tuesday, december 2, 2014

8
Family and Cosmetic Dentistry New and Emergency Patients Welcome Insurance Plans Accepted for Direct Payment FREE TEETH WHITENING WITH COMPLETE EXAM AND CLEANING w w w . d e n t a l s t u d i o l o n d o n . c o m www.dentalstudiolondon.com the gazette TODAY high 1 low -8 TOMORROW high 3 low -3 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 WESTERN UNIVERSITY CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 49 Can you make me an Examwhich since 1906 Talking the talk Canadian rock band July Talk chats with The Gazette before rocking The Wave last Friday >> Pg. 4 Soheil Milani GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath visited Western on Thursday, Nov. 27 and talked to Professor Rob Leone’s elec- tions and voting 3336F political sci- ence class. The Gazette interviewed her after her talk and Q and A ses- sion with students. Gazette: You’ve just been reaffirmed as leader of the NDP with an overwhelming majority. What are the priorities for you and the NDP for the coming four years and in the next election? Horwath: It’s going to be two pieces. One is holding the govern- ment accountable on not only their promises, but on the things that they do that they didn’t talk about … and that we’re bringing ideas for- ward for the budget in the spring. On the party side, a lot of what we’ll be doing is reaching back out to our party base and spending some time working with them on what they’ll like to see as the future direction. G: Last April, the Liberals pre- sented their budget and you chose not to allow it to go through, and so an election was called. Can you run me through the process of how you came to this decision and why? H: There are a couple of different things. First and foremost, the Liberals were behaving in a way that was not in the best interest of Ontario — in terms of the way that they dealt with the gas plant scandal, the way they were not spending money judiciously, the way they were continuing to be not accountable as governors. We knew the public was becoming less and less happy with the Liberals. We also knew that there were political risks in continuing — on the one hand to criticize this government for their transgressions, while on the other hand, at the same time, continue to support their stay in power. That creates political problems for us. … When we looked at that budget, when we saw the cutback to the ministries, when we saw the kind of damage this budget would bring, when we saw that the government refused to close new major corporate tax loopholes, that’s going to cost us $6 billion each year … This is a huge loss of revenue, and yet they have promises around deficit elimination. You can’t elimin- ate a deficit if you keep eliminating your revenues. Kevin Hurren NEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE @KevinAtGazette As Canadian students, the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri can feel distant. For others, the issues of racial injustice and discrimina- tion feel all too local. That is, in part, why Western’s Black Students’ Association is hosting Black Lives Matter this afternoon. The event, which takes its title from a movement arising out of Ferguson, will consist of three parts: a candlelight vigil, a spoken word performance and a group discussion. Simi Solebo, president of the BSA, said the on-campus Black Lives Matter came from a desire to contribute to the wider discourse. “The BSA is a socio-political club, so anything that is social or political we can take a stance on,” explained Solebo, citing globaliza- tion as a major factor in why people from around the world have con- nected with Michael Brown’s case. After watching the results of Brown’s case and viewing the ensuing events on television, many students and community members expressed their frustra- tions on the BSA Facebook page. Recognizing the need to chan- nel these feelings and thoughts effectively, the BSA planned Black Lives Matter to accomplish sev- eral goals. One is solidarity. With can- dles provided by the BSA, stu- dents and community members are invited to Concrete Beach at 5 p.m. today. After a period of silence, attendants will be led inside the University Community Centre for further programming in the Mustang Lounge. BSA fosters dialogue with Black Lives Matter Horwath talks elections, future of NDP >> see HORWATH pg.3 >> see BSA pg.3 Jenny Jay • GAZETTE

Upload: western-gazette

Post on 06-Apr-2016

225 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

DESCRIPTION

Issue 49, Volume 108

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

• Family and Cosmetic Dentistry • • New and Emergency Patients Welcome •

• Insurance Plans Accepted for Direct Payment •

FREE TEETH WHITENING WITH COMPLETE EXAM AND CLEANING www.dentalstudiolondon.com www.dentalstudiolondon.com

thegazetteTODAYhigh1low-8

TOMORROWhigh3low-3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 49

Can you make me an Examwhich since 1906

Talking the talkCanadian rock band July Talk chats with The Gazette before rocking The Wave last Friday >> Pg. 4

Soheil MilaniGAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath visited Western on Thursday, Nov. 27 and talked to Professor Rob Leone’s elec-tions and voting 3336F political sci-ence class. The Gazette interviewed her after her talk and Q and A ses-sion with students.

Gazette: You’ve just been reaffirmed as leader of the NDP with an overwhelming majority. What are the priorities for you and the NDP for the coming four years

and in the next election?Horwath: It’s going to be two

pieces. One is holding the govern-ment accountable on not only their promises, but on the things that they do that they didn’t talk about … and that we’re bringing ideas for-ward for the budget in the spring. On the party side, a lot of what we’ll be doing is reaching back out to our party base and spending some time working with them on what they’ll like to see as the future direction.

G: Last April, the Liberals pre-sented their budget and you chose not to allow it to go through, and so an election was called. Can you

run me through the process of how you came to this decision and why?

H: There are a couple of different things. First and foremost, the Liberals were behaving in a way that was not in the best interest of Ontario — in terms of the way that they dealt with the gas plant scandal, the way they were not spending money judiciously, the way they were continuing to be not accountable as governors. We knew the public was becoming less and less happy with the Liberals. We also knew that there were political risks in continuing — on the one hand to criticize this government for their transgressions, while on the other

hand, at the same time, continue to support their stay in power. That creates political problems for us. … When we looked at that budget, when we saw the cutback to the ministries, when we saw the kind of damage this budget would bring, when we saw that the government refused to close new major corporate tax loopholes, that’s going to cost us $6 billion each year … This is a huge loss of revenue, and yet they have promises around deficit elimination. You can’t elimin-ate a deficit if you keep eliminating your revenues.

Kevin HurrenNEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE

@KevinAtGazette

As Canadian students, the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri can feel distant. For others, the issues of racial injustice and discrimina-tion feel all too local.

That is, in part, why Western’s Black Students’ Association is hosting Black Lives Matter this afternoon.

The event, which takes its title from a movement arising out of Ferguson, will consist of three parts: a candlelight vigil, a spoken word performance and a group discussion.

Simi Solebo, president of the BSA, said the on-campus Black Lives Matter came from a desire to contribute to the wider discourse.

“The BSA is a socio-political club, so anything that is social or political we can take a stance on,” explained Solebo, citing globaliza-tion as a major factor in why people from around the world have con-nected with Michael Brown’s case.

After watching the results of Brown’s case and viewing the ensuing events on television, many students and community members expressed their frustra-tions on the BSA Facebook page.

Recognizing the need to chan-nel these feelings and thoughts effectively, the BSA planned Black Lives Matter to accomplish sev-eral goals.

One is solidarity. With can-dles provided by the BSA, stu-dents and community members are invited to Concrete Beach at 5 p.m. today. After a period of silence, attendants will be led inside the University Community Centre for further programming in the Mustang Lounge.

BSA fosters dialogue with Black Lives Matter

Horwath talks elections, future of NDP

>> see HORWATH pg.3>> see BSA pg.3

Jenny Jay • GAZETTE

Page 2: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

2 toppings on each 2 FREE Dipping Sauces

4 MEDIUM Pizzas

www.pierospizza.ca

$ 1 9 99

519.438.9999 Delivery from 11am daily 3-169 Wharncliffe Rd. S

Solution to puzzle on page 7

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

�������������������

Japanese Restaurant

• Best Sushi & Sashimi • Sukiyaki • Katsu Don • Takoyaki

������������������������� ������������ �����������������

Foo d & Entertainment Foo d & Entertainment

5 19 .67 5 .1212 • m ollyslond on.com 700 Richm ond St.

W EEK DAY LUN CH SPECIALS $4 .9 9 & $5 .9 9

EVERY TUESDAY ADVERTISING FEATURE EVERY TUESDAY ADVERTISING FEATURE

2 • thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014

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.

519-858-2525 • themarq.ca • 75 Ann St. Luxury Student Housing

Caught on Camera

Amy O’KrukNEWS EDITOR@AmyAtGazette

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations invited over 60 stu-dent leaders from across Canada to a three-day conference in Ottawa to advocate for student issues.

Delegates met with more than 120 MPs and Senators, and dis-cussed improvements to the Canada Student Loans Program and the implementation of effective labour market indicators among other issues.

The Canada Student Loans Program currently permits students

to earn up to $100 per week while in school. Earnings above that thresh-old result in a reduction of financial aid for applicants. CASA reports that working students often take jobs due to lack of financial assistance, a fact that exacerbates the problem.

Jen Carter, University Students’ Council vice-president external, said suggestions regarding student financial aid issues were well-re-ceived at the conference.

“We were able to gather tri-party support for providing an in-study income exemption in order to allow students to work while they are in school,” Carter said. “This would be game changing for students who rely on OSAP … [I’m] hopeful that students will be able to see this change in the near future.”

Delegates also pushed for the government for more labour mar-ket information to aid students while choosing post-secondary pro-grams and careers. Carter added the campaign for better labour market indicators fits well with the Liberal party’s move to restore the long form census.

Other issues addressed at the conference were student mental health and funding for the indirect costs of research like equipment and access to research.

Carter maintained that the meet-ings were an overall success.

“MPs were very receptive to CASA’s advocacy priorities … throughout the conference we were able to gain support for many of initiatives,” Carter said. “CASA was able to receive letters of support from several MPs and I strongly believe that this conference raised the issue of post-secondary educa-tion at a very important time to the government.”

FACEBOOK

WHO’S THAT GUY IN THE MIDDLE? On November 19, University Students’ Council vice-president external Jen Carter was in Ottawa to advocate for student issues on a federal level. She is seen here with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

CASA advocacy heads to Ottawa

Page 3: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Room 267, 2nd Floor UCC

Project PrintingProject PrintingProject Printing

Colour or B&WBinding Services

Porsche of London - Where Excellence Comes Standard. porsche of london

Ph: 519 . 601 . 1322 Cell: 519 . 495 . 7372 bobby @ porschelondon.com

Bobby Bryanton Western University Porsche Specialist

Fluent in French Speaks some Mandarin

thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014 • 3

G: There was not too much gain for the NDP. You no longer have the power to stop the Liberals. At the convention, the party’s confi-dence in you was reaffirmed. Was that confidence placed in your old vision or a new one? Are we going to see more of the same from the NDP or will you be taking the party in a different direction than we saw in the last election?

H: I don’t think it’s an either-or. … A lot of people who have never voted NDP voted NDP this time. They voted NDP this time because they liked our message. They liked the practicality of it, they liked the pragmatism of it — the fact that it was speaking to them about their concerns. We can’t lose that either, we have to find a way to do both of those things — rooting NDP ideas in pragmatism as well as its history and tradition — going forward. As a party, one of the things I talked about at the convention is my commitment and my desire to grow a big tent party, where we are much more welcoming of people. … Populism for some progressives is a dirty word, that’s not a dirty word for me. Left-wing populism is a very viable way forward. We certainly see that that’s how our party started off, was with someone who was very much a populist and very much a left-winger. It’s going to be interesting, we’re going

to find a way forward that is not only connected to our past, but that builds our future.

G: I want to talk about the line between marketing and journal-ism. Following the all-candidates debate, the cover of Metro was a jacket, of a full-page photo of you, and a poll showing that the NDP was ahead. Could you talk about the ethics of this kind of marketing, the way campaigns are run and the strategic role of releasing polls?

H: There is no doubt that people often times are moved by an emo-tional reaction. If you want to move people, you want to get an emo-tional reaction from them. What ‘the wraps’ did, was make people feel good about voting NDP. … I don’t think there’s anything wrong with utilizing polling. Polling can be used in a lot of different ways, in this example, we used it as an advertising opportunity or a way to market. … One of the things I was surprised with in the last campaign is the extent to which particularly some of the larger newspaper chains in the Toronto area dealt with the elections. Having said that, I didn’t read any of it, because I don’t think I would have been able to read it and still function in my role as leader. It was really quite ugly, and I’m con-cerned about that. I don’t think that that’s ethical.

Reviews clear Gazette of wrongdoing for Frosh Issue

Hamza TariqNEWS EDITOR

@HamzaAtGazette

The official verdict is in on The Gazette’s controversial Frosh Issue — and it clears the paper and its editors of any wrongdoing.

The Gazette’s Advisory Board and the law firm McKenzie-Lake Lawyers — at the request of Gazette publisher, the University Students’ Council — compiled two separate reports focusing on the events lead-ing up to the “So you want to date a teaching assistant?” article and the subsequent fallout and apology issued by The Gazette’s editor-in-chief, Iain Boekhoff.

Both reports offered varying recommendations for the paper to avoid such a situation in the future, however both reports unanimously cleared the article of any ill-intent or discriminatory language.

According to the report issued by McKenzie-Lake Lawyers, the article was “satirical in nature and could not reasonably be construed as promoting disrespect or intoler-ance based on a prohibited ground of discrimination.”

The report by the law firm added that the article did not violate the Ontario Human Rights Code and that the campus environment was not “poisoned” or unreasonably

interfered with the publishing of the article.

The Gazette’s Advisory Board is composed mostly of former Gazette editors who are involved with jour-nalism in a professional capacity. The advisory board is chaired by Scott Colby, an editor for Toronto Star.

Colby was in contact with Boekhoff during the aftermath of the article and negative reaction being directed at The Gazette on social media. Although initially skeptical because no formal complaint had been lodged, Colby later recommended to Boekhoff that a short apology should be issued.

“Eventually, the issue took on a life of its own and was drawing national media attention. At that point, I suggested Iain should make a statement saying the intention was never to offend anyone with these satirical articles and The Gazette apologizes for the offence it caused. Short, simple, move on,” Colby said in the report.

Both reports have strongly sug-gested that the Gazette’s Front Office editors should receive formal train-ing before they assume their roles at the helm of the student paper.

According to the Advisory Board report, “a libel seminar should be mandatory and this will likely cost The Gazette some money, but it

would be money well spent. Many also believe some form of journalism training, likely from a retired jour-nalist or teacher or active journalist or teacher, should be instituted.”

The report published by the law firm recommended that the USC as a publisher should appoint an experienced journalist to act as an editorial advisor.

“The purpose of the role would not be to encroach upon the edi-torial autonomy of the newspaper, but would instead support the front office staff in meeting the challen-ges they face as student editors,” the report said.

The Gazette Advisory Board was also critical of the USC’s response to the reactions to the Frosh Issue article and their refusal to allow The Gazette to publish a corrected version of the Frosh Issue.

“We strongly believe the University Students’ Council over-stepped its authority to prohibit The Gazette from republishing the Frosh without the so-called offending articles,” the report said. “The rules are clear and have been for more than a century: while the USC owns The Gazette and is its publisher, editorial decision-making belongs exclusively in the hands of the editors of The Gazette.”

You can read the full reports on our website.

Horwath details elections strategy

BSA creates solidarity“[The vigil] is a way for us to show

solidarity with the issues going on in the States, because even though it’s not the same country there are a lot of issues that have parallels in Canada,” said Oceane Nzabi, exec-utive member of the BSA.

After listening to a spoken word performance from social science student Saredo Mohamed, BSA executives will lead an open discus-sion on topics related on Ferguson, race and inequality.

This forum contributes to the event’s other goals, like awareness and education.

Ika Washington, vice-president finance for the BSA, identified these as major components of allyship.

“Being an ally is learning about the issues and being able to go out there and advocate to other people, because there’s a lot of ignorance within our community,” she said.

Mircoaggressions, ignorant com-ments and minority stereotypes

are all, as Washington points out, obstacles we need to collectively overcome.

For the BSA, it’s ultimately col-lective matter. In anticipation of the event, the association reached out to a number of support services within the University Students’ Council, including Enthnocultural Support, Ally Western and the Women’s Issues Network.

Additionally, the event’s Facebook page reminds that “all are welcome.”

Such unifying messaging, how-ever, has opened critique of the event. Some have commented on the Black Lives Matter page, ques-tioning why it shouldn’t be titled “All Lives Matter.”

But changing the name, explained the BSA executive, would mean losing some of the event’s purpose.

“All lives definitely do matter, but I think the issue with calling it All Lives Matter disregards the issues going on in the black community,” Nzabi said.

“Black Lives Matter is a reminder of self-worth. It’s not anti-white, it’s not ignoring other minorities, but it’s reminding black people that they do have a right to life with equality and integrity,” she continues.

For those concerned around the event’s title, Solebo draws the comparison with disease fundrais-ing campaigns. A breast cancer run, for instance, doesn’t work to counter research around AIDS or cystic fibrosis. Rather, it’s focusing efforts on a single need or cause.

By opening the event to all inter-ested parties, the BSA hopes not only allow for healing but to also counter certain dialogues on social media.

“When people write [Ferguson-related] posts on Facebook and Twitter, their words matter. Their words can hurt, their words can heal. For all the people who want to contribute to this hostile environ-ment, I want to bring them into the conversation where we can discuss what we face every day,” Solebo said.

>> BSA continued from pg.1

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

>> HORWATH continued from pg.1

Page 4: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

4 • thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014

arts&life funwithpunsWhat do you say to an ogre who’s about to make a bad decision? You better check yourself before you Shrek yourself

An intimate conversation July Talk creates a personal experience onstage

Olivia ZollinoNEWS EDITOR

@OliviaAtGazette

Canadian rockers July Talk held nothing back during their energy-packed, animated performance at the Wave on Friday, hosted by the University Students’ Council.

Though only forming in 2012, you wouldn’t know it watching them play together. Lead singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay had amazing chemistry on stage, accom-panied by guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton and drum-mer Danny Miles.

“What was important from the beginning was a marriage of intimacy and chaos,” Dreimanis said, describ-ing the formation of July Talk.

“I think pretty early on we real-ized whether or not we wanted to, what we can offer is this really intim-ate conversation that was both loud and quiet, immersed in the middle of a war on stage.”

According to Dreimanis, early shows were “sweaty massacres.” Dreimanis and Fay balance each other out perfectly, whether it be in their personalities on stage, or in the way their diverse vocals create a dialogue throughout each song.

From the minute their perform-ance began, the band is engaged with the captivated crowd. The band uses all the surfaces that are avail-able to them as their playing ground.

“Are you ready to dance?” screams Fay, as she pounces on a speaker and engages the audience in her “Unfuck the World” t-shirt. The bands’ videog-rapher noted that Fay had watched a Jian Ghomeshi documentary back-stage and was infuriated, prompting her wardrobe choice.

This message was echoed when she stopped to inform a fan to ask for consent after they inappropri-ately grabbed her derriere. Fay con-tinued undiscouraged, serenading a fan that crowd surfed to the front of the stage.

Perhaps the band’s best quality is the way they integrate their fans into their set. It is not uncommon for Dreimanis to crowd surf, as he did during their hit single, Guns + Ammunition.

July Talk’s sound, though undeniably rock, is infiltrated with hints of blues — though this was not pre-meditated, according to Dreimanis and Fay.

“Its just not fun to talk about [genre] as we create them. It’s fun to see how the thing can exist on its own and if it needs synth or if it needs more laser sounds,” Fay said.

She added that early rehearsals stem from late night, alcohol-in-fused sessions after the members had finished work.

“They were kind of messy and cha-otic and I think that’s where the blues and whisky go together,” Fay said.

Dreimanis said that although songs like Summer Dress have hints of the blues, the range of his and Fay’s voice make each song belong to a distinct, broader collection of music, which he hopes will aid in having their fans accepting this diversity.

“We really want the next record and the stuff we’re writing now, to feel like the song is allowed to be what it wants to be, rather than what we want it to be. We don’t want force songs into sounding like a July Talk song,” he said.

As Fay passes a liquor bottle to each member of the band dur-ing their performance, the group dynamic is undeniable and live shows are definitely their forte.

“The thing I think about live

performances is that it is really focusing on human connection and every show is an opportunity to affect bodies in a room,” Fay said. “That has kind of been our mandate and what excites us since we figured out that’s something you could do as someone in a rock and roll band.”

According to Fay, the power that comes with live performances has affected the writing process and the subject matter of each of July Talk’s songs.

At one point during their per-formance, Dreimanis put his fist in his mouth and proceeded to rub Fay’s hair, inciting her to throw her heel at him. Their relationship only adds to the emotional nature of their lyrics and is one that cannot be com-municated any other way.

“There are all these things that happen — your firsts in your life. Your first kiss. Your first love. Being in a band is full of that,” Fay said. “You ask the audience to do some-thing randomly like sit down on the floor or get on stage and dance and you can’t believe it’s happening. Last night I spat water into a guys mouth and I can’t believe he didn’t punch me in the face.”

A musical with plenty of layers

Jon RomCONTRIBUTOR

GGGHFDirector: Susan FerleyStarring: Steve Ross, Troy Adams, Liam Tobin and Elicia MackenzieVenue: The Grand Theatre

We were all children once. For some of us, a part of that childhood was the exceptional film Shrek, a story about an ogre on a quest to get his swamp back, who then accidentally makes friends and falls in love. This, as you may recall, was a big hit and spawned many sequels, most of which were disappointing. Logically, the next step was to make a stage musical, and luckily, it seems that this story does get a happily ever after.

Shrek The Musical shares the plot of the original Shrek, but adds theatre elements to make a more believable narrative. In the whim-sical land of Duloc, fairy tale crea-tures regularly break out into song, as do knights, princesses and short would-be kings. In song, charac-ters get to eloquently explain their motivations and plights, and this allows the speaking lines to focus more on crude jokes and silly puns, a core tenant of Shrek. Not only that, but the musical numbers are catchy and at times, very sweet and heartfelt.

The eponymous character, played by Steve Ross, gives the audi-ence a sense of being a complex per-son and not just a one-dimensional green monster. The musical allows him to be everything from scary to funny to lonely, and uses both hilari-ous one-liners and sweet melodies to do so. Elicia Mackenzie as Fiona

is an equally robust heroine, and her mood-swinging romps and power-ful voice work so well with Ross’ Shrek that their romance feels like it is meant to be. On the other side of the castle wall, Liam Tobin had the audience catching their breath as Lord Farquaad. The character is far more fleshed out than the mov-ie’s villain, and performs thoroughly entertaining dance numbers.

Unfortunately, the tour-de-force that is a talking donkey does not fill the role of comedy relief well. While Troy Adam’s undoubtedly does an impressive hoofed song and dance, the character itself feels like nothing more than a plot device, a vestige from when the leads were bland and morose as oppose to the comedic gold they became. Even the lines one might fondly recall from the movie do not have the same impact, making the character more annoy-ing than delightful

If Shrek The Musical has anything big going for it, it is that it rewards nostalgia for the source material without demanding its younger audience having seen a movie from their infancy. The brilliant sets and costumes by Bill Layton make what could have been restricted to ani-mation come to life on-stage. While it may not leave fans of the movie as hoarse from laughter, it will def-initely provide a couple hours of fun along with some new jokes to enjoy. Frankly, watching an ador-able Easter bunny quote Charles Dickens in a show about farting ogres is where your money should be going, Black Friday be damned.

Shrek The Musical will be per-formed at The Grand Theatre until Dec. 28. Tickets are available at www.grandtheatre.com

>> ON STAGE > SHREK THE MUSICAL

Amy O’Shea • GAZETTE

Amy O’Shea • GAZETTE

Courtesy of Claus Andersen

Page 5: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014 • 5

A film with tusks but lacking spine

Erik Bajzert GAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

GHFFFDirector: Kevin SmithStarring: Justin Long, Michael Parks and Haley Joel Osment

Enjoying Kevin Smith’s latest film, Tusk, is dependent on one’s famili-arity with the filmmaker’s previous work. For those unfamiliar with Smith, Tusk will play out as a some-what intriguing horror comedy that ultimately succumbs to the com-plete butchering of its own tone, thanks to a totally unfocused screen-play. However, for Kevin Smith fans, it’s a disappointment that rivals the director’s previous failures, namely Jersey Girl and Cop Out.

Tusk tells the story of Wallace (Justin Long) a popular podcaster and less than pleasant human being. He travels to Canada in an effort to interview a boy who has become a popular Internet meme. When he discovers that he is unable to meet with the famous young man, he stumbles upon an intriguing chance to interview an elderly man (Michael Parks) who claims to have lived a “long and storied life.” Little does Wallace know, the man he’s about to interview has set up a trap. The rest of the film follows Wallace as he struggles with the horrors of being turned into a humanoid walrus creature for the old man’s compan-ionship … really — a walrus.

Audiences going to see Tusk with the expectation of the wonderfully bizarre premise being fully real-ized will be disappointed. Those who find the “man turned walrus” thing to be a little off-putting will be happy to know that Smith is only interested in that plot line for what feels like half of the film’s near two-hour runtime. Instead, viewers will be treated to excessive rambling by characters that only seem to speak

in monologue and shock horror ele-ments that contain neither shock nor horror.

This film has been compared to The Human Centipede series quite a bit, which is completely unfair. At the very least, Centipede one and two had the nerve to flaunt their sick premise. Tusk feels the need to constantly cut away from the good stuff and focus on underwritten characters and lame plot threads that add nothing to the central focus of the film. It’s also worth noting that the violent aspects of Tusk are kept far too clean to be considered truly gross. This neutered approach to gore ultimately gives the film the impression of being too clean and polished to ever be considered hor-rifying or even fun.

Although Tusk is spineless, it has some redeeming features. The act-ing is great, especially from Génesis Rodríguez and Michael Parks, who wowed audiences in Smith’s crim-inally underrated previous effort, Red State. It’s also Smith’s best work as a technical director, with impressive attention to detail in the evocative cinematography and mise-en-scene.

Those familiar with Kevin Smith’s excellent podcasts will greatly appre-ciate the in-jokes scattered about the scenery, with numerous refer-ences to Hollywood Babble-On and Smodcast. Finally, without spoiling anything, there is a huge celebrity reveal that has the potential to make or break the film for the audience. Opinions on this section will vary dramatically for each viewer.

Tusk is less of a film and more of a collection of ideas that Smith has shoved into a two-hour story. Some of these ideas are creative, funny, memorable and stunning. The bulk of the film, however, is an endless trudge through unfocused boredom, led by a director who nor-mally knows much better.

Tina SoltaniCONTRIBUTOR

@uwogazette

With the New Year just around the corner, many students will be plan-ning to lose those extra pounds to start the year off with a bang — with their healthiest, sexiest self. But for those feeling lazy, they could just go to a sauna to shed those seemingly clingy pounds, right? Wrong. The popular belief that sweating results in weight loss is a myth.

Tammy Defoe, a certified per-sonal trainer and nutrition and well-ness specialist in London confirms that sweating is not going to cause weight loss.

“Sweating is simply a release of heat and your body’s way of cooling you off,” Defoe says. “When people go in a sauna, the extreme heat cre-ates stress on the body, which could burn some calories but it’s not sig-nificant at all because you’re simply losing body water.”

So if sweating doesn’t perma-nently cause weight loss, what does? It all comes back to a balance of healthy diet and consistent exercise.

“Reducing the consumption of

food or beverages that contain high calories, along with regular exercise is the only effective and healthy method for losing weight,” Defoe comments.

Especially concerning students, Defoe explained that sleep is very important for overall health.

“Not getting enough sleep is stressful on the body, causing a secretion of the stress hormone cortisol that signals a slowing down of your metabolism, forming more body fat as a result,” says Defoe.

She claims students must learn how to manage stress through healthy means. Prioritizing what you have to do and setting tangible goals is a good way of accomplishing this. Standing in a bar queue, in the cold,

and mindlessly downing shots might just not be worth it for students who have an exam the next day.

According to Defoe, eating whole foods while staying away from pro-cessed foods – artificial colours and flavours – can help weight loss, as well as routine exercise. Staying hydrated is another integral factor to losing weight — and no, alcohol will not do the job — good ol’ water will!

“Water’s required to break down fat and nutrients as it travels through the blood stream. People who drink more water tend to lose more weight compared to those who don’t drink as much,” she says. “Maintaining bal-ance between a healthy diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle habits ultimately contributes to weight loss.”

>> IN THEATRES > TUSK

Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE

Courtesy of A24 Films

Does sweating help you lose weight?

Page 6: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

6 • thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014

opinions

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

Iain BoekhoffEditor-In-Chief

Brent HolmesDeputy Editor

Richard RaycraftManaging Editor

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.

Online 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,

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

Diana Watson

• Please recycle this newspaper •

Dear Life

thegazetteVolume 108, Issue 49www.westerngazette.ca

Your anonymous letters to life

Dear Life,Why do Campus Police need that big new SUV over a regular cop car? Are they expecting to do some serious police chases or just stroking an ego?

Dear Life,Why isn’t Red Bull healthy?

Dear Life,Is the USC okay with Spoke cafe employees throwing around the word ‘retarded’? I thought Western was supposed to be inclusive. So disappointed in my fellow students today.

Dear Life,T-minus two more winters until I never see snow again. #californiaforever

Dear Life,Fireplace lounge smells like shit, don’t take a nap there!

Dear Life,Being white? Doesn’t mean you have a common ancestry or life experience with other white people. Oh, and Roberta Jamieson is Native. Oops. #AccusingRacismFail

Dear Life,Matt Helfand haz all the sadz. :(

Dear Life,I wish I loved anything — other people, school — the way I love food.

Dear Life,

Thank you for bringing the Examwich back to the Spoke.

wgaz.ca/dearlife

Brent HolmesDEPUTY EDITOR@BrentAtGazette

If you think university is supposed to be a place of higher learning that produces civilized, aware people, you would be hard pressed to believe it if you were at The Wave at last Friday night’s July Talk concert, when some Western students gave what was probably one of the most shameful receptions to a band I have ever seen.

July Talk is one of the most fun bands to see live. They engage with their audi-ence in a way that few bands do. Peter Dreimanis went crowd surfing. Leah Fay took a tree out of their dressing room and danced around the stage with it on her head and serenaded people in the front row.

It’s too bad that during the first song some inconsiderate wanker saw fit to grab her ass as she was interacting with the crowd. After finishing, Fay stopped the show asking for the person to identify himself or herself and said, “That’s not okay. You ask permission first before you grab my ass.”

Sadly, this wasn’t the only appauling thing that happened. During the middle of the concert, the right side of the crowd was squished as several guys aggressively pushed their way to the front. The two girls in front of me and several of the people beside me left. Unfortunately this left me with the belligerent creature elbowing me in the ribs trying to push his way through.

When I, and several other people told him to stop, he did not. And when I tried

to knock his arm away, he proceeded to spew a litany of homophobic slurs that only the most degenerate of our species could utter. He then tried to turn the bouncer against me but failed thanks to a crowd fed up with his behaviour.

Now, having been an arts and life editor for several years, I’ve been in a lot of crowds and I’ve covered a lot of con-certs. I recognize that the acts of a few irritable concert-goers do not reflect the entire crowd. I’ve seen plenty of bad behaviour at concerts, but the actions of those few on last Friday night were horri-fying to see from Western students who should know better. No band should have to worry about being harassed onstage — especially when they are so committed to creating thoughtful works of art.

Having been fortunate enough to sit in on the half-hour interview that news editor Olivia Zollino conducted with July Talk, I can tell you that they gave an insightful interview, engaging with the questions in ways that not all artists do..

Dreimanis and Fay are articulate, thoughtful and poetic. Their ability to engage with the relations between men and women, even sometimes darker and horrible aspects of it, in songs like Paper Girl and Gentlemen, is incredible. They give this theme dimensions and compli-cate it. Their music is probably going to make them one of the most important Canadian rock bands as they continue to write — and they deserve better than what last Friday night’s reception saw.

Hopefully, the next time July Talk plays Western — if they ever play Western again — they will be met with a better, more thoughtful response than what they received last weekend. These are modern day poets, who are presenting a work of art through music. You can dance to it, you can sing to it, you can think about it — but don’t treat these artists so dis-respectfully as to molest them on stage.

Let’s (July) talk about sexual assault

This is above all, to refuse to be a victim.

• Margaret Atwood

Holmes is on the Case

Amy O’Shea • GAZETTE

Page 7: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

EMPLOYMENTGYMWORLD-GYMNASTICS CLUB in North/WestLondon is looking for gymnastics coaches. On busroute. Work as little as 3 hours per week or as manyas 20 hours. Great pay. Please call 519-474-4960 ore-mail to [email protected].

PT RECEPTIONIST, APPROX. 15 hr/wk. Must beable to work evenings & Saturdays, possess excel-lent telephone, computer and interpersonal skills aswell as great presence. Please email resume to: [email protected]

VOLUNTEERS WANTEDSEEKING GAY, LESBIAN, bisexual, and other sex-ual minority individuals over the age of 18 for a studyon perceptions of discrimination. Participants will com-plete a set of questionnaires in the Love Lab at West-ern University. This should take no more than 30 min-utes, and participants will receive monetary com-pensation in appreciation for their contribution. If in-terested, email: [email protected].

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS for our math tutor-ing club in the north core/old north neighbourhood.No experience or math skill required, as all trainingand resources will be provided. For more info, contact Devin Hanes [email protected]

UPCOMING EVENTSDANCE CLASSES AT DANCE STEPS- 275 Col-borne St. between York and Horton Accessible bybus. Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop drop in or join a session.www.dancestepslondon.ca or contact [email protected], 519-645-8515.

SERVICESNEED HELP APPEALING a grade on an assignmentor exam? We are here to help you through the ap-peal process. Email [email protected] more information.

TRAVEL2015. SAIL THE Greek islands and have fun in thesun on a private yacht!. Six students per group. Cost375 Euro per person. Breakfast included. EmailSteve at [email protected].

ANNOUNCEMENTSSAT. DEC. 6. St. Luke’s Church (Broughdale), justnorth of the University Gates, will be holding their an-nual Christmas Bazaar & Silent Auction 12:00 3:00p.m. Bake table, treasures, jewellery, books, silentauction. Tea Room, a chili lunch will be available fora small fee. Admission free. Wheel chair accessible.

PUT YOUR SUDOKU SAVVY TO THE TEST! To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.

For solution, turn to page 2

519-858-2525 • themarq.ca • 75 Ann St. Luxury Student Housing

To place your classifed ad, please contact us at 519-661-3579 or [email protected]

classifiedsthegazette

Class_3x105_141202_GZ 11/28/14 4:41 PM Page 1

thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014 • 7

sports factattackKobe Bryant reached the 6,000 assist mark in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. He becomes the first player in the NBA with 30,000 career points and 6,000 assists.

Rundown >> This past weekend, the Mustangs’ cheerleading team won their 29th National Championship in the program’s history • It’s the seventh consecutive title since 2008.

Mustangs maintain first despite loss

Robert NanniSPORTS EDITOR

@robertnanni

This past weekend was a mixed bag for the Mustangs women’s hockey team, seeing them win over the UOIT Ridgebacks in a 3–1 vic-tory on Saturday, but lose in over-time to the Queen’s Gaels 2–1 on Sunday. Despite the loss to Queen’s, Western maintain their first-place spot with a 12–0–2 record in the Ontario University Athletics. The Gaels improved to second place in the standings.

On Saturday, the Ridgebacks played a defensive game, resulting in a scoreless first period despite Mustang efforts to score. Moving into the second period saw improvement for the Mustangs, as Brianna Iazzolino deviated from her role on defence to score the first goal of the game.

“They outplayed us in the first period, but nothing worries me with this team,” Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins. “Their resiliency is off the scale good.”

The third period saw an even stronger performance from the Mustangs with forward Sydney Kidd landing another puck in Ridgeback goaltender Cassie Charrette’s net. While Ridgebacks Samantha Forchielli shot one goal for her team, Iazzolino found the net in the 13th minute of the third period, securing

the win for the Mustangs.The Mustangs went on to

Kingston for an anticipated tough game against the Queen’s Gaels on Sunday afternoon, and they ended up falling to the Gaels in OT.

“This was totally expected,” Higgins said concerning the out-come. “We’re equally matched with them.”

Queen’s quickly made their presence known in the first period with a goal by Gaels Micaela Smith. Western settled the score with a goal in the second period by forward Kendra Broad.

After a scoreless third period, the two teams went into overtime where the Mustangs lost two min-utes in after a goal by Gael Shawna Griffin. Although Mustang goal-keeper Kelly Campbell tried her best to block shots by the Gaels, she was unable to continue this trend in overtime.

Having been penalized for 12 of the 20 minutes in third period, the team felt very worn down entering overtime.

Alongside Campbell, Higgins praised the team’s “quality defence” and offence who “[got] some timely goals.”

The Mustangs continue their sea-son against the Montreal Carabins in the new year and will attempt to maintain their first-place standing in their division.

Jays still don’t have what they need

Mike LaineGRAPHICS EDITOR

@MikeAtGazette

R.I.P. Brett Lawrie. After a short stint and praise as the Canadian boy won-der, Lawrie was traded to the Oakland Athletics along with a few minor prospects for third-baseman Josh Donaldson. The deal at first glance seems to favour the Jays significantly. They pick up one of the top third base-men in the game in Donaldson, who has been an iron horse for the past three seasons, and the Jays have him secured for four more years. They lose Brett Lawrie, a much-maligned star at the hot corner who has only been able to play 202 games in the last 372. There is also a rift between Lawrie and another maligned member of the Blue Jays, manager John Gibbons.

The deal is a good one in the end for the Jays. His career got off to a good start but he never found a secure place with the Jays. Lawrie started as a catcher, moved to second base and with the Blue Jays eventually found a spot at the hot-corner. His defensive prowess was unmatched in the field and

during his stint with the Jays he made some incredible defensive plays. He also made some incredible gaffes — two base running errors in the same game, throwing his helmet at an umpire, among others.

All in all, Lawrie’s time in Toronto was a struggle for both management and other players. His intensity on the field was welcomed but some-times it just felt like he was being the team cheerleader. His relation-ship with Gibbons was something that never blossomed and Gibbons himself was definitely not the per-son to mentor the young Lawrie. Oakland will definitely be a fresh start for Lawrie who will almost certainly thrive with the defensive-minded A’s.

Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of Lawrie. The Canadian factor is something that wares off quite quickly and since the Jays just signed catcher Russell Martin, it looks like they’ve met their Canadian quota for the year. Still, this deal isn’t exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Getting a new third baseman is great but there are needs that still need to be addressed. The rotation is weak, the relief pitching is awful and there’s no solid second baseman. Dioner Navarro wants out and John Gibbons is still managing the team, so there’s much to be done before spring training opens in March.

Get out of my Laine

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

Page 8: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

8 • thegazette • Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Win over Badgers puts ’Stangs near topAaron Fisch

CONTRIBUTOR@SportsAtGazette

The Western Mustangs men’s basketball team defeated the Brock Badgers 76–66 on Saturday night.

The ‘Stangs improve to 5–3 with the victory while the Badgers fall to 2–5.

The Mustangs were led by for-ward Greg Morrow, who contrib-uted with a game-high 26 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes of work. Morrow, who shot 71 per cent from the field in the game, has been a standout player for Western all season long.

Two younger players on the team, Jedson Tavernier and Cameron Morris were able to contribute with 10 and nine points, respectively.

Tavernier was able to score dur-ing crucial moments in the fourth quarter, helping the Mustangs seal the win, while Morris posted a sea-son high in scoring.

“[Tavernier] has showed he is one of the top rookies in our league. He has continued to improve defensively and has displayed he is not afraid to make plays or take big shots,” head coach Brad Campbell said

“Cam is a talented shooter who has struggled with his shot so far this season. Against Brock, Cam made a big contribution getting a few inside baskets making free throws and rebounding,” he continued.

Quinn Henderson, a fifth-year veteran on the team, also contrib-uted with 11 points, six boards and three assists.

One reason the Mustangs were able to pull out the win was their ability to control the paint, where they outscored Brock by 16 points.

Western was also able to turn up their defensive intensity after the first quarter, and held the Badgers to 35 per cent shooting for the game, while posting an efficient 50 per cent shooting themselves.

The contest began with a poor start, as Western trailed Brock by seven points at the end of the first quarter.

The Badgers were able to keep the game within striking distance all night long, largely due to starter Matt Marshall, who posted a team-high 21 points and game high 12 boards, while shooting an efficient 8–13 from the floor.

Western refocused to begin the second quarter, demonstrated by their 64 per cent field goal percent-age in the frame while also limiting the Badgers to only 19 per cent shoot-ing from the field. This dramatic swing allowed the Mustangs to lead 38–31 by the end of the first half.

In the third quarter the Mustangs’ were able to extend their lead by five points, eventually closing out the game in the fourth, not allowing the Badgers to make any substan-tial run.

“We addressed our lack of focus and details on defence. In the second, third and fourth quarter we got back to our defensive com-mitment,” coach Campbell.

Off to an impressive start, the ‘Stangs go into the holiday break tied with Windsor for first place in the Ontario University Athletics west division.

The Mustangs will resume play on January 7 2015, when they play a tough Windsor team at 8 p.m. on the road in a match that could see them take first place in the west with a victory.

Kyle Porter • GAZETTE

Mike Laine • GAZETTE

Mike Laine • GAZETTE