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WESTERN’S DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER•EST.1906

• VOLUME 103, ISSUE 46

UESDAY

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OVEMBER

24, 2009

... paying our staff since 1906

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

We finally beat Queen’s at something … p.8

A&E

SAM ALLEN

Multi-faceted student packs Chaucer’s … p.5

NEWS

WHAT NEXT?

Part 2 of post-grad series … p.3

LTC UPDATE

Talks hitthe wallbetweenLTC, union

Commission waiting onreceipt of writtenproposal beforemoving forward

By Shreya Tekriwal

Gazette Staff

Bus drivers are still on strikeand the London TransitCommission has yet toreceive a formal revised pro-posal from the union.No talks between theunion and the LTC have beenscheduled and union mem-bers continue to picket out-side the commission’s offices.“I’ve got a bad feeling that we’ll be out until January,”union president Pat Hunni-ford told the London FreePress over the weekend. According to a pressrelease from the LTC, as of Nov. 20 the LTC “has notreceived a response to theNov. 17 request for a writtenconfirmation of any revisedproposal from [Amalgamat-ed Transit Union 741].”The press release alsomentioned the last proposalfrom the ATU Local 741 stoodat an increase of 20 per centin wages and benefits. As mentioned on the LTC website, the City of Londonhas the authority to interveneand direct the LTC to arrive ata solution in collaboration with the union.“The council may […]give to the commission adirective concerning thelocal transportation systempolicy of the Commission inspecific terms and applica-ble for a specified period,and the Commission shallcomply,” the LTC websitestated.LTC said it will not providefurther comments in regardsto the process until a formalposition from ATU Local 741has been received.

Librariansacceptcontractoffer

By Cheryl Stone

Gazette Staff

Librarians and archivists at Westernhave voted 90 per cent in favour of ratifying the latest tentative offerfrom Western.The vast majority of membersparticipated in the vote by the Uni-versity of Western Ontario Faculty Association-Librarians and Archivists. According to James Compton,vice-president of Western’s Faculty Association, the agreement con-tains 1.5 per cent scale increases topay over the next two years along with adjustments for inflation. Italso includes increased job security through clearer job descriptions.Fairer annual reports andemployee reviews with clear crite-ria are also part of the new deal. According to Compton, non-mone-tary issues the UWOFA felt de-pro-fessionalized the librarians andarchivists have also been recon-structed.“Any collective agreement isimperfect [however] we believe it’sa fair agreement under the circum-stances,” Compton said.These changes were inresponse to the UWOFA-LA’srequests for increased pay, clarifi-cation on annual review criteriaand more accurate job descrip-tions, which would discouragelower paid assistants from doing the work of professional librariansand archivists. Alan Weedon, Western’s vice-provost of academic planning,policy and faculty, added theagreement had yet to be ratifiedby the Board of Governors, and he was unable to comment on thecontents of the agreement untilthen.“It’s not that we’ve avoided astrike,” Weedon said. “It’s that we’veachieved a settlement both partiesare comfortable with.“I think it’s really great that wehave an agreement,” he added.The agreement will be reviewedby BOG on Nov. 26, and then fol-lowing approval the final contract will be drawn up. “I assume they will accept it,” Compton said.UWOFA-LA represents 54 librar-ians and archivists at Western. Thetentative agreement was reachedon Oct. 30 and narrowly avoided astrike by the librarians andarchivists. Discussions have takenplace since May 2009 to create anew contract.This current contract would lastfor two years, retroactive to July 1,2009.

By Meagan Kashty

Gazette Staff

As the end of first term draws near,some teaching assistants are begin-ning to question whether they willhave a job to return to in January.Rumours are circulating King’sUniversity College suggesting bud-get constraints have forced thesociology department to reduce thenumber of TAs.Chris Tsiropoulos, a fourth-yearsociology student and current TA atKing’s, is one of the individualsuncertain about his future as a TA.“No one from the administra-tion or the department is telling us what’s going on,” Tsiropouloslamented. “We weren’t worriedabout Western not paying us —they’re not a sketchy employer.”“We were told it was a depart-mental issue,” he added.The TA contracts currently set inplace until the end of the year willbe fulfilled, but unfortunately someTAs will not have a contract in thenew year, according to David Mac-Gregor, chair of the sociology department, noted.“We simply do not have thefunding to fulfill some of the con-tracts,” MacGregor said. “Of coursestudents are not expected to con-sider to work in a contract for whichthey are not being paid.”Dale Dupuis, vice-president stu-dent issues with King’s University College Students’ Council, spoke with associate academic deanSauro Camiletti in regards to thematter.“The dean’s office claims they have made the effort to fulfill allpromised contracts for the sociolo-gy department,” Dupuis said. “Butthe additional TAs who currently have jobs but have not beenpromised contracts cannot beaccommodated.”Desmond Dutrizak, academicdean at King’s, added the sociology department voiced concerns abouttheir budget earlier this year.“They submitted a request thathad an allocation for TAs and mark-ing assistants — that was approvedand went through the February budget as requested,” Dutrizak said.Dutrizak added in anticipationof increased enrollment, five and ahalf sections of sociology wereadded. As a result, a number of sec-tions were able to lower their classsize substantially.“It came [as] a surprise to us thatthere was a request for additionalsupport,” Dutrizak said. “We didask in October when the chair cameto us to see what the contracts were. We proposed to him that he couldaddress all those contracts well within his budget framework. So asfar as I know there’s been no can-cellation of any TA contracts.”Tsiropoulos noted while anincomplete contract is certainly upsetting, the lack of transparency is all the more frustrating. He hascomposed a petition to be passedon to the head of the sociology department voicing his concernsand giving students the opportuni-ty to express the importance of TAsin an educational setting.“We’re not asking for extramoney or longer hours — we’re justasking that the contract we devel-oped from the beginning be hon-oured,” Tsiropoulos said.“There’s no transparency what-soever, so you have no idea who tocontact,” Tsiropoulos added.MacGregor noted while no for-mal e-mails have been sent out tothe sociology TAs, he expectedcommunication to occur primarily between the TA and the professor,as opposed to the department.”Dutrizak added he believed theprocess to be perfectly transparent,and welcomed any student con-cerns.There will be a meeting betweenthe office of the dean and the soci-ology department this Wednesday to resolve any budgetary disputesand to discuss the issue of TAs andmarking assistants.

King’s TAs uncertain of future

Cash strapped sociology department will honour current contracts,unable to renew those expiring before the new year

Brett Higgs/Gazette

INSERT PITCHING TENT JOKE HERE.

Members of the Western chapter of Students Taking Action Now, Darfurare camping out on Concrete Beach for 48 hours this week in an effort to raise money and awareness for thecivil war relief efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

STAND CAMP OUT

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The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that Xequals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apos-trophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error.© 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

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Rethinking thevalue of think tanks

Donald Abelson, director of theCentre for American Studies at Western and chair of the Universi-ty’s department of political science,has published research questioning the influence of think tanks.In his book,

Do Think Tanks Matter?,

Abelson writes on thegrowth of think tanks, their refer-ences in the media and their role ininfluencing policy debates.“I think what the researchreveals is there’s often a disparity between the amount of visibility think tanks receive and how muchinfluence they can actually have inboth shaping public opinion andshaping public policy,” Abelsonsaid.He encouraged individuals toquestion the extent organizationsforming part of our political land-scape influence the decisions madein Ottawa or Washington.However, Abelson did not writeoff the value of research think tanksproduce.“It’s not less important because,again, think tanks try to communi-cate with multiple stakeholders.They want to reach academics, cor-porations, journalists and policy members, so it doesn’t mean the work they do isn’t important,” Abel-son noted. “But we have to keep inmind the work they produce may not shape the decision they wouldlike to see shaped.” Abelson originally published hisfindings in 2002. His book is being translated into Arabic and Chinese.

—Meagan Kashty

EVENTS CALENDAR

Tues, Nov. 24

•

Celebrating 150 Years of On theOrigin

When: 7:00 p.m.Where: 3M Centre, Rm. 3250What: Marc-André Lachance fromWestern’s biology department willbe giving a talk entitled “The Originof Two Big Ideas” on evolution asa fact and a theory.•

The Effect of the Palestinian Inte- rior Conflict

When: 1:00 p.m.Where: Wemple Student Lounge,King’s University CollegeWhat: Gahad Hamed will deliver alecture on theeffects of the Pales-tinian interior conflict on nation-state building, the peace processand the transition to democracy.

Wed, Nov. 25

Management and OrganizationalStudies Career Perspective Series

When: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.Where: Social Science Centre, Rm.3010What: Management and Organiza-tional Studies Students Associa-tion presents the first of theCareer Perspective Series featur-ing David Mondoux, associate cat-egory manager from TSC Stores.

Thurs, Nov. 26

•

From Eleanor Roosevelt toQaddafi: The Rise and Fall of Human Rights at the United Nations

When: 12:30 p.m.Where: University Community Cen-tre Council ChambersWhat: Hillel Neuer, executive directorof UN Watch, a human rights NGObased in Geneva, Switzerland, willbe speaking about his experiences.

If you have an event you would liketo share please send your informa- tion to events.gazette@gmail.com

Interestedin journalism?

Gazette News has openings for writers and interns.Visit Rm. 263 and talk tomanaging editor Jaela Bernstien.

Western physiology grad DianaLawrie was accepted into quite a few of the 13 medical schools she applied to, both north and south of the border –– so she must have done something right. Now a first-year med student at McMaster, Lawrie offered her advice to the next gener-ation of hopeful doctors.

Q: How did your university involve-ment help you prepare your med school applications?

Being on the Student Emer-gency Response Team showed me what it was like to learn medicalskills, work as a part of a team andsee that I really enjoyed patient care.I also did a few summers of research, which helped me look at othercareers in science and to think criti-cally. Being on Residence Staff at Western gave me a lot of confidencemaking decisions and communicat-ing with others –– and gave me a lotof exposure to “ethical dilemmas” totalk about in my applications. I alsotalked about going on exchange, vol-unteering with a physiotherapist,being part of Theatre Western andbeing in Scholar’s Electives.

Q:What was the applicationprocess like?

Depending on how many schools you apply to and where, theapplications will be different, but ingeneral it is a very long and compli-cated process. The Ontario MedicalSchool Application Service proba-bly has the most sections to fill out.Each school will have differentrequirements –– sometimes anessay or some short-answer ques-tions. If you can complete yourOMSAS application, you can copy and paste most of the informationinto other applications […] [andafter] you submit your initial appli-cation, you get to wait anxiously forseveral months before finding out if you will be getting any interviews.Most interviews are between themiddle of February and the begin-ning of April. Some schools don’tgive you much time between notifi-cation and your interview –– soleave your weekends as open aspossible. The actual interviews canvary widely. McMaster, Northernand most schools out West haveadopted the Multiple Mini Inter-view. I found these interviews to bemore fun, but pretty exhausting ––make sure you eat first. The nicething is, if you screw up one station, you still have plenty of other firstimpressions to make.I had more traditional interviewsat Queen’s and Western, whichinvolved two or three people sitting in a room with you, asking ques-tions. These were more relaxed, andthe interviewers get to know you abit better. After interviews are over, you get to wait anxiously again untilMay 15, while over-analyzing every-thing and convincing yourself every interview went horribly. They didn’t–– don’t worry.

Q: Do you have any advice for those applying to med school right now?

For those of you who haven’tapplied yet, keep track of every-thing you do and have someone’scontact that knows you did it. TheOMSAS applications have space for48 activities and each requires averifier, which was probably tomost tedious thing I’ve ever done.Be well prepared for your inter-views. Be aware of the types of questions you could be asked, and what the current issues are inhealth care. Your answers shouldn’tbe scripted, but it’s a stressful situa-tion and you want to have someidea of how you will answer. Thatbeing said, for many questions,there isn’t one correct answer –– if you can make a logical case for what you are saying, that’s fine.

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puzzle solution frompage 7

If you’re lucky enough to make it tothe interview stage, that’s when thereal work –– and the fun part –– of applying to med school begins.Med school interviews are achance for you to round out yourapplication, impress the selectioncommittee and stand out fromother qualified applicants.The traditional panel interview is the format used at Western’sSchulich School of Medicine andDentistry. The panel is typically comprised of a representative of the med school, alongside otherindividuals such as a medical resi-dent and community resident.More a conversation than aninterrogation, this style of interview allows you to sell yourself and yourabilities.Some are closed, meaning theinterviewers have not seen yourapplication. Others have full accessto what you provided, so make sure you’re familiar with what you wrotein case you’re asked specific ques-tions about your experiences.Increasingly more common,however, is the Multiple Mini Inter-view format, adopted by 12 of Canada’s 17 med schools. The MMIis a series of 10 to 12 eight-minutestations, in which you’ll be given acouple minutes to look over a situ-ation or ethical dilemma posted ona door before entering a room in which you have to provide youranswer or act in thesituation.Once a bellrings, you move onto the next station where you get a freshchance at handling another scenario.

What next?

Part II: Medical School

By Lauren Pelley

Part III: Friday

Check for law school info.

Acing Your Interview

BEFORE YOUR INTERVIEW

•Research and form an opinion on ethical dilemmas,such as euthanasia and abortion•Keep tabs on current events in the medical community —read newspapers and watch the news•Learn about the school and what it offers•Reread your application

AT YOUR INTERVIEW

•Dress to impress —keep your clothes simple, classy and professional•Don’t chew gum or wear too much perfume/cologne•Be polite, make eye contact and say thank you at the end

Interview Tips

Did you know?

Panicked about your med schoolinterview? Don’t fret –– the CareerCentre @ Western holds mock interview sessions to give you aleg up on your competition.The Career Centre’s mock interviews, geared towards medschool applicants, will teach youproper interview techniquesand allow you to practice yourskills in a group setting. They’llalso teach you strategies toaddress tough ethical and situa-tional questions.Simulated Multiple Mini Inter-views are also provided, allowing you to work through the “bellringer” format in short, struc-tured interviews at different sta-tions. Feedback for both types of practice interview is provided.

Visit the Career Centre in the Western Student Services build-ing, Room 3100, or check out the interview workshops online at www.career.uwo.ca/ students/ser-vices/workshops.html.