Vol 42 issue 18

Buying Black to give back

On free speech and Roosh V

One confusing comedy

Volunteering over vacation

Blues women win flag football

News, page 3

Opinion, page 4

A&E, page 5

Features, page 8

Sports, page 11

Fee increases passed at Campus Affairs UTMSU opposes operating increases, while Campus Affairs passes increases to UTMSU fees MENNA ELNAKA ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR UTM’s Campus Affairs Committee has passed a motion to increase student compulsory non-academic incidental fees collected for UTMSU beginning as early as this summer, while UTM operating plans and fees are set to rise for the 2016/17 academic year.

With a majority of the committee in favour of the motions, full-time students will see a $3.44 sessional increase to their RAWC membership, a $2.21 sessional increase directed to student health services, and a $6.37 sessional increase directed to student services, among other increases. Graduate students are also faced with a $62.84 increase for a fall and winter U-Pass.

Also passed at the February 11 meeting are increases to the UTMSU dues, including a $10.99 increase to the summer U-Pass fees beginning this summer and an $8.35 sessional U-Pass increase

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

A majority of the committee was in favour of the motions. beginning this fall for all students, while students studying in the Mississauga Academy of Medicine will see a $5.20 sessional U-Pass increase beginning this fall.

Other UTMSU fees expected to

be implemented starting this fall include a one-cent increase directed to the food centre, a two-cent increase to the WUSC program, a one-cent increase to the ECSPERT fee, and a two-cent increase direct-

ed to academic societies. Full-time students will also see a $0.24 cent increase on student society fees, while part-time students will see a $0.02 increase on the same fee.

The proposed increases must

now be passed at UTM Campus Council on March 3, and will then move along to both the Executive Committee and the University Affairs Board for confirmation.

According to Mark Overton, dean of student affairs and sponsor of both successful motions proposing fee increases, the ongoing Quality Service for Students deadlock between UTMSU and UTM administrators left departments without the usual feedback from QSS, and instead, departments connected with students on an ad hoc basis to gather opinions.

As previously reported by The Medium, QSS has not been able to meet this academic year as UTMSU has refused to participate in committee meetings due to a variety of alleged issues that the student union has raised, including issues involving financial transparency and issues regarding the timeline to review minutes of the meetings.

Fees continued on page 2

Vandals yet to be found

UTSU fills vacancy

Campus Police will not release full details of investigation

Alessia Rodriguez hired as VP campus life

NICOLE DANESI NEWS EDITOR UTM Campus Police Services are not expected to publically release the full report investigating vandalism promoting rape discovered in the Student Centre last month.

According to campus police manager Robert Messacar, an investigation was launched into the vandalism that was discovered on public service announcements in the male washroom on the first floor. No perpetrators have yet been found.

The details of the report are not to be released to the public.

“Our campus police protocol is to release summaries only of police incidents,” said Messacar in an email to The Medium. “We do this to protect privileged and private information under the province’s FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) legislation that encompasses universities.”

The vandalism under investigation was discovered on at least three Government of Ontario public service announcements that were part of a province-wide campaign against sexual assault and harassment.

MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY

Alessia Rodriguez replaced Akshan Bansal as VP campus life.

KASSANDRA HANGDAAN ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

ANDREEA MIHAI/THE MEDIUM

The vandalism was discovered in January in the Student Centre.

As described in an email circulated by UTMSU executive director Walied Khogali on January 28, the vandalism written on one of the three PSAs included the phrase, “f— her right in the p—”, while another vandalized PSA featured an image of a male and female with handwrit-

ting underneath reading, “Help him rape her.”

Those with information on the incident are asked to contact Campus Police at 905-828-5200 or in person at the Campus Police office in DV 3116.

UTSU has appointed Alessia Rodriguez as VP campus life after the impeachment of Akshan Bansal last December following allegations of sexual assault.

Before being appointed, Rodriguez served as Bansal’s associate since June and is currently a student ambassador, social representative of her residence floor, and orientation leader at New College.

“I believe that being part of the process since the beginning has provided me with the knowledge and practice to make this transition as smooth as possible and continue

working on everything that was set, and more,” said Rodriguez in an email to The Medium.

Rodriguez further explained her intentions of creating a stronger community within U of T by incorporating a variety of student opinions.

“Improvement can only be achieved if we work together and take into account and integrate everyone’s opinions,” said Rodriguez.

“So I am committed to connecting, listening, and working together with every college and faculty that, similar to me, wants to create a positive change for our students. Only by listening to students can we know the change they want to see.”

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THE MEDIUM 02.22.2016

A reminder to smokers Smokers are reminded to maintain a nine-metre distance

February 4, 2:40 p.m.

Theft under $5,000 A student reported to Campus Police the theft of a small amount of cash from his wallet that was locked in a locker in the men’s change room of the RAWC. February 4, 12:40 p.m.

Break and Enter A student reported to Campus Police the theft of his laptop from his room in residence.

February 4, 5:40 p.m.

Theft under $5,000 A student reported to Campus Police the theft of her cell phone after leaving it unattended on a treadmill in the RAWC. February 5, 2016, 10:05 a.m.

Theft under $5,000 A student reported to Campus Police that his jacket and phone were stolen from the front of a classroom during a test.

February 10, 10:00 a.m.

Motor Vehicle Accident Campus Police were called to the south Collegeway entrance for a motor vehicle accident. A car had entered the campus and lost control, mounting the curb and striking a car in the outbound lane.

February 10, 10:00 a.m.

Bylaw Offences Campus Police received a report of U-Pass misuse.

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

February 11, 7:15 p.m.

Theft Under $5,000 A student reported his winter jacket stolen from a bench in the RAWC men’s change room.

A $305 fine can be issued to those found smoking inside of campus buildings.

February 15, 6:05 p.m.

Mischief Campus Police investigated a motor vehicle with regards to the use of marijuana. The persons were identified, charged, and trespassed.

A new initiative is working to remind UTM students to stay nine metres away from doorways when smoking near the entrances of buildings on campus.

The UTM Health and Counselling Centre and Campus Police Services are working together to distribute resource cards to smokers who agree to move nine metres away from entrances.

In addition to a “thank you” message, the cards provide information regarding resources available on campus for students looking to quit, which include free nicotine replacement therapy gum, patches, and counselling.

According to health education coordinator Chad Jankowski, the goal of the resource cards is to “provide [campus police] with a

These reports are those that have been released to The Medium and do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list.

Students can contact the UTM Campus Police at 905 828 5200, Peel Regional Police at 905 453 3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 8477.

AMANDA BORTHWICK STAFF WRITER

tool to help engage with students who smoke, in a positive, supportive way, and to help make sure students are aware of the resources available should they want them”.

Although smoking within campus buildings is not permitted under both the Smoke Free Ontario Act and the University of Toronto Smoking Policy of 1995, not smoking within nine metres of entranceways at postsecondary institutions is not covered under either regulation.

“When we find people smoking near entranceways, we are asking them if they would move away to smoke. We are also handing out these cards,” said campus police manager Robert Messacar in an interview with The Medium.

According to Messacar, a $305 fine can be issued to those found smoking inside of campus buildings, while campus police offi-

cers and patrollers seek voluntary compliance from smokers when asked to move nine metres away from the doorways, asking them to respect other people who do not want to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

The HCC’s Leave the Pack Behind, a peer health education team focusing on tobacco education, reduction, and cessation, is responsible for chalking entranceways to outline the nine-metre distance smokers are asked to stand from doorways.

“Our team, along with Campus Police, encourages smokers to stand away from the doors and thanks those who are already doing so,” said Jankowski. “Both of our departments respect the right of smokers and focus our messaging on education rather than enforcement.”

UTMSU submits letter to oppose fee increases Fees continued from Cover A council consisting of students and administrators, QSS is responsible for putting forth advice to campus governance bodies to aid funding and facilitates decisionmaking on behalf of UTM students.

A request to table this motion until the next campus affairs meeting was supported by some members including ex-officio member Judith Poë, an associate professor of bioinorganic chemistry and chemistry education, and Lina Hassan, a student representative on the Campus Affairs Committee.

According to UTM principal Deep Saini, UTMSU sent a sixpage letter directed to QSS members, Campus Affairs Committee, and Campus Council at 3:37 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the meeting, which began at 4:10 p.m.

“Sending [the letter] half an hour earlier is not a serious way of communication,” said Saini.

“Unfortunately, student representatives have been met with a resolution that amalgamates the

shuttle bus service, Career Centre, Child Care Centre, and International Education Centre into one consolidated fee, known as the student services fee,” said the letter.

“This amalgamation of fees violated past practices where the University Affairs Board of Governing Council received advice on those services from QSS as separate fees.

According Deep Saini, UTMSU sent a six-page letter at 3:37 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the meeting, which began at 4:10 p.m.

The impact of the amalgamation violates the protocol and the QSS terms of reference, in our opinion.”

“No referendum or meeting of QSS has endorsed the new fee or activities,” added the letter. “This proposal violates the protocol and will be challenged by the UTM Students’ Union at all levels of gover-

nance and through other means.”

In an interview with The Medium, UTMSU VP university affairs and academics Nour Alideeb suggested that more time is needed to talk about problems with QSS before passing motions.

“What I’m more concerned about is the process that we’re going through. […] You can’t just bring up a fee and want to charge it to the students,” said Alideeb after the campus affairs meeting.

“QSS is broken,” said Poë, who added that its relationship with governance is a problem and that the committee has been hearing about problems with QSS for three years. Poë also suggested that QSS become a subcommittee of the campus affairs committee.

According to Saini, the solution is to continue discussing the issue instead of walking away, and promised that he would personally get involved to find solutions to the conflict.

The next Campus Affairs Committee meeting is scheduled for March 21.

02.22.2016 THE MEDIUM NEWS

Students “Buy Black”

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»WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FEE INCREASES?

Black vendors sold products as part of Black History Month

Anurag Dalvi 2nd year, finance

Darshit Sojitra 2nd year, marketing

I’m an international student, so how much higher than $50,000 do you want to go?

Fee increases are not ideal, but need to be justified.

Patricia Buyangu 5th year, bio/psych

Maja Petrovic 4th year, crim & poli sci

I think fee increases can limit some people’s opportunity to attend school.

It depends on what they are for. It could be both positive and negative depending on where the money is allocated.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Dashikis, food, hair, and beauty products were sold at the Buy Black event.

FARHAT AMINI

UTM students and groups are celebrating Black History Month with activities currently underway.

Multiple student groups collaborated to plan and host Black History Month events. UTMSU joined forces with ECASA, Caribbean Connections, and the Somali Student Association this year to collaborate in planning events.

Black History Month events this month have so far included an opening ceremony, a social event,

a movie day, and a Buy Black event, which was hosted in the Student Centre for three days beginning on February 9. The groups invited black vendors in the GTA to sell their products, which included beauty and hair products, dashikis, and food vendors selling jollof rice, and BBQ chicken.

“Black vendors have a harder time finding their audiences, so we’re using this [platform] to bring all the vendors to the same place to connect them to their audiences,” said Farai Tigere, VP external affairs of ECASA. “Black

voices in U of T are silenced as a whole, and these events are used to [strengthen] that voice.”

“I’m proud of being able to provide students with African clothing at a cheaper rate than the prices they would get online,” said Yvonne Eifediyi, treasurer of ECASA. “It makes them feel at home and comfortable, because this is their identity.”

As part of Black History Month, the groups will host an anti-blackness panel discussion on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in CC 1140.

Young Entrepreneurs’ Conference heads to “the 6” UTM’s Digital Enterprise Management Society hosted their YEC annual conference at MaRS SAMINA SULTANA The Digital Enterprise Management Society relocated its annual Young Entrepreneurs’ Conference from UTM to the MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto to celebrate its fifth year earlier this month.

The sold-out event, hosted on February 6, featured several companies and organizations, including Robert Half Technology, OneMethod, Buzzfeed, Amazon, ASUS Canada, Deloitte Digital Canada, and IBM, as well as UTM’s I-CUBE. The MaRS Discovery District is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs expand their innovative businesses.

“The focus of this year was to bring YEC to all students, instead of just UTM students,” said YEC chair Yu Qi Sun, who hopes the event next year is even bigger.

During the IBM Case Challenge, three groups proposed an idea for an app that would use services from IBM Bluemix, the latest cloud platform from IBM. Groups presented ideas suggesting a real-time messaging system for the company Lumicison, a security system called Sherlock Securities Inc. to ensure added safety when storing one’s documents, and an app that can help one determine the correct fit and appearance for clothes when shopping, called PerfectFIT. Lanny Geffen, VP director of strategy and user experience from OneMethod, spoke about the world’s need for designers and was one of many who talked about data in communications and technology.

“The user of design is not you. We use the designer’s sensibility to design for the customer’s need,” said Geffen.

“Learn from what’s already out there.

Data may make a design good, but it will never make a bad design good.”

Graham Churchill, Bluemix Leader at IBM Canada, also spoke about the importance of data and innovation in the economy.

“Data is the raw material that will drive the economy,” said Churchill.

“It is reinventing the manufacturing, automobiles, and energy industries.”

ICCIT Council president Ray Khan also hosted a panel discussing entrepreneurship with Laurie DillonSchalk, VP of strategy and insights at Fuse Marketing Group; Niles Lawrence, the CEO of VURU; and Amanda Lynne Ballard, founder and producer of anicca studios.

“You never know where opportunities will come,” said Ballard. “Always say yes first and fake it till you make it. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, you’ll figure out how to do it.”

FACEBOOK.COM/YOUNGENTREPRENEURSCONFERENCE/PHOTO

The Young Entrepreneurs’ Conference is in its fifth year.

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02.22.2016

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In defence of Roosh V By denying a person freedom of expression, we condemn them of wrongthink Dear Editor, As the Superbowl drew near earlier this month, another event was drumming up a lot of media attention. It came to pass that immense powers of the Internet were used to intimidate Roosh V (Daryush Valizadeh) into cancelling his talks and meetings in the interest of the safety and privacy of his patrons.

I’d like to thank you for making it this far. You’ve read past the headline, which is a lot more than those touting that Roosh is a “violent, rapeadvocating misogynist” can say for themselves.

Let me first say that while I disagree with Roosh, I oppose the threats of violence made in an effort to have him cancel his meetings. It is ironic that while it is claimed Roosh promulgates violence towards women, and even advocates rape, there exists a silent acceptance of threats of violence made against him and his patrons.

Savoy Howe, owner and head coach of Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club, made her position on this matter explicitly clear, and was quoted by the Huffington Post, saying, “We would show up wearing boxing gloves and take it from there,” and was said to be receiving support from many other women. While Howe does herself the service of claiming to not be inciting violence—make of her quote what you will—it is clear that her opposition to Roosh falls within the general public consensus.

Roosh V is a self-published pick-up artist and self-appointed leader of the neo-masculinist movement, which blends traditional conservative values (gender roles, male providers, value of chastity, and so on and so on) with a modern “red pill” understanding of the world. The red pill, an obvious reference to The Matrix film franchise, is a popular term in the domain of the internet known as the “manosphere”, the collective of MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way), the MHRM (Men’s Human Rights Movement), and the PUA (Pick-Up Artists). The red pill serves as a metaphor for what the manosphere describes as an understanding of the true nature of women and men, claiming especially that men are treated as simple utilities by society and that one must become aware of this in order to break free of servitude.

Belonging to these movements or holding these concepts in and of themselves isn’t enough to get you branded a violent rape-advocate.

Cue “How to Stop Rape” (published Feb 16, 2015 on his blog). What begins as a tongue-in-cheek jab at third wave feminism quickly takes a dark turn at the phrase, “Make rape legal if done on private property.” From this point on, the reader is asked to ponder whether permitting legal rape on private property may reduce the

incidence of “criminal” rape. While intended as satire, the response has been anything but appreciating.

Through this extraordinary thought experiment, Roosh condemned himself to be misrepresented by those who took the piece at face value.

It’s easy to see why some might jump to label Roosh pro-rape, as that is the understanding one may reach without reading the piece oneself. As previously stated, “How to Stop Rape” is written as a hyperbolic thought experiment, a jab at those feminists who claim that women cannot be held responsible for their sexual actions while under the influence of intoxicating agents—as promulgated in such ideological advertisement pieces as the anti-rape poster from Coastal Carolina University. The text of the poster read: “Jake was Drunk. Josie was drunk.

Jake and Josie hooked up. Josie could not consent. The next day Jake was charged with rape. A woman who is intoxicated cannot give her legal consent for sex, so proceeding under these circumstances is a crime.”

It is both immoral and loathsomely lazy to bully people out of platforms they have been invited to speak on.

While it can certainly be said that there exists a distinct difference between mass public disapproval of an idea and outright (government) censorship, the line becomes hazy when we consider the tactics being used.

With reciprocal threats of doxing, as well as threats of violence from Roosh’s opponents, defamation is almost the least of his worries at this point. While the right to express these opinions and thoughts ought to all be protected through freedom of expression, we must ask ourselves if perhaps our overzealous tweets of outrage are doing more harm than good to public discourse. After all, the law is only concerned when criminal activity becomes involved, but social media is much younger, and its power over discussion appears to be much greater.

In his blog post, Roosh initially mocks the concept that a woman can lack agency in the bedroom while under the influence, yet be treated as a culpable agent if she were to drive under the influence. In both cases, an intoxicated woman’s agency seems to lie solely with the nature of the act committed.

“I learned that if a man and a woman both drink at a party and have sex, she was in all likelihood raped since she could not give full legal consent.

This made me confused because a

woman who drinks and has sex is not responsible for her actions, but if that same woman gets into a car and drives it into someone else, causing a loss of life, she would be prosecuted and sent to jail. I couldn’t find an explanation for this inconsistency,” reads the post.

The tone of the piece dramatically changes at the pivotal moment when Roosh boldly writes, “Make rape legal if done on private property. I propose that we make the violent taking of a woman not punishable by law when done off public grounds.”

The readers almost immediately ask themselves, “Is he serious? Who says that?” All of which are answered when his tongue-in-cheek remarks intensify with the absurdity of the proposition. In using this tool, Roosh stands in direct opposition to the feminist theory of Rape Culture. The thesis of his piece is that women are not being treated as equals to men, but rather as friends of the court, and that we should be “empowering women to make adult decisions about their bodies” when making the conscious decision to intoxicate themselves.

This is how Roosh garnered his title as a rape-apologist, a label graciously spewed by those who feed on manufactured outrage. Those like Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa, who tweeted to Roosh: “@ReturnofKings Your pro-rape, misogynistic, homophobic garbage is not welcome in Ottawa. #its2016 #TurnAwayReturnOfKings”. Or claims as admitting that he wouldn’t be surprised if one day an American fan of his might commit a mass shooting implies that Roosh believes his followers to be violent radicals (reported on by We Hunted the Mammoth). It all makes you wonder if anyone still understands what constitutes defamation.

So why am I choosing to play the devil’s advocate pro bono for Roosh V? It’s certainly atypical for controversial people to receive support from their adversaries, especially when the general consensus stands in such stark opposition to them. Why not join the mob defaming him on social media while simultaneously giving his websites more traffic than usual?

While I don’t agree with his message, I can appreciate Roosh’s ability to sew hyperbolic opinions into thought experiments alongside jabs at those who trivialize rape. Most importantly perhaps, I argue that it is both immoral and loathsomely lazy to bully people out of platforms they have been invited to speak on, or have orchestrated for their own members to congregate.

Roosh V is a businessman wishing to organize events for consumers of his material. He is just as entitled to express his ideas and opinions as I am to show up and suggest they’re trash, for a variety of reasons. When the mob denies him the ability to express himself, they are violating

his freedom of expression as a human being—and condemning him of wrongthink. It’s 2016, after all, as is the favourite quote of those vehement supporters of Trudeau. Social media hate-mobs spring up as often as daisies whenever a story of alleged bigotry surfaces. However, regardless of political alignment, I argue it is wrong to shame these discussions and dissenting opinions into hiding.

By advocating no-platforming Change.org petitions, one is simultaneously advocating for their own censor by the powers that be—as the tools you use to silence your enemies will be those used to silence you. With these petitions, the court of public opinion becomes a tyrannical mob gang which abuses mass media to regiment acceptable thought.

Worse, these social media coups act as a means to preemptively shut down discussions, requiring minimal time investment, or an “inconveniencing” protest. These illiberal progressives often lack the gall to protest such meetups in person, opting instead to threaten violence and shame their opponents! What is perhaps the most disheartening is the role the mainstream media have played in these events: blasting Roosh and his fandom as a violent, misogynist rapegang, making it necessary for Return of Kings to issue an official set of Attendance Guidelines for their International Meetup that was scheduled for February 6. I strongly encourage anyone with a genuine interest in understanding all sides of this controversy to do the legwork and read up, regardless of how unsavoury the content may be.

Furthermore, the doublethink displayed by those who oppose violence against women while simultaneously wishing violence on their opponents is truly a sight to behold. It is, in my opinion, abhorrently loathsome to sit behind a keyboard and spew such vitriol. Vanished is the respect for one’s fellow. In its stead stands a set of terms of agreement one must submit to in order to garner social acceptance. While I support every person’s right to say what they will, be it in agreement with me or not, I would hope that our society may instead grow fond of vigorous debate. It is far more enjoyable, respectful, and fair to all parties than the outright burying of dissenting opinions under heaps of hate.

With that, I conclude my tirade against those who would see us live under such an Orwellian system; where our desire to share and express our thoughts with our fellow Homo sapiens is in and of itself, an act of rebellion.

Philp Rolo 2nd year Chemical & Physical Sciences

02.22.2016

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Onstage hullaballoo walks the plank Theatre Erindale actors get a literal playdate with one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies ANDREEA MIHAI STAFF WRITER KATE CATTELL-DANIELS A&E EDITOR The opening of Theatre Erindale’s Comedy of Errors, written by William Shakespeare and directed by David Matheson, uses projections to create a world. Waves whoosh and seagulls caw in the background, greeting the opening scene with an energetic group of pirates. Elderly Syracusan merchant Egeon (Zane O’Connor) is about to walk the plank.

So begins Shakespeare’s comedy about mistaken identity. Things are about to get pretty darn confusing.

Egeon manages to save his life by telling the Duke (Alessa Dufresne) about how he lost both his happiness and half his family on a stormy voyage. Here’s how it works: Egeon and his wife have twin sons. Egeon purchased another set of twins to be his twins’ servants.

Sadly, everyone becomes separated in a shipwreck: Egeon ends up with one of each twin, and the other pair are also together (but separated from the other two, if that makes sense). The mother is lost completely. As if this isn’t enough, both of Egeon’s sons wind up being named Antipholus (though

JIM SMAGATA/PHOTO

The Comedy of Errors: the first installment in the Blackfriars Project Egeon doesn’t know this yet) and both the servants are called Dromio. As Egeon tells the Duke, he has come to Ephesus in search of his son Antipholus and his slave Dromio, the two he needs to complete the family set.

In the next scene, the audience meets Antipholus of Syracuse (John Wamesly) and his slave Dromio of Syracuse (Gregory Guzik) who have just arrived in Ephesus. The confusion of the play begins as the characters of

Syracuse get as mixed up as possible in the lives of their twins, Antipholus of Ephesus (Jonathan Muench) and Dromio of Ephesus (Thinh Nugyen).

Matheson writes that the production team imagined the boys from Syracuse as early Christian missionaries and Ephesus as a pirate cove, but despite the fundamental differences in background, both of the Antipholuses and Dromios wear similar clothing, further adding to the reasons no one

can tell them apart.

The play becomes even more complicated when the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, the fiery Adriana (Rachel Vanduzer) comes to fetch her husband for dinner. Of course, she gets the wrong man, and her real husband, Antipholus of Ephesus, and Dromio of Ephesus arrive home to find themselves locked out.

Matheson’s Comedy of Errors is highly dependent on physical comedy.

The truth is that with all the confusion and on-and-off movement, slapstick is a hard thing to fight. From start to finish, the show is full of mirror sequences, (funny) beatings, swordplay, more beatings, and general hullaballoo.

But the fact that the cast pulls off this kind of comedy proves just how wellrehearsed they are.

In a film version of Comedy of Errors, it would be nearly impossible to cast two sets of twins that did not look identical. But on stage, one of the most refreshing elements is that as long as you explain to the audience what is going on, the twins don’t really have to look alike. What both pairs in this production do have is comparable energies.

Matheson’s choice to use projectors and soundtracks to set the scenes is seamless. The scenes shift from ship to marketplace without requiring huge set changes. The most memorable is a monologue Dromio of Ephesus delivers, where the projector screen colours become unnatural greens and blues.

The other characters on stage move in slow motion as Dromio speaks. Then the projectors shift and the characters resume their actions at full speed.

Comedy of Errors runs again on Sunday, February 28, at 7:30pm.

Make ’em laugh: the ins and outs of farce Director Cory Doran discusses how to make Hart House’s biggest barrel of laughs this season take off KATE CATTELL-DANIELS A&E EDITOR Hart House is about to open its final show of the season, the farce Boeing Boeing written by Marc Camoletti and translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. Director and TDS grad Cory Doran sits down with The Medium to talk about the upcoming production.

The Medium: What do you like about Boeing Boeing as a play?

Cory Doran: It is hilarious. It is absolutely hilarious. With a farce, you get to throw a lot of the conventions away and just jump right on in and see how far you can go. Technically it’s a really difficult show to put up as well, because it’s really easy to play into stereotypes.

When you play into stereotypes, you don’t have really grounded characters, and I think that we have avoided that pitfall. The trick with a farce is that it starts in a grounded reality. So it’s a real world, real people, and then the definition of a farce is that there is a series of extraordinary events. Things spiral into chaos. I equate chaos to absurd. The concept of absurdism tends to relate to actors a little bit more.

TM: Is there anything in this play that has challenged or frustrated you?

HART HOUSE/PHOTO

Doran has directed previous plays for Hart House Theatre.

CD: Frustrated? No. Challenged?

Yeah. It’s challenging to block a show where there are that many entrances and exits and the rapidity at which it happens. You want it to look absolutely natural. It’s a bit like taking a giant puzzle and then reassembling parts of it on another table.

TM: What’s the most important skill a director can have?

CD: Having a strong artistic vi-

sion for the show. But I also think you have to be supportive of your actors.

The actor is the one who has to be up onstage. And you have to be able to support them to the point where they are confident and can go, “Yep, I understand this character, I understand the play, I understand why I am doing everything,” so that when they go up there it is real to them and they can just be in the moment and not think

about why they have to be there.

TM: Do you think that directors are born or made?

CD: There aren’t too many schools for directing. There are a million and one acting schools out there, and there are wonderful design schools, but there are so few actual mentorship positions when it comes to directing.

And when it comes to the professional companies that are out there, for most

of them you have to have one heck of an incredible resume to get in, so it’s a catch-22. The person who’s going to go apprentice for you is the person who already has two Dora nominations. It’s really hard to get directors to talk to each other as well, about technique.

Because everyone has their own style and also all are inherently insecure in that it’s the wrong style entirely because you have no comparative.

TM: What about actors? Born or made?

CD: Born. You can’t make someone thrust themselves into the centre of the limelight and expose themselves to such barbs and criticism unless they were just born that way. Often people will say, “Oh, I just fell into acting.”

That’s like saying that you found an opportunity to let loose and thought, “I really like that.”

Directors don’t get the same glory. If it’s a good show, the actors were fabulous. If it was a bad show, the director sucked. Unless it’s some incredibly inventive and new style, it’s often that the director gets forgotten as part of the set. It’s impossible to distinguish the director’s touch from the overall show.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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THE MEDIUM 02.22.2016

More than just a goat Audiences have to make their own decisions in The Witch RIAUD ABDUL “Well, I have no idea what to say about that.”

Through applause, this was one of the comments that could be heard after the intense viewing that was The Witch. It’s definitely an accurate sentiment regarding the movie, as it truly does leave a viewer speechless.

The Witch follows the life of a puritan family living in solitude in the wilderness. The youngest child mysteriously vanishes under the watch of the eldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), and the family must deal with the emotional rollercoaster associated with the loss of a child as well as the undertones of what may be sinister forces.

Watching this movie will remind anyone of the events of the Salem Witch Trials. The characters exhibit the typical characteristics of the puritan witch-hating society depicted in past works, such as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The family is devout in terms of their religious beliefs and are hardworking. They, especially the children, also believe in the idea of the paranormal.

Due to preconceived notions regarding the infamous witch trials, audiences may be conditioned to question the validity

of the paranormal type of evil in this movie. There is a great deal of symbolism in the form of animals such as the goat, which is seen as an evil life form and associated with witchcraft. At times, it can be difficult for the viewer to decipher whether the goat is just a goat, or is actually engaging in actions detrimental to the family. In this sense, I believe that the movie recreates the same con-

Audiences may be conditioned to question the validity of the paranormal type of evil in this movie. fusion that could very well have plagued puritan society at the time. Bearing this in mind, the viewer spends the majority of the movie not knowing much more than the family does. When we see things out of the ordinary, it is through the lens of a family member, so once again the validity of the information is in question.

It’s safe to say that The Witch is not your typical horror movie. If someone is looking for the quick and easy jump scare, it will not be found here. This movie is more

about the decline of a family’s stability. The plot moves slowly and the environment is eerie. The tension builds, and an individual may experience more wonder than fear (though the language is old-timey English, and you may even sit there trying to decipher what the characters are saying).

This sense of awe holds out until the final moments of the movie, where you’ll still be wondering what the hell is going on. Part of this has to do with there being no introduction to the mythology used. Symbolisms such as the crow, the hare, and the goat are things that one would have to research in order to discover their significance.

Speechless and confused are definitely applicable terms for my response to the film, but I mean that in a good way. Sometimes it is preferable not to be served information on a silver platter, especially in a horror movie. So many other films follow formulaic plot lines and it can be easy to predict plot, characters—hell, sometimes even the script. The Witch is none of that. There is nothing to predict. The audience will have their gore, their monsters, and evil beings, but more importantly, will be left with a sense of wonder.

MMM

02.22.2016 THE MEDIUM ARTS» 7

U of T colleges face off at Drama Fest HAILEY MASON ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR From February 10 to 14, Hart House Theatre and the U of T Drama Coalition hosted the U of T Drama Festival. The festival, which celebrates its 24th anniversary this year, showcased original one-act plays written, directed, and performed by students.

The first night featured two plays. The Map, put on by the Trinity College Drama Society, was written by Nicole Lanthier-Rogers and directed by Angie Salomon. In Memorial, by the St. Michael’s College Troubadours, was written

by Shak Haq and directed by David Carcasole.

This year’s festival adjudicator was Maev Beaty, an alumna of U of T and the U of T Drama Festival. When the curtains closed on the final act of the night, Beaty offered a brief public adjudication to the audience and participants of each play.

The Map was the first, and arguably the best, show of the night. The story follows siblings Jemma Lewis (Eileanor O’Halloran) and Archie Lewis (James Hyett) as they sail away from London in a small motorboat, equipped with nothing but a talking map they made as kids. As they follow the map’s cryptic directions, they encounter sheep herder Bernard Douglas (Nawi Moreno-Valverde) and with his help arrive at a remote island. Throughout the journey, Archie encourages Jemma to open up about their mother’s death and the bookshop she left behind.

While the play deals with serious subjects such as death and family relationships, the characters bring a comedic element through dialogue and actions—particularly Antong Xu’s depiction of Billy, in which he dresses as a goat and gallops around stage terrorizing the siblings. The Map is a unique, quirky play that seamlessly combines topics of family, love, humour, and magic.

ANTON MYKYTENKO

On Friday night, Hart House Theatre took on three more performances: Useless Superhero Support Group by the Victoria College Drama Society, Eternal Return by the St. Michael’s College Troubadours, and Letting Go by our very own UTM Drama Club.

My expectations were set high with the comedic potential that Useless Superhero Support Group implied. But the powers in the play weren’t funny. There was one joke involving a character who can see through paper being traumatized from not being able to play Roll Up the Rim. And then it was never brought up again.

The plot revolved around a group of people who gained superpowers from a secret experiment and their need to avoid using them.

Contrary to the name of the play, some superpowers are not useless at all. Deacon (Aaron Philipp-Muller) for example, has the ability to switch bodies with other people.

The only part of the play that made me laugh was when Ultraman (Frederick Gietz)—a character hated by the entire group—entered the room in his red and gold costume. While the rest of the group wrestled with Valerie for a gun, Ultraman spoke about his accomplishments. He turned from his coffee and donuts to see the group hugging, which turned back to wrestling once Ultraman was occupied.

Despite the unfunny slapstick and the plotholes, the performance was technically well done. The situational irony from the scene with Ultraman redeemed the play as best it could.

It ended with a shrug from Ultraman: my thoughts exactly.

The next play to take the stage was Eternal Return.

The play follows a group of U of T students as they do their best to fit into their social roles.

Sidney (Cassandra Gosselin), Fred (Joanna Decc), and JP (Stephen Lubin) are invited to

In her adjudication, Beaty praised the performance as an excellent introduction to the Drama Festival. Beaty also complimented the believability of the play’s characters. She admired the authentic brother-sister dynamic between Jemma and Archie, the strong support given by Bernard, and the comedic relief in Billy’s character.

The second show of the evening was In Memorial. As a script in progress, this performance included finished scenes alongside monologues that narrate the unscripted scenes.

Given this information beforehand, I was uncertain about what to expect with In Memorial.

While the acting and direction were well executed, the storyline is definitely more convoluted than that of The Map. The opening scene begins “in media res” and it’s not until the middle of the play that things begin to make sense.

The story involves two people coming together at the death of their mutual companion, Jake (Ryan Falconer). However, Jake’s relationship with Kate (Rachel Hart) and RJ (Conrad McLaren) is complicated: Jake and RJ were a couple until Jake leaves RJ to honourably marry his friend Kate, whose fiancé abandoned her during her pregnancy. When Kate and RJ meet prior to Jake’s funeral, the performance switches in and out of scenes in the past to describe the present situation.

She praised the complexity of In Memorial’s themes and subject matter. She also remarked on how the bleak music at the start and finish of the play complements the atmosphere. Yet while Beaty commended the play for its intricate storyline, she noted that it might have been too much of an undertaking. Also, for a story involving so much passion and emotion, Beaty felt that there was distance between the characters. She advised the cast and creative to create more connections between actors, so as to make the emotions in the play more impactful. a frat party by Simon (Ezera Beyene). Sidney is convinced that Simon has his eyes on her, but things don’t go her way. The play culminates with JP and Simon kissing on the edge of the stage. Sidney is then whisked away to the library by Sean (Daniele Monticelli), Fred’s stoner roommate, with promises of Freudian teachings.

My only problems were with the set. The characters file into a frat party, but there’s no actual party, and the atmosphere takes a huge blow.

Eternal Return breaks conventional ideas of student stereotypes and provides subtle observation into how old thoughts still play a role in young minds.

Lastly, the UTM Drama Club performed Letting Go, a play that physically personifies an abandoned child’s insecurities about her father.

The play focuses on Kyle Prowler (Emily Clarke) and his vivid hallucinations of his absent father, Mike Prowler (Jake Settle). Kyle attempts to control his anxiety by writing in a journal. But an apparition of Mike appears in a black turtleneck to whisper insecurities into Kyle’s ears. From then on, Mike’s ghost causes Kyle to rip pages from his journal, insult his mom, and isolate himself. Luckily, Kyle’s friend Natalie (Lucy Morgan) helps Kyle understand the importance of being who he is.

I more than once found myself entranced in the emotional performance of the dialogue.

There were moments when the characters all turned or spoke at exactly the same time, which was highly effective and absolutely flawless.

The minimalist set consists of two boxes. These boxes were multi-purpose, used to portray a bedroom and a park and were transported around during Kyle’s hallucinations for effect.

The play drags on a little near the end. Instead of immediately being banished, Mike is carried and choreographically transported around the stage until he is finally removed after a monologue from Kyle. Regardless, it was an empowering performance.

MARIA CRUZ MANAGING EDITOR Thursday brought three more plays, beginning with Our Cake to Eat, a production performed

by Woodsworth Innis New Drama Society, written by Dennis Tuyishime and directed

by Thierry Mubirigi. I can understand where the play wanted to go in terms of plot: a larger, more powerful kingdom is looking to expand their fortune at the cost of a smaller village.

The larger kingdom, Mukhasa, has a Queen (Sakshi Khanna) ruling the land, which is unheard of in the smaller village of Wangapi.

Despite the Queen’s power, she is constantly challenged by those around her. In the end, the women in both villages find their voices and power over the men who think them too weak to rule. Too much of the play was implied, such as the sudden power of Zalika (Antonia Mappin-Kasirer). Throughout, she had been a quiet, abused girl in the village who had no voice. Then, all of a sudden, she had the courage to stand up for what she believed in, but the audience wasn’t shown this transition from a shy girl to a courageous one.

There were immediate line stumbles from the Queen, who also had the tendency to emphasize her lines with shouting. At times, though, she was far too quiet and I had trouble hearing her despite being in the third row. As for Mappin-Kasirer, despite her occasional stumbling, she was a fine performer in the role of her village’s heroine. Two of the best performances were Mama Zalika (Elizabeth Njambi) and Balozi (Yvon Ngabo), the king’s right-hand man, who were both rich characters.

Beaty applauded the play as being one that focused on the cost of privilege, calling the themes “simple political ideas with reverence”.

Second was Saltwater Forests, performed by the UC Follies. Written by Nawi MorenoValverde and directed by Isaac Lloyd, the play KATE CATTELL-DANIELS A&E EDITOR The final night wrapped up with two plays by the Woodsworth Innis New Drama Society.

Both shows varied greatly in terms of subject matter and execution.

Pan’s Theatre, written by Naseem Reesha and directed by Melissa Anne Fearon, followed the supernatural Pan (Veronika Ressina), who in explicit meta-theatrical style “directs” the narrative of the play. Inside of Pan’s orchestrations, the play is about a young man who is sitting in a restaurant with a female friend. They are waiting for his girlfriend and another mutual friend (also male) to show up. The two missing friends are late because they are together having an enthusiastic make-out session. Then, Pan interrupts the actors to explain that because the cheating comes to light too early, the play is now over. Pan opens the curtains and exposes that the narrative was not a part of the characters’ lives. Since the plot has reached its climax, they should each leave through the curtain and, implicitly, die.

I have a few problems with this show. The first is that I don’t know anybody’s name except for Pan. It’s not that the characters’ and actors’ names aren’t listed in the program—they are— but since the characters don’t use each other’s names when they speak, there is no way to put the two together. The second is that the writing has an old-English-gentleman style that feels out of place in a contemporary play. This does absolutely no favours to the actors, who already have a pretty thin plot to work with.

Before the characters go through the curtain, they each, one by one, have a breakdown where suddenly everyone questions the meaning of life, finds nothing… and exits upstage. Now don’t get me wrong—you can have a breakdown. But you have to earn it. No one in this play earned their breakdown because there was no cause for it. However, I commend the actors on working with what they were given.

centres around two young girls who “try to recreate memories of their late mother with the help of a committed actress and a lost child”.

The first thing I took away from this play was how strong the acting was. Leads Joanna Decc and Dorcas Chiu were sublime. Each succeeded in delivering their characters’ quirks without overacting. Mansoor Elahi, who played the girl’s father, and Marium Raja, who played the “dedicated actress”, were also great additions. The company worked beautifully as an ensemble.

That said, the plot was confusing. Constant metaphors and chronological mismatch made it difficult to follow the plot. I was unsure if I was supposed to make my own conclusions or if I had simply missed the point of the play.

Beaty commented on the constant use of metaphors, applauding the layering of metaphorical exploration. She also complimented the actors on their ability to be subtle and delicate while performing.

The final play, What She Said, put on by UC Follies and Twenty-Two Troubles Theatre, was a collective piece curated and directed by Sophie Munden, Carmen Kruk, and Madeleine Heaven. Five very talented actresses (Aba Amuquandoh, Theresa Gerrow, Olivia Nicoloff, Claire Renaud, and Cassidy Sadler) had the task of performing verbatim theatre. Each actress donned a pair of headphones and delivered answers to questions given by five women.

Topics ranged from threesomes and a hatred of one’s nose to sexual assault.

The play succeeded in playing with the audience’s emotions. One story focused on the role of the third person during a threesome and how they really have no place. The comic relief offered by this story was interwoven with heavier topics, which brought together each story on equal ground. What She Said was the only play of the evening to receive a standing ovation.

Nonetheless, the one thing that really stood out to me was Ressina’s performance. She is completely innocent, yet holds a great deal of responsibility. Her character is deep and complex.

Transitions is about a university student (Noa Katz) who arrives in Toronto as Victoria and, over the next two years, starts to transition into Victor. He returns home and has to deal with his family’s coming to terms with their daughter’s changing identity.

I felt that this production was a little pressed for time. Transitions deserves to be expanded to show the whole story and not be obliged to tell it. Katz did a remarkable job handling the confessional monologue style of the piece, but with 90 minutes of performance time, these monologues could be developed into scenes that really let the audience into the meat of the issue.

Beaty had high praise for both shows. Beaty said that Transitions found her “continually surprised, delighted, and impressed”, and she complimented Katz’s “generosity of spirit”. She also noted that there was room for more depth in the parents’ characters, that instead of each one taking a side for or against Victor’s transition, they share a mixture of both opinions.

Beaty said that Pan’s Theatre successfully established another world and that each actor gave a “unique and personal” performance.

She added, “I really appreciated the make-out.

It was nice to see some heat”, using the point to discuss how the theatre cannot be afraid of anything.

Beaty then announced the winners of the Audience Choice awards, with one play for each night of the festival. The winners were The Map, What She Said, Letting Go, and Transitions.

Then Beaty announced the other award categories and their winners: the award for Technical Achievement went to What She Said; Best Performance to Joanna Decc; Best Director to Dorcas Chiu; Playwriting to Saltwater Forests; and Best Production to What She Said.

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02.22.2016

Reading? How about volunteering?

The annual Alternative Reading Week returns with approximately 300 student participants CHRISTINE SHARMA Alternative Reading Week is an annual tri-campus initiative run by the Department of Student Life, which took place this year from February 16 to 18.

Approximately 300 UTM students applied to volunteer with about 30 campus partners in various areas of the community such as children and youth, food projects, sustainability, and physical community development. Some of the organizations that took volunteers included Big Brothers Big Sisters, Volunteer MBC, United Way of Peel, Studio 89, Peel Aboriginal Network, Newcomer Centre of Peel, and Ecosource.

Alysha Ferguson, a student development officer in UTM’s student life programs who entered her role in January, has been impressed with the turnout this year and the effort her Community Engagement team has put into the project.

“On my end I’ve been very lucky.

The ARW team has been unreal in the amount that they’ve been planning,” said Ferguson, who has mainly been in charge of logistics and communications for the event.

“Our volunteer training session was filled to the brim, and that was such a great problem to have because it means that students really want to

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

This annual initiative encourages students to volunteer for three days during Reading Week. do this. And the fact that they’ve stayed on means they’re going to go out into the community and make an awesome impact, which is amazing to see,” Ferguson said.

In terms of the individuals involved in this initiative, Ferguson headed a team of community engagement ambassadors who oversaw individual project leaders, who in turn coordinated the volunteers for each community partner.

Kanupria Seth, a second-year biomedical physics specialist and statistics minor, is a project leader this year and is working with Safe City Mississauga. Seth has been involved with ARW for the last two years, having worked as a volunteer last year.

“We are working on research and development for the content of websites for two campaigns: the White Ribbon campaign, which supports

awareness for Violence against Women, and the Future Grad campaign, which encourages high school students to graduate and not drop out,” Seth described. Her team includes three volunteers and one other project leaders.

As a project leader, Seth described her role as “coordinating with the organization, planning the day and transport, and ensuring the volunteers are involved and happy about

working”, along with facilitating discussion and ensuring a positive volunteer experience for each of her team members.

Fatima Alvi, a second-year biology specialist and project leader, led a team of 24 volunteers through the week. Alvi and her team participated in a mental health initiative at New College at the St. George campus, in which they committed to three different art projects to raise awareness and start conversations about mental health and stigma. Volunteers participated in making ‘zines, painting, and spoken word.

“All the people on my team were really excited. After listening to the presentations on the first day and going through a full day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., they realized how meaningful this initiative was. We connected really well and it was a genuinely safe space. To me, that’s great because as a project leader, you want your team to be happy,” said Alvi. “I was like the link between UTM Student Life and the participants. I was there as a leader, mentor, friend, or whatever they needed me for.” Alvi has also been involved with ARW for two years, as a volunteer last year and now as a project leader.

ARW continued on page 9

Lost at sea: the search for HMS Erebus An underwater archaeologist and his team discover a 150-year-old wreck through sonar images SAIMA KHAN Over 150 years ago, Sir John Franklin set out to search for the Northwest Passageway. He led a team of 149 crewmen to facilitate the expedition, which soon saw its tragic demise off the coast of King William Island, in Canada. The ship and its crew vanished, leading to several rescue investigations in the future.

In September 2014, Jonathan Moore, an underwater archaeologist working alongside Parks Canada, brought closure to the search for HMS Erebus. Moore visited UTM last Tuesday afternoon to discuss his discovery of the lost ship.

According to Moore, in 1845, Franklin set out with two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, from England to discover the Northwest Passage—a route connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

For those who have forgotten high school history, Franklin’s expedition is one of the greatest

THEGUARDIAN.COM/SCIENCE/PHOTO

Sir John Franklin, crew, and the two ships (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror) all vanished 150 years ago. losses of British-Canadian history.

Despite several search efforts, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were nowhere to be located in the glacial areas of the arctic.

With help from Inuit records, researchers have been trying to solve

the mystery behind the sinking of HMS Erebus. According to the local Inuit community, a ship—believed to be HMS Erebus—was discovered by an Inuit fisherman. When the Inuit returned to the site, the ship had been abandoned by its inhab-

itants. The Inuit began salvaging the ship but did not have a chance to complete their work, as the ship had drifted away.

In the fall of 2014, after the receding of glacial formations, an aerial photograph spotted remains

at a spot close to where HMS Erebus was last seen by the Inuit community. Upon comparing the remains to features present on floorplan drawings of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the search team, including Moore, believed that they were looking at the remains of one of the two ships. They then proceeded to carry out a further underground investigation of the area.

HMS Erebus was originally designed to serve as a bomb vessel.

“It was the space shuttle of the day […] carrying three years’ worth of provisions,” Moore commented, explaining that the ship carried the latest technology of its time.

Sonar imagery then revealed that a wreck was present south of where the remains were discovered. As the image became clearer, Moore and his colleagues were elated and the two were able to positively identify the pile of metal engulfed in vegetation as belonging to the lost HMS Erebus.

Wreck continued on page 9

02.22.2016 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 9

Panels, speakers, and more The UTM Leadership Conference returned for a second year

Despite my various to-do lists and men-

Cattell-Daniels is a 2015 theatre and

tal promise to reread Game of Thrones,

drama studies graduate, and is currently

Reading Week has once again managed to

pursuing a Masters in Library and Informa-

pass in the blink of an eye. It’s now Sunday

tion Science. This week, she’s provided her

night, and between trying to find everything

recipe for a French toast sandwich—or, in

I need for Monday’s classes and meeting

her words, “how to pack protein in Tupper-

procrastinated deadlines, I also have to

ware”.

pack a filling and semi-healthy lunch. Luck-

While I’ve never heard nor tried the sand-

ily, our arts editor, Kate Cattell-Daniels, has

wich version of the appetizer, I’m willing to

just the recipe.

give it a try.

French Toast Sandwich SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS • ½ cup milk

tear the bread.

3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on high

• 1 tsp olive oil

heat. (The pan will be hot enough when

• 1 cup baby spinach, kale, or collard

drops of water sizzle immediately on

greens • 2 eggs • 2 slices whole wheat bread • Salt and pepper to taste • Cheese (The author prefers mozzarella

contact.)

4. In a second pot, bring the spinach and ½ cup of water to a boil. Cook until tender.

5. Carefully place bread slices into the hot

cheese, recommends Swiss or cheddar,

frying pan. Pour excess egg mixture over

but refuses to taint this recipe with Kraft

the bread. Turn down the heat. Cook

singles.)

until golden brown, then flip. The French toast is done when no egg mixture pours

METHOD 1. Crack eggs into a shallow bowl or pie tray. Add milk and beat with a fork until combined.

2. Put slices of bread (one at a time or both, depending on the size of your bowl) into the egg mixture. When both bread slices has soaked up about half

from a small hole made in the centre of

cheese slices on top. Over the cheese, spread cooked and drained spinach evenly. Place the second slice of toast over the spinach.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

ARW returns again James Tinamisan, a third-year accounting specialist, was a volunteer this year. He was part of a team of 33 volunteers at Studio 89, the local non-profit fair trade cafe and youthfriendly workshop space, helping with event creation and marketing for the space.

“I was part of the video creation team, which is very exciting because I have little experience with creating

videos,” said Tinamisan on his involvement. “Studio 89 also promotes global change and awareness, which is something I believe to be important in the lives of the youth of today.”

ARW is a space for UTM students to get involved in their community and have a unique reading week experience. All participants receive notations on their co-curricular record for being involved.

The search is still on for HMS Terror Wreck continued from page 8 The team dove 14 times—a total of 12 hours beneath the water—to discover that the boat was completely intact with weapons, tables, plates, and bed frames, with an extra addition of heavy reef growth.

Moore recalls that his “eyes pretty much popped out of [his] head underwater” as he retrieved a bell from the exterior of the ship.

Moore recalls that his “eyes pretty much popped out of [his] head underwater” as he retrieved a bell on the exterior of the ship dated to 1845.

This was the moment that set his

ANDREEA MIHAI STAFF WRITER

the slice.

6. Take out one slice of toast and place

the egg mixture, flip carefully. Do not

ARW continued from page 8

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

The UTM Leadership Conference returned last Saturday in the Innovation Complex rotunda.

doubts to rest.

Moore believes that well-preserved features such as letters will provide insight into the nature of the abandonment of the ship. A letter written in 1859 on King William Island indicated that the ship and crew were travelling until 1846, when the ship was captured by ice. Franklin died a year later and the crew abandoned the ship in 1848.

It’s clear that there are still gaps in this tale: how did the ship drift southwards before sinking? What caused the ship to sink? Was anyone on the ship at the time of sinking? Did Inuit people rework the tools and weapons found on the ship?

Moore and his team are looking forward to answering these questions, increasing public awareness of HMS Erebus, and organizing the search for HMS Terror, which began its journey with HMS Erebus.

On February 6, Student Life hosted the UTM Leadership Conference: Exploring the Power of Connections in the Innovation Complex rotunda.

The conference featured workshops on social media, habits of successful people, crowdsourcing, a keynote speech by Hazel McCallion, and a panel, and ended with a networking session.

The Medium rounded up the highlights of the conference.

SOCIAL MEDIA Kate McGartland, director of student support services at Pearson North America, gave a workshop on social media, and emphasized the importance of thinking of social media as a tool and social networking as an act of engagement useful in building and maintaining connections.

Using the example of photography, McGartland explained how Instagram and Facebook can act as a means to build a community of individuals with like interests, while also showcasing a photographer’s portfolio.

McGartland concluded the workshop by giving participants the acronym “THINK” to sum up her points: True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. She advised testing any potential social media content against the acronym before posting it.

SUCCESSFUL HABITS Mira Max Sirotic opened her workshop by discussing how an individual’s personality is only the tip of the iceberg regarding their character.

She explained that leadership is a ladder and the higher we climb, the worse our fall. In order for an individual to be successful as a leader, Sirotic explained they must build a solid foundation on their character.

Sirotic then shared some of the habits necessary for building a strong foundation, written by Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

She explained that as individuals, we go from a state of dependence

and enter a state of independence, where we are able to work on our own and become responsible for ourselves. In the interdependence state, individuals are able to work as a team.

Sirotic then shared the story of the farmer killing the goose that laid golden eggs to explain the importance of taking care of ourselves and our resources in order to accomplish our goals.

Sirotic also shared a story about a high school science teacher who taught his class about time management. He brought a big bowl to class, and filled it with big rocks, then pebbles, gravel, sand, and finally water.

Before adding each item, he asked the class, “Is my bowl full yet?”

“Adversity makes you a strong, independent person, but you need others to help you.”

—Hazel McCallion The lesson of the demonstration was not that there’s always room for more in our schedule. It was that none of the other items would have fit if he hadn’t put the big rocks in first. In order to accomplish things as leaders, Sirotic explained that we needed to prioritize the big rocks.

CROWDSOURCING Rahul Sethi, insights manager at Vividata and PWC lecturer at UTM, spoke about the importance of crowdsourcing as a means to create change and accomplish a goal. Sethi began by giving examples of crowdsourcing in history.

For example, in India today, scientists don’t have the resources to test water quality in all rural areas.

They have since then provided people living in the rural areas with test kits and citizens in the towns can test the water themselves and then call in the results to labs.

Another example is how in 2015, Toni Morgan, a 32-year-old single mother, received an acceptance letter from Harvard. As she didn’t have the funds to pay for her graduate degree, she turned to crowdfunding

to raise $71,000 to cover her tuition and housing costs.

Sethi explained that each successful use of crowdsourcing has a goal, a way of accomplishing that goal, a compelling story to create credibility and bring community in together, and a way to provide value to those contributing to goals.

HAZEL MCCALLION Hazel McCallion’s keynote speech at lunch reflected the themes explored in the workshops.

McCallion described her life growing up in the Depression and how she had to move away from home to finish her schooling.

“Adversity makes you a strong, independent person, but you need others to help you,” McCallion said, echoing Sirota’s workshop.

Her older sisters helped pay for her to finish school. When McCallion started working at a job that paid $12 a week, her landlady invited her to lunch with her so she could save buying one. McCallion said she made a point to save two dollars a week.

McCallion said that no one is born a leader and she herself had not dreamed of becoming mayor.

She had wanted to improve her community.

McCallion shared how failing is an important step on the path to success. In 1967, McCallion lost the election to be mayor. At the time, there were not many women in government. McCallion learned from her failure and for the next election, she crowdsourced and spoke to women about why having a woman for mayor would be good for the city.

At the end of her speech, McCallion signed copies of her book, Hurricane Hazel, which the first 100 participants had received.

After the book signing, the conference continued with a panel including Morgan Wyatt (CEO of Autom River Inc.), Zarqa Nawaz (filmmaker of Little Mosque on the Prairie), and Samer Yordi Souki (a current MscSM student at UTM who has previously worked in the British embassy in Venezuela). The panel was followed by a networking reception.

02.22.2016

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Victorious ending to dominant season U of T Varsity Blues women’s football team reflect on their season filled with championships ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR The U of T women’s flag football team entered the Laurier Tournament on February 12 and 13 ranked first in the province after winning both the University of Toronto Annual Tournament and the McMaster Showcase tournament.

The team started strong on Friday night, winning their first round robin game over one of Laurier’s six teams in the tournament. The second round robin game was played Saturday morning also against a Laurier squad before finishing the round robin against McMaster’s top-ranked team—Toronto’s rival from the previous tournament.

The women only played three round robin games against other teams, who played four games. After finishing the round robin, there was a three-hour break and then the quarterfinals. U of T was outnumbered against McMaster, but they still won handily. The final game against Guelph went back and forth, trading clutch performances. The U of T women were winning 11-6 after scoring a touchdown, two-point conversion, and a field goal. Guelph drove the field on the last possession of the game, having the tournament come down to a fourth down and goal play from the three-yard line—luckily the women stopped them by tackle in the backfield. The offence took a knee to

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Varsity Blues players and coaching staff celebrate their Laurier tournament win. end the game and the U of T women jumped on one another in euphoria. “[This is] the first time that one team has won all three major tournaments,” says head coach Kevin Collins. “Also, we lost in the finals last year, so it was awesome to get it finally.”

The Blues motto this year was Do Your Job, meaning give it full effort and use your logic and experience.

Every player who stepped on the field, from starters to third line players, did her job and deserves a shout out.

“A championship wouldn’t be pos-

sible without everyone pulling their weight,” says Collins. The strong arm of Julia Van led the offence; she connected multiple times throughout the tournament with Debbie Lee, Rylie Wilson, and Victoria Raimundo. The running game was the driving force of the offence and was led by Hailey Burton, Jenny Lindemen, Kiran Mann, and Natalia King. Running backs Alexia Tam and Vanessa Corridor were quick to run through the opposing defence. Our defence was led by linebackers Daniella Nusca, Rachelle Mayo, and rookies Molly

Woudenberg and Taylor Babcock, while the defensive cornerbacks Carmen Bacon and Elaine Oswald, made opposing offence afraid to throw the ball.

“As a running back, I’d personally like to give a hand to the offensive line. These ladies were up against some pretty tough matchups and they persevered and executed each play amazingly. They made my job look a lot easier,” says Tam. Not many people came into this season thinking they would sweep three tournament championships. It’s

always a goal to strive for, but no team in powderpuff history has ever won even two consecutive tournaments.

“To come out on top is incredible. We still can’t believe it; it hasn’t sunk in. We came together as one of the best teams this program has ever seen, and we proved that. I couldn’t have asked for a more fantastic season,” says Tam. The coaching staff, which consists of Varsity Blues men’s football players Joe Cappiello, Michael Leslie, Sam Delage, Sam MacMillan, and Nick Stadnyk, got a lot out of coaching the women’s team this winter.

“No matter if you are coaching a tyke team, a professional team, or a university level girls’ football team, you are not only there to provide lessons that they can learn to better their performance on the field, but you are also there to become friends and mentors to them off the field, to give them skills that they can use when their playing careers are over,” says Collins.

This season, the Blues faced some challenges and different forms of adversity, but the women dug deep and battled through; they were aided by their tremendous dedication, heart, compassion, friendship, teamwork, and resilience. They look to keep those traits and dominate the 2017 tournament schedule with hopes that some brand new faces come out and battle.

Blues win the downtown showdown Varsity Blues women’s hockey beat York 6-2, setting up a favourable home-ice OUA playoff birth ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR Friday night was a big night for the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team.

Beating the York Lions 6-2, the Blues captured second place and homeice advantage to the OUA semifinal playoff round. The night was also highlighted by a celebration that congratulated all veteran players on making it through their university athletic career and playing in their last regular season game on home ice.

The Blues move past the Western Mustangs and Nipissing Lakers to take second place with a 12-4-4-3 record, with only one regular season game remaining. The Varsity Arena crowd was in full effect; family members came to support their daughters and students came to support their friends and watch a crosstown rivalry.

Halfway through the first period, veteran forward Jacqueline Scheffel put the Blues on the board first with her 22nd goal in her five-year career.

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It was graduation night at Varsity Arena on Friday night, when the Blues beat York 6-2.

Scheffel broke past a York defender and while on the partial breakaway, she stuffed the puck glove side past Eva Hall, who ended up with 20 saves off 26 shots.

Toronto’s goals came in pairs—

Taylor Day scored her 13th goal of the season at the end of the first period, making the score 2-0 headed into the second frame.

Day pushed her way up the OUA scoring leader board, tallying an-

other goal while on the power play for the Blues. The Lions’ lack of discipline was an issue and Toronto made no mistake capitalizing on it.

It wasn’t all about the veterans; second-year forward Meaghan O’Brien

sniped a shot over Hall’s shoulder, making it 4-0, then second-year forward Lauren Straatman scored the Blues’ fifth goal of the game and her third goal of the season.

The Lions didn’t allow Blues goaltender Valencia Yordanov her third shutout of the year; Lauren Cavarzan and Kristen Barbara notched goals 38 seconds apart. The gap was too wide for a York comeback. though.

Yordanov’s spectacular saves and 1.55 GAA were too much and too intimidating for the opposing squad to handle.

“We’re just trying to build, so that’s what we’re trying to do before we head into the playoffs: work on all the little things so we’re on fire by the time our first playoff game comes,” said Scheffel.

The Varsity Blues honoured graduating seniors Caitlin Maikawa, April Loojie, Jacqueline Sheffel, and Sonja Weidenfelder in a pre-game ceremony that left tears on the cheeks of some of the people in attendance or on the ice.

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THE MEDIUM 02.22.2016

Cricket World Cup returns to campus SHAHRIYAR NISAR

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Social media may affect our ideal summer body image, but if you work hard you’ll be satisfied.

ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR You’re halfway through February, curled up in your bed because it’s cold outside and depressed thinking there’s too much time until the summer beach season. You’re scrolling through Instagram looking at all the beach bodies and images of hot celebrities, daydreaming about a Rachel McAdams or Chris Pratt pouncing on you like a wild mountain lion. If you’re beginning to wonder how much time is left until you have to get your butt to the gym, the answer is now. We only have about three months until our families or friends open up their backyard pools. You can’t start going to the gym a week before you’re invited to that cottage or pool party—it takes patience and commitment to get what you want out of your physical appearance. Even professional athletes look at themselves and hope for a more aesthetic body. What is more painful? The regret you’ll have in June not having worked out earlier, or the pain now of working your way to a pleasurable goal?

WORKOUT PLAN For the next six to eight weeks, add the most amount of weight to your

workouts and focus on few repetition counts. We’re thinking about gaining mass over this amount of time. Don’t think that you’re going to get washboard abs; remember, it’s a process and we’ll focus on aesthetics right before the semester ends. Ways for you to gain mass is to focus on isolation lifts such as a heavy front squat, deadlift, weighted push-ups, pull-ups, supine row, and lunges. Working the largest muscles

If you’re wondering how much time is left until you have to go to the gym to work on your summer beach body, the answer is now. in your body will secrete the most amount of testosterone (growth hormone), enabling you to look bigger than you ever have before. When lifting, emphasize the negative— place emphasis on the downward phase of the lift, where the muscle shortens as it contracts. The negative is an easy way to gain an immense amount of mass. Before the negative aspect of the lift, emphasize explosive lifts in the pushing aspect.

This will increase muscle fibre recruitment.

Nutrition is always key, but especially when you’re building muscle mass. You may think working out to nutrition ratio is 80/20, but it’s 50/50. If you aren’t fueling your body with the right proteins, fats, and amino acids, you’ll see that muscles won’t have any energy to use to get better. Lean beef should be a staple of your diet, and skinless chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, whey protein, and fish are strongly recommended if you’re able to eat these food products.

To shred fat after building muscle, your body needs fewer calories and more cardiovascular exercise. When you work out to gain muscle, you should only be lifting heavy weights three to four times a week, allowing you to recover. When you’re cutting fat, but working your muscles at the same time, you should work out four to six times a week. A lighter load means less time needed to recover.

When you work out, do more body weight lifts or lighten the burden.

Instead of isolated squats or deadlifts, try box jumps and lunges— incorporate a more cardiovascular workout program into your routine and that excess fat will melt away.

On February 13, the UTM Cricket Club hosted its most anticipated event of the year, the UTM Cricket World Cup. The event was held in Gym A/B in collaboration with UTMAC, where 35 people participated.

The event was UTM’s own version of a cricket world cup, in which people got a chance to play for their country in the quest for the UTM Cricket World Cup trophy.

The event consisted of three teams: India, Pakistan Greens, and Pakistan Whites. The final was a nail-biting contest between India and Pakistan Greens. India had comprehensively beaten both Pakistan Greens and Whites to make their way to the final. They had amassed over 120 runs in 10 overs in both the games and bowled the opposition out for a modest total, whereas Pakistan Greens had defeated Pakistan Whites in their first game and then lost to India before qualifying for the final.

Pakistan Greens won the toss and decided to bat first in the final. It was a typical India-Pakistan contest, where India had a stacked batting lineup and Pakistan relied more on its bowlers. After getting off to a jittery start and losing wickets early on, Pakistan’s innings were rescued by Muhammad Ahmar and Asad Mandviwala. The pair scored most of the runs for their team and helped them set a target of 89 runs in 10 overs. The total seemed a below par score, particularly bearing in mind the relentless form India’s batsmen were in.

Isuru Gamarachichi and Vaibhav Makkar, two of the highest scorers of the tournament, continued their prolific form in the final, getting India off to a steady start in pursuit of the target. A couple of good overs from Pakistan at the back end of the innings meant India required six off the last six balls. Junaid Siddique, Pakistan’s captain, decided to take matters into his own hands and

bowl the last over himself. He bowled a few good deliveries but at the end, as the scores were tied, India only required one run of the last two balls.

However, there was some late drama to follow. On the penultimate ball of the innings, Siddique got rid of India’s captain, Makkar, to bring the equation down to one run needed of one delivery. Rumesh Gamalathge, India’s batsman on strike for the last delivery, tried to sneak a single off the last ball, but a terrific direct hit from Mandviwala found Gamalathge short of his crease and the match astonishingly finished as a tie.

Both teams were more than happy to share the glory, as neither team deserved to lose and perhaps cricket was the real winner in the end.

Gamarachichi was awarded the best bowler of the tournament for his

Both teams were more than happy to share the glory [...] and perhaps cricket was the real winner in the end. tormenting spin bowling. The award for the best batsman was bagged by Makkar, as he led his team from the front with the bat. The World Cup was shared by both captains and individual trophies were given out to players on both sides.

The UTM Cricket Club has three more events this semester. The Asia Cup game between India and Pakistan will be screened at the Student Centre, Presentation Room this Saturday, followed by the screening of the World T20 game between India and Pakistan on March 19. The last event of the year will be the Annual Awards Night held at the end of March.

Disclosure: Shahriyar Nisar is president of the UTM Cricket Club.