October 1 2009

Elizabeth May breaks the first rule of dinner parties and talks politics with the newspaper , page 2

2 across: First complete crossword 14 down: gets a free drink on us

I N N E A C R O S S W E R D I S T D S E

the newspaper

University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly

Vol. XXXII N0. 

October 1, 2009

rotman plans takeover on st. George street aBdi aidid As part of the largest fundraising campaign in Canadian business school history, the Rotman School of Management is set to construct a new $92 million research facility opposite Robarts Library.

The building will accommodate an expected 50 percent increase in graduate students and will house the Richard Florida-helmed Martin Prosperity Institute. With initial plans completed and approved by the Governing Council, the project is slated to begin shortly.

The structure, which will be adjacent to Rotman’s current space at 105 St. George St., will feature horizontal connections fully integrating the two buildings, a large event space on the

first floor, classrooms and offices for Ph.D. students. Architectural plans were handled by KPMB Architects Inc., a Toronto-based firm that designed the Munk Centre, Woodsworth College, and the Fields Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

The project’s team includes Yale architect Thomas Auer, an energy consultant who will help oversee the school’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) aspirations.

The expansion comes just as Rotman Dean Roger Martin’s ten-year plan to establish the school as an internationally renowned creativity hub is coming to fruition. Two $10 Continued on page 3

UTsc centre moves Towards 2030 U of T has hart on

for nuit Blanche

aMy sTUPavsKy

TOM BUGajsKi

KEN JONES

On September 24, amid the bustle of a street festival featuring the South Asian Alliance dance troupe, a student jazz ensemble, and the Moon Runners break dancing group, UTSC broke ground on its new Instructional and Laboratory Centre.

“There was a lot of excitement about how this is another major step that will strengthen the campus as an important educational institution,” said Laura Matthews, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at UTSC. UTSC groundbreaking ceremony on September 24th Continued on page 3

Finding its way from Paris to Toronto, the annual all-night art festival has also found a place at U of T. As part of Nuit Blanche this year, Hart House will host “Drop Out”, an exhibition curated by Christof Migone. The exhibit will feature a number of established artists, including Bas Jan Ader, Ulysses Castellanos, Trisha Brown, Erika Kierulf, and Tom Sherman.

The name of the exhibition is derived from the 1960s phrase tune on, tune in, drop out. Its theme is geared towards students, referring to our culture of success

which “streamlines achievement to a narrow array of scenarios.”

The works featured are metaphors of this problem.

Migone states that “to drop out is to fall out of the normative, and into an outside…[It] can also be a momentous event leading to a perspectival shift or an epiphanic state.” Bas Jan Ader, for example, expresses the concept of “dropping out” by using gravity as a medium, where his many videos capture people falling.

Trisha Brown’s video, “Man Walking Down the Side of a Building,” plays with similar ideas. Her Continued on page 7

the news

2

October 1, 2009

Green leader Elizabeth May talks shop dan craig From the Small Party in 1980, to the Green Party in 2006, Elizabeth May is no stranger to playing the underdog in politics.

After founding and sitting as Executive Director of the Sierra Club for 17 years, she entered and won the leadership race for the federal Greens in 2006.

Although the Green Party has yet to secure a seat in the House of Commons, May’s own performance has been inching closer to victory. In 2006 she secured 25.8% of the vote in a London, Ontario riding. In 2008, against entrenched Conservative incumbent Peter McKay, she garnered 32.2%. the newspaper sat down to chat with May over the phone about the next election, her new book, her new competitor, TV, students and the economy. Oh, and Stephen Harper. the newspaper: You recently were featured at the Word on the Street festival in Toronto for your latest book, Losing Confidence: Power, Politics And The Crisis In Canadian Democracy.

This book proposes a ‘manifesto of change’. Tell me about it.

Elizabeth May: I don’t know.

I think some of the publicists at McClelland and Stewart call it a manifesto. I like to think of it as being quite thoughtful in terms of reviewing for Canadians what our system of government is in terms of how parliamentary democracy is supposed to work, how things are a bit off, or more

than a bit off the rails right now.

I think we’re in a real crisis.

And, in the course of describing the crisis in which we find ourselves, of course it’s offering, I think, a very hopeful prescription for change. But it starts with citizens deciding, and the last line in my book is, “democracy is not a spectator sport.”

The first thing we have to do as a society is to decide that it really matters to us as Canadians how our government is elected, who is running, how accountable they are, and how many people show up on voting day to make a difference. tn: This sounds like proportional representation. A Green Party favourite.

EM: Our view is that we need to have proportional representation. The first-past-the-post system, which only exists in Canada, the US and the UK - all modern democracies other than Canada, the US and the UK have some form of proportional representation - is a real disadvantage that Canadians have.

The fact that your vote doesn’t count is enhanced. When you only have the chance to vote for whoever is going to win in your riding, and that person, as soon as they have achieved as much as 33 or 34 percent can win a seat, which means that the majority of voters in that riding end up feeling, “Well, what good was it that I showed up to vote?” That’s very, very destructive to the fabric of democracy, and any form of proportional

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representation would be better. tn: In one of your blog posts in late August you were predicting a fall election. Do you still feel that way with the recent developments with the NDP and the Bloc?

EM: What I was looking at in August was that I knew the Liberals were really determined to bring down the government.

It seemed to me impossible to imagine that Jack Layton would be able to vote to maintain confidence in the Harper government. So that was something that I imagined wouldn’t be as easily accomplished by Harper. Jack Layton extracted a lot more out of Paul Martin’s government back in the spring of 2005 to keep that government in place, in fact he rewrote the budget with Paul Martin. He didn’t really get anything this time. The changes to EI aren’t going to work for many people across the country who are currently unemployed. I think now the chances for a fall election remain relatively high, but I wouldn’t put it higher than 5050. Because the scenario now, now that we know that Mr. Layton will vote to support Stephen Harper to avoid an election, and Mr. Duceppe may or may not as time goes by, the thing to keep an eye on right now as to whether we’ll have an election or not is whether Mr. Harper’s polling numbers go up enough that he will seize the chance to have his own government defeated, which will be easy to do.

With the Liberals on the record saying they’ll never vote for the Harper government, and knowing Gilles Duceppe probably won’t because the Bloc seats are holding firm (they won’t lose seats in the next election, the NDP will lose a lot, the Liberals would probably gain a lot), I still think it is more than likely we will reelect a minority government but it will be a Liberal minority. But if Mr. Harper sees a chance, I think he would very easily just put together a package that would make it impossible for Jack Layton to vote to support him. If that were to happen, we would be in to an election. So, I still think we’re at about a 50-50 chance of a federal election this fall. tn: In the next election, whenever it may be, you are running in BC’s Saanich-Gulf Islands riding against 12-year incumbent Conservative MP, Gary Lunn. Have you spotted any chinks in his armour?

EM: Oh, yes. Many. He was minister of Natural Resources up until the 2008 election. In the new cabinet Stephen Harper put together post-election, Mr. Lunn was demoted. He fell quite

far. He is now minister of state for sport. And that is because -- well, they never announced why he was demoted. But it was pretty clear that he made a complete botch of handling the Chalk River reactor situation.

It was Gary Lunn who fired the president of the Nuclear Safety Commission. I write about it extensively in my book Losing Confidence, because that was a situation where it was absolutely outrageous to decide, as Mr. Harper and Mr. Lunn did together, to blame the regulator for holding up the approval for a reactor being up and running which was operating in violation of its licence! And to force the reactor open with all this hysterical rhetoric about being concerned with nuclear reactor safety was actually showing a callousness towards the predicament of cancer patients awaiting treatment and diagnosis, and being insensitive to a need for medical isotopes. That was quite outrageous! Now, that was Gary Lunn’s record, he fired the regulator. And in so doing, not only did he decrease the safety and independence of regulations for nuclear safety across Canada, Sheila Fraser, the auditor general, said he undermined the sense of safety and security and the arm’s length work of every single regulator at the federal level in Canada. You could conclude, as a regulator, if you did something that the Harper government didn’t like, you could be fired without cause, without warning, and without recourse. tn: The televised leaders’ debates are always a hot topic for federal Greens. When will you know whether or not you will get to participate? When they call an election, I guess?

EM: That’s the process. It’s quite extraordinary. Here we have a process where, the leaders debate, which everyone agrees is very important for Canadian democracy, are run without any guidance from legislation. They are run without any rules. They don’t even have their own rules, or their own criteria. It’s highly arbitrary. In Canada, the five major networks, two French and three English, decide on the rules, who’s included, who’s not included, and then they kind of have to report on themselves when they do something outrageous like caving in to Stephen Harper and Jack Layton in the last election and saying, “Well, if you include Elizabeth May, we won’t show up.” I mean, that was quite outrageous. So, it’s very arbitrary, and it doesn’t have any rules. And I expect to be in the next time, but I may have to fight to get back in.

Continued on page 5

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the news

October 1, 2009

3

U of T scores $10 M in grants Tejas Prashar Recent developments have given a significant boost to graduate and professional-level research initiatives at U of T. With help from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), two large-scale research networks have been established at the university: Bioplasmonic Systems (BiopSys), which uses emerging nanotechnology in cancer-research, and Business Intelligence Network (BIN), which seeks to develop efficient information management for business and government applications.

These networks were unveiled by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Canada’s Minister of State for Science and Technology, on September 24. NSERC has pledged $10 million of funding towards these two projects.

Each will receive a total of $5 million over the next five years.

The BiopSys initiative promises to push the boundaries of modern cancer-research.

Bioplasmonics is a technology which uses illuminated metal particles and surfaces to detect bio-molecules, such as proteinreceptors, on the surface of a cell. Knowledge of receptors can then lead to quick identification and analysis of the cell’s characteristics. BiopSys researchers are interested in being able to apply this technology to leuke-

UTSC Centre cont’d from page 1

The 150,000 square-foot centre will increase academic facilities by 25 percent and start a new phase of construction in the university’s north campus. The building will house the co-operative programs as well as the business management, computer science, and mathematics faculties.

It will also feature technologically-advanced classrooms, study areas, a food court, and research and teaching laboratories.

The Government of Canada’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP) and the Ontario Government’s 2009 Budget provided $70 million in funding for the project. U of T also invested $8 million to cover the balance of the costs.

“It’s fantastic that we’re getting this injection of space,” said Matthews. “UTSC has a really challenging space environment.

We only have 60 percent of the space we need given the size of our student body. Over the past few years, our student population has grown by 100 percent to just over 10,000, but our physical space has not. We need more buildings to better serve students and faculty.”

mia and lung-cancer cells.

The initiative is unique in that no one has applied plasmonics to leukemia cells before, and in its use of radical new innovations in nanotechnology and extensive new libraries of bio-markers.

Dr. Gilbert Walker, Canada Research Chair Professor of Chemistry at UofT and the Principal Coordinator of BiopSys, says that such a program was necessary because “comparing the data we are now able to obtain to what was available even a few years ago…is like comparing a barcode of four lines to one of twenty-five lines. We can just access so much more information now.”

Althhough BiopSys is still in a research stage, team members are hopeful that it will result in bioplasmonic technology becoming a part of routine hospital procedure.

The initiative brings together diverse institutions, from the École Polytechnique de Montréal to the University of Windsor.

However, Dr. Walker sees it being based at UofT as indicative of the university’s “strong tradition of biomedical research”.

NSERC’s second program, BIN, shares this inter-disciplinary nature. BIN is based at Bell University Labs, and headed

by Professor Renée Miller, Bell Canada Research Chair of Computer Science at UofT. Its aim is to enable computer scien-

tists, industrial engineers, and information managers to come together and help business and government organizations maximize their efficiency. The entire initiative revolves around the idea of business intelligence: the ability to read the market and make informed decisions.

There have been previous attempts to boost business intelligence, but Professor Miller feels that BIN is unique in Canada because of the extent of its reach.

“It’s really the first program of its kind to bring together industry partners and academics closely,” she says. “It allows businesses to see how relevant the research done at universities can be, and, in turn, gives researchers a national platform to showcase their work.” Professor Miller adds that recent economic developments have made companies realize how vital business intelligence is to their success.

Both the BiopSys and BIN networks are major boosts to the UofT research community.

Their long-term effects will be far more extensive. By bringing some of Canada’s top minds to UofT, the NSERC initiatives are sure to add to the excitement of the university’s intellectual climate. Undergraduate students now have extensive opportunities to get involved with some of the most cutting-edge research in the country.

After receiving the plan in May of this year, Toronto-based architecture firm Diamond and Schmitt developed the initial design for the building in July. To receive the government funding, construction must be completed

by March 2011.

“It’s been on a pretty tight schedule,” said Don Schmitt, head architect for the project.

“We’ve been going full blast from the middle of May to September. The big challenge has been the speed. It’s being built more quickly than a structure of this size and complexity usually demands.”

The firm’s threefold vision is to make the building a gateway to the north campus, a great interactive space, and a connector between the students and the landscape.

“It will be the heart of student life at the north end of the campus,” explained Schmitt.

The focal point of the centre will be a four-storey, naturally lit student commons, which will allow for a scenic view over the ravine and provide space for students to work and fraternize. An outdoor quadrangle will include water features and soft landscaping.

Currently, the entirety of UTSC is hidden by a ravine and trees. This will be the first build-

ing visible from off campus.

“We hope that the building will engage the community and be a point of pride for our students,” said Andrew Arifuzzaman, Chief Strategy Office at UTSC, who spearheaded the project along with Chief Administrative Officer Kim McLean.

While the construction’s immediate goal is to address existing shortfalls and meet the needs of current students, Arifuzzaman said that the project’s genesis was part of a broader planning exercise, including U of T President David Naylor’s Towards 2030 initiative.

The emphasis on co-operative learning is one of the ways UTSC differentiates itself in the tri-campus system. Fifteen percent of the student body is enrolled in co-op

the brief the campus Late Wednesday evening, architecture student Rickie Papa was assaulted by a bike thief near the school of Architecture. The suspect has yet to be apprehended. Police caution students not to follow anyone caught committing a criminal act.

the world UN Chief Ki-moon

the local

the weird German naturists who enjoy hiking and jogging will soon have an 18 km trail of their own. Project leader Heinz Ludwig says the nude park will be great for tourism. There will be markers throughout the trail warning people of the sights they may encounter.

- Amina Stella

Last Wednesday, Mayor David Miller shocked Torontonians when he announced that he would not be running for re-election. “While it has been a difficult decision, I feel secure in my priorities, proud of my record, and confident in my vision of the city I love.”

Rotman

and U.S. Secretary of State Clinton were at the forefront of calls for immediate action to ensure global food security. Millions of people suffer hunger from the current economic crisis. Clinton referred to the issue as “one of the most urgent threats facing our world.”

million contributions from philanthropist Marcel Desautels, a $50 million pledge from the Ontario government, and a best-selling book by Professor Florida have seen the business school rise to prominence in recent years, resulting in top-ten rankings by the Financial Times and Business Week.

“U of T and many others have offered degrees in management for decades,” said Laurie Stephens, the director of Stakeholder Communications for the Governing Council. “This is a well-respected faculty for which there is increased demand for admission.” Rotman’s Ken McGuffin adds that in recent years the school has doubled the size of its programs, faculty, and research institutes.

“Our growth is enabling us to attract world-class students

and faculty,” said McGuffin. “As a result, we’re bursting at the seams and have had to relocate several of our initiatives outside of our existing space. The new building will allow us to accommodate these initiatives as well as allow for future growth.”

The Martin Prosperity Institute, which self-identifies as “the world’s leading think-tank on the role of sub-national factors in global economic prosperity,” has been headquartered offcampus at the MaRS building at University Ave. and College St. Rotman-sponsored events, like Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” presentation last year, were held outside of Rotman’s facilities, an arrangement the school seeks to correct with the expansion.

To accommodate expansion plans, the white Victorian heritage home at 91 St. George will be demolished. The building’s tenants, CIUT FM and the Sexual Education Centre, decamp to Hart House and 21 Sussex respectively.

programs for disciplines such as arts, management, the biotech industry, and international development.

“One of our high-demand programs is the business administration and management co-op,” said Arifuzzaman. “Our current space isn’t large enough to fill the number of students and this building offers us the capacity to grow the program. The opportunity for us to create and evolve these co-op programs is one of the distinctive features that 2030

speaks to.”

Arifuzzaman said UTSC can expect a moderate increase in undergraduates as a part of the 2030 plan, and a substantial, four-fold growth in graduate students to upwards of 1,000 from the current number of 250.

UTSC has received $122 million in new campus buildings since 2003. It is clear that the gaping hole in the ground at the crossroads of Military Trail and Ellesmere offers even more potential for expansion.

cont’d from page 1

the inside U of T study reveals England, France, Mom and Dad’s underpants 4

October 1, 2009

the science Move over Genomics, there’s a new ‘omics in town!

Scientists confirm parents are liars christina ciddio

tural groups of majority among the volunteers: Asian-Americans and European-Americans. An analysis of the results reflected a slight shift in parental expectations. Asian-Americans tend to lie in order to alter a child’s behaviour whereas a EuropeanAmerican parent will do so to boost a child’s self-esteem.

Lying in parenting is not necessarily a negative idea. Professor Lee believes that it helps to “praise our kids globally” and socialize them as early as two years old, proving that honesty is not always the best policy.

The effects that lying have on a child is based on how acceptable lying is within a certain group. As Professor Lee goes on to explain, it is “really all about culture” and what is acceptable to one group may not be for another.

While parents try to make themselves a reliable source of moral information for their children, they are not opposed to lying to influence them. Professor Lee believes that a further in-depth analysis will help to determine “the long and short term consequences of lying.”

Children often use their innocence to manipulate their parents into believing their fanciful stories, but parents do the same to their children. When asked to recall a specific memory from one’s childhood, it is likely to include a parental lie. The nonexistence of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus may alter a child’s worldview and then eventually be forgotten, but the lies our parents tell us stick with us and do not satisfy our curiosity.

thiru shathasivam

MIKE WINTERS

A recent study published in The Journal of Moral Education by U of T professor Kang Lee and other researchers suggests that parents are not just the victims of lie telling, they are actually the culprits of this phenomenon.

The study, known as “Parenting by Lying,” was conducted without “spending any money, it was a graduate student thesis project that was done online,” said Lee. The research included approximately 125 college student volunteers from different ethnic groups in the United States. The research findings showed that parents who lie are often trying to promote a certain emotional and behavioural attitude in their children.

The focus was on the two cul-

Former editor writes back from Hollywood MOHAMMED ABBAS

Contrary to what you may have thought, the Hollywood intern’s life isn’t glamourous - far from it - but their gigs don’t have to be as monotonous as they often end up for some.

Here’s my M.O.: arrive at the office in the reductively-named Writer’s Building; run errands, if any, that range from restocking the fridge with water to fetching office supplies; log in recent script submissions on the intern laptop; answer the phones when asked; “cover”, or analyze, scripts to determine if they’re worth developing. Easy peasy, right? If only.

Budding screenwriters, heed Michael Arndt’s axiom: “My thing is that most scripts aren’t bad; they’re just not done yet.”

God-Awful scripts overflow with glaring flaws such that my comments section practically writes itself; the arduous challenge is staying within the low page count. But when the Little

Script That Could Have lands on my lap, I turn autistic and wile away the hours by combing over every page like it’s forensic evidence, scoping out clues that can salvage the work. As you can see, neither Bad nor Half-Assed scripts afford the intern any convenience, so you’re screwed either way.

Unless you’re a writer.

With a writer’s eye, you know to look through a knee-jerk scowl and figure out how not to introduce a character, impose rigid story structures, or pace an action sequence. Every script is an education that can refine your storytelling sensibilities you just need the right frame of mind.

With geeky fervour I met our next door office neighbor, Jonah Nolan, co-writer of The Dark Knight, who divulged project details that would make Harry Knowles squeal with delight.

But that never would’ve happened if I hadn’t brazenly asked my supervisor for a formal in-

troduction. I went on a touristy studio lot tour, valued at fifty bucks and over two hours long, but, without pulling the “unpaid-intern” card, I never would’ve gone on for free.

The intern’s biggest perk is their access to information, but that cherry on top is a useless garnish if you don’t have the intern’s biggest assets - the chutzpah to mine and ask questions. I can ask to read Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay, The Social Network, or read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Scorsese’s next project; I can print out the budgetary breakdown for Donnie Darko, and permissibly listen in on phone conversations to read between the lines of Hollywood parlance.

It’s both strange yet, by now, utterly normal to know that I can, in just a few keystrokes, pull up Robert Rodriguez’s cell phone number. Now, if only I can get Natalie Portman’s…

When Frederick Sanger demonstrated that a sequence of nucleotides (the ABC’s of DNA) could be deciphered, he instigated one of the largest scientific competitions of all time (the Human Genome Project) and gave birth to the field of genomics. The classic definition of genomics is the study of the complete genetic composition of a life form. All the fervor, however, took a dive, as the application of the findings became stagnant. That’s when a new field of science emerged from the shadows. Proteomics is interested in studying the complete collection of proteins found in cells. It is proteins, after all, that form much of the functional machinery within cells.

Within the last decade, enormous advances in technological capabilities have catapulted proteomics to the forefront of science. To ensure survival of the field, with lessons learned form the genomics consortia, the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) was formed by an international advisory council.

Acting as a coordinator, HUPO encourages for public accessibility and non-patenting of basic data, and international cooperation and collaborations amongst researchers. Nothing embodies all these traits like the

HUPO Annual World Congress.

The 8th annual international conference was hosted by none other than Toronto this year at the grand Westin Harbour Castle.

With approximately 1,200 participants, representing over 30 different countries, the place has been bustling with innovative concepts and passionate discussions.

Where else would I have learned about the proteome changes in the brains of cocaine addicts, or potential diagnostic tests for pancreatic cancer? The last three days have been long and exhaustive, packed with poster presentations and lectures, yet simultaneously stimulating.

Meeting the pioneers of the field and learning about novel scientific findings and technology, prior to publication, has made the experience all the more worthwhile.

However, in contrast to popular belief, science is not all work and no play. Mayor David Miller was on hand Monday to kick start the opening ceremonies, followed by live entertainment celebrating the diversity that is Canada, from a pair of rockin’ bagpipers to a troupe of break dancers. With the combination of a smorgasbord of treats and an open bar, the night was definitely early.

My proteome however, was not too happy the next morning.

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the inside

October 1, 2009

5

U of T author Kenneth Oppel chats with the newspaper Diana wilson Walk into any 6th grade classroom in Canada, and you’re nearly guaranteed to find Kenneth Oppel. His series of adventure books, Silverwing, and his more recent series, Airborn, are the basis of a multi-media kidlit superstructure. The U of T alumnus spent this past weekend at the Word on the Street literary festival to promote his Can-lit agenda. Mired in the swamp of publishers promoting their fall catalogue, Oppel took the chance to reflect on his career and the industry that shaped it. the newspaper: When you were starting out, you had a contact for Roald Dahl through a family friend. Did that help you get your foot in the door of the industry?

Kenneth Oppel: Oh, of course.

I mean, it was huge. Knowing people in the industry doesn’t necessarily help you. But in this case, I mean, he genuinely liked what he read. I sent him a manuscript for a short children’s novel. He liked it enough that he sent it to his literary agent, and they liked it enough to take me on as a client. I don’t think knowing someone is a guarantee to getting a big break, but it’s a chance. That was certainly my lucky break as a writer.

in high school when you wrote your first book?

KO: I wrote it when I was 14, and re-wrote it a year later, when I was 15. tn: So it’s not completely unrealistic that someone so young should be published KO: No, not at all. In fact, Gordon Korman - he wrote his when he was 12. And Christopher Paulini - who wrote those Eragon books that are very popular - I think he was 15. So it happens. tn: You worked as an children’s books editor at Quill and Quire for year. How did it feel being on the other side of the industry?

KO: It wasn’t the first time. I had previously worked as an editor at Scholastic Canada for several months, after I graduated from U of T. And I wrote book reviews for Quill and Quire for years before I took that job. To me, it was an extension of what I do. Yes, you’re thinking of it from the other side, but you’re using a lot of the same critical tools.

tn: But you were about that age when you started out. You were

tn: Does it feel like in the publishing industry, one side of the fence is all business— agents, people thinking of the bottom line, publishers—and on the other side are all the creative types? Do you find that it’s like that, or is there a lot of crossover KO: Well, it’s both. Publishing is a business first and foremost. It’s like any business.

They want to make a profit, they want to do well, they want to sell books. But at the same time, the kind of people that go into publishing do tend to have a genuine love of literature, and books, and reading. In the last year with the economic downturn there’s been a much bigger emphasis on the commerce side of it. So the danger now is the book business becoming a

tn: If you were to pick one issue to emphasize for the next election, what would it be?

EM: I think in the next election coming up, we will want to stress the economy and how to recover from the recession, and point out the things that the Harper government has done

wrong. Everywhere else around the world the response to the recession has been to say, “Well, we have to shift our economy off of fossil fuels anyway, let’s do it in a way that is focusing on job creation and getting out of the recession.” So if you are going to have a major economic

tn: Do you get sent manuscripts from young writers?

KO: Yeah, from time to time.

Or teachers who think they have promising gifted students. Or parents who notice their kids are always typing away and writing stories. There’s lots of kids who obviously have a fire in them, and some of them, no doubt, will go on to be publishable authors. It’s rare. And people have unrealistic expectations of their 10 or 12 or 14 year-old.

lot more like the movie business. Publishers are putting a lot more of their energy and assets into big splashy blockbusters and they will spend a disproportionate amount of money pumping those books.

And they’ll publish fewer titles and few books that they think are risky or unusual. tn: Let’s talk about the fame.

Authors complain that they have to do too much publicity going on book tours, speaking events, interviews. Do you ever resent having to have a public persona?

KO: It would be a very foolish author that would complain about those things; because the reality is that, I’d say, 95% of authors get nothing in terms of publicity. Nothing at all. They rely on good reviews, word of mouth, or independent bookstores to champion certain books. tn: As I was reading up on and researching your work today, I began to realize that you have a multi-media story empire.

Aside from your books, you do readings and appearances, have websites devoted to particular series. You have teaching aids, novel study supplements for teachers, fan clubs.

Is this empire structure new to children’s literature?

KO: A lot of these things you mention existed before. It’s just smart for a publisher. If they want to get the books into schools and libraries, they want to have teaching guides written. [Teachers] would really rather teach the same book they’ve taught for 12 years and have notes prepped for them, than introduce a new book into their curriculum. So if you can give them a reading guide they’re more likely to use it.

The internet opens up all sorts of fun possibilities to promote your book with flashy animated trailers. I’m fortunate enough stimulus package with government dollars to kick-start the economy, let’s have a public policy goal that makes sense. So creating jobs through greening the economy, through more renewables, through more energy efficiency, all of those things, like high speed rail, that is what we advocate as Greens in Canada. That’s what the US got through the Obama administration, that’s what European governments are doing, and that’s what China is doing. And here we are in Canada with an economic stimulus package that is not even geared to job creation as a primary goal. It’s a very modest target for job creation of 179,000 new jobs by 2010, and cuts to support for renew-

that my publishers have been willing to pay for that so that the books do have a presence. tn: Do you find having multiple platforms like that affects your work from inception to execution?

KO: The ultimate goal is always back to the book. I have nothing else to sell but the book. All [the teaching aids and trailers] come afterwards. tn: It gives you an opportunity to interact more with your fans.

KO: Definitely. The increase of your presence through the internet makes it easier for your able energy. So I will want to both be talking about what can still be done positively in the future and what can we do to ensure that Canada’s economy isn’t rebuilt as an economy that is focused on obsolete industries. How do we ensure that we build an economy that’s suited for the 21st century and that’s focused on the shift away from fossil fuels. tn: Do you have any final thoughts to pass on to possible voters amongst the U of T population?

EM: Make sure that people know that it really matters to vote.

Whatever it takes, to get one more message to students: when you’re disgusted with politics and you think “I just don’t want

fans to get in touch with you.

But it’s a double-edged sword, in a way. I remember writing to my heroes when I was a kid and I never heard back from them.

Because god only knows where your letter ended up. Now everyone has a website, an email address, and a Facebook account. But the odd thing about it is, it helped breed this culture of false intimacy on the part of the reader with the writer. It’s this sort of craving to establish a relationship with the author. tn: And perhaps demand things of the author. Like a different ending.

KO: Yeah, well, they can. to encourage them,” “it doesn’t matter how I vote,” that kind of sentiment actually only rewards Stephen Harper who has specifically designed election strategies to decrease the vote. It’s really important that if you are feeling disgusted with politicians or politics that you get out and vote, and vote for something you believe in. Because otherwise the system is just going to keep spiralling downwards. So, it’s really helpful, whether voting Green or whatever. It’s critical that every single student at U of T who is eligible to vote, to make that vote. You can vote in your home riding by getting an absentee ballot, or you can vote on campus, and it really will make a difference.

the arts

6

October 1, 2009

U of T’s Michael Uloth shines in COC Nuit Blanche cont’d from page 1

Michael Uloth in COC’s Così fan tutte.

tral. All the colour comes from the lighting.”

Uloth maintains a rigorous rehearsal schedule, which runs for six hours a day, six days a week. “It’s pretty wild. Any free time I have is mainly downtime these days.”

But it’s not all so arduous.

Uloth revealed that the easiest part of his job will be donning a wetsuit in The Nightingale and “floating around in a pool while working on the coolest opera I’ve ever seen.”

He talked candidly about the challenges facing a young person in the nascent stages of the profession. “For a young singer, it’s that you wake up every day and your voice is a little bit different. What worked vocally yesterday may not work today.

It can be distressing. It’s a challenge to discover your many voices.”

Uloth aspires to his dream role of Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlos. “My voice type doesn’t come into its own until I’m in my mid-thirties. I’ll probably be in my forties before I’m able to do it.”

When I asked him about his family’s reaction to his operatic success, he chuckled. “They’re happy about it, and probably still a little confused. Originally, I was thinking about becoming a teacher, and that was an idea that they could understand.”

Madama Butterfly runs through Nov. 3 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

video depicts an individual walking horizontally down a building, seemingly defying gravity.

The dropout theme is expressed humourously by Emily Gove & Alison S. M. Kobayashi & Jennie Suddick. Their creative collaboration, “Cry School Yearbook,” will entail volunteers given dark makeovers and having their pictures taken.

The pictures will later be assembled into the “Ultimate Yearbook of Dropouts” Other artists, such as Erika Kierulf, also present abstract work, but tackle slightly different themes.

Kierulf’s “My Idiot” is a video presentation displaying two women banging their heads against a wall.

ALEX NURSALL

Toronto operagoers will witness one of the rising stars of the Canadian Opera Company (COC).

Bass singer Michael Uloth, 27, plays the Imperial Commissioner who officiates at the marriage of Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which opened the COC season on Saturday night.

A Kitchener native, Uloth graduated with a Masters in Music from U of T in 2006. During the summer of 2007, he was one of two Canadians chosen to train with Glimmerglass opera company in New York state.

This marks Uloth’s second year as a member of the COC Ensemble Studio. His previous performance was in its 2008/09 production of Così fan tutte.

This season, He also takes up the role of Bonze in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale and the voice of Neptune in Mozart’s Idomeneo.

Although he occupies an enviable position for a young singer, Uloth’s foray into opera was surprising.

“It was all very accidental,” he said. “I had enrolled in an English degree at Wilfred Laurier University, and added music as a second thought.”

Uloth’s appreciation for opera may have bloomed late, but he aptly explains its appeal. “Everything is on such a grand scale. It’s really about hearing the sound, that level of expression coming out of a person. It shows you an extreme display of emotion.”

As one of the sturdiest classics of the old Italian repertory, the COC features an unprecedented 15-performance run of Madama Butterfly, under the fifth-time direction of Brian Macdonald.

“It’s a production the COC is very proud of and it’s a huge hit,”said Uloth. “It has very traditional staging, but it’s exquisitely done. The set is very neu-

ALEX NURSALL

amy stupavsky

The piece is inspired by the Philippine tarsier, a primate that is known to commit suicide by banging its head.

Those familiar with the Food Network’s show “Food Jammers” will be pleased to know that the trio’s new culinary contraption will be displayed in the Hart House courtyard. This time they have constructed a ferris wheel that delivers food and drink. It will be “a kind of vending machine that is more dreamy than functional,” Blackwood Gallery writes.

This is Christof Migone’s second year as curator for the exhibition.

Drop Out, along with his previous two shows, are associated with The Blackwood Gallery – a contemporary art gallery located at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.

The staff at CIUT 89.5FM gather around the rapidly decaying stairs of the old station at 91 St. George St. for the last time before making the final move to Hart House. Immediately after this photo was taken, the entire station collapsed into a pile of rubble, CDs, and angry squirrels. first row (l to r): Ron Burd, Jamaias DaCosta stairs (l to r): Stewart Ogilvie, Brian Burchell, Ken Stowar, Michelle Johnson, Diana Wilson, Binny Colvin, Kate Adach, Barabra Isherwood, Andi Barnaba, Sam Petite, Eric Betlam

the arts

October 1, 2009

7

U of T alumnus draws a convincing Blank State miki sato Imagine this: Toronto in the future – a city full of abandoned condos and high-rises, where everyone has fled, except for the artists, who are left to fend for themselves. This “condopocalyptic universe” is the basis for U of T alumnus Dave Proctor’s first full-length literary work, Blank State. The first installment of the novella series Volume Zero: Condopocalypse Now! - illustrates the response to a deserted city core through the eyes of two ambitious young filmmakers.

Proctor’s idea for Blank State arose after attending one of his sister’s high school drama performances, where he considered the notion that acting might be “just taking steps towards the darkest parts of human nature”.

Presented with the idea of the “doughnut hole” theory of city development around the same time, the author merged these concepts - along with his idea for a story involving clique-y musicians - and created a postreal estate market crash, entirely artist-driven Toronto.

Exploring the themes of alienation and alternate reality, Proctor cites his influences, authors Franz Kafka and Kurt Vonnegut, for their “not-always-subtle weigh-ins on life and the world, and how they can be so funny and so tragic and so beautiful all at once.”

He acknowledges Dr. Seuss too, who is “often filled with scathing commentary” and also “has the balls to make it fun and filled with hope.”

Proctor does a polished job at simultaneously painting an accurate portrait of Toronto’s art scene, while offering valid criticism on it as well. In Blank State, we are introduced to a new geography of the city, where downtown becomes an allegorical warzone, and the territory of Actors, Filmmakers, Musicians, and Writers, are well-defined.

It’s a Toronto where Convocation Hall is transformed into a concert stadium, a Queen convenience store into a Studio; where OCAD, Fair Frade organic food, and a Rush song, all start to look a little more magical, more romantic.

As well as possessing dark-

comedic social commentary, the story’s portrayal of the early stages of love between two of its main characters, Helena and The Bum, is “very pure, very normal.” “I wanted people to read this sprawling satire about cannibals and crazed musicians and a city that allows condos to be built on top of hospitals.

And yet, through all that, look at Helena and The Bum and see their romance as the most unbelievable aspect.”

Proctor states that his goal with Blank State was “not just to bitch about a lack of connection in the Toronto Art Scene, but to try to create some of that community.”

“That’s why I had three very different musicians--Dog Star Man, MJ Cyr and Chang-ALang--two incredible live painters--both from Funktion Gallery--and one very underrated venue--The Bread & Circus--all mashed together to help me celebrate the book’s launch.”

The same theme-specific launch party is planned for the second installment of Blank State, slated for release in January 2010.

“Blank State – Volume Zero: Condopocalypse Now!” is available at This Ain’t the Rosedale Library (86 Nassau St.) and

Funktion Gallery (1244 Bloor St. W), or can be purchased online at www.woodenrocketpress.com

Atwood floods T.O.’s literary scene One of the chief concerns of our epoch is the possibility of a human-caused global environmental apocalypse. The theme of Margaret Atwood’s first novel in four years, The Year of the Flood, explores the effect of such an apocalypse on humanity.

The novel is set in a dystopian world mis-ruled by governments and organizations whose values are a twisted response to the sense of pending doom in the environment. The narrative is nonlinear, and covers the time period from when the evil CorpSeCorps took over as a fascist government to just after the waterless Flood, a vast plague that killed off most of the population.

This is a powerful and occasionally darkly humourous book. The slogan of the subversive burger joint, Secret Burgers, is “Because everyone loves a secret,” the secret being the ingredients in their food. The “Garboil” is a source of energy that boils everything, including plague-infested corpses, into a combustible fuel. In balance, however, it is a taut and terrifying read, deriving some of its power from its allusions to biblical promises of violence and destruction.

While many of Atwood’s inventive composite animal species are adorable, such as the Liobams (lions with lamb faces), MoHairs (sheep bred for providing human hair extensions), and Rakunks (raccoon/skunks, bred as pets), the humans have been hardened by the trials of survival. This is the case of Ren, a prostitute who narrates part of the novel, and the “Anooyoo” spa manager, Toby, who is the novel’s other focalizer. Both Ren and Toby are former idealists among the Gardener cultists, perpetually-stoned vegans led

by Adam One, whose appearances take the form of speeches and hymns. A subtle biblical note reaches its climax when the Gardeners, despite their sometimes naive philosophies, end up being the ones who will repopulate the Earth.

For me, the religious note continued after I finished reading the book. I found myself in St. James Anglican Cathedral on Thursday night to attend the Toronto stop for the book tour, which featured a dramatic presentation designed to increase public knowledge of global warming.

Sections of the book were read by performers who, contrary to what the Year of the Flood’s website suggests, did

not so much act out characters as just read from the novel.

A half-costumed choir, acting as Gardeners, sung hymns conducted by composer Orville Stoever. Atwood said very little, besides a few sentences welcoming the audience and the occasional introduction to a particular section. At the end of the readings, Atwood proclaimed that the ending was uncertain, and marched out singing an environmentally-themed hymn with the Gardeners and the readers.

Outside the cathedral, Nature Canada had a display where they were accepting donations and handing out flyers. Ian Davidson, Executive Director of Nature Canada, remembers when Atwood first took interest in this NGO. Davidson explained that Atwood and her partner, Graeme Gibson, assumed presidency over the Rare Bird Club, a sister NGO to Nature Canada and Birdlife International about three years ago.

“Margaret is fantastically supportive of environmental causes,” he said. “She sent me an e-mail about three months ago about using the launch for the Year of the Flood as a fundraiser. The launch has also been essential to raising aware-

PHOTO CAPTION ALEX NURSALL

CAILIN SMART

Atwood works her robo-pen at this past weekend’s Word on the Street ness for local bird habitats. (Atwood) has a finger on the pulse of trends, like H1N1, any calamity of global catstrophe.”

Davidson has put his own finger on a key element of Atwood’s behaviour: find what is most fashionably terrifying, write a book about it, and, if possible, associate herself with the relevant NGO. She became heavily involved with the Canadian division of PEN, an organization that assists writers around the world who are persecuted for peaceful expression of their views, and has been an advocate for women’s rights in third-world countries through

Amnesty International. Subsequently, her 1981 collection of short fiction, True Stories, extensively explores the theme of violence against women. More recently, she wrote a series of essays called Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, at a time when the world feared an impending economic collapse.

This performance begs the question: has she gone too far?

Art need not always be purely for art’s sake, but this event took her warning to the world about the potential human cost of environmental disaster and reduced it to a point that, to me, seemed almost artless.

the backpage

8

October 1, 2009

the crossword by andrew Gyorkos Across

Down

6. Nobody in particular 8. Phoned-in Sit-Com Episode 10. Daylight 11. Elevates 12. Church Elder 13. Breakfast items that may be Denver or French 15. Admires 16. Quality or gait 19. Rave reviews 21. Part of a poem 23. Cheap cigar 24. Many ideal beers 25. Speaks spastically 26. Pretty, beautiful [in Spanish]

1. Wounds 2. Used a candle again 3. Terrifies wailings 4. Fault 5. Appease 7. Treatise about performance anxiety?

9. Goes for all the points in Hearts 14. Suffocated 17. Appreciates 18. Method or course of action 20. Groups of eight 22. “From Russia with Love” villain

First person to correctly complete a crossword puzzle gets a drink on us.

Drop off your crossword to our office at 1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 2.

We dare you to use permanent marker.

All the rest of you, check next week’s issue for answers.

missed connections - on campus I saw you in class again today. You, with your beautiful blonde curls, listening passionately with your eyes closed. You, sitting next to that slick haired, polo-shirt wearing bro again, his arm around your waist. God if I could only punch him. He’s nothing --you’re too good for him. Him, that loaf, with his soft brown eyes, and confident glance, his beautiful, proud smile...

I suppose I’ll simply have to fail the both of you.

Thursday at the athletic centre. You - yellow scrunchy, green leg warmers. Me - macbook pro, goofy hair. You dropped your wallet, I picked it up for you. Can I get you anything else? - call me!

the campus comment the newspaper asks: what event you would create for Nuit Blanche?

There should be fashion ninjas that tone down hipster faux pas at Nuit Blanche...

Courtney, Visual Studies

An interactive piece in Queen’s Park where the only rule is that you must wear a shirt and shoes, but no pants.

Alex Nursall, the newspaper Photo Editor

...and maybe these ninjas commandeer the UTM bus...

Dee, Visual Studies

Throw a suitcase full of fake cash off the tall buildings of the financial district.

Taylor Ramsay, the newspaper Ad Man

...and drop off their makeover victims to lifedrawing stations on street corners.

Vanessa, Visual Studies

I’d throw a rave in Robarts.

Helene Goderis, the newspaper Editor-in-Chief

You asked me if there were traces of peanuts in our food. It was my first day and I said “no”.

I’m sorry.

You were the sexy belgian editor of an independent campus paper, I was but a drunken fool. Our eyes met and it was fire!

Call me to connect.

Ve vere transpohteeng a caaart phool af buks to theee Robahrts Librery. Tha Caaaart heet a carb and tappled ower, takeenga vith it aaalll hour buks. Ju ver the wonly wone who ishtopped to halp! Thenk Ju!

to respond or send your missed connections, email thenewspaper@gmail.com