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June 4, 2015 / Vol. 51 No. 18
westernnews.ca
ILLUSTRATION BY FRANK NEUFELD
PM 41195534
Western’s newspaper of record since 1972
2
Western News
| June 4, 2015
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4 // THURSDAY
9 // TUESDAY
MCINTOSH GALLERY
Janice Gurney: All the Spaces. Curated by Julian Haladyn. Visit mcintoshgallery.ca.
Runs until June 27.
SPRING CONVOCATION
Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
PHILOSOPHY OF LOGIC, MATH
AND PHYSICS GRADUATE
STUDENT CONFERENCE
Keynote Speaker: Elaine Landry, UC
Davis. Free. Registration and information at [email protected]. Visit logicmathphysics.ca.
9:30 a.m. StvH 1145. June 4 and 5.
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15 // MONDAY
17 // WEDNESDAY
SPRING CONVOCATION
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10 // WEDNESDAY
THE DEPARTMENT OF MODERN
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
La Tertulia. Anyone wishing to speak
Spanish and meet people from different Spanish-speaking countries is welcome. Email [email protected].
4:30 p.m. StvH 3101.
SPRING CONVOCATION
Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
11 // THURSDAY
SPRING CONVOCATION
Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
TOASTMASTER’S CAMPUS
COMMUNICATORS
Build your confidence in public speaking. Visit 9119.toastmastersclubs.org/.
Contact Donna Moore, dmoore@
uwo.ca or 85159.
12-1 p.m. Western Student Services
3130.
TOASTMASTER’S CAMPUS
COMMUNICATORS
Build your confidence in public speaking. Visit 9119.toastmastersclubs.org/.
Contact Donna Moore, dmoore@
uwo.ca or 85159.
12-1 p.m. Western Student Services
3130.
SPRING CONVOCATION
Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
12 // FRIDAY
SPRING CONVOCATION
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16 // TUESDAY
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Every Tuesday until the end of August.
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Oxford @ Elgin (by the
McIntosh Gallery, across from Social
Sciences).
THE DEPARTMENT OF MODERN
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
La Tertulia. Anyone wishing to speak
Spanish and meet people from different Spanish-speaking countries is welcome. Email [email protected].
4:30 p.m. StvH 3101.
Have an event?
Let us know.
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2015-01-27 3:33 PM
Western News
| June 4, 2015
3
Academics
Timney reflects on a ‘tremendous privilege’
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Brian Timney, who has served in the dean’s office in Social Science since 1992, ends his term as dean June 30. “It’s been a tremendous privilege, being up here and working with people.
I’m really sort of satisfied in stepping down. It’s a good time for me to do it,” he said.
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
BRIAN TIMNEY HAS spent 23 years on the
ninth floor of the Social Science Centre – possibly the longest time anyone has served in the
dean’s office. At the official helm of Social Science since 2002, his term as dean ends June 30.
It has been an eventful and enjoyable ride, but
one Timney is ready to end.
“I came here in 1978 and I’ve been in the
dean’s office longer than I’ve been a regular
prof. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m going to have
really mixed feelings, stepping out. I’m so used
to being here,” he said.
“I’ve commented to a lot of people that
I’m not quite sure how I’ll deal with the lack of
stress, once I step out,” Timney continued with
a chuckle.
Reflecting on his terms as dean, Timney hardly
thinks of the stressors. Sure, they were there, but
for the most part, he remembers them as par for
the course – challenges any academic administrator could face. It’s the faculty’s victories and
successes over the past two decades that, for
him, will colour his tenure.
“I came in at a really good time (as dean),
just before the double cohort, when the budget
model was enrollment based. We had lots of
money flowing into the faculty. There have been
some really good things that have happened.
And for the most part, I’ve been able to ride out
any crises – and that’s because it’s been a very
good, collegial faculty,” Timney said.
Setting up Western’s Hong Kong Convocation
and establishing relationships there is among
his highs. The development and healthy thriving
of the DAN Management and Organizational
Studies program is another accomplishment, as
well as developing the Brain and Mind Institute,
leading to the cognitive neuroscience cluster,
are also wins.
“There have also been some down periods,”
Timney added. “We went through the 2008
downturn; we had some layoffs – which was the
worst time of my career. But we’ve pulled things
back together, and we’re moving along.
“I’ve been able to work with chairs, and maintain their morale, even though I was saying ‘no’
all the time. That was really the worst part – you
have people coming to you saying, ‘I’ve got this
great idea, but we need a significant investment
of resources’ and you recognize it’s something
that’s very good, but you can’t do much about
it. That’s something I’m proud of – I’ve managed
to hold the faculty together over a long period
of time.”
As his working days wind down, Timney is
looking forward to “staying out of things for a
little while.” He’s leaving the faculty in reasonably good shape, he said, having worked over
the past two years – when his term as dean was
renewed – to tie up loose ends.
“I’ve tried to clean up all of the unfinished
business so (my successor) is not walking in having to deal with ongoing stuff. Two years ago,
when I was supposed to be at the end of my
term and it didn’t work out, I didn’t feel too badly
because there were things to finish off. Now,
I’ve been focusing on June 30, and I can step
out and know the place will be in good hands,”
Timney said.
Robert (Bob) Andersen, BA’91 (Political Science), Dpl’92 (Sociology), MA’94 (Sociology),
has been appointed to a five-year term as dean
of Social Science, beginning July 1. He joined
Western this week to serve in a temporary role
as special advisor to the provost.
Thinking of his successor, Timney said there
are things to build on, notably the expansion of
the Public Administration program, and interesting proposals coming from Political Science.
With a number of faculty members retiring over
the next few years, there will be more resources
available, new hires, perhaps.
“He could think about renewal across the
faculty, and decide directions he wants to go in,”
Timney said to his successor. “I’ve deliberately
not written a new strategic plan for the faculty. I
have all the ones from departments, but I think
that should be his first task, to think about the
directions he wants to take on.”
Timney will take July to regroup and relax, taking time to shift his focus to new research projects, and writing things that “have been sitting
a long, long time.” He will return to his lab and
do some work with the Brain and Mind Institute.
“It will be strange. I’ll miss not being involved
in what’s going on at the senior level. Some
things I won’t miss, but other things I will,” he
said. “It’s been a tremendous privilege, being up
here and working with people.
“I’ve got this really warm feeling from people.
I’m really sort of satisfied in stepping down. It’s a
good time for me to do it.”
“I came here in 1978 and I’ve
been in the dean’s office
longer than I’ve been a
regular prof. It’s been a lot of
fun. I’m going to have really
mixed feelings, stepping out.”
- Brian Timney
Social Science dean
4
Western News
| June 4, 2015
On Campus
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during December, May, June,
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Student-led initiative opens new
conversations on mental health
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newspaper of record. The
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GORDON SO // WESTERN NEWS
King’s University College student Adam Newton, along with classmates Katie Hart, Josh Hanna and Rylan Waring, grew a class project into an
award-winning program meant to provide young people with an interactive educational experience as it relates to mental health and illness.
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
A FOURTH-YEAR Psychology project for four
King’s University College students made such waves
in the community, it recently earned the 2015 Champion of Mental Health Award from the Canadian
Mental Health Association.
PEARS (Psychological Education, Awareness and
Reduction of Stigma), started by Adam Newton,
Katie Hart, Josh Hanna and Rylan Waring, is a
program meant to provide young people with an
interactive educational experience as it relates to
mental health and illness. It launched a year ago,
and, so far, has been implemented in community
groups in London, at King’s, as well as a secondary
school within the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic
District School Board.
“It’s a seven-module program that looks at mental health and mental illness, very generally, and
talks about stigma, positive mental health, stress
and coping,” Newton said. “It addresses specific
mental health disorders and ends in a community
awareness project for whoever is involved.”
Each module contains a lesson plan with both
content and experiential learning activities, all
based on interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed research.
“It’s targeted toward high school students and
maps well onto the Grades 11-12 curricula, as well as
onto community organizations as sensitivity training
for their staff,” he added.
PEARS aims to generate awareness and give
youth a tangible understanding of their own mental
health and that of others.
“There are a couple different gaps to address,”
Newton noted. “A lot of organizations don’t have
specific mental health training and, along with that,
in the community, we always hear of the issue of
mental health stigma and what surrounds it, and it
acts as a barrier to seeking help.”
He continued, “Talking to teachers, they felt the
current curriculum and lesson plans were largely
inadequate. They weren’t sure how to tackle it. This
program – at least in the school (it was in) – gave
those teachers a really strong lesson plan, activities
and content videos to better teach the unit.”
Hart added, “We’ve heard really good things
from the leadership conference at King’s, too. A
lot of the students liked the discussions we had – it
was very open and a lot of topics were covered that
aren’t always covered in classrooms, or talked about
between students on a regular basis. It was nice to
open up that dialogue.”
What separates PEARS from similar initiatives
is it goes beyond providing information, Newton
explained. For long-term benefits, a mental health
awareness initiative needs to engage its audience
in a tangible way.
“When you just provide information, when your
goal is to change an attitude, it works in the short
term. In order to have those long-term changes, you
need to establish that there is an issue and provide
information, but also give the individual contact
with the attitude, whether that’s direct contact with
individuals struggling with mental illness or activities
that personalize the experience of stigma. Those are
the kinds of things that lead to a long-term positive
change in attitude,” he said.
The other benefit and distinctive feature of
PEARS, Hart noted, is it is not prescriptive and
can be adapted by the group, using it to suit its
individual needs. Not all seven modules need to
be completed, so if the group, or workplace, needs
training on something specific, as in stress management, they can proceed with that one, even though
it comes third in the list.
Long-term goals for PEARS include continued
partnership in London, establishing more connections, and, hopefully, an entry into the Thames Valley
District School Board within the year.
“A lot of organizations don’t
have specific mental health
training and, along with that, in
the community, we always hear
of the issue of mental health
stigma and what surrounds
it, and it acts as a barrier to
seeking help.”
- Adam Newton
Fourth-year King’s University College student
Western News
| June 4, 2015
5
Academics
Undergrad strikes gold with new theory
B Y PA U L M AY N E
MAIA SOMERS MAY have felt a
bit out of her league. But the secondyear Geography student held her own
against her discipline’s elite at the
recent Association of American Geographers (AAG) in Chicago.
It’s an uncommon occurrence for
undergraduates to present at the
AAG, a top showcase for master’s
students, professors and researchers. But with the assistance of fellow second-year colleague Destiny
Allen-Green and Geography professor Micha Pazner, Somers did so – and
definitely got noticed.
“There were a lot of shocked faces
there that I was only in second year,”
Somers said. “It went really well and I
got a lot of praise afterwards. It’s definitely a confidence booster, too. I wish
Destiny could have come, because I
couldn’t have done this without her.”
A simple email began Somers’ journey. Pazner sent out a request looking for work-study students, to which
Somers and Allen-Green applied –
and was accepted.
“It was an idea he asked me to help
him with. It was a sort of ‘on a whim’
type of thing,” Somers said.
Their abstract looked at a new theory of gold deposition. Based on a
1964 paper by geologist Olaf Jenkins,
the ongoing theory was gold was
deposited from its original outcrop
location (where it was first formed) by
the movement of a stream.
But Somers saw a gap.
“What I did was critique that idea
saying, ‘Wait, there’s something missing here,’” she said. “There are parts
in that research where there are holes,
where things were explained, but he
kind of beat around the bush. So, we
came up with a new theory.
“We’re saying gold can get into
a solution, as a nano-particle, and
dissolve in this solution of water in
a stream. It can get into the ground
water and infiltrate through the soil
and end up in the ground water system. Then, it’s erratically distributed,
instead of just by the streams.”
Somers said she, along with AllenGreen, hopes to expand on their initial
inquiries with further research.
“We want to show it can happen a
different way,” she said. “I really enjoy
this because I have an interest in geography, geology and environmental
science, and this sort of ties all three
of those together. I was really lucky I
found it. Who knows, it could change
the mining industry in some way.”
Somers said since “it’s so cool and
I love to talk about it,” she might see
herself returning to the AAG next year,
as a ‘veteran’ undergraduate.
“A lot of it went over my head
because I’m still only in second year,”
laughed Somers. “But it’s a positive
environment and handy for geographers, or anyone doing similar research.
It’s a whole bunch of people there sharing ideas and by listening to others it
can help you with your own research.
“This is a new theory that no one
else has thought of, and I never
thought of myself doing this in second
year. I’m just fascinated by it.”
At the same time, Somers welcomes a critique of her ideas at any
time, which she said is what being in
university is all about.
“It’s been an adventure for me,”
she said. “I would tell others to be
PAUL MAYNE // WESTERN NEWS
Second-year Geography student Maia Somers recently presented at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in Chicago, more commonly
attended by master’s students, researchers and professors. She spoke on a new theory for gold deposition.
critical of everything. Everyone started
out where I was, and if I were go on to
do research, I would want people to
be critical of my work because I don’t
know if it’s necessarily right – they are
just my ideas.”
“This is a new theory
that no one else
has thought of and
I never thought of,
myself doing this in
second year. I’m just
fascinated by it; it is
so cool and I love to
talk about it.”
- Maia Somers
Second-year Geography students
WESTERN ROAD AND SARNIA ROAD/PHILIP AZIZ AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS
MUNICIPAL CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING #1
The City of London has retained AECOM to undertake a Schedule ‘C’ Municipal Class
Environmental Assessment (Class EA) to identify improvements at the Western Road and Sarnia
Road/Philip Aziz Avenue intersection and along the Western Road corridor between Huron
University College and Platts Lane, and Sarnia Road east from Coombs Avenue.
The first of two Public Information Centres (PIC) is scheduled for Thursday June 11, 2015 at
University Heights Public School (gym), 24 Ford Crescent from 4:30pm – 7:30pm. Members of
the public are encouraged to attend and provide comments specific to the project. The project
team will be available to answer questions and provide information related
to the project. This PIC will be an open house format with no formal
presentation being made.
If you wish to obtain additional information about the study, be included
on the mailing list or provide input, please contact Karl Grabowski, City of
London, Tel: 519-661-2500 Ext. 5071, Email: [email protected] or Tony
Fediw, AECOM, Tel: 519-963-5898, Email: [email protected].
To learn more, visit the project website:
www.london.ca/residents/Environment/EAs/Pages/default.aspx
6
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Alumni
MES grad: Apply sustainability to your job, life
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
IT DOESN’T SEEM that complicated to
Andrea March, MES’11.
“The most important thing I try to do is try to
be conscious and ask questions as a consumer,”
she said. “When I buy things, I look at labels. I try
to understand where my food comes from. I try
to support local and try
to be conscious in my
purchasing decisions.”
Earlier this year, the
27-year-old was named
among Canada’s Top
30 Under 30 Sustainability Trailblazers.
This year is the first
for such a list, started
MARCH
by The Toronto Sustainability Speaker
Series and Corporate Knights, with sponsorship
support from paper-products manufacturer Kruger Products. The honour recognizes Canadian
youth who have demonstrated themselves as
leaders of sustainable development. The list
features an impressive collection of young entre-
preneurs, activists, corporate professionals and
students eager to make the world a better place.
March’s career since graduation has focused
on supporting socially and environmentally
responsible business practices. While working
at the consultancy Innovolve Group, she brought
together business and government leaders for
the 2011 and 2012 Canadian Water Summit.
While at Green Living Enterprises, she helped
organize the annual Green Living Show.
Today, as manager of research and partnerships for the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in
Toronto, March is supporting the growth of
social entrepreneurship, impact investing and
social finance in Canada through RBC’s Social
Finance initiative.
“(Sustainability) was always kind of intuitive. In
my fourth (undergraduate) year, I did a thesis on
consumption, looking at the culture of buying
things and also of the waste aspect of it. I started
to become interested in environmental issues
and the role we play in creating them and solving
them,” she said.
“I always had an idea I wanted to apply that
to business, and I wanted to use (business) as a
force for change, to figure out how to combine
my passion for the environment with the power
of business,” she said, noting the MES program
gave her the perfect opportunity to explore her
interests.
“In this line of work, a lot of it is about communicating effectively and making (the sustainability message) resonate,” March said. “And for
employees, CSR (corporate social responsibility)
is now seen as a competitive advantage, or a
differentiator, in companies.”
March and her colleagues at RBC are currently working to develop and implement new
strategies that promote sustainable practices.
Projects involve assessing environmental risk,
making sure financing is responsible, managing
the operational footprint of the RBC office and
its branches, using the least amount of water and
energy possible, among other initiatives.
“The third bucket of my group is social
finance, which is where most of my time is dedicated – we’re trying to figure out how to use
private capital for public good, to invest in companies making a difference,” she said.
“We’re really pursing this idea of corporate
sustainability as the next frontier, if you will.
We’re trying to operate as responsibly and sus-
tainably as we can. But how do we engage our
clients, customers and offer them products so
they can do it, too? I work a lot on partnerships
and research in this space to help inform the
strategy,” March continued.
As for the honour of being named a Sustainability Trailblazer, for March, it’s another rung on
the ladder of establishing sustainability as the
way of the future.
“It’s nice to have your efforts recognized. It’s
great in terms of (sustainability) being a new
space, and it helps to build it – I can’t ask for
that kind of recognition. What I loved about it is
how diverse people were on the list, and I think
it’s great for young people, trying to figure out
how to have a career that’s meaningful to them,”
she said.
“The field is growing, which is great. But
there’s no reason you can’t take the sustainability
or environmental lens to whatever job or position you currently hold. A lot of it is being mindful of stakeholders, of your actions, long-term
and their impact. I think it’s a great way to build
awareness and experience. Anyone can apply
these values to their job, their life.”
On Campus
Corporate fitness challenge gets Western community moving
BY GORDON SO
A JOURNEY OF a thousand miles
begins with a single step. And that
first step could simply be the walk to
campus for lunch.
Starting last week, 455 Western
employees, making up 65 teams, will
participate in the Global Corporate
Challenge (GCC), a workplace fitness program that aims to improve
the health and performance of more
than 1.5 million employees around
the world.
GCC participants embark on a
100-Day Virtual Journey around
the world in which each of them is
encouraged to walk 10,000 steps per
day. The progress is recorded by the
GCC Pulse, a biometric step counter
clipped onto each participant. Every
step registered by the Pulse is translated to an actual step on the virtual
road map. As teams progress in the
Virtual Journey, trophies and achievements are unlocked along the way.
“What the challenge is really about
is to challenge individuals to take
ownership of their health and change
the perspective of what it means to
live an active lifestyle,” said Jason
Gotwalt, senior account manager
Eastern Canada for GCC.
“In the long run, for Western, or any
organization that has a healthy workforce, it is going to be a more productive, creative and efficient workforce.
It is very important the university value
and invest in their employees’ health.”
In last year’s challenge, Western
was the most active educational organization in Canada, Gotwalt said. With
three times as many participants this
year, Western can potentially be the
most active educational organization
in the world.
Results from last year proved the
challenge has had positive impacts on
Western employees’ lifestyle. Participant feedback claimed improvements
in overall health, productivity, sleep
quality, physical activity and nutritional
awareness, as well as reduction of
workplace stress, fatigue and body
mass index (BMI).
“I felt it was a peak of energy
and health,” said Louise Koza, total
compensation director for Western’s
Human Resources, and a returning
GCC participant. “I lost quite a few
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Starting last week, 455 Western employees, making up 65 teams, will
participate in the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC).
pounds in 100 days, without even
trying.”
“Rather than paying off prescription
bills, the challenge is a more proac-
tive strategy to improve the health of
Western employees,” Koza continued. “I suggest let’s be proactive, and
let’s not get people sick.”
Western News
| June 4, 2015
7
Research
Study bridges STEM gap at early ages
scores. This deters girls’ entrance into STEM
careers early on.
But don’t lose hope, Samson explained.
At the 45th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference held recently at
Western, Samson presented her study that looked
at whether teaching intervention in spatial skills
would improve performance on early math skills.
She examined the link between spatial ability
and numeracy through teaching preschoolers
the concept of ‘middle.’ Middle is a spatial
concept that points to a specific coordinate in
between two objects. It has been identified as a
difficult concept for children 3 to 5 years of age,
especially for girls.
To teach the concept, Samson designed an
interactive workbook. The workbook contained
strategies that help improve spatial abilities,
including analogical learning, spatial language
and gesture. In particular, gesture was effective
in teaching middle.
“The use of gesture freezes up cognitive
space so children deal with new tasks more
effectively later on,” Samson said. “For middle,
BY GORDON SO
IN AN INCREASINGLY scientific world, where
technology touches everyday life, the lack of
women working in STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – will only
be more problematic. So, Western Psychology
student Hayley Samson
has decided to deal
with the problem from
the beginning.
“Previous research
found girls tend to have
more problems with
spatial abilities, and it
is correlated to their
difficulties in studying
SAMSON
STEM subjects,” Samson said.
As early as 3 to 5 years of age, girls experience more difficulty with spatial concepts in
comparison to boys of the same age. Since early
spatial skills influence later numeracy abilities,
the disadvantage results in lower early math
the gesture is putting one hand on one point,
put the other hand on another point, and then
bring the two hands together to get the middle.”
After the training, a middle search task was
designed to measure the subjects’ understanding. In the task, the girl searched for hidden stickers. The stickers were always hidden in one of 15
boxes and between two landmarks. The ability
to find the middle on the first search attempt was
considered a successful trial.
The preliminary result was spectacular, Samson said. The success rate of finding the sticker
on the first attempt increased from 20 to 100 per
cent. The training session successfully taught a
3-year-old girl to accomplish a task that 5-yearolds often performed incorrectly.
Aside from that, the subject also showed
improvements in the mathematical ability of
evenly dividing groups of items. There was a
change in strategy between the pre-test and
post-test session. Instead of splitting item by
item, she split the items by dividing the groups
down the middle.
So, the good news is, teaching intervention
in spatial ability does improve associated early
math skills. However, no improvements were
observed on other distantly related mathematical abilities. Improvements in a specific spatial
ability do not enhance all math skills; instead,
that requires the development of many more
spatial abilities.
Success is achieved one step at a time, and it
often starts with baby steps. Although the spatial
concept middle was not a cure-all for improving
girls’ early math skills, Samson’s study brought
the STEM gender gap one step closer.
“I think it is important to bridge the gender
gap in STEM careers. I’m trying to give girls a
good foundation so they can progress in whatever field they choose. By developing methods
that could help improve individuals’ spatial abilities, the research can help people with the fields
they choose to pursue,” she said.
Samson has just completed her bachelor’s
degree in honours specialization in Psychology.
She wishes to pursue a career in School Psychology where she can diagnose learning disabilities
and continue her line of research.
Research
Study: Cooking up smell-o-vision not a good idea
w estern news
YOU ALREADY HAVE the 90-inch big screen
HDTV, complete with surround sound, to watch
your favourite episode of Top Chef Canada.
Now, if only you could smell the final results of
the Elimination Challenge, your sensory entertainment experience would be complete. Or
so you think.
Research by fourth-year Psychology student
Nikita Wong says matching odours to visual content doesn’t enhance the experience as much as
you would believe. In fact, it may detract from
your overall experience.
She presented her work at the 45th Annual
Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference held recently at Western.
Smells are important to many species, Wong
Using an olfactometer – an instrument used to
detect and measure odour dilution – to control
the delivery of the scents, participants were randomly presented with 36 different video-odour
pairings. Following each presentation, participants assessed the videos in terms of “engagement, pleasantness and emotional arousal.”
While she expected non-matching visualsaudio-odours would have a greater negative
effect across the board, and, therefore, the
opposite to be true for matching pairs, she discovered that wasn’t the case.
“Surprisingly, congruent odours did not
enhance engagement or emotional arousal
compared to a no-odour control,” said Wong,
who presented her finding at the 45th annual
Ontario Undergraduate Thesis Conference, held
at Western May 8. “There was little difference
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Principal Investigator: Dr. Stewart Harris
www.gibbonsparkmontessori.com
said. But their effect on the human perception
in concurrent auditory and visual stimulation has
received little investigation.
So, with the participation of 35 Western students, Wong showed
her audience three different types of 15-second videos – ones with
matching visuals, audio
and odours (such as
images of babies with
the smell of baby oil;
ones with non-matching visual, audio and
WONG
odours (such as a forest
scene with the smell of cherry pie); and ones
with no odours accompanying the visuals and
audio at all.
B Y PA U L M AY N E
between congruent odours and no odour on
ratings of engagement and emotional arousal;
however, even congruent odours reduced pleasantness ratings, suggesting all odours used were
somewhat unpleasant.”
Wrong believes this could be the result of
‘cross-modal competition,’ or two senses competing against one another. In this case, the
presence of an odour leads to suppression of the
auditory and visual abilities, which she was able
to confirm using a functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) test with one of the participants.
“We looked at activity in the brain and it did
decrease in the visual and auditory cortex with
both congruent and incongruent testing,” Wong
said. “It was surprising to see. It’s almost as if the
brain is battling – ‘Do I pay attention to these
smells or pay attention to the video?’”
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8
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Noon to receive President’s
Medal for Distinguished Service
BY JASON WINDERS
ALAN NOON, LONGTIME media
specialist in photography, will be
awarded the second annual President’s Medal for Distinguished Service at Western’s 305th Convocation
ceremony. Chancellor emeritus John
Thompson and Western President
Amit Chakma will present the award to
Noon at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 17.
The medal recognizes those individuals who have provided exemplary service to the university over a
sustained period of time, over and
above the normal requirements of
their positions.
“The vast majority of what we and
others know and appreciate about
Western has been revealed to us
through Alan’s efforts,” wrote Charmaine Dean, Science dean, in her letter of support for the nomination. “We
continue to appreciate the history and
life of Western through the lens, the
research and the technical expertise
that Alan shared so generously and
creatively. His work over five decades
has tremendous impact within and
beyond our campus. His books, films
and slide presentations have provided
Western with a wonderful legacy.
“He has significantly enhanced the
dissemination of our scientific discoveries and documented the history and
vision of Western, and the achievements of our students.”
According to Human Resources,
Noon’s half century at Western represented one of – if not the longest
– continuous service times for a Western employee. In 2011, he entered his
50th, and final, year at Western. Amazingly, he served seven of Western’s 10
presidents.
It was an intriguing time at Western in 1962 when Noon began in the
Faculty of Science. The former media
specialist in photography said a major
building boom was underway, changing the landscape almost every day.
“When I came, it was a time of great
change,” said Noon, who was born
in Cleethorpes, U.K., then moved to
Canada at age 12. “Every time you
came on campus, it seemed like you
needed a road map to get to work
because there was a new building
each time.”
For Noon, his time on campus
began straight out of high school.
While his intention was to become a
teacher, an ongoing working relationship with Western researcher Helen
Battle steered him toward the Department of Biology.
His photography work started in
the early 1960s, when a young Noon
began making slides, and then taking photos, as a favour for faculty
members. While there were other
photographic units on campus at the
time – around eight or nine – they
eventually disappeared, leaving Alan
and fellow employee Ian Craig as the
only campus photo unit.
“Alan had a relaxed demeanor that
put the subject of his photographs
at ease,” Craig wrote. “This, plus the
ability to control the process from
inception to finished photographs
resulted in consistently very high-qual-
PAUL MAYNE // WESTERN NEWS
According to Human Resources, Alan Noon’s half century at Western represented one of – if not the longest – continuous service times for a
Western employee. In 2011, the longtime media specialist in photography entered his 50th, and final, year at Western. Amazingly, he served seven
of Western’s 10 presidents. Noon will be awarded the second annual President’s Medal for Distinguished Service at Western’s 305th Convocation
ceremony.
ity photographs. His versatility was
also a strong asset to the university
– from photographing individuals and
groups of people for various departments, including the President’s
Office, to photographing buildings,
aerial photography and specimen
photography, to scanning rare, valuable documents from the Weldon and
Music Libraries.”
Biology professor Mark Bernards
boasted about being the last department chair whose photo was taken by
Noon for the Chair’s Gallery.
“Alan had a way of not only making me comfortable with the activity (I
am not a natural for this). But he also
made me feel special, the centre of
attention,” Bernards said. “And I think
that this is truly the essence of Alan’s
success as a photographer, and what
made him so important to Western.
No matter the subject, at the time
the photograph is being taken, the
subject itself is all that matters. That
sense of intent focus was palpable,
but not in an intimidating way. Instead,
it was respectful.
“That he brought this level of talent
and professionalism to all his many
and diverse endeavors across campus
are what distinguishes his level of service above the normal.”
In 1980, Noon was hired by Western
News and contributed photography
for the next 14 years. His presence
was seen up until his retirement – and
beyond – in the popular The Way We
Were photo series, published by the
newspaper, as well as on the pages
of the Alumni Gazette in its Memories
section.
“You don’t realize it – not many
people do. But the way you view the
history of this university is oftentimes
through the eyes of Alan Noon,” wrote
Helen Connell, Communications and
Public Affairs associate vice-president
and Western News publisher. “For
more than half a century, Alan has
been a treasure trove, a keeper of
images and memories. For an institution such as ours, one steeped in tradition, having Alan available is invaluable. Thousands of people have been
guided through this university’s past
through his photography, words and
memory.”
University Archivist Robin Keirstead
echoed those sentiments.
“As a result of his many years of service, as well as his own personal interests, Alan became a font of knowledge with respect to many aspects
of Western’s history, most notably
key people, events and buildings and
structures,” Keirstead wrote in his
nomination letter. “He is one of a very
select group of people whose knowledge of Western’s history is unparalleled. Indeed, if there is anyone who
deserves the title of ‘unofficial university historian’ it is likely Alan.”
Recipients of the medal are
selected by Western’s Honorary
Degrees Committee.
Nominees for the award must have
been retired/resigned from the university in any capacity (including Board or
Senate membership) for at least one
year prior to consideration and have
no ongoing formal relationship with
the university. The award is intended
primarily to recognize administrative
staff, but faculty may also be recognized for work or achievements that
would not normally be covered by
the professor emeritus designation or
other service awards already in place.
Jan Van Fleet, former university
Senate and Board of Governors secretary, was awarded the first President’s
Medal last year.
“To me, Alan Noon has been one of
the great unsung heroes of Western,”
wrote Robert Barney, Health Sciences
professor emeritus. “To him, Western
has always been the ‘bottom line’ – its
history, its reputation, the activities of
its people that promoted our proud
traditions and heritage across the
country, indeed the world.”
Paul Mayne contributed to this report.
Western News
Finding a somewhere
like nowhere else
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Sofia Herrarte, 23, who came to Western from Guatemala, will receive her Bachelor of Arts on June 15, having
completed a double major in Art History and English Literature. She will return in the fall to pursue a master’s
degree in English. “I can’t say there was one time in a class that I could say, ‘Oh, I wish I was somewhere
else,’” she said.
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
SOFIA HERRARTE DOESN’T want
to leave.
When she first came to London
four years ago, she felt the city was
small. Closed off. Less of a metropolis
than expected. But when she came to
campus, Herrarte’s opinion changed.
“I was happy – it was bigger now
and there was a diverse student population, which I liked,” said Herrarte,
23, who came to Western from Guatemala.
Had she stayed home, she would
be working as a lawyer, a doctor or in
finance – landing in traditional jobs,
she noted. And while she excelled in
all subjects in school, Herrarte always
had an affinity for the arts and the written word. She gave journalism school
a try for one year after high school, but
it just wasn’t enough. That’s why she
came to Western.
“For me, it was definitely necessary to go abroad and look for different options. I like English, art and
history. I knew that was my passion,
and I decided to go for that,” Herrarte added, noting her uncle lives in
London and recommended Western.
On June 15, Herrarte will receive
her Bachelor of Arts degree (having
done a double major in Art History
and English Literature), alongside two
gold medals, at the 305th installment
of Western’s Convocation.
She was social, outgoing and
focused on her studies – all at once
– from the get go. One regret is
choosing to live off campus, Herrarte
explained, because it made for a
lonely blunder in her early days.
“One of the mistakes I made was
deciding not to live in residence; I
decided I was better off living on my
own because I was a bit older,” she said.
Herrarte picked up the social slack
by getting involved in extracurricular
activities on campus, notably Western’s Summer Academic Orientation
(SAO) program in her second year.
She wanted to help other newcomers
to Western and other international
students acclimatize to their new
home. Since then, she has worked in
various roles with the Student Success
Centre, and, this summer, is working
full-time as its Scholars’ Programs and
SAO Student Coordinator.
A Scholar’s Electives student, Herrarte has done exceedingly well in
her studies over the past four years.
She has maintained her place on the
Dean’s Honour Roll and received a
number of scholarships and awards,
including the Bounce Scholarship
for achieving the highest mark in a
17th century English course, the Arts
& Humanities Entry Scholarship of
Excellence and the Scholarship of
Distinction.
But June 15 won’t mark the end of
Herrarte’s time and studies at Western. She is returning in the fall for a
master’s degree in English, looking to
hone in on Victorian Literature. When
she’s finished with that, she plans to
follow in the footsteps of those who
inspired her and pursue a PhD, with
the goal of becoming a professor.
“I can’t say there was one time in
a class that I could say, ‘Oh, I wish I
was somewhere else.’ The professors
here – I love Dr. (David) Bentley; he’s
fantastic – are all great. How they treat
you, and share ideas, and see you as
an equal, is something I really like,”
Herrarte said.
“For me, reading is one of my
happy places. It’s what I like to do,
something that comes naturally to
me. I enjoy reading and looking for
those things you don’t necessarily find
in articles or essays, looking at how
characters behave, what it means – I
just really enjoy that,” she continued.
“And I enjoy being with people.
Being a professor, I would always be
surrounded by literature and would
have that contact with students.”
| June 4, 2015
9
10
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Western News
| June 4, 2015
11
Learn the colours
of the season
B Y PA U L M AY N E
THOUSANDS OF NEW Western graduates will cross the
Alumni Hall stage over the next two weeks. While they may
look the same with their black robes, take a closer look and
you’ll find a few subtle differences when it comes to their
hoods.
While the variation most obvious is colour, there are also
slight differences to the three-foot hoods, in particular the
size of the velvet trim when it comes to bachelor, master’s
and doctoral degrees (2 inches, 3 inches and 5 inches,
respectively). As well, silk trim is used on the hoods for DDS
and velvet for MCID hoods.
With limited exceptions, those graduating must wear
an academic gown – black for undergraduate and master’s
degrees; purple for doctoral graduates. Exceptions to this
are Indigenous students, who may opt to wear traditional
dress; active military personnel, who may opt to wear their
dress uniform; and clergy/members of religious orders,
who may opt to wear their religious apparel.
All graduates have the appropriate degree hood placed
on their shoulders while on stage as a symbol of completion of their degrees. Hoods are not required for candidates from diploma and certificate programs, but it is
permissible for them to wear hoods from previously earned
degrees. All candidates for degrees also have the choice
to wear a mortarboard on stage.
Fifteen distinguished individuals will receive honorary degrees when Western hosts its 305th Convocation this spring.
The ceremonies, featuring addresses by the honorary degree recipients, are scheduled for the following days:
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts (Human
Ecology) - White
ALVIN J. SILK
Ivey Business School Master of Business
Administration (MBA) Convocation
10 a.m. Friday, June 5
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
An influential scholar and educator in the field of
marketing, Western alumnus Alvin J. Silk is internationally recognized for his research on models
and measurement systems to support marketing
decision making and the economics of the advertising and marketing services industry. Silk is the
Lincoln Filene Professor Emeritus at the Harvard
Business School (HBS). As the former head of the
HBS marketing unit, Silk introduced “Brand Marketing” as an elective in the MBA program and
taught “Research Design and Measurement” in
the doctoral program.
MICHAEL GOODCHILD
Bachelor of Management and
Organizational Studies - Grey
10 a.m. Tuesday, June 9
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (D.Sc.)
Recognized as a global leader in the ever-evolving
field of geographic information systems, Michael
Goodchild is Emeritus Professor of Geography
at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The
former chair of Western’s Department of Geography, Goodchild won the Lauréat Prix International
de Géographie Vautrin Lud, considered the Nobel
Prize for Geography, in 2007.
THE HONOURABLE ELIZABETH
DOWDESWELL
3 p.m. Tuesday, June 9
Doctor of Laws, jure dignitatis (LL.D.)
Bachelor of Fine Arts - Brown
Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Musical
Arts - Pink
Bachelor of Medical Science – Dark
Green/Golden Yellow
The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell is the 29th
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Dowdeswell is an
Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member of
the Order of Ontario. Her accomplished career in
both public service and the private sector included
serving as an Under-Secretary-General at the
United Nations.
DONNA SOBLE KAUFMAN
10 a.m. Wednesday, June 10
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Past chair of the Board of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the former Chair of TransAlta
Corporation, Donna Soble Kaufman launched her
career as a broadcast executive with CHCH-TV. A
former partner of Stikeman Elliott, she served as a
member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public Service of Canada.
DAVID MULRONEY
3 p.m. Wednesday, June 10
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Bachelor of Engineering Science - Orange Bachelor of Health Sciences - Red
David Mulroney is a Distinguished Senior Fellow
at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of
Global Affairs. A career Foreign Service officer, he
served as Ambassador of Canada to the People’s
Republic of China from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his
appointment to Beijing, Mulroney was assigned to
the Privy Council Office in Ottawa as the Deputy
Minister responsible for the Afghanistan Task
Force.
KEITH L. MOORE
10 a.m. Thursday, June 11
Doctor of Science, honoris causa (D.Sc.)
A distinguished researcher for more than 60 years,
Keith L. Moore is an award-winning teacher of
medical and dental students. Moore is an alumnus
of Western and a professor emeritus and former
Chair of Anatomy in the division of anatomy and
Associate Dean of Basic Medical Sciences in the
Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Moore has lectured around the world on topics
relating to clinically-oriented embryology and
anatomy and has authored 14 medical textbooks,
including four international standards.
ROBERT BIRGENEAU
3 p.m. Thursday, June 11
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Previously serving as Chancellor of UC Berkeley,
Robert Birgeneau is now the Arnold and Barbara
Silverman Distinguished Professor of Physics,
Materials Science and Engineering, and Public
Policy at the top-ranked public university in the
United States. The Past President of the University of Toronto, Birgeneau’s research is primarily
concerned with the phases and phase transition
behavior of novel states of matter.
BONNIE PATTERSON
10 a.m. Friday, June 12
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
(LL.D.)
Bonnie Patterson has
served as President and
CEO of the Council of
Ontario Universities since
2009. A Member of the
Order of Canada and the
Order of Ontario for her
contributions to postsecondary education, she previously held the post from
1995 to 1998 before becoming the President and ViceChancellor of Trent University,
a position that she held for 11
years. The Western alumna is also the former Dean
of Business at Ryerson University.
PIERRE LASSONDE
3 p.m. Friday, June 12
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Considered a superstar of the resource sector,
Pierre Lassonde is co-founder and chair of the
world-class gold royalty and streaming company
Franco-Nevada. A member of the Order of Canada, Lassonde is chair of Le Musée national des
beaux-arts du Québec, past chair of the World
Gold Council and author of The Gold Book. A
$5-million gift from the Lassonde Family Foundation, the largest gift ever to Western Engineering,
supported the construction of the Claudette
MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion.
BERTHOLD CARRIÈRE
10 a.m. Monday, June 15
Doctor of Music, honoris causa (D.Mus.)
Currently serving as co-music director of the
Stratford Symphony Orchestra, Berthold Carrière was previously the Director of Music of the
Stratford Festival for more than 38 years. Carrière
was Musical Director of the Theatre Department
at the Banff School of Fine Arts from 1968 to 1970
and studied composition with Arsenio Giron and
music history with Philip Downs at Western from
1971 to 1973.
AMARTYA SEN
3 p.m. Monday, June 15
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for
his contributions to welfare economics, Amartya
Sen is the Thomas W. Lamont University
Professor and professor of economics
and philosophy at Harvard University. From 1998 to 2004, he was
the Master of Trinity College,
Cambridge. He has served as
President of the American
Economic Association, the
Econometric Society, the
Indian Economic Association, and the International
Economic Association.
DAVID CORNHILL
pany he founded in 1994. Under his leadership,
AltaGas has grown from one of Canada’s first midstream energy companies into a $10 billion enterprise. With Cornhill emphasizing the importance
of creating social value in the communities where
the Calgary-based company operates, AltaGas has
created lasting, sustainable, community partnerships across Canada from sea-to-sea-to-sea over
the past 21 years.
Master of Library and Information
Services - Lemon
Master of Nursing, Master of Science in
Nursing - Apricot
Master of Engineering, Master of
Engineering Science - Orange
ROGER JACKSON
3 p.m. Tuesday, June 16
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Roger Jackson is a three-time Olympic rower who
won gold in the coxless pairs at the 1964 Olympic
Games in Tokyo with George Hungerford. From
1976-78, the Western alumnus was the director
of Sport Canada, before serving as president of
the Canadian Olympic Association from 1982-90.
As the chief executive officer of Own the Podium,
Jackson helped Canada win a world record number of gold medals at the 2010 Olympic Games in
Vancouver.
Master of Environment and Sustainability,
Master of Public Administration - Peacock Master of Science in Occupational
Therapy, Master of Science, Master of
Clinical Science – Golden Yellow
Master of Science in Foods and Nutrition
- Maroon
Master of Social Work - Citron
Master of Laws, Master of Studies in
Law - Purple
Master of Clinical Dentistry - Lilac
Doctor of Dental Surgery - Lilac
Doctor of Medicine - Green
Doctor of Philosophy - Purple
JUDY EROLA
10 a.m. Wednesday, June 17
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
The Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt from
1980 to 1984, Judy Erola was named to Pierre
Trudeau’s final Federal Cabinet. A former radio
and television personality, Erola was the first
woman ever appointed to the Cabinet’s Priorities
and Planning Committee and served as Minister
responsible for the Status of Women during the
negotiations of the equality clause in the Canadian
Constitution.
CONSTANCE SUGIYAMA
3 p.m. Wednesday, June 17
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.)
Constance Sugiyama is the president of ConMark
Strategy Inc., providing high level advice and solutions to the public and private sectors. She is also
a corporate director and a Distinguished Visiting
Fellow at Ryerson University. She retired from the
practice of law in 2012 after a 35-year career on Bay
Street where she was recognized as a trailblazer
and leading Canadian corporate and mergers and
acquisitions lawyer.
10 a.m. Tuesday, June 16
Doctor of Laws, honoris
causa (LL.D.)
David Cornhill is the chairman
and CEO of AltaGas, a com-
Bachelor of Science – Golden Yellow
NOT PICTURED
Master of Health and Information
Science – Red/White
Master of Fine Arts – Brown
Juris Doctor (Law) - Purple
Bachelor of Education – Light Blue
Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Apricot
Bachelor of Science (Foods and Nutrition), Bachelor of Social Work - Citron
Bachelor of Science (Human Ecology) Maroon
Master of Arts - White
Master of Physical Therapy - Turquoise
Master of Public Health – Salmon Pink
Master of Business Administration,
Master of Science in Management - Drab
Master of Education – Light Blue
Master of Music - Pink
Master of Theological Studies, Master of
Divinity, Bachelor of Theology – Scarlet
Master of Financial Economics - Copper
12
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Journey shows the power of ‘baby steps’
BY JASON WINDERS
DEBRA HAWTHORNE’S TRANSCRIPT reflects a postsecondary
experience more than three decades
in the making. And when she takes
the final few steps of that journey at
Convocation next week, the Western
staffer will stand as a testament to passion and determination.
“It was either wild or crazy – I don’t
know which,” said Hawthorne, who
has worked as an administrative assistant in Health Sciences since September 2013. “The experience has been
an eye-opener in many ways. I learned
a lot about a lot – and a lot about me
and what I can do. You may think you
aren’t capable of doing something,
or something is too big, too far away.
But all it takes is baby steps and organization.”
In 1981, a passion for music sparked
by a high school instructor led her to
Concordia University in Montreal. Even
then, she wasn’t the typical student,
as she already had eyes on starting a
family.
“We were not long married and
the family just started coming,” she
laughed. “My first course I did while
I was pregnant with our first child –
wondering if I was going to have the
baby right there in class.”
That experience was followed by
some classes at the McGill Conserva-
JASON WINDERS // WESTERN NEWS
After a three decade journey to her degree, Western staffer Debra
Hawthorne says she’ll be thinking about a lot of people as she crosses
the Convocation stage. “Most of all, I will be thinking, ‘Here’s the dream
– it came true,’” she said.
tory.
“It was my dream, originally, to get
a music degree from McGill. But it
didn’t work out that way,” said Hawthorne, who was almost ready to
shelve her passion. “But it was my
husband who said, ‘Deb, you know,
it’s never too late.’ I started thinking
he was right. Why put off that dream?
Why forget about it? I can do it – one
baby step at a time.”
The family moved to London in
1997. Hawthorne started working in
Dental Clinic administration at Western in August of that year; she enrolled
in a Vocal Methods course that fall.
The journey was back on track.
“Here’s me, almost 40, standing in
front of a class of 20-year-olds, singing,” Hawthorne said of those first
few classes. “Oh my gosh, what an
experience,”
The mother of four and grandmother of six worked her way through
steadily, thanks, in part, to the guiding
hand of Diane Mills, her academic
advisor in Music, who will be “more
than happy to see me go.”
Juggling family and job throughout
her studies, she didn’t have the time
to fulfill the instrument requirements
for a major in Music History. Instead,
she pursued a three-year BA with a
double minor in Music and Comparative Literature and Culture.
The shift was a blessing, not a disappointment, for this lifelong lover of
learning.
“It has been fabulous, and all of
the electives, I have just loved them
– Astronomy, French, Visual Arts,
Classics,” she said. “That was actually great. I am interested in so many
things it allowed me to expand into
new areas.”
At one point in her journey, Hawthorne paused to complete a Canadian Institute of Management designation through Continuing Studies.
She graduated from that program in
2010.
She credited Western’s Education
Assistance program, which encourages staff to obtain additional edu-
cation/qualifications by reimbursing
tuition costs, for helping her along
the way.
“People should take advantage of
that. It’s such a wonderful thing,” she
said. “There’s always a way to work a
course in somewhere – and it doesn’t
have to be toward a degree.”
With academics behind her, she
looks to return to performing music –
either her clarinet from high school or
picking up a stringed instrument. But
she has yet to rule out a return to the
classroom.
“I have always been interested
in real estate – maybe a real estate
license, you know, for a fun hobby,”
she said.
Education shaped him into ‘the person I prefer to be’
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
FOR THE LAST 43 years, life simply
got in the way for Victor Young, 71.
Growing up in Ireland, he left high
school – Kilkenny College, a school
that counts Jonathan Swift and
George Berkley among its alumni –
at 16. Technically, he is a high school
drop-out, Young said.
“My father managed a farm and my
future would have been as a clerk in a
hardware store or grocery store. But
at age 11, I set this exam and got a
full scholarship to go to Kilkenny. I’ve
always done well in school and I had
four years there,” he said.
“At 16, my parents thought, ‘You’ve
had more education than anyone in
our family’s ever had. Now, it’s time to
get a job.’ I didn’t fight it. I had gained
another scholarship to do more (studies), but I turned it down and got a
job.”
Young worked for an insurance
company in Dublin until he got married in 1967. With his wife, he then
came to Canada – on the day of their
wedding. By 1972, he had completed
his insurance exams and moved from
Toronto, to Montreal, and finally, to
London, where he started his postsecondary studies with two Calculus
courses at Western.
“I made my mark in the insurance
business, with a company called Commercial Union, today Aviva. I left them
in 1978, to start my own broker business here and I did it for 20 years, to
the day. I sold my business and retired
17 years ago, and started taking more
courses,” Young said.
For decades, his dominant focus
had been providing for his family and
ensuring his three sons were on stable
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Having taken time to focus on family and his career, Victor Young, 71, took 43 years to complete his degree.
He will graduate June 16 with a Bachelor of Arts. “It’s a little bit weird. My life has been upside down, in
terms of education. I’m doing my university degree when it’s absolutely no use to me at all. But I think I’m a
different person as a result,” Young said.
footing, able to pursue their own studies.
He travelled with his wife for a bit
following retirement, but the desire to
return to the classroom was too strong
to ignore.
“At 65, I thought, ‘I have these credits and I’m either going to just forget
about them or go on,’” he said.
He opted out of the “carefree life”
of a retiree and went on to complete
more than half of his required credits
– acing just about every one – all after
the age of 65.
“I did the odd course here, a half
course there. I switched to Arts &
Humanities, took English, Film, Psychology, Philosophy of Law – things
that interested me,” Young said.
“When I took the exams, I could look
around the room and there were people, an awful lot of young people,
all children compared to me. But it’s
been a great experience, really.”
In the coming days, he will cross
the stage in Alumni Hall to receive his
Bachelor of Arts.
He’s unsure what he’ll do next. He
might take up a musical instrument.
More courses. He will certainly con-
tinue his with interests in film and his
love of reading. His list of holds at the
London Public Library is always at 40 –
the maximum allowed.
“My feeling is, education might
not be the only answer, but it is an
answer. Coming from Ireland, I’m well
aware of its squabbles. I’ve always
said an education would fix that. A
young university graduate in Dublin or
Belfast has no interest in squabbles,”
Young said.
Education benefits both for individuals and society, he said. His three
sons have earned a total of eight
degrees between them – three undergraduate and five graduate.
“It’s a little bit weird. My life has
been upside down, in terms of education. I’m doing my university degree
when it’s absolutely no use to me at
all. But I think I’m a different person as
a result,” he added.
“I think I might have been, perhaps
narrow minded, being in business.
I might have been extremely right
wing. But I’m not now, as a result of my
studies. It has softened me and made
me the person I prefer to be now.”
Western News
| June 4, 2015
13
New home led to new life, opportunities for staffer
B Y PA U L M AY N E
AT 17, HE arrived as a stranger in
a strange country with his entire life
crammed into a single piece of luggage. He didn’t know a soul, speak
the language and would not see his
parents in his native Albania for five
years.
“I left a child and went home a
grown man,” Amarildo Topalli said of
his journey.
Twenty years ago, Topalli, along
with 10 teammates, travelled to Canada to play in the Henderson Memorial Soccer Tournament in London.
Now, the Facilities Management
staffer, with a decade of service, will
cross the stage at Alumni Hall June 10
to pick up his Sociology degree.
“I tell people to appreciate what
you have because it could change
tomorrow,” he said. “When I was back
home, I never appreciated my parents, because I thought everything
was a given. But when you move on
your own, it’s like, ‘Holy smokes.’ Now,
I shake my head and understand.”
Two decades ago, Albania was not
the place for young teenagers. The
country’s emergence from a Communist regime combined with an unsettled economy, modest educational
options and a newly inaugurated military conscription made for hard times.
“We heard good things about Canada – other than the snow,” Topalli
jokes. “I told my mom and dad, when
I left, what I was going to do, but even
to this day they said they didn’t know
or believe me that it would happen.
There really was no guarantee. I didn’t
know either.”
In the spring of 1995, Topalli arrived
in Canada to play in a soccer tournament. And it was here, in London, he,
along with his teammates, claimed
refugee status.
It was a rare case to have 10 teenagers, along with their coach and his
wife, claim refugee status at once. The
process took a month or so before
accommodations could be found. In
the meantime, families from London’s
St. John the Divine Parish community
took the players into their homes for
their first month in Canada.
PAUL MAYNE // WESTERN NEWS
Twenty years ago this summer, Facilities Management employee Amarildo Topalli arrived from Albania for
more than a soccer tournament. He would defect following the tournament, become a Canadian citizen and
next week will cross the Alumni Hall stage to receive his Sociology degree from Western.
Following this, they moved into
apartments in the same building. The
team that played together on the
soccer pitch, now needed to come
together off the field in order to survive. Through the help of social assistance – and just $195 a month for each
teen – they started their new lives.
With their families back in Albania,
coach Luca Shaqiri and his wife, Myzejen, who works as a lab supervisor
in Western’s Department of Biology,
became the teammates’ new “mother
and father,” Topalli said.
“We came together as a team; it
changed from fear to become more
exciting. We were all in this together,
and knew we could do this. We were
all like brothers now – a new family,”
he continued. “We would eat, rest,
play soccer and head to bed. You had
to make it work, and this is what we
had. You didn’t turn your head and
say, ‘Can I get something else? Can I
get more?”
The group stayed together for
almost four years, until everyone finished high school and moved to university or employment. During their
time in London, most played for the
London City Soccer Club. Unfortu-
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nately, knee and leg injuries sidelined
Topalli for good. He stays involved in
the sport through coaching, currently
at Eurostar Academy in London.
He received his Canadian citizenship on Sept. 5, 2000, and his passport
six days later. On Sept. 12, Topalli was
on a flight looking forward to seeing
his parents again for the first time in
five years.
“It was very, very difficult,” he said.
“I wanted to play a practical joke with
them, you know, hide and see their
reaction. But I remember as I came
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out of the airport, she (mom) ran right
through the guards who were there
and came and hugged me, all while
they were running after her. She didn’t
know she did that. She was grabbing
my arm and kissing me. I was like,
‘Wow, and I wanted to play a joke on
her?’ It was very emotional.”
Topalli’s parents, Dashamir and
Hume, have since travelled to Canada
to see the life he has made for himself
in London. His mother was present
for the birth of both his children, even
cutting the umbilical cord for each.
His parents, along with his wife, Anida,
who is working on her own Economics
degree, and their two boys, Enkli, 5,
and Dion, 2, will join him at Convocation.
“My mom’s been waiting a long
time. She keeps asking me, ‘When
are you going to finish?’” he said.
“Western is great in that they give
you the opportunity to take courses.
It’s where I work, so why not get that
extra education? You end up learning
so much. I never look at things the
same way now. It gives you a different
perspective on life.”
The former teammates remain
friends, and while thoughts turn to
his native Albania often, there is little
temptation to return.
“People ask me if I would ever go
back,” he said. “I left there when I was
17; I’ve been 20 years in Canada. This
is my home; this is home for my kids.
We’ve created a new life here.”
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Western News
| June 4, 2015
Research
PhD candidate navigating life and the lab
SPECIAL TO WESTERN NEWS
Ian Connell, a Medical Biophysics PhD candidate, focuses his research on improving the imaging capabilities of radiofrequency (RF) coils, the ‘antennae’ of the MRI system that transmit
and receive radiofrequency signals to and from the patient. He is also a national-level rower and a member of Western’s varsity rowing team.
B Y E M I LY L E I G H T O N
IAN CONNELL, A Medical Biophysics PhD candidate, is just as at
home on the open water as he is in
the imaging lab.
“I like the competitive nature of
rowing and academics,” Connell said.
“Being a grad student at Schulich
Medicine & Dentistry has given me
the flexibility to combine my interests
and remain competitive in the areas
I’m passionate about.”
The 25-year-old is a national-level
rower and a member of Western’s varsity rowing team. His enthusiasm and
dedication for the sport are impressive – Connell trains two to three times
per day at Fanshawe Lake, on the
eastern limits of the city of London.
But his athletic prowess on the
water doesn’t take away from his success as a trainee with the Department
of Medical Biophysics. Under supervisor Schulich professor Ravi Menon,
Connell works with the 7-Tesla MRI
scanner at Robarts Research Institute.
Connell is improving the imaging
capabilities of radiofrequency (RF)
coils, the ‘antennae’ of the MRI system that transmit and receive radiofrequency signals to and from the
patient.
“My research allows the RF coils, or
antennae, to work together in a more
cohesive manner, so we can image the
brain better,” he explained. “We want
to have some sort of way of making
sure the coils only talk to the brain, not
to each other.”
In order to accomplish this, Connell developed a magnetic wall to
isolate the RF coils from each other.
He worked on everything from the
theoretical approach – the math and
physics that go into the design – to
the physical construction and application of the new coil.
There is currently a provisional
patent on the project and he hopes
manufacturers will begin selling the
specialized coil for clinical use and
research facilities.
Originally from Sault Ste. Marie,
Connell studied undergraduate engineering physics at McMaster University, with a sub-specialty in nuclear
engineering. His intention was to pursue a career in the nuclear industry.
But a few months before graduation in 2011, the Fukushima Diiachi
nuclear disaster occurred in Japan
and he was compelled to reassess
his career plans. He soon realized he
wanted to be part of a less controversial and more rewarding field.
“I chose to work with MRI, because
it is physics in medicine,” Connell
said. “There’s a connection to people,
more of a direct impact. I know I’m
toiling away for a reason.”
The Robarts trainee is also toiling
away at rowing with a purpose. His
sights are set on the U.S. Nationals in
July and the Royal Canadian Henley
Regatta in August. He’s also considering a run for the Pan-Am Games
national team.
“My rowing days aren’t over yet,”
he said.
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Western News
On Campus
Campaign satirizes
gender pay gap
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
THE ONTARIO UNDERGRADUATE Student Alliance (OUSA) wants
to see an end to the ‘Bachelorette
Degree.’ Or rather, the group wants to
draw attention to the gender pay gap
in Ontario affecting female university
graduates.
“It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s feminine. It will
earn graduates 30 per cent less. By
taking advantage of the Bachelorette
Degree discount plan, graduates can
expect up to 30 per cent off their
future earnings,” exclaims a mock
campaign video from OUSA, filmed
at Western earlier this year.
Women who graduate from university make roughly $300,000 less over
the course of their career, when compared to male university graduates,
according to Statistics Canada. And
the Pay Equity Commission of Ontario
calculates the overall gender pay gap
in Ontario to still be at 30 per cent.
OUSA was contacted by the commission and given a grant to run a
campaign.
“We just floated around the idea of
the ‘bachelorette’ degree – which is
obviously focused on satire, showing
in this day and age, even though we
don’t think it’s necessarily an issue,
women do make significantly less than
men,” said Jen Carter, OUSA president and outgoing vice-president
(external) for the University Students’
Council at Western. “The intent was
to raise awareness to this issue, to
make sure we could empower young
people to talk about it.”
The campaign to end the Bachelorette Degree officially launched
in February, Carter noted, adding it
is ongoing, with another video on
the way.
“Every year, on April 16, governments across the world, including the
United Nations Women’s Network,
focus on pay equity and what we can
do to achieve that, and to help push
that agenda. The campaign doesn’t
have a set end date – but something
that has a natural evolution,” she said.
While reception and feedback so
far has been positive, Carter said she
was surprised to see negative pushback from some feminist groups.
“It’s telling and interesting to think
a women’s group would be concerned about a campaign like this.
The criticism we got was the notion
of a bachelorette degree promotes
a gender binary. My argument would
be – you’re getting angry about the
right thing,” she explained. “You’re
getting angry about the fact there
is a gender binary. We’re not saying
there should be a gender binary and a
difference between the bachelor and
bachelorette degree – we’re saying
there actually is a difference, and you
should be upset about this.”
The entire campaign was done by
students, Carter noted.
“When you’re doing your undergrad, you’re so worried about getting
good grades, and making sure you’re
passing all your classes and moving
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Jen Carter, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) president
and outgoing vice-president (external) for the University Students’
Council at Western, launched a creative campaign to draw attention
to the ‘Bachelorette Degree’ – and its immediate impact on the future
female graduates.
on to the next thing. But you don’t
ever really think the opportunity you
get after you leave Western might
be different than any other person,
because you’ve put in the exact same
amount of work,” Carter said. “Our
intent with this is to really make sure
young women at Western, and young
women across the province, under-
stand this is still a very real challenge.
“If we empower young graduates
with the knowledge this is an issue,
they might, when meeting with an
employer and getting a job offer, be
willing to ask for more and to push
that envelope and ask for the salary
because they know it’s an issue.”
| June 4, 2015
15
16
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Read
Students bring
Great War to life through
one family’s letters
ALL OVER
B Y A D E L A TA L B O T
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2015-03-05
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MICHELLE HAMILTON WAS looking for a way to commemorate the
centennial of the First World War.
What she and her students found was
an intimate portrait of a prominent
local family.
After sifting through and transcribing thousands of pages – from nearly
500 letters – Hamilton’s students,
enrolled in Western’s Public History
program, curated a book, This Hour
of Trial and Sorrow: The Great War
Letters of the Leonard Family. The
collection features selected wartime
correspondence of London brothers
Ibbotson and Woodman Leonard,
who were stationed in Europe, and
their family members – the Leonards
of London’s E. Leonard and Sons
foundry – who were enduring the
effects of the war at home.
“This is a historical, documentary
book. The Leonard family was pretty
well connected, well known and in a
lot of local publications,” said Hamilton, who teaches History at Western.
Every year, the Public History program commits to a real-world project
that connects students to the community. This family, and its lengthy
written history, was a good opportunity for students to do just that. With
some 495 handwritten letters – some
of them 20 pages or more in length
– the Leonard family stories housed
within were relatively inaccessible to
the public. Hamilton’s students transcribed the letters, all of them, word
for word, and selected ones they felt
were most important to feature in
the book.
“What makes the letters interesting
is it’s two brothers, Woodman and
Ibbotson. Woodman was a major
and well up; Ibbotson was a private
colonel. They didn’t start off as privates; they were already high up,
which makes it different. They’re in a
position where they know more than
a private and they have more time to
write,” said Scott Dickinson, one of
the students in Hamilton’s class.
Not only do the letters paint a wartime portrait of events and battles
in Europe, they also give a glimpse
of life in London at the time. Stories
about the Leonard foundry, shortages
and even intermittent power outages
in London show up in the brothers’
letters.
But the 14 students in Hamilton’s
class got to know more than battles,
front lines, war history and London
happenings. They also got to know
Ibbotson and Woodman – personally
– so much so, when speaking casually
about their project, they refer to the
brothers as ‘Ibb’ and ‘Wood.’
“Ibb and Wood were very different people. Ibb is very proper and
sentimental; Wood is kind of a jerk,”
Dickinson said.
“Anytime you read correspondence between family members that
was meant to be private, it’s difficult
not to develop some sort of attachment with who you’re working with,”
added classmate Frank Smith.
Woodman died in 1917, during
the Canadian capture of Vimy Ridge
in France, an iconic Canadian battle. While he never returned home,
Ibbotson returned in 1918 – 10 days
before the ceasefire. He was granted
a request for compassionate leave;
the case he made to the appeal board
was his father was bringing the family
business into questionable finances.
“Most of the letters I had were from
the father – business letters – and they
kind of get old. But after Woodman
dies, you get a brief glimpse of his
personality and his emotion, which
at the time, you don’t get a lot of
(from men). But you get that he really
did feel for his sons, Reading, ‘He
was such a good boy.’ Reading even
one line after many letters of boilers,
that gives you a glimpse,” continued
Dominik Svehla, another student in
the class.
Transcriptions of the letters will
be put into Western Archives, where
Woodman’s personal diary can be
seen, Hamilton said.
“The students did research to
contextualize the events that may
not mean anything to the average
reader – but now the whole package
is more accessible. We will be donating a number of copies to the London
Public Library system, the Middlesex
County Library system and to Weldon,
as well,” she added.
“We found descendants that live
in Toronto, who are interested in their
family history and we will be sending
them a copy as well. There’s a personal connection and a London connection. It’s a good time to remember
the people who went overseas and
fought, and the people who stayed
home and dealt with the struggles
here.”
•••
‘This Hour of Trial and Sorrow: The
Great War Letters of the Leonard
Family’ is available through The Book
Store at Western, Attic Books and various online book retailers.
Western News
MARK RAYNER IS hilarious. But
channeling that personal humour –
apparent to many in the Faculty of
Information and Media Studies (FIMS)
professor’s classroom – onto the page
requires more skill than many may
realize.
Western News book reviewer Kane
Faucher recently sat with Rayner to
discuss humour, blogging, the future
of reading and preparations for the
singularity.
•••
Kane Faucher: In all of your books,
you employ humour and satire. Do
you consider that vehicle a kind of tool
or a weapon?
Mark Rayner: Any tool can be
turned into a weapon. (Ask me someday how to turn an innocuous sponge
into an IED.) That said, I see humour
and satire as story-delivery vehicles
more than armaments.
Humour, especially, is a nice way to
keep people reading if the underlying
subject matter is serious, or even dire.
When it comes to satire, I follow the
Vonnegut school, which makes fun of
our fellow humans – particularly as we
project our flaws into our institutions
and power structures – but has, at
its core, compassion for how darned
perplexing this life thing can be for a
barely sapient bipedal ape. I appreciate the satire of Swift and Voltaire, but
I find I can’t bring myself to be that
hard-hearted.
KF: Monkeys, pirates, wisdomdispensing galaxy-conquering aliens
and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled
talking fridges are regular installations
in your work. Is it a Gen X thing? Is it a
critique using satire and the absurd?
MR: Oh, it’s definitely the latter.
I may not be as biting as Swift, but
it’s still nice to be able to point out
hypocrisy and stupidity when I see it.
Absurdity makes it easier for me to do
that. Is it a Gen X thing? I’m not sure if
it’s fair to burden an entire cohort with
my own deranged imagination and
weird obsessions. I may be growing
out of the penchant for quirkiness a
bit too. My work in progress has very
little of this kind of absurdity in it,
though my sense of humour does still
run to the strange and silly. If you want
a regular dose of it, follow my blog or
my Facebook page.
KF: With changes in the literary
industry shifting away from publisher
responsibilities to market an author’s
work to the author having to take
on many of those roles, how has this
affected your writing practice? Are
you splitting time between writing and
promoting?
MR: Absolutely. My last two books
I self-published, which means all the
promotion rested on my shoulders.
But my first two novels were published
traditionally – with smaller presses
– and I had to do much of the work
in those cases, too. I’ve heard from
friends who work with large publishers that unless you’re a Stephen King,
authors have to expect they will need
to do much of the marketing to sell
their books. As someone who works
full-time, this means my time gets split
more than I would want it to. Some
days, I’d rather just write, but if I want
an audience I have to work at building
that, too. This is a reality that many
authors don’t understand before they
get into the field.
KF: As you teach in FIMS, what is
the importance of the singularity as it
is featured in your more recent work?
MR: The Fridgularity is a satire
of the notion of the technological
singularity. For readers who aren’t
familiar with the idea, it’s the point in
human history at which our machines
take over our culture. In essence,
history disappears when machines
become ‘smarter’ than humans, and
we become irrelevant.
This strikes me as a bad idea.
So, yeah, there’s a real intersection
between my teaching and my writing
when it comes to the singularity.
Now, given that Microsoft Word can
barely function without Clippy crashing my system, I’m not so convinced
it’s even possible to design an intelligent, sapient life form that lives in
a computer, or in a robot chassis –
never mind the ethics of doing so.
Anyway, in the novel, an emergent AI
takes over the Internet. All of it. And
this has dire consequences for human
civilization, generally, and the Internetaddicted among us, specifically. Some
of these notions may have come to me
as I watched my students obsessively
check their mobile phones, or how
often they checked their Facebook
feeds (this is less common now, the
kids are using SnapChat these days).
KF: Scary prognostications on AI
by Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates
aside, how do you see yourself competing for the diminishing piece of the
attention economy as reading tastes
appear to slide in favour of the brief
tweet over lengthier texts?
MR: My poorly thought out strategy is to keep throwing spaghetti at
the wall and see what sticks. It seems
to be slowly building an audience,
though I can’t really write as quickly
as the modern book industry seems
to demand. I’m not sure I buy into
the hype that people don’t read any
more. The evidence is against that,
especially if you take ebooks into consideration.
KF: You are demonstrably active
Notice of Alumni Association AGM
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Location: UCC Concrete Beach (Under the White Marquee)
12:00 p.m. Annual General Meeting of The Alumni Association
of The University of Western Ontario
12:30 p.m. Spirit of Western Award presentation
Guest speaker: Deepak Sethi, BSc’02, comedian and writer for
Family Guy, Brickleberry and Dumb and Dumber Too
Meet your Alumni Association Board of Directors and enjoy a
barbecue lunch and live music.
Everyone is welcome. Complimentary parking will be available.
To register, visit: westernconnect.ca/aaagm
17
Read
ALL OVER
DAVID REDDING PHOTGRAPHY
Finding humour in
a changing landscape
| June 4, 2015
on both your blog and the blogging community, including the use of
microblog sites such as Twitter. Do you
see this as more of a marketing tool,
or as more of a lab to test out new
writing on an audience – a sort of ‘fly it
up the flagpole and see who salutes’?
MR: I see blogging as a different
activity from social media. The latter
is where I can connect with audience
members and to do some (as little as
possible) marketing of my own work.
Blogging is definitely a bigger deal
for me. Partly, it’s content marketing,
but it’s also my sandbox. I love to try
out short pieces there, to experiment
and play with some of the themes of
my longer work without the stress of
real character or plot development.
(Though even flash fiction should have
a bit of both.) It’s also a testing ground
for larger concepts, such as the Clown
Apocalypse.
KF: You alluded to a gradual shift
away from the ‘quirk factor’ in your
current works in progress. I have to
ask, where are you steering your writing focus next? I hate to ask you to
dish, but any hints as to where your
pen is heading next?
MR: My next novel is about the socalled ‘obesity epidemic’ and is a satire with no speculative tricks, except
for the obvious one of asking a ‘What
if?’ question.
•••
Mark Rayner’s two newest books,
‘The Fridgularity’ and ‘Pirate Therapy,’
are available through The Book Store
at Western and various online book
retailers.
18
Western News
| June 4, 2015
// ACADEME
// CLASSIFIED
PhD Lectures
For Rent
Majid Eghbali-Zarch, Business Administration, Stability and Change in the
Strategic Decisions of Multinational
Enterprises, 9 a.m. June 4, Ivey 2120.
Bright and cosy, furnished sabbatical
home for faculty or staff, North West
London, 2 bedrooms + office, 10-minute drive to Western University, close
to schools, bus route, available end of
August, $1300 + utilities, 519-204-2044.
Hayssam El-Razouk, EC, Hardware
Implementations for Symmetric Key
Cryptosystems, 2 p.m. June 5, SEB 3102.
Heidi Siu, Nursing, Understanding
Nurses’ Knowledge Work, 9 a.m. June
8, HAS H4.
Nicole Sarah Coverdale, Kinesiology,
Reactivity of the middle cerebral artery
to carbon dioxide, 1 p.m. June 8, TH
3102.
Ahmed Fahmy, CEE, Monotonic and
Cyclic Performance of Spun-Cast Ductile
Iron Helical Tapered Piles, 11 a.m. June
4, SEB 2209B.
// STUDENT BULLETIN
Student Services Twitter:
@westernuWSS
If you’ve been following Western Student Services on Twitter, you may have
noticed that we’ve changed our handle. Be sure to continue to follow us
@westernuWSS for information and
contests from Office of the Registrar,
Student Success Centre, Student Development Centre, Teaching and Learning
Services and Propel Entrepreneurship.
Charan Kamal Bagga, Business Administration, The Viability and Sustainability
of a Trivial Attribute Differentiation Strategy, 8:30 a.m. June 9, Ivey Bldg. 1130.
Student Central In-Person Hours
Craig Michael Duncan, Nursing, An
Exploration of the Enactment of Acculturation in Research Utilization within a
Nursing Undergraduate Curriculum-InAction, 1 p.m. June 10, HAS H4.
Spring Convocation
(June 9-12, 15-17)
Muasaad Alrasheedi, Electrical and
Computer Engineering, A Maturity
Model for Mobile Learning, 1:30 p.m.
June 11, TEB 234.
Elizabeth Ann Higgins, Nursing, The
Influence of Nurse Manager Transformational Leadership on Nurse and Patient
Outcomes: Mediating Effects of Supportive Practice Environments, Organizational Citizenship Behaviours, Patient
Safety Culture and Nurse Job Satisfaction, 9 a.m. June 11, HAS H4.
Rebecca McDermott, Psychology, The
Transdiagnostic Prevention of Emotional
Disorders: A Randomized Controlled
Study, 1 p.m. June 12, SSC 9420.
Robert Whitwell, Neuroscience, A
Kinematic Analysis of Visual and Haptic
Contributions to Precision Grasping in a
Patient With Visual Form Agnosia and in
Normally-Sighted Populations, June 16.
Appointments
Randal Graham, Faculty of Law,
appointed as Goodmans LLP Faculty
Fellows in Legal Ethics, Faculty of Law.
July 1 through June 30, 2016.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
and Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday.
Graduates and guests, please check convocation.uwo.ca for Convocation details.
Summer Tuition Fees
If you have registered for summer courses, you can view your Online Statement
of account via student.uwo.ca.
Student Development Centre (SDC)
The SDC is open 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday to Friday over the summer. Call 519661-3031 or drop-in to the 4th floor of
the Western Student Services Building
to make an appointment.
Undergraduate Sessional Dates
June 4: Last day to drop a second-term
half course in Intersession without academic penalty.
June 5: Master of Business Administration Convocation.
June 9-12, 15-17: Spring Convocation.
June 12: Trois-Pistoles Intersession
ends.
June 15: Second term half courses in
Summer Evening and Spring/Summer
Distance Studies begin.
June 19: Intersession courses end.
// CAREERS
A central website displays advertisements for all vacant academic posi-
tions. The following positions are among
those advertised at uwo.ca/facultyrelations/faculty/academic_positions.html
Please review, or contact the faculty,
school or department directly.
ogy & Biostatistics. Applications will
be accepted until the position is filled.
Review of applicants will begin after
Sept. 30.
Full-Time Academic Appointments
All positions are subject to budgetary
approval. Applicants should have fluent
written and oral communication skills
in English. All qualified candidates are
encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will
be given priority. Western is committed
to employment equity and welcomes
applications from all qualified women
and men, including visible minorities,
Aboriginal people and persons with
disabilities.
Faculty of Education
Associate Professor or Professor
in Early Childhood Education
(Curriculum Studies)
Invites applications for an appointment
in the area of Early Childhood Education
(ECE) (Curriculum) at the rank of associate professor (tenure-track or tenured)
or professor (tenured) depending on
qualifications and extent of research
accomplishment. The effective date of
the appointment will be Jan. 1, 2016;
however an earlier or later start is possible. Review of application will begin
after June 30, and will continue until the
position is filled.
Faculty of Social Science Department of Economics
Tier II Canada Research Chair in
Human Capital and Productivity
Invites applications from both Canadian
and international candidates for a Tier
II Canada Research Chair in the area
of Human Capital and Productivity, at
the rank of probationary (tenure-track)
assistant, or probationary (tenure-track)
associate, or tenured associate professor, as qualifications and experience
warrant, with a starting date of July 1,
2016, or later. Review of applications will
commence on July 1 and will continue
until the position is filled.
Faculty of Social Science
Department of Management and
Organizational Studies
Applications are invited for a limitedterm, full-time appointment for a period
of one to three years (negotiable and
renewable) at the rank of lecturer in the
area of accounting. Salary will be commensurate with previous performance,
qualifications and experience in accordance with the Collective Agreement.
The effective date of appointment is
Aug. 1.
Place an Ad Today
For Classifieds, call 519-661-2045 or
email [email protected]. Rates: Faculty,
staff and students – $15; others and services/commercial ads – $20. Beyond 35
words, add 50 cents per word. Payment
must accompany ads. Submit by 9 a.m.
Thursdays to Western News, Suite 360,
Westminster Hall. No refunds. Visit Classifieds Online at communications.uwo.
ca/com/classifieds_menu.
Are you retired or retiring soon?
Find out all your options.
Contact Robert (Rob) Michaud, PFP,
Financial Planner today.
519-494-5017
[email protected]
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to meet your needs.
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sound financial planning.’
Royal Mutual Fund Inc.
Schulich School
of Medicine & Dentistry
Chair in the Department of
Medical Biophysics
Inviting applications for the position of
chair in the Department of Medical Biophysics. Applications will be accepted
until the position is filled. Review of
applicants will begin after Sept. 30.
Schulich School
of Medicine & Dentistry
Chair in the Department of
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Inviting applications for the position of
chair in the Department of Epidemiol-
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THE SYMBOL OF QUALITY
Western News
| June 4, 2015
19
Campus Digest
CFI backs Western researcher’s
effort to build safer structures
AGING STRUCTURES – LIKE
bridges, roads and pipelines – that
supply basic services are crumbling
around us, at a considerable cost
to Canadians. According to Civil &
Environmental Engineering professor
Timothy Newson, it’s often not just
age, but the shifting ground beneath
them that speeds the process.
“We have used 79 per cent of the
total service life of our public infrastructure, of which more than 60 per
cent is more than 40 years old,” he
said. “Unfortunately, there is a shortage of knowledge related to the management and replacement of this critical infrastructure as it nears the end of
its design life.”
By better understanding the
mechanical behaviour of soil and
rock that underpin them, however,
Newson and his team are developing
new approaches and technologies
for managing assets related to large
public transportation and energy networks. By looking at things like foundations, pipelines and ground slopes,
they hope to show how geotechnical
structures behave in the long-term,
and how environmental stressors
affect structural performance.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has provided Newson with
more than $2 million to develop a
large drum centrifuge that will allow
him to create scaled models of structures interacting with soil and rock.
The new equipment will allow his
team to look at simulations of long
periods of ground shift within a short
timeframe. It will also allow them to
simulate wind and structural loads,
large waves, earthquakes and landslides.
Newson’s efforts will help better
assess risk and save money for construction companies, manufacturers
and those who own related infrastructure. More than $100 billion has been
spent on infrastructure replacement
and repair in Ontario over the past
decade alone.
Failures of geotechnical elements
within the networks he’s studying have
significant effects on society, Newson said. “If we do not address these
problems, Canada’s built environment
will suffer greatly, which will significantly lower our safety, productivity
and quality of life.”
NEWS AND NOTES
If you don’t have an opportunity
to meet him face to face, Western
President Amit Chakma is hoping
you’ll meet with him screen to
screen.
Launched May 25, the president’s
Engaging Our Community website will capture the concerns and
issues raised as Chakma continues to meet with colleagues
across campus, as well as offers
an opportunity for university
community members to engage
with the president directly. The
site is available off the Office of
the President website, president.
uwo.ca, or directly at president.
uwo.ca/consultation.
Western branches out with tropical flora
On April 10, the president outlined to the university Senate a
‘Listening Tour,’ promising widespread engagement, including
faculty-by-faculty town halls,
direct consultation with faculty,
more regular engagement with
staff and employee leadership
groups, as well as more connections with students and alumni.
Meadows has served as the
managing editor of the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning since
its inception. He has been instrumental in helping STLHE create
this unique vehicle for the promotion and development of the
scholarship of postsecondary
teaching, both in Canada and
internationally. He was described
by his nominators as the “linchpin” of the journal and the “glue”
that holds the enterprise together.
This new website is one of the
tools Chakma plans to use to listen to the university community’s
views and share information that
will help with the development
of a progress report the president plans to deliver to the entire
Western community at the end
of July, Chakma explained via the
site.
Health Studies professor Aleksandra Zecevic has been named one
of five North American winners of
the 2015 Brightspace Innovation
Award in Teaching and Learning, the Society for Teaching
and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and D2L announced
this week. The annual award
celebrates innovative, thoughtprovoking and impactful teaching
and learning practices by postsecondary educators.
Highlights of the site include a
running list of groups the president has met with; a high-level
overview of the feedback the
president has received; and
option to email the president and
join the conversation virtually.
Michele Parkin, of Faculty Relations, and David Tweddell, of
Research Western, have been
named the university’s latest staff
cohort to Leave For Change, a
program which engages university staff in international opportunities, offered through Western’s
Staff Working Group on International Engagement.
As part of the program,
announced last year under the
Western International umbrella,
the two Western staff members
will use their vacation time in one
of 11 developing countries in
Africa, Asia and Latin America,
volunteering while contributing
skills and advice partner organizations in their host country. Tweddell will travel to Vietnam and
work as a partnership development advisor in August/September; Parkin hopes to be placed
in Malawi.
Western Science student Tony Ma
has been named one of 30 young
Canadian leaders to represent
Canada on a Junior Team Canada
trade mission to the Chinese cities
of Guangzhou, Chongqing and
Chengdu from Aug. 1-15. The
mission looks
to create
meaningful
partnerships
between
Canadian
and Chinese
businesses
and attracting foreign
MA
investment
to his region.
Ma is looking for partnerships in
the GTA and Western community
ing in Higher Education (STLHE)
announced last week. The award
recognizes society members who
have gone beyond the call of duty
for an extended period of time by
providing volunteer service to the
organziation.
ADELA TALBOT // WESTERN NEWS
Is this the University of Florida? Has global warming gone to the
extreme? You may think so, upon spotting one of the dozen or so
banana palm trees that have sprouted up around campus. Well, they
didn’t just sprout up, said Western lead horticulturist Matt Robinson,
seen here planting one of the trees near Alumni Hall. The trees were
ordered in November 2013 for a May 2014 planting. By September, the
roughly six-foot trees were dug up, potted and sent to a greenhouse
for wintering. They returned a couple weeks ago and have since been
planted around campus. Robinson said palm trees are definitely a
rare sight in Ontario. “By using unique large tropical plants and large
growing annuals as focal points in Western’s annual displays,” Robinson
explained, “it really sets us apart from what everyone else is doing.”
Unfortunately, the palms will be too big to be saved again for next
summer – cost and time would be prohibitive – and will be removed mid
to late September for composting.
on his mission.
“I look forward to helping my
partners capitalize on the fastpace economic growth in China,”
Ma said. “I’m thrilled to work with
them in the coming months to
accomplish their individual mandates abroad.”
Ma hopes to approach the Town
of Richmond Hill, Western, as well
as various other organizations in
the education, technology and
clean-energy space to partner
with him on this mission.
Ken Meadows, Western Teaching and Learning Services, has
been named the winner of the
2015 Christopher Knapper Outstanding Volunteer Award, the
Society for Teaching and Learn-
Researchers at Western’s Bone
and Joint Institute looking to
treat – and even regenerate –
soft connective tissues like ligaments and cartilage received a
major financial boost last week
as the interuniversity CONNECT
training program was awarded
$1.65 million in funding from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) through its Collaborative
Research and Training Experience
(CREATE) initiative.
The funding announcement from
the Government of Canada was
made May 20 in Toronto by Ed
Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), as part of
a $28-million investment in jobrelated training for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
Each team consists of five to
seven principal investigators from
Western, Queen’s, Calgary and/
or Toronto, as well as four to five
trainees.
Led by Brian Amsden at Queen’s,
Western’s Lauren Flynn and Calgary’s Walter Herzog are program co-directors. Flynn is an
associate professor with a joint
appointment in Engineering and
the Schulich School of Medicine
& Dentistry. Other researchers
affiliated with Western’s Bone and
Joint Institute involved in CONNECT include Frank Beier, Elizabeth Gillies and Cheryle Séguin,
while Dr. Alan Getgood will serve
as a clinical collaborator and Jeff
Dixon will represent Western on
the Training Program Committee.
20
Western News
| June 4, 2015
Making connections in the community
JORDAN COOP // SPECIAL TO WESTERN NEWS
On May 21, the Student Success Centre at Western University, Student Life Centre at Brescia University College and Student Services at Huron University College and their faculty
partners invited almost 100 community partners to learn more about how Community Engaged Learning could be incorporated into their work. Among those in attendance were Pam
Haley, Student Life & Learning coordinator with Brescia; Neil Brooks, top right, Huron Student Services transitional director; and Johanna Weststar, bottom right, DAN Management
and Organizational Studies professor.
The event also featured ‘consultation tables’ where community partners could explain their organizational needs to Western experts, who would then connect the community organization
with its best on-campus program fit.
The event was the first of the newly formed Community Engaged Practitioners group, which meets on a regular basis to discuss the ways to interact with the community in Western,
Huron, Brescia and King’s engaged learning programs.