Get your green gear here!!!

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 82WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906

Julie HambletonGAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

Toronto will play host to the 2015 Pan American Games this summer and nine Western athletes will be competing for spots at the inter-national competition.

The event, which takes place from July 10–26, is a multi-sport competition between the coun-tries of the Americas. The main venue will be in Toronto, though some sports will be taking place at various venues across Southern Ontario including St. Catharines, Mississauga, Hamilton and Markham.

What many students may not know about the games is that we have nine Pan Am hopefuls right here at Western: Caroline Ehrhardt in triple jump and Robin Bone in pole vault. Gamal Assaad, Robert Wise and Peter Serles in swimming; and Steven Takahashi, Riley Otto, Madi Parks and Larissa D’Alleva in wrestling.

For Robin Bone, who is currently the top pole vaulter in the CIS and has recently posted the highest jump in CIS history, adversity came from the very beginning. Having com-peted in gymnastics from an early age, she was forced into retirement in grade nine due to several severe concussions. Not knowing what to do with herself, Bone tried out for the track team. She was almost immediately recruited by the coach to try pole vault.

“At that time I had no idea what pole vault was. He explained it to me, saying I was basically going to be flying through the air and that

made me really interested,” Bone said.

Unfortunately, her doctor told her that if she was going to partici-pate in pole vault, she had to wear a helmet, which Bone found embar-rassing — especially in those early days before she had gotten the hang of the sport.

“I wasn’t good, I was jumping maybe five feet,” Bone recalls.

Despite coming in last at every meet, Bone kept trying. A few meets into the season, just as she began to question whether or not she wanted to keep going, she overheard one of the best girls in the state laughing with her friends at “the girl in the helmet.” That was enough to light a fire inside Bone that has never burned out.

“I’m a bit of an ‘I’ll show you’ kind of person, and I remember thinking ‘Oh, you’re making fun of the helmet girl? Well I’ll show you Robin Bone.’ ”

Pole vault is a tough sport because though there aren’t really any limits on it; you can always push yourself to do more, and each com-petition you end on a miss, whether you win or not.

“It’s tough coming off the mat thinking if I had given this much more, or that much more, but I think that as an athlete, as hard as that is sometimes to swallow, I think that’s what keeps me in it.”

Another Western athlete who had a similarly rocky start is swim-mer and engineering student Peter Serles, who is proof that not every great athlete is a star right off the bat. Serles remembers how he failed Aqua Plus 4 four times when he was just four years old.

“I couldn’t even swim the length

of the pool,” Serles laughs.Though he did not show an early

aptitude for swimming, his mom put him in competitive swimming. This proved to be a good decision, as Serles is now the Western team cap-tain, 2013 National bronze medalist and finalist at the Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Championship trials. The first couple of years were tough, but he eventually grew to love the sport and is thankful that he kept going, even when he didn’t want to.

“I eventually developed a good love for the sport and it’s what brought me here and I’m really happy about it,” Serles said.

In the beginning, what kept him in the pool was the adrenaline rush of each race. Now, however, he enjoys practice and being able to track his improvement from meet to meet, season to season.

“Training is a direct output for how much better you get, and you have your own goals, which drove me to be better every time,” he said.

For Serles, his goal is to compete on a national team, and he is excited to be in a position where his dream can become reality. Along with Pan Ams, Serles has his sights set on this year’s University Games, as well as the Worlds in 2017.

“It’s really exciting and really kind of cool to have my entire 14 years of training to put me into this position where I’m competing for a spot,” he says.

In contrast, wrestling came nat-urally to Steven Takahashi. His father is Ray Takahashi, Western Wrestling coach and three-time Olympian. While Steven participated in many other sports throughout his elemen-tary and high school years, he spent

a large amount of his time around the wrestling room.

“I just fell into place,” Takahashi said. “[I] ended up getting good at it and sticking with it.”

Making it to the Olympics is the main driving force for Takahashi each day in practice and in com-petition. He knows that he is close to achieving that goal, and knows what kind of work he has to do to get there.

“I’ve always wanted to make it to the Olympics, to one-up my dad and medal. He came fourth at the Olympics and I’ve always wanted to medal as a kid, and that has always been my dream, always my aspira-tion, so that’s a big motivation for me.”

Takahashi competed at the last Pan Am Games in Guadalarjara, Mexico where he won the bronze medal, and he is going into this summer’s games looking to strike gold.

Larissa D’Alleva, a sixth-year Brescia student and 2014 National team member, began wrestling in high school.

“[I have] to remind myself that I enjoy it, that and [about my] end goals. You take the small steps and look at the bigger picture as well,” she explains.“It becomes a part of you, it just becomes who you are.”

Fourth-year swimmer Robert Wise, three-time Western swimming MVP, five-time OUA gold medalist, CIS bronze, silver, gold medalist and 2011 junior national team member, maintains that mental toughness and reminding yourself that some days will be good and others won’t helps keep things in perspective.

“It’s not the end of the world that

you had a bad race or bad practice, that’s part of the process of becom-ing a great swimmer is you have to go through ups and downs, take it as a learning process. I think that’s how I’ve always looked at it,” Wise observes.

If he is chosen for the Pan-Am team, this will be Wise’s first senior international competition. He says it will be important for him to treat it just like any other meet so as to not sabotage his race with self-inflicted pressure.

2014 Wrestling National Open silver medalist Riley Otto says he is most motivated by his peers, espe-cially his teammates, who help him get through those tough practices and competitions and continue to push him to improve. This is very important in a sport that is as taxing mentally as it is physically.

“It’s one-on-one, you against them. There’s not a whole lot of restriction, at any time there’s so many different things you can do,” Otto explains.

Madi Parks, who began wrestling as part of an elementary school pro-gram and went on to win the bronze medal at the 2014 National Open, agrees that wrestling is a tough sport. You have to work hard, but the harder you work, the more you will achieve.

“You feel really good when you win because you know that it’s all you, all your hard work, all your training,” she said.

>> see PAN AM pg.8

Top photos, left to rightMadi Parks

Robert WiseLarissa D’Alleva

ARIES - Mar 21/Apr 20 Aries, give a loved one the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions. This beloved confidante deserves your trust and ardent support.

LIBRA - Sept 23/Oct 23 Libra, you have a difficult decision to make, but forge ahead with what you think is best. Keep a level head and weigh all of the consequences of your decision.

TAURUS - Apr 21/May 21 Taurus, expect some powerful emotions to surface when you meet a new person this week. You may be immediately drawn to this individual, so embrace the attraction.

SCORPIO - Oct 24/Nov 22 Friends jokingly suggest you have psychic powers, Scorpio. They are put to the test this week when you suspect something is amiss. Rectify the situation in due time.

GEMINI - May 22/Jun 21 Gemini, the week starts off on a bumpy note but quickly turns itself around. By Friday, you will have a smile on your face and be ready to make the most of the weekend.

SAGITTARIUS - Nov 23/Dec 21 Avoid taking a big financial risk this week, Sagittarius. Hold on tight to your money and resist the temptation to spend any money for the time being.

CANCER - Jun 22/Jul 22 Cancer, some long weeks have left you physically and emotionally wiped out. Take some time out for yourself in the coming days and resist the urge to jump back into the fray too quickly.

CAPRICORN - Dec 22/Jan 20 Capricorn, pressure to complete an important project will find its way to you this week. No matter how quickly you need to get things done, calmly approach the tasks at hand.

LEO - Jul 23/Aug 23 A romance at work begins to heat up, Leo. This may be the perfect opportunity to find your match. Just don’t let feelings get in the way of productivity.

AQUARIUS - Jan 21/Feb 18 Resist the instinct to keep your feelings bottled up this week, Aquarius. Get your thoughts out in the open, and you will instantaneously feel much better.

VIRGO - Aug 24/Sept 22 A problem dominates your thoughts as you work to find a solution, Virgo. Until you pull away and focus on something else, you will not be able to see the answer clearly.

PISCES - Feb 19/Mar 20 Pisces, you will be very productive this week as you benefit from a new outlook. Plan ahead for some magic.

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This horoscope is intended for entertainment purposes only.

Your Weekly Horoscope

The week of March. 8 – 14

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS MARCH 11 – Anthony Davis, Athlete (22) MARCH 8 – Aidan Quinn, Actor (56) MARCH 12 – Liza Minnelli, Actress (69) MARCH 9 – Emmanuel Lewis, Actor (44) MARCH 13 – Danny Masterson, Actor (39) MARCH 10 – Carrie Underwood, Singer (32) MARCH 14 – Aamir Khan, Director (50)

Solution to puzzle on page 7

2 • thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015

CROSSWORD By Eugene Sheffer

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.© 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

Caught on Camera

News Briefs

Lakehead introduces mandatory Indigenous

creditLakehead University is mandating an Indigenous studies course for all students starting in 2016.

The Indigenous credit will align itself to the major of each student, so the teaching is relevant to the area of study.

According to Candace Brunette, the coordinator of the Indigenous Studies at Western, students at Western could also benefit from exploring mandatory Indigenous courses. She believes it is an inherent

responsibility to support systematic changes that strive to educate every-one about shared Canadian history and the place of the Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples in the country.

“I believe that the world can benefit from Indigenous know-ledge. An introductory course to Indigenous studies would be rel-evant to so many students because Indigenous studies is so interdisci-plinary in nature,” Brunette stated.

“Indigenous knowledge is sophisticated, diverse and complex and I think many would be surprised of the value it brings to the learning environment ... it easily makes con-nections to history, politics, environ-ment, social science, sciences … and much more.”

Indigenous studies are also a chance to further discussion about the experiences and stereotypes of Indigenous people in our society.

“A mandatory Indigenous stud-ies course would help unearth Indigenous perspectives, experien-ces and knowledge that have been historically silenced and marginal-ized in education,” Brunette said.

“Our knowledge systems are

based in deep connections to land and place, and values based in family, community and spirituality, and despite mass assaults upon our knowledge systems, they continue to survive and thrive.”

• Sueda Cam

Western hosts first annual Indigenous Awareness Week

Western will be holding its first annual Indigenous Awareness Week starting March 16. The event will be an opportunity for students to come together to celebrate and learn about Western’s Indigenous student population.

Candace Brunette, Western Indigenous Services coordinator, said the goal of the event is to nur-ture education and relationships.

“This is about engaging the entire campus, everyone is welcome to all the events and it’s an opportunity to learn from each other,” Brunette said.

The weeklong affair will begin with a sunrise ceremony, commun-ity breakfast and opening celebra-tions on the inaugural Monday. Indigenous Services will also host various events including a movie night featuring films from the international film festival, Imagine Native and host a number of well-known performers, including hip-hop artist Frank Waln and spoken word poets the Sampson Brothers.

The weeklong festivities are set to finish off on Saturday night with a traditional Pow Wow hosted by the First Nations Student Association in the Mustang Lounge.

Brunette said she hopes Indigenous students and non-In-digenous students alike participate in the weeklong festivities.

“We hope that Indigenous peoples feel a sense of pride and belonging to the university ... and we hope that non-Indigenous peoples come away with new under-standings; perhaps fostering new relationships that they didn’t have before and a sense of inspiration that they want to learn more.”

• Albert Van Santvoort

Winnie Lu • GAZETTE

IT’S SHOWTIME. Mustang Lounge quietly transforms itself into the set of Into the Woods, a musical presented by Theatre Western that is opening tonight. If you are not into ‘happily ever after’ endings, then this production is for you.

CORRECTIONIn yesterday’s article on page 5, titled, Greenwash-ing, rinse, repeat: Faking en-vironmentalism in market-ing, it was incorrectly stated that Dove was under fire for using chemicals toxic to aquatic life. In fact, the company in question was Dawn. The Gazette regrets the error.

Turn your degree into a Career.

Tired of lecture halls? Our studio-centred programs will help you put all that theory into practice. Hone your artistic vision into a career in as little as eight months.

We offer 13 post-graduate programs, from Arts Management and Advertising to Film & Television Business and Professional Writing. And we’re close to downtown Toronto and the city’s creative and media hubs.

Apply now for Fall 2015. Visit centennialcollege.ca/thecentreYour creative career starts here

See where experiencetakes you.

thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015 • 3

Fontana wins taxpayer waste awardChristian BotCONTRIBUTOR

@uwogazette

Former mayor of London and Liberal member of parliament Joe Fontana received the 17th annual Teddy Award for federal government waste on Wednesday.

The “award” goes to politicians contributing to government waste at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government and is estab-lished by the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.

Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, said the organization tends to award the Teddy to the “most ridiculous examples” of government wasters.

“We picked Mr. Fontana not so

much for the sum — it was only $1,700 — it was more because here’s an individual who’s a very powerful man, a very successful man and yet for some reason he felt compelled to try and rip taxpayers off,” Wudrick said.

Fontana, who was mayor of London from 2010–14, was con-victed last year of breach of trust, fraud and uttering forged docu-ments after he altered the contract for his son’s wedding reception in 2005 to receive a $1,700 reimburse-ment from the House of Commons. Fontana was an MP and federal cab-inet minister at the time.

Fontana resigned as London mayor shortly after his conviction. He was sentenced to house arrest and has since been released.

His conviction notwithstanding, Fontana continues to earn an annual pension of $122,000.

“The real crime here is the fact that he still gets to collect his pen-sion … he was convicted of a crime — trying to rip off taxpayers — and now he gets his pension, which tax-payers pay for to the tune of $120,000 a year,” Wudrick said.

The case has inspired a private member’s bill that proposes cancel-ling the pensions of convicted mem-bers of parliament. Since Fontana was no longer an MP when he was convicted, his pension will not be affected by the proposed bill.

Still, Wudrick says that the pro-posed bill is a step in the right dir-ection because it would prevent any repeat of situations like Fontana’s.

Cameron WIlson • GAZETTE

Creativity comes to campus with Walrus Talks

Katie LearNEWS EDITOR@KatieAtGazette

The faculty arts and humanities is collaborating with the Arts and Humanities Students’ Council to put on a series of conferences in part-nership with Walrus Talks centred on creativity on March 12.

The event will host a collection of national personalities such as David Usher, Emma Donoghue and Joel Faflak to participate in a TED talk-style discussion, with a reception afterwards for students and speaker engagement.

“You’ve got David Usher who’s a great entrepreneur and thinker about innovation, you’ve got Emma Donoghue who’s one of our great fiction writers here in Canada, I’m going to be [ironically] talking about creativity as a waste of time,” Western professor Faflak explained.

AHSC president Liz Nash explained how creativity will be explored in the talk.

“Each respondent will have a few minutes to talk about their perspec-tive on creativity and how it affects their sector. … After each person has spoken there will be a chance to

interact with them in a casual recep-tion setting, so I think it’s the best of both worlds because you have the formal structure of the actual talk and then you have the networking afterwards,” she said.

The event is unique in that the topic is relatively open-ended and so the subject matter inspires a wide variety of responses based on the speakers’ background and experiences.

“What makes the event so engaging is that other than creativ-ity, they’re not given a topic,” Nash said.

“So for example if you give the word creativity to David Usher you’re going to have a much

different response than from Emma Donoghue. So that’s where you can really critically engage with the idea of creativity because you have so many different respondents, so many different perspectives on one topic.”

The Walrus encompasses both The Walrus magazine and The Walrus Foundation, which hosts series of talks across Canada on various topics.

“This one is specifically related to creativity because in the faculty of arts and humanities we’re also rais-ing money for the Alice Munro Chair in Creativity,” Faflak continued.

Nash said that the ultimate goal of the talks is to inspire the flourish-ing of creativity at Western.

“We really want to promote and engage with the idea – I think it’s totally rad. I’m so excited to see months of work come to fruition,” Nash said.

“I think the organizers are going to have a great time, the students will have a great time, the speakers will have a great time, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the final result.”

Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for the general public.

WHAT MAKES THE EVENT SO ENGAGING

IS THAT OTHER THAN CREATIVITY, THEY’RE NOT GIVEN A TOPIC.

LIZ NASHARTS AND HUMANITIES STUDENTS’ COUN-

CIL PRESIDENT

Wanna talk politics? No way… Wait, there’s beer? Hell, yes

Katie LearNEWS EDITOR@KatieAtGazette

The University Students’ Council is hosting a Pints and Politics event on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Wave. Students will have the chance to meet with city staff, councillors, LTC representatives and hopefully the mayor of London, Matt Brown, to talk about the future of London’s public transit.

“Most of the transportation department from the city of London will be in attendance and they’re going to be going around formulating an open dialogue with students to talk about what they really want,” Jen Carter, USC vice-president external said.

“They will get as specific as ‘where do you want the stop to go,’ so it’s going to be a very empow-ering exercise for students.”

Shift London is the current initiative spearheaded by the City of London that aims to revolu-tionize transportation in London. Currently the initiative is consulting

with the citizens of London to hear what their goals for public transit are.

“It really is the mindset that’s driving the whole process that it’s Londoners that get to decide what transit should look like, so any of the things that students are saying is going to be included … whatever Western students have to say is going to formulate the foundation for the building blocks for transit in the city,” Carter said.

Carter explained that host-ing this kind of event at Western is a good way to ensure that stu-dents feel comfortable expressing their concerns and requests in an environment they feel safe in.

“Students don’t always feel like they’re being heard – this is an event where they really are going to be, and they’re really the centre of the event and the reason why so many people are coming to Western on Monday to speak with them,” she said.

The first 150 students who sign up for the event will get a free drink ticket.

4 • thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015

arts&lifesaywhat?“The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.”

• J.R.R. Tolkien

Seeing wonder in the woods

WHERE to get it

Jacket — ZaraFashion-forward retailers like Zara are following the runways in adding more of these long and draping jack-ets to their womenswear roster.

Scarf — ParisSimilar long scarves in light fabrics can be found at Aritzia, or more affordable (lower-quality) versions at Claire’s.

Sweater — Hudsons BayThese loose, comfortable sweaters are great for both lounging and social events — they have that “runway chic” look about them.

Hunters — Any shoe store in the developed world.If you’re having trouble finding Hunter boots in a North American retailer, you might want to invest in glasses instead of footwear.

The era of slim-fit may be drawing to a

close and unusual, draping out-fits are on the rise. Heralding this new mode in fashion is first-year BMOS student Tyerra Lowe with an array of interesting winter wear.

Just as important as the colour, pattern and texture of clothing is how it fits. Silhouette is undoubt-edly an important issue in fashion and it has certainly evolved with the advent of the tailor. Take the NBA — in the space of a mere 10 years, the draft picks went from looking like cartoon villains (pin-stripes, five-button suits and lapels the size of albatross wings) to verit-able fashion models.

But fashion is a fleeting, fickle mistress and just as the box-cut

abominations of the late 21st cen-tury were supplanted by slim-fit suits, the days of form-fitting jack-ets are numbered. Increasingly on the runways designers are experi-menting with draping fabrics and out-of-the-ordinary silhouettes. Yohji Yamamoto, a big name in fashion today,  features an array of long, draping scarves, jackets and skirts in his 2013–14 Fall and Winter collection.

Lowe’s long grey jacket from Zara is a good example of this trend, with an interesting collar which folds down over the shoul-ders. The fabric folds in different directions to create visual interest and Lowe keeps it open to show-case her layers.

The scarf follows the same trend of long, draping fabric. The

grey-and-white zebra print works off the darker grey of the jacket and adds an eye-catching pattern to the outfit.

Her Hunter boots are a little out of the ordinary as well, with a white quilted-pattern detail along the top-on-trend.

Lowe’s favourite piece, a baby-blue sweater from the Bay, acts as a colourful pastel centerpiece for the ensemble. It adds an understated splash of colour to the greys and blacks, coming together to form a cohesive and attractive outfit. Finally, a simple necklace with a small, clear stone adds a subtle sparkle.

“Comfy and simple” is Lowe’s adage — like her outfit, under-stated and elegant.

• Richard Joseph

Robert Armstrong • GAZETTE

Robert Armstrong • GAZETTE

>> IN THEATRES > INTO THE WOODS

Courtesy of Theatre Western

Samah AliGAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

GGGGHInto the WoodsDirector: Gillian HosickStarring: Ben Braz, Kurtis Whittle, Kaitlin Benoit, Julia Dmytryshn, Nicole Klein

Theatre Western brought Broadway to the masses this Wednesday even-ing with their rendition of Into the Woods. The cast performed to a full house and received nothing but love as the show ended with a standing ovation.

The musical began with a won-drous symphony featuring student musicians and conductors, easily making the orchestra the MVP of the night. They were the melodies, the harmonies, the sound effects and the score. The conductor never put her arm down and the band managed to play each cue with ease and precision. From handing over magical beans to replicating giants’ footsteps, the orchestra was on point and never missed a beat.

Every actor had a spectacular range. Into the Woods displayed the natural talent of the cast as they belted their hearts out. It was truly impressive and without a doubt beat last year’s musical Rent.

Despite the wondrous singing, there were quite a bit of technical difficulties with the microphones. Whether the performer failed to have one or it wasn’t on, there were awkward silences causing some songs to be choppier than planned.

Standouts of the night go to the two princes (Ben Braz and Kurtis Whittle), Little Red Riding Hood (Kaitlin Benoit) and the Witch (Julia Dymtryshn).

The princes were the perfect mix between hopeless romantics, unfaithful cheaters and entertain-ing young boys. Their numbers were well-choreographed and were the beloved characters of the show. Snow White (Rachel Phillips) and Sleeping Beauty (Kelsey Bush) were welcome parts — both roles were cut from Disney’s film adaptation released in December.

Little Red Riding Hood was the show’s sweetheart. Benoit lit up the stage with her cute grin and juvenile excitement. She stole the first half of the show but The Witch (Julia Dmytryshn) took her crown by the end of the perform-ance. Dmytryshn was the star, the frontrunner that would make even Meryl Streep, Disney’s Witch, proud. Whether she was dressed down with rags or dressed up with a gown, she demanded attention throughout the entire show. Plus she looked fierce in her all red ensemble.

A special spotlight goes to the Baker’s wife (Nicole Klein), who played her role elegantly and deserves more attention in the future.

The group numbers were the best songs by far: harmonies upon melodies upon symphonies upon acting. And with the stepsisters always up to no good in the corner, the show was a knockout and one of Theatre Western’s best shows all year. Into The Woods surpassed any expectations its Disney counterpart set and put out a better perform-ance than the original. If there were any close-to-broadway-shows to watch, this is definitely the one.

Into The Woods will be playing in the Mustang Lounge Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door.

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thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015 • 5

A resourceful artistMohammad Hussain

GAZETTE STAFF@uwogazette

Marc Jordan is an unstoppable force in the Canadian entertain-ment industry. He’s released over 10 albums, worked with big names like Diana Ross and Cher and done it all while overcoming his personal challenges with dyslexia.

He’s getting ready for his show in London’s very own Aeolian Hall on March 12 as part of his tour, The Narcissists Guide to Song Writing.

“There are certain guys who will go ‘Madonna is looking for a song for her new record,’ and they write a song for Madonna. But I never had that talent. To make songs work for me and to make them sound true, I always imagine that I was writing for myself. I always wrote for myself, so we called it ‘The Narcissists Guide to Song Writing,’ ” Jordan says.

From a very young age Jordan realized that he thought differ-ently than the other kids. Later on in his life, when his own kids were in school he was diagnosed with dyslexia.

“I felt ashamed of myself because I couldn’t seem to do school work, I couldn’t keep up with the other kids,” Jordan says.

Despite his dyslexia Jordan wants to challenge the perception behind physical and educational disabilities.

“I would say that a lot of things

they call disabilities are not disabil-ities at all. They just challenge you. Human beings are very resourceful and if you can’t get information one way you get it another way. It’s just a different way of looking at the same problem,” Jordan says.

Last year, Jordan was named songwriter chair at the Canadian Film Centre. He’s currently writing with Rod Stewart and producing a musical with Tony-Award winning producers Junk Yard Dog.

“I love what I do, and I work every day because for me song writing is not really work. It’s like when you’re studying something you love, it doesn’t feel like an arduous task. It’s a joy and so I work with music everyday, and I can’t wait to get up in the morning and start writing,” Jordan says.

Now that he’s finally going back on tour he can’t wait to start inter-acting with his fans again and shar-ing stories from the studio. Above all he can’t wait to come back to London.

“I love playing at Aeolian Hall. I think it’s one of the greatest sound-ing rooms in the country, I really do. I’ve played a lot of rooms — trust me. Every artist says this that I talk to. It’s one of the best places to play in Canada.”

Marc Jordan will be performing at Aeolian Hall on Thursday, March 12. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.

Courtesy of Katherine Hollard

It’s week nine and our friends are beginning to notice our improvement. Although I’ve always stated that I’m pursuing this journey for myself, I’m not going to lie — it’s great to finally have people notice the change and recognize my dedication.

As the school year comes to an end, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to maintain a set schedule. On top of my already hec-tic Gazette schedule, I have final papers to write and am in the process of looking for an apartment to rent. All together, it’s beginning to take a physical and psychological toll on me.

It’s times like these where my nutrition takes a serious hit. It’s much easier to quickly buy something in the cafeteria than it is to go grocery shopping, think of meals, wash vegetables and create a dinner I will actually enjoy. Aside from meal prepping, having snack-worthy ingredients is very conven-ient. At any given time, my pantry will have an abundance of almond butter, rice cakes, hummus or frozen bananas. The combina-tion of carbohydrates with protein satisfies

my cravings and keeps me going.I’m beginning to realize that I need to focus

on all areas of health, including sleep. Late night University Students’ Council meetings and early gym dates have taken a toll on my psyche and something’s got to give. I need to better prioritize my life. So I’m taking it day-by-day and simply doing the best I can, main-taining my mental health above all.

Last weekend, I tried out a fitness class at the Rec Centre. I felt odd and out of place when 40 women are doing sit-ups and I’m laying hopelessly on the floor desperate for the hour to be over. At first I was very discouraged — prior to my spinal surgery, Sculpt n’ Sweat was my favourite fitness class and I was a weekly regular. Now, I could not participate in half the class. But hey, eight months ago I could not get out of bed on my own and today, my friends are complimenting the emergence of my ‘baby abs.’ Improvement is improvement, no matter how small and I’ll keep searching for new fitness routines that work for me.

• Olivia Zollino

Though there is only a month left of this 12-week program, I really feel like working out has become a part of a bigger lifestyle change for me and I have no doubt that I’m going to continue after the 12 weeks are over.

After consistently working out five to six days per week for the last nine weeks, going to the gym has simply become a part of my daily routine. I no longer make excuses about why I don’t have time to fit it into my day. It’s just like going to class or work – it’s just part of my schedule.

Eating healthy is something else that I’ve been trying my best to do. But the last two weeks I’ve had an added challenge – it’s Lent!

Lent is a Christian religious practice where participants give up some kind of lux-ury during the 40 days leading up to Easter. Though I have become much less religious as I’ve grown older, Lent is something that I have continued. I chose to give up one of my favourite foods, not necessarily as penance, but because I think it’s a great way to teach yourself self-discipline.

In the past I’ve given up McDonalds and pizza, but since I have been trying to my best to eat healthy, I don’t often have either of those. So I decided to do something more challen-ging and am giving up sweets – including chocolate, cookies and cake.

Though these are things I don’t usually buy for myself, they’re something I tend to be sur-rounded by, especially in the Gazette office. I try my best to resist, but usually I indulge in a cookie or a piece of chocolate.

My intention is not to turn a religious prac-tice into a 40-day diet for myself. Instead, it’s a way for me to work towards improving my self-discipline and work on eating healthier at the same time.

Lent is definitely going to be a challenge for the next month, but seeing as I’ve stuck to this workout plan for nine weeks, I’m confident that I will be able to commit to another four weeks of Lent – which coincides nicely with the final stretch of my workout plan.

• Jennafer Freeman

6 • thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015

opinions

thegazetteVolume 108, Issue 82www.westerngazette.ca

Contact:www.westerngazette.caUniversity Community Centre Rm. 263The University of Western OntarioLondon, ON, CANADAN6A 3K7Editorial Offices: (519) 661-3580Advertising Dept.: (519) 661-3579

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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.

News Amy O’Kruk Hamza Tariq Katie Lear Olivia Zollino

News-at-large Kevin HurrenOpinions Nusaiba Al-AzemArts & Life Conrad Floryan Jennafer Freeman Jenny JaySports Bradley Metlin Nathan Kanter Robert Nanni Jr.

Associate Megan Devlin

Photography Kelly Samuel Taylor Lasota Winnie Lu

Graphics Jennifer Feldman

Illustrations Christopher Miszczak Kirstyn Culbert-Kviring

Graphics/Video Mike Laine

Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator Vivian Liu

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising

Gazette Staff 2014-2015Mohammad Abrar Abdul Hanan, Suhaib Al-Azem, Eric

Bajzert, Sarah Botelho, Damon Burtt, Tabitha Chan,

Jonathan Dunn, Spencer Fairweather, Sam Frankel, Devin

Golets, Kevin Heslop, Richard Joseph, Drishti Kataria, Sara

Mai Chitty, Soheil Milani, Mackenzie Morrison, Amy O’Shea,

Vidhant Pal, Kyle Porter, Lily Robinson, Alex Seger, Tiffany

Shepherd, Tristan Wu

Ian Greaves, ManagerМаја Анјоли-Билић

Robert Armstrong Diana Watson

• Please recycle this newspaper •

Dear Life

I’ve told Billy if I ever caught him cheating, I wouldn’t kill him because I love his children and they need a dad. But I would beat him up. I know where all of his sports injuries are.

• Angelina Jolie

Olivia ZollinoNEWS EDITOR

@OliviaAtGazette

Last weekend, I managed to momentarily escape the Gazette office and went down-town for a night out with some friends. Overall, I had a great time. However, one particular conversation got under my skin.

At one point in the night, I was asked questions about my relationship. I thought nothing of the query — when you meet new people, you tend to ask general background information.

I replied truthfully: I have a boyfriend and we have dated for about two and a half years, the majority of which has been long-distance.

That’s when the individual asked me how many times I’ve cheated on him. Excuse me? The presumptuous nature of the question bothered me. Am I sup-posed to have a cheating scorecard? I was completely taken aback.

No, I have never cheated on my boyfriend.

But the person would not let up and insisted that I was lying.

Truthfully, I don’t know why I am as bothered about this conversation as I am. I’ve heard many people nonchalantly discuss their unfaithful habits. I know personally of a girl who would break up with her boyfriend every other weekend in order to see other people. Were they really breaking up? I think they both knew what was going on.

Former friends of my boyfriend have told him that if he wanted to be with another girl, I would never find out because I live in a different city.

So why am I so surprised? It seems that cheating occurs pretty regularly in society. I don’t necessarily believe it is accepted as much as it is simply expected, especially from couples in long-distance relationships.

This could be due to our generation’s general phobia of commitment, paired with the perceived fear of missing out.

At any given time, I think it’s safe to bet that half of the month’s top-40 songs will have themes like living in the moment, being young, drinking, partying and seek-ing the next best thing. To clarify, I don’t think any of these themes promote cheat-ing and there’s nothing inherently wrong with them per se. But I think it speaks to a fear in many that they are wasting their youth by being with one person. In other words: YOLO.

While I don’t take issue with this more care-free lifestyle, one aspect is concern-ing to me: when you cheat, the message you send is one of a lack of respect for your partner.

According to an article in Time, 94 per cent of respondents said they would rather not marry than marry somebody who they knew would cheat on them. Yet, 81 per cent said that they would cheat on their partner if there were no consequences.

Evidently, there is a severe disconnect between how people want to be treated and what they actually do. In essence, people want the respect they refuse to give.

If you feel like you’re too young to be in a serious relationship and are missing out on other experiences, that’s fine. But if you do choose to engage in a relation-ship, it’s a commitment that you should honour. Otherwise, feel free to disengage. At the end of the day, it hurts more to be cheated on than it does to be broken up with.

What do you think about cheating? Let us know at opinions@westerngazette.ca or @OliviaAtGazette

If you cheat, you should face the heat

Your anonymous letters to life

Dear Life,Is Matt Helfand a Gazette journalist now? I assume he is from all the letters he writes. Sort of like how he was an “undergrad student” last year.

Dear Life,What a travesty that Western’s new sexual violence policy does not also guarantee due process.

Dear Life,Straight up, Matt Helfand has been the best USC president of the last decade. #forgetthehaters [Editor’s note: Hi Matt]

Dear Life,Don’t hate — appreciate.

Dear Life,New definition of irony: Western’s Centre for Transitional Justice opposes transitional justice for “crime” of Facebook posts.

Dear Life,Can’t help but question the value of a Western education when our alumni can’t critique something without needlessly trashing an uninvolved party.

Dear Life,I love Bradley Metlin.

Dear Life,You can’t just put me on the spot like that, life. #tryingtofindjobs

Dear Life,Jennifer Feldman’s graphics are the dopest shit in the entire Gazette.

Dear Life,Why you gotta be so hard on me? Also when will winter be over?

wgaz.ca/dear-life

Land of OZ

HAVE YOUR SAY

Caitlin FierhellerGenetics and Biochemistry III

No, because I’ve been cheated on. And so I would never do that to someone.

Alice ZhengPsychology I

No, because I feel like it’s not fair to them — it’s probably not fair to me either. Even if there were no consequences, just morally I would feel bad.

Tommy LySociology IV

No, because it’s not right. I would feel guilty. Yes [I have cheated on somebody]. I don’t know [why]. I

didn’t know better — it was pretty long ago.

Taylor KingMedia Information and Technoculture III

No, because that kind of defeats the point of a relationship, I feel like.

The Gazette asked students if they were given the opportunity to do so with no consequences, would you cheat on someone in a relationship? Have you ever cheated on someone?

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thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015 • 7

sports gamedayThis Saturday at 4 p.m. the Mustangs face off against the Guelph Gryphons in the Ontario University Athletics women’s hockey final. If Western wins, it will be the first time in the program’s history that they will be OUA champions.

Each week, sports editor Nathan Kanter will share 10 takeaways from the hockey world, spanning the NHL, junior hockey and Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Whether it’s the latest trade rumour, a prospect you need to know about or just gen-eral observations, Nathan will keep you connected to Canada’s game.

1. It sounds weird, but the Senators could actually qualify for the post-season, thanks to a recent 6–0–1 streak that included some stellar goaltending from 27-year-old rookie Andrew Hammond. He started the last eight games and has a 1.35 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

Ottawa now sits four points back of the eighth-place Boston Bruins, who aren’t playing great hockey right now – they’re 3–5–2 in their last 10. Florida still sits ahead of the Sens by two points, but I like Ottawa over the Panthers. Roberto Luongo will miss the next couple games with an upper-body injury and I’m not sure the acquisition of Jaromir Jagr by Florida is enough to get them in.

2. The Western conference play-off race also continues to get more interesting. The Sharks and Kings now both find themselves on the outside looking in with 72 points apiece, but Calgary also has 72, and Vancouver has just 75. That’s a Pacific division that is very much up for grabs. Last week I said I thought Calgary and Vancouver would drop out. I’m sticking with that.

The Canucks pick up of Sven Baertschi from Calgary for a second round pick was a great move, but that’s not something that will help them this season. Baertschi is a for-mer 13th overall pick of the Flames from 2011 who hasn’t panned out yet, but still has all the tools to be a top-six winger. Unfortunately, the injuries of Ryan Miller and Mark Giordano will be too much for the Canadian teams to deal with.

3. Other deals around the dead-line that stand out to me: Keith Yandle to the Rangers, Kimmo Timonen to the Blackhawks and Antoine Vermette to the Blackhawks.

The Yandle pickup immediately makes the Rangers my pick to win the East. They’ve already been playing great and have been with-out Henrik Lundqvist for the past month. Their defensive core is now scary deep: McDonagh, Girardi, Marc Staal, Dan Boyle, Klein and now, Yandle.

4. The two Blackhawk trades – Timonen and Vermette – are both good moves but won’t be enough to make up for the loss of Patrick Kane. Timonen is a proven playoff performer and still has something to give at 40. He also hadn’t played a game this year until Monday, meaning he won’t fade if they go on a deep playoff run.

Vermette is a versatile player – he can play wing and center – who will help Chicago in all areas, including the penalty kill, powerplay and in the faceoff circle.

But, there is nothing Chicago can do to replace the game-break-ing ability of Kane. He’s proven to score goals at big times, and that’s irreplaceable. Getting through the Western Conference will prove too much for the Hawks.

5. The Phoenix Coyotes, who gave up both Yandle and Vermette, are doing a stellar job of clearing house.

They’ve lost 10 straight games, all in regulation, and are now just one point up on Edmonton and four up on last place Buffalo. Imagine a line of McDavid, Domi and Duclair, all of whom played together for team Canada at the World Juniors in December.

6. TSN aired an insulting tweet about Maple Leafs players Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf, and Phaneuf’s wife, Elisha Cuthbert. For TSN to air it is completely unprofes-sional. And I don’t think it was an intern monitoring the tweets. On a day as big as the trade deadline, that’d be foolish of them.

7. Lupul, Phaneuf and Cuthbert almost immediately went after TSN, getting their lawyers to demand a formal apology and for TSN to pay “a significant amount of damages.” TSN is owned by Bell Media, which itself is part owner of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.

Here is where things really get interesting: their lawyers also went after the person who wrote the ori-ginal tweet, Anthony Adragna.

I think that’s ridiculous. As bad as it may sound, people should be free to say what they want on Twitter. It’s called free speech. Broadcasting the tweet on national television – which gives it legitim-acy – is another story entirely.

8. In junior hockey, Conor Garland is one to watch. He got passed up in the 2014 draft but is leading the QMJHL this year in points with 111 in just 61 games. He’s only 5-foot-8 and 168 pounds, hence him being passed over, but he won’t be ignored at the 2015 draft.

9. In university women’s hockey, the Canadian championships are less than two weeks away.

Out on the east coast, St. Francis Xavier University topped Moncton for the Atlantic University Sport championship. Both teams will play in the nationals because this year it is an eight-team tournament.

In Quebec, McGill and Université de Montréal have qualified, and will begin their Quebec championship best two-of-three series tonight.

Canada West has come down to Manitoba and Alberta, who begin their best two-of-three tomorrow.

10. In Ontario, Western hosts Guelph at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It is a one-game, winner take all.

If Guelph wins, it will be their first OUA championship since 1997–98.

If Western wins, it will be their first Ontario crown ever.

Kant Touch This

Adrian Wyld • THE CANADIAN PRESS

8 • thegazette • Friday, March 6, 2015

While winning is a big motivation for Parks, she also says that there is something to be gained from losing a match. Losing brings to light what you need to work on in practice; the mistakes you are making that can be corrected for next time.

“You lose to one person, you have that one person that you lose to all the time, and they’re kind of your driving factor, because you’re going to meet them every tournament, nationals, and Olympic trials.”

Second-year swimmer and mechanical engineering student Gamal Assaad, who began swim-ming as part of the school curricu-lum in Saudi Arabia, has a similar mindset as to how reviewing your competitions can improve your future athletic performance.

“There’s no such thing as a per-fect race,” he states.

No matter how well a race goes, there’s always something you can do better next time, and that is what motivates him every day. Finding that small mistake he made previ-ously that he can do differently the next day pushes him to be as close as possible to achieving that perfect race.

Assaad has had success in the pool, including being a mem-ber of Team Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships, winning silver at Nationals in the 100 m fly in 2014 and gold in 2013. He hopes to be a true presence at this summer’s Pan Am Games.

“I think now I have a bit more experience, and if I hopefully get selected I can go into them and be a strong enough competitor to really push and compete with some of the more well-known people.”

Fifth-year triple jump athlete Caroline Ehrhardt, who holds mul-tiple national titles, national and provincial university titles and holds Western and OUA records, says her family has had the biggest impact on herself as an athlete, pushing her to

work hard every day. Just like many of the previously mentioned ath-letes, Ehrhardt says the individual aspect of her sport is the reason she fell in love.

“You constantly push yourself to improve, where in other sports, — like soccer for example — you can win a game, but there’s no set way … because there’s measurements and times you’re trying to constantly beat, it’s easy to know when you’re improving,” she explains.

The road to success, however, is not an easy one. Ehrhardt is not funded by Athletics Canada, so she recently ran a Pursuit campaign, which gained traction almost immediately. She reached 50 per cent of her goal within the first day — she is overwhelmed by the sup-port and couldn’t be more grateful.

“I can’t work right now while I’m in school so it just kind of removes that stress,” she says.

Academics are an understated obstacle for each of these athletes. The demands of classes, tests and assignments in addition to the number of hours spent dedicated to training and competing is enough to make even the most organized of students cringe.

“In first year you learn to be smart with your time, and you learn to prioritize. That’s the big-gest thing is time management and learning when you need to do what,” Ehrhardt says.

Steven Takahashi says he loves being a student-athlete, and that wrestling helps him do better in school.

“I think being focused in the wrestling room helps me focus in the classroom as well. It’s about pri-oritizing and not getting too stressed out, which is difficult at times when we’re so busy travelling a lot but you get used to it,” he says.

Bone concurred, saying,“When it’s nationals, I have to pull back from school a little bit and realize that this is my priority right now. When we’re in just training season, I have to really place an emphasis

on school.”Support from their peers and

teachers is important in the suc-cess of student athletes, especially those who are striving to compete at such a high level of competition. Wise says that professors are will-ing to help if you let them know in advance of any complications you may have.

“I talk to profs and tell them I’m going to be out of town, and ask if there’s anything I can do to get ahead or catch up. Usually profs are, not necessarily lenient, but helpful in terms of helping me plan ahead, helping me get done what I need to get done,” he says.

“The other swimmers are helpful too because they’re going through a similar thing, so it prevents you from complaining, because they have the same issue,” Assaad says about the support from his teammates.

What they can all agree on is that balancing their two lives requires constant work and compromising, but it is well worth the effort.

When talking to each athlete about the Games, you can see the passion they have for their sport. Making Team Canada for the Pan Ams will be a huge accomplish-ment for each of them, and for many, their first time competing on such a closely watched world stage. They all mentioned the importance of treating the Games just as they would any other meet, and that nerves are all a part of athletics.

“It’s a little less scary being on the world stage [having been there before], but it never gets not nerve-wracking,” Parks explained.

As the university season has finished for many of these athletes, they are looking towards their spring training and the qualifier meets for Team Canada. It is an exciting time for Western with so many athletes in a position to represent Canada on the world stage, especially right here in Ontario. So the next time you see any of these students on campus or around town, be sure to give them a word or two of support.

>> PAN AM continued from pg.1

Mustangs on road to Pan Am

Steven Takahashi Robin Bone Riley Otto

Caroline Ehrhardt

Track & Field photos by Brandon VandeCaveye

Wrestling photos courtesy of Ray Takahashi & Mustangs Wrestling