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Moguai masters crowd German DJ Moguai turns Cobra crowd into his Mpire. >> pg. 5
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Volume 106, Issue 87
Sophs in uproar over change in selection Alex Carmona News Editor
Divya Patodia is a third-year social science student currently finishing her second term as a science faculty soph. She won the Soph of the Year award for London Hall last year, and was nominated again this year. But Patodia will not be returning as a soph next yearâin fact, she didnât even get an interview. What Patodia didnât know when she handed in her initial application was that, unbeknownst to the sophing community, the Orientation Planning Committee had radically overhauled the soph selection process. Whereas in years past, the sophing leadership teams evaluated named applications of prospective sophs from their own faculties, applications this year were anonymous and distributed randomly throughout the faculties. This was done to address frequent complaints of rampant favourtism throughout every level of soph hiring. Each application was scored out of 40 marks, and a pre-determined number of interviews were
awarded to the top-scoring applicants in each faculty. Patodia, however, took issue with the revamped application questions, which she charged with being both irrelevant and not reflective of qualities needed in a good soph. Questions focused on relaying the values of the orientation program, the values of volunteering and the outcome expected from members of the O-Week program. The problem, according to Patodia, is most of the questions had âcorrectâ answers that could simply be copied out of the sophing contract, or even from a Google search. âI think the new system screwed up. Instead of asking qualitative questions that can actually help you get to know an applicant, they asked questions where all they were really looking for was for you to copy directly out of the sophing contract,â Patodia said. âAlso, dispersing all the applications throughout random faculties was a mistake. Each team has their own traditions, and each team knows what it takes to be on that faculty teamâOPC shouldnât
Ritchie Sham Gazette
have taken away soph leadership teamsâ ability to make those kinds of calls.â Particular controversy surrounds two questions on the application that ask applicants to name âup to 6 specific learning and development outcomesâ and âup to 10 different examples of soph behaviours [âŚ] deemed inappropriate.â According to
Michael Zawalsky, president of the Undergraduate Engineering Society, these questions were misleading in that they were actually marked out of six and 10 respectively. So while the questions said to list âup toâ a certain number of examples and implied an applicant would not be penalized for providing less than the maximum, such was not the case. On
an application market out of 40, this could mean the difference between getting an interview and being rejected. âThere was a total misalignment between how the questions were phrased on the application. Itâs an instance of poor communication, where people arenât being >> see application pg.3
Search for Western student ends in tragedy Aaron Zaltzman News Editor
FILE PHOTO
It was a sad day for Western as the search for missing student Noah Kishinevsky ended Monday afternoon when London Police Services found his body in a parked car at a high rise on Wonderland Road. Kishinevsky, who was reported missing by his roommate from Saugeen-Maitland residence on Sunday, had been the subject of a search effort coordinated by both London Police and Western. He was found after a citizen reported a car that had been parked in the high-rise parking structure for some time.
Though the cause of death has not been confirmed, it is suspected Kishinevsky took his own life. Ken Steeves, media relations officer for London Police, said a hazardous substance was found in Kishinevskyâs car. â[Thereâs] no foul play, so weâre not looking for anybody else,â Steeves said, adding the police would not be releasing the details of Kishinevskyâs death. âIt is very sensitive and we try to respect the family members and close friends and neighbours, and whomever else in his life.â Kishinevskyâs passing was felt keenly at Western, where he was attending his first year in the
faculty of science. âEven if you donât know a particular student, it really is something that is felt across the university campus,â Keith Marnoch, director of media and community relations for Western, said. âItâs tragic for Noahâs familyâitâs something people relate and feel for, so itâs a difficult day today, and it will probably be a few more.â âWe have had people offering support and grief counselling to those who need it,â Marnoch said.âTheyâre talking to Noahâs friends and acquaintances.â This situation has put a >> see sad day pg.3
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