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By Nicole Gibillini
Twenty-eight-year-old Brett Walker is addicted to the Internet—everything from surfing the web for news, politics and forums to playing World of Warcraft. Walker says his addiction began at 13, but he only sought professional help about a year ago. After being away from the web for only an hour, Walker would start experiencing withdrawal symptoms. “I had my iPhone and was pretty much always connected,” he recalls. “It was like a disease—it went into so many parts of my life.”
Internet Addiction Disorder refers to excessive amount of Internet use that interferes with daily life. It affects about six to 13 per cent of the American population as a whole. The rate of addiction jumps to 13 to 19 per cent for people aged 18 to 28.
Symptoms of IAD include increasing amounts of time spent on the Internet and failed attempts to control behaviour. People with IAD have a heightened sense of euphoria while on the computer, constantly craving more time on the web.
Most people—especially students—are frequently connected to the web, but are unaware of the consequences. According to Internet addiction specialist Hilarie Cash, IAD is a growing concern. In 2009, Cash founded reSTART, the first Internet and gaming addiction recovery program in North America. The clinic, located in Washington, offers a program for video game or Internet addicts aged 18 to 38.
Even though Walker sought professional help for depression last year, he called reSTART only eight weeks ago to work with therapists specializing in Internet addiction. He says he needed to confront the issues he’d been escaping through the Internet.
“It takes over your life—you’re not really yourself,” Walker explains. “People hold opinions of you that you don’t think accurately describe you, but then you realize that the person they see you as is who you are because that’s how you’re acting.”
Although IAD is a growing problem in North America, it’s an even bigger problem in Asia. In both China and South Korea, public health officials have designated it as a national public health threat. “I think we are delayed—behind the curve in [the North America] when it comes to recognizing what a significant problem it is,” Cash says. “However, I think that will change […] and I definitely think that our problem is going to increase.”
Kimberly Young, an internationally recognized Internet addiction specialist, urges that we need more prevention programs in schools, since children are more at risk. “No one seems to be doing this in the USA or seems to care,” she says. “It’s a large problem. We push technology when we should not—it has impacted social development as well as creativity and learning in schools.”
While IAD is a growing problem, it isn’t officially recognized in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an addiction. But Cash thinks it will be included in the manual’s next edition. If IAD is recognized as an official health risk, she thinks people will begin to take the issue seriously.
While some people are more prone to IAD than others, it can happen to anyone—especially those who use the computer excessively from an early age. “When [a person is] not forced by their parents to live a more balanced life, or have a more moderated approach to it, then they become more comfortable with the technology than without it,” Cash explains.
Factors that predispose people to this addiction include loneliness and boredom. Genetic markers can also make people more prone to IAD, but definitely don’t account for all of the problems, according to Cash. “There is evidence that some people are genetically predisposed to addictions in general because their brains don’t produce the necessary amount of dopamine,” she explains. “If you’re a person who just doesn’t produce adequate levels of dopamine, you are going to be engaging in behaviour that elevate dopamine, and then you are at risk for addiction.”
Young emphasizes IAD must be treated to prevent future consequences. The addiction can cause lack of sleep, eyestrain, back problems, hand and arm problems, plus reduced diet and nutrition.
The best way to avoid IAD in a society so dependent on the Internet is by setting boundaries. “If you can limit your pleasurable Internet and video game time to only two hours a day—that includes Facebooking, surfing the net, responding to texts, video game playing—you are much less likely to become addicted,” Cash notes.
While IAD is a fairly new concept in the realm of addictions, it can and should be treated. “Everyone has to deal with themselves and some people view seeking help as mission of defeat,” Walker says. “But for me it was a victory, and taking the next step forward was a courageous thing to do and the right thing to do.”
Talk therapy, outpatient addiction recovery services and private care are some of the available treatment options in North America. For more information on reSTART Internet Addiction and Recovery Centre visit netaddictionrecovery.com
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By Travis Welowszky
Performance: 4.5/
Setlist: 3.5/5
Crowd: 4/5
Worth the Cash: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
As you grow older, the death of a relationship weighs a little heavier. The pressure of settling down conflicts with the youthful freedom that slips away towards the back end of your teenage years. These themes are at the heart of Los Campesinos’ fourth LP, Hello Sadness, which brought the seven piece rock outfit to the London Music Hall this past Monday night.
Hailing from Cardiff, on the southern coast of Wales, Los Campesinos feature a distinctive brand of high-energy indie-pop with a crowded setup employing three guitars, two keyboards, ukulele, glockenspiel and tambourines. Raucous drums and blood-gush guitars provide foundation for Gareth Campesinos’ tongue and cheek lyrical dexterity. Songs centred on unfulfilling sex, binge drinking, and doomed romances are held together with carefully crafted pop hooks and melodies shining light onto the darkness. The band captures everything it means to be twenty—it’s irrational, it’s blunt, but most importantly it’s entirely from the heart.
Portland’s Parenthetical Girls had the opening slot and delivered on a performance heightened by the on-stage antics of singer Zac Pennington. The group played a gorgeously hazy set of baroque pop tied around impulsive vocal deliveries ranging from hushed conversations with an ex-lover to full on-stage theatrics. Pennington pranced across the floors, wrapping wires around tables and audience members alike with boldness that would have made a young Freddie Mercury blush.
Emerging to an eager crowd, Los Campesinos launched into a catalogue of modern breakup anthems. Cathartic and erratic, the septet performed with a youthful abandon that was empowering and destructive at the same time. Leading with single “By Your Hand,” the band executed a healthy set list of new material and fan favourite mainstays.
The unpredictable performance translated seamlessly to an audience who provided solid supporting vocals all night, helping burn through the jealous fires on “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed” and building to the climactic dance floor jam “You! Me! Dancing!” Capping the evening with Hello Sadness standout “Baby I Got The Death Rattle,” Gareth Campesinos and band lead the audience through an impassioned closing coda of “Not headstone, but headboard is where I want to be mourned.”
Through spilled beer and boisterous rock, the evening was characterized with a heartfelt motif delivered by a band with a genuine fervor for performance. Los Campesinos proved unafraid to balance on the edge of emotional collapse and never hesitated to bring the audience right to the brink with them.
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By Brent Holmes
Toronto band Young Empires has begun the expansion of their musical empire. Forming a little over two years ago, the band has spent the past year working on their first EP release Wake All My Youth and are currently touring to support the new album.
How did you guys start building your Young Empires?
We started playing together just over two years ago—October 2009 was when we came together, sort of on the back end of some other projects. It started as a hobby and we got a couple show offers with only three weeks to prepare for our first show. Matt, the lead singer, was doing a solo project when he joined the band. He got an offer for a solo gig so we decided to try it as a full band. Ever since then we’ve been getting more show offers.
Wake All My Youth is your debut album. Could you describe how you found the writing process for your first album?
It was a long process. We made this album in our bedrooms and in home studios over the course of a year. In terms of the creative aspect, it was about the three of us really finding our own sound within the group and Young Empires as a whole. We didn’t come in with anything certain. We wanted to sound like we just wanted to make music and wanted to write riffs and licks and songs that were inspiring to us, that we enjoyed playing, and that would challenge us musically. We never sat down and went into a studio for six months and say we are going to make a record, if we are not on the road, let’s sit down and write a song this week inspired by this riff that we just discovered and let’s turn this into a song.
What motivated you to release this as an EP rather than a full album?
It has been all over the place as far as making this album, and for that reason we decided to put out an EP rather than a full-length album because we didn’t really have a chance to make a record. We have enough material for a full-length but decided this is not a full-length record. We are putting some songs together, and though they are cohesive and they represent what we want to be, but we didn’t feel like we made a record, so we picked the songs that really sit well in terms of the concept of the EP and put that out as an introduction to the band.
You mentioned the concept of the album. What would you say that concept is?
It’s a fun album, meant to be listened to to rejuvenate your spirit and take you back to a time in your youth when things were perhaps a bit easier for you because you are a little bit naive about life’s difficulties. We wanted to bring out that nativity of a child where you want to dance and want to sing and not be concerned about image and what people think. The songs are really fun. It’s an album that makes you want to dance and that is what the concept is waking the childhood spirit.
Your writing style has been described as a process of ‘writing for the live performance.’ How do you feel that changes the writing process?
I’m not sure how it differs from other bands, but I think it would be very difficult to translate a song to the live arena when you’ve written it from the studio for headphones. The challenge becomes making it sound equally as good or better on the live floor when you’ve done it in the studio. It loses its authenticity to what live music is about when you are not making something for live, you are translating it from a record. The live arena and the making of a record are completely different skill sets and we want to have songs that translates in both worlds, but it is a lot easier to take a song that sounds good live and put it to record. Music was made to be heard live and made to be played live—that’s where you hear music in its purest form. So we want to write music live and we want that to be what we are known as, as opposed to just a studio project.
Young Empires will play APK Live tonight. Their EP, Wake All My Youth, will be released January 31.
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By Melanie Lui
This Saturday, Western’s track and field team hosted its annual meet dedicated to the late Don Wright, and as usual, the Mustangs did not disappoint in the 29th annual iteration of the meet.
The Mustangs certainly showed their competitive edge as both the men’s and women’s team finished first at the meet. The men’s team won 19 medals in total while the women brought home 27 medals.
“I think this is the most high quality Don Wright meet results for a Western team,” Vicky Croley, head coach for the Mustangs, said. “It certainly helps in the preparation for later in the season. We’re preparing for Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships.”
One of the more exciting races of the weekend was the men’s 60m hurdles pitting Sherbrooke University’s, Simon Léveillé— currently ranked second in the country— against Mustang Matt Brisson, who is ranked first in the country. The exhilarating race saw Brisson come out on top with a time of 8.12 seconds, as he barely edged Léveillé by only two hundredths of a second.
“This was an exciting and high calibre start to the Don Wright meet,” Croley said. “It was good for both [athletes][…]Simon ran a season’s best, but this helped Matt’s game as well.”
In the field events, rookie Chris Cauley finished in first place in the high jump, as well, Josh Archer bettered his school record in the weight throw with a toss of 16.39m to finish sixth. Daniel Novia of York University—currently ranked number one in Canada for the weight throw—set a meet and arena record with a throw of 19.69m, finishing first on the day.
“I’m really happy for the personal best,” Novia said. “I was just trying to keep my mind clear because when I start thinking, that’s when things go wrong. This was a good meet for me, I can’t complain.”
On the women’s side, the Mustangs were awarded nine golds, nine silvers and nine bronzes as they put forth some excellent performances.
Caroline Ehrhardt broke her own school record in the triple jump to grab silver and also won the long jump event, while Jen Pitman took home the gold in high jump. Other winners in the track events include Brenna Thomson, Amy Grzywnowicz, Katie Bell and Alicia Knox.
With the women’s team currently ranked second in the CIS, and the men ranked fifth, both hope for big things this year.
“We have a really strong team and many talented young athletes,” Cassandra McCaig, team captain, said. “Both our women’s and men’s teams have a really good chance at being top in the CIS.”
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By Julian Uzielli
London’s public safety committee struck down a proposal that would have banned limousines from stopping for hailing pedestrians while considering changes to the taxi and limo bylaw on Tuesday.
As the bylaw stands now, limos and cabs alike can be hailed, and many saw the proposal as an anti-competitive move by the taxi industry.
“[Hailing] has been the practice in London for 23 years, but where did the recommendation to ban hailing come from? From the taxi industry. They want to eliminate the competition,” Paul Hubert, Ward 8 councillor and acting chair of the public safety committee, said.
The move reportedly did not come as a surprise to the taxi industry. “We didn’t think that would go through anyway,” John Pepers, general manager of U-Need-A Cab, said. “It’s very difficult to enforce a bylaw like that. It wasn’t our suggestion.”
Hubert agreed enforcement would have been impossible. “If a limo pulls over and parks in the meter parking, which after 6 p.m. is free, on Richmond Row, and you walk up and say ‘Hey, are you available?’ that’s not hailing. So a taxi or a limo is, first of all, a very fine distinction, and secondly it’s virtually unenforceable.”
The limo industry was not happy with the taxi industry’s efforts to cut into business. “We’ve been able to hail for the last 23 years, and [the proposal] was not based on public participation, not on anything other than the taxi industry going directly to the city administration to limit our competitive play in this,” Brad Rice, general manager of Checker Limousine, said.
The proposal was one of a series of suggested changes to the bylaw, which is regularly reviewed every five to 10 years. Other changes include a fare increase of $1.50 for limos by July 2013 and the installation of front-facing and interior cameras on all limousines. The bylaw goes before council for approval on Tuesday.
“Since January 2010, all cabs have cameras, and since that time there have been approximately 950 police occurrences, and many of those have involved camera downloads. So the next time somebody thinks they can rob a driver, assault a driver, run a fare, they are on camera,” Orest Katolyk, London’s manager of bylaw enforcement, explained.
Rice felt the city was overstepping its bounds by mandating limos to increase their prices.
“I don’t know of any other industries in this world where the competition gets to choose what my price should be,” he said. “This isn’t a place for the municipality to be directing this kind of thing. I don’t think it should be regulated by the city at all.”
Limos have historically had 15 per cent higher prices than taxis in order to differentiate their different levels of customer service, but the taxi industry didn’t think the current price difference was large enough.
“In some cases, [Checker limos] were cheaper than cabs. And there has to be a broad distinction,” Pepers explained. “They’re an elite, for-hire service. We’re the middle of the road—there’s the LTC, there’s us, and there’s the limo service.”
“I don’t know what planet [Rice] is from, but anywhere in North America all taxis are regulated by the municipality or the region,” he continued. “He’s a for-hire service. If you’re a for-hire service, you better be prepared to be regulated.”
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By Jason Sinukoff
Does the contract extension of John Michael Liles make anybody on the Leafs expendable?
—Michael Teitelbaum
The short answer to your question is yes.
I have been thinking for a while now that with the plethora of talent that the Leafs have on defence, somebody on the Leafs would be on their way out. And now, with his brand new $15.5 million, four-year contract extension, that odd man out clearly won’t be John Michael Liles. Looking at the Leafs’ depth chart, I would say that the odd man out would be Luke Schenn.
With the emergence of rookie sensation Jake Gardiner, the previously deemed “untouchable” Luke Schenn by general manager Brian Burke may see himself on the trading block by the deadline. The young star not only has the highest trade value of all the Leafs’ defencemen, but his play has slumped as of late after not being able to adapt to the weight he packed on during the off-season.
Though Schenn’s play is not as bad as someone like Mike Komisarek, the contract of Komisarek would see potential buyers not getting enough bang for their buck.
Furthermore, even though Brian Burke is a fan of Schenn, he has made it abundantly clear that he will not hesitate to make any trade that will improve the future of the Maple Leafs franchise.
I have no doubt in my mind that Burke is keeping busy and is continuing his ongoing quest to bring a top-line talent to the buds. I know of many teams are in need of a defenceman, and having Schenn would definitely help them out. If an opportunity arises to trade for a top-line talent, Burke will have no problem pulling the trigger, even if it means sending somebody like Schenn away.
What do you think of Patrick Chan joining the 300 club at Canadian nationals? How do you think he’ll fare at Worlds?
—Skater Fan
I think that Patrick Chan being the sole member of the 300 club—a feat that I didn’t think could be accomplished—is an amazing accomplishment and I think that we should be proud to call him a Canadian.
Chan skated with poise and each one of his seven jumps—including two quads—was flawlessly executed. Even though his score of 302.14 will only stand as a Canadian record—because the scores at Nationals tend to be a little inflated—it sets a precedent.
I think the 2011 Lou Marsh award winner will have his work cut out for him at Worlds. Chan will have to face off against Russian superstar Evgeni Plushenko, which will surely be a tough match. Plushenko is a talented skater to say the least, but Chan is riding a huge wave of momentum. Chan is near the top of his game at the moment so don’t be surprised if he’s is in the running for gold at the Worlds as he continues to represent the true north strong and free with strong programs.
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By Ryan Hurlbut
=Unlike his Maple Leafs counterpart Jonas Gustavsson, this week’s purple pipe winner Josh Unice actually managed to post shutouts on back-to-back nights. In a pair of one-goal games against Lakehead, the second place team in the OUA West, every one of Unice’s combined 56 saves was integral in preserving the Mustangs’ hold on first place.
Unice earned his first shutout of the weekend on Friday night by stopping 27 shots and helping kill eight penalties during the game. He then completed back-to-back shutout victories the next day, stopping 29 shots en route to the win. The pair of wins gave the Mustangs a six-point cushion over Lakehead in the standings, and should provide them with some security in the coming weeks.
Unice’s play this weekend was stellar, but can hardly be classified as out of the ordinary. He has played 15 games for the Mustangs so far this year, and currently has the best save percentage in the league at .934, and second-lowest goals against average in the league at 2.09. He had already posted a shutout before this weekend.
Along with this coveted purple pipe, Unice was rewarded even more hardware for his impressive performance. He was named male Canadian Interuniversity Sport Athlete of the Week, Western GoodLife Fitness Athlete of the Week, and CTV London Sports Extra Athlete of the Week. Realistically, he’s out shopping for a new trophy shelf right now.
Unice undoubtedly looks to continue his streak of wins against Lakehead, as the teams play for the third time this month on Saturday.
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