Vol 41 issue 1

THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA

September 8, 2014 Volume 41, Issue 1 mediumutm.c a

Frosh Week unleashes the beasts Friday’s tri-campus events featured a parade at the St. George campus

MARIA IQBAL NEWS EDITOR WITH NOTES FROM CHRISSY SHARMA

UTM turned into a jungle last week with herds of froshies with stripes painted on their bodies parading around campus as part of UTMSU’s Orientation Week.

The annual event, which was nearly sold out, featured a week of activities both on and off campus, including a carnival, cheer-offs, and a tri-campus parade.

“Frosh was a great experience,” said Maulik Vyas, a first-year life science student. “It helped me meet new people and overall it was just an amazing time that took me away from the university stress.”

On Wednesday, groups of

froshies competed in the annual cheer-off in the RAWC gym. During the competition, each group performed its cheer for a panel of judges made up of UTMSU executives, members of the logistics committee, and an orientation coordinator.

Andrew Ostos, a branch manager for TD (one of the event’s sponsors), also made an appearance and awarded a Samsung Galaxy phone to one student after a Twitter draw.

This year, orientation coordinators Jess Wood and Emile Sabga introduced a new way to help froshies connect with more students.

Sabga explained that, in most years, when first-year students register for Frosh, they are automatically put into a group of up to 20 stu-

dents. This year, however, Sabga and Wood introduced a “dynasty model” where six groups formed one dynasty, represented by a colour and an animal. Each group would then compete in the week’s activities and earn points for their dynasty.

At the Medieval Times show on Thursday night, the White Rhino dynasty was awarded the first UTMSU Orientation Week House Cup for winning the most points.

Beyond the logistical benefits of the dynasty model, Sabga said that the dynasties helped bring a greater number of students together.

Rather than being a part of a group of about 15 to 20 students, said Sabga, froshies were now part of a “family” of over 100 students.

UTM says no to self-op

Real changes are subtler

O Captain! Bye Captain!

The multi-talented man

Varsity to the rescue

Running our own food

If you return to the same

Tibute to Robin WIlliams

Accomplished poet and

Interest in UTM sports is

services rather than

after a while, no difference

and a word from a student

playwright Daniel Karasik—

at a high point, and now

contracted “too expensive”

has been made.

who worked with him.

also a young UTM grad

we have joined the OCAA.

Medium News, page 2

Medium Opinion, page 5

Medium Arts, page 8

Medium Features, page 11

Medium Sports, page 14

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09.08.2014

UTM rejects food service self-op External consultants find campus not ready to replace current contractual food service MENNA ELNAKA A self-operated food service at UTM could lead to higher food prices, fewer options, and shorter hours of operation, according to a report by consultants hired by UTM over the summer.

UTM’s Food Service Advisory Committee met on August 7 to discuss the possibility of a self-op rather than the current contractual one. Ed Morano and David Purcell of Kaizen Consulting recommended that UTM retain its current model given the high costs associated with self-operation.

According to the report by the consultants, which is available online at the Hospitality and Retail Services website, under the current model UTM is expected to make a profit of $213,000 in 2015/16, but would instead run a deficit of $423,000 if it switched to a self-op. Most of this difference is accounted for by the fact that the revenue was projected to be exactly equivalent in both models, at $10,036,000, but the cost of sales and services was projected to be about $700,000 higher in self-op. Donoghue also said the transition itself from a contracted service to a self-op would carry a cost of $200,000–$300,000.

The second problem with self-operation is that the university would have to reduce its food service and shrink the hours of operation in order to try to break even.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

The North Side Bistro in Deerfield Hall will offer new food options such as made-from-scratch soups.

Last July, UTMSU president Hassan Havili told The Varsity that UTM students would welcome the idea of an independently-run UTM food services system, while also noting students’ dissatisfaction with current food prices and options, especially compared to other universities. Havili was unavailable for further comment after the FSAC’s meeting.

Donoghue said that while he and the FSAC have been working to improve campus food service over the past three years, they still have a lot to do. Comparing UTM’s food service

with those of other universities in Ontario, he noted that some universities deliberately price their meal plans very low so that they run out by November, leaving the students no choice but to go back and buy another.

“For the brands that are on UTM’s campus, the prices are exactly as they are outside, and this doesn’t happen in other campuses,” Donoghue added.

Meanwhile, the FSAC has taken several other actions to improve the food services at UTM. Vicky Jezierski, director of Hospitality and Retail Services at UTM, mentioned that in com-

parison with other universities, UTM probably has among the most operating hours per student. She also noted the committee’s efforts to further increase the hours of operation.

“The model we want to implement is to make sure the hours of operation are open from 7 a.m. till midnight because of the very different schedules of the students,” Jezierski said.

The new buildings constructed on campus have helped make some of the changes occur. The North Side Bistro inside Deerfield Hall will offer madefrom-scratch soups, customized entrée

salads, and flatbread pizzas. The menu will also feature vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options in addition to a coffee station.

Moreover, the Oscar Peterson Hall’s dining room, Colman Commons, has been completely redone. It will offer freshly squeezed juices, an extended salad bar, and a made-to-order menu.

By January 2015, there will be a freshly steeped loose-leaf tea bar from Sloane Fine Tea Merchants and snacks that are to be available until midnight.

The Second Cup in Davis has been relocated to Kaneff with an expanded dessert menu, a wider selection of grab and go salads, meals, snacks and beverages, and pre-made fresh microwavable entrées.

Food trucks other than Mike’s Hot Dogs will be demoed on some Thursdays.

In the Temporary Food Court, there will be a vegetarian station added as of September 8.

Menus for all the operations, apart from the brands, have been diversified.

Meanwhile, the committee is planning on getting the students, staff, and faculty on campus more engaged in the discussion of UTM food service.

There will be focus groups, surveys, and four open houses beginning soon.

The first open house is expected to be held in the Student Centre at noon on September 25.

Frosh Week unleashes the beasts Apology re: discontinued article “Suspicion remains as CP bankruptcy closes”

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Friday’s tri-campus events featured a parade at the St. George campus.

Frosh continued from Cover Other activities featured in the week included performances by Fefe Dobson and Mia Martina.

On Friday, froshies travelled to the St. George campus for the tricampus cheer-off, parade, and carnival. UTM led the other campuses in the parade, which began at the Varsity Stadium and travelled towards Queen’s Park before returning to King’s College Circle for the carnival.

After the carnival, which featured live entertainment from Tokyo Police Club, froshies had the option of attending an afterparty at the Guvernment nightclub, or a mixer at the Woodsworth Quad with a movie and refreshments.

Wood said this year’s jungle theme was one of two that she and Sabga had worked on and which was eventually selected by a vote by the Logistics Committee. Asked what the other theme was, Sabga said that

they preferred to keep it a secret for the time being.

While Sabga expressed satisfaction over the week’s events, he and Wood agreed that the weather posed major challenges to the organization of the orientation. “We had two big storms hit us in one week and we just had to roll with it,” he said.

The storms caused delays and some of the events, including the carnival and Fefe Dobson concert, had to be moved indoors.

On March 31, 2014 The Medium published an article titled “Suspicion remains as CP bankruptcy closes”. We relied on statements

by Alexander Leger, an inspector in the bankruptcy, which cast aspersions on Vikram Seth, Ashleigh Brown, and Free Media Inc. He has subsequently admitted that he was mistaken and that these statements were not true.

Mr. Seth was not on the board of directors of Canadian University Press or of Campus Plus. Ms. Brown was not on the board of directors of Canadian University Press, and she resigned from the board of directors of Campus Plus on February 27, 2013. Their association with Free Media was

proper and were not improperly making decisions which led to Campus Plus’s insolvency.

We regret repeating a quote attributed to Mr. May wherein he said that there was “a larger plan to bankrupt Campus Plus and set up a company for the benefit of Campus Plus directors and the shareholder while not paying obligations”. This cast false aspersions on Mr. Seth and Ms. Brown. We should have put it to Mr. Seth and Ms. Brown so that they could set the record straight.

The Medium regrets without reservation these mistakes and apologizes to Mr. Seth, Ms. Brown, and Free Media.

09.08.2014 THE MEDIUM NEWS

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UTM student returns from G(irls)20 Summit

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Second-year student Estelle Ah-Kiow was the Canadian representative at the G(irls)20 Summit.

UMAIMA GHORI Out of hundreds of applicants, UTM student Estelle Ah-Kiow was selected to represent Canada at the fifth G(irls)20 Summit held on August 25 and 26 in Australia.

Ah-Kiow, a second-year student who plans on studying political science and French studies, joined 23 other delegates from around the globe at the Sydney Opera House, where the summit was held.

“The G(irls)20 mirrors the actual G20 Leaders’ Summit. It brings together 24 girls [from around the world] to discuss the same issues as the G20 Leaders are debating in November in Brisbane, Australia,” says Ah-Kiow.

Founded by Canadian social profit entrepreneur Farah Mohamed, the G(irls)20 Summit is an organization that provides young girls around the world with skillbuilding, global mentorships, and platforms from which they can speak for their respective countries. Each year, the Summit invites girls aged 18 to 20 from each G20 nation, plus one delegate each from the European and African Unions, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East and North Africa regions with the objective of proposing solu-

tions to issues that will be on the annual agenda of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Among the issues that were discussed this year were jobs and growth, infrastructure and sustainability, and mental health.

Even though mental health was not on the G20 leaders’ agenda, the G(irls)20 Summit decided to include it as mental illnesses cost economies huge inefficiency losses.

“We believe that if you want to speak to the leaders, speak to them in the language they care about.

And honestly, what they care about is growth, jobs, and economy. So we come up with solutions to economic problems,” Ah-Kiow said.

Ah-Kiow mentioned that all of the delegates present at the summit had faced hurdles at some point in their lives because of their gender.

“The reason why we got involved was because all of us had been though hardships. It was an incredible window into the specific challenges they have to overcome to be fully included in those countries’ economies,” she said.

Even though Ah-Kiow believes that Canadian women are far more privileged to have access to high quality education and better imple-

mentation of laws governing their working conditions than women living in other regions of the world, she feels that a great deal of improvements are still needed.

“We are far from parity in governments; we are not being represented equally. So issues that affect us directly aren’t being debated in Parliament. In the corporate world as well, we aren’t even close to having parity in terms of women in top executive positions,” she said.

Applicants for the G(irls)20 Summit were selected on the basis of their responses to questions related to leadership qualities, entrepreneurship skills, and analytical capabilities.

What encouraged Ah-Kiow to apply to be Canada’s delegate was an interview with Farah Mohamed that Ah-Kiow conducted for the non-profit organization Swiggtalk, where Ah-Kiow organizes events for high school girls and blogs for The NextWomen business magazine. Ah-Kiow has previously been involved with non-profit organizations like War Child Canada, Free The Children and Plan Canada.

The resolutions from the G(irls)20 Summit will be presented to G20 leaders when they meet on November 15 and 16 this year.

New police manager hired at UTM UMAIMA GHORI After 15 years of service with the UTM community, Campus Police manager Len Paris retired in April.

Succeeding him is Robert Messacar.

Messacar spent 32 years serving the Peterborough Police before becoming the manager of police services at U of T’s Scarborough campus, where he worked since 2008.

“When Paris retired, I thought it would be a great opportunity to come to Mississauga,” he said.

Messacar spoke about the difficulty of maintaining community partnerships within a university setting.

“One of the challenges that we face in an academic environment is that our community is always changing,” he said. “Most of the

undergrad degrees are four-year programs, so we’re having a turnover of about 25% of our community members every year.”

Asked whether Campus Police would offer more services this year, Messacar said the department is always looking for ways to improve.

“At this point we don’t have concrete plans,” he said. “But we’re always looking for new opportunities.” He said that the department is always looking for ways to interact with the community, adding that they are currently in the process of signing up a team for Cure for Cancer.

As manager of the department, Messacar will be administrating the Campus Police department as well as participating in other campus committees. This year, he will

be chairing the joint Health and Safety Committee.

While he called all three of U of T’s campuses “very safe communities” where the community is respectful, Messacar cautioned that risks are always present on campus.

“We’re certainly not immune to influences that occur everywhere in the world. […] Safety is a shared responsibility and the Campus Police can’t be everywhere all the time. So we really do depend on our community to be our eyes and ears and to tell us if they have any concerns so that we can deal with those concerns,” he said.

Messacar, who studied public administration at Ryerson before being trained as a police officer, officially began his appointment on July 14.

August 28, 11:26 p.m.

Controlled Drugs & Substances Act A small amount of marijuana was seized from a room in the Instructional Building. Three students were investigated.

September 2, 5:38 p.m.

Liquor Licence Act Campus Police investigated a complaint in regards to a person being intoxicated in the Student Centre. The person was identified and cautioned.

August 28, 2:45 p.m.

Theft under $5,000 Three tablets were stolen from a bench at the Instructional Centre. Investigation is continuing.

September 2, 9:56 p.m.

Mischief Campus Police responded to a mischief call in regards to a vehicle with punctured tires in a UTM parking lot.

Investigation continues.

August 31, 5:00 p.m.

Trespass to Property Act A non-community member was yelling profanities at food services staff at the Kaneff Building. She was apprehended and transported to Peel Regional Police 11 Division.

September 3, 11:00 p.m.

Trespass to Property Act Campus Police responded to a call in regards to an intoxicated person in the Student Centre. The person was identified and charged with failure to leave when directed.

CFS-O moves to boycott Israel Motion meets criticism from several groups VANITA CLARE An organization representing university students’ unions across the province passed a unanimous emergency motion to boycott Israel at its general meeting last month.

The controversial resolution was submitted by the Ryerson Students’ Union at the general meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O), the Canadian Press reported. The motion called on members to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel.

“Students have long been at the forefront of movements against foreign occupation, in support of peace and that movement will continue on campuses across Ontario,” said Anna Goldfinch, national executive representative of CFS-O. “This motion is reflective of having a province-wide endorsement of this campaign to start working across Ontario, not just local campuses.”

Over 30 students’ unions across Ontario–including UTMSU–are members of the CFS-O and over 100 delegates gathered to vote unanimously on the passing of the resolution. UTMSU President Hassan Havili did not respond to requests for comment; it is unconfirmed whether UTMSU sent a representative to the meeting.

Despite being passed unanimously, the CFS-O motion has received criticism from various groups, including from the Society of Graduate and Professional Students at Queen’s University, which is a CFS-O member but was unable to attend the meeting.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has

been the subject of controversy at UTM in the past. In February of last year, UTMSU officially recognized the BDS movement. After receiving a total of 700 signatures from UTM’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) group, the motion was passed.

Last March, SAIA also hosted a “Hungry for Freedom” event which featured Skype calls with and recordings of freed Palestinian prisoners. The event and its content were reviewed by university administration amid concerns over its nature. SAIA also promoted the BDS Movement at the event.

The motion has received criticism, including from Queen University’s Society of Graduate and Professional Students, also a CFS-O member.

In the past, the CFS-O has called on the Harper government to stop supplying arms to Israel and to end the Canada-Israel free trade agreement. The campaign has since moved on to advocate for the rights and freedoms of those affected by the military occupation within Gaza, along with supporting the right to education for Palestinian civil society.

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, which has supporters and critics on both political sides of the Israel-Palestine controversy, is a movement created in 2005 by Palestinian NGOs to discourage the government of Israel to stop its alleged violations of Palestinian human rights.

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«NEWS

THE MEDIUM 09.08.2014

New buildings and bus shelters open on campus

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

The new heated bus shelter in front of the Kaneff building can accommodate over 140 people.

»WHICH UTM BUILDING LOOKS THE BEST?

Piravie Painthamilkumaran 1st year, forensics

Akshita Sood 1st year, commerce

IB. The lecture halls look really nice.

IB. The lecture halls are a lot bigger and cleaner.

Rohith Ashokkumar 3rd year, life science

Danica Post 2nd year, psychology

Deerfield Hall. There’s a lot of seating.

Deerfield. I like the colour scheme and how modern it looks.

UTM is looking very different from what students left last April.

Construction has finished on both the Innovation Complex and Deerfield Hall, and new heated bus shelters are expected to open today, September 8, according to Stepanka Elias, UTM’s assistant director of planning design and construction.

The Innovation Complex, home to the new Institute for Management and Innovation, was designed with study space in mind, specifically in the building’s rotunda, said Elias.

“During times when study space is in high demand, UTM will try to protect the space for study purposes and arrange the seating to maximize study capacity,” she added. “Throughout the year when the space is not used for conferences or special events, the space will be open to anyone to sit, study, [and] enjoy.”

The complex, which also includes an underground link to the Davis Building, is in the midst of applying for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation, a rating based on the building’s environmental features. According

to Elias, UTM is anticipating a silver designation.

The complex will now be the permanent location of the Office of the Registrar. The first stage of its move from the Davis Building is complete and the second stage will take place on Thanksgiving weekend.

In addition to the new buildings, UTM now has a 92-foot-long heated bus shelter intended for those using Mississauga Transit. The structure can accommodate over 140 people and has heaters mounted inside the two enclosed spaces, joined by an unenclosed roofed space.

The previous bus shelter accommodated up to 37 people in a 24-footlong space, and was not heated. The original structure has undergone restorations and has been transferred to its new location outside Deerfield Hall for students waiting for the Sheridan shuttle.

In the previous school year, UTMSU’s VP part-time affairs Hassan Havili (now president) chaired a Heated Bus Shelter Committee advocating for the construction of the shelter. Havili announced at the Principal’s Town Hall last March that the committee had collected over 1,000 signatures in favour of the project, to

which UTM’s chief administrative officer Paul Donoghue responded that plans were already being made to bring a heated bus shelter to campus.

Havili was unavailable to comment on the outcome of the project as of press time.

According to Elias, the construction for the heated bus shelter remained within its $291,000 budget, although the total project cost has yet to be released. The Innovation Complex (budgeted for $35 million), and Deerfield Hall ($56 million), have also remained within their respective budgets, said Elias.

Both buildings received financial support from both provincial and municipal governments. Last winter, Council at the City of Mississauga voted in favour of investing $10 million into the new Innovation Complex over a 10-year period, and the provincial government has also committed to funding 70% of the total construction costs of Deerfield Hall.

Total costs for both projects have yet to be released.

Future construction plans on campus include the second renovation phase of the North Building and further reconstruction of the Davis Building.

Doctors advocate for changes to sports to prevent concussions

Hotel temporarily locked down for quarantine in St. John

Canadian Cancer Society calls for an end to smoking in movies

Court rules CFS violated its by-laws by withholding funds

Hurricane Norbert causes mass evacuations in Mexico

Canadian doctors are calling for changes to the way sports are played in order to prevent concussions in young athletes. In a publication released Wednesday, Doctors Ross Upshur and Paul Echlin advocated for structural and rule changes to limit head contact in sports, among other suggestions including educational programs.

The Hilton Hotel in St. John went under a temporary lockdown on Sunday after a woman became ill. The discovery of the unconscious woman, who had just returned from Cameroon, led to a decision to quarantine the hotel. A medical official reported that the patient was not at high risk of having Ebola, considering she had not visited high risk areas.

The Canadian Cancer Society has started a campaign against smoking in Hollywood movies. The campaign is advocating for a revision to the rating system which would prevent movies which feature smoking from being recommended for youth. The campaign also calls for the people of Ontario to write to the government supporting the amended ratings.

In a verdict released Saturday, the Supreme Court of Quebec ruled that the Canadian Federation of Students had illegally kept money from its Quebec branch. The unknown sums of money were withheld from the now non-existent CFS-Quebec between 2007 and 2010. The decision brings an end to conflict between the groups which had lasted five years.

Hundreds of evacuations took place in Los Cabos, Mexico as Hurricane Norbert moved up the Baja California coast. The governor of the Baja California Sur state reported that schools in Los Cabos and La Paz were closed on Friday, and that government services would also be limited. One thousand people were reported to be in shelters on Friday.

Source: CBC

Source: CBC

Source: Toronto Sun

Source: studentunion.ca

Source: National Post

NICOLE DANESI ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

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09.08.2014

MASTHEAD EDITORS Editor-in-Chief Luke Sawczak editor@mediumutm.ca News Maria Iqbal news@mediumutm.ca A&E Maria Cruz arts@mediumutm.ca Features Madeleine Brown features@mediumutm.ca Sports Jason Coelho sports@mediumutm.ca — Photo Mahmoud Sarouji photos@mediumutm.ca Design Mubashir Baweja design@mediumutm.ca Copy Akshaya Sharma copy@medumutm.ca Online & Blog Michelle Bonsu Safia Amin blog@mediumutm.ca online@mediumutm.ca ASSOCIATES News Nicole Danesi A&E Kathelene Cattell-Daniels Features TBA Sports Eric Hewitson Fergus Talbot Copy TBA Photo TBA To become an associate, begin writing and speak with your section editor!

GENERAL STAFF Distribution Manager David Sanchez distribution@mediumutm.ca

Different kinds of changes Ooh and aah at the campus, but keep more fundamental changes in mind Welcome to campus, or back to campus, depending on who you are. For me it’s back to campus—and in kind of a strange way, too, since I officially graduated in June. Like many of us, I have a few lingering ties that bind me, for better or for worse, to the campus. Well, okay, mostly for the better.

Anyhow, for whom today is a return to UTM, the changes sure seem significant. Huge new buildings, heated bus shelters, and tunnels through which we can pass like moles from building to building. Cool.

The impression one gets is of so much happening so fast. Case in point: the UTM Students’ Union had just barely created a committee for heated bus shelters and signed a petition when they were told that the administration had one in the works already. What is this sudden turn of events in which we all get along?

Actually, I’m of the opinion that changes like these are superficial in the end. Anything done in the space of a year has to be. The real changes, the ones that make the most difference in the long run, are smaller and take place more slowly. There don’t even have to be a lot of people who notice it. A building can go up and be a whole new space in which we all frolic for a couple of years, but when enrolment catches up, the essential quality for a student is the same as it was in the beginning. Not to say, of

course, that new buildings aren’t nice and more space isn’t nice. But the real difference-maker was hinted at, for example, in something Principal Deep Saini said in an interview for our retrospective magazine: maybe we have to cap enrolment at 20,000 students. Yes, 20,000 is a long way away. But if you recognize that building a new structure and then having enrolment catch up is just part of the same pattern every year, then capping enrolment is the pattern-ender, and that’s the interesting part.

Such changes, as those who are new to this campus will soon find out, are few and far between. There are many more of the flashy kind without as much substance for all they do to improve student life. Not to be too critical, but UTMSU’s hobby is proposing things that are more or less unfeasible or (in the longer view) undesirable and then battling with the administration for years in the hopes that they’ll change their stance. The heated bus shelter is a surprising case because it’s a break from this pattern. And it’ll be trumpeted as a success in student handbooks for years to come, I predict.

But it won’t have actually changed the pattern, and I say that because the modus operandi of the union hasn’t really changed, and some key players haven’t changed and are unlikely to do so for years yet. So enjoy

such wins when they come.

In fact, I’d say that a change of cast or scene is indeed the biggest chance for differences to be made, for better or for worse. When you have a turnover time of only a year, for example, you introduce plenty of opportunities both for beginner’s zeal and for ineptitude. Contrariwise, a longer turnover time lends itself both to competence and to apathy. As for me, I prefer the former set of problems.

Why? How can a shorter turnover time be better despite the risk of, say, knowledge not being passed on or growth being delayed? Why is more change of a riskier sort better than more stability?

Because this is a university, and its function is to change. We’re here not only to learn what was done previously and pass on the same, but also to research—to push into new territory and try things out for the first time and see how they work. Take The Medium. The temptation, especially for an old guy like me who’s been here in one way or another for years now, is to look at the organization and turn it into a perfect, well-run newspaper forever. Yes, we all strive for our best and we try to leave our work in good hands when we move on. But to really do it up proper would require that the cast not change for years on end. Then we would have lost the quality of a

student paper—part serious publication, part training ground.

Hence it’s actually a little unfortuate that an editor-in-chief, a grad in particular, is back. (Options were few this time around.) The point I’ve been trying to make is that UTM, like any institution concerned with growth, has, over the years, developed ruts. Habitudes. Roles to fill and familiar scripts to play out.

That’s why the most exciting changes for me are the ones in which the lines are rewritten, purposefully or accidentally. New physical amenities are nice things to have and and give us more of a sense of being a “real campus”, but they don’t do much to the underlying dynamic at UTM. We have to both be grateful and yet keep from being starstruck— and remember that the real changes are subtler.

YOURS, LUKE SAWCZAK

NOTICE RE: APOLOGY An apology appears on the second page of this edition of The Medium, and was originally published online in April. The Medium has upheld its agreement by republishing it here, and has nonetheless continued its investigation.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Luke Sawczak, Christine Capewell 5 student position TBA. A board election is being held now!

Check mediumutm.ca/elections

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It’s our first issue. Time to shake a few hands, figuratively.

NEWS

ARTS

FEATURES

SPORTS

MARIA IQBAL NEWS@MEDIUMUTM.CA

MARIA CRUZ ARTS@MEDIUMUTM.CA

MADELEINE BROWN FEATURES@MEDIUMUTM.CA

JASON COELHO SPORTS@MEDIUMUTM.CA

Maria is in her fourth year majoring in English and history. When she graduates, she hopes to pursue a master’s degree in journalism. In the meantime, she hopes to take this year one day at a time and to make it through without having to pull too many all-nighters. When she’s not running around chasing news stories, Maria enjoys catching up on her sleep and spending time with her family and friends. But that never happens.

Maria is a fourth-year English and professional writing and communication major who longs for the day she can retire and move to Ireland. This is her second year as a section editor at The Medium and her first as arts editor. She believes she is the only person in the world who dislikes poutine.

Madeleine is a fourth-year theatre and drama studies specialist and functional French minor. She’s always had a bit a of love/hate relationship with writing. However, in recent years she just can’t seem to escape it.

She considers herself a budding chef, loose-leaf tea connoisseur, and collector of all things Hello Kitty.

Starting his second year as sports editor for The Medium, this allaround sports fan will try to keep the student population up to date and engaged in all things sports at UTM and U of T. Hailing from Etobicoke, Jason has grown up on a steady diet of hockey, basketball, and soccer. A Maple Leafs fan and self-professed expert on all things NHL, he is very afraid of making bold predictions... The Leafs won’t win anything this year.

Email a section editor to get involved!

09.08.2014 THE MEDIUM OPINION» 7

Could racial preferences be racist?

Dear Editor-in-Chief, Everyone has had a time in their life where they have been rejected or turned down by someone they were interested it, even the most ‘beautiful’ of people. These encounters are either dismissed by a simple “Sorry, I’m not interested” or the more common “You’re just not my type”; however, more often then not the line ‘You’re just not my type’ has been used and associated with race.

In this day and age it is unfortunate that race continues to be an issue not just socially but also in the dating scene, and although there are many people who are willing to befriend people of different cultures and ethnicities, the friendliness ends when any sort of relations are involved, be it romantic or sexual relations. These people claim that they are not racist and may use excuses such as; “we just don’t have anything in common” or “I’m just not attracted to (insert race here) people.” However before we go any further let us define a few terms. Race, is a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by

anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, and/or social affiliation. Type, a category of people or things having common characteristics. Finally, racism; the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

In the world of social media it seems as though dating has been taken to a whole new level with the accessibility of many different dating apps: OkCupid, Tinder, Grindr, Jack’d, Hot or Not, etc. Part of this new media take over of dating could be accredited to the ability to tailor your search results and only see profiles of people who have either physical or personal characteristics that you are interested in.

However, many people have been seen bordering the line of what they simply aren’t interested in and racism. There have been many occasions when reading through someone’s profile that you may come across the phrases “no rice” or “no chocolate” or perhaps in broader terms “no blacks” and “no Asians.”

Although many may feel that racism is only tailored to minorities, ‘white’ peo-

ple also face discrimination on these dating apps. In 10 Grindr profiles that had specified they were not interested in a particular race, 5 of those men could not explain why they were disinterested but simply stated that they don’t fall into their ‘type’ and ensured that they weren’t racist. However the other 5 men when questioned, provided reasons that were either petty or superficial in nature. One of the men when questioned stated “Darker skin is sexy. A.k.a. Latino, Middle-Eastern, Asian, Indian, Black.” Another man stated that he was disinterested in “brown” men because “I like guys that are more dominant and I just don’t usually see those qualities in brown people.” When asked if he found a person who was both brown and dominant, would he date them? He responded “It depends on the person.”

Now although none of these men expressed any hatred towards any particular race, these racist undertones were formed in their belief that people who identify as a certain race, share something universally in common that you do not like. In reality the only thing that these people have in common is a tool that has been so-

Six months on, religious grounds for discrimination are still invalid Dear Editor-in-Chief, I was browsing through the pages of The Toronto Star a few weeks ago when I came across an obituary for the late Helen Morley, written by staff reporter Marco Chown Oved. The sentence that caught my eye is as follows: “As a young woman, she was one of only two women in her class at Oxford Medical School, where she said lecturers demanded she sit facing their backs.” For reasons that are self-explanatory, in my mind this hearkened back to one of your more vigorous op-eds entitled “Common sense isn’t homogeneous” (Feb. 3, 2014). You may recall that your article concerned the notorious case of the anonymous York U student who had asked his professor for an exception from group work involving women due to his religious prohibitions. The professor refused, but the university’s governing body disagreed, effectively pitting the professor’s academic freedom against the administrative policies of the institution. You sided with the student, insisting that calling this scenario gender-based discrimination is a red herring. I beg to disagree, but only insofar as I believe that the situation is not done justice by a simple reduction to a label.

You begin with your own experiences of being refused a handshake by a hijab-wearing woman because of her religious restrictions, drawing a comparison between this and the York U case. I would argue that they are different cases altogether. While being unable to shake hands, you could still interact with the woman in question— she didn’t avoid the social interaction, as long as it wasn’t physical. You were thus able to connect with a fellow student on campus in a way that neither denied you the dignity of being heard and responded to, nor compromised

her piety. The York U student, on the other hand, was effectively saying that he is unable to socially interact with more than 50 percent of the population due to his religious restrictions, and that this “disability” of his should be accommodated. I do not doubt his sincerity; to the legitimacy of his religious requirements I cannot speak, not sharing his faith, but what seems starkly obvious to me is that even if he views his request as having nothing to do with gender-based discrimination, that is not how I and many other Canadians view it. Thus the case has to do with differing interpretations of the student’s request.

For example, you write that “his request wasn’t necessarily because they’re women [...] it would be because they were of opposite genders.” Indeed, and although, strictly speaking, the request is not misogynist to someone who shares this student’s faith, where presumably both genders are discouraged from having contact with each other, that is not how it comes across to the rest of us. I do think that the majority of us women do not believe that we should concern ourselves with how someone else’s religion views us, least of all on a university campus.

Physical intimacy (such as a handshake) is one thing, but public group work is another, and no student should be allowed to refuse group work with another person on a secular university campus based on his or her religious beliefs. Because women form an integral part of Canadian society, of a Canadian university, I argue that it is simply unacceptable to use one’s religious requirements to refuse all social contact with them.

Now let me remind everyone of the great country we live in, and of its history. There was the suffragette movement, the two waves of feminism, yet

now there still is the continuously pervasive inequality that Canadian women experience when it comes to salary disparities, workplace harassment, etc.

We have certainly been made aware of the student in question’s religious views, but I do wonder if he was ever made aware of the hefty baggage that the term “gender equality” carries in the West. In the words of Dow Marmur, rabbi emeritus at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple, and a man I do not always agree with: “Gender equality must not be a lesser value than freedom to practise one’s religion. But when the two clash, should the demands of a small minority take precedence over the rights of more than half the population?” Mind you, he means “gender equality” in the way that the majority of Canadians understand it, and thus it is precisely because this is Canada, a liberal democracy where institutions are indeed secular environments, that we cannot leave York U’s decision (or your op-ed) unchallenged. What the York U student does not realize is that his demand infringed not only on the women’s convenience and comfort, but on the very spirit of this country’s law, which states that men and women are equal before the law, and by extension cannot be excluded or accorded special treatment by virtue of their gender, regardless of what one’s religion may say.

Valeria Ryrak Alumna Editor’s note: My view is also totally in favour of equality; I think the question of intimacy, not superiority, is probably at the heart of the tenet. However, if you mean that practising this restriction is not acceptable in Canada because of the offensive cultural nuances it recalls to most of us, you may have a point.

cially constructed to categorize people.

In grouping these people together and ruling out the race as a whole, that is in fact racist. For example one of the men stated that ‘brown people’ don’t express the level of dominance that he is interested in. Surely there is at least one ‘brown’ man on this planet who can exert the level of dominance to this man’s satisfaction. Grouping the race

One man said he liked more dominant guys and “I just don’t usually see those qualities in brown people”. as a whole and saying ‘brown people aren’t dominant’ is racist.

Although everyone should be held responsible for their actions, these dating apps also share the blame enabling these racist attitudes by designing features on these apps that give users the ability to only be matched with, or see other users of a particular race. Both Grindr and Jack’d have filters which allow you to tailor your search results

to only view people of a certain race or races that you are interested in along with other superficial features such as desired height and weight. However, why is so much emphasis placed on ethnicity? Since when has race been joined together with weight, height, body type, and relationship status as a dating deal breaker? Now you may say that these apps only provide these features per request of the consumer, however by creating these features, these apps enable the racist attitudes of a small group of users, and as a result, open door for more users to take advantage of these features and further these racist attitudes.

When it comes down to it we are all humans searching for acceptance by one another. So it’s up to you to decide whether or not racial preferences are racist. It could be your type, preference, or ignorance, however attributing a certain characteristic to a whole magnitude of people is racist. Let us not forget; racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race.

Denio Lourenco Second-year student

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Farewell to the King of Comedy The Medium remembers icon Robin Williams after his tragic death stunned the world MAYANK SHARMA Good Morning, Vietnam! is not only one of the most popular phrases in all of cinema but it’s also one of the first things I would blurt into a microphone, if I had the opportunity.

It’s hard to know where to begin with Robin Williams. From his philanthropy to a genuine love of making audiences laugh and taking on roles in films that would prove to shape us, Williams’ death cast a shadow on the world.

After his career as a respected stand-up comedian, Williams began entertaining people on television as the wacky alien Mork on Mork and Mindy and finally began a career on the big screen. Williams’ humour was intellectual and frequently improvised, which no doubt contributed to what made classic cinema roles like his in Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, and Flubber so iconic. The “King of Comedy” also lent his voice to several animated films and gave life to memorable characters in Aladdin, Robots, and the Happy Feet franchise. Even on TV his talent had no bounds, and Williams’ stood out from the rest.

Williams’ acting abilities also shone in many dramatic films,

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Robin Williams signing autographs for the troops that he so often visited. earning him numerous accolades and awards. The critically acclaimed Good Will Hunting earned Williams an Academy Award and his performances in Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, and What Dreams May Come proved how versatile Williams was.

Outside of his film career, Williams was also a philanthropist and

aimed to look after others’ needs before his own. Williams visited the Middle East with the United Service Organizations and entertained American troops located in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Baghdad. He supported various charities such as Amnesty International, Dogs Deserve Better, UNICEF, and the Christopher and Dana Reeve

Foundation. Williams was a part of the “America: A Tribute to Heroes” charity telethon for the victims of 9/11 and paid his late lifelong friend Christopher Reeve a visit in the hospital after his accident, prompting Reeve to state in an interview that seeing Williams was the first thing to cheer him up since his paralysis.

Christopher Antilope, a thirdyear student at UTM majoring in English and theology, had the good fortune of working with Williams in 2002 on the set of Death to Smoochy.

He witnessed Williams’ selflessness and care for others on set, specifically when he brought an air conditioning tube to the children’s waiting area to cool them down on a warm day while they waited to be called back on set for an upcoming scene. Antilope also remembers Williams’ demeanour in front of the children during one scene: “It was an inappropriate scene for a child my age, but with Robin’s improvisation skills, he was able to make the phallic jokes lighter for the kids, or so extreme that it would just go over our innocent heads.”

Williams had an impact on everyone’s lives; Billy Crystal said it best when he called Williams “the brightest star in our comedy galaxy”. He touched countless lives despite fighting his own battles, making it safe to say that he held a special place in our hearts. So join me as I stand on top of my table and say, “O captain! My captain!” and honour a marvellous human being.

Farewell, Robin Williams. We thank you and we will miss you.

A wicked return to Ed Mirvish Theatre One of Broadway’s biggest blockbuster shows returns to dazzle audiences once more KIMBERLY JOHNSON

Wicked, the Tony-nominated musical originally from Broadway, made its stupendous return to the Toronto stage on Wednesday, September 3 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre.

Wicked is the untold story of the friendship between Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Laurel Harris), and Glinda the Good (Kara Lindsay), characters originally from The Wizard of Oz. It follows the characters through school, where they become reluctant roommates and eventual friends who each end up influencing who the other becomes in the original story.

I had heard the musical was wonderful, but as a first-time audience member I was pleasantly surprised by just how delightful the show was. It was a perfect blend of witty, whimsical, and moving. The music sounded even better live than on the soundtrack, and the sets were so dynamic that at times I really forgot I was watching a staged play.

Stars Harris and Lindsay were two of the evening’s highlights. They had

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The hit musical is shown around the world and has now returned to Toronto (not pictured). incredible chemistry on stage and the contrasts in their characters’ personalities were beautifully portrayed. Harris seemed to have mastered a particular kind of dry wit that could only come from a character as guarded as Elphaba. It was both entertaining and saddening, but Harris blended these two elements in Elphaba with such compassion and

ease that the cackling Wicked Witch of the West became a kind of “everygirl”, battling self-esteem issues and the need to be accepted.

Equally brilliant, Kara Lindsay’s Glinda embodied the sweetness we know from the classic but also a great empathy and gentleness. Glinda still appears ditsy on the surface but with Elphaba, Glinda becomes

a much wiser witch, the one seen in the movie.

I was such a fan of the way the show depicted the impact Elphaba, who grows to have little need for public adoration, had on the characters in the story. It’s most noticeable with Glinda, but also seen in Fiyero (Matt Shingledecker), the “party boy” who both Glinda and Elphaba

fall in love with. The audience gets to see Fiyero confront his deep and very hidden sadness, and it is Elphaba who notices it long before anyone else. Like Fiyero, many characters in this show are not quite what they seem, which is probably one of the most quietly magical parts of this musical. Almost every single character is relatable in some way and for a show that’s marketed as “magical”, there is a reality to the characters that makes the story that much more adult and memorable. For me, these characters felt real because it was fairly easy to see how each character arrived at the views they have of the others.

Wicked is a splendid production that celebrates friendship, discusses the power of perspective, and is absolutely worth the extra dollar. It’s no surprise that Wicked is as popular now as it was when it first opened in 2003. It’s a great show to see with a friend or with family, even if musical theatre is not your thing.

Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz runs until November 2 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on Victoria Street.

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Cosplay: 20 years A brutal tale of revenge Fan Expo celebrates two-decade anniversary

Medea tells the gruesome story of a jilted lover on a warpath

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Medea spends most of her time in the woods, which is where she belongs.

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Fan Expo is the best place to find the coolest cosplay.

CHRISTOPHER ANTILOPE It was a star-studded and cosplaycrowded weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Labour Day Weekend as fans and celebrities alike celebrated the 20th anniversary of Fan Expo Canada.

Two decades ago, some 1,500 comic book fans joined to share comics and talk about their favourite superheroes at what would become the nation’s largest entertainment convention. From August 28 to 31, more than 100,000 fans stampeded their way through both buildings of the convention centre, hoping to either get their hands on a rare comic, get a picture of Nathan Fillion or Ian Somerholder, or just dress up before Halloween.

Every year, fans await the announcement of special guests appearing at the show. As it was the 20th anniversary of the event, the planners wanted to give back to the fans by bringing in as many celeb-

rities as possible. The big names included Adam West (Batman, 1966), William Shatner (Star Trek, 1966), Patrick Stewart (X-Men, 1999), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, 2010), Stephen Amell (Arrow, 2012), and Matt Smith (Doctor Who, 2010), not to mention multiple other talents.

Fan Expo Canada began as a simple comic convention in the mid-’90s, but has grown to be a convention for all things pop culture. The Space Channel-hosted event included multiple comic exhibitors, clever T-shirt vendors, entertainment franchises (like HMV, Warner Brothers Studios, and EB Games), as well as independent artists trying to be noticed by the head comic industries: Marvel and DC Comics. However, the two largest comic distributors were nowhere to be seen, like at last year’s event.

Expo continued on page 10

I stepped out of the National Theatre in a state of numb horror. I was without words. Usually I come out of a theatre with all my thoughts and opinions bubbling up in my mouth, but this time I was left completely inarticulate.

I wanted to know how actors put themselves through Medea every night for weeks, not to mention the days spent in rehearsal working scenes over and over again. This doesn’t just go for the leads, either.

The whole cast, including the incredible chorus, were in the story the entire time.

The set for Medea was astounding and very important to the plot, so I’ll start there. The stage in the Olivier Theatre, one of several located within the National Theatre, is enormous.

Both wide and deep and accommodating 1,150 patrons, this is no intimate black box stage. Upon entering the theatre, the audience walks into a peaceful domestic scene where two boys watch TV, huddled in sleeping bags on the floor. The house looks like something you might find in a bad part of town, but it is warmly lit and coloured. Above it stretches a balcony and a glass-encased room, both of which prove essential to both the chorus and the all-important wedding that takes place at the same time as the main action below.

MARIA CRUZ A&E EDITOR NO GOOD DEED An escaped convict (Idris Elba) breaks into the home of a wife and mother (Taraji P. Henson) and terrorizes her family. I’m not sure what to make of this after watching the trailer. To be honest, it seems like your typical film with a relatively cliché plot. This film has the potential to be good given the great star power, but I doubt it.

No Good Deed is set to release September 12.

THE SKELETON TWINS After having spent 10 years apart, twins Maggie (Kristen Wiig) and Milo

The first person to speak is the children’s nurse (Michaela Coel) who introduces the characters and events leading up to the beginning of the play. When the time comes for her to introduce Medea (Helen McCrory), the nurse disturbs the sense of warmth and safety by pulling aside the partition to reveal deep woods that seem to go on for at least twice the width of the apartment. Trees grow in the dark, and among them Medea crawls, screaming, feeding the fire that burns in a metal drum.

From this point on, the audience bears witness to the terrible story of Medea’s revenge on her husband Jason (Danny Sapani), who has run off with a young, pretty, and wealthy girl.

McCrory plays a gritty and down-toearth Medea, ripping through the text (and into other actors) as if they were dead leaves in her path. She enters the play trembling with hot rage that cools and moulds itself into definitive action.

The chorus is a fascinating aspect of Greek tragedy that can be difficult to make speak to modern audiences.

A dozen or so women all standing behind one idea and motivation is not something that happens often in contemporary plays. Here, director Carrie Cracknell turns the chorus into bridesmaids at Jason’s wedding.

They side with Medea’s cause but caution her against what will happen if she decides to execute her ultimate revenge on Jason: killing her

own children. They also act as personification of Medea’s psyche: they begin in neat, 1950s-style dresses, but by the end of the play the dresses are torn and the hems, as well as the women’s feet and legs, are covered in mud.

Medea almost listens to her advisors and brings her revenge only to the point of killing Jason’s new bride.

Haunting music plays, and at the last minute she stabs her pajama-clad sons offstage while the audience sits and listens to them scream. Medea wraps their bodies in two sleeping bags that she clutches and will not let go, denying Jason even the privilege of burying his children.

The most terrifying image for me, and the one that left me speechless for several hours after the show, occurred in the last few moments of the play. After stabbing her children and explaining her motivations to a grief-stricken Jason, Medea hoists one body over each shoulder and carries them into the forest, barely able to support their weight, trembling now from physical weakness and grief.

The night was cool when I stepped out of the National Theatre. I crossed the Jubilee Bridge amid crowds of tourists and buskers, but all I could see were flashes of Medea, her back to me, hauling her two dead children into the forest. Medea gets what she wants, I thought. But she pays a very high price for it.

(Bill Hader) are reunited and are now trying to mend their estranged relationship. The film looks like a great mix of comedy and the reality of two siblings trying to coincide peacefully after being apart for a decade. The Skeleton Twins looks sure to surprise and delight.

The Skeleton Twins is set to release on September 19.

it’ll be a great film about families coming together while making audiences laugh at the same time.

This Is Where I Leave You is set to release on September 19.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU When their father dies, the Altman siblings fulfill their father’s last wish to sit shiva together. For the next seven days and nights, they remain under one roof, where they become closer than ever before. Loaded with great star power (Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda), this looks like

TWO NIGHT STAND A recent breakup with her fiancé convinces Megan (Analeigh Tipton) that it’s time for a one-night stand.

However, after the deed is done, she is snowed in at Alec’s (Miles Teller) apartment, where they agree to help one another improve for their next partner. A comedic little film about the possibility no one ever talks about, Two Night Stand will no doubt be a great date night flick.

Two Night Stand is set to release on September 26.

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Sims 4 was not worth all the hype After months of anticipation, Sims 4 lets us down with more negatives than positives MARIA CRUZ A&E EDITOR I can’t remember exactly when I heard about The Sims 4, but what I do know is that I have been waiting rather impatiently for its release for months. With my birthday coming up next week, I begged my mother to buy it for me and she did. Ripping the plastic off, I thought about how The Sims 3 had offered so many great things and proved to be a wonderful upgrade to the previous instalments. All of these months I have been wondering how they could have possibly made The Sims any better. Well, the short answer is, they didn’t.

I won’t lie, there are some great things that have been introduced in the sequel. The creation process is not only easier but also way more realistic. The drag option for your Sim’s appearance cuts creation time in half, and finally being able to give my Sim some junk in her trunk was a huge plus. An added bonus is the changes you can now make to their personalities. The Sims 4 provides a great new way to create your visualized Sim, and after all these months of dreaming up the perfect character, the sequel makes it really fun and easy to bring that dream to life.

The Build mode is also much easier now, with the added option of searching for items by name.

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It doesn’t take very long to notice everything that The Sims 4 didn’t offer fans.

You also have the option to make the game decorate a room for you without doing any work or hunting for the perfect item in the menu.

I’m glad they kept things pretty much the same in terms of hunting for an item, because I didn’t want to have to learn a whole new system. It’s bad enough that I have to sift through 30 different kinds of ceiling lights for my bathroom.

Another upgrade is the range of emotions the new Sims are capable

of feeling coupled with their being able to multitask. I can finally watch TV as my husband dares to talk to me.

As fancy as these upgrades are, the negatives unfortunately outweigh the positives. One of the biggest blows to the Sims community was that The Sims 4 omitted pools (not that big a deal for me since I can’t swim in real life so I never made my character swim in the game), vehicles, and toddlers.

Being able to teach your toddler to walk, talk, read, and better their skills was one of the best parts of The Sims 3, but a Sims rep said in a YouTube video that in order to make room for all the new stuff, they had to get rid of a few things.

Like the logic that followed a baby growing into a toddler instead of a full-blown nine-year-old.

I could almost live with that if it wasn’t for the ridiculous amount of loading screens between just about

everything you do. In The Sims 3 I used to be able to follow my Sim to his job at the newspaper and listen to the journalists inside rushing to meet deadlines. In The Sims 4 my Sim disappears until the end of his shift and I can’t go with him. I also can’t walk across the street without being greeted first by the dreaded green diamond.

The Create-a-Sim menu also makes it much harder to create the Sim you want with their lack of empty trait slots. I used to be able to choose five and I’m now down to a measly three. Just terrible.

I went into The Sims 4 expecting some typical bugs. You know what bugs I’m talking about: the one where you go to cook eggs or pick up your toddler and your hand is forever stuck in an outward motion, leaving you with the option of ignoring it or recreating the entire household. Well, yeah, that happens. But the crashes happen, too, and that’s not what I was expecting.

It’s bad enough that I can’t roam the city freely anymore, but when it’s accompanied by a crash, I am not impressed.

All in all, the game didn’t live up to my expectations. Whether I was expecting a heavenly sequel and thereby unfairly putting The Sims 4 on a pedestal or EA just didn’t deliver, I wish I hadn’t dropped the $79.99 on it.

MM 1/2

Comic lovers unite once more Blast from the past Join The Medium as we review old movies MARIA CRUZ A&E EDITOR

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This $80 photo with Stan Lee cost $20 more than it did last year.

Expo continued from page 9 Besides the disappointment at Marvel and DC not being in attendance, some fans were also unhappy with the meet-and-greets. After a very short encounter with comic book legend Stan Lee, the nostalgia quickly wore off. The price had also increased since last year, when it cost $60 to meet Stan Lee. This year it was $80, and that wasn’t even the most expensive single meet-and-greet. The most expensive was the most recent doctor on Doctor Who, Matt Smith, at an as-

tounding $110. The operation ran like an assembly line: walk up to the celebrity, smile for the camera, and run off so that the next customer can have a three-second moment that cost an entire shift (or two) at work. Regrettably, Stan Lee’s booth was not the only one like this; Stephen Amell of Arrow and Elijah Wood of The Lord of the Rings trilogy were similar.

There was also a lack of food options in the building and the prices were high. Too many fans were also allowed into the convention centre, and the hot August

weekend made it a claustrophobic experience for newcomers to the expo.

But for all that, at the conclusion of Fan Expo Canada, a majority of the fans got what they wanted, no matter how stuffy or expensive it was. Comic lovers got to meet their favourite artists and writers.

Whovians got to meet their idols from the show. Parents got to keep a close watch over their children as they played at the LEGO or Hasbro booths. All in all, the fans got to be, well, fans, dressed up in cosplay or not.

During the two weeks I had free in my summer course I told myself that I would get a headstart on all my readings and that I would even begin my essay early with a topic of my own so I would look smarter.

Yeah, well, that didn’t happen.

Instead, I succeeded in watching just about every Michael Keaton film. First on my list was Johnny Dangerously, a film from the ancient (to some of you, unfortunately) land of the ’80s.

From what I’ve read, this flick wasn’t so hot at the box office.

Despite the large cast (Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, Peter Boyle), moviegoers didn’t think it was as funny as it tried to be. Set in the ’30s, Johnny Dangerously sets out to poke fun at the gangster films from the ’30s and ’40s. Whether it truly succeeded is another story.

The film begins with Johnny working in a pet store. He catches a young boy trying to walk off with a puppy and uses the situation as an excuse to get into his old life of crime. Starting out as a kid forced into crime by trying to pay his mom’s medical bills, Johnny soon discovers he’s a natural and sticks with the lifestyle. He keeps it a secret from his mother and his younger brother as he helps put

his younger brother through law school. His younger brother goes on to work for the district attorney when he grows up, however.

Audiences also see the rivalry between Keaton and Piscopo.

Right from childhood these two have been at each other’s throats and their rivalry only worsens when the godfather who they work for retires and Keaton takes over,

The jokes are hit-ormiss throughout; when they work they are spectacular but when they don’t work you’re left feeling slightly cheated. leaving Piscopo vowing to get him.

Johnny Dangerously is a hilarious movie if you’re in a good mood or you’re a generally goofy person. The jokes are hit-or-miss throughout; when they work they are nothing short of spectacular but when they don’t work you’re left feeling slightly cheated—and, if you’re anything like me, relatively embarrassed by the bad humour.

As a whole, I thought this film was definitely worth a watch and depending on the person, I’d recommend it to a friend.

MMM

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Were summer jobs even worth it?

We may not like the idea of slugging through another summer indoors, but we may have to JELIN PHILIP Whether it’s flipping burgers, working retail, working in an office, or singing songs as a camp counsellor, summer jobs are the norm for students. The four months following the end of the winter term in April can be filled with summer classes to fast-track to graduation and/or working jobs often completely unrelated to their field of study just to have some money coming into their account. The cost of living forces students to take on jobs, whether they like them or not, in order to make ends meet.

In a study based on data from Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey mentioned in a Maclean’s article titled “Study shows value of summer after-school jobs”, researchers note that 15-year-olds who had worked summer or parttime jobs with between 33 to 43 hours every week were better suited for their careers 10 years later.

Although the unemployment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds was a fairly high 13.3%, the study notes that working 15-year-olds got a

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The UTM Career Centre agrees with study that part-time jobs prepare students for the future. headstart developing necessary job-hunting skills and references.

Danielle Elson, a fourth-year student majoring in anthropology with a double minor in history and English, has worked a part-time job since high school and worked two jobs this past summer. “I had already been working at the movie theatre and Starbucks before sum-

mer began,” she says. “I only intend on keeping Starbucks during the school year because it would be too much for me otherwise, and they offer more flexibility.

Elson felt that her part-time and summer jobs weren’t related to her field, but she was able to identify some skills she gained by working there. “I didn’t think that these

part-time jobs would help me in the future, as I plan on working either in public relations or community outreach after graduation, but they did provide me with customer service and problem-solving experience,” she said.

Meanwhile, third-year sociology and professional writing student Lauren Macri says she didn’t

find landing a summer job was as easy as it seemed. “For the summer I worked at my church, planning and organizing youth and children’s events,” she said. “Finding a job was very difficult, and this was the only interview I managed to get after applying to over 20 jobs. I just saw it as a summer job doing something I enjoy while also making money to pay for school.”

Macri is interested in writing and is still deciding on her future career, and isn’t eager to devote energy to part-time work during the school year. “I couldn’t keep this job during the year as it was only a summer position for university students. But even if I could have kept it I wouldn’t have,” she sad. “I like to focus all my time and energy on my classes and studies when I’m in school.”

Kayla Sousa, the outreach and promotions assistant at the UTM Career Centre, believes that no “resume-builder” should be considered wasteful.

Jobs continued on page 12

Discovering the “lived culture” abroad Learning a new language outside the classroom in another country gives us cultural perspective MADELEINE BROWN FEATURES EDITOR I am a proud graduate of the Ontario high school core French system and now a Functional French minor at UTM. However, by no means could I confidently speak the language as of this past May. No… that stuff was for the elementary and high school French immersion or “my dad’s a Francophone” kids.

As a result, I’d always intended to do an international exchange and this summer I finally did. I signed up for a farmstay on a dairy farm with a family of six (and another one on the way) in rural Brittany (or “Bretagne”).

I didn’t want to make it too easy for myself.

So, did I come out the other end completely bilingual? More “francilienne” than “canadienne?” Well, to be honest, yes and no.

I quickly discovered just how inarticulate I was. I was nervous each time I opened my mouth. Eleven years of exposure to the French language disappeared. It wasn’t until a phone conversation and a Skype call with my parents and a friend later in the week that I remembered I had the ability to speak in full sentences—albeit in a language other than

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Language immersion programs allow students to build connections beyond their peers and profs.

French.

While I chose to travel with an organization not associated with the university, the University of Toronto offers a range of similar organizations and opportunities. These include UTM’s International Education Centre, the Summer Abroad courses offered by Woodsworth College (207 UTM students participated this past summer with 28 tak-

ing language-specific courses), the Centre for International Exchange, and UTM’s Department of Language Studies’ Study in Florence program.

Rosa Ciantar, the undergraduate counsellor of the department, says of the last of these programs that “students who participate in the Study in Florence program return to us with superior language skills, not only in the sense of grammar but

are able to fluently and spontaneously express themselves in Italian.

In addition to the obvious improvement in language skills, students develop independence, maturity as well as a social responsibility and empathy for other cultures.”

She adds, “Although the classroom is the first point of contact in terms of learning the grammar of a language, the hands-on experi-

ence gained by students in the study abroad context is invaluable.”

Katherine Rehner, a language studies professor who holds various titles including coordinator of programs in language teaching and learning, has researched the benefits of exposure to French as a second language outside of the classroom. She explains that the first of two major benefits of such immersive experiences is the “development of communicative abilities in context”. Besides the social niceties associated with a different language, says Rehner, students also gain an “identity that involves the second language and a connection to the people, culture, and language of the target community”.

Studying a language abroad is often easier said than done, though.

What if you’ve never taken a language course or, like many young Ontarians in the case of French, haven’t spoken the target language in years? Rehner suggests that this shouldn’t hold students back. She uses the example of immigrants arriving in a country where they don’t speak the official language—they learn it by living it.

Learn continued on page 12

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THE MEDIUM 09.08.2014

Seeking literary satisfaction in multiple media Recent U of T grad Daniel Karasik is a published poet, playwright, and author all before the age of 30 VALERIA RYRAK I don’t exactly remember how I came across Daniel Karasik; I may have been reading The Star, where an article about him winning the Toronto Arts Foundation Award in 2013 might have appeared. Karasik is a recent graduate of U of T, and thus I was able to entice him to give me an interview by virtue of our having this great institution in common. UTM has a very strong theatre program, I explained to him, and I believe your wisdom could help young writers and actors find their footing. He graciously agreed.

Karasik is a young actor, playwright, poet, and novelist based in Toronto. His accolades are many; within the last few years he was the recipient of the CBC Literary Prize for Fiction, The Malahat Review’s Jack Hodgins Founders’ Award for Fiction, the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Award, and the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award.

Karasik’s recently staged plays include Haunted, In Full Light, and The Biographer. His publications include the poetry collection Hungry, the play The Remarkable Flight of Marnie McPhee, and the drama anthology The Crossing Guard and In Full Light. He was recently signed with a literary agency (The Transatlantic Agency) and is on the cusp of publishing a novel. When we met at Hart House, Karasik had just flown back from a summer stint at The Royal Court Young Writers Programme in London, England.

My first question was about bal-

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Studying part-time was Karasik’s secret to his long list of achievements. ance. I think many would agree when I say that I don’t know many 27-year-olds with a list of achievements this long. What was his secret? “A light course load,” he responded. It turns out that Karasik did most of his university studies part-time, at one point even taking a year off to travel, volunteer abroad, and write. This self-directed scheduling gave him the oppor-

tunity to pursue personal interests, and to have his university studies complement his creative pursuits, not the other way around.

Karasik also attributes part of his balance to his financial independence. He has been making money in theatre and film since the age of 16.

When I asked Karasik about his reasons behind going to university

to study English, religion, and philosophy despite having a fairly established career as a stage actor by the end of high school, he replied, “I wanted to know about the world in ways that went beyond my worldly life and my knowledge of theatre. I didn’t just want to know about making theatre.” He wanted to be rigorously challenged on an intellectual level, and he explained that his edu-

cation gave him a firm “foundation to write form”.

All this led me to speculate about the roots of his artistic talent. What was his life like growing up, for example? Karasik described his family environment as “a supportive one”, even though he did not come from a family of artists. “I would go to musicals as a child,” he recalled, and although this is not the kind of work he does himself, they exposed him to the vibrancy, relevancy, and viability of live theatre at a young age. He also credits his high school teachers with giving him a good drama education.

Karasik made his first foray into the theatre world by applying to the Tarragon Theatre’s Young Playwrights Program when he was 15 or 16. That time he didn’t get accepted, but he also refused to allow the rejection to deter him. He worked on his writing during all of that year and reapplied the following year to both of Tarragon Theatre’s programs for youth, one in acting and one in playwriting. He got into both and completed both over the course of two years.

Karasik is a man of many mediums, and I asked him about which medium came first. “Fiction and scriptwriting,” he explained. “I started writing plays in earnest when I was about 15 or 16, which is also when I started acting. I then started writing poetry more seriously from about the end of high school.”

Karasik continued on page 13

Bringing our Aim to be well-rounded worlds closer Learn continued from page 11 However, she admits that the combination of an immersive experience and a structural approach is ideal.

This is how we all learned our native language—the immersive aspect being our home life and the structural being our time at school, explains Rehner. So dive into an immersive program, but seek to get structural instruction before, during, or after the fact to boost your understanding of a language.

Most unexpectedly, I gained an intimate understanding of a French family’s daily life.

By the end of my own experience abroad, about 12 weeks after my arrival, I’d become a pro at my farm chores (including one of my favourites, “gratter les logettes”— scraping cow poop), developed a hopefully lasting relationship with my host family, and gained new confidence

as a French speaker. I wouldn’t say that my French is now on par with a native speaker. I can’t speak “pure Parisian French”. Instead, I’ve gained an extensive and practical vocabulary and, as Rehner calls it, “a claim to speak the language” (or losing that sense of apology each time I utter a French word).

Most unexpectedly, the greatest lesson I learned was cultural. I have an intimate understanding of a French family’s daily life, including food and meal times, the education system, and family gatherings and dynamics. I’d never uncovered that aspect of the language behind the cover of my grammar textbooks or within a professor’s PowerPoint.

Learning a language that seems a world away brings these “worlds” closer to us. It exposes us to new bodies of knowledge, whether it’s through a UTMcourse or native speakers of that language. In these contexts we also learn about ourselves as individuals. As Ciantar shares, “These are the types of opportunities that help our students become better global citizens in a complex modern world.”

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Consider approaching business representatives from a variety of fields at job fairs.

Jobs continued from page 11 “Students who gain any experience throughout their stay at university are likely to benefit greatly down the road. Working on campus parttime, volunteering, or obtaining summer employment are amazing options,” she says. “Those experiences add to student resumes, while also being largely manageable.”

Sousa also encourages students to talk to company representatives

at the Get Experience Fair or the Get Hired Fair on campus. “Even connecting with reps that seem unrelated can be a great idea,” she says. “If you want to be an accountant, don’t walk by a retailer’s table because it seems different from your field. That retailer could have a position in their accounting department, and even if they don’t, there still may be great opportunities to build communication or teamwork skills that can be used going forward in accounting. It’s

important to ask questions.”

Summer jobs are beneficial whether you’re 15 or 25. Of course, not everyone will get their dream job right away—it takes time and hard work to get there. As Sousa puts it, “At the end of the day, finding some kind of experience that you find valuable is definitely worth it. Many employers like seeing that their future employees are well-rounded and have spent time both in and outside of the classroom developing skills.”

09.08.2014 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 13

Mentor forced Karasik to try out traditional poetry Karasik continued from page 12 When he was 16, Karasik had a short play produced at the Rhubarb Festival run by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. For anyone interested in playwriting, he recommended starting early and taking advantage of the various youth outreach programs that theatre companies have available. Writing short plays and entering them into festivals such as SummerWorks and the Toronto Fringe Festival can really help one get a foot in the door.

As for poetry, Karasik received his first real-world encouragement when his poem won the Toronto Star Poetry Contest at the tail end of his high school years, and ever since then he has been sending work out. Publication in periodicals “is a bit of a numbers game,” he explained, so his advice for aspiring poets is to “put your stuff out there enough to have it break through”.

At U of T’s Victoria College Karasik took a workshop with famed Canadian poet A. F. Moritz, who became not only a mentor to him but also a friend. “He was really great to me as an inspiration and encouraged me a lot,” said Karasik.

Moritz’s feedback gave him enough

confidence to start sending his work out to more prestigious literary magazines. “Things got published early on,” he added.

It is through these channels that Karasik got his big break in publishing. Canadian poet Robyn Sarah was guest-editing The New Quarterly, a Canadian literary magazine of high repute, when she came across Karasik’s submission of poems back when he was 18 or 19. She was so impressed with them that not only did she publish his work in the magazine, but when she started working for Cormorant Books, a small Canadian publishing company, she emailed Karasik about publishing his poems with Cormorant. Three years later, Hungry emerged.

“She wanted to challenge me, not have me write poems for the sake of writing poems,” Karasik explained of the publication process leading up to the collection’s release.

She pushed him formally, he said, which led him to experiment with more traditional poetic techniques.

As a result, he says, “Sonnets are well represented in the anthology.”

The most important question I had for Karasik was this: how does a young artist starting out make things happen? “It’s very important

to be very well informed of the opportunities out there,” he replied.

“Google is your best friend. Find opportunities in the city and apply, apply, apply.” He also stressed the value of persistence. “If you try something hard enough and consistently enough, some sort of result will issue from it,” he explained. “Now, it may not be the result that you want, but it will be something.”

This personal philosophy had certainly stood him in good stead.

During his 27 years Karasik has accomplished more than many who are twice his age, all while completing an undergraduate degree.

Knowing that his poetry collection was titled Hungry, I asked Karasik what exactly he was hungry for. “The book is about all kinds of hunger,” he explained. “Spiritual, sexual, intellectual hunger. About longing. The book is about what it means to be a desirous being.”

“Do you think that the seeking is more important than the finding?”

I ventured to ask. “Yes, I think I do... though I’m not convinced that the satisfying is possible,” he ruefully replied.

And on that philosophical note, our time was up. I left with a head heavy with ideas.

We’re trying something new this year.

Each week The Medium will chat with a UTM professor about one of their favourite recipes.

This week Josée Johnston, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, shares a chocolate mousse recipe by the one and only Nigella Lawson. (If you don’t know who Lawson is, hang your head in shame and turn on the Food Network as soon as possible. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.)

Johnston says she learned about the recipe while showing Lawson clips in class to demonstrate the concept of food porn, and “to show students how female food celebrities are often highly sexualized and depict certain gender stereotypes”.

The clip can be viewed on YouTube by searching for “Nigella Lawson: Chocolate Mousse: Express”.

“During this particular clip, Nigella Lawson showcases all of these features, but in the process, also shows off a delicious way to make chocolate mousse that is incredibly easy,” continues Johnston.

“I have made chocolate mousse from different recipes, and it usually involves separating eggs and eating raw eggs. The Nigella Lawson method simply involves melting things. It’s dead simple, and yet the results are still very good.” According to Gourmantine Blog, it’s the second-best chocolate mousse recipe ever.

This is one kind of porn I think I’ll dare to watch—and even recreate.

Instant Chocolate Mousse (adapted from nigella.com/recipes/view/instant-chocolate-mousse-4 and as seen in Nigella Lawson’s book Nigella’s Express) SERVES 4 to 6.

INGREDIENTS ••1 ½ cups (150 g) mini marshmallows ••½ stick (50 g) soft unsalted butter ••11 ounces (300 g) dark high-quality chocolate, chopped (Johnston advises that regular chocolate or chocolate chips will yield a sweeter—perhaps too sweet—mousse) ••¼ cup (60 ml) hot water (from a recently boiled kettle) ••1 cup (250 ml) 35% whipping cream ••1 tsp (4 ml) vanilla extract METHOD 1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavybased saucepan.

2. Put the saucepan over a gentle heat to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from heat.

3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. (Johnston warns, “You have to be careful at the end when you fold in the whipping cream not to deflate it; fold carefully.”)

4. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about ¾ cup (175 ml) each in capacity, or 6 smaller ½ cup (125 ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

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09.08.2014

UTM joins OCAA, goes Varsity Campus becomes OCAA’s 30th member school after 20 years of campus rec programs ERIC HEWITSON ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Starting this fall, UTM will be playing under the umbrella of a more competitive league, now that the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association OCAA has recognized UTM as its 30th member school. The OCAA consists of 30 members sponsoring 11 sports and is recognized as a leader in intercollegiate athletics in Ontario.

Blair Webster, the executive director of the OCAA, announced that UTM had been accepted as an affiliate. “This will provide UTM students with the opportunity to compete in varsity athletics under the OCAA,” he said. “UTM has been a valued member of the OCAA’s Campus Recreation programs since the early 1990s.”

In the past, UTM students could only participate on extramural teams, but now, according to UTM’s athletic director, Ken Duncliffe, students will be able to compete against other satellite schools in Ontario: “We will still have our extramural teams, but this new status gives our athletes a chance to compete at the next level:

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This field is the home of a team that now plays at a more competitive level. [as] UTM Varsity Eagles,” he said.

Tryouts are open to all full-time UTM students. UTM athletics encourages all student athletes who want to compete at the highest level of competition to come to tryouts. To start the 2014/15 school year, UTM

will introduce varsity cross country, badminton, and men’s and women’s indoor soccer.

For the 2015/16 year men’s and women’s outdoor soccer will become an option for students.

“We will be looking to start re-

cruiting athletes and have some wonderful coaches in place to take our student athletes to the next level,” says Duncliffe. “Both cross country and badminton have national titles for athletes that medal at the Provincial Championships.”

The support for UTM teams is at a level that has rarely been matched; some of the UTM Eagles’ intramural games approach 300 to 400 fans.

“This support will be needed as we look to the future when we reach our full varsity sport contingent in the 2017/18 school year,” says Duncliffe.

Playing on a Varsity Blues team is often inconvenient for UTM students, since the Blues programs are primarily located at the St. George campus. Now, however, the UTM Varsity Eagles program will give students the opportunity to compete in a varsity sport at the Mississauga campus. “Our mission at the Department of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation states that we will offer a full continuum of programming from casual rec to varsity/excellence,” says Duncliffe. “With both the opportunities of the Varsity Blues and our new UTM-specific Varsity Eagles program, we are now better serving the needs of our student athletes.”

If you’re a student looking for a competitive edge while keeping a keen focus on academics, the UTM Varsity Eagles programs may finally accommodate both options.

Always up for a challenge U of T smokes Craig Burkett is captain of the little-known rugby team

UOIT in soccer UMAIMI GHORI

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These players are presumably undergoing physical training for rugby.

JASON COELHO SPORTS EDITOR One of the best-kept secrets in UTM sports may just be our rugby team.

The attendance at games may not be near what sports like soccer or basketball receive, but the team has managed to repeatedly make a splash in U of T intramurals, including their 2013/14 campaign, where the team made it to finals and lost with a kick that came up short. For a game that requires as much skill and stamina as football, albeit with a little less flair, the sport seems to be picking up some

followers around campus, and that’s pleasing to sophomore coach Craig Burkett.

Hailing from Waterloo, Ontario, Burkett has lived in Toronto for the past 14 years, studying aerospace and engineering sciences at the St. George campus and earning a master’s degree in statistics. In Burkett’s first year as faculty at UTM, he taught statistics courses and volunteered to coach the rugby team—an odd pairing if ever there was one. Burkett became the only professor at UTM to also coach an intramural team, breaking down the barrier between his two

roles after realizing that his love for the game was too strong to put on the backburner. Surprisingly, Burkett had no prior experience coaching rugby, a factor that didn’t seem to hinder the team’s success last year. In an odd twist of fate, it was Burkett’s old rugby team that UTM lost to in the finals—the Engineers. While playing for the Engineers during his time at U of T, Burkett held the position of intramural sports chairman for two years, coaching intramural soccer in his spare time.

Burkett continued on page 15

On a bright sunny afternoon last Wednesday, the Varsity Centre hosted a men’s soccer game between the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks.

Following a tie against Nipissing University on August 31, the Blues took to the field to demonstrate their revamped lineup. The game marked the first faceoff between the two teams in the regular season.

The first half began with an exceptional performance by the Blues’ second-year midfielder Lukas McNaughton, who advanced past Ridgebacks goalkeeper Travis Martin and scored a goal in the 14th minute off what was originally a free kick by fifth-year striker Kilian Elkinsan (also Ontario University Athletics’ male athlete of the week).

Elkinson scored a second goal in the 17th minute on a pass from Russell Rodriguez and struck diagonally from the far right side of the goalpost to the far left side of the net, strengthening the Blues’ advantage.

A foul by Ridgebacks in the 38th minute lead to a free kick for the Blues, giving Elkinson another opportunity to score, but his kick bounced

off the goalpost.

The Blues’ defenders did a remarkable job preventing possible rival goals, like the corner shot from the Ridgebacks in the 38th minute.

Elkinson’s third goal three minutes before the end of first half, once again after receiving a pass from Rodriguez, brought the Varsity Blues even closer to victory. The Blues led by 3-0 at the half, while the shaky Ridgebacks— who were mostly first-year students— had lost all confidence.

In the 64th minute, the Blues’ morale was boosted once again when second-year midfielder Nikolay Saveliev, after receiving a pass from Elkinson, took advantage of Martin’s distance from the net and ran past him to score on a clear goal. The Blues led by 4-0, and their victory was imminent.

Meanwhile, the Ridgebacks’ head coach kept substituting players in an attempt to avert an embarrassing fall to the Blues.

Finally, in the 77th minute, the dispirited Ridgebacks were encouraged when their first-year striker Lee-Victor Massunda dodged a Blues defender to sink the ball into the net, but it didn’t do much to negate the Blues’ lead.

Soccer continued on page 15

09.08.2014 THE MEDIUM SPORTS» 15

Rugby tryouts open next week, students likely to be selected Burkett continued from page 14 “I may not have a lot of experience coaching, but I love [rugby] and I do my homework,” he said. Despite the bitter end to an otherwise successful season, Burkett was happy with how the sport was received on campus.

“Compared to St. George, there’s a lot more people watching at UTM,” he said, a factor that he believed helped propel the team deep into the postseason.

Burkett has proved to be a renaissance man.

He is both an avid classical pianist and choir member.

Burkett does not find it hard to live his double life at UTM; he is able to be both a professor and a coach without having either world encroach on the other. “There was only one student who played for me and was in my class,” he joked. “There’s not a lot of people who play rugby and take statistics.” Juggling these two roles seems demanding enough, but Burkett has proved to be somewhat of a renaissance man with his fingers in a lot of different pies. He is both an avid classical pianist and choir member, though he hasn’t been able to continue practising as much as he’d like to.

In terms of his physical capabilities, Burkett is consistently pushing

himself to the limits. In 2007 and 2008 he competed in Canadian National Track and Field and Olympic Trials in the Decathlon, and he tries to keep himself active throughout the year in any way he can. In April he completed the Fort Knox challenge, a gruesome physical challenge that involves completing six Wipper circuits over the course of one day.

The Wipper circuits were developed

by Professor Kirk Wipper, a faculty member in the School of Physical and Health Education in 1950, making this a uniquely U of T–based physical challenge. Burkett successfully completed and blogged about it on the Hart House Tumblr page.

His priorities at the moment include his upcoming wedding, which will take place this fall, and his statistical consulting business, Burkett Statistical Consulting, which has been running for three years now after he started it in his final year of graduate school.

Make sure to catch Burkett and his boys on the field this fall as they look to pick up from where they left off last year. Tryouts will start next week and, according to Burkett, “Rugby typically doesn’t cut anybody.” He also vows to teach those unfamiliar with the sport how to play it, and hopes to get some newcomers to fill in for the graduating students. Meanwhile, he plans on continuing to play rugby while transitioning into volleyball and squash over the next few months—“If anybody is looking for a squash partner.”

Blues goalkeeper excels

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U of T edged out Ottawa not only on this play but pretty thoroughly in the whole game.

Soccer continued from page 14 All the shots by the Ridgebacks were either too far from the goalpost, exceptionally defended, or saved by the Blues’ goalkeeper, Rab Bruce-Lockhart. Bruce-Lockhart made three saves, whereas Martin made none.

The final goal of the game was also Elkinson’s third goal of the season; he shot the ball straight into the net, and Martin failed to save it.

When asked about his team’s performance, the Ridgebacks’ head coach, Vaso Vujanovic, said he felt terrible about his team. “We didn’t play good as a team. We have too many young players; around 16 of them are first-years and they are not working together,” he said. “We are on the stage where we are building a team. We made a lot of beginning mistakes and allowed chances for

them. In the previous match [against Carleton University] we played a lot better and the team we played against was not as strong as U of T. That day the players were functioning a lot better than today.“ However, Vujanovic was optimistic about the rest of the season. “We’ll be better by half-season,” he said. “We will be studying the game in class and who did what mistakes and analyze it.”

Anthony Capotosto, the Blues’ head coach, was very satisfied with his team’s achievements. “I think we’re starting to learn the qualities of some of our players now, and especially the first-year players,” he said.

“The majority of them played today and their qualities are starting to come out because we are starting to put the chemistry together.”

Capotosto, who is the Blues’ head

coach for the eighth season in a row, appreciated his goalkeeper in particular. “We’re getting consistent performance from our goalkeeper Rab, and that’s the best thing you can ask for,” he said. “My opinion is that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the CIS.” One of the strongest players on the Blues, Kilian Elkinson was happy but humble about his performance.

“Personally, I played quite well, but you have to credit the team. The team gave me the ball in great areas and overall it has been a great attacking plot,” he commented. “But it’s unfortunate that we did not keep a clean sheet. We really need to make sure we keep a clean sheet and we need to cut out the errors.”

The Varsity Blues also played Carleton on Sunday, and will play Ryerson on September 14 at 2:15 p.m. at the Varsity Centre.

Blues drop football season opener ERIC HEWITSON ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR The U of T Varsity Blues football team couldn’t defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks under the lights at Varsity Stadium on Labour Day in their first contest of the 2014 season.

Laurier came out strong in the first quarter, gaining a 17-0 lead through exceptional plays by quarterback James Fracas and running back Dillon Campbell. Fracas found an open receiver for a 46-yard touchdown reception and Campbell busted through the Toronto defence and ran 64 yards for a touchdown shortly afterwards.

Blues senior quarterback Simon Nassar of Toronto tossed second-year receiver Levi Noel a short pass, which sprung Noel 79 yards to the end zone and put the Blues on the board to end the first quarter 17-7.

The second quarter of play began with Laurier kicker Ronnie Pfeffer and Toronto kicker Eric Hewitson trading 42- and 32-yard field goals respectively. Afterwards, Blues backup quarterback and holder Marcus Hobbs took the ball for himself on a fake field goal attempt and ran it through the Laurier defence, gaining a first down that led to a five-yard touchdown pass to offensive lineman Danny Sprukulis on the next play.

The second half wasn’t too kind to the Blues; Fracas finished off his evening with 256 yards passing with three touchdowns, while Campbell took advantage of a battered Toronto defence and ran for a total of 293 yards. Laurier scored 26 unanswered points, giving them the 53-17 victory.

Cory Williams, a UTM student and second-year linebacker for the Blues who shared the lead on defense with five and a half tackles, admits that the Blues didn’t play as well as they could have. “There are things we didn’t do well today, as a unit,” he says, “but there are plays that we can look back on and be proud of.”

ROUND TWO The Blues also played against the hungry Guelph Gryphons at Alumni Stadium in Guelph on September 6.

The Gryphons conceded a safety in the opening minutes of the game, giving the Blues a 2-0 lead and confidence that they desperately needed.

Guelph wouldn’t be taken lightly, storming back to take the 7-2 lead with a six-yard touchdown reception that ended a 71-yard drive.

The game was tight for the rest of the first half and the Blues headed to the locker room down by only two points, 14-12. The Blues got their points from receiver and All-Cana-

dian returner Kevin Bradfield, who caught an 11-yard strike in the endzone from Nassar.

The third quarter progressed more slowly than the exuberant Guelph faithful would have liked. Hewitson hit a 40-yard field goal, giving the Blues a 15-14 lead. After Guelph answered back with a 15-yard field goal, Hewitson followed with the same kick after Nassar connected 47 yards with receiver Rahul Madan to put the ball deep in Guelph territory.

With the Blues up 18-17 the Gryphons put their foot on the pedal, looking confident with the wind at their backs. Guelph stormed through the Blues defence in the fourth quarter and scored 33 unanswered points.

The Blues were hurt most by Ryan Nieuwesteeg, who gave the Gryphons a 62-yard punt return touchdown and then took the ball 60 yards into Blues territory on another return.

The Gryphons put the nail in the coffin with their play in the fourth quarter, ending the contest with a 5018 victory.

The Blues will play their rivals, York University (0-2), this Saturday at Varsity Stadium. They hope to grab their first win of the season in the 45th annual Red and Blue Bowl. The kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

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