Volume 47, Issue 1

The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Toronto Mississauga since 1974

Issue 001 Volume 47

September 7 2020

themedium.ca

BLUEDOT STARTUP

NEW BEGINNINGS

ALEX VUKSINIC-GAUTHIER

Start-ups from the University of Toronto have been aiding in the prevention and relief efforts against COVID-19. In fact, one of these companies was among the first in the world to identify the novel coronavirus back in December 2019. >> continued on page 4

We’ve all got work to do in creating a more transparent and equitable learning institution and workplace, and we at the paper promise to do our part by challenging misconduct and listening to you, our reader. >> continued on page 6

Paint-splattered easels pile under the rusted shelf in the painting studio. Dust swirls around the table saw and chunks of timber in the wood shop...

>> continued on page 16

Canadians demand law enforcement reform Isik Vera Senel News Editor

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he Canadian public continues its demands for governmental action regarding institutionalized racism within law enforcement.

Calls for limiting police authority and jurisdiction in addition to constricting their funds have significantly increased internationally since the untimely death of George Floyd, an American killed by an arresting police officer on May 25, 2020.

>> continued on page 2

The sixth anniversary of Max’s Big Ride

Salee Johnson-Edwards is changing how the game is played Sarah-May Edwardo-Oldfield Sports Editor

S >> see page 12

alee Johnson-Edwards’ basketball career began, like many, when she was a child in her hometown of Brampton, Ontario. “I just picked up a ball and started bouncing it.” She described it as something that just came naturally. Her grandfather bought her a basketball when she was eight and by grade five, Salee was playing for her school’s team and beginning to stand out as an athlete with potential.

After Johnson-Edwards’ first year, her coach told her parents she was really talented and continued to push her. >> continued on page 19

02

NEWS

Canadians demand law enforcement reform Isik Vera Senel News Editor >> continued from page 1 Although this incident took place in the United States, people across the globe were reasonably outraged and organized rallies to call for change.

CANADA JOINS INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENTS Two days after Floyd’s death, Toronto resident Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell to her death from an apartment balcony on May 27, 2020. Her death was considered suspicious by multiple family members who then called for an investigation into the law enforcement officers present at the scene.

Although the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) reviewed the incident, they declared the officers involved to be innocent of any malpractice or misconduct. However, many citizens, including Korchinski-Paquet’s family, were unsatisfied with the investigation and multiple protests were organized across Canada.

On May 30, almost 4,000 Toronto residents came together in a rally coordinated by Not Another Black Life, a Canadian political organization. Following these events, Canada became one of the most active and forceful centres for protests against institutionalized racism in law enforcement.

Editor | Isik Vera Senel news@themedium.ca

defund the police.

“The mainstream definition [of defunding the police is] reassigning some of the roles, responsibilities, functions that we currently assign to the police to other organizations, agencies, or institutions that are better equipped and resourced to fulfil those roles,” he stated. “Relatedly, reallocating the funds we currently give the police to do those things.”

BLACK LIVES MATTER AND THE POLICE OPERATING BUDGET Black Lives Matter (BLM), an international organization targeting acts of discrimination and brutality by law enforcement officials, aims to bring an end to the oppression of black and indigenous communities.

“There is no Black Liberation without Indigenous Liberation,” states the Canadian chapter of BLM. BLM Canada addresses the main concerns of the ‘defund police’ movement and expands its demand to four core principles. They request that the government defund, demilitarize, disarm, and dismantle law enforcement.

The 2020 operating budget for law enforcement in Toronto alone is $1.22 billion, making up almost 10 per cent of the city’s entire annual budget.

On June 8, 2020, councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam and Josh Matlow put forward a motion to the Toronto city council requesting a 10 per cent decrease in law enforcement funds. They stated that the money retained from this cut, adding up to $122 million, could be spent on strengthening and supporting local communities.

Although Wong-Tam and Matlow’s motion was denied, the city council approved the proposal on law enforcement reform presented by Toronto mayor John Tory on June 29. The council’s approach to the issue paralleled the stance of Mark Saunders, the Toronto police chief at that time.

Saunders had stated that he was entirely against the initial motion to reduce funding but was supportive of the proposal to improve Toronto police services. However, he believed there were no current feasible alternatives to officers’ practices.

Moreover, the Toronto police’s 2020 budget request, as published on their website, states that it is appealing for a net four per cent increase over the 2019 budget, with more than half of it dedicated to increasing salaries and benefits.

TORONTO POLICE OF CHIEF RESIGNS UNEXPECTEDLY

DEFUNDING POLICE SERVICES The movement, which calls for tightened law enforcement funds, has accumulated many different meanings and interpretations in the media. While some state it demands the decrease of taxpayer money allotted to police intuitions, others have argued the movement requires the complete discontinuation of government funds toward law enforcement.

Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), has played an essential role in the discussions surrounding Canadian law enforcement and the oppression of black and indigenous citizens.

With most of his work focused on criminal justice, policing, and race, Owusu-Bempah is the go-to expert for media outlets and independent researchers. In an interview with The Londoner, following a rally outside of London city hall, OwusuBempah provided a much-needed analysis of what it meant to

Shortly after the tragic events which ignited the call to defund the police and the council’s decisions, Saunders, who had been the police chief since 2015, resigned on July 31, eight months sooner than outlined in his contract without providing an official explanation. This act was considered by many Toronto residents to be sudden and highly unusual as Saunders was one of the two officers in his position who was ever elected to serve a second term in the past four decades.

Mayor Tory’s reform proposal to the council requested that police services provide the council with an in-depth account of their budget and have it reviewed by the auditor general.

This request raised some questions about the city’s law enforcement’s transparency and accountability before 2020. The council’s decision also stated that by January 2021, all officers will be supplied with body cameras, a policy which has been opposed by local police unions for many years.

CANADIAN POLICE BOARDS FIGHT FOR BUDGET INCREASES Similar motions were presented in other cities and provinces. On May 13, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart and the city council approved a motion to decrease the Vancouver police services’ 2020 operating budget by one per cent.

It is important to note that the budget dedicated to police services in Vancouver constitutes 20 per cent of the city’s annual budget. However, Barj Dhahan, the chair of the Vancouver police board finance committee, responded to the council’s

decision via a letter, which was later acquired by CTV News, and requested that they retract their approval of the motion.

“The board has carefully considered the implications of council’s motion and remains firm that protecting the wellbeing of the community through adequate resourcing of our police department is paramount, in particular during these uncertain times,” stated Dhahan, speaking on behalf of the Vancouver police board.

Much like the attitude of the Toronto police, the Vancouver police board’s main concern regarding a potential funding cut was staffing and the integrity of their ongoing operations.

“The result of the current budget has just now returned the department to 2009 staffing levels; any reduction in staffing or a set target of a one per cent reduction to the budget is not viable and would be detrimental to public safety,” argued Dhahan.

Before concluding the letter, Dhahan emphasized that the Vancouver police board, alongside the police department and the chief constable, is not obligated to follow the city council’s directions. This statement essentially dismisses the council’s decision and refutes any authority it may have over the police board.

“Given the unique characteristics of the policing function, legislation across Canada has placed a police board between the municipal council and the police department as an independent and autonomous authority,” Dhahan continued. “The police department takes its direction from the municipal police board and not the municipal council.”

POLICE OPEN TO REFORM (BUT NOT BUDGET CUTS) Law enforcement officials across Canada have expressed that they are against the restriction of their funds but are open to recommendations to help reform and enhance their practices.

On July 10, Blue Line, an independent law enforcement magazine whose readership is mostly officers, published an interview with Judith Andersen, an associate professor of psychology at UTM. Andersen discussed the current structure of the police force within law enforcement and how it can be improved.

Andersen is the professor leading the HART Lab at UTM with research programs such as evidence-based police training, the implicit racial bias associations test, and police lethal force behavior. Andersen’s research analyzes the Implicit Attitudes Test as a potential screening procedure for incoming officers and its effectiveness in identifying racial bias among law enforcement officers to prevent racially motivated shootings.

NEW CHIEF OF POLICE Following the resignation of Mark Saunders in Toronto, residents were left with unanswered questions, wondering who will take over the role of chief of police and, more importantly, who should. Owusu-Bempah addressed these concerns in an interview with The Toronto Star.

“We need a new chief that will recognize the gravity of the moment, and not waste the potential for meaningful progress that the current calls for reform provide,” said OwusuBempah.

He went on to state that he is hopeful of the

03 police board’s ability to choose a qualified chief of police, but if they fail to address the public’s demands, “they’ll lose more support and respect from an already skeptical public.”

While members of the Toronto police board are selecting the new chief of police, James Ramer has temporarily taken over for Saunders. During his first press conference as interim chief of police, Ramer affirmed that police services would be reporting to the SIU for each event officers are involved in, regardless if the incident took place on or off duty.

SIU UNDER CRITICISM The SIU is also among the law enforcement bodies under criticism for discrimination and bias. According to the Canadian Press, of the 167 total members active in the SIU, 111 are former law enforcement officers, making up over 66 per cent of the unit. Additionally, the information provided by the provincial units themselves, excluding British Columbia, shows that only 20 individuals within the SIU identify as a person of colour, making up 11 per cent of all members.

Many institutions have expressed their support of the BLM movement and their calls to defund police services. Among them is the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, the nation’s leading mental health hospital.

In June, following police involvement in the deaths of three civilians experiencing psychiatric crises, CAMH officials expressed their position on law enforcement reform, supporting the movements which called for decreasing their funds.

One of the three individuals tragically killed by police officers was Mississauga resident and father of four, Ejaz Choudry.

On June 20, police responded to a non-emergency call from Choudry’s family. They were worried about the 62-year-old’s well-being struggling with schizophrenia, as they were suspicious he had stopped taking his medication.

The family called the authorities in hopes that paramedics, not the police, would respond to the call, help him through his mental health crisis, and take him to the hospital if need be. However, instead of recognizing the fragility of any emergencies involving people struggling with mental health issues and approaching with caution, the police arrived at the scene by entering Choudry’s apartment through a balcony on the second floor.

According to his family, Choudry, who didn’t understand English, was in his apartment alone, suffering a mental breakdown, suicidal, and armed with a single pocketknife. The ensuing investigation revealed that the officers involved didn’t wait for the negotiator’s arrival before entering the apartment and tried to appease the crisis via rubber bullets and stun guns. But one officer was eventually compelled to fire his gun, killing the 62-yearold then and there.

Hassan Choudhary, Choudry’s nephew, stated that the officers should have at least waited for his family to arrive at the scene to talk to their uncle and try to calm him down.

“You have this man with all these medical conditions who can barely stand up, and instead of helping him and prevent him from killing himself, you go in and kill him?” Choudhary questioned in an interview with CBC News.

In a June 23 statement, CAMH emphasized the need for new policies surrounding crisis response. They stated that law enforcement officers should never be the first to respond to calls involving mental health crises and suggested an adaptation of successful international programs and procedures.

“For too long, the

health care system has relied on police to respond to mental health crises in the community,” read the statement. “Transformative change is needed to support a new way forward. People with mental illness and their families deserve better.”

This sentiment was also upheld in local discussions. On July 9, the Peel Regional Council approved a motion that called for reducing officer presence in emergency calls involving mental health concerns.

The motion was presented by Dipika Damerla, the councillor of Mississauga ward seven, who hopes that change is implemented soon and prevent tragedies like that of Ejaz Choudry.

However, as detailed in the 1990 Mental Health Act of Ontario, only law enforcement officers have the authority to detain and escort an individual in crisis to the hospital. Damerla stated that she hopes the provincial government responds to her concerns, which are shared by many others, and re-evaluates the outdated Mental Health Act to bring on significant permanent change.

James Eades/unsplash.com. UTM is committed to maintaining a safe and anti-racism campus for all.

New course selections offered at UTM in 2020 Kasia Proce Contributor

The University of Toronto Mississauga will be offering a variety of new courses across departments. Over the summer, the historical studies and the department of economics announced the names of the new courses commencing this academic year.

The new courses issued by the history department are HIS104: A History of Here, HIS212: The History of Capitalism, GRK211: Introductory Ancient Greek I, CLA395: Horror and the Grotesque in Ancient Rome, and LAT211: Introductory Latin I. Assistant Professor of History Brian Gettler, who will be the instructor for HIS104, discussed the course in an interview with The Medium and how course delivery will be different this year.

“HIS104 is what it says—a history of here,” said Gettler. “The course will focus on Mississauga and the GTA, while also digging into the history of UTM and the University of Toronto.”

“It will focus on a broad range of topics, including colonialism, rural, urban and suburban development, consumer culture, and campus life. It will also focus on more timely issues like disease and policing,” he continued. “The course, as part of a new approach by the department of historical studies to offer relatively small firstyear courses, also serves as an introduction to the academic discipline of history.”

Gettler emphasized the importance of historical scholarship and how the course was designed to teach students how to “analyze material and immaterial traces of the past, and problematize the space in which they find themselves.”

When asked about how new online course delivery methods, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, will impact learning, Professor Gettler responded, “It is true that I, like many other professors, am not an expert at online teaching, I think the current context allows for some unique opportunities.”

“Though we will be unable to take group field trips, we will still host visitors and may take virtual field trips to more places than would have otherwise been possible,” continued Gettler. “I am also hopeful that the technology we will be using will allow for greater student feedback and more flexibility in terms of when, where, and how everyone participates.”

Professor Gettler went on to assure students that these courses will be available in upcoming years alongside several other new first-year courses.

“Though I will certainly miss the classroom experience and the excitement of campus in the fall, I am convinced that the new environment will provide unexpected benefits,” concluded Gettler.

The economics department will also be offering several new courses this year. As published on the department’s website, ECO351: Special Topics: Macroeconomics and Psychology, ECO352: Special Topics: Financial Crisis & Actions of Central Banks, ECO420: Research/Dissertation Course, and ECO466: Empirical Macroeconomics and Policy will be debut during the 2020-2021 academic year.

The undergraduate advisor for the economics department, Ferzeen Sammy, spoke to The Medium about ECO466.

“The department of economics has introduced ECO466H5 this year—this course was previously offered as a special topics course,” said Sammy. “It is common for courses to evolve from special topics to permanent courses.”

Students wondering how COVID-19 will impact course delivery for the 2020-2021 academic year will be reassured to hear from Jane Stirling, the executive director of marketing and communications at UTM. Stirling spoke on behalf of Professor Amrita Daniere, UTM’s vice-principal academic and dean, regarding the online delivery of courses.

“UTM as a campus and U of T as a university have devoted significant resources to enhancing remote learning and teaching for the fall,” said Stirling. “UTM has worked through its Teaching & Learning Collaboration to inspire faculty engaged in remote teaching for the first time through many different webinars and providing individual consultation around syllabus design, communication and technology, and best practices in terms of remote or online pedagogy.”

Moreover, new staff specialized in online learning, and new filming equipment for classrooms ensures that UTM remains flexible in its course delivery methods.

“In addition, we have provided additional educational development support that will continue through the fall by hiring two additional educational developers with expertise in online instruction,” continued Stirling. “The Instructional Support and Technology unit has equipped classrooms and labs to allow for improved filming of lectures and experiments, and we have provided departments with state-of-the-art equipment to use when delivering instruction from their homes or offices.”

Encouraged by UTM’s initiatives for a smooth transaction to different modes of learning such as online synchronous and online asynchronous, Stirling said, “We believe the educational experience will be wonderful despite the change in delivery mode.”

Both departments showcase an exciting new course selection for both first-years and upper years. Although COVID-19 has drastically changed everyone’s lives in different ways, the university is actively working to ensure that course delivery remains at the highest quality possible.

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UofT start-up gains traction amid the pandemic Ricardo Valdes Contributor >> continued from page 1 BlueDot, an infectious disease surveillance company, aims to protect people around the globe by using substantial amounts of anonymized data and artificial intelligence to forecast the spread of contagious diseases.

Dr. Kamran Khan, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, founded BlueDot in 2013 and is the current CEO of the company.

Khan spoke to The Medium about BlueDot and how it has helped combat the coronavirus.

“BlueDot has built a digital global early warning system for infectious diseases that tracks threats from over 150 different pathogens and syndromes, and anticipates their potential for global spread,” stated Khan.

“Our system is built on several pillars. The first pillar is early detection of global epidemic threats,” continued Khan. In order to do this, BlueDot absorbs large amounts of unstructured data in 65 languages utilizing both machine learning and natural language processing.

“The second pillar is about anticipating dis-

persion,” added Khan. “This is where we connect the global location of outbreaks to the anonymized worldwide movements of travellers on commercial flights to other destinations around the world.”

Speed is essential for BlueDot — connecting the dots only takes a few seconds. “The insights that are generated are used to mobilize timely public health responses that optimize the use of our finite health and human resources,” said Khan.

The third pillar involves analyzing and communicating the data to end-users worldwide.

“This is essential to building communities that are resilient to the health and economic impacts from epidemics and/or pandemics.”

BlueDot started as a start-up in 2013 and was cultivated by Khan’s research at the University of Toronto. His desire to start the company came after working in the front lines of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto.

BlueDot has since partnered with the Government of Canada, the State of California, and Air Canada. The company is starting to produce metrics that will allow governments to better understand where social distancing regulations have been effective, if people have been following public health advice, and to

know where to deploy valuable resources.

However, BlueDot isn’t the only University of Toronto start-up that has achieved success this year.

Iris, AIH Technology, and LCI Movement are a few Mississauga-based start-ups that have also been gaining traction. These companies were initially established with the help of ICUBE UTM, a hub for entrepreneurship training and start-up support.

“ICUBE UTM is an on-campus incubator and accelerator. It was founded in 2015 as part of the Institute of Management and Innovation,” said Kasey Dunn, the program coordinator at ICUBE UTM, in an interview with The Medium. “We were created to help foster an environment of innovation and to support our entrepreneurial students and alumni.”

Students can get involved with ICUBE UTM in two ways. “Our most popular way is the start-up program,” said Dunn. “It’s for students or alumni who have an idea of something they want to pursue. Maybe they’ve done some research about it, but it’s not a fullfledged business.”

The program includes an intensive boot camp, ongoing workshops, advising, and mentorship. “The workshops aim to develop

skills in different areas of entrepreneurship: marketing, sales, research, idea validation, pitching, and more,” added Dunn.

ICUBE UTM focuses on businesses that have a positive social impact. “A lot of companies we help build, while they are for-profit, are social enterprises,” said Dunn. “Part of their purpose is to earn revenue, but additionally, they have a mission or goal that has to do with global impact.”

Established businesses can also get involved with ICUBE UTM in their Scale-Up program.

“This program is for entrepreneurs who have a business on the market and are looking for support to grow, earn more revenue, and hire to expand their team,” said Dunn.

ICUBE aims to create an environment where students can gain work experience in small and innovative teams, which they can later use to start a business of their own.

“From an ICUBE perspective, we consider a successful business to have a balance between earning revenue, being sustainable, creating jobs, growing the business, and having a base value where you look at the impact you’re having through your business,” added Dunn.

UTM establishes new measures against COVID Departments have moved their services online to protect student and staff health.

Hema Ramnarine Contributor

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ince the university’s sudden closure in March, the biggest question on students’ minds has been, “what can I expect this fall?”

With new COVID-19 guidelines to follow and personal health and safety to maintain, the thought of going back to school can be incredibly daunting for new and returning students alike.

To help students follow the safety guidelines laid out by the province and the university, U of T will provide students with two reusable, non-medical face masks. At UTM, all students living on residence will receive the masks in their welcome kit, and others can pick up their masks on campus starting September 8.

Though many classes will be administered online, some students may still need to be on campus to attend in-person classes. The university has implemented many new guidelines and policies to ensure students can live, study, and interact safely on campus.

Foremost of these new regulations is the temporary policy regarding face coverings, which will be required indoors in all commonuse spaces. Face coverings like face masks are especially crucial where social distancing may be difficult, such as classrooms, hallways, lobbies, and elevators. The university is also fol-

lowing Toronto’s bylaw allowing exceptions to face coverings due to underlying health conditions, provided they show proof.

It is important to note that the city bylaw is expected to expire in October, but there is no notice yet as to how this will affect the policies on campus. “We can’t speculate. Our first priority is the health and safety of our students, staff, faculty, and librarians. All our decisionmaking is predicated on this health and safety priority,” stated Jane Stirling, executive director of communications at UTM. Another important safety measure at UTM is the implementation of physical distancing.

The most obvious of these changes becomes clear when entering a classroom. Desks have been shrink-wrapped to maintain a two-metre distance between each student, making physical distancing measures evident for students and professors alike.

Common areas such as the Davis Meeting Place and building lobbies have also been reconfigured to abide by physical distancing measures. Floor markers and arrows are strategically placed to show students how to navigate common spaces, and furniture in these areas has also been rearranged to maximize space.

To continue the enforcement of safety measures during the distribution of TCards, the university has introduced the MyPhoto system. MyPhoto allows students to upload their photos and schedule an online appointment to

verify their personal information. Their physical TCard will then be available for pick-up two business days after their meeting.

With all these changes to keep in mind, many students will be wondering how other aspects of campus life will change. Yet, the most significant difference is that most classes will be moved online, and those that remain in-person will have scheduled attendance to ensure safety. Currently, there are four course delivery options: synchronous lectures with scheduled online attendance, asynchronous “on-demand” online classes without scheduled attendance, regular in-person classes, and lastly, a combination of both in-person and online lectures.

Students should keep in mind that every course is different, and how specific courses are delivered will be at the discretion of the instructor. However, students will still have options. “If a student is unable to participate fully in the course delivery model preferred by the instructor, we will work with the student to provide them with reasonable alternatives,” said Stirling.

In terms of university services, almost everything will be offered online. The Registrar’s office will be offering online appointments and extended online hours, as well as limited in-person meetings. The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, the Career Centre, UTM’s Health and Counselling Centre, and the Centre for Student Engagement are all of-

fering their services online.

Furthermore, Accessibility Services is among the few departments that will continue their work on an online platform. “Accessibility advising and support moved almost fully online this past spring and summer and will remain primarily online into the fall,” stated Stirling.

“Test and exam accommodations will be determined by how individual instructors and courses offer their tests and exams,” continued Stirling. “The Accessibility Services department is working with students to understand and assist with individual disability-related issues, such as mask-related concerns for those who read lips or have respiratory issues.”

Lastly, access to the Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre will be restricted to members of the university community, which includes registered students, staff, and faculty, as is the case with all university buildings. RAWC programming will also emphasize adapted outdoor activities such as yoga, Pilates, and boot camps, as part of its plans for a safe and gradual return to campus.

With the safety regulation changes and ever-pressing health concerns, returning to your studies can be an intimidating task. Still, UTM’s first and foremost goal in opening up campus is to make safety a priority.

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The cost of online learning Sheryl Gurajada Contributor

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s physical restrictions worldwide continue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students are expecting their academic year to involve distance-learning and limited university experience, with many campus services either shut down or moved to an online platform. This limited service access opens up a discussion on tuition and incidental fee costs. Many of the facilities shut down, and activities cancelled indefinitely, meaning many of the items included in the total non-tuition costs will likely not be delivered.

As highlighted by the vice-provost’s office, there are still student activities offered by the Hart House and the sport and recreation departments in respective campuses online. Some of these will be made available in-person, following provincial public health and policy updates.

For students at the University of Toronto Mississauga, the Athletics department fee has been reduced by 25 per cent, the sports and recreation by 30 per cent, the Hart House by 20 per cent, the Student Services fee by 35 per cent, and the Shuttle Services fee has been waived entirely.

Similar changes have been made to other U of T campuses, but the percentages vary. Students at the St. George campus had their Athletics fee reduced by 30 per cent, Hart House fee by 20 per cent, Student Life fee by 10 per cent, and their Student Services fee waived. The Scarborough campus has reduced their Athletics department fee by 40 per cent, the Sports and Rec fee by 30 per cent, the Hart House fee by 20 per cent, and the Student Services fee reduced by 25 per cent.

Additionally, certain student societies have also lowered their fees, but these vary according to student invoices, where the changes can be seen on individual ACORN accounts.

The Athletics departments are currently only offering online services such as online workout classes and nutrition discussions. Still, they will be on stand-by with in-person services following the lead of the government. Moreover, the Hart House will have limited openings with distancing requirements established to continue the arts, dialogue, wellness, and community engagement services.

It should be noted that the office of the vice-provost currently anticipates a full return by January 2021 and are therefore on schedule to charge total costs to students for the winter semester. However, in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 and, consequently, school closures, fees will again be reviewed for reductions.

In addition to universities’ financial relief efforts, student bodies across the country have also taken matters into their own hands to demand further cost reductions. In March 2020, University of British Columbia student Irem Atalay started a petition requesting her university lower costs after realizing she would continue to pay for services she could no longer access. Atalay’s petition currently has over 8,600 signatures and continues to grow.

A UBC spokesperson responded to this petition in an interview with CTV stating that tuition charges themselves cannot be reduced as they are “vital in maintaining the academic continuity and operations of UBC,” but followed government direction in reducing incidental fees.

A similar effort on behalf of “Students of U of T” started on change.org, addressed to U of T President Meric Gertler and Executive Assistant Morgan Russell. The petition requests further reductions, stating the differences between remote and inperson learning and their impacts on the quality of education as its primary reasons. The U of T student petition currently has over 4,500 signatures, nearing its goal of 5,000. There are also additional petitions on change.org on behalf of international U of T students, requesting tuition reductions or freezes due to the current uncertainty regarding study visas and travel.

Hayden Mak/The Medium. Orientation 2020 is being held online.

Kicking off O-Week at home This year’s orientation week is scheduled to take place entirely online.

Razia Saleh Contributor

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he Center for Student Engagement announced earlier this summer that Orientation Week would take place during the first week of school, from September 7 to September 11.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s O-Week will be virtual for all first-years who wish to attend. Although you may not be able to interact with your peers in person, the CSE has made sure that all incoming students can have a pleasant university experience.

The orientation team leader, Janina Malapitan, spoke to The Medium about Kick-Off, the first event of the week. As an introduction to O-Week, the event will include “a message from the University of Toronto Mississauga principal, meeting upper-year students, and getting a look at what is in store for an eventful O-Week.”

This year’s keynote speaker is Fiona Rawle, the associate dean of undergraduate biology. Rawle’s speech is said to provide participants with insight regarding a “surprising new ‘skill’ students will develop in their time at the university.”

Round Table Talks are also scheduled to take place from September 9 to September 11. The talks will discuss topics such as when to get academic support, how to get involved outside the classroom, and details about the UTM community.

Another series of events to look out for is Ask Me (Almost!)

Anything, which aims to help incoming students connect with upper years. Each day, participants will be divided into rooms by academic disciplines, and “students can ask our upper-year

hosts for guidance and advice on student life and expectations,” according to Malapitan.

“One of our biggest considerations this year when planning O-Week 2020 for the virtual space is helping students connect with one another while we are not able to gather in person,” continued Malapitan.

As a response to this concern of building connections through virtual platforms, the O-Week has an event on Tuesday called the O-Week Hangout. “At this event, students will be able to enter Zoom rooms to meet each other and hang out more casually, play team games, and do some art challenges too!”

Malapitan also stated that participants looking for events suited toward their program of interest should attend Tuesday’s Academic Orientation. The program allows students to “learn more about the programs they hope to enter, meet faculty and staff advisors, and learn more about the next steps!”

Co-Curricular Record, often referred to as CCR around campus, is an opportunity for students to collect universityapproved credits by helping students at the University of Toronto get recognized experience and skills recorded on their university transcript. Events held during Orientation Week will be eligible for CCR credit, thus allowing participants the opportunity to expand their resumes and start off their university career brightly.

“The online space also opens up the possibilities of global connections,” said Malapitan. “As students connect online during our events, one icebreaker question that will always be handy is ‘Where are you in the world right now?’ [which is] an exciting opportunity when it comes to globalizing one’s university experience this coming year.”

MASTHEAD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Paula Cho editor@themedium.ca Managing Editor Ali Taha managing@themedium.ca News Isik Vera Senel news@themedium.ca Comment Aya Yafaoui comment@themedium.ca Features Elizabeth Provost features@themedium.ca A&E Chris Berberian arts@themedium.ca Sports Sarah-May Edwardo-Oldfield sports@themedium.ca Photo Julia Healy photos@themedium.ca Design Tegwen McKenzie design@themedium.ca Copy Melissa Barrientos melissa@themedium.ca Alexis Whelan alexis@themedium.ca Online Yasmeen Alkoka online@themedium.ca

ASSOCIATES

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COMMENT

Editor | Aya Yafaoui comment@themedium.ca

Editorial: New beginnings & the essentials Julia Healy/The Medium Julia Healy/The Medium.

A letter from the editor on change, loss, and volume 47.

Paula Cho Editor-in-Chief

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or the past 15 years, I have always characterized September as a new beginning. The outset of each school year meant a window to write all my to-do lists and set expectations on what I wanted to accomplish in the few months ahead. Perhaps I was caught up in all the advertising for new notebooks and backpacks, but I started to internalize this idea of new.

A year ago, I was finishing up the usual back to school tasks of trying to remember the location of my classes, driving with the windows down to chase the last few streaks of pink summer sunsets, and choosing a first-day dress. Today, all of this preparation looks very different.

Routines we have established are gone and the destabilizing effect of a crisis with no cure has precluded both structure and spontaneity from our everyday lives.

But we now truly have a chance to start anew. We’ve each lost something varying in severity during the past six months to Covid-19—the life of a loved one, financial stability, or any semblance of normalcy— and it’s okay to be grieving. Grief gives us a chance to reflect on what’s hurting and to feel it more deeply, so that we may connect with someone else coping with the same. To understand what it is to be human

Read the sentence below.

It could save your life...

and luminous with how you feel in the moment is hard, but it means you’re really alive. When each of us is ready, we’ll start to embrace these lingering feelings of loss and we’ll wade into uncharted territory, into this online semester, together.

And The Medium is here for you, too. Our role as the student press is not only to deliver the daily campus news, but also to capture the perspectives and ideas of our student body. We’re going to hear and uplift your voices, and we’ll continue to be a platform you can trust to hold university stakeholders accountable. Over the summer, my incredible masthead and I have held our meetings on Zoom, deliberated on edits over the phone, and put together our first issue, podcast episode, and video series all in a virtual newsroom. We’re still publishing online every Monday and printing at a reduced biweekly schedule for you to find us on stands. This is all to say, nothing will stop us from bringing you newsworthy stories.

For me, this moment is also a chance to think about what the word essential has come to mean. In Volume 47 of this paper, I hope to explore what we deem essential at our school, what we value, and what we take for granted. This pandemic unveiled an explicit distillation of the racial, economic, and social divisions built into our society and whom we allow to be most vulnerable. We’ve all got work to do in creating a more transparent and equitable learning institution and workplace, and we at the paper promise to do our part by challenging misconduct and listening to you, our reader.

Wise words from The Last Psychiatrist

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I

n a way, my entire summer (replace “summer” with “life”) can be summed up in the simple image to the left. Near the end of June, a close friend of mine sent me an article titled “Amy Schumer Offers You A Look Into Your Soul” by anonymous blogger The Last Psychiatrist. The article was published June 18, 2012.

It left almost no impression on me during my initial read-through. Then, after spending a day thinking it over, I read the article five more times. While reading the article and talking to my friend about it, I came to what I believe is the most important realization of my 22-year-long life: I am the only person who has the capacity to totally empower or limit myself.

Okay, maybe not the only person, but I want to radically shift how you view your life so I’m going to stick with that statement.

Let’s take a quick break and read that onesentence-cut-into-three-parts again. Read

it once more. Read it over and over until the “message” really sinks in.

If you read it and say, “Yeah, and?” then you haven’t really internalized it. Because, as The Last Psychiatrist says in his article, this mentality is “running your life.”

That sentence is a universal diagnosis for a problem that is felt differently by everyone. It’s a pattern that is imprinted on every single one of us, and we rarely acknowledge it. When we don’t change for the “better” — when we don’t go to the gym, or eat healthy, or quit drinking, or become a better friend — we blame our behaviours on external factors or the past.

Even though I’ve read the article six times and internalized the statement to the best of my ability, I still haven’t really put in the work to change — not entirely. Thinking that I want to change doesn’t mean I’ve changed. Making the decision to change is just the first step.

Following through with that decision is what really matters. Take action and do better, but however you define “better” is on you and no one else.

I suggest you read the article, because I barely scratched the surface.

07

Editorial: The Weight of Helplessness The world is bleak, it’s okay to feel helpless.

Aya Yafaoui Comment Editor >> continued from page 1 The screen shakes as the cameraperson turns and runs from the blast rushing at them. I scroll down. Images of destruction, death, fear, and heartbreak fill my feed. Beirut, the capital of my native Lebanon, stands shellshocked and bleeding.

My uncles were supposed to be working in Beirut that day.

Through a lucky stroke of fate, they were both in Saida, well away from the blast, when it happened. The rest of my family was also, thankfully, spared. The nation was not so lucky. The explosion was the last nail in the coffin for a country struggling with an economic crisis, food shortages, corruption, and a global pandemic.

I’d already grown familiar with the feeling of helplessness in 2020, with a myriad of tragedies and crises making each week feel like a new level of Jumanji. Yet, seeing that explosion in Beirut and fearing for the life and future of my extended family down in Lebanon deepened that helplessness for me. It was as

if I was watching the Titanic slowly sink into the frigid waters of the Atlantic, unable to help from afar.

I spent weeks after that explosion worrying about how Lebanon—and the world in general—would be able to recover from the calamities that 2020 has so “generously” dished out, from the global economic crisis to the scourge of racism and police brutality to the continuing issue of climate change. Thinking about how my family, friends, and society would move forward in a world that has to solve all these immense problems paralyzed me at night.

The need for change is glaringly obvious, but as a sociology and political science student, I know that real change isn’t easy, simple, or peaceful. True progress requires people to fight for it and do the hard work of dismantling and rebuilding these deeply entrenched societal systems and philosophies. Rebuilding society, however, is an immeasurably difficult task. So, when I look at my own future, and the future of Canada and the world, I recognize that it will be filled with hardship, struggle, and pain. It also all feels very overwhelmingly. These are world-destroying issues, all compounded into the span of six months! The effects of which have already wreaked more havoc on the world than in recent history. As a result, the feeling of

UTM needs to get creative to justify this year’s price tag Alysia De Melo Contributor

A

fter finding out classes for the fall will be online, I was not happy. But I did know it was the safest option and figured I would save money on incidental fees. I knew the costs would not completely disappear, but I assumed there was no way we would need to pay for all of the usual facilities, with the majority of students taking online classes. So, on July 17, when I checked my invoice, I was shocked to see that I owed almost $800 for services that I would not be using. I also discovered I was not the only one with this concern.

The president of the University of Toronto, Meric S. Gertler, said, “at least one-third of our undergraduate courses will have an in-person component.” Considering in-person courses have a significantly smaller class size than online, “one-third” of undergraduate classes does not mean one-third of the student population will be attending in-person classes. Therefore, the number of students with a virtual fall semester who will not use the services they are required to pay is still very high.

The two most expensive services for the fall semester are the UTM Athletics and the UTMSU Mississauga U-Pass. Coincidentally, these services are ones that I, along with many other online students, will not use. The UTM Athletics fee for a full-time student per semester is less expensive than last year, but slightly, from $200 to $154.41. Meanwhile, the UTMSU U-Pass is more costly than last year with

a $6 increase and rests at $131.39 per semester.

While one can argue that as a local student taking online classes, I can still benefit from the U-Pass by using it for personal reasons; the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected my and many individuals’ travel preferences. I don’t feel comfortable using public transit at this time and don’t think I will be for a while. I don’t want to put myself or my family members at risk and don’t believe I should pay for a service that, by accessing it, I would be doing so. I also imagine other local online students at UTM would feel the same way.

Online students are not the only ones who might find these services useless. Students who are taking in-person classes may also not feel comfortable using on-campus gym facilities or taking city transit. As a result, there’s a large number of students who cannot use these services since they will not visit the campus. At the same time, students who can use these services will likely avoid doing so as it increases their risk of contracting the virus. In all likelihood, only a small minority will use the facilities all U of T students will pay.

Many UTM students have created petitions to protest these fees. However, they are often met with backlash from other students. They believe that petitions will not change anything, and based on UTM’s history, I have to agree with them. While the final day to credit/ no credit a course for the winter term was extended in April for both UTM and the faculty of arts and sciences students at the St. George campus, the deadline for the downtown campus students was set for a later date. This allowed the faculty of arts and science students

helplessness grows, becoming a reading companion each time I open up a social media platform and check in on the world.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for you dear reader.

There is no quote or optimistic idea I can offer you to alleviate the helplessness that you may feel. All I can offer is the comfort of knowing that you are not alone in feeling this way, and the advice that meaningful action can help others and combat helplessness – whether it is through donations, volunteering, or sharing information. I’d also urge you to find ways to remind yourself of humanity’s capacity for good, such as laughing with your friends, enjoying a song, or watching wholesome videos.

Essentially, endeavour to look for the spark of light in this rapidly darkening world.

And know that The Medium is here for you. Writing and sharing your thoughts or opinions on issues that matter to you can be very cathartic and rewarding, so please consider writing for us if you think that sharing will help you feel less helpless. If you are interested in writing for us, please reach out.

Now, more than ever, we need to strive to be kind to each other to make it through this literal hell of a year.

It isn’t the responsibility of students to fund services they can’t use this year.

to see their final marks before the deadline passed. UTM students were not given this opportunity, and while petitions strove to move the deadline, it was not changed. Similarly, U of T has also ignored petitions created by students across the three campuses to remove the summer semester’s incidental fees.

Therefore, considering students still paid for fees when there were no in-person classes, it’s highly unlikely petitions will work now.

So, to summarize, we can’t use the services, and we can’t change the pricing. What can we do? Well, to be honest, not much. I don’t think there is a way to justify the U-Pass being mandatory; however, there’s room for debate on the Athletic fees. The UTM Recreation & Athletics Instagram account began posting fitness challenges, yoga videos, as well as other health and wellness related content almost immediately after the campus closed. While this is a good start, I cannot justify paying $150 for some Instagram posts that anyone else can access. Additionally, during the summer semester, UTM began offering virtual athletic programs to students paying incidental fees and will continue to do so in the fall. However, is it worth the $150, when similar content can be found entirely free online with the rise of fitness YouTubers?

I understand that fees are still necessary with an online semester since UTM has expenses that they will need to pay, but it shouldn’t fall on students to fund services that they cannot use. UTM needs to justify the price tag of the fall semester and get creative to give us our money’s worth.

Alexander Feng/The Medium. UTM has kept tuition and fees the same despite move to online learning.

08

Clearing the mental Advice for new students in a new age “Fogg” and getting things done of learning Learning this year will be strange and challenging.

Here are some tips to help you transition to university life amid the pandemic.

Santiago Moran Contributor

W

ith the fall semester beginning, a new wave of students will soon flood the school. If you are one of them, you probably have no idea what going to university today entails. Instead of going in blind, why not take note of some upper-year advice? It could help you avoid some of the fatal mistakes that we’ve committed before you.

Now, this may be obvious, but you actually do have to go to class. Your courses might not take attendance or ask for participation credits, but you can expect to lose points when you eventually take a test or complete an assignment. Often professors won’t write everything on the lecture slides, and asking friends for notes might net you some incomprehensible garbage, so you can only trust yourself to make sure you learn what you need. Not to mention, if you begin skipping occasionally, you can be sure that it’ll become a habit. Don’t allow your GPA to drop just to watch a Netflix show or play video games. There’s a time and place for everything.

Speaking of time, you should set up a study schedule. University is very different from high school, having a daily schedule for lectures and breaks will structure your time.

There will be days where you’ll have a course at 10 a.m. with four hours to spare until your next class. Take advantage of these breaks to do your homework and study. Even if you don’t set up a study schedule, at least make sure you do your homework consistently. If a professor expects you to have read a chapter from a book, it’s because you need that information to understand and engage with the lecture and discussion. You can use tools like Google Calendar or UTM’s TimeTracker to set up a proper schedule and remind your-

self to study, especially when online learning makes it all too easy to procrastinate.

Another vital tip to learning efficiently in university is to attend office hours. One-onone conversations with professors are invaluable. Whether you have a question about the homework or the syllabus, nobody is a better source than your professor. Not only are they generally the best people to ask, but getting acquainted with your professors is something that many upper-years end up wishing they had done. Connecting with professors allows you to learn more about graduate programs and can lead to recommendations for internships, post-graduate applications, and workstudy positions, among others. It’s going to be especially important to go to office hours this semester because you can never be sure whether the online format will allow you to showcase your knowledge in the same way that lecture rooms can. Moreover, the majority of professors genuinely want to engage and help their students, so don’t hesitate to reach out to them.

In terms of finding friends, I recommend joining clubs. They can end up being a lot of fun if everyone gets involved. I’ve met some of my best friends at UTM because of clubs and even started one myself this semester. There’s no better way to find people with common interests than signing up for a club dedicated to said interests. There are a wide variety of clubs at UTM, including ones on movies, music, literature, activism, and mental health support.

Although the format for many has changed, with many clubs moving online and offering virtual events, clubs continue to be a place for people to socialize and have fun. Finding connections with people who have similar interests in studies as you are also beneficial.

It’s great to make friends with people in your program because you’re able to discuss the courses you feel passionate about and whether you like what you’re learning. So, reach out to students in your tutorials and lectures! It might help you realize whether you enjoy your career choice or not, and help you further engage with the course.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, take care of your mental health. The Health and Counseling Centre is an excellent resource for students in need of medical assistance, and this includes personal counseling and other mental health support. Students are very vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and depression, so don’t feel afraid to reach out to people who are there to help. If you’re unsure about whether you should join a mental health club, trust the professionals whose jobs it is to help you stay healthy and safe.

Good luck with the new semester and remember to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and stay safe.

Ashley Vanderkoen/The Medium.

Aaron Goidel Contributor

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’m a procrastinator. There, I said it. I have a hard time focusing on what needs to be done and find myself looking for any alternatives. Not to shrink responsibility or anything, but I’d like to cast some blame onto my ADHD. I can’t help it. For as long as I can remember, it has taken me a tremendous amount of effort to stay on task, especially with school. Because of this, in order to succeed, I’ve had to become intimately familiar with the way my brain prefers to work. Now, my style of getting work done and remote learning go together about as well as toothpaste and orange juice.

I quickly realized that, if I am to succeed this semester, I must have a better idea of how to catalyze my productivity.

Enter the Fogg Behavioural Model, a system developed by Stanford University’s Dr. Brain Jeffrey Fogg, that helps one better understand under which circumstances do individuals take action. By understanding what triggers behaviours, we can give ourselves the best chances of staying productive.

So, what does the Fogg model actually say? Well, it’s remarkably simple. Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Trigger. To take any specific action, one must simultaneously have the motivation, ability, and trigger to perform it. In order to understand how to employ this model, let’s break down each component and apply it to procrastination.

First, motivation. I often find myself with the ability to work and even a trigger, say a deadline, but still can’t seem to check off any boxes on my to-do list. I know I have to get things done and know I can do them, but the prospect of performing the necessary steps just doesn’t appeal to me.

I know all too well that motivation doesn’t just come out of the blue. So how do you create an incentive? While the idea may seem abstract, motivation is nothing more than a feeling that performing an action is valuable in some way. So, to build motivation, you must find meaning. You must be able to answer the question of why? Why am I doing this thing?

Adding real, personal meaning to work is essential. Taking time to remind yourself of why you have this task on your plate in the first place will provide you with the motivation to get it done.

Next, let’s talk about ability. The problem is, everything seems more manageable than the actual work. Strumming my guitar for hours is easy, so is scrolling through Instagram. So, how can work and play co-exist? One of the most stressful feelings I’ve encountered is knowing that I need to get something done but feeling utterly incapable of doing it. This helplessness and uselessness can be paralyzing and, even worse, demoralizing. It’s near impossible to bring myself to attempt a task that I feel at the outset I don’t have the skill to complete.

The answer is to practice breaking tasks down into more manageable pieces. Figure out what the tasks comprise, break them down into steps, and tackle those. Create timelines or trees of small, easily achievable steps that build up to your final goal. If you can’t perform one action, you can leave it aside to return to later. At the very least, you can continue with other steps to gain that feeling of momentum and reward that make working easier.

Finally, let’s discuss the triggers. A trigger is that starting pistol that sets you off to work.

Creating a trigger is easy if you plan everything out. But, if you’re like me, you know that keeping a sufficiently organized and detailed schedule isn’t for everyone. So, my approach is two-fold. First, keep a loose but strong schedule. Second, have a predetermined method of selection on choosing which task to complete first. Don’t try to plan every minute; instead, separate your time into blocks for working and for resting. That way, you can hold yourself accountable if you start slacking. Then, when work time comes, sit down and pick an item from the to-do list. Whether your system is to choose the item that will take the most time or the least, the one due earlier, the one weighed heavier in a course; you need to have a starting point. Any amount of time wasted fretting about which task to tackle is time that can be dedicated to any of your studies, and those minutes add up.

Now to all the skeptics, the Fogg model is already working. You read this article with the push of a trigger—whether you found this article on your own or someone shared it with you and had the motivation to stay productive during these extraordinary times. And now, armed with this knowledge, you can face your procrastination habits and the challenges of online learning, and be the productive student and person you need to be.

09

International students face old and new challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic Aroni Sarkar Contributor

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he sudden shuttering of the global economy took a toll on nations worldwide. Businesses were forced to shut down, people lost their jobs and homes, and many are continuing to struggle to make ends meet.

International students are facing these challenges just as gravely. Despite popular belief, not all international students come from financially well-off backgrounds. Many families worked hard to earn enough money to provide a better education for their children. The majority of international students come from middle-class families that work by the hour to pay the minimum tuition payment. This does not invalidate the domestic students’ financial struggles; however, the difference in the tuition fee takes a considerable toll on international students’ families.

Since 2019, individual course fees have increased by almost $1000. In 2018, the average Humanities course fee was approximately $4900 per course, which increased to roughly $5200 in 2019, and is now approximately $5500. International students in Canada make up about 13 per cent of the student population. Most nations worldwide charge international students a higher fee than domestic students; however, the difference in Canada is that, on average, international fees are at least three times as much as domestic fees. At UofT, the difference is almost 10 times the domestic price.

The majority of classes will be conducted virtually this semester, and students will not receive the same quality of university life. The increase in tuition fees will not only cause fi-

nancial strain on international students, but it also exposes the university’s neglect of international students’ needs.

Year after year, the UTMSU and the student population have signed petitions, joined rallies, hosted marches and walkouts, all in the name of reducing tuition fees. The fight against high tuition fees for international students has been an excellent campaigning strategy but is seemingly more of a token battle to generate conversation and debate. If other universities in Canada can lower the international fees by three to five times while maintaining the subsidized fees for domestic students, why can’t U of T? Moreover, the university’s indecision on how the 2020-21 academic year will proceed is another barrier for international students. Apart from the class size restriction set out by the government, the decision on whether classes will be conducted online or in-person has been left up to professors and individual departments. This mixture of in-person, online synchronous, or online asynchronous methods has forced many international students to forego courses they wanted due to travel restrictions. There are many nations worldwide that have yet to lift travel bans or open borders to allow incoming travel from other nations. Students that returned to their home countries amid the pandemic must either stay in their countries or risk the chance of not being able to return once they come to Canada. This has led many to choose only online courses.

On the other hand, the faculty of arts and science at the St. George campus made the decision earlier this year that the entire academic year will be conducted online. Despite the potential challenges that decision brings, it allowed both students and faculty to plan for the year and determine accommodations for the new learning environment. Yet, the indecision among different departments at UTM has led to confusion and

added stress for domestic and international students alike.

Furthermore, the majority of programs selected for the online delivery method have selected online synchronous.

While this decision ensured a somewhat class-like environment where the professors can speak directly to students and ensure participation and interactive activities, it poses quite a challenge for international students living in different time zones. Time zone differences can vary anywhere from six to 15 hours. This barrier creates another restriction on the courses students can choose from as they have to decide which classes will ensure a time zone match and are not be detrimental to their health. If students have to stay up all night to do synchronous daytime classes, it can cause a rift in their sleep and eating schedules and squanders the possibilities for them to communicate with classmates and professors promptly. This not only may affect their mental health but could also hinder their academic performance.

These problems are only a few of many that international students have encountered this year amid the pandemic. Several of these concerns are ones that students have faced for many years as well. Considering how international students make up a significant portion of the undergraduate student body at UTM, it is crucial to acknowledge their struggles and assess and implement strategies that can accommodate them.

This has been an incredibly turbulent and challenging year for everyone. Instead of being divisive and excluding people out of conversations, let’s find comfort in the fact that this is a shared struggle for many of us. Together, through collaboration and accommodations, we can begin to overcome the challenges students face amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finding optimism during pessimistic times Hope and optimism are crucial to moving forward in our calamitous world.

Paige France Contributor

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uarantine left me wondering what exactly optimism is and why it is something that we continue to desire. Is it a smokescreen created to cope during times of crisis? Is it used to ignore the negativity that COVID-19 brings? Is optimism needed to face the brutal honesty of our reality? A notion of strength that promises a swift end to our newfound adversity?

While days trickled by, events blurring together, the only part of my life that continued at full speed was the e-learning material thrown at me in high school. I worried how this complete overhaul of our way of living would reflect on my grades, schoolwork, and scholarships that relied heavily on my academic and extracurricular involvement.

I experienced school stress only in the confines of my bedroom, and my optimism began to dwindle at astronomical rates, becoming characteristic of the boredom and loneliness that my four lavender bedroom walls created. My weekends consisted of watching my peers have get-togethers through social media platforms. More often than not, getting mildly disappointed I was not invited despite knowing quarantine was most certainly not the issue as I still referred to them as “peers.”

As a long-term care volunteer at Revera Retirement Living,

I was also worried about the well-being of my elderly friends.

My role at the retirement home was to provide one-on-one visits to residents and be a compassionate support for both them and their families to enhance their daily living. I feared how isolation would affect their morale, attitude, and mental health.

Without the friendly faces of the workers and volunteers that organized games, field trips, and socials, I worried their wellbeing would be affected regardless of the COVID-19 prevention measures as one’s well-being is determined by more than their physical health. So, it was hard, yet understandable, to think how their enjoyment came second to their self-isolation and safety.

Yet, it was my greatest role model, my 95-year-old greatgrandmother, affectionately known as Nana B, who taught me the many ways negativity can cause the mind to dwell on hardships rather than finding the courage to progress with strength through tough and unfamiliar times. She endured the Great Depression during her childhood, worked at a munitions factory at the age of 17, crafting the bullets her brother would load into his rifle from the trenches during World War II. Later at the age of 60, she watched from the beach of Lake Huron as her husband drowned while heroically saving two young boys caught in the undertow. Nana B has and will continue to encourage me to find the points in my life that give me the courage to push through times of heartbreak. She lived her life looking forward, regardless of the challenges and distresses that could have ultimately broken her hope in humanity and unity.

As a writer for Hanover’s local paper, The Post, I am able to make room for the voices and perspectives of youth in our community with my “Youth in Highlight” column. As safety precautions prohibited me from assisting the centre residents,

Nana B’s wisdom and ever-so-progressive mindset encouraged me to focus and direct my attention toward the phenomenal front-line workers, whose work frequently goes unrecognized.

Bringing to light their courageous and selfless actions, I hoped to illustrate front-line workers’ civic-minded leadership and a profound desire to make a difference in the community. It was my sincere hope that by sharing their stories, which were forever altered by the introduction of the novel coronavirus, it would inspire altruism and vigour among youths in our community. By finding a new purpose in a time of isolation rather than dwelling on the lost opportunities, I developed a new appreciation for those creating support for people at risk.

And perhaps this is the intangible casualty of isolation— opportunities are lost once one’s optimism becomes compromised. But in my experience, these lost opportunities did not hinder my progression; instead, it jumpstarted a refusal to become wedded to the cynical belief that remaining in isolation would be the downfall of my ambitions and contributions to my community.

Optimism and hope are alive today in every UTM student choosing to continue their education and brave the uncertainty of home learning. It shows pure tenacity and a willingness to be flexible in the ever-changing society we have stumbled upon.

Finding the silver linings hidden in our sedentary lifestyles taught me to notice and appreciate the moments that I would have otherwise ignored.

So embrace optimism, as pessimism and cynicism brew when it is lacking and cloud the already dark road ahead. Being hopeful about the future, despite the present seeming wholly negative, brings out the beauty in our everyday life and helps illuminate the darkness the world has entered.

Editor | Elizabeth Provost features@themedium.ca

Article by Paula Cho Photos by Patrick Tomasso & Drew Lesiuczok

“I

Meet Alexandra Gillespie, UTM’s New Principal Recounting her first love of literature and her move from the UK to Canada, Alex Gillespie talks about her new role at U of T and what the pandemic has demanded we confront within academia.

love the way that teaching is like reading a poem or looking at a beautiful old book made by another person,” she tells me over our video call. “The poem will teach us, and the 30 people in the room will teach each other because we’ll work it out together.” In the autumn of 2004, Alexandra Gillespie joined the University of Toronto as an assistant professor specializing in medieval literature, manuscript studies, and the global history of book technologies. She brought a passion for cultivating collaboration and dialogue in her classrooms, an openness that has suffused all aspects of her work. Her teaching philosophy is simple: to allow the generative texts do the guiding. She went on to become chair of the English and Drama Department and in July, was appointed as UTM principal and U of T’s newest vice president.

Like many kids who loved to read, books for Professor Gillespie were about being present in other worlds. This early interest in literature transformed into a deeper appreciation for the intricacies of human creativity and the reverberating con-

nections of past creation to our lives today. Seeing evidence of how old works of art, specifically texts from the Middle Ages, propel future creativity — her own creativity — captivated her as a student. While meeting the medieval-era poet Geoffrey Chaucer through his poem Troilus and Criseyde as an undergraduate, she discovered that there was no end to what she or anyone else could say about such prolific texts. She explains how they “will never stop speaking new things to me. How extraordinary that something seemingly very distanced turns out to be so interwoven [with our modern-day experiences].”

One area of Gillespie’s current book project recaptures Chaucer’s exploration of epistemology through literary history and the enduring tradition of books as both a receptacle for theoretical ideas and a physical object. The contrast between abstract knowledge and concrete proof of that abstract knowledge is illuminated by her own work on the relationship between the qualitative forms of inquiry she poses vis-à-vis the empirical data she produces. Importantly, these questions

11 about ways of knowing “occupy the space in which the sciences and the humanities intersect. On both sides and in our real lives, we’re in this post-truth era and what happens when what we know gets destabilized is a big problem for us right now.”

As director of U of T’s Old Books New Sciences lab for the past six years, Gillespie has built a research space that departs from the traditional, often solitary, model of humanities scholarship to promote a social environment for learning. The lab, which brings together Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, and other humanist researchers, aims to study the history of the book from a variety of perspectives. Her students examine codicological and bibliographical topics and are increasingly focused on treating the book as a dynamic object with not only human histories but also natural, chemical, and ecological histories. The lab also looks at issues of preservation, shareability, and access to the digitization of cultural material as well as its ties to the same structures of privilege and economy that constrain the rest of our society.

I ask Professor Gillespie if being principal has really sunken in yet, and she nods. “It was all kind of like musical chairs,” she says of the transition back in May when her appointment was first announced. “I had to hit the ground running because of the pandemic, and I actually feel like I’ve been doing it for quite a long time now.” With Professor Dan White stepping in as interim chair of the English and Drama Department, Gillespie assumed the responsibilities of her new role promptly, succeeding Acting Principal and Professor Emeritus Ian Orchard.

Although she begins at a challenging juncture, she says the “job is a very rewarding one to step into at a time like this because it’s a position from which I feel like I can do some things to help. I can keep an institution moving in the positive direction that has been set by those who came before me.”

Her priorities as a leader of our school are tri-fold: safety, excellence, and a commitment to the Indigenous community and the natural world in which we live. To get us safely and productively through the pandemic without losing sight of the education to achieve and the relationships to heal is both her immediate and long-term ambition. She emphasizes that the only way to ensure excellence and “a future-forward UTM is through equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in our research, teaching, and the way we run the university. That they are done in a way that is committed to principles of justice and equality for all people regardless of who they are, who they worship, who they love, or where they come from.”

Having studied at Oxford University in the 90s, she was personally drawn to Canada and U of T for its embrace of multiculturalism. “I’m going to put it bluntly — I didn’t want to be in a place where the most elite institutions are all white,” she says.

“I also taught [at Oxford] for five years and I had one student of colour out of hundreds of students. That just doesn’t make sense to me in the modern world.” Just as New Zealand, where she is from, takes pride in its growing diversity, she wanted to end up in a place that “celebrates inclusion and anti-racism. I’m not sure I had the word anti-racism in my vocabulary at that moment, but that was what I wanted.”

Yet when we looked around our campus back when it was swarming with students, seeing the diverse representation of racial backgrounds can easily lead to a sense of complacency, as if we have already fulfilled our global promise. “But promise is not the same as achievement,” Gillespie asserts. “We’re the obstacles in the way of these people and we know we live in a world where there is still plenty of systemic racism. We can’t expect that our colleagues, students, and community members of colour always have to be the ones trying to bang down the

door — those of us with privilege in Canada, who identify as white, we’ve got to open the door. That’s our work.”

As the realization that Fall has arrived settles in, we are left to reflect on how the pandemic has altered our lives during the past six months and how it will continue to shape our futures.

Filled with both uncertainty and faith, many of us enter September with doubts and expectations of how virtual university will work. “We’re lucky that this pandemic has intersected at a moment where we have the technology that enables us to stay connected socially,” Gillespie says, “but it still doesn’t feel like enough.”

In addition to the underlying issues surrounding the imbalance of privilege that determines our access to these technologies, she underscores how a component of personal interaction is still central to academia. “What the pandemic is requiring we confront is when we need learning to be embodied and when we don’t. You have to encounter another mind that’s present with you in the moment and I think what some of our profs are doing online now is capturing new ways. But there are these extraordinary advantages to being with people and we need to figure out how to leverage them in the right way and at the right time.”

Even without the nature walks, occasional deer run-ins, and crowded lecture halls we’ve come to know and miss about UTM, this difficult moment too will pass. Professor Gillespie leaves with me words voiced by her prime minister and friend Jacinda Ardern: be kind to yourself and uplift others. “That’s certainly what gets me up every day — to do my yoga,” she says with a small laugh, gesturing at her workout attire. “To put my own oxygen mask on first so that I can get out there and try to do things to help other people.”

12

Max’s Big Ride To End Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy/Facebook. Another year in the bag using a stationary bike.

Max’s Big Ride, at Home Max’s Big Ride returns for the sixth year having adapted to the global pandemic, with new initiatives raising over $200,000.

Elizabeth Provost Features Editor

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or the sixth consecutive year and despite the unforeseen conditions, Max’s Big Ride returns with its inspiring mission to raise awareness about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Andrew Sedmihradsky, the global mobility coordinator at UTM’s International Education Center, whose nine-year-old son Max suffers from this genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and degradation, began the 600 km cargo bike ride from Hamilton to Ottawa in 2015. Since then, his initiative has raised over $200,000 towards research, with no plans to stop anytime soon.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the most common muscle disease for children, affects about one in 3,500 boys. Those affected with DMD struggle to produce the muscle protein dystrophin.

As muscle cells weaken, they break down, and individuals with DMD experience frequent falls, weakness in the legs and hips, and eventually weakness in heart and lung muscles. Signs of feebleness begin to appear when boys are between three and five years of age.

Since Max’s diagnosis at the age of two, Sedmihradsky decided that although unsure how, he was “going to fight” this disorder. Sedmihradsky combined his passion and favorite family activity of riding bikes with his dedication and devotion to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. “It was something that Max enjoyed as a little kid – he would sit on the back of my bike in a carrier and just loved being out on the bike. And so, we settled on the idea of a ride across Canada and then one from our home in Hamilton to Ottawa.”

The usual ride would bring them to their final destination of Parliament Hill. This was an intentional aspect of the initiative as Ottawa is where important decisions are made on rare diseases, drug approvals, and funding.

This year, due to the global pandemic, Max’s Big Ride At Home occurred from June 1 to June 7. All 600 km were still traveled, but on a stationary bike from the safety of Sedmihradsky’s front yard and via a virtual cycling app called Zwift. Max and his younger sister Isla accompanied Sedmihradsky for the whole ride.

“We used the same cargo bike but we hooked it up to a bicycle trainer,” says Sedmihradsky of the changes. “It’s just basically a contraption that holds the back wheel of the bike and it’s attached to a fly-wheel, which is then attached to my laptop and syncs up to Zwift, which tens of thousands of people use around the world for virtual cycling.” In a novel way, Andrew was able to interact with his community with this set up. Supporters, family, and friends came by his front yard on his daily rides to raise awareness and support the initiative. Seeing the community support firsthand kept Max’s Big Ride going amid these challenging times.

Although some of Max’s Big Ride’s partner initiatives such as the Ice Cream and Donut Ride were not able to occur this year, Jacob, a student at the University of Guelph, approached Sedmihradsky with an Everesting challenge to show his support and raise awareness. This initiative had Jacob continuously riding up a hill on Sydenham Road in Dundas

Max’s Big Ride To End Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy/Facebook. The annual ride had many supporters from a physical and virtual distance.

until he had ridden the equivalent height of Mouth Everest, 8848 metres. Jacob rode the hill 85 times. Of Jacob’s commitment and initiative, Sedmihradsky says, “To watch him do that was so inspiring and was pretty incredible.”

All money raised through Max’s Big Ride goes directly to the Gunning Group Lab at the University of Toronto Mississauga. The Gunning Team, led by Patrick Gunning, a UTM chemistry professor, has already shown promising results in creating the chemical compounds capable of fighting DMD. Max’s Big Fellowship has also raised money to sponsor a Ph.D. student to work on finding a cure for DMD in Dr. Gunning’s Lab using molecules previously synthesized in the lab’s 12 years of cancer research.

Sedmihradsky says, “Whenever I talk to Patrick, I think I understand one in every three words but he looks excited and animated and I take that to be good news. He just gave us a report at the beginning of the summer, written in layman’s terms so we could use it as part of our promotional efforts.”

This collaboration between Max’s Big Ride and the Gunning Group :ab truly points to UTM’s strong community. Having these also connections brings hope to Sedmihradsky’s home and is truly serendipitous. “It’s amazing to think that the building that I work in, the Davis building, houses potentially the cure to this disease that my son is affected with,” says Sedmihradsky. “It really makes me appreciate the type of community that UTM is, I don’t feel alone at UTM. It’s really cool.”

While Sedmihradsky continues to garner awareness for DMD and fundraise for a cure, he also hopes to make connections with individuals willing to partner with the Gunning lab and advance what is being done. Sedmihradsky adds, “I just found out that another professor, Professor Bryan Stewart at UTM, a biology professor, has also just started some work on DMD, which is really exciting as there are now two labs working on DMD at UTM.” “COVID-19 has affected everybody and I think in some ways, we live with some of the things that are scary about COVID-19. A fatal disease being on your doorstep. [But] when you look back on this summer, there are a lot of cool things that happened and maybe next summer the physical ride to Ottawa isn’t necessarily what we’re thinking. I think there are ways to have a virtual ride that you can involve people around the world in.”

As the world moves towards this era of digital connectivity, Max’s Big Ride may do the same with future initiatives, allowing greater exposure and participation.

“The biggest thing was that I just didn’t want to give up. In the face of this disease, I didn’t want to say, ‘well we can’t do it.’ That just doesn’t sit well with me.” Max’s Big Ride’s ability to adapt and persevere demonstrates the strength, the passion, and the dedication of the initiative. Sedmihradsky, like he has said annually since the founding of Max’s Big Ride, states, “I have no intention of stopping.”

To donate to Max’s Big Ride visit www.maxsbigride.com, where 100 per cent of the contributions go to DMD research.

13

Chatting with UTM’s 2020 Valedictorian Habon Ali discusses her experiences at UTM and her passion for community building, equity, and change.

May Alsaigh Contributor

A

graduate in biology and environmental science, Habon Ali delivered her valedictorian speech to fellow graduates, faculty, friends, and family in June via the UTM Class of 2020 Online Celebration streamed live on YouTube. Today, she is involved in multiple endeavors following the completion of her degree. For our first issue, The Medium had the pleasure of interviewing Ali and discussing her valedictorian speech, why she chose to study at UTM, her favourite memories at UTM, tips for current students, and her plans for the future.

When asked what it’s like to be valedictorian for her class, Ali describes the feeling as surreal. “It’s an absolute privilege to be valedictorian [and] to give some of my thoughts and words to students during a year we could’ve never imagined,” said Ali. This year, Ali presented her speech in a studio surrounded by videographers and staff while abiding social distancing measures in a safe environment.

Her speech can be found on UTM’s YouTube account.

Ali graduated UTM with a Bachelor of Science degree. During the interview, Ali revealed that she chose UTM to complete her undergraduate studies because she could study from home, spend more time with her family, and spare financial difficulties. “I chose UTM because [it] gave me more of a closeknit vibe,” she added.

The 2020 valedictorian comes from a large family. She grew up with three brothers and three sisters in a Toronto neighbourhood known as Rexdale. She describes the area as a low-income community where anti-black racism is prevalent in schools, districts, and work environments. Growing up in this community allowed Ali to become aware of the disproportionate societal privileges and how it impacts people’s lives. “It’s always pushed me to think and question how we can build a better world—a world where everybody can live [equally].”

She further described how her community played a part in her interest in health equity and led her to volunteer with Toronto Public Health, where she worked with youths on making healthy choices and advocating for equal health. “It’s something I want to continue for the rest of my life,” said Ali. After completing a summer internship this year, Ali says that she will continue to work at the MaRS Discovery District for the year in a part-time position. Her team, Opportunity for All Youth, works to observe youth and employment across Canada and strives to remove systemic barriers for NEET youth, a category of youth that lack employment, education, or training opportunities.

“For me, this is really important because it’s something I saw [in] a lot of young people in my community growing up. [They] didn’t have access to employment for various

reasons, whether it be poverty or racism or other systemic actors that come into place.”

At MaRS, Ali and her team will continue to engage youths in the community looking to improve their skills and knowledge.

Passionate about equality and change for youths, Ali describes her primary purpose and ambition as being an advocator for equal health and a supporter of community initiatives.

“My ultimate goal is to work with the community, whether it is at a local level or a national level in Canada,” said Ali. “To work toward health equity and creating better access to healthcare for racialized and immigrant communities.” Ali will continue to research ways that Canada’s healthcare system can be more effective as well as how it can centre around citizens’ livelihood and health.

This summer, Ali also finished her term in

Photo/Anum Khan. Habon Ali, UTM’s 2020 Valedictorian.

the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, where she participated in meetings with the prime minister to discuss how to support youth and advocate for change. She has played a key role in many initiatives, such as the CAN Youth Network and Collective Action.

Moreover, Ali was also recently appointed to the board of Apathy is Boring, a non-partisan, charitable organization that supports and educates youth to be active and contributing citizens in Canada’s democracy. “It’s really important to me that I support and join organizations that work to build up the capacity of youth for my community,” said Ali. In 10 years, Ali hopes to have a career that not only benefits herself but the community as well. “I aspire to be working in community building, specifically around health,” Ali stated that this is especially important in challenging times such as these where the lack of social support, policies, programs, and attention has created social disparities. Ali reflected on how to remove these discrepancies between society and health, stating, “how do we build healthy communities where everybody can live, [can be] taken care of, and not be impacted by [any existing] widening disparities.”

Looking back on some of her favourite memories, Ali expressed her joy in meeting different types of people at UTM, including lifelong friends and several professors. “I’ve also enjoyed doing research on campus,” said Ali. She touched on her experience working with Dr. Fiona Rawle, a professor in the biology department and the associate dean, who she describes as a “wonderful ally [and] a wonderful professor who has supported my undergraduate experience.”

Ali also took a course and completed research with an assistant professor in the geology department, Dr. Vincent Kuuire, focusing on health care systems around the world. Ali revealed this experience as playing a significant role in her future endeavors. “I think this sparked my interest in global health,” said Ali. In addition to focusing on academics and extra-curricular activities, Ali enjoys spending time with family and friends, along with other hobbies. “I read a lot of autobiographies – I think people’s stories and journeys are really interesting.” She describes herself as curious, empathetic, and driven.

When asked about any tips she would give for current students, Ali emphasized how getting involved, whether on-campus or off-campus, in organizations of interest, is essential.

While it may be easy for students to become consumed in academics, this should not limit their undergraduate experience. Moreover, when people become involved in communities, space is created in societies for voices to be heard. “You always have something of importance to give, and our perspectives are really important,” Ali stressed that students do not have to graduate to have a voice in society.

It is up to individuals to become involved in their communities for the betterment of society and equality.

14

Quarantine

happy

UTM students reflect on moments of happiness they’ve experienced amid these trying times.

Dusty $1 Vinyls

Urge to Write Paige France First Year; life sciences

Q

uarantine has exacerbated my already lonesome countryside lifestyle, involving acres of open fields and an absence of internet access and human connection. Like looking out the window in a restless car ride, I searched my imagination for a story of love and the challenges of losing it, the very

thing that was reminiscent of our isolation—losing relationships unexpectedly and without solace.

For some, isolation elicited the need to cope through creativity. For me, it was the urge to write a novel—a midnight revelation that integrated me into the intimate world of literature, archetypes, and parallels. I raced home from work to allow wisteria to grow in my mind, connecting parts of a plot to elements in nature, harnessing, and becoming seduced by the emotional pow-

er of literary indulgence. I entered the idyllic world of middle-of-the-night inspiration, typing out the lyrical whims strung together in my mind, sentences reading as melodic ballads after dusk.

My novel played out like a movie.

Writing became an outlet to break from the pains of reality, a companionship allowing me to dive into the realm of creativity as I prepare for the next chapter of my life as a UTM freshman.

Just Dance Vania Abbasi Third Year; sociology major, double minor in political science and anthropology

I

nitially, I remember telling myself to utilize all the free time I had during quarantine to form healthy habits, work out more often, and try to become the best version of myself. The urge to do so did not last too long, unfortunately.

Soon enough, I ran out of motivation and began to spend my time rather unproductively.

It was daunting to see my iPhone alerting me that my screen time was going up rapidly every week. The free time

I envisioned to be a blessing in disguise became bleak, and my routine soon consisted of a whole lot of nothing.

One night, I walked into my sister’s room as she was setting up Just Dance on her laptop. Desperate to get some sort of workout, I joined her. It is still unclear to me how many hours we spent playing that initial night, but neither of us could feel our legs by the end of that dance session.

Maybe it was the rush of endorphins, but despite all the uncertainties in life, at that moment, I felt content. I seldom remember skipping a day of Just Dance since that night in May. It is relieving to know that during times of stress, I can start the music and drown out the noise of life.

A Running Potato

15

Sherene Almjawer Fourth Year; double major in CCIT and PWC

T

he needle hit, the vinyl spun, and Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” played out through the speakers of my new $45 Victrola record player. I stared affectionately at my collection – if you could even call it that – of five different records, all of which were a combination of the same few composers.

Did I look stupid rummaging through the vinyl section at the thrift store? Or were the older customers watching me with smiles on their faces, glad that the youth were enjoying what they believed to be the best era of music? Were the

other 20-somethings laughing at me behind my back when I picked up yet another classical music record? Or were they laughing because I was another one of the basic girls who wanted to feel the nostalgia of an era they were never a part of? For the sake of my sanity, I assumed the answer to all of it was no.

Maybe investing in a record player and a couple of vinyl records was my brain’s subconscious way of convincing myself that it isn’t 2020. Instead, I’m sitting in the cheap seats of a Debussy performance. No murder hornets, no crazy man that hoards tigers, no WW3 threats, and no stress over what I’m going to do once I graduate and can’t deny my adult life any longer. Just me, Mr. Debussy, and the scratching pauses of the record player.

Jennifer Schneider Second Year; double major in CCIT and PWC

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n a world of couch potatoes and sports nuts, I considered myself a walking potato. Since 2017, I have failed at my new year’s resolution of regular exercise. Something more important, like binge-watching TV shows, always came along.

When I moved back to Mexico to quarantine with my family, my parents had become fitness junkies, their immune systems taking center stage. So, with the help of social pressure, I turned on the treadmill and began running. My legs lagged, my breath came out in pants, and I choked every time I took a sip of water. After a week of running every day, I began complimenting my exercise routine with YouTube fitness videos. A month later, I left the treadmill altogether in favor of the almighty yoga mat.

My arms turned to jelly, I re-sprained my traitorous ankle, my stomach toned just a tiny bit, sleep came easier, my height grew, and five-minute meditation sessions helped me get through yet another day of social distancing.

While enjoying my YouTube gym membership, I watched a video that claimed happiness couldn’t be an eternal state, but you may seize the feeling by purposefully doing things that make you happy each day. My anxiousness takes comfort in allowing myself to do what makes me happy.

Wearing Pyjamas to School Elisa Nguyen Fourth Year; double major in psychology and PWC

“Y

ou do it!”

“No, you do it!”

It was a pre-pandemic evening, and, through a somewhat delirious session of bantering, my friend and I dared each other to do the most unruly, eccentric, and bizarre thing we could think of: wear our pyjamas to school. We were 20-year-olds in professional programs, not to be confused with children wearing onesies on “pyjama day.” Still, the idea of sporting a unicorn onesie to a respectable school sounded like the purest form of selfactualization (if being labelled “weirdo” could be an indicator of fulfilled potential).

“I go to the University of Toronto! I have meetings with my professors!” I exclaimed.

“Well, at least you’d make a strong impression,” my friend rebutted. The exchange ended with a compromise. We’d wear our pyjamas to Second Cup, the nearby cafe where we planned to study. This was not the same as wearing pyjamas to school, but it was still unusual enough to fill us with joy as we laughed at our embarrassment.

When the world went into lockdown, going outside wasn’t an option unless breaking laws and contracting the coronavirus sounded appealing I was attending an online class, sitting in my desk chair with my feet propped on my bed.

I wore my brother’s faded Whistler t-shirt and blue pyjama pants covered in butterflies.

Meanwhile, my professor discussed sociolinguistics, and the class analyzed the weekly reading.

When the butterflies on my pants kept distracting me from the lecture, I was suddenly struck by the strangeness of my circumstance and confused by the sense of normalcy that had veiled it. Was I genuinely wearing my pyjamas during class? What happened to this being the most unimaginable thing ever? Yes – it was online school, my video camera was off, and I’m sure the majority of my classmates were sporting similar attire – but as I sat there, dumbfounded, I realized that “strange” and “normal” were two sides of the same coin and that my distant dream had just come true.

16

Arts

Editor | Chris Berberian arts@themedium.ca

TIFF Gets a Makeover Art Major Alek Vuksinic-Gauthier on in 2020 the Trials of Remote Learning Danica Teng Contributor

As all programs navigate online waters, art students face a unique palette of problems.

Gladys Lou Contributor >> continued from page 1 Not a soul can be found in the Annie Smith Building in Sheridan College, except the faces on abandoned canvases ensconced in the shadows, and plaster busts gazing infinitely into oblivion, waiting for their creators to return. Once occupied by Art and Art History students, the building resonates with silence from the cubicles all the way through the floating stairs.

Painting, sculpture, print media and other studio art courses jointly offered by UTM and Sheridan College have migrated to online platforms since the start of summer. Alek Vuksinic-Gauthier, Print Media Assistant and fifth-year Art and Art History student selected for the Advanced Project, shares with The Medium his perspective on COVID-19’s rippling effects on the academic lives of art students.

“Art is ideally digested in person. It is an interactive process between the viewers and the artwork,” Alek comments. “Without direct contact, the effectiveness and quality of art are inhibited.”

The Art and Art History Graduation Exhibition in 2020 was originally planned to take place in an art gallery. Because of the lockdown, students have no choice but to showcase their works via online format on Instagram. In Alek’s opinion, the shift to digital platform suppresses artistic pursuit and limits the opportunity for students to present their work.

“When [the] university closed unexpectedly last winter semester, everything scaled down quickly and not much was prepared.

Online classes and materials are scrambled and put together in a hurried and scribbledup manner.” Alek adds a personal remark, “I can’t say I enjoyed it.”

The shift to remote learning is especially concerning for students who lack reliable access to Internet, private space, or art supplies.

Before the pandemic, Alek, who lives far from town with limited Internet at home, com-

pleted his schoolwork at the university library or in a café. With the closure of these facilities, he must drive to other people’s houses to watch lectures, which causes him great inconvenience and hinders his learning experience.

“Everything takes place over a longer period of time,” continued Alek. “The professor is no longer fifty yards away and students have little incentive to email and ask for additional resources. They are more inclined to just google the answers.”

Beside Internet access, Alek finds staying motivated another challenge with long-distance learning. With pre-recorded lectures available to watch at any time, students in asynchronous courses lose the ability to be present and interact with others through discussions in class.

“Unlike subjects such as history, which rely heavily upon factual knowledge, studio art is based upon implicit, practical knowledge,” says Alek. “You have to watch someone do it, practice it yourself, and get advice from others to become better. This interactive process is restricted with remote learning.”

For Alek, art is a medium to express impersonal ideas. For others, art provides an opportunity to engage in personal reflection and introspection, especially during social isolation. “Art serves as an alternative method of communication when verbal communication becomes hazy and intractable,” Alek explains.

With his social relations fostered mainly on campus, Alek also finds it difficult to connect with his friends during quarantine. Social media, for Alek, is only a pretext for in-person communication. It complements but doesn’t replace face-to-face meetings. “Sometimes you just see pictures of people’s cats and you don’t know anything about them,” he laughs.

In the past few months, Alek has incorporated music composition into his arsenal of new skills and will continue to explore interests in musical theory with his jazz band. He spends quality time on his hobby of gardening and cooks regularly for his family.

When asked about his advice for incoming art students, Alek pauses for a moment. “Don’t get the idea that this is all art is about. This is only a reduced version of the whole picture.

Bear with it and things will get better.”

2

020 took everyone by surprise with COVID-19, and loss followed wherever the pandemic ended up. But even as the world seems to be slowing down, people are working hard to keep it moving. There are all kinds of events that people anticipate each year, and despite fear of the virus, people seem to fear event cancellations even more. Luckily for film fans, TIFF 2020 is here to stay.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which hosts over 400,000 attendees annually, continues to welcome fans for 2020 in their belief that “there’s no stopping great storytelling.”

TIFF has been offering a variety of highquality films from around the world since 1976. This popular event is essential to Toronto’s $2 billion-a-year film industry and helps Canadian content reach the global market.

With changes to accommodate for safety, the 45th edition of TIFF will look a bit different this year. The festival, which runs from September 10-19, will offer digital screenings, drive-ins, and virtual red carpets, alongside modified press conferences, industry talks, and physical screenings. With safety as their highest priority, TIFF is working with public health officials to ensure the best setup possible.

During the first five days, TIFF’s full selection of films will premiere via socially-distanced physical screenings in three different venues. While last year featured a whopping 333 titles, this year’s lineup spans only 50 feature films and five programmes of short films.

It’s a smaller, but ever mighty, selection with highly anticipated worldwide premieres such as Francis Lee’s Ammonite (United Kingdom), Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised (USA), Suzanne Lindon’s debut Spring Blossom (France) and Naomi Kawase’s True Mothers (Japan), among many others. TIFF will also welcome a star-studded guest list of ambassadors, filmmakers, and actors, includ-

ing Taika Waititi, Nicole Kidman, Martin Scorsese, Priyanka Chopra, Tantoo Cardinal, Zhang Ziyi, Anurag Kashyap, Viggo Mortensen, David Oyelowo, Lulu Wang, Alfonso Cuarón, and Rosamund Pike.

Since COVID-19 still lurks, crowds of thousands of people would be a hazard. However, to make the best out of this situation for festivalgoers, TIFF is offering drive-ins and outdoor experiences. To the thousands of people unable to attend the festival in person, TIFF has you covered. For the first time ever, TIFF is launching a digital platform where screenings, talks, and special events will stream online throughout the festival’s 10 days.

“The pandemic has hit TIFF hard, but we’ve responded by going back to our original inspiration — to bring the very best in film to the broadest possible audience,” says Cameron Bailey, TIFF’s Artistic Director and Co-Head, in an official release.

The team behind TIFF has worked to change this problematic pandemic into an opportunity – an opportunity to connect with audiences beyond Toronto. As the film industry struggles to recover, TIFF is collaborating with other festivals like Toronto’s Inside Out and Reel Asian International Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), and large-scale events like the Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and New York Film Festival.

Despite all these changes, TIFF 2020 will find some familiar footing. The Tribute Awards, which began in 2019, will still be hosted and available online to acknowledge and celebrate the industry’s exceptional contributors. There is also TIFF’s Industry Conference with advanced online security for film professionals to network and interviews available for Canadian and international press.

Finally, this year will host the third edition of TIFF’s Media Inclusion Initiative to recognize and amplify the voices of eligible Black, Indigenous, people of colour, LGBTQ+, and female film critics. As a new addition to this initiative, companies and individuals can now gift industry access to 250 under-represented filmmakers globally.

Throughout the pandemic, TIFF has suffered temporary closures of its offices and cinemas, reduction of full-time staff, and predictions of a 50 per cent reduced revenue from last year. But even with these hardships, the festival commits to keeping the celebration of film alive. As stated in an official release, “the world is still bursting with stories not yet told, places not yet seen, and most importantly, voices not yet heard.”

Individual tickets for TIFF members will go on sale starting August 28, opening up to different tiers each day until September 5, when tickets go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. You can find ticket pre-sales and additional information at tiff.net.

17

The Fastest Rising Actors to Watch as We Approach 2021 FLORENCE PUGH

Oyinkansola Olawuyi Contributor

B

ecause of COVID-19, many movies had their release dates postponed. Some will hit theatres later this year, while others likely won’t debut until 2021. Through all the uncertainty, one thing is clear: as these movies emerge, we have some groundbreaking performances to look forward to.

Here are seven of the fastest risers in Hollywood, names you’ll see headline some big-time titles as we shift from 2020 to 2021. You may already recognize some of them, but if not, it won’t be long before you do.

After making a splash in 2019 with the folk horror film Midsommar and the sensational Greta Gerwig adaptation of Little Women, it’s no surprise that Florence Pugh kicks off our list.

Pugh has shared the screen with Hollywood heavyweights, from Meryl Streep and Saoirse Ronan, to Chris Pine and Michael Shannon.

She possesses an absurd ability to transform into her characters — whether it’s the dainty Amy March in Little Women or the aggressive wrestler in Fighting with my Family.

This year, Pugh stars alongside Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, Black Widow (2020). This will be the largest production Pugh has undertaken yet, with the opportunity to shoot her into stardom.

LASHANA LYNCH

His breakthrough performance in Spike Lee’s award-winning film, Blackkklansman (2018), earned him both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nods. Even under the enormous shadow of his father, two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, John David is carving a name for himself.

Washington stars in Christopher Nolan’s secretive spy thriller, Tenet (2020), which just hit theatres. In it, he plays ‘The Protagonist’ alongside Robert Pattinson and Michael Caine.

This film is projected to be the biggest of the year and is the first blockbuster released since the world shut down in March.

In 2019, Lynch played the 1950s pilot Maria Rambeau in the MCU film, Captain Marvel (2019), opposite award-winners Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson. Next up, Lynch will appear in the latest James Bond installation, No Time to Die (2020).

Assuming the iconic mantle of 007 after James Bond’s retirement, Lynch’s character, Nomi, is very much Bond’s counterpart. Despite sharing the same code name, the two agents have very conflicting views and modi operandi. Lynch will be the first black, and female, agent in the infamous operative. Her character will provide a fresh take

BARRY KEOGHAN

ANA DE ARMAS

JESSICA HENWICK

ANTHONY RAMOS

Best known as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in Hamilton, Anthony Ramos makes it hard to forget his name. He’s appeared in A Star Is Born (2018) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and has given scene-stealing performances as Mars Blackmon in the TV series, She’s Gotta Have It. John M. Chu’s In the Heights (2021), based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical of the same name, will bring Ramos back to his musical origins — acting, singing, and dancing as the film’s lead. Despite its delayed release, In the Heights is already creating a huge stir and forecasts a thunderous turnout. The film will showcase Ramos’ triple-threat power and is sure to become a 2021 summer favourite.

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON

In 2015, Jessica Henwick joined the cast of the HBO phenomenon Game of Thrones. She then became Colleen Wing in the Netflix show, Iron Fist. Although reviews of Iron Fist were largely negative, Henwick’s performance was a bright spot, earning praise for her physicality and dry wit.

She’s now set to appear in the 2021 film, Godzilla vs. Kong, alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, and Brian Tyree Henry. This’ll be an impressive addition to Henwick’s growing filmography and is sure to be a box-office boom. Henwick will also join The Matrix Franchise, playing an undisclosed role in The Matrix 4.

Barry Keoghan’s chilling performance as Martin in 2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer earned him multiple nominations including Best Supporting Actor and Villain of the Year.

He starred alongside Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman in this film and held his own against the two acting powerhouses.

Next, Keoghan will appear in A24’s medieval mindbender, The Green Knight (2020), based on the Arthurian legend. However, it’s the MCU blockbuster The Eternals (2021) that could really turn Keoghan into a household name. With this, and his role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2021), we’ll see a lot of Keoghan in 2021 as he rattles the superhero world with a bang.

After a busy career in Spain, Ana de Armas made Hollywood waves with films like Knock Knock (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Knives Out (2019).

She now joins Lashana Lynch in No Time to Die (2020), playing a CIA agent who helps Bond. Also coming out this year is Deep Water, a psychological thriller about a married couple playing dangerous mind games with each other. De Armas plays the wife, while Ben Affleck plays the husband. The last actress to play a similar role opposite Affleck was Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl (2014), who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. And if that wasn’t enough, de Armas will also become Marilyn Monroe in the biographical film.

The Future of Movie Theatres in Flux Lourdes Duah Contributor

C

OVID-19 and the ensuing physical distancing measures have kept movie theatres closed temporarily. However, even as public restrictions loosen and people socialize more, theatres remain in a tough spot.

One challenge emerged back in March between major film studio Universal Pictures and American theatre chain giant AMC. Universal released its movie Trolls: World Tour straight to streaming services, completely skipping any theatrical release.

In response, AMC refused to show any more films by Universal Studios, a massive threat to the studio’s primary business model.

Traditionally, major releases hit video-on-demand (VOD) services after about 75 days, but this plan assumes the movie will consistently generate revenue during its run. In reality, most movies make the bulk of their revenue in the first few weekends. With this in mind, AMC agreed with Universal to change its theatrical model that can run as short as 17 days.

Despite AMC and Universal’s agreement, it begs the question: why bother with a theatrical release at all if the film will hit stream-

ing services so soon after? Theatres are traditional, but streaming is already so popular that most people can wait to watch a movie at home rather than see it in theatres. Pricing seems to be the main advantage; $15 theatre tickets aren’t the most outrageous asking price, but add in friends, family, or significant others, $4$8 for every popcorn bag, a drink or candy item, and it can leave your wallet a little thin. Meanwhile, all this disappears when you stream through VOD at home. You can rent a movie for multiple people at a standard price, generally under $25, and buy your own (likely cheaper) snacks from a grocery store, saving loads of money. Home theatres also allow you to start, pause, and continue the movie whenever needed, giving viewers more control.

Even with so many advantages, theatres have unique qualities that home viewing can’t quite replicate.

For one, a night at the theatre is an experience. The smell of theatre popcorn, the comfy seats, the bonding with others; while these are all possible at home, they’re amplified into an event when you spend the night out. A full theatre also offers several unique viewing options; seeing a massive, sweeping landscape in IMAX or a high-energy action scene in 3-D can enhance the viewing experience. The large audience of a theatre can’t quite be replicated at home either. Many people flinching at a jump-scare or cackling at a comedy can evoke a vastly greater reaction than

during a small, private viewing.

Despite such merits, theatres may have a hard time drawing customers back in. The pandemic still poses safety concerns that may push people away. Studios are delaying movie releases for months or going straight to streaming services. And at the end of the day, streaming provides customers a cheaper, more controlled alternative.

Will movie theatres eventually be a thing of the past? Probably not. At least, not completely. Socially distanced theatres have already opened up in China, replete with mask requirements, temperature scanners, and large, regularly disinfected stuffed animals to substitute physical contact. Even with a pandemic, interest in theatres clearly hasn’t died. More likely, COVID-19 safety concerns combined with the financial benefits of streaming will make people increasingly selective about what they’ll make a trip to the theatre for. A great comparison is seeing your favourite singer or band live versus listening to their album at home.

One is on-demand, cheaper, and lends itself better to private viewings, while the other feels more like an event, benefits from audience response, and has unique ways of enhancing the show.

Just like how most wouldn’t shell out extra money for every single live performance, people are picking and choosing which movies they’ll trek to the theatres for, and which they’ll wait to stream.

18

THE

LIST

Taylor Swift embraces the unknown with folklore

Santiago Moran Contributor

Paige France Contributor

T

W

he underground music scene in the Greater Toronto Area is filled with noteworthy artists.

From Toronto’s Roach, Spirit Desire, and Doctors Hate Her, to Guelph’s Drunk at the Library, Hamilton’s Sea of Troubles, and Mississauga’s Mildew Mildew, a lack of variety does not exist. There’s indie-rock, noise-pop, alt-country, post-hardcore, and dream-pop bands just a few train stops from one another. Despite the pandemic, many of these local bands have completed and release some quality projects.

With that said, welcome to the inaugural M List: a bi-weekly roundup of the moment in A&E. Our series kicks off with some of the hottest local indie bands of the summer.

MILDEW MILDEW – Chopped Lumps

Mildew Mildew is a Mississauga-based noise-pop band. Chopped Lumps is their debut album, which is important to keep in mind when you consider it’s also a double-album spanning 22 songs long, a lengthy 59 minutes. Throughout this full-length EP, Mildew Mildew seamlessly switches back and forth between funk-rock, noise-pop, art-punk, and industrial-rock.

The vocals, sung by Nolan Japukovski and Ali Garvin, shift from conventionally pleasing to anxiety-inducing with ease. The band flexes their rhythm on tracks like “Scissorkicks” and “Big Snuggly Wuggly Hug,” where the bass and drums lock into some unusual and infectious grooves.

Mildew Mildew’s Chopped Lumps is an intersection between The Unicorns’ Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? and Talking Head’s Fear of Music — required listening for fans of either band.

WESTELAKEN – The Golden Days are Hard On its Bandcamp page, Westelaken introduces The Golden Days are Hard with an explanation: “here’s an album what’s [sic] got ten types of songs.” The band was right to do so, because the number of genres they blend together throughout this album makes it hard to categorize. They describe themselves as a country band, but they have hints of pop, indie-rock, and artpunk sure to tickle your ears. The way Westelaken incorporates different genres into their music allows them to make five-minute songs fly by in seconds, maybe best heard in “The January Song.”

The immaculate production makes The Golden Days are Hard nearly indistinguishable from a high-budget major studio release. There are motifs that run throughout the album, like the piano lick in the opening seconds of the album. The lyrics are incredible and turn some songs into the “dying type of songs,” which is how the band describes “The April Song.”

This album is for fans of Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Microphones.

DAFFODIL – i don’t know what’s wrong

Daffodil is a two-piece band with only one release: i don’t know what’s wrong.

I won’t even try categorizing this album. It’s dreamy, chaotic, and unpredictable at every turn. It switches from loud to subdued and back again without warning. The structures of the songs make each one feel like three shorter ones stitched together. And I say all of this as a compliment.

This EP, composed of five songs and only twenty-four minutes long, is a unique experience.

You might draw comparisons to Animal Collective at some points, but by the time you do, they’ve started sounding more like Sleater-Kinney. It’s an album that’s disorienting and hard to pin down, but if you seek something unlike anything else, Daffodil is the band for you.

GLUTENHEAD – Glutenhead Glutenhead is a Toronto band composed of six people. Their self-titled EP is six tracks long and filled with slacker-rock gems. There are moments in this album that’ll make your hips move, moments that’ll make your head bob, and moments bound to make you sing along.

The lyrics are funny and sad at the same time, a fascinating mix that allows you to relate to the music without it ruining your day.

Every musician plays impeccably. Guitars, drums, bass, and vocals all come together to form a coordinated mess where even imperfections seem calculated. This is slacker-rock made with care.

If you like Built to Spill or Pavement, this is for you. There’s not much to say other than Glutenhead made a fantastic, concise, and fun listening experience. They also get points for having the coolest name.

While the pandemic rages on, and we’re stuck inside, local musicians keep drumming up hype.

There’s something to check out no matter what you like to listen to. Whether you’re looking for something smooth and simple, chaotic and experimental, or some mix in-between, there are exciting underground bands on the rise. Don’t be shy to try them out just because they’re not popular! When we get through this pandemic and come together again, we’ll have new concerts to circle on our calendars.

hen it feels like we’ve lost everything, music promises us prosperity and comfort amidst uncertainty and isolation. No artist knows this better than Taylor Swift. The former country-pop megastar recently abandoned her comfort zone with folklore, a radical detour into head-spinning, heart-wrenching songwriting that compiles what critics are heralding as her best album yet.

Through seven albums, Swift’s discography could never be defined. From soothing country, rockier teenage angst, bellowing sadness, jaw-dropping revenge, and idyllic romance, we’ve now been granted music fit for afternoon drives to the cottage, welcomed by the wooden forest and the fruity smell of red wine.

The song that catapulted her into pop stardom was 2012’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the unmistakably pop-hinted single from her fourth album, Red. In it, Swift would describe the boyfriend she wanted to leave: “You would hide away and find your peace of mind/With some indie record that’s much cooler than mine.” Coincidentally, eight years later, Swift has concocted one of those very records herself.

Folklore, her first alternative album, uncharacteristically released 17 hours after she announced its existence in late July, is a soothingly melodic compilation of her restless quarantined imagination. This shock release, coupled with a drastic change in music direction, is surprising. Folklore involves beliefs, customs, and stories passed through generations by word-of-mouth, and Swift did just that by sending her critics, media, and fans into a radically intimate spiral of sound. One that harbours the aches of Fall’s approach, the pure breeding ground of infatuation, and nostalgia. By bleeding out such a poetically poised and irresistibly pensive masterpiece in four months, Swift aspires for a timelessness few artists dare to compete against.

Swift is also receiving endless accolades.

Folklore debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 while her lead single, “Cardigan,” topped The Hot 100 the same week, becoming the first artist in history to accomplish this feat. Swift has also become the first to debut three songs on The Hot 100’s top six spots. In terms of record sales, folklore became 2020’s biggest album debut in just three days.

Being yet another album written in isolation, albeit Reputation emerged after the fall of her very own, folklore brings with it the same moment of solitude where Swift improves herself personally and musically through selfreflection, integrating romantic tones to her starkly contradicting lyrical woes.

Isolation is not a hindrance to Swift’s creativity nor her collaborative power. William Bowery, a speculated pseudonym for her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, reveals that their love is both undeniable and private. Starting folklore by tolling a confessional “I” and concluding

with a wistful “do” denotes that more could be brewing.

Despite this major redirection, Swift maintains her meticulousness, from the album’s one hour and three minute runtime (Swifties are chuckling) to allusions of rebellious American debutante Rebekah Harkness, whose story mirrors hers. Harkness is her heroine, criticizing society’s treatment of brash women — purposeful yet vastly misunderstood.

Meanwhile, “Cardigan,” “August,” and “Betty” feature compelling protagonists Betty, James, and Inez, a sentimental homage to friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ daughters.

No detail is too minuscule for Swift as she crams them into introspective cadences.

The American singer’s diaristic approach reveals her conniving brilliance and assures us we shouldn’t only celebrate her storytelling, but fear it. Jarring lyrics like, “Give you my wild/Give you a child” leaves us sifting through her mind, searching for the very beauty of folklore itself — what is feigned and what is truth. Even her critics grip the letters of woeful lust designed by her methodical pen, which spews the whims her heart contains.

The contrast of folklore to her other albums is in its overt contemplative properties, rather than her usual reflectivity. Folklore embodies a meaningful coherency that her other albums failed to vocalize. Swift acknowledges her past of drama and pining for acceptance, but embraces a future separated from it with emotional complexity.

The melancholic “Exile” articulates this corrosion as pianos fatalistically toll like clocks, foreshadowing the heartbreak in the song’s brutal climax. “Epiphany,” her tear-jerking battle-themed song, is sombre in medical undertones, depicting the coronavirus’ wicked hunting of loved ones. With a muted melody, the scathing words stand alone — the message more important than the delivery.

Meanwhile, folklore’s most romantic and transformative lyric can be found in the song “Peace,” “All these people think love’s for show/But I would die for you in secret.” Swift’s ode to her love in this radio-unfriendly culmination eschews her interest in seeking public approval. No longer feeling condemned by critics, she opts for subdued but rich experimentation to throw them off her track, almost tauntingly. And ironically, she’s gained rave reviews from even the harshest critics.

Her work is strictly stories passed down like folk songs. With folklore dethroning her 2019 album Lover, which dethroned its predecessor Reputation in 2017, for the biggest album debut in US history, Swift’s only real competition is herself. Her vulnerability was thoroughly noted with soft piano melodies as honest as the lyrics that surrounded them.

While folklore might not mark the end of her pop ambitions, Swift’s emotional perceptiveness is assured. And as we keep our masks on, Swift takes hers off. Songwriting keeps Swift afloat in the tumultuous seas of life, comforted by knowing that while relationships may come and go, her love of music will save her at the cusp of drowning.

19

sports & health

Editor | Sarah-May Edwardo-Oldfield sports@themedium.ca

By “Preparing Young Girls to Be Great Women,” Salee Johnson-Edwards is Equipping them for Life Varsity Basketball Coach Salee Johnson-Edwards strives to make noise for women in coaching.

Sarah-May Edwardo-Oldfied Sports Editor >> continued from page 1

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ohnson-Edwards’ mom was particularly impressed after seeing her daughter play for the first time, especially since no one had shown her how to play.

From there it developed into family events, to her playing in high school, to travel teams and rep teams. Johnson-Edwards decided that she wanted to pursue sports at a post-secondary level. While she also played a lot of volleyball at her high school, St. Augustine Secondary School, it was basketball she fell in love with. “But I chose basketball, the sport I would push myself in.”

Johnson-Edwards left Canada on a basketball scholarship to the University of New Hampshire.

Her first year was challenging. Being so far away from home made her homesick, but a resilient Johnson-Edwards learned to navigate the challenge over the course of the following few years, while she played in a demanding Division One program.

“It was definitely like a fulltime job,” she says. “It’s a demanding program, [and it’s] very demanding to be a division one athlete. I stuck out and ended up having a really good experience there. I enjoyed my time there.”

Johnson-Edwards played at the shooting guard position as an athlete. Though she played at the point guard spot on occasion, it was the shooting guard position that she naturally fit into.

“I was a two guard and helped out at the point every so often.

But I was more of a shooting guard. It’s what I did growing up. I was also one of the shorter ones so I wasn’t going to be playing a forward position. I was an undersized two [shooting guard] as well.”

As a young athlete, Johnson-Edwards drew inspiration from people in her life she held in high regard. “I looked up to my parents. Both very inspirational growing up. I grew up really loving Chamique Holdsclaw, she played for the University of Tennessee. I grew up watching her journey and what she did

on the court. I also grew up watching UCONN’s women’s basketball team. As well, [I was part of the] the typical Jordan era, so I grew up watching the Bulls. I was a fan until Toronto came around.”

Johnson-Edwards closed her chapter as a student athlete by graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism, and moving back to Canada. Johnson-Edwards had an interest in coaching, but figured it wasn’t an avenue she would pursue until later in life. Back home she needed a side job. She began her coaching career with an AU Youth program out of Newmarket. “After the first practice I remember driving back home with my dad, who came out to watch, and I was like I think I can do this.” Johnson-Edwards loved the experience. Like basketball, it was another role she found herself falling into naturally. After coaching the team for two years, Johnson-Edwards took a junior college coaching job in Maryland and moved back to the U.S. She coached the team for two years, and by the time she left they were having their best season yet. From there she eventually found herself part of the coaching staff at Fordham University. Coaching at a higher level, she was part of the team that built the program from the ground up, turning yet another program into a winning one.

When she came back home to Canada she figured she was done with coaching. According to Johnson-Edwards, coaching in the United States is a full-time job.

At the time she had been married for a couple of years and had just had her first child. It was getting hard to navigate being a mom and a coach.

“Either your family life was going to suffer, or your work life was going to suffer,” recalled Johnson-Edwards. “And you have to make sacrifices. I just knew that I didn’t want to be away from my kids. So we decided to come back home and start over. I also just wanted a break to be more present at home.”

Back home she had her second child.

It seemed like her coaching career had ended until she received a phone call from the former Varsity supervisor about a coaching position with the Developmental Basketball team. >> continued on page 20

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Celine Polidario/UTM Athletics. Coach Sal’s all female staff from left to right: Shannon Bartley, Ray Williams, Hali Burns, Coach Sal.

>> continued from page 19 “I took it on because it was one practice a week and one game a week.”

Johnson-Edwards coached the Women’s D-League team for the next few years. Each season the team improved, winning more games and becoming more of a championship contender. In her third year, the team upset the undefeated St. George Black team to win the Tri-Campus Championship.

UTM was getting ready to enter the OCAA with two new varsity teams: Varsity Men’s and Women’s basketball. JohnsonEdwards had to decide if she wanted to step aside or continue being a coach and go varsity.

Johnson-Edwards stayed on to coach the Varsity Women’s Basketball, which began its inaugural season in the OCAA in 2017. Being a very new team, in a league with many seasoned programs, Johnson-Edwards was eager for a challenge. “It was a brand new program, and I liked the challenge of building a program. This was an opportunity for me to do that again, but as the head coach. It was a great opportunity to challenge myself career-wise. It was an opportunity to take the things I’ve learned along the way and use them. I thought I was ready.”

“My kids were a little bit older, and I knew that in terms of the commitment it wasn’t as heavy as coaching in the States so I could balance my work and home life.” But coaching at UTM was slightly different than coaching U.S. student athletes on scholarships. Johnson-Edwards’ coaching staff each have years of experience as student-athletes. All of them have played at the university or Division 1 level.

“We all kind of understood what it meant to play at a high level. So, when we took the program, we went into the program as if it was high-level. Our mindset was always going to be to run it like a top-level program, minus the financial aspect. And that meant running practices and holding athletes to our high expectations.”

Johnson-Edwards never viewed her coaching and involvement in sports as paving the way for other women, especially women of colour, in a still very male dominated profession. But that’s exactly what she’s done. There are very few female coaches among coaching staffs in the OCAA, and even fewer female head coaches. UTM’s Women’s Varsity Eagles Basketball team has the only all-female staff in the league.

“It definitely makes what you’re doing little more impactful.

Growing up, some of the coaches that really impacted my decisions and how I played were women who had gone through it before. So, I think being a woman, especially a woman of colour, could maybe represent a demographic that is very much underrepresented. I definitely take the job I do seriously. Our whole coaching staff definitely understands being female leaders in this regard and being able to impact the next generation.

“Her position, and that of her coaching staff, aim to inspire young underrepresented women of colour, through their interactions with their athletes, other members within the league, and with referees.

“I think we can be the change,” says Johnson-Edwards.

It wasn’t something they had planned to do, but Johnson-Edwards realized that they’re in a position to really be of influence.

Coach Johnson-Edwards and her staff hope the athletes that play for them take away life lessons that instil key values and character skills that help the players develop.

“At the end of the day, a portion of the players I coach go on to play professionally. Whether that’s in a league or overseas.

But all of them have gone on to do great things, because that’s what we’ve equipped them to do.”

Discipline, teamwork, the value of hard work, and being resilient are all traits Johnson-Edwards thinks are very important for young women to have and work towards: “You might not realize that you’ve learned until you’re in a situation where you draw on the skills and strengths you’ve developed as an athlete.

That’s our goal.”

But her athletes aren’t the only ones learning. Johnson-Edwards’ athletes have taught her a lot of individual differences, and how to deal with different personalities. She’s learned to tailor her approach and interactions toward each of her players.

“Each player comes differently packaged. I wanted to be a player’s coach, to be relatable. I wanted my athletes to be able to come to me for anything. I understood them, especially with the change of coming back home and coaching the D-league team. I wasn’t coaching high level scholarships athletes. They may not be a high level, but they have the same level of passion. They want to win; they want to do their best. So, I had to change my approach in terms of how I dealt with them. I had to learn my players very quickly.”

And that’s something Johnson-Edwards continues to work on. She continues to learn about her players, what drives them, and what pushes them away. What works with one might not work with another. Her players have taught her how to be more

balanced in her approach.

As a coach, Johnson-Edwards still looks up to others for inspiration, like other female coaches that are making waves and opening doors for women in a male dominated field. “[I look up to] women who are crossing over into coaching and taking head position jobs. It’s not just one person. It’s a collective group of women making noise in coaching. Women who I’ve grown up watching, go into coaching. We’re crossing into territories we’ve never been in. That inspires and drives me. We’re doing it. We’re going to be the change for the next generation.”

Johnson-Edwards recognizes the changing landscape for women in positions traditionally seemingly out of their reach.

Representation has become an increasingly prevalent topic, and highly relevant in the growing BLM movement. She, like many, hadn’t realized she was the first female head coach for UTM’s Varsity program’s history. “It wasn’t something I had set out to do.”

And the Eagles are coming off their best season to date. In just their third season, our Lady Eagles made it to playoffs. JohnsonEdwards and her staff gave themselves five years to turn the program into a contender, and in three years it’s clear they’re getting closer and closer to that goal. But for Coach Sal, as her players and fellow coaches call her, it isn’t enough to rack up wins. For her and her coaching team, it’s more than just basketball.

Coach Sal will undoubtedly leave behind a lasting legacy at UTM. She won two Coach of the Year awards in her three years with the Developmental team. This year, she took home her first UTM Varsity Coach of the Year Award, coming off an incredible season that saw a winning record and the program’s first ever playoff appearance. But those accolades aren’t the only things Johnson-Edwards can be proud of. In her few years at UTM, she’s already inspired several of her former players to become coaches themselves. And that’s the legacy JohnsonEdwards ultimately wants to leave behind: to inspire and drive her young female athletes to aim for the stars.

“My hope is that I’ve touched enough lives to inspire my players to go and achieve great things anywhere they go. You can look at the win-loss record, it’s pretty great. But for me that only captures a portion of the picture. I want to inspire our students and let them know that if you put yourself in a position to do the best you can, not only will you succeed but you’ll be able to affect change, influence other people, and overall push the department to a different level of greatness for varsity athletics at UTM.”