All Posts Tagged With: "Western"
Where the hot accessory is anything purple
Campus fashion from Western University
Western University students know how to accessorize. Some keep it subtle—a scarf here, a crown of flowers there. Others aren’t afraid to wear Mustang purple from head-to-toe. Jessica Darmanin went to London, Ont. on homecoming weekend to snap these stylish students. To see what students are wearing at other universities, click here. Since she can’t make it to every campus, why not show us your fall fashion? Tweet your photo to @maconcampus or post it on our Facebook wall.
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- Aisha Masood, second-year M.I.T. & Visual Arts
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- Alucard Pegasus, Electrical Engineering
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- Maggie Xu, second-year Law
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- Xingyue Ma, first-year Social Sciences
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- Michael Shafarenko, first-year Sociology
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- Kerrin Gellner, first-year Social Sciences
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- Shaidon Woods, second-year French and Spanish
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- Jenna Van Klaveren, second-year M.I.T. and Digital Communications
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- Austin Little, second-year Science
Why I’m sick of alumni magazines
The requests for money never cease
An appropriate meme from QuiteRly.com
The other day, I got a copy of the Alumni Gazette, the magazine sent to alumni of the University of Western—sorry—Western University. This was no surprise, of course, since they’ve been sending them to me for years. In fact, as an alumnus of three universities, I get these things frequently.
They are always slickly produced—and they always make me a bit queasy.
I open these publications in the vague hope that I’ll see something about someone I went to school with, or hear some news about a favourite professor. It never happens.
Instead, I get a series of breathless articles about people I never knew who are changing the world.
A more charitable version of myself would swell with pride to be associated with such luminaries, but the cynic in me can’t help feeling like the whole thing is a big soft sell for the fundraising division of the university. Because, of course, that’s what it is. Nobody sends you a glossy magazine four times a year out of the goodness of their hearts.
And sure enough, in the middle of the mag is a multi-page spread on “The Campaign for Western” (is Western running for something?), and then another ad featuring smiling students imploring me to “Fund the Future,” and, then, near the end, still another ad urging me to consider giving good old UWO—-sorry—WU, a “planned gift” which means leaving money to the university in my will. Yes, they even want my money after I die.
All of this might be more palatable if I felt like I was getting the real story about a place I called home for four years. But I know enough about universities to know that’s not true. There’s no talk of controversy, let alone scandal. Because, recall, that’s not the point. The point is to get you feeling good about the old Ivey-covered halls. And it’s not just Western. All universities, so far as I know, do the same kind of cheerleading.
See how great we still are? Aren’t you proud to be one of us? Shouldn’t you write a cheque?
The irony of it all is that this reaction is never the one I actually have. Because to be perfectly honest, seeing all those uber-successful people—hob-nobbing with Bono or conquering the film industry—doesn’t make me feel better about the university, it makes me feel worse about myself.
That’s Western University to you
Why they got rid of the University of Western Ontario
Let’s begin with an annoying autobiographical pause: I studied at the University of Western Ontario. Well, “studied.” Anyway, onward:
There ‘s much fuss among alumni over the news that Western is changing its name, for most day-to-day purposes, to Western. Or Western University. Or Western University Canada.
What it won’t call itself, in colloquial use, is the University of Western Ontario. That remains the place’s legal name, but it won’t be the name Western travels with.
This is all causing a certain amount of consternation among people with a link to Western and, I think it’s fair to say, to people who follow branding exercises with a certain healthy amount of skepticism. Objections I heard this morning include:
1. This is dumb. Everyone calls it Western already.
2. This is dumb. It’s in Eastern Canada.
3. This is dumb. It’s in Southern Ontario.
To me, it’s not as dumb, but its cleverness takes a bit of explaining. Continue reading That’s Western University to you
Raunchy comedy stirs controversy at Western
Student filmmaker questioned by police for online teaser
Screen shot from 3 Audrey
A University of Western Ontario student and his filmmaker friend have created a raunchy comedy series—and university officials aren’t amused.
It’s easy to see why. The trailer for 3 Audrey features multiple references to Western interspersed with jokes about a mother’s vagina, breast implants and excessive amounts of liquor.
3 Audrey is a six-part scripted series named for the house where a group of fictional Western students welcome a Carleton transfer student, Tommy Noble, into their oft-partying family.
It was co-written by Western media student Dave Provost and his 21-year-old director friend Miguel Barbosa, who is not a student at the school. Barbosa is part of YEAH! Films, a collective that plans to sell product placements in YouTube based viral videos. Provost took part in order to launch his acting and writing career, he says.
Continue reading Raunchy comedy stirs controversy at Western
Identity of infamous “@wstrngirl” revealed
Three tweeting jokers will retire
The infamous Tweeter behind the @wstrngirl account has finally been revealed. In fact, it was not one person, but three female friends, reports University of Western Ontario student newspaper, The Gazette. Students were kept guessing about the source of the tweets, which entertained more than 2,600 followers with funny two-liners that were supposedly from the mind of a stereotypical “Western girl.” For example, on March 5 they wrote that ”the Ceeps line-up has affected what time I take my birth control pills,” referring to a pick-up bar near campus. On Dec. 7, when the school was closed for a storm, they wrote “thank god for my cashmere snuggie #snowmaggedon.” The tweeters were Alicia DeBoer, Romina Cortellucci and Taya Denotter, who announced their retirement this week.
Photo courtesy of The Gazette.
Playboy ranks Western a top 10 party school
The only Canadian university on the list noted for lively campus residences
The University of Western Ontario has ranked number four in Playboy magazine’s list of Top 10 Party Schools. As the only Canadian university on the list, the magazine cited Western’s rowdy dorms, and the local bar scene for its inclusion. Other factors taken into consideration were male-female ratios, the winning percentage of campus sports teams and proximity to beaches and ski slopes. Taking the top spot was the University of Colorado at Boulder. In determining the rankings, the magazine’s editors sought feedback from students, fans of Playboy’s social media pages and alumni.
How I almost made the biggest mistake of my life (Part 1)
I didn’t want to make teeny robots for doctors. I wanted to be the doctor
During my last couple years of high school, I started thinking about possible undergraduate degrees. Something that could work towards my dream of one day attending medical school. Maybe microbiology? Health studies? Biology?
I definitely had some decisions to make. But then I learned about some of the harsh realities of getting into med school. Out of the thousands and thousands of qualified hopefuls with high GPAs and diverse extracurricular activities who apply each year, only a handful make it in.
It’s not that these rejected applicants wouldn’t make good doctors. It’s strictly a numbers game. In Canada, government funding of med school spots means restrictions on how many doctors we can graduate each year.
Meaning, most people who apply to medical school in Canada won’t ever get in. No matter how smart, determined, or dedicated they are.
I knew the stats were working against me. In grade 12, I decided it was time to start thinking about Plan B.
Engineering?
It instantly clicked with me. Engineers solve problems using math and science. They apply their knowledge to a system, with a specific goal in mind.
Okay: so what type of engineering, and where?
Choosing a program comes before choosing a university. Once I had decided that, the University of Waterloo, renowned for its school of engineering, went straight to the top of my list.
UW was also a great fit because I lived in Kitchener and knew I couldn’t afford to go too far from home. U of T, York, Guelph, McMaster, Brock, and Western were also added to the list since all were within a doable commuting distance. I had a lot of great schools to choose from.
I looked through the different engineering programs each school offered. Mechanical, electrical, civil… then I saw it: Nanotechnology.
It sounded absolutely perfect to me. A program being offered for the first time in Canada, and best of all, at the University of Waterloo. The school’s website boasts, “you’ll apply mathematics, science, and engineering to model, design, and fabricate nanoengineered structures for sensors, electronics, biosystems, or advanced materials.”
An engineering program with biological applications in which “you’ll design nanostructures that may interact with cells.” Math and biology. Together. I was thrilled. It was like the program was speaking to me directly.
I had dreams of making tiny robots for doctors to use to kill cancer cells.
But two days before my university applications were due, I suddenly had a moment of, “What the hell am I thinking?!”
Engineering? Me? Why?
Overnight, I totally revamped everything I was about to do after realizing I was making a huge mistake. You can’t start compromising a dream before you’ve even taken a first step. Hell, of course I’d never get into med school. If I didn’t even try.
I didn’t want to make teeny robots for doctors. I wanted to be the doctor.
