March 7, 2013

the newspaper

The University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly

Since 1978

VOL XXXV Issue 23 • March 7, 2013

UTSU Executive candidates face defederation questions Munib Sajjad and Team Renew call for campus unity

Isaac Thornley A small crowd attended the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Executive Debate on Wednesday afternoon, March 6, with the majority of audience questions focusing on the issue of defederation. The debate, which was essentially a question and answer session due to the Renew slate’s unopposed standing, provided a forum for many defederation advocates to ask the future executive tough questions regarding the potentially divided future of the UTSU. Team Renew is made up of incumbent UTSU executives VP University Affairs Munib Sajjad, the slate’s presidential candidate, VP External Yolen Bollo-Kamara, the candidate for VP Equity, as well as newcomers Cameron Wathey, Sana Ali, and Agnes So, who are running for VP Internal, VP External, and VP University Affairs respectively. Renew is running without opposi-

tion, meaning each candidate is subject to a yay or nay ballot.

The candidates were each given five minutes to make a brief speech outlining their platforms and plans for next year. Although none of the candidates’ speeches directly referenced defederation, many of them underscored the value of a united students’ union with its current membership of 47 000 strong. The candidates’ speeches were each followed by a ten minute question period, followed by another four minutes for the candidates to make closing remarks.

Questions to the executive candidates about defederation, all of which came from Trinity College students, were met with similar replies. “I don’t particularly know too much about this sort of situation,” replied Cameron Wathey, VP Internal candidate. “I’m not an expert on this. This isn’t really my portfolio,” admitted BolloKamara.

The UTSU has remained firmly against the idea of

defederation, emphasizing that questions of UTSU membership can only be initiated by the UTSU itself, as per their by-laws, and that a hypothetical referendum regarding UTSU membership would need to be provided to all 47 000 members of the union, as opposed to select groups of students.

“

“We represent 47 000 students that vote individually into the union…

We advocate for all, not just simply college or faculty councils.”

- Munib Sajjad

The UTSU has expressed to multiple college councils that if defederation passes at the college referendum and is honoured by the University Affairs Board of the Governing Council, then the movement could still be stopped by a “clear legal precedent.” The possibility of legal battles has been in the back of everyone’s mind since the defederation

disputes started in January.

After his speech, presidential candidate Munib Sajjad was asked a question by Trinity Co-Head Sam Greene. The question, put simply, was: if Trinity’s referendum to defederate passes, and the University Affairs Board honours the outcome of that referendum and allows fees paid by Trinity students to be redirected to the Trinity College Meeting, will the UTSU take them to court, yes or no? Sajjad addressed the question while leaving the yes-or-no portion ambiguously unanswered.

“We represent 47 000 students that vote individually into the union… We follow our by-laws, and that’s what I want to uphold, the UTSU’s

by-laws… We advocate for all, not just simply college or faculty councils,” said Sajjad.

In the face of possible defederation and subsequent legal battles, the future UTSU executives approached the “debate” with a sense of optimism. Munib Sajjad framed Team Renew against the backdrop of the students’ movement, of which he has “been involved in the past few years,” while underscoring the importance of a strong, united students’ union of 47 000 members. “The need for students to mobilize might be more important than ever.

And I believe in the effectiveness of students working together,” said Sajjad.

visit thenewspaper.ca for this week’s video highlights of UTSU Executive candidates Q&A

2

THE NEWS

March 7, 2013

UTSU prepares ground for St. George Street pedestrianization Union set to present proposal to City in April The University of Toronto Students’ Union is working to make good on President Shaun Shepherd’s campaign promise to pedestrianize St. George Street from College to Harbord. Development on the initiative is still in the preliminary stages, with some neighbourhood associations and the university administration not yet ready to put their support behind the proposal.

The closing of St. George Street to vehicular traffic will be a boon to student safety and campus unity while also decreasing U of T’s environmental footprint, argued Abigail Cludjoe, UTSU vice-president external and the union’s lead person on the initiative.

“There is a sort of gap between the west, central and east campuses,” said Cludjoe.

“Closing of the street will allow and encourage students to engage in an open space whom are not only part of the Faculty of Arts and Science, but also Engineering and Architecture.”

While the St. George Street pedestrianization entails the benefits of increased event space, increased pedestrian safety, and environmental activism, there are complicating factors.

St. George is a major thoroughfare for local traffic, deliveries being the most significant variety. Besides regular deliveries made to Sidney Smith Hall and other institutional traffic, there have been concerns about University College students moving into residence being unable to easily unload their belongings.

This problem can be solved, however, by allowing for deliveries in the evening. This might be done by installing bollards at the ends of the pedestrian zone that can be raised or lowered. The cost of bollards has yet to be determined.

UTSU has been consulting with some relevant neighbourhood organizations, but not all.

“This is the first we have heard of this idea,” wrote Da-

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

VOL XXXV No. 23 Editor-in-Chief Cara Sabatini

News Editor Yukon Damov

Associate News Editors Sebastian Greenholtz Emerson Vandenberg

Features Editor David Stokes

Associate Art Editor Carissa Ainslie

Comment Editor Dylan Hornby

Photo Editor Bodi Bold Illustrations Editor Nick Ragetli Copy Editor Sydney Gautreau Managing Editor Helene Goderis Web Editor Joe Howell

Contributors Spencer Afonso, Yukon Damov, Lou Doyon, Peter Gatti, Sebastian Greenholtz, Kevin Hempstead, Dylan Hornby, Meghan Hubley, Manaal Ismacil Odessa Kelebay, Charles Philippe Lamy, Marsha Mcleod, Kaleena Stasiak, David Stokes, Fang Su, Isaac Thornley, Emerson Vandenberg Cover photo by MAJ MAJOR

the newspaper is published by Planet Publications Inc., a nonprofit corporation.

All U of T community members, including students, staff and faculty, are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper.

vid Harrison, president of the Annex Residents’ Association.

“Thus we have yet to explore and discuss it. My immediate reaction is that will be a difficult initiative not least because St George is a vital link in the bicycle network.”

Huron Sussex Residents’ Organization commented that they would be “happy to consider a proposal.”

The university administration has not yet thrown its support behind full pedestrianization. “The University has been very supportive of the occasional closure of St. George Street for student activities,” said Jill Matus, Vice-Provost Students. “An example is the Orientation Week street fair that took place last year.

There are, however, complex issues around full closure.”

Matus explained that St. George Street was considered along with Willcocks Street and Devonshire for a

BODI BOLD

Yukon Damov

pedestrianization pilot project. “At that time, neither the City nor the University considered it workable for a variety of traffic, fire access and servicing reasons.”

Nevertheless, Cudjoe’s commission will hold a Town Hall March 20 to receive students’ opinions.

With the hopes of gaining support, Cudjoe will send a proposal document to neighbourhood associations, the administration and Toronto City Council, announcing the first formal step on a lengthy road to St. George Street pedestrianization.

Possible legal infringement delays UC Referendum

UCLit postpones referendum on student levy for renovations Peter Gatti Following Simcoe Hall’s suggestion, the University College Literary and Athletic Society (UCLit), University College’s student governance body, has decided to delay indefinitely holding a referendum to decide whether to implement a student levy to help fund renovations to University College. The referendum was to be held yesterday, March 6.

The main opponents of the levy have been the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), the Arts and Science Students’ Union (ASSU), and the Association for Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS). The primary concern of APUS, who launched the latest legal challenge, is that the levy would violate the Ontario Operating Funds Distribution Manual, which stipulates that even if approved by the student body, it is illegal to charge “tuition-related compulsory ancillary fees.”

Arguing that renovations to libraries and classrooms are “tu-

ition-related” expenses, APUS challenged the levy’s legality.

The vice-president of APUS, Susan Froom, has consequently expressed her concern that the levy may just be “a ‘back door’ way to raise tuition fees above provincial limits.”

The decision to delay the referendum came Tuesday after U of T central administration expressed their concern that the present wording of the referendum’s preamble may not be able to withstand a legal challenge, as renovations are meant to be covered by tuition fees. This is the third time that the referendum has been challenged, but the first time that Simcoe Hall’s ruling has not been in favour of the levy.

The levy would require full-time UC students to pay $12.50 per session (or, semester) and part-time students to pay $5 per session, for the next 20 years. The full-time student levy would then rise to $29.44 from $16.94 per session and the part-time student levy would rise to $12.62 from

$7.62 per session. It is estimated that the levy will raise $2-million, roughly one-sixth of the project’s cost. The remaining $10-million would be raised through alumni contributions.

University College, completed in 1859, has not been renovated since the 1980s. The proposed overhaul includes the creation of a large study space, expansion of the library, renovation of the Quad, and improved accessibility. UC’s designation as a “National Historical Site” prevents any changes from being made to the building’s facade.

The UCLit has indicated that the referendum will take place pending a rewording of its preamble. Benjamin Dionne, president of UCLit, has said that, though it would be “a huge drawback” if the referendum does not get passed eventually, it would not spell a definite end to the project, as the alumni are expected to foot most of the bill regardless.

www.thenewspaper.ca

3

THE NEWS

GSU and UTM back Israeli Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Call for U of T to draw out of human rights-abusing companies in Israel and Palestine Sebastian Greenholtz University of Toronto’s Graduate Students’ Union and University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union have both backed a campaign to pull out University of Toronto investment from companies shown to be involved in human rights abuses in Israel and occupied Palestine. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign passed both unions with overwhelming support from students.

BDS specifically targets companies that produce items used to enforce the occupation of Palestine and the oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank, such as BAE Systems, which supplies tear gas to Israeli soldiers, and Hewlett Packard, which creates check-

point technology that limits the movement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, supplies IT systems for the Israeli navy, and administers identification cards carried by Israeli citizens. According to GSU and UTMSU, the University has been shown to invest in these companies.

At both the GSU Annual General Meeting and the UTMSU Board of Directors’ vote, the motion to support BDS gained considerable support.

Erin Oldynski, VP External for GSU, said in an interview with the newspaper, “Five or ten people did not support the motion; there were almost 200 people in the room.”

Shefa Obaid, head of Students Against Israeli Apartheid UTM who brought forward the campaign on Mississauga campus,

told the newspaper, “Once [the motion] got on the agenda it passed through the Ministry of Social Justice, and it went through a unanimous vote in favour.”

However, the GSU did receive some opposition in the form of a letter expressing concern about the content of the motion. The letter questioned the extent to which GSU supports the larger BDS campaign, which calls not only for divestment but a boycott of Israeli scholars, academic cooperation with Israel, and preventing Canadian students to travel to Israel. GSU drafted an open response letter, saying, “We would note that the motion does not instruct the Union to boycott or sanction Israel. It states that we shall broadly endorse the call which

formed the BDS movement, but instructs the Union to do so by only carrying out one of these actions — divestment.”

Obaid echoed this sentiment, saying, “BDS believes in equal rights; it does not believe in punishing people for the acts of their government, that doesn’t sound very ethical.”

Other students have questioned the right of a student union to take a stance on political issues. Yasmine Youssef, VP Equity for UTMSU, told the newspaper, “I think it comes down to what students want. … As students we look for something that is related to us as individuals, that our tuition is going towards various organizations that we don’t know much about, so it’s more a human rights issue than it is a political issue.”

Oldynski added, “We have an obligation as students and as moral beings and as people who must be politically engaged and civically engaged to hold our institutions accountable.”

The next steps for both unions involves further research into U of T’s investments and gathering signatures to bring the issue to the Governing Council, who by their rules look into the concerns of any petition with over 300 signatures. Just as University of Toronto boycotted South African companies during Apartheid, this motion hopes to be one of a number of steps to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to bring peace to the region once and for all.

Victoria College reiterates support for holding referendum on defederation Debate continues over whether Victoria College is ready to defederate Kevin Hempstead Less than 50 Victoria College students attended a special Annual General Meeting Wednesday, March 6, to discuss the upcoming referendum to divert fees from the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) to the Victoria College Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC).

The question of diverting fees away from UTSU created a debate over the college’s ability to handle such a shift in authority. Victoria College would be distancing its connection

from the student union that represents all full-time students, and would have to find a way to organize the spending of an additional $99,000.

VUSAC decided March 1 to hold a referendum, but that discussion focused mostly on the extent to which UTSU represents the college’s interests, rather than how VUSAC could replace the services provided by the union. VUSAC president Shoaib Alli presented the 14-page VUSAC Investigative Report of Potential UTSU Referendum, discussing the alternatives for services like

health and dental, the structure of VUSAC, and the role of the St. George Round Table, a collaborative body comprised of college and faculty student council leaders. The document stated, “VUSAC feels confident that many of these services can be provided at little cost.”

VUSAC voted unanimously in favour of the referendum.

Wednesday night, VUSAC faced scrutiny over its ability to uphold advocacy and to manage finances. “I’ve tabulated a number of things considered to be additional funds as a result of any referendum,” said

Victoria College student Katie Vogan. “Where is the financial accountability in this?”

Representatives from UTSU had similar concerns. “It’s surprising that Vic is moving to do this,” UTSU Vice President Internal Corey Scott commented. “We have two finance chairs, and all these funds are a lot to handle.”

Nevertheless, VUSAC promised these concerns would be addressed. “I can say with 110% certainty we can provide these services cheaper and [have] money left over,” explained Finance Chair Je-

LOU DOYON

VUSAC President Shoaib Alli and Chair Rajesh Sankat hear from Vic students about the costs and benefits of defederation.

lena Savic. “I have the money breakdowns right here. They will be up tonight [Wednesday] at the latest.” The financial report was not online by the time the newspaper went to press.

The VUSAC Investigative Report and Shoaib Alli also addressed the possibility of the SGRT as an advocacy replacement to the UTSU, after a number of reforms.

In the short-term, Alli promised a complete reorganization of VUSAC, including paid positions to cover the extra duties such as health and dental coverage, and the transformation of the Education & Equity Commissioner to cover advocacy and social justice.

In the end, the AGM passed a non-binding vote to continue with the referendum, to be held at the end of March. A campaigning period will precede it to ensure information for both sides will be distributed and discussed. “Vic will become a battleground,” said referendum supporter Zack Medow. “Many people will get involved, and hopefully this can bring new people into the political process.” More reports from VUSAC are also to follow to explain any outstanding claims and concerns students have.

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THE NEWS

March 7, 2013

University soars to cosmic heights the science U of T launches satellite-telescope to study brightest stars

SPENCER AFONSO

Emerson Vandenberg A group of satellites launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India on February 25 included a toaster-sized telescope from the University of Toronto. Dubbed a nano-satellite for its distinctly small size, the telescope was assembled at the University of Toronto Space Flight Laboratory, a campusbased research partner with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

As part of the BRITE project (Bright Target Explorer), the satellite will measure changes in brightness of the brightest stars in our galaxy. Studying these stars from space allows constant observation, without breaks for the night and day rotation that affects earthly observation devices. This will allow the satellite to measure the stars’ brilliance uninterrupted for extended periods of time. This is the same advantage enjoyed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which also orbits the earth.

These devices can operate without the obstruction of earth’s atmosphere, which

can distort light from distant objects.

Although the Space Flight Laboratory only built one of the devices, all six aboard the launch vessel were conceived utilizing the same technology, first developed by U of T Emeritus Professor of Astronomy, Slavek Rucinski.

In response to the newspaper’s inquiries, Rucinski noted that he has been working on the technology behind these satellites since 1997. Rucinski sought funding for the project from the CSA for years, stating that, “I kept submitting my proposal every year and every year I received words of support, but no funds.” He passed the technology on

to researchers in Austria, who were granted money by the Austrian government in 2008.

Ultimately, in 2011 the CSA allocated funding for the project.

In studying the brightest stars in the galaxy, Rucinski stated that “bright stars in the sky are on average the largest and most massive.” He went on to explain that “all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were produced in massive stars.” This includes us and our planet.

Studying these stars will further develop our understanding of the structure and evolution of massive stars and, by consequence, the origins of rocky planets.

sonal initiatives.

There has been a growing sense of individual responsibility and empowerment in Western militaries ever since the aftermath of WWII, where the excuse of “I was just following orders” was thoroughly castigated at the Nuremberg Trials. Soldiers are often given the power of life and death, and

must balance their own moral codes with the safety of their comrades and country. Private Bradley Manning’s decision to leak classified material during a state of war may end up losing more lives than it saves.

OPINION KALEENA STASKIAK

Wikileaks whistleblower

Soldier who leaked private documents online deserved his punishment

Jonas Becker

The question of what to do with Pfc Manning has divided US public opinion into two warring camps. Manning was arrested by the US military in May 2010 after information surfaced that he had been stealing sensitive military information and uploading it onto the now infamous media commons site, WikiLeaks.

The main charges levelled against Manning include aiding the enemy and communicating national defence information to an unauthorized source, leading to the possible harm or death of US servicemen or assets abroad.

His defenders point to the importance of whistleblowers in US history, citing examples like Daniel Ellsberg and W. Mark Felt.

Ellsberg was instrumental in leaking the “Pentagon Papers” during the Vietnam War; this lead to a direct drop in support for its continuation and President Johnson’s eventual politi-

cal defeat. Likewise, it was Felt’s revelations of Nixon’s involvement in Watergate that led to his disgrace and resignation, in addition to prison terms for several others involved.

While it may be that an individual is sometimes required to work around the law in the pursuit of a greater good, the line needs to be drawn at the point where the leaked information can directly lead to loss of life or injury.

Some may argue that Manning is doing his duty as a good soldier by questioning orders and leaking information about a long and costly war. But many of the 92 000 leaked documents regarding the war in Afghanistan include the names and families of informants, soldiers, and policeman. Is the satisfaction of Manning’s personal antiwar vendetta worth the blood of potentially thousands of innocents?

Manning admitted his lack of foresight regarding the po-

tential human impact when he stated in his guilty plea that the decision to release the documents was “...beyond his pay grade.”

A complex organization like the US is constantly concerned about the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people under its control. It cannot afford to have conflicting and damaging per-

www.thenewspaper.ca

5

THE NEWS

Men’s issues group encourages discussion, not protest the briefs

CAFE to host former feminist professor Isaac Thornley Men’s Issues Awareness at U of T, a campus offshoot of the larger Canadian Association for Equality, is set to hold their first event since inviting controversial speaker Warren Farrell to campus in November. Organizers of the event called “What’s Wrong with Women’s Studies?” are hoping for a productive discussion to take place unlike the last event, which was marred by a violent protest, police involvement, and months of controversy in the aftermath.

The event will feature a 45-minute lecture by University of Ottawa Professor Janice Fiamengo, a woman who considers herself a former feminist and “a critical observer of the feminist influence in the academy and in society at large.”

CAFE’s last event was largely overshadowed by both Warren Farrell’s controversial views on date rape, and by the sizeable group of people protesting his presence on campus. The protest was subsequently followed by more controversy as third party website “A Voice for Men” involved itself by targeting and antagonizing female protesters online.

The University of Toronto Students’ Union has officially supported the actions of the protesters, spoken against the presence of Warren Farrell on campus in statements to the administration, and condemned AVFM. In light of the aftermath of the protest, CAFE publicly distanced themselves from AVFM on their website, and pondered the strong negative reaction they received for the November event. “We did ask: why is this stuff so taboo to talk about?” said CAFE spokesperson Iain Dwyer.

Now CAFE is more aware and potentially more sensitive about the types of reactions there might be to their events.

“An extreme reaction was received,” commented Dwyer.

“We knew there was going to be a protest. We didn’t know they were going to be barricading the doors and screaming obscenities.” He added, “That event did somewhat inform our choice of topic [for this event].”

Following the lecture there will be a question and answer period, allowing a forum for discussion for both feminists and non-feminists alike. “If people want to come in and ask tough questions, then we’re all about that. But, if their intent is to disrupt the event then we’ll obviously have a problem,” said

Dwyer.

Fiamengo expressed an openness to engage in dialogue with feminists should any choose to attend the lecture, in an interview with the newspaper.

Fiamengo does not consider herself a men’s issues activist, but rather maintains the importance of a critical eye when evaluating the arguments of academic feminism. She considers a relationship between academia and activism to be problematic. “When you have an academic discipline that is really the institutional arm of an advocacy movement, you don’t have an academic discipline anymore.”

Fiamengo’s lecture will essentially make the argument that we ought to be critical of the core claims made by academic feminism, particularly with regards to the political ends of feminist ideology. “You can’t be an academic discipline and also be a special interest advocacy group founded on an ideology rather than on the pursuit of truth.

And that seems to me to be the big problem,” said Fiamengo.

Fiamengo also remarked that the rise of academic feminism and other forms of special interest advocacy scholarship rose to prominence in the 1960’s as the role of the academy began to

shift from the pursuit of truth to the pursuit of change.

Fiamengo draws on her own and others’ research to evaluate the use of statistics that back up many central claims in academic feminism. “It’s really quite astounding that with some of the core ideas of academic feminism—for example, the idea that we have a problem in our society of male violence against women—that if we actually look at the statistics it is so much more muddy and complex than many would have us believe.”

It remains to be seen what kind of action, if any, will be un-

Stompin’ in his grave

dertaken by those who oppose the views of CAFE or Fiamengo.

Although protest is as much a part of freedom of speech as discussion, one would hope that this event can be facilitated without the vitriol and controversy that characterized the last event.

The event starts Thursday, March 7, at 7pm in the George Ignatieff Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place. Suggested donation is $5.

Professor Janice Fiamengo with friend, Canadian poet and literary critic David Solway

Canadian music icon Stompin’ Tom Connors died Wednesday at the age of 77. The singersongwriter from Saint John, New Brunswick started off hitchhiking his way across the country as a teenager and eventually gained the reputation of Canada’s most prolific folk and country singer.

Unlike other Canadian musicians who took their fame abroad, Connors focused his entire career in Canada. He wrote over 300 Canadian cultural classics on four dozen albums. His most timeless work is “The Hockey Song”, still regularly played in arenas across the country.

Alien lore or attention whore?

Yesterday, Australian movie star Russell Crowe released video footage of supposed UFOs flying over the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

Crowe says that he and a friend captured the strange light patterns while setting up a camera to film bats.

However, the actor’s timing is equally as suspicious. The footage was filmed over four years ago, and was released hours after Crowe lampooned 20th Century Fox for the underwhelming release of his new movie.

While there’s no explanation for the lights, critics claim he is simply trying to create a publicity stunt.

Mega Mosquitoes migrate to Florida

Entomologists at the University of Florida are now warning that some very big bugs may be coming in spring. Swarms of mega mosquitos, known as Gallinippers are predicted to hatch in a few months with the oncoming hurricane season. The bugs are reportedly twenty times the size of an average mosquito, or about the size of a quarter. If that isn’t unsettling enough, Gallinippers are known to carry a painful sting rather than an annoying bite. The good news is that they aren’t known to carry any infectious diseases.

- DYLAN HORNBY

6

THE INSIDE

March 7, 2013

Gertler opens door to students and faculty the newspaper talks to next U of T president, urban planning expert Meric Gertler, on class sizes, academic advising, and accessibility

Sebastian Greenholtz the newspaper: what are your plans or ideas for improving the school as President?

Meric Gertler: One is to ensure that our status as a world class research institution continues to improve and grow.

Our position in world rankings and our reputation around the world plays such an important role in helping us attract great faculty and students from all over the place, literally every corner of the globe. That is important for obvious reasons.

It is also, by the way, hugely beneficial for the city region to have U of T acting as a kind of magnet for talent from all over the world. So I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure that that standing is protected and enhanced.

“It is … hugely beneficial for the city region to have U of T acting as a kind of magnet for talent from all over the world.” tn: what experience will help you achieve these goals?

MG: I’m mindful of the fact that I have a certain responsibility to deliver a high-quality education to large numbers of students, undergraduates and graduates. And I’ve had the benefit of working on this problem for five years as Dean of Arts and Science, and I will be bringing a lot of that experience and those lessons to the university more broadly, to find ways to provide more small-group learning experiences for our students, more international experiences, more research opportunities, because we know students want those things; more op-

portunities to engage with the community in service learning and experiential learning, we know students really want that too. tn: what are you planning to do about the large class sizes?

MG: . . . We know that we have to make sure that the large class learning experience is as good as it can possibly be, so we have had real success in Arts and Science in recent years. Focusing on that objective we’ve put great teachers in front of large groups of students, Con Hall and elsewhere, and they win lots of awards so we must be doing something right. We are also, of course, supporting those large classes with lots of tutorials and focusing our efforts on making sure our graduate students are really well-trained and prepared to lead those tutorials effectively.

The other thing to do with respect to the large classes is to make intelligent use of new technologies, so the online world seems to offer us some opportunities. Our major interest in exploring the online world is not just to share the expertise at U of T with the rest of the world but to find ways to use that technology to enrich the in-class learning experience for our own students. tn: What is the biggest obstacle you see to achieving these goals?

M G : There’s n o

question that the funding situation from the provincial government, and to some extent the federal government, continues to be a challenge. It’s been well-publicized that that level of funding per student is tenth out of ten provinces in Canada. So that’s going to be a challenge, but it’s one that we’ll be working on to ensure our provincial partners recognize that we are doing a great job with the money they give us currently, but we could be doing so many m o r e great

things if they would reconsider the scale of their investment in universities like this one.” tn: How do you impact the average student?

MG: My experience in Arts and Science is really instructive there, because first of all my office is in Sidney Smith Hall, so I sit amongst large numbers of students, rub elbows with them. I work really closely with the student union as well, and I’m always thinking about how the average student experiences this place.

W e ’ v e worked really hard w i t h o u r colleges in Arts and Sci-

ence to ensure that they have sufficient capacity to advise students. And what we’ve been doing in the last little while after we undertook a review of registrar’s offices is how they can provide a variety of services to help the average student, not just to help them figure out what courses to take in order to satisfy program requirements or how to get access to financial aid or counseling or other support, but to help them think about their future, to think about options, and to think about how they should be preparing for graduate school or for making the transition to the world of work. And it’s tough out there, so anything we can do to help them will be much appreciated.

“I work really closely with the student union as well, and I’m always thinking about how the average student experiences this place.” tn: Will you still be able to maintain these interactions as President?

MG: You bet. It’s really important to me to be accessible, to be interacting with students regularly, be listening to them, to being in touch with the common face, and not just students but the faculty who are working for the students.”

Meric Gertler will begin his initial five-year term as U of T president, following the end of David Naylor’s eight years on Decemeber 31, 2013.

Find the full interview at www. thenewspaper.ca.

SPENCER AFONSO

Associate news editor Sebastian Greenholtz sat down with the University of Toronto’s next president, the current Dean of Faculty of Arts and Science, urban policy expert Meric Gertler. Below is an edited version of that interview.

www.thenewspaper.ca

7

THE INSIDE

Corpus Colossus A tour through the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library David Stokes What began as a cupboard that housed a few special items has become, just over 50 years later, a 6-storey sanctuary, complete with coat check and exhibition space. This is the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, home to a set of precious and delicate contents: over 700 000 volumes of rare books.

Built like a vault with a plate armour of concrete, if print is disappearing, this place is not: its mission is to catalogue and protect printed materials.

To shield the books from the bleaching rays of light it is always dark inside, medieval and dramatic. The building maintains an internal humidity of 45 per cent all year round

(in summer it can be 95 per cent outside whereas in winter it can drop to 2 per cent) and a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

The library acquires books through both purchase and donation. Anne Dondertman, the library’s acting director, greets me warmly. “Almost every day someone calls me and says

‘I’ve got an old book, are you interested?’ ... It varies year to year but we usually receive between two and three million dollars worth of gifts in kind.”

The collection includes a 1789 BCE Babylonian cuneiform tablet from Ur; medieval manuscripts illuminated with gold; a first folio of Shakespeare’s work; first editions of

Newton’s Principia, Darwin’s Origin, and the suppressed writings of Lenin. Dondertman tells me that they “try to get everything that’s published [in Canada],” no matter how ephemeral, before it disappears.

And the library harbours

cont’d page 8

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THE INSIDE

from “colossus” more than just books: the staff have been omnivorous in their collection of compelling and peculiar printed matter, be it portraits, letters, beer labels, menus, manuscripts. They have acquired and catalogued backs of letters and paper bags on which novelists have scribbled inspirations, a poetic draft on a piece of cardboard, and little books that Margaret Atwood made when she was nine.

The library is a home for the unique. Whereas collectors used to be very keen on getting perfect copies of books, Dondertman tells me that “nowadays people are very much interested in not so much pristine copies of things but copies that have been annotated say, they have marginal notes, whether by the author or another reader.”

Notable marginalia at Fisher includes General Wolfe’s neat handwriting in his copy of Thomas Grey’s Elegy, a poem Wolfe is alleged to have read the night before he died on the Plains of Abraham during the 1759 siege of Quebec. Wolfe’s copy of Gray’s Elegy cost $325 000. The library houses Vesalius’ own copy of the 2nd edition of De fabrica filled with the anatomist’s own notes and revisions. Next year is the 400th anniversary of his birth and the library expects scholars will come to the city to see the book.

The earliest printed books— from 1450 to 1500—are called “Incunables.” They are the Lamborghinis of antiquarian books: as scarce as they are valuable. The library has many, and yet despite their maturity, many of these books have aged better than those printed in the last half century.

“Incunables sometimes look just as fresh as recently printed books. Here let me get one.”

Dondertman brings back a big book and opens it right down middle, flat on the table, not handling it with any special delicacy. She doesn’t need to.

The book, despite dating from 1498, has a sturdy wood and vellum cover, pristine white pages, and crisp black lettering.

“We don’t usually ask people to wear gloves because it actually makes you clumsier when you are trying to turn the pages.” Most books purchased by the library, even the uber-expensive incunables, get to the library by standard

package couriers like UPS and other companies, from hubs of antiquarian bookselling like England and Italy. “They wrap it very well,” Dondertman says. There’s a big pile of empty boxes in her office and she unwraps all the packages herself. For a book lover it’s like Christmas everyday.

To illustrate the value of quality bookmaking, Dondertman shows me a book printed quickly and cheaply in Canada in 1890. The comparison is striking: this book is a rotten-looking mess, its colour a weary brown, and the pages are ragged, serrated like a saw blade. You can’t open it, lest it fall to pieces in your palms.

Dondertman takes me to the conservator’s lab, a room that appears to be somewhere between an alchemist’s lab and an artist’s workshop. The conservator is dipping a faded poster into a solution. “It was in several pieces so I’m trying to put it back together, but there are pieces missing, so...” her voice trails off. Not everything can be made perfect, but much is made better; and for items that are fading fast, these are gurneyed to the digitization facility on Robarts’ seventh floor.

Books have many enemies: from moths to mold; fire, water, age and acid paper; and, of course, humans (Nazi bonfires, religious fanatics, etc). But the tenderness of books, their ease of being tampered with and personalized, is also a large part of their strength. As paper’s use as the primary reading medium has waned, the material’s unique virtues have become more apparent.

There is perhaps no truer sign of the intellectual impulse than choosing to read a book with a pencil in hand and joining the writer on their turf.

And unlike a screen, there are no distracting links on paper, which leads to heightened attention on one subject. Lost in a great book, in the words of Cornel West, sometimes “you have to throw the book against the wall because you are so intensely alive you need a break.” Try doing that with a MacBook.

Revealing the enormity of the collection, Dondertman takes me to the basement, the utilitarian iceberg below the elegant tip that is the upstairs building. A maze-like network of dimly lit hallways reveals row after row of books, crammed full in every spot.

Like a book bestiary, there are books of every stripe, language,

and variety, held in the cavernous spaces under Fisher and two sub-basements below Robarts proper. We pass shelves of gay pulp fiction (with titles like “Bound For Pleasure”); playing cards; boxes of Allen Ginsberg’s photographs; a literary critic’s Christmas cards; hundred year old lithographs from the Zoology department.

This is just the stuff that’s easy to see.

By happenstance we pass a box labelled “Leonard Cohen, early poems, 1953.” I can’t help but show my eagerness to know what’s inside this box with the name of one of my heroes. “Let’s have a look” says Dondertman. Within the box are Cohen’s personal papers from his undergraduate period, the scruffy pages that likely accumulated in his room.

There are early poetry drafts in impatient handwriting, scribbled secret notebooks, published and unpublished poetry, as well as acceptance and rejection letters from magazines.

It is both sobering and inspiring to know that even Leonard Cohen faced literary rejections. His rejection letters are the sort of thing one will only see here. Being the opposite of celebrated items, they show the toil, passion, and torment that is obscured behind success but are the very substance of it. The library has a vast collection of the working papers of many authors and personalities.

Nearby is a box of documents relating to another Canadian hero, Frederick Banting. Included is a letter from a girl who was on the verge of death before Banting discovered insulin just in time to save her.

There’s a letter envelope addressed in a child’s earnest script “to the doctor who cures diabetes.” Though the letter was sent with that as its only address, it still got to Banting, as everyone knew who he was.

Holding these humblest of documents is, at the Fisher, no different than reading a gilded incunable: in either case you are going into the backyard of history to feel in your own hands the living texture of the past. Who knows what scraps will become our treasures? Or which treasures just memories.

The Fisher is not a museum of rare books but a working library. Dondertman stresses that items “are not on display, they are for actual use,” and hopes that anyone who is interested will come and make use of the facilities.

March 7, 2013

The library is open to everyone, as you don’t have to be affiliated with U of T to be a user; in fact, between a third and a half of their use is external. The process of getting stuff out is easy: find an item on the Fisher catalogue, fill out an online request form, then come in and see at it.

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is located at 120 St George St. Visit fisher.library.utoronto.ca for more info.

Above item is page of autograph notes, written in ink by Sir Frederick Banting, headed ‘Oct 31/20. Diabetus.’ Banting jotted down this note after reading an article entitled ‘Relation of the Islets of Langerhans to diabetes with special reference to cases of pancreatic lithiasis’ by Moses Barron as part of his preparation for a lecture he was to give to medical students at the Medical School at the University of Western Ontario.

www.thenewspaper.ca

9

THE DEBATE

Remembering Hugo Chavez

What will be the legacy of the late Venezuelan president?

Tuesday’s news of President Hugo Chavez’s sudden death from cancer took the world by surprise. Yet, the legacy left by Venezuela’s former revolutionary socialist leader has been anything but unanimous. On one side, Chavez is praised for bringing a constitution and democratic rights to Venezuela, along with using oil profits to fund universal services. On the other, he is seen as an authoritarian who rigs elections, censors the media and makes friends with sworn enemies of the Western World. So how will the world remember Hugo Chavez?

liberator

The news of the death of long-ailing Venezuelan president and Latin American revolutionary Hugo Chávez Frías shocked Venezuela and the world Tuesday evening. Reports have come of people stopping in their tracks in the streets of Caracas, breaking into tears or just being silent when they heard the news.

National and international supporters of Chávez speak of the great successes of the Venezuelan revolution, including nationalized health care, expansion of education, nationalizing key industries such as oil to aid economic growth, and forming closer ties with the poor around the world, including helping low income families in the United States get heating for their homes.

But not everyone has gone into mourning. The opposition to Chávez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), mostly the country’s elites and imperialists around the world eyeing the country’s ample oil reserves, are rejoicing at the death of one of their most formidable opponents — like Castro, but with richer economic reserves and more democracy.

Many people fear an invasion or at least a counterrevolution organized by the elites and backed by the United States and other imperialist powers.

However the opposition has made a grave miscalculation.

While the leader of the most dynamic revolutionary movement of this century has passed, the organizations of the working class that have grown and strengthened during his fourteen year presidency still remain. Many communities have set up communal councils that bring together a few hundred families to address local issues as well as create Bolivarian circles for the study of socialism.

The supporters of PSUV can fill seven streets with supporters on election day. And a network of almost 200 communes provide a viable challenge to the neoliberal model of economics

tyrant and politics. The working class of Venezuela is organized and militant. They are prepared to defend the gains of the revolution against the very vis-

NICK RAGETLI

Sebastian Greenholtz

ible o p ponents who will try to sabotage the project of building socialism in Latin America and around the world.

All human beings are mortal, even some of the greatest ones.

But ideas are long enduring, and as long as the oppressive conditions of world capitalism remain, the people of Venezuela and of the world will draw on the ideas and inspiration of Hugo Chávez to help construct a just and equal society.

Charles Philippe Lamy When I read Hugo Chavez died I prayed for him. It was not the first time I had said a short prayer for him. I prayed for Chavez whenever his health made the news because he was a father suffering from cancer. Yet, our compassion towards the sick should not legitimize his terrible reforms. He has used the capitalist profits of oil to fund a new Venezuela, one suffering the predictable outcomes of a

bankrupt ideology.

Those who support Chavez ignore that his socialist reforms were only possible through capitalist profits. Venezuela produces nearly 3 million barrels of oil per day. With prices skyrocketing, the nationalized oil company made $124.8 in 2011.

This company, the PDVSA, is then ordered to fund a great deal of social programs. Chavez was delighted to let the free market

decide the price of oil, only to take the profits and advocate socialism.

Only though oil comprising fifty percent of Venezuela’s revenue could Chavez institute his many socialist reforms. In 2003, Chavez instituted price controls on food. It is necessary to feed the poor, but rather than help citizens afford food prices, he instituted severe price ceilings.

When food became unprofitable to sell and produce, Venezuela experienced shortages and hoardings. Chavez responded with more socialism. In 2008 the military was ordered to seize food being sold for market prices. In 2009 Chavez instituted production quotas to offset the free will of those who chose not to produce food. That year also saw the completion of his land reform program, which redistributed owned land to the farmers. His intent was to increase production of food, but it only decreased further.

The example of food is one of the many unsuccessful socialist changes within Venezuela. A decade of reforms have led to an increasing number of problems to be resolved by further state intervention. I could have also discussed socialist reforms that resulted in skyrocketing crime and corruption. I could mention the virtual elimination of a free press, an independent judiciary, or opposition parties. Or I could mention that capitalist neighbours like Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia have much stronger economic growth than Venezuela. Or I could move to foreign affairs, where Chavez allied himself with Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. The cycle of socialist incompetence exists in all of these areas.

The death of Hugo Chavez is a reminder of the tragedy of cancer, but his legacy is proof of the incompetence of socialism.

Let Venezuela thank the global market for the price of oil, then reverse the socialist reforms that are skinning the country alive.

10

THE ARTS

March 7, 2013

Erasing stereotypes of women, minorities in comic industry Carissa Ainslie Pick up any mainstream superhero comic and look at the female characters. Notice any trends? Women tend to be all T and A with no real character development past the role of eye candy. Tumblr blogs such as Brokeback Pose and Escher Girls point out the ridiculous poses of women in comics read by impressionable young boys and girls. The female superhero is meant to take a punch while simultaneously thrusting her breasts and backside towards the viewer. Things are not much different in the liveaction versions. The last few years have seen many superhero movies on the big screen: The Avengers, Ironman, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, X-Men and Batman. True to their comic book counterparts, there were very few female characters. Except of course the role of “girlfriend,” such as Pepper Potts, Jane Foster and Rachel Dawes.

Besides the sexist portrayal of female characters, it is interesting to look at the women

involved in the industry. Fiona Smyth, an instructor at OCADU who teaches illustration, told the newspaper in an email that she isn’t too concerned with the current state of women in the industry: “Some of the best cartoonists today are women (many Canadians), and I don’t think many of them think of themselves as marginalized.” In discussing what is happening in the Toronto comic book scene, Smyth was excited about the high numbers of creators in the city that are also getting published.

Most artists start out selfpublishing says Smyth, and hopefully end up going mainstream once they get exposure.

“Women, girls’, and trans folks’ stories are being told more and more through independent means and some will eventually break through to the mainstream.”

Looking at the two biggest hitters in the comic book industry, Marvel and DC comics, very few women are on their payroll as compared to men. It is here that most people look

to argue about the lack of female characters and creators in comics, because of the sheer size of the two companies. For example, Womanthology, a book published in 2011 that was financed by Kickstarter, showcased upand-coming female illustrators and writers from around the world, including Toronto. Titled “Heroic,” this tome not only shows the creative side of women but also includes how-to’s on breaking into the industry.

Besides the marginalization of women, other minorities are poorly represented in mainstream comic books as well. In the major comicbased blockbuster films, all the characters are Caucasian, with a few exceptions within the realm of X-Men. Smyth spoke of this in regards to the poor representation of the LGBTQ community as well as other minorities, saying, “It’s definitely been slow but the gender divide is closing. Now the discussion should be about representing diverse voices

Fiona Smyth

Independent publishing portrays women, minorities as more than props

outside mostly white North American experience.”

Comic books have always been an excellent avenue for visual storytelling. The new era of web comics has also made it easier for artists to receive exposure in greater numbers than ever before. This is true of minorities not often seen in mainstream comic books; women, the LGBTQ community and non-Caucasians are getting their stories heard. With

enough support, their voices could potentially overpower those in the mainstream, making the world of comics reachable to a wider audience.

U of T Comic Book Club meets every Tuesday at 5:30 in the Woodsworth College Student Lounge.

On The Act of Killing at activist film fest

Human Rights Watch Film gets close up of cold blooded killers in Indonesia Marsha Mcleod “All I had to do was hang around outside his house, pretending to be filming the streets and of course, I was invited in for tea.” Linked in via Skype connection before the showing of his film The Act of Killing, director Joshua Oppenheimer explained how he was hospitably hosted in the home of a Indonesian killer for dinner. The Act of Killing showed Saturday night at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, a multi-city documentary event which promotes justice for all individuals.

Oppenheimer began making the film nearly ten years ago as an exploration into the 1965-1966 massacre of Communists,intellectuals, ethnic Chinese, and pro-union individuals in Indonesia. Most of the killings were perpetrated by local militias and gangsters.

The forty-first killer Oppenheimer interviewed was the

grey-haired Anwar Congo.

Anwar lives in the Medan, the fourth largest city in Indonesia, located on the western island of Sumatra. In Medan, it is common for killers and survivors to live as neighbors.

Anwar’s devotees (led by the loutish Herman) routinely intimidate local shopkeepers, many who are survivors of the killings, for funds. In one instance, the extorted money is used to fund Herman’s comically inept campaign for local election. Fortunately, Herman is unable to remember his campaign lines: “my name is Herman, leader of the Business Party”.

Why the culture of intimidation and impunity in Medan?

It is the result of a horrifying scenario of justice as dictated by the “winners” of a conflict, in which the winners were, and remain, the perpetrators.

One killer explains his opinion on the irrelevancy of war crimes: “When [George W.]

Bush was in power, Guantanamo was ‘right,’ it was right according to him, and now, it is war crimes!”

Oppenheimer prods Anwar to reenact for him some of the cinematically-inspired killing techniques he “pioneered.” Oppenheimer plays the footage of this crude reenactment back to Anwar, perhaps expecting him to feel a certain level of unease as he watched his nonchalant brutality on camera.

However, Anwar is only outraged by the scene’s lack of realism and derides himself for his choice of pant colour: “I never wore white! I look like I am dressed for a picnic.”

Thus, Anwar and his friends, encouraged by Oppenheimer, launch into an all-consuming task to direct, produce, and create a film to preserve their image of intimidation and cruelty for future generations: a “nice family movie,” says Anwar.

In the most orchestrated

scene of their movie, Anwar organizes a local division of the youth militia Pancasila Youth (the same militia that partook in killings in 19651966) to simulate the burning a village and the massacre of its citizens. The citizens are played by the killer’s wives and children. When the scene is finished filming, the killer’s children cannot stop crying.

Herman tries to tell his young daughter, “Movie stars only

cry for a second, stop now, you’re embarrassing me.”

Taken together, The Act of Killing reveals the ways in which evil manifests within humans and in turn, how evil acts deeply affect the humans who commit them.

The Human Rights Film Festival ends Thursday, March 7 with the film The Patience Stone, 8pm, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

www.thenewspaper.ca

11

THE ARTS

Hart House gets Bent Jon Dundas Bent is a 1979 play written

by Martin Sherman, directed today at Hart House Theatre

by Carter West. It tells of the tragic circumstances and persecution of several gay men during Nazi-era Germany. A Pulitzer-nominated play, it was highly controversial when it first came out, but also well received. While gay rights have changed considerably since the ‘80s, the play has stood strong as a love story, and today Hart House has brought it around once more.

Max and his boyfriend Rudy are two gay men who live a somewhat decadent life in Berlin. They are forced on the run after Hitler enacts the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, where they are eventually caught.

The rest of the play concerns Max and a fellow Dachau prisoner Horst and their struggle to survive and keep sane, and love each other. The first half

of the play concerns Max and Rudy in Berlin, while the second half is Max and Horst in the concentration camp.

The play isn’t a tragedy in the classic sense, but given the time, location, and subject matter, it can be said (without spoiling too much) that there are some heavy moments.

However, this is interspersed with much humour and witty dialogue, even during the darker scenes. As well, as a play with a focus on sexuality, it is chock full of erotic situations and at least one case of full male nudity.

The cast convincingly played their respective parts; each actor, for the most part, hit the right spot between realism and a dramatically expressive tone.

There was one instance of cardboard delivery which may or may not have been deliberate, though it was a relatively unimportant character so this did not detract from the others’ performance.

The large set comprised of wooden pillars lit with sconces and differing walls in the background; these change subtly from the inside of a small house, to a basement, to a forest, and even to an interrogation room and the walls of Dachau. There are many set pieces brought in naturally between location changes, ranging from tables to chairs to tents and more. The act of moving these pieces is not hidden, and is often done by the German soldiers, though always in deliberate darkness, presumably to show the hidden yet pervasive nature of the Nazis. The set’s aesthetics as well as the fluidity of their changing is one of the play’s strongest points, which in conjunction with the costume design really serves to strengthen the third wall and bring the audience into the times depicted.

Another success of this play is the music. During the shady set transitions, at least in the

DANIEL DIMARCO

Hart House Theatre revives groundbreaking play

Max (Liam Volke ) and Rudy (Jordan Gray ) find solace in each other amidst WWII Germany in provocative production of Bent now running at Hart House Theatre. first half, jazz is played. This is a natural and great choice, as it immerses the audience in the era. The songs chosen all have a somewhat bittersweet or tragic feel when contrasted with 1930’s Nazi Germany, which could not have been lost on the director. Swing heil.

While individually the parts of the play, as outlined above, are well executed, when brought together something seems missing. What exactly is missing is uncertain, and could just be weaknesses in

the writing of the play itself, not Hart House Theatre’s production.

This all being said, it is worth a see, especially to those interested in works concerning sexuality or love under duress.

While it may not reduce one to tears of catharsis, it’s an honest and touching love story at it’s heart.

Bent plays at Hart House Theatre this Wednesday to Saturday at 8 pm, with an additional performance Saturday at 2 pm.

U of T jumps on reality TV bandwagon

Producer hopes show will garner more school spirit at academic institution Manaal Ismacil The University of Toronto has gained a reputation of being a purely academic institution, as any midnight visit to Robarts might reveal. In an attempt to demonstrate that the University of Toronto school is much more than just a “GPA killer,” University of Toronto Television (UTTV) created a reality television show Sudden Death Lockdown. In an interview with the newspaper, producer and U of T student Ana Sani hopes that a reality show will be “…a great way to up the ante and gain more spirit” and “a great way for students to come together.”

Sudden Death Lockdown is the second installment of the series after the broadcast of the pilot on YouTube nearly two years ago. The basic premise of show is in the same vein as that of Big Brother and Survivor. It takes eight University of Toronto students and locks them in a house for the dura-

tion of 12 hours. During these 12 hours, they are given a series of challenges meant to test the contestants physically and mentally. Each of these challenges result in the elimination of one contestant and immunity for another. At the end, two contestants remain and all former contestants are brought back to crown the winner who is awarded $500.

This new edition of Sudden Death Lockdown has taken shape with open auditions that took place in early February. Sani cites that some unexpected technical issues have forced filming to be pushed back until after final exams in April. She identifies some of the issues that arose during the making of the first series and that postponing the show would ensure that a certain level is maintained instead of rushing it.

Despite the small setbacks, Sani stated that a recent interview with the Toronto Star

marks “a sense of accomplishment” for her personally and the club as a whole. Sani jokingly admitted, “Nobody knows that there is a University of Toronto Television Club,” and hopes that the recent publicity will incite some curiosity among students.

The main motivating factor that has propelled this idea beyond the drawing room table is an aim to bring a sense of collective “school spirit” to University of Toronto campuses. Sani does not want to completely reject the University’s reputation of being “supremely academic,” but hopes the television show will emphasize that “there is much more you can do [at U of T].”

To learn more about the University of Toronto Television (UTTV) and Sudden Death Lockdown please visit www.uttv.com.

UTTV reality show Sudden Death Lockdown contenstants pose after competing in challenge.

12

THE END

March 7, 2013

She was hailed the god-mother of punk-rock in the ‘70s, and her award-winning memoir Just Kids has become a bible for the present-day bohemian.

Now, at 66, Patti Smith has reestablished her image again.

On Wednesday March 6, she held a press conference at the AGO addressing one of her lesser known creative outlets: photography.

Patti Smith the performer has a “gritty persona, very hard, very tough, but with an emotional underlay. As a photographer, she is quiet, intimate,” said Susan Talbott to the newspaper, director of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut, and curator of Camera Solo, the exhibition of Smith’s work now on display at the AGO. The exhibit contains roughly 75 Polaroids on silver gelatin print, which, according to Talbot, are meant to recall early 19th and early 20th century photography.

During the press conference, Smith herself acknowledges this artistic shift. To her, photography is an independent

“

venture rooted in simplicity.

“It’s is all up to me,” she says.

Smith is very much present in the exhibit, as Camera Solo is a step deep into the psyche of a prolific artist. Sophie Hackett, AGO’s in-house curator, describes Camera Solo as the “self-contained world of Patti Smith, exhibiting a quiet spirit and intimacy... a meditation on creativity.” Smith is more coy about her work. Asked how she navigates life as a multi-disciplinary artist, and whether she wakes up one day feeling more like a poet, a photographer, or a rock star, Smith responded that she wakes up in the morning and thinks “Coffee.”

Talbott and Smith began their work in 2010 with the objective to highlight the “pervasive theme of death and symbolic images.” For Talbott, the images are “portraits of people through their objects -- through these portraits great artists live.”

The title, Camera Solo, is borrowed from the room in which Pope Celestine V was imprisoned until his death for challenging the church; an image Smith took of the

AGO exhibition space celebrates the legendary rocker’s mystical connection to her heroes room hangs in the gallery. The Italian phrase translates to “a room of one’s own,” and is also the title of the provocative Virginia Woolf essay. Smith instantly felt connected with the rebellious impulse. True to its title’s origins, the exhibit feels like strolling through Smith’s personal treasure chest: a collage of images representing the influential muses and destinations of her life.

“I choose something when it speaks of the person it’s associated with - [their objects] become relics,” Smith said at the AGO. Smith’s eye for enchantment illuminates small shots of seemingly random objects.

Her spiritual connections to Blake, Whitman, and even Joan of Arc become tangible to those taking in the gallery. The snapshots contain awe, grati-

tude and Smith’s signature mysticism.

Smith has been at the forefront of creative movements for decades, and her commitment to the un-editable Polaroid asserts a trust in her own instinct. What other photographers may consider problems when using the instant camera (flashes of natural light or “blurry” qualities of expired film) are magical in her opinion, making the image unique.

When questioned about this at the press conference, Smith laughs, “I don’t consider my photographs ‘blurry,’ I consider them atmospheric!” She also emphasizes that visiting graves and tombs are not depressing, but means of honouring her artistic ancestors.

Smith’s addiction to “the proximity of great art” is ech-

the campus comment

oed in Camera Solo’s curator.

Talbott explained that Smith’s pieces force the viewer to look closely at the image. “Patti’s pieces are small and intimate; they force you to look up close, heightening the intimate experience. “[Today’s] generation is used to receiving information from technology, rather than having a one-on-one, private experience with pieces of art... but these private experiences are so important, whether or not you’re an art student or simply want a quiet moment that could transform your life.

These moments are what make art and museums critical.”

“

Meghan Hubley

FANG SU

Patti Smiths’ Holy Relics

Patti Smith: Camera Solo runs at the AGO until May 19, $11 for students.

the newspaper asked: If you could be any ruler in history, who would you be?

ARSALAN 2nd year, Neuroscience “Cyrus the Great. He created Cyrus Cylinder, it was an ancient declaration of human rights. And he had a pretty large empire.”

JASON The ‘Jostens Graduation Ring’ guy “JFK. I’m fascinated by him for many reasons - with his assassination, the scandals. He also had a lot of money and power.

Cause he was a ladies man.”

MALIHA 1st year Economics & Psychology “Margaret Thatcher because she was the first female president and started a feminist movement.”

SANJA 4th year, Sociology “Cleopatra. Because Marc Anthony and Caesar were pretty hot.”

SHAUN 5th year, Human Biology “Shaun Shepherd. Because I’ve done an amazing job this year.”

ODESSA KELEBAY

ABENA 3rd year, Global Health “Abraham Lincoln because he was an advocate for black slaves and created the emancipation proclamation.”