June 4, 2015 - Western News - University of Western Ontario
Transcription
June 4, 2015 - Western News - University of Western Ontario
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 upload your photos Coming Events JUNE 4-17 # 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. tag with #westernu @westernuniversity flickr.com/groups/western/ 15 // MONDAY 17 // WEDNESDAY SPRING CONVOCATION Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. 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 Alumni Hall, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. 16 // TUESDAY SUMMER FARMERS’ MARKET 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. E-mail: [email protected] 51 44 65 17 07-Fred Negus_Ad_PENSION_v9.indd 1 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 Western News (ISSNO3168654), a publication of Western University’s Department of Communications and Public Affairs, is published every Thursday throughout the school year and operates under a reduced schedule during December, May, June, July and August. Student-led initiative opens new conversations on mental health An award-winning weekly newspaper and electronic news service, Western News serves as the university’s newspaper of record. The publication traces its roots to The University of Western Ontario Newsletter, a onepage leaflet-style publication which debuted on Sept. 23, 1965. The first issue of the Western News, under founding editor Alan Johnston, was published on Nov. 16, 1972 replacing the UWO Times and Western Times. Today, Western News continues to provide timely news, information and a forum for discussion of postsecondary issues in the campus and broader community. WE STERN NEWS WesternNews.ca Westminster Hall, Suite 360 Western University London, ON N6A 3K7 Telephone 519 661-2045 Fax 519 661-3921 PUBLISHER Helen Connell [email protected], 519 661-2111 Ext. 85469 EDITOR Jason Winders [email protected], 519 661-2111 Ext. 85465 R E P O RT E R / P H O T O G R A P H E R Paul Mayne [email protected], 519 661-2111 Ext. 85463 R E P O RT E R / P H O T O G R A P H E R Adela Talbot [email protected], 519 661-2111 Ext. 85464 PROD U C TION DESIGNER Frank Neufeld [email protected], 519 661-2111 Ext. 89334 A D V E RT I S I N G C O O R D I NAT O R , O N - C A M P U S A D V E RT I S I N G Denise Jones [email protected], [email protected] 519 661-2111 Ext. 82045 O F F C A M P U S A D V E RT I S I N G Chris Amyot, Campus Ad [email protected], 519 434-9990 P O S TA L R E C O V E RY $50 Canada, $65 United States, $85 Other POST OFFICE Please do not forward. Return to Western News, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 3K7 with new address when possible. “Our objective is to report events as objectively as possible, without bias or editorial comment. We hope you will read it and contribute to it.” – L.T. Moore, University Relations and Information director, Nov. 16, 1972 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 Do you have type 2 diabetes? The Centre for Studies in Family Medicine at Western University is interested in researching how to protect cells in the body that produce insulin in order to slow the progression of diabetes. We are inviting participants to join our research study. The Centre is looking for participants who: • • • • Have had type 2 diabetes for 0-5 years Take no medication for diabetes or metformin only Are between the ages of 30-80 years Are willing to come for 10 visits over 2 years For more information please contact Marnie Orcutt, Western University, Centre for Studies in Family Medicine. Phone: 519-661-2111 ext 22225. Email: [email protected] 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?’” Fusion Sushi, and now featuring fresh Osysters & Izakaya Bar. For information or a personal tour, call 519- 660-8731 or email: gibbonsparkmontessori @hotmail.com Visit our newly renovated second level that offers Japanese night life in Downtown London. See our 1/2 price coupon in the Western Student Guide. Gibbons Park Montessori School • Unique Parkland Location • Toddler and Preschool • Elementary • Daily French Classes • Extended hrs • SUMMER CAMP 607 Richmond Street (at Central) dine in & take out 519.642.2558 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- Congratulations Western Graduates - Our Summer Weekday Escape offer is valid during Convocation. VALID SUN–THURS ONLY “I retired from Western in 1997 and Mitch Orr and his team have managed my funds very well indeed since then. He has made consistently good recommendations, kept me very well informed and I am completely satisfied with his performance over the last 17 years.” $139.00 * + taxes * Additional $20.00 for Suite. Room style and dates are subject to availability. Not applicable on group bookings. Acceptable on new bookings only. Valid May 1st–August 30th, 2015. Dr Richard Butler, Professor Emeritus 519-660-3230 You Summer Weekday Escape visit www.mitchorr.com to learn what your colleagues have to say about us. Mitch Orr, 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 2015 Who's quarterbacking the management of your pension assets and retirement income? HBA, CPA, CMA, CFP Director, Wealth Management 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.” ™ TM Trademark used under authorization and control of The Bank of Nova Scotia. ScotiaMcLeod is a division of Scotia Capital Inc., Member CIPF Enjoy Yours to Experience – Relax in one of our cozy & spacious guestrooms or suites – Enjoy our Healthy Start Breakfast for Two in The Windermere Restaurant – Enjoy a $15 Windermere Restaurant Voucher (one voucher per package). Not applicable on alcohol. To be presented prior to ordering. – Unwind with a $20 giftcard for Black Friars Spa (Windermere location only) PLEASE MENTION OUR 2015 SUMMER ESCAPE WHEN RESERVING YOUR GUESTROOM 200 Collip Circle London ON N6G 4X8 519-858-1414 ext. 0 1-800-997-4477 www.windermeremanor.com 519-85 www. 14 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. T. JOHN BRANTON CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Your investment portfolios are only one component of your financial plan John is a fourth generation Londoner, Western graduate, active alumni and has provided trusted wealth management services to Western faculty and staff since 1984. For a personal consultation to discuss the benefits of independent financial advice, call 519-204-4647 710 Adelaide Street N., just south of Oxford St. 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 MA-Western-Ad-Aug-V2.pdf 1 2015-03-05 9:54 AM Expect more from education. Fully accredited Montessori education for children 18 months to Grade 8, since 1968. • Part- and Full-day pre-school options • Central & Westmount locations www.montessori.on.ca • 519-433-9121 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] Fully mobile and flexible hours to meet your needs. ‘Serving London & area with 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- 99 Horton Street W, London, ON N6J 4Y6 Check out my Realty Bites video series on YouTube Tracey White-Lockwood, Sales Representative | Direct 226-378-8366 or Office 519-657-2020 | Email [email protected] Welcome to your London Home the convenience of Apartment Living! Blossom Gate offers you varied floorplans in either our existing lowrise and highrise buildings OR one of our newer highrise buildings - rent varies accordingly. lounge, indoor bicycle storage, keyless entry • 2 appliances • Individual heating & cooling system • Coin-less laundry facilities • Free outdoor parking • On-site management office • Direct bus to downtown & Western Campus • On-site variety store • 1/2 block to shopping centre 103-625 Kipps Lane (at Adelaide St. N) 519 432-1777 Like us on facebook.com/blossomgate 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.