Volume 48, Issue 19

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

Issue 19 Volume 48 February 28 2022

themedium.ca

RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS

EPIDEMIC EMPIRE

MICHELLE HOPKINS

On February 23 at 8 p.m., I scroll through the news in Meduza (the Russian oppositional newspaper almost banned in Russia).

Things have become worse. I have friends in Ukraine. A lot of my Russian friends have friends and relatives there. I’m scared.

“However, I had some professors who saw something radical and revolutionary in my work, so I [called them] when I felt I was getting too much push back from senior colleagues in my field.”

“In 2019, I decided to pursue music as a career. I don’t care if it’s a career of celebrity status. I just want to always use this outlet to connect to people who my experiences relate to. I just want to share something that I’m passionate aboutt.”

>> read more on page 06

>> read more on page 09

>> read more on page 10

NEWS

An overview of the ongoing trucker protest in the Ottawa and Toronto

O

Razia Saleh Associate News Editor

ver the past few weeks, Ottawa has been involuntarily hosting truck protestors with the desire to remove the Covid- 19 vac cine a m ndate and a m sks in the workplace; both provincialy l and federaly l . e protests, which originaly l started on a J nuary 2 - in Ot tawa, have escalated signicantly over the past two weeks. is protest was prompted y b the indignation a m ny trucke- rs ex pressed toward rP ime Minister Trudeau’s announcement on trav eler sanctions. >

U C K T E R OP S

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OPINION

ARTS

Technological injustice

Individuality in Fefu and Her Friends

Hamna Riaz Staff Writer

Julia Skoczypiec Theatre Erindale Correspondent

“T

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echnology is often spoken about as if it were a force separate from human influence [...] Yet ‘human beings are behind the screen: our values, our ideologies, our biases and assumptions,” says Ruha Benjamin, a sociologist and professor of African American studies at Princeton University.

Amidst the rise of movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, the problem of racism in artificial intelligence (AI) and technology has been brought to light. Most followers of the movements have a general understanding of the fact that technological “advancements” have disproportionately negative effects on the Black community, especially in North America. However, to solidify this argument and push toward technological reform, it is important that we understand how and why this discrimination occurs.

For starters, technology is not a saving grace that will enter a community and remove all flaws. This idea is rooted in technological solutionism where large technology companies try to convince society that by spending more money in the technology sector, we can achieve world peace. Some may truly believe that their creation is fair and equitable, but unconscious bias and deeply embedded oppressive values get reproduced. The complex AI systems we use are a mere extension of our current society that follow the rules that the ones creating it set. Technology is not unbiased. >> TECHNOLOGY continues on page 07

ike TV shows and literature, we have all seen different works created and performed by women, and they often portray women through lenses that empower and celebrate womanhood. Many literary critics suggest that they “know feminist writing when they see it”—as though there is a list of criteria that “makes” a work feminist. But how can a predominantly “feminine” piece display gender roles?

Written by María Irene Fornés and directed by Brian Postalian, Fefu and Her Friends is a story set in the 1930s about eight women who gather at Fefu’s (Rachel Tomasic) home to plan and rehearse for a charity event for education. The play is often identified as “plotless”— we see a day of social gathering unfold from morning to evening, and at times, the story is inexplicable. As such, it becomes a mirror for the often puzzling and inexistent “structures” of life itself.

Fefu, the main character, is an avid believer in the future of the education system. Although she is passionate about making a change, audiences see Fefu struggle with her own concept of femininity and quarrel with her offstage husband.

Besides Fefu, we meet Cecilia (Nell Senkevich) and Paula (Amelia Woolfrey)—lovers with a complicated and impactful relationship—as well as Cindy (Reese Cowley), Christina (Elif Coşkun), Emma (Molly Botten), and Sue (Bronwyn Keough). They all attend the gathering, offering their individual and well-articulated perceptions on love, sensitivity, societal gender norms, lust, performance, conformity, fear, and much more.

Julia (Angel Haines), the final guest at the gathering, is centralized in the play by monologues and her connection to a mysterious past—one that follows a hunting accident, placing her in a wheelchair. Her presence causes tension in the house, and she shows a continual fascination toward Fefu’s ever-present half-loaded gun.

Theatre Erindale’s production of Fefu and Her Friends blurs the lines that determine gender and touches on concepts of mental illness in a way that connects audiences. Although each character in the play represents a woman, their individual personalities frame them as people who do not follow any specific gender roles.

These characters are simply human beings; they move, speak, and act according to their desires. Based on her performance of Paula, Woolfrey shares her thoughts with The Medium on character building. >> THEATRE ERINDALE continues on page 10

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NEWS

Editor | May Alsaigh news@themedium.ca

UTSU advocates for Palestine rights Endorsed by UTSU, BDS motion bans funds to firms involved in Israeli’s occupation of Palestine.

Anjalli Becharbhai Staff Writer

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n February 16, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) voted for the passing and endorsement of boycott, divestment, and economic sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The decision was prompted by their goal to divest funds and ban any source of investment into firms who occupy Palestinian Territory.

The UTSU is a student-led organization that addresses a range of concerns, including dental care, student aid, and funding for integral sports clubs and committees. The UTSU is led by a diverse body of representatives that advocate on behalf of 38,000 students and the issues they confront.

The union organizes and facilitates public education campaigns while supporting an array of student-led initiatives, including virtual meetings. On February 17, over 500 students attended a meeting

whereby the BDS motion was approved by 50 votes.

Over the past decade, there have been a number of unjustified attacks against Palestine by Israeli forces. The ongoing territory dispute and Israeli occupation of Palestinian land has been persisting for years, provoking relentless controversy.

Daily violence continues to occur along the West Bank, with tensions rising in

East Jerusalem followed by rampant and treacherous demolitions of buildings and evictions.

Countless demonstrations, clashes, illegitimate search-and-arrest operations, unknown attacks, and alleged attacks have occurred against Palestine.

Daniel Koren, executive director of Hasbara Fellowships Canada,

expressed his views on the discriminatory nature of the motion in a public email to U of T president Meric Gertler.

Koren stated that the UTSU passing the BDS motion with vague language could be interpreted as banning and boycotting of Jewish owned-businesses, which is discrimination against the rights and freedoms of Jewish students on campus.

In December 2021, Hasbara Fellowships Canada also reached out to U of T to put pressure on and address U of T Scarborough Campus Student Union’s (SCSU) support for BDS and banning Kosher food. The motion stated that food would be ordered strictly from Kosher caterers who “do not normalize Israeli apartheid.”

This motion, passed in November, implied union members could only purchase Kosher food if it came from organizations that did not support Israel. As a result, backlash came from Jewish students who feared it would interfere with their ability to keep kashrut on campus.

After this policy was devised, President Gertler issued a statement addressing the SCSU’s actions to boycott Kosher food on campus. As a result, the SCSU abolished the

clause banning Kosher food from its motion, as it infringed freedom of speech and inclusion rights.

Since the BDS movement was announced, several individuals took to social media to express their mixed views regarding the motion.

On Twitter, one user states shortly after the motion was passed, “Truly never thought I’d see the day that the UTSU passed BDS while I was still a student at U of T. Words can’t begin to describe how much this victory means to me and fellow organizers that have been involved. Years of hard work have finally paid off.”

Alternatively, @StopAntisemites tweeted, “From Harvard University to the University of Toronto, pro-Palestinian groups are attempting to restrict the access of certain kosher foods to Jewish students. This blatant antisemitism must never be tolerated and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Following the announcement of these policies, the integrity and freedoms of students on campus has been considered by U of T in response to the politically divided views stemming from the passing of BDS.

LATRACH MED AJ MIL/UNSPLASH

Students hold U of T accountable after distributing “hell money” for Lunar New Year U of T releases public statement apologizing for their error in distributing imitation money, stating it was “not intentional or malicious.”

Shreya Joshi Staff Writer

U

of T is recently facing backlash from students after giving out “hell money” to graduate students celebrating Lunar New Year this month. Instead of receiving money, students were handed incense paper in bright red envelopes that read “Hell Bank Note.”

Traditionally in China, bright red envelopes filled with cash are sent to loved ones as a symbol of good luck and prosperity as the New Year starts. Incense paper, also known as joss paper, is typically observed in Chinese funerals as a way to honour passing relatives or friends in the afterlife. These imitation bills that were distributed by U of T can indicate negative messages, including ‘you are dead to me’ or ‘I wish you were dead.’

Following this incident, U of T’s Asian community is expressing their concerns regarding what they describe as a hate crime.

Students are calling on the university to address the matter and take responsibility for their actions.

In a statement to NBC Asian America, U of T gave a public statement apologizing to all those affected by the incident.

“We treat incidents of racism with great seriousness, and we have investigated this matter fully. We have concluded that the error was not intentional or malicious. We deeply regret that this

mistake occurred during a time that was meant to be joyful and pressed their dismay at the Graduate House’s “lack of research celebratory,” they write. into cultural sensitivity and proper etiquette.” According to them, No information about who was responsible or how the crime the incident could have been avoided if the staff had conferred took place was released. U of T’s Asian Communities created a with Chinese staff or students prior to sending the envelopes. petition on Change.org calling for the administration to conduct On February 11, a meeting hosted by U of T’s Asian student a more in-depth investigation to find the perpetrators of this at- organization was interrupted by a man wielding a machine gun tack. With a goal of 10,000 signatures, the petition currently has and hurling racial epithets. The meeting, which was attended by more than 9,700. over 90 students, was held in support of those harmed by the “hell The Medium interviewed Asian students at the money” incident that occurred on Lunar New Year.

University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) about Although the action lasted a few seconds, it inflicttheir thoughts on the incident. Amanda Chen, a ed trauma upon participating students. first-year student in the Management program, According to U of T, Campus police and Toronto states, “It’s a very poor attempt at a joke. It is very police have been contacted in light of the event. The rude to Chinese [individuals], as Lunar New Year University is supporting the Asian student organizais a very important event to us. They can’t disretion in enacting stricter security measures for Zoom spect our culture like this.” meetings and events, especially those open to the pubYawen Deng, another first-year student in lic, to avoid similar situations happening again. management says, “The university can’t just send For students that have been affected by the two inenvelopes without doing any research or concidents, UTM offers free counseling and mental health senting with students of the culture.” services at the Health and Counselling Centre located in Co-presidents of U of T’s Canadian Asian the William G. Davis Building. Following these events, MAE MU Student Society, Ivy Zhang and Alex Chow, students at U of T and UTM continue to hold the univer/UNSPL ASH echoed Deng’s statement that the institution sity accountable for administering harmful acts towards did not consult students prior to sending the envelopes. the Asian community. The university should provide as In a Facebook message to The Globe, Zhang and Chow ex- much support as possible to prevent future occurrences.

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An overview of the ongoing trucker protest in the Ottawa and Toronto regions Violent incidents are taking a toll on Ottawa and Toronto residents as the province sees an increase in trucker protests.

>> TRUCKER PROTEST continued from page 01 “As of January 15, 2022, certain categories of travelers, who are currently exempt from entry requirements, will only be allowed to enter the country if they are fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved for entry into Canada,” as stated on the government website.

“Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated foreign nationals will only be allowed to enter Canada [from the US] if they meet the criteria for limited exceptions.”

This initiated Canada’s Pacific supporters to launch a GoFundMe page in late January. Millions of dollars were fundraised online, however, the GoFundMe platform canceled their fundraising due to the increase of “violence and unlawful activity.”

“After weeks of supporters peacefully protesting, the situation has quickly escalated and become violent.”

Major roads and highways have been blocked, including the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit. After weeks of supporters peacefully protesting, the situation has quickly escalated and become violent. Since then, Prime Minister Trudeau has reviewed the Emergencies Act, which enables him and the RCMP to enforce the removal of people loitering on public property.

The Emergencies Act also allows the government to intervene in a situation that they cannot enforce through the law. National emergencies give additional power and authority to the government to protect and secure citizens within the country.

The Freedom Convoy, a name designated by Canadian protestors, has spread across Canada. As stated on the Ottawa Police Twitter account on February 18, more than 100 people were arrested with 21 towed vehicles. Two

days later, police arrested another 191 people, had 79 cars towed, and had streets cleared for safe return.

The Freedom Convoy protests took their march into the city of Toronto in early February, where thousands have gathered, some exhibiting violent behavior. In a video from CBC News, one protester ignited a flare when police were pushing protestors away from the Parliament building. There was a burst of fire and smoke as police quickly took down the suspect.

Toronto Police have even reported a man throwing feces at another person. The protests are becoming increasingly violent and disruptive to community members in the downtown Toronto and Ottawa regions.

“Family brought their baby to the front line and placed the kid at the foot of the riot guards.”

Evan Solomon, host of CTV Power-Play, shared a photo on his Twitter page of a child being brought to the protest.

He says that the “family brought their baby to the front line and placed the kid at the foot of the riot guards.”

Several citizens have been putting their children in dangerous situations, in the front lines of police and “unlawful protests.” Ottawa Police states that “the children will be brought to a place of safety.”

Students at U of T have also been emailed by the university and warned of the harmful incidents that may occur.

As stated in U of T Provost’s email, “The Toronto Police Service has closed Queen’s Park from College Street to Bloor Street until further notice.” Students were told to expect to see increased police presence in the area.

As of February 21, Toronto Police Operations declared that Queen’s Park Crescent will remain closed, however, University Avenue will remain open but restricted to one lane.

With the increase of incidents occurring in the Ottawa and Toronto regions, U of T considers the safety of its students during these challenging times. Students and residents of Ontario are encouraged to stay safe in these public settings.

U of T to paint mural in honour of Terry Fox This year, U of T plans to honour Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist Terry Fox for his contributions in 1980. Fox strived to raise funds for cancer research by running from the East to the West Coast of Canada. After running for 143 days, his marathon ended at Thunder Bay, as Fox’s cancer had returned in his lungs. At the location where Fox passed through Toronto during his run, a mural will be painted in the summer of 2022 on the wall of U of T’s Rehabilitation Sciences Building by selected artists Alexander Bacon and Que Rock, commemorating his contributions.

Kamila Valieva’s controversial doping scandal at the Winter Olympics 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is facing backlash after participating in the 2022 Beijing Games. Not long after setting a new world record in the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships and placing first in the short program, Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency suspended Valieva after her positive test results were revealed, but this decision was overruled by the Court of Arbitration of Sport a day later due to Valieva’s age. After releasing a 41-page document, the agency stated that Valieva was not old enough to understand the gravity of making such a decision. Valieva was then permitted to skate in the women’s competition, sparking controversy.

The Adams Sustainability Celebration to return at U of T Hosted by the Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability, the Adams Sustainability Celebration will be celebrating success and encouraging student engagement in activities regarding sustainability. Running this year from February to April, the Adams Sustainability Celebration will be taking place virtually, with events such as live panel discussions and showcases scheduled throughout. Student and faculty grants are available, and the Adams Sustainability Innovation Prize will offer $25,500 in prizes to groups that present the most innovative sustainability ideas in its competition.

Ontario to remove vaccine passport system on March 1 Ontario moved into the second phase of its Covid-19 reopening plan on Monday, February 21, when capacity restrictions on many establishments were lifted, including social gathering restrictions. At this time, 50 people are permitted to gather. Looking forward, the Ontario government intends to remove the vaccine passport system on Thursday, March 1. While the government no longer mandates the need to show proof of vaccination, individual businesses may opt to require such proofs if they deem it necessary.

Ontario to remove license plate stickers requirement DILLON KYDD/UNSPLASH

Razia Saleh Associate News Editor

Larry Lau Associate News Editor

Effective March 13, the Ontario government will scrap the requirement for drivers to own a license plate sticker, which will also eliminate the need to renew such stickers as well.

Drivers who renewed their stickers from March 2020 onwards may also be eligible for a refund. Prospectively, drivers are looking to save $60 or $120, depending on their location within Ontario. Around 7.5 million drivers are projected to benefit from this, and around $1 billion will be retained by drivers after the legislation regarding the removal passes.

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OVINUCHI EJIOHUO/UNSPLASH

Millions of people are displaced as Nigeria enters its twelfth year in conflict The Covid-19 pandemic leaves devastating impacts on Nigerians as more than eight million people are seeking urgent care.

May Alsaigh News Editor

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igeria’s decade-long conflict is not only aggravating the country’s economic system but is also leaving millions of people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Specifically, more than eight million are seeking help and almost two million are internally displaced. According to CARE International, 80 per cent of affected persons are women and children.

“Many women are facing gender-based violence, trafficking, and forced survival sex in exchange for necessities like food.”

Since the country’s crisis began with acts by the extremist group Boko Haram in 2009, thousands of women and children have been abducted. Many women are facing gender-based violence, trafficking, and forced survival sex in exchange for necessities like food.

The Global Humanitarian Overview is a comprehensive and evidence-based assessment of humanitarian needs around the world. Issued February 2022, a published report reveals current data and key findings of Nigeria’s crisis.

The report confirms that the presence of non-state armed groups in North-East Nigeria is persisting intensely, devas-

tating agricultural production and discontinuing essential services. In 2022, the country is entering its twelfth year in conflict with these groups.

An estimated 8.4 million people in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe are in “acute need of humanitarian and protection assistance.” The report also confirmed that women and girls are the most vulnerable of this population.

In terms of education, promoting access to inclusive, quality education services remains a key priority in the North-East, as many schools have been damaged and were forced to close in 2020. The report states that education needs will remain critical and are likely to increase due to flooding and the country’s ongoing insecurity.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people in need of urgent care has risen to 10.6 million in North-East Nigeria. The pandemic provoked the country’s socio-economic landscape, leaving more than seven million people in need of humanitarian attention.

Prior to the pandemic, more than 90 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty. In June 2020, The World Bank predicted that the shock of Covid-19 would push five million more people into poverty. Since then, the macroeconomic impact of the pandemic has been significant, with more than 250,000 confirmed infections.

Authorities in Nigeria have taken various steps to mitigate the spread of the virus, including the implementation of lockdowns and social distancing measures. However, the outbreak continued to worsen, leaving thousands deceased and others requiring emergent support. By August 2020, the

country’s economy shrank by six per cent.

In December 2021, the country destroyed more than one million expired doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a landfill in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. The destruction took place after health authorities announced that some doses donated

by Western countries had a shelf life of only a few weeks.

In response to the emergency crisis, CARE began work in Nigeria in 2017. The organization is working on three programs to support the country including Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, Gender-Based Violence prevention and response, and Food and Nutrition, Security and Livelihood.

For individuals interested in donating to Nigeria, CARE is accepting donations and documenting how proceeds are allocated on their website through various financial reports.

Individuals can also raise awareness if they are unable to donate by sharing the country’s situation on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. It is important to urge governments to expand economic opportunities through online petitions.

International Organization for Peace Building and Social Justice started a petition on Change.org to address the killings occurring in Nigeria. With a goal of 75 thousand, the petition has more than 55 thousand signatures.

After more than a decade of conflict, it is time for international governments and organizations to address and prioritize Nigeria’s worsening crisis. Waiting on these establishments to respond to the crisis is not enough to help the country, as we must continue to spread awareness and educate ourselves on the topic.

MASTHEAD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Provost editor@themedium.ca Managing Editor Elisa Nguyen managing@themedium.ca News May Alsaigh news@themedium.ca Opinion Aroni Sarkar opinion@themedium.ca Features Ricardo Jaroslav Valdes features@themedium.ca A&E Danica Teng arts@themedium.ca Sports Duaa Nasir sports@themedium.ca Photo Hayden Mak photos@themedium.ca Design Manjot Pabla design@themedium.ca Copy Juliana Stacey juliana@themedium.ca Miguel DaSilva miguel@themedium.ca Social Belicia Chevolleau social@themedium.ca Videographer Nikolas Towsey video@themedium.ca

ASSOCIATES & APPOINTED ROLES Larry Lau, News Razia Saleh, News Haya Abu Ghosh, Opinion Kareena Kailass, Opinion Dalainey Gervais, Features Prisha Nuckchady, Features Aidan Thompson, Arts Ciera Couto, Arts Dellannia Segreti, Sports Gladys Lou, Photo Simrah Siddiqui, Photo Isik Vera Senel, UTMSU Correspondent Julia Skoczypiec, Theatre Erindale Correspondent Robert Bui, Campus Athletics Correspondent Erin Delaney, Satirist Helen Yu, Comic Artist

TO CONTRI BUTE & CONNECT: themedium.ca/contact @themediumUTM

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05

OPINION

Editor | Aroni Sarkar opinion@themedium.ca

Why it’s important to allow Indigenous parents to name their children traditionally First Nations families in Manitoba revealed that the traditional names they give their children are being altered.

Kareena Kailass Associate Opinion Editor

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icking a child’s name is one of the toughest, well-thoughtover decision that new parents face. Many parents want their child’s name to carry significance, to be something more than just a name, to mean something deeper. Through these names, parents often create an identity for their little one. However, for many First Nations parents, their child’s names aren’t always printed accurately on the birth certificate.

In Manitoba, many First Nations parents are revealing that the traditional names that they have chosen for their children are transcribed incorrectly in legal documents. The parents explain that the first names they have chosen are being incorrectly assigned as middle names and accents are being removed and replaced with incorrect letters in the baby registry process.

Parents have explained to CBC News that the names they have picked for their babies are those that carry very significant meaning in the culture. One parent, Kakeka Thundersky, says, “our names are really powerful and really strong.”

As these parents call for reforms on the Vital Statistics Act of Manitoba, they argue that it is unfair that each parent should have to file individual inquiries to get the situation resolved.

Manitoba should accept the chosen names in the first place.

As the chosen names continue to be altered and rejected, it speaks to the potential harm to the First Nations culture.

Changing traditional names against the will of the parents (in fact, without them knowing), forces them to either endure a stressful process to get it resolved, or, settle for the incorrect name. As these parents aim to carry on traditional meanings, instill culture, and manifest glorious outcomes for their little ones, it feels utterly disrespectful to change historically-rich and significant names.

This pushes me to think back to Residential Schools, which not only subjected children to harm, abuse, and life-long trauma, but also intended to anglicize them. As Canada claims to have learned from their historic mistakes and injustices to the First Nations, they seem to be doing it yet again. The names of Indigenous children are more than just names. They serve as a sign of unwavering strength and pride for the First Nations communities. They serve as a revival of the culture that Canada tried to erase.

It is imperative that the Vital Statistics Branch reforms the Vital Statistics Act to allow each and every parent to name their child as they wish. Considering the need for reconciliation with the First Nations, reforming this Act would establish greater respect between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous. And lastly, although reforming this Act could abolish this naming issue for future generations, we must still bear in mind the loss that past generations have faced at the hands of this rule.

E-sports! The new and improved Varsity sport A new era of online sports has entered UTM to continue its “boundless” agenda.

Bilaal Mohamed Contributor

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fter charging students membership fees for a gym they couldn’t use, last November, the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) athletic department announced that they will no longer participate in varsity sports with the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA), a sadistic effort to worsen student wellbeing. The controversial decision brewed outrage within the UTM community. Many students were angry that they could no longer actively avoid attending their university team’s varsity matches.

The student varsity community expressed their disappointment to the UTM administration for their lack of communication. “It was my life man, I centered my entire personality around playing sports,” says Lucas, a third-year Caucasian basketball player. “The status, the attention, the feeling of sharing a locker room with sweaty shirtless dudes, all of that was taken away from me. I think this is how minorities feel when they get oppressed.”

In an interview with The Medium, the head of the UTM athletic department talks about their problematic decision. “My heart breaks for every single student, it was the hardest decision I ever made,” he said, as he smoked a cigar and counted a wad of cash. “Unfortunately, we had to sell all sports equipment, from a ping pong ball to a treadmill, all of it, I couldn’t stop crying.”

He reassured students that UTM sports is heading in a “new” direction. “The students shouldn’t fret, we’re working hard to bring the next best thing, eSports! I really don’t know what that means but my

nephew is into it. It sounds futuristic and fits with the university’s ‘boundless’ campaign.”

Rows of gaming stations fill up the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre. The UTM gaming system offers many games such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, Overwatch, anything that has half naked female characters with large boobs to keep the male players engaged.

Student tuition is expected to skyrocket to keep up with the university’s electrical bills.

The UTM eagle mascot, wearing a tank top with mustard stains, shared his views on the matter. “Bullshit, I can’t believe they did this to me,” it said while frantically lighting a cigarette. “I was a loyal servant to this organization for decades.

I had the best job in the world, all I did was wave at students and creep up on the ladies, and they took that away from me, for what? I can’t pay my bills and now my family is getting evicted from our nest. I’m losing feathers over here!”

Students line up in front of the gym for eSports team tryouts.

The coaches report that the selection process is tedious—only those with the worst human qualities will be chosen to represent UTM in eSports competitions. Some qualities that will be examined include laziness, how long can they sit without going to the washroom, and their ability to insult other players. Having no social life is also an important asset, which increases commitment to the team.

No other Ontarian university seems to follow UTM’s dystopian steps from physical to online sports. Rumour has it that this stunt is only the beginning of a larger plan that aims to lead all UTM students to abandon their bodies and upload their consciousness to the online metaverse, in order to fully feel the “boundless” experience.

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DOVILE RAMOSKAITE/UNSPLASH

Reflections The Russia-Ukraine crisis: The of a Russian decline of Pax Americana?

Since the declaration of invasion on February 24, 137 amid the Ukrainians have died and 316 remain wounded.

RussiaUkraine crisis Kiara Senanayake Contributor

“It’s not our war indeed. It’s the war of a president who we did not choose.”

Maria A. Contributor

Author’s name has been changed to protect anonymity and for safety.

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n February 23 at 8 p.m., I scroll through the news in Meduza (the Russian oppositional newspaper almost banned in Russia). Things have become worse. I have friends in Ukraine. A lot of my Russian friends have friends and relatives there. I’m scared. I text my family, “How far will it go? What do you think?”

My dad responds, “I don’t know, darling. It looks like the war will start before we wake up tomorrow. It’s not our war.”

It’s not our war indeed. It’s the war of a president who we did not choose.

It’s 10 p.m., my friend and I are at a small party—more like a gathering. I scroll through the news feed again. My friend tells me to stop because I’m only making myself more anxious. I look at the news one last time. I see that the war has started. My parents will know in a few hours when they wake up.

It’s 5 p.m. on February 24, people are protesting in Russia and getting arrested for it. I’m a part of the protest in Toronto. No one is arrested. People are cursing Putin and I do so too. It’s freezing and I barely feel my hands. I take some pictures to send to my family. Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, and Canadians are all there to say “NO” to war and chaos. They hold big banners, flags, and scream whatever they want, as much as they want.

I remember how I went to a protest in Russia a year ago.

No screaming, no posters, there were not even any Russian flags. Silent people were beaten and arrested all around us.

My friend, Liza, and I were lucky that night. We showed up late because I had a U of T lecture in the evening, and most of the terror happened before we reached the city center.

I remember how scared I was that night. Then, a few hundred meters from us, armoured police grabbed terrified people from the crowd and threw them into paddy wagons.

Now I’m scared again, even though no one is going to arrest me.

I

n his farewell speech at the Pentagon, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said that “weakness is provocation.” As explosions reverberate throughout Ukraine, one wonders what shifted in the Pax Americana—the period of relative peace in the Western hemisphere under American supremacy—to allow for the diplomatic failures and military crisis that now dominates the news.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis, which had been escalating since the end of last year with the movement of Russian troops to the Russia-Ukraine border, Crimea, and Belarus (the east, south, and north of Ukraine respectively), ramped up considerably in the last month with military drills between Russia and Belarus.

It climaxed with President Putin’s declaration of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (where Russianbacked separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces).

On the morning of February 24, President Putin announced a “special military operation” in Eastern Ukraine—a thinly veiled declaration of an invasion. Since then, in a span of 24 hours, by February 25, 137 in Ukraine died and 316 people were wounded as a result of this full scale attack.

Throughout his presidency, Putin has cemented his authoritarian rule in part by rewriting the past to emphasise a “shared history” with Ukraine, which he attests is “historically united with Russia.” Both the U.S. and Russia view Ukraine as a buffer against each other, which has made it a significant “battleground”—a term which until very recently was used largely figuratively—between Russian and western influence.

The loss of territory following the fall of the Soviet Union, which Putin described as the “the greatest geop olitical catastrophe in history,” as well as North American Treaty A l l i a n c e ’s (NATO) incursion into the perceived “Russian sphere of influence” has MAUSRK SPISKE/UNSPLASH

defined Russian foreign policy since the beginning of President Putin’s administration. This project of territorial acquisition is a norm in the complex system of political survival in Putin’s Russia, which depends on destabilisation abroad for a fragile internal stability. It is a tried and true practice that strongman leaders throughout history have relied on to remain in power.

At times of crisis like this, it is generally assumed that liberal democracies of the western world will triumph, either through diplomacy, threat of sanctions, or military power. As the “big brother” in the global political arena, the U.S. has settled comfortably into the position of protector to its allies. States that threaten to transgress the international laws of engagement are warned of the ramifications and, until now, this tended to be a sufficient deterrent. But the invasion of Ukraine will likely turn into a war the scale that Europe has not known since the end of the Second World War. So, what changed in the established world order?

Seemingly, something signalled to Russia that violating the principles of sovereignty to gain territory was worth the risk of challenging a global superpower with a U.S. $700 billion defence budget and a military alliance consisting of 30 members. Perhaps it was the continuous failures on the West’s part to hold Russia responsible for its previous transgressions and present a united front. The Russian invasion of Georgia in 2004 was met by little retribution from the Bush administration. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 was met with similarly ineffective sanctions and a persistent refusal to provide anything but non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian military. And ultimately, President Trump’s disastrous administration and open criticism of NATO shattered the image of a strong alliance.

Most recently, the Biden administration waived sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline in 2021 in an effort to “mend European ties,” which increased Europe’s energy dependence on Russia. Likewise, the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, leading to the swift Taliban takeover of Kabul in August of 2021, and Biden’s response to Russia’s flagrant violation of international decorum with the threat of economic sanctions alone, likely strengthened the perception of American weakness. The threat of economic sanctions has never proved to be an effective deterrent to leaders like Vladimir Putin. He has indicated that he is willing to absorb the costs of the sanctions and is awaiting the West’s reaction to the economic fallout. Already, the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline has impacted the price of oil, with a six per cent increase immediately following the invasion.

In the past, the U.S. has favoured a reserved response to Russian violations of sovereignty, while Putin’s actions tend to maintain the idea that “fortune favours the bold.” Historically, this gamble has paid off in Russia’s favour and, based on Putin’s incessant testing of international limits, Rumsfeld’s assertion of “weakness as provocation” has certainly struck a chord with the Russian President. It remains to be seen whether the Pax Americana will endure the geopolitical crises that have arisen this year, but the implications of the invasion of Ukraine will not be inconsequential.

07

Technological injustice What happens when we try to create unbiased tech in a biased society Hamna Riaz Staff Writer

>> TECHNOLOGY continued from page 01 Let us imagine that the Toronto Police department wants to create a system that will identify people who may be threats or deemed as a risk as they walk into a bank. To create this system, programmers will have to create an algorithm for the machine to understand what a threat generally means and looks like. They will have to feed the program a dataset which includes photos of past threats and criminals to further the understanding of the program.

Where will the data come from? Existing police records.

This assumes that all police records are accurate, free from racial bias, and that the police department has convicted every single threat equally. Given the fact that the data is most likely tainted, a flawed vision is now imprinted into a machine that is seen as “unbiased.” If the data includes a disproportionate amount of Black men as “threats” then the machine will also naturally detect features of Black men as threatening.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just our imagination. The use of biometrics and technological point systems is being adapted around the world. North American police departments are making special use of these systems to fight against racism accusations. In many instances, instead of spending the money and time towards training and consequences, they resource the funding toward technology and see it as the saving grace.

To forecast when a crime will take place, police departments

across the U.S. have implemented data driven forecasting often referred to as predictive policing. By determining which areas will have the most crime, the police know where to increase their visibility so that people are discouraged from committing it. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had introduced a point-based program called Operation Laser in 2011. Someone on probation or a gang member would have five points on their record but even a simple stop by the police can get you a point.

This means that if a racist police officer were to casually stop a Black man and that man happened to have a preexisting criminal record, even for petty crime committed years ago, that Black man would get a point which would increase the amount of police around him at all times, increasing the risk of another racist police officer stopping him—and the cycle continues.

While the LAPD decided to end Operation Laser in 2019, other predictive policing and technological solutions to problems within the police are being developed.

Technology is often the facilitator of abuse against marginalized communities disguised as the remedy for all of society’s issues. While I admit, technology can foster a better environment, it cannot start unless we tackle the foundation. A prejudiced society will create a prejudiced system. It is our responsibility to be aware of the bias that is around us, not be fooled by baseless claims of improvement, and push toward technological reform and foundational accountability.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, CCT320: Communication, Technology, and Social Change taught

by Dr. Negin Dahya dives further into technological impacts on marginalized communities.

Oh, for Wordles sake!

The recent purchase of the game has dissatisfied consumers due to increasing difficulty, random individualised words, and the possibility of a paywall.

Serena Uribe Contributor

H

i, my name is Serena, and I am an addict. A wordle addict.

I have always been fond of word games, particularly crossword puzzles, unscramblers, and riddles. A few weeks ago, I was bored at work when a co-worker had the idea to play a game.

“What shall we play?” I asked.

“Have you heard of Wordle?” he replied.

Neither myself nor my other colleagues had heard of the game, but we were intrigued. We pulled up the Wordle puzzle, gathered the tenants of the game, and fled to our computers to try and beat the puzzle of the day.

I felt like a word hacker trying to guess words with varying vowels and consonants. A yellow letter indicated that I was on the right track. A green letter indicated one step closer to success.

I was down to the fifth and final attempt. “T, blank, blank, S, E”. Frowning in contemplation, my mind explored the repertoire of all the words I had ever learnt, as if scanning a thesaurus. I squinted my eyes, cracked my knuckles, then typed: “T, H, O, S, E.” Every letter came up green.

Bingo! I solved my first word.

I chided my co-workers with my victory while I watched them scratch their heads and scramble through their own inner thesaurus’. I didn’t give them any clues, that would be unfair. When one solved the word, we rejoiced. Those who didn’t slapped their knees and let out a big “OH!” when we told them what the word was.

The issue was that it could only be played once a day. My insatiable desire to solve another Wordle kept growing and I didn’t want to have to wait a whole day to play.

I decided to search for a way to play more than once. A quick google search revealed the jackpot I was looking for—an archive of all the past Wordles, free to play. When I went into work, I told all my colleagues. To keep busy during the slow periods, we competed with one another to solve Wordles. As corny as it may

sound, Wordle brought us closer together, and now we look forward to secretly playing at work (don’t tell our managers!).

A few weeks ago, Wordle was sold to the New York Times, supposedly for a staggering seven figures. The Wordle web address has now shifted to one run by the newspaper, but that isn’t all that has changed. The transaction has caused an uproar in the Wordle community, with commentators like Trevor Noah tweeting about how Wordle just isn’t as fun anymore. Some criticized the game as being more challenging than before, with words like “Agora” and “Swill” that aren’t as commonly used amongst the everyday folk.

Another change that was brought on by the purchase was the random, individual assignment of the daily puzzle. Instead of one universal daily puzzle, the word changes for each user.

Because Wordle users have established a sort of online community, this modification has incited negative reactions because of the divisiveness it causes.

Players like myself have embodied this sense of community and closeness, which I think is the point (or was the point) of the game. People enjoyed competing against one another to solve the word of the day and compare each other’s train of thoughts. To solve a word engenders a small sense of gratification, and this gratification may be diminished now that we aren’t all competing to solve the same word.

I asked a co-worker what he thought about the decision to randomize the daily puzzle. To no surprise, he commented on the communal aspect of the game. “The point of the game is to share the final results with each other and talk about how you got to that answer. That’s what makes it fun. If it was a different word for everyone, then it wouldn’t matter,” he says.

The worst part of the take-over may be the threat of another fun thing falling into the hands of capitalism—charging users to play.

While the game continues to be free, who knows what the future holds for Wordle?

For now, I will be ravaging through the Wordle archives and counting down the minutes until the next daily puzzle. Let’s hope that Wordle remains universal and accessible, free from the shackles of capitalism, for Wordle’s sake!

Ear to the ground:

A semester with icy potential

Time to make snow angels while contemplating your purpose in university.

Aya Yafaoui Columnist

A

h, the Canadian winter! Full of hazardous ice, chilling winds, and most of all, tonnes of snow. All around campus you’ll find heaps of snow on the banks of parking lots, sidewalks, and streets. It’s a shame to let all this snow brown and melt away without having used some of it to better our lives as students. So, allow me to suggest a few winter activities that’ll bring some fun to our gloomy, winter campus.

If you’re the creative type languishing in the desolate landscape of slush, consider building some snow-people modelled after your professors. Capture their true essence in snow, make them short, tall, mean, nice, goofy, or as meh as their monotone voices and “minimalist” slides. While you’re creating art, you could also write a message in the snow for your professor, telling them how you really feel about that last test question.

On the flip side, if you’re hoping to feel something again, try grabbing a box and tobogganing down the hills around UTM, speeding over the black ice and weaving in and out of people and traffic. Whether you get hit by a bus or get to the end safely, you’re sure to feel something. If you want a less dangerous activity, you could also gather a few friends and have a snowball fight, the snow that falls inside your shirt and down your back will surely shock you back to the present.

Of course, if you’re looking for something more chill, I’d suggest making snow angels. Staring up at the grey sky as you move your arms and legs is a perfect place to contemplate why you even decided to come to university, and how overpriced all the coffee is on campus. In fact, my favourite winter activity is to have a few friends bury me in the snow.

The weight and warmth of the snow on top of me feels like a weighted blanket, and not having to go back to studying is a great perk too.

Whatever you decide to do this winter, remember that the snow doesn’t go away until April, so take advantage of it while its around.

Until next time!

Aya Yafaoui

08

features

Editor | Ricardo Jaroslav Valdes features@themedium.ca

Smelling memories: The power of a good sniff There’s something in the air that hooks us by the nose. Sometimes, it retrieves memories from the deep archives of our minds.

Louis Lam Contributor

I

can never unlearn the association between garlic and freshly cut apples. I grew up in an Asian household, which means knocking on doors wasn’t exercised. Around 5 p.m. every day, my dad barged into my room with freshly cut apples while my mom prepared dinner. She loved cooking with garlic—it was a staple ingredient in her recipes. It’s funny how Asian parents show love to their kids. They choose the most obscure ways to show they care. For me, it was that bowl of garlic-stained apples that tasted like an abundance of love.

The smell of garlic and the sight of cut apples bring up more than just snippets of my childhood. They also bring many memorable events. Like the time I argued with my dad as an angsty teen, or the time my mom lectured me about messing with my sister’s books. Or even when I failed my Chinese test for the first time and had to take a stern scolding from my dad. When I see apples, I smell garlic and the same memories play in my head. But why does this happen?

The “Proust effect,” coined after French author Marcel Proust, describes a sensory experience that triggers a rush of forgotten memories. In 1977, psychologists Roger Brown and James Kulik conducted a study that observed how humans can recall highly detailed recounts of their days. Most participants in the study were able to remember their days with perceptual clarity due to highly emotional events that occurred on a particular day. Brown and Kulik later coined the term “flashbulb mem-

ory” as a “highly vivid and detailed ‘snapshot’ of a moment.”

A flashbulb memory forms when a shocking or surprising event happens in our day-to-day life. This event is so strong that it registers in our long-term memory like a picture in an album. But where does the sense of smell kick in?

“Previous studies show that the link between memory and our olfactory senses exceed those evoked by our sense of sight.”

Previous studies show that the link between memory and our olfactory senses exceed those evoked by our sense of sight. In a study that explored the effects of ambient odour on brain activations during memory recall, researchers presented 32 pictures to participants—half of which had an odour associated with them—under functional magnetic resonance imaging.

“We saw a greater activation in brain activity when we encode memories with smell in our subjects compared to no-odor conditions,” writes Emmanuel Galliot, the lead author of the study. “There is no doubt a complex link between the networks involved with episodic memory and encoding with odors as context.”

Famous patient H.M. and psychologist Brenda Milner helped us understand the importance of the hippocampus and frontal lobes for memory formation. The olfactory bulb, which receives and translates odours into neural inputs, lies at the base of the hippocampus. Inside the olfactory bulb is the piriform cortex, an important structure that helps us decide whether a smell is “good” or “bad.” For example, we can tell when a cake smells tasty, or when the two-week-

old meat in the fridge smells weird, or even the shampoo of that special someone smells heavenly.

Researchers from Ruhr University believe that some memories may be saved in the piriform cortex to make these judgements. They demonstrated the role of the piriform cortex in information encoding through direct stimulation.

“We successfully induced changes in memory connections of mice brains by stimulating this area directly. As long as there’s instructions from the orbitofrontal cortex, long term memory can be stored right in this area of your smell center,” writes Christina Strauch, the lead author of the study.

“As long as there’s instructions from the orbitofrontal cortex, long term memory can be stored right in this area of your smell center.”

We all know the cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but perhaps it’s better to judge it by its smell—or at least, remember it for its smell. The next time you get a whiff of the musty scent of books and think of memories of you as a kid reading comics, or a sniff of perfume that reminds you of your crush, you can thank your sense of smell for intertwining your memories with odours.

From encoding these events to retrieving them, your olfactory senses play an important role. For me, the smell of garlic and apples encoded specific memories of my arguments with my dad. The highly emotional factor of the event helped store it in my long-term memory as a flashbulb memory. Whenever I smell the combination of apples and garlic, it retrieves this specific memory—like a marker for a certain page in a book or a photo album.

09

Decolonizing epidemiology Dr. Raza Kolb discusses the history of epidemiology in Epidemic Empire: Colonialism, Contagion, and Terror 1817-2020.

Dalainey Gervais Associate Features Editor

W

hile studying in New York on September 11, 2001, college student Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb watched the news as planes hit the World Trade Center. Following the terrorist attacks, she became interested in connecting the dots between her own lived experiences and the hate that was happening after 9/11 to colonial history. “As an American Muslim, I immediately noticed how clearly the discourse of Islamophobia was overlapping with what I was learning about colonial racism and hatred,” she recalls.

Twenty-one years later, Dr. Kolb is an associate professor in the English Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her courses discuss decolonization and feminist theory through literature. For instance, in ENG371: Living a Feminist Life: Archive, Text, Action, she highlights the importance of writing from the perspective of shared histories. “I love teaching [this course],” states Dr. Kolb. “It helps us think about how porous the boundaries are between reading and doing.”

“Mothers, friends, aunties, the people who raised us—all these forms of femme labour and care that are squelched in university level discourse and not traditionally upheld in academia as forms of genius.”

The course deconstructs ideologies about what we can learn from sources that aren’t perceived as academic. “There are ways in which

MAAT MUSEUM

universities tell especially women, femmes, and non-binary people that academia looks a certain way, is based in text, and comes from these big European male thinkers,” explains Dr. Kolb. “Mothers, friends, aunties, the people who raised us—all these forms of femme labour and care that are squelched in university level discourse and not traditionally upheld in academia as forms of genius.”

Dr. Kolb’s research focuses on the methods of post-colonial criticisms and theory. She centers on the literature of cultural production and political history of decolonizing nations, and the colonial powers that held them in hegemony for multiple centuries. In particular, the development of science and the ways of knowing under colonial modesties and how those have impacted the infrastructure and disciplines as they developed in a colonial sphere.

The convergence between science and colonialist structures led to Dr. Kolb’s first book, titled Epidemic Empire: Colonialism, Contagion, and Terror 1817-2020. Published in 2021 by The University of Chicago Press, the book discusses the history of epidemiology as it relates to race and religion largely in the British and French colonies of South Asia and North Africa. “I have always been interested in the ways that medicine can help, but also in the ways that it can have racist and ablest underpinnings in this kind of colonial sphere,” says Dr. Kolb.

Having been raised by a family of doctors, she grew up surrounded by medical discourse. “There was a lot of resistance around the question of this research being a literary project as it heavily relies on science,” recalls Dr. Kolb, “However, I had some professors who saw something radical and revolutionary in my work, so I [called them] when I felt I was getting too much push back from senior colleagues in my field.”

Reflecting on the publication process, she saw pressure to “whiten” the project by using white European texts as there were claims it would make the research more legible. This continues now, even after her work has been published. While she uses sources not traditionally used in academia, Dr. Kolb highlights the importance of nonwhite perspectives and lived exp er iences— especially in the context of decolonization.

“Although there were haters along the way that were dispiriting at some points, [they]

GOODREADS

helped me build my community and find the people who were interested in my ideas, and whose ideas were exciting to me,” she says.

“It is important to me to address the fact that we haven’t updated our sense of what is cutting-edge scholarship and there is still a lot of focus on the white Euro-American traditions.”

In a brand-new course for English Specialists and Majors titled ENG400: Capstone Seminar: Writing a Research Project, Dr. Kolb addresses how scholars are stuck in the past and focuses on the greatest works in contemporary theory.

Students from all different backgrounds and interests come together and question how to write academic research in a way that speaks to the problems of the present—one that has a rigorous base in historicist literary scholarship.

“It is important to me to ad-

dress the fact that we haven’t updated our sense of what is cutting-edge scholarship and there is still a lot of focus on the white Euro-American traditions,” she explains. “I don’t think it’s an accident that a lot of that comes from Black studies.”

Dr. Kolb has several projects underway.

She’s currently working on a book about water and special commodities, as well as a series of books on the history of the natural sciences in the eighteenth century. A collection of poetry is also in works. Her passion for poetry is highlighted in Epidemic Empire: Colonialism, Contagion, and Terror 1817-2020 with the inclusion of translated Urdu poetry as a source for highlighting the colonialist wrongs of medicine. “I also publish researched poetry which is a place for me to put research that doesn’t have an argumentative arc but does, I think, have a productive conversational arc,” she concludes.

Dr. Kolb encourages students with any comments or questions about Epidemic Empire: Colonialism, Contagion, and Terror 1817-2020 or other related topics to reach out through email at anjuli.razakolb@utoronto.ca or through Twitter @anjulifatima.

10

Arts

Editor | Danica Teng arts@themedium.ca

Connecting through music with singer Michelle Hopkins The UTM singer-songwriter shares her passion for her craft and community.

Aidan Thompson Associate Arts & Entertainment Editor

M

ichelle Hopkins’s relationship with music began when her sister started singing in elementary school. “I’m a second child, so I was honestly just a copycat. My sister got into music when she was 10, and I just fell into it.” A few years later Hopkins started writing her own music, and though she now recognizes the significant improvements since her debut as a songwriter at the age of nine, from the beginning it was all about how it made her feel.

Hopkins is an emerging singer and songwriter from the Greater Toronto Area whose music blends elements of pop, soul, and R&B. She was raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania before moving to Canada in 2015. Currently, Hopkins is enrolled at UTM for a double major in Psychology and Professional Writing and Communication, the latter of which has had a distinct influence on her songwriting.

“Songwriting was my perspective,” Hopkins said. Despite her interest in music and songwriting, she was never encouraged to make it her career. Music remained a hobby until her

second year at UTM when her writing professor told her that “there’s power in everyone’s perspective.”

“There are a lot of people who can sing, and many can sing very well, but not everyone can write about their experiences like it’s a shared experience,” said Hopkins. “In 2019, I decided to pursue music as a career. I don’t care if it’s a career of celebrity status. I just want to always use this outlet to connect to people who my experiences relate to. I just want to share something that I’m passionate about.”

Hopkins jokes, “I told my parents I was going into writing but didn’t tell them I was going into songwriting.”

Shortly after pursuing music seriously, Hopkins entered a competition at the RBC Bluesfest, an annual music festival held in Ottawa every July. The competition, called She’s The One, is for female musicians ages 13 to 21.

The contestants perform a cover or an original song, and the winner is awarded a year of professional development sponsored by RBC. Hopkins won the competition in 2019, but during her developmental year—a process that would introduce her to the industry and give her the tools to work independently as an artist—the Covid-19 pandemic began. The world paused.

Despite the interruption, Hopkins was still able to connect with several producers in Toronto as well as develop demo tapes that she could independently promote.

In 2020, she released her debut single “Honest,” a soul-infused

R&B record with powerful vocals and delicate lyrics. In 2021, she released her second single “Careless Over Coward,” which extended the thematic elements she established with “Honest” while continuing to refine her style as a musician. Within that same year, she also joined Honey Jam—an all-female, multicultural artist development showcase that has been running for 27 years. The program introduced her to artists and producers around Toronto.

“I want to keep myself open because collaboration is what strengthens this community,” she said.

Recently, Hopkins was awarded funding through FACTOR, a non-profit organization intent on promoting and developing Canada’s music industry. The FACTOR artist development program offers subsidiaries for emerging artists to assist with sound recording, marketing, and more. Hopkins is using this funding to produce a new single titled “One Hour on Earth.”

The single will hopefully be part of an emerging EP that she plans to start working on after graduating from UTM. Additionally, she is in the process of applying to The Remix Project, which helps marginalized and underprivileged artists emerge into the creative fields.

On February 26, she also performed three new original songs at a virtual music festival hosted by Wavelength, an arts platform for independent artists in Toronto. The festival was a celebration of Black artists as well as Black History Month.

Hopkins’s career within the music industry is beginning to unfold before her, and despite her success, she is happy to enjoy the stage she is at: “Right now I’m just emerging, and my community very gladly accepts everything I put out. Right now, I’m at a stage where I literally control everything.” Her aspirations are grounded in her community, and though she welcomes success, her definition is not of glamour, fame, or tabloids; to Hopkins, success lies in her relationship to her community.

Her two singles “Honest” and “Careless Over Coward” are available on Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud. You can find more of her content at linktr.ee/Hopkiiins.

IMAN ABBARO

Individuality in Fefu and Her Friends Throwing away gender stereotypes with the characters of Theatre Erindale’s latest production.

“By moving around the house, Fornés rejects the patriarchal idea that women in the private sphere focus on childbearing, taking care of the house, and marriage,” says Tomasic. “Instead, the audience is given insight into complex interpersonal relationships between the characters, which [show] these women as complete human beings rather than gender stereotypes.”

Coşkun also adds that “people act differently in a group than they do […] with people they have some kind of a history with.”

Despite the virtual medium of Theatre Erindale’s production, the movement from room to room in part two was achieved brilliantly by elegant and seamless camerawork. The camera panned to multiple sides of the house, placing the viewer in each gathering. Through movement, the play intertwines private and public sectors—a tactic that makes audiences reflect on the conflicts.

The final live performances of Fefu and Her Friends will be streamed from March 4 to 6 through Vimeo. Be sure to purchase your tickets now through tickets.sheridancollege.ca.

Julia Skoczypiec Theatre Erindale Correspondent

>> THEATRE ERINDALE continued from page 01 “[The] characters are distinct and come from different backgrounds, have different goals, and develop specific relationships with one another. We learn about their social, intellectual, financial, and romantic lives. Rather than being a space where masculinity is conspicuously absent, we focus so much on the individual lives of the female characters […] the gendered nature of the play almost fades into the background.”

For a play burdened by conflicts, the playwright does not forget about audience experience. Fornés split the play into three parts and intended for part two to involve the physical rotation of audience members. As four scenes unfold in separate rooms simultaneously, the audience would rise from their seats and move around the theatre in groups to watch each scene take place.

MIKE SLATER

11

The Future All the snubs and buzz of the of Futurama Academy Award nominations Another TV show revival is already crashing before takeoff as fans are left conflicted.

Karissa Harrypersad Contributor

IMDb.com

“W

e’re Back, Baby!” Futurama is coming back in 2023 for a new 20-episode revival, and fans have a lot to say about it.

Futurama is an adult comedy animation series created in 1999 by Matt Groening, who also developed the hit TV show The Simpsons. In Futurama, a human teenager named Philip J. Fry (Billy West) was frozen for 1000 years and wakes up in the thirty-first century. The show follows his adventures in the future with his co-workers from an interplanetary delivery company—including a one-eyed alien named Leela (Katey Sagal) and his best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a foul-mouthed robot.

Futurama was first introduced by the Fox network from 1999 to 2003; it aired on this channel for the first five seasons. In 2008, the show was picked up by Comedy Central and ended on September 4 in 2013 with a heartwarming finale to wrap up the series. Futurama has been off the air for 10 years, but Comedy Central recently revealed that they will revive the show on Hulu for 20 episodes.

The original creators and writers, Groening and David X. Cohen, will be back with the same cast for the upcoming episodes. However, the news of Futurama’s revival came with heated arguments among fans. The biggest problem that the revival currently faces is getting the original voice actor for Bender back to production; Comedy Central is still trying to create and finalize a deal with DiMaggio for the 2023 episodes.

While fans are thrilled to see what the new episodes will bring, they do not want to see the revival without DiMaggio as Bender. Not only did he voice Bender, but DiMaggio also voiced over 28 different characters in Futurama. With the potential loss of this iconic actor, fans are threatening to boycott the Hulu revival. If the series returns without DiMaggio, angry fans can lead to low ratings, showing the audience’s power to make or break a show.

For now, the rest of the series is available to watch on Disney+ and Hulu. Hopefully, the future of Futurama will stay bright.

The film choices of 2022 spark conversation surrounding the Oscars.

Ciera Couto Associate Arts & Entertainment Editor

T

he 2022 Academy Awards—more commonly known as the Oscars—are fast approaching, and the live ceremony with a full auditorium (no vaccination proof required) will take place on March 27. Keeping with tradition, the nominations were announced nearly two months before the ceremony, giving the public just enough time to react, rave, and rant about how the Oscars are dying anyway. While some films were released both in theatres and on streaming services, the return of theatres in 2021 meant that the Oscar campaigns felt much more normal than they did in 2020, which also meant there were many opinions.

Starting with the Best Picture category, the largest of them all with ten nominations, there were the obvious frontrunners like Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. Some films that came as a surprise were Drive My Car produced by Teruhisa Yamamoto and Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up. Drive My Car made history by becoming the first Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture; many people thought it would be overlooked as foreign-language films often are. Don’t Look Up, despite its all-star cast full of Oscar winners, was not the first pick for a Best Picture nomination considering the Academy’s history of snubbing comedic films regardless of their cast or style. Any film that is not deemed a serious drama is often left for the Golden Globes or another public-voted award ceremony.

Meanwhile, there was an exciting change of pace for the much-anticipated acting categories—including Andrew Garfield’s nomina-

tion for Actor in a Leading Role with his portrayal of musical theatre writer and legend Jonathan Larson in tick, tick… BOOM! What is so refreshing about this nomination is the recognition of an acting performance in a new musical (even though the rest of the film lacks nominations in other major categories). The Academy tends to take new musicals seriously once every 10 years, so to see this phenomenal performance acknowledged was thrilling. Additionally, Ariana DeBose received her first nomination for her first-ever lead role in a motion picture. The original 1961 West Side Story was a hit at the Oscars, so it is no surprise that Spielberg’s adaption was as well.

With both Garfield and DeBose, it was a great year for musicals on screen and these nominations reflect that.

Other surprises, or snubs depending on how someone might look at it, would be the major lack of nominations for House of Gucci, which had an immense amount of marketing behind its release but was met with mixed reviews. The only major category House of Gucci was still campaigning for was Actress in a Leading Role. The campaign was entertaining and extensive as Lady Gaga did rounds of press declaring how method she went for the role— all for the Academy to leave her and the film out. Another shock was the Directing category, which left out supposed frontrunner Denis Villeneuve for Dune (although the film was still recognized in the Best Picture category).

With all these surprises, the one thing we did expect was the amount of discourse surrounding the nominations, which are always eventful, topical, and often deemed overrated. For an award that is always threatened, as well as told that it is on its way out and does not hold the same value it did years ago, the Oscars still get people talking. Now, we will see if all the people talking will be watching.

Is TikTok democratizing pop music?

The TikTok “For You” page is giving budding musicians a chance to shine, regardless of whether they have a record deal or not.

Faiza Sattar Contributor

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n February 2019, the video-sharing platform, TikTok, reached a major milestone—one billion downloads on the App Store and Google Play. Since then, TikTok’s ascent in the cultural zeitgeist has been nothing short of unprecedented. The app has been responsible for many cultural phenomena, but most interesting is its unforeseen impact on the music industry. With its mainstream notoriety, the app has radically altered the formula for success for up-and-coming music artists. Thanks to the platform’s unique algorithm and design, previously unknown musicians have found success in and beyond the digital world.

Unlike other social media platforms, the reach of user content on TikTok is not dependent on having a pre-existing following.

Instead of solely focusing on accounts that a user follows, the “For You” page on TikTok exposes users to unique and personalized content algorithmically determined to appeal to them. The algorithm’s significant role in spreading user content not only differentiates TikTok from its competitors but also means that anyone on the app can go viral if they try hard enough.

As average users call the shots on TikTok, a user with a moderate following can post a dance or comedic bit to a song and single-

handedly launch themself into fame. For artists looking to break into the industry, TikTok is an attractive platform to promote music organically as statistics confirm that 63 per cent of TikTok users discover artists they have never heard of through the app.

PinkPantheress, a 21-year-old British film student, is one example of a TikTok musical sensation whose viral songs “Pain” and “Just for me” earned her critical acclaim from music publications like Billboard and Pitchfork. Like many recent fledgling artists, PinkPatheress relied on the TikTok algorithm to transport her garage-rock-inspired bedroom pop tunes to listeners. Within three months of its release, the successful song “Just for me” was used in 2.2 million TikTok videos.

Even music industry veterans recognize the power of the TikTok user base to generate hype and revenue. In anticipation of her album Red’s re-release, Taylor Swift launched a TikTok profile and issued “Taylor’s version” of her song “Wildest Dreams” after it gained traction on the platform.

There is no doubt that TikTok is redefining what music industry success looks like in the digital age. But it remains to be seen whether the platform will continue to offer small-time artists an opportunity in the limelight or whether the TikTok user base will become another demographic that music industry executives seek to charm. For now, the TikTok user base is—perhaps refreshingly—seizing the opportunity to democratize our mainstream music choice.

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sports & health

Editor | Duaa Nasir sports@themedium.ca

Developing leadership skills through intramural sports Isaiah Colthrust shares his past practicing karate and the positive impact playing intramural sports has had on his life.

Robert Bui Campus Athletics Correspondent

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n February 18, The Medium interviewed Isaiah Colthrust, a fourth-year digital enterprise student here at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). He discusses his experience coming to Canada and the importance of community.

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Colthrust, like most children, got involved in sports because his family doctor said that he needed more physical activity. After driving past a dojo and hearing loud yells, Colthrust and his family checked inside and he was instantly fascinated by karate.

“He went on to earn his third-degree black belt and won the Junior World Championship in kumite.”

After racking up hundreds of classes, Colthrust progressed his way up the karate ladder. He went on to earn his third-degree black belt and won the Junior World Cham-

pionship in kumite, a form of karate similar to sparring with an adversary.

Colthrust came to Canada on his own and immersed himself into the new school environment immediately. Coming to a new country and trying to find a good dojo among studying was a tall task for our profile athlete. So, after ten years of studying karate, Colthrust’s intrinsic fascination dwindled down.

When it comes to his transition to Canada, Colthrust says that he felt nervous, but he was also excited for the opportunity to be on his own. Colthrust’s love for Canada comes from the people he has met. He says that the past four years have been “arguably the most impactful years in terms of friendships.”

Apart from his studies, Colthrust has been getting himself involved in many of the communities at UTM. He takes on mentorship and leadership roles for the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the UTM residences.

Colthrust says that these programs help balance school and his social life.

Another way to join the social mix is to join intramural sports at UTM. Colthrust has been an active member of the drop-

in and intramural soccer programs at the Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre.

Colthrust recalls becoming a captain of his intramural team last semester and that it was his favourite year of playing the sport.

He says that it was “fulfilling to be the person who brought everybody together,” and it was nice to stay off the bench too.

“Get into a better mindset. Join [Intramural] Leagues as a free agent and reach out to team captains.”

For those who find it difficult to find others to play with, Colthrust shares some advice on that situation: “Get into a better mindset. Join [Intramural] Leagues as a free agent and reach out to team captains.”

Despite all the activities Colthrust has been a part of, he thinks of his potential as something he grew into, rather than something innate. He says, “When I look back on it, I think, ‘Wow, I mentored these students’ or ‘I led this team’ when I had no clue I could do that six months ago.

I think it’s really changed my mindset of be-

ing able to say, maybe, everything else isn’t that hard or impossible as well.”

When it comes to his future, Colthrust says, “I just want, in five years, to be known as someone who’s really skilled in my field […] I want people to be like ‘Isaiah has a really good marketing brain.’”

If any readers want to keep up with Colthrust, you can at his YouTube channel Isaiah Improves. As an inspiring leader both on and off the pitch, Isaiah Colthrust has been a great member of our community and we wish him the best of luck in the future.

Isaiah Colthrust

Playoff woes Omar Khan Columnist

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ooking back at the past can be the best indication for what is yet to come. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, the past five games have been a mixed bag of success and failure, but what does this mean for their future?

The first game back from the All-Star break had the feel of a playoff game. Both teams were playing well in an intense, back-and-forth game that Mitch Marner won for the Leafs in overtime.

Marner, known as a playmaker, has finally discovered his scoring touch with 11 goals in his last 11 games. Head coach Sheldon Keefe had high praise for his star forward.

“Sometimes you coach really smart players who don’t have the abilities to act on that intelligence,” said Keefe. “If you get a player who has both, you end up with Mitch Marner.”

Marner has struggled to score in the playoffs, scoring his last playoff goal three years ago. However, in the last month, Marner has shown that he can persevere through his scoring struggles and lead the Leafs past the first round this year.

Their next game against the Calgary Flames was much more concerning. The Leafs got steamrolled by the heavier and tougher Flames, reminding fans of how the Bruins beat the Leafs twice in the playoffs a few years ago. The Bruins were a more physical team, starting scrums and bullying the Leafs into losing.

The Flames did something very similar, and the Leafs folded. The Leafs need to be able to change their style of play to be successful in the playoffs. As one of the best offensive teams in the league, the Leafs need to learn not only how to play defense, but how to hold leads, how to fight back against bigger and tougher teams, and how to find a way to win, regardless of the team in front of them.

The following game against the Canucks also proved to remind fans of the team’s playoff woes. Vancouver scored twice in the first ten minutes of play, forcing Toronto to play catchup. Justin Holl, a defenseman who has been the subject of much debate surrounding the team, ran into his goaltender, allowing Vancouver to score less than two minutes into the game.

Following the Canucks gaining a two-goal lead, the Leafs were clearly the better team. The Leafs tied the game, but Vancouver’s goalten-

der Thatcher Demko made 51 saves, sealing his team’s one goal victory.

Some fans may look at this game and say the Leafs lost because of an amazing goalie, but looking deeper, if the Leafs had cleaned up their defensive play in the first ten minutes, they would have won this game 2–0. Defensively, the Leafs put themselves in a position to lose, a position that their offense could not get them out of.

Their next game was against the Seattle Kraken.

The Leafs dominated Seattle, who have struggles defensively and in net. Thus, this game was not as telling for the Leafs as the other games. However, previous iterations of the Leafs would likely take a night off against a weak team like Seattle, indicating some growth in the Leafs in how they won’t take their foot off the gas, even when they might have some inclination to do so.

Looking back at these four games, the Leafs highlighted their history as a highflying, offensive team, who needs to be better defensively and learn how to adapt their game to other teams. What this can say about the future is that their playoff woes have not been solved yet and unless there is a dramatic change on the blue line or a shift in mindset, the Leafs will likely see history repeating itself.