THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA
October 22, 201 8 Volume 45, Issue 6 themedium.ca
UTM tackles Sustainability
Tackling theft at UTM
Shakespeare back at UTM
Facebook Woes
Eagles fly to provincials
News, page 2
Opinion, page 4
Arts, page 5
Features, page 8
Sports, page 11
UTM campus council discusses diversity University received funding to hire seven academic diversity positions and three indigenous faculty positions SHVETA BHASKER Earlier this month, the University of Toronto Mississauga’s Campus Council held their first meeting. Council discussed the new deadline for the Davis renovations, the over-acceptance of undergraduate applications and efforts to increase diversity on campus. The Food Court in the DV building will be ready in January. The construction on the front entrance of Davis will be more accessible and inviting. The New North Building has a committee that will be naming the building, and the final renovations will be completed in the Fall of this year. The design review committee for the science building will be meeting next month. UTM principal Ulrich Krull also stated that the unnamed Science Building is expected to be completed in 2021. The building will provide new laboratory space for the university’s current and planned research needs. In regard to the new building, Krull stated that it will propel UTM forward as an “internationally significant research university, with undergraduate, graduate
ASHLEY VANDERKOEN/THE MEDIUM
The council discussed ways to increase diversity on campus in terms of faculty and students. and professional programs of excellent quality.” Angela Lange, VP Academic & Dean, spoke of the university’s priorities for the upcoming year. On an academic level, there is interest in a certificate of sustainability and a
conference on sustainability. There is also a plan for introducing literacy and numeracy skills by bringing foundational courses early on in undergraduate studies to enhance these skills. The tri-campus review is current-
ly underway. According to a U of T press release, the review will “provide critical opportunities for the university to reflect on its structure and administration,” which will allow the university to “address future opportunities and challenges.”
The council also discussed ways in which to increase diversity on campus in terms of faculty and students. The university has hired a research analyst to see how much diversity there is on campus. The university has also received funding from UF central programs for in-year allocations. A portion of the funds will go toward seven academic diversity positions, and three indigenous faculty positions. According to Lange, the funds were made available to allow UTM to “hire in academic areas where there had either been a gender imbalance or there was a lack of persons of colour.” A working group will develop ways to bring Indigenous topics into curriculums and other aspects of UTM, including research. Some topics in the report of the Vice-President & Principal included the increase of Fall undergraduate enrollment and the university’s website redesign. This year, UTM received more acceptances than in past years. According to Principal Krull, UTM is approximately 400 students over target. Diversity continued on page 3
Incoming UTSU AGM will address separation The UTSU will endorse the separation of the UTSU and UTMSU after stalled membership negotiations ALI TAHA NEWS EDITOR
The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), which represents all full-time undergraduates at the St. George and Mississauga campuses, will hold its Annual General Meeting on October 30th. The meeting comes amid negotiations between the UTSU and the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union to terminate their Associate Membership Agreement. The termination of the agreement would see both unions becoming their own separate entities. The UTSU has allotted thirty minutes to endorse the separation of the UTSU and UTMSU. According to the meeting’s agenda, the “respective Boards and Executive Committees of each union have exercised due diligence […] and have commenced the execution of the necessary legal, governance, and operational procedures to […] a smooth separation.” In an article written by The Varsity, UTSU President Anne Boucher
MUHAMMAD ALI/THE MEDIUM
The UTSU will hold its Annual General Meeting on October 30th, 2018. stated that the separation will give the UTMSU more freedom in their governance and increased revenue from UTM students, allowing the union to offer services it could not offer before.
Resolutions Submitted by Members One of the submitted resolutions calls for the UTSU to reject the Ontario government’s new free speech policy. The policy came after
the Ontario government released a statement instructing publicly funded Ontario colleges and universities to establish free speech policies or face funding cuts. The resolution calls the govern-
ment’s policy “Orwellian” and argues that the university policies will provide a “police-protected ‘safe space’ to anti-abortionists holding obscene displays, alt-right racists, and those denying the Holocaust.” In an interview with The Medium, UTM Campus Conservatives president Harris Watkins denounced the resolution, calling it “dishonest” in how it describes the government’s campus free speech mandate. “There is obviously no issue with the free assembly of opposition to something or a speaker,” he stated, “but protests which lead to threats of harm toward others simply cannot be tolerated.” “I think it is horrid to group prolife activists with Nazis,” said Watkins. The resolution also argues that the University of Chicago’s statement of Principles of Free Expression, which university policies must reflect, “violates free speech rights” by having vague criteria such as “prohibiting disruptive protesting.” AGM continued on page 3
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THE MEDIUM 10.22.2018
Dowdeswell speaks at UTM Current Lieutenant Governor of Ontario talks about sustainability
October 12, 2018 Theft A student reported the theft of her cell phone after putting it down to charge in the Instructional Building.
October 13, 2018 Theft A student reported the theft of his cell phone after leaving it in the washroom in the library.
October 16, 2018 Police Assisstance Campus Police attended Deerfield Hall for a student experiencing medical distress. The student refused EMS and began to feel better.
These reports are those that have been released to The Medium and do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list. Students can contact the UTM Campus Police at 905 828 5200, Peel Regional Police at 905 453 3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 8477.
Anyone with information regarding any of these incidents, or any other incident, is requested to contact the UTM Campus Police at 905828-5200, Peel Regional Police at 905-453-3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). BRITTANY SEMPLONIUS/THE MEDIUM
Elizabeth Dowdeswell talked to students at the 4th annual Sustainability Leaders Series. AVLEEN GREWAL
The Institute of Management and Innovation held their 4th annual Sustainability Leaders Series last Thursday in the Innovation Complex. Graduate-level Master of Science in Sustainability Management students put up posters summarizing their summer internships with companies and NGOs focusing on sustainability. The star of the event was the keynote speaker, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario who talked to the students about the importance of advancing people’s awareness about sustainability. Professor Stephen Scharper, the Acting Director of IMI praised the students’ research experience about development of pragmatic, and innovative ideas for future development. “Second year IMI students completed a four-month summer internship, covering a variety of topics in the sustainability universe,” said Professor Scharper. “There are students working in health and equity, alternative energy, and students working with the Metro Convention Centre who worked on sustainability. One of the key ideas behind today’s event is to showcase the research and possibilities that our students are exploring.” Averyl D’Souza interned with the City of Brampton for creating environment-friendly initiatives to make Brampton “healthier, sustainable, resilient and more liveable.” “Brampton was having a litter problem, and I spent the summer coming up with a little campaign, called ‘Don’t be Trashy,’ said D’Souza. “Our purpose is to tell people that their actions have consequences, even if they don’t realize them in the present. When you throw garbage out of the window of your car, and it ends up in, suppose, Lake Ontario. The fish then ingest pieces of that trash, which eventually ends up in your palette. So
it’s a cyclic process, and people need to be more careful.” During the Formal Program, UTM Principal Ulrich Krull welcomed the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell to the UTM Campus. Principal Krull praised the Master of Science in Sustainability Management for its efforts towards educating youth about green energy. He also applauded the students and faculty members’ hard work. “Sustainability is not only something that the (UTM) professors teach, it is something they live, it is something that they breathe. And it is something that they convey to the students,” Principal Krull said in his opening speech.
“Putting sustainability at the heart of the education system ensures a positive future.” Bringing home the point of energy and environmental sustainability on campus, Principal Krull mentioned how UTM buildings are designed with the prospect of sustainability. The Health and Science building has an underground cistern for collecting rainwater which reduces the water consumption of the building by 65% compared to a “conventional building.” The Instructional Building (IB) is fitted with a cutting-edge geothermal facility, that is the largest geothermal system heating-cooling system in Canada. The building is also powered by solar panels. Having served as the Under-Secretary General at the United Nationals Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, the Dowdeswell spoke about sustainability from her own experience. “People are at the heart of sustainability,” said the Honourable Dowdeswell in her opening re-
marks. ““Sustainability means knowing whether we are meeting the real needs of people, whether we even know what those are. And whether or not the improvements in science and technology are going to be effectively used in our society if we don’t get our act together in terms of things like governance, partnership, and how we make decisions by talking to ordinary citizens,” stated Dowdswell. “It’s all about connecting the dots between the goals of inclusive economic prosperity, environment, certainly, and also social and cultural cohesion.” Dowdeswell encouraged students to inspire and educate people to move beyond the rhetoric of sustainability into the actual creation of communities that are resilient. Calling storytelling “one of the most powerful tool,” she also focused on the importance of giving people the platform to voice their concerns about their community, to tell their stories and share their problems which will help create plans that specifically tackle those issues. “Putting sustainability at the heart of the education system ensures a positive future,” Dowdeswell. “Education designed to give people the knowledge, skills and background that enables them to actually practice and promote sustainability is essential to create a cultural shift. We need people to understand why such changes are necessary, and then to advocate and work for those changes.” Commenting on the current political, and economic climate, Dowdeswell spoke of the progress people have made, but warned that everyone is still quite vulnerable. “There is very dark side to social media, certain cultural identities are being threatened, the complexity of our lives is increasing, as is the temptation to give into cynicism. Even our democracy seems in disarray. Now is not the time to give up on our vision of global wellness and peace.”
UTM updates policies University fnalizes its policies for cannabis use on campus
GRAV/UNSPLASH.COM
Some universities and colleges across Ontario have already implemented such policies. MELISSA BARRIENTOS ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR With the use of cannabis now legal in Canada, Universities and Colleges have begun to finalize their policies for cannabis use on campus. Following the same regulations as smoking or vaping tobacco, UTM students, staff, and faculty aged 19 years or older may smoke or vape cannabis anywhere it is allowed for tobacco, including sidewalks and benches. It is prohibited in enclosed public and work places, including the residential buildings. UTM will maintain its smoke-free entrances policy, where the smoking or vaping of both tobacco and cannabis is prohibited within 30 feet (9 meters) of all entrances. At UTM, smoking or vaping cannabis is prohibited in enclosed public spaces, areas of work, and the residential buildings. As new government policies and regulations arise over the next few months, UTM students may see new requirements for the summer since UTM holds on-campus summer camps each year for children and
teenagers from ages 4 to 16. Looking ahead, the Dean of Student Affairs and Assistant Principal Mark Overton told The Medium “[The University of Toronto] has signaled interest in a policy banning smoking and vaping on all three campuses, but the topic is not scheduled for university governance consideration at this point”. Some universities and colleges across Ontario have already implemented such policies ahead of the new law. Ryerson University and York University adopted the smoke-free entrances policy. Mohawk College and University of Windsor elected designated smoking areas. Guelph University, the University of Waterloo, McMaster University, and the University of Western Ontario have all adopted a smoke-free campus policy. On October 12th, the Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Sheridan College) adopted a new smoke-free policy which states, “Smoking any form of Tobacco and/or Other Plant Product (such as Cannabis), Vaping and consuming smokeless Tobacco
(commonly known as chewing tobacco) will not be permitted anywhere on Sheridan Premises. For clarity, this includes smoking in any vehicles while on Sheridan Premises.” This new smoke-free policy at the Sheridan campus will effect UTM students in the UTM-Sheridan joint programs, such as CCIT and art and art history, since they are expected to follow the policy as fellow students and visitors of the Sheridan campus. Instead of forbidding the use of cannabis on campus, UTM aims to educate UTM students about the drug itself, as well as discuss selfregulation and safety precautions. “We’ll use a mix of messages”, stated Overton, “tuned with broader public health campaigns, to cover off as many different populations’ needs as we can, on legal and policy requirements, and health promotion and harm reduction strategies.” Overton says another prospective initiative for UTM is to contact students “who have a personal or family history of psychiatric illness so that they are aware that regular cannabis use predicts an increased risk of psychosis.”
10.22.2018 THE MEDIUM NEWS
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HUMANS OF UTM
“It’s definitely a different atmosphere downtown. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t have a friend group there and I’m not really social when it comes to new settings. So, although I like the campus - it’s kind of refreshing to go there - I have to get used to being super attentive. Aside from that, it’s nice being there. Even studying, because there’s a lot more space. At first, I had so much social anxiety just existing. So I think UTM was a good place for me to start out, and slowly make my way into being a more open person. Now I’ve had so many opportunities and I can use them there.”
AGM offers policy changes
Krull hopes utm goes global
PHOTO FROM PEXELS.COM
The policy encourages the expression of students.
AGM continued from page 1
DELANEY ROMBOUGH/THE MEDIUM
Krull says the renovations will collectively provide another thousaand seating spaces. Diversity continued from page 1 He was confident, however, that UTM had the capacity to support the rise in the student population, stating that “accommodations for services such as food and library services and academic programming were made to support [the] growth.”
Krull noted that the renovations in the North Building and William G. Davis Building would collectively provide another “thousand seating spaces for students.” The Office of Communications is working with the Information & Instructional Technology Services to re-design its website in the coming months.
UTM has recruited three new faculty members to support the university’s Robotics Cluster. This comes amidst the university being in the process of proposing a robotics laboratory building that would offer research space primarily focused on machine learning.
“As the University of Chicago itself notes,” continued Watkins, “the freedom to speech is not absolute; it cannot violate the law, and it cannot impede on the institutional workings of the university—both of which are clearly in-line with the Ford government’s policy.” “The policy […] should be upheld by all student unions’ across Ontario,” concluded Watkins. “With the policy, students of all viewpoints will have the ability to express themselves, in accordance with Canadian law, as they please. The result is more fruitful debates and dialogue on our campuses.” Another resolution moves for an
amendment to the UTSU’s current bylaw, III.1.a.iii. The bylaw requires members to submit policy proposals to the Board of Directors and have them approve of the proposals before the AGM. The amendment would allow union members to “adopt, rescind, or amend” procedural and operational policies, as well as submit amendments and additions to the Policies and Procedures. Other resolutions include reviewing Orientation and Executive Committee Policies, updating the UTSU Conflict of Interest Policy, as well as discussing the Affiliated Student Societies Groups Policy. The AGM will be live-streamed on the UTSU’s official Facebook page. The full agenda can be found on the UTSU’s website at utsu.ca
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Changing the way we look at UTM’s laptop thieves Questioning the approach on avoidance over resolving root causes of criminal behaviour Every hour at the UTM library, students will hear an announcement—the same announcement. It’s a reminder that there have been reported laptop thefts, and that students should be aware and take care of their belongings. Scattered around the library, students will see little blue pieces of paper on the study desks that read, “Avoid thefts. Keep your belongings with you at all times.” Students will also notice an increase in the presence of campus police who wander the library floors. The fourth floor has been known to be the ultimate theft spot. Don’t leave your things, not even for a second to use the bathroom, because someone will steal them. I have started to live in fear of having my precious belongings stolen at any moment I blink. I wonder if there is a group of people who are somehow profiting over the thefts, or if each incident is completely isolated from the others. I wonder if one theft leads to a domino effect of other thefts. I wonder if it is my fellow UTM students who are stealing or if they are outsiders taking advantage of our comfortable space. All these thoughts, and still no one has an answer. The only thing that we know how to do is encourage people to take care of their things.
We are encouraging avoidance. It makes sense, because it can be quite difficult to pinpoint the root of the thefts. With nearly every student walking in and out of the library with a laptop in their backpack, how are we supposed to know who the culprits are? Surely, they have figured out ways to be inconspicuous and have therefore been successful. It’s not like anyone wants to set up a laptop and stand off to the side and wait for it to be stolen so they can confront them. So, we do what we know best, and encourage the unaffected to avoid the situation that leads them to be victims. This sounds all too familiar. With other, usually more serious crimes— such as sexual assault, fraud, or violent activities— the perpetrator is the one that is primarily at fault. In these crimes, we usually put the culprits on trial, frown upon their actions, and encourage victims that it’s not their fault that they ended up in that situation, and that it could happen to anyone. Why do we only do this for “serious” crimes? There have been a number of cases where people with strong opinions say that the victims “bring it upon themselves.” Some turn a stinky eye to the people who dress certain ways and say “they’re asking for it.” I per-
sonally believe this is ridiculous. Even if you follow all the unwritten rules, there’s still a chance you could be a victim in a variety of situations. Encouraging avoidance is definitely the first, obvious, step, but it doesn’t do anything about the source of the problem—the culprits. If we understand this, and can mutually agree that in order to break criminal culture we have to first look at young children and teach them what is acceptable versus not, then why don’t we do this for everything else? Why do we encourage potential victims to protect themselves instead of working on the ways in which we can change the root of the problem? We should be looking at the culprits, not so much the unaffected potential victims, and trying to avoid the creation of new criminals. In an article titled “Explanation or Excuses for Stealing?” by Dr. Stanton Samenow on Psychology Today, we can see that thieves may actually be struggling with a mental illness. “Kleptomania” refers to a condition where an individual “experiences a consistent impulse to steal items not needed for personal use or monetary value.” Stealing in this case might be a coping method for depression or as a way to boost self-esteem. While the struggle with mental health can be a valid
point, it’s something that can be supported in alternative ways. If our laptop thieves are not people who steal simply as a coping method, but rather for their own benefits— whether it be to make money or to have the luxury of a device—then that’s a problem we can learn to address. I’m not saying it will solve the problem, nor that it will even be successful, but if we can make the effort to encourage students to protect their belongings, we can also make the effort to remind students that stealing is not the solution. There can be reminders about financial aid, contests that reward students, some sort of resource for affordable items, an initiative to help students in need so that they don’t feel that stealing is the only way for them to get what they need. This is the first step to changing the way we deal with issues such as theft in our community.
YASMEEN ALKOKA
CORRECTION NOTICE The October 17 article “Intersections of art, humanity, and earth” was corrected.
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Bringing Shakespeare to the studio stage Director James Wallis discusses the continuing relevance of themes in Henry IV to a modern-day audience PAULA CHO A&E EDITOR
This November, familiar Shakespearean themes of chivalry, justice, and honor will play out on the Theatre Erindale stage in its production of Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2. The Medium sat down with director James Wallis, who has directed many notable works by William Shakespeare in the past, to discuss his background in theatre, why he chose Henry IV to tackle next, and the modernization of historical pieces. Wallis and his wife co-founded their own theatre company in 2010 called Shakespeare BASH’d with the intentions of investigating Shakespeare’s plays in unique ways and interpreting them for an immersive audience experience. They are based in Toronto and stage their productions in local bars. “We wanted a really good company spirit, so we created an ensemble with every one of our plays we produced, in order to bring great people on to do the work for the sheer joy of it. On our first date, I ended up saying to [my wife] Julia, ‘well, we’ve both loved Shakespeare for our entire lives. You should play Katerina and I should play Petruchio from The Taming of the Shrew.’ She thought that was a really good line for a first date. And funnily enough, I said I’ve always wanted to do it in a bar—I just thought the farce would
YASMEEN ALKOKA/THE MEDIUM
Director James Wallis discusses his background in theatre and why he chose Henry IV. really work out that way. It’s a social place to go, and we wanted to bring Shakespeare into a place that’s not so much sitting back in the dark and sort of judging it. More so, sitting forward and experiencing it in a much different way than you usually do. Our goal is always just to be open and determined to figure out these plays in any which way that we have to.” The cast of Henry IV consists of the Theatre and Drama Studies thirdyear class, which was a factor for Wallis to consider when deciding which play to choose. “I wanted everyone to have a lot to do because there’s seventeen of them in the class. So, doing both plays allowed for everyone to have a good chunk as an actor to
cling to and work on. I think they’re wonderful plays mostly because they’re so different yet so connected by the fact that they may or may not be a sequel. I also chose it because I thought that the plays politically could speak to a younger generation, and I knew an energetic young group of actors could bring a lot of fun to it. They’re great stories about what we expect of ourselves and what people expect of us. I think the way that I view the work is so based upon technique and what we do with the words we have—I relish the opportunity to teach and open people’s minds.” When asked if there was anything he pulled from previous productions that have informed his direction of
this one, Wallis replied, “Most definitely. Every play by Shakespeare is written in a certain form. He wrote to the confines of his own theatre, so you’re looking at different kinds of opportunities to portray different kinds of characters, but they’re all familiar. Hal is the prodigal son and Falstaff is the sort of vice-like character that comes from medieval drama. You can find these characters in many places, like Hal resembles that Romeo, Hamlet spirit of a man of action. The biggest thing that I always bring to every Shakespeare play is a reliance on the words telling the story. What is being said and done in the play, and extrapolate that to create something.”
Theatre critics have widely debated whether or not great works from our past should be adjusted for a modern-day audience. Wallis believes that modernization is one of those things that will come organically with concept or sheer necessity. The themes weaved throughout Henry IV will relate to viewers regardless of time period, so Wallis leaves character representation largely to the actors’ prerogative. “My goal is sheer comfort and desire, so if they end up wearing a suit jacket or an Elizabethan shirt, that’s fine.” Smiling, he adds, “of course, there are no cell phones—a couple people are trying to do high-fives and I keep cutting the high-fives—nothing outlandishly pop culture.” “For me, we can experience these plays as documents of the oratory world and pieces of verse drama. It’s getting across the idea that Shakespeare is important to the theatre and that it can be done in simple but expressive ways. That comes with a lot of reminders that the verse is not sacrosanct—it can be changed, but Shakespeare was such a good writer that you might as well listen to him at first and see what happens. So it’s constantly reminding them to trust themselves, Shakespeare, and hopefully me.” Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2 will run at Deerfield Hall Studio Theatre from November 8-18.
A competition of spoken word poetry The Toronto International Festival of Authors and Toronto Poetry Project co-hosted a night of slam poetry GRACE MEANY
The Toronto International Festival of Authors hosted a poetry slam last Friday night at Lakeside Terrance, Harbourfront Centre. The event featured Canadian National Poetry Slam Champion Jennifer Alicia Murrin. The poetry slam, which involved two elimination rounds, was organized in collaboration with the Toronto Poetry Project. Over the course of the night, local poets presented their slams with triumph as audience members ranked them accordingly. Poets, who were asked to sign-up half an hour before the 9 p.m. start, brought passion and enthusiasm to the stage. They revelled in sad issues, while also bringing light and laughter to members of the audience. Murrin presented a set of three poems that focused on her experience being an Indigenous woman. These poems, alongside the submissions of other Toronto poets such as Gavin Russell, made the night noteworthy. Russell introduced himself in the
PHOTO FROM TORONTOPOETRYSLAM.CA
The poetry slam featured Jennifer Alicia Murrin, the Canadian National Poetry Slam Champion. first round with a poem about children dying, about the war in Syria, and about similar difficult topics. He puts emphasis on his line “before the trees fall, are you listening” during his performance, recontextualizing the cliché “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Russell relates this quote back to the “children dying” which he claims people refuse to acknowledge, like the trees in the forest. The
spoken-word poem touches on difficult political issues and the resulting social impact. It causes the audience to acknowledge things that are often overlooked. In this way, the poem has an intense effect on the audience, jaws agape, which causes judges to score the poem high eights and nines out of ten. In the second round, Russell takes his audience back to ground level with a hilarious poem about memes.
The slam poet weaves popular culture into his second poem as he exclaimed things like “cracking open a cold one with the boys, because this mans not hot, and I can see it in your eyes, those eyes say damn Gavin, back at it with the stupid f**king poem.” This knee-slapping poem brought bliss to audience members, as they took to snapping and clapping to show their approval. Russell, among author poets at
The Toronto International Festival of Authors, proved that spoken-word poetry can be multi-faceted. While spoken-word can be used to spread awareness, it can also be a way to spread joy and happiness. Poetry slams are a place where you can develop your voice in a safe and accepting environment. The event creates a space for up-and-coming poets within the Toronto writing community to explore their voice. After tallying the scores, the muchdeserved Gavin Russell was awarded the grand prize of two-hundred-andfifty-dollars alongside a feature in next year’s festival and a guaranteed spot in the Poetry Slam Championships. The remaining three finalists also received prizes including a bamboo toothbrush, a popsicle maker, and a banana holder. The night rolled to an end with host David Silverberg and the poets on stage. The audience cheered as The Toronto Internation Festival of Authors successfully executed another eye-opening event.
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THE MEDIUM 10.22.2018
CSA: ready for a year of film screenings Malapitan and Ozymtchak discuss the Cinema Studies Association’s goals and upcoming events KEENA ALWAHAIDI
Among the things we can all agree upon are good company, fun clubs, and movie screenings. I learned that you can find all of these in one place when I sat down with Janina Malapitan and Andriana Ozymtchak, President and Vice President of UTM’s Cinema Studies Association. Starting in the 2017/2018 school year, the association included just four members. “It was among friends, so it felt like it wasn’t too much of a work thing. It was getting together but also having other people get together with us to talk and watch movies,” says Malapitan. Although the association is one of the newer ones on campus, the board members are passionate about the direction it is heading in. Besides screenings of movies every month, they are collaborating with the English and Drama Student Society on a big writer’s panel—one with exciting guests and career prospects. “The EDSS is pulling an author for the panel, and we contacted a screenwriter for the film studies aspect of it. There will be a linguist, a journalist, [and a] magazine editor as well. It’s a career-oriented event
PHOTO COURTESY OF CINEMA STUDIES ASSOCIATION
The CSA members are passionate about the direction the club is heading in. for students who are interested in a writing career field.” This isn’t the first time the association has collaborated with other clubs on campus. They’ve initiated events on their own but have found it helpful to connect with associations that have similar goals and interests as they do. Malapitan draws on the great experiences they’ve had doing so, and what it means to them as an association. “We were so rela-
tively new that we didn’t know how to connect with the larger student body. Entering the second year, we just reached out to a lot of people we knew who also ran clubs, so then instead of having these sole CSA screenings, we’ve also aimed to try and expand our scope a bit more in terms of the people we’re pulling for these screenings.” Malapitan grew up in the U.S. and was surrounded by a very multi-
cultural community. When she was exposed to world cinema, it spoke to her in ways that mainstream cinema could not have. “I went through a lot of phases in terms of what I wanted to pursue career wise. It went from art to music to strictly journalism. But when it came to movies and my exploration of them in high school, it became a priority.” When I ask them how they feel about streaming services like Net-
flix, Amazon, and CraveTV, Malapitan and Ozymtchak have contrasting answers but come to the same conclusion: films are a whole experience. But at the same time, they might not always be accessible to people without money or time. Ozymtchak says, “My parents and I would go to Blockbuster, rent a movie, and watch it so I grew up with a lot of hits. And then I think in high school, I started to branch out a little more and research into different types of films. Coming to university and taking CIN101, [I realized] that there’s world cinema and that film itself is always changing.” She tells me that she does, however, still enjoy going to the theatres and seeing a movie on the big screen. “I think TIFF is really great as they bring back films that are not so new, and they bring them back to the big screen. A lot of us didn’t get to see these growing up. I think that’s what’s so great about our club—we get to bring films to students and put it on a bigger screen and have people watch as if they were in the theatre.” The Cinema Studies Association is co-hosting the Writer’s Career Panel on November 16.
Climate change is happening, now Anthropocene at the AGO illustrates the long-term effects of human impact on this planet MAYA SUPER
The AGO is currently running an exhibition called Anthropocene: The Human Epoch. This exhibit features work by Canadian artists Edward Burtnsky, Nicholas de Pencier, and Jennifer Baichwell. Each artist went to various locations in the world that have been affected by human involvement either for profit or industrialism. They took aerial photographs which were printed onto ink-jets thus giving each photograph a surreal, beautiful look. The exhibit features an app called AVARA which allows for you to watch AR (Augmented Reality) footage of certain places or animals, such as a rhinoceros without horns or the largest burning of ivory, to create an impression of how people are twisting the natural ecosystem, and to contextualize the true feeling of the place they filmed. On the exhibit’s website, the artists describe it as “not wanting to be accusatory.” Their aim is to merely show how humans have changed how the natural world works as this is a highly contentious issue in these global times. There are images of men walking through rubbish dumps in Kenya, surrounded by dogs. Images of a coral reef that has been bleached and destroyed. Some images invoke how humans are progressing in terms of technology yet are de-
OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM
The exhibit aims to show how humans have changed how the natural world works. stroying natural landmarks to do so. Each image is particularly striking. It is beautiful but in a truly evil way. It shows how mankind is destroying the environment, not only for animals but also for ourselves. The exhibit gave advice on how to cut down your carbon footprint. Now keep in mind that when these photographers took these photos and videos, to show the truly devastating impact of globalization, inequality, and overuse of resources, it was long before climate change deniers were back at the forefront of world politics. The current denial of climate change and the risk of rising
temperatures combined with animals going extinct or being killed for human gain is quite possibly what makes this exhibit even more devastating and potent. Much of the exhibit is set in Africa thus showing how modern-day Africa has still not recovered from colonialism and how the West still abuses its power, forcing many in third world countries into poverty. In addition, the West’s obsession with ivory has led to many rhinos and elephants being killed, driving them to extinction. However, there are many images of pollution and depletion of resources in America, Europe, and
Canada as well. If anything, it shows how no amount of economic power or leverage in the political world can stop countries from being affected by global warming and their own acts regarding the environment. The images of America are incredibly ugly, yet it is startling to learn that African migrants are still being exploited for cheap labor in the West. All of these strong images provoke so many emotions. The tragic beauty of each image and the videos that accompany it. It leaves one feeling empty inside. Whilst other species work symbiotically and only species not suited
for a particular ecosystem destroy it, human actions over time have shown great ignorance and nonchalance towards the environment. It is an observant, objective exhibition which is partially why it is so efficient. It is created to evoke emotions in you. It makes you question your own morals and impact as you quite literally see the destruction of the world. It will leave you with a hollow feeling. Putting this exhibit into its context, an art gallery in North America where the middle to upper class attend, it is almost commenting as to how we affect the wider world. It brings up the question of whether humans have done anything beneficial. We are driving species to extinction and destroying reefs. We are putting holes inside mountains for transport. The exhibition leaves you questioning: “Have humans benefitted the world at all? Would the ecosystem be better without us? Are we driving ourselves and other species to extinction?” These are questions that I, someone who likes to pretend to care about the environment but is actually very passive, was forced to think about. Except, I did not pretend. I felt these emotions. Everyone should see it. It will invoke emotions of care and denial. Anthropocene is one of the most memorable and potent exhibits I have ever been to.
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REWIND DELANEY ROMBOUGH Mary Poppins is a 1964 Disney musical fantasy film, directed by Robert Stevenson. Mr. George Banks (David Tomlinson) of 17 Cherry Tree Lane runs a strict household but his children, Jane and Michael, are a little wild. After Jane and Michael run away from Katie Nanna (again) because they were chasing a kite, she quits, and George takes it upon himself to hire a new Nanny. Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) just want a kinder nanny who lets them have fun, but George dismisses them. Enter Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews). Mary Poppins floats down to Cherry Tree Lane with her umbrella, claiming to have seen the ad for a new nanny, and talks her way into the job. Mary Poppins is strict with the children, making them clean their room and go to bed on time, but as she says, “in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun,” which the children love. She takes the children on adventures in London, but when the wind changes, it is time for her to leave. Mary Poppins is a cheerful, uplifting film. It explores the joy and wonders of being a child. Mary Poppins takes Jane and Michael on the most wonderful adventures through London including into Bert’s (Dick van Dyke) chalk drawings, where they race carousel horses, go for a stroll in a picturesque meadow, dance with penguins, and sing about what
MIGUEL DASILVA
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is a 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning novel on the syllabus of the Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction course (ENG 371) offered by the English program. The book is set in a postapocalyptic U.S. A desolate wasteland covered in ash, fallen trees, and human remains. Littered with the materials of a world gone forever, and haunted by the memory of that world, a father protects his son. This book follows their aimless journey and the horrors they witness. The boy will see infants roasting over pit fire, he will be held hostage while his father murders a man, and he will hold a gun with a single bullet saved for himself. McCarthy writes small moments of beauty that break up these horrors. A shared can of Coca-Cola, a paradise bunker stocked with food where they sleep for days, a moment of generosity and compassion when the boy offers what little food they have to a stranger sitting in the road. This boy becomes a walking beacon of hope in a broken world. He is a spiritual saviour presented as “the last god on the road.”
they’re doing along the way. This part of the film did a really great job of combining animated and live action elements to create a visual fantasy world. The singing and dancing doesn’t stop once a thunderstorm destroys the chalk drawings. When Jane and Michael run away from a disastrous day at the bank with their father, after Mary Poppins talked George into taking them, they run into Bert again who is working as a chimney sweep. Bert takes the children home and cleans out their fireplace while he’s there. However, they all get sucked up the chimney where there’s an elaborate song and dance number, “Step in Time,” with all the chimney sweeps of London dancing on the rooftops, which is a lot of fun to watch. The film ends with Mary Poppins’ departure from the Banks household. While the children are heartbroken, and rightfully so, things at 17 Cherry Tree Lane have never been happier. George realizes that his family is more important than his job at the bank and surprises Jane and Michael with their kite that he has repaired and takes the whole family to the park to fly the kite and sing about it. Mary Poppins is a story about family and fun and how your imagination and dreams can take you on the greatest adventures. The amazing score and soundtrack highlight these themes. Above all else, this movie reminds us not to take life too seriously—it’s good to laugh and have fun.
The story becomes an issue of survival not from the outside world but from the self. The question lingers in the air, “Is life worth living?” McCarthy presents the decay of a hopeless mentality in this post-apocalyptic wasteland and sets these two characters in the middle of it as humanity’s possible redemption. Here, McCarthy touches on an important and sensitive issue. What keeps the man from killing himself? What keeps the boy from killing himself? What makes life worth living? This is the pervading thought McCarthy leaves the reader with. In the book, it is people that keep each other alive. He positions humanity as both the cause of their destruction and their only hope for salvation. The man lives for his son and the son lives for all of humanity. Even when faced with rape, and torture, and being eaten alive, there is a part of their minds that would rather face that possibility than end their own lives because of their hope for other people. While the man is afraid of connections, the boy craves contact with humanity. The reader begins to see a world not so different from their own. To read the rest of this article, visit themedium.ca.
NATALIE NG
How tech is redefining death: Podcast 382 is an episode of the weekly podcast produced by WIRED U.K. This podcast recaps all the major stories on science, technology and business. The podcast is hosted by James Temperton who often discusses the topics with Matt Burgess and Matt Reynolds, who are staff writers for WIRED. They share a lot of stories that regard U.K. public life. In this episode, they started off talking about the increasing online services of buses and tickets. They discuss the inconsistencies of bus service and movie passes due to online ticket reselling and exchanging networks such as Ticketmaster. They highlighted how lower priced tickets are causing controversy within the entertainment business as they are making huge amounts of money by overpricing a ticket that could have been cheaper. Then the podcast shifts to talking about technology and death. Temperton, Burgess, and Reynolds first discussed what can be considered as death. They refer back to the 18th century on how people evaluated death through strange methods such as “tickling someone with a feather.” Until the 1950’s, the “complete absence of brain activity in the monitor or when the heart stops beating” defines death because of the innovative technologies that have emerged. However, death cannot be simply reduced to physical inactivity—the hosts share a few cases of people ap-
pearing to be “brain dead after surgery and coming back to life again later on.” Going more in depth, the hosts brought up the revised definition of death in relation to future science and technology. Advanced technologies that seem to be promising a future of “keeping the brain inactive for a while, only to revive it so one can be alive again” through plugging someone to a machine is widely debated. However, the hosts raised an interesting question around the discussion: “when the brain is deactivated or frozen, is the person essentially dead during this process and revived again or is one’s life prolonged without necessarily dying in the process?” Although they did not go in depth with this discussion about death, the questions they raised left the audience to ponder about this controversy. Is a person truly dead after the brain or heart is no longer active? Once a person is truly declared dead or more specifically, bodily deactivated, can one be alive again? Special cases show they can as people do come back alive after surgeries that claim to have failed as mentioned earlier by the hosts. However, it is crucial to know that these cases all happened within a short period of time, and it could be due to human errors and misinterpretations as well. As the hosts brought up a couple of times, religion has an impact on understanding and deciphering this matter as well. Does the soul exist and is there an afterlife? The WIRED podcast can be listened to on their website.
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How Facebook attracts us back in Tero Karppi’s new book explores the threat of user deactivation on Facebook as a business JESSICA CABRAL FEATURES EDITOR We log onto Facebook, check our notifications, accept a friend request, decline an event invitation, reply to a message, and log off. A few months later, we contemplate privacy concerns, fear that our personal information is being compromised, and decide to deactivate our accounts. A year later, we tell our friends that we reactivated our account. Why do we disconnect from Facebook but feel compelled to join the community again? How do social media companies attempt to fight mass deactivation? Tero Karppi, an ICCIT assistant professor who joined the UTM faculty in July 2017, explores the “existential threat” of deactivation in his new book Disconnect: Facebook’s Affective Bonds. Published on October 16, 2018 by the University of Minnesota Press, Karppi’s book builds off the research he started while completing his Ph.D. In the book, he investigates the disconnection that comes alongside social media connectivity and examines how the deactivation of Facebook accounts affects users and the company
YASMEEN ALKOKA/THE MEDIUM
Karppi examines how the deactivation of Facebook affects users and the company as a business. as a business. Karppi explains how media artists in 2010 began creating artwork that played with the idea of a “digital suicide,” a complete abandonment of social media accounts that liberated artists and allowed them to live their “real life” again. These artists portrayed social media as dominating and intrusive, leaving people
with very little agency over their own lives. Intrigued by this artwork, Karppi became interested in the idea and implications of disconnecting with social media platforms. “For me, connection always holds the potential for disconnection, there cannot be connection without disconnection,” Karppi says. The new book focuses on the dif-
ficulty for an everyday user to leave a social media site. According to Karppi, Facebook prepares for the moment when users deactivate and attempt to combat this growing trend by employing techniques that engage their users. “Why do we keep on using these sites and why do they engage us so strongly?” Karppi asks. To conduct research for this book,
Karppi consulted a variety of sources. He analyzed the artwork that challenged the idea of connectivity, as well as collected data from Facebook’s financial documents, such as the risk factor section, that outlined the risks that the platform may face. “Then, I looked at the opposing side, how does Facebook engage, how do they capture users’ attention by providing them different kinds of content on their newsfeed, how do they build an infrastructure, or how are they planning on building these different kinds of infrastructure which can connect the whole world,” Karppi explains. “So, I was very interested in how Facebook starts to penetrate our technology.” For Karppi, in a time when the majority of the population logs into one of the available social media platforms, this research and the ability to critically understand these businesses is increasingly relevant. “It’s important to understand what are they trying to sell us, what are you actually doing when you’re sharing stuff on Facebook? How does that connect you?” Book continued on page 10
Can adhering to morals make us happy? Dr. Andrew Miles recently won the Connaught Fund New Researcher Award worth $35,000 FATIMA ADIL You help someone and you feel good. But does following rules and adhering to one’s morals also elicit individual happiness? This is the fundamental question Dr. Andrew Miles, an assistant sociology professor at UTM, hopes to answer with his study “Living Right, Feeling Good: The Effects of Moral Action on Positive Emotion.” Miles, a recent recipient of the Connaught Fund New Researcher Award worth $35,000, sat down with The Medium to discuss his awardwinning research. Miles explains that he focuses his research on two things. “One of them is understanding human behaviour— why people do what they do—[and the second is] identities and values.” After receiving the Connaught funding, Miles has started to “branch out into other questions about morality, like how people learn morality, where does it come from, what happens in our families as we’re growing up, or our schools, that lead us towards holding certain types of moralities over another.” According to Miles, his area of
YASMEEN ALKOKA/THE MEDIUM
Dr. Andrew Miles focuses his research on understanding human behaviour, identities, and values. research is unique because although many people have studied these topics, they “tended to focus on particular types of morality and not necessarily the diversity in different kinds of moral views people hold. Research up to this point has focused on helping people, and has found that if you help people, you feel good. They feel
good, but you feel good too. And so, I’m building on that, and asking, what if you value things like being respectful to authority figures which is a very moral thing or something like sexual purity or loyalty to your family or your country. When you’re actively expressing those moral considerations in different ways does that also
make you happy?” When asked as to what led him to pursue this route, Miles attributes it to interest and the fact that “it needs to be done in terms of helping us understand how morality works.” Specific areas he hopes to gather information on include “harness[ing] the power of morality in different ways
and whether people who do have these diverse moral commitments can benefit from them.” Miles hopes to investigate whether morality not only “guides behaviour, but helps [individuals] lead a richer and fuller life.” To conduct his research, Miles explains a few methods he will utilize. While he considers self-report to be “a good indicator” since emotion is “highly internal to the individual” and there is no “incentive to lie,” he is also considering using “a facial action coding system, where [the researcher] actually watches [the participant’s] face and learns to analyze how their face is moving because people tend to show their emotions on their face.” Concluding the interview, Miles remarks that he is appreciative of the award and the opportunities the funding will provide for him and his research team. “It’s nice to have the money that it takes to actually test these hypotheses and to be able to pay the students I work with so they can feed themselves while [doing] the research. Money makes it all possible,” Miles says.
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Get graded for tweeting like Trump Sam Tanenhaus, writer and former editor, teaches new course “Trump and the Media” at UTSG SHARMEEN ABEDI
Writer, historian, and former editor of The New York Times Book Review Sam Tanenhaus is a visiting professor at the University of Toronto St. George campus, and is currently teaching a course called “Trump and the Media.” Tanenhaus sat down with The Medium to discuss the course and his own background. Tanenhaus described how he and the students informally refer to the course as “Trump in real-time,” since the class analyzes the Trump presidency in real time, and the course constantly changes as events progress. While the course has a syllabus and assigned readings, Tanenhaus describes how the unique style of the course allows it to change every week. Speaking about the students, he stated, “they do a lot of the talking.” Tanenhaus initially decided to teach the course in a traditional manner, however he realised quite early that the course could not work that way. He describes the immediacy of the course saying, “We’ll be looking at poll numbers that change an hour after class starts, and students would be looking at their laptops and shouting it out.” Tanenhaus describes how the recent controversy over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh had a considerable effect on the course. “We decided to show his statement live,” he said. Tanenhaus
PHOTO FROM PIXABAY.COM
The new course will focus on “Trump in real-time.” commented on the demographic of the course saying that out of 181 students, only 40 were male. After watching the live statement, they watched Dr. Ford’s statement and just opened it up for questions. The discussion was more relatable for students in a way. “At that point, it is not just about politics or U.S. politics, at all,” he said. It became a broader issue about culture that in some ways ties back to Trump. Tanenhaus remarked that many people have expressed interest in the course, including both profes-
sors and students. While some of his students were concerned that they did not follow U.S. politics as closely as others, Tanenhaus told them not to worry about it, “we are just here to experience all this in real time.” Tanenhaus went into detail about the first assignment for the course, called “Tweets like Trump.” He joked with his students on how, “This is the only time you will be penalized for spelling correctly.” According to Tanenhaus, students generally did a great job with it. Some of the assign-
ments, he stated, were so great that they could have been tweets from Trump himself. The assignment was not so much about agreeing or disagreeing with Trump’s opinions, but rather about adapting his style of tweeting. “They just had to use some of the Trump techniques,” Tanenhaus explained. He pointed out how the initial thoughts of many students regarding the course were that it would mainly consist of ridicule towards the president. Tanenhaus highlights that it is more than that. As a jour-
nalist, he is always interested in looking at continuity and changes, and how events like Trump’s election take place. While Trump’s election may seem bewildering to Canadians, Tanenhaus pointed out the significance of the 63 million votes that Trump received, and how that number reflects a population much larger than the whole population of Canada. Clearly it is relevant to understand how such a phenomenon occurred and what factors led up to it. During the initial lectures, Tanenhaus asked his students how many of them were from the U.S., and several of them raised their hands. He then asked how many of them knew someone who had voted for Trump, or had family that supported Trump, and a large number of students answered affirmative. Tanenhaus told them, “This classroom is more diverse than the newsroom of The New York Times.” Had Tanenhaus asked this question there, he would not have gotten more than five hands. Turning to Tanenhaus’ own background, he remarked how he initially wanted to become a university professor, after completing a graduate degree in English literature from Yale University. However, he very soon realized that that was not something he wanted to do, and instead shifted his focus to non-fiction and journalistic writing. Media continued on page 10
Sharing stories and learning languages Language Conversation Circles, peer-led interactive sessions, promote cultural awareness in students AVLEEN GREWAL
Last Friday, UTM’s International Education Centre in collaboration with education studies held their second Language Conversation Circle session. These peer-led, drop-in, interactive conversation sessions are organized bi-weekly to increase cultural awareness in students. The sessions promote a fun and relaxed environment, including CCR recognition if students attend four circles. For this session, the Language Conversation Circle’s theme focused on food. Filled with fun ice-breakers, group activities, and games, Language Conversation Circles aim to create interactions among students, and allow them to meet new people from different linguistic and diverse backgrounds. “Each session has a different theme. We discussed the meaning behind each other’s names in the first session, as it was introductory. Each session has a theme that encourages students to share their experiences and languages,” said Hannah de Haan, a volunteer with the IEC. The second session kicked off with
JULIA HEALY/THE MEDIUM
The interactive language conversation session included a “Guess the Candy” game. short introduction of the students, and a game called “Four Corners.” Each corner of the room had one poster: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. One of the volunteers would show a statement on the PowerPoint Presentation, and students would go to the respective corner. All statements were food related and ranged from “food is an important aspect in my culture,” “is your culture defined by a particular food,” and “I am a picky eater.” Students would trickle to different
corners with each question, and some would tell a story behind their answer. “Food is a great way to showcase your culture, and showing where you are from, showing the types of roots that you were brought up with,” said Ryan Oliveria, a third-year computer science student. Students shared the stories behind the food etiquettes specific to their cultures, and learnt how every culture had a shared theme: eating together with family. Talking about the differences in
food at home in Jamaica versus in Toronto, Justine Lyn, a fourth-year history student, narrated the story behind mint tea. “When I go to a Jamaican restaurant here, I will find the food of my community, but often it’s not what I remember when I visited Jamaica. There is no comparison. In Jamaica, you would just reach your hand out of the window, pull a mint leaf and you have fresh mint tea. And [when] you have mint tea here it’s so different.” “There are these things that are in-
grained in me, in terms of our habits, and it’s hard to separate that from my cultural identity. My family always eats together, and we [use] hands, forks or spoons accordingly, and it never struck me that that’s not always the case with every family. Sometimes it’s not about the food, but the people you are with,” said Sebastian Alvarez, fourth-year environmental science student. After a series of questions, and a mini-story sharing session, the Language Conversation Circle played a “Guess the Candy” game. Every student was given a couple of candies from different parts of the world. They all took turns eating that candy and guessing both the flavour and the place it was made in. Students ate an assortment of candies including White Rabbit, Japanese Yuzu candy, Pulse candy, and many candies with unique flavours, from mango, guava and durian. Haan concluded the session by announcing the potential themes of the next Language Conversation Circle: video games or music. The next session will be held on Friday, November 2nd.
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Why return to Facebook?
Fail with Pride NALISA DHANRAJ FOURTH YEAR, CRIMINOLOGY
PHOTO FROM PEXELS.COM
Karppi argues that social media is a business. Book continued from page 8 “How is the information you give either voluntarily or involuntarily translated into marketing data for them?” Karppi says. So why do we return to social media platforms once we choose to deactivate our accounts? Karppi claims that this is a question he’s “been asking for several years to different audiences.” From students to academics and the general public, Karppi has found that people return for several reasons, for instance some credit the Groups and Events features for their reappearance. Groups and Events update users on information that they would have otherwise missed if they had not been a part of the
Facebook community. To tackle this trending deactivation, companies like Facebook implement techniques that help maintain their users. As one example, Karppi notes that Facebook “friends” instead of “followers” generates an atmosphere favourable for building personal relationships and networks.
“For me, connection always holds the potential for disconnection [...] Why do we keep on using these sites?” - Karppi Karppi emphasizes that one of the arguments his book makes is
that “social media is a business.” When the danger of user disconnection appears, the value of the company becomes threatened. “It’s not only about the users using the site, but it’s also about the [threat on] the business. We need to understand that someone benefits from the fact that users are hanging out [on Facebook].” In the midst of this cyclical connection and disconnection, Karppi supports that idea that people should remain conscious of their usage. “I think we all should think about our social media connectivity and how we use these platforms, where we use them, and how often we use them.”
Opinions with respect Media continued from page 9
Tanenhaus remarked how the flexibility of the field of journalism meant that journalists were not constrained in a particular field of study. “I know very few journalists who went to journalism school,” he said. Journalism is not like other fields, he contended, as it does not require a licence or passing an exam. “It’s about listening and observing, and going from beat to beat,” he said. He offered advice for students aspiring to be journalists, “If you find other people’s opinions more interesting than your own, then journalism is a good place to go.” While Tanenhaus has hosted guest
lectures at several universities including Harvard and Yale, he has not taught a course specifically like this before. Tanenhaus offered high praise for the students in his class. “The stu-
The unique style of the course allows students to analzye Trump’s presidency in “real time” because events are contanstly changing. dents here are just great. They are super smart, highly interested, they are extremely civil towards one another and respectful of me,” he described.
While difference of opinion is a common occurrence for the course, there are no confrontations or escalations. Tanenhaus noted the differences between Canada and the U.S., stating that he sees more optimism in Canada. While he is careful not to overgeneralize, Tanenhaus thinks that Canada is without the tense environment hanging over the U.S.. He also cites the smaller population of Canada as a factor in higher safety levels. Tanenhaus highlights the importance of a course like “Trump in the Media” as it reveals how significant it is that we are experiencing events that will go down in history as drastically altering the world as a whole.
If you were to ask high-schoolme to describe myself I probably would have said I was driven, humble, and, successful. Since I was a teenager, I believed that I was going to be widely successful in the future and that I’d be surrounded by people with the same mindset, but life after high school had other plans for me. Entering university, I was so confident in my abilities that I decided to continue the job I had been working during my one-year hiatus from school. I entered the adult education system totally unfazed and admittedly unprepared. I was so convinced that I could learn in the moment that I showed up to my first day not knowing where my classes were, what books to get, where to get them, and how to make friends. I told myself that it was just a bad first day. That bad day lasted until the end of the semester. My 30+ hour work weeks, paired with a full-time course schedule, were finally catching up to me. In December, I raced to an exam that I hadn’t even studied for. After that, I failed my first class. I would love to tell you that I was able to turn it all around from there, but I would be lying. I failed another class and was put on academic probation. While all of my high school friends were enjoying their university experience with their new-found besties, I was at home—scared, lost, and alone. I didn’t know how to tell my family I was failing. I thought they would be upset about all the time and money I wasted, so I decided to hide it from them. I knew that I had to quit my job, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of being in debt well into my thirties or forties. I had always envisioned a life where I was on my own right after university, able to fully support myself. I was currently living at home, so I could save up money in order to venture out into the world, without having student loans weigh me down. If I had quit my job I would have failed at being an adult, I would have failed at living out my dream. If I quit, I knew exactly what my family would have said, “Your older brother worked his way through school, why can’t you?” I was all alone, struggling to decide my future. I hadn’t made any close friends at university and my old friends didn’t seem to be going through the same troubles. I couldn’t shake the feeling of failure, it seemed like no matter what direction I took I was risking some dream of mine. I was torn between
what I knew I had to do and what I thought I would be giving up. After a while, I realized that it was time for me to be responsible and fix my mistakes. The first thing I did was quit my job. I had learned my limits. Yes, I wanted to have a good financial future. Yes, I wanted to gain experience in my field. And yes, I wanted to have a good education behind my name; but I couldn’t tackle that all at once. All those things take time and effort. I had to focus on what needed to be done now so I could have all those things in the future. I started the new school year still feeling defeated, but I was determined not to quit, so I reached out to an academic advisor who gave me a list of goals I needed to hit to get back on track. After a quick trip to the Career Center, I started pondering new career options outside of law school. I had finally started to turn the tides in my favour, even finding a job that worked around my schedule. One day I ended up browsing the volunteer resources section of the school website and found a local helpline in need of volunteers. This seemed like a great opportunity to gain experience in my field. But, did I know anything about loneliness, depression, and anxiety? I thought back to what happened last year; I would have given anything to talk to someone openly and honestly about my struggles. Still, I was just some first-year failure. Why risk the embarrassment of being rejected? I reminded myself that I had overcome failing first-year, so I took the risk and put in my application. Failing didn’t break me then, so I knew it wouldn’t break me now. I got the volunteer position and not long after that, they hired me. I was given the opportunity to interview nurses, bankers, and executives all of whom were looking to gain crisis experience so they could enter the criminal justice field—my dream field. I was interviewing them for an experience I already had. How did I get here? I went into university thinking I could have it all, and instead I just ended up a hot mess. I chose to pick myself up and learn from my mistakes. Rather than letting it define my future or keep me from chasing my dreams, I used it to better myself. We all fail at something at some point, whether it’s on that last test, or missing that last step on your way down the stairs. It’s never fun, but what comes of it might be better than what we had planned. Today I embrace my failure with pride, because I understand the struggles and lessons I’ve gained from it.
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Eagles soar to the OCAA provincials The men’s varsity soccer team will compete at the OCAA provincials next Thursday to Saturday VANESSA CESARIO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR
The UTM men’s varsity soccer team have advanced to the OCAA provincials, taking place next Thursday, October 25 to Saturday, October 27. This past Saturday, October 20th, UTM played their qualifying game against the Redeemer Royals where they dominated the game. When the match began, it was hard to say who would be the team to take the win as both teams came out ready to perform. About four minutes into the game, Redeemer received a free kick just outside the box. Although UTM stopped Redeemer from scoring, Shawn Faizi fouled a Redeemer player immediately after this, resulting in a yellow card for Faizi and yet another free kick for Redeemer. Fortunately for UTM, nothing came of this. After these two early goalscoring opportunities for Redeemer, UTM stepped it up and began being more offensive and getting more opportunities to score. It wasn’t until the 21st minute of the game when Sanjar Kalrosh passed the ball to rookie winger, Mark Barbuto, where he crossed the ball perfectly to find fellow winger, Daniel
UTM ATHLETICS/FACEBOOK
A photo of the men’s varsity soccer team. Koszela. Koszela one timed it into the net, giving UTM the lead in the game. Shortly after this goal, UTM rookie striker, Jamari Whyte, took a rocket shot in the centre of the field where it shook the left post and went out of bounds. UTM was working hard to gain a larger lead and close out the
game. With roughly 10 minutes left in the first half, UTM defender, Damian Koscielniak, carried the ball down the wing where he crossed it into the feet of Whyte. Whyte trapped the ball masterfully and beat two of the Redeemer defenders by making a perfect turn where he was then able to
place the ball in the bottom left corner of the net—allowing his team to lead 2-0. With Whyte’s adrenaline pumping and heightened confidence, he took the ball from the middle of the pitch and looped to the wing where he deked Redeemer’s defender and passed it towards the corner of the net. An-
other Redeemer player sprinted towards the net, getting there just in time to stop the score from reaching 3-0. Towards the end of the first half, UTM began breaking down in the middle of the pitch but managed to keep the score remain 2-0 at the end of the half. Roughly two minutes into the second half, the weather was unfortunately not cooperating. With dark skies above and the sound of thunder in the distance, the referee called for a 30-minute resting period to see if the thunder would continue. Fortunately, the weather held up and the game was only delayed 15 minutes before the two teams headed back out onto the pitch. The delay clearly had no impact on UTM as they scored in the first 10 minutes of the half. UTM defender, Adam Czerkawski, scored his first of the game off a scramble in front of the net. Although UTM scored their third goal of the game, Czerkawski unfortunately got injured and was unable to play the remainder of the game. Eric Halar was subbed in and moved right into the backline and into Czerkawski’s place. OCAA continued on page 12
Women’s basketball starts off with a win The women’s varsity basketball team defeated the Mohawk College Mountaineers in season opener MIGUEL DASILVA
This past Saturday, October 20th, the UTM Women’s basketball team played at home and chalked up their first win of the season over the Mohawk College Mountaineers. Jade Addai led the team with 19 points to a convincing 62-51 final. The game was dominated by the UTM women while they showcased their incredible speed in transition and their impeccable mid and longrange shooting game. After a few nervous minutes in the middle of the first quarter, Mohawk College led 13-11. UTM was resilient and didn’t trail for long as they tied the score at 13 just before the end of the first quarter. Moving into the second quarter, the Eagles turned good defense into quick offense, forcing three turnovers and finding Jade Addai in transition for two quick lay-ups and a clinical mid-range jumper taking the lead 1913. The Eagles got to work taking the game over and never giving up their lead after this part of the second quarter. Overwhelming rebound control
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Eagles win 62-51 against Mohawk College. gave them second and third chance points and refused the Mohawk women any deep position under the net. Into the late stages of the game,
Jade Addai drilled a dagger three ball to earn an eleven point, 53-42, advantage and eventually represented the game winning basket.
Point Guard, Janella Viado, commanded the game and turned up on the defensive side as she wreaked havoc at half court stealing the ball and
making it hard for Mohawk to set up their offense. With Viado’s help, the Eagles consistently converted turnovers into points and started to establish themselves as a dangerous group of players that would capitalize on any of their opponent’s mistakes. She would finish the game with 8 points and was a big part of the shut-down defense of her team. Hustle player of the game undoubtedly goes to Jiana Alnajjar who was relentless in chasing down every 50/50 ball on the court. She finished with 17 points, most of them in the fourth quarter when she helped put it out of reach for Mohawk College just when they were threating the comfortable Eagles lead, scoring from two offensive rebounds in a row and hitting a quick transition ten-foot runner. This was an impressive win from an impressive looking UTM women’s basketball team where they should celebrate a stellar opening game. They look forward to the rest of the season and hope to build on the strengths that led them to winning the game.
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«SPORTS
THE MEDIUM 10.22.2018
Eagles defeat Let’s take a nature walk the royals The RAWC’s first Wellness Routes walk was deemed a success
AMRISH WAGLE
OCAA continued from page 11 Moving further into the half, UTM was not letting up against the Royals. Kalrosh gave midfielder, Zimba Galloway, a backheeled pass to send him on an almost breakaway. The Redeemer player pulled the back of Galloway’s jersey, not allowing him to attack the net. However, UTM was awarded a free kick close to the 18yard box where Kalrosh took the kick that was unfortunately saved by the Redeemer goalie.
“We started the game a little nervous but once the first goal went in, everyone’s nerves settled and confidence grew.” - Jaimin Rehal With UTM hungry for another goal, the men did their best to pounce on every opportunity given to them. Roughly halfway through the second half, UTM received a corner kick where Galloway stepped up to take it. A beautiful cross found Halar where
he was able to head the ball into the back of the net, proving his place on the pitch. At the 75th minute of the game, Whyte was given the ball in the middle of the pitch. The Redeemer goalie was caught too far off his line where Whyte was able to chip it over the goalie’s head, making the score 5-0. UTM almost made it the whole game with having no goals against, allowing keeper, Aaron Peters, to walk away with a clean sheet. In the 90th minute of the game, a Redeemer player crossed a ball that went past all of the UTM defenders only to find the foot of his fellow teammate and into the bottom right corner of the net. The game ended 5-1. Co-captain, Jaimin Rehal, had a few words to say about his team’s exceptional performance. “We started the game a little nervous,” says Rehal, “but once the first goal went in, everyone’s nerves settled and confidence grew.” He continued, “we were exceptional for large parts of the game and showed exemplary composure on the ball in all areas of the pitch.” UTM is preparing for their OCAA provincial debut next week at Esther Shiner Stadium.
The RAWC has received an alluring new addition to its services, known as Wellness Routes. These consist of weekly walks around campus, each woven with a keynote lesson on wellness, and led by UTM staff and faculty every Tuesday from 12-1 p.m. The main point of these walks is to impart a needed boost of resilience to our immune systems for mental and physical health. This October 16, the RAWC initiated its first nature walk led by UTM’s lead counsellor, Cristina Domingues, and characterized by a central theme of “fall colours and mindfulness.” Meditation is recognized as the practice of sitting dead quiet in one spot with your eyes closed and trying to control your own mind. However, monks, especially in Buddhism, usually punctuate these Zazen practices with meditative strolls as well. A practice of simply being in the present through active mindfulness of your surroundings, as well as yourself. When void of an actual destination, the journey is itself the main focus and allows one to expand his awareness to the trifles, such as plants, clouds, birds, and sunshine. The Wellness Routes embody this exact spirit of living in the present. Domingues
suggested that within these walks, the ground is an important element. One should take notice of how it feels to step on the different textures and the sensation or pressure of the muscles in your legs as you walk through the soil or concrete. Another crucial factor is that the walk was conducted in silence in order to emphasize the meditative quality of cultivating your awareness. The second half of the theme concerning fall colours was also quite conspicuous throughout the route. Being engulfed in the woods, wholly smothered all hikers with gargantuan white trees and their immersion of pale coloured yellow, orange, and red leaves. The route meandered through the woods on a nature trail and along the Credit River. The air at the time was perfectly chilly and filled with the rustling of leaves and the steady roar of the river. The most apt description of the scenery would not fall short of majestic. In fact, it was quite similar to the journey in Lord of the Rings where Frodo and the hobbits deliver the ring to Rivendell with Gandalf ’s ranger Aragorn II, of course absent the manhunt of the nine Nazguls. The RAWC has scheduled three more nature walks with various themes for wellness education. The first, led by Darren Turner, focuses on
walking with posture. The route will emphasize all hikers to actively pay attention to their posture while walking as well as conduct several useful stress releasing stretches. The one on October 30th, titled “Nutrition for Walking” and led by Cindy MacDonald, looks to be the most exciting. Hikers can enjoy healthy snacks along the route and receive lessons on the most ideal form of nutrition for physical activity. The last one by Nikki Robichaud will be a Yoga Hike where hikers perform Asana and posture exercises during the walk. Along with the obvious health related physiological advantages in taking an hour long walk every week, a nature walk is also defined by many other benefits not as well-known. Reflecting the practice of forest bathers or shinrinyoku, trees are known to emit chemicals known as phytoncides in a defense mechanism against their environment. These phytoncides are, however, known to impart a benefit for humans in terms of mental health, by lowering stress while also promoting calmness and focus. Nature walks are also an indispensable exercise through their exposure to fresh air, vitamin D, sunlight and especially their overall empirical support in positive psychology to increase happiness.
Eagles fall short in first game of season Men’s varsity basketball loses a close 96-93 match against the Mohawk College Mountaineers SARAH-MAY OLDFIELD
On Saturday, October 20 the UTM men’s varsity basketball team hosted their first game of the season against the Mohawk College Mountaineers. Our Eagles saw only two wins in their rough inaugural season in the OCAA the year before. UTM came to this game armed with an improved roster of new and familiar faces and residual excitement from the UTM women’s varsity basketball win against the Mountaineers just minutes prior. Despite a valiant effort to compete and through very physical play, the Eagles came up short, falling 93-96. It was a sloppy start for our Eagles from tip-off. Missed layups and turnovers had them down early in the game. Back-to-back three-pointers by 2017 OCAA Rookie of the Year, Zamam Khan, and guard, Greg Roberts, brought UTM back into the game. At the end of the first quarter, UTM had tied the score at 24-24. It was a fast-paced game from tip-off to the sound of the final buzzer, points scoring back and forth. Neither team seemed able to gain much separation from the other. And despite physical and aggressive play, by both the Mountaineers and Eagles, the game was tied once again at the end of the second quarter. Despite a strong finish to the first
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Eagles keep up their competitive energy despite a close loss. half, 48-48 going into halftime, UTM came out of the locker room the same way they started the game, with careless play to begin the third quarter. But not for long. Solid transition defense and a couple of three-pointers by Roberts and second-year guard, Kyle Boorman, the first assisted by Khan and the second by Roberts, gets UTM back into the contest. And in less than 30 seconds, UTM had their largest lead of the game and some much-needed drive to fight through the gritty play. Later in the quarter the
Eagles struggled to play defence, and the Mountaineers took advantage. Suffocating man-to-man full court press, and an efficient offence resulting in a shower of three-pointers and layups, led to a near 10-point deficit to end the third quarter. With the score at 90-95 in favour of the Mountaineers, and just seconds on the clock, the Eagles had to foul to stop time, in hopes of saving a little more time to close the gap. Fortunately, two free-throws are missed. Head Coach, Nkosi Adams, calls their final
time-out, a strategy to advance the ball past half-court, giving his team an easier opportunity to score points in a hurry. Out of the time out, Roberts hits a 3-pointer to bring his team to be within two points of the opposition. But it’s not enough to take the game. Roberts finishes with a game high of 40 points, with 5 made 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Khan finishes just behind him, as the second highest scorer of the game, with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 as-
sists. “Overall, I thought I had a good game. I started a little rough, but [I] settled as the game progressed,” says Roberts. “As a team, we did a good job competing. There were times we went down, but instead of staying down, we battled.” Coach Adams had similar comments to make on his team’s performance. “It was definitely a tough loss, but I’m really happy with how the guys competed. That’s something we’ve been talking about since last season, actually competing in a game. Obviously, you want to come up with a win, but sometimes the ball rolls that way,” he says. This is just the first regular season game for UTM, and first home-game of the season, and it was nothing short of exciting and a great effort. Coach Adams thinks his team will be more prepared for their next game, having learned from this loss. In terms of going forward through the rest of the season, “the sky’s the limit” says Roberts. He believes that mental focus will be his team’s key to success, especially when it comes to defence. Our Eagles are scheduled to take to the hardwood again this coming Wednesday, October 24 at home. The Eagles take their potential and competitive energy against the top team in last year’s 2017/2018 OCAA Western Conference, the Redeemer Royals.