Volume 46, Issue 5

October 7, 2019

THE MEDIUM

The Voice of The University of Toronto Mississauga | themedium.ca

Vol 46, No. 5

UTM Campus Council confronts pressing issues

3

NEWS

The Campus Neurosis

COMMENT

5

LinkMentalHealth offers flexible mental health support The Medium will now print issues on Kleenex

8

SATIRE MELISSA BARRIENTOS NEWS EDITOR LinkMentalHealth, a web-app that connects people to therapists that fit their need, has announced that students can get help faster and skip over wait times for free.

The app, an ICUBE start up, launched in June 2018 and currently has a platform with over 100 therapists. Radwan Al-Nachawati, co-founder of LinkMentalHealth and ICUBE member at UTM, said he recognized the need for better navigation through the mental health system, especially for post-secondary students.

“The idea [for LinkMentalHealth] started when I was in university,” said Al-Nachawati. “I was going through a really difficult time. Mental health was not something we really spoke about in my community but one of my friends pushed me to go see a counsellor.

“The first time I went to the counselling centre at my university was the first time I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression, and it was actually pretty reliving,” continues AlNachawati.

“There was something that could explain what was happening with me.

But then right afterwards I was told I had to wait six months before I could get that help. Even when I graduated, I found that finding a therapist was really hard. I reached out to a couple of friends and found out that I wasn’t the only one.”

Students seeking support can go on the LinkMentalHealth website, an-

swer a survey, match with a therapist, and choose a date and time directly on the therapist’s online availability sheet.

A Tinder-like app for mental health support, it finds the best therapist for you in your home area that specializes on the mental health support you seek.

The web-app also helps students choose a therapist based on their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and charging rate.

“I remember for me there were times when I wanted to see somebody from my own background because I didn’t have to explain certain ways that I was raised,” said Al-Nachawati.

“But there were also times I really didn’t want to because I just felt that I didn’t want to see someone from my own community.”

The UTMSU health plan currently covers students for $2,500 worth of mental health insurance, $125 per session for a total of 20 visits. UTM students can submit their claim form online through the UTMSU’s insurance provider, Green Shield, and have $125 covered per appointment.

LinkMentalHealth started building its platform by serving students from UTSG, UTM, and Ryerson.

Al-Nachawati believes it is important that their service remains free for students because that is where the organization started and because of the emerging need of mental health support for post-secondary students.

“We still want to make sure that the student piece is there. It’s where we started,” said Al-Nachawati. “Especially with the need that’s there and

the increase in need. We have been following pretty actively what has been happening within U of T.” “It’s something that has constantly resonated with us,” he continued. “We want to make sure that the service remains free for students and student unions alike.”

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, 75 per cent of people living with mental health problems reported that they first experienced mental health illnesses between the ages of 16 and 25.

Post-secondary students fall right in between the average age and thus have a higher chance of struggling with mental health illnesses during their post-secondary studies.

Al-Nachawati said he realizes students have a need for mental health support, but they don’t necessarily have to struggle with wait times at health centres in post-secondary institutions.

“We really want to keep it simple.

People have access to resources they often don’t know about. $2,500 is a lot to see a therapist. Instead of waiting around in these wait times you can just see a therapist for 20 session— that’s pretty ideal.”

Regarding mental health and who should reach out to get support AlNachawati stresses that it’s never too early or too late to seek help.

“A lot of times we may wonder whether or not we’re at a place where we need it,” said Al-Nachawati. “Going to therapy is a few things. Going to therapy is like going to a family doctor. Going to therapy is the ability to build tools that you may not neces-

sarily have.”

Al-Nachawati also mentioned that being aware of your available resources is the first step to restoring your mental health.

“I’ve been there myself. I’m still sometimes there, in terms of needing more support, and I think it’s just important for people to know about the resources that they have. Know that you have access to mental health services through your health insurance, and if you’ve opted out, then that means you probably have it through your parent’s insurance.” “[Students] have options. And what those options mean is that you’re not the only one struggling.”

With Mental Health Awareness week here, from October 6 to October 12, Al-Nachawati addressed the stigma around mental illnesses and how it is important for students to openly talk about their struggles and have them openly received.

“Nowadays mental health is something that is spoken about, but I think mental illness is still really stigmatized,” said Al-Nachawati.

“I think the concept of self-care has been very prominent, which I’m really grateful for, but I think people are genuinely scared to talk about mental illnesses like anxiety and depression and personality disorder and a whole bunch of other things,” continued AlNachawati.

“It’s never a bad thing to need help and to look and ask for help. It’s the same thing for mental illnesses. It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s an illness at the end of the day and it’s treatable.”

UTM Scribes: Weirdness,writing, and fun

ARTS

9

Daniel Dale on fact-checking Trump and the Fords

FEATURES

12

UTM Varsity Eagles soccer on a streak

SPORTS

15

2

«

10.07.2019

Editor | Melissa Barrientos

Mississauga asks students for feedback on living green The city will host an open house on campus to gather input on the Climate Change Action Plan draft SALEHA FARUQUE ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR The city asked the public for feedback last week on Mississauga’s ambitious Climate Change Action Plan.

Spanning 10 years, the $450 million project aims to transform Mississauga into a “low carbon and resilient community.”

The Action Plan is currently on its public consultation phase. The plan falls in line with Mississauga’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a reduction target of 80 per cent, below 1990 levels, by 2050.

Until October 10, the city will host four open houses that welcome the public to take part in the feedback survey. Anyone can participate by sharing anonymous responses in these open houses located in convenient Mississauga community centres.

On Tuesday, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the Instructional Building Atrium (IB) at UTM will serve as the third open house for the Action Plan feedback. The open house welcomes not only the Mississauga residents but the UTM community as well.

Climate Change Specialist Leya Barry, who is the city’s climate change coordinator, encourages students to have their say.

HAYDEN MAK/THE MEDIUM

City of Mississauga is encouraging students to give feedback to The Action Plan for the climate.

“We want to hear from students,” said Barry to The Medium. “That is why we are hosting one of our open houses at UTM. We will be on hand to answer questions and receive feedback. We encourage all students to stop by.”

For those who can’t attend the open houses, the city has also provided an online survey to make feedback more accessible and convenient.

The brief survey presents a series of opinion questions on greenhouse re-

duction strategy bylaws and policies, climate-change resilient infrastructure, and new building technologies.

The survey also provides a glance at pilot projects being considered by the city, such as home energy audits and rain garden installations for managing storm water.

Barry told CBC news that survey answers will be placed in the Climate Change Action Plan draft, which will subsequently be presented to the council in December.

Mississauga has already seen its fair share of recent extreme weather-related events, including the Cooksville flooding in August 2009, the high water and storm surge in April 2017, the ice and windstorms in 2018, and record-high summer temperatures.

Through mitigation and adaptation goals, the Action Plan seeks to reduce both community and corporate greenhouse gas emissions and increase their resilience to withstanding and responding to future climate

events by taking action.

The Action Plan credits large cities like Mississauga as major contributors to greenhouse gas production.

According to the draft, climate change is a municipal issue, and taking action should begin with cities.

The draft also states that municipal operations result in five to ten per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and municipalities indirectly control over 40 per cent of greenhouse emissions in the community. Over 50 per cent of Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions originate in cities, as local actions pose immediate impacts to overall global effects.

Thus, the draft states, cities can become a “ground zero” for climate change effects.

Using a holistic approach, climateinitiative actions will be exercised by the city and wider community, including those who “live, work and play in Mississauga.”

Examples of these actions include planting trees, using smart technologies such as electric cars and smart thermostats, and growing and purchasing local produce.

Similarly, U of T Mississauga is conducting several green initiatives, events, and projects to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint.

Climate continued on page 4

French debate kicks off federal campaign race The Liberal, Conservative, People, and BQ parties debate social issues like abortion, religious symbols, and sustainability projects KAYVAN AFLAKI ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

The French-language leaders’ debate last Wednesday plunged into issues on abortion, medical assistance in dying, the urgency of climate change, and Quebec’s controversial provincial law against religious symbols.

The debate, hosted by the Frenchlanguage television network TVA, was an anticipated event. It was the first debate of the election campaign to feature Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who faced off against Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, Bloc Quebecois leader YvesFrancois Blanchet, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier were not invited because neither party has won a seat in Quebec.

Trudeau and Blanchet were the only two native French speakers participating in the debate.

Scheer was challenged immediately by Blanchet over his “ambiguous” stance on abortion, over his reluctance to tackle climate change and his plans to build an energy corridor, a proposal that most Quebecers disagree with.

Scheer insisted he would not reopen the debate on abortion.

“Canadians can have confidence [...] I will not reopen it. Nothing will change on access [to abortion],” said Sheer. He explained that the only ones reopening the issue of abortion are the Liberals.

On climate change, Trudeau was targeted for the Liberal’s purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline, while Scheer was accused by his opponents of having a weak plan to slash greenhouse emissions.

The Conservative leader respond-

ed by claiming the federal carbon price “isn’t working” and reiterated his pitch for a hydro corridor, a pipeline, across Canada to be a “win-win” for Quebec and Canada.

Scheer was forced to defend his proposed national energy corridor again.

“Mr. Scheer, you’re going to impose a pipeline on Quebec,” Singh said. “You can’t hide that […] That’s unacceptable.”

Blanchet also attacked the other leaders on Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, which bans religious symbols in the workplace for certain public sector employees, including teachers, police officers, and judges.

He pointed out that he was the only leader present who supports the law, which remains very popular in Quebec. Trudeau, Scheer, and Singh have all criticized the law, though only Trudeau has stated he will not close the door on a possible federal

court challenge of the bill.

Toward the end of the debate, Scheer went after Trudeau for his role in the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

In August, the federal ethics watchdog found that Trudeau broke conflict-of-interest rules when he and his staff pressured former attorneygeneral Jody Wilson-Raybould to negotiate a deal with the Montreal engineering corporation to avoid criminal prosecution.

“When Mr. Trudeau was confronted with the facts, he lied,” Scheer said. “He looked Canadians in the eyes, and he said something he knew wasn’t true.”

“Mr. Scheer is saying he wouldn’t defend the Lavalin jobs,” Trudeau responded. “I defended the Lavalin jobs.”

Hours before the debate aired on TVA, Jagmeet Singh was seen shaking hands with the public in Montreal’s Atwater Market when a man

approached him, advising Singh to “cut off ” his turban.

“You know what?” The man said, leaning in to speak quietly. “You should cut your turban off. You’ll look like a real Canadian.”

“I think Canadians look like all sorts of people,” Singh responded to the man as a CBC cameraman filmed the interaction. “That’s the beauty of Canada.”

At time of publication, the Liberals and Conservatives are polling at an average of 34.0 per cent and 33.6 per cent respectively.

The New Democratic Party is running in third with 14.2 per cent and the Green Party comes in fourth with 9.6 per cent. The Bloc Québécois are polling at 5.2 per cent and the People’s Party at 2.5 per cent.

The poll averages collected are per the CBC’s Poll Tracker.

MASTHEAD EDITORS Editor-in-Chief Ali Taha editor@themedium.ca Managing Editor Paula Cho managing@themedium.ca News Melissa Barrientos news@themedium.ca A&E Vinney Wong arts@themedium.ca Features Fatima Adil features@themedium.ca Sports Sarah-May Edwardo-Oldfield sports@themedium.ca

10.07.2019 THE MEDIUM NEWS

»

3

Campus Council confronts campus issues The committee talks mental health initiatives, U of T ranking, and sustainability projects

Photo Julia Healy photos@themedium.ca Design Tegwen McKenzie design@themedium.ca Illustrations Tala Alkhaldi illustrations@themedium.ca Copy Jessica Cabral copy@themedium.ca Online Yasmeen Alkoka online@themedium.ca ASSOCIATES News Harris Watkins Saleha Faruque Kayvan Aflaki A&E Shalomi Ranasinghe Features Latisha Lobban Bismah Rizvi Sports Noor Bhatia Photo TBA Copy TBA GENERAL STAFF Webmaster William Pau web@themedium.ca Distribution Manager Mduduzi Mhlanga distribution@themedium.ca Ads Manager Amina Safdar ads@themedium.ca COPYRIGHTS All content printed in The Medium is the sole property of its creators, and cannot be used without written consent.

DISCLAMER Opinions expressed in the pages of The Medium are exclusively of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Medium.

Additionally, the opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in The Medium are those of advertisers and not of The Medium.

All articles published in print are also posted on our website themedium.ca LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor will be edited for spelling, grammar, style and coherence. Letters will not exceed 700 words in print.

Letters that incite hatred or violence and letters that are racist, homophobic, sexist, or libelous will not be published.

Anonymous letters will not be published.

MEDIUM II PUBLICATIONS 3359 Mississauaga Road, Room 200, Student Centre, Mississauaga, ON, L5L 1C6

TO CONTRIBUTE, EMAIL EDITOR@THEMEDIUM.CA

JULIA HEALY/THE MEDIUM

Campus Council held their first meeting of the year and had a lot of hot topics to discuss including Principal Krull’s permanent leave.

MED KANE CONTRIBUTOR The Campus Council held their first meeting for the 2019-2020 academic year last Wednesday, in which they discussed Vice-President & Principal Ulrich Krull’s permanent leave, ongoing mental health initiatives, U of T’s new rankings worldwide, and various sustainability projects.

Acting Vice-President & Principal Ian Orchard started off the meeting by announcing that he met Krull, who is currently on medical leave, at a welcoming ceremony and found him to be in “real good shape.”

Orchard’s one-year appointment ends this June and a search committee is currently accepting nominations for a new UTM Vice-President & Principal to take over in the next academic year. Krull is not seeking a renewal of his term.

Orchard was the UTM Vice-President & Principal from 2002 to 2010.

He affirmed that he will continue to reinforce Ulrich’s accomplishments and seek to make UTM a campus of choice for students and staff.

A somber announcement was then made in regard to the suicide on the St. George Campus. Orchard said he recognizes the need for additional mental health resources on campus and that there are initiatives currently underway.

“UTM does have a plan,” said Orchard in the meeting. “Centralized facilities working with the St. George campus, but also with UTM and UTSC, have been doing an inventory of buildings that might have quite high profiles, and we’re seeking advice on what we may or should do with those [buildings].”

Expert advice is also being sought from top psychiatrists on the effectiveness of barriers, architectural structures of buildings, and their correlation to mental health.

Marc Overton, Dean of Student Affairs, presented a few initiatives set in place to combat mental health issues on campus. One of the initiatives includes a new pilot program called “Refused from Your Program, Now What?”

Hosted by the Career Centre and the Office of the Registrar, the pilot program hopes to bring attention to alternative paths for students when they are not accepted to their program.

“There was a recent focus on the stress of students seeking more competitive academic programs,” said Overton. “[Refused from Your Program, Now What?] is really about helping students see that what they may see as the single and sole path to their career or aspiration is frequently not a sole path.”

“We received great feedback from our pilot group of students,” continued Overton, “and we anticipate offering it more and potentially looking at how we can bring it online.”

Overton also addressed the heavily discussed wait times at the Health and Counselling Centre (HCC) at UTM. He stated that it is not a matter of scheduling or a lack of appointment spots available, but that the university does not have mental health specialists at hand to deal with students’ particular needs. “[The] Health and Counselling Centre, like universities nationwide, really is focused on short-course solution-focused therapy in our counselling,” said Overton.

“Recognizing that students typically are seen in a university health and counselling centre much more quickly than they would be if they were in the community, there is still frequently a gap between what we can provide as generalists in mental health—I say that in a positive way— to help them meet with specialists on particular mental health disorders in

the community.”

According to Overton, UTM is currently working on hiring more staff for the Health and Counselling Centre to “help with that bridging until [students] could really reach that super focused specialist in their area of need.”

When asked about an individual’s privacy and the need to help the individual struggling with their mental health, Overton responded that in matters of emergencies, “safety trumps privacy.”

“Whenever a student, a faculty or staff member contacts us or they start with ‘I can’t really tell you the student’s name but I really worry,’ we always really try to remind people that ultimately even the university legal folks […] will say safety trumps privacy,” said Overton.

“So, we will say to students, faculty and staff ‘give me the name of the person you are worried about so that we can find if there are other challenges or other opportunities, other resources, other ways to tap into supports.’”

Orchard then announced UTM met the designated enrollment for student targets. There are approximately 4,000 new students, 70 per cent of which are domestic students and 30 per cent are intentional students.

The university currently has around 14, 544 undergraduate students and 904 graduate students.

Orchard talked of how international students bring different discussions to the classroom because of their own experiences and their diverse educational backgrounds.

The conversation then led to the new Provincial Government funding framework for universities. Government funding will now be heavily tied to performance factors such as a university’s dedication towards experiential learning, graduate employment, and economic and community im-

pact. The performance-based funding framework will stand from 2020 to 2025.

Orchard expressed his belief that this will make universities pay more attention to student experiences.

However, he highlighted that meeting these new benchmarks will be a challenge.

UTM also wants to become a more sustainable campus, not just structurally, but intellectually as well. The university will hold an international sustainability conference on October 16 to 18 called “Sustainability: Transdisciplinary Theory, Practice, and Action Conference.”

The university will also look at implementing a new sustainability committee composed of students and faculty. A Sustainability Pathway Certificate, that students from all programs are allowed to pursue, is also underway. A new sustainability minor has recently been introduced.

UTM is looking to hire five new faculty this fall who will be primarily helping students with writing and numeracy, an initiative that will be the bedrock of undergraduate studies in the coming years. This is just a small portion of the plan to hire 25 new faculty.

The university aims to have enough faculty to accommodate at least 25 first-year students in specialized writing courses, with intensive writing instruction and feedback.

“There is nothing more fundamental, even in this day of social media and texting and emojis, than being able to argue and make your point in succinct, beautiful, clear language,” said Amrita Daniere, Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean. “That’s not just my opinion, it’s now in all the surveys of employers and graduates from university.”

The next Campus Council meeting will be on November 20.

4

«NEWS

THE MEDIUM 10.07.2019

Students act on mental health initiatives

HUMANS OF UTM

Student groups lobby for a change to U of T’s mental health system

CHARLENE BEA/THE MEDIUM

Students lobby for change after another suicide in Bahen at U of T St. George.

MED KANE CONTRIBUTOR In the days following the tragic death of a student at the Bahen Centre on the St. George Campus, the U of T community has taken unprecedented action to tackle the mental health crisis.

Over the weekend following the student’s death, the university erected a temporary safety barrier in the upper levels of Bahen and is pending the completion of a permanent barrier.

“I wish we had done this sooner, but we are focusing on longer-term solutions,” said U of T President Meric Gertler to CBC News.

Among the most profound steps that have been taken regarding student mental health are those by student-led groups.

The U of T Mental Health Policy Committee, a St. George campus student group, held three meetings between September 27 and September 30.

They discussed weighty ideas that they hope will help students who struggle with academic-related stress and mental illnesses.

With over 700 followers on their Facebook page, the committee is growing in momentum and determination to affect change.

In an interview with CBC News, Lucinda Qu, a Mental Health Policy Committee member, detailed the committee’s demands: “Our key demands are counselling, accessibility services and other essential support for students. [These services] need to match the need that is being demonstrated,” said Qu. The committee has issued five immediate demands to the university, including the repeal of the University Mandatory Leave of Absence Policy, the elimination of all fees and costs associated with student mental health services, the elimination of program cut-offs, and the establishment of twenty-four-hour counselling.

According to the committee’s demand document, “The UMLAP is a dangerous policy. Having a mandatory leave policy means that students may be afraid to come forward with the issues facing them.”

The first sign of the group’s commitment to create change came Sunday, September 29 when a group of members stormed U of T’s admissions booth at the Ontario Universities Fair.

The group gave a stark warning to the prospective students in which they said the university had failed to address the mental health crisis.

They provided the statistics of student deaths by suicide—four confirmed on-campus suicides—and the number of months a student must wait for counselling—an average of six to eight months at the St. George campus—and urged the crowd to not consider U of T as their first university of choice.

“Please help us ensure no one else slips through the cracks,” said a member of the committee to the crowd.

“Please spread the word and do not go to U of T and give this institution money until it is easier to get help when you need it.”

Afterwards, police were called to escort them off the stage. They persisted, nonetheless, in passing out fliers highlighting mental health issues at U of T to the fair attendees.

Last Thursday, the committee also held a silent protest inside the U of T Governing Council’s Academic Board meeting with signs describing students’ stories and the committee’s demands.

The committee continues to organize protests at the downtown campus in order to compel the university administration to accept their demands.

U of T stated last year, following the third on-campus student suicide that their response to the plight of mental health will come through its official Mental Health Task Force.

In addition, the administrations of all three campuses have worked to facilitate additional resources at great cost and in consultation with experts.

During UTM’s Campus Council meeting last Wednesday Dean of Student Affairs Mark Overton stated that UTM does not have specialized mental health supporters and that connecting students with specialists outside UTM makes up the majority of the wait time.

“Recognizing that students typically are seen in a university health and counselling centre much more quickly than they would be if they were in the community,” said Overton. “There is still frequently a gap between what we can provide as generalists in mental health […] to reach them out to meet with specialists in particular mental health disorders in the community.”

Student action on mental health has not only been limited to the St. George campus.

U of Thrive is a tri-campus initiative composed of 24 students from all three campuses and seeks to make a change to the student mental health system at U of T. In a Facebook post made last Sunday, the initiative stated, “[U of Thrive] formed to eradicate the negative U of Tears culture of normalizing the burning out [of] students. We want to remind our U of T family that neglecting your mental health does NOT equate to success. As the top institution in Canada we are upset with the inadequate care our student body is receiving.”

“U of T is failing us as students and as a community,” U of Thrive continued. “Now it is up to us to make noise, to create a change. To show U of T we won’t merely brush this off and forget.

We have lost four members of the U of T family to inadequate care. Will you speak up for the cause?”

U of Thrive is holding its first “Thrive” event on Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the St. George campus in the Hart House Music Room. The event is sponsored by the Hart House Debates and Dialogues committee and the Hart House Social Justice Committee.

On Monday, October 7, before St. George’s Governing Council meets for their scheduled Business Board meeting, U of T Mental Health Policy Committee is lobbying outside Simcoe Hall in hope to bring attention to their demands.

On their Facebook platform the committee calls the event a Rally for Student’s Right to Mental Wellness, and asks students to come at 4:10 p.m., an hour before the Governing Council meeting commences.

“If I’ve learned something at UTM, it’s that life is all about giving value back. Maybe that relates a lot to my marketing studies, but I think it also connects to a deeper thing in human nature, and that is that we want to find meaning somewhere. I fortunately got to live that through my university experience so far. During second year and third year I was a don on residence. I think if I could summarize that role in simple words it would be creating experiences for others that can impact them in a positive way. Especially during that transition time which is first year, those experiences are very much needed here. They’re kind of like a boat in a dark sea without any light. What you’re trying to do as a don is provide them with direction. And then you can of just…reach harbour between years, and you get some time to rest throughout the summers. And then you come back and you sail again. The last two years as don has been a super rewarding experience. I think this year the challenge I’m putting up for myself is asking: how do I continue doing that? How do I keep giving back on campus? I’m figuring that out slowly now.”

UTM’s green footprint Climate continued from page 2 This includes a solar retrofit of the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre.

“The solar project is especially exciting, we’ve installed solar collectors on the roof of the building, and they will be used to pre-heat water before it enters the boilers, so the boilers will use less natural gas,” said Chelsea Dalton, the Environmental/Sustainability Coordinator at UTM’s Facilities Management & Planning department.

UTM buildings have also been constructed to abide by LEED, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, silver standards. LEED is a green building rating system run by the Canada Green Building Council, using less energy and water than conventional buildings.

The campus currently has four LEED silver buildings: Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre, Instructional Building (IB), Innovation Complex (KN), and Deerfield Hall.

UTM also has one LEED gold building-the Health Sciences Complex.

The Maanjiwe Nendamowinan (MN) building is pending certification but is estimated to be silver LEED at the minimum.

The upcoming building projects, Dalton said, will also aim to be LEED certified.

“We are planning some new buildings, including the New Science Building, which will target LEED gold,” said Dalton.

“It’s going to have green features including a geothermal system for heating and cooling, green roofs,

rainwater harvesting system, demand control ventilation, solar photovoltaic that produces electricity to help offset the electrical load of a building, LED lighting throughout, and other sustainability measures.”

Overall, the University of Toronto has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 37 per cent, below 1990 levels, by 2030.

Released this week, the detailed plan on how to achieve this goal can be found in the tri-campus Low Carbon Action Plan.

Despite the positive green advances by the university, Dalton presses students to play a role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

“Take part in marches, demonstrations, rallies, and climate strike events to show decision-makers how much you care about this issue,” said Dalton. “Students can also take care to waste less, especially food waste.

If global food waste was a country, it would be the third-highest emitter in the world.”

Barry also believes students can do the same. “Every individual, including every student, has a role to play in climate action. That includes choosing sustainable modes of transportation, conserving energy, and helping get the word out about climate change and actions that we can all take.”

Since 1999, the City of Mississauga has been a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Partners for Climate Protection (PCP). Mississauga Council adopted the City’s first Living Green Master Plan (LGMP) in 2012.

10.07.2019

»

5

Ali Taha

Editorial

The Campus Neurosis In our second issue, we published an opinion on “the case for personal responsibility,” an op-ed that argues the first steps of mental well-being must be taken by the individual.

It was heavily criticized by students on Facebook, and critiqued by UTSG’s newspaper, The Varsity, last week. Looking back, our only regret is that we did not poke more holes in the op-ed to help the author narrow their focus and strengthen their arguments.

We do not, however, regret publishing the piece.

We’re almost fifty years old, and our future couldn’t be more uncertain. With the student choice initiative now in place, students are able to opt-out of The Medium, which could render us virtually obsolete if all students suddenly decided to optout next semester. If we want to stay relevant, we want students to believe we’re worth having around. But when students only see value in a platform that conforms to their worldview, that platform stops being an impartial arena for free thought and becomes another mouthpiece for a distinct ideology.

Professional newspapers don’t have to struggle with this issue. That’s because to survive, most prominent ones have already compromised on their integrity and objectivity. They neglect certain stories or frame them in certain ways to maintain sponsorship and readership from target audiences. This is something we refuse to do. But the SCI has made it more difficult to carry out this mandate. We shouldn’t have to second-guess what we publish on the basis that it might offend someone.

University students have come to not just fear, but hate opinions they disagree with.

If someone says something students don’t like, that person becomes something evil that must be snuffed out or cancelled. That is the mindset, either known or unknown, that many

students on the university campus have.

Young people today are very afraid, and very angry. At the same time, they crave genuine empathy. But when we fail to connect on a deeper level, face-to-face—when our main source of communication is only happening through the internet—we lose touch with reality and our sense of basic human decency.

Fruitful discussion is difficult to facilitate online. It’s easy to tear someone down when you’re not doing it to their face. And people will just add on to the noise and pat each other on the back because “hooray, they are moral.

They are right. They are good.”

Vehemently championing a cause does not make you good, it makes you a zealot. There’s a fine line between zealotry and activism.

Although their anger might come from a good place, it’s not conducive to the mandate of an intellectuallystimulating campus.

This culture of fear and anger has gone beyond empathy. It severely limits our freedom to discuss difficult topics and reach a consensus on certain issues.

The Medium would like to declare itself as a forum that is open to all who want a platform to discuss difficult ideas. We will do our best to not censor any opinion, and we hope students will read our Comment section in good faith, with the understanding that we only want to contribute to your education.

We will hold ourselves to the proper journalistic standard, and we will fight for the privilege of being an important part of a diverse and vibrant campus experience. We will not stray from this mandate, and we will not be afraid of those that look to silence or intimidate our writers.

For now, we will continue our work, regardless of who decides to opt-in.

DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING?

In 2019, journalism is dead In this world of turbulent change, nothing remains permanent

THOMAS CHARTERS/UNSPLASH.COM

With the rise of social media, journalism falls victim to short attention spans and false news.

MED KANE CONTRIBUTOR It is early June 1971. Analyst Daniel Ellsberg has leaked the Pentagon Papers, which detailed the history of United States-Vietnam relations to a war-weary nation. As reported in the Air Force Magazine, a furious Nixon Administration sought an injunction to order newspapers to not publish the papers. The issue was eventually settled in the supreme court. The press won.

The Pentagon Papers incident is a clear example of the power and merits of the press. Journalists backed by powerful news organizations had the power to challenge the U.S. government, in pursuit of spreading the truth. Journalism has brought down empires, wreaked, and inevitably shared the societal fabric in which we clothe ourselves today. However, its former days of glory have diminished.

Jump to 2019. Across the U.S. and Canada, thousands of local newspapers are being shut down due to lackluster profitability. The traditional titans of the news industry

such as the New York Times and Washington Post have been acquired by billionaires with varying motives.

Shouts of “fake news,” “propaganda,” and “dishonest media” are resoundingly chanted by people of all political backgrounds, ages, and professions.

In contrast to their stated goals of reporting the new, media outlets have often become the story. Even this very paper has found itself in an unusual spat with the UTMSU just a few months back. What prompted this change?

In the age of social media, the traditional gatekeepers no longer hold the keys to the kingdom. The internet is a forum in which anyone can publish anything without having to be wary of the editor’s pen. Blogs, YouTube, and Twitter are prime examples of people participating in a global interchange of ideas, news, and opinions. Since the establishment of the printing press, news people were the middlemen for all information shared to the people. However, the new middleman has increasingly become Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and bots. With their short attention

span, members of generations X and Z find no use to traditional television with its avalanche of mind-numbing commercials.

A new narrative, whether right or wrong, has begun to form. People now see the accountability offered by the media as grounded in partisan nature, or worse—untruths. Of course, many proponents of journalism will say that they are adapting to such changes. Much like a phoenix is reborn from the ashes after its death, they believe that traditional journalism will reemerge from the dark clouds of uncertainty that shadow it.

These proponents point to the introduction of online newspapers, twitter journalists, subscriptionbased services, fact checkers, and innovative advertising. However, I disagree. These measures are simply the last gasping breath before the fall.

In fact, conventional journalism is already a living zombie that has yet to realize that it is dead. Just like democracy dies in darkness, journalism dies in destitution. Signs have already begun to emerge.

Dead continued on page 7

6

«COMMENT

THE MEDIUM

10.07.2019

On the PSLA debate: populism in politics We shouldn’t make space for the harmful ideas and beliefs of populism the PPC party espouses AYA YAFAOUI CONTRIBUTOR Last week, the Political Science and Pre-Law Association (PSLA) hosted a local all-candidates debate at UTM. The debate featured candidates from all four major parties in this year’s federal election, with the exception of the Conservative candidate, and the inclusion of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) candidate. To say I was surprised when I found this out would be an understatement. Not only was I surprised that a riding such as Mississauga-Erin Mills had a candidate for the populist People’s Party, but I was more shocked that a party with a history of extreme farright views and hateful rhetoric was invited in the first place.

After all, not only is this a party which incites hate, it’s also a party that has a regressive policy platform and polls at only 2.2 per cent in Ontario. This not only renders the PPC irrelevant to most constituents in Mississauga, but it also allows the party space to spread its dangerous ideas and harmful policy proposals, which I found very irresponsible of the PSLA to allow.

Now to some, this might seem as if I am advocating for undue censorship and the limitation of free speech.

However, I would reply that there is a clear line between free speech, which is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and hate speech, as outlined in the Canadian Criminal Code. The difference is that

VINICIUS AMANO/UNSPLASH.COM

The People’s Party of Canada is making a name for themselves in the world of politics. hate speech is defined under section 319(1) of the Criminal Code as the communication of statements in public places which incites hatred towards any identifiable group. Ever since its founding in 2018, the PPC has engaged in stoking fear and hatred against identifiable groups such as Muslims and Sikhs, immigrants and refugees, as well as other people of colour.

The most recent example being a tweet that two separate PPC candidates shared of a cartoon that depicted NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wearing a turban with a bomb on it.

The PPC has also supported Quebec’s attempts to limit religious freedoms

through Bill 21, and its goal to eliminate what it calls “extreme multiculturalism” is a product of the hateful rhetoric and ideas the party champions. Not to mention the violence that has broken out at the rallies the PPC has hosted, such as last week’s Mohawk College clash in Hamilton.

Thus, having the PPC at the debate demonstrated the PSLA’s lack of regard for the various communities that make up UTM and Mississauga, and the hurt that might result from such rhetoric.

Aside from the rhetoric that the party engages in, the PPC’s policy platform is also quite regressive when it comes to key issues that are

affecting UTM students. The most obvious one being the party’s denial that climate change is an urgent national and global threat. The climate strikes which occurred just a few weeks ago demonstrate that students are demanding effective policies to be implemented in order to reduce climate change. Yet the PPC is calling those students “alarmists,” and its leader was bullying 16-year-old Greta Thunberg on Twitter. Other dangerous policy proposals include the Trump-inspired wall to stop refugees at the border, and the implementation of a “societal norms” policy that is similar to the previously proposed “Canadian values” test for hopeful

immigrants. These policies are not based on fact, and they stem from the same nationalistic root as Donald Trump’s policies. This reduces the effectiveness of the debate as it creates a space where the issues being debated are based more on fiction than fact and contributes to the distortion of reality that so many people today are misled by.

These ideas and beliefs that the PPC champion are harmful to the social, environmental, and political fabric of Canada. Yet, the PPC has the ability in Canada to go around and spew their ideology—and that’s fine.

However, it is no longer fine when they are allowed to participate in a debate because they are then given a direct audience to speak to. Such an opportunity allows the candidate to build a connection with the community, and in turn, has the community build familiarity with the party.

Essentially, it normalizes the party and its populistic, far-right views.

Normalization leads to acceptance, and the acceptance of these extreme views which run antithetical to the identities and realities of so many UTM students is unacceptable. That is why it is irresponsible for the PSLA to have included the PPC candidate in the debate. It is also why student organizations across the country and here at UTM need to evaluate the impact that the inclusion of such parties or groups will have on the community and the larger public discourse.

The university experience needs homecoming We may not be a “party” school, but we should at least try to show others our school spirit ANASTASIA WU CONTRIBUTOR This past weekend, many universities across Canada finished off their first month of the new school year by holding homecoming. The question is: where was ours? Unlike other universities, UTM didn’t host a homecoming for its students and many of us are wondering why.

UTM isn’t known for being a “party” school like Western or Queen’s. In fact, UTM isn’t even in the top 50 best party universities in Canada, let alone the top ten in Ontario. While other schools tend to focus on other aspects of university life like promoting school spirit and helping their students relieve stress in ways like partying, our school tends to focus only on the academic aspect of university life.

Oftentimes at UTM, we don’t focus enough on things other than academics. Don’t get me wrong, there are clubs and events held at UTM like Wellness Week, which has a main goal of helping students stay mentally and physically healthy.

Although this is a good way of promoting wellness, it’s not like this

MILIDAE CLAIRE UY/THE MEDIUM

UTM is more focused on academics, but what if we brought some of that spirit to sports? event is held every week or helps everyone destress in the same way partying does for some people.

As for school spirit, do any of you know our school colours? Some of you may not, and that’s okay because it’s not like it’s been promoted that much throughout the school

year. We may have had sales at the Bookstore on spirit wear and UTM merch, but even that’s not enough to promote school spirit here.

We need spirit weeks and more events that allow us to show other schools how proud we are to be students here at UTM. For example, we

should promote more of the varsity home games that are held on campus and get more students to support our varsity men’s and women’s teams by showing up in our school colours and cheering on the Eagles.

I’ve been to some of the varsity home games myself, and it’s safe to

say our teams don’t get as much support as they should. The last games I went to, only the varsity men’s team watched the varsity women’s team and vice versa. The benches for spectators were bare, with little to no people from our school watching, let alone cheering on, our Eagles.

I believe one of the reasons why many people don’t attend the varsity games and support our men’s and women’s teams is because they aren’t promoted enough. To up our promotion game, we should put up more signs and have more announcements that let all students know the time and place of the varsity sports games.

Overall, we may not be a “party” school but we should at least try to show others that we aren’t afraid to wear our school colours. More of us should come out and support our varsity teams. Who knows, maybe if we start showing more school spirit, we won’t be seen as just an academically strong school but as a school that can do both—support each other while working hard.

Nothing remains permanent Kellyanne Conway alluded to this phenomenon with her iconic phrase “alternative facts.”

According to the Huffington Already, we see that people have Post, layoffs will occur or have radically different perceptions already occurred in the Guardof real-world events depending ian, USA Today, Washington on their source of news. The Post, and New York Daily. If we recent Ukraine scandal with are seeing such events during President Trump has democrats an “economic boom,” what will convinced that happen during a recession? Inevita- “In the post traditional he colluded with foreign bly, many people media world, people entitles in order will cut their subto influence the scriptions to save will begin to have election wheremoney and adradically different as Republicans vertisers will look are convinced for more effective perceptions about that he is legitiways to get bang basic truths. ” mately seeking out of their buck. I out corruption. do not write what In some ways, opinions have I say in order to demean the become facts and facts have value of journalists but to point become opinions. out that times are changing.

In this world of turbulent The decline of traditional change, nothing remains permedia has broad implications. manent.

We do not know the In the post traditional media future, but we can cherish the world, people will begin to have past.

Let us mourn the death of radically different perceptions journalism. about basic truths. The U.S. Dead continued from page 5

10.07.2019 THE MEDIUM COMMENT» 7

I see gray in the blackface incident

THE IAN/UNSPLASH.COM

Not everyone feels scandalized and marginalized by the Trudeau blackface photos.

Counselor to the President,

SAYAN SIVANESAN CONTRIBUTOR

Letter to the Editor On Comedy and Outrage Weed has been legal for a year.

Sexual-intercourse among students is at an all-time high. Yet, no one can just chill!

If it’s not sex or drugs, is it rock n’ roll that we’re lacking? What will convince our fellow peers to put down the Adderall and finally swallow a chill pill?

I read “The Line between Comedy and Outrage” by Vinney Wong, and I find the writer’s opinion reflects a typical stance against transgressional comedy.

Gillis’ “joke” was not funny, but did he really need to get fired by SNL for it? It seems like keyboard warriors got mad so they could feel big about ruining a man’s career. These people are so stupid though. In comedy, controversy is equivalent to martyrdom.

Wong’s article refers to Kevin Hart’s apology when he made jokes about gay people. The writer approves of Hart’s apology but disproves of Gillis’. I remember Hart’s apology, and people at the time were still outraged over him.

Now watch. Gillis will soon step out from under the microscope and a different comedian will take his place.

Then that target will apologize and people will refer to Gillis on how to apologize properly.

The writer only uses Hart’s apology to further a case against Gillis. It seems like a “gotcha” towards Gillis to show him ‘if a fellow comedian can apologize properly then you can too.’

Also, although the writer uses Hart as an example of an apologetic Christ figure in the comedy world, the writer also dismisses comedian Rob Schneider’s opinion on the matter.

This is something I’ve never understood. People never listen to comedians who express opinions on comedy.

When something insane happens in the medical industry, who are the people we talk to? Doctors. If something happens in the education industry, who do we talk to? Educators.

Why can’t we also listen to comedians when something happens in their industry? Wouldn’t comedians be considered experts of comedy?

I’d like to conclude my letter with a statement to my future-self. “Hey, Gordon of the future. Sorry this letter resurfaced and is causing all this backlash from something you wrote fifteen years ago. Say hi to the kids for me.”

Sincerely, get laid.

Gordon Cork 3rd year Professional Writing and Communications major French Studies major

The Trudeau brownface scandal has left me disappointed with many people I generally see as allies. As the week went on, I grew disturbed with Jagmeet Singh’s responses, and the commentary of progressives on my Facebook feed. If you have an opinion, I welcome hearing your opinion as an opinion. But please be responsible with comments you frame as fact.

Growing up in Vancouver and Calgary as a brown kid in the post 9/11 years, I have experienced a fair share of prejudice. Definitely not as severe or deadly as some communities in our country, but moments that stung and embarrassed nonetheless. But, I try not to internalize prejudiced behaviour towards me as something that has anything to do with me. I choose to believe that it is a function of power imbalances still being ironed out in our culture. These imbalances create individuals with blind spots—blind spots that aren’t necessarily representative of someone’s character.

Not everyone’s so lucky that their experienced prejudice is so unthreatening that they can process racial prejudice in this way, but that’s my reality. And I believe it’s the reality of many racialized Canadians in our country, increasingly so.

When I saw those pictures of Trudeau, I thought it was gross, idiotic, and embarrassing for Canada, but I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t disappointed, and no part of me felt hurt.

It is behaviour that fits perfectly with the character I’ve observed these last four years: I see Trudeau as someone who is arrogant, conceited, and shallow in understanding or concern, and perfectly willing to masquerade in any identity that scores applause.

What I thought about was how people are going to react and respond to this scandal and how it would affect this election that I feel is immensely important.

Jagmeet Singh proclaimed that

racialized people who see the blackface images are going to now think of all the times in their life that they were hurt by racism, revisit that pain and fear, and question their worth and belonging in this country. Singh wanted to focus on telling Canadians, particularly kids, that they are loved and they are valued and wanted in this country. When he said all of this, at first I was confused. I was confused because I didn’t identify with those feelings or thoughts at all, not even as a momentary blip. I struggled with wondering if Singh was being genuine, and if he really believed that needed to be said.

But in interview after interview, as Singh kept repeating those talking points—and as progressive pundits on my Facebook kept insisting that those pictures absolutely meant that we live in a racist, oppressive, hateful society—I noticed feelings of insecurity bubble up within me, followed by sadness, then anger.

Ironically I started feeling like maybe I could be “less than” and feeling like I do have pain and hurt that is being unearthed. Not because of Justin Trudeau’s photos, but because of Jagmeet Singh and others repeatedly declaring that that is how people like me in this country will feel.

That realization made me feel deeply disappointed, disgusted even.

I understood it as this: the fact that I have been hurt by prejudice in my life was being used to manipulate me for political gain by the NDP. Then I read self-identified progressives on Facebook declaring the correct way for this scandal to be evaluated and processed—with the overt assertion that anyone who does not accept these progressives’ proclaimed truth is either brainwashed, or supports a racist status quo, or at best is a well-intentioned but misguided fellow progressive that needs to change their mind to truly be an ally of “the” movement.

That makes me not want to associate with their movement. It makes

me see these friends as childish, and immature, and frustratingly divisive, hurtful even. It makes me feel like there is no willingness in that camp to even entertain the possibility that my approach to reality might be at least equally valid. And it makes me feel like my perspective doesn’t matter to them, and frankly is not-wanted.

Wait.

But, Jagmeet Singh told me it would be the photos that would make me feel marginalized. For me, the photos didn’t, but progressives peddling insecurity did.

Trump, Ford, Peterson…these are men whose actions can be seen as inviting fascism because they assert narratives that give them power as absolute reality. They grow the base for their narrative by viralizing rage and insecurity, and they characterize any dissident thinking persons as a societal threat.

I’m writing this because I am concerned that in trying to counter increasing fascism on the Right, the Left is becoming increasingly fascist.

And I believe most Canadians, who are smarter than that, are turned off by it. I believe that is why the Green Party is surging. I believe that is why I might vote Liberal or Green for the first time.

I’ve voted NDP in every election since I became of voting age. As a brown, bearded man that grew up in the federal riding where Jagmeet Singh ran an inspiring, courageous campaign that made me very proud of him and of my home riding for electing him, I would love for Canada’s Prime Minister to look a bit like me. That’d be so freaking cool. But though I see myself in Jagmeet Singh, and though I believe in many values of social democracy, I don’t see myself in the NDP. If that means I’m now more rightwing, I don’t know what that says about me. But I think we have to wonder why?

8

«

10.07.2019

SATIRE Student drops out The Medium to now print issues on Kleenex after failing to find power outlet

JULIA HEALY/THE MEDIUM

Crying over something you read in the newspaper? Here is a tissue for that issue.

GORDON CORK STAFF WRITER

The Medium made another mistake on September 15 when they published “The Case for Personal Responsibility,” an opinion written by mental health expert Dr. Sonia Romero Johnson. The Medium received backlash due to the article’s promotion of National Socialist ideals such as self-responsibility, exer-

cise, and nutrition.

“I struggle with crippling anxiety but I finally built up the courage to publish,” said Johnson. “It was very exciting to share tips on how I deal with my own mental health. The backlash I received has made me second guess the next time I decide to share my opinion.”

“The paper last week was so offensive, I couldn’t stop crying,” said UTM student Allison Gomes. “I tried to wipe my tears away but the

paper was too rough. I got a paper cut and now I’m going to sue The Medium for everything they’ve got!”

Out of respect to those hurt by opinions and paper cuts, The Medium will now print all future issues on Kleenex.

With the switch from paper to tissue, The Medium hopes that future readers will be able to wipe their tears with two-ply opinions.

Students protest filthy water in MN building GORDON CORK STAFF WRITER A study issued by the climate activist group All Students Scream (A.S.S.) reports that the Maanjiwe Nendamowinan building, a native student reserve, is now at extreme risk for water contamination. The study comes after the UTM administration decided to build an oil pipeline through the building.

Adding to the problem is the university’s new method for cutting costs of water. Called “reclaimed water,” the method collects the water used for showers, toilets, and water

fountains, and recycles it back into the system.

The decision to proceed with reclaimed water was due to water-pipe infrastructure obstructing the development of the oil pipeline system.

Environmental and student activists protested earlier last week, speaking out against the university’s use of the reclaimed water initiative.

“I am absolutely disgusted by the university’s treatment of students on the Maanjiwe Nendamowinan reserve. Recycling toilet water is in no way a solution for oil contamination,” said thirsty first-year student Ryan Thompson.

The Trudeau government has promised to end water contamination in all student reserves by 2021, but A.S.S. activists have criticized the Prime Minister’s promises.

In a statement published to their Facebook page over the weekend, the group wrote, “The [native reserves] are given short-term solutions and we prompt students and faculty to contact Justin Trudeau to solve this human violation permanently.”

Seven pairs of shoes belonging to international students were sold to fund the $800,973.64 removal of the Maanjiwe Nendamowinan water system.

STEVE JOHNSON/UNSPLASH.COM

If your phone needs to charge on campus, you’re on your own.

ERIN DELANEY STAFF WRITER “It’s like they want you to fail,” said fourth-year biology student Brent Brentson in an exclusive interview with The Medium.

After a four-hour trek spanning Deerfield to CCIT to IB to Kaneff to Davis, Brentson is at his wits end. A lack of power outlets has forced him to quit his academic career.

“Inhumane!” Brentson said as he gestured to a study desk missing a power outlet.

The struggle for power outlets is a well noted difficulty facing students.

Faulty outlets, unfinished desks, and awkward locations have plagued student attempts to charge for decades.

Students have been forced to resort to

power banks, or worse, letting their devices die and interacting with the real world.

The Hazel McCallion library touts the most power outlets of any building on campus, but totalitarian librarians and harsh architecture make it difficult for students to use.

“I used the last three per cent of my phone battery to try and log into ACORN to drop my courses, but the U of T Wi-Fi wouldn’t connect.”

When directed to a lone power outlet along a hallway on the second floor of the ICCIT building, the nowformer student grimaced. “The cement hurts my ass. I’m entitled to a power outlet and a lightly cushioned desk chair, preferably one that spins.

You know, the bare necessities.”

10

«

10.07.2019

Editor | Srijan Sahu

UTM Scribes: Weirdness, writing, and fun The club held its annual meet and greet social and talked about its expectations for the school year NOUR MOHAMED CONTRIBUTOR “I’m going to toss the toilet paper to one of you guys, and you have to answer a series of questions related to your name, your program, why you’re in this club, you’re favorite book, and a cool fact about yourself,” says Bianca Delgado, the vice president of UTM Scribes, one of UTM’s creative writing communities. Last Monday, students flocked to the presentation room in the Student Center to participate in the club’s first annual meetand-greet event.

The club, which began back in 2015, offers students an opportunity to network with industry professionals from different genres, including authors, journalists, playwrights, and linguists. In career and writing panels held throughout the school year, students engage with professionals who provide advice on how to enter the industry and tips on how to improve a piece of writing. In the past, the club welcomed Hana Shafi, a Toronto-based author and illustrator, Chandler Levack, a screenwriter and director, and Ann Walmsley, a journalist who writes for The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s.

Starting in October, club members will hold writing workshops that involve a lecture in the first half and a writers’ circle in the second half. The workshops provide a safe and friendly environment for students to read their work and receive feedback from other writers. According to Delgado,

JULIA HEALY/THE MEDIUM

The writing community UTM Scribes had their annual meet and greet to kick off the year. “it’s a great way to build a portfolio, and a great way to improve one’s writing.”

This year, UTM Scribes will publish its fifth edition of Slate, the club’s journal of short stories, poetry, and illustrations. The editors of the no-single-theme journal expect submissions until Saturday, November 16.

In a room with students still eyeing the toilet roll strewn across the blue back wall, I speak with the club’s covice president, Belicia Chevolleau, to see what it takes for a piece of writing to resonate with these editors.

The Medium: How many of the total number of submissions do your editors review for publication?

Belica Chevolleau: Last year we received around two hundred submissions, and out of those, we edited only 50 because we couldn’t work with all of them. Each of these had to then go through about four or five editing cycles. Last year, we assigned about seven pieces to each editor, and they work with them for about three months.

TM: How would you describe your publication process?

BC: Each of the stories goes from staff editors to the editor-in-chief who then gives the story to the president.

In the staff editors’ stage, our staff editors communicate with the writers.

It’s more of a back and forth with the

writer.

TM: What advice would you give to people who are interested in getting their work published in Slate?

BC: It does not really matter how well you write. If you say something honest and from your heart, then it will come across. I really want to read interesting and authentic work because if you’re saying something true, it will resonate. Find something new, something inventive.

TM: Is there a particular submission that resonated with you the most?

BC: I can think of one. It was a piece about OCD. When I read it, I thought, “This definitely needs to be

in the journal.” Even when there was some push back from other editors, I would tell them that I want it because I knew the person who wrote it knew what it was like. They spoke about it in such specific terms that it really came across.

The other one that I would say also spoke about my experience talked about homophobia in a hockey locker room. That one really stuck with me because we received it twice in our submissions. The first year it did not go in, but the second year, I made sure we accepted it.

TM: If you could say anything to UTM students who enjoy creative writing, what would it be?

BC: We want to be as inclusive as possible, so I definitely want to uplift more marginalized identities. I’d like to hear from people who identify as LGBTQ, people who identify as a religious minority, or as a person of color.

At our writing workshops, we want to be a safe space for these people. If these stories resonate with me, they will resonate with so many others.

TM: Aside from authenticity and originality, what else would you look for in a poem?

BC: I like poems that are musical, and I want something that has a kind of rhythm, some assonance. If it sounds good when I read it out loud, I definitely want to read more of it. I like poems that use weird wordings, or phrases that contradict each other.

One of the most honest things anyone can write is something that’s weird.

Let the television streaming wars begin Say goodbye to cable television as streaming services, such as Disney Plus, are coming to Canada fast and furiously NATALIE LYCZEK CONTRIBUTOR Growing up, I remember rushing home after school to watch the newest episode of Arthur on TVOKids.

Arthur, Blues Clues, Zoboomafoo, and Peppa Pig: a lineup of shows many of us would watch with a hypnotic gaze. Those were the good old days; the days we can now say farewell too.

With the significant shift towards streaming in recent years, the death of cable television is inevitable. Children today will never have memories of bolting to the washroom during commercial breaks like we did.

Nowadays, you can pause the program with a click of a button.

Today, just over 150 million people worldwide are subscribed to Netflix. While the era of cable televi-

sion will be missed, the shift towards streaming has possibly made everyone’s lives easier.

Customers today don’t want to pay for channels they don’t watch; not to mention the hefty prices of $50-100 a month for cable. Streaming services allow us to watch whatever we want, whenever we want.

There are no commercials, and, best of all, have low prices with thousands of different titles.

While it is a loss for major cable companies, it’s not something they can’t adapt to. Netflix might be the big brother of streaming services, but that doesn’t stop other media companies from experimenting.

Disney Plus and AppleTV+ are amongst the newest services in the industry, offering ample titles at a low cost.

If you’re a kid at heart, Disney

Plus might be the option for you.

Arriving on November 12, Disney Plus will be offering shows and movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. You can attain a Disney Plus subscription for $8.99 a month or an annual subscription for $89.99.

Additionally, if you’re a die-hard Apple fan, AppleTV+ will be available on November 1 for a small fee of $5.99 per month. This price is significantly lower than its competitors, such as Netflix and Hulu. You can also share this subscription with six other family members with no additional cost.

This is significantly lower than Netflix, which allows for one screen on its standard plan, costing $9.99, and two screens for $13.99. Free for one year for customers who purchase an Apple product, some titles

include The Morning Show, Dickinson, See, and The Elephant Queen.

If you swear to stick by Netflix, I’ve got some bad news for you. You might have noticed the disappearance of The Vampire Diaries from the service. I was shattered when I tried to re-watch the adventures of the Salvatore brothers for the third time. Instead of some popcorn and vampire drama, I was left with questions.

The Vampire Diaries is a CW show, which is owned by WarnerMedia.

Reports revealed that the reason for the show leaving Netflix is because Netflix did not renew their contract with The CW and NBC. Shows owned by these companies might be taken off Netflix because of reports that WarnerMedia (which owns The CW) and NBCUniversal have plans to create their own

streaming services. This means that adored shows such as Friends and The Office might disappear from the service as early as 2021.

However, it’s not all bad news. According to Netflix, it will continue to receive new seasons of CW shows that are already on the service, such as Riverdale, Dynasty, and Flash.

However, the number of titles available on Netflix has gone down over the years.

While it might not entirely be Netflix’s fault, it has left me in some disappointment and frustration.

Finding an entertaining title has become more complicated in recent years, and perhaps it’s time to pay for multiple services or switch services entirely. Whatever you plan to do, there’s plenty of options; and only more to come.

10.07.2019 THE MEDIUM ARTS» 11

Post Malone’s Runaway Tour rocks Toronto The rapper performed his hits and urged the audience to dream big at the Scotiabank Arena SHALOMI RANASINGHE ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR On October 3, Post Malone performed his first of two shows at Scotiabank Arena for his third headlining tour, the Runaway Tour. The Toronto show is one of two Canadian cities that Post Malone performs in, as the rest of his tour dates are in the United States.

The set list featured songs from his three studio albums Hollywood’s Bleeding, beerbongs & bentleys, and Stoney. The stage was a T-Shaped frame, with a cat-walk branching into the crowd. There were two large rectangular screens, projecting the performances for all audience members to see.

Filled with energetic fans, the arena was ready for a night of Post Malone music. The Toronto show began with performances by opening acts, Swae Lee and Tyla Yaweh.

Around 9:30 p.m., the lights in the arena turned off and Post Malone took the stage singing “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” The crowd cheered him on as he made his entrance. Throughout the concert, the audience remained on their feet while dancing and singing along with Post Malone. He cre-

TORE SÆTRE/WIKIMEDIA

Post Malone played Toronto on his Runaway Tour, much to the delight of his Canadian fans. ated an atmosphere for fans to forget their current problems and stresses, so they can enjoy a night of loud music and fun.

During the song “Go Flex” the crowd swayed their arms left and right, in the air, moving along with

the music. However, as Post Malone performed “Over Now,” the crowd went even crazier. People were jumping, dancing, screaming, and singing.

Throughout the performances, each song had a different stage effect. The special effects ranged from strobe

lighting, smoke, bursts of fire, and laser lighting. Some performances had a mixture of stage effects, but during each song, the crowd seemed to enjoy themselves.

Post Malone engaged with the audience throughout his whole per-

formance. He showed his personality as he communicated with the Toronto crowd. He cursed between words to add emphasis to the energy he wanted to share with fans. He did not leave the stage to take a break or change outfits for the entire night.

Occasionally, between songs he would hydrate himself, smoke, and interact with the audience. At one point, he shared his experiences with haters who doubted his musical abilities and said he will only be a “one hit wonder.” Post Malone took this moment of negativity and transformed it to an inspirational message about chasing dreams. His impassioned speech caused the crowd to scream in agreement, which lead into the musical notes of his hit single “Congratulations,” the final song of the show.

Post Malone’s Runaway Tour brought a thrilling energy to Toronto and the audience embraced every minute of his show. Between his songs, stage presence, special effects, and conversations with the crowd, Post Malone presented Toronto with a unique concert filled with energy and motivation to live life to the fullest.

Age of You: The spectacle of data in reality The exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto examines our life through technology RACHAEL MASIH CONTRIBUTOR

Age of You, a haunting new art exhibition, hits the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto for the fall and winter seasons.

The exhibition holds a mirror to the audience figuratively, and literally as it guides you through a series of art work that reflects on individuality in a digital age.

The exhibition curated by Shumon Basar, Douglas Coupland, and Hans Ulrich Obrist is a preview to the book they are releasing titled, The Extreme Self, which will tackle the same issue of the self being interwoven with data we constantly create.

Over 70 artists, photographers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, and performers collaborated to make the exhibition diverse and impactful.

Since the exhibit is rooted in an upcoming book release, the exhibition is divvied up into thirteen separate chapters.

In each chapter, a short series of artwork suspends from the ceiling which explores how technology affects the self, intimacy, democracy, spirituality, and the future of lived experience.

Some panels offer deep insights and background information, not

MARIIA KAVDZHARADZE/THE MEDIUM

Individuality in the digital age was the focus of the Age of You Exhibition featured in Toronto. unlike reading a book, but most shake you with piercing graphics paired with a few words that get to the emotional root of the problem.

All the while the room fills with the deepened and distorted voice of Chinese actress, Bai Ling. Sophia Al-Maria’s Mirror Cookie (2018) morphs positive affirmations from Bai Ling’s Instagram to reflect the “struggle of upholding self-love in the midst of a toxic environment.”

This is not the only eerie element in Age of You. As you take in all the imagery and messaging, there is the constant feeling of being watched by the art from Yuri Pattison.

Pattison’s commissioned piece consists of different eye emojis. He formed one line of eyes himself, and let an artificial intelligence create the rest using predictive software.

The Orwellian piece adds to the

text in a subtle way. It emphasizes that even if you’re not constantly aware of it, you are always being watched.

To walk through Age of You is to be educated and confronted by the drastic nature of the changes we’ve normalized as a society.

Basar, Coupland, and Obrist discuss the ways we volunteer and fear giving our data freely, the ways we are manipulated into outrage cul-

ture, and the inability to separate ourselves from the masses that are in constant connection with one another.

A running theme through the show is, “Are you really built for so much change so quickly?”

To which I wonder, does it even matter what we’re built for if the self doesn’t exist to be part of the physical body, but rather to be extracted by corporations, rebuilt into a concept, and sold to?

Does it matter what we’re built for if we are reduced to a set of numbers?

Patterns? Behaviours? Meta-data?

Quassim, a viewer of the Age of You exhibit, said, “I was interested by the digitization of the personality and how the previous century was all about how we consume, but now it’s about how we are consumed.”

Another attendee Freya Kyrstein said, “With technology taking over, we’re losing ourselves. So much of social media is presenting a cover of who we are. We’re losing touch.”

The show explores all these topics and begs for even more reflection.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto hosted the program and will continue to host events in relation to Age of You including talks, artist tours, digital justice workshops, and drop-in activities until January 5, 2020.

12

«ARTS

THE MEDIUM 10.07.2019

REWIND DANICA TENG CONTRIBUTOR After watching the sequel of Stephen King’s IT in theatres, I wanted to revisit one of King’s most iconic stories: The Shining.

The Shining (1980), directed by Stanley Kubrick, tells the story of a small family’s new opportunity that turns into an absolute nightmare.

Writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker for the Overlook Hotel, when the hotel shuts down for the season, to have some peace and quiet to work. This leaves Jack, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) isolated by themselves in the Overlook for half a year. The roads become blocked with snow and the phone lines go down, but why would they ever want to leave the hotel?

Danny reveals himself as a little boy with special abilities as he sees frightening visions before they get to the hotel and during their stay. The hotel’s chef Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) calls Danny’s ability “the shining,” as he possesses it too. This fear escalates as the evil within the hotel takes control of Jack and drives him into madness; the idea of killing his family with an ax begins to seem appealing.

Fear is a big theme in The Shining, from the music to the facial expressions to their dialogues. Ominous music from the very beginning, as the family travels to the mountains, sets the tone for the whole movie. The music intensifies whenever there is a sense of danger, building up anticipa-

tion and anxiety. Duvall and Lloyd do an amazing job portraying fear to Nicholson’s terrifyingly beautiful acting. His face contorts so intensely and even when Jack smiles, the presence of danger always lies behind. There is uneasiness in the feeling that he can snap at any moment.

Jack eerily repeats to his family that he would never hurt them. However, the trauma of a drunken Jack “accidentally” dislocating Danny’s shoulder three years prior still haunts their family. Although Jack swore to never drink again after that incident, and keeps swearing that he would never hurt them, the hotel releases his repressed desires. As Stephen King says in his essay on “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” “The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized… and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark.”

The evil of the Overlook Hotel has the same effect for Jack as we see him dip into insanity. The abuse, the drinking, and the anger are some of the worst parts of him that get unleashed from this repression. It’s an evil that is not just supernatural, but often seen in reality.

The Shining is one of those horror movies that might not necessarily make you scream, but would scare your soul. It’s a horror that leaves you trembling, uncomfortable, and confused.

ISIK VERA SENEL CONTRIBUTOR “Darkness, tragedy, and pain hide within every institution.” This is the statement hosts Kate Leonard and Richard Rossner use as an introduction to The Dark Side Of, but also as the reasoning behind the series. Produced by the Parcast Network and Cutler Media, this weekly podcast explores the ugly realities behind public events, pop culture icons, and valued institutions. Some of the episodes investigate the mysterious circumstances behind the careers and lives, or deaths, of well-known individuals such as Amy Winehouse, Suge Knight, and Shirley Temple.

Each season has a different focus and the existing three seasons cover Hollywood, the music industry, and sports.

The first episode “Hollywood: The Founding” opens with the graphic description of Judy Garland’s overdose and the harrowing conditions she was forced to work under during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, which eventually led to her death.

Fuelling her addiction to barbiturates and depriving her of food,

Hollywood’s mercilessly demanding conditions caused the demise of a beloved actress at age forty-seven. Even though the dangerous consequences of drug use were known by the medical industry, hard opioids were used as painkillers throughout the early 1900s. The film industry was not an exception and many actors who sought to treat injuries would later go on to develop fatal addictions.

Unbeknownst by many, Hollywood was derived from dark ideals and the past of this institution is rooted in racist and flawed philosophies. What we know now to be the heart of the film industry was initially intended to be a suburban Christian paradise for the white and wealthy.

However, with the infiltration of the film industry, the prohibitionist Christian ideals of Hollywood were no longer being upheld and more and more people started breaking the rules implemented by the founding couple, Harvey and Daeida Wilcox.

This utopia would go on to become a center for all kinds of transgressions, from predatory cults to elaborate drug rings.

The second season of the series, “The 27 Club,” explores the deaths of

young and talented musicians who die around the age of 27, often referred to as the 27 Club. As was the case with brilliant artists like Amy Winehouse, Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Janis Joplin. This episode proclaims that the age twentyseven caries no occult power, but rather, it is the exploitive constitution of the music industry that drives the members of this grim club to an early grave. “The 27 Club” pulls back the curtain of mystery to reveal that, by reinforcing the troublesome behaviors of some and preying on the vulnerability of others, it was the actions of the music industry that resulted in the demise of so many musicians.

If you love conspiracy theories, mysteries, and dark secrets, you will enjoy The Dark Side Of. Abundant with detail and thrilling descriptions, the series keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you doubt the things you hold dear. Although some releases feature popular mysteries, the breadth of information they contain, paired with the more arcane episodes ensures the amusement of even the greatest mystery connoisseur.

ing flower is never just a dying flower, it symbolizes the fragility of human life or the temporality of beauty.

In his essay, Lewis-Kraus presents us with two stories. Story A is his understanding and perception of the meaning of the story, whereas Story B is the factual side; the truth.

The premise of the story is that the protagonist is a journalist who goes to Japan looking for meaning within a hole-digging competition, so he can write-off the trip as a business expense. However, after spending the day observing the competition, he realizes that the competition is exactly what it claims to be: a hole-digging competition.

Much like the protagonist, I initially tried to find a more meaningful interpretation of the story.

Perhaps the hole-digging competition is a metaphor for how everyone should try to dig deeper to uncover an underlying truth.

Maybe the way the diggers dug the hole speaks to the different kinds of people in the world: some focus on the depth, others on the breadth,

and then there are those who find a balance between both.

Alternatively, the condition of the soil could represent the imbalance at birth, where how far you go is dependent on your birth. Life is part luck and good fortune. Those born with good soil, go further than those stuck in the rubble.

These interpretations, while true to my schooling and efforts to finding ‘the real story,’ were false. The moral is quite simple: some stories are just entertaining.

The primary characteristic of a good story does not lie in its ability to state an unknown truth, but in its capacity to entertain and capture the attention of the readers.

For writers, particularly those plagued by the rules, this essay is freeing. It serves as a reminder to writers that not all stories need to be deep; they only need to be interesting. Lewis-Kraus delivers this message potently by showcasing the point of his essay through an interesting story about hole-digging.

You can find “Story A: Story B” on Harper’s Magazine.

Arts & Entertainment Upcoming Events BELICIA CHEVOLLEAU CONTRIBUTOR

Tuesday, october 8

UTM Feminist Lunch Talk

Wednesday, October 9

Blackwood Gallery Viriditas Exhibition

Saturday, October 19

Toronto Public Library: Young Voices Festival

Wednesday, October 23

Rotman School of Management: Art of Making Memories

Assigned as a reading for my WRI370: Writing about Place class, “Story A: Story B” is an essay by Gideon Lewis-Kraus that contradicts most of the teaching we’ve received in English class: sometimes a story is just a story—as entertaining or tragic as they can be.

While our academic inclination leads us to believe everything in a book has a symbolic meaning— perhaps on a hidden truth about life and the human condition—not every story has a profound or deeper meaning.

Traditionally, we are taught to look critically at every object, every character, every action since they are purposely chosen and crafted to tell a certain narrative which furthers our understanding of some motif.

Authors are usually quite selective in the visuals and diction used throughout a piece to produce a good story. When dissecting even the simplest imagery, we must uncover the author’s intention. A dy-

12

«

10.07.2019

Editor | Fatima Adil

Perfecting forensic DNA mixtures Forensic biologist and UTM alumna Nicole Novroski returned to UTM as an assistant professor last year SURUTIGA RANJAN CONTRIBUTOR

A forensic biologist and a UTM alumna, Dr. Nicole Novroski recently joined the UTM faculty as an assistant professor. Last week, The Medium sat down with her to discuss the journey she undertook after graduating from UTM, her current research on DNA mixtures, and the advice she would give to students who are interested in pursuing a career in forensic science.

Originally interested in pursuing accounting, Novroski’s interest in forensic science was ignited in eleventh grade when a biology assignment on DNA finger printing “changed [her] perspective about biology, science, [and] about how you can use science to help the community and society.”

As someone who was always volunteering and loved to give back to the community, she “felt that forensic science was the perfect balance of using your intellectual abilities [and] contributing to your community both on a small and large scale.”

Novroski completed her undergraduate degree at UTM in 2009 double majoring in forensic science and biology. She went on to pursue

DREW LESIUCZOK/UTM OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Nicole Novroski has returned to her alma mater UTM to teach while continuing to study DNA. a Master’s degree in Forensic Molecular Biology at the University of Albany, SUNY, and after completing her degree, worked as a Criminalist at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner in the Department of Forensic Biology. She explains that she got the opportunity to do “a lot of interesting research both here in Canada and in the United States.”

For her Ph.D., Novroski moved to Texas and studied molecular genet-

ics at the University of North Texas Health Science Centre. Following the completion of her Ph.D., she returned to UTM as an assistant professor. Novroski believes that “being in an environment [such as UTM], where the main goal of people’s work and people’s attitude towards life is to be better and to help” inspires her to continue to learn and push herself to the best of her abilities.

Novroski’s current research delves

into DNA mixtures and how to more specifically identify individuals. “DNA mixtures are really, really, complicated. When you’re trying to interpret a DNA profile that has more than one individual in it, it can be very difficult to understand how many people are in the DNA mixture and how much DNA each individual is contributing to the DNA mixture,” she explains.

Her research explores “new areas

of DNA that allow for better differentiation between individuals. When you generate a DNA profile using these other locations in the DNA, there’s a little bit more discrimination power, or the ability to decipher how many people are in the mixture, and maybe at what ratio they have contributed to the mixture.”

Novroski’s research will prove to be useful in cases where a DNA profile does not provide enough information to make a conclusion. With new information gained from DNA, Novroski says that more crimes can be solved, and “you’re ultimately able to help more individuals in society.”

When asked about what inspired her to research DNA mixtures, Novroski answers that “in forensic biology, there are particular areas of study that are problematic for everyone [and] that everybody in the community will encounter some difficulty with in terms of being able to interpret them.” One of these areas is DNA mixtures. With all the new techniques and equipment being introduced into forensic biology, Novroski believes that “if we go back a step, we might be able to go ahead leaps and bounds.”

DNA continued on page 14

Fact-checking Trump and the Fords Award-winning CNN reporter Daniel Dale stresses importance of fact-checking in 2019 Snider Lecture MARIAM SALEH CONTRIBUTOR

UTM’s annual Snider Lecture was held last Thursday, October 3, 2019.

This year, the lecture featured CNN reporter Daniel Dale who talked about the importance of fact-checking prominent politicians.

The Snider Lecture was held in Room 110 of the Instructional Centre and the large lecture hall filled up quite quickly as people from all over the Peel region joined together for this year’s talk. The crowd was a diverse group of individuals of all ages.

Listening to the excited chatter, it was clear that this lecture was important in answering many questions about fake news and the media. Despite some early technical difficulties, the rest of the talk went smoothly.

Prior to his employment at CNN in June 2019, Dale worked at the Toronto Star for eleven years. He became internationally known for factchecking politicians and began with the infamous United States president, Donald Trump. Using the social networking website Twitter, Dale avidly corrected and denounced Trump’s blatant lies.

HAYDEN MAK/THE MEDIUM

CNN Reporter Daniel Dale brought his experience of fact-checking politicians to the Snider Lecture.

As the Toronto City Hall reporter for the Toronto Star, Dale covered the administration of previous Toronto mayor Rob Ford. During that period, Dale was accused of lurking in Ford’s backyard and taking pedophiliac pictures of Ford’s children. Ford went on national television—and Twitter—to ruthlessly accuse Dale of these actions. The unfounded allegations became an issue for Dale’s now uncertain career and his family. He received hate mail and threats against his well-being. Dale, in true journal-

istic fashion, wrote an article about the incident titled “Rob Ford is lying about me and it’s vile.” The article was successful in extracting two apologies from the mayor, and following the second written apology, Dale retracted his lawsuit against Ford.

For Dale, the experience was eyeopening. He concluded that journalists often shied away from using the word “lie” to accuse politicians of dishonesty. At most, the phrase “false claim” was generally invoked and through this special treatment by

the media, politicians were able to get away with lying to people on a regular basis. Dale wanted to do something to rectify the situation, and thus, his internationally noteworthy documentation of Donald Trump’s lies on Twitter began.

Using Twitter as a platform, Dale tried to correct each and every one of Trump’s lies. The task did become tedious at times. Dale states that Trump will use the same lie over a hundred times. “And I have counted, a hundred times in some cases,” he

says. However, Dale emphasizes that journalists must be resilient and denounce the lie a hundred times as well. Although it is hard work and not recognized, he hopes that factchecking will become a regular part of any news source.

Dale points out that it is not just Donald Trump or the Republicans that must be fact checked, but also the Democrats, senators, Supreme Court judges, and every individual in a position of power. Dale elaborates that articles on fact-checking shouldn’t be buried deep within news outlets. Politicians lying to people should be noteworthy and the public must be informed of such disfavours against public citizens.

“We need to treat misinformation as a health violation,” Dale urges.

He explains that once people are exposed to misinformation, it is difficult to eradicate the false data that they have acquired. Most often than not, people won’t even attempt to expand or check the information they received. Fact-checking must become a daily part of everyone’s lives. Before sharing an article or a tweet making some dubious claims, research the information. It only takes a few minutes to become a more-informed citizen.

10.07.2019 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 13

Petersen receives OCUFA teaching award UTM professor Andrew Petersen named one of Ontario’s most outstanding university teachers LATISHA LOBBAN ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

UTM associate professor Dr. Andrew Petersen was recently named as one of Ontario’s most outstanding university teachers by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). OCUFA selects recipients on the basis of their dedication to teaching and advancement in their field of study. The Medium sat down with Dr. Petersen to discuss his award-winning teaching.

Petersen, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, has taught at UTM for the past twelve years. He says that it is “fabulous” to be chosen for the award.

Petersen was nominated for the honour by the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences. Faculty and students wrote letters of recommendation to include in the application.

“I work with a really fabulous group of instructors, so for them and the students to take the time to nominate me is really special. I know how busy they are [so] the fact that they took the time to do it makes me feel really good,” adds Petersen.

Petersen found out that he had won the prestigious award through a letter and email sent by the OCUFA. “I got a thin envelope from OCUFA. I peeked in and it said ‘Congratulations.’ I was in between meetings so I read it later,” he relates.

Petersen is the instructor for CSC108: Introduction to Computer

Programming. He describes the introductory course as, “a course you need to pay attention to.” He says that “it’s a course where you have a bunch of people who have never heard of computer science coming to take it with people who have taken it for a year in high school already.”

Peterson, whose current research is focused on computing education, strives to constantly improve the learning environment for students.

He elaborates on what he has learned through his research: “One of the things I think we don’t do well at the moment is students with prior experience have a significant advantage coming in. It can be really hard to enter a classroom and have people there that have already done this for a year in high school.”

Petersen also notes that “computer science has a diversity problem.

There are hardly any women [and] few people of colour. In that course, one of the things we struggle with is allowing people to have a fair chance to succeed with people who have not had as much exposure to it.”

Petersen tries to create equal opportunities for students by “thinking about groundwork in the first few weeks of the course.” Petersen focuses on “exposure to coding and allowing students to practice coding themselves. This allows students to see that they’re producing things that other people are producing and [that] they are not behind.”

Petersen also notes that the active learning classrooms have been instrumental in allowing him to accomplish his teaching goals. He

JULIA HEALY/THE MEDIUM

Dr. Petersen discusses his work in the university and other topics of interest in his department. considers experiential learning to be important because while coding may look easy when observing a professor at the front of the room, coding itself is harder than it appears. Students have told Petersen that they have “spent an amount of time studying and it didn’t click” and when they do coding themselves, they can learn better.

Petersen emphasizes the importance of supporting first-year students that are considering majoring in the computer science program.

“In the context of CSC 108, I would work with [first-year students] and help them try to figure out what it is they could do if they want to make the changes that I think they need to

make to get through [the computer science program],” he says.

Effective studying methods are very important for students to keep their standing in the computer science program because of its growing popularity. Petersen notes that the program has changed to accommodate the growing interest. “Thirteen years ago, we had 120 students in one section. This year, we have four instructors teaching seven sections and over 1,000 students. As a result, if [a student] is struggling at the end of year one, [they have to] make the changes and choose whether they will continue or not.”

Peterson says that supporting students and allowing for engagement

is important throughout their studies in the computer science program.

He shares a story of one of his former students returning to thank him two years after graduating.

“He came back, shook my hand, and said, ‘I got the job I wanted.’ [The student] explained what the job was, and explained why he wanted it. It meshed with what I knew about him when he was a student.”

Petersen continues, “[The student] said, ‘I got it and knew you were a part of it [because] this course was way more organized than any other course I’ve ever taken. [It was] structured in such a way that forced me to keep up with the material. I just wanted to thank you.’”

Discrimination in the 2019 federal election NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is the first non-white prime minister candidate in Canadian history BISMAH RIZVI ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

The upcoming 2019 federal election marks the first time a racialized party leader is running for office. The Medium sat down with Dr. Randy Besco, a political science professor at UTM, to discuss the public’s response to Jagmeet Singh’s candidacy.

Singh is the leader of the New Dem-

ocratic Party (NDP) and the first non-white prime minister candidate in Canada’s history.

According to the NDP’s official website, Singh’s campaign is inspired by his own experiences as a student and a minority with immigrant parents who had to deal with financial difficulties, family responsibilities, and inequality. Before entering politics, Singh practiced law and was a human rights activist. His political

career includes serving as a Member of Provincial Parliament for Ontario from 2011 to 2017, representing the Burnaby South riding as a Member of Parliament, and leading the NDP party since October 2017.

Singh often faces discrimination because of his religion, choice to wear a turban, and Indian background. Although social media acts as a major outlet for racist comments targeted at him, people have ap-

SIMRAH SIDDIQUI/THE MEDIUM

Dr. Besco discusses Jagmeet Singh and his impact as the first non-white prime minister candidate.

proached Singh at campaign events and public spaces and openly expressed their disapproval of him numerous times.

Singh has refrained from reacting to such attacks with anger or frustration. On October 2, 2019, CBC News posted a video of his campaign in Montreal where a man told Singh that cutting his turban off would make him “look like a Canadian.”

Singh responded by saying, “I think Canadians look like all sorts of people. That’s the beauty of Canada.”

Another incident which went viral on social media occurred in Brampton during a campaign event in September 2017. National Post reported a woman publicly expressing Islamophobic sentiments as she had assumed Singh had links to terrorism. Singh responded by leading the campaign attendees in a chant shouting “love and courage.” He later explained that “growing up as a brownskin, turbaned, bearded man, I’ve faced things like this before. It’s not a problem. We can deal with it. There’s going to be other obstacles that we’re going to face and we’re going to face them with love and courage.”

“From surveys, especially before the election, there were signs that discrimination was going to be a big thing. There are a lot of people who

say they are not going to vote for him because of his race,” says Besco.

“Even in the United States, when [Barack] Obama was running in elections, the Republican candidates didn’t say anything bad about him being black. Usually it’s not politicians who say something. You’re not going to see [Liberal party leader] Justin Trudeau or [Conservative party leader] Andrew Scheer saying anything about the fact that Jagmeet Singh is not white. When people say things, it’s regular people on the street or some fringe candidates.”

In comparison to the 2008 United States election where Obama was the first non-white candidate running for president, Besco predicts that though “Obama was the first Black president, Jagmeet Singh is probably not going to be the first non-white prime minister. If [Singh] was running for the Liberals or Conservatives, it would be a bigger deal.”

Moreover, Besco explains that studies have shown that Obama would have won by a larger margin if he was not black. Similarly, Besco believes that while “the NDP are going to win seats…it’s pretty plausible that they would have won more” if Singh did not belong to a minority.

Singh continued on page 14

14

«FEATURES

THE MEDIUM 10.07.2019

How do third-party states Racialized voting contribute to civil war? in 2019 election UTM professor Noel Anderson studies competitive intervention FATIMA ADIL FEATURES EDITOR WITH NOTES FROM SIMAR TALWAR

Civil wars have occurred throughout history and continue to appear in various countries around the world.

Dr. Noel Anderson, assistant professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga, recently talked to The Medium about his award-winning research on how external intervention contributes to civil wars.

Anderson’s journey in academia started when he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Toronto following which he did his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Dickey Centre at Dartmouth College and joined UTM as an assistant professor in International Relations in 2017. Anderson also recently won the prestigious Connaught New Researcher Award.

During one of his graduate school classes, Anderson “saw a graph of the total number of conflicts that are going on in the international system, from the end of the Second World War up to the present.” The graph was an inverted U-shape figure with the maximum number of ongoing conflicts occurring right at the end of the Cold War. The graph inspired Anderson to “figure out what was driving these changing trends in the global prevalence of civil war.” He was interested in figuring out why “despite widespread destruction and loss, humanitarian suffering, and farreaching destabilization across the globe, the fires of today’s most violent civil wars continue to burn.” He started researching “why combatants aren’t more motivated to end their fighting” and why civil wars are still prevalent during his Ph.D. and now,

as a faculty member, he is “continuing to build on those ideas in the form of a book.”

Anderson’s research program “situates civil wars within the broader geopolitical environment in which they take place [and] explores the connections between subnational conflict processes, interstate competition, and the characteristics of the international system.” His research “presents a new framework that reconsiders the conventional inter/ intra-state conflict distinction to provide unique insight into the behaviors of armed groups, states, and the trajectories of internal wars.”

Specifically, Anderson studies “competitive intervention in civil

“Despite widespread destruction and loss across the globe, the fires of today’s most violent civil wars continue to burn.” wars.” As Anderson explains, competitive intervention entails “twosided, simultaneous military assistance from different third-party states to both government and rebel combatants.” This means that both sides which are fighting against each other are receiving external aid from different third-party states.

Anderson wants to understand “what drives domestic combatants to want to continue fighting in these kinds of conflicts [and] what is the effect of that external aid in affecting the decision to continue to fight.”

He also wants to explore “the perspective of the intervening states” and determine why they “engage in these conflicts for very long periods of time.”

“We would expect that if a thirdparty state is engaged in a civil war,

they would want to help their side win which would terminate that conflict as quickly as possible. But in fact, what we see is that when states get engaged in competitive interventions, they remain engaged for very long periods of time,” Anderson says.

To try to understand this conundrum, Anderson explains that the “intervening states need to find a way to help their domestic combatant win in the civil war. But at the same time, they’re constrained because they’re trying to avoid escalation with the other competing state. And that is why it is a competitive intervention.”

Examining competitive intervention in detail is “important when it comes to policymaking and decisions about whether or not to support a given domestic combatant in a civil war.” Anderson says that “depending on the configuration of external aid that’s flowing to it,” the length of the conflict can be estimated. He suggests deciding on external agreements before focusing on internal agreements amongst domestic combatants. This is because even though “there is often a call for an escalation in the level of support that is being provided to domestic combatants,” the external aid will have “limited impact if it’s being countered by intervention from an opposing third-party state.”

Anderson summarizes by stating that “more competitive interventions mean longer conflict, and longer conflicts mean a higher global prevalence of civil war.” He says that understanding what is driving civil wars is “deeply important for individuals because civil wars are incredibly destructive. More people have perished in civil wars, since the end of the Second World War, than have perished in all combined inter-state conflicts. Trying to figure out how we can make the world a peaceful place is, I hope, an important priority of policy makers all over the world.”

Singh continued from page 13 Besco researches how racialized candidates are affected by racialized voters and how identity inspires politics.

His research suggests that for local candidates, discrimination tends to be concentrated on the right and weaker on the left. Therefore, Conservative minorities get less votes while NDP and Liberal candidates are not impacted in the same way.

Specifically, “Conservative [minority] candidates get about five per cent less [votes] which is not a huge amount but not nothing either. That can change some elections.” However, since local candidates tend to receive less attention than party leaders, and this is the first time a visible minority is running as a federal candidate, researchers are limited in their ability to predict voting patterns.

Despite race being an obvious aspect of this election, Singh chooses to focus his campaign on other issues. Besco agrees with this strategy as he says that “there is some research that suggests when minorities talk a lot about racism, there can be some backlash by people who are made

JOSEPH COSTA/UNSPLASH.COM

Jagmeet Singh sets records and has an impact on Canadians.

Forensics research at UTM DNA continued from page 12

PHOTO COURTESY OF NOEL ANDERSON

Anderson recently won the prestigious Connaught New Researcher Award.

uncomfortable by that talk. It is the same for woman candidates when they campaign on feminism. Sometimes that can actually have negative impacts.”

Regardless of the outcome of the election, Singh has garnered significant attention and will definitely have an impact on other minority groups.

Besco cites the role model effect since “when you see someone of your group that’s a successful politician, then you feel like ‘I can do that too.’” For example, after “Hilary Clinton ran [as a US presidential candidate], there was a big upsurge in women running for office.”

Besco wants to observe the effect Singh’s candidacy will have on minority groups that are not Indo-Canadian or Sikh. Will other minorities support him as strongly as Indo-Canadians because of his non-white background? Will Chinese-Canadians or African-Canadians relate to Singh the same way and display the role model effect by becoming more active in politics? While the effect on other minority groups remains to be seen, Singh’s candidacy has already marked a milestone in Canadian history.

Novroski’s advice to students who are interested in pursuing forensic science is “to make the most of your program.” She had her “biggest successes and grew the most as an individual and scientist” when she took risks and left the GTA, and she also encourages students to take risks because “there’s a world out there of opportunity.” Although she loved her experience in the United States, she acknowledges that one downfall is that “there’s just more crime in America. [However,] from a forensic position, that means there are more positions, more opportunities, and more exposure to a variety of cases.”

Alongside her research, Novroski is teaching many courses this school year including FSC315: Forensic Biology, which she describes as being

“geared for the specialists and the majors in the forensic programs;” FSC416: Population Genetics, a course “for geneticist biologists and forensic biologists alike [and which] focus[es] on math and the understanding of why we care about populations and how they diverge from each other;” FSC350: Forensic Biology in the News, which is “intended for the minor students to just kind of talk about the big themes in the news[such as] genealogy and typing.”

Novroski loves being a forensic scientist as she believes that the job results in “every day [being] exciting.” She concludes by saying that “being here in Canada, being able to teach, [and] having my own research program is a luxury that many scientists abroad are not afforded” and she truly considers coming back to UTM as “a once in a life time opportunity.”

10.07.2019

»

15

Editor | Sarah-May Edwardo Oldfield

UTM Varsity Eagles soccer on a streak UTM’s varsity men’s soccer continue to improve on their regular season record, with a four-game win streak ANASTASIA WU CONTRIBUTOR UTM Eagles Men’s Varsity soccer team finished on top with a 5-3 victory over the Conestoga Condors on Saturday September 28. They played a strong game from start to finish, barely giving the Condors a chance to score. The men showed great teamwork through their exceptional passing which helped them finish with a win.

The Eagle’s number 23, Prabdeep Singh, and number 17, Damian Koscienlniak, kept a strong, consistent defense throughout the whole game.

They prevented little to no shots on goal with their defensive plays, which helped the team regain possession of the ball whenever the opposing team was on offense.

Eagle’s number 24, Pawandeep Sandhu, jumped in on the action too and was always first to the ball, never giving the Condors time to hold onto possession of the ball for too long.

The overall composure of the team was good—they played in a calm and controlled manner. There was always communication on the field, and the Eagles supported each other, either

CHEN GONG/THE MEDIUM

UTM’s own Varsity Men’s Soccer Team soared through their game against the Conestoga Condors. by opening up for a pass and calling for the ball, or letting a teammate know there was an opposing player on them.

In the first half, the boys quickly started off with a sharp offense and

took little to no time in regaining possession of the ball. The game was proven to be rough from the start as the Condors played aggressively, but the Eagles soon countered their plays when Eagle’s number 19, Jens Winkel,

scored the first goal of the game. After that, it was goal after goal for them.

Winkel’s goal was followed by another goal by number 17, Damian Koscienlniak, and number 9, Mohammad Golmakani, leaving the score at half-

time 3-1 with the Eagles in the lead.

Later in the second half, the Eagles played a stronger defense which took the pressure off their goalie, first-year number one, Braeden Pinto. Eagles number 12, Martin Iyamabo played well defensively, not letting any opponents pass him or have a chance at net. Even with a strong defense, the boys continued their offensive attack which led to the fourth Eagle goal scored by number 26, Eric Halar.

Eagles rookie, number four, Faris Ammari, kept the pressure on the goalie and managed to score the Eagle’s final goal of the game. The final score at the end of the second half was 5-2, a strong finish for the Eagles.

Their skill, technique, passing, and teamwork allow this team to play well together and finish with a victory. The UTM Varsity Eagles Men’s soccer team play their final road game against the Humber Hawks on October 9. And they play their final game of the season on our home pitch against the Sheridan Bruins on October 15 at 4:30 p.m. Come out and support your fellow Eagles on the pitch next weekend. Good luck Eagles!

Eagles basketball exits early from tournament UTM Varsity Eagles men’s basketball struggle in Sheridan’s annual Wayne Allison Fall Showdown tournament SARAH-MAY OLDFIELD SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR Over the weekend, our UTM Eagle’s Varsity Men’s Basketball team played in Sheridan’s Annual Pre-Season Exhibition Tournament, the Wayne Allison Fall Showdown. The Eagles played three games over the two-day event. They fought hard, and despite some great performances from some players, UTM finished the tournament with a 0-3 record.

The Eagles played their first game of the Showdown against the hosts, the 2018/2019 OCAA Champions, Sheridan Bruins. The Eagles were outhustled to begin the game, down by just under 20 points in the first half.

The Eagles seemed disorganized both offensively and defensively, and they couldn’t seem to find any rhythm. In the second half, our Eagles managed to dig themselves out of the hole, cutting the large lead into single digits.

UTM was unable to sustain their tempo and renewed focus and were quickly overwhelmed by the Bruins, losing 92-76.

Later that evening, the Eagles played their second game of the twoday event against the Sault St. Marie Cougars. It was a game the Eagles should have won, with the Cougars

CHEN GONG/THE MEDIUM

Basketball season is kicked off in pre-season exhibition, and Eagles show off season practice. being physically smaller and a less skilled. But too many sloppy plays, careless fouls, and turnovers led to too many Cougar points. Our Men’s team found themselves down heading into the fourth quarter. They cleaned up their game toward the end, cutting a 24-point lead to single digits. Despite the late push, it wasn’t enough to close out the game with a win. The Eagles couldn’t complete the comeback and fell 71-69.

In their third and final game of the Sheridan tournament, UTM took on the Niagara Community College Thunder, the only U.S. team in the

tournament and the Eagle’s greatest challenge thus far. A tired UTM team played a taller, longer, and more athletic Thunder team. UTM’s disadvantage wasn’t apparent to start the game—they matched Niagara in pace and intensity, but they weren’t able to sustain it for long and were quickly outshot from the three-point range.

Though the Eagles got away with a lot of the physicality in the beginning of the contest, they got into foul trouble early on, with key players with too many personal fouls having to sit out for too long. UTM was unable to keep up with the skilled and well-coached

Americans, and took a massive beating, losing 82-52.

Though it might look like a disappointing tournament, finishing with three losses, our Men’s Eagle team should be proud of the way they performed. The team is young, and in the early stages of development, but it’s clear that this group of men is smart, determined, and will continue to play with heart.

There were strong individual performances. Third-year forward, Zamam Khan, played consistently well through all three games, hitting triples when his team needed it and

playing through contact. Second-year guard number five, Hassan Manjang, in his limited minutes this tournament, was a defensive juggernaut and vocal leader on the bench. Second-year guard, number 11, George Karagan, played with fierceness and determination, which will only grow as his confidence does. Though he had some foul trouble, third-year guard, number six, Nicholas Kwantwi hit a couple deep threes. Third-year, number zero Kyle Boorman, showed he put in a lot of work in the off season, improving in strength, size, athleticism, and willingness to attack.

Second-year center, number one, Andreas Jankovic, put in the work this off season as well and it showed in his ability to battle for rebounds and finish at the rim though contact.

First-year guard, number two, Keaton Thornton shows promise as a rookie, with his composure on the floor, shot selection, and continued hustle.

UTM’s Varsity Eagles men’s basketball team have their first official game of the 2019/2020 season on the road against the Seneca Sting on October 18. They play their first home game of the season on October 30 against the George Brown Huskies.

16

«SPORTS

THE MEDIUM 10.07.2019

Varsity women’s soccer lose another at home UTM’s varsity women’s soccer team struggle to come up with a win against Condors on their home pitch ANASTASIA WU CONTRIBUTOR On Saturday September 28, the UTM Varsity Women’s soccer team faced off against the Conestoga Condors on our home field. The girls played a hard-fought game against the Condors despite the harsh rain and cold weather, but unfortunately lost 0-3.

The weather proved to be a challenge throughout the game, but the team kept fighting and never gave up. The Condors played an aggressive and rough game, but the Eagles never backed down. Every time the Eagle girls were knocked down by the other team, they always got back up.

The girls started off with a strong defense, with Eagle’s number 14 Emilia Missing putting pressure and cutting off the opposing team from scoring. Eagle’s number 27 Sarita Macaldaz demonstrated lots of good ball control throughout the game and helped the team maintain possession of the ball. UTM had some good onetwo passing and were able to move the ball up the field where number 10 Selena Toro always found herself in the right position to lead an offensive

CHEN GONG/THE MEDIUM

The Women’s Varsity Soccer Team played a good game, but unfortunately couldn’t get that W. attack. The ladies weren’t able to get many offensive opportunities in the first half but kept the pressure and left the score at half-time 0-1 with the

Condors in the lead.

In the second half, the Condors began to initiate more offense and create more opportunities to score on the

Eagles. Thankfully, the Eagles’ goalie, number 32 Mackenzie Kieswetter, was able to make many exceptional saves. She played very well and main-

tained good composure throughout the game. At the same time, the ladies initiated more counter offenses when the Condors team would leave an opening after their own offensive attacks. This allowed Eagle’s number 5, Emily Sevcik, to have a close shot on the goal. The final score was 0-3.

Overall, the team played well despite the results. They used a position switching strategy where the wings would switch for alternative offensive attacks. This helped them gain more chances for scoring in the second half. Mackenzie Kieswetter did a phenomenal job in net. Not only did she make great saves again and again, but she also continued playing despite getting an injury in the second half of the game, showing her true dedication and determination.

It was definitely a tough match, and even harder to play in the rain. The girls may not have had much luck this game, but they’ll have more for their next one. The Eagles play their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday October 15 against Sheridan at 4:30 p.m. on the South Field. Don’t be afraid to come out and support our Varsity Athletes. Good luck Eagles!

Eagles streak snapped at home by Falcons UTM men’s varsity Eagles soccer team have their four-game win streak broken in crushing 6-1 loss at home ANASTASIA WU CONTRIBUTOR On Saturday October 5, the UTM Varsity Eagles men’s soccer team faced off against the Fanshawe Falcons on our home field. The guys played a tough game and put a lot of effort into their plays, but unfortunately came up short and lost 1-6. The Falcons played aggressively from the start of the game, taking out Eagle’s team captain, number 16, Adam Czerkawaski in the first half. Czerkawaski played a great game, but had to sub off early because of injury. From here, the Eagles weren’t afraid to put the Falcons in their place and played an overall head-to-head physical game.

In the first half, UTM kept good composure and had some good communication. Goalie, number one, Braeden Pinto communicated most and helped direct the team throughout the game. The team didn’t get many offensive opportunities in the first half, but number four, rookie, Faris Ammari was able to open up some chances by making good runs, crosses, and putting early pressure on the opposing team.

UTM’s number eight, Zimba Galloway played a solid game as well and helped out both offensively and

ANANYA ANANTH/THE MEDIUM

The Men’s Soccer Team played a strong game, despite the loss, and there is hope for the next game. defensively in the middle by stepping up and always being first to the ball. Even though the team had limited scoring opportunities, number 17, Damian Koscienlniak was able to score the first goal against the Falcons by finishing with a strong header. This left the score 1-2 at half-time with the Falcons in the

lead.

Despite the score, the Eagles started to pick up their game in the second half. They showed better teamwork and stringed more passes together down the field. They were even able to execute more offensive plays led by second-year player and 2018/2019 rookie of the year, num-

ber 10, Jamari Whyte, senior player, number nine, Mohammad Golmakani, and number 19, Jens Winkel, who all demonstrated great ball control throughout the whole game.

The Falcons executed quick counter attacks throughout this half, but our defense was able to shut them down.

Eagle’s goal keeper, Braeden Pinto

made many exceptional saves that denied the opposing team of possible goals. UTM’s number 18, Andre Pinto, number two, Mark Barbuto, and number 26 Eric Halar all played well and held a strong defensive line. Even with a strong defensive line, the Falcons kept pressing the Eagles again and again throughout the game. This left the final score at the end of the second half 1-6. An unfortunate loss for the Eagles and an end to their four-game winning streak.

Overall, our UTM Eagles played well despite the results. They improved more in the second half by playing together more as a team and making more passes. They were also able to create some offensive plays from time to time, mostly in the second half. For their next game, I hope to see them play as well as they did against the Condors. If they can start off with a sharp offense and bring that same determination, skill, teamwork, and technique to the field like they did the week before, they’ll definitely be able to finish with a win. UTM’s next home game (at South Field) is on Tuesday October 16 at 4:30 pm. Come out and support your fellow Eagles on the pitch next week. Good luck Eagles and see you there!