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City council butts in New bylaw will likely ban smoking within 30 feet of playgrounds, municipal buildings >> pg. 3
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canadaâs only Daily Student Newspaper ⢠founded 1906
Thursday, October 11, 2012
On Campus > Mental Health
35% of Mac students report depression Alex Carmona News Editor If youâre feeling depressed and overwhelmed, take solace in knowing youâre not alone. A recent survey at McMaster University revealed that over a third of students have battled bouts of depression. Of the 950 students sampled at McMaster, half reported feeling overwhelmed with anxiety, 35 per cent reported feelings of depression and 6.5 per cent had contemplated suicide. Ten had attempted to kill themselves. According to Sandra Fisman, professor of psychiatry at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, the high proportion of depressed students was par for the course.
I donât want to say that Western isnât very good at this, but I donât think Western is open enough about who you can talk to, or what you can do if youâre stressed. âAlexandra Marinucci
Third-year medical science student at Western
âAlthough this sounds like a high number, Iâm really not surprised. Thereâs a relationship between stress and depression, especially if the survey included first-year students. Part of it may be that the transition to university is more stressful than it used to beâvery often itâs coupled with leaving home, moving to a new city and having fewer social supports.â Alexandra Marinucci, a third-
year medical sciences student at Western, has dealt with school-related depression first-hand. âI was actually diagnosed with depression last year. It wasnât because of school, but I think my disorder probably amplified when I went away to university because I didnât have my parents with me,â she said. âI was diagnosed late, and school didnât really help with that.â Unsurprisingly, Marinucci found midterm season the most difficult. This year sheâs decided to take a smaller course load to ease the pressure. She also said that while Western certainly makes an effort to cater to students struggling with depression, the university still has room for improvement. âI donât want to say that Western isnât very good at this, but I donât think Western is open enough about who you can talk to or what you can do if youâre stressed. I didnât like that I had to reach outâI had to put in all the effort, I had to do all the work,â she said. She added, however, that Western has made strides since last year. âThis year, Iâve seen a lot more advertising about mental health around campus, which is very different from last year. I didnât know where to goâI had to go to my doctor back in Toronto, and she had to follow up with Western on her own. I didnât know what to doâI didnât want to just go to academic counselling, because to me that didnât make much sense. â Myuri Komaragiri, vice-president campus issues for the University Studentsâ Council, agreed that more has to be done to combat student depression. âItâs completely unacceptable that a statistic like this could ever be normalized though, so this is how serious the situation has become.â âWith files from Jesica Hurst
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Volume 106, Issue 21
APK Live to shutter doors
Andrei Calinescu GAZETTE
DĂJĂ VU. For the second time in less than five years, indie music venue APK Live will be closing its doors to the public, with a final farewell planned October 17. See the full story on page 4.
Western falls in rankings Westernâs rankings
2011/2012: 216 Teaching: 38.8 International outlook: 55.7 Industry income: 41.9 Research: 34.3 Citations: 38.5
2012/2013: 244 Teaching: 39.4 International outlook: 51.3 Industry income: 44.6 Research: 37.2 Citations: 44.8 Source: The Times Higher Education
Julian Uzielli Online Editor Western may be working to improve its international image, but it seems the world hasnât taken notice. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, one of the most respected markers of global university performance, released their list for the 2012-2013 year, and Western saw its position drop in the ranks compared to last year. Though the THE website doesnât provide numbered rankings after the top 200, according to Phil Baty, editor of the THE rankings, Western dropped from 216 last year to 244. Kevin Goldthorp, Westernâs vicepresident external, said the administration pays close attention to international rankings. âWe compete for research dollars internationally, we compete for staff internationally and, increas-
ingly, we compete for students internationally,â he said. âYouâre paying a lot of money, and the question is why this university over another? So the international rankings matter more [than domestic rankings]âthe Times Higher Education and the QS rankings are the two probably most carefully watched by us.â Most other Canadian universities dropped in rank as well, with a only a few exceptions. Goldthorp and Baty both pointed to Canadaâs approach to fundingâsome countries tend to focus resources on a smaller number of successful universities, unlike Canadaâs equitable approach. âCanada clearly has a strong system, with a good number of institutions in the top 200,â Baty said. âBut there has been some concern raised that the egalitarian approach to higher education in >> see 216 to 244 pg.3
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