Vol 39 issue 20

UTSU’s unopposed candidates take questions Students asked executive candidates about student politics and platform promises Larissa Ho News Editor A small crowd attended UTSU’s AllCandidates Executive Debate at the William Doo Auditorium at New College last Wednesday. Candidates for the positions of president, vicepresident equity, VP external, VP internal and services, and VP university affairs participated in a question-and-answer session, since the slate is running unopposed.

The five executive candidates on current VP university affairs Munib Sajjad’s Renew slate emphasized the continued investigation of illegal ancillary fees and the need for students to become more involved and “united”.

Team Renew is made up of incumbent UTSU executives Sajjad (candidate for president) and VP external Yolen Bollo-Kamara (candidate for VP Equity), as well as newcomers Cameron Wathey, Sana Ali, and Agnes So (candidates for VP internal, VP external, and VP university affairs, respectively).

There is no opposition slate, so the ballot will have a “yes” or “no” option. According to the electoral code,

Junaid Imran/The medium

Candidates responded to questions from the audience positions for which the candidate receives a majority of “no” votes will be declared vacant.

The candidates were each given

five minutes to make a brief speech outlining their platforms and plans for next year. Each speech was followed by a 10-minute question pe-

riod and a final four minutes for the candidates to make closing remarks.

Questions from Trinity students concerned defederation and a hypo-

thetical situation in which students voted to leave UTSU. None of the executive candidates answered the questions directly. “I don’t particularly know too much about this sort of situation,” said Wathey.

UTSU said that official questions of UTSU membership can only be initiated by UTSU, as per their bylaws, and that a hypothetical referendum regarding UTSU membership would need to be provided to all 47,000 members of the union.

UTSU has also expressed to multiple college councils that if defederation passes at the college referendum and is honoured by the University Affairs Board of the Governing Council, then the movement could still be stopped by a “clear legal precedent”.

After Sajjad’s opening speech, Trinity co-head Sam Greene asked him whether, if Trinity’s referendum to defederate passed and the University Affairs Board honoured the outcome of that referendum (redirecting fees paid by Trinity students to the Trinity College Meeting), UTSU would then take Trinity to court.

UTSU continued on page 2

Funds and intoxication levels raised at Sex Pub SEC raised around $5,000 for Family Service Ontario, all in a positive sexual atmosphere Jai Sangha Associate News Editor UTM’s Sexual Education and Peer Counselling Centre hosted their annual Sex Pub last Thursday at the Blind Duck Pub to raise money for a non-profit counselling organization.

SEC sold a total of 500 tickets for Sex Pub and raised around $5,000 for donation to Family Service Toronto, according to James Boutilier, the external education coordinator of SEC. Family Service Toronto is a nonprofit organization that assists families and individuals through counselling, community development, advocacy, and public education programs in Toronto, according to their website.

The goal of Sex Pub was to create an environment in which students could be who they are and show their love for their bodies, culture,

Charging illegal fees A review found that students are being charged some illegal fees.

Medium News, page 2

Choosing sides Should we officially take one side of the Israel-Palestine conflict?

Medium Opinion, page 4

Old stories, new ideas Reviewing reimaginations of the classics.

Medium A&E, page 7

Student housing woes We assessed your living options.

They aren’t pretty.

Medium Features, page 8 Cassandra tagliapietra/the MEdium

The goal of this year’s pub was to create a sex-positive environment. religion, or anything through what they wear, said Senka Zahirovich, the head coordinator of SEC.

“This event supports who you are, but in a way that also supports the community through Family Ser-

vice Toronto,” said Zahirovich.

Sex continued on page 3

Guests for the preseason The Toronto Argonauts are set to set up at U of T’s Varsity Centre.

Medium Sports, page 10

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«NEWS THE MEDIUM

03.11.2013

T-Card scanner privacy concerns still open The university responds to confusion surrounding the Student Centre expansion referendum Larissa Ho News Editor The Office of the Vice-Provost, Students is looking into creating better safeguards to put in place for student groups who request access the T-Card system, which is one way of verifying students’ registration statuses.

The first method of voter verification is an electronic voter list stored on a password-protected disk. The second method is the T-Card verification system, which comprises two parts: the first is the actual database of student numbers and names, and the second is the optical card reader, a physical piece of equipment.

According to Babatumi Sodade, the former chief electoral officer (the UTMSU employee responsible for overseeing the logistics of the referendum process), he requested both the password-protected disk and the T-Card system. He opted to use the T-Card system, which meant borrowing the TCard optical scanner from UTSU. The password-protected disk was intended only as a backup option.

“I requested both, but I wasn’t specific enough, so it was a misunderstanding,” said Sodade. “I thought

they’d authorized both, but it was my mistake in not making sure.”

The Office of the Vice-Provost, Students sent a password-protected disk containing truncated student numbers to UTM’s Office of Student Life at Sodade’s request. However, according to the university, it was never picked up or used. The office did not update the T-Card system because it was under the impression that UTMSU was going to verify which students were eligible to vote in the referendum through manual registration, that is, using the password-protected disk rather than the T-Card system.

“Instead of using the CD sent by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, as arranged, UTMSU used this T-Card optical scanner, which was loaded with data for the UTSU November AGM,” stated the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, in an emailed response to questions. “The uploaded voter information was therefore out of date and included St. George students. Had UTMSU advised this office in advance, as required, that it wished to use the TCard reader for voter verification, the correct data for UTM would have been uploaded for the T-Card reader.”

The November AGM list was the

most recent list uploaded to the TCard system database. According to the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, UTSU requested both the updating of the T-Card System and a manual membership list for the administration of their November AGM. Ultimately, they chose not to use the T-Card system, only the passwordprotected disk. However, the list for the November AGM was still on the system.

To access the T-Card system, Sodade used the password from last spring’s UTMSU elections, which is when he last used the T-Card system.

“I always assumed that UTMSU has the same password,” said Sodade.

“We’ve used the same password since the spring elections. […] I’ve always used that [password]. I thought it was kind of like an email account, like Gmail. I thought it was just an account that UTMSU has with the school that enabled access that you had to request; you had to get the confidentiality agreement signed to actually use it.

“It was just a misunderstanding in updating the list,” he added. “[Updating it] could have been done, but I just wasn’t specific enough, I guess.”

Sodade said the confusion all came

down to one word: “electronic”.

“I asked for an ‘electronic’ system.

And I wasn’t specific enough. To me, it was the T-Card system,” said Sodade.

“So I didn’t specify the electronic system I wanted. There was a misunderstanding.”

The Office of the Vice-Provost, Students said that the T-Card system was designed to verify student statuses for UTSU’s sale of student TTC Metropasses. Therefore, it was designed to have multiple user IDs and passwords for administrative purposes. The university’s T-Card Office generates these user IDs and passwords, which grant access to the system, not to individual lists in the database.

According to that office, in recent years UTSU has been lending the TCard scanner to other societies for their membership verification and administrative needs. UTSU requested new user IDs and passwords from the T-Card Office for these other groups.

The university did not change the user ID or password.

Sodade confirmed that UTSU lent the T-Card scanner to UTMSU for the referendum.

“They do us a favour by loaning [the T-Card scanner] to us every year, be-

cause we don’t have a T-Card scanner,” reported Sodade.

“We are looking into putting better safeguards in place for ensuring that errors such as those that occurred in the UTMSU referendum do not happen again when the T-Card reader is used,” said the Office of the ViceProvost. “We will be talking with the student unions about these safeguards.

There needs to be a better password system for the T-Card reader. But most importantly, the T-Card reader should not be lent out by UTSU to other student unions without written confirmation from [our] office that the appropriate data for the student union in question has been uploaded.”

For the Student Centre expansion referendum of January 29–31, UTMSU used a T-Card system that had been loaded with data (student numbers and names) for UTSU’s November AGM, which means that both UTM and St. George students were able to vote. St. George students were intended to be ineligible, as they are not members of UTMSU and the terms of the referendum do not apply to them. As a result, the Board of Directors did not ratify the results of the referendum.

Illegal fees identified International Student unions discover that students are being charged illegally Michael J. Watson associate news editor Senior U of T administrators have confirmed the findings of several student unions that at least seven of the ancillary fees charged to students were in violation of Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities guidelines and the university’s own policies.

Reports submitted by the Graduate Student Union, the Scarborough Campus Student Union, and the University of Toronto Students’ Union have found the university has been inappropriately bundling fees under “black box” payments that should be divided up and more optional, increasing certain course fees beyond appropriate cost recovery levels, and limiting the available information about vague unspecified course fees.

The discovery began when a student from the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering complained to GSU about certain fees they were charged that totalled over $1,500. An investigation by the union discovered several ancillary fees were being charged for services that should have been covered by tuition. Both the Ministry and university were alerted. A resolution to the specific incident was reached last March; it prompted the university to conduct its own review in

June and gave other student unions the opportunity to file their own reports.

Compulsory ancillary fees are divided into eight distinct categories, but only two—categories five and six—were the subject of review. Category five fees relate to select learning materials and services, while category six is for administrative fees charged only to students who use the relevant services. The approval of changes to fees in these categories rests solely with U of T’s vice-president, Scott Mabury. Though changes to ancillary fees must be reported annually to the Business Board of Governing Council, there are no limits on the amounts by which fees can be increased.

Besides the seven fees the school admitted were in violation, the administration remains divided on at least eight others. The UTSU report found that “many fees outlined in the ancillary fee schedule […] increased at rates of above 10% to over 4,000%”. It cited a 43% increase for medical student registration and increases of up to 2,000% for nursing clinical placements.

UTSU and GSU also contested the Access Copyright fee, which is reportedly charged to students for the photocopying and distribution of copyrighted works. The UTSU report claims the fee is illegal since

many non-students, including faculty, use the same works without paying.

With the exception of the seven fees, the university has refrained from commenting on most of the other aspects of the union reports, saying the “vast majority” of fees are in line with the guidelines and policies. Mabury has stated there will be no refunds for students who paid any of the seven fees, but they will no longer be charged.

Some progress has been made towards a resolution. The university has ruled that iClickers and other online materials will no longer be required for mandatory credit courses, and departmental websites will be updated to clarify vague and ambiguous language. Previously bundled fees will be separated into multiple items; for example, the unspecific “laboratory supply fee” will be divided into lab coats, equipment, and course materials.

In the Governing Council’s board meeting this January, many administrators said they were glad the fee review had been conducted. It was referred to as a “much-needed clarification”, and it was commented that the university’s biggest step forward in the coming months would be to ensure that facilities and departments have the resources they need to establish appropriate and compliant fees.

Questions left unanswered UTSU continued from cover Sajjad did not directly answer the question. “We represent 47,000 students that vote individually into the union,” he said. “We follow our bylaws, and that’s what I want to uphold. […] We advocate for all, not

just simply college or faculty councils.”

He did not say whether UTSU would take the Trinity student representation to court over potential defederation, and instead stressed the need for more dialogue between student groups.

Noor Baig, the current VP equity, is running for a position on the Board of Directors on the Renew slate as an arts and science directorat-large. Meanwhile, running for her current position is Bollo-Kamara, appointed this year as VP campus life.

Centre updated Jai Sangha Associate news editor

The International Centre at UTM recently updated its list of services to comply with government regulations for immigration and student support.

The International Centre can no longer provide international students advice regarding their legal status in Canada, their immigration options, or which immigration stream (such as the post-graduation work permit) they should choose. The centre is allowed only to help students find resources for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, such as CIC’s website and phone numbers.

The regulations stem from Bill C-35, “Act to Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act”, previously known as the “Cracking Down on Crooked

Consultants Act”, which took effect on June 30, 2011, according to a CIC press release.

It is an offence for anyone other than an authorized CIC representative to conduct business regarding an application, including during the period before a proceeding begins or an application is submitted, according to the press release.

The International Centre continues to provide information about the University Health Insurance Plan, U of T’s study abroad opportunities, the social insurance number, and the individual tax number, as well as support for cultural transition and skill development for English as a second language, according to their website. The centre also manages the newly launched internationalLIFE peer support program for international students.

UTMSU passes motion from Students Against Israel Apartheid Mudeeha Yousaf The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union has teamed up with the UTM club Students Against Israeli Apartheid to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement—a Palestinian campaign begun in 2005 that uses boycotting and sanctions to oppose Israel’s alleged violations of Palestinian human rights—after receiving support from student campaigns.

On February 4, the UTMSU Board of Directors received approximately 700 signatures from SAIA to recognize the right of equal education for Palestinian civ-

ic society and to commit to identifying and divesting its involvement in companies that support or profit from Israel, whose activities in Palestine are widely considered to be oppressive human rights violations.

The mission of the controversial BDS campaign is to establish the rights of international refugees to return to their country, the freedom of those under military occupation in the Gaza Strip, and the full legal equality of Arab-Palestinian citizens in Israel. By supporting BDS, UTMSU and SAIA hope express support for their attempts to find a solution to the conflict.

UTMSU continued on page 3

03.11.2013 THE MEDIUM NEWS

“Jello fighting” at the pub

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»What’s the best place to sleep on campus?

“In the past, SEC has been [about] charity, and then somewhere along the line it stopped. But we need to bring back the spirit of giving to community,” Zahirovich continued.

“Resiliency [comes] from helping one another.”

Students wore costumes—some dressed up for the event, and others down. Attendees took pictures in a

Valeria Ryrak 4th year, English

The fourth floor of the library, silent study areas facing the terrace.

The Medium’s couch.

Alexa Yiouroukis 3rd year, CCIT

Sunny Sandhu 4th year, political science

My don friends’ dorms.

In the basement of the library. It’s the only place that’s quiet.

Cassandra tagliapietra/the MEdium

Jello, anyone?

Sex continued from Cover

Jasmin Sidhu 3rd year, commerce

photo booth set up in the Presentation Room, participated in three rounds of “jello fighting” on the pub stage, and were automatically entered in a draw to win a vibrator.

By 3 a.m., Campus Police had received three reports of public intoxication.

Campus Police stationed two per-

sonnel around the pub until 2:30 a.m. By 3 a.m., they had received three reports of public intoxication, including one where a person was escorted home in a Campus Police vehicle, and two medical assistance calls for ECSpeRT staff, including one for a person who fell in the bathroom and required an ambulance.

Three Peel Region police cruisers were also present outside the pub close to the end of the event.

New U of T president Dean Meric Gertler has been named to succeed David Naylor

UTMSU against Israeli “apartheid” UTMSU continued from page 2

Meric Gertler, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at U of T, has been named the successor of David Naylor as the university’s next president.

Gertler, who was appointed by U of T’s Governing Council on Monday as the 16th president in the school’s history, has said he is committed to building on the work of the current president, David Naylor, and updating the school’s facilities to bring them into the digital age.

Gertler’s mix of educational administration and academic experience may have contributed to his selection. Having studied at

UC Berkeley, Harvard, and McMaster, Gertler has deep roots in education and research; traditionally, these qualifies are not unfamiliar for candidates to the presidency.

U of T also has a history of selecting in-house academic professors for the position. Gertler is no exception, having been the dean of the largest faculty.

“Professor Meric Gertler is an outstanding choice for the next president of our university,” commented Professor Amy Mullin, UTM’s dean and vice-principal academic.

Gertler’s academic background is in urban issues and geography, specializing in the economies of cities. His interest in urban stud-

ies and their relationship to community revitalization will have a direct impact on his new position, according to Mullin. An emphasis on city-building and creativity undoubtedly stood out in the inspection of his portfolio.

UTSU has expressed concerns about the appointment, but the student union says it is pleased with the choice and remains open-minded.

“He is deeply committed to the flourishing of all of our campuses, something made clear in his regular meetings with the deans of UTSC and UTM in a committee of tri-campus deans,” said Mullin.

Gertler will succeed Naylor this December for a five-year term.

As well as protests and student activism, there are efforts by student lobbyists to persuade the UTM administration to terminate its affiliation with companies that they allege support war crimes and human rights violations, such as Hewlett Packard, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems.

“We are not advocates of a particular solution. We strictly target companies that violate international law,” said Shefa Obaid, a member of SAIA. “We petitioned the motion, collected over 700 signatures from students, and had open events constantly informing people. We feel that the only way to not be hypocritical is to let our voices be heard.”

“UTMSU hopes to engage in research and discussion on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign,” said Yasmine Yousef, UTMSU’s VP equity. “We are committed to

Queen fights for gay rights, makes historic pledge

Facebook to revamp newsfeed and release Graph Search

Hunt for unknown sexual predator took almost two years

Anti-homophobia ads challenge Quebeckers’ perception of openness

In a live telecast on Sunday morning, the Queen signed a new charter intended to stamp out discrimination against homosexuals and promote the empowerment of women—a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth. This is the first time she has clearly signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign. The charter has been dubbed a “21st-century Commonwealth Magna Carta”.

The world’s biggest social networking company is getting ready to unveil a new version of their newsfeed, the element of their site that delivers a flow of status updates, photos, and advertisements to its users. Also, watch out for Facebook’s release of Graph Search in the coming months, which is being billed as a strong contender for Google’s search engine.

In March 2011, Detective Paul Krawczyk began an online hunt that recently culminated in the arrest of Donnie Snook, a beloved St. John City councillor 1,500 kilometres away. Snook’s image was shattered after the Toronto police officer spent 22 months tracking an unidentified child pornography offender. Snook has since resigned and will reappear in court on March 11.

The government of Quebec recently launched a $7.1-million, five-year advertising campaign designed to prompt reflection about whether Quebeckers are open-minded enough about homosexuality. The TV, radio, and web campaign shows routine, everyday scenes in which the viewer has no idea until the end that the ad is about sexual orientation.

Source: The Daily Mail

Source: The New York Times Credit: Avalon D’Souza

Source: The Toronto Star

Source: The Globe and Mail

Matthew Butler Staff Writer

a broad educational philosophy, especially in defence of the right to education for all students. UTMSU will continue to safeguard our members’ rights to organize on social justice and human rights campaigns.”

The situation in Israel is controversial, and not all international bodies have expressed unilateral opinions on it. The UN has not officially acted against the practices described as “Israeli apartheid”.

Apartheid was a policy of racial segregation in South Africa, where until two decades ago white citizens had significantly more legal rights than black citizens. Today, the term is extended by analogy to other situations in which one race is officially privileged over and oppresses another. In 1973, the United Nations officially defined apartheid as a crime.

Some proponents of reform use the term “Israeli apartheid” to describe the situation at present.

Toronto Casino proposal includes a shopping centre This week, MGM and Cadillac Fairview revealed their proposal for an “integrated resort” at Exhibition Place. Watercolours show their vision for a casino, a permanent home for Cirque du Soleil, a hotel, convention space, and a shopping centre planned to occupy between 750,000 and 1,000,000 square feet—roughly half the size of the Eaton Centre.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Editor-in-Chief » Stefanie Marotta

Choosing sides in the Middle East isn’t easy To be honest, I don’t know much about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I don’t understand the history that led up to the situation, nor do I understand the cultures and the people involved. Still, an article in this week’s news section piqued my interest. As reporter Mudeeha Yousaf explores, the UTM Students’ Union voted in favour of endorsing the 2005 call of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against what is sometimes called Israeli apartheid.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last five years at UTM about the conflict, it’s that there is a clear divide in opinion on it—especially within our student body. Every year, election platforms and agenda motions arise from the student unions both at UTM and St. George concerning international matters. At last year’s student union election debate, students heatedly discussed the student union’s support of the highly controversial Israel Apartheid Week.

Keeping in mind that your student union represents your voice not only to the university, but to the provincial and federal governments as well, should they take sides on a controversial political issue? When one of their main goals is equity among all undergraduates, choosing sides could alienate the students they represent, especially when opposing parties have very different perspectives on what would bring justice and peace.

To provide context, the Canadian government’s position on the conflict is relatively diplomatic. Canada equally supports Israel’s right to “assure its own security” and Palestine’s right to self-determination and the creation of a sovereign state. Canada then affirms its commitment to comprehensive peace—the

key word being “comprehensive”—to achieve a peaceful resolution for both parties.

Earlier this semester, we covered an event held by the Students Against Israeli Apartheid that brought activist Harry Fear to campus to speak about hardships in Palestine.

The following week, we received a letter from student Stan Fedun expressing his concern for the alleged onesidedness of the event and his intention to offer a holistic view regarding the conflict.

Like I said, I don’t know enough about the conflict to cast judgement or offer my opinion and I don’t want to detract from the hard work of the Students Against Israeli Apartheid.

I’ve heard many students recount stories about how their friends and families have been affected by the conflict.

While I sympathize with the intention to support peace, I cringe at the idea that some students might have cause to feel disenfranchised by their student representatives.

When various governments and international organizations avoid taking a firm stance at the risk of misrepresenting citizens and members, it makes me wonder why student unions believe they should take a definitive stance. I’ve heard many students speak in favour of UTMSU’s motion, so now I’m curious to hear from students with opposing perspectives. What I can say with certainty is that—aside from equity issues—student unions that represent all undergraduate students on campus have no reason to take firm stances on controversial political issues. yours, Stefanie Marotta Editor-in-chief

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stefanie Marotta editor@mediumutm.ca

My freak exam schedule What kind of assessment and education does U of T really provide?

Dear Editor, I am by no means the perfect student.

There seem to be a lot of us these days.

Despite my poor work ethic and inability to place extreme importance on anything school-related (besides our wonderful school newspaper), I often find myself questioning the fairness of this institution’s assessment and grading.

I would like to start with the longoverdue iClicker subject. Especially in first year, I wonder whether imposing this method of grading represents a fair mark. Look around during one of these sequences and you will find students turning their heads and ultimately copying someone else’s click.

Well, that’s fair.

Either one student knows the answer and a chain of classmates press the same button, or one student is too prudent to copy, guesses wrong, and like falling dominos, a portion of the class tumbles into the abyss.

What about the dreaded 10% participation mark? The participation grade does not assess students’ knowledge of course material. It measures how outgoing a student is. Some of us are introverts, while others are outspoken and often annoying. Personally, I do not participate unless I am very comfortable with my professor and my classmates, and unless I have read the course material in time for lecture—a rarity. I would not say it is always the case, but more often than not, the belligerent student speaks out very vaguely, a telltale sign of “No, you did not read the material; no, you do not know what you are talking about; and yes, you are sucking up to the professor who will award you with unfair, petty participation grades for being oh, so un-shy.”

So again I ask, are we as students of an institution as “honourable” as U of T being assessed fairly?

I believe it is a given that classes of roughly 35 to 50 students have a

SPORTS EDITOR Isaac Owusu sports@mediumutm.ca

severe advantage over those in the 100+ classes. The ability to have more of your professor’s attention and the opportunity to enjoy a more intimate classroom experience surely provide students with greater chances to succeed.

And lastly, the dreaded freak exam schedule.

On Tuesday, April 16, I have a poetry exam on the political, social, and literary complexities of 16th-century poetry, containing a splash of English history. On Wednesday, I have a rigorous exam on literature prior to the 1800s—a course focused on the emergence of the novel form and on the social situation of different classes and different genders. Finally, on Thursday, I have a tedious politics exam involving at least a pair of in-class essays on the different methods certain countries follow to resolve international conflict.

The result on each of these exams will be greatly affected by my dreaded schedule. I question the fairness, since 35% of my grade for three courses will be based on three exams in a row.

I can imagine the Office of the Registrar laughing at me, perhaps even plotting some kind of sneaky attack to push my buttons further. I want to emphasize how much this subject annoys me despite my not truly caring, this being my last year. To fail a class would require a truly uninspired effort. I am very confident in my ability to not nosedive my way out of graduation.

To be completely honest, while these three days will be torturous, I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel simply because I will finish the bulk of my exams in one drawnout sequence. Kind of like downing a nasty shot.

But the problem—and I truly think this is indisputable—is that students in each of my three classes with a more relaxed exam schedule even in the slightest way all have an advantage

WEBMASTER Gary Li

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over me, and they all have a better chance of receiving a higher mark.

Why? Well, because they have more time to study. They have more leisure.

They do not have to study two or three weeks in advance, then review days before, mixing knowledge between three courses, like dumping rum, Tabasco sauce, and honey in a giant jar, twisting on the cap, and shaking vigorously.

I can understand people shaking their heads at me. But if you were in my situation, you would feel the same way. The fact of the matter is, my exam schedule has a direct effect on my grades in those three courses. Even if I had two exams in a row and then one day off before the third—or even better, if I had one every other day— I would be in a much better situation.

I guarantee my grades would reflect that. My freak exam schedule leads to unfair assessment in relation to my fellow students in each of these classes.

Yes, Office of the Registrar, laugh and mock me because you do not understand. Yes, you roll the dice, and most students get a flexible exam schedule, while the minority are at a severe disadvantage and are being graded unfairly.

This is a very dreaded experience that one would think an institution as honourable as U of T could work around to discover a more reasonable and fairer assessment of their students’ grades. For example, before releasing the exam schedule to students, take a minute to see if any of us got the obvious worse end of the stick. But I guess with how prestigious U of T is supposed to be, that is just too much to ask.

I have little faith this speed bump will be addressed in time for my three days of torture. But hopefully UTM will consider what I think is a large assessment issue for future students.

Sami Karaman Fourth year, English

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03.11.2013

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Editor » Colleen Munro

Sugar Man’s albums find a home Searching for Sugar Man’s Sixto Rodriguez offers varied classic sounds and styles on two watershed albums LUKE SAWCZAK COPY EDITOR WITH NOTES FROM CASPIAN SAWCZAK A few weeks ago, my parents rented Searching for Sugar Man, and I watched it over my shoulder while doing homework. You’ve probably heard the name as the winner of the Oscar for best documentary. It tells the story of Sixto Rodriguez, the working-class man from Detroit who recorded a couple of albums in the early ’70s that didn’t sell and then went back to being a construction worker, only to find out 30 years later that he’d become a superstar in South Africa and they were ready to welcome him to fame. And yet he maintains his “school of hard knocks” wisdom and humble, ascetic lifestyle that gave rise to his music and lyrics in the first place.

It’s a great story. But this isn’t a review of the movie. The obvious question after hearing a story like that is, “So, is the guy any good?” One Sunday a couple days after we saw it, my brother and I drove down to HMV to buy the albums. (Yes, they’ve been re-

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS/PHOTO

Sixto Rodriguez found a resurgence of fame with the Oscar-winning Searching for Sugar Man. released on CD now.) They only had his second one, Coming from Reality, so we paid up and ordered his debut, Cold Fact. A purposefully extended drive home allowed us to listen to all 50 minutes of it.

What I heard on Coming from Real-

when I tried to tell her / Hello only ends in goodbye.” Not genius, maybe, but it feels classic, and we just plain enjoyed it. From that point on, the album only got better. “To Whom it May Concern” is a more mature relationship advice song, and “Cause” is probably Rodriguez’s best song both lyrically and musically. “Cause I see my people trying to drown the sun in weekends of whiskey sours / Cause how many times can you wake up in this comic book and plant flowers?”

When we got home, we listened to it again on shuffle while playing Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii, since that’s what Sunday afternoons are for. It became clear this was an archetypal ’60s rock album in every way. As my brother put it, it doesn’t sound like it’s trying to be ’60s; it just is. Once you’ve heard it, it’s inconceivable it didn’t contribute to the genre.

During “Halfway Up the Stairs” and the bonus track “Can’t Get Away”, I swore I was listening to Cat Stevens, and “Street Boy” could be a Paul Simon outtake. That’s a good thing.

ity was—well, for the first five songs, guitar and harp introduced “Sandresome groovy acoustic guitar chords, van Lullaby”, followed by an incredmeh lyrics, somewhat flat melodies, ibly sweet violin melody. The track and a spoken word song not poetic broke into a completely different song enough to justify itself. But it had a in the middle, one that rocked. “Night lot of gusto. Then, on the second half COLES rains Queens tap at Umy window / Winds spring ad bw:open learning of ad 01/02/12 11:40 AM Page 1 of the album, things slowed down. A my thoughts passing by / She laughed Rodriguez continued on page 6

Art, henna, and music at South Asia Day Celebration of South Asian culture and a new minor program

Accelerate your studies Choose from approximately 70 online degree credit courses this summer.

KATHLEEN CHAVEZ/THE MEDIUM

A variety of student performers took to the MiST Theatre to celebrate South Asia Day. COLLEEN MUNRO A&E EDITOR Being on a campus with such diversity affords us great opportunities to learn about the customs and histories of other cultures, or to celebrate our own. On Friday, the Centre for South Asian Civilizations did just that by holding an event called South Asia Day. The event took place in the CCT Building and allowed students to learn about South Asian culture, admire their peers’ work, and indulge in food.

According to the CSAC, the main purpose of the event was to raise awareness for the South Asian Studies minor program that will be introduced at UTM. The event included a sign board that explained the program, which will be classified under the Department of Historical Studies.

South Asia Day also served to antici-

pate the new Centre for South Asian Civilizations that will open this summer. The centre is described in its proposal as an opportunity to “support research, teaching, and co-curricular engagement in South Asian history, religion, languages, cultures, and civilizations”. The centre is set to open in July.

South Asia Day included a display of student artwork. The art display mainly comprised several delicate watercolour paintings by Fatima Fasih, a fourth-year health sciences and environmental sciences student at UTM. Her expressive paintings were a highlight of the event, depicting people from South Asian cultures of all ages and walks of life. Students could also participate in the tradition of henna body art at a booth. Other displays included information on the tradition of Bollywood films, a variety of South

Asian religions, and South Asian calligraphy.

One of the main activities of South Asia Day was the show held in the MiST Theatre. The performances highlighted different styles of traditional South Asian dance and music.

From an intimate trio of musicians to the lively dance group calling themselves Rhythm, there were many varied and vibrant facets of South Asian culture.

The festivities offered just a peek at what students can expect from the upcoming South Asian Studies program, which will include an interdisciplinary approach that draws from other departments, including those of historical studies, language studies, political science, and visual studies. South Asia Day’s lively celebration of culture certainly set a positive tone for these new developments at UTM.

Registration is easy...

1. Indentify the course you wish to take.

2. Obtain a Letter of Permission from your university.

3. Register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

April 26, 29, 2012 2013 Registration deadline: April 9, 2013 Courses begin: May May 10, 2012 For a list of courses, visit: www.coles.uoguelph.ca

For further information, contact Mickey Smart at: 519-824-4120 x56050 Email: msmart@uoguelph.ca

www.coles.uoguelph.ca

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«ARTS THE MEDIUM 03.11.2013

Album review: Doldrums’ Lesser Evil

The movie is great and so’s the music Rodriguez continued from page 5

WHENTHEGRAMOPHONERINGS.COM/PHOTO

Airick Woodhead unveils his fractured worldview on Doldrums’ debut LP, Lesser Evil.

ARISTOTLE ELIOPOULOS ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR Toronto native Airick Woodhead of Doldrums comes from the same Montreal DIY art-pop scene as Grimes’ Claire Boucher and D’Eon and draws from a similar source to craft the sound on his debut, Lesser Evil. Like Boucher, Woodhead twists and manipulates his voice until it becomes an instrument, blending in with the synths and distortion.

After a short track simply titled “Intro”, the album’s tone is set by “Anomaly”, which fuses static synths, whimsical vocals, and—if I’m correct—that noise MacBooks make when you change the volume.

“Anomaly” resembles the experimentation of Boucher, but also the sound of Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, and Kate Bush’s The Dreaming—that is, if Bush had had access to GarageBand and the influence of the Internet when she recorded that album.

In fact, Woodhead carefully merges technology into every aspect of

his debut, right down to the dead pixels on the album cover. Woodhead’s production makes use of the quintessential bleeps and bloops of current electronic music, but with an innovative and experimental manic sense to each whoosh, crunch, and grind. Sometimes, Woodhead’s voice screeches and yelps at levels that may leave you on the verge of irritation.

Evil features an intricate and complicated arrangement that requires a few listens to be appreciated. On this album, you can recognize that there’s a core melody in each song yet find it difficult to pinpoint.

A skilled waiter can pull the tablecloth off the table without disturbing the glassware. Listening to Lesser Evil, I sometimes feel like the glassware: just as I begin to recognize a consistency in each song, it’s pulled out from under me and I can only wobble until I regain my balance.

It’s only on replaying it that Evil becomes rewarding. The screechy, buzzing synths start to make sense, and the melody we suspected was there becomes clearer. This is espe-

cially true in the tracks “Sunrise” and “Egypt”, two standout songs that show that Woodhead isn’t trying to exhaust us, but rather that there’s a method to the apparent madness.

This contrast between the admirable skill and detail of Woodhead’s production and the feeling that this complexity is shutting you out is fascinating. It’s what makes it both so difficult and so rewarding to listen to Lesser Evil. Each track sounds different from the one before it, yet they all appear to have been designed out of a fixation on a marrying music with technology. It builds on a sound popular in current independent music, apparently with the intent to overload and challenge the listener’s senses.

Overall, Woodhead created an impressive debut, with each of the 11 tracks complementing each other enough to justify the phrase “concept album”. The album is initially intriguing enough to pull you in, but only reveals its underlying beauty after multiple listens. Just stick with it—I promise it will pay off. MMMM

At the same time, the album has moments that are ahead of its time, especially in its production.

“Heikki’s Suburbia Bus Tour” ends with a riff that apparently invented U2 before U2 did (and is also reminiscent of the final riff of fun.’s “Some Nights”—if you can be reminiscent when you predate something by 40 years). We even warmed up to the first half of the album that I had originally found boring.

Two weeks later, Cold Fact came in and we picked it up. Now, this was supposed to be the better album, the one that—if you take the movie at face value—fuelled the end of apartheid. It does open with a great song (“Sugar Man”), but you can tell right off the bat that something’s different. This is a younger Rodriguez. His songs are a little rougher and more formulaic, the producers don’t have as good an ear for instrumentation, and his lyrics are mostly just angst against the establishment and the poor naïve fools who believe in it, of which there’s only so much you can take. That sense is epitomized in the track “This Is Not a Song, It’s an Outburst”.

Most of what you can say about Coming to Reality also applies to Cold Fact; the difference is that this album is purer blues. “Only Good for Conversation” is an excellent impersonation of Jimi Hendrix. Every song on here feels like a half-forgotten classic, with the

exception of “Gomorrah”, whose lame chorus is accompanied by a children’s choir that seems not to have been told which song they should be singing. Some standouts are the cool, tongue-in-cheek “Crucify Your Mind”, the upbeat “Like Janis”, and the unforgettable bass line of “I Wonder”.

I still think Coming from Reality is better, even if it couldn’t have provided as many anti-apartheid slogans. It has more interesting and memorable melodies. And the lyrics are still cynical, but they don’t condemn, as you can hear in “A Most Disgusting Song” with its vivid illustration of gritty blue-collar life. This time it’s not an outburst, but an outcry. Of course, even by his second album Rodriguez hadn’t quite come into his own, and it’s not entirely clear which direction he would have taken. But then again, how many great musicians had a debut that was any better?

I’ve listened to these albums a few times each now, and to be honest, when the interviewees in the movie suggest that Rodriguez is better than Bob Dylan, I think they’re exaggerating. But that doesn’t stop me from singing along to every song when I listen to them. And maybe the comparison isn’t even valid. Yes, it’s rock, but Rodriguez’s music and lyrics take the perspective of quite a different demographic. Both albums are definitely worth buying—especially now that the money actually goes to him.

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03.11.2013 THE MEDIUM A&E

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Bringing childhood nostalgia to the 21st century While Oz the Great and Powerful conjures up big box office numbers, we examine a few other classic reimaginings KIMBERLY JOHNSON Most people today are familiar with Dorothy’s adventure in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The film became so famous that it immortalized actress Judy Garland and popularized the ruby slippers, now a symbol of the golden age of American filmmaking.

Oz the Great and Powerful, which came out last Friday, is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. The film tells the story of how the infamous “Great Wizard” arrived in Oz and became the character he is in the 1939 classic, while recreating the fantastical world of Oz with updated visuals.

Zooming out a bit, Oz the Great and Powerful is just the latest in a string of reworked stories of classic tales. Here are some other examples of stories that have been reimagined for current audiences.

Wicked This widely acclaimed musical tells the story of the unlikely friendship between Glinda and Elphaba, who became the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West respectively. The story focuses on the events that make each character who they are in The Wizard of Oz, sympathizing with the Wicked Witch. The play suggests that the Wizard and the Ozian’s ill-treatment of Elphaba made her into the character we see in the movie. Wicked does a beautiful job of evoking pity for the girl who became the Wicked Witch. This play helped launch the careers of actresses Kris-

DISNEY/PHOTO

James Franco stars in the new Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful. ten Chenoweth and Megan Hilty, and strengthened the career of Broadway star Idina Menzel.

Snow White and the Huntsman In the world of post-feminism, writers have moved away from the passive princess, popularized in such Disney films as Snow White (1937) and Cinderella (1950). Last year’s Snow White and the Huntsman is no exception.

In this modern reworking of the first princess’s story, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is reimagined as a woman capable of defending herself and leading others. The film still adheres to the classic markers of the Snow White story (the Seven Dwarves, the Evil Queen, the Mirror, the apple, and the temporary “sleep”), but it al-

ters a few concepts to strengthen the importance of other characters. In this movie, the audience is given the backstory of the widower huntsman, who replaces the prince as the romantic interest. The end is different too: Snow White becomes the ruler of her kingdom, whereas in the original she simply marries the prince. In addition, the film repaints the Evil Queen (Charlize Theron) as a woman obsessed with maintaining her youth.

This obsession requires that she kill young maidens and consume their hearts, a recreation that provides a legitimate (though lugubrious) reason for her actions, which was lacking in the original.

Mirror Mirror This is another Snow White remake, and it came out the same year. It had a much lighter tone, as it was marketed to families with young children. Though it stays pretty close to the original story, a few alterations are made. Julia Roberts portrays the Queen as an unstable woman who’s more desperate than evil. The writers also made the queen a romantic rival of Snow White; they both appear to have feelings for the prince. In this film, the Seven Dwarves have more flair, coming through in their snarky dialogue. Finally, Snow (Lily Collins) is reimagined as woman capable of defending herself here, too. In this film, Snow White saves her kingdom and brings her father back to life.

Prince of Egypt This 1998 animated film is a personal favourite from my childhood. It reimagines the Bible story of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt.

This Moses is a surprisingly accurate depiction of the biblical character. Here, Moses is the shy, unlikely deliverer of the Hebrew slaves, while in other reworkings—e.g., Ten Commandments (1956) and the currentlyairing miniseries The Bible (2013)— Moses is portrayed as an obvious leader.

The film gives somewhat more interesting roles to the women. It recreates Zipporah as an equal partner to Moses who knows something about the world and is capable of defending herself (a bit of a theme in female character reimagininations, I admit).

Through her, the audience is presented with a love story both comical and compelling. Miriam is portrayed as the faithful older sister who encourages Moses to pursue the task God has given him. Unlike in the biblical story, Mariam is shown working (and singing) alongside Zipporah, and she becomes the film’s moral voice.

The theme of brotherhood is emphasized in the bad blood between the adopted Moses and the Pharaoah, and on the other hand Moses’ relationship with his biological brother Aaron. Aaron is presented as a doubting follower whose constant humour lightens an otherwise heartbreaking story, but highlights how serious Moses’s task is. Aaron’s doubt also nicely contrasts with Miriam’s faith.

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« 03.11.2013

Editor » Carine Abouseif

Where will you be living next year?

Mississauga’s student housing options are pretty limited. We assess your options and their costs.

VIVIAN WONG/THE MEDIUM

MARIA RUIZ For many people, the start of university symbolizes the beginning of a longawaited independence—or at least a partial independence. That independence usually comes in the form of a new place to live. Perhaps one of the biggest perks of heading off to university is living alone for the first time. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? The reality of university didn’t always live up to my romanticized fantasies when I was a first-year. Mississauga offers only a few options for student housing. Like anything, each one has its perks and pitfalls. Here’s what to expect.

UTM RESIDENCE The first housing option that comes to mind when thinking about going away to university is living on residence. Countless Hollywood movies have reinforced the stereotype that if you don’t live on campus for at least one year, you aren’t really getting the full “university experience”. Some residence students say there’s a bit of truth to that statement, partially because it’s the easiest way to meet people in a new community.

UTM Student Housing and Residence Life guarantees first-years a spot on residence as long as they indicate in their initial applications to the university that they’re planning to live on campus. Upper-year students don’t have the same security. Instead,

their eligibility is assessed based on a readmission score system. The score is based on factors like their behaviour and cleanliness from the previous year.

The higher a student’s score, the more likely she is to get her preferred housing style and roommates.

Upper-year students can look forward to either apartment-style housing (Erindale Hall and Roy Ivor Hall) or townhouse residences (Schreiberwood, Leacock Lane, and MaGrath Valley). The options available to firstyear students are Oscar Peterson Hall (two suites connected by a shared bathroom) or other townhouse residences (McLuhan Court, Putnam Place, and Leacock Lane). Of course, different types of residences come at different prices, with the newer, apartment-style housing tending to cost more.

Money aside, what is it actually like to live on campus? The biggest advantage is convenience. Being so close to your classes means not having to worry about things like weather, road conditions, traffic, and so on. You also get to sleep in later. (This may result in heading to class in your pink pajama bottoms or weathered sweats.)

Roommates in their first year are also placed together according to program, making it easier to find people who share the same interest, not to mention a few study buddies.

But residence life has its disadvantages. Moving away from home might be liberating, but it requires a lot more

self-discipline—especially when you have friends living less than 10 feet away. Another drawback to this particular kind of housing is that while the university does its best to match you with people with whom you are compatible, roommates are sometimes a problem. Your roommate could be a guy who sleeps in till 4 p.m. and stays up till 8 a.m. Different timetables, different sleep schedules, messiness, and even stolen food are all potential problems when living with someone you didn’t personally choose.

SIR JOHN’S HOMSTEAD A lesser-known option for students who want a cheaper residence-like experience free of the dons and house checks is Homestead. Sometimes described as the “unofficial residence of UTM”, Sir John’s Homestead is a townhouse community on Dundas Street, just east of UTM. It has a healthy population of students; some Homestead residents even distinguish between “real Homestead”, the part of the neighbourhood made up of families, and “student Homestead”.

Homestead, or “UTM’s unofficial residence”, is drastically cheaper than its official counterpart. For some, the non-academic atmosphere is also an advantage. On the other hand, residents complain about repairs that take forever to complete (some things apparently never get fixed at all). In addition, because so many of Homestead’s

residents are students, conflicts with the rest of the community can arise— and have arisen in the past.

OFF-CAMPUS (CONDO/BASEMENT) Living off campus seems like the most intimidating option. Your only ruler is your landlord, and depending on how nice he is, you probably won’t see him very often. Independence seems to be the main motivation for students who choose this housing option. Depending on the location and type of the housing, it can be much cheaper or much more expensive than UTM residence. Mississauga’s most common off-campus housing for students comes in the form of condos and basement apartments.

The process of finding off-campus housing is a tedious, time-consuming one. It requires plenty of research, plenty of meetings with landlords and realtors, and plenty of walkthroughs of apartments and rooms.

Some students who chose to live off campus say it’s a decidedly stressful experience, in part because you’re on your own. Depending on the location, the daily commute to campus can be inconvenient and long. Eventually, it can even start to feel like you’re no longer part of the UTM community.

Before you venture out on your own, make sure to research tenant rights and responsibilities, but also keep an eye to your relationship with your landlord.

Sometimes, that relationship can be the biggest stressor—especially if your landlord lives right upstairs from your basement apartment.

ANDREEA MIHAI STAY HOME When the bus finally comes, you climb on board and begin to thaw out, yawning and trying not to fall asleep on the long ride after another long day of classes. By the time you get home, the cold has migrated to your brain and you can’t imagine how you’ll get yourself started on homework. But then you walk through your front door and you’re family’s there. In most cases, dinner’s ready too. These are some of the advantages of living with family.

If your parents are nice enough, you probably won’t have to pay for rent and meals. But living with family can come at the cost of a long commute, since your family probably didn’t select your home with proximity to UTM in mind. Living with family might also come with distractions, like “Be a dear and get me the…” or “Where’s the remote?”, just when you’re trying to get into the study zone.

An article in Issue 11 titled “Mississauga’s secret study spaces” credited Aliza Khan as an authors. The author’s name is corrected to Aliza Khalid. The Medium regrets the error.

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03.11.2013 THE MEDIUM FEATURES

9

Searching for a fresh identity Dell’s buyout is breaking news in business, but what does it mean for their custom-designed computers?

vate companies are companies whose shares are not offered to the general public. Public companies, on the other hand, are publicly traded on a stock exchange and anyone can buy and sell their shares—either physically at an exchange or on computer trading platforms. The owners of Dell believe that more money can be made by privatizing the company.

Dell has been one of the worst performers in the PC business, with sales dropping 11% since the third quarter of 2011. The smartphone and tablet market has grown rapidly, and forecasters predict that approximately 1.2 billion devices will be bought in 2013. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, Dell has been quite slow in adapting to what its cus-

tomers want.

Dell’s strategy has been unlike that of any other PC manufacturer: you would never see a Dell computer at your typical big-box retailer, like Best Buy or Wal-Mart. Instead, Dell focuses on customizing and delivering PCs right to the customer’s doorstep.

However, the PC market has been very tight lately, with shrinking profit

margins thanks to increased competition. Even companies based outside the U.S. have entered the PC market and dominated across North America. Lenovo, a Chinese computer giant, surpassed Dell by 1.6 million units sold and has since become a threat to HP, the world’s number-one PC manufacturer.

Going back to the buyout, Microsoft’s $2-billion loan could mean more than meets the eye. Microsoft is looking to better integrate its software and hardware to create a better user experience, a strategy that has made Apple widely successful—and Dell’s computers could be the hardware Microsoft needs. On the other hand, a loan might not give Microsoft much say in Dell’s strategy, because it doesn’t technically give Microsoft a controlling interest in Dell; Dell can simply use the borrowed funds for its own ends.

The news came as a shock to the public. Dell now holds the record for the highest-priced technology buyout. But the buyout might be in the company’s best interests. Michael Dell now has time to rethink his plans to make sure Dell can secure its spot as the world’s best computer manufacturer.

can “cushion” a fall and “blanket” the earth.

Eponymy is when a word for a whole class of things is formed from a name. To take brand names, for example, most people I know say “kleenex” and “jello” even if they don’t mean the Kleenex and Jell-O brands. Right now Adobe’s official policy is “Please don’t say ‘photoshop’ except in reference to Photoshop.” Sorry, Adobe, but it’s way too late for that. Maybe you should just take it as a compliment.

Root creation is when an entirely new word is coined. As you might imagine, it’s not as common as using material you already have. It might surprise you to learn that “blatant” (1596: Edmund Spenser, poet), “yahoo” (1726: Jonathan Swift, satirist), “gas” (1650s: J.B. van Helmont, chemist), and “blurb” (1907: Gelett Burgess, humorist) were all coined without precedent.

Abbreviation is when one word is “clipped” to form a new one. Sometimes they become so common that we’re no longer aware of their origin, like “piano” ultimately from piano e forte, Italian for “soft and loud” (the instrument was more dynamic than its predecessor, the harpsichord), “dis” from “disrespect”, and “bus” from “omnibus”.

Acronymy is when a word is boiled down to its initials. We all recognize RCMP, UTM, and CIBC as acronyms.

But if the word is easy to pronounce as it’s read, it can lose the appearance of being an acronym. Take “scuba” (selfcontained underwater breathing apparatus), “taser” (Tom A. Swift’s electric rifle), and “yuppie” (young urban professional). I suspect “FAQ”, “RAM”, and “ASAP” are headed this way too.

Amalgamation is when words are

blended together to form a new one.

Lewis Carroll coined (among many others) “chortle” from “chuckle” + “snort”, and “smog” is from “smoke” + “fog”. Some subtler ones are “already”, “always”, “almost”, each of which used to have “all” as a separate word.

Compounding is also when words

the parents are saying one thing, but their children are misinterpreting what they hear; no one notices until one day they happen to say “pea”, the new word they deduced. Reanalysis can also happen intentionally, though.

For example, “enthuse” from “enthusiasm” and “televise” from “television” are clearly verbs backformed from the noun; more surprisingly, “act” never existed till it was backformed from “action”, nor “edit” from “editor”. Notice how I just used the verb “backformed”, which I backformed from “backformation”. Sometimes the reanalyzed part then takes on a life of its own; I just Googled “quake suffix” and found examples of “moonquake”, “seaquake”, and “youthquake” (try to figure out what that one means). This horrifies language purists, but the process is very common.

Okay, cool. Now, I want to tell the story of one recent word. That word is “vlog”.

The story begins with the coining of “worldwide”, a compound of “world + wide”, in the 16th century. Then, using “web” metaphorically, a couple of very important geeks named Tim BernersLee and Robert Cailliau coined the compound “World Wide Web” in 1990 (don’t ask me why they spelled it that way). This being kind of clunky, people started abbreviating it to just “the Web”. Some users started writing logs of their thoughts and posting them on the Web. So what do you call that? Why, you just make up another compound: “Web log”.

Phonology often interacts with word formation, and the next step involves an important phonological rule. In English, when we have a cluster of sounds between two syllables—like “bl” between “Web +

log”—we cram as much of it as we can into the start of the second syllable instead of leaving them at the end of the first one. So when people began abbreviating “Web log” to just its second syllable, the “b” hung on to make “blog”. As the technology developed, it became possible to blog using video. A new compound was needed: “video blog”. But people weren’t satisfied saying that whole phrase all the time, so it got amalgamated to “vlog”.

Since then, it’s undergone conversion to a verb—someone could be vlogging right now.

Word formation, man. There’s a method to the madness.

Before I wrap up, I can’t resist pointing out one more thing this story. Notice how “vlog” starts with “vl”. This is incredibly uncommon in English phonology—in fact, it’s supposed to be an illegal cluster. Try to think of any other words we have that start with “vl”. The only ones are from other languages, like “Vladimir”. But of all the illegal clusters of sounds, English speakers tend to have an easy time saying “vl” (compared to, say, German’s “pf ” or French’s “pn”). That could be because it’s very close to “fl”, which is allowed.

So the question is this. Did English’s rules for legal sound clusters change when “vlog” was coined? Did English speakers just decide it was okay one day? Or was it always okay, and we just happened not to have any words that started with “vl”, until we coined the first one just now?

Yep, language is always changing.

But in my opinion, the really interesting changes aren’t new words. They’re the system-wide changes, like allowing “vl”, the changes that can stealth us without us noticing.

VISHAL RAJAN From those beloved netbooks in the library to the 15-minute computers that are a lifesaver, Dell—the company whose slogan is “the power to do more”—is breaking news in the financial world. But are they really doing more? In the largest leverage buyout deal since 2007, the company announced on February 5 that it would go private as a result of a $24.4-billion buyout.

So what is a leverage buyout? An LBO is an acquisition process by which a large portion of the purchase is financed by debt (i.e., borrowed money). For example, say Company A wants to buy Company B for $1,000.

Company A borrows $800 from the bank and uses $200 of its own cash to purchase Company B. They do this in the hope that Company B will end up generating enough to pay the debt they incurred for the purchase.

In this situation, Dell has bought back its shares, mainly with the help of Michael Dell, its CEO and cofounder, and also of public firms like Microsoft and Silver Lake Management, to become a private company.

What’s the difference between a public company and private one? Pri-

LUKE SAWCZAK COPY EDITOR Hi, everyone! Good to see you again!

Yeah, I know it’s getting to that heavy time of the semester… but after a weekend of beautiful weather, who wouldn’t be chipper?

A couple of days ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook about a new word she heard someone use that is really not a word: “presto” as a verb.

Someone was getting on a MiWay bus and said, “Let me just Presto myself,” meaning “swipe my Presto card through the validator”. I’ve talked before about why we shouldn’t worry so much that English is “degenerating” (for example, episodes two and six from last semester). Now I want to talk about how new words are formed.

First, I think it’s wonderful when we become self-aware, and the same goes for metalinguistic awareness. So here are eight of the most common mechanisms that everyone uses, with examples to keep it interesting and formal names so you can fancy it up in front of your friends.

Conversion is when a word changes part of speech—a verb becomes a noun, a noun becomes a verb, and so on. (As the Internet cartoon Homestar Runner says, “I sportsmanliked everybody!”) In English, we have the stealthy zero derivation, where the form of the word doesn’t change, so you can’t tell without context that the word has been converted. Not all This is what we see in the example of “Presto”, and for some reason it really gets people’s backs up. But the language is chock-full of accepted examples: you can “table” a motion and “chair” a meeting; you can “eye” someone or “hand” them a piece of cake; snow

HPPORTAL.COM/PHOTO

Will Microsoft have a say in the future of Dell’s “build your own” slogan?

Did English’s rules for legal sound clusters change when “vlog” was coined? Did English speakers just decide it was okay one day?

Or was it always okay, and we just happened not to have any words that started with “vl”, until we coined the first one just now? are joined, but (among more technical differences) they preserve their form better. This is one of the most common processes across languages; it seems the human mind likes to think of new concepts in terms of combinations of old ones. There are tons of examples, but a few recent ones are “girlfriend” (1922), “software” (1953), and “studmuffin” (1986).

Backformation is when a word is reanalyzed, consciously or not, and deconstructed into multiple parts— parts it never originally had. There never used to be such a thing as a “pea” in English. There was “pease”, which speakers reanalyzed as “pea” + plural “s”. This can happen when

10 THE MEDIUM «SPORTS 03.11.2013

Mediumsports Editor » Isaac Owusu

Understanding the art of WAR Get to know the statistic that should measure the true value of a baseball player’s performance RANDY JIN Relax, my fellow peace-loving students. I’m not here to talk about techniques for solving serious conflicts between factions. Or maybe I am.

WAR, or wins above replacement, is a historically recent statistic in baseball that will help solve many MVP debates past, present, and future. It measures by how much one player is better than his hypothetical replacement. While there are several different formulae used, all of them involve a judgement of how well a player performs as a batter, base runner, or fielder, and also takes into account the player’s position.

Last season, fans saw brilliant performances from the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera and the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout. In 697 plate appearances, Cabrera slugged 44 homers, drove in 139 runs, scored 109 runs, walked 66 times, and chalked up 205 hits for a triple slash of .330/.393/.606 (batting average/onbase percentage/slugging percentage). Not to be outdone, the 20-yearold Trout, in 639 plate appearances, scored a league-leading 129 runs, drove in 83, slugged 30 homers, and even stole 49 bases for a triple slash of .326/.399/.564. Fans were and still are split on who deserves the MVP award.

Cabrera supporters will note that the Tigers were missing the services of their designated hitter, Victor Martinez, while Alex Avila, Brennan Boesch, and Jhonny Peralta all had disappointing seasons. Cabrera, along with newcomer Prince Fielder, picked up the slack by combining for 74 home runs and 247 RBIs. Outfielder Austin Jackson also had a breakout season, setting tables for the power-hitting duo and getting a triple slash of .300/.377/.479 in 617 plate appearances. With the trio

ESPN.com/PHOTO

Mike Trout had a magical 2012 season; his five tools should propel him to MVP in 2013. energizing the otherwise questionable lineup, the Tigers made it to the postseason, where they lost in the World Series to the Cardinals.

Interestingly, Cabrera was the first person to win the batting triple crown (leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and batting average) since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. As Paul Clark, a first-year biology student, notes, “It’s not every day you get to see a guy win a triple crown.”

Fans of Mike Trout, however, will say that besides being an offensive standout, he is also a brilliant defender, constantly robbing opponents of hits. Harry Lee, a first-year

linguistics student, agrees. “It’s like I’m seeing him in highlights every single week,” he says. “You see him jumping and diving all the time.”

With Torii Hunter and Albert Pujols behind him in the lineup, Trout certainly did his job by getting on base almost 40% of the time, and he is a centre fielder to boot. Not many centre fielders, past or present, can both hit and field as well as Trout.

While he is no match for Cabrera in power, his speed is rivalled by few in the league. He only grounded into seven double plays, compared to Cabrera’s league-leading 28. Despite being only 20 years old, he has

already established himself as one of the top players in the game.

And when two players have both had excellent seasons, that’s when WAR comes in.

To understand why one player is more valuable than the other, one must realize that many of the stats are influenced by the performance of player’s teammates. For example, if your team can’t drive you in, you can’t score runs. If no one is on base, you have to hit a home run to get an RBI. Also, if you are a corner infielder, you are expected to hit well, whereas the bar is much lower for a centre fielder, since there aren’t many

centre fielders who can hit well, this being a premium defensive position.

Now, baseball-reference.com lists Trout at 10.7 WAR, and Cabrera at 6.9. So why the huge gap?

It’s quite simple, actually, when you examine everything closely.

There are many ways to put up value, so home runs, RBIs, and batting average aren’t the be-all and end-all.

Since their batting average and onbase percentage are nearly identical, the difference came from elsewhere.

Cabrera drove in more runs, but Trout scored many more. There is no evidence to suggest that Cabrera can’t score runs if he bats second, or that Trout can’t drive in runs if he bats cleanup. While Cabrera had a much higher slugging percentage, Trout grounded into many fewer double players than Cabrera did. In addition, Cabrera is reputed to be a horrible defender (and the stats agree), whereas Trout is commonly seen by both casual fans and analysts as a human highlight reel. Plus, Trout is the superior base runner, stealing 49 bases compared to Cabrera’s four.

Moving bases may seem insignificant, but consider this: a fast runner has a better chance to score from second on a single to the outfield, while there is no possible way for a runner to score from first on a single, barring errors. Cabrera is a touch better as a batter, but Trout is simply a better base runner and fielder. Also, the fact that the average third-baseman is a much better hitter than the average centre fielder needs to be taken into account, since WAR measures one’s production compared to a replacement player’s potential production. The triple crown, although a rare feat, adds no extra value to what a player brings to a team.

As both WAR and careful thinking would indicate, Trout got snubbed.

2013 should be his.

The Argos are coming The Argos’ turf trouble in the Rogers Centre means they’ll be playing in the retrofitted Varsity Centre this preseason

JASON COELHO ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Last month, we covered the Toronto Blue Jays’ plan to lay down real grass in the Rogers Centre, and how the resulting logistical issues could force the Argonauts to relocate to a new home (“The grass is always greener”, February 3).

The fate of the Argos, the champions of the 2012 Grey Cup, remains in limbo, but the University of Toronto recently granted the Argonauts permission to use Varsity Stadium as the venue for the team’s 2013 preseason

games.

The recently renamed Varsity Centre will be retrofitted to accommodate 5,000 seats, which the team’s loyal fanbase should easily fill.

The Argos have not played at Varsity Stadium in 55 years. They will face the Montreal Alouettes there on June 20.

Chris Rudge, the CEO of the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, has stated that the club is currently in negotiations for a new lease with the Rogers Centre, and has promised that all future Argonauts games will be played at the Rogers Centre. But

this is not a certainty, since there is still a possibility that the Argos will be relocated to a smaller stadium more suitable for a CFL team unable to fill the Rogers Centre’s 50,000 seats.

How will the addition of a CFL team to the St. George campus impact students’ lives?

How will the addition of a CFL team to the St. George campus im-

pact students’ lives? There will likely be no big changes; the Argonauts have already made UTM their home away from the Rogers Centre while using UTM’s practice facility and have shared the space harmoniously with hoards of stressed students.

If anything, the move might increase public awareness of and involvement in U of T’s sports programs through a potential CFL partnership with CIS. However, some students disagree that the change will have even that impact on the university.

“It’s a waste of the Rogers Cen-

tre. We have a world-class stadium and we are giving it up for Varsity Stadium. If the players don’t protest a possible stadium change, I hope the fans do,” says Kyle Kuczynski, a third-year history and political science major and centre on the UTM hockey team. “CFL-CIS partnership won’t do anything to boost U of T sports. Winning will help—maybe if the varsity football team wins more than two games a season, they would get a little bit more attendance.”

Although the fate of the Argonauts is still uncertain, a solution is expected to appear in the coming months.

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With national pride on the line

CBC.ca/Photo

Fisticuffs broke out during Canada’s 10–3 defeat of Mexico at the World Baseball Classic on Saturday.

BRANDON RYNKA Going into the World Baseball Classic this year, Team Canada was deemed a long shot to win the whole tournament, but when it came to just the 16-team field it was thought they could make a push into the second round and play ball from there.

It’s extremely difficult to compete with star-studded lineups like those of the USA, Cuba, Japan, and the Dominican Republic, and the Canadian team and fans know that. But that shouldn’t stop them from playing the best baseball they can play.

After going 3–0 back in the qual-

ifying round late last September, it seemed that Canada could succeed in this year’s WBC, especially with our roster consisting of both fairly established and up-and-coming Major League players, and sprinkled with a few Minor Leaguers who’ve shown enough promise to break into the roster. Though Canada isn’t the deepest star-studded team in the WBC, they do have players who can compete with the best the WBC has to offer. Two of Canada’s most talented players are designated hitter Justin Morneau, the Minnesota Twins star who won the American League MVP back in 2006, and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, who won the National

League MVP in 2010. To have two former Major League MVPs alongside emerging young talent like Michael Saunders of the Seattle Mariners and (when healthy) Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays makes for a batting lineup that few other teams in the WBC would complain about.

The pitching, on the other hand, is suspect at best, which means a lot of pressure for the players mentioned to perform night in, night out beside the other five guys suiting up. The country saw a perfect example of this on Friday’s game when the rotation got smacked around for 14 runs, a defeat even two former MVPs couldn’t do much about. The mercy rule went

into effect in the Canada versus Italy game because of the 10-run gap that caused the game to be called with Italy cruising to a 14–4 win.

This loss was especially tough seeing as how most experts thought Italy should be happy they’re even in the tournament.

But Canada bounced back on Saturday. The batters didn’t wait to see how the pitchers would fare against the Mexico lineup, but went right ahead and scored four runs in the first inning. Former AL MVP Morneau started the scoring with an RBI double to right field, followed by Michael Saunders hitting a two-run shallow single to centre that gave the Canadian roster some

significant run support early on.

With the score 9–3 in the top of the ninth and the game basically all but over, Mexico’s pitcher Arnold Leon threw at Canadian batter Rene Tosoni twice. The second one finally hit him after a Canadian player bunted to kick off the ninth inning with a six-run lead. This led to the the benches being cleared, and a scuffle eventually ensued.

Canada walked away with a 10–3 victory and the stereotype still intact that Canadian athletes like to fight. Canada will play Team USA on Sunday; they need a win and some luck to advance to the second round.