Edmonton wants to give you money
Sandy Hudson
V.
Ruben Vina-Garcia
the newspaper
By Sean Liliani President Naylor might be a household name on campus but if you were to ask your average student what a Provost is, they are likely to confuse the university’s chief academic officer with a type of Italian cheese. Although Vivek Goel is often overshadowed by the university’s President, as VP and Provost he is responsible for the 28 faculties, colleges and schools at UofT. An announcement on the university website last week officially confirmed what was alluded to at a Planning and Budget Committee meeting February 27th; Goel will be stepping down from his position as Provost this June. A medically acclaimed academic, Professor Goel will be leaving his post as Provost to take on the role of CEO and founding president of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. “I’ve been at administration in Simcoe Hall for eight years and it was time for me to start to think about a change,” said Goel about his move. “This opportunity for me to build a public health agency from scratch is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” The incipient Ontario initiative was launched as a response to the SARS outbreak and will act as a communication hub for health care workers, academic researchers and governments. As head of this inter-industry agency, Goel will remain in touch with the UofT community, “I get to continue to be a faculty member, supervise graduate students and probably do a little bit of teaching… it’s sort of like the best of all possible worlds for me.” As Provost, Goel was a swift administrator who wasted little time enacting his ideas for UofT. Goel’s vision for the university will be passed on in the Stepping Up initiative that was implemented in his inaugural year as Provost. The ambitious 2004 document outlines a future for life at UofT with an emphasis on connecting a campus often criticized for being too big. “The way our programs work is changing; same with our
See Provost cont. pg. 5
St. Basil’s Praying for a Miracle
Students and Parishioners dismayed over being ignored regarding new condo development
By Alexandra Kazia Many University of Toronto students and St. Basil’s parishioners were dismayed this Tuesday after having a motion to give them time for consultation regarding the new condo development adjacent to St. Basil’s was turned down at city council. “It’s not over. I think this is the tipping point for the city of Toronto as well as the university community,” said hopeful yet disappointed parishioner, Linda Cahill, who attended both Monday and Tuesday’s council meetings. St. Basil’s and the students say they were not given consultation about the current plans for development of three three-storey buildings, an expanded park, and, most noteworthy, two residential condominiums standing at a very large 55 and 45 storeys that would dwarf the 151 year-old church at the east end of campus. Current plans would mean the loss of adequate parking for six days of the week (which holds five daily masses) and extra parking only on Sundays on the south side of the street and it would block a back entrance for the disabled. The church does not want to stop development plans but would wish for a temporary halt and at the very least for their options to be weighed. Even more irksome to the parish and students is that neither were consulted on the matter. The petition, which started merely at the back of the church, already acquired over 1,400 signatures within the short week they had time to plan for it. It was brought to city council on Monday but the 58 people (aprox.) in support of the halt were not heard that day and so over 35 showed up Tuesday afternoon to hear the vote. Despite a discouraging outcome, Cahill was happy that at least Councillor Michael Del Grande had put forth the motion that would have allowed students and parishioners who felt they were not consulted some 60 days before any other decisions were made to have their say, but it was overwhelmingly rejected. Cahill said that Councillor Ford of Etobicoke was the only one at the end of the meeting to stand up for them saying that he could not believe they were not listening to the requests of 1,400 people. But Kyle Rae, councillor of the involved area told us that “People [who signed the petition] did not know there was a park being built. They were being told half the story and not the full story, “He says that when some were informed about the
Photo by Catalina Gomez
Vivek Goel will become CEO of new public health agency
March 6 2008 Vol. XXX No. XXI
www.thenewspaper.ca
toronto’s student community paper
Provost to Leave UofT
November 22 2007 Vol. XXX No. XI
complete plans they were okay with it, insisting “a park is more valuable to a city than a parking lot.” Priests and parishioners are also upset by earlier comments by Rae saying they had indeed been consulted. They believe that is a grave falsehood and say that the only people
consulted were a working group of about 8-10 people and that was not a full or fair representation. Despite arguments and the daunting results of the vote given this Tuesday at the meeting the group at St. Basil’s along with many St. Michaels college students has not given up but are regrouping to look at all their
options. Cahill, disconcerted after the vote, said that Tuesday’s events were “an eye-opener to the people of the parish and the university,” saying “that when you go for democracy at city hall, democracy may not be what you get.”
Homohop Resurrected By Matthew Pope “Toronto’s original all ages queer dance party returns, with a new location, and better than ever” reads the press release from LGBTOUT. After speaking with David Ivey, the Social Coordinator for LGBTOUT, the new Homohop certainly has the potential to be more than its previous incarnation. “The emphasis is on making the atmosphere better” says Ivey. “The DJ is going to be better because, quite frankly,
that last DJ wasn’t that good… ” Venue is a big part of the changes as well; they’ve managed to get it away from the spatially and financially consuming Hart House. But Goodhandy’s is an adult club, so… “The crew will go through Friday afternoon and clear out all the sexually explicit stuff, like the Fuck-bench”. The Diamond room will be sectioned off and the club will essentially be made suitable for an all-ages crowd, but
without losing the inherent edge that Goodhandy’s is known for. I mention that the LGBTOUT website still features the last Homohop from 2006 and that many of the people I interviewed before him were oblivious to the upcoming event. “Our website is a tragedy unto itself” says Ivey with a painful, sardonic smile, adding, “we can’t know everyone… so we’re just trying to get the information to where people who are looking for this kind of event can find it; i.e. the
drop-in centre, SEC, various listservs, etc.” It is admittedly a test-run for the current LGBTOUT crew because it is a new board that has never run a Homohop before. The people and the drama that dissolved the old Homohop are gone, so the stage is set for a new era of campus queer events. I know they’re always looking for volunteers, so please come support it any way you can. I’m volunteering my time, so I hope I’ll see you there.