The Eyeopener: Vol. 55, Issue 3

Volume 55 - Issue 3 September 22, 2021 theeyeopener.com @theeyeopener Since 1967

AS STUDENTS RETURN, SO DO FEARS OF HARASSMENT P6

ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO / ILLUSTRATION: JES MASON JES MASON / LAILA AMER

THIS SHOULD NOT BE NORMAL

2

NEWS

What the FundQi: Everything you need to know about the RSU’s trial with the scholarship platform

By Thea Gribilas The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) announced it would be partnering with scholarship service FundQi for a free trial of its platform at a Board of Directors’ (BoD) meeting in July.

However, controversy surrounded the company for months at Carleton University in the winter.

During the July meeting, RSU vice-president operations Vaishali Vinayak said 200 undergraduate students would be included in the trial, but did not specify how these students would be chosen.

“We hope to ease the burden placed on the students now being referred to as the ‘lockdown generation’ and restore their sense of confidence and focus on their studies,” Vinayak said in an email to The Eyeopener.

According to Vinayak, the response from students has been positive so far with the RSU receiving over 2,000 applicants within a few days of the announcement of the trial.

FundQi previously partnered with the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA). However, CUSA councillors brought forth a referendum that passed on Dec. 8, 2020, giving students the ability to choose to opt-in to the $9.99 per semester fee rather than opt-out of the $9.99 per semester fee.

“We hope to ease the burden placed on students...and restore their sense of confidence” FundQi representatives subsequently expressed concerns that they wouldn’t be able to sustain their business on an opt-out model and attempted to amend the referendum in order to make the service a $105 per semester opt-in fee.

This amendment failed and ultimately CUSA councillors brought forth a second referendum question to remove FundQi as an ancillary fee entirely.

In March, Carleton University students voted 91.8 per cent in favour to remove the $9.99 per semester FundQi ancillary fee, The Charlatan, Carleton’s independent student newspaper, previously reported.

“There are controversies around many things when it comes to student governments. We wanted to genuinely test drive the services, with no strings attached if it doesn’t work,” said Vinayak Cameron Davis, a CUSA councillor for Carleton’s Faculty of Engineering and Design, was in-

ILLUSTRATION: LAILA AMER

volved in the referendum process.

He said many CUSA councillors and Carleton students felt like they were funding FundQi. The proposal of the ancillary fee increase is what led to “Dragons’ Den sentiments” where, according to Davis, students and CUSA councillors felt they were bearing the brunt of funding the initative.

Zuberi Attard is the national director and founder of FundQi. When asked why FundQi looked to increase the ancillary fee for their service at Carleton—a 90 per cent increase on the initial fee—he said that the $105 fee was necessary if the service was going to be an optin service, as FundQi “couldn’t afford...to do that. So the fee would have to change.”

According to Attard, the company’s largest user base comes from individual subscribers who can either pay $120 per year or $40 plus tax for every three months, although he added that FundQi is actively working with schools to pursue trial periods.

“Right now we’re busy reaching out to schools to give them free trials...just to let their students use [FundQi],” said Attard. “Students just go to our website and try to get the service on their own typically.”

Vinayak said that by pursuing this trial period, students are able to get access to financial aid quickly, while the RSU can simultaneously gather their own data on the most effective approach to assisting students in the long run.

arships on its database, Davis said many Carleton students felt as if they weren’t getting what they were expecting and paying for. “[Students] felt like...the service at its core was trying to offer something that a lot of students felt could be accessed for free online,” said Davis.

Emily Sowa, a CUSA councillor for Carleton’s Faculty of Public Affairs, was also involved in the referendum and the referendum debate.

She said students were asking her to abolish the service because they were unhappy with what FundQi was delivering to students.

“A lot of [what I did] wasn’t because it was my...goal to get rid of the service, it was because dozens and dozens of people have come to me personally and told me that that’s what they want,” said Sowa.

“I definitely believe there was no reason for students to pay $20 a year for a social service,” she said.

Attard disputed this and said that “we did meet our promise…[we’ve matched] students to scholarships, bursaries, internships, startup grants [and] conference tickets.”

“There was no reason for students to pay $20 a year for a social service”

Attard added that FundQi tried to meet with students who felt unsatisfied with the company, but those students never wanted to meet with Carleton students felt FundQi the company or show them what failed them was wrong with the platform.

While according to Attard, FundQi He also claimed FundQi got Carhas well over $16 million in schol- leton students around $600,000

worth of Grammarly premium accounts and hired students from the university to work with FundQi. “We went above and beyond our call of duty,” said Attard.

During the FundQi referendum at Carleton, it was also alleged that FundQi failed to be transparent with financial data and wasn’t forthcoming with information regarding how effective the company had been with connecting students to scholarships and funding.

“A lot of students felt the team was failing to be transparent,” said Davis. “We were kind of just told the data or it took a long time for us to get any of the data.”

Sowa said that FundQi wasn’t obligated to do anything about requests for financial information until June 2021 due to an agreement CUSA and FundQi had originally reached.

However, Sowa said many people were questioning why FundQi didn’t try to prove its effectiveness as a new service at Carleton.

“Why would you not want to be open and transparent to the students when you’re one of our highest fees for the entirety of our tuition?” she said.

Sowa added that people were concerned about where the funds were going and questioned why FundQi was “not as functional as [they] claim it should be.”

She also said that to this day FundQi “never...rationalized their financial choices or [gave CUSA] any indication on what those financial choices were.”

Attard said that although “private corporations and organizations are never obligated to release their financials...we decided to do it any-

way in good faith.”

Throughout the referendum process, he felt students were never asked why FundQi might be necessary keep as an ancillary fee.

“The critics don’t tend to keep the people who actually need the service in mind” “[What’s] really frustrating is the critics don’t tend to keep the people who actually need the service in mind,” said Attard.

Davis said that before the RSU proceeds with a partnership with FundQi it should independently consider any data that FundQi provides them.

“Maybe FundQi improved from Carleton, but if the data is showing you something else, then maybe FundQi isn’t something you want to keep around,” said Davis. “I would genuinely ask Ryerson students to take a hard look at this, take a hard look at FundQi, take a hard look at what happened to Carleton.”

“If anyone wants to research, pretty much everything is publicly available.”

Vinayak said the RSU hasn’t committed to FundQi just yet.

“FundQi hasn’t been chosen yet for any specific campaigns as we’re in the process of evaluating various services over time,” she said. “We’re seeking to understand which services will be most beneficial to students in terms of managing during these difficult times.”

Vinayak said the RSU will keep students informed as to whether or not they decide to proceed with any particular service or company.

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NEWS

Neurodiverse Students’ Association created to support students with learning disabilities The new student group aims to create community within a ‘neurotypical’ education system and raise awareness on neurodiversities

By Samreen Masqood In light of the start of the school year, a new Ryerson student group, the Neurodiverse Students’ Association (NDSA), has been created to provide safe spaces for students with neurological disorders.

The NDSA defines neurodiverse students as those with neurological, developmental, intellectual or learning disabilities, adding that it’s an “umbrella term” for any kind of neurological disorder.

The NDSA already has seven executive members and 23 general members. However, they are still waiting to become an official group under the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU). In order to do so, they must submit an application to the RSU which is reviewed by the Student Groups Committee, which then makes a recommendation for approval at an RSU Board of Directors’ (BoD) meeting.

“Our goals are to provide students...with support and resources and to raise awareness of neurodiversities” During the winter 2021 semester, Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) hosted a pop-up session for students at Ryerson with ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to Mahim-E-Noor Mollah, a fourth-year global management student and vice-president of the NDSA, the event was a success with over 30 students attending.

“A lot of the students that came to the event were excited to learn that there were so many others like them and that we all related heavily based on our struggles,” said Mollah. He said during the event, the students decided to create a Discord chat for Ryerson students with ADHD, as well as others interested in joining.

In April 2021, Mollah and other students in the Discord chat came up with the idea to create a student group for neurodiverse students, with the aim of establishing a space to share their struggles and concerns. Since then, Mollah and the rest of his team have been working to launch their student group, collaborating with AAS to plan joint events in an “appropriate and respectful manner.”

“You don’t have to identify as neurodiverse to join the group, and we don’t ask you to disclose any information that you are not comfortable with,” said Mollah.

“Our goals are to provide students in the Ryerson community, whether they identify as neurodiverse or not, with support and re-

Liberal Party wins minority in 2021 federal election

By Thea Gribilas and Heidi Lee

ILLUSTRATION: LAILA AMER

sources and to raise awareness of neurodiversities.”

Margaret Gibson, an associate professor in Social Development Studies and Social Work at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo, said most of the problems faced by neurodivergent people are the result of systems that aren’t designed with them in mind.

According to a report conducted by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario in June 2021, post-secondary students with disabilities are more likely to encounter challenges when attempting to access support services, and that this issue worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they are less likely to graduate and they experience worse labour market outcomes after post-secondary education compared to other graduates.

According to Gibson, the current education system was set up primarily by neurotypical people, who learn and behave in ways that are defined as “normal” and who aren’t diagnosed or labelled.

“Schools can be really exclusionary spaces if you don’t learn and act like other people” “Schools can be really exclusionary spaces; if you don’t learn and act like other people, the consequences are harsh from peers and educators alike,” she said.

Students like Ashan Mahendran, a fourth-year graphic communications management student who is now a member of the NDSA, said it was nice meeting people who had invisible disabilities like him at an event hosted by the NDSA. He said

there was never a group dedicated to the disability he identified with.

“I believe this group has potential moving forward,” said Mahendran.

“Being neurodiverse means being different in a unique way. Just because your disability is a ‘label’ doesn’t mean it’s actually a label.

It means you think differently and that is what makes being neurodiverse so special.”

The NDSA has several events planned for the upcoming semester, including an event where the group will help students set up accommodations with AAS by teaching them how to send letters and communicate with professors about their needs. The event will also teach the students how to manage their time by teaching them how to properly use calendars.

“Sometimes faculty members are reluctant to make accommodations...I hope this is changing” They will also hold various group study sessions throughout the fall semester. These sessions may include a range of studying tips, but are focused on giving students a space to work together comfortably.

“Campus-based neurodiversity groups are becoming more common and I think it’s a great idea for people to meet other students who might be able to relate to some of their experiences,” said Gibson.

“When there are problems shared by a number of people, these groups can also support people who are struggling and push for change.”

Gibson is currently leading a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo, Brandon University, the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto on a study

called “Neurodiversity Matters.”

The study has found that people who identify in some way with neurodiversity value the opportunity to connect with each other to share resources and support.

“Campus-based neurodiversity groups are becoming more common” A study conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCB) based in the U.S. found that neurodiverse students have stronger study habits when working in groups but may have trouble staying focused by themselves, and group settings provide a sense of accountability.

“The neurodiverse experience is unique to everyone. Everyone has their way of learning and what that entails in terms of attending classes, completing work and balancing other parts of their lives.

This might mean being enrolled with AAS and having different forms of accomo-modations—such as technological support or additional support from professors,” said Mollah.

Gibson said even the experience of receiving support and accommodations can be stigmatizing for many people. In order to receive academic accommodations, students must go through appointments with specialists to obtain assessments, which Gibson said places disproportionate stress on neurodivergent students.

“As a university instructor, I can also say that our instructional methods aren’t all that flexible and sometimes faculty members are reluctant to make accommodations and adjustments,” said Gibson. “I hope this is changing.”

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau will form Canada’s 44th government after winning a minority government on Sept. 20.

“The moment we face demands real important change and you have given this parliament and this government clear direction so that we can put an end to this pandemic once and for all,” said Trudeau in a press conference on election night.

“You have elected a government in Ottawa that would fight for you and that would deliver for you every single day,” he said.

As of the morning of Sept. 21, the Liberals were winning or elected in 158 seats, the Conservatives were at 119 seats, the NDP were at 25 seats, the Bloq Quebecois were at 34 seats and the Green Party were at two seats, meaning the Conservative Party has become the official opposition party.

In a bid for a majority, Trudeau called a snap election on Aug .15, 2021, stating that he wanted Canadians to choose who brought them into COVID-19 recovery.

He faced criticism from opposition leaders throughout the campaign for calling an election in the midst of the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Trudeau was elected in 2015 to form a majority government and again in 2019 to form a minority government. This will be Trudeau’s third term as prime minister.

This election was the most expensive in Canadian history, costing an estimated $610 million, which is $100 million more than the 2019 federal election, according to Elections Canada.

“The pandemic increased the differences among us, it also made the divisions among Canadians even worse,” said Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a press conference on election night. “Unfortunately, this election only made things worse but I am here tonight even more determined to secure this wonderful country.”

O’Toole, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet also won their ridings. People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier lost his riding and the party didn’t win any other seats.

In the Toronto Centre riding— the riding that Ryerson is in—Liberal party candidate Marci Ien won the seat, defeating Green Party leader Annamie Paul.

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EDITORIAL

At times like these, where is the RSU?

Editor-in-Chief Tyler “Communizer” Griffin News Thea “Election Projection” Gribilas Heidi “Picasso” Lee Sarah “Is It Timely?” Tomlinson Photo Laila “Homecoming Queen” Amer Harry “Annex King” Clarke Jes “Believe” Mason Online Dhriti “eow,mewa wemao” Gupta Alexandra “Sex Clup” Holyk Features Abeer “Shang-Chi Simp” Khan Arts and Culture Elizabeth “Forest Child” Sargeant Business and Technology Charlize “RSU Stomping” Alcaraz Communities Mariam “#OldFarts” Nouser Sports Gavin “Not In Calgary” Axelrod Fun and Satire Rochelle “Semen Retention” Raveendran Media Norah “Forearm Lover” Kim Web Developer Farhan “Doug Stan” Sami General Manager Liane “OG Plant Mom” McLarty Advertising Manager Christopher “D-Shrine” Roberts Design Director J.D. “Endless Summer” Mowat

Contributors Samira “Nice to See You In Class” Balsara Prapti “First Time In-Person” Bamaniya Negin “The Eye’s Own Oprah” Khodayari Brett “Shoulda Majored in Poli Sci” Porter Kaylee “Ya Like Jazz?” Chu Ryan “Hammerless” O’Connor Edward “Acquainted with Redditors” Djan Naomi “The Media Won’t Tell You This” Chen Stacey “B Loud B Proud” Nguyen Silas “The Air In Here Is Crisp Asf” LeBlanc Sophia “Looks Like A Froshie” De Guzman Sakina “Big Sniff” Chaudary Jessica “Chasing Sources” Mazze Samreen “Interviewing Sad Fourth Years” Maqsood Jack “theyboss” Wise Mariyah “PR’s bff” Salhia Crina “Stans Andy Murray’s Mom” Mustafa Casey “Maple Syrup Mahomes” Dobson Christina “So Down Bad For This Team” Flores-Chan Koylan “Soccer Insider” Azofeifa Shannan “Testicle Treatise Transcriber” Peck Ruisi “Ryerson Forever” Liu Anna-Maria “French Accent <3” Moubayed Yousef “NICKI MINAJ???” Al Khodari Karly “Diverting Into Chipotle” Benson Charles “John Cow” Simard Jenn “Let’s Go To Hothouse” Mason K.C “O’Toole Is Sexcy” Hoard

By Tyler Griffin On Monday, Canada held its 44th general election—a snap election called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, in the midst of a pandemic, so the party could try (and fail) to secure a majority government. I walked down Gould Street on Monday morning late for work after waiting over an hour in line to vote and pissed at having to even participate in a useless election that was likely to result in few changes to the House of Commons but cost Canadians around $610 million.

My mood lifted, though, when I walked by the Student Centre and found the Continuing Education Students’ Association of X University (CESAX) outside the building, set up with a voter information table and directing students to their nearest polling station. CESAX has been running an election information campaign on the ground and online since late August, in addition to grassroots campaigns promoting harm reduction and community-led alternatives to policing on campus. CESAX is also supporting events for Indigenous Education Week, which runs until Sept.

25. I’ve personally seen CESAX representatives tabling outside and talking to community members every week since orientation.

To sum it up, the union has been busy at work in spite of the challenges facing student groups returning to campus, because they understand the urgency of this point in time for our community. Many others do too.

The non-partisan political engagement group XU Votes has also been hard at work during this election cycle, campaigning to fill in gaps left by the loss of Elections Canada’s Vote on Campus Program. The program was introduced in 2015 and provided easy access to on-campus, pop-up polling stations where students could cast their ballots, register to vote or update their registration information. The program has been a large success for youth voter turnout, allowing more than 110,000 people, mostly students, to vote at these locations—up from about 70,000 in 2015, according to Elections Canada.

The loss of the Vote on Campus program due to COVID-19 and the time restraints of a snap election is a major loss for students and their collective political influence. Some student groups are realizing this and are working to advocate on

That’s a pretty Instagram-worthy rose wall. How much in student funds did it cost the Ryerson Students’ Union? | PHOTO: ABEER KHAN

behalf of students.

So where is the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU)?

The RSU’s presence on campus was strong during Orientation Week, catching students’ attention through free pizza, food trucks handing out free funnel cakes and an Instagram-worthy rose wall. But during this election cycle, they’re nowhere to be seen or heard.

The RSU has, however, seemingly been racking up their number of business partnerships. They’ve already announced a collaboration to offer discounted tickets to Canada’s Wonderland, and, as news editor Thea Gribilas reported this week, are rolling out a trial period for scholarship platform FundQi, despite a controversy involving the service at Carleton University.

In March, Carleton students voted overwhelmingly to remove FundQi from their ancillary fees after alleging that the service had not been transparent about how their student fees were being used or if they were effective at connecting students to funding.

Free funnel cakes and trial partnerships with student services are by no means inherently bad, but Ryerson students should be concerned with the priorities of the student union that exists to advocate on their behalf. At this moment, the campaigns and events pages of the RSU website remain empty.

At Western University, where the student body has been left shocked and traumatized after reports that at least 30 students were drugged and assaulted, and one student died after being violently assaulted, during the school’s orientation week. According to the Western Gazette, the Western University Students’ Council (WUSC) supported a student-led walkout that saw over 12,000 attendees march through Western’s campus to support survivors of sexual violence. As writer Mariyah Salhia’s cover feature for this week illustrates, fears of sexual harass-

ment and assault remain prevalent among those living near Ryerson’s downtown campus.

The WUSC also provided Western students with free shuttle service on Monday so they could access polling stations for the election, the Gazette reported.

To put this advocacy work in perspective, CESAX recently released a letter stating that the RSU had terminated their legal aid services provider, which allows their membership to access free legal services.

While CESAX’s letter states that the RSU has indicated a plan to relaunch a legal aid service by the end of September, the service is still being advertised on the RSU website.

Additionally, the status of many of the RSU’s equity service centres remains unclear. Last year’s RSU executive team laid off all staff members at the Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support (C3SVS), citing that “the centre was being poorly managed.” The executive team then proceeded to run the C3SVS themselves. Although a new Sexual Assault Survivor Support chat line has been launched, the union has provided little transparency on the operations of C3SVS and other equity centres or whether staff have been rehired.

So far, this year’s RSU executive has failed to even abide by their own by-laws which require Board of Directors’ meeting dates to be communicated to student directors five business days in advance. All of this is in contrast to the union’s stated goals of advocating for students and being transparent to regain the trust of its membership following years of scandals.

Rather than becoming a hub for business partnerships, the RSU needs to reevaluate its priorities in a crucial moment for the Ryerson community and actually do the groundwork of reaching out to students and hearing out their needs, rather than leaving the work to student groups with far less resources than them.

NEWS + BIZ

5

Students struggle to find housing as Toronto rent returns to pre-pandemic rates

By Samira Balsara Apartment hunting for Ryerson students has become difficult with Toronto rent prices slowly heading back to pre-pandemic rates.

Mikayla Guarasci, a second-year sport media student, said it was hard to find an affordable place that still provided the amenities her and her roommates needed.

“We wanted to make sure we found a place that was safe, secure and close to campus to make things easier when we are in-person,” Guarasci said. frenzy,” with prices skyrocketing.

She also added that landlords are The article cited data from real sometimes wary of selling to stu- estate consulting firm Urbanation dents, which makes renting harder. Inc., which revealed that 5,221 Toronto condo apartments leased in July were now up 40 per cent from “We wanted to make the same time last year. sure we found a place Ryerson students also said they are dealing with fewer options that was safe, secure and when looking for apartments. close to campus” Ben Chandler, a third-year sport media student originally from According to the Toronto GTA Vancouver, usually moves back to August Rent Report, the average Toronto for school every year. He rental rates in the GTA bounced back said apartment hunting was chalfrom “reaching a local low” in April. lenging this year due to the lack of The report stated that rental options and clarity. rates are expected to “continue their “Apartment hunting has been my steady rise” as the Toronto economy least favourite thing I’ve done,” he starts to emerge from the pandemic. said, adding that the hardest part In July, Toronto had the highest about it is finding an affordable place rent with a 4.7 per cent monthly in- with a lack of options. crease and an average rent of $2,167 Chandler said real estate agents in for all property types. the city will list a one bedroom apartAt the end of August, The Globe and ment with a den as a two bedroom.

Mail reported that the Toronto conHe said the misleading descripdo rental market was in a “complete tions make looking for a place to

PHOTO: JES MASON

live even more difficult.

He added that he feels the school does not help out students as much as they could when it comes to apartment hunting downtown.

“Ryerson claims that they have [services to help] students. I went to them for help, and they just told me. ‘Yeah, we can’t help you.’ You’re gonna either just spend $5,000 a month, which is not true, or go live at [dormitory]. I don’t want to do either of those two things,” he said.

A 2019 article called “Post-Secondary Student Homelessness in Canada: New Research on Prevalence, Intervention and Prevention,” revealed that roughly 4 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students experience some sort of homelessness daily.

The article, featured in Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, found that about 80,000 students are “couch surfing, sleeping in a vehicle, locker room, stair well or shelter today.”

Cathy Crowe, a visiting practitioner at Ryerson, street nurse and an expert on affordable housing, said the costly home issue and lack of housing for students has been prevalent since the early 1990s.

“Canada once had a national housing program like Medicare...

We built 20,000 new units a year across the country,” she said.

The program was Canada’s National Housing Act. Major amendments to this act were made in the late 1940s such as providing federal provincial programs to fund publicly owned and provincially managed housing for low-income families.

In Crowe’s piece, “Canada needs a new housing plan,” published in The Globe and Mail, she wrote “the National Housing Act in 1949 led to expanded federal funding for social housing—a national housing program that by 1964 was close to being a universal program for several decades.”

In the spring of 1993, the program faced serious budget cuts by the government and could not continue to build housing to support people.

“This crisis we’re in is because that program was killed,” she said in an interview with The Eyeopener.

Condo buildings in Toronto continue to be built, but they are sold at unaffordable prices that students cannot afford.

However, according to Crowe, the COVID-19 pandemic has played an interesting role in creating a possible solution to the housing crisis.

“There are going to be many emp-

ty office buildings and hotels that go out of business that are going to be very attractive purchases for people, including, I would hope, universities to purchase and renovate into residence,” she said.

“We need the government to know that we have to find housing, because private sectors won’t do it on their own” Crowe suggested that rather than tearing these buildings down and making new ones that most can’t afford, renovating these empty buildings into housing for students could be the best solution.

She added that it is not only affordable housing for students but it is a more sustainable approach as well.

A possible example of this is the Bond Place Hotel, which served as a recovery space for homeless people who had COVID-19 during the pandemic. Currently, it operates as a shelter and hotel, but Crowe said it will not stay like that forever.

“The question is will they go back into operation as a hotel? Will they still be financed? Or will they really be wanting to sell?” she said.

Crowe said she doesn’t think any more research is needed to prove that there is a housing crisis.

“We need the government to know that we have to find housing, because private sectors won’t do it on their own,” Crowe said.

Noisy traffic can do more than just irritate you, Ryerson research finds

By Stacey Nguyen Research by a Ryerson health geographer has found that Torontonians’ frequent noise exposure can contribute to serious health conditions.

The study shows that ongoing noise pollution—particularly chronic traffic noise—can add stress to people’s lives resulting in adverse health impacts, including sleep disruption and contributing to developing health issues, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

After a city noise bylaw review led to a request to study the health effects of noise, Ryerson health geographer Tor Oiamo and Toronto Public Health began measuring noise levels in over 200 locations throughout the city and modelled noise exposure using traffic volumes, which can predict noise levels.

In a paper published in the Environmental Health Perspectives coauthored by Oiamo, the research found that frequent exposure to traffic noise is linked with an increased risk of acute heart attacks and congestive heart failure for Toronto residents between the ages of 30 and 100.

While his research found that noise pollution can cause severe health implications, Oiamo suggests that Ryerson students shouldn’t be too worried about living in the noisy city during their studies unless they plan to stay for an extended period.

“There’s certainly no short-term effects on wellbeing that are concerning, but there are long-term detrimental health outcomes,” he said. “Students would probably know if it’s a problem because it’s probably disturbing their sleep.”

“There’s certainly no short-term effects on wellbeing that are concerning, but there are long term detrimental health outcomes” “The research shows that [health impacts are found] mostly among populations that have been exposed to excessive levels of noise for a long period of time, so over 10, 15 or maybe 20 years,” said Oiamo. “Often, it’s not noise by itself, but there are other stressors involved too.”

Although students’ health may not be severely affected living in Toronto during their studies, Oiamo said the immediate impacts of noise pollution can still interrupt the lives of people living in the city.

“We all understand that even one night with too much noise going on is going to wreck your day or make it hard to concentrate in class,” said Oiamo.

To help minimize sleep disturbances from the city’s noise, Oiamo suggested Ryerson students wear earplugs and rearrange living quarters to avoid windows. However, the researcher says there is still little individuals can do to prevent the negative health impacts of frequent exposure to noise pollution.

“It’s often not something individuals can do a whole lot about. You’re confined to the space you live in,” said Oiamo. “You can do little things on your own as best as you can, but it’s a public health problem.”

To minimize ongoing noise exposure, Oiamo is calling for systemic solutions.

“Buildings that are close to busy

PHOTO: JES MASON

roads should be built in a way that they don’t necessarily have as much exposure to that traffic noise as they do now,” said Oiamo. “If that can’t be done, things like just slowing down traffic can help a lot. The slower cars move, the less noise they make.”

Oiamo also said a lot of little things can add up to make a significant difference, but it has to be done in a systemic, urban or at least neighbourhood scale.

“It’s a difficult thing for individuals to solve, other than moving away, which is also not something that people should have to do.”

Despite the evidence linking on-

going noise exposure to health issues, Oiamo said little progress has been made on the subject. That’s why the researcher is encouraging students to make their own noise on the topic.

“More and more people are getting into the same area of the city, so density is increasing. More people are receiving all of this excessive noise,” said Oiamo.

“The more noise you make about it, the more potential there is for these things to be addressed and come on to legislative tables,” said Oiamo. “We need stronger policies. We need better laws and more enforcement.”

A bone-chilling reality While the return to classes is joyous for some, for survivors living near campus, it comes with heightened fear and anxiety of sexual harassment

Words by Mariyah Salhia Visuals by Laila Amer CONTENT WARNING: This story discusses sexual violence, including specific incidents of harassment and assault. If you’ve been affected by sexual violence and are in need of help, visit the Sexual Harassment and Assault Research Exchange to find a crisis centre near you.

I

t was a chilly Wednesday evening in October 2019 and Sam Tinajero was walking home after finishing a workout at the Recreation and Athletic Centre. Even though the sun hadn’t quite set and the weather was still warm enough to forgo layers, Tinajero, a third-year media production student, was wearing a baggy pair of sweatpants and a hoodie underneath a puffy parka, as she made her way to her dorm room in Pitman Hall. With her hood up, her head down and the volume in her headphones low, she crossed through Kerr Hall Quad and made her way out to Gould Street.

As she turned out of the Quad, she noticed a group of four or five men walking towards her just past the archway across from Balzac’s, all of whom were larger than her. Cautiously, she swerved around them and stepped off the sidewalk, when some of them started yelling “Hey baby!” in her direction. She started walking faster. Before she knew it, she could feel one of them coming up behind her, hand grazing her back before she arched her body to avoid being grabbed.

All she remembers from that point forward was running home as fast as she could and breaking down in tears in front of her roommates the minute she walked through the door.

Although the incident is still fresh in her mind, she never reported it to the school.

“I don’t even know where to go, I don’t know what to do,” says Tinajero. “It’s sad, but I didn’t think there was anything that could be done. What’s the point of me reporting?”

For many Ryerson students living on or near campus, returning to school after one-and-a-half years of online learning is exciting. It signals a return to some of their favourite parts of campus life that they missed out on like going to parties on a Wednesday night or the rush of finding an empty table to study at. But for women living on campus, a return to inperson activities comes alongside stress and concern over how safe campus will be from sexual harassment.

In February 2020, the Council of Ontario Universities reported that 63.5 per cent of surveyed Ryerson students had experienced sexual harassment. Ryerson’s sexual violence policy defines sexual harassment as: “A course of unwanted remarks, behaviours, or communications of a sexually oriented nature or a course of unwanted remarks, actions that promote genderbased violence.” It also includes “behaviours or communications

based on gender where the person responsible for the remarks, actions, behaviours or communications knows or ought reasonably to know that these are unwelcome.”

In September 2020, Statistics Canada reported that around one in 10 students who identify as women were sexually assaulted in a post-secondary setting in 2019.

According to a 2019 report published in the Journal of Family Violence, encounters with sexual assault on campus are experienced disproportionately amongst women and are nearly always detrimental to their mental health, triggering a serious trauma response.

Jennifer Hollinshead is a registered clinical counsellor in British Columbia as well as the founder and clinical director of Peak Resilience, a counselling service designed to help women cope with trauma. Hollinshead focuses on survivors of sexual violence and survivors who choose not to report.

“We have a huge population of university students,” she says. “We see thousands of people a month and I would say, 70 or more per cent have [experienced] sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual trauma of some kind.”

Farrah Khan, manager of the Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education, also known as Consent Comes First (CCF), says the university is always here to support students who’ve experienced sexual violence of any kind, on and off campus. “If the sexual violence happened off campus, on a date, with a family member, with a coach,” she says. “We’re here to support you.”

When reporting an instance of sexual violence to the university, students must first contact Ryerson’s Human Rights Services. Then, students can file a report or complaint via email, or request an in-person meeting to file a report or formal complaint.

Still, at Ryerson, students say being sexually harassed feels like a part of a routine they never asked for. Thus, the return to living on campus is coupled with dread and fear, as it can mean returning to the place where experiences with sexual harassment feel as common as going from one class to the next.

This fear is widespread across other university campuses as well. Two weeks ago, this fear was realized when at least 30 students at Western University in London, Ont. were drugged and assaulted during the school’s orientation week. According to the Western Gazette, several reports of sexual assault were made by students living at Medway-Sydenham Hall (Med-Syd) on campus. The reports came just one day after the death of a first-year student who was violently assaulted and later succumbed to his injuries near Western University.

Since then, the Gazette said more reports of sexual violence, including several accounts of students being drugged, were filed and an investigation was opened by the London Police Service.

One first-year student at Western recalls running out of the Med-Syd residence and seeing another girl drugged and lying face down on the curb. A frosh leader at the school remembers one of her students saying, “Kids are just passing out, they’re all OD’ing.” One fourth-year student at Western, who also worked as an orientation leader, called the week’s events “horrific” in a Twitter thread. She says students were “dropping like flies” due to drug overdose during a party.

Leaders from her team also came across the scene of the firstyear student’s death. There were several times where she or her colleagues were “screamed at, pushed and touched inappropriately by men.”

Western students staged a walkout on Sept. 17 to voice their frustration about the school’s lack of action against its longstanding campus culture of sexual violence. A reported 12,000 students walked out of classes to show support for their peers.

Tinajero says it’s also particularly difficult separating the place she was harassed from where she lives—as they’re essentially indistinguishable. “When school is also where you live, it’s really hard.”

According to Brea Hutchinson, the former executive director at the Sexual Assault Centre in Kingston, Ont., it’s common for students to have trouble making that kind of distinction. “Residence is difficult because you have to affiliate all the stress of school with where you live and for some of the women on campus, that includes sexual harassment.”

J

ust a few months into her first year at Ryerson, Parveen Das* was at a party at the Daphne Cockwell Complex (DCC) residence. In a dorm room with too many people in it, surrounded by half-full solo cups, friends of friends and music she could hardly hear herself over, she was having a good time.

Suddenly, another student tried to grab her hand and body, and when she said she wasn’t interested, he refused to let go.

After trying to get him off a few times, she figured it would be easier if she danced with him for a few minutes and then eventually fled from his grasp. “That kind of stuff happens to a lot of people,” she says.

While looking back on her first year at Ryerson, Das, a third-year student at The Creative School, says she can’t even pick just a single moment when she’s been sexually violated as there were many, but that incident always sticks out to her.

After spending over a year at home in rural Alberta, she knew that moving back to the downtown core would be stressful.

7

This Should Not Be Normal

“The community is a lot different [there],” she says. “In Toronto, it’s a very hustle-type attitude and back home it was just family all the time.”

Das says her skin has gotten tougher since moving to Toronto in her first year, but being sexually harassed is something that is constantly on her mind and other women’s minds when they walk out the door. “Once you start living here you start understanding that you don’t want to walk through Victoria Street in the evenings, or you learn that you do have to worry about your clothes, or if you want to wear AirPods, you have to keep the volume really low,” she says. “You just have to be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

While Das’ housing was right across from the Mattamy Athletic Centre, Ryerson initiatives like the WalkSafe Program—a service where uniformed security guards can walk students to different parts of campus—weren’t always available to her because her apartment was just outside of the program’s boundaries. “I’m really glad to have the security staff and the WalkSafe program available on campus, but for people like me, who have to commute a little, it doesn’t really feel like I get a lot of support.”

Hutchinson says gaps in safety resources on campus, like Ryerson’s WalkSafe Program, are more common than they should be. “I don’t want to sound cheap, but really, it’s about money,” she says. “These programs are underfunded.”

In 2019, the WalkSafe program was used 1,066 times, according to Ryerson. When asked how much funding is given to Ryerson’s WalkSafe program, the university said in an email to The Eyeopener that they were unable to provide a number as “it’s part of the larger budget and is too difficult to disentangle.”

The program is part of the Community Safety and Security operating budget, which the university said they were unable to provide, “as internal department budgets are confidential.”

According to the Ontario government, just $6 million was invested “to support sexual violence prevention and campus safety efforts at publicly-funded post-secondary institutions” earlier this year, which reportedly doubled their previous investment. This funding is split between the province’s 22 publicly assisted universities, and 24 publicly assisted colleges.

Recently, Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Univerisites announced it’s now requiring postsecondary institutions to update their policies to ensure that students who report sexual violence will not be disciplined for drug and alcohol use when the alleged sexual violence took place.

Hutchinson says community-based sexual assault centres are well-positioned to do this work instead of offices, as they work with students and community members regardless of where they experienced sexual violence, but are significantly underfunded. “Community-based sexual assault centres in Ontario get about $1 funding per person per year across the whole province. The total budget for community-based sexual assault centres is about $15 million in Ontario per year. This core funding has not been increased since 2013,” she says.

Right after becoming a part of one of the school’s athletic teams, Das and her teammates participated in a mandatory CCF training session. In a series of sessions, they learned about services available on campus to students who’d experienced sexual violence, what consent means and security services available to them as students. She remembers everyone on her team taking the training seriously and even remembers other athletes being enthusiastic about completing their online modules.

Ryerson provides mandatory CCF training for all students living in residence, student athletes and several campus student groups. Still, Das says she’d feel safer on campus if it was mandatory for all students. “For me, the training feels like obvious stuff,” she says. “But it’s not obvious to everyone and a lot of [students] don’t live in res and aren’t athletes.”

Das says it’s concerning that there are so many students coming to campus without the understanding of the trauma that accompanies sexual harassment or the supports available to them if they experience it.

“It’s not your first thought when you move to the city, because parties around campus. He’d told her that a few nights before, you think that you can rely on services like Consent Comes First he and some friends had tried to get into a residence party. and campus security,” she says. “I don’t know how much of an “Why would you want to party with first-years, you’re a influx [of sexual harassment] there’s going to be, but I can gau- fourth-year?” she asked him. “We’re lame to you.” She remembers him responding with, “‘They’re first-years, they’re easy,’” and then immediately saying, “‘Just kidding!’” with a laugh.

Because of that experience, she’s worried about how safe younger girls might be in residence, especially after a year and a half of schooling from home. “[Incoming students] have rantee a lot of people are going to be learning things very quickly.” been living in lockdown, under a rock for over a year,” she n October of 2019, Christina Flores-Chan was given the says. “They’re kids, and the second they can do something that opportunity to cover the Toronto Maple Leafs home open- someone’s been telling them they can’t, they’re gonna do it.” er for a student publication on campus. Excitement was rushAnxieties about incoming students were even further ing through her veins; sports reporting was always her dream heightened by the news coming out of Western University. and for the then-first-year journalism student, it felt like the “The rumours [about sexual assault], already widespread onopportunity of a lifetime. line, cast a shadow on the final night of Orientation Week She went to the game with her notebook in hand, accompa- events,” reported the Gazette. Western claims to give first-year nied by an editor from the publication, who was a fourth-year students “extensive sexual and gender-based violence trainstudent at Ryerson at the time. When the game was over, the ing,” but first-years “unequivocally refuted” the assertion that editor offered to walk Flores-Chan back to her dorm at the anyone was trained, also reported by the Gazette.

DCC. As they walked back to her residence, the editor started So far, Ryerson hasn’t commented directly on the events at making comments about her appearance and ethnicity, mak- Western or how they’re working to ensure that students are ing sure to tell her he was “really into Filipino girls” because of protected from that scale of sexual violence. In an interview how “cute and small” they are. with The Eye, president Mohamed Lachemi pointed to existWhen they finally reached the lobby, he told her he’d nev- ing resources like the CCF and the WalkSafe program availer seen what the residences inside the DCC looked like and able for students to use. strung the conversation along, to Flores-Chan’s discomfort.

Similar to Das, Flores-Chan remembers sitting in a manFeeling powerless, she says she had no choice but to invite datory CCF training during the first couple days of first year him into her dorm.“I was a first-year and he was a fourth-year after just moving in. In a large lecture hall at the Ted Rogwith control over what stories I got,” she says. ers School of Management building, she noticed that while When they got in the elevator, he started asking questions. she was paying attention to the lecture, others around her “He said, ‘Are your roommates home? Is your bed big?’” She were falling asleep or fidgeting with beef jerky handed out at quickly told him that her roommates were probably there and Yonge-Dundas Square. “I don’t necessarily think it made me that her bed was tiny. A little confused, Flores-Chan’s room- feel safer,” Flores-Chan says. “A lot of people were falling asleep, mates invited the editor into their small living room and tried some people were cracking jokes and I just remember thinking, to make conversation. After a few minutes, he quietly told Flores-Chan and her roommates that he had to work on a group project and showed himself out of the dorm.

In the following days, Flores-Chan noticed that her story on the game never ran and she didn’t feel comfortable writing for ‘That’s really disrespectful.’” the publication again. Feeling confused about what had hapven though Tinajero is excited to get back to campus pened to her, Flores-Chan talked to her Residence Advisor (RA) this year, the anxiety surrounding being back at Ryerabout what the editor did. As she recounted the story, her RA son has already set in, especially after spending the pandeminformed her that what happened to her was a form of sexual ic in a quiet suburb just outside of Caledon, Ont. harassment and she could file a formal report about the incident.

While the experience she had walking home from the gym However, Flores-Chan decided against it. “At the time, he was nearly two years ago, it still bothers her. “It still makes me was still an editor and he was still in fourth year,” says Flores- upset every time I walk past that little section on Gould.” The Chan. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, I thought incident still lives in vivid detail in her mind, yet she never because he didn’t explicitly force me to do anything and I was learned who harassed her. “It boils my blood to think about if the one who invited him up.” they were students,” she says. “I feel like it hurts more when Flores-Chan initially thought it was her fault that it hap- it’s another student.” pened. Now in her third year and as a writer with more experiTinajero knows it wasn’t her fault she was harassed, yet she ence, she knows she wouldn’t be naive enough to find herself still thinks about how she didn’t say anything to the men who in another situation like that. “That’s so fucked up,” she says. “It catcalled her. “You always rehearse the ‘fuck you’ or whatever,” shouldn’t matter that I was naive, it shouldn’t have happened in she says. “But in that moment I froze and I never told them how the first place.” disgusting they were.”

Hutchinson says the According to Hollinshead, this kind of biggest barriers to rereaction is very common. “Half the trauma porting are reporting processing is how you think of yourself processes in place and a and how you reacted—evaluating it and culture that shames and the shame in the woulda-coulda-shoulda.” places the responsibilTinajero can remember countless exity on women for their amples of seeing or experiencing sexual safety. Hollinshead adds harassment on campus. For her, one of that this kind of reacthe saddest parts of hearing the experition is a common trauences of other women on campus is how ma response. normalized it seems to have become.

“Sometimes I talk to Sexual harassment is so regular in people about responsiher life that she can’t make a distinction bility-taking and guilt as your brain’s way of wishful thinking between “regular Toronto stuff” and things like the Gould that you could have changed something,” she says. “In an adap- Street incident. “There’s always some creepy guy at a party tive way, it’s your brain and body trying to take responsibility who doesn’t know when enough is enough or someone who and control back.” looks at you on the TTC,” she says. “We just learn to adapt.”

According to Harvard Business Review, many women who Tinajero says although she’s been able to overcome some of don’t report sexual harassment in the workplace do so because the stress of being harassed herself, she’s afraid for incoming of three main factors: fear of retaliation from their employer; students. “I’m just worried about all those kids. A girl I know, embarrassment caused by the bystander effect; and a need to who’s starting her first-year, reached out to me and asked if I fit into a male-dominated environment—all of which Flores- had any tips on how to not get sexually harassed,” she says. “The Chan says she felt in her first year. sad part is I knew exactly what to tell her.”

Another time, while sitting in the newsroom, Flores-Chan was sitting with that same editor as they talked about going to *Name has been changed to protect source’s privacy and security

I

E

8

BIZ AND TECH

What’s going to happen to our Ryerson email addresses after the renaming?

By Edward Djan

PHOTO VIA CANVA

As Ryerson University prepares to change its name, work is already underway to transition its digital assets after the renaming.

Ryerson’s chief information officer Brian Lesser said the goal of the university’s computing and communications services (CCS) is “to provide a seamless transition for everyone” throughout the rebrand.

While few specific details were disclosed about the difference in digital experience students can expect after the rebrand, Lesser said CCS is currently working on ensuring continuity of work and learning during the process by keeping its current domain name even after the name change.

“We’re the ones who could be affected the most, we’re gonna be using the tech” “All our systems that end in ‘ryerson.ca’ will have to continue working.

The hostnames also exist in many databases and configuration files,” said Lesser. “We have to work through all of them to ensure that all our systems continue to work properly.”

Keeping the university’s current domain name after the name change also ensures that students, faculty and staff will still receive messages even after their email addresses change from ‘@ryerson.ca.’

“That’s a big part of what we are working on—managing the new domain name and still having old links

their website and learning management system, McGovern added.

“The goal of CCS is to provide a seamless transition for everyone”

and email addresses continue to work correctly,” Lesser said. “At some point, everyone should be able to use a new email address, but mail must also continue to be delivered to their ‘@ryerson.ca’ address.”

While Lesser did say the university plans to have “old email addresses continue to work for a long time,” he did not provide an end date to when messages sent to ‘@ryerson.ca’ will stop being redirected to new email addresses after the rebrand.

Lesser also did not say how much the rebranding will cost CCS, but added, “most of the ‘costs’ so far seem to be in staff hours.”

As previously reported by The Eyeopener, the university announced in late August that it had accepted the recommendations from the Standing Strong (Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win) Task Force’s final report, an advisory group created in September

2020 to re-examine the school’s relationship with its namesake.

Among the 22 recommendations from the task force was a name change for the institution. The report cited colonial ties and the legacy of residential schools that the university’s name symbolizes. Ryerson is named after Egerton Ryerson, who played an integral role in the shaping of residential schools in Canada.

While not for the same reasons, another university in Ontario has undergone a complete rebrand.

Ontario Tech University rebranded back in 2019 because people often confused the university with the University of Toronto (UofT), according to the school’s vice president of external relations and advancements Susan McGovern.

“The University of Ontario Institute of Technology was just a really long name and a lot of people

got confused that we were UofT,” McGovern said. “Because we have a STEM focus and tech focus, Ontario Tech is much better for us—it’s snappier and people remember it.”

McGovern said Ontario Tech kept their old domain name to ensure external members were still able to contact people at the university.

“You can still email ‘Susan.McGovern@UOIT.ca’ and I will still get it. We didn’t want people to not get emails. It takes time to switch everybody over to ‘@ontariotechu.ca’ but we did do a domain switch.”

“The consultation, in my opinion, is the most important part” Another important IT consideration for Ontario Tech during their rebrand was ensuring continuous access to

“Our students always had access to their courses, their fees and everything on the website. We never shut our website down,” McGovern said.

“We worked on it behind the scenes, and then in March 2019 when you went on to the website and refreshed, the new brand was there.”

McGovern said if Ryerson wants a successful rebrand, it must hold broad consultations.

“You can’t get frustrated or irritated with people that don’t want it to change,” said McGovern. “The consultation, in my opinion, is the most important part.”

“They didn’t understand why we needed to change our name. Once we explained to people, that brought a lot of naysayers on board.”

Second-year international economics and finance student Srijan Sahu said she also believes the university should be holding consultation sessions about IT changes and should use the rebrand as an opportunity to improve user experience.

“Every time you try to log in to (RAMMS), you’ve got to create a new session and sometimes the pop-up window doesn’t load properly,” Sahu said.

“It’s important to hold consultations regarding matters of the rebranding, because in the end, we’re the ones who could be affected the most, we’re gonna be using the tech.”

Alumneye in Tech: CrissCross modernizes community exploration

By Yousef Al Khodari A 2021 Ryerson fashion communication graduate has created a one-of-akind, interactive map-based app.

Kaela Gordon is the chief marketing officer and co-founder of CrissCross, an app that gives users a new and personalized way to connect with the world around them.

The app gives users the ability to learn more about their community using unique filters and real-time data. Users can specify their age, dietary needs, venue preferences and much more.

“If I just want to go out for a night out, I’m gonna be able to see in realtime the age groups that I want to see and where they are in the city.

It’s showing us in real-time this data and it’s showing you visually as well,“ said Gordon.

Gordon said the idea behind having an app like CrissCross is to explore more local options and feel like a local rather than a visitor.

“We want people to feel welcomed wherever they are,” said Gordon.

Local exploration and filters CrissCross allows users to look for places in their area like pubs, restaurants and clubs and filter through what they want to see using options like dietary restrictions and different cuisine options.

A demo posted on CrissCross’ YouTube channel shows different filters that allow you to zoom in and see the percentages of age demographics at specific venues organized in different colours.

“We want people to feel welcomed wherever they are” Exclusive to Ryerson students Ryerson students that sign up to become beta users will have access to premium features including a dating feature set to be launched next summer. Discount memberships will also be available for Rye students soon.

The current focus is on Toronto students, but Tia Wetherup, CEO

and co-founder of CrissCross, said that their goal is to generate interest with Gen Z and millennials and allow for the app to grow over time.

Beta users who download the app will also have immediate access to over 3,000 patio options in Toronto.

“We made sure that we’re connected to an actual Toronto database of all these patios...so we have all of that data feeding to the app on the backend,” said Wetherup.

CrissCross is also adding a “least busy” update. The feature displays highly-rated locations with the least amount of people in the user’s area.

COURTESY: CRISSCROSS

Interactive scavenger hunt Participating businesses can put up an ad specific to their brick and mortar location. It will show up on the map as a pot of gold near the business, and app users will be able to capture it in augmented reality, much like Pokemon GO and other AR games.

There are also rewards that users can receive for completing scavenger hunts.

Fifty per cent of the reward will be returned to the user’s digital wal-

let, whether that’s Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Wallet, and the other 50 per cent will be given in the form of a coupon that can be spent at the store related to the scavenger hunt.

“We want to give back to the users... and some of it should go back to the businesses that invest,” said Wetherup.

The idea of having this reward system of discount originated from Wetherup’s market research which revealed there was an inherent need for dis-

counts, as well as the need for brick and mortar stores to catch up with modern methods of advertisement.

On-the-spot dating When it comes to the dating feature, the process will be unique in the sense that users won’t be matched to a person based on their pictures.

According to Gordon, the percentage match is based on the preferences the users have inputted in the app.

TIFF!

9

Editor’s Picks: Best flicks screened at TIFF 2021

By Elizabeth Sargeant The Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up on Sept. 18 and after ten days of more than 100 feature films, lucky viewers who had a chance to catch an in-person flick are most likely still giddy with backto-theatre thrill.

This year’s festival featured a wide array of seasoned directors, such as Denis Villeneuve and Stephen Chbosky, as well as newbies on the scene including Ryerson alumnus Shasha Nakhai (director of Scarborough) and Samir Karahoda (recipient of the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award).

Until these films hit general theatres, The Eye has reviewed some of the best to tide you over. Roll the tape!

You Are Not My Mother dir. by Kate Dolan This is one freaky flick. I watched a chunk of this movie through my fingers and even behind the cracks of my clammy hands, I could feel that Kate Dolan’s first feature film, You Are Not My Mother, was leaving the theatre completely unsettled.

Fans of Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar will love this movie as Dolan uses some of Aster’s freakiest film tropes like body horror and death by fire to put the audience on edge. The film follows teenage girl, Char trying to comprehend the major shift in her mentally ill mother’s personality after she returns from

et that happens to be the only source of the universe’s most valuable “spice,” which provides extended life and interstellar travel. The film is a stunning slow-burn, featuring masterful editing and a score from Hans Zimmer at his best. Plus, the ensemble cast—from Timothée to Zendaya to Oscar Isaac—looked undeniably and futuristically sexy (except for Stellan Skårsgard, who made me want to throw up every time he was on screen). Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune hits theatres on Oct. 22.

IMAGES COURTESY OF TIFF ILLUSTRATION BY LAILA AMER

going missing for 24 hours. Shot in an eerie small and foggy town in Ireland, Dolan combines Irish folklore and the supernatural to terrify the audience. The acting is animalistic, the music sets an overall tone that something bad is going to happen (even in the middle of the day) and this female-led story of three generations of evil divination is a visceral and surreal experience to behold. The film’s world premiere was Sept. 12.

Burning dir. by Eva Orner This feature-length documentary follows the Australian forest fires that kicked off 2020. While many of us around the world watched the fires unfold behind infographics

and Instagram stories, this haunting documentary pushes the audience directly into the middle of the devastation. The editor of the film, Forrest Borie did an impeccable job of weaving together the narratives of climate change activists, firefighters and survivors of the fires to point an unflinching finger at Australia’s prime minister who did nothing to stop it. The sound production in this film is the most impressive.

The ripping winds of fires tearing through the rainforest meshed with the rising drone of an impending consequence for the government’s inaction is both prophetic and terrifying. Burning is set to hit Amazon Prime before the end of 2021.

Dune dir. by Denis Villeneuve Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic novel “Dune” is notorious not only for being one of the best-selling science fiction novels, but also for being difficult to adapt for the screen given its complex themes blending ecology, politics, religion, technology and land exploitation. However, French Canadian auteur filmmaker Denis Villeneuve rarely misses, coming off the success of a surprisingly wellreceived Blade Runner sequel and hit films like Arrival, Sicario and Prisoners. Villeneuve’s Dune (Part One) features Timotheé Chalamet as Paul Atreides, the messianic heir of a noble family sent by the galactic emperor to an inhospitable desert plan-

Spencer dir. by Pablo Larraín It’s no surprise that Spencer was a long-anticipated film as Princess Diana was a well-loved figure. It’s also no surprise that seasoned director Pablo Larraín took the lead on this film as in 2016, he spearheaded Jackie, the historical drama that follows beloved Jackie Kennedy after her husband’s assassination.

Spencer takes place in one weekend, following Princess Diana’s slowly worsening temperament as she faces the fall out from Prince Phillip’s affair. This stunning portrait is a reflection of who she was outside of her royal role. Larraín twists this descension into madness while alluding to the tale of Anne Boleyn, Henry the Eighth’s second wife, forcing audience members to lose touch of reality as Diana does on screen. Spencer is set to hit theatres on Nov. 15.

Chat with the Cast: A conversation with actors from new series, ‘The Panthers’

By Negin Khodayari A new miniseries, The Panthers hit the big screen on opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to showcase the history of the Polynesian Panthers. I had the honour of speaking with the cast— a joyful crew that contradicts the tone of the heavy storyline, one often overlooked in history. This six-episode miniseries created by Halaifonua Finau and Tom Hern tells the story of how the Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was founded in 1970s Aotearoa, New Zealand and premiered on Sept. 9.

Following the formation of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense across the U.S. in the ‘60s, six young Pacific Islanders recognized a need for social change in response to the racial injustices against Māori and Pacific Islanders in Aotearoa; so, they formed the PPP. “I learned a lot, just about the impact that it actually had on our people,” said Schuster-Koloamatangi.

“Growing up, I didn’t really know too much just because a lot of Islanders don’t talk about it and it’s not really taught in school.”

At that moment, I couldn’t help but recognize the lack of education

COURTESY OF TIFF

surrounding Indigenous Peoples in Canada as well. Just last month, Ryerson University’s Board of Governors voted to change the school’s name after growing calls since 2017.

It wasn’t until the recent discovery of hundreds of undocumented and unmarked graves at Canadian residential schools that organizations and institutions began to take take more urgent action and look deeper into this country’s dark history.

“The people who went through what we’re portraying on screen are still here” Historically, Māori and Pacific Islanders have been continuously subjected to racial profiling, mass incarceration, and just recently acknowledged, immigration raids.

Schuster-Koloamatangi’s character, Will ‘Ilolahia, is the black sheep of his on-screen Tongan family and one of the original founding members of the PPP. The story develops while he tries to live up to his conservative, immigrant parents’ expectations.

The up-and-coming actor, who was just named one of TIFF’s Rising Stars this year, is not the only

one who portrayed a real person in this drama series. The story follows many real-life characters; Melani Anae, played by Lealani Siaosi, being one of them. Anae, along with other original members of the PPP, were on set during production.

“It’s really easy in terms of actors for us to get to the source, because they’re still alive. Most of the people who went through what we’re portraying on screen are still here,” said Beulah Koale, who plays Ice. Schuster-Koloamatangi admits he was scared to meet Will but recognizes it was a privilege to speak to an original Polynesian Panther. “He was a real chill and humble dude. He had so much to give as well in terms

of information to make sure I portrayed his character well.”

When asked how the actors removed themselves from the dark storyline, Adams admitted they all went to her place and partied.

“We laugh and we sing, and enjoy being with each other,” she said.

The Panthers is the first New Zealand-made show to make its international debut at TlFF. “I’m incredibly proud. It wasn’t totally surprising to me because you could feel the energy on set, the writing was excellent,” said Frankie Adams. “I’m just really happy that people are learning about it and this is a hidden part of our history that in New Zealand is missed if you

aren’t Polynesian.”

When the cast was asked what they want people to take away from the show, the answers were the same across the board: cast more Polynesian talent.

“Hopefully this was a big enough stage for everyone to see that there is so much talent back home. Not just as a diversity cast,” expressed Adams. “We should be cast because we’re talented and hardworking.

Hopefully this is going to showcase that for people in the industry.”

At the end of the interview, the cast had a chance to leave any final thoughts and closing words. After a few moments of silence, Siasi simply said: “Power to the people.”

10

COMMUNITIES

Community members call for more action after Standing Strong report

By Jessica Mazze While the Standing Strong (Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win) Task Force delivered its final report and recommendations to the university, there is still hesitancy on just how much control and autonomy Indigenous faculty, students and staff will have when it comes to proper implementation and important steps toward reconciliation.

Sam Howden, a first-year master of social work student and equity coordinator at the Indigenous Students’ Association, has been active in advocating for the university’s name change to ensure that Egerton Ryerson’s legacy is no longer celebrated.

Howden is one of the key organizers of the “X University” community initiative and advocated for the university to cut ties with its namesake.

“We need to do better based on the fact that everyone is benefiting from being on [Indigenous] territory, whether it be in the liminal space of the internet right now or not,” said Howden.

In August, the Standing Strong Task Force released its final report with 22 recommendations for Ryerson, one of which was the suggestion that the university officially change its name.

The task force was created in September 2020 in response to growing calls for the university to cut ties with its namesake. Egerton Ryerson played an integral role in the creation of the residential

PHOTO: JES MASON

school system in Canada.

“The way the task force was operationalized was extremely damaging,” said Howden, who is from the Red River Métis, under Treaty 1 land in Winnipeg.

“The university has to have a decolonized intersectional framework” “Some of the recommendations are fantastic,” said Howden who’s happy to see the recommendation of university support for the advancement of Black and Indigenous scholarship, which would potentially affect their work greatly with funding opportunities and better networking.

However, the process of how the

report was created has exhausted Howden and left them and other students tired and weary after reading the full report.

Section 13 of the final report recommends that the university establish additional sustainable funding for Indigenous undergraduate and graduate initiatives.

Howden is a field assistant working with traditional medicines at Ryerson’s Urban Farm, an intiative that could see increased funding after the report’s recommendations.

Howden said there needs to be a form of restorative justice that empowers Indigenous students and faculty to exercise power.

“Who are we going to appoint to be the stewards of this type of change? And how do we do that in a

way that’s respectful?” said Howden.

Howden said that even the land around campus still honours colonial legacies. They cited streets like Dundas and Jarvis as examples of how our society still celebrates those who contributed to slavery and genocide.

“Somebody may say ‘oh, [street names] don’t harm anybody’, but what do they know?” said Lynn Gehl, an author and Indigenous rights advocate.

Dundas Street, for example, is named after Henry Dundas, a Scottish lawyer and politician, who in a motion to “abolish slavery,” ammended it to say that slavery should be abolished gradually causing controversy then and now.

According to Democracy Now!, Dundas was nicknamed “The Great Tyrant” and was subsequently impeached in 1806 following this action.

Like Howden, Gehl believes that it’s crucial to implement mandatory courses that teach students about the land the university occupies.

Gehl said when it comes to creating space for Indigenous faculty, an intersectional approach is crucial to all teachings, one that makes room for Indigenous philosophy and knowledge.

“The university has to have a decolonized intersectional framework,” said Gehl.

One of the things Gehl recommends the university implement is a consultant that can aid in the hiring of tenured professors to avoid problems of hiring faculty based

solely on their Indigeneity.

According to Gehl, having a consultant can prevent missteps in hiring, like at Queen’s University, where a hiring scandal around Indigenous faculty made news in June 2021.

While the Standing Strong Task Force’s final report encourages hiring more Black and Indigenous faculty members, it doesn’t establish any type of framework for the tenure of such professors.

“I just want real change to happen, where people examine and unpack their privilege” “These powerful universities have to be proactive in that, as they should be really accommodating and bending over backwards for Indigenous professors,” said Gehl.

“We are deserving of more than a millimetre of change.”

Howden is disappointed by the vague language of the report and wishes that it focused on recommendations that were not based on commemorating Ryerson.

“It’s really a Western colonial concept to liken the idea of commemoration and also the individual notion of celebrating only people, rather than collectives or land,” said Howden.

“I just want [real change] to actually happen, where people examine and unpack their privilege and unpack their identities and see how they situate themselves in this conversation.”

Final-year students have mixed feelings about their last academic year

By Samreen Maqsood After the university announced the fall 2021 semester will be a “transition period” for Ryerson University, final-year students have mixed feelings about their last year starting off mostly online.

Final year students have had a less-than-normal university experience with at least half of their degrees being online.

For fourth-year journalism student Kirsten Svitich, there is both excitement and frustration with yet another semester of online classes.

“I’m excited to finish my program and am looking forward to my internship in the second semester. But I’m quite upset that the semester is online,” she said. “[While] I do understand why the university chose to conduct most classes virtually, it’s frustrating to see people in large venues, such as concerts, when we aren’t even allowed in classrooms.”

While Svitich said having another semester online is warranted, she wished she had more opportunities to join in-person clubs and make

new friends while in university.

“I transferred from another program so I’m completing my journalism degree in three years and most of it was online. When I think about that, I feel like I was robbed of a [proper] university experience,” said Svitich. “While I’m grateful to have an in-person class this semester, I feel like I missed out a lot on the university experience.”

Despite another semester of online classes, Svitich said she’s hopeful that the second semester will be in-person where she can enjoy her last semester in a “semi-normal” setting.

“While I’m grateful to have an in-person class, I feel like I missed out on the university experience” For Esther Deng, a fourth-year nutrition and food student, another semester of online classes “doesn’t sound too bad.” While she is excited to see her friends and get back to the buzzing atmosphere of

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: LAILA AMER

downtown Toronto, she said she is “a little sad to see online classes coming to an end.”

“I always loved how convenient online classes were and the ability to turn off my camera and ask questions. It’s definitely less intimidating to ask questions virtually.

I also love how some lectures are recorded or have closed captioning,” she said. ”It allows me to learn

whenever I please and allows me to work part-time as well. I’m able to review lectures when needed and see what the professor says.”

With her graduation approaching quickly, Deng said finishing her degree makes her feel unprepared and nervous as she doesn’t know what to do after graduation.

The many opportunities after graduation, such as internships, go-

ing to grad school or working, was something she was looking forward to doing with her friends and classmates.

“Finishing off this way makes me think that I’m unprepared in my field as I’m unable to apply some things we learned into real-life applications. However, I’m excited to see what’s out there for me when I graduate,” said Deng.

SPORTS

11

Canadians and Ryerson students rally behind new teenage tennis phenom

By Crina Mustafa Canada was united by sport once again thanks to 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez’s triumphant run to the 2021 U.S. Open Women’s Final, which ended Sept. 11 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

Fernandez fell 6-4, 6-3 to Britain’s Emma Raducanu, but the impact of her performance at one of the four major tournaments in tennis, also known as Grand Slams, goes beyond the final score. Not only was a teenager able to rally an entire nation behind her, Fernandez proved that women’s sports are desirable.

According to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, the 2021 women’s US Open final drew 2.4 million viewers on ESPN. In comparison, the final of the men’s tournament, which featured the top two seeds in the world, drew just over two million viewers.

Tennis has also caught up in recent years when it comes to salary, with both women and men getting an equal cheque at Grand Slams since 2007. Other major sports could stand to do the same, but there’s more to it than that.

“How do we make it a place where it’s sustainable to have women in tennis?”

“It’s not just about money, we have to look at sport and development in a very specific way. What are the paths for young women, what do they look like?” said Shireen Ahmed,

it's different because she's not a Black woman, but she's a racialized woman. I'm interested now as somebody who works on the intersections of race and gender in sports specifically, what her interaction with [those] discussions will be,” said Ahmed.

“It’s very cool seeing first-gen kids representing Canada” ILLUSTRATION: LAILA AMER

an instructor at Ryerson teaching sports reporting, in addition to being a journalist and sports activist.

Beyond compensation, it’s the infrastructure of sport itself. It starts with equal opportunity in sport.

“In some levels of racquet sports they’re obligated to go to a certain number of tournaments a year, but the boys still get one more than the girls—why is that? Money’s a huge part of it, but what are the other pieces that are working here…how do we make it a place where it’s sustainable to have women in tennis?” said Ahmed.

Both Fernandez and Raducanu are players that like to hit the ball early and play on the baseline, meaning there was a flurry of rallies between the two in the fast-paced final match.

Where Fernandez differed from her finals opponent was with her netplay. This skill was key when she beat defending champion Naomi

Osaka earlier in the third round of the tournament, which put her on the radar. Fernandez also beat Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, who are all topranked Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) players at the event.

“She brings so much passion and fire to each match,” said Mikayla Guarasci, a second-year sport media student at Ryerson.

Fernandez’s performance at the tournament has fans asking why we get so invested in the excellence of athletes, even when we don’t follow their sport.

"Whenever I see a Canadian do well in sports, I will watch, and Leylah from the start was playing phenomenal,'' said Yasmin Adina, a third-year politics and governance student at Ryerson.

“I like the story of the underdog doing well in sports,” said Adina.

While there’s lots of attention on tennis in Canada now, there are

other aspects to pay attention to when rallying around these players.

One of those aspects is that Fernandez is a biracial woman who competes on the highest stage.

“It’s inspiring as hell. It's special with Leylah because she also is a first-generation immigrant. It's very cool seeing first-gen kids representing Canada on the world stage,” said Adina. “The diversity is amazing and not what you expect when you think of Canada.”

Ahmed is keen to see how Fernandez uses her newfound platform. She recalled the poise Osaka, who is Black and Japanese, carries herself with when it comes to conversations about Black Lives Matter movement and mental health.

Osaka recently faced criticism for choosing not to speak to media before matches and stepping away from tennis to prioitize her own mental health.

“So now with Fernandez, I know

Adina is also confident the play of Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime, a Black Canadian who made the semifinals at the tournament in the men’s draw, will help grow intrest in the sport.

“Both [Fernandez] and Felix were very fun to watch, and I think players like them will get more BIPOC kids interested in the sport.”

In the wake of Fernandez’s heroic run to the U.S. Open Final, the ball is in Tennis Canada’s court when it comes to capitalizing on the summer of Canadian tennis.

“They should look at themselves as well and be like, ‘Well, what's happening here? What do we need to be doing? Because now we have all this attention,’” said Ahmed.

Even though the final Grand Slam of the year is over, it made a lasting impact. It also showed how important it is to support women in sports from the ground up, not just when they start to win.

Once we do that, it will be game, set and match.

Haley, Goulden bringing lessons learned at World Championship back to Rams

By Casey Dobson

I feel like the experiences I gained with the Rams were really beneficial toward stepping into my role with Hungary,” said Haley.

Hungary captured its first ever victory at the competition, defeating Denmark 5-1 on Aug. 25. It was a moment in which the team’s hard work came to fruition.

“The tears of joy that they felt when they stepped on the ice for the first time, to realize they had realized a dream that they thought would only take a few months to complete but actually took two years. [It was a] long time coming, but I feel very fortunate to have experienced it with them,” said Haley.

By the time the puck drops on the Rams women’s hockey season, it will have been 629 days since the program played an official game.

But just because there hasn’t been action in the U SPORTS sphere doesn’t mean members of the Rams hockey program haven’t been hard at work mastering their craft through other competitions. Rams women’s hockey head coach Lisa Haley is rejoining the program after leading the charge for Hungary at the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Hockey Championships in Calgary this past August.

Haley was tasked with elevating “The Rams were a Hungarian team making its firstreally benefical ever appearance in the top flight of toward stepping the women’s game. It was a task she into my role with compares to her experience building Hungary” the Rams women’s hockey program nearly a decade ago. “[After] starting the program The women’s hockey head coach from scratch, being the underdog said while the performance expecand trying to find ways to measure tations for Hungary may not be the success when we’re losing games, same as they are for a national pow-

erhouse like Canada, the lessons learned are just as important.

“I’ve been with Team Canada to six or seven world championships and you go into that with certain expectations. You’re expecting to win a gold medal and you’ve got the pressure of trying to reach that goal,” said Haley.

“But with Hungary, obviously our definition of success was very different than being with Team Canada.”

Her time in Calgary also offered Haley “the opportunity to work with different experts at the highest level,” including fellow Rams colleague Alana Goulden, who is the university’s equipment coordinator. Goulden was in Calgary with Team Canada as the equipment manager for the tournament winners, a role she will also be in through the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

For Goulden, it’s the little things that can make all the difference in winning a gold medal and in the chase for a U SPORTS banner.

“Everything is just done at such a high professional level,” she said.

COURTESY: RAMS ATHLETICS Rams women’s hockey head coach Lisa Haley is rejoining the program after leading Hungary through the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships in August.

“Every day you’re taking little things back with you from the people you work with.”

Goulden also touched on how important resiliency has been during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s so many unknowns over the past year and a half and you just have to learn to adapt and roll with it,” said Goulden.

She added that “sometimes you just don’t know what the future looks like

and you have to learn to be okay with that,” concluding with the advice that “working in sports might not look like what it used to but you just have to learn to make the best of it and you still get a lot out of it.”

When the puck drops on Nov. 5, 629 days after it was picked up for the last time, there’ll be a lot of joy, a lot of hope and the Rams will be a lot closer to making their national championship dreams reality.

12

JUSTIFIED CYNICISM

A professor’s guide to “caring” about student mental health

By Karly Benson

Also keep in mind that a threehour lecture should be three hours!

Instead of going over the allotted time by 30 minutes and bleeding into other classes, add all that extra material to D2L so they can complete it with whatever spare time they have.

That’s called being a considerate prof!

The state of a student’s mental health is often hanging by a precarious thread. However, the reassurance of a caring and approachable professor for at least the first three weeks of classes can certainly help. While this may seem challenging given the crushing pressures of seeking tenure, here’s a list of low-effort things you can do as a prof to make it seem like you care, even though you don’t!

Make some enthusiastic speeches Whether it’s online or in-person, standing in front of anxious students with a great big smile can go a long way. Despite the fact that you’ll be assigning increasingly impossible amounts of work every week, reminding your students they are valid, regardless of their feelings, will help them realize that you care.

Be sure to create an approachable image of yourself, regardless of how approachable you intend to be.

Even though your office hours may only be from 1 to 2 p.m. every other Wednesday, rest assured that during those hours, you’ll be listening!

With that being said, it’s definitely a good idea to remind them that there will be no office hours for the last three weeks before the final exam—because you deserve some “me time.”

Polls are the perfect compromise of hearing students out and then immediately moving on ILLUSTRATION: HARRY CLARKE

Display an inspirational quote as part of your Zoom backdrop Zoom courses this semester are particularly difficult given that many students’ in-person dreams were crushed. Not to worry! Looking out for their deteriorating mental health can be made easy through the use of motivational quotes.

Scour BrainyQuote for a saying of the week that promotes mental health, print it out, stick it up behind your chair so it’s seen in your background, type it immediately into the Zoom chat upon students’ entry and post it as a D2L announcement. Bombard the students with the quote so it becomes ingrained

in their minds and they can repeat it to themselves through tears as they struggle to connect their laptop to Wi-Fi before the midterm.

After all, repetition is the mother of learning and father of action, according to BrainyQuote.

Don’t worry about acknowledging their answers; real check-ins are far too time-consuming and can honestly be kind of a bummer. Polls are the perfect compromise of hearing students out and then immediately moving on.

Start with a wellness check-in poll or Kahoot Questions for the poll may include “How are you feeling?”; “What’s your stress level out of ten?” and “If today were an ice cream flavour, which one would it be?” Making the students feel important, as if their voices are being heard, is the first step in promoting mental health.

Respect students’ time As course loads are often heavy with dense material, allowing more than a few days between two major assignments can be a real relief for students. Giving a full week, which may seem like a stretch, will give the students the added luxury of going to bed before midnight and maybe even having a real dinner.

Sign off with a smile After hours of reading lectures directly off a slideshow, you’ll be just as exhausted as your students. But remember, your closing remarks are likely the only thing a student will absorb, so make them memorable!

In an in-person setting, a farewell like “Take care” or “Stay safe” may be the spark a student needs to make it to their 6 to 9 p.m. lab without diverting course for the closest Chipotle.

The same applies online; closings like “Warm regards,” “Best wishes,” or even something as simple as “Kindly,” is a positive ending to any email. Sure, this seems like unnecessary work, but think about the incredible five-star Rate My Professors rating you’ll receive!

Setting the scene: A classroom discussion on privilege

By Charles Simard Imagine, if you will, a dozen or so students sitting in a lecture hall. Up until this point, the class has been a pretty standard diatribe on the history of economic inequality in the industrial age. It’s 5 p.m., and half the class has long drifted into the seas of disinterest. The professor, sensing their desperation like the sick stench of death, decides to engage in a healthy dose of audience participation. He turns around and asks his students a simple question: “What place does privilege have in our society today?”

A hand shoots up almost immediately with the unmistakeable force of someone likely called a “teacher’s pet” back in high school. A freshman dressed in a tweed jacket and matching tweed mask; he applied early for the English program with high-minded ideas about becoming the next Hemingway despite having never read Hemingway.

He comes out with a clean and concise answer about greed; much of his speech deals with the idea that inequity is motivated by individual prejudices and ideas. No one but the professor seems to catch that half of this speech is ripped from the in-

troductory passages of Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche, purchased by the freshman two days ago from Amazon.

Once a merciful silence returns to the classroom, the teacher asks for a second opinion. Someone coughs up an answer; a last-minute enrolment barely getting by with a 2.4 GPA. He starts off slow and disjointed, before jumping from anecdote to anecdote at lightning speed. There’s a few mentions of McCarthy and discriminatory “John Cow” laws in the U.S., as well as some choice quotes sprinkled in from Marx and Engels, pronounced “Max and Eagles.” It doesn’t take long for others to catch on that much of it is random buzzwords taken from what little he can remember from the past hour, along with a couple wince-inducing outdated racial terms that leave many to question, “Where the hell has he been for the past century?”

Just when it seems like he’s starting to get somewhere, the poor fellow is brutally interrupted by an outburst of smug superiority. A tall, freshly-groomed young man with a pastel blue button-up shirt and a scratched Rolex. This one’s only here on account of his father’s generous donations to the university’s cafete-

PHOTO VIA UNSPLASH

ria. His whole spiel hinges on the idea that privilege in itself is a myth, or at the very least a thing of the past. To him, the only factor preventing one from achieving equity is one’s own willpower. Sighs and coughs from the rest of the class seem to go unnoticed by the man, who continues speaking with the speculative fervor and inexperience of a boxing ring announcer.

store turtleneck and thick corduroys, a heavy pile of theory books sit neatly to his left. Without missing a beat, he embarks on an impassioned speech about the history of oppression in all its forms. He’s countered by the rich kid once again, who insists he’s a hack, pandering to the emotions of the audience. Before long, the two are engaged in a shouting match for the ages.

Over all this commotion, the pro“Where the hell has fessor notices a student in the back he been for the past who’s been noticeably absent from century?” the conversation. Hunched silently over her textbook, she resembles a Almost as if on cue, the rich kid is grimacing gargoyle. She’s spent the interrupted by a student a few rows past week working three different behind him. Dressed in a thrift- jobs to make her tuition payments.

She observes the arguments of the rest of the class with the same expression one would make seeing a rapid raccoon rustling through their garbage. It’s clear from even a moment of observation that she would much rather dive into a compost bin herself than continue listening to this conversation.

The professor watches her and all the other participants in this scene, still waiting for a solid answer.

After a few minutes of pondering, he begins thinking about the girl in the back, trying intently to avoid confrontation or conversation on this subject. He changes the subject to 20th century farming methods.