the newspaper
28 August 2003 Vol. XXVI No. 1
U of T’s Independent Weekly
on the inside The Eels • Polyphonic Spree • Yeah Yeah Yeahs • Who the hell are we?
How good are U of T professors?
What’s she smiling about? Bar Guide Pages 4-5
PROFS VETO RESULTS FOR ANTI-CALENDAR by Katie A. Szymanski NEWS BUREAU
the news in brief
Aren’t we competitors?
The Varsity pays homage to the newspaper The Varsity’s Handbook is a little bit different this year. The “Who’s Who On Campus” section features a photo of the founding editors of the newspaper. Tom Simpson, Ken Whitehurst, and Steve Petranick. There is no caption for the photo (there are no captions anywhere in the Handbook), but it appears above an explanation of Governing Council, described as “the supreme governing body of university.” The photo is not entirely out of place: Tom Simpson is the Chairperson of Governing Council. The Handbook has another
nod to the newspaper, since it includes “Philosophy Café” among its list of clubs and associations. Editors at the newspaper founded the club to provide a forum where interesting past editors could speak and to celebrate the newspaper’s 25th anniversary. the newspaper would like to thank The Varsity for all the publicity, although we suspect that the invoice is in the mail.
Kandahar Chronicles
Aid worker in Afghanistan’s diary new CitizenLab.org project Viewers of citizenlab.org can read the web log of a humani-
VARSITY ARCHIVES
Left to right: the newspaper founders Tom Simpson, Ken Whitehurst, and Steve Petranick
PHOTO BY PETER MOHIDEEN
tarian worker in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Citizenlab.org is a project of Prof. Ron Deibert that researches and chronicles where civil society and digital culture interact. The aid worker, known as “Carlos,” has been in Kandahar for two months as part of a nine-month contract. For security reasons, he is using this pseudonym and the name of the relief organization is not being released. Prof. Deibert explains: “Eventually we may get rid of the anonymous stuff, but the group that he worked for has not authorized it … in Afghanistan, western aid organizations have been explicitly targeted, and knowing who he is and where he is may pose a specific danger.” “Carlos” worked for over a dozen years in Africa and Asia doing tours, but decided to start working in the humanitarian field. He is connected to Citizen Lab, since he and Prof. Deibert have known each other since their undergrad years. The web logs describe some of the issues facing the region and aid workers. Describing one worker who resigned, Carlos wrote, “I think Kandahar is freaking her out. I guess it’s not for everybody this bouncing around war zones swatting flies and trying to come to terms with 45 C daily temperatures.”
The site is updated daily and can be accessed at http: //kandahar.citizenlab.org/
Have a confession? Something to say? Write for us.
the newspaper
Remember those pesky little surveys you had to complete at the end of the term? Where do they go and what are they used for? Every spring the Arts and Science Student Union publishes all of the course evaluations students complete at the end of their courses in the “Anti-Calendar.” These evaluations given to the students allow them to give feedback to their professor and the department about how they felt overall of the course taken. Most useful however, is that the majority of these surveys are published in the “Anti-Calendar” so that students can get information about the course, the professor and his teaching methods and capabilities, the retake percentage, and general comments from past students of the course. All of these surveys completed in classes aren’t necessarily published though – it’s at the discre-
tion of the professor whether or not they wish to keep their evaluations confidential. This might leave you wondering, what is the purpose of publishing this book if professors can veto their course’s entry? The A.S.S.U operates on the basis of participation between both students and professors to deal with the “impersonal education” common at U of T and to challenge the “status quo relations of power in the classroom.” The A.S.S.U. was founded in 1972 as an intermediary between SAC and course unions when SAC conferred responsibility for educational work within the faculties. As the A.S.S.U. grew, so did the course unions and the student evaluations of courses increased. The “Anti-Calendar” is distributed every year to students for free, and has proven very valuable to students as it grows in size each year.
the newspaper asks:
DAVID SPADE
Have you ever made a bad movie? PAGE 6
the newspaper asks:
WHO NEEDS INITIATIONS?
See both sides with 500 Words Each.
Continued on Page 3
PAGE 2
A Magna Carta of Rock E LOOKS FOR FRIENDS, FINDS TOO MANY
By Andrew Covert
MISANTHROPIC POP BUREAU
Floor shows. That’s what they used to call them. Back in the day when you could go downtown on a Saturday night and see Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker at the Blue Note here in Toronto. We, of course, had one like every major world center of music. And I had to pinch myself that July night to make sure I was seeing what I thought I saw. E, the shadowy, conflicted and dower lead member of Eels was making an attempt at rock and roll ascension. There was something vaguely rapturous about the experience, except that E was not Christ and he was most certainly not taking any of us with him. However, the sound and light show was all there and the theatrics were certainly right
on cue. There was no question, watching E descend from the balcony, surrounded by beefy securitytypes, where he had mysteriously appeared after letting his band to open the set on stage without him, that the show was going to kick like a mule. With the heavily bearded, red jump-suited bass player Koool G Murder behind him we were well prepared for the Rock and Roll redemption that Eels’ previous release Souljacker had provided. In our lonely nights those misanthropic anthems had heralded a revolution of sorts. It was a rejection of the pantywaist values of bland mid-nineties guitar rock as well as the lilly-liv-
ered warblers of our current pop clot. It was music where the beat came from something before pop was pop, something that Muddy and Johnny Lee would have called “not bad,” something like the genuine article. We had many worries, the audience and I. You see; his current release Shootenanny had all the earmarks as being an action plan for the new millennium, a promise of delivery on the manifesto of Souljacker. But really its an uncomfortable love letter to his old material; a bittersweet step back to before he was ambassador of the Rock and Roll of futures past. He speaks to that old, folksy-but-I-don’t-know-
E was not Christ and he was most certainly not taking any of us with him
Continued on Page 7
Great Minds for Great Laptops ARTS & SCIENCE FACULTY LAUCHES PROGRAM WITH DELL AND IBM By Peter Josselyn NEWS EDITOR
U of T’s homepage features a new link advertising laptops for undergrads in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Although the Faculty claims that they are unaffiliated with any companies, they receive bonuses from IBM and Dell worth 2% of the value of computers sold. These funds will be used to purchase further computers for students. Some students are angry that undergrads are encouraged to buy expensive computers and allege the university is sidestepping funding student computing initiatives. Although the site also claims
not to recommend any specific students are not required to own company, there computers are only two A & S receives bonuses to attend U links. Other of T-. They from IBM and Dell major computer may instead companies such worth 2% of the value make use of as Apple are the many of computers sold. unrepresented, computing These funds will be although their facilities machines would used to purchase fur- operated work on U of T’s by the ther computers for wireless network. University Dell and and various students IBM are offering colleges. special discounts Also, for U of T students at their web for other brands of laptop and pages, but these prices—espedesktop computers, the spoecificially those from IBM which top cations for wireless network cars out at $3,033.00—are high com- are listed so that anyone pared to other manufacturers. Find out more by visiting The Faculty advises that www.laptops.artsci.utoronto.ca