKY XIN YUE QIAO CONTRIBUTOR @GAZETTECULTURE

In 1970, a four-year-old boy visiting a family friend’s farm was shown a trilobite fossil, found when a well was being drilled on the land.

Since he was interested in rocks, the fossil was right up his alley. Although he can’t recall much about that experience since he was so young, he thought it was the most fascinating and beautiful thing in this world.

Forty years later, Cameron Tsujita — or Cam, as he tells his students to call him — is teaching similarly curious students about fossils in his geology classes at Western University, where he’s been working for 20 years.

As you walk into Tsujita’s office in the Biological and Geological Sciences building, you might feel like you’re entering a little stor-age room in a geology museum. Displayed on the shelves are col-lections of rocks and fossils, ranging greatly in size, shapes and colours.

Born and raised in a small town close to Drumheller, Alberta — called the dinosaur capital of Canada by its tourism site — Tsujita was always interested in nature and fascinated by rocks, seashells and fossils. He says he was one of those “weird kids” who would spend hours picking up stones and exam-ining driveway gravels.

Tsujita’s answer to what he wanted to be when he grew up has never changed since he was five: “A paleontologist.”

Simply put, paleontology is the study of ancient life. Back in the time when movies like Jurassic Park had not yet been made, this term was not made familiar to many people, especially young children. To Tsujita, paleontology is the per-fect combination of the two major fields he was interested in — fossils

and marine b i o l o g y — and natur-ally became a dream to live up to.

When the time came where he had to make a choice about his post-secondary education, Tsujita started looking at schools with the best geology departments, since enrolling in geology would be the best way to pursue his passion in paleontology. Eventually, he made the decision to come to Western.

While studying at Western, not only did he gain knowledge in important aspects like sediment-ary rocks and geological process, he started developing interests in what he called “unconventional aspects” of paleontology and geology.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, he decided to pursue a mas-ter’s in paleontology at McMaster in order to broaden his horizon. This is where he met one of his most important mentors, Gerd Westermann, a retired professor of MacMaster University. Westermann recognized Tsujita’s interest in geology and valued his confidence and ability to think outside the box.

“He really believed in me,” recalls Tsujita. “Even though he was con-servative in many ways, he had an open mind in terms of approaching scientific problems.”

For his major project, Westermann gave Tsujita the independence to explore his topic, as well as the freedom to make both mistakes and new discoveries. Deeper fascination provoked deeper thinking; Tsujita developed a different view on fossils by making connections to living animals and their communities. The project ended up being “too big for a master,” and was graded for his PhD degree.

Despite obtaining a PhD degree

and main-taining unfail-ing enthusiasm in paleontology,

Tsujita realized the chance of becoming a

paleontologist was slim due to the low demand for such an occupa-tion. Just before he finished his PhD, Tsujita came across a posting from the earth science department of Western calling for a paleontologist to work as an assistant professor.

He applied for the position and went for the interview, but did not get the job.

Although he did not have a firm job prospect, Tsujita came back to Western in 1995 and talked to the earth science department again, expressing his willingness to be engaged in paleontology or geology in any possible form. Impressed by his record and initiative, the staff offered him the position of sessional instructor.

Tsujita taught a fourth-year course in petroleum geology and updated hallway displays; however, he made it a “personal mission” to bring tour groups through the department.

“I felt it important for members of the community, especially kids, to be aware of some of the exciting things earth scientists study,” recalls Tsujita. “Not only did I like sharing my enthusiasm with other people, I thought it would be a good thing to have people be more aware of the department, because [paleon-tology] is not as familiar a discipline as biology, chemistry or physics.”

His teaching record convinced Western he was worth keeping and eventually he became an assistant professor at Western.

Tsujita took an unconventional way of getting a career in science and ended up developing his career in his own way. Approaching things in unusual, even rebellious ways has always been part of Tsujita’s personality and that clearly has not

changed when it comes to teaching.Besides occasionally getting on

all fours and acting like a dinosaur, he has developed a course called “Earth, Art and Culture.” The course is the only one of its kind amongst universities across Canada and is a unique combination of creative art and planet Earth.

Tsujita is thankful to Western for providing him with a supportive environment and “tolerating” his unique ways of teaching.

Becoming a professor was a little different than what Tsujita originally dreamt about himself doing, which was being more of a researcher studying fossils in a studio.

“My passion toward paleontol-ogy turned out to be more in the teaching part, which I still find really strange,” he says.

Tsujita describes himself as a classic introvert — afraid of the crowd, uncomfortable being with people — yet he still stands in the middle of lecture halls facing and talking to all his students. He still gets butterflies in his stomach before every lecture, but once he gets into the material that he loves, he feels fine.

“I guess that is where the passion and dream take over, because [fear and discomfort] just doesn’t matter,” he says.

It is Tsujita’s fundamental inter-est in paleontology and geology that hasw driven him forward, helped him cope with his discomfort in public speaking and sparked his teaching ability.

Working as an earth science pro-fessor does not only allow Tsujita to fulfill his own dream, but also puts him into the position of helping students pursue their dreams and passions. He can name at least 30 people who sat in his first-year classroom and are now working in the field, such as shale gas and oil.

He stays in touch with many of his former students to this day.

“I just had lunch with a former

student yesterday,” says Tsujita. “She went to University of Calgary for her master’s and is now working at [the] Cleveland natural history museum.”

As Tsujita talks about the success stories of his students, there is definitely a sense of accomplishment and pride, since he played a part in inspiring people and helping them achieve what they want.

He has been fortunate enough to grow up in a family that firmly stood behind and believed in his dream. Although paleontology is quite an unusual interest, his parents were always supportive and engaged in his passion.

“They always wanted what was good for me, even though I came off as a bit of a flake sometimes,” says Tsujita with a laugh.

His parents offered him some of his most memorable experien-ces, including taking him to British Columbia to collect seashells.

“It was never in their mind that it was very unlikely to find a job in paleontology,” he says. “If it is some-thing you really want to do, it is up to you to pursue it.”

During the summer months when he’s not teaching, Tsujita can be found counselling science students.

As a result, Tsujita has witnessed many unfortunate incidents where parents drive their children towards “great” careers and expect their children to excel in fields they do not even feel attached to. To him, being a graduate student was one of the best experiences in his life because he was able to live his dream — studying fossils and ancient life.

“There are traumatic events in my life that have happened, where having a job that I like and having that passion was one of the only things that grounded me,” Tsujita says. “I can almost say that has saved my life. It’s something you live for, something that makes you glad that you’re alive.” n


BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD

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.”


insightopinions

Within 24 hours, two presidential slates dropped out of the University Students’ Council presiden-tial election. First, Team MacMillan dropped out Thursday evening, followed by mel + twon the next morning. There was a collective sigh of disappoint-ment at the loss of 40 per cent of the slates.

Having five slates offered a variety of perspectives on how the USC could be better. The candidates represented a spectrum from the “USC establish-ment” to more vocal outsiders and the two slates that withdrew were not part of the establishment.

Team MacMillan offered a satirical view of the USC. Their platform lampooned the seriousness of the organization with platform points such as a pillow fort during Reading Week and moving TD Stadium to away games.

Robert MacMillan detailed his slate’s decision to withdraw.

“From the onset of the campaign, our team was serious about becoming elected and leading the student body through a more relaxed community, and recognition of that effort seems to have been lost,” MacMillan said.

Yet, with their lack of campaign photos or presence in the University Community Centre atrium and their joke platform, it didn’t seem like this was the case.

Mel + twon, however, were different. Both candi-

dates were executives of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies Students’ Council. Melissa Peter-son is at USC meetings every month representing the views of her diverse constituents.

In the November USC meeting, Peterson questioned vice-president student events Taryn Scripnick’s statement, “If you want to start a men’s club on our campus for example — completely cool.”

It proved that Peterson was someone unafraid to speak her mind and be blunt about real concerns that students have.

From the launch of their campaign, it was evident that this energy infused everything that mel + twon did — this would not be a traditional campaign. There was hope that when they released their platform, it would represent a vision of grounded change for the USC.

But then they withdrew.

We craved their presence at the debates to bring up issues that the other candidates would likely avoid. The only slate left that will talk about issues usually avoided appears to be Team Roy — and they may be too far outside the mainstream to gain traction.

Mel + twon represented a credible challenge to USC administrations that we have come to expect. It was exciting when they announced their candi-dacy and launched their campaign. Now, we’re just disappointed. n

The USC election that could have been

KYLE PORTER GAZETTE

Falling out of love with

the USCDear University Students' Council,

We’ve been together for almost a year now. I knew of you before then, though. I knew of you as the voice of Western students — our advo-cate, our protector, our champion. When we got together last year, I was excited just thinking about all the great things we may be able to accomplish together.

The more I got to know you though, the more confused I became about your priorities. You say, “rep-resentative of Western students,” but I noticed time and time again only one particular voice being heard. I was taken aback when I realized that your definition of "adequate representation" rarely extended beyond constituency lines. For example, you worry about a lack of women but don’t acknowledge issues of racial representation. Isn’t this problematic?

As we spent more time together, my feelings became increasingly ambivalent. I see all you do for stu-dents — it would be a mistake not to acknowledge your successes. I admire your drive to continuously improve the student experience through different events, program-ming and advocacy initiatives. It only takes one look at the array of peer support services to be sure that you are committed to fulfilling your mandate.

But — the inevitable "but" — I worry that sometimes you lose sight of whose "best student experience" you are improving. The reality is that not all students feel cared for by you. I must admit, I am one of them. Because as much as I appreciate the effort you make to improve Western, I just flat out don’t agree with some of your approaches.

Selling every square inch of UCC space as a form of revenue? Not okay. You’re willing to hand over your stu-dents to commercial interests but won’t allow those same students to occupy a table unless you approve their reasons for being there? Seems bizarre that an atrium subsidized by students is only accessible with your permission. The atrium wouldn’t even be there without them!

Then I remember that on top of being a council, you are also a cor-poration. No matter how you slice it, this will always affect how you make your decisions. As much as it would be nice to ban corporate groups from the UCC, you have a financial interest in keeping them there. I can understand that being a corporation ensures financial accountability — and this is important when it comes to handling student dollars!

I do think, however, that you would benefit from some social

accounting. Consider how your pro-grams, clubs, initiatives and the like impact the experience of students from a qualitative perspective. Only then will you be able to reconcile the importance of a small turnout at an academic speaker event with a sold-out concert without reverting to a cost-benefit analysis.

I think our greatest differences, though, lie in your desire for polit-ical neutrality. You know you’re an inherently political body, right? Yet you tiptoe contentious issues, espe-cially those concerning the Western administration. When the University president’s compensation scandal broke, you defended him.

When a White Student Union emerged and the University claimed there was “nothing it could do,” you didn’t speak for those who felt unsafe and failed to take action to shut down the group. You simply clarified that the group had not con-tacted you and that it promotes an unsafe campus. What actions have you taken to make our campus safer, then?

Lastly, you seek to be a champion of Western students’ mental health. I’ve noticed how this has become a greater priority in recent years and I acknowledge the efforts both you and the University have taken to improve students’ access to mental and wellness services. However, we must also think critically about the widespread nature of stress, anxiety, depression and other mental ill-nesses that affect Western students.

Perhaps our efforts to increase resources should also be matched with a challenge to the institutional structures that cause (or put a strain on) these illnesses. Maybe we should consider that a 5.0 course load (or 6.0 in the case of our engineers) is simply too much!

You may think it’s unrealistic to challenge the existing structure of our university but think about how much the University as an institu-tion has changed since its humble beginnings.

I know you’re aware of the power you have but yet I consistently catch you playing it safe. This is at the heart of our discord. In many ways, you really are the advocate, pro-tector and champion that I thought you were.

When I think about how much potential I see in you, I feel a glim-mer of hope. But I’m also tired of being let down. This is why I’m breaking up with you.

To be honest, it’s not me, it’s you. MELISSA PETERSON

FORMER USC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Building conversation, not wallsRE: “Donald Trump-esque election poster in poor taste,” Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.To the editor:

Last week The Gazette published a column criticizing one of my cam-paign posters and it was a good reminder why we leave reporting on satire to the Western Beet. Claiming that I am “modelling” my campaign after Donald Trump is entirely incorrect and hilariously misguided. For those who are wondering, I have no intention to build a wall around campus.

However, there are some things I would like to build.

I want to work with administra-tion to ensure that Western con-tinues to prioritize building student spaces on campus. I want to build upon the work that was done by sen-ators this year to advance academic

policies that create value for stu-dents. I want to continue building relationships with administration and students across campus to ensure that we have a seat at the table when decisions that affect all of us are being made.

Moreover, I want to build conver-sation. Every year, Senate elections come and go with the same result: New senators are elected and the student body gains no real under-standing of what Senate actually does.

This year, I decided to change that.

It’s time that Western came together to discuss how we envision our academic future and the role we expect our senators to play. There needs to be a genuine conversation across campus about understanding what our Senate does, how it works

and the impact every student can make.

When I officially launch my campaign this week I will be doing exactly that. There will be a clear focus on breaking down the Senate so that every student knows exactly what it is responsible for and the potential for change within it.

Yes, my poster is a little contro-versial. Yes, not everyone will think it’s funny. But if I have to ruffle some feathers to create a dialogue about student participation on Senate, then so be it.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has used discriminatory rhetoric to create divisive conver-sations across the United States.

Surely we can use him to create positive conversations of our own.

HARRY ORBACH-MILLERSENATOR-AT-LARGE CANDIDATE

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RICHARD JOSEPH ARTS & LIFE EDITOR@RJATGAZETTE

Title: FalstaffDirector: Michael CavanaghVenue: Paul Davenport Theatre, Western UniversityShowtimes: Feb. 5–6, 8 p.m.; Feb 7, 2 p.m.Rating: GGGGG

Sometimes, it pays to go back to basics.

Director Michael Cavanagh and UWOpera have put together a mas-terful rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s timeless comedy and final opera, Falstaff. Rather than changing the setting or time period in an effort to be edgy or current, Cavanagh’s pro-duction indulges in the visual opu-lence of the original late-medieval staging, matched only by the energy and verve of the UWOpera cast.

The opera is based mainly around the antics of a fascin-ating character borrowed from Shakespeare, Sir John Falstaff. Short on money, the knight decides to play the odds and woo two rich, married women, Alice Ford and Meg Page. When they discover his scheme, they — with the help of their friends — concoct an elaborate prank to teach him a lesson. Subplots of romance and intrigue run parallel

to the main story and the result is a good two and a half hours of com-edic entertainment.

The cast fit their roles admirably, both vocally and in terms of charac-ter. Jessica Clark, a master’s student at Western, stood out in particular for her vocal skills in the soprano role of Nannetta. Her rendition of the character’s arias are sure to be memorable and she meshes well with James Smith’s Fenton in play-ing the sickeningly lovelorn couple.

Cristina Pisani is a wonderful and mischievous Alice Ford, relish-ing the prank to an almost deranged degree. Rachael Litt skilfully por-trays Mistress Quickly’s domineer-ing presence, sweeping imperiously about the stage with a rich contralto.

But a good Falstaff, of course, needs a good Falstaff and bass-bari-tone Chad Louwerse gives an absolutely brilliant performance. Louwerse is clearly in his element playing the lecherous drunkard; he has considerable experience already with comic roles, such as Sirocco in The Montreal Opera’s production of L’Etoile. He lumbers around on stage, clutching at bottles, purses and bot-toms, unwashed and unscrupulous like an elephant seal mixed with Donald Trump. At the same time, there’s an undeniable charm to his character and Louwerse’s rich,

powerful voice gets that across. It’s a pleasure to see him act and a delight to hear him sing.

Cavanagh’s production is a feast for the senses. The orchestra, directed by Alain Trudel, is a master-ful, emotional mouthpiece for the play — it swells and fades in perfect time with the on-stage action and it is a striking performance by itself. The costumes of the aristocratic ladies are dazzling and opulent, and Falstaff is appropriately begrimed for much of the play.

The set, too, is visually detailed and colourful, especially the final scene, a beautiful, misty forest with shafts of “sunlight” lancing the foliage. A minor gripe, however: the fairy costumes are straight out of a

third-grade pageant, sparkly wings and all, jarring with the previous costume quality and the fascinating, mystical surroundings.

You might think of opera as high-brow or inaccessible, but the truth is productions like these are as enter-taining as any night at the movies. Take, for example, the scene where Fenton and his mob hunt for Falstaff while the women hide him in a laundry basket: the action reaches a feverish pitch, several things are going on concurrently and there’s a general atmosphere of glorious chaos. What’s not to love?

Despite being an operatic com-edy, Falstaff is by no means shallow. It’s a work about keeping in good humour, taking it all in stride; Falstaff

himself admits he’s been “an ass” in the end and joins in the wedding fes-tivities with his characteristic vigour. In the final act, Louwerse’s Falstaff turns to the audience, spreads his arms and bellows “tutti gabbati” — all are fools. In our modern climate of hypersensitivity, maybe a work about not taking yourself too seriously is exactly what we need.

The opera with this cast is play-ing again on Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. The ver-sion with a slightly different cast is playing on Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 general admission and $20 children, stu-dents and seniors. Buy them at the Grand Theatre website or call 519-672-8800. A limited number will be sold at the door. n

UWOpera’s Falstaff: Bravissimo!

ALEXANDRA HAWKINS GAZETTE STAFF@GAZETTECULTURE

Walking to class in minus-20 degree-weather is no easy feat, so you try and bundle yourself in every piece of clothing you have. Then you get inside and the sudden heat leaves you looking sweaty and, let’s face it, not your best.

First-year engineering student Jake Girling displays how to effort-lessly combine style with utility through the winter months without bulky excess accessories.

While it’s very easy to wear all black during the winter months, Girling goes for an earth tone col-our scheme.

His shoes are brown lace-up boots, which are a more fashion-able alternative to heavier boots on days when there isn’t as much snow. These complement his muted green jeans nicely. Coloured jeans are a good way to add contrast to an otherwise colourless outfit. The soft green is subtle but effective and matches well with the rest of the outfit.

Girling’s mid-length olive-green parka fits the outfit’s earthy tones, and the length is great for added warmth as it extends past the waist and onto the legs. It is also a more professional option, as opposed to puffer or sport jackets, looking more put together without compromising practicality.

His favourite piece is his turtle-neck, which his mom bought for him for Christmas. Turtleneck

sweaters have been on the rise lately and can be very warm, depending on the material. The extended neck can be used instead of a scarf, elim-inating the number of layers worn.

“Try to have a bunch of sim-ple pieces that you can just throw together and combine into what-ever,” he advises. “It creates a laid back style.”

This winter, follow Girling’s example and know that you can keep warm without sacrificing style.

WHERE TO GET IT

JACKET: Independent store in Vancouver. Longer length parkas are slowly becoming more common as a more fashionable and classier alternative to the traditional, sporty ski coat.

JEANS: J. Crew. Skinny jeans are timeless and wearing them in other colours allows you to create different looks while still keeping the same basic style.

BOOTS: North Face. A perfect alternative to snow boots for days when the weather is nicer and you don’t want to be weighed down. Make sure to treat them with a weather proofing spray before you wear them, as salt and slush can easily ruin a pair of shoes.

TURTLENECK: Banana Republic. These sweaters are great for cold days and require little effort. n

MOSES MONTEROZZA GAZETTE

IAIN BOEKHOFF GAZETTE

HOUSING

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experience

ROBERT NANNI ARTS & LIFE EDITOR@ROBERTATGAZETTE

As stress piles high because of exams and extracurricular commitments, many find it hard to keep up with their fitness. Without a break for physical activity, the repetitive life-style of the average student can lead to feeling overwhelmed.

Enter MOODment, a new fit-ness program designed to increase awareness of the mental health benefits of exercise. Created by clinical psychologist and Western adjunct faculty member Lindsey Forbes, this will be the program’s first take at Western.

“We’re going to be using exercise as a tool to help students reduce stress, help them cope better with stress and anxiety, and help them improve their mood,” Forbes says. “In addition, exercise has some cog-nitive benefits as well.”

After running the program last term at Fanshawe, the overwhelm-ing positive feedback convinced Forbes to bring it to Western. With the lowest rating for group satisfac-tion being 80 per cent and many students wishing it had been longer, Forbes knew she had an impactful program in place.

Forbes was inspired to create the program through personal experi-ence. She says her best coping strat-egy throughout graduate school was running clinics through The Running Room, which alleviated some of her worries and improved her focus.

The program uses talks and exercise in conjunction as cogni-tive-behavioural strategies to set goals and boost motivation in all aspects of life.

“A lot of the times, stress prevents us from continuing our personal exercise programs,” Forbes explains. “But when you feel more stressed, you should be exercising then.”

MOODment uses exercise in the moment to give a short-term per-spective on fitness. The focus isn’t on long-term fitness or preventing health problems, but rather on what exercise can do for the participant now.

“Students came even when they had midterms or things were really crazy at school and reported that they were better able to handle the stress of school because they were really resilient,” Forbes says.

Fourth-year linguistics and psych-ology student Amanda Storie also finds that exercise helps her out with school, saying it enhances her mood.

“If I am having a bad day or simply feel unproductive, my first thought is that I need to go to the gym,” says Storie. “When I’m feeling down on myself, going to the gym gets my adrenaline pumping and makes me more focused.”

While research identifies a causal link between exercise and mood, kinesiology professor Harry Prapavessis explains the mechanism behind this connection is still poorly understood.

“There is definitely research that has shown that exercise can affect mood,” Prapavessis says. “What we don’t know is what causes that effect.”

With a focus on post-secondary students, MOODment aims to boost moods and improve short-term skills.

“I see how high students’ stress levels are and the demands that are on their plates as they go through university,” Forbes says. “Oftentimes if you were physically active during high school, it’s difficult to maintain that in university as well — we want to help make that easier.”

MOODment runs every Tuesday in WSS room 3130 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Contact [email protected] for more details. n

Blindfolded for charity

Boosting moods through exercise

If I am having a bad day or simply feel unproductive, my first thought is that I need to go to the gym. When I’m feeling down on myself, going to the gym gets my adrenaline pumping and makes me more focused.AMANDA STORIEFOURTH-YEAR LINGUISTICS AND

PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT

SAMAH ALI ARTS & LIFE EDITOR@SAMAHATGAZETTE

While many chefs work dili-gently to master the art of food presentation, Dine in the Dark is blindfolding hungry students for a good cause.

On Feb. 28., the University Student Council’s charity com-mittee will be bringing back their second annual Dine in the Dark event at the Wave in support of DeafBlind Ontario Services.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. where cocktails and bev-erages will be served. As the night moves into dinner, atten-dees will be blindfolded during a three-course meal while music fills the room to heighten the senses even more.

USC Charity also intends to end the night with an optional trivia session where prizes will be awarded. The trivia will act as a reflection of the night where participants can talk about their experience at Dine in the Dark.

Dine in the Dark co-coordin-ator Jessica Tao was a huge fan of the event last year and is excited to support DeafBlind Ontario Services again.

“We just want to raise aware-ness for the organization and thank people for participating in the trivia,” she says.

Fellow co-coordinator Niki Kanani shares her excitement and was thrilled to plan the event for its second year at Western.

Kanani says Dine in the Dark is all about perspective.

“Last year was our first year doing it,” she says. “You don’t really think your senses are going to be that enhanced, but we had music going on and when you would talk to people across from you, you would feel like you were shouting.

“It’s a really great experi-ence for individuals to see how heightened your senses are just by taking away one of them.”

Tao also believes Dine in the Dark is a great opportunity to

bring a similar dining theme, practiced at Toronto restaurant O Noir, to Western. Tao wanted the Western community to share in the experience and hopes people participate.

“To bring this back to Western to give our London community that experience really appealed to me and everyone loves food, so it’s just an amazing oppor-tunity for friends to come together and to have a meal for a really good cause,” Tao says.

Participants can sign up to attend the t hree-course mea l event by purchasing tickets at the USC Charity booth from Feb. 1 to 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are being sold for $25 and the committee is prepared to accommodate individuals with different diet-ary restrictions for the ultimate experience.

Check out USC Charity’s Dine in the Dark Facebook event for more information. n

KYLE PORTER GAZETTE


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KYLE PORTER GAZETTE

tuesday, february 2, 2016

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