International Women’s Day celebration features Taiko Drummers
UTMSU election results
Why feminsm matters
Filmmakers awards night
The battle against Nestlé
UTM Men’s b-ball prevails
News, page 2
Opinion, page 6
Arts, page 7
Features, page 11
Sports, page 15
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03.13.2017
Unofficial results: Fresh wins elections The wall of transparency that posts each team’s demerit points was last updated on Wednesday
ALICIA BOATTO ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR WITH NOTES FROM MENNA ELNAKA NEWS EDITOR In the unofficial results posted on UTMSU’s Facebook page on March 12, Fresh UTM has swept the elections by winning the majority of the votes for each of the five executive positions. Salma Fakhry has won the presidential candidate with 2102 votes, while First UTM’s presidential candidate, Alex Gignac received 648 votes. 1932 votes went to Maya Tomkiewics, the candidate for UTMSU’s VP university affairs and academics. First UTM’s candidate, Christina Khokhar received 780 photos. As for the VP internal, the only candidate running for this position from Fresh UTM, Vikko Qu, was elected with 2291 votes for him, 423 against, and 135 spoiled. Sagal Osman from Fresh won the
OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM
Unofficial results released by the UTMSU revealed the winners as Fresh UTM. VP equity position by 2108 votes, while First’s candidate, Mduduzi Mhlanga obtained 603 votes. Mhlanga has been disqualified for exceeding the allowed number of demerit points, 40, and receiving 64 demerits.
The VP external position went to Jose Wilson from Fresh by 1906 votes. Ali Taha from First UTM received 798 votes. UNCLEAR DEMERIT POINTS
In an interview with The Medium, Alex Gignac, the presidential candidate for team UTM First revealed that as of Friday morning, his team had numerous allegations that totaled up to 50 demerit points. However, the Wall of Trans-
parency throughout the elections in the Student Centre was only last updated on Wednesday, March 8. As of last Friday, the wall showed two posts for UTM First, both signed on March 8 at 11:45 p.m. The first post, with 23 demerit points, stated that on the second day of the elections, March 7, multiple volunteers were seen campaigning in non-campaigning zones when photographs were taken and submitted to the chief returning officer, Sahab Jesuthasan. The second post also referred to the same allegation, with a total of 38 demerits. “It’s been changed overnight, and right now, we’re all at 50,” said Gignac in a phone interview with The Medium on Friday morning. He explained that after the team had appealed the points, they thought they had 30 instead. “We’re trying to get in touch with the CRO, and he’s not answering his phone. We woke up with this, so it’s a little hectic here.” UTMSU continued on page 5
Four slates face off in UTSU’s elections For the first time in years, four slates vie in the Spring elections for UTSU’s seven executive positions
mel at the debate. “That’s an organization-restructuring in terms of staff, about the services that we provide, about the advocacy work that we do. It’s about how our board is structured fundamentally, it’s about how the executive itself is structured, and it’s about the types of services that we provide for students,” Memmel added.
MENNA ELNAKA NEWS EDITOR For the first time in at least three years, four slates and one individual vie for seven University of Toronto Students’ Union executive positions as the Spring elections begin this week. The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union election polls closed last Thursday after only two teams ran for the executive positions. Following a dispute between both the UTSU and UTMSU over the election date, the downtown union scheduled their election date to take place the week after UTMSU’s elections. The UTSU held its candidates’ forum last Wednesday, where questions were presented to each candidate with one minute to answer, including how they plan to put students before themselves, what they would do about the raising of tuition, how they want to lobby the administration, and how they would advocate for a healthy po-
OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM
UTSU held its all-candidates forum last Wednesday as four teams compete for executive positions. litical environment on campus. The debate lasted close to three hours. All four presidential candidates were asked how their first four months in office would be like, if elected. DEMAND BETTER
Current UTSU’s VP internal, Mathias Memmel, is the presidential candidate for Demand Better U of T. Memmel stated that the first four months would focus on restructuring UTSU, including the staff and
the union’s services. “It’s something that we have to speak to students [about], speak to clubs and communities and say: What would the UTSU look like if you were to rebuild it, and how would it best serve you?” said Mem-
WE THE STUDENTS Andre Fast is the presidential candidate for We the Students. According to his candidate statement on the UTSU website, he was the founder of the free tuition coalition and the co-founder of U of T Fight for Fifteen and Fairness. Fast’s goal is to start a campaign on tuition within the first four months of his term in office. “I was told by some folks involved with UTSU that they would be starting a campaign on tuition […], and that never happened,” said Fast. Debate continued on page 3
03.13.2017 THE MEDIUM NEWS
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Presidential candidates talk about their first four months in office March 3rd, 2017. Trespass to Property Act. A non-community member attempted to gain access to the RAWC by using another person’s T-card. March 7th, 2017. Disturb the Peace. Campus Police were called to attend the Kaneff bus stop, as there was a male causing disturbance on the Mississauga transit bus. March 7th, 2017. Trespass to Property Act. Campus Police were advised by
several community members of an unknown female distributing business cards for a company called eHomework. Campus Police attended several areas of UTM looking for the female, however she was not located March 8th, 2017. Police Assistance. Campus Police were called to attend a student experiencing medical distress. Campus Police assisted in transporting the student to hospital.
These reports are those that have been released to The Medium from Campus Police 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-TIPS (8477).
OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM
The Whomst’d’ve presidential candidate wore an aluminum hat over his head at the UTSU debate.
Two UTM professors earn grants for research
OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM
Canadian Foundation for Innovation grants $5 million to research.
SHVETA BHASKER Two UTM Biology professors out of 19 scholars received $5 million worth of grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation in support of several fields of research including astronomy, fibrosis, and brain function research. Grants worth $140,000 and $120,000 were given to UTM professors Michael Phillips and Rob Ness, respectively. Phillips will be studying the control and adaptive responses of the plant metabolome, and Ness will be studying how recombination alters selection in the genome. “Researchers are able to acquire infrastructure that is leading-edge, enabling them to conduct research that will benefit Canadians and tackle real-world challenges,” stated Helen Lasthiotakis, the executive director of strategic partnerships and Office of the Vice-President, research & innovation. Professor Ness is looking at ge-
netic studies and researching how recombination alters selection in the genome. His study will show how genetic recombination and mutations can create variation in genetics, like human disease and biodiversity. According to Lasthiotakis, the equipment given to Ness will open the door for him to investigate how the “genome evolves and how evolutionary and genetic processes influence genetic variation.” The researchers at U of T applied for funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation for the John R. Evans Leadership Fund, which is a competitive peer-reviewed funding program that provides researchers with the research infrastructure they need. “From the University’s perspective, the [John R. Evans Leadership Fund] funding also critically enhances our ability to attract and retain top researchers who require such infrastructure,” wrote Lasthiotakis.
Debate continued from page 2 “I think the lack of any coordinated effort to advocate for students, when it comes to tuition fees [that] continue [to increase], let down a lot of students this year.” Fast conceded that if elected, he and his team will also make sure to represent low-income students. REBOOT U OF T Micah Ryu was an executive for the Korean Students’ Association, and is currently an executive for the Society of Linguistics Undergraduate Students at U of T. Running as the presidential candidate for team Reboot U of T, Ryu stated that his goals in the first months in office would be to remove UTSU’s full-time executive positions, as they “disproportionally exclude international students and professional faculty students.” Ryu also wants to launch a new clubs funding structure. “We’re going to come up with a new clubs funding structure that takes into account reduplication of services by cultural clubs that provide services that often surpass the quality of the services provided by the UTSU,” he said. “And [clubs] should really in fact be treated more like component parts of the student union, rather than just another club that has to apply for funding.” WHOMST’D’VE U OF T With an aluminum hat over his head, John Sweeney sat at the presidential candidates table as he elaborated sarcastically on his goals, as well as his team’s, Whomst’d’ve. As stated by The Varsity, Sweeney was part of the Engineering Society in 2015-2016 and was also the editor-in-chief for The Toike Oike in 2013-2014.
“There are a lot of issues on campus that I know next to nothing about. My plan is to educate myself on these issues, which realistically will be a long process,” said Sweeney as applauses and laughers emerged in the room. “I need to sit down with every executive on the team and make sure we all have a solid game plan going forward, and make sure we’re on the same page of what to do when there is any disperse. Other than that, the usual preparation for orientation week,” he added.
“There are a lot of issues on campus that I know next and nothing about. My plan is to educate myself on these issues,” said Sweeney. Aside from Sweeney, the two other candidates of his team also wore aluminum hats. When asked if the team had a particular message from wearing those hats, Sweeney told The Medium that it was more of a “joke” and that it also helps draw attention to them. He also clarified that the name of the team is “a way of bringing the ridiculousness of the kind of names” that get used for the slates running for UTSU’s elections. In a Reddit series of posts, the team posted that the candidates would “do stuff once elected.” “Our transparent platform is simple,” read one of their posts. “[…] We want to leave the CFS, enforce pineapple on pizza, and support the defederation of any self-sufficient student groups that want to leave.” However, the post continued that the team is ready “to be serious when needed.”
Whomst’d’ve also told The Medium that although they are not entirely serious, “we’re enjoying ourselves, and have a few good points.” Sweeney further explained to The Medium that the de-federation of small groups on campus is one of the team’s main goals. He recited that the Engineering Society had previously tried to hold a referendum to separate itself from UTSU, but the union did not allow it. “I understand that there are legal hurdles to get through [at the time], but [the society] ended up passing a resolution to have some of the fee diversion back to the Engineering Society,” said Sweeney. “What we really want to look into is that if there’s a student group that want to leave and they are able to sustain themselves, we think it’s more sufficient of them to be able to govern their own majority and have their own representation.” UTMSU CANDIDATE UTMSU’s current VP internal, Jackie Zhao, is also running for the UTSU elections this year as the VP internal with team We the Students. Other candidates running for the VP internal positions include Daman Singh from the Demand Better slate, and Jessica Leung from Reboot U of T. UTMSU’s VP university affairs and academics, Vanessa Demello, has announced on Facebook her support of We the Students. The elections for the UTSU executive positions and board of directors begin this week from March 14 to 16, with voting polls across both the U of T and UTM campus, as well as online at utsu. simplyvoting.com.
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THE MEDIUM 03.13.2017
Meet the Candidates President
VP internal
VP external
VP university affairs
VP Equity
VP campus life
VP ProFac
Demand Better
Mathias Memmel
Daman Singh
Fasiha Mukhtar
Josie Wu
Chimwemwe Alao
Stuart Norton
Shivani Nathoo
- Restructuring UTSU including staff, board, and services. -End overspending by cutting staff and spending half of the salarie budget on student jobs. - Holding monthly career fairs to support professional students. - Lobby for a freeze on fee increases. - Leave the Canadian Federation of Students.
- Develop a centralized, ACORN-based system for opting out of the Health and Dental Plan. - Ban slates from UTSU elections. - Reduce executive salaries and restructure the executive. - Merging the VP university affairs with VP external, saving $50,000 per year.
- Make UTSU more open and accessible to student groups. - Work with external groups to help bring students paid internships, research positions, and professional placements. - Launch an outreach program for those who don’t identify with a college, ProFac, or club.
- Support international students as they transition into Canadian university life. - Advocate for a wider array of financial aid resources, including for international students. - Bring tax advice services and regular legal seminars to both UTSG and UTM.
- Use UTSU’s institutional power to develop supportive relationships with grassroot movements. - Address issues of antiBlack, within UTSU as well. - Adopt an educationbased approach to equity, while also ensuring that the emotional labour of education isn’t left to marginalized students
- Make it easier for clubs to apply for funding - Work with clubs to integrate the UTSU into the campus life that already exists - Make the shorter orientation week work for colleges and ProFacs by involving student societies in the planning.
- Advocate for more responsiveness from UTSU to the needsof ProFac students. - More accessibility services to ProFac students - Lobby for better mental health resources to ProFac students.
Reboot U of T
Micah Ryu
Jessica Leung
Nadine Abd El Razek
Micael Thompson
Keeli-Shay Eaid
Abduly Dau
Jenny Yue
- Remove UTSU’s full-time executive positions to better represent the international and ProFac students - Launch a new clubs funding structure that takes into account reduplication of services by cultural clubs that provide services that often surpass the quality of the services provided by the UTSU. - Make better use of UTSU’s funds. - Build a new political campus culture in which more students are engaged, feel represented, and gain more value for their incidental fees.
- Cutting full-time staff at the UTSU in favor of more part-time student jobs. - Dissolving full-time UTSU executive salaries. - Withdrawing from the CFS - Putting an end to spending on politically partisan events and projects.
- Create real systemic change - Be more transparent - Better allocation of the money invested annually by U of T students - Better allocation of student resources to clubs
- Support clubs, because they promote community, activity, and healthy living at U of T - Make UTSU more accountable and transparent - Advocate for accessible mental health services
- Allocate UTSU money to clubs that focus on and are passionate about proLGBTQ+, anti-racism, or mental wellness issues. - View financial barriers as a serious equity consideration
- Encourage club funding to be transparent - Provide a precise representation of the student body’s needs and wants
- Push to downsize the UTSU - Increase union’s transparency in club funding - Improve mental health initiatives
We the Students
Andre Fast
Jackie Zhao
Emmanuela Alimlim
Carina Zhang
Michelle Mabira
Julian Oliveira
Natalie Biancolin
- Start a campaign on free tuition - Represent low-income students - Divestment from fossil fuels - Work on a GTA U-Pass - Introduce a nap room at UTSG
- Advocate for the improvement of the health and dental plan, so that students get more for their money. - Support the creation of an international student bursary - Continue working on the creation of a GTA U-Pass - Introduce More Presto Loading Stations on Campus
- Advocate for better mental health policies, programming, and awareness - Creating a community for international students - Fighting for the reduction of tuition fees - Advocating for OHIP for international students
- Work toward eliminating exam deferral and re-mark fees. - Free feminine products in washrooms - Advocating for OHIP for international students
- Push for diversification of university staff and instructors - Create and enforce a policy that outlines students’ rights regarding education and mental health at U of T. - Establish UTSU as a proactive partner that represents marginalized students.
- Celebrate diversity with events that encourage cross-campuses unity - Create opportunities for students, especially marginalized students, to meet and collaborate with each other to create an inclusive community - Make U of T a place that belongs to Trans, Black, and Muslim students - Advocate for a campus life that is more accessible and inclusive
- Ensure that UTSU is accessible to students in professional faculties - Work with professional faculty councils to better address student needs - Advocate for more work and study spaces for professional faculty students
03.13.2017 THE MEDIUM NEWS
President
VP university affairs
VP ProFac
Whomst’d’ve U of T
President
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VP external
Independent candidates
John Sweeney
Saarthak Saxena
Veronika Potylitsina
Joshua Hands
Anne Boucher
- Enforce transparency in the union - Exit UTSU’s membership within the Canadian Federation of Students - Support the de-federation of the groups that want to discontinue their membership within the UTSU
- Helping our campus student unions achieve the goals they wish to achieve - Address the issues that the colleges and professional faculties face with the administration and the UTSU
- Assure that ProFac students are given the respect they deserve - Work with the administration to represent students
- Provide more opportunities and reallocate funds to reduce student fees - Work on a TTC Metropass - Create a safe space where all students are respected - Listen to the student issue and work to provide solutions.
- More accessible mental health services - Advocate for more accessible public transportation - More transparent funding for clubs - Allocate UTSU’s money to benefit U of T students.
Official results of UTMSU election yet to be verified UTMSU continued from page 2
According to UTMSU’s Election Procedure Code, campaigning in unauthorized areas results in 10 demerit points. When asked for clarification on why the wall wasn’t being updated frequently and on the total number of demerit points granted for each team, the chair of the Elections and Referenda Committee, Marise Hopkins, stated in an email to The Medium on Thursday evening that she could not “accurately give [The Medium] the demerit points for each team as they stand accurately.” She further explained that “the demerit points and current standing of the candidates may be subject to change” as the appeals are still in process. Jesuthasan responded to The Medium’s question about the demerit points on the evening of March 12, saying that UTM First has 39 demerits while their VP equity candidate, Mduduzi Mhlanga has 64 points. Hopkins also replied to The Medium’s follow-up emails on March 12 evening stating that Mhlanga has been disqualified for exceeding the number of demerit points allowed.
“We’re still in a situation where we’re getting demerit points and we’re appealing them because we don’t think it’s fair, and we don’t think those demerit points have any grounds” Gignac had stated on Friday morning. “The CRO is being very slow in updating the board this year, and at the same time, we’re appealing a lot, and the ERC has been very slow to meet.” In response to these claims, Hopkins wrote an email to The Medium on March 11 stating that she and the CRO have been following up with the timeline’s outlines in the EPC that mandates them to respond within 48 hours. “May I ask why myself, the committee, and the CRO are being accused of being slow?” wrote Hopkins. “We have been diligent and followed the exact timelines outlined in the EPC, responses were given back within a 24 hour to 48 hour timeline.” Hopkins added that “specific slates” do not respond to deadlines on time. “We have also been chasing specific slates to answer emails and answer clarifications and reminding them to meet deadlines because certain slates have missed several of those very deadlines. So I’m very confused as to
why a slate would state we are being slow.” The wall also listed a similar allegation of violating campaigning areas for team Fresh UTM. The team was given a total of 20 points in one post and 28 points in another post, both of which were signed on March 8 at 11:45 p.m., as well. In response to an interview request, the Fresh UTM slate declined a phone interview and requested to have questions sent by email instead. On Saturday, Fresh UTM stated to The Medium that the team currently has 13 points, after appealing their demerits. “We receive updates about demerit points within 48hrs, so we believe that appeals have been heard within a reasonable timeline,” Fresh UTM added. Teams typically have 48 hours to appeal their points. The final tally for demerit points is expected to be released on Sunday after all the appeals have been made. Elections resumed last week from Tuesday through Thursday. The official election results are yet to be ratified by the election and referenda committee. More updates to follow.
»WHY DID YOU VOTE FOR THE TEAM YOU VOTED FOR?
Marisa Clancy 3rd year, Anthropology
Jad Machlab 3rd year, Molecular bio
Because of the midterm’s deferral policy and my friend’s part of the team.
Because of Fresh’s speech in my class about how voting matters and changes.
Jake De Franco 2nd year, Computer sci
Jane Mospan 1st year, Social sciences
They’re all close to the current executives and will continue their work.
I just voted to stop being harassed by the campaigners.
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03.13.2017
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Defending fearless women “Fearless Girl” disrespect is exactly why feminism needs to be fought for Just in case you haven’t heard of it yet, there’s a statue by McCann New York and its client State Street Global Advisors entitled, “Fearless Girl.” The bronze statue was placed directly in front of the “Charging Bull” with her hands bravely on her hips, staring him down. As reported by Adweek.com, “Staring down the 28-year-old Wall Street ‘Charging Bull’ statue, she’s a potent symbol of female leadership in business, and of the need for companies everywhere to get more women on their boards and into other powerful positions—for reasons not just symbolic but practical, as companies with gender-diverse leaders simply perform better financially.” Naturally, the little girl became an overnight success. People everywhere seemed to love the idea and took photos with her or posed with her to show how they, too, supported what she stood for. I personally loved everything about her. I loved how she was only a child, which symbolized how we should be encouraging young girls to chase their ambitions, stand down their obstacles, and face their challenges with bravery. I also adored seeing little girls with their mothers taking photos with the statue, which proved that she was doing exactly what she set out to do. I wanted this statue to remind young girls and adult women alike that feminism is important and is something that we still very much need in this day and age. Another thing I loved about her was that she wasn’t angry. There was no other emotion on her other than determination. She didn’t need to appear like she was raging mad so people would fear her or be intimidated. She simply stood her ground and encouraged many around her to do the same. She’s so simple yet incredible. So, naturally some dumbass in a business suit and literal neck beard felt the need to walk up to her with his fellow bros and hump the statue. Of course, they cheered him on because, “Oh my god, you’re so hilarious, bro!” According to Independent, “Alexis Kaloyanides, an architectural designer, posted the picture to Facebook, and it has since been shared more than 14,000 times. Ms. Kaloyanides captioned the photo: ‘Almost as if out of central casting, some Wall Street finance broseph appeared and started humping the statue while his gross date rape-y friends laughed and cheered him on.’” Please excuse me while I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale sharply. This is exactly the problem. It’s bad enough that women don’t
get taken seriously in the workplace. But now some tool defiled a statue representing feminism and the role women play in the workforce. I can also understand how feminism often gets misconstrued, even by women. We saw a perfect example of this the other week with Emma Watson posing in Vanity Fair. For those who don’t know, many women flipped out on Watson after accusing her of being anti-feminist for her photo shoot. The photo in question contained Watson in a shawl covering her bare breasts. First of all, I feel like I should mention that she wasn’t topless. She had clothing covering her breasts. Last time I checked, that wasn’t being topless. This brings me to my next point. Even if she was topless, who gives a damn? She could have been completely naked and that doesn’t make her any less of a feminist. It doesn’t mean that she set women back. It definitely doesn’t mean that she can’t identify as a feminist. Watson commented on this controversy by saying, “Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality. I really don’t know what my tits have to do with it.” I agree with her entirely here. Someone in the comments section summed up how I feel about this exactly. “Emma Watson is entirely correct. Feminism is about freedom of choice. You don’t owe it to anyone to show them your tits, and you don’t owe it to anyone to keep covered up.” That’s just how I feel about it. Unfortunately, feminism hasn’t reached a solid definition, I don’t think. I think there are still many men and women who believe that women need to adhere to a certain set of standards, and they aren’t a feminist if they don’t do this. They shouldn’t bare any skin, because if they do, they fall prey to the male gaze and give in to the patriarchy. They should be ladylike and shouldn’t cuss, because we need to be taken seriously, and if we don’t come off as professional than how can we convince people otherwise? A huge problem that I’ve noticed with a lot of movements is just how divided they are. It’s not just feminism —take something huge like religion. Do you have any idea how many arguments I used to get into with fellow Christians about whether Jesus was God or the son of God? This was apparently a big deal, and if you didn’t agree with your opposition, you were a bad Christian. How many times have I seen on Facebook a post that contains the phrase, “My God taught me that so and so was
okay…”? My version of Christianity. My version of feminism. How easier it would be if people could just land on something and agree with one another as opposed to judging someone for the most minute things. I don’t want to get into a whole thing about feminism here, because I mainly wanted to talk about how poorly feminism is treated. But, what I believe is that a woman should have choice and shouldn’t have to answer for the choices that she makes. She should be allowed to do what she likes with her body without being manipulated by women who ironically tell her that men are the ones manipulating her. Feminism should be about liberation and should be about equality. This leads me back to my original point. It’s about equality. Feminism should represent equality and treating women with some respect. But, we can’t even place a statue of a small child on Wall Street without some idiot walking up to her and thinking it’s funny or appropriate to start humping her. Was that honestly supposed to be taken as a joke? And for the love of God, please don’t hit me with the argument of it being a joke or me not having a sense of humour. A sense of humour about what, exactly? Some moron who decided to walk up to a statue of a little girl and begin to hump her because he thought he was being… funny? Who’s the one who’s missing something here? Which is another thing. I’m sure that some people will disagree with me, but I also think this act contributes to rape culture. This was discussed among several women as well when news of this story first broke. Many were disgusted about how these guys thought that it was not only okay to do this but also how they laughed it off like it was nothing. Here’s the thing, though. Laughing something like this off is exactly why women push to be heard. “Fearless Girl” may stand for women in the workplace, but it symbolizes something much greater as well. Women aren’t heard when they stand up for themselves. Women aren’t heard when they take their sexual assault cases to the police—when they take it to court. Women aren’t heard as much as men. It’s obvious (or it should be). “Fearless Girl” stands for women in the workplace. She stands for young girls who are fearless regardless of what society is teaching them. She stands for women being heard. And when some bro-dude like this decides to hump a statue like her, he’s disrespecting everything she stands for as well. He disrespects the women who identify with her message. He
proves to the world that there are still clusters of men out there who think humping the statue of a little girl is something to be applauded. Something we should take away from this is that we should treat women with respect. That we still need feminism. That, if nothing else, this fool proved that feminism is a movement that still hasn’t earned as much as respect as it deserves. If anything, he showed to the world that women and female children are still mistreated simply because they were seen as nothing more than a sexual object or someone to bring their husband his slippers after he’s done work. This should absolutely infuriate people. I don’t care if he thought he was being funny. I don’t care if he thought he was being cool. I don’t care if he had 300 men with him. Humping the statue of a little girl will never be funny. You will never be cool. You’re a pig. I know that I said there are many people divided in several movements. I know there will be people reading this who identify as feminists but believe Emma Watson made a poor choice in her photoshoot. But, regardless of whether or not you agree with someone in your movement, you shouldn’t be telling people that they can’t identify as something just because you think that your version of said thing it is better. That being said, the actions of this bro-dude have encouraged women everywhere to defend “Fearless Girl.” I’d like to think that this was a huge step forward in putting aside the differences of feminism and uniting. There are some things where no grey area is present. For me, this is what feminism should be about. Feminism should, in addition to what I said earlier, be about supporting women when something like this happens. To come together in the understanding that these things are still very much present. People like this still very much exist. And now, more than ever, women need to stick to each other to show the world how supportive we are of one another. The idiot who humped the statue should be reprimanded. It’s good to remind people that he and his stupid friends got chased away from the statue by people who called them out. These cowards wanted to make a scene but instead wound up making asses of themselves. I can’t wait until someone identifies him and he gets canned or reprimanded. Maybe his friends can clap and laugh about that. YOURS, MARIA CRUZ
03.13.2017
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Student filmmakers return for 2017 Judging panel and audience members select favourite student films at annual film festival JANINA MALAPITAN
Last Friday, students, guests, and filmmakers filed into the Instructional Building for the annual UTM Film Festival. DVSS, ICCIT, UTMTV, and UTMSU hosted the event this year. They arranged tables in front of Lecture Hall 110, along with a photo booth and bags of free popcorn. Founded in 2013, the UTM Film Festival features short films written and produced by students. In total, 18 short films were screened this year and competed for five awards categories: Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Short, and Viewers’ Choice. The judges included Brian Price, associate professor and director of VCC and Cinema Studies; Alison Cooley, curatorial assistant and collections archivist at Blackwood Gallery; Alison Syme, associate professor and chair of Art and Art History; Arnold Koroshegyi of Sheridan’s Photography, Intermedia, and Installation department; and Matthew Stoddard, associate professor and director of VCC and Cinema Studies. I was skeptical at first about the four-hour event, but there wasn’t an idle moment.
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UTM Film Festival presents another year of short films written and produced by students. Among the 18 films, there are a few that stood out to me. Declan, in particular, had the audience laughing the whole way through. The film was about an artificial intelligence robot learning how to act human. Declan was a light-hearted comedy filmed in a deliberately amateurish style. It catered to our generation’s kind of humour, with its comic sans, awkward-
ly-paced dialogue, and token pair of Yeezy shoes. Right as Rain was a whimsical piece about two women fighting over an abandoned umbrella in a cafe. As the pink umbrella catches their eyes, the film delves into flashbacks of the women in their youth—we see one as a ballerina and the other as a tap dancer. They begin to barter every-
thing in their purses for the umbrella, until the woman who left it behind returns to the café to reclaim it. The arrival of the umbrella’s owner spurs a touching apology between the two strangers, which leads to their friendship. The film was beautifully crafted, with the ballerina flashback evoking the tone and lighting of Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss.
Another film that especially stood out to me was Missing Piece, which focused on Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). Filmed in a documentary style, Missing Piece follows subjects who suffer from BIID—a disorder where healthy individuals feel like they’re meant to be disabled. One man in the film longs to be “handsfree.” He shows us how he envelops his hands in latex gloves to “get rid” of them. The screenings ended with an unassuming apocalyptic film, Arecibo. A digital personal assistant, like Amazon’s Alexa, narrates the morning of one person. The helper makes a fresh cup of coffee, starts the shower, and prints out their client’s agenda, all of which are shown in tight close-up shots. However, as the camera pans out, it reveals an abandoned apartment, with dozens of printed itineraries littering the floor alongside dirty clothes. Shots of stagnant, empty streets are shown, only to culminate in a landscape shot of the sky, which harbours an extraterrestrial ship. The award for Best Editing went to Arecibo; Best Cinematography to Thanos; Best Sound to Arecibo; Best Short to Bad Kids; and Viewer’s Choice Award to 12 Years Later.
Female artists unite for Women’s Day UTM celebrates International Women’s Day with music, dancing, poetry, and book readings. SHARMEEN ABEDI
Every year on March 8, millions of people around the world eagerly celebrate International Women’s Day, a day that commemorates the past and present struggles of women everywhere. International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over 100 years, and many countries consider it a national holiday. In Canada, it is usually commemorated by women marches and other public events. In honour of the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared $650 million for reproductive rights. Last Thursday, UTM commemorated International Women’s Day with a variety of guest performers. The performances included personal stories, book readings, dancing, and music. A common theme I noticed in most of the performances was the idea of female bodies being policed and dominated by society. The performers used their art to break free
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Guest performers share talent on UTM campus in celebration of International Women’s Day. from the shackles of the patriarchy and reclaim their bodies as their own. One of the performers included Vivek Shraya, a Toronto-based musician, writer and artist. Her work includes illustrated novels, such as
The Boy and the Bindi and She of the Mountains. Shraya began her performance by acknowledging the organizers of the event. As a trans woman, Shraya said she was delighted to be included in International Women’s Day.
Shraya talked about her project called “Trisha,” which she dedicated to her mother. “Trisha” consists of photos of herself that she recreated from pictures of her mother. The project demonstrates how Shraya modeled herself after her mother in
every way, and how she structured her identity around her mother’s. Shraya also presented a live reading of She of the Mountains. The book is a love story that challenges biphobia. It’s also a reimagining of Hindu mythology, specifically surrounding the depiction of bodies. I was intrigued by the way Shraya uses art to challenge biphobia and misogyny, while also weaving culture and religion into her feminist perspective. Another guest at the event was Rabia Khedr, a social activist and advocate for people with disabilities. As a legally blind Muslim woman, Khedr discussed the importance of minorities having a voice, and that change can only come when minorities learn to speak for themselves. Khedr ran for the Peel municipal elections in 2014. While talking about her election, Khedr said, “I wanted to prove to the world that a brown, blind woman, who also covers her head, could actually do it.” Women continued on page 8
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A 4th graders’ tragedy
REWIND DELANEY ROMBOUGH
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UTM Drama Club performed The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide from March 9-11.
HAILEY MASON A&E EDITOR Remember those class plays everyone had to perform in elementary school? We fought over the best parts, practiced our lines at the front of the classroom, bundled up in itchy costumes, and finally, got to show off in front of our families. Proud parents, grandparents, and bored siblings packed into gym auditoriums to watch us fumble through plays about inspirational, uplifting topics. The UTM Drama Club resurrected this experience in their latest production. There’s just one catch: this play doesn’t have a happy ending. The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide drops us in the aftermath of nine-year-old Johnny’s suicide. Before he shot himself, Johnny wrote a play about his experience with love and bullying. In the Drama Club’s performance, the fourth-graders act out the unnamed script in memorial of their dead classmate. They adopt the roles of themselves and Johnny to depict this semi-autobiographical tale. The production follows a frame narrative structure. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a frame narrative is essentially a story within a story— or in this case, a play within a play. When I entered the MiST Theatre, the cast was already performing on stage. Although the play hadn’t formally started, the performers had already assumed their roles as fourth-grade students. They teased each other, played hopscotch, and spoke with juvenile dialogue. This pre-play performance helped mark the transition between the Drama Club’s production and the fourth-graders’ production of Johnny’s play. When the play officially started, an unnamed student (Ben Caldwell) walked to the front of the stage and silenced his peers. He addressed the audience as if they were the audience at his elementary school, not the audience in the MiST Theatre. He introduced himself as a friend of Johnny’s and tried to offer his condolences, but he couldn’t find the right words. The “fourth-graders” then lined up at the front of the stage and fumbled through the Pledge of Allegiance before they commenced their performance of Johnny’s play. The play offers a glimpse into the
troubled and inexperienced mind of a suicidal nine-year-old. It portrays Johnny’s apparent motivation for suicide, starring the unnamed student. The play begins with a cute interaction between Johnny and Rachel (Rebecca MacDonald), who are “boyfriend-girlfriend.” However, Rachel soon reveals her problems with body image. Her insecurities lead her to break up with Johnny. Following the breakup, Mike Rice (Jacobe Rutigliano), the school bully, assaults Johnny for talking to his girlfriend, Sally (Reid Martin). Johnny’s innocence is heartbreaking; he only has good intentions, but he’s constantly antagonized for them. Problems arise from the play’s love triangle, or rather, love hexagon: Johnny likes Rachel, Sally likes Johnny, and Mike Rice likes Sally. And then there’s the hall monitor, Lucy Law (Alexia Vassos), who also likes Johnny and flirts with him at every opportunity. In one semi-comical, semi-upsetting scene, Lucy invites Johnny to be her lunch buddy. Johnny politely declines, as he’s still recovering from his beating. Lucy, totally oblivious to Johnny’s pain, insists that he join her for lunch. Her pleas are friendly and innocent— Vassos does a nice job depicting a childlike persistence. But Johnny continues to refuse, claiming he needs time alone. The story confronts Johnny’s emotional journey. He must endure Mike Rice’s threats, Sally’s manipulative and unwanted advances, and Rachel’s depressive tendencies. The play culminates with Johnny’s attempt at revenge—a plan that goes horribly wrong. The story builds towards Johnny’s inevitable suicide, which appears in the final scene. I was a little skeptical when Johnny’s play started, mostly because the dialogue seemed atypical for a group of nine-year-olds. For example, Rachel often spoke with prophetic language, displaying unusual wisdom for a girl her age. And before Mike Rice assaults Johnny, he delves into an existential monologue, which seemed highly unrealistic for a nine-year-old bully. It took me a minute to remember the students were performing dialogue that Johnny wrote. When the “fourth-graders” interacted outside Johnny’s script, they sounded more natural and age-appropriate. This realization (albeit, an obvious one)
pulled my attention towards the acting abilities of the cast. They simultaneously acted as fourth-graders and fourth-graders performing in a play, creating two different layers to their characters. The cast deliberately acted poorly in Johnny’s play to demonstrate the acting capacity of a nineyear-old. I absolutely loved the execution of The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide, especially how the actors never broke character—they broke their characters’ characters, but never their roles as children. About halfway through the play, the unnamed student came to the front of the stage and announced a brief intermission. He mentioned that someone’s mom brought sweets (Welch’s fruit snacks), which Vassos actually passed around to audience members, still in character. During the “intermission,” the cast resumed their mingling on stage. The production offered a unique perspective on child suicide, to say the least. Johnny’s script betrays the mechanics of his depressed and tormented mind, evident in the gruesome final scene. The unnamed student’s blatant grief at the end of the play emphasizes the morbidity of a nine-year-old committing suicide. Caldwell stood at the front of the stage with blood dripping down his face. He thanked the audience for coming in a shaky voice, still performing as the unnamed student. When the lights brightened, the students continued to mingle, as they did at the start of the play. The boy curled up and cried, while Rachel rubbed his back. The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide didn’t end with music, dimmed lights, bows, or clapping. I was serious when I said the cast never broke character. I honestly wasn’t sure if the play was done or not until a member of the Drama Club stood up in the audience and announced that it was over—I clearly wasn’t the only one who felt confused. I left the theatre as the cast continued to interact on stage, something I’ve never experienced before at a play. This anti-climactic ending provided an ideal closure for such a bleak, desolate story. The conclusion was haunting and realistic, reminding us that we don’t always get a happy ending. The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide ran in the MiST Theatre from March 9 to 11.
As the semester winds down and the weather warms up, we’re all wishing we could be anywhere other than class. Ferris Bueller has similar sentiments in the iconic film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Directed by John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off follows high school seniors Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), and Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) as they skip school to venture into Chicago for the day. Taking his ninth “sick” day of the semester, Ferris is somewhat of an expert at faking sick. He uses a series of contraptions and ploys to prevent himself from getting caught, including a dummy of himself for his bed. He even manages to hack into the school’s computer to minimize his number of absences on record. Despite Ferris’ clever tactics to skip school, his sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) and the principal, Mr. Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), aren’t convinced. They both conspire separately to catch him in the act. Ferris convinces his uptight friend Cameron and his girlfriend Sloane to join him on his day off. Together, the three friends have a fun day in the
city, while the bumbling Mr. Rooney tries to reveal their plan. Throughout the movie, Ferris frequently breaks the fourth wall to inform the audience of his plans and thoughts, including the best way to fake sick. This adds to the comedy of the film, and contributes to the cunning quality of Ferris’ character. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off might be a fun, lighthearted film, but it also addresses some important themes. At the end of the day, as the friends head home from the city, they reflect on their lives and the lessons they learned that day. Ferris breaks the fourth wall in this moment to reflect on his plans after high school. Meanwhile, Cameron reflects on his strained relationship with his father and Sloane contemplates the day’s events. This moment provides more depth to the characters, as we see their relationships and ambitions in a new light. In the end, it turns out that the friends learn more about themselves on their adventurous day off than in class. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has a carpe diem vibe to it. Ferris’s philosophy embodies the message of movie: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Female empowerment Women continued from page 7
A third notable performance included three poems read by Miranda Jurilg. Each of her poems discussed important topics, such as gender-fluid identity and sexism. One poem that stuck with me was about “fatphobia.” This piece ties into the overarching theme of policing women’s bodies. In her poem, Miranda presented a powerful piece that deals with the derogatory attitudes women encounter about their weight. Her poem clearly captured the notion of “fat” as a synonym for “unattractive.”
“We are women. We are not supposed to take up space. We are told to shrink, starve, and resist temptations,” Jurilg said. Her poetry makes you reflect on the damage that society inflicts on young girls by telling them that they are only beautiful if they have a small waist. One of my favourite features of this event was the diversity of the performers. They differed in race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, and artistic style. Their diversity and thoughtful approaches to feminism offered a respectful and inspiring representation of International Women’s Day.
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How to bring a nation to its knees Victoria College Drama Society deconstructs the American dream in their latest production REEM TAHA ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR
The Victoria College Drama Society premiered its production of Assassins at the Isabel Bader Theatre last Thursday. The musical is based on a book by John Weidman, with the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The play is extremely political, as it critiques the idea of the American dream and America as the land of opportunity. However, it also explores themes of human nature, such as freedom of choice and personal accountability. There are some hints to mental health issues; according to the director, Jeff Kennes, Assassins helps us “gain a more comprehensive picture of the intersection between cultures of violence and mental health.” The play features assassins, or attempted assassins, of United States presidents. The play opens with a circus backdrop that reads, “Shoot a Prez & Win a Prize.” The assassins then enter the stage one by one. Each assassin is handed a gun, as the Proprietor (Cole Currie) entices them to assassinate a president through
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Assassins satirizes the infamous assassins and almost-assassins of United States presidents. the song “Everybody’s Got the Right.” The song touches upon the idea of the American dream, which the play completely destroys. The first assassin we’re introduced to is John Wilkes Booth (Gianni Sallese), who infamously assassinated
Abraham Lincoln. Booth claimed that he “killed the man who killed his country.” Booth then shoots himself after lamenting that his assassination, which he dedicated his life to, will not change history. The Balladeer (Brandon Vollick) appears and tells Booth’s
story. He attempts to dissect and analyze the motivation behind Booth’s assassination. He doesn’t simply dismiss Booth as “mad.” Rather, he questions why Booth would “bring a nation to its knees.” The stories of the remaining assas-
sins unfold, including their motives for the crime. There’s a general yearning among the assassins to be remembered not just as “a footnote in history books.” While the assassins are gathered, Guiseppe Zangara (Kenzie Tsang) complains about stomach pain, and Charles Guiteau (Nam Nguyen) speaks about his ambition to be Ambassador of France. As a solution to their problems, Booth suggests an assassination of Franklin Roosevelt. Assassins also addresses America’s socioeconomic divide through Leon Czolgosz (Devon Laird). When one of the characters breaks a glass bottle, Czolgosz reacts in anger and horror and dictates his struggles working in a bottle factory. He recalls the many men that have to suffer to make a new bottle. Guiteau tells him he needs to find a new job. Czolgosz angrily responds that there is no other job, and not everyone has the same opportunities, therefore dismissing the idea of America as a land of opportunity. Czolgosz says that men with money control everything. America continued on page 10
Student poets slam for mental health ICCIT Council hosts slam poetry night to raise awareness about mental health issues ADELAIDE ATTARD ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR
Last Wednesday, UTM’s ICCIT Council hosted their second annual “ScarLit Slam.” The evening featured slam poetry that sought to raise awareness about mental health. We gathered in the Faculty Club Room on the second floor of the Davis Building. Strings of yellow lights scattered over a Persian rug, creating a cozy, makeshift stage. Paintings by UTM students leaned on chairs. They reflected the internal and external struggles of mental health, capturing the struggles of depression, anxiety, and self-doubt. Anton Mykytenko, the public relations director of ICCIT Council, was the MC for the event. “This night is to raise awareness for mental health,” Mykytenko said. “It’s to give performers a chance to be one with their audience and channel emotion through their pieces.” Nancie Jona, a fourth-year sociology and English student, was the first of eight performers. She started off with her piece, “Twinkle, Twinkle Big Moon.” In this poem, Jona comes to terms with her role as the trusty sidekick to the star of the show, saying she would rather be the moon than any star. She then followed with her piece “Demi,” a poem about sexuality and becoming comfortable with who she loves. Next, Amira Dirie, a second-year biology major and winner of EDSS’ 2016 “Slam and Chill,” performed
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ScarLit Slam provided a safe space for students to discuss their struggles with mental health. four poems. According to Dirie, her poems “are all untitled for no particular reason.” Dirie’s poems touched on topics of mental health, keeping with the theme of the evening. One of her poems began, “I will show you a million and one ways to love yourself.” Dirie grew emotional while reciting her own words. She presented with a soft voice and humble demeanor, emphasizing the nature of her four short poems. Her work all touched on the self, and the pros and cons of helping others. After Dirie, there was “a surprise
guest,” as Mykytenko phrased it. Wali Shah, a fourth-year sociology student, performed two pieces: one on love, and the other on Islamophobia, called “Home.” The audience snapped throughout his spoken word pieces, which seemed to resonate with nearly everyone in the room. The last performer before intermission was Zineb Hamaimou, who slammed a piece about rising from the ashes and healing after being bullied in school because of her choice to wear a traditional headdress. One of her lines in the poem was, “My teach-
er once asked me if I could hear with that thing on my head. Now I listen to everything attentively.” ICCIT Council provided coffee during the 15-minute intermission, where the audience mingled with the performers. During the break, guests were encouraged to take a closer look at the art displayed around the stage. As intermission came to an end, Jona took the stage for a second time and performed “Women,” “The Queen,” and “Note to Self.” These poems all discussed self-love and societal beauty standards. Her poem “Women” was
a treat for International Women’s Day. Following Jona, Assia Messaoudi performed “Wedding Bells” after a last-minute request to perform. Next, Zaynab Alkari read a poem called “Blossoms” about her favourite tree back in Syria. The poem covered the aftermath of living in a war-torn country, and how her favourite cherry blossom tree was nothing but a hole in the ground when she came back from a visit in the city. She followed this poem with two more pieces: one about losing her grandmother, and another about sexual assault. Aida Jahjah, ICCIT’s vice president of external affairs, performed three poems. Jahjah shared a personal anecdote about the troubles of a turbulent father-daughter relationship before performing a poem called “Daddy.” Tobi Ogude, a third-year DEM student, was the final performer of the night. He dragged a chair onto the stage and paced around it as he performed poems about self-doubt and not feeling good enough. He ended on a lighter note with a piece called “Ten-and-a-half ways to survive Toronto.” “Mental health is really important to us at the ICCIT Student Council,” said Chidimma Moraldo, ICCIT’s social and CSR director. “We’re all in school balancing part-time, even fulltime jobs. We recognize it’s really important for people to connect and be a part of a community and celebrate each other’s art. This event promotes self-expression and the not-so-happy parts of being human.”
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VCDS questions the American dream AVLEEN GREWAL
VRScout, one of the world’s largest interactive media companies, brings people the latest news about Virtual Reality. The VRScout team produces a podcast every week to provide updates on the latest technologies and research. They emphasise VR and its implementation in our daily lives, not just for entertainment, but also for everyday tasks. Malia Probst hosts the podcast. In her latest episode, Probst underscored recent research in VR, specifically from the National University of Singapore. Last year, a group of researchers created the sensation of flavour while the VR subject chews. Now, the same researchers produced a device called Ambiotherm that simulates the sensation of heat on a person’s body. Probst uses plenty anecdotes in her podcasts. Complaining about her
“terrible eyesight,” she takes the listener on another journey to San Francisco, where a company called Vivid Vision uses the cutting-edge technology in VR to correct amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye. Before VR, amblyopia was incurable after a certain age. With VR, Vivid Vision can correct lazy eye at almost any age. In one segment of Probst’s podcast, she explores VR growth and inventions throughout the world. In the most recent episode, Probst focused on companies like IMAX that are bringing VR to the public. Companies like these are important for mainstream awareness of VR, as not many people are familiar with the technology. VRScout’s podcast explores the innovative technology of VR, including new products, companies, and research. VRScout posts a new podcast on their website every week.
America continued from page 10
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Meredith Shedden) naïvely delivers her speeches on Charles Manson like a teenager looking at her boyfriend with heart-eyes. Fromme and her companion, Sara Jane Moore (Julia Orsini), deliver the most hilarious scenes in the play. They prepare to assassinate their president, Gerald Ford, but Moore brings her dog, which she accidentally shoots, along with her nine-year old daughter. This causes a dispute between the two women. When the president enters the stage, he helps Moore pick up her bullets, which have scattered all over the floor. Fromme tries to shoot, but her gun jams. After they have failed, Moore throws her bullet at him and shouts, “Bang.” As the remaining assassination stories unfold, the play reveals ul-
terior motives for the assassins. They all have personal reasons for murdering their presidents, driven by frustration at their inability to fulfill their goals in an oppressive society. As they gather on stage,
The group of assassins, in their final scene, gather on stage and point their guns towards the auditorium. the Balladeer tells them they must chase the American dream. They sing “Another National Anthem,” in which each assassin states why they assassinated, or attempted to assassinate, a president. Czolgosz says he did it because he thought it was wrong for one man to have
so much power, while others have none. Booth did it to avenge the Confederation and bring down the Lincoln government. They all gather in the end, interrupting Lee Harvey Oswald’s (Vollick) suicide attempt to convince him to assassinate John F. Kennedy. After their attempts of coercion and manipulation, he finally does it. The group of assassins, in their final scene, gather on stage and point their guns towards the audience, singing, “Everybody’s got the right to be happy.” Assassins offers a satirical retelling of America’s dark history. The play simultaneously mocks the assassins and explores their motivation. In doing so, it deconstructs the American dream and reveals the corruption inherent to society. Assassins ran at the Isabel Bader Theatre from March 9 to 11.
How do you want to be remembered? A Matter of Life and Death and Somewhere Else at AGM visually embody our life stories NICOLE SCIULLI STAFF WRITER When the ones we love pass away, there’s a void in our lives. But their stories don’t end when their life does. What if there was a way to encapsulate the richness of a person’s history in a piece of artwork? Ken Lum’s new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, A Matter of Life and Death, achieves this feat. Lum’s work represents human life through memorial busts and textbased paintings of obituaries. Lum has been an established artist for over 35 years, producing conceptual art through sculpture, paintings, and photography. When I first entered the exhibition, I was drawn to six memorial busts. Lum moulded each bust from plaster, modelling the faces from Philadelphians. The people in the busts all underwent public scrutiny to some degree. For example, one bust depicts Kathy Chang, better known as Kathy Change. Chang was a Chinese-American performance artist and political activist who performed one-woman shows of her dancing, singing, and guitar-playing on the University of Pennsylvania Campus to protest the government. In 1996, Chang took her own life by lighting herself on fire in front of the peace sign on campus. Another bust portrays Birdie Africa, one of two survivors of the 1985 Philadelphia Police bombing of MOVE, a black liberation group. Africa was only 13 years old at the time of the bombing, and soon became the face of MOVE. He died in 2013 of an accidental drowning. Lum sculpted each bust with ex-
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The Art Gallery of Mississauga is currently displaying exhibitions by Ken Lum and Nam Phi Dang. treme detail. As you peer into their eyes, the effect is haunting—after you read their story, you can almost see the individual emotions on their faces. In the larger room of the exhibition, eight prints made with archival ink line the walls. Each print is in the style of an obituary, all using different fonts. The “obituaries” create a narrative for each person’s life. Lum’s inspiration for this series stems from his discovery of the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, published for Abraham Lincoln’s death. To commemorate his life, the newspaper took Lincoln’s major life events and wrote them as headings. Lum plays with different obituary styles from different eras to see how they affect the way someone’s life story is depicted. For example, one work called “The
Mystery of the Tattoo Lady” depicts the character Jade Visscher’s death as a mystery. The piece tells the observer that Jade’s body was unidentified for several days and the cause of death was inconclusive. It was only when the investigators saw photos of her “distinctive tattoos” that they discovered who she was. This work depicts a life that has many unanswered questions, even after her death. And because the secrets of her death will never be revealed, her life is documented with a sense of mystery. One of my favourite prints is “Kim Sook Joo.” This “obituary” depicts the short life of a girl who died at five days old. The obituary lists all the names of her great-grandparents, and all the names of people in her extended family that survived her. At the end of the “obituary” is a quote that says, “A family is a little world
created by love.” This piece emphasizes the presence of family in the subject’s life. Although the child did not live long, her memory is carried on through the rest of her family. Lum blurs the lines of fiction and biography by taking key details of a person’s life and documenting them in ways that exhibit their life stories. Lum’s work forces the viewer to ask themselves: Is this the way the dead would have wanted their life story to look? What key moments in a person’s life contributes to their overall identity? A Matter of Life and Death also leads the observer towards selfreflection. How would we want to be remembered by others? The second new exhibition at the AGM is Somewhere Else by Nam Phi Dang. Dang’s exhibition consists of five photographs from a larger photo essay that came from his 2015 trip to
Vietnam. His parents left Vietnam before he was born, so Dang wanted to return to their native country to establish a connection. Dang’s photos contain seemingly fleeting and mundane moments to the superficial eye. But upon closer examination, they have a dreamlike and “alternate world” quality to them. For example, in “Flower Village in Hanoi,” we see an apple tree elevated on a platform. Vietnamese women of different ages stand or sit on the platform using their phones. Surrounding them are fields of red, white, and purple flowers. In the background of the image, we can see small buildings, perhaps belonging to a rural town. The settings of a rural landscape contrast with the women using new technology. This dual imagery emphasizes the feeling of displacement individuals experience after moving from one country to another. Dang felt this way when he travelled to Vietnam, as Vietnamese culture was neither the same when his parents left, nor was it the same as Dang’s experiences growing up in Canada with a Vietnamese heritage. Dang’s work contemplates the collision of the unknown and the familiar. It makes the observer question the experiences that shape our lives and structure our perspective of the world. Both Lum and Dang visually embody the experiences that define our life stories. When someone tells our history, what images will they conjure? What do our stories say about us? A Matter of Life and Death and Somewhere Else will be on display at the Art Gallery of Mississauga until April 16.
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Water activists take on bottled water Last Monday, the Wellington Water Watchers shared their tale of activism in ANT461H5S FARAH QAISER FEATURES EDITOR The Wellington Water Watchers are a non-profit organization run by volunteers (largely Guelph-based citizens) whose primary aim is to protect local water and spread awareness among the public. Over the last few months, the group has received widespread media attention following their campaign against Nestlé in the fight against bottled water—a story that has been dubbed as David versus Goliath. Representatives from the group, Mike Balkwill and Karen Rathwell, were invited by professor Andrea Muehlebach to speak at the weekly ANT461H5S seminar regarding their campaign against Nestlé’s right to bottle and sell ground water in Ontario. This was not a regular speaking invitation though—in fact, fourth-year anthropology students led the talk, as they questioned the two WWW representatives on various topics, such as whether grassroot organizations were the most effective way to campaign, if the media was beneficial to the cause or not, and what students themselves could do to help to reduce bottled water in their
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The Wellington Water Watchers discussed their successful campaign against bottling water. own communities. Muehlebach began the seminar with a brief background on the WWW and their work these last few months. “The [WWW] led to the moratorium on water abstraction,” she said, referring to the fact that last October, the federal government issued a two-year moratorium against
bottling companies seeking to gain permits for removing groundwater from new sites, or for removing an increasing quantity of water at a current site, within Ontario. “Having worked a lot with activists, I knew of course that there must be a big group of people behind this [campaign], because you can’t do
something as amazing as basically push for a moratorium on water abstraction in Ontario and win with just one person,” said Muehlebach. This thought prompted her to reach out to the mass mobilization behind the campaign: the WWW, and invite the group to her weekly seminar (Advanced Seminar in Sociocultural and
Linguistic Anthropology). One of the students present, Naomi Escoffery, a fourth-year in the Exceptionalities in Human Learning program, began the interview by asking the two WWW representatives about the history of the group and how they mobilized the public, and their volunteers, to stand up against Nestlé. To provide perspective, Rathwell first focused on the value of water. “We have to go back to a place where we all appreciate how sacred water is—and that we have a responsibility to take care of it,” said Rathwell. She emphasized that water is the essence of life, since water forms approximately 70 percent of the human body. Rathwell is a retired educator with a career spanning 28 years, and was also the principal of an elementary school at one point. During this time, a public speaking contest was held. One of the children taking part in the contest spoke about the selling of bottled water, and quoted David Suzuki: “One of the simplest ways to curb global warming is to stop buying bottled water.” WWW continued on page 12
Just what’s in your toolbox for Canada? The “Toolbox to Canada” workshop was hosted last Saturday in the Erin Mills area AISHA MALIK AND KAITLYN FERNANDES
Last Saturday, UTM’s Centre for Student Engagement and the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre held a workshop titled “Toolbox to Canada,” to introduce services available in Canada to Syrian refugees, as well as discuss topics such as mental health and offer career advice. Dana Britton, a programming assistant at the CSE and fifth-year psychology and sociology student, stated that “the goal of these workshops is to provide refugees with tools to help them succeed in Canada.” “The Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre realized that some refugees weren’t aware of certain resources available to them in the Peel Region, so we created this workshop series to help inform them.” The organizations involved in coordinating the workshops are the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre and the Polycultural Immigrant and
MESHA GHAYUR/THE MEDIUM
The “Toolbox to Canada” workshop focused on introducing Canadian services to Syrian refugees. Community Services Centre. The workshops included speakers from several UTM departments, including the Health and Counselling Centre. Along with the UTM community, other organizations within the community are taking part, such as the YMCA. The workshop was held at the Polycultural Immigrant and
Community Services Centre in the Erin Mills area. According to Britton, around 30-35 people signed up to attend the workshop. The volunteers are required to assist with the workshops themselves and help with translating. Britton went on to explain that the workshops “will be followed by a net-
working lunch […]. The networking lunch will allow [the participants] to speak with specialists in certain areas, as well as students who are familiar with the resources in Peel Region.” For further accommodation, Britton stated that “there will be children’s programs simultaneously.”
Among the children’s activities are arts and crafts and improv games. Although the organizers of the event were expecting around 30 to 35 attendees based on registration numbers, an unfortunate snow storm on the morning of the event reduced the amount of families that showed up. That being said, families who were in attendance showed nothing but gratitude to both the student volunteers and the guest speakers present. The event consisted of three workshops that ran from 12 to 3 p.m. The first was “Staying Healthy,” which featured speakers by UTM’s Health and Counselling Centre as well as the YMCA. The second workshop was run by St. George medical students, and was called “I am Sick? Now what do I do?” The workshop focused on how immigrants should go about accessing Ontario’s health care services. According to Britton, this workshop dealt with “being sick in Canada and the types of resources available. Toolbox continued on page 12
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«FEATURES
THE MEDIUM 03.13.2017
SMA to host Finance Cup Water activism WWW continued from page 11
ANUM SYED/THE MEDIUM
The Student Management Association will hold a UTM Finance Cup competition next weekend. JESSICA CABRAL ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR On Sunday March 19, the Student Management Association will hold the first ever UTM Finance Cup. Tailored towards the finance realm of business, participants will analyze a case study involving mergers and acquisitions, and present their analysis to a panel of judges featuring representatives from large companies like RBC and CIBC. The SMA, an academic society that acts as an extension of the Institute for Management and Innovation, attempts to provide their students with events catered to their business needs. The UTM Finance Cup is the newest addition to the list of events the association holds, including networking events, mentorships, and mock interviews. “As an academic society, we strive to put up the best opportunities for our students for their professional development, so that we can bridge the gap between the professional world and academia,” says Raymond Jr. Tang, a fourth-year BBA management student and SMA Finance director. To strengthen the sense of competition, students from other universities can attend this UTM-based business event. On the day of the competition, teams ranging between three to four members will receive their case study and are given two and a half to three hours to analyze the case and create their presentation. Contestants are free to use the internet and bring in templates to aid in their preparation. In the case study, teams will have to choose an initial company and a target company, and build a strategy to either merge or acquire them both. “They’ll answer specific questions
like, ‘What does the corporate strategy look like,’ ‘Where are you going to take the company onwards,’ and ‘What would you do with the cash balances,’—all in the face of a business crisis sprung on them the day of,” Tang says. After the analysis period, the teams will present their study in front of judges. From there, a scheduled lunch doubles as a networking opportunity, allowing participants to speak with industry employees to gain feedback on their performances and implement improvements into their presentations. In the afternoon, senior level judges, who are representatives with higher level positions within their companies, will come to judge the highest four scored teams. The winner is announced and receives a trophy and cash prize. So, what makes the UTM Finance Cup different from other business case competitions? Tang explains that their focus for this event was to highlight the finance and accounting talent within the UTM community. Traditionally, finance and accounting students would have to venture to Waterloo, Guelph, St. George, or even Queens to experience this merger and acquisition style of competition. “We have a marketing competition called ‘Ready, Set, Market’ at UTM, but we also have a large population of finance and accounting students. You can’t really neglect their skillset, and as the Student Management Association, we feel that it is our duty to actually speak for them, be their voice, and provide something that is really in tune with what they’re learning,” Tang explains. Tang believes that if UTM students have the capacity to go forward to showcase their skills at other university campuses, then having them
compete on home soil in a familiar setting will benefit them even more. “There’s always a marketing case competition, there’s also the stock trading competition, but that’s a totally different side of financing. Seeing equities is like observing something that already happened in the market, that’s just seeing the after effects of a business,” Tang says. “When do we give students a chance firsthand to derive the direction of a company in terms of merges and acquisitions? It’s taking this holistic view on finance as a whole, because you’re considering many factors, like the history of the company and the current assets. So it’s more like driving the company forward, rather than, in the stock competition, analyzing the after effects.” The goal of the UTM Finance Cup is to reveal the talent of UTM students to external representatives from large companies. Students who are not in marketing need a case competition designed for their core competency. This event hopes to make that accessible to students of all years, in all programs, while still providing some degree of complexity. “Our slogan for [the event] is ‘become recognized, gain prestige’ because it’s the inaugural edition. It doesn’t matter how you approach the case, everyone can have their own spin on it— it’s just that you analyze it thoroughly and consider all factors,” Tang says. “It should be a well-rounded approach to analyzing something, not just one specific facet of the company.” Early bird tickets for the event are being sold for $30 for UTM students and $35 for external participants. Contestants will battle for first place in UTM’s Finance Cup on March 19 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This quote resounded deeply with Rathwell—and made her realize that bottled water involves both costs and environmental damage associated with pumping out groundwater, multiple trucks distributing this extracted water, and even the plastic packaging used to store the bottled water. This changed her perspective entirely, and later, upon switching schools, she went on to collaborate with the WWW on the project “Message In A Bottle,” where 40,000 bottles were distributed among children in schools to encourage the use of reuseable bottles. Upon retiring as an educator, Rathwell then put her time and energy into the WWW and the issue of bottled water. Rathwell was in her fifth year as an activist with the organization, when in mid-2016, the WWW’s campaign against Nestlé began. Balkwill (WWW’s Campaign Director) stated that the story started south of Guelph in Aberfoyle, where one of Nestlé Waters Canada’s bottling factory can be found. According to both Balkwill and the WWW’s website, in 2011, Nestlé Waters Canada was granted a five-year renewal of their water permit, which would allow them to bottle up to 3.6 million litres of ground water a day. This permit was up for renewal in 2016—and the WWW were preparing for this moment. “In the Christian tradition, David and Goliath is an important story,” said Balkwill. In this story, Balkwill characterized David as the WWW, while Goliath represented the Nestle company. The summer of 2016 was a dry one. In fact, there was a drought. While Nestle had voluntarily reduced the amount of water being abstracted in Aberfoyle, they continued pumping out groundwater in this drought period. There had been no update on the permit process yet. According to Balkwill, the regulations are structured so that if the government does not review the permit documentation in time, the permit application is “automatically extended until the government does their part.” “On August 1, […] we got up on our hind legs, and in false outrage— because we knew what the rules were—we said: ‘How can you let Nestle continue to pump water in a drought?’” said Balkwill. “The media went nuts.” In the middle of the media and public protests, an iconic picture was captured. A young girl was photographed, holding up a sign that said: “Dear Kathleen Wynne, I’m 13 years
old. Please leave some water for me —Molly.” This outrage, public protesting, and media attention helped push the federal government towards a moratorium on bottled water. “If it hadn’t been for Nestlé, if it hadn’t been [for the] WWW, who had been preparing for this moment for 10 years, if it hadn’t been that we live in the social media era, if it hadn’t been for Molly, if it hadn’t been for the drought—but it [all] did happen [resulting in a moratorium],” said Balkwill. However, the moratorium is not the end of this issue; it is simply a chance for the government to conduct its own research on the matter. “For me, I’m all about the science. I’m a teacher—I love facts,” says Rathwell. “But it’s not always about the science here, it’s about the morals.” There is also the matter of data being interpreted differently by both Nestlé and the WWW—there is no neutral judge nor map of all the ground water resources present in Ontario. As the government continues its research during the moratorium, and the WWW continue debating with Nestlé representatives, the water bottling companies can continue pumping out groundwater. The remainder of the group interview discussed topics such as whether protesting has been effective, which prompted Balkwill to state that the WWW are not trying to change Nestle’s mind or policy, but instead attempting to pressure Wynne’s government instead. This is about reframing the issue of bottled water as an issue about values. “Water is essential to life. [In fact], our slogan is that water is for life— not profit. We’re trying to force a choice on the public,” said Balkwill. He further elaborated by stating that everyone has an “issue,” such as paying back loans, homelessness, or living on social assistance. “How do we get this issue in front of people who are very concerned about something else? We have to polarize the question in a way that people have to pay attention to it,” said Balkwill. For example, Black Lives Matter (TO) polarized their issue when they halted the Pride Parade or camped out in front of the police headquarters, used the media to bring attention to their cause, and forced the public to pick a side. “Part of the strategy is to make a question and make people choose which side they’re on,” said Balkwill. “And what the WWW are saying: ‘Are you on the side where water is for life—or are you on the side that water is for profit?’”
Workshop had limited turnout due to snow storm Toolbox continued from page 11 By far the most attended workshop was the last one, run by the YMCA, called “Working in Canada: where to start.” Britton stated that this workshop was “dedicated to working in Canada and employment resources.”
The workshop focused on providing tips to create a strong resume and cover letter, as well as where to search for local job postings. Translators were present throughout the workshops to help smooth over any points that were unclear. All of the student volunteers who
attended the event were invited to write their name and languages they spoke on their name tags. This facilitated discussion, and led to more interaction between the immigrants and the volunteers. Several student volunteers spoke Arabic, which was a popular language among those
who attended. Many of the families who came to the workshop brought young children who were already developing their command of the English language, and were not shy at all when interacting with the volunteers. Although the event didn’t have as
high of an attendance as was expected, all those in attendance assured the volunteers that their efforts were appreciated. The event was an opportunity to spend time in an environment that was inclusive and encouraging towards new fellow Canadians.
03.13.2017 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 13
Dear students, your vote does matter Last Tuesday, Bumgardner discussed the importance of voting and the power of a single vote SHARMEEN ABEDI
Last Tuesday, in light of the ongoing UTMSU elections on campus, the Centre for Student Engagement invited Professor Justin Bumgardner from UTM’s political science department to present a talk on why voting matters. Bumgardner emphasized the importance of voting at every level, whether federal, provincial, municipal, or even student elections. He started by deconstructing the common myth that individual votes don’t make a difference. “Your vote can matter, because you never know how close an election can be,” he said. Many people don’t vote because of the belief that one vote will not change anything. Bumgardner stated that although statistically that may be true, sometimes there are elections that get very close. He then offered a few examples. “The smaller the election, like a student election, the better the chances of your vote making a difference. You can have an election on campus that can be determined by a single vote.” As he continued, it’s usually not about a single vote. Sometimes, people can make a difference by swinging the votes of their friends or others. A common saying about voting that he mentioned is that if you don’t
AIMEN ALI/THE MEDIUM
Bumgardner stated that the smaller the election, the greater impact a single vote has. vote, you have no right to complain. “Even if you don’t like the candidates, you should still exercise your right to vote,” he said. “This is because you might find the results of the election troubling.” He mentioned how many Americans are deeply troubled by the results of the last election, yet it was the lowest voter turnout in 20 years. The right to vote is not a right that everyone in the world has, and it is not something we should take for granted. “Living in North America,
there are a lot of things we take for granted in our daily lives that billions of people around the world don’t have. One of them is democracy,” he said. He discussed the historic election of 2000 with George W. Bush vs AlGore, which was a very close one, with a difference of only four electoral votes. Bumgardner discussed how the consequences of an election can be very serious. The results of the 2000
American election led to the Iraq War in 2003, and indirectly to the creation of ISIS. “It really does matter who wins,” he said. He provided other examples of close elections, including six elections in Canada that have ended in ties, three of which were federal elections. Returning to the topic of democracy, he stated that 2.6 billion people in the world are living in 50 different countries where they do not possess the right to vote. “This is something
to consider when exercising the right to vote,” he stated. “It is a privilege that not everyone has.” In addition to this, there are 1.8 billion more people, from 56 different countries, who despite having elections, have rampant fraud in the government that prevents their votes from being counted. “About 40 percent of the world’s population live in a liberal democracy, but the rest live either without democracy, or in a pseudo-democracy,” he explained. He also mentioned that many people are tortured, imprisoned, and killed for attempting to bring democracy to their countries. “If you’re not voting, it does a disservice to people who have sacrificed their lives in order to have freedom,” he said. Bumgardner stated that election results can have big consequences. The rise of Hitler and the Nazis was the result of a democratic election, and those results caused the Holocaust and World War II. The type of leader that the people choose can influence the social reform that takes place in a country. He concluded his talk by stating a quote from Winston Churchill: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other alternatives,” which illustrates that while democracy can be problematic, it is still a much better choice compared to other forms of governments.
Street food: fast, delicious—and healthy? The community kitchen workshop featured falafel sandwiches, tacos, and a Calcutta chicken roll
SHAYNA JAN
Life as a student can be like a complicated juggling act; where academics and social interaction become opposing entities that are constantly odds with one another. Oftentimes, in a struggle to maintain a healthy balance, students neglect their health, and instead find quick and easy ways to nourish themselves. Luckily, the monthly community kitchen workshops hope to introduce new styles of food to students, and encourage healthy eating. Last Wednesday, chef Sandeep Kachroo, UTM’s culinary director, hosted a workshop on street food. Recent trends have shown street food to be one of the more popular choices of cuisine among students. Kachroo, having worked as a chef worldwide, enjoys preparing these foods here at home, and says that “making street food gives you a global perspective.” At the beginning of the workshop, prior to being assigned a group to work with and a dish to prepare, each student was given an apron and a pair of gloves. Kachroo stressed the importance of changing gloves after dealing with uncooked meat and when tasting foods, so as not to facili-
AIMEN ALI/THE MEDIUM
Chef Sandeep Kachroo hosted a workshop on street food—from a global perspective. tate the spread of bacteria and crosscontamination. Each group had their own table, equipped with all the ingredients and supplies needed to create their dish. There were five groups in total; the first was responsible for making a falafel sandwich, which included falafel, tahini dressing, an assortment
of pickled and non-pickled vegetables, and Greek yogurt all wrapped in a pita. The second group prepared jerk-chicken tacos with mangopineapple salsa, including shredded purple cabbage and mashed black beans among the taco’s filling. The third group made their own version of the taco, substituting chicken for
pan-seared fish, while the last group prepared a Calcutta chicken roll filled with tandoori chicken, vegetables, tomato sauce, and chillies. I was a part of group two. We were responsible for preparing the jerk chicken tacos by first marinating the chicken, then preparing the mango pineapple salsa, later mashing the
beans, then cooking everything and assembling the taco. Although this recipe sounds like it contains many ingredients and multiple steps, preparing the dish was the easy part— trying to eat it without having everything fall apart was much more difficult. After everyone finished preparing their dishes and tasted their final products, Kachroo and his colleagues brought out multiple samples of each dish, which was prepared beforehand, so all the students were given an opportunity to taste the street foods. When asked what he loved about these workshops, Kachroo responded, “It’s not about what we cook, it’s about learning what you want.” He added that he enjoys interacting with students and discovering their food preferences, as this allows the staff the opportunity to better cater to their needs. “All we want students to know is that we are real people cooking real food,” he added. In providing these workshops, the UTM dining staff hope that students can feel more confident in the kitchen, taking it upon themselves to say goodbye to their beloved delivery guy and hello to clean eating.
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Just another championship game UTM men’s D-league basketball team defeat Woodsworth College in the semifinals game 76-67
ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR
UTM Varsity men’s basketball program found themselves in the semifinals tilt against University of Toronto’s Woodsworth College. What seemed like a blowout victory for the Eagles turned into a close affair near the final moments. Woodsworth’s lack of composure and selfish play gave UTM the opportunity to come out on top and win 76-67. In the first quarter, plenty of shots fell within the first few minutes, but in the last eight minutes, quite a few missed shots and opportunities began to frustrate both benches. Greg Roberts put the momentum in the Eagles’ favour with an off-balance layup and foul attempt score. Nicholas Al-Rehay manoeuvered himself around Woodsworth defenders from a long court pass, and scored. On a possession later, Nicholas Kwahtal capitalized on his wide open three-point shot and put the Eagles up 25-13 with 8:20 left in the half.
DANIELLE ROLFE/THE MEDIUM
UTM’s win over Woodsworth College secures them a spot in the championship game. Ahmad Abu Awad got into the scoring mix, capitalizing on a two-point opportunity where he rushed into the paint and trickled the shot high overtop the heads of Woodsworth defenders. Kwahtal dazzled the crowd with
a spin move around a Woodsworth defender and humbly gave the ball to fellow teammate Roberts on a 3-on-0 rush to score for his team—leading 14 points. UTM continued to out-shoot, out-hustle, and out-strategize Wood-
sworth for the rest of the entire half, which ended in UTM leading 44-24 prior to the second half. Alessandro Tanzi lit the torch in the third quarter, scoring eight straight points for the Eagles; he sunk
an open layup and two three-point shots. Woodsworth fought their way back into the game, winning fierce battles in front of the net and capitalizing off their dominant rebounding. At the end of the third quarter, UTM led by only six points after leading by 26 points at the beginning of the half —they had an interesting final stretch ahead. The fourth quarter began where the third quarter ended, with the momentum on Woodsworth’s side; but the UTM defense prevailed, disallowing Woodsworth the opportunity to even up the score. Aiden Bull for Woodsworth was the threepoint assassin that continuously gave Woodsworth something to be excited about. He made his money behind the arch next to his bench. Tanzi’s air ball didn’t manage to go out of bounds, and as the Woodsworth defender stared at it, Tanzi sprinted, flew out of bounds, and knocked the ball off the defender to secure the improbable next possession for his Eagles. B-ball continued on page 16
Kicking around with women’s soccer UTM women’s indoor soccer performs exceptionally well at regional tournament, finishing 2-1-0 VANESSA CESARIO
After attending two training sessions and a few practices per week, the UTM Varsity soccer girls were prepared and determined about their long-awaited Regionals Soccer Tournament on Monday, March 6 in London, Ontario. The bus departed at 6:30 a.m. and took them to their first game: a 9:30 a.m. match against Fanshawe College—a team who had defeated UTM at last year’s Regionals in Woodbridge. During the warm-up to the Fanshawe match, UTM’s goalie, Nida Zaidi, sustained an ankle injury and was unable to play in the tournament. Noor Aldoori took her place. From the moment the first whistle blew until the end of the game, UTM fought hard, with only a brief hiccup along the way. The first goal was scored by one of UTM’s quickest players, Katie Flannigan. Shortly after, Danica Post scored to give UTM a two-goal lead. Third-year defender Jayde Forde assisted post on an ideally-placed cross-pass. UTM was able to keep the lead, but suffered
WALEED AUMEERALLY/UTM ATHLETICS
The women’s indoor soccer team won two of their three games in the regional tournament. a minor breakdown in the last five minutes, causing Fanshawe to make it on the scoreboard. However, UTM executed their strong defensive strategy and kept their composure for the remainder of the game—leading them to overcome Fanshawe, 2-1. The second game of the day was against Mohawk College. The girls
came out strong, which put them into a 1-0 lead shortly into the game. The goal was scored by team captain Christina Rico on a left-footed shot. Still in the first half, UTM got the second goal by Vanessa Cesario on a scramble in front of the net. UTM was stable, but began to break down near the end of the first half, leading
Mohawk to score the first goal. Fatigue was starting to set in after the half, and Mohawk took the game 3-2. The women’s final game was against Georgian College. Rookie player Kayla Rice scored the only goal of the game; her shot took a deflection off a Georgian player and went directly into the net, leading
her team to a 1-0 win. After the match, the girls waited for news of their placement in the tournament—the top two teams would advance to Provincials. There was a three-way tie between UTM, Fanshawe, and Mohawk, which led to the officials being forced to follow the tie-breaker rules. According to the tournament rules, first place is awarded to the team with the best goal differential. Fanshawe took the win, and UTM and Mohawk were left to wait for the results of who would finish in second. Tournament rules state that the tie-breaker would switch to a “head to head.” This meant that though UTM had a better goal differential, Mohawk would advance due to their win over UTM. The level of commitment put in by the UTM girls’ soccer team and their coaching staff brought them to victory in two of their three games. Though tournament regulations awarded wins to Mohawk and Fanshawe, UTM plans to return next year with more perseverance and determination.
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THE MEDIUM 03.13.2017
Crossing over Varsity Blues get bronze Woodsworth Women’s volleyball defeats Ryerson 3-1 in Final Four match
DANIELLE ROLFE/THE MEDIUM
The team had a 24-point lead at one point during the game.
B-ball continued from page 15 UTM secured the win, and now go on to play Scarborough in the championship match this Wednesday, March 15 at UTSC. UTM’s head coach was pleased with his team’s overall performance, but understands there is still some work that needs to be done. The 24-point lead dwindling down to six wasn’t something the team wants to carry over into their championship game. “There were barely any mistakes in the first half; everyone was
clicking, and the shots were going down, and I think it showed in the score. And in the second half, it was expected that Woodsworth was going to come out strong and we came out a little flat, so they made a run,” he says. “I told the guys I’m proud of the way they reacted to their run. We held our composure, and we just handled business. “This would make it three championships out of the last four years, so hopefully we can finish it off before we go into Varsity next year.”
MARTIN BAZYL/VARSITY BLUES
The Varsity Blues lost their first game in over two years to the Western Mustangs.
ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR The nation’s top-ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team defeated Ryerson University 3-1 in the bronze-medal “Final Four” match at the Goldring Centre on Saturday, March 11. The women claim their sixth provincial medal in as many years. Also, the bronze medal gives them their fourth since the 2011-12 season. It was anticipated that the women would undeniably make it to the championship game after going 19-0 during the regular season. They finished as the OUA East division champions, and earned their hosting right to the OUA Final Four after a 3-0 quarter-final win over Waterloo last weekend. They lost to the Western Mustangs, who are ranked ninth in the country. It was their first loss in over two years. Varsity Blues player of the match and OUA East player of the year
Alina Dormann led all players on the evening with a game-high 29 points, with 28 kills and one service ace. Dormann was assisted by OUA East first team all-star Madelyn Mandryk, who notched a game-high 45 assists, while libero Asli Ersozoglu registered a team-high 17 digs defensively. For the Rams, OUA first team all-star Theanna Vernon dominated at the net, scoring 22 points with 13 kills, six blocks, and three service aces. Outside hitters Lauren Veltman and Veronica Livingston were close behind, with 15.5 and 14 points, respectively. OUA East first team all-star libero Julie Longman led all players defensively with a game-high 28 digs, while setter Kate McIlmoyle recorded 29 assists. The Blues began the game against Ryerson on a high note, as Anna Licht entertained the crowd with two blocks before finding an open spot on the opponent’s side of the court to push ahead early. The Blues kept delivering Ryerson all they could handle, and ultimately won the first
set 25-19. The second set featured back-andforth action as the Rams began to find their rhythm, capitalizing on the inside presence of Vernon, the Rams player of the match. The dominant inside force helped keep the set close, but Toronto was still too much, taking it 25-23. The momentum remained with the Rams into the third as Vernon teamed up with Livingston to jump ahead of the Blues, putting them into a hole they couldn’t climb out of. This forced a fourth set, with a 25-19 third-set win. Mandryk continuously delivered to her favourite target in Dormann, who is a notoriously hard-hitter. The Blues secured the bronze medal with a 2523 fourth set win. Although their ultimate goal was winning the gold medal, it was still satisfying knowing the Blues managed to receive a medal on home court.