Vol. XXXI, No: 1 November 6 – 12, 2008 - Vol. XXXI, No: 9
VS. Rage against the fees Student Day of Action makes its move THOMAS SACZKOWSKI National News Bureau Yesterday students from across Ontario rallied for the ‘Student Day of Action’ in mobilization attempts; some calling for lower tuition fees and others demanding free education. In the Toronto rally, student unions from colleges and universities across the GTA were organized and coordinated by the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). Beginning at 11:30 from Sidney Smith the students were organized and mobilized into two groups: marching through campus and in front of Convocation Hall. The main issue raised among the student groups was the increase of tuition fees. Shelley Melanson, the Chairperson for the Ontario Division of CFS, stated that “fees for students in Ontario have climbed by 250% since 1991.” These unprecedented increases have provoked solidarity in the student movement for people from diverse backgrounds to mobilize together and fight for access equality in post-secondary education The student groups converged in front of Convocation Hall to march through the city streets towards Queen’s Park. Melanson was confident that the size of the rally was “easily going to break 6,000” and also noted that the Toronto rally “is one of 13 demonstrations across Ontario... (and) right now there is a central convergence in Ottawa of 4,000 people.” The unified chanting of thousands radiated against the music blaring from the CFS truck, propelling the crowd to a climatic burst of excitement. The day saw differing views on the rally’s student turnout. Dave Scrivener, the VP External of UTSU, thought that the rally had “an amazing turnout” and commented “over 1,000 students from York, Ryerson and hundreds from UTM and UTSC” participated
For many this protest was a first. Michael Evans, a second year student at U of T, felt that the “turnout was disappointing, (because) lots of kids stayed in class. It’s not a big deal to them, but for us this is really important.” As the rally spilled onto Wellesley Street the police presence increased; roads were blocked, attracting the attention of the public. Two U of T groundskeepers noticing the crowd (and who chose to remain anonymous) stated that “it is unfair that international students pay so much when they come to U of T. There are a lot of students here, this should make a buzz. As students marched down College Street halting traffic, their chants echoed. “Education is a right! We will not give up the fight! The students united! Will never be defeated!” rang across the city. The protesters gathered in front of the Ontario Legislative Buildings at Queen’s Park and speakers from student groups and local politicians engaged the crowd from atop the CFS truck. They directed chants to politicians inside the legislative buildings, who were being protected by more than 50 police officers behind barricades. Students stood their ground - with free food in hand, provided by the Hot Yam! (U of T’s student-run vegan cafe) - until the rally was called to an end at 15:45. Back on campus, some students who did not participate in the rally gave their thoughts on the Student Day of Action. Nasir Haider asserted that “walking around in a circle will not cause any change.” One of Haider’s peers, Monica Pham, felt that “this is the curse of our generation; we are protesting for ourselves, other generations protested for bigger issues such as war and hunger. This isn’t a worthwhile cause.”
Student rallies in the recent past on the St. George campus have had a large police presence. The increased policing of campus and suppression of student dissenters have resulted in past arrests, such as the Fight Fees 14. The Fight Fees 14 is a group of students who were criminally charged for their actions during a rally at Simcoe Hall last year. For yesterday’s Student Day of Action, protest security measures were put in place at Simcoe Hall; the door was protected by a lone officer, where visitors were obligated to show identification before the officer would electronically unlock the door. Shelley Malenson replied to this issue stating that there was “an excessive amount of police presence at the rally. It seems that David Naylor has an interest in policing the campus.” However, despite the arguably excessive police presence, Malenson stated that she “did not feel threatened.” Dave Scrivener shared a similar attitude stating that “the police were remarkably accommodating.” The majority of University of Toronto Special Police officers declined to give a statement; however, Officer Melanie Measor of the Toronto Police Department was both kind and accommodating by providing her reflections on the rally and the police. Yesterday’s demonstration being her first student protest assignment, she was “surprised to hear that students feel uncomfortable about our presence. We are not here to stop the rally, safety is our primary concern.” To the best of her knowledge the police did “not have any preliminary strategies to deal with the protest, if problems arise they know how to deal with them.” UTSU and student activist groups will persist in their efforts to bring fair access to post-secondary education in Ontario. Future events and rallies can be expected on campus in the same vein as the November 5th Student Day of Action.
Photographic coverage! continued on page 4...
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the inside
the table of CONTENTS
it’s a free-for-all! Calling all writers, copy editors and artists! Have you ever wanted to work in journalism? Would you like a chance to have you work published?
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the newspaper 3
November 6 – 12, 2008
BEER • WINGS • POOL • JAVA SPORTS • JUKEBOX • SPIRITS EVENTS • OPEN STAGE • GAMES
the editorial I hate People Remember the correct poppy MATHIAUS POE
The views and opinions expressed here are barely those of the author and not representative of the newspaper, its parent company Planet Publications or its helpless minions.
Opinion Column Bureau
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Remembrance Day is upon us once again and with it comes the perennial poppy. Not the flower itself, mind you, but the cheap red plastic pins. This synthetic species of poppy is strategically designed to be lost over and over again, necessitating multiple donations to keep a poppy on every jacket for the entire week leading up to November 11th. The design of the pin, devious as it may seem, is also quite ingenious. The desire or pressure to wear a poppy, combined with the shame of losing it once acquired, is enough to keep most people heading back to the donation box to get a new one, over and over again. I’m not entirely opposed to this method of fundraising… if you’ve only got one leg, you need to keep the people (and the donations) coming back your way. What I do have a problem with are the white poppies that I’ve seen blooming on lapels over the last few years. You may have noticed these peculiar items, looking like a photographic negative of a real poppy, sitting perversely in the place of a proper red one. There is absolutely no justification for this shameless usurpation. Any way you frame it, the white poppy campaign is in direct opposition to the War Vets’ poppy campaign, and is therefore to be loathed and despised. Not a single white-poppy-wearing individual has been able to give me a clear and direct answer as to what the white poppy stands for or why they wear it – because there isn’t one. The people wearing them are, by-and-large, postmodern Marxist brats that have read far too little, far too often. They seem to think that wearing a red poppy means endorsing war or condoning the war-acts
of past generations, so they seek to ‘cut a new path for peace’ by appropriating a timeless symbol and time-honoured tradition for their own ignorant ends. First of all, you are ripping off someone else’s idea and using it to create something that is the opposite of the original. The last time I checked, that’s what we call ‘opposition.’ To all the hippies: do we not see a potential conflict developing here? Secondly, the red poppy cam-
paign is not about endorsing war or anything of the sort. It is designed to be a non-partisan, somber reminder and acknowledgment of the men and women who died in armed conflict. Period. You DO seem to think that people dying in wars is bad, so why not honour their memory, thereby helping the rest of the population remember WHY war is bad. To get an idea of the asinine logic at work behind the white poppy campaign one need look no further than the “White Poppies for Peace” website (http://www.
ppu.org.uk/poppy/index.html) which states that “the White Poppy symbolizes the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers.” Hmm… I bet that sounded a lot smarter around the drum circle. It’s both hypocritical and idiotic. The white poppy campaign wants to distance itself from the military aspect of Remembrance Day. Take a minute to digest that. If that were possible, that would mean there was no armed conflict, which means that no one would have died, which means we wouldn’t have a Remembrance Day at all (actually, a very nice thought). I’m sure every single War Vet in attendance at Soldiers’ Tower this Tuesday would love to live in a world where there is no need to commemorate the friends who died in their arms; a world where they don’t have to deal with ignorant, ungrateful kids who seek to exclude them from the world they fought to preserve. Peace for everyone except the soldiers and peacemakers, eh? The bottom line is this: Remembrance Day is a time for all of us to set aside our differences, our anti/pro_____ agendas and take a few moments to remember the horror that is war. It’s a time to remember and acknowledge that, like it or not, our society is built on the bodies of those who died. Why? It’s pretty simple… because ‘those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ In that, there is a message of hope and responsibility for future generations and that’s also why we wear a RED poppy in November. By remembering the blood and pain of yesterday we hope to avoid the same mistakes. So, lest we forget.
NOW can we relax? Obama is finally the President MICHELLE FERREIRA Opinion Piece Bureau
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Tuesday, November 4th was indeed a historic night for the United States. With an overwhelming 349 electoral votes Barack Obama, easily slid past his Republican opponent, John McCain, to become president. For many Americans, it was a day much longed for since the questionable election of year 2000. Americans not only voted for their first African-American President, they voted for a symbol of hope. Plastered on the front pages of newspapers everywhere the historical significance of this election screamed out; the ‘overcoming’ of barriers, particularly racial, impelled Americans to overwhelmingly choose a candidate both young and comparatively inexperienced – a true sign of the times! Change is undeniably what they need, and what they have now demanded. How will Obama transcend his
symbol-dom and effect the change he has proposed and campaigned for, positioned in a reality relative to us all? There are no answers yet, and there might not be for a while. Although there is so much excitement, a profusion of unity seldom seen, we have to accept that nothing will happen at least within the next coming months. But this does not diminish that the majority of Americans have taken a so-called leap of faith by electing an individual representative of their needs and desires – this truly is not the America of 2000 or 2004- this is an America for tomorrow. Many will begin or have begun to wonder the significance of President Obama to Canada . However, it may be safe to conclude our rather secure relationship with America will continue to reamin intact. Traditionally, the Canadian Prime Minister is one of the first diplo-
mats to welcome a new U.S. President; Harper will undoubtedly be paying a visit to Obama within the next few months. What can be said with relative certainty is that, with all the insurmountable challenges to be faced (and yes they are insurmountable; it is impossible to satisfy all) the forthcoming years will likely be marked as an era of compromise. There is certainly immeasurable pressure but despite it all, we must continue to look forward with hope. Please send the newspaper your thoughts on the American Election. Will the Obama golden boy live up to the hype, or has the bar been raised too high? Your responses in our next issue.
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the news
Rage against the fees Student Day of Action makes its move
...Photographic coverage! continued from page 1
Administering action U of T’s admin on the Day of Action JEFFERY SPIERS Campus News Bureau The University of Toronto and its students (at least an outspoken segment of them) have had a somewhat rocky relationship as of late. A body of vocal protesters – comprised of members from University of Toronto Student’s Union (UTSU), Arts and Science Student’s Union (ASSU) and the dubious Always Question group – has been in conflict with the U of T administration since the infamous Simcoe Hall sit-in. With the Nationwide Student Day of Action looming hours away as I began composing this piece, questions remain as to how the university felt about the event. A memorandum from the office of the Vice-President and Provost indicates that the administration, in principle, stands behind the Day of Action’s goal of increased government funding for postsecondary education. In attempt to get more than that ‘party line’ I contacted some representatives of the University of Toronto for more information and was, at times, disappointed by the result. Laurie Stevens, from Media Relations at U of T repeatedly emphasized that the administration was “not planning anything [for the Day of Action]” and that everyone was “just going to watch” the day’s events unfold. When asked about the level of security expected for the day, Stevens gave a vague reply, insisting that it would “depend on the crowd.” Members of the Vice-president and Provost’s office were more
reachable. Jim Delaney, Director for the office of the Vice-Provost, was happy to sit down with the newspaper. He confirmed that a variety of student government organizations (like UTSU, GSU and others) had approached university professors to ask for special consideration for students participating in the Day of Action. “Civic engagement is an important part of the university experience,” Delaney asserted in support of these requests for faculty consideration. He also endorsed the core message of the event, agreeing that an increase in government funding for post-secondary education will benefit both the university and its students. As the Day of Action unfolded on Wednesday afternoon, I spoke to another official who commented on how pleased he was with the day’s events, remarking that everything seemed “well organized” and that the event was “on message.” So it seems that U of Tand its ‘civic-minded’ students have found some common ground. Although they may at times disagree on strategies to implement change, both parties share common goals, exemplified by the Student Day of Action. Judging by the scale of Wednesday’s event, this common ground bodes well for everyone.
Protest points How to protest revisited MATTHEW POPE Community Concerns Bureau This piece was run last year to some praise. We reprint it here as a score-card for the Student Day of Action Protests whose timing makes it difficult to effectively address before the print deadline this week. Demonstrations and protests have been an integral part of higher education for some time, even before the more notable radical movements of the 1960s. The cynical, oversimplified model goes like this: A) Put a bunch of young people together in one place. B) Flood them with hitherto unfathomed information about the workings and injustices of the world they live in. C) Factor in the enthusiasm and arrogance of one who has not yet been crushed by the weight of the world. D) Shake vigorously. And voila! You got yourself a veritable powder-keg for political unrest. Sadly, few of those holding the signs and chanting slogans understand much beyond the signs and slogans themselves. To simply band together a group of people and begin chanting accomplishes nothing;
Thousands of protesters leave St. George campus and march down Wellesley Street behind the Ontario Legislative building
A large contingent of police officers stand guard in front of the Ontario Legislative Buildings.
Protesters march past Hart House towards Convocation Hall to join with the other section of the rally.
planning and understanding the workings of mass media can enable one to better map out an effective strategy for delivering the message. 1. DO protest. The right to demonstrate is one that few enjoy, so make use of it every time you deem it necessary. 2. Active protest should be done in addition to and in concert with a coordinated grass roots campaign and the hours of tedious paperwork and meetings that are part and parcel of fight “the Man” 3. Research your cause thoroughly. Be prepared to answer real questions, not just shout slogans and spout rhetoric 4. Ensure your aims are not too specific and can be popular in the larger community or society. It is difficult to rally support for a cause people do not feel can benefit them. 5. Have your own ‘security’. Make sure all the organizers are able to help control the crowd, preventing overzealous participants from undermining the cause with aggressive or offensive behaviour. 6. Pick your battles. Not every err to your cause demands a mass demonstration. 7. Location, location, location. Choose it wisely. 8. Advertise! Let EVERYONE know what you intend to do, why you need to do it and where you will do it. Without participants and press coverage, a
protest is doomed to futility. 9. Know the rules and follow them! Make sure you know the laws that govern public space and demonstrations and ensure everyone adheres to them. Push the limits, but if you don’t cross them, you’re untouchable. If they DO touch you, then they are effectively and irrefutably shown to be in the wrong 10. Avoid inflammatory remarks of any kind. Intelligent or clever insults are still insults. State concerns and demands in an academic fashion. Use verifiable facts and statistics to make your point; these are powerful, irrefutable and add significant credibility to your cause. 11. Above all: K.I.S.S.! (Keep It Simple Stupid!) Make sure your message is clear, concise and do not stray from it. Be sure to distinguish “peaceful protest” from “civil disobedience”. It is rare that, in our society, a protest will necessitate an act of civil disobedience, but if it does, look for inspiration from the past. Thoreau’s 1849 essay “Civil Disobedience” is a classic text. Examining the Civil Rights movement will also give you inspiration. View the PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize” for an inside look at the effective use of civil disobedience in the Civil Rights movement.
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the news
cont’d
Shoot up
The Soldiers’ Tower Don’t forget to remember
And stay clean
CAROLINE GEORGE
ASHLEY MINUK
Campus Remembrance Bureau
Community Pandemic Bureau
Against the backdrop of Hart House it stands 143 feet tall. Etched into its ‘ inner walls are the fallen, the 1185 men and women who sacrificed their lives in the hopes that future generation would not have too. Built in 1924 as a War Memorial, The Soldiers’ Tower remains a grand reminder to recognize and preserve the memory of those students, faculty and alumni that served in the First and Second World War. Kathy Parks, Administrative Assistant in the Department of Alumni Affairs, reflected on the significance of the monument. “I think it’s important to have an understanding of our history and to understand the period of the World War because it had such a big impact on the countries and people involved. The people who built Soldier’s Tower, they were looking to the future. They didn’t want people to forget about the War,” Parks said. In the Tower’s main public section, the Memorial Room, carefully preserved artifacts, portraits of alumni and flags decorate the rooms’ walls in a display not unlike other museums. The iconic poem “In Flander’s
Fields “ by former alumnus Lt-Col. John McCrae looms in raised plaster which Parks speculates may be the oldest memorial memorabilia on campus. Situated in the room’s centre, a glass covered pedestal houses the Roll of Service of 1914-1918 and the Memorial Book for 1939-1945, reminders of the lives lost but not forgotten. To ascend the Tower’s ‘Stairway of Honour’ a portrait taken before the war stands out: School of Practical Science, Juniour Rugby Team of 1915. The men noted from University College appear regal, unaware of what lies before them as they smile back. One notices the white crosses which dot individual men only to realize these are the men who did not return. “Think of that,” Parks said. “ (If ) out of your group of classmates about one-third died” Parks also reflects on the annual ceremony held at the Tower and the importance to include a greater diversity in the service. “The campus population was not diverse ethnically at that time like it is now. That’s one of the things we struggle with because we want the people who are coming to the service to be able to relate about what’s being said,” she stressed. “This year mark’s the 90th anniversary of the (end of the) First World War and that’s pretty significant... people still come and it’s meaningful to people. I think it’s important to understand history because it can influence how we see the present and future.” We should not only recognize the Soldiers’ Tower and its memorialized men and women on Remembrance Day, but remember each day, each week, each month and never forget. If on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, you can’t be at the Tower in person then observe two minutes of silence and be there in spirit. * Soldiers’ Tower will be holding a Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11th at 10:30 a.m. The Tower is open weekdays of the first full week per month from September to June.
The Protest Paradigm Contextualizing coverage MATTHEW POPE Community Concerns Bureau For those of you familiar with the protest paradigm (and those who are not) let me preface this by saying that, having studied it myself, I realize this will be a gross oversimplification of the type of stuff theses are made of. The crux of the matter is this: the media as a whole (eastern, western, global) will inherently favour the status quo and will generally report on protests in ways that undermine their message(s) and intent(s). Douglas M. McLeod is one of the most prolific scholars on this mono-
lithic manufacturing of public opinion. He identifies a variety of mechanisms of social control that include story framing, reliance on official sources and definitions, delegitimization and demonization, and even noncoverage. It is posited that ”the more radical a group is perceived to be, the more closely journalists will conform to the protest paradigm when covering the group.” How does this happen? The now infamous Simcoe Hall sit-in (May 20th 2008) is an excellent example. After
It’s beginning to look a lot like flu season, so get ready to roll up your sleeves. The nasty influenza virus reaches peak circulation in Toronto from December to March every year (according to Toronto Public Health), threatening to keep you bedridden for up to a week with fever, chills, sore throat and achy muscles. Coughing and weakness may even linger for weeks after. The influenza vaccine, otherwise known as the flu shot, is the best way to protect yourself from being infected. When it comes to the flu, everyone is at risk. The virus spreads easily by inhaling the infected droplets of coughs and sneezes, not to mention direct spit-swapping via kissing. You can also get sick by shaking germridden hands, tapping infected kegs (or people) or touching contaminated surfaces and then transferring the bug to your eyes, nose or mouth. Think back to last week’s Halloween party: that nurse may have been irresistibly sexy but the germs probably found her just as easy as you did. Not surprisingly, the university community is a hotbed of virus transmissions; not just because of ample crowds and public venues, but also due to the lifestyle of a typical university student. According to Toronto Public Health, we can help stay healthy by regularly washing our hands (which does not include the sprinkle of water you endured in the bathroom to avoid public ridicule), by keeping physically active (exercising brain cells doesn’t count) and by eating a healthy diet (not the usual dorm-room staples of pizza and ketchup packets). Apparently we are also expected to stay well-rested, a nearly impos-
reading 6 different pieces covering the incident, I was able to see the protest paradigm at work in every single one. Coverage of any issue generally tends to aim at the lowest common denominator as an audience and this means highlighting confrontation, inflammatory remarks etc. In the case of the Simcoe Hall sit-in, the protest group was perceived to be extremely radical, and the coverage reflected that. There has since been some debate as to what the group’s issues and demands were, but very little effort was made by journalists to uncover this. The concerns that may or may not have brought the group to Simcoe Hall were given a secondary amount of attention while the bulk of every piece focused on the conflict between campus police and protesters, either laying blame or questioning where it should lie.
sible feat given that flu season runs concurrent with midterms, finals, then midterms again, and then more finals. Oh, and did I mention the parties? Lucky for you, the flu shot is now available – for free! – for anyone who lives, works, or attends school in Ontario. The vaccine is made of dead influenza particles, which your body responds to by building up its defenses. With future invasions, your immune system will recognize the virus and will be able to attack it before it has the chance to make you sick. Because the flu virus rapidly changes, you must re-vaccinate yourself each year to update your immune system. In other words, the flu shot you got last year will not protect you from this year’s flu. Health officials in Toronto are warning of a particularly bad flu season, featuring three new strains of influenza virus. This year’s vaccine contains all three of these strains, offering you immunity to 85% of flu viruses that plan to infect you this winter. Keep in mind that you can carry and transmit the flu, even if you never show symptoms yourself. This makes getting vaccinated especially important, particularly if you are in regular contact with young children or the elderly. The best time to get immunized is from October to mid-November, so it’s prime time now to find the free vaccination clinic closest to you – open days, evenings and weekends, no appointment needed. University of Toronto Health Service will also be holding a flu clinic on November 26 from 3:30-6:15, where you’re welcome to drop by for a quickie.
It remains to be seen how the events of the Student Day of Action, just wrapping up as this piece is being written, will play out. The paradigm I’ve outlined here does not offer much optimism. Aside from emphasizing conflict, it can be hypothesized that the actual issues students seek to address through the Day of Action will be buried in any coverage of the day’s events. The Protest Paradigm concept has been a big eye-opener, shifting my point of view in media affairs. It is the distortion on the glass between the people and transparent democracy. I can now clearly see it’s dynamic in evidence in every protest-related story I see.
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the arts Finding Waldo Where art and fun meet STEPHAN BUNDI Community Arts Bureau If art is executed properly, there should not be any conventions attached to it. No ceilings, no prisons, no limitations. Art has always been behaved as a window and mirror to the state of the society in which it is conceived. From this perspective, the forthcoming ‘Where’s Waldo Hunt’ organized by the Improv in Toronto group is Toronto’s latest masterpiece. ‘Where’s Waldo’ was a series of books illustrated by British Martin Handford. For the uninformed, the premise of the books was simple enough: There was our red striped-shirt wearing protagonist, Waldo, who continually got lost in various wild locations and periods in history. The goal was to locate him in the scenes of utter chaos. Simple enough in theory but the source of profound frustration for those who enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) the books. Accord-
ingly, it would only be appropriate that The Improv in Toronto group have decided to translate our collective frustration towards the literature into a live performance. The Improv in Toronto describe themselves as “an urban prank group that tries to shake up people’s day by pulling pranks that are totally random or out of the ordinary” and the ‘Where’s Waldo Hunt” event will be a logical extension of this concept. Set in the Eaton Center shopping mall Saturday November 8th, shoppers will be provided flyers alerting them of Waldo’s abysmal sense of direction and when the allotted time arrives, the search will commence for Waldo hiding at the Eaton’s Center. When asked why staging these events have become so popular, member Cole Banning explained “this whole type of urban pranks/events has only become popular in the last 6 or 7 years. It might have something to do with the younger generation just wanting to express themselves. Or maybe people just are adapting to where they live and are trying to spice up the world a bit with some fun. The ‘Where’s Waldo’ event is merely a way ‘for everyone to have a fun time... to break out of ordinary routine... and to get Improv in Toronto’s name out there.’” The artistic elements of such events reflects the cyber-age’s desire for more interactivity with their
art – to be a part of it in a more tangible way than ever before. I am tremendously excited to see how the event is executed and urge everybody of all ages to participate. It will take place on Saturday November 8 at the Eaton Centre from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Who knows? Perhaps all of us can settle the score with Waldo’s incompetence once and for all.
mmmmmmm.... lucky charms. Tetris provides valuable life lessons, like how to fit in anywhere.
Cute... but still a liability to any party.
Hallowe’en is a time for costumed revelry. the newspaper’s Catalina Gomez was on hand at St.Michael’s college to cover the tricks that the treats were handing out. All photos by Catalina Gomez
The important thing is, THEY know what the costumes are.
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November 6 – 12, 2008
the arts
cont’d
Local Toronto artist Joe Travers showcases part 1 of “Adventures of a Boy and his Robot” in the newspaper’s newly introduced graphic short story section. This periodically recurring section will feature up and coming artists from the university community. Enjoy this week because, isn’t it really robot that is man’s best friend?
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the end
BY STEPHEN NOTLEY
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