January 31, 2013

“There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it, the other, that you can boast about it.”

-Bertrand Russell

BODI BOLD

Literacy Day p6

the newspaper

The University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly

Since 1978

VOL XXXV Issue 19 • January 31, 2013

UTSU vs men’s rights group U of T Concrete Toboggan team slides Student union proposes school to second place UTSU has added an item to their general meeting agenda to propose a U of T-wide condemnation of the men’s rights website “A Voice for Men” (AVfM).

Since the November protest against controversial speaker Warren Farrell’s lecture at U of T, AVfM has risen to notoriety across campus as the organization responsible for collecting photos and information of women they deem to have been engaging in illegal protest action, characterising them as “bigots” and presenting them as such on a website called registerher.com, which is designed to serve as a place to profile women guilty of any “offenses” such as false rape accusations, bigotry, and illegal protest.

Corey Scott, UTSU VP Internal, the individual responsible for forwarding the motion said, “We want to make sure that the university is taking our stance on this website seriously. … The intention of this motion is to provide U of T-wide undergraduate support for [the students that have been attacked].”

When asked to comment on why their organization feels it is necessary to pursue this type of action against these women, AVfM founder and Editor in Chief Paul Elam argued that what they are doing is necessary and legal, and that the information they are gathering had already been made publicly available. “These people have advertised, on the internet, their

cont’d page 3

ANGELA ZHU

Isaac Thornley

Innovative brake mechanism proves successful PATRICK OATWAY

wide condemnation of men’s rights website

U of T concrete toboggan team survives dangerous feat, takes silver in Sunday’s race.

Yukon Damov U of T’s Concrete Toboggan team returned Sunday from Vancouver, content with a second place finish at the 39th

Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR) in Vancouver.

Co-captain Patrick Conway believes U of T has never done better in its 20 years of compe-

tition. U of T has placed second before, but this year they also won Best Braking, Most Improved Team, and performed

cont’d page 2

Abortion talk still kicking Chavistas call for unity and equality

Panel discussion revisits landmark abortion case 25 years on Amartya Biswas January 28 marked the 25th anniversary of the historic Morgentaler decision, a Supreme Court ruling which decriminalized abortion and immensely enhanced the lives of thousands of women in Canada.

The decision, widely lauded for respecting a woman’s fundamental right to make decisions concerning her own body, was

commemorated by the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at the Faculty of Law on January 29 by a panel discussion featuring enlightening insights into the landmark case.

The Morgentaler case centred on physician Henry Morgentaler, after the opening of his private abortion clinic in Toronto just west of Harbord and Spadina, to the dismay

cont’d page 3

Local Chavez supporters respond to Liberal MP’s petition Sebastian Greenholtz

Flags striped yellow, red, and blue animated the sidewalk in front of the Venezuelan consulate the night of Monday, January 28, as seventy activists came together to protest the anti-Chavez statements made

by Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis and the purported misinformation propaganda surrounding the Venezuelan revolution.

Representatives of Latin American Indigenous groups,

pan-Latin American solidarity groups, and the chavista Venezuelan diaspora spoke in both English and Spanish about the need for unity between all peoples of the earth and solidarity with the Venezuelan revolution. They also called for support of Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, and the Castro brothers, for their pursuit of an anti-imperialist, socialist agenda.

The rally was called in response to a petition created

by Liberal MP Jim Karygian-

nis which claimed, “The people of Venezuela are suffering daily at the hands of the Hugo Chávez government” and calls for Canadians to “help alleviate their suffering.”

Karygiannis’ petition calls to “return democracy” to Venezuela. However, in the recent Venezuelan presidential elections over 80 per cent of the population voted and Chavez won with 54 per cent support.

Jimmy Carter, in a discussion

cont’d page 2

2

THE NEWS

from “successful”

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the newspaper is the University of Toronto’s independent weekly paper, published since 1978.

VOL XXXV No. 19

Editor-in-Chief Cara Sabatini

Copy Editor Sydney Gautreau

Managing Editor Helene Goderis

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Contributors

Photo Editor Bodi Bold Illustrations Editor Nick Ragetli the newspaper 1 Spadina Crescent Suite 245 Toronto, ON M5S 1A1

from “MP’s petition”

about the election monitoring for which he won a Nobel prize, said, “Of the ninety-two elections that we’ve monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.”

The protesters also disagreed with how Karygannis portrayed Chavez. Many people held signs saying “Yo soy Chavez” [I am Chavez] and after every speaker they took up the chant “Ooh, ah, Chavez no se va” [Chavez is not going].

With this protest Canada imports the class war fought over the past fourteen years

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Associate Art Editor Carissa Ainslie

best on race day.

The GNCTR is an annual engineering competition hosted by a different Canadian university each year. The premise is simply to race a concrete toboggan down the hill as quickly as possible. The rules are pretty basic: build a toboggan with concrete runners; the toboggan must weigh less than 135kg excluding the five riders; the toboggan must have a rollover bar; and it must have a steering and braking system.

The teams are judged in three parts: a panel of judges grades teams on the technical aspects of the toboggan, the teams race, and team spirit is rated. U of T won out over 20 other teams in the race por-

Carissa Ainslie, Amartya Biswas, Bodi Bold, Sinead Doherty-Grant, Lou Doyon, Sydney Gautreau, Sebastian Greenholtz, Nata Guled, Joe Howell, Manaal Ismacil, Odessa Kelebay, Charles Lamy, Scott Leeming, Patrick Oatway, Nick Ragetli, Kaleena Stasiak, Isaac Thornley, Emerson Vandenberg thenewspaper@gmail.com

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Editorial: 416-593-1552

From the newspaper Department of Corrections:

A January 17 article titled “UTSU takes steps toward electoral reform” included a sentence stating that “UTSU will also receive a report from a lawyer who they hired to look into the legality of their election rules.” The legal team examined the fairness, not the legality, of their election rules. the newspaper regrets the error.

January 31, 2013 tion.

U of T was committed to making a respectable showing this year in Vancouver. “It starts way back in February of last year [after last year’s race in Calgary],” said Conway. “The minute we landed we were ready to go again. We were so disappointed, because it’d been so long since we’d won anything.”

By merely getting their toboggan down the hill in Vancouver, U of T improved over last year. It was the first time U of T made it down the hill in the past four years. “Last year we had a little bit of a snafu with the braking system,” explained Conway. The year before, conditions were too slushy for success. Conditions and the hill’s gradient are the

constant variables.

U of T scored a perfect 5 out of 5 for its brakes this year by using the toboggan’s heavy load to effect a quick stop.

“This year we put airbags on our toboggan,” said Conway, “so that when we released the air in the bags the toboggan would drop down. That’s how our brakes worked.”

The novel competition forces the students to become engineers, said Conway. “When you go out to practice after you’ve done your four years of school, you’re going to be doing the same project over and over. But that one time you had a project that threw you for a loop, you have to go back to basics and say, “I know how to apply the things I learned in school.’”

between the elites and the working class in Venezuela. In the clash, Chavez represented the workers. He oversaw the nationalization of major parts of the economy, including petroleum extraction which allowed for the country’s growth. Chavez also initiated several social works projects, which included bringing healthcare to remote villages and increasing access to public transportation.

The country’s elites responded by staging an unsuccessful coup against Chavez in 2002 and trying to perpetuate an image in the media of Chavez as a dictator who oppressed his

people. In actuality, he helped organized communal councils that allowed communities to create laws and invest in local development projects. Because of his popularity Chavez has been elected three times, in transparent and democratic elections.

Many Venezuelan-Canadians come from the anti-Chavez elite as the cost of living in North America is too high for most working class Venezuelans. But the voices in support of the revolution are loud, and the debate over the country’s political trajectory will continue long past Monday’s demonstration.

UTSU General Meeting to address key issues Unpaid internships, electoral reform, and TTC U-pass motions tabled Emerson Vandenberg The University of Toronto Student Union (UTSU) is set to hold a Special General Meeting on February 5. A host of important and interesting student issues will be addressed. To attend the meeting, one must be a member of the UTSU, which includes those enrolled in fulltime undergraduate study.

Among the issues being addressed, unpaid internships head off the agenda. Although the UTSU does not have much authority over the various businesses and institutions that “misclassif[y students] as interns, trainees and nonemployees,” a motion is being tabled to create an awareness campaign targeting provincial and federal legislative branches.

Of particular importance to this campaign would be an update to the Employment Standards Act, which forms the basis of employee rights in Ontario.

Currently, according to the UTSU’s Meeting Agenda, “the ESA contains a series of statutory exclusions that disenfranchises students by either partially or completely removing them from employment standards protections.”

After the failed Annual General Meeting in November and several discussions between UTSU executives and students concerned with undemocratic practices in the union, the Special General Meeting will address a motion to implement electoral reforms proposed by the Non-Partisan Declaration on UTSU Electoral Reform. These reforms include moving to an online voting system, so commuter students and students with accessibility needs can exercise their right to vote, and decreasing the number of signatures needed to run for executive positions.

A third issue being addressed is the inclusion of internation-

al student representatives on the GC. The newspaper covered the issue on January 17 when it was uncovered that within GC by-laws, foreign students were not allowed to run for office. Despite contributing an exorbitant amount of revenue to the school these students are disenfranchised at the student governance level. They are barred despite their growing numbers and higher tuition fees.

A final issue to address, despite the presence of numerous other motions on the docket, is the possibility of instituting a transit UPASS for St. George students. With this transit pass, students have access to unlimited TTC travel at a fixed, reduced cost. The motion would set the stage for possible negotiations with the TTC. The Special General Meeting will take place at 6pm at the Medical Sciences Building room 2158 on February 5.

from “men’s rights site” conduct of vandalizing posters and mistreating young men who were trying to attend the lecture. We have to treat them like that in order to get the issues on the table, and we’re going to continue to.”

AVfM’s move to target these women online has resulted in a number of violent threats being sent via phone, email, and social media, both to the targeted women as well as to members of the UTSU executive committee and volunteers. “The maliciousness that they are inciting, the pursuit, is hate,” commented Scott. “This is getting out of hand, and it’s only proving the case that this movement does incite hate and encourage people to attack women who are empowered.”

When asked whether AVfM has directly taken part in any of the threats, Elam responded, “Should said activities even exist, which is unclear at this time, the answer is no.” Elam pointed to a lack of evidence on the part of the UTSU to make these claims against AVfM. From the UTSU’s perspective, much of that “evidence” has been submitted to the Community Safety Office for investigation, and is therefore confidential.

Paul Elam has defended AVfM by asserting that they are not misogynistic, woman-hating,

nor do they promote violence against any group, including women. He underscored the diversity of AVfM, “We have black members, gay members, trans members, we have one of the most diverse groups of people you could imagine.” He also remarked that one of the primary spokespersons for AVfM is Erin Pizzey, the woman responsible for starting one of the world’s first women’s shelters in the early 1970’s.

Elam commented, “We are patently anti-feminist. We are not against equal rights. We are for equal rights. We are for equal opportunity.”

Elam also responded to the claim that AVfM’s targeting of women only was a sign of a sex bias, “It is due to the lack of verifiable information about the suspects, so far... This is a matter in which the UTSU could be helpful. Given that they may feel that the identification of only females in the protest represents sexual bias on our part, they can immediately test that theory, as well as performing a civic duty, by providing us with the identities of the two men clearly captured in the video blocking the door.”

Elam is referring to a YouTube video titled “Warren Farrell protest at the University of Toronto - Full version.” Despite Elam’s apparent enthusiasm in seek-

3

THE NEWS ing help from UTSU in identifying the male protesters, neither side has had any official contact with the other.

UTSU’s proposed action to take AVfM offline by addressing their website provider was scoffed at by Paul Elam, who commented, “That’s not going to happen. We’re dealing with an impossible scenario there.

AVfM is not going anywhere.”

Elam then further commented that the publicity generated by such an action would certainly direct more attention towards their movement and cause. “I guarantee it will be good for us. They are assisting us greatly with this effort. It will draw more attention to us and our message, which is growing.”

When asked about the risk of giving AVfM more publicity, Corey Scott responded, “I think potentially that that risk has already happened. There was a massive explosion of people looking at that site right after the event. It’s one of those difficulties because you don’t want to provide

space, but at the same time you can’t let everything go, you can’t just let people go and post stuff about students, about people in our community, without taking a stance.”

The Union’s motion consists of three points: the first two are more symbolic in nature--calls for student solidarity against the stances and actions of AVfM as well as support for the women that have been attacked online; the third point is a call to action to have the website itself blacklisted and shutdown by their website provider for hate speech.

SCOTT LEEMING

www.thenewspaper.ca

North Korea’s move forces the global hand

How will China, the rest of the world react to recent North Korean missile threat?

Emerson Vandenberg In a show of total disregard for global safety, supranational sanction, and international order, the North Korean defense department made the stunning admission on January 24 that its plan for a third nuclear test is in explicit preparation for a possible attack against the U.S. Referring to the U.S. as “the sworn enemy of the Korean people”, young North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made it clear that he, like his father Kim Jong-Il, is adamantly indifferent to international pressure.

Although the time and location of the test are not speci-

fied, observers predict the Punggye-Ri nuclear site, where two previous tests in 2006 and 2009 took place, will be the location of the third test. Deceptive tactics employed by the reclusive regime, including satellite-fooling counter-signals which disguised a December missile launch, could be employed to mask the event.

The international community has condemned Jong-Un, but action has not been as strong as one would hope in lieu of a direct nuclear threat.

In response to the newspaper’s inquiry, Professor Schmid of the University of Toronto’s East-Asian studies department stated that “the U.S., Japan and South Korea have virtually no

leverage over the DPRK. There is very little that we can do about North Korea having nuclear weapons.”

Schmid went on to point out that Canada is as guilty as any of allowing unbridled militarism to flourish in North Korea. He states that, although diplomatic relations were established with the rogue state in 2001, Canada has remained incredibly inactive in using this leverage to negotiate.

What is yet to be seen is how China’s ties to North Korea will be affected as a result of this latest conflict. Schmid mentioned that China has already supported UN Security Council resolutions that condemn North Korean activi-

ties. As well, growing media weariness within China of the Jong-Un regime has strained relations with North Korean leadership.

At the outset of North Korea’s recent change in leadership, some viewed Kim Jong-Un as a potential gamechanger. PolicyMic, a politics and policy news agency, reported that “Jong-Un could soon cooperate more with the West.” Schmid, who acknowledged some of the new leader’s internal policy developments, lamented that Jong-Un “has not made any suggestions that their defence posture will change.”

from “25 years on” of the Ontario government in 1982. Morgentaler’s clinic was in violation of Section 251(4) of the Canadian Criminal Code, which stipulated that abortions required pre-approval of a therapeutic abortions committee and needed to be performed at an accredited hospital. Morgentaler, who was subsequently arrested and forced to shut down his clinic, took the case to the Supreme Court of Canada under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (security of a person’s body), giving it added significance as it served as an early test for the still unproven Charter of Rights and Freedoms which was only signed into law that same year.

Panelist Lorraine Weinrib of the Faculty of Law saw the Morgentaler debate as not about prolife versus pro-choice in Canada, but instead “it was a debate within the medical profession about how far abortion procedures would be restricted (and how many people would get access to it)”. Weinrib explained that “litigating case by case made the Charter real, and this case was so revolutionary it became internalized in the Charter”.

Also on the panel, Morgentaler’s Toronto-based lawyer Morris Manning was tasked with tackling abortion restrictions. Manning masterminded the strategy of having an array of expert witnesses across several disciplines testify to demonstrate the physical, psychological and ethical validations for broader access to abortion.

Another panelist, women’s rights advocate Carolyn Egan, was one of those expert witnesses. During the case, she painted a picture of what women were up against to the jury. As Egan clarified, “We believed Canada was a pro-choice nation, and our job was to collectively realize that. The women undertaking the procedures were the true victims.”

The panelists came to a consensus that Canada needs to work hard to protect the freedoms that Morgentaler, Manning and Egan strived to secure in 1988. Yet with still no abortion facilities in P.E.I, and with some MPP’s in Ontario calling to reverse the Morgentaler decision, a message of caution loomed large on this particular anniversary.

Visit thenewspaper.ca for coverage of last weekend’s Liberal Convention. It may be the last of its kind.

4

THE DEBATE

January 31, 2013

Battle of the bong MOTION: Canada is winning the War on Drugs Ever since Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” over 40 years ago, North American governments have dedicated themselves to eradicating the cross-border drug trade. Today, about $500 million a year is spent by the federal government trying to curb and prosecute illegal drug use in Canada alone. Given that some usage is decreasing, should we continue the War on Drugs? Or is it time to abandon existing strategy and take a new approach?

PRO

Those convicted should be sentenced to panel review to determine whether they would benefit from rehabilitation or incarceration. Rehab centres are proven to decrease the rates of repeat offences, which

CON

Sebastian Greenholtz

The idea that Canada -- or any nation -- is winning the war against drugs represents a gross misunderstanding of what the “drug war” is, how it began, and who it affects. The war against drug usage is centuries old, and has been formulated not because of the harms of illegal drugs, but because of who uses them.

The first anti-drug use laws in North America were enacted in the 1870s (1908 in Canada) against opium use, because Chinese immigrants were the

primary users. The US turned against other minorities: in the 1900s anti-cocaine laws were directed at Southern black men, and anti-marijuana laws came in the 1910s were directed at Mexican migrants and Mexican Americans.

In the 1970s, President Nixon declared a war on drugs.

From then on criminalization of drug use became the norm, investment in anti-cartel policing in Latin America skyrocketed, and throughout the Americas people were shot and imprisoned for drug use. While drug use may have gone down in Canada, and small successes

makes this humane alternative more cost-efficient in the long term. It will liberate prisons, which will al-

NA STA SIA K

drug abuse.

D r u g a b u s e should be met with compassion.

KA LE E

Canada is winning the “drug war.” According to the RCMP, use of all drugs has steadily decreased in the past decade -- a victory hampered only by the rising public approval for legalization.

For the users that remain, the number of arrests has increased. The battle being lost is that of public perception, and so the Harper government must create changes in the Canadian Criminal Code aimed at making anti-drug efforts more successful.

The first and most important change should be the liberalization of wiretapping. Recent investigations, like Operation Loquace, have yielded great results against homegrown drug cartels. Police investigations of violent traffickers have increased public awareness of Canada’s drug problem. Necessary public approval of wiretapping could be gathered by strictly limiting the tactic to drug traffickers -- the government must sell this claim, or the concerns for the civil liberties of suspected drug traffickers will outweigh the public desire to apprehend drug traffickers.

Second, there should be a shift from imprisonment to treatment for those suffering from

KALEENA STASIAK

Charles Lamy

have been made in decr i m i nalizing marijuana for medical and recreational uses, the policies still remain strict and deadly.

In North America, minorities are still the targets of drug-war policies. In Canada, Aboriginal populations are the hardest hit. As reported in the National Post, while Aboriginal peoples made up only 3 per cent of Canada’s population in 2006, they filled 18.5 per cent of federal jails, and an even

larger percentage of provincial jails. In the US, the number of those imprisoned for drug use or possession are largely black and Latino males.

The war is not being fought against drugs, it’s being fought against minorities.

Even Harper agreed that the war on drugs is not working.

After billions of dollars spent and hundreds, if not thousands, of lives lost from North American-backed police forces, the flow of illegal substances from south to north hasn’t stopped, nor has it lessened significantly enough to justify the damage.

low increased jail sentences for drug traffickers without causing overcrowding.

Third is the marijuana problem. There is little argument that this drug is less harmful than most others, but its use must be stopped nonetheless.

Marijuana use has decreased among youth, largely due to increased awareness about the drug. The government must capitalize on this “awareness campaign” to further decrease usage.

Those convicted of minor marijuana possession should perform community service rather than serve a prison term or see their case dismissed.

There are endless opportunities for community services that remain unfulfilled, such as collecting the litter in our streets and planting trees along our highways. If this service is completed, their conviction could be erased from their permanent record.

This method would not cause permanent consequences, but neither would it allow current drug problems to be left ignored. All Canadians would benefit from this change, especially those youngsters who will become aware that all drug use will remain intolerable. This will unburden prisons and continue to deter marijuana use. It will help Canada win its Drug War.

The topic of marijuana decriminalization or legalization has been gone over many times and it serves to show that drug policies are not created with medical paternalism in mind.

Marijuana is not chemically addictive whereas the nicotine in cigarettes is. THC, the important chemical in marijuana, opens up the lungs to clear them of dirt. Nicotine does just the opposite. Yet it’s cigarettes, not marijuana, that are legal throughout North America.

This is a battle of fear, of capital, of racism -- not of health or safety. It can never be won, it can only be stopped.

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“

THE INSIDE

5

the campus comment the newspaper asked:

If you could lead the life of any fictional character in literature, who would it be?

BODI BOLD

BODI BOLD & ODESSA KELEBAY

DaLYN 1st year, Life Science “Achilles in Homer’s Iliad.”

Can you read this?

Leisure reading may help you get a job Carissa Ainslie On Sunday, January 27, Canadians celebrated Family Literacy Day, an annual event that started in 1999. Started by ABC Life Literacy Canada, the holiday encourages parents and children reading together. For its 15th year in North America, the organizers promoted the idea of enjoying fifteen minutes of fun as a family, and provided suggestions such as reading a book, creating a comic strip about their family or writing a silly poem.

The motive behind Family Literacy day is to hopefully engrain reading into children while they are young so that they will continue the habit as they get older and find reading difficult to accommodate with busier schedules. Particularly, students find it hard to continue leisure reading once in school. This is unfortunate, given the association between leisurely reading and the development of cognitive and social skills.

A study done in 2008 by Stats Canada showed that book sales dropped compared to just three years earlier with the average household spending 5 dollars less on purchasing books. The National Endowment for the Arts who continues to do studies on reading primarily in the US, has deter-

mined that leisure reading has decreased among teens and young adults, concluded from a study done in 2004.

NEFA has also looked at the benefits of reading, and concluded that it cultivates certain skills that employers look for in the hiring process. High school students who read for leisure or who had more than 100 books in their home often had higher math and science grades. They also demonstrated increased writing ability, reading comprehension, critical thinking and problem solving.

These traits are in danger of disappearing as each generation becomes more dependent on the internet. Autofill may remove the need for correct spelling and “internet speak” might eventually hinder the ability to communicate in anything other than acronyms.

While a technological culture may be detrimental to some reading skills, other aspects of an increasingly tech-oriented generation has actually improved reading habits. Nowadays, movies and television shows are being made based on novels. Entertainment is such a big part of today’s culture; it affects how people act and it dictates what is popular. One might think such forms of entertainment would hinder interest in the

stories’ paper forms and assume people would skip the text version in favour of the film.

However, according to a CNN article published in August of 2010 , book sales increase once the blockbuster film version is released. Eat Pray Love, Julie and Julia and The Notebook all experienced the “book-tomovie bounce.” Harry Potter certainly increased readership among young children and adults, and the movies helped to bring awareness to a larger audience.

In addition to building life skills, reading is also beneficial to mental health. Doctors who deal in mental health often prescribe bibliotherapy -- reading as a form of therapy -- to their patients. In an article

by Dr. Lawrence Silverberg, he stated that this form of therapy is used on patients who suffer from mild depression.

It helped put whatever they were dealing with -- grief, fear, self-image issues, etc. -- into perspective, and in doing so it puts patients on the road to recovery. It creates parallels between the the readers and the characters.

Reading may also improve an individual’s relationship prospects. University of Toronto Psychology Professor Keith Oatley suggested that “the process of entering imagined

worlds of fiction builds empathy and improves your ability to take another person’s point of view.” Reading gives us the chance to see inside many different characters heads which is great practice for dealing with actual people.

Oatley and his peers completed studies in 2006 and 2009 that show reading leads to a better social life; this goes against the stereotype that “bookworms” are awkward shut-ins. Habitual readers that have obtained excellent social skills are able to read a person’s emotions through their eyes as shown in a 2006 study by Oatley, who stated “the ability to gauge emotion from pictures of just the eyes correlates with theory-of-mind skills, as does the capacity for empathy.”

Ideally these benefits will be propagated by the celebration of literacy day by Canadian families. The simple act of parents and children reading together will perhaps cultivate a generation of maturing, eager readers who will bring the well-rounded traits garnered by virtue of leisurely book consumption to their future postsecondary endeavors.

visit thenewspaper.ca for more campus comments

Belhal, 4th year, Art History and Philosphy “Jane Eyre. I really believe her story epitomizes true love and a lot of people need to have hope and faith in that.”

SASHA 2nd year, Geology “Garp from The World According to Garp by John Irving. That is one messed up life and I would love it.”

Rozhen 3rd Year, Economics Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With The Wind. She’s very full of herself but doesn’t really care and does whatever she wants.”

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7

THE ARTS

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I nom, therefore I am?

Philosophy symposium focuses on eating, film, and brings up and infinite kangaroos David Stokes What do philosophers do after lunch? They think about it.

Or at least they do this year.

For at U of T’s Jackman Humanities Institute, “food” has been selected as this session’s theme for academic discussion. And last Friday at one o’clock, in a nondescript room at the JHI, an audience of about two dozen hungry intellects met in order to consume the work of a lecturer. Such was the stated purpose behind the event, a symposium exploring the philosophical significance of eating and digestion, titled “Devouring Images.”

Ice-water was the only foodstuff on offer as philosophy grad student Luka Arsenjuk presented his paper “On Swallowing and Sneezing... and Sergei Eisenstein” for mental digestion. Arsenjuk began his presentation with the statement that before this symposium was called he hadn’t thought much about the role of eating in Eisenstein’s films.

But he found plenty of tidbits to work with, most notably playing a clip from a 1929 Eisenstein film where Russian peasants are introduced to making butter using a machine. Metal tubes sprayed white globs of butter-fat onto the face of a wonderstruck and delighted peasant girl. This scene, well known among aficionados as “the Creamer scene,” is sexually suggestive to say the least.

Of course a symposium isn’t really complete without something outré. The word ‘symposium’ originally meant drinking party, and the first symposiums in ancient Greece were raucous affairs filled with food, wine, and all manner of bodily licentiousness. The zest of sloppy eating and drinking and, well, other activities, lends itself to exploring crazy new ideas, and it’s a lot easier to get metaphysical when you have a full stomach.

However, the tone of this modern symposium was of

a more subdued flavour. The majority of the talk was spent refining subtle distinctions, such as the formalist and organicist conceptions of Eisenstein’s film making. If this was an idea tasting, I wouldn’t be able to tell these apart.

Yet the talk was not without some fulsome morsels. Arsenjuk made a shout out to KW Friedrich Schlegel, one of the first writers to speak about the human compulsion “to put the loved object immediately in one’s mouth.” Among other philosophers, Arsenjuk also brought up GW Friedrich Hegel, who thought that Spirit could not rest till it had fully digested all of history.

The predominance of all these male thinkers’ opinions on how best to carve up love and history led Arsenjuk to invoke the idea of there being a certain “carno-phallogocentrism” that biases Western philosophy. Though, even with a more inclusive perspective, perhaps there is some manner

SINEAD DOHERTY-GRANT

of absorption and disintegration in all thinking. Arsenjuk: “Eating is how all metaphor works, how all symbols work.”

Eventually the talk turned to the idea of kangaroo’s jumping endlessly out of each other’s pouches. These infinite kangaroos, as representations of sneezing, are something Eisenstein wrote about. Why? “There were a lot of kangaroos in magazines at the turn of the century,” Arsenjuk stated, sounding as perplexed as anyone.

At the end of the talk, film prof James Cahill, the organizer of the event, stated that he had enjoyed that talk and cheekily added that it had left

him “so thrilled, like cream being produced.” He was also pleased to announced that, aptly, catering had arrived, from Bar Mercurio: “not food to be sneezed or snorted at.”

This hungry reporter gratefully plunged a sugar doughnut into his face. The next presentation was a talk that would discuss The Human Centipede...

Philosophers and theorists will be discussing food for the rest of the year. A full list of events can be found on the JHI’s website. Here’s hoping that there’s a philosophy barbeque in there somewhere.

Diving permitted into River Tiber’s latest album Toronto band salient on electro-indie scene with release of Synapses Manaal Ismacil Early in January, Toronto based rock band River Tiber released their second album Synapses, plunging them into the city’s electro-indie consciousness.

Synapses evokes a dark and ambient atmosphere which lends many of the songs to a good “post-party” playlist.

Originally a solo project by singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Thomas PaxtonBeesley (vocals, guitar), River Tiber recently evolved into a more collaborative effort with the addition of John Mavrogiannis (guitar), Thadeus Garwood (drums) and David Lewis (bass).

Immediately apparent, even on the first listen of the album, is the quality of instrumentation and more precisely, the successful blend of digital

and analog elements throughout Synapses.

The textural elements provided by the guitar, drums and bass and the use of the analog synthesizer give the songs depth, while the lingering airy vocals add an almost ethereal quality to every song.

The opening track, “Reverie” is a gritty introduction to the atmospheric electronic and indie rock influences that shape this album. The strategically ordered tracklist allows for smooth listening beginning to end. Songs “Paper Wings,”

“Subtract” and “The City” act as breaths of air that keep the album from being too heavy.

Overall, the band’s second album has solidified River Tiber as a name to watch out for in 2013.

Synapses is available for free on www.rivertiber.com. You can also catch them live at the Horseshoe Tavern on February 28.

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January 31, 2013

â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union Toronto Students University of

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e undergraduates at St.such ion represents all full-tim es important services TTC vid The U of T Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Un pro SU nted ga campuses. UT George and Mississau ns, book bursaries, clubs funding and discou central U of the Pla l to nta nts De de & stu s alth He ent as connects dentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union also repres Metropasses. Your Stu vernment, advocates for studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rights, and social and s go ign pa and n cam , atio T administr rk on common goals wo to ses pu cam all students across programming.

The University of Toronto Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union is holding its Spring 2013 Elections to fill the following positions: Position

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Seat(s)

Victoria College University College Innis College St. Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College New College Trinity College Woodsworth College At-Large Arts & Science

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Toronto School of Theology

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Faculty of Music Faculty of Dentistry Faculty of Nursing Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Pharmacy Faculty of Law Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design (pending approval at General Meeting) Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) At-Large Professional Faculty

1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 2

Division II

Executive President

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Vice President Internal & Services

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Vice President Equity Vice President External

1 1 1

Vice President University Affairs

Election Nominations (All Positions) Election Campaign Period Election Voting Period Unofficial Election Results

Important 2013 Dates:

Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 10:00 to Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 16:00 Monday, March 4, 2013 to Thursday, March 14, 2013 March 12, 13, 14, 2013 Times TBA Monday, March 18, 2013

Nomination Pick-up and Drop-off Locations: St. George campus: UTSU Office 12 Hart House Circle Hours: Monday - Friday, 09:00 to 18:00

Mississauga campus:

UTM Student Centre, Room 100 Hours: Monday - Friday 09:00 to 12:30, 13:30 to 17:00

To run for a position, pick up a nomination package during the nomination period at the UTSU or UTMSU office.

Please keep in mind the dates and deadlines.

For more information, visit our Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union website at www.utsu.ca or contact cro@utsu.ca Please note that, at the time of this publication, â&#x20AC;&#x153;University of Toronto Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Unionâ&#x20AC;? and/or â&#x20AC;&#x153;UTSUâ&#x20AC;? refers to the Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Administrative Council of the University of Toronto, Inc. (â&#x20AC;&#x153;SACâ&#x20AC;?).

UTSU and APUS present:

eXpression Against OPPRESSION 2013

utsu.ca/xao