Vol. 56, Issue 10

TMU students feel relieved with return of GO bus service following strike

By Prapti Bamaniya

Students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) welcome back GO bus service after scrambling to commute to campus through the four-day GO bus strike last week.

The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1587, the union that represents GO transit workers in cluding GO bus drivers, issued a statement on Nov. 6 saying it was unable to secure a new contract with Metrolinx, resulting in a strike starting on Nov. 7.

All GO buses stopped running throughout the duration of the strike, however GO trains remained in service.

In a statement on Nov. 10, ATU Local 1587 said it reached a tenta tive deal with Metrolinx which al lowed GO bus service to resume this weekend.

“I’m glad it’s back now,” said Oscar Rivera, a third-year aerospace engi neering student at TMU. “The strike just completely ruined my schedule.”

Rivera commutes from Missis sauga, Ont. regularly and last week he had to take the subway instead of the GO bus, adding an extra 30 min utes to his commute. “It was just so inconvenient,” he said.

Maryam Al-Biwari, a fourth-year biology student, missed a class on Tuesday because she didn’t have a dependable way to get to school.

“I was just stranded because I ran out of options,” she said.

For the rest of the week, Al-Bi

wari had to take an Uber or Lyft to the GO station to catch the train, which she said costs her four times the roundtrip expense of her regu lar commute.

With buses running again, she said her schedule will return back to normal.

“It was a little chaotic last week because I had to move my [work] shift around…so I’m glad to hear busses are back.”

Josh Tan Ngo, a fourth-year me chatronics engineering student, com mutes from Milton, Ont. and had to stay on campus later than usual last week to catch the right train home, as opposed to his usual GO bus ear lier in the day.

“I’m glad my commute will be normal again,” he said.

“The strike has definitely affected me in a negative way, I felt strand ed on campus sometimes.”

He said he would find himself tired on the late drive home from the GO station.

“It was a bit dangerous when I found myself snoozing off,” he said. “I’m really on five hours of sleep this whole week.”

Tanvi Srivasta, a fourth-year busi ness management student said she had to change her schedule to ac commodate taking trains to TMU instead of the bus.

“It caused someone having to drop everything to take me to the GO station, like my parents, some thing which is obviously an extra ef fort,” she said. “I’m happy they’ll get

their time back too with buses run ning again.”

Although students struggled to get to campus, most were glad that classes were not cancelled or shifted online.

Srivasta said cancelling classes would have set course content be hind schedule, which would have increased her workload.

“With final exams and big as signments around the corner, I just feel like it would have maybe made things worse…it would just be an extra effort on [students] if [classes] were cancelled,” she said.

Rivera said he didn’t expect the school to cancel classes.

“Personally, I don’t think there’s anything the school can do to make it better.”

In an emailed statement to Eyeopener, TMU said GO bus users “will need to make alternative ar rangements, such as carpooling or taking other public transportation,” during the strike.

“All community members are asked to plan for extra time to get to campus or other locations until the strike ends,” the statement read.

ATU Local 1587’s negotiations with Metrolinx about GO tran sit contracts lasted around seven months. The negotiations surround ed safety concerns and amendments to Bill 124, which caps wage increas es at one per cent, according to the union’s statement.

The statement said the new con tract addresses the union’s safety con cerns by “ensuring that experienced

The union was able to agree to a wage re-opener if Bill 124 is re versed in the future, according to the union’s statement.

Metrolinx tweeted it is pleased they have reached a tentative threeyear agreement with the union, call ing it good news for both employees and customers.

Peggy Nash, a labour relations expert at TMU, said employers can often dismiss safety concerns be cause solutions often result in an

had over health and safety.”

Withdrawing employee labour is a union’s only mechanism when em ployers refuse to listen to their con cerns through bargaining, she added.

“It really is the only tool that workers have to press their bar gaining goals. When the union has the ability to withdraw labour and to set a deadline for that, it focuses everybody’s attention.”

Union members will vote to rat ify the contract in the coming days.

Students and experts excited about TMU’s new LGBTQ2S+ minor

By Krishika Jethani

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students and experts say they are excited about the school’s deci sion to launch an LGBTQ2S+ studies minor in the 2023-24 academic year.

Earlier this month, the school an nounced that the Senate commit tee’s approval of the new minor as part of the sociology department in the Faculty of Arts.

“The new minor will support fur ther development of LGBTQ2S+ pro gramming and scholarship, and en courage organization of LGBTQ2S+ activities and initiatives,” the school said in an email to The Eyeopener.

To achieve the minor require

ments, students must complete six courses. In order to successfully fulfil requirements, one of those courses must be either “Queer So ciology” or “LGBTQ2S+ Histories.” The courses will also be offered as liberal or open electives for students from all programs to take.

Sarah Hussein, a queer thirdyear nursing student, is happy with TMU’s decision to introduce this minor and educate students more about sexuality and gender identity.

Although the Toronto Metro politan University Students’ Union (TMSU) offers equity centres for students to join, the school said the new curriculum will offer a support ive environment for both students

and faculty to learn more about the field of study.

“I think it’s amazing [that] they’re making it into a minor instead of just a student group because I feel it really validates the queer com munity and shows that there is a whole knowledge base,” said Hus sein. “There’s queer people every where so if people can learn more, then maybe interactions with queer people will be better and overall there will be less violence toward the community.”

The school said in its press re lease that the new minor will “al low students to connect with the rich history and present of LG BTQ2S+ movements, and person ally engage students from queer and trans communities.”

The LGBTQ2S+ studies minor will also allow faculty members who have an interest in the community to build relationships with students.

Margaret Yap, an associate pro fessor at the Ted Rogers School of Management, is an expert in diver sity in organizations with a focus on race and gender. She said this is a very important initiative taken

by the university. The LGBTQ2S+ community is a “significant group in our society and we have a big representation at our university,” said Yap. “It is very important that we...give [the LGBTQ2S+ commu nity] a voice.”

However, Aleksandra Alymova, a trans student in her second-year of performance production, said she is skeptical about the school’s decision to launch this minor.

“I think that the university is do ing a good thing and I think it’s go ing to benefit a lot of people but I can’t help but be critical,” she said.

Alymova explained that people who are not interested in queer history will not be attracted to this minor. “I guess I’m just disillusioned with these types of things,” she said.

Joe Recupero, an associate pro fessor in sport media, thinks it’s a “fantastic” idea and opportunity for staff, students and faculty to understand the context of the LG BTQ2S+ community.

“I don’t think this is necessarily a niche minor, I think this is for ev eryone to actually learn more about a really interesting part of history.”

Recupero said he had been thinking about proposing a course about LGBTQ2S+ in sports prior to hearing the announcement of the new minor. The sport media program can benefit from learning about LGBTQ2S+ issues in sports, he said.

“I think the most important thing is once we know more about [the LGBTQ2S+ community], it will also allow society to function in a much more inclusive manner,” said Yap.

The school said it hopes all mem bers will take this opportunity to learn more about the LGBTQ2S+ community and their contribution to society.

Simone Cellario, a second-year sociology student, believes the more the community knows about LG BTQ2S+ communities, the easier it will be to accept them.

“The more attention there is, the more people will feel like it’s not a problem being queer,” they said.

“Also, queer people that feel the pressure of society in terms of com ing out will probably feel more wel comed and accepted in this passage.”

VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER

PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER

Eye Explains: Why does TMU need the provincial government to change its name?

By Thea Gribilas

The provincial government an nounced that it had officially in troduced legislation to change the university’s name to Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) on Oct. 27.

The legislation, if passed, will allow the school to have its new name appear on legal documents like degrees. But why is the new legislation necessary?

Universities in Ontario are gov erned under private statutes that pre vent politics from interfering with their management. This allows them to maintain their independence and status as a self-governing entities.

This act typically includes vari ous components like the university’s governance structure, the power of each governance position and com mittee and the requirements for elections of Board of Governors and Senate positions at the university.

first and second read in the Legisla tive Assembly of Ontario.

Degree-granting powers can

In other words, although univer sities are funded in part by the pro vincial government, there are laws at play that ensure they are not a function of it.

However, degree-granting pow ers can only be provided by the government. This means a provin cial act must be passed in the uni versity’s name.

The legislation that has been pro posed by the provincial government, known as the Strengthening Postsecondary Institutions and Students Act, 2022, will increase the size of the university’s senate and change the name of the university to Toronto Metropolitan University.

In general, in order to have leg islation approved by the provin cial government, a proposed bill will go through various steps to be passed. First the bill goes through a

It will then go to a committee stage, where witnesses can be called to examine the bill and amendments can be made. During the commit tee stage, the bill is read clause-byclause and any amendments to the bill are voted on by members of provincial parliament.

The bill will then go for its third reading in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. At this stage, members decide whether the proposed bill

and any amendments during the committee stage should be passed.

If the bill passes, it is then grant ed royal assent and subsequently is put into force. In order for Ryerson University to officially be changed to TMU, all the aforementioned steps must successfully be completed.

This is not the first time TMU has changed its name either.

TMU was initially established in 1948 as the Ryerson Institute of Tech nology, named after Egerton Ryerson, an architect of the residential school system. The university thereafter changed its name four times, landing on Ryerson University in 1977.

In each instance, the university sought provincial amendments in order to legally change its name.

In the same year the school changed its name to Ryerson, it also was granted the power by the pro vincial government to confer bach elor of applied arts and bachelor of technology degrees.

TMU has changed its name, either

This time around, although the legislation has already been intro duced into the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, it remains unclear when TMU community members can ex pect the steps for implementation to be satsified.

TMU students happy with the law school’s IPC program

By Manroop Aulakh

With the first class set to graduate from Toronto Metropolitan Uni versity’s (TMU) Lincoln Alexander School of Law (LASL) next year, stu dents say they are happy with the In tegrated Practice Curriculum (IPC).

The IPC model is a program that equips students with the various requirements set by the Law So ciety of Ontario (LSO) to become a lawyer without completing arti cling after graduation. Where some students may struggle to obtain an articling position, the IPC model in tegrates articling into the three-year law school curriculum.

“It’s a very diverse group and the professors and administration are committed to students’ well-being and transforming the legal profes sion,” she said.

Abineshka Elanko, a secondyear law student, said she is enjoy ing the program so far. She added that she chose TMU Law because it boasts an innovative culture, especially in terms racial diversity and technology.

In their first and second years, stu dents complete multiple assignments with a focus on examining the im pacts of technological advancement on the rights and freedoms of indi viduals, society at large and the en vironment. Students also complete a 15-week professional practice place ment in their final year.

Joio Luel, another second-year law student, thinks the IPC is a great educational opportunity.

“I was excited about the IPC and that’s something that most other law schools don’t have, along with the focus on technology as well.”

She added that the professors are great and very supportive, but said she is concerned with study space.

“I think it’s challenging that we are in a small space because there is only one floor [but] once we get a new building it would be great.”

In 2017, LASL received approval from the provincial government and welcomed its first set of stu dents in 2020.

As previously reported by The Eyeopener, LASL will “take a unique approach to legal education to break the traditional mode,” according to Tony Staffieri, chair of TMU’s board of governors.

Elanko said she has had the oppor tunity to do a business practicum, with mentors including lawyers who provide them with hands-on experience.

Though uncommon, TMU is not the first school to implement the

IPC model.

In 2013, Lakehead University announced that it would be imple menting the IPC model.

“In the second year, we went through a hearing process and got to draft all the pleadings which are something that some colleagues don’t get to experience at other schools.”

Hislop said she had no trouble finding a job once graduating and worked in her first summer of law school as well.

Jordynne Hislop, a 2020 graduate of Lakehead University, said she had a great experience with the IPC pro gram and felt like she gained a lot of great practical experience.

Nicholas Petrozzi, a 2022 gradu ate of Lakehead University, also said he really enjoyed the practical experience of the program.

“It truly prepared me for start ing as an associate and an articling student and I think there is a ton of value in the experience it offers.”

The legislation, if passed, will allow the school to have its new name appear on legal documents like degrees

“It truly prepared me for starting as an associate”

“I was excited about the IPC and that’s something that most other law schools don’t have”

“It’s a very diverse group and the professors and administration are committed to students’ well-being”

only be provided by the government

VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER

PRAPTI BAMANIYA/THE EYEOPENER

Increased security is not the answer

By Abeer Khan

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains mentions of blood

Last week on Friday, before mak ing my way to my office, I stopped to get lunch with my friend at Blaze Pizza. As we were leaving and mak ing our way to the Eaton Centre to kill time before her class, I wit nessed something that even three days later, continues to make my stomach sick.

There was a man lying motionless on the ground in front of the 10 Dun das Street East building (where the Starbucks, Subway and Cineplex is) with a gush of blood pooling around him. And while there was one person tending to the man before the para medics arrived, it was the behaviour of the others around the scene that disappointed me the most.

Many people, some with back packs thrown over their shoulders looking like they were headed for Victoria Street on campus, were taking videos of the incident. In stead of helping and making sure the man was alright, they decided this would be a good time to docu ment the horrific scene before them.

The Eyeopener’s news team later reported on what happened. To ronto Police Services (TPS) said in an email to The Eye that a man fell to the ground while being arrested outside the building by security at around 1:15 p.m.

However, witnesses at the scene say differently. One student said there were three building security guards and a Black man who spat at them. The white security guards then allegedly pushed the man down “really aggressively,” according to the student.

This month, Toronto Metro politan University (TMU) said in a Toronto Met Today news release that they would be increasing secu rity guards around campus starting this semester. “Additional TMU security guards were positioned

visibly throughout the campus to monitor activity,” the Community Safety and Security website reads.

This decision came following a sexual assault that occurred in Kerr Hall East last month. Following news of the incident, just over 12,000 stu dents—out of over 48,000 enrolled students—signed a petition for in creased security. But while about 12,000 students did sign, it’s impor tant to recognize who those signa tures represent—and who they don’t.

presence of TPS on campus.

Heightened security and policing on campus today will harm Black students the most. In the city and Greater Toronto Area, law en forcement already does not have a good relationship with the Black community and racialized people.

In 2020, it was found that TPS used force on Black people about four times more than the rest of the population and Black Toronto nians were five times more likely to experience force from police than their white counterparts, as report ed by the Toronto Star

According to the 2019 Student Diversity Self-ID Report released by the university, only seven per cent of students identify as Black.

It’s important to understand who security and increased policing pro tects and who it ostracizes. For Black students and community members especially, increased security pres ence and policing can be uncom fortable and unsafe—and something many student leaders fought against just a few years ago.

In 2020, TMU proposed for designated employees to have spe cial constable status, which was approved by TPS. However, the school announced just two weeks after the program’s approval, that it will not be moving forward with the program.

This decision came at a time of worldwide protests against antiBlack racism and police brutal ity following the death of George Floyd. In Toronto, there were pro tests and calls for justice after Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Afro-Indig enous woman, fell to her death af ter police entered her apartment in May 2020.

In May 2019—before the proposal of special constables—the Black Lib eration Collective Ryerson (BLC) called on the Toronto Metropoli tan Students’ Union to diminish the

They said, “In cases where force was used, a police officer was more than twice as likely to draw a fire arm on a Black person they thought was unarmed than a white person they thought was unarmed.”

Just this month, Peel Regional Police tasered Abdullah Darwhich, a non-verbal teen who has autism, in what his father said was a “very big failure,” on part of the police.

With all this data present, how then can we argue that increased se curity will help? What we need in stead are better community supports.

It’s our job as allies to advocate for our peers and ensure that cam pus is safe for us all, without the presence of increased policing. The university and the city need to in vest in community-based alterna tives and infrastructure.

situations and more investment in infrastructure that addresses the root causes of violence, including better education and community programs to keep youth and adults engaged and active.

Dundas is something that will stay with me forever. A situation like that could have been prevented if the right community supports were available in the area.

For the American Friends Service Committee, a social justice organi zation and blog, author Mary Zerkel writes about different alternatives to policing that can be implemented in communities. These can include urgent response teams ready to intervene in mental health crises, trauma-informed crisis interven tion teams trained to de-escalate

And it’s programs like these that are proven to work, especially communi ty-based alternatives to policing.

In the city of Eugene, Ore., they implemented the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets Pro gram (CAHOOTS) 31 years ago. According to their website, CA HOOTS mobilizes two-person teams, which include a medic and an experienced crisis worker who deal with a wide range of men tal health-related conflicts. They aren’t accompanied by law en forcement and have proven to deescalate many situations. In 2019, CAHOOTS responded to about 24,000 calls and only requested po lice backup 150 times, according to an article in Harvard Magazine

It’s not enough to just increase security on campus because they are not equipped to deal with the complexities that accompany crisis situations. We need to help people with care, compassion and under standing—not violence and in creased surveillance.

What I saw last week outside 10

In 2021, the city launched the Toronto Community Crisis Ser vice as “part of their commitment to treat mental health crises as a public health problem, not a public safety issue.” The service can be accessed by calling 211 or 911, at which point crisis teams will respond to calls. But this service is not widely known, advertised or utilized as much as it should be.

I hope every TMU commu nity member understands the dire precedent TMU’s recent an nouncement sets. The response to crime on campus does not have to mean more policing, it can be so much more effective and safer than that.

Instead, let’s fight for more com munity resources. Let’s advocate for more shelter space in the city, especially as winter nears. Inter vene when you see acts of violence against those who are vulnerable in our community. Seek education on the impacts of policing and take an intersectional approach to under standing its consequences.

And most importantly, advocate against increased policing on cam pus and urge the university to do better and invest in our community. Because that’s what we really need.

Nashra “No More Downsview” Syed

Jack “New Yorker” Wannan Brown Butter “<3” Cookies

Aneesa “The Final Frontier” Bhanji

Kaitlyn “Winter Winner” Stock

Berry “Out Of Time” Shi

Contributors

Manroop “Persevered” Aulakh

Krishika “Slayyyy” Vinod Jethani

Ben “No Oxford Comma!” Okazawa

Keirsten “Parental Visit” Spade

Dexter “40 Piece” LeRuez

Raphael “Our Bad” Chahinian

Andrew “OKC Tech” Yang

Mitchell “Mystic Muffin“ Fox

Sam “Justin Jefferson” Beaudoin Konnor “Pistol” Killoran

Eyas “3 a.m.” Gharaibeh

Kaitlyn “Milton Model” Nagy

Dexter “Onion Chomper” LeRuez

Ishita “Trying Her Best” Chopra

Matthew “Hustle” Davison

Fernando “Uniqlo” Zheng Wu

Peter “Hands Are Wet” Porker

Dhriti “Red Riding Hood” Gupta

Sam “Mother Who Raised Me” Almeida

Kim “Stream Indigo” Namjoon

Amidst calls for heightened security on campus, it’s important to remember who will be impacted most

It’s important to understand who security and increased policing protects and who it ostracizes

We need to help people with care, compassion and understanding

The university and the city need to invest in communitybased alternatives and infrastructure

PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER

TMU’s Future of Sport Lab provides hope for graduating students

By Matthew Davison COURTESY FUTURE OF SPORT LAB

This past September, the Future of Sport Lab (FSL) held its demo day to showcase its third cohort of new startups.

The FSL was created and man aged by Toronto Metropolitan Uni versity (TMU) and supported by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) in 2019. As the number of companies developed through the program continues to grow over the years, so does its impact on graduat ing students whose aspirations lie in the sports industry.

FSL’s founder and director, Cheri Bradish—who is also an associate professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM)—said she’s passionate about helping to mould the future of the industry through el evating diverse voices and being open minded to new schools of thought.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport’s 2021 report, which tracked sport media outlets like ESPN, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated and more, found that 79 per cent of sports editors where white while 83.3 per cent were men. In addition, 77 per cent of reporters were white and 85.6 per cent were men.

“We try to create a place where we can help companies with new ideas and either accelerate them in sport or make them more im pactful,” Bradish said. “We value a diverse cohort and a diverse ide ation within the lab. That’s really allowed us to create a lot of really good things in the space.”

When TMU and MLSE came to

gether to launch this lab, it was the first sport tech incubator in North America. Nearly four years later, the lab has developed a number of com panies and has collectively raised over $30 million in financing and invest ment for the startups they mentor.

A recent graduate of TMU’s mas ter of business administration pro gram, Samir Bhatla joined the FSL in January 2022 as the coordinator of marketing and communications. He said he was drawn to the Lab be cause of its global reach and its abil ity to create change in sports.

“I think it’s all in the name. It’s called The Future of Sport Lab,” said Bhatla. “What FSL does really well is bring in these companies that are solving consumer problems using different innovative methods, ulti mately shine the spotlight on them and show how they’re pushing the industry forward.”

One of the most successful com panies born out of the lab is The

Gist, a female-run digital sports brand founded in 2019. The mul timedia company was founded by three women who had recently graduated university and were frus trated with the male-dominated na ture of sports coverage.

Jasmine Yen has noticed the lab’s work and appreciates the spotlight they have shined on women-led busi nesses especially given that the indus try lacks women representation.

Sporting Goods Intelligence (SGI) Europe analyzed the ratio of women and men working in senior leader ship positions across leading sports companies in early 2022, finding that only 20 per cent were women.

intelligence. The lab has also worked with Mission Control, a Missouribased esports platform that facilitates tournaments for esports competitors.

Jashan Jhutty, a fourth-year busi ness management student who is specializing in entrepreneurship, says its refreshing to see new ideas being valued by the lab. He said it’s nice to see new ideas being valued as someone interested in sports entrepreneurship.

“I’m so glad to know that there are resources for other people like me with entrepreneurial interest who do want to get our new and fresh ideas out there,” Jhutty said. “We’re so lucky that we are in the heart of Toronto, the most diverse city in the world. We’re in an environment where there’s so many new ideas.”

Bradish believes it is important for the sports industry to refrain from be ing stagnant and is proud of the work her lab is doing to push it forward.

According to their website, the company’s team has grown to in clude over 25 women and non-bina ry people, with an audience of over 700,000 across their various plat forms on social media and through their frequent newsletters.

Victoria Park Analytics is another women-founded business to come out of the lab. The company said it prides itself on its internal diver sity among its employees.

Fourth-year sport media student

Yen says not only is gender equity the right thing to do, but also the logical choice.

“It’s a smart business move,” said Yen. “Why would you target only half of the population when you can target the whole population?”

Yen says the same is true for esports, an area she says has tradi tionally seen pushback from those within the sports industry.

FSL has helped develop multiple esports startups, including Rival. ai, which provides esport scouting reports generated through artificial

“We support challenging the tradi tional status quo of the sports indus try,” said Bradish. “It’s 150 years old in North America, it’s very traditional. So we’re able to really challenge that, and a lot of that has to do with who’s making the decisions and the found ers of these companies.”

Yen, who will be graduating this upcoming spring, is optimistic be cause of entities like FSL, who em brace new schools of thought.

“Old ideas are not working as well anymore. It’s important to foster new ideas and adapt to the new world,” said Yen. “It makes me very hopeful to see that there’s a lot of job creation and hidden opportunities that are be ing uncovered.”

Networking 101: How to make connections as an introvert

By Christina Flores-Chan

Who you know is important in al most every industry and students are reminded of it over and over throughout their university careers.

In 2021, a survey by American soft ware developer and marketing com pany HubSpot, found that 85 per cent of jobs were filled through networking.

And despite its importance, schmoozing at industry events or through Zoom rooms can sometimes feel like being the wallflower in the corner of the gym during a middle school dance, especially if you’re in troverted or have a shy personality.

Feeling awkward and out-of-place at networking events is not an un common sentiment for students while they’re trying to make con nections in their respective industry for the first time.

Nonetheless, knowing how to make connections is important and can be helpful in learning about the experiences and internal insights of professionals working in industries that students are studying and look ing to enter.

Here are a few ways to help students network with more authenticity, ease and efficacy, even if they’re not always particularly eager to schmooze.

Be prepared Plan what you want to accomplish from networking events and begin preparing for them ahead of time.

Students should study the event agenda, whether it be researching the keynote speakers or writing down potential questions to ask profession als they meet during lunch or dinner breaks.

Students may also benefit from solidifying their “elevator pitch,” a brief description of who they are, what they do and what they can of fer, that they can use when introduc ing themselves to other attendees.

Tech and business blog site Life hacker advises that people should prioritize information about them selves concisely, use plain language and practice their pitch ahead of reciting it to potential connections. The more comfortable students are with reciting their pitch, the easier each new introduction will be.

Set a goal for yourself

When students’ goals are outlined clearly, they may become easier to accomplish and track.

According to an article in Forbes, set ting a goal for oneself to get to know a minimum number of people at events can help students hold them selves accountable to follow through in making connections. After the goal has been met, students can then go home and feel satisfied be cause they successfully did what they came to the event to do. The article states that after meeting the targeted amount of people, attendees might even decide to stay longer because they’re having fun.

Think about what you can offer Each person has something valuable and unique that they can bring to their workplace.

Students can benefit from un derstanding what they bring to the table, such as digital skills or knowl edge of relevant trends, and how they might be useful to networking connections. In turn, students may gain experience and learning op

as well as forge good professional relationships.

For instance, Harvard Business Re view writes about Claude Grunitzky, the founder of TRACE magazine, TRACE TV and TRUE Africa and how he got his start in journalism at Jefferson Hack’s media conglomer ate Dazed Media.

Grunitzky told the Review that in his junior years, he knew he could “bring something to [Jefferson

hop” and that the relationship ended up being a two-way street, alluding to his later success.

Follow up

Once students have made a connec tion with someone in their indus try, the next step is to continue to develop a professional relationship with them.

“I think it’s all in the name. It’s called The Future of Sport Lab”

EYAS GHARAIBEH/THE EYEOPENER

Building a ‘better’ body

For many athletes, the pressure of sport can impact their body image

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains vivid descriptions of eating disorders.

Ben Steiner has been an athlete his entire life. Originally from Vancouver and a fourth-year sport media student, he was skiing before he could walk. At the age of one, he found himself propped up between his grandfather’s knees as they soared down frosty hills together. He’s competed in high-level soccer and ball hockey for years as well. In doing so, he built his body to be strong enough to endure the sports he played. He trained himself to withstand extreme elements as he zipped on skis down a snow-covered mountain at about 100 kilometres per hour and adapted to the demanding physical nature of ball hockey and soccer.

In early 2017, Steiner was the picture of health. He had just won a provincial silver medal in skiing and was training for a half-marathon in late June. To prepare, he exercised daily and ate meticulously-measured meals. Steiner remembers being excited as he started to see results, noticing how he was getting progressively leaner. His run speeds and what he saw in the mirror encouraged him to continue eating less and exercising more.

But his positive physical results didn’t tell the full story. Silently, Steiner was dismantling himself.

By summer of that same year, there were no more daily runs and no more counting every calorie he put in his body. Instead, Steiner sat propped up in a nondescript white hospital bed, the sleeves of a plain gray shirt dwarfing his arms, with paper bracelets—one blue and one red—dangling off of his wrists. Confined to the hospital and being treated for anorexia nervosa, Steiner didn’t have a run or a sport to train for. Yet, he still found himself analyzing his body in the mirror as he climbed out of his bed and trudged to the bathroom. Even then, hooked up to heart monitors and under the 24-hour watch of healthcare professionals, he thought about how he could still stand to lose weight, still pinching his sides as if attempting to

Words by Ben Okazawa Visuals by Vanessa Kauk

rip the remaining fat right off of his own body.

For Steiner, when he was in the hospital, it was no longer about trying to run faster or train harder. He knew wanting to lose weight “logically made no sense,” he says.

But it was still on his mind. “You always want more. It’s an addicting experience.”

After spending ten days in the hospital, Steiner was released, but was not free. He was to report back for check-ups twice a week through the school year to monitor his health. After toeing the line to starvation once again, Steiner’s exhaustion got the best of him in September 2018 and he was sent back to the hospital where he remained for a hard, drawn-out seven days.

Many athletes at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) often feel pressure to change their bodies in order to succeed in their sport. Some push themselves to become leaner and quicker so they can get to the ball or puck faster. Others work to become bigger and stronger so they can lift more weight or overpower opponents. However, while gaining or losing weight may improve athletic performance, it can also be damaging to athletes’ body image and health.

A 2019 survey conducted by the University of Toronto found that 21 per cent of current and former Olympians reported having eating disorders. That’s well above the national average, which CAMH reports is between two to three per cent.

Aryel Maharaj is the outreach and education coordinator for the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC). As an organizer of education and training programs about eating disorders, Maharaj has seen plenty of intersection between body image issues and sports. He says that although some people might think athletes are largely untouched by body image issues, the toxic masculinity fostered by sport and the way bodies are intertwined with athletic success can incite such harms.

“Eating disorders are as diverse as the people they can affect,” he says. “[Athletes] are preoccupied with [their body] because it’s also part of their performance.”

For women athletes, they face mounting pressures to look a certain way. In a 2017 study conducted by ESPNW, 70 per cent of surveyed female student athletes reported to be afraid of becoming “too muscular.”

Students athletes say the pressures to look and perform in certain ways can often create unhealthy relationships with their bodies

With the punchy bass and heavy synths of EDM still blasting in her earbuds, Lynne Holloway looks past the racks of colour-coded weighted plates and at herself in one of the countless mirrors in the Mattamy Athletic Centre gym.

It’s around 7 a.m. and the fourth-year fashion production student has just finished bench pressing as part of her upper body workout for the day. Holloway wears plain-coloured leggings and an athletic top that details her muscular build. After showing up before sunrise, she’s all but alone in the gym.

Holloway analyses herself in the mirror—she likes her body. She likes what she can do with heavy weights in her hands and the extent to which she can push herself. She’s been part of TMU’s barbell club for a year now but her exercise journey started nearly a decade ago in her local CrossFit gym.

The gym is her haven. It’s where, surrounded by dumbbells, cable stacks and big, grunting men, she’s the most confident in the way she looks.

“When you train pretty seriously, watching what your body is capable of gives you a sense of confidence,” says Holloway. “So when I’m at the gym, I’m very comfortable being super muscular.”

However, there are settings where that’s not the case. Hol-

loway finds that the performance and aesthetic expectations for women in power-lifting and other strength-based sports contradict societal expectations for female beauty.

When going out for an evening, dressing up or wearing a dress and going on a date, Holloway says that muscular women can often feel out of place.

“It’s this weird sense of duality. I wish I could hide my muscles.”

According to a 2017 study by Eating and Weight Disorders, women are also disproportionately affected by unhealthy eating habits. The journal reported that women make up approximately 84 per cent of surveyed hospital patients with eating disorders, a discrepancy that is largely credited to women having a heightened level of body distortion.

Many women with athletic bodies can sometimes find it hard to not only see themselves represented in mainstream fashion, but even struggle when shopping for new clothes. Henry Navarro Delgado, an associate fashion professor at TMU, explains that the unique distribution of many athletes’ body mass can make it extremely difficult for both male and female athletes to find properly-fitting clothing.

“You have this compounding effect,” says Delgado. “The lack of representation in magazines is important but what’s most important is the lack of choice. How can [muscular people] participate in fashion if their needs are not taken into account?”

Holloway believes that the societal expectations for how women should look are direct contributors to unhealthy eating habits and body image issues. She aims to defy those expectations and go against the norm in her capstone project this year. Her goal is to help muscular women feel confident no matter what they wear.

Holloway’s vision for her clothing collection is grand, yet humble at the same time. She pictures muscular people confidently strutting down a runway in her see-through, frilled and ruffled designs. Yet at the end of the day, the collection is less about the appearance of the clothes themselves. Instead, it’s more about the philosophy behind them. With these designs, Holloway says she wants to destigmatize the way muscular people—women in particular—are expected to dress.

She wants to move away from the notion that they can only wear athleisure clothing and look good in fitness settings.

“Especially in high fashion, you don’t see [muscular bodies],” Holloway says. “My collection…is deconstructing the norms around muscles and body image.”

sometimes evident.

He realized this himself during his hospital stay, when doctors and nurses asked him if he had skipped his period as they defaulted to reading questions off of a routine symptoms list.

In addition to the healthcare improvements that Steiner thinks can be made, he also believes that key figures in athletes’ lives, such as coaches and administrators, can make a big difference in support of student athletes who struggle with body image issues or eating disorders.

The road to recovery for Steiner included help from his grandmother. When he was staying with her in the summer of 2017, she noticed the severity of what he was going through in a way that nobody else had.

Her grandson was irritable; he wasn’t eating well and when he did, his meals were measured obsessively down to the last calorie.

She called the NEDIC seeking information and advice just days after her grandson’s arrival at her residence on Hornby Island, which is just off the coast of Vancouver Island.

In Maharaj’s experiences with assisting people trying to learn or find resources to support their loved ones, he has found that a lack of willingness to divulge eating disorders and body image issues only further perpetuates their harm. The support of loved ones is key in the treatment of and recovery from eating disorders, he says, estimating that a quarter-to-a-third of the people making use of the NEDIC helpline are friends or family of the person affected.

Like many who’ve been in his position, Steiner initially refused to admit that he had a problem— something he attributes to the toxic masculinity embedded in sport culture.

“There’s that tough boy attitude,” he says. “Nobody wants to admit that they’re injured, let alone that they’ve got something wrong mentally.”

In Steiner’s experience, he found that some healthcare workers were so unused to treating men for eating disorders that a lack of consideration for his treatment was

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) runs a program called BodySense that aims to do just that. Their platform educates athletes about body image issues and offers those affected by them additional support. Partnered with the NEDIC, BodySense has constructed a model for support and healthy eating, which is built around promoting good habits that sports organizations of all levels can follow in order to cultivate body positivity and healthy eating habits.

BodySense specifies their support to the world of sport in their aim to destigmatize athletes’ bodies. Their website states that external pressure from the media, coaches and peers can influence body image distortion in athletes.

Today, Steiner is in a much better place. This August, he stood shirtless on top of a rock that he and his friend found in the wilderness of Lynn Valley in North Vancouver. From the top, he looked down at the eight foot drop into the blue-green water below him.

Ever the athlete, he didn’t consider the jump for long before he plunged from the edge towards the little pool of water beneath him.

“During the summer, I was in the best shape I’ve ever felt,” says Steiner, now five years removed from his first stay in the hospital.

He remembers being 16 years old and watching Denis Shapovalov explode to a Rogers Cup semi-final in an unforgettable run that included an upset over first-ranked Rafael Nadal.

It helped, in a way, to distract him from the beeping monitors, the paper bracelets and the nurses that had become his wardens.

Now, he doesn’t need a distraction. He’s traded sitting in a hospital bed for cliff-diving adventures, substituted his loose-fitting grey shirt and wristbands for a bathing suit and above all else, he’s confident in how he looks.

“[Now], I can do the things I like to do and my body’s trying to keep [up with] those things,” says Steiner. “And at the end of the day, [that’s] the most important thing.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN STEINER

“Nobody wants to admit that they’re injured, let alone that they’ve got something wrong mentally”

Women’s volleyball putting last season in the rearview

One team member who knows about success in the blue and gold is new assistant coach Brett Hagarty, who played for TMU for two sea sons—her last in 2020. The former OUA All-Star brings familiarity alongside Reid and the understand ing that a full volleyball season is a grind and success, having been a part of a 2018-19 squad that came second in the nation.

Lam was also on the 2018-19 squad and said the team looks up to Hagarty, who still looked like she could suit up for the team after daz zling in practice.

“She puts in a lot of fun but she’s hard working,” said Lam. “She keeps us grinding for sure.”

TMU with a distinguished resume, including having been a two-time U Sports All-Canadian and four-time Atlantic University Sport FirstTeam All-Star during her career at Dalhousie University.

Lam called Moore an “unreal play er,” while Reid said she has already surpassed the expectations brought with her pedigree on the court. But what stood out was the way she in tegrated into the team’s culture and leadership group.

“To do that when you’re someone with the accomplishments that she’s had as a player just speaks to how unique she is as a person,” said Reid.

By Mitchell Fox

Players from both past and present will be leaned on this season as the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s volleyball team looks to rebound from one of the worst seasons in program history.

A 3-10 record last year—one head coach Dustin Reid called an out lier—is in the rearview mirror with the 2022-23 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) campaign already underway. Now, the team is looking for redemption.

The players are confident in the team’s ability, with new faces, bet

ter health and team spirit on their side. Second-year libero Mary Rio florido said she was “stoked” for the new season.

“I don’t have any doubt about our team’s skill set being able to help us bounce back,” she said. “Our team chemistry is a lot stronger than our skill set and that says a lot.”

Rioflorido was a bright spot in her rookie campaign last year for the Bold. The libero earned a spot on the OUA All-Rookie team and was named TMU’s female rookie of the year.

Third-year setter Alicia Lam said the squad is eager to put themselves in a better light, relying on resil

ience on and off the court.

“We’ve put a lot into training and just putting last season behind us but not forgetting it,” Lam said. “We’ve put down some goals as a team that are pretty high. And we’re excited for that.”

Head coach Reid said the team wants to compete for championships, not dwell on the past. He said their approach is to look at how to rebuild the program into a title contender.

“Are we coming out of the blocks feeling like we’re entitled to that suc cess? No,” Reid said. “We’re working every day because we want to give ourselves a chance at that.”

Rookie Elise Pridmore, the only first-year on the team’s active ros ter, said she remembers watching Hagarty play.

Pridmore said she watched the Bold play while she was in Grades 9 and 10, as TMU was her first choice of a Ca nadian school. She said it was cool to have a coach in Hagarty who knows her way around TMU volleyball.

“It’s cool having her be part of practice because she gets to tell her stories and her experiences, as well as she knows a lot about how to run the drills,” she said.

Another new addition to the team this season is outside hitter Ju lie Moore. The fifth-year comes to

The Bold are currently 1-2 and riding the momentum of a win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues this past Saturday. They’ll have their hands full on Friday night when the undefeated McMaster Marauders trot into the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

“We’re all very like-minded, we find the same things funny,” said Rioflordio. “We’re just able to read each other’s minds without telling each other things.”

Bold men’s volleyball aiming for top despite 0-3 start

By Dream Homer

A nail-biting loss to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in last season’s playoffs has sparked a jolt of momentum in the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team this year.

Now, with their nine rookies from last season graduating to veteran sta tus, the Bold have their sights set on the top of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference.

“All the young starters have already had the experience of what the OUA is like and carried that and matured through the summer,” said fourthyear libero, Lhexen Rabit.

league by storm with a team-high of over 100 kills last season and his main focus this season is to train and play hard and stay focused. The out side hitter earned OUA East Rookie of The Year honours, but now the se cret’s out on the young star.

“I think last year he caught a lot of teams off guard with his skill and now teams know about him, they have video of him, they can make a game plan for him,” said interim coach Niko Rukavina. “He’s been working in practice a lot more on some of that stuff but I’m excited to see how he adjusts to some of that.”

For Walker, he feels no pressure heading into this season.

“I just look to the team for help,” he said. “Playing with the same guys, I’m more confident going into this season, more experienced and we’re good.”

The players were young and hadn’t played together much before, so there was some unfamiliarity amongst the group last season. However, after making it as far as they did last year, the team is serious about going all the way this season and being a promi nent threat in the conference.

Jacob Walker’s talents took the

With the season underway as of Nov. 4, the young team headed into this year with a majority of the same set of players as last year. And now with the experience of an OUA playoff run, the squad is ready to push themselves farther than the quarter-finals.

As one of the most experienced people on the team, Rabit under stands the role he plays as a mentor

to the younger players and wants to make a difference on the team, not just by his words.

“[I] appreciate the fact that I am a leader because not many players have the privilege that I have,” he said. “I try to lead the team as well based on my actions.”

And when it comes to maintaining this momentum throughout the long season and multiple back-to-back weekend games, Rukavina has the ut most faith in this team.

“I think we made headway last year and we made some progress

and I thought we could’ve won a quarter-final and moved on and I still believe that for this team now,” said Rukavina. “We’re not here just to win a quarter-final, we want to push it and be a contender for an OUA championship.”

The Bold are off to an 0-3 start this year and the games to watch are against cross-town rivals, the Var sity Blues. The team has lost the last eight games against them but are determined to change the narrative this year.

The squad fell in a five-set thriller

against their rivals this past Satur day and will have to wait until Feb ruary for the rematch.

The TMU’s men’s volleyball team is no longer the group of inexperienced players they were last year. Instead, there’s playoff experience, maturity in players, more options on offense and a fine-tuned blocking defense. All of which will aid the Bold in their pur suit of a championship this season.

“We were disappointed with the result last season, we had that fire once we lost and that fire has been building up,” said Rabit.

“I just look to the team for help, playing with the same guys”

KONNOR KILLORN/THE EYEOPENER

KONNOR KILLORAN/THE EYEOPENER

“Are we coming out of the blocks feeling like we’re entitled to that success? No”

Women in TMU’s aerospace engineering program say more representation is needed

By Aneesa Bhanji

Many women in Toronto Metro politan University’s (TMU) aerospace engineering program say better rep resentation is needed at both the un dergraduate and graduate levels.

Wintta Ghebreiyesus, an aero space engineering PhD candidate has done her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering at the university. She estimated that in her time at TMU, women generally made up between 13 to 20 per cent of students in the program.

“We’re currently sitting at about 20 per cent female graduate students in our department,” she said.

In a statement to The Eyeopener, the university confirmed these numbers, adding that the lack of women in the program “has been identified as a pri ority by the department.”

women are still in the minority, par ticularly in senior positions.

“We need more female leaders in aerospace right now, especially at the national level,” she said.

TMU also shared application num bers for the graduate program, with the largest difference coming from the 2021-22 school year. That year, about 84 per cent more men than women applied to the full-time master of en gineering program. For the 2022-23 academic year, there was only a dif ference of about 76 per cent, with men still making up the significantly larger pool of applicants.

“It’s not only going to take the women, it’s also going to require men to be allies as well to really address and break the stigma women face in aerospace and related fields,” Ghe breiyesus said.

Bo Tan, the only female aerospace engineering professor at TMU, said she has seen a similar pattern within the program’s representation.

the field of engineering as a whole. According to Engineers Canada, only 13 per cent of licensed engineers in the country are women.

Damineh Akhavan, a senior engi neer and board member at Women in Aerospace Canada, said the repre sentation of women in aerospace en gineering is “minimal.” In her 17 years of experience, she said she’s often the only woman of colour on the team.

[due] to unequal treatment.”

Second-year aerospace engineering student Ayla Ahmad said while she was in training as an aerospace engi neer with the Canadian Air Force, she was one of just five women. She said she believes the field is losing out on women engineers because they may feel hesitant about entering a primarily male industry.

representation by increasing “female participation at every level of the de partment, from first-year undergrad uates to academic leadership.”

Data from the university also said that over 90 per cent of applicants self-identifying as women over the last four years were accepted into the undergraduate program. However, on average, only 19 per cent of applicants were women, with the number of fe male students enrolling in the aero space engineering program steadily increasing over the years.

Between 2019 to 2022, female en rollment in the undergraduate pro gram increased overall from 13 to 23 per cent. Ghebreiyesus acknowledged that while this is a noticeable increase,

“I’ve seen quite a lot of female stu dents in the undergraduate program today. But for graduates studying, [female representation] is still very rare,” said Tan.

Tan said the aerospace engineering faculty has tried to improve its female representation by attempting to re cruit more female faculty members, especially in the research department. According to Tan, the university had to “hunt for people who were quali fied for the position” which only re sulted in a handful of candidates.

The disparity of men and women in aerospace engineering at TMU is not unique to the school. Across Can ada, similar numbers are reported in

“I’ve experienced harassment, dis crimination, both as a woman and as an immigrant,” she said. “It felt like no one was hearing me.”

Akhavan said even having the smallest bit of female representation would have made a big impact.

“When you see someone that looks like you, whether it’s a woman or a person of colour and other im migrants, it empowers you and in spires you to be better. And I never had that,” she said.

Data from Statistics Canada in 2019 shows that one of the most common reasons for women moving away from STEM-related studies is due to “feeling isolated or out of place due to being outnumbered by male peers or

“There [are] probably so many women out there who maybe are pas sionate about spacecraft and aero space in general,” Ahmad said. “But they just don’t go into it because it’s daunting because it’s a male-domi nated industry.”

Last year, Statistics Canada report ed that among high school graduates, women are 29 per cent less likely than men to enroll in a post-second ary STEM program after graduation.

“Creating inclusive environments in the workplace can all be good ways of attracting women to the field and to the industry,” Ghebreiyesus said.

In their statement to The Eye, TMU said the school is currently “develop ing strategies to achieve this.”

TMU plans to add more women

Akhavan described the lack of women in aerospace engineering as a “chicken and egg thing,” describ ing a cyclical issue: women are less likely to see themselves in engineer ing jobs, so they’re less likely to seek them out, which in turn equates to less representation overall.

“Unless you have representation and some of the issues are addressed, less people will be coming to the in dustry,” she said. “We’ve had many people who’ve come and left. You need to sort things [out] before more people decide to come in.”

Second-year aerospace engineer ing undergraduate student Manasvi Vaidya said that her dedication to aerospace engineering is what makes it all “worth it.”

“If you are passionate about some thing then you should definitely go for it. Even if the career you’re going in is difficult,” said Vaidya. “It’s still worth it, if you’re working toward something you’re passionate about.”

Two TMU students with IBD earn $5,000 national grant

By Kaitlyn Stock

Two Toronto Metropolitan Uni versity (TMU) students have won a national grant from AbbVie’s IBD Scholarship Program supported by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada to cover their tuition.

The scholarship aims to help stu dents pay their tuition, “enabling stu dents to spend more time on their studies,” according to Crohn’s and

Colitis Canada’s website. Both win ners expressed gratitude towards the grant, saying that one of the biggest challenges of living with inflamma tory bowel disease (IBD) is missing school. Crohn’s disease is one of the most common types of IBD in Can ada, affecting approximately 1 in ev ery 140 people, according to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.

The illness is chronic and often results in bleeding along the intes

COURTESY OF CROHN’S AND COLITIS CANADA

tinal tract, prolonged periods of inflammation and pain in the abdo men and increased risk of several types of cancer and surgery. No cure has been identified, though people living with the illness may report periods of remission lasting months of years between flare ups. Diagno sis can take months or years.

Adrian Morphy, one of the TMU students awarded the grant, is cur rently pursuing his masters degree in fine arts in script writing and story design. He said he missed “maybe four months” of his senior year of high school due to hospitalizations after learning he had crohn’s disease.

“I actually ended up missing most of that last year of high school,” said Morphy, explaining that he then had to do an additional year to finish his credits. “It also affected my choices of where I wanted to go to university.”

Morphy said winning the grant “alleviates the financial barrier” as a

graduate student.

The second TMU grant winner, Ashley Patel, who is currently study ing public health and safety, said her crohn’s diagnosis came after years of being misdiagnosed. She’s happy to have the grant, however, she said TMU could do more to support stu dents with IBD, like having more washrooms throughout campus.

dation Support (AAS) at TMU has been very supportive and accommo dating of her situation if she is unable to attend class due to her IBD.

“If I’m not able to make it to some classes, my notetakers are ready and it was easy to get that accommodation.”

In an emailed statement to The Eyeopener, TMU said “AAS works with students with disabilities and faculty to ensure that these students are able to use their accommoda tions as needed.”

“TMU definitely needs better washroom access, especially for people living with chronic disabili ties,” said Patel. “You’ve got to have some more [washrooms] that cater to people with disabilities like IBD.”

Despite the lack of enough accessi ble washrooms throughout campus, Patel said the Academic Accommo

Margaret Schneider, an associate professor in kinesiology and physical education at Wilfrid Laurier Uni versity, has an academic research background in chronic illness and disability and was diagnosed with crohn’s-colitis as a teen. She ex plained that students with IBD may miss out on more of university ex periences than just academics.

VANESSA KAUK & PEYTON KEELER COX/THE EYEOPENER

“We need more female leaders in aerospace right now”

Winning the grant “alleviates the

8 songs for when you’re running late for class

A fast and furious soundtrack to help you scurry to class

By Jack Wannan

We’ve all been there before. You missed your alarm. And the one af ter that and the one after that. You’re officially running late for class.

It likely isn’t the first time this has happened—and newsflash to any one who doesn’t know you, it likely won’t be the last either.

The good news is there are ways to prepare for the inevitability of be ing late. Some will suggest packing a lunch ahead of time or charging your laptop overnight. But no, those are silly ideas. Instead, just listen to this playlist. These quick hitting, possibly stress-inducing tracks will get you moving a few more beats per minute than usual, getting you from home to the lecture hall in al most no time.

Here’s a hand-crafted selection of songs to accompany you while super speeding to class:

“Sandstorm” by Darude Trance dance track “Sandstorm” pre dates many of us as it was released in 1999, but we have all probably heard it before. Maybe at a hockey game, in a video or even in a meme. The song recently turned 23 years old and de spite this, the hype-inducing techno beat with quick, almost nostalgic computer processed sounds contin ues to be considered a hit. It can help you dial-in for a class or motivate you to chase down a bus that was not ex pecting to scoop you up.

“Nonstop” by Drake

Drake was right when he said, “I don’t know nobody else that’s doing this,” when gloating on “Nonstop.” Person ally, I cannot relate to the rich lifestyle he lives, nor do I know anyone who does. However, I can still find a way to fit his music into my life.

There’s something about this song that makes for great rush music. Maybe it’s the repetitive, cyclical beat that gets your head-bopping but matches the laid-back energy of Drake on this track. Whether it be that or another reason, I’ve found myself coming back to it four years after its release.

“Crash” by Charli XCX

When Charli XCX said she’s about to crash, she didn’t mean it in a bad way. “Crash” is an uptempo pop track that celebrates the idea of being in

fatuated with yourself. “Overload ing when I’m looking in the mirror/ Feel myself, I’m looking way better than ever,” she recites with a raspy tone. It’s a reminder on your chaotic trip from Pitman Hall to the Victo ria Building that even though you are running behind schedule, there’s more to you than your mistakes.

“Out thë way” by Yeat Yeat is mostly known for screaming and murmuring over loud and inyour-face rage beats. But the Cali fornia rapper tones it down on “Out thë way,” dialing back his energy but maintaining the same boastful de meanor in his usual songs.

The usual heavy beat takes a back seat for a more muted, bass-heavy sound. Yeat himself seems to be us ing his inside voice, almost as if he

didn’t want to wake up his sleeping parents that were in the room over. This track is somewhat of a buffer in between songs, keeping the spirit of the theme but not being too over loading with loud sounds.

“Movin’ On Without You” by Hikaru Utada

Maybe what you need to hear when running late is Hikaru Utada’s af firming chant that “Nothing’s gonna stop me.” This late ‘90s dance track is led by a powerful electric key board and bedazzled with light syn thesizer tones that come in during the chorus.

The motivated, fired-up energy of this song is one that is bound to make you move.

And moving in this case would be moving…to class!

“False Alarm” by The Weeknd

The Weeknd’s 2016 hit “False Alarm” is the perfect tune to turn on for this occasion. This song starts slow but eventually throws you into the cha os, which might be a good analogy for how this late-to-class morning might be going.

The Weeknd’s smooth vocals lead you through the sharp shouts and chanting brings you through the chorus. It’s an audio rollercoaster and a ride that I’m happy to get on while weaving my way through crowds on the subway.

“George & Janice” by Otoboke Beaver

Punk rock band Otoboke Beaver’s track “George & Janice” is the per fect type of song you need to hear on this hectic occasion. It’s loud, angry, all over the place and only 43 sec onds long. It wastes no time, racing from start to finish with no let up in the energy that it exudes. Let it be the anthem for your race to campus.

“Messages

from the Stars” by The Rah Band

Unfortunately, on a day like this, there’s no time to browse TikTok be fore class. You have to stay focused and get out the door. But on the way, you can still indulge in some of the application’s (sometimes) great music selections.

Take “Messages from the Stars” with you, a 2008 synth-pop track that is light and uplifting, perfect as you step into the classroom sweaty and dry-heaving.

EyeCooks: Brown butter chocolate chip cookies

By Abeer Khan

It was the first few months of the pandemic in 2020, I wasn’t leaving my house due to heightened anxiety and felt listless at home. To fill some time in my day and take a break from my computer—which had become my only source of entertainment, education and communication—I decided to take up baking. But un like others who also channelled their inner Pillsbury Doughboy dur ing the height of the pandemic and baked bread, snickerdoodles and a wide selection of treats, I stuck to only one baked good: the brown butter chocolate chip cookie.

I perfected the recipe by watch ing an endless supply of TikToks and taking the best parts of each recipe to create my own, alongside some personal touches. I made these cookies whenever I felt sad, lonely or bored. It was a great way to pass time while also treating myself and my family to yummy goods.

I hope that if you too, bake these cookies, they make you feel com

forted and warm. Good luck and happy baking!

Ingredients:

1 cup of soft unsalted butter ¼ cup of granulated sugar ¾ cup of dark brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons (tsp) of vanilla extract

1 ¾ cup of all purpose flour

2 tsp of corn starch

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips ¼ cup of milk chocolate chips

Instructions:

Start by browning your unsalted butter in a pan. Put it into the pan and let it bubble and then simmer on high-to-medium heat. Once it bubbles and settles into a deep brown colour, you’re done!

Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool for 15-20 minutes. If you don’t let it cool, it will cook the eggs and melt the chocolate chips when you go to mix everything together, so be patient!

In a separate bowl, mix your brown sugar, granulated sugar and egg together. Then, add your butter and vanilla extract.

In another bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Then, slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture in parts. Start off with half and then gradually add more. It’s better to mix in parts than all at once to avoid clumps and ex cessive exercise (RIP your arms).

Once the ingredients are mixed together, add in one cup of semisweet chocolate chips and give it another good mix.

Once the dough is combined, place it in the fridge to chill for 30-45 minutes or until you lose patience. Remember, the longer you let the cookie dough chill, the better your end result will be! Once the dough is chilled it’s ready to bake! Get some parchment paper and lay it out in a tray. If you don’t have parchment paper, line the tray with a sheen coat of butter. Take small pieces of the cookie dough—about the size of an ice cream scoop—and roll it into a

ball, then place it onto the tray. Re peat until the tray is full! Make sure to leave enough room between each cookie so that they don’t spread and make one mega-cookie.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 C and once its ready, pop your cookies in and bake them for 11-13 minutes. Make sure to constantly check on

them and take them out once they are golden brown.

Once they’re done, quickly take them out of the oven. While they’re still warm, take some of the milk chocolate chips and gently place them on the warm cookie. Let them cool for 10-15 minutes after and then enjoy your wonderful cookies!

BERRY SHI/THE EYEOPENER

PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER

Dropping your course and fucking up your program

By Ishita Chopra

The fear of having to drop a course is ever-present in the minds of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students.

There’s the casual panic attack after a professor announces: “You will receive your grade before the deadline to drop the course so that you can decide if you want to drop or not.” Truthfully, this is the mo ment when only one word comes to mind: shit. And if you’re anything like me, naturally, the course you had to drop was a mandatory one and you did not study because the “semester just started.” Or if you aren’t like me and are responsible, maybe you just had a lot of things on your mind that week.

The wave of panic comes again when you receive your grade and you did indeed fail that assignment worth 25 per cent of your final mark. Now, of course, you can con vince yourself that you still have a chance—which is unlikely.

But if that is not the case and you’ve found that all hope is futile, here are the five steps to drop ping your course—that will maybe, hopefully not, but could possibly, screw up the road to getting your future degree.

1. Dawn of the internal panic

The phrase “it’s fine,” summarizes this step very clearly. The shock will come soon, but for now you’re in a blissfully ignorant place. This step is essential because this is when you just ignore and procrastinate until the internal shock sets in.

Personally, during this stage, I start working harder on other courses and try to ignore the in evitable demise of the GPA I’ve worked toward.

The pros of this step, of course, are that the shock is enough to fix your ways, get your shit in order and actually work harder. Only once panic sets in do you move on to the next stage.

2. Facing the wrath

Imagine this step as the trinity of doom. Anger comes from not only yourself but the scariest humans of them all: your parents. Your profes sor’s disappointment will complete that trifecta of deeply disappointed people, if you are a sucker for aca demic validation. Symptoms of this stage include resentment and inner discouragement.

Once you have scolded yourself— or were scolded enough by your parents—you are ready to move on to the third step.

3. Lose all pride

Now, shame has taken you over. This step entails completely losing each

ounce of self-respect to plead with the professor for two measly marks. This stage can go two ways. First, your professor curves your grade like a Mcdonald’s Golden Arch (thank goodness!) or the professor does not budge and you have to make peace with your abysmal grade (*crying emoji*). If you’re dealing with the latter, then the next step will prob ably hurt the most. Sorry!

4. Try a different career path It’s okay to cry it out. This step is incredibly overwhelming because it feels as if there is nothing but pure helplessness and hopelessness—don’t worry, that is completely normal. Once you are in this stage, hope

fully, it lands on a weekend where you can spend hours feeling like crap and falling into a deep inter net hole of how one becomes a professional bed-tester.

On the bright side, this leads you to the last stage of grief.

5. Drop! That! Course!

If you have successfully reached this stage, that means you have al ready opened up MyServiceHub— previously known as RAMMS— and clicked on the button, glowing in a halo of golden light, that has been faintly singing your name.

This is a courageous move is one that might haunt you for the rest of your academic career. Or, this could lead you to new paths to a later graduation or open doors to new careers you never knew ex isted. Either way, change can be a good thing.

If you went through all five steps, perhaps you have found a new sense of self. Hopefully, this experience led you to drop your course but still maintain some sense of mental well-being. I think that dropping a course is a rite of passage every student has to go through to finally graduate—if you make it there on time. And if not, that’s okay be cause “on time” is subjective.

By Dexter LeRuez

Following tech billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of society’s third-favourite social media plat form, Twitter, the real-life super villain has announced that verifi cation on the site will now cost $8 a month.

But many believe $8 a month for a virtual check mark simply isn’t worth it. Unless of course, you are Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and pay for Twitter Blue verification.

Here at The Eyeopener, we’ve come up with alternative ways that you can better spend your eight dollars—sorry, 7.99—around TMU’s campus.

Grab tacos from Birria Catrina

Most TMU students have seen the birria taco stand just across the street from the Sheldon and Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC). So why not grab yourself a bite to eat in between classes? For $8, you can get a cup of consommé broth and a singular taco.

What’s that? There isn’t enough taco to soak up the consommé? Don’t worry! Once you are done your taco, just slurp that con

sommé up like a meaty spiced hot chocolate. Dee-licious!

Buy five cans of Arizona Iced Tea Despite the rising cost of inflation, the people over at Arizona Iced Tea remain adamant that an iced tea should only cost $1.29 ($0.99 in the U.S). This means that you can still sip down five of those sweet beverages for just under eight dol lars, even with tax!

Buy three pounds of onions If you are short on time and are

looking to get some veggies into your diet look no further! This week, the Gould Street Metro is offering three pounds of red onions for $4.99. An other great snack for between classes, just grab a raw onion and chomp on it like you would an apple. Worried about your breath stink ing up your three hour lecture? Don’t worry! Metro also sells tooth paste for $1.99. Onions and tooth paste? What a steal.

Buy a fake chain Why pay for an online clout sub

scription when you can get one in real life? All of your classmates will think you look so cool with your totally real “gold” chain. You can even upgrade your style by using the eight dollars that you save in future months to buy sunglasses, an absurd amount of hair gel or AXE body spray that can be smelt all the way from Ottawa.

Go to the movie theatre

The Cineplex movie theatre at YongeDundas is quite easy to reach for TMU students, located just two blocks from

the SLC. Granted, with your $8 you won’t be able to actually watch any movies (Tuesdays included sadly). But we’re sure you can get a bag of kidsized popcorn or something.

Invest in D2L

D2L/Desire 2 Learn/Brightspace. No matter what you call it, TMU students know it as one thing: that online learning platform that lets our professors get way too com fortable giving us online work. So the next time you are forced to create three discussion posts and respond to five of your classmates’ posts, why not take pride in the fact that at least you are making money from your misery by investing in D2L for about $5.50!

Buy 32 Hillman Finish Hex Nuts

Whether you are working with mo tors, want to make a homemade fidget spinner or just want to make a joke that’s punch line has to do with genitalia, there are plenty of reasons why you may want to buy some nuts. Luckily for you, Canadian Tire at the Eaton Centre sells some high quality nuts for just 22 cents per nut. At that price, you can get a grand to tal of 32 nuts for your eight dollars. That’s a whole lot of nuts!

VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER

VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER

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