Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thursday, November 22, 2012 canada’s only daily student newspaper • founded 1906 volume 106, Issue 45

thegazette

www.westerngazette.ca • @uwogazette

todayhigh13low7

tomorrowhigh7low-1

Wishing the USC would name our babies since 1906

Converting to MetricCanadian band energizes Budweiser Gardens

>> pg. 4

Students create alternative bus service

Jesica HurstNeWS editor

If you’re a Western student from Toronto, Mississauga or Oakville, you now have the opportunity to save money on transportation to and from your hometown.

The London Rocket is a new, in-expensive bus service created by Western students to help save on travel costs. Although the service is only running during final exams so far, the London Rocket will cost $18 to $20 per one-way trip, depending on which city you’re returning to.

Brett Heron, a second-year po-litical science student and manag-ing director of the London Rocket, explained the FedBus at the Uni-versity of Waterloo inspired his team to create the London Rocket.

“They have run a similar low-cost bus service with great suc-

cess. We wanted to bring a simi-lar cost-saving opportunity to the Western community,” Heron said. “We have also been in connection with Bill Mei and Darren Cole, stu-dents at Queen’s, who have suc-cessfully run bus trips under the Kingston Rocket name. We have been working in conjunction with their team to develop this service for Western.”

According to Heron, although this service is targeted toward stu-dents, technically anyone can pur-chase a ticket through their web-site, www.londonrocket.ca, via PayPal. However, the scheduling will cater mostly to students so far.

“Seeing as this is the launch and our first trip at Western, we are currently only offering this service during major holidays and exam periods,” he said. “However, we are extremely confident this will

be successful, and certainly have plans to expand this service to op-erate on a more regular basis.”

So how exactly is the London Rocket service able to offer tick-ets to Toronto, Mississauga and Oakville for so cheap? Heron ex-plained they were able to cut costs significantly by using a school bus instead of a coach bus.

Although students may ques-tion how comfortable a school bus will be, Heron thinks students will realize the savings will trump not being able to ride on a luxury coach bus.

Shefali Bahal, a third-year so-cial science student at Western, recently signed up for the London Rocket because she was intrigued by the idea of having a lower cost method when travelling from Lon-

London rocket launches

Naira Ahmed Gazette Cameron Wilson Gazette

londonrocket.ca

>> see BUS ServiCe pg.3

Fontana charged with three criminal counts

aaron ZaltzmanNeWS editor

The flames around Joe Fontana grew higher yesterday, as a nearly two-month-long investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Po-lice culminated yesterday in three charges against the London mayor. The announcement of the charges, including breach of trust of a pub-lic officer, fraud under $5,000 and uttering forged documents, comes just days after Fontana released a statement vowing he would not re-sign as mayor.

Fontana has been under in-vestigation since mid-October, when allegations came to light he had used $20,000 in public money for his son’s wedding while serv-ing as a Liberal MP in 2005. Some time later, the mayor retained legal

services and ceased communica-tions with the public on the mat-ter, except through scattered press releases.

The announcement of the charges, which will be followed today by a statement from Fon-tana at 1 p.m., is certain to increase the already growing pressure on Fontana to step aside as the city’s mayor. Last month, Fontana sur-vived a motion to step aside at council, but is facing a new one at Monday’s finance and administra-tion committee.

“I’m absolutely adamant now that he has to step aside. There’s going to be such a cloud hanging over the city that we won’t be able to get anything done, especially coming into the budget, with the

>> see fraUd pg.2

Solution to puzzle on page 8

The SPC card. Only $9. Available at WesternConnections (formerly InfoSource) in the UCC lower level

The SPC Card™ entitles students to immediate and exclusive savings on fashion, dining, lifestyle and more. Partners offer students 10%-15% off every time they show their SPC Card!

120821

2 • thegazette • Thursday, November 22, 2012

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

Fontana faces fraud

Julian Uzielli Gazette

A MOMENT OF SILENCE. Students held a candlelight vigil for victims of the Gaza conflict outside Western Law last night. As the participants observed a moment of silence, the names and ages of all the victims were read aloud.

severity of these charges,” Nancy Branscombe, Ward 6 councillor, said. “I’m only hopeful that either he’ll do the right thing, or council will rally together and give a vote of non-confidence.”

Branscombe brought such a motion to council in October,

which was defeated by an 8 to 6 vote. However, Branscombe felt confident council would support the motion, even before these charges were announced.

“We know Denise Brown, [Ward 11 councillor], has changed her mind, and she’s going to support us,” Branscombe said. “If we can get a majority, it would clearly in-dicate to the mayor that he has lost the support of council on this.”

However, Fontana would still ultimately have to agree to step aside, according to Tim Cobban, a political science professor at Western.

“The only mechanism to forc-ibly remove him from office is if he misses more than two consecutive council meetings as a result of in-carceration,” Cobban said. “I sus-pect that the mayor himself will resolve this debate one way or an-other [at the press conference].”

Fontana had released a state-ment on Monday stating he did not intend to step aside.

“I treat the allegations that have been levied as serious, but I have not and will not allow them to be a distraction from my duties and ob-ligations of my office.”

Though it is unclear if Fontana intends to stand by this statement in light of facing criminal charges, Branscombe said she feels he has no other choice.

“This is very serious. It’s un-seemly that he could possibly think he could stay and every-thing would be business as usual,” Branscombe said. “If he had done that, then this wouldn’t be such a big blow today. We’ll have a few days between now and then, so Mr. Fontana still has the opportunity to do the right thing by the citizens of London.”

However, she stressed the deci-sion is firmly the mayor’s alone.

“It would be hard for him to carry on [as mayor], but I don’t know—only he knows,” Brans-combe said. “He’s the one who has to search his soul and do the right thing.”

>> continued from pg.1

thegazette • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • 3

Bus service blasts offdon to Toronto.

“Currently, I take the Grey-hound to Toronto every two to three weeks, which typically costs more than $50. Greyhound and VIA Rail have become so expensive [over] the years—it’s natural for students to want to find a cheaper alternative,” Bahal explained. “If the dates fit my exam schedule well, I will definitely seriously con-sider the London Rocket.”

Bahal agreed this new service

is a great alternative for Western students.

“I think with enough hype and word of mouth, with a combina-tion of frequent rides, it will be successful,” she said. “However, I am one of the very small [portion] of students who have Fridays off, so I tend to go home on Thursday nights, which does not match up with the current London Rocket schedule.”

>> continued from pg.1

City council approves new water rate hike

Iain BoekhoffGazette Staff

London city council approved both a new water rate structure and a hike in water rates at a meeting Tuesday evening.

In 2013, the rate for water will in-crease by seven per cent for water, and eight per cent for wastewater. The new rate system, which will be sent to a public meeting in March, would see most households end up paying less.

Nancy Branscombe, Ward 6 councillor for the city, explained the high rate hikes are part of a 20-year plan established in 2006 to pay for repairing and upgrading exist-ing infrastructure.

“We have $450 million in in-frastructure in the ground that is deteriorating, and that we don’t have the money to fix,” Brans-combe said. “[This plan] is front-end loaded so the rates are higher, and then, in 2016, they go down to about three per cent because we needed that front-ending money to build in reserves to repair the infra-structure that we have.”

In addition to the rate hikes, council approved the planning process to create a new rate system that would make water rates more equitable for everyone. Instead of paying for use, the new system would see users pay a higher fixed rate so that everyone contributes to the funding gap.

“This has really been to sim-

plify the system,” Branscombe ex-plained. “[The new rate system] is still at the developing stages, al-though our staff has gone through it a number of times and tweaked it based on council’s input.”

High water users would see their water bills raised more than other users, while most households would see a drop in what they pay.

“[The new structure] has the potential for a 5.6 per cent reduc-tion for most household users,” Branscombe said. “This is not in effect yet—it’s still in the planning stages—and right now the pub-lic has a chance to have their say. It would go back to council in the new year to look at the changes, but council, fundamentally, ap-proved the rate change to simplify and make the whole rate structure more equitable, because it’s been a dog’s breakfast.”

Council, fundamen-tally, approved the rate change to simplify and make the whole rate structure more equi-table, because it’s been a dog’s breakfast.

—Nancy BranscombeWard 6 councillor for the City of London

Cameron Wilson Gazette

Business schools promote ethics, leadership

megan devlinGazette Staff

In order to meet the demands of the globalized marketplace, busi-ness schools are beginning to put greater emphasis on ethics, leader-ship and other soft skills in addi-tion to traditional business skills.

“[An education in business eth-ics and responsibility] is increas-ingly important because the busi-ness environment demands it,” Sherry Weaver, assistant dean at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, said. “We are in a global marketplace where social and environmental priori-ties are being judged increasingly on a level equivalent to traditional economic factors.”

The Haskayne School of Busi-ness recently revised their bach-elor of commerce curriculum to reflect the growing need to edu-cate students in business ethics and responsibility by giving them ample time to practice ethical de-cision-making through experien-tial learning.

“Dealing with ambiguity, and developing critical thinking skills, is something that we are embed-ding throughout the core cur-riculum and the specializations,” Weaver said. “Students entering in 2013 will see an expanded, integra-tive core curriculum that weaves the opportunity to practice ethical leadership throughout.”

Other business schools across Canada are also taking initiatives to emphasize the ethical side of business. York University’s Schul-ich School of Business introduced a new undergraduate specializa-tion this fall called ‘responsible business.’ Students who take four

corporate responsibility electives on top of required courses on eth-ics and sustainability are recog-nized for the specialization.

“There are significant critics of business out there. There’s been a shift in the general public trust to-wards business, and there’s a real challenge in terms of rebuilding that trust,” Andrew Crane, direc-tor of the Centre for Excellence in Responsible Business at Schulich, said. “Many students see that and they’re interested in learning how to do it.”

Western’s Ivey School of Busi-ness’ only analogous offer is a certificate in sustainability, which HBA students can obtain by tak-ing several sustainability-focused electives on top of one required corporate responsibility course.

Mary Heisz, faculty director of the HBA program at Ivey, thought it was Ivey’s attitude, rather than its required courses, that did the

job of educating students on ethics and responsibility.

When asked about external fac-tors, such as the 2008 financial cri-sis, or the occupy movement, that pushed other business schools to revise their curriculum to empha-size ethics, Heisz said Ivey felt they were doing it already.

“We took a look at our program, but we felt that we were hitting all the points we would want to hit,” she said.

Though Ivey will not be making any changes to its curriculum, un-like Haskayne and Schulich, Heisz said ethical business values have always been very important to the school.

“I think it serves as a nice re-minder that there’s more to busi-ness than just making a profit. There are other stakeholders with different views as to what a busi-ness is all about.”

Soft skills gain precedence

Julian Uzielli Gazette


Arts&Life thespianthursdaySuccess is blocked by concentrating on it, and planning for it. Success is shy—it won’t come out while you’re watching.

—Tennessee Williams, American writer and playwright.

metric fully alive despite lackluster crowd

decade-long break makes for sweet returnmary ann CioskGazette Staff

Canadian blues-reggae-rock band Big Sugar triumphantly returns from their decade-long absence with their latest album, Revolution Per Minute. The band separated in 2001 due to Big Sugar’s over-whelming schedule.

“It’s really great—this is our sec-ond cross-Canada tour since we’ve been back together and I don’t think we’ve ever had as much fun as this,” Gordie Johnson, Big Sugar frontman, says. “There were years we did 300 shows a year—you do that for a dozen years in a row, ev-erybody needs a little break.”

Johnson has been busy work-ing on other creative endeavours during Big Sugar’s hiatus, includ-ing the formation of the band Grady, and producing albums for The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Gov’t Mule and The Trews, among oth-ers. In fact, although there were numerous offers for Big Sugar to play shows since their 2001 album Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready?, Johnson admits the pros-pect did not appeal to him.

“It didn’t really occur to me until I’d done a couple of gigs with The Trews,” Johnson says. “When I’d get up on stage they’d launch into a bunch of Big Sugar songs. I didn’t realize people loved those songs, or that anybody would miss them.”

“But the crowds were so appre-ciative of it whenever we would do that,” he adds. We played a couple of gigs where we’d play a whole night of Big Sugar, and it made me see people really love that music. I hadn’t thought of playing those songs in a long time so it was kind of new to me too.”

Considering Big Sugar’s repu-tation as an exceptional live band and their unique blending of genres, it comes as no surprise that fans were more than ready for a new album. Although Revolution Per Minute has a more distinct reggae sound compared to earlier work, Johnson acknowledges reg-gae has always been an important part of the band’s sound.

“Every baseline is from a classic reggae rhythm, so people who re-ally know reggae would hear it—it wasn’t as on the surface, but it’s al-ways been a flavour in our music,” Johnson says.

A concept that has always been important to Johnson, now featur-ing prominently in the new album, is the freedom of music.

Johnson describes the pressures to make a song’s length, words and volume conform to specific indus-try standards as creatively restric-tive and frustrating. Although his fame at this point in his career pro-vides him with more freedom, his view remains consistent.

“It really is kind of a mission statement for us,” Johnson re-

marks. “We came out of an era where there were a lot of constric-tions for artists. People are going to come see us anyways, let’s just make what we like making.”

Since Revolution Per Minute, Big Sugar has released a concert DVD from their tour last fall with a new track, and several new songs are also available on iTunes. De-spite Big Sugar’s previous decade-long break, Johnson makes it clear fans need not fear.

“We will continue to work to-gether in the future,” Johnson promises.

Big Sugar will be playing at The London Music Hall tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Courtesy of Lindsay Sui

Naira Ahmed Gazette

Brent HolmesArTS & Life ediTor

Performance GGGFFOpeners GGGHFSetlist GGGFFCrowd GHFFFWorth the $$ GGGGF

Metric’s concert Monday night was a show with a great deal of skill and energy, but the youthful crowd lacked that same energy. Despite putting on a great perfor-mance with incredible musical tal-ent, and an impressive light show, the crowd seemed to be at a “Dead Disco.”

Opening band Stars gave a stel-lar performance, featuring strong harmonies between Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell. The band

is still working on their stadium sound as the vocals-instrument balance was off, favouring the lat-ter a little too much. Stars’ music was a good complement to Met-ric’s style.

Metric hit the stage, open-ing with a collection of their new songs, starting with the atmo-spheric “Artificial Nocturne” before transitioning to the high energy “Youth without Youth.” Part of the strength of Metric’s performance was the transitions between songs, as they seamlessly moved through their setlist and created a nice flow between songs.

Unfortunately, while Metric transitioned well, the show felt very impersonal. Normally, a band will engage with the audience, or introduce some of their songs.

It was not until well over half-way through the show that Emily Haines stopped to talk to the audi-ence. While this could make for a more high-energy show, the crowd was incredibly disengaged.

While Metric was keeping the energy high, it was like the audi-ence was “Breathing Underwa-ter.” The crowd was notably un-energetic—the people in seats remained seated for much of the show and there were a lot of empty seats in the audience. For a band as big as Metric, the lack of “Stadium Love” was noticeable.

The stage was particularly well designed with a unique light show that accentuated each song. With every track, the lighting revealed new possibilities, making the set compelling. This aspect also pro-

vided one of the more subtle as-pects of the show, as the band wit-tily used Western’s colours for their encore performance of “Gold Guns Girls.”

The setlist was comprised dom-inantly of tracks from Metric’s new album, Synthetica. While many of their new songs sound incredible live, some of their softer songs, like “Clone,” were weaker. Their stron-gest performances came out of their older material. Opening the encore performance with “Black Sheep,” a song made popular by Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, was well received.

“Monster Hospital,” “Help, I’m Alive” and “Empty” saw some of the greatest crowd response. The closing acoustic version of “Gimme Sympathy” was an interesting per-

formance and the decision to per-form a more personal version of a song that could be played power-fully loud is probably more telling then one would think.

Unfortunately, one of Metric’s most popular live songs, “Dead Disco,” which benefits from Haines adding extra lyrics during an extended musical break, was undercut by technical difficulties as Haines’ mic cut out during the opening verse.

Overall, Metric sounds incred-ible live and James Shaw’s guitar solos are even more dynamic. The band’s songs sound a lot more sim-ilar to their 2011 Live iTunes Ses-sion, featuring much longer guitar solos.

Cameron Wilson Gazette

MOVEMBER

MOUSTACHe

PARTYFeaturing Karl Wolf with hit songs

“Africa & Ghetto Love”

Special Guest DJ

Friday Nov. 30, 2012@ The Spoke

Doors open 9:30

FREE SHOWso arrive early!

Best “mo”

wins an IPAD


secretingredientAdding a spoonful of sour cream to any cookie recipe adds a little fluffiness to the final product.Food&Drink

a taste of wortley Village

Gloria dickieeditor-iN-Chief

London’s Wortley Village may not be brimming with Starbucks and Subways, but what it lacks in brand name franchises, it makes up for in small town feel. The Village—as locals affectionately know it—can easily be accessed by bus from campus, making it an easy day trip for those looking to burst through the Western bubble.

Nestled in Old South, Wortley Village boasts an assortment of natural health food stores, yoga studios and holistic health spas for its residents. And when it comes to dining, there are more than a few hidden gems.

Black walnut CaféThis fair trade, organic café is

an ideal spot for a study session or lunch date. The atmosphere is rich with wooden décor, and the haze of roasting coffee beans lin-gers in the air. Also a catering com-pany, the café offers up a variety of homemade pastries, sandwiches and light meals. Their curry egg sandwich is sure to leave a lasting impression on any visitor. Located on one of the Village’s most scenic corners, there’s no better place to sip a hot chocolate on a brisk De-cember morning.

Gusto Food and wine BarOpening in September 2012,

this restaurant is the latest addi-tion to Old South’s dining scene. Housed in an old Victorian, Gusto renovated what was formerly a Cuban restaurant into one the Vil-lage’s hottest spots. The menu is

Italian-inspired, with thin-crust pizza a menu staple. If you’re look-ing for a fancy date location off the beaten path, Gusto is the place to be.

the Little red roasterWhile franchises are largely ab-

sent from the heart of Old South, the Little Red Roaster seemingly defies this unspoken rule. How-ever, this store was actually the flagship location of the chain that later grew to span the city’s reach. Wicker chairs, thumbprint cook-ies and freshly brewed coffee are but a few of the things the Roaster has to offer. The coffee shop is es-pecially popular in the summer months, when outdoor tables and chairs allow customers to take in the sights and sounds of the flour-ishing Village.

Gloria Dickie Gazette

Gloria Dickie Gazette

Stout is an apt name for the no-torious dark, roasted malt ale. Big in flavour, heavy in texture and often high in alcohol, these drinks provide a lot to consider. While Canada produces several stouts of note, one, towers above the rest—Muskoka Brewery’s Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.

Winter Beard takes everything I love about a stout and augments it. Although marketed as double-chocolate stout, Winter Beard avoids the negative habit of smoth-ering the flavour of the ale itself in sickly sweet chocolate. Instead, a nice kick of cocoa gives Winter Beard a pleasant bitter sweetness

that compllements the rest of the beer’s complexity.

Then, of course, there’s the cranberry. Unlike most fruit-in-fused beers, the cranberry takes the back stage, merely a pleasant after note and aroma—a comple-ment to the dark and potent stout flavours.

Winter Beard is not particularly cheap. At $10.95 for a 750mL bot-tle, it’s an investment. But at eight per cent alcohol, it’s designed for sharing, akin to a bottle of wine. So consider Winter Beard, the perfect winter’s beer. Just remember, sip this sweet stout slow.

—Cam Smith

Ingredients

• 12 oz. (340g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 12 oz. (340g) white choco-late chips

• 2-3 tbsp. crushed candy canes

• ¾ tsp. peppermint extract

directions1. Line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Grease the foil or paper.

2. Place semi-sweet chocolate

chips in a double boiler over low heat and stir until melted. Stir in peppermint extract.

3. Pour mixture onto baking pan.

4. repeat the second step but with the white chocolate chips.

5. Sprinkle the candy canes on top. refrigerate until firm.

if you’re not a fan of peppermint, you can easily substitute the candy canes with oreo cookies for a cookies ‘n’ cream bark.

✁Holiday Peppermint Bark

recipe > Holiday Peppermint Bark

Holiday cheer seems to collide with a student’s busiest time of the year. But a quick and easy recipe like peppermint bark is sure to reinstate some joy into your life. This bark also works well as a gift for the foodie on your list.

—Kaitlyn McGrath

thegazetteVolume 106, Issue 45www.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

Gloria DickieEditor-In-Chief

Nicole GibilliniDeputy Editor

Cam ParkesManaging 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 Alex CarmonaJesica HurstCam SmithAaron ZaltzmanArts & Life Sumedha AryaBrent HolmesKevin HurrenSports Richard RaycraftJason SinukoffRyan SternOpinions Ryan HurlbutAssociate Kaitlyn McGrath

Photography Andrei CalinescuRitchie ShamCameron WilsonGraphics Naira AhmedMike LaineIllustrations Christopher MiszczakLiwei ZhouOnline Julian Uzielli

Web Cameron Wilson

Video Chris Kay

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising

Gazette Staff 2012-2013Iain Boekhoff, Danielle Bozinoff, Mary Ann Ciosk,

David Czosniak, Megan Devlin, Jonathan Dunn,

Chelsea Gauthier, Ross Hamilton, Sarah Mai

Chitty, Bradley Metlin, Kaitlyn Oh, John Petrella,

Sarah Prince, Chen Rao, Nathan Robbins-Kanter,

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Kate Wilkinson, Kartikeya Vishal, Usman Zahid,

Mason Zimmer

Ian Greaves, ManagerRobert Armstrong

Karen SavinoDiana Watson

• Please recycle this newspaper •


Opinionsdear Life

Your anonymous letters to life.

dear Life,Why does the ATM in the Spoke charge $1.25 when it advertises a mere $1.00 charge?

dear Life, Why is the Tim’s line always longest and slowest when i am already late?

dear Life, The Gazette should have more Big Lebowski references. Thanks, Cameron Smith.

dear Life, i want to see a life-sized rendition of the game Mouse trap.

Submit your letters to life at www.westerngazette.ca /dearlife.

ryan HurlbutoPiNioNS editor

As the weather gets ever colder, and exams draw nearer, one thing remains a constant with the student body—going out to bars.

If an alien body were to study our society, it would emerge quite baffled. Hoards of people pile into lines for bars that are not even necessarily popu-lated. Undeterred by the fact the envi-ronment around them is cold and un-comfortable, these people will wait for hours to enter the building in front of them.

Even though the weather was un-doubtedly freezing before they left their house, these people do not wear coats on the principle they can save a couple dollars on coat check. That, and the line for coat check is almost as long and te-dious as the one for the venue itself.

When they finally reach this build-ing, they are not confronted with an in-viting environment, but rather a room packed full of people in which the pounding music only allows for con-versation at the level of a guttural roar. At least these people can confide in the fact they can down copious amounts of watered-down alcohol at an inflated price.

The best way to communicate is on the dance floor. Once a female is able to attract a male through heavy gyra-tions and a set of clothing made of little to no material—don’t worry, it still cost a bundle—the man is able to connect with her by shoving his pelvic region into her derrière.

Once a patron realizes they have drunkenly spent or lost all their money, they are left with two choices—line up for the privilege of paying an elevated ATM fee to withdraw more spending money, or retreat home, frustrated and alone.

Somehow, amidst all this drama and pain, people are actually convinced they enjoyed themselves. Maybe a bar is just a place where a person can remain anonymous and act in a matter that is not supported by everyday society.

Letting off steam is perfectly accept-able, but the fact we have chosen to do it in these dingy, uninviting places is what makes it odd. Some of these places are so popular they are even able to fill to capacity before 10 p.m.

Not only does this create the situ-ation in which people have to line up longer and earlier, but also creates a city in which drunk people are wander-ing the streets at nine o’ clock—not to mention the fact this intensifies later in the night.

There are better ways to meet new people than getting needlessly sucked into the prevalent bar culture in our society. Smaller, more intimate parties occur within the safe confines of peo-ple’s homes, allowing for more conver-sation and human interaction without taking away the fun of drinking.

With ready alternatives, it seems odd that we herd into these expensive and underwhelming bars when we could have the freedom to do things at our own pace, and a much more rea-sonable cost.

We have to look around us and re-alize just because everybody frequents these places, it doesn’t mean they’re the most enjoyable option. Let’s make the alien races, who undoubtedly observe us, proud and act with some semblance of sanity.

too many students wasting away at bars

The London Rocket won’t take you to space, but it will take you to Oakville.

Recently, a new bus service created by Western students launched. This particular service will pick students up across from Alumni House, and make stops in Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto.

The bus itself is a school bus, which may unearth repressed traumatic childhood memories, as well as provide a comfort level that resembles sitting on shards of glass. But hey, tickets range from $18 to $20, so what you sacrifice in luxury you make up for in savings—and we all know how much thrifty students like to save.

With the option of taking VIA Rail and Greyhound, this service doesn’t seem to be filling any niche. This service’s upside is that it’s both cheaper than the the train and coach bus, and it has a pick-up location on campus. While it certainly won’t revolutionize the commute process, this service provides students with yet another option to choose for their journey home.

At the moment, this new service only runs during major holidays and exam periods, and only departs on Fridays and Sundays. Considering these are the peak times for students to travel home—and often trains and buses sell out—it’s nice to have another option.

Many students grow frustrated when it comes to the commuting process, especially when you have to wait in an enormous line only to sit on a cramped bus, stuck in traffic for hours while that person you wished sat somewhere else tells you all about his or her elaborate seashell collection.

And while Greyhound and VIA make an effort to cater to students through their discounted prices, more departure times would be beneficial for busy students.

Let’s face it, no one is jumping up and down or fist-pumping when they realize they’re stuck taking the bus home. But when out of town students choose to attend Western, they realize commuting is part of the package. So really, we don’t have anything to complain about.

It’s probably about time a cheaper option was available for students, especially since other Ontario campuses have similar services. The London Rocket service is a nice idea, however, it just joins a wide array of other options students have when travelling out of town.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

Planes, trains and automobiles

a necessity

Justice is like a train that is nearly always late.

—Yevgeny Yevtushenko, russian poet

rySpace

thisdayinhistory

Back in 1991, one of the popular places for students to hang out was a bar called the Max. While the bar was likely lots of fun, it was consistently ravaged by coat theft.

The Max was looking to install a coat check to prevent these thefts, which usually targeted snappy leather jackets worth hundreds of dollars. it just goes to show that an overpriced, modern-day coat check is better than none at all.

Letter to the Editor

re: Bill NyeTo the Editor:Bill Nye deserved better.

[Tuesday] night I was lucky enough to attend the moving lecture by Bill Nye at Alumni Hall. I was even fortunate enough to have sat front and centre. Though I had looked up to him through my childhood and was excited to see an idol perform, I was in no way prepared or expecting the amazing lecture he gave.

Filled with inspiration and advice, he eloquently presented in an enter-taining and—most importantly—edu-cating manner. However, after his talk when the floor was opened up to a sea of academics and “bright minds of the future” to ask their burning questions, the show quickly took a turn for the worse.

Students lined up to ask their ques-tions, which Bill answered with pa-tience and poise. Such academic is-sues like “Can I have a high five?” were raised. Along with a personal favorite of mine, “Do you think, like, science can, like, lead to a world without violence or oppression?”

I am appalled to have been in the audience as these goofy questions were being asked. I wasn’t quick enough to make it up to ask the question on my mind—his opinion on the continually degrading quality of education here in Canada. Ironic, considering I was hindered from doing so due to some-one asking one of the greatest scien-tific advocates of our day to make a frat symbol.

—Matthew DiPrimioEng IV


Sportsrundown >> The Mustangs men’s and women’s hockey teams were featured in this week’s Canadian interuniversity Sport top 10 rankings > The women’s team looks to improve on their 10th place ranking this weekend with games against the Waterloo Warriors and Laurier Golden Hawks > The men’s hockey team will take on the Guelph Gryphons and the Waterloo Warriors as they look to improve their eighth place ranking

tweet of the weekAm i eligible to play for #TeamBrazil @WBCBaseball if i’m a strong advocate of their waxing style & frequent patron of their steakhouses?

Miami Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison (@LoMoMarlins) said of his love of all things Brazilian

Nathan robbins-KanterGazette Staff

The Mustangs women’s hockey team lost their third regulation game of the season Friday night at home to the UOIT Ridgebacks. The 3–1 loss drops their season record to 8–3–1, and keeps them in fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics.

The seventh-place Ridegbacks improved their record to 5–6–2, thanks to an incredibly well-exe-cuted game from the young team.

“We knew what we were up against,” Karen Nystrom, head coach for the Ridgebacks, said. “It was just a couple weeks ago we were last here and we felt we let one get away. [Now] we’re commit-ted to doing the little things. We’re winning the battles on the wall, we’re skating with confidence, we’re getting pucks to the net and we’re playing strong defensively.”

The Ridgebacks is a team, with an astounding 12 rookies, that has never made the playoffs in its en-tire nine-year history. Nystrom says it’s simple why her team is playing such great hockey—in-cluding a 3–0–1 streak the past two weeks.

“It’s the basic fundamentals of the game. When you do those things well, any team can have suc-cess,” she said.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, de-spite missing a chance to jump over Guelph for third place, are not too phased by the loss.

“Every once in a while the other team plays a very good game,” Chris Higgins, head coach for the Mustangs, said. “That team played over their head, and their goalie stood on her head.”

UOIT goaltender Jessica Lar-abie certainly did stand on her head—stopping 34 of 35 shots for her third win in four games. During

that span she put up stellar num-bers, with a .933 save percentage and 1.99 goals against average.

“We definitely didn’t bury our chances,” Cassidy Gosling, first-year forward for the Mustangs, said. “All the chances that we did get, we didn’t finish.”

Olivia Ross held her own in net as well, making just her second start of the season due to injuries. She stopped 29 of 31 shots faced.

Not capitalizing on opportuni-ties appears to be of little concern for Western, however, especially at this point in the season.

“We out-chanced them and we didn’t take any stupid penalties,” Higgins said. “Sometimes things happen. You can’t play great every

game, and [remember], it’s a long season. All we have to do is get in the playoffs [because] we know we can beat everybody. So we get in the playoffs, it’s no big deal.”

Western has defeated every playoff team in the league except for the Guelph Gryphons and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. That includes victories over the top two teams in the league—the 11–1–1 Queen’s Gaels and the 10–1–1 Laurier Golden Hawks.

On Sunday, November 18, the Mustangs travelled to Windsor to take on the Lancers. In an ex-

tremely close encounter, the pur-ple and white won 3–2 to bounce back from their home loss against the Ridgebacks. The game was de-cided in a shootout, where Mus-tangs rookie Natasha Panahi beat Windsor goaltender Karlyle Rob-inson on the Mustangs’ third and final shot to secure the victory.

After going even on the week-end, the Mustangs still sit in fourth place in the OUA. Watch as the Mustangs try and improve their re-cord when they travel to Waterloo to challenge the 3–8 Warriors on November 24.

Early lead evaporates as Mustangs drop home contest

ridgebacks buck ‘Stangs in Friday tilt

That team played over their head and their goalie stood on her head.

—Chris higginsMustangs head coach

Andrei Calinescu Gazette

Andrei Calinescu Gazette Naira Ahmed Gazette

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Rams and Varsity Blues to battle Western at Alumni Hall

tough weekend pair for ‘Stangs men’s basketball

richard raycraftSPortS editor

The Mustangs men’s basketball squad will be back in action this weekend, taking on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams at home on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Mustangs are currently winless on the season with a re-cord of 0–4 and losses to Windsor, Carleton, York and Laurentian this past weekend. They currently sit in last place in the Ontario Univer-sity Athletics West division. Things won’t be getting any easier for the ‘Stangs as Toronto and Ryerson are two of the premiere teams in the OUA.

“Both teams are very well-coached and definitely have some of the top-level talent in the OUA,” Brad Campbell, Mustangs head coach, said. “They’re both going to be very tough.”

“We’re going to have to do a good job in the defensive end to give ourselves an opportunity to win,” he continued.

Toronto has amassed a record of 2–2 so far this season. Despite the even record, the Blues cur-rently sit last in the East division due to the dominance the East has had over the West so far this sea-son. Toronto’s main weapons stem from the offensive talents of guard Alex Hill, veteran Arun Kumar and forward Ben Garvin.

“With [Toronto], they really have those three prime scorers that you really have to pay atten-tion to,” Campbell commented. “We really have to do a good job of making sure that either we don’t let them shoot the ball, or that they shoot a low percentage throughout the game.”

The Rams are arguably the best team in the OUA. Ryerson has al-lowed the least number of points against them on average, and stands unchallenged as the only undefeated team in the OUA, put-ting them at the top of the East division.

The Rams are led by guard Jah-mal Jones, who is averaging just under 20 points a game. The Rams also possess stout defensive play and have effective rebounding.

“Ryerson has an awful lot of athleticism and presents some

challenges on the perimeter, not only with their guards, but also with their bigs,” Campbell said of the Rams.

“Both teams are very capable offensively,” he continued.

The Mustangs have, so far, been unable to find offensive consis-tency and rebounding. Defence has also been a problem for the ‘Stangs, as they have surrendered the second most points of any OUA team so far this season. The Mus-tangs are also averaging the fewest points scored per game.

The Mustangs are led by for-ward Peter Scholtes, who is averag-ing just under 15 points per game.

The weekend will be a huge test for the Mustangs and an opportu-nity to improve on the sub-par play that has characterized them so far early in the season. Coach Camp-bell said the ‘Stangs have some areas to work on.

“We’ve definitely not been play-ing our best basketball,” Campbell admitted. “Defensive rebounding and finding ways to score, which are constantly issues with us, we’re going to continue to address those and see how it goes this weekend.”

There is good news for the Mus-tangs coming into the contests, however, as 6’8” forward Adam Jespersen will be returning to the team, having recovered from a concussion.

The Mustangs may also draw inspiration playing in front of a home crowd, who will be hungry for the first tack in the W column.

“I think playing at home is a huge advantage for us,” Campbell said. “We’ve traditionally been a good home team.”

You can catch the matchups on Friday and Saturday in Alumni Hall at 8 p.m.

Nyssa Kuwahara Gazette

Naira Ahmed Gazette

We’re going to have to do a good job in the defensive end to give ourselves an opportu-nity to win.

—Brad CampbellMustangs head coach

Documents

Thursday, November 22, 2012