WESTERNGAZETTE.CA • @UWOGAZETTE

thegazetteChakma controversy shows systemic discrepancies>> pg. 3

THURSDAY, APRIL 02, 2015 WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906 VOLUME 108, ISSUE 97

Beating the London Free Press since 1906

TODAYhigh16low3

TOMORROWhigh9low0

Chakma refunds ‘double payment’

PRESIDENT RETURNS

$440K

FORMER JUDGE WILL

REVIEW CONTRACT

MPP INTRODUCING

BILL TO PROHIBIT SIMILAR DEALS

Hamza TariqNEWS EDITOR

@HamzaAtGazette

Western University President Amit Chakma is returning $440,000 he received for not taking a year of administrative leave after sustained public backlash to the “double payment.”

In a letter to the University com-munity sent yesterday evening, Chakma said he was voluntarily refunding the money and will also not exercise his right to another cash payout at the end of his second term.

“As a demonstration of my com-mitment to Western and to address the concerns that many have expressed, I have decided volun-tarily to refund the in lieu payment to the University,” he said.

Chakma’s compensation last year, which was double his usual

annual salary, made him the fourth highest paid public sector employee in Ontario. His salary has been fro-zen at $440,000 since his first year at Western in 2009 and remains frozen for the duration of his second term, ending in 2019.

Chakma added that in hindsight, he should have carried over his year-long administrative leave to the end of second term.

Western’s board of governors simultaneously announced they have appointed former Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Stephen Goudge to review presidential com-pensation at the University.

“I am confident that Justice Goudge will complete a full and fair examination and I will whole heartedly cooperate. I look forward to his findings and intend to abide by his recommendations,” Chakma said.

The board of governors acknow-ledged the significant attention that the disclosure of president’s salary has garnered.

“In this time of fiscal uncertainty and restraint in the post-secondary education sector, Western’s board of governors is highly sensitive to the concerns expressed by members of the Western community and the wider public,” Chirag Shah, chair of the board, said.

Chakma’s substantial salary had caused outrage across London and the province.

A petition started on Monday garnered 5,500 signatures from students, faculty, alumni and community members calling for a non-confidence vote of both Chakma and Shah. A number of

Western professors were vocal in their opposition to the president’s salary.

“I’m not surprised, it’s very clear the that the board of governors and president Chakma were forced to acknowledge the fact that they exer-cised an egregious lack of judgement in signing this contract for president Chakma,” Eric Lohman, a lecturer in the faculty of information and media studies, said.

“I mean they were made clearly aware that contracts like that don’t exist in the public sector at any of the other major universities in Canada.”

Alison Hearn, president of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association, said while Chakma’s initiative was a positive step, the problem is more deeply rooted.

“It’s nice that he is giving the money back but it’s never been about the money per se but what the money represents. There just seems to be a whole skewed set of values and a skewed set of priorities about where money should be spent on campus,” she said.

Western students also expressed their disappointment in the presi-dent’s salary and a graduate student camped outside Chakma’s office in protest on Wednesday morning.

Tyler Turek, a fifth-year PhD student, said it was absurd that Chakma made twice his salary while food bank use amongst students is on the rise.

“I’m not trying to make a mas-sive statement, I just want to protest the double pay that our president has received at the same time that

students, graduate students and ses-sional faculty are getting fewer and fewer opportunities and benefits,” he said.

The issue was brought to Queen’s Park this week, where London-West MPP Peggy Sattler asked the premier several times to prohibit similar deals at other universities.

After hearing the news of Chakma returning his double pay, Sattler said the issue was wider than just his compensation package.

“For me, this was not an issue about Dr. Chakma or about Western University,” Sattler said. “It was an issue about the systemic problem within the sector that university boards of governors feel that they have carte blanche to negotiate these kinds of compensation pack-ages for university presidents.”

Sattler said she will be introdu-cing a private members bill today to “prohibit” this type of deal being negotiated in the future.

“The university gets half of its revenue from the province but a big chunk of their revenues comes from students’ tuition feeds,” Sattler said.

“And so for the board of govern-ors to be using that funding — those public dollars and those revenues from student tuition — and nego-tiating this kind of compensation package is just totally unacceptable at a time when budgets are being cut, when university students in Ontario are paying the highest fees in Canada and we have more stu-dents using food banks than ever before. This is not acceptable.”

• With files from Iain Boekhoff, Olivia Zollino, Katie Lear

and Amy O’Kruk

AS A DEMONSTRATION OF MY

COMMITMENT TO WESTERN AND TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS THAT MANY HAVE EXPRESSED, I HAVE DECIDED VOLUNTARILY TO REFUND THE IN LIEU PAYMENT TO THE UNIVERSITY.

AMIT CHAKMAWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

IT’S NICE THAT HE IS GIVING BACK THE MONEY BACK BUT IT’S

NEVER BEEN ABOUT THE MONEY PER SE BUT WHAT THE MONEY REPRESENTS.

ALISON HEARNFACULTY ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT

IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND

PRESIDENT CHAKMA WERE FORCED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT THEY EXERCISED AN EGREGIOUS LACK OF JUDGMENT IN SIGNING THIS CONTRACT FOR PRESIDENT CHAKMA.

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2 • thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015

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News Briefs

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

WE TOLD YOU SO. Thieves have struck once again taking USC president Matt Helfand’s bike. While The Gazette wrote in our April Fool’s Day issue that Helfand had started using a pair of roller skates to get to campus as a joke if you see Helfand with a pair it is likely because we have become clairvoyant.

Ivey and Engineering expand partnership

The Richard Ivey School of Business is expanding its partnership with the faculty of engineering by offer-ing a Certificate in Engineering Leadership and Innovation.

The program is geared towards undergraduate engineering stu-dents who are not enrolled in a dual degree but are still looking to improve their business know-ledge. The partnership contributes to growing efforts to provide more collaborative learning between faculties.

“Where I see the students in the Certificate in Engineering Leadership and Innovation devel-oping careers are those that are engineering-focused with a keen eye towards leading their organiz-ations through waves of innovation and technological change,” Darren Meister, John M. Thompson chair in engineering leadership and innov-ation, said.

Meister expressed interest in fur-ther collaboration with the faculty of engineering beyond the under-graduate level as well as growing partnerships with other faculties such as law, arts and science.

“The growth of the partnership is a good idea because the integration of business and engineering prob-lem-solving has never been greater,” he said.

“Short development times, tech-nology ubiquity and rapid inter-national change means that both business and engineering grads must have a mastery of their own domain and an appreciation for the others.”

• Samuel Leese

THE GROWTH OF THE PARTNERSHIP IS A GOOD

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thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015 • 3

USC: Move out, clean upProgram promotes turning in items when vacating

Rita RahmatiGAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

The University Students’ Council will be hosting a move-out clean-up program at Ceeps on April 28 and 29. Students are encouraged to bring items they no longer want to Ceeps.

Acceptable items include non-perishable foods, clothing, shoes, small appliances and e-waste items.

April 28 and 29 have been selected as they will coincide with the end of leases for many students.

“I think what happens at this time of year is that student practices unfortunately do begin to fall apart a little bit because they’re very anx-ious to leave their location,” said Jay Stanford, director of environment, fleet and solid waste for London.

With the influx of students mov-ing out of rental homes, the streets of London get covered with items students no longer want, USC presi-dent Matt Helfand noted.

“A whole bunch of stuff ends up in the garbage that shouldn’t be garbage: food items, electronics recycling, even clothing that just gets thrown out,” Helfand said.

Facilitated by the USC, this event will see a number of partners work-ing in unison. Western, the City of London, Goodwill, the London food bank, Ceeps and Textbooks for

Change will be working together for this project.

In the weeks leading up to the event the USC will be reaching to bring awareness to both the issue of student waste and the event itself. Helfand describes these efforts as including advertisements, canvas-sing strategies and getting infor-mation out to student groups on campus.

Helfand explained some of the benefits of donating used items.

“There’s also the economic benefit associated with the fact that these things will go to their proper homes,” Helfand said. “The food

bank is always looking for more food.”

Furthermore, donating items will help the image of student neigh-bourhoods as they will not be cov-ered in garbage during move outs.

“The role of the USC is to make sure that students are viewed in a very positive light, one of the ways we can do that is preventing this sort of issue,” Helfand said.

Even if students cannot make it to this event there are a number of locations in London they may go to all year-round. In London there are four city-operated disposal depots, as well as Goodwill Donation Centres, a Salvation Army Thrift Store and Value Village.

While Stanford encourages stu-dents to donate their used furniture, he also notes that everything can not be salvaged.

“Some furniture needs to be discarded because it’s just gone through its life and that has to be placed at the curb on its appropriate day,” Stanford said.

Helfand explains that end-of-the-year garbage issues are a com-munity problem because students have not been adequately educated about proper disposal or donation.

“It’s about incentivizing students by making it easier on them and I really think people will be willing to do the right thing if [they] just make the effort,” Helfand said.

Taylor Lasota • GAZETTE

I THINK WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS TIME OF

YEAR IS THAT STUDENT PRACTICES UNFORTUNATELY DO BEGIN TO FALL APART A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE THEY’RE VERY ANXIOUS TO LEAVE THEIR LOCATION.

JAY STANFORDDIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT, FLEET

AND SOLID WASTE FOR LONDON

Review of Chakma’s earnings a cautious step in the right direction

Katie LearNEWS EDITOR@KateAtGazette

In what many initially believed to be an April Fool’s Day prank, Western University President Amit Chakma released a statement last night saying he would “voluntarily refund the in-lieu payment to the University.”

In the days following the Sunshine List’s release, Chakma received national attention for his exorbitant salary. While his base earnings were frozen at $440,000, Chakma was able to take advantage of an option in his salary to take a cash payment over an administra-tive leave that increased his earn-ings (including taxable benefits) to $967,244.92.

This spurred reactions from stu-dents and faculty alike. Most nota-bly, over 5,500 supporters signed a petition calling for a non-con-fidence vote, a one-man protest camped outside of Chakma’s officer early Wednesday morning and The Gazette’s spoof issue was centred on the issue.

But one question still hasn’t been answered: should Chakma have returned his salary?

This was an entirely legal trans-action. The board of governors sat down and drew up the contract that Chakma was well within his rights to sign. Nothing illegal occurred, and everyone went into it knowing what was going to come of it.

The public backlash has been

fierce. It’s no surprise – news of Chakma’s salary comes as a stark contrast to a university dialogue that has recently been all about cutting.

In light of Chakma’s decision to refund his salary, Western’s board of governors has also appointed former Justice Stephen Goudge “to conduct an independent and impartial review of my compen-sation,” according to Chakma’s announcement.

But why order this review now? Not only has Chakma already decided to return his salary, but the damage has been done to the administration’s reputation.

And while we’re all conscious of the dollar tag attached to Chakma’s name, how much is hiring a former Court of Appeals judge going to cost the administration?

Unless this review is going to offer some binding change to the way that Chakma’s salary is issued, having an independent review isn’t going to be much more than a posi-tive media stunt.

When demonstrations are focused on raising money for food banks frequented by TAs, it speaks to how far removed our upper administration is from the reality faced by the university’s lowest earners. This isn’t unique to Western either – it’s a systemic issue that is showing up all over the coun-try, with York University and the University of Toronto’s TAs recently striking for better treatment.

While these demonstrations raise attention to the issue, we need to do more to ensure less dispar-ity between our lowest-paid staff and our highest administration. And Chakma’s recent time in the spotlight may only prove to be the beginning of a long process.

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4 • thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015

arts&life saywhat?“Last year you were ranked the fifth most hated person of all time. Kim Jong-un didn’t even score that low, and he uses your music to fucking torture people.”

• Shaquille O’Neal at the Roast of Justin Bieber

Shachar DahanGAZETTE STAFF

@uwogazette

Microsoft is back with a brand new Surface 3 tablet — a thinner, smaller and less expensive version of the successful Surface Pro 3 PC-tablet.

The Surface fills a gadget gap between laptops and tablets. Today’s tablets are great for port-ability, reading and watching video, but they’re not ideal for doing work. Laptops are designed for getting stuff done, but you wouldn’t want to read a book on them. The Surface is a laptop that looks and acts like a tablet. But the Surface Pro 3 costs $799 and that’s without a key-board. Throw in a keyboard and Bluetooth pen, and you’re looking at a machine that costs close to $1,000. With the Surface 3, Microsoft set out to make a similar tablet priced more attractively for students, parents and on-the-go professionals.

The Surface 3 costs $499. That’s a pretty good price for a PC that comes with two GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The Surface 3 weighs 1.4 pounds, and is extremely thin at just 0.34 inches. It also has a 10.8-inch screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio. This makes it way better for read-ing and writing when you hold it vertically.

The Surface 3 forgoes the mag-netic charger that other Surfaces

sported in favour of the familiar micro-USB port that every non-Apple mobile device uses for charging.

Disappointingly, the Surface 3 doesn’t borrow the same adjustable kickstand from the bigger Surface Pro 3, but it does introduce a three-stage kickstand. It’s not quite as useful as the Surface Pro 3’s pick-any-angle “continuous hinge,” but it’s more versatile than the one or two positions you got from previous Surfaces.

The likeable Surface Pen is back, and now provides full functional-ity on both Surface Pro 3 and the Surface 3. The Surface 3 has an eight-megapixel rear camera and a 3.5 megapixel front camera. Since battery is critical to a device like this, Microsoft has assured custom-ers that the Surface’s battery should be able to get you through a day of normal use. Microsoft claims the battery is large enough to let you watch 10 hours of video on a single charge.

While it may seem far away, it is never too early to start thinking about back to school shopping for next year. Based on all the available information, there is no reason to believe the Surface 3 won’t be a success. With this announcement, Microsoft is going to make it hard for consumers to choose between laptops and tablets.

Canadian film a slow burnerMaddy RichardCONTRIBUTOR

@uwogazette

GGGGFElephant SongDirector: Charles BinameStarring: Bruce Greenwood, Xavier Dolan, Catherine Keener, Carrie-Ann Moss and Colm Feore

Focusing heavily on dialogue, Charles Biname’s Elephant Song is a Canadian film that feels like overhearing conversations. Luckily, these conversations are intrigu-ing to listen in on. Low on action and slowly building momentum, Elephant Song is a triumph of story lines featuring a unique assortment of characters.

Dr. Toby Green (Bruce Greenwood) is investigating the dis-appearance of a colleague from the psychiatric ward. The last person to see the doctor was patient Michael (Xavier Dolan). Green tries to get answers, but Michael prefers mind games and manipulation.

Green and a nurse at the ward, Nurse Peterson (Catherine Keener), are questioned by a sergeant about

what happened that day through flashbacks. This fills in the plot, but it takes a while for the movie to gain momentum.

Greenwood is a strong figure in his role. His character is smart, but too trusting. His relationship with his niece is wonderful, but his wife (Carrie-Ann Moss) is at times infuriating. Although it somewhat humanizes Green, the extent of his personal life is unnecessary to drive the movie forward.

Dolan’s portrayal makes Michael the most interesting to watch. He often goes back on his word, mak-ing everything he says questionable. All the doctors and nurses praise his intelligence, but he can be vulner-able like a child. He is known to be a liar, which makes it difficult to trust him. When his lies are revealed, it’s not surprising, making the film feel repetitive and like the plot isn’t going anywhere.

The female characters are never fully developed. Moss’ character is needy and selfish. Keener is col-lected and assertive, but she didn’t get enough backstory to feel fleshed out. As a result, both women seem like extensions to Green’s character

rather than being their own.The most beautiful scenes are

the flashbacks to Michael’s child-hood. They show how his relation-ship with his parents has brought him to the hospital. Michael’s fascination with elephants is also revealed through them, but the sheer number of times elephants are mentioned can feel overused and unneeded.

Elephant Song is about parent-ing, showing the incompetency people can have when taking care of another life. Each character goes through different relationships where they are figuratively either the child or the parent, showing how people can harm the vulnerable.

This is a good film, but it is not a mind-blowing production. The characters and the story are engaging, but the first half of the movie is slow. When a character is known for deceiving others, his lies lack tension. Once the movie starts picking up speed it gets better and the climax pays off.

Elephant Song is playing this week at the Hyland Cinema. Showtimes are available at www.hylandcinema.com.

GGGGFRebel HeartArtist: MadonnaLabel: Boy Toy, Live Nation, Interscope

The Queen of Pop has been strug-gling in recent years to stay relevant. BBC Radio relegated Rebel Heart’s first single, Living For Love, to Radio Two among more middle-aged tunes. Her previous two albums smacked of desperation to copy whatever’s hot in the pop world. Now with her 13th album, Madge is coming more into her own.

Rebel Heart is a slow and medi-tative dance album. It’s more about catching cool vibes than breaking your neck raving out. It’s like the soundtrack to the morning after following Madonna’s 30-year rager of a career.

While the liner notes are stacked with contemporary trendsetters like Diplo, Kanye and Avicii, they’re at the service of making beats that sound like Madonna and not the other way around. Unapologetic Bitch, produced by Diplo, is a stand-out. Its easy reggae bounce contrasts with a tracklist peppered with icy club joints.

Madonna’s voice has never been anything special, but no one really cares. She stretches her pipes as far as she can muster on ballads Heart Break City and Joan of Arc. She’s never sounded better.

Nowadays auto-tune is a fact of life and Madonna was one of the pioneering champions of hyper-edited vocals. Although for most of the album Madonna’s vocals are veneered with some type of editing, her singing is given centre stage

instead of being veiled by blaring beats. Madonna is a pop robot and she’s proud of it.

At 56 years old, Madonna’s career is at a crossroads. Does she slide gently into the sunset or should she continue to duke it out with her descendants Katy Perry and Rihanna for chart dominance? Her relaxed, cohesive album exudes a confidence that spills out no mat-ter where her career is heading. Her current musical approach is vintage Madge — she makes whatever she feels like.

While rock and roll allows its aging stars like U2 and The Stones a platform to flourish into their golden years, the pop world Madonna has shaped is defined by fleeting cultural relevancy and youth appeal. The fact that Madonna is still dancing around and making songs with Nicki Minaj is a punch line to critics, but her passion to continue making sexy dance music is daring and emblematic of a post-feminist western society. This rebel heart beats on.

• Conrad Floryan

>> ON DISC > REBEL HEART

>> IN THEATRES > ELEPHANT SONG

Courtesy of Melenny Productions

Courtesy of Microsoft

thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015 • 5

WEALTH

Healthy Breakfast

Sometimes when the young and greedy mull over their schemes for making it rich, they get too far ahead of themselves. Mutual funds are great, and planning a dependable career couldn’t hurt, but unless you start your day off with a balanced breakfast, you might as well buy a season pass to the poor house.

For the fledgling mogul on the go, cereal is always a great option. Anything with an animal on the box will do the trick. Frosted Flakes is a solid place to start — it’s packed with delicious nutrients like pyridoxine hydrochloride and malt flavouring.

Now if only the butler could wake up on time to pour the milk.

• Conrad Floryan

MEDIA

Zayn Malik

Zayn Malik was the talk of Twitter when he decided to quit One Direction in order to pursue a more normal life as a 22-year-old. While he may have supposedly decided to “drop the mic,” the young musician released an indie-influenced solo song two days later. Upset fans tweeted, posted and blogged how upset they were about the band splitting up. In fact at least 220 troubled employees requested compassionate leave upon Zayn leaving the band. He has also lost an estimated 50,000 followers on Twitter since making the announcement. Females everywhere wept and whined, so if you haven’t angrily posted a status yet about Zayn you’re missing out on some quality cultural capital.

• Jenny Jay

WHAT’S HOT

Creme Egg McFlurry

The Creme Egg McFlurry is one of McDonalds’ best limited-time treats. Unlike the repulsively minty Shamrock Shake, which is featured for St. Patrick’s Day, the Creme Egg McFlurry is something to actually look forward to.

All the Western girls who profess their love for froyo are kidding themselves. There’s nothing better than fully fattening ice cream. This McFlurry is worth every single one of those 500 calories.

For all those who have resisted thus far, it’s time to indulge. Everyone knows that as soon as exams begin next week, any remaining willpower to stick with your diet will be diminished. Consider it a post-school year treat and dig in.

• Jennafer Freeman

WELLNESS

Trivia Crack

If you’re still playing Clash of Clans or Candy Crush, you need to move on to Trivia Crack. It was popular last year and it has made a comeback this year. Trivia Crack is the Magic School Bus of iPhone games – fun, educational and addicting.

Right before exams is the best possible time to get into Trivia Crack. Whenever you need a study break, don’t click on Instagram. Rather than looking at endless pictures of textbooks, labeled #exams #onemoretogo #senioritis, you can use your study break to practice your multiple choice skills. With six different categories, no matter what your program, Trivia Crack has something to offer you.

• Jennafer Freeman

LOVE

Have a Comedy Roast

The world hates Justin Bieber. On March 30, Comedy Central aired the Roast of Justin Bieber, where choice celebrities skewered the Stratford songbird. The result? People like him more.

The jokes hit the spot — Bieber haters respect that he had the balls to put himself in the line of fire. Haters love when people are comfortable enough to laugh about themselves.

Organizing a proper comedy roast is a stretch, but all it takes is being brave enough to poke fun at the people around you and accepting the returning barbs in good spirits. Humour is a weapon you can employ to turn a negative into a positive, hate into love and Internet trolls into Beliebers.

• Conrad Floryan

Maddy RichardCONTRIBUTOR

@uwogazette

If you’ve ever wondered why people seem happier in the summer, there’s a reason for that — the “winter blues” are more than just from the cold weather. Fortunately warm weather and longer days are on their way.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression people can have during the winter. Usually start-ing in the late fall, SAD is induced by low lighting. It differs from other forms of depression because SAD occurs during specific times of the year.

“Low mood, lack of energy, lack of motivation, poor concentration,” are symptoms that Dr. Richard Owen, GAAMHS psychiatrist at the Schulich

School of Medicine and Dentistry, uses when describing SAD. “It tends to come on in the fall and then tends to improve in the spring.”

What occurs in the brain is a lack of chemicals usually induced by light. The levels of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine strug-gle when they do not receive proper lighting.

Owen says he currently has no patients who suffer SAD during sum-mer. It is possible to have symptoms of SAD as late as March or starting as early as fall, although these are technically times when it’s brighter outside.

The climate can also drastically change how prominent SAD is. This and how long the depression lasts are factors to consider when looking into diagnoses.

Treatments include using a spe-cial lamp.

“These lamps have to be ... a unit of power that [has to] exceed ... 10,000 lux,” Owen says.

Owen stresses the power these lamps have to be beneficial. They must meet these specific require-ments to help treat SAD.

“Generally patients need to have the light bathe over them for between 20 and 30 minutes a day,” Owen says. “It’s a little bit like start-ing a medication, really. It’s not an instant hit.”

SAD is coming to an end for this year. For those who suffer from it, the changing of the seasons will lessen their symptoms. Looking into SAD symptoms and treatments can help those suffering to improve for next year. Haida Lu • GAZETTE

6 • thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015

opinions

thegazetteVolume 108, Issue 97www.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

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

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

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

News Amy O’Kruk Hamza Tariq Katie Lear Olivia Zollino

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

Associate Megan Devlin

Photography Kelly Samuel Taylor Lasota Winnie Lu

Graphics Jennifer Feldman

Illustrations Christopher Miszczak Kirstyn Culbert-Kviring

Graphics/Video Mike Laine

Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator Vivian Liu

Gazette Composing & Gazette Advertising

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

Bajzert, Sarah Botelho, Damon Burtt, Sam Frankel, Devin

Golets, Kevin Heslop, Richard Joseph, Drishti Kataria,

Sara Mai Chitty, Soheil Milani, Mackenzie Morrison, Amy

O’Shea, Kyle Porter, Tristan Wu, Tom Ruess, Samah Ali,

Claire Christopher, Rita Rahmati, Julie Hambleton, Brittany

Hambleton

Ian Greaves, ManagerМаја Анјоли-Билић

Robert Armstrong Diana Watson

• Please recycle this newspaper •

Dear Life

Brent HolmesDEPUTY EDITOR@BrentAtGazette

What makes an ending? They are a constant — every film, book or story must end. They can take the form of departures or returns home. They can be final, permanent or, as is more likely in this day and age, setting things up for Hollywood to make another sequel. They are a chance for reflection and an opportunity to take stock. After three years as an Arts and Life editor and a year as Deputy Editor, my time at The Gazette is now ending.

What feels like ages ago, I entered The Gazette office. Much like any terrified first-year, I put my name on the Arts and Life email list and then promptly left not to return for the entire first semes-ter and only turning in one measly CD review during the term. The office environment seemed enormous, fast-paced — for professionals only. I felt woefully inexperienced and like I wouldn’t fit in.

My real involvement with the paper began that January. Over that Christmas break I had written five movie reviews, on a whim I sent them to The Gazette and was surprised to find my name in the next five issues. Within the next week, internship applications came out for the Arts and Life section, I applied and got it. By the end of the year I was an Arts and Life Editor.

Four years, hundreds of stories, an office renova-tion and many cups of tea later, it’s almost over. I’ve had so many amazing experiences in my time here and I owe so much to the people — many of whom have already moved on — who had faith in me and gave me my start. To them, I can only say thanks. I got to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life because of their grace and quality.

If I’ve learned anything while working here, it’s to give it all for the stuff you care about — one of the best years of my life was spent working as Arts and Life editor last year. My work in the Arts and Life section earned me Editor of the Year and I got to interview amazing people including TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey and David Peterson, the conlanger who designed the languages in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

When I entered The Gazette, I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I came to Huron with an interest in studying political science but promptly switched over to film and English — because I liked them bet-ter and I felt like giving up on any prospect on having a career. Thanks to The Gazette, I know what I want to do and will attend journalism school at UBC in September.

I entered The Gazette with the intention to write a few movie reviews, but I ended up getting a lot more out of it. To anyone coming as a volunteer or editor now, I say pursue this — take your own initiative, approach your work with humbleness and deter-mination. Make The Gazette a priority because it is totally worth it. Case closed.

Iain BoekhoffCornwall Editor

Brent HolmesBrent-in-Chief

Richard RaycraftJust Richard

Case Closed

Your anonymous letters to life

Dear Life,It would be a real shame

if Western students went

all French revolution on

Chakma and his ilk for their

exorbitant salaries. A real

crying shame.

Dear Life,Chakma makes $1-million

last year and yet we should

have a volunteer day to

clean up campus? Pfft. Tell

Amit to get off his ass.

Dear Life,I lol’d when you had a photo

of Amit Chakma last week

and the caption was ‘our

great leader.’ Who died

and made him leader?

#studentsofthecampus

unite

[Editor’s note: That’s

“Supreme Leader” to you.]

Dear Life,So I spend 30K on tuition, 5K

on books, at least a grand

in other crap and they STILL

ask for a grad donation?

Dear Life,“Any man who can drive

safely while kissing a pretty

girl is simply not giving

the kiss the attention it

deserves.” — Albert Einstein

Dear Life,What do Western’s new

sexual assault policy and

the gov’t of Ontario’s new

PSA have in common? Gross

sexism. Sad.

wgaz.ca/dear-life

Megan DevlinASSOCIATE EDITOR

@MegAtGazette

A couple of weeks ago I applied to be a lifeguard at one of Toronto’s popular “day life” entertainment spots. I recently heard back. Instead of offering me an interview, the establishment asked for me to “please forward some pictures along with your resume.”

Um, excuse me? I was taken aback. Isn’t submitting photos with a job appli-cation one of the biggest no-nos in the book? I was first told never to do it in my 10th grade civics class.

To start, submitting a photo opens up the question of whether an employer is hiring for good looks rather than experi-ence or skill. The Toronto Sun found this was a rampant practice in downtown Toronto restaurants such as Moxie’s and Earl’s.

Managers in the Toronto Sun story argued that attractive servers would entice men to enter the establishment and drink — and alcohol is how res-taurants make money. In my eyes, this argument only serves to prove how men and capitalism exploit women’s bodies. But let’s just follow it for a second. Would having attractive lifeguards at an estab-lishment improve business?

First of all, the pool is at the back of the establishment and patrons pay an extra $20 cover to access it. No Baywatch-esque guards are visible from the entrance. Sure, I can see how a pool populated with beautiful bodies is preferable, but aren’t the oiled bodies of patrons enough? Does that $20 entitle men to Pamela Anderson look-alike lifeguards too?

When it comes to a job like lifeguard-ing, I should hope the only thing my body is responsible for is performing

my lifesaving skills to National Lifeguard Service standard.

But beauty discrimination is just the beginning. The real concern with asking applicants to submit a photo is racial discrimination.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission sums it up pretty succinctly.

“It has long been the Commission’s position that employers should not request photos of potential employees, since they may provide information related to a number of Code-related grounds, such as race, colour, sex or age,” it reads.

“Photos are not reliable sources of such information. Employers attempt-ing to put a special program in place to increase the diversity of their workforce would be better served by asking employ-ees to self-identify.”

I like that the Commission assumes organizations are pro-actively trying to hire from disadvantaged populations — when, in fact, the opposite has generally been found to be true.

In the United States, white men with a criminal record are more likely to be hired than black men without one.

In Canada, a study out of the University of Toronto found that having an Anglo-Saxon name was the single biggest factor determining whether an applicant got a call back after submitting a resume.

“Asking for a headshot is not neces-sarily illegal by itself,” professor Michael Lynk, an employment law specialist with Western’s law school, says. “But it might support an argument, assuming there was other persuasive evidence available, that the employer discriminated against an employee based on race, age, gender or other grounds.”

Lynk, however, has never heard of a case where an employer’s hiring of an attractive applicant constituted a breach of human rights.

In the end, I decided I wanted the job — I submitted the headshot from my Twitter profile. I might decide later to tweet this column too. I guess I’ll be on the job hunt again soon.

Picture-perfect… discrimination

As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways.

• Al Sharpton

Devlin’s Advocate

FILE PHOTO

Holmes is on the Case

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HOUSING SERVICES UPCOMING EVENTS

thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015 • 7

sports thursdaytweetYou have to admit it’s fitting that the Leafs and Sabres are playing on April 1.

• @draglikepull on a less-than-inspiring showdown on an appropriate day.

Christina Liao: Oh captain my captain

Robert NanniSPORTS EDITOR

@robertnanni

When Christina Liao’s parents immi-grated from China to Canada, they wanted their twin daughters to participate in Canadian culture. That was how Liao ended up in CanSkate, Canada’s flagship learn-to-skate program.

“I guess some coaches saw we had talent and that we liked it,” Liao recalls 18 years later as the captain of Western’s figure skating team.

After leading the team to their fourth Ontario University Athletics figure skating championship in five years, the Hamilton native appre-ciates the team aspect of the sport more than ever before.

“My whole skating career was all just myself doing single events so I was really the only person I was concerned about,” she explains. “Whereas coming to Western, the varsity team is very much a team-oriented sport, so we compete individually, in pairs, in fours, as well as synchro, which is 16 skaters.”

Liao’s team leadership resulted in three individual bronze medals, one silver in synchro and gold overall for the team. The team finished with 73 points, 13 above second-place Guelph in this year’s championship.

“It was pretty overwhelming because it was the end of my skat-ing career,” Liao says. “I don’t know what I’m doing next year for sure yet ... it was definitely very emotional in that aspect.”

But there is one thing that Liao knows for sure, and that is her pas-sion for learning — specifically sci-ence and business.

Liao is graduating from Western this year with a dual degree in med-ical science and Ivey honours busi-ness administration, completing the five-year degree in just four years.

“My twin sister wanted to be a doctor so therefore I said ‘I don’t want to be a doctor,’ but I still

wanted to learn about science,” Liao says. “So I wanted to combine science and business in hopes of getting a business job that was science-oriented.”

Hoping to take her education a step further, Liao has applied to various law schools across North America.

“I don’t know which law school I’m going to yet,” Liao says, explain-ing her current struggle to choose between staying in Canada and going to the United States for her studies.

Liao added that if she stays in Canada, she will look to continue her figure skating career at the school she attends.

While Liao will not be returning to Western, she reminisces fondly on her time here, especially ending off her journey by serving as captain of the team.

“I’ve met amazing people and I think, especially this year in the cap-tain role, I really made it my goal to make friends with the first-years and really introduce them to Western,” Liao says. “So I feel really honoured to be that person to mentor them.”

Liao hopes to take the lessons she has learned from skating here at Western — both on and off the ice — to wherever she goes next in life.

“It definitely creates synergies with school, friends, relationships, anything,” says Liao. “You can learn so much from being an athlete in general and I think you really have a perspective that other people don’t have if they’re not athletes.”

While Liao is sad to leave Western, she recognizes how lucky she has been to have been a Mustang fig-ure skater.

“For me, it just happened to be skating that fell upon me,” Liao explains. “Whenever I look back on these four years, I just feel so fortun-ate to have been part of a team and to kind of have seen changes and progression in all four years.”

Courtesy of Aaron Springford

Courtesy of Aaron Springford

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8 • thegazette • Thursday, April 02, 2015