Ryerson Free Press April 2011

apr 11

Ryerson’s hip hop culture takes centre stage

NEWS

BOG Hikes Student Fees

By Molly Hayes and Nora Loreto, Editor in Chief Ryerson’s Board of Governors (BOG) met on Monday March 27 and was presented with a proposed budget that is to be passed at its April meeting. For the sixth year in a row, Ryerson’s administration recommended that students pay another five per cent tuition fee increase. This means that tuition fees have increased, on average, 28 per cent since 2006.

“Access should be about merit, not the ability to pay. No student should face financial barriers,” said Liana Salvador, RSU’s vice-president, education and Board of Governors member-elect.

She was one of the few non-board members allowed to speak at the Board meeting.

Alan Shepard, provost and vice-president academic claimed that average tuition fees aren’t actually paid by most students. He said that the “sticker price” of tuition (on average just under $6,000 for an Arts program) is rarely the price that students actually pay. With scholarships and awards, bursaries, loans and work study programs, there is support for those students that need it most.

Tell that to the dozens of students who protested the BOG meeting. That same week, students shut down the BOG meeting at Carleton University where tuition fees were being increased.

Religious Posters Vandalized Out Campaign’s Washington HQ distances itself from vandalism degrading religion on campus

By Scaachi Koul Little is as contentious as the debate between atheists and those who believe in a higher power. While Ryerson has around ten religious student groups, non-believer clubs have gone in and out of existence over the years. Perhaps this discrepancy is what prompted the vandalizing of posters for Ryerson’s student group, Campus For Christ, this past month.

A number of Campus for Christ’s posters have been defaced by stickers allegedly from an organization called Out Campaign. The first sticker reads, “DON’T PRAY IN MY SCHOOL AND I WON’T THINK IN YOUR CHURCH.” An excerpt from the second defines Christianity as “the belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master.” Both stickers include Out’s website, www.outcampaign.com.

Campus for Christ, or C4C, is one of Ryerson’s many Christian groups on campus. Located on the basement floor of the Student Centre, they host religious activities and panels, including Bible studies and weekly meetings for students of all creeds. C4C has locations across the country at different universities and colleges.

“I was fairly offended by the ignorance of the statements,” said John Sundara, a staff member at Ryerson’s C4C. “Part of me just wanted to laugh, like, this is comically humorous.” Sundara was first forwarded pictures of the posters with the stickers by a friend, and is puzzled at the inaccuracy of the statements.

“I want you to come think at my church,” he said in reference to the sticker that implies churches aren’t a place for free thought. “Ryerson is a public school. [The sticker] is completely void of what a university campus is about.”

Sundara compared the damaged posters to Boy Scouts with a sales table at a mall, only to have someone yell, “you

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suck” before running away.

“It’s not even an intelligent attack against anything you believe in. It’s just a vindictive statement that comes out of anger,” said Sundara. “You can take anything and make it sound stupid by your tone and choice of words. I agree with you — I want you in my church.”

Out Campaign is an atheist support group with headquarters in both Washington D.C. and Britain, whose stated goal is to remove the stigma from non-believers. Ethologist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, known for his book, The God Delusion, has backed the group.

In 2006, Out Campaign applied for U.S. charity status and has since become increasingly popular online, and brings atheist speakers to universities across the states. “The idea of the campaign is to let people know that pretty much like anyone else, [atheists] have families, we pay our taxes, we vote,” said Elisabeth Cornwell, the executive director of Out’s D.C. location. “We just live with one less god than everyone else.”

While Out Campaign disagrees with the tenants and standards that a group like C4C supports, Cornwell says that they had no hand in the stickers placed on their posters, nor do they support any kind of open destruction of the advertising of religious groups. “We don’t condone any sort of vandalism,” she says. There is no Canadian headquarters, nevermind a Ryerson group, and Out Campaign doesn’t attempt to mobilize atheists into action. “We think there’s plenty of room for open conversation.”

C4C and Out Campaign do have some things in common: both groups are interested in engaging the other in reasonable dialogues about religion and atheism. Both have and continue to hold aid fundraisers for natural disasters, like earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. Both believe that the other group is absolutely essential to a campus — and community

— dialogue about spirituality, religion and morality.

Finally, both are eternally determined to prove that their people are good people, and that the stigmas around “Christian” and “atheist” respectively, aren’t deserved. “We’re moral, we have the same values as anyone here,” said Cornwell.

“We’d argue that values don’t come from religion, but from centuries of slow change.”

The first sticker reads, “DON’T PRAY IN MY SCHOOL AND I WON’T THINK IN YOUR CHURCH.” Sundara says the purpose of C4C is almost the same: “There’s a lot of things we can’t change but if we help change people’s hearts, we can help change the world,” he said.

It is still unknown who is responsible for the stickers placed on C4C’s posters. Still, neither Campus for Christ nor Out Campaign are happy about how the dialogue of organized religion versus organized atheism is descending into petty name-calling and childish insults.

“There’s two ways to go about engaging in a topic,” said Sundara. “One way is very antagonistic, combative. Another is getting into a serious discussion.” For whoever took the time to type out the stickers and post them around campus, it’s evident that they’ve made their tactic of choice clear.

Supreme Court to hear Sex-Workers’ Case in June

By Brea Hutchinson On March 9, the federal government released their planned defence of the current sex work laws that are being constitutionally challenged by a group of sex-workers and their allies. The government plans to argue that it has no obligation to protect sex workers because they choose to undertake an illegal and dangerous profession.

Last September, Ontario Superior Court Justice Himel struck down three key components of the current laws regulating sex work because they violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In her ruling, she stated that the laws forced sex-workers to choose between liberty and security.

This ruling is being challenged at the Supreme Court and the hearings have been scheduled for five days in mid-June.

The planned defence has produced strong and negative reactions from numerous groups, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Maggie’s, a sex-worker advocacy group based in Toronto. The groups are concerned about the government’s belief that it can choose who is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and who is not. They have been awarded intervener status for the upcoming hearings.

The legal brief submitted by the government states that parliament “is not obligated to minimize hindrances and maximize safety for those that [act] contrary to the law.” The 117-page brief relied on traditional stereotypes of sex workers, stating, “people no longer feel safe in their neighbourhood, children are exposed to johns, pimps, and prostitutes, and the public display of sex for sale.”

Furthermore, “Communities are also confronted with harmful activities that often accompany prostitution such as drugs, gangs, and violence.

These laws are designed to create barriers and stigmas to prostitution.”

The legal brief also refers to sex workers as predominantly low-skilled, uneducated and lacking in self-esteem.

Many fighting the government are concerned that the government’s reliance on stereotypes fails to consider how further criminalization may not be of any help to this marginalized community.

“The argument that sex work is dangerous can be true, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the government’s laws are purposely making it more dangerous” explained Nadia, a Toronto-based sex worker. “The laws currently in place, until the ruling from the Supreme Court, do not allow us to protect ourselves, and if we were to try to protect ourselves, we would run into problems with the police. We can’t win.”

“The legal brief attacks sex-workers wrongly as opposed to addressing the issues they face. Yes, some workers can be affiliated with drugs, gangs and violence, but so can the wealthy. Also, by creating such stigma around workers, any chance of regulating negative impacts goes out the window.”

A professional dominatrix from Ottawa, who utilizes resources from Prostitutes of Ottawa Work Education Resist (POWER), and who works under the name Mistress Dawn, believes that the government does have a duty to protect them under the Charter, despite sex work being dangerous.

“Do they have to protect used-car salesmen, which have the highest rate of murders of any employment category in Canada? Yes they do,” stated Dawn. “And if they were to make laws which made being used-cars salesmen unnecessarily dangerous, they would be here fighting too for more just laws.”

POWER has also submitted a legal brief to the court stating that they “intend to challenge laws that interfere with sex workers’ ability to make fundamental choices in respect of their bodies and their employment, the latter being an essential component of a person’s identity...”

Dawn sees this as the government clawing back on their responsibilities. She also believes the current position of the government is indefensible, and, regardless of the outcome this June, the laws will change in her mind: “On one hand the government is saying ‘we don’t approve of this, so we are going to make it dangerous’ and now they are saying ‘since it is so dangerous we don’t take any responsibility for people who engage in these acts’.”

Seven groups have been given intervener status. This allows groups or individuals to provide context and information to the court even if they don’t belong to either party. The B.C. and Canadian Civil Liberties Associations, POWER, and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network have been granted intervener status. These groups intend to challenge the constitutionality of the current laws. Maggie’s was the only group denied such a status, but they were encouraged to join one of the four other groups.

Three groups will be granted intervener status with the intent to support the government’s position.

This article was originally published in Arthur: the Peterborough and Trent University Independent Press.

What about the tenants?

OCAP concerned that fallout from TCHC scandal will be used against tenants interests

By Mai Habib With a list of items such as chocolates, spa retreats and a lavish Christmas party listed on expensive accounts, it is easy to understand why the Toronto public was angered by the Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) Auditor General’s report.

Details of the Dec 7, 2010 report surfaced in February 2011. It showcased the inexcusable over-indulging and shameful misuse of finances.

While it is critical to analyze the implications for tax-payers, the biggest stakeholders in this scandal were largely not consulted. Those are the people who make up the lowest income bracket in this city and the ones who truly depend on community housing to make ends meet.

Certainly, the majority of TCHC residents are living below the poverty line. However, people with disabilities, single parent families and those from immigrant communities seem to be the most in need.

The auditor’s report is relatively recent and came as a shock to many Torontonians. However, tenants living within the TCHC buildings are certainly no strangers to being mistreated and ignored. Their frustrations over repairs never done and eviction notices handed out without the slightest care for circumstances are just a few of the many problems in the TCHC.

John Clarke, from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), has declared that, “the agenda of austerity and social cutbacks has to be checked and reversed. Not only must public housing be repaired and restored but new housing stock on a large scale is needed.”

This direct call to action certainly puts heavy pressure on the new board still pending formation, however, it is doubtful that complaints from tenants will be addressed. Clarke declared that, “it is not that the corruption and abuses… are not real, but simply that they will be used for a purpose that is not in the interests of TCH residents.”

Changes have been needed in the TCHC for quite some time and tenants as well as representatives have long been advocating for change.

With a waiting list of about 70,000 people, it is obvious that demand for affordable housing in Toronto is high. It can take years to get a unit that allows people who truly need it to forego the endless list. In reflecting on the future of low-income housing Clarke said, “the scale of public housing needs to be expanded, not reduced.”

The problem with conditions faced by those within community housing is that many people living there are barely meeting the de-

mands of everyday life. Their financial means are very restrictive and a fine balance must be met to accommodate rent, food, kids and other daily demands.

Clarke indicates that people who are in “rent-geared to income units, have 30 per cent of their income taken for rent which is much better than those in the private market. That is the essential importance of public housing.

However, people in TCHC remain very poor so even the relatively low rents still come out of money people need for food and other necessities.”

So, those people who live in low-income housing need their incomes to be raised to living standards. The vicious cycle will continue if tenants are not able to lift themselves out of poverty. Work must be done to improve these standards in order to aid Toronto’s low-income community.

For a brighter future, many in the city working on behalf of tenants agree that a more visible tenant voice has to be included in TCHC discussions. OCAP reflected on this, saying that, “what is needed is a system built by tenants that does not have to operate in ways controlled by the authority. Only then will it be possible to create an effective and authoritative voice for tenants.”

Ryerson Free Press The monthly newspaper for continuing education, distance education and part-time students at Ryerson Address Suite SCC-301 Ryerson Student Centre 55 Gould Street Toronto, ON CANADA M5B 1E9

Phone (416) 979.5000 x7715

Fax (416) 979.5223

Email ryersonfreepress@gmail.com

Website WWW.ryersonfreepress.ca

Editor-In-Chief Nora Loreto

News Editor James burrows

Features and Opinions Editor James Clark

Layout and Photo Editor Andrea Yeomans

Culture Editor manori ravindran

Cover Photo Boke Saisi

Contributors Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif Dionne Brand nicole brewer annie burns-pieper erin byrnes valerie croft mai habib brea hutchinson priyanka jain scaachi koul peter lewicki emily loewen deanna mac-neil hafsa mulla manori ravindran regan reid ruane remy dyan ruiz rhiannon russell boke saisi amy ward

Publisher CESAR The opinions expressed in the Ryerson Free Press are not necessarily those of the editors or publisher.

Advertising Ryerson Free Press’ advertising rates are as follows. All prices are for single insertions.

Discounts apply for Ryerson groups and departments.

Full page—$750 Half page—$375 Quarter page—$195 Eighth page—$95 CORRECTION: In the March issue of the Ryerson Free Press, a photo was published that did not give proper credit to its author.

The promotional photo for the series The Avenue should have been credited to Fisher/Morris Productions. The RFP regrets the error.

Ryerson Free Press april 2011 3

TTC Cancels Part-Time Student Pass

By Amy Ward

Part-time studies are about to get a little more expensive for TTC riders. The Toronto Transit Commission Board voted on March 1 to eliminate the Metropass discount for part-time students beginning in September, in a move expected to save the commission $1.4 million a year.

According to TTC spokesperson Jessica Martin, the average operational cost of transit works out to three dollars per rider, so Metropass discounts create losses for the organization.

Mayor Rob Ford’s 2011 budget required that the TTC find cost efficiencies or cut services.

In January, Ford announced that the city was considering increasing adult and student Metropass rates by five dollars. The proposal generated strong public disapproval and was ultimately cancelled.

“We proposed a student fare increase but the Mayor said absolutely not,” explained Martin. “He said, instead you will have to find savings.”

Last fall, the student discount was created for university and college students, providing a discounted price of $99 instead of the regular adult price of $121. Prior to that, the student rate was only offered to people in high school.

“The TTC has been wrestling with the issue of student ridership for years,” said TTC Commission Chair Karen Stintz. Universities and colleges have always had the option to purchase Volume Incentive Program (VIP) discounted passes in bulk, the same program offered to corporations with a workforce large enough to sell at least 50 Metropasses.

“We reviewed our intents to get more students using transit and make it more accessible,” she said of the decision to offer the student discount to university students. “At the time, it was always intended to be for full-time students.”

Stintz said the commission looked at transit services in other cities and found that Toronto was the only one to offer discounts to part-time students. Due to its policy objective to provide consistent service with that found at other transit agencies while controlling costs, the commission decided to cancel the part-time discount.

Full-time students at private career colleges will now be included in those eligible for discounted passes. Previously, the student discount only applied to students at public institutions, but requests from career colleges drew the commission to re-evaluate its policy.

Caitlin Smith, vice-president of operations for the Ryerson Students’ Union, said the private college discount is being paid for by part-time students. “I think it’s extremely unfortunate that part-time students have been cut out of and denied access to this important discount,” she said. “They support publicly-funded institutions but are being denied affordable

access to public transportation, and those students paying to attend private colleges receive that benefit.”

Part-time students may still have the option of paying the VIP group purchase rate, between $107 and $109 depending on volume. The Continuing Education Students’ Association of Ryerson (CESAR) plans to continue to offer VIP passes to all students, including parttime and continuing education students next fall. Students at other schools may not be so lucky, as it is up to each university or college to order, promote, and sell the passes. The TTC can limit quantities and charges a fee if more than 10 per cent of the passes are returned, so even participating schools may ration the number of students who can benefit.

In a letter to the mayor and transit commissioners, CESAR said this is the third time students have been hurt by the TTC’s cuts in recent months. Service cuts to late night and weekend bus routes and the cancellation of the Transit City light rail network make it difficult for students to get to school or work. This exacerbates the challenges that many part-time students face, as they lack the same access to financial aid and range of options in courses and institutions that full-time students have.

According to Sanjid Anik, vice president, finance for CESAR, “The provincial election is coming up on October 6 this year and we will make this a potential issue for the Ontario government to increase funding for public transportation.”

It is unclear whether this new direction from city hall may have other impacts on student transit riders. Mayor Ford is exploring private funding to help extend the Sheppard subway line in lieu of Transit City’s light rail plans. Meanwhile, the city’s efforts to declare the TTC an essential service will prevent future transit strikes.

This has been a tough year politically for the TTC, as riders expressed frustration with the service and its rising fares. Since 2006, the adult Metropass price has risen from $99.75 to $121. Recent news headlines have focused on texting drivers, sleeping token takers, and several accidents that killed pedestrians and cyclists. The TTC’s recent announcement that it will crack down on $22 million in annual fare-cheating losses might help to save the commission money but could further alienate riders. One of the most common cheats involves adults using a student or senior Metropass.

The TTC recently appointed Chris Upfold as its first Chief Customer Service Officer to address the concerns of riders. He starts in the role on May 30. In the meantime, any comments about the Metropass discount cancellation can be directed to TTC Chair Karen Stintz or to the TTC’s Customer Service Line at 416-393-3030.

Lies and War Crimes

Guatemalan ex-military soldier accused of war crimes held in Alberta prison

By Valerie Croft Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, ex-member of the Guatemalan special forces known as the Kaibiles, was arrested in Lethbridge, Alberta on January 18, 2011. He was detained at the request of the United States, who may solicit his extradition to face charges of immigration fraud.

If proven guilty of having lied about his role in the Guatemalan military on his U.S. application for naturalization, Sosa Orantes could face up to ten years in prison in the U.S. Meanwhile, human rights groups in Canada and Guatemala are petitioning the Canadian courts to try him for war crimes.

Sosa Orantes has been implicated in the planning and execution of the massacre at Las Dos Erres, in the northern department of Petén, where at least 252 unarmed civilians were tortured and systematically killed on December 6, 1982. This massacre was carried out in much the same manner as the more than 650 massacres committed by the Guatemalan military during the country’s 36-year internal armed conflict, which included widespread rape, torture and the mass killing of men, women and children, who were mostly Mayan.

According to Aura Elena Farfan from the Association for the Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Guatemala (FAMDEGUA)—the plaintiff organization that since 2000 has been bringing forward a case against Sosa Orantes and 16 other ex-Kaibiles implicated in the massacre—it is important that he is tried for the more serious crimes against humanity, rather than the lie he told US immigration officials.

“Of course that lie is important,” says Farfan. “But for there to be justice, it is important that he is not only judged for that lie, but for the serious violation of human rights in Guatemala.”

Even with an unprecedented amount of evidence, including survivor testimonies, exhuma-

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tion records, and the testimony of a repentant ex-Kaibil who took part in the massacre, Farfan does not believe the justice FAMDEGUA seeks is possible in Guatemala.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found the Guatemalan government unwilling to live up to its judicial responsibilities to investigate and successfully prosecute those responsible for the massacre. The country is still characterized by widespread violence, while many of the intellectual and material authors— those who planned and those who carried out the massacres—retain high positions of political power in the current government and military.

Even though the Guatemalan Supreme Court issued arrest warrants in 2010 for the 17 ex-Kaibiles implicated in the massacre, Farfan believes this case is stuck in impunity. “It needs to be heard in a place where there does not exist the same danger of being bought off.”

Such bribery, says Farfan “is likely to happen in Guatemala.”

Matt Eisenbrant from the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ) has called on the Canadian government to launch a full criminal investigation against Sosa Orantes.

“Usually, a trial in the place where the abuses occurred is preferable,” he said. “This should only be done, however, if all due-process guarantees can be protected and there are assurances that a fair trial can proceed without being tainted by outside influences.”

The CCIJ is calling on the Canadian government to ensure that Sosa Orantes will be held fully accountable by conducting its own criminal investigation into possible war-crime charges, taking this into account when considering the extradition requests.

Legal support for the case first surfaced in 1994, after FAMDEGUA officially received an exhumation request from three families from the area. Within a year, anthropologists had

found 162 complete skeletons in a 12-metre happening in the future, perpetrators must be grave, 67 of which were from children under prosecuted to the fullest extent possible,” said age 12.

Eisenbrant.

According to a report released by Amnesty Sosa Orantes was denied bail on March 9, International in 2002, the findings of the exhu2011, by Albertan judge Suzanne Bensler who mation matched up with survivors’ testimonies deemed him too much of a flight risk. His next about the massacre; it involved first the mass court appearance is scheduled for April 20, and repeated rape of the women and young 2011. girls, followed by the killing of the children and then the women, many of whom were pregnant. This article was originally published in The The men were killed last. Anthropologists’ reDominion. ports reveal that most of the victims were killed by a blunt object to the back of the head, after which The Ontario government is reducing they were thrown into the corporate income taxes by $2.4 billion mass grave. a year. If the government had kept that Both witnesses and FAMDEGUA have remoney, they would have had enough to ceived numerous threats MAKE TUITION FREE for every university for bringing this case student in the province...... forward. Still visibly affected by the case, Farfan says that “[Sosa Orantes] did not have compassion for the victims who were asking not to be killed, not to be tortured.” She expresses the weight of the blood that was spilled in Guatemala, stating that the bodies of the young children and pregnant women should tip the scales of justice further than the lie Sosa Orantes told to gain U.S. citizenship.

“If victims are to be www.opseu.org satisfied and if we are to provide deterrence against such abuses

I’m just

sayin’

In the Pursuit of Profit Human Rights Violations in Honduras

By Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif Whether Canada deserves its reputation as an unconditional supporter of human rights is questionable.

“Wherever Canadian multinationals go in the Third World, they leave a trail of human rights abuses, violations of workers’ rights and ecological destruction,” said Todd Gordon, a York University professor of political science, to a packed room in Beit Zatoun, a downtown Toronto venue where many human rights groups gather.

This perspective certainly rings true when it comes to Canada’s involvement in Honduras.

On March 11, a panel of guest speakers came together to discuss how Canada’s pursuit of corporate profit, most notably through an impending Free Trade Agreement, perpetuates human rights abuses in Honduras. Along with Professor Gordon, the panelists included Bertha Oliva, an award-winning Honduran human rights activist whose husband was kidnapped in 1981. She spoke alongside Pedro Landa, the coordinator of the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development, and activist who documented the environmental impact of Canadian corporations’ mining in Honduras. The event was organized by the Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network-Honduras Working Group and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

In June 2009, a military coup forcibly removed former left-of-centre President Manuel Zelaya from power. The sustained post-coup resistance is primarily led by the Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (National Popular Resistance Front).

Five months after Zelaya’s removal,

President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo was elected. The elections were boycotted by the Frente, as they and other anti-coup activists and media were silenced and repressed.

While the Canadian government initially said it wouldn’t recognize the elections that saw Lobo come to power, his free trade agenda and commitment to drawing foreign investments quickly attracted the government.

President Lobo’s first four months as president were marked with more than 1,000 documented human rights violations including torture, assassination and arbitrary detention, according to the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (Committee of Family Members of the Disappeared of Honduras), which was founded by Oliva. The Committee also reports that a year following President Lobo’s election, 64 Frente activists were assassinated.

No one is being held accountable.

It is this political culture of impunity that our government is enabling.

The Canadian government is also not holding its own corporations accountable for their practices.

Canada has its hands deep in Honduras’s pockets of gold. Signing a Free Trade Agreement with Honduras would secure access to the country’s natural resources for companies like the Vancouver-based Goldcorp, a gold mining company that owns gold mines in Honduras.

The company has a long history of environmental and human rights abuses, including allowing the leaching of cyanide from the mines into waterways, causing local residents to suffer serious skin rashes and lesions among other

health problems, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

To the Canadian government, satiating the desires of multinational corporations is worth more than human rights.

Our government’s push for a Free Trade Agreement with Honduras under President Lobo not only overlooks human rights violations

by Canadian companies and the Honduran government, but it further validates Lobo’s regime. “I call it Lobo’s regime—‘government’ is legitimizing,” said Oliva in Spanish through her interpreter.

Many Canadians are not aware of Canada’s involvement in this scene.

Elio Ramirez learned that the hard way.

Ramirez immigrated to Canada from Honduras in 2006 and is now studying at the University of Toronto’s bridging program. He says his contemporary Canadian history courses don’t tell the full story as he knows it to be in Honduras.

“To see superpower countries like Canada going in with the flag of trying to help, and at the same time, destroying that society, that very vulnerable society, is kind of sad,” said Ramirez, who was at the discussion at Beit Zatoun.

Canada’s push for a Free Trade Agreement is part of a growing trend where multinational corporations deepen their relationship with Honduras, further legitimizing the repressive regime. As Professor Gordon writes, “Military coups are good for Canadian business.”

Increasing foreign investment under a so-called Free Trade Agreement under Lobo’s regime could increase conflicts in Honduras, as unaccountable corporations quash the rights of indigenous peoples and small farmers to their land, as well as continuing their environmentally destructive practices.

For Hondurans like Pedro Landa, important steps must be taken before considering the Free Trade Agreement. First, he says Canadians must demand irrefutable proof that human rights are respected by Canadian companies in Honduras and by Lobo’s regime. Second, human rights violators should be tried. Justice must be served. Third, there must be a public consultation model implemented to inform local populations, especially Indigenous peoples, of the effects of policy changes.

Our government should take a step back and look at the human rights abuses its courting of corporations is enabling, by both the corporations and Lobo’s regime.

The Canadian government should take its eyes away from the gold coffers lest they lead to more coffins.

Into the Divide: Human rights and democratic development in Pakistan

By Rhiannon Russell In Pakistan, human rights advocacy is a risky business.

Just ask Hina Jilani, a lawyer and activist who’s been fighting for this cause for decades. She’s faced death threats and attempted assassinations for her work.

“When you defend human rights, you are challenging a very powerful force,” she told an audience of students and faculty at Ryerson on March 9. The talk was hosted by the International Issues Discussion series.

Jilani spoke about the ongoing battle for rights and democracy in Pakistan. Since gaining independence in 1947, the country has been ruled by both electoral governments and military regimes. There’s still a long way to go before Pakistan has a stable government and a just representation of its people.

Jilani acknowledged the steep road ahead, but is hopeful about her country’s future.

“This is our home. This is the only home we have. We have to make a go of it,” she said. “Please understand that people like me who are fighting in that country probably will go on fighting for some time. We cannot afford the luxury of pessimism.”

Jilani began practicing law in

Pakistan in 1979. A year later, she and her sister founded the country’s first all-female law firm. She’s a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Women’s Action Forum, and is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

In 1991, she opened a shelter for women fleeing abusive homes. For eight years, she served as United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, and has won numerous awards for her efforts to advance human rights in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s history is rife with political unrest and instability. The country had its first military coup in 1958. Martial law was declared and military interests were promoted over those of civilians.

“The military has never really let go of that dominance,” said Jilani.

There was a second coup in 1967. Four years later, East Pakistan separated from the rest of the country and became Bangladesh. In 1977, the military again took control.

“I think it started with the fact that almost nine years after its existence, Pakistan remained a state with no constitution,” Jilani said.

In the 1980s, a trend of religious extremism emerged in Pakistan.

photo: Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif

The military government changed school curriculums and indoctrinated students.

Jilani said these changes incited and provoked hatred against visible minorities “The law itself had become an instrument of terror.”

The government created new laws that threatened public executions, stonings and amputations for disobedience.

“These laws were designed and intended to create an environment of fear,” she said. “There were no chances for strong opposing voices to stop what was happening.”

Women’s rights also suffered during this period. For example, social stigma surrounded women who were impregnated through rape. As a result, many of these women were ostracized from society and condemned for having extra-marital sex.

“There was a serious problem in regards to gender equality,” said Jilani. She clarified, though, that the laws were never supported by Islamic teachings.

After 25 years, the laws in Pakistan have loosened, but there’s one bill in particular that is still problematic for Jilani.

The blasphemy law, or Bill 295c of the Penal Code, states, “Whoever

by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Jilani’s main issue is that there’s no mention of mens rea in the bill.

Meaning “guilty mind” in Latin, mens rea is legalese for the intent behind committing a crime.

In Pakistan, people are making unfounded accusations of blasphemy, and innocent people who have no intention of committing blasphemy are convicted.

There have also been cases of people accusing others of blasphemy and, because disrespecting the Prophet is seen as an unforgivable offense, the accused are murdered before the case ever reaches court.

Even some of those who have been acquitted in court have had to flee in fear of their lives.

“There is absolute impunity for those who have killed in the name of blasphemy,” Jilani said. She recommends that those who frivolously cry blasphemy be charged.

Jilani isn’t naive about her coun-

try’s future. Though she’s optimistic, she knows there is a lot of work to be done if Pakistan is ever to sustain democracy and equal rights. Reforming a country can’t be accomplished overnight.

“Elections don’t bring democracy,” she said. “That’s only a part of the process. If that was true, that elections bring democracy, we would’ve been the most democratic state,” she said, an ironic tone in her voice.

Her faith lies in Pakistan’s civilians. “The civil society is a well-recognized entity in Pakistan,” she said.

She encourages political dialogue and human rights education and urges Pakistanis to hold political parties accountable for their actions.

“Yes, there are problems with civilian governments,” she admitted.

“Nevertheless, the problems with military governments are even more serious.”

Despite the challenges that lie ahead for her and for the human rights movement in Pakistan, Jilani isn’t going to give up anytime soon.

“I’m a good Muslim, I think. I believe in God and I believe in the Prophet and I believe in the Qur’an,” she said. “But I’m damned if I’m going to leave my fate in the hands of those I can’t trust.”

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FEATURES Kenney’s leaked ethnic media strategy points to a politics of contradiction

By Manori Ravindran, Culture Editor Jason Kenney is a busy man.

He’s been getting paint all over himself at Hindu Holi celebrations, attending Purim festivals, and chowing down on the “best tandoori fish ever” with South Asian supporters.

Like a trail of pakoras, the Twitter feed of the citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism minister tells a colourful tale of life in office.

Normally, it’s easy to see through enthusiastic tweets from busy-body politicians. But ever since the “Conservative Ethnic Paid Media Strategy” was leaked, it’s clear that those 140 character-long messages are part of a Conservative scheme that is anything but pro-newcomer.

In early March, a party memo from Kenney’s office was delivered to various Conservative riding associations, seeking donations to pay for partisan ad campaigns targeting specific ethnic communities branded as “Target Ridings – Very Ethnic.” Unfortunately, one of these letters was accidentally sent to New Democratic Party MP Linda Duncan instead of intended recipient Conservative MP John Duncan.

The letter, penned by Kasra Nejatian, multicultural affairs director for Kenney, said that the party required “an additional $200,000” to make the campaign a success. The attached PowerPoint slides provided a “take-away” message saying, “There are lots of ethnic voters. There will be quite a few more soon. They live where we need to win.”

The letter violated strict rules prohibiting the use of government resources to promote party interests.

Nejatian quickly resigned, appearing before an ethics committee on March 21, incidentally the International Day for the Eradication of Racial Discrimination, saying, “I am deeply sorry that my carelessness could cause a further distrust in public institutions.”

For most political observers, the leaked documents were a mere technicality, and Kenney had only to apologize for incorrect letterhead. Some were even intrigued by the rare glimpse into back-door political dealings.

But for others, the Conservative snafu confirms what they already recognize about Kenney’s enthusing over cultural celebrations and religious festivals: The minister’s sweet tweets are a means to a political end. Given Canada’s migrant population, the “ethnic vote” is a reality for most political groups, who feel they must appeal to ethnic communities in order to amass support. What is disturbing about the leaked memo, however, is that it revealed the unabashed calculations that go into such strategies, this one targeting South Asian and Chinese communities, in particular.

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One presentation slide said, “If GTA South Asians were to form a city, it would be the third largest city in the country.” The statistic intends to evoke a sense of alarm, while neglecting to mention that members of these communities are also Canadians. A sample script of the proposed ads also relied on unfair stereotypes of ethnic communities, juxtaposing a voiceover reading “Belief in hard work” over an image of an “Indo-Canadian working.”

Harsha Walia is a Vancouver-based organizer for No One Is Illegal, a refugee rights and migrant justice organization. She says she’s not surprised by what was uncovered in the memo. “The documents revealed a lot of things that we’ve been observing already. The way they…build business strategies. I don’t think it’s shocking for people in that way. What was shocking was that people are getting played.”

Walia and NOII have been protesting Kenney for several years, most recently staging a protest at a Vancouver citizenship ceremony in which the minister was announcing the updated citizenship guide.

Walia says every political party tries to reconcile the contradiction of trying to appease migrant communities while maintaining an anti-immigrant agenda.

In Kenney’s case, there is a considerable disconnect between his political actions and his community involvement.

In February, the immigration minister announced that Canada had welcomed its highest number of legal immigrants in more than 50 years, with numbers 60 per cent higher than levels in the 1990s.

“While other Western countries cut back on immigration during the recession, our government kept legal immigration levels high,” he said.

The numbers, however, tell a different story.

Levels of both economic migrants and tempo-

rary foreign workers have risen by over 43,000. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program looks to fill labour shortages where no suitable Canadian workers or permanent residents are supposedly available. The program has been criticized for poor working conditions and lack of rights afforded to workers. Only recently – in light of a spring election – did Kenney announce changes to the program, including assessments of job offers; a two-year suspension for employers failing to offer proper wages, working conditions, and occupation; and a four-year limit on the time period workers can work in Canada before going back to their country of origin.

Since 2006, there has been a large decrease in family-class immigrants, with 10,000 fewer people being accepted into Canada in 2010. During that period, the number of refugees accepted also dropped by almost 8,000. With more refugee system reforms on the way, this number will likely increase. The proposed Bill C-49, for example, will make participation in human smuggling a criminal offense. Asylum seekers suspected of using a smuggler may be detained for the first year after arrival with no chance of review. They won’t have the right to appeal a negative decision, and will be denied permanent residency for five years after obtaining refugee status.

Interestingly, while toting this anti-immigrant agenda, the minister conducts roundtables in ethnic communities, speaks exclusively to ethnic media, and maintains an online profile that is so multicultural, it’s scary. So, how is he getting away with it?

Walia says it boils down to cross-politics. The reality of people coming to Canada and living in absolute poverty is less true for certain communities, she says. In fact, some ethnic groups aspiring towards middle-class values are attracted to Kenney’s platform of gearing immigration towards capital.

“Cross-politics is a big issue because Kenney caters to a business elite. In B.C., for example, a lot of communities are benefiting from temporary worker programs. Those farms in B.C. are owned by South Asians.”

Now that their plans are out in the open, it’s hard to tell whether the ads outlined in the Conservative Ethnic Paid Media Strategy will be as effective in appealing to migrant communities. And then there’s always the chance the memo may not have made a difference to community members who wholeheartedly subscribe to Kenney’s politics.

What is clear, however, is the take-away message the Conservatives forgot to include in the presentation: the unfortunate truth that migrant communities do not merit the respect afforded to other Canadians.

ILLUSTRATION: BEN HEINE

Recruiters Dig Digital Dirt on Job Seekers

By Hafsa Mulla

Most job applicants have a standard checklist before a job interview: prim business attire, luminously thorough résumé, and a stellar combination of zest and intelligence. However, if tweaking your Facebook profile for potential faux pas hasn’t made the cut, maybe it should.

While you settle comfortably into the digital age, it’s safe to say that your online presence has now become a virtual imprint that shadows you to an interview. It is your subliminal curriculum vitae.

As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, many employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential job seekers. So, if your status update reveals you had a solid Saturday night coupled with gory comments, this could be potential grounds for your rejection letter.

According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 per

cent of employers use leading social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to screen job candidates. The study also found that 35 per cent of employers disregarded candidates based on racy content uncovered on leading social networking sites.

“While résumés and interviews do give you a bit of an insight to a person, they can also be a façade,” says Fashion Editor of ANOKHI magazine, Jacqueline Parrish.

“People’s unguarded social media profiles, however, provide you with a raw look at the job seeker as people rarely censor their social media sites. Their profiles tend to be a direct reflection of them.”

Provocative photos and references to drinking and drug use are the key-contributing factors in the hiring process after onlinescreening. However, many of us are oblivious to the fact that poor online communication skills are also a stumbling block.

A hyper-articulate twitter timeline can polish one’s virtual persona, and in the same light, it can cause damage through inappropriate twitter feeds. “A quick Google search of a candidate – whom I had pegged as a potential intern – revealed tweets that looked ‘lyk ths’ via Twitter,” says Jacqueline. “Suffice to say, I wasn’t impressed and decided to disqualify her.”

This is another rationale for dismissal: the discrepancies that appear between qualifications posted online and the candidate’s actual résumé. A virtual fib is more than just a social blunder; it is impermissible.

While most of these issues are primary hindrances that keep us from landing our dream job, what many of us need to realize is that these drawbacks are easily avoidable.

Tweak your privacy settings with just a scroll and a click and tailor them according to what is considered tasteful. “If you know that there is inappropriate content that could potentially harm your chances of employment, change your privacy settings and searchability,” says Jacqueline.

“These options are provided for a reason.”

In contrast, you can leverage the social media explosion to your advantage. Why not treat these outlets as self-selling-tools to project a positive image to your prospective employers that will encourage them to hire you?

Facebook allows you to advertise your professional qualifications and personal interests, a feature that can help convey a

dynamic image. Create a field-centric group that can help you establish relationships with recruiters, leaders, and so forth. Be selective about accepting friends and frequently scan comments made by others. Set a default picture in good taste and police your profile.

It is after all, a branding power of sorts.

Twitter allows you to follow anyone under the sun. Why not follow inspirational leaders and the head honchos in your field?

Concoct your tweets in a profound manner that generate targeted following while documenting refined and thought-provoking ideas.

LinkedIn is specifically tailored for job seekers, companies, and recruiters. “Keep it reserved and utilize it as a tool for employment,” says Jacqueline, “and don’t forget to be honest, there’s no need to overstate your qualifications.”

And lastly, check the gist of your online reputation and discover what a simple Google search reveals about you.

We live in a digital age that has made information easily accessible. With a simple click of a button an individual’s social life can be completely exposed, for better or worse.

The unfortunate truth for every job seeker is that it doesn’t just boil down to conventional tactics anymore (i.e. sugar coating your résumé and putting your best foot forward).

After all, there are thousands of applicants competing for a single coveted position and your employer is merely testing the waters to see if you are able to represent the company in a dignified manner.

Essentially you’re left with an unavoidable choice between two alternatives – to eliminate your digital faux pas entirely or create your professional image via various networking sites. But one thing is for sure: technological and social networking advancements offering up-to-the-minute information are fast growing, leading to increased concerns about privacy issues. Your job, as an applicant, is to ensure you sweep those digital dust bunnies to the best of your ability.

Royal Wedding Excitement “Waity Katie” waits no more

By Priyanka Jain I’ve always been a big dreamer. Besides being a journalism student, I fantasize about many other aspects of my life. Growing up, I was convinced I was going to be famous. I can’t really tell you what kind of famous, but let’s just say when I watched a Broadway show, I envisioned the main girl to be me. When I watched American Idol, the winner (not contestant) was me.

Well, fame hasn’t exactly found me yet. But that’s okay, because Kate Middleton has reassured me that my normal life could suddenly change, all in the name of love.

I must say, the future Queen has done quite well for herself. Not only did she catch the eye of a charming young man, but she managed to score the future King – now that’s something to be proud of. On April 29, Kate Middleton will have her fairy tale wedding, and people all around the world will be tuning in to be part of the celebration.

There has been a lot of hype around wedding preparation, as everything is being done in privacy, and will be revealed the day of. This includes the guest list, the kind of cutlery that will be used, the hymns that will be sung, the famous performers, and most notably, Middleton’s wedding dress. I wonder if they will go as far as having a back-up wedding dress in case the original gets stolen, like they did for Princess Diana. Apparently, there will be at least two security guards guarding the dress.

Although reports have said that Middleton and William want to keep their wedding simple photo: Franco Bouly/flickr

and have only close family and friends attend, realistically, that won’t be happening. There is no way the future King will be able to pull off an average and intimate wedding, regardless of the fact that his future wife is not royalty.

It really is a matter of “Go big or go home” for the couple. April 29 has even been made a public holiday. Not many people can say a national holiday was made in honour of their wedding day. Then again, we are talking about the future King and his wife.

I do wonder however, how daunting this all must be for Middleton. She was an average girl who fell in love with a prince while studying at university. And now, eight years later, she’s accustomed to the aristocratic lifestyle, and is expected to present herself to perfection. She must watch her language, maintain proper etiquette, and of course, adopt the traditional conservative dress sense.

That said, however, not every girl can say she’s found her prince charming. Kate is a very lucky girl. She’s about to witness her very own fairytale wedding; better than the movies, and more magical than Disneyland, I bet.

It looks as if I’ll have to settle for Prince Harry now, if I want any chance at making my grand entrance in front of millions on my wedding day. “Princess Priyanka” – that has a nice ring to it, I think. I wonder if I can opt-out of those oversized feathery hats…

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Reckless coalition: Of language and politics

By Dionne Brand I admit to getting off to a slow start here but I simply could not make sense of anything said by Conservative leader Stephen Harper in the first moments after he announced the election. I’m still in a quandary because I take language too seriously and therefore I sometimes don’t understand the systems of meanings used by politicians – I won’t call this language because as I said I take language too seriously.

What politicians do is ventriloquise a set of sounds meant to gesture to some issue or event but if we really listen these words are completely incomprehensible and have no relation to their meaning. These people depend on us not hearing, or caring about what they say; they depend on us not asking, “What was that you said?” They use ominous tones, warning that if we don’t elect them the sky will fall, when the sky has already fallen – at least a hundred times.

Anyway this time I really tried to listen to Mr. Harper when he said that the recovery of the global economy was still so fragile that we ought to vote him a majority. Since the global economy has very little to do with anything Mr. Harper or potentially Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Layton do, I cannot figure this out.

And since the Conservatives would have me exposed even more to the vagaries of the global economy, this is disingenuous. I’m not sure anyway that the global economy depends on majority governments – various majority governments around the world were powerless to prevent or anticipate the last crash. They were variously seduced and cajoled into making the conditions possible for the very crash.

I have a sneaking suspicion that what Harper really means is, he wants total executive power over the affairs of the country. The members of his caucus seem to cede absolute power to him so what’s the sense here? We won’t be getting a robust caucus of people who battle ideas out; we’ll be getting one guy. So we’re getting a minority if we give him a majority anyway, ergo, no.

Next let me try to decipher the following Harper quote from the Globe and Mail, and I know I’m late on this too because it’s already been pointed out by commentators how many

times Harper has mentioned the new nasty word “Coalition.” Harper is quoted as saying, “Let me be perfectly clear: unless Canadians elect a stable national majority government, Michael Ignatieff will form a coalition with the NDP and Bloc Québécois. Imagine a coalition of arch-centralists and Quebec sovereigntists trying to work together.”

I for one actually would like to imagine these people working together. I don’t think that this is a bad thing to imagine. But look at the demonizing going on in the pejorative “arch-centralists.” That’s code for “Look out western Canada there is an Ontario conspiracy even as I am trying to woo ‘the ethnics’ in the centre of the centralists.” What precisely is an “arch-centralist”? Someone who hates the west and the east?

Then he enjoins them with the scary “Quebec sovereigntists.” Now first, there really isn’t the bite in that phrase that there used to be, and second Quebec sovereigntists exist, that is just a fact of history and a persistent fact of the contemporary. They will not disappear simply by giving them pariah status. Now logic would say that if despite all that you are still afraid of them, then, were they in a coalition and not isolated, you would definitely have less cause for concern.

Mr. Ignatieff rose to the bait repudiating the idea of a coalition and “categorically” ruling out a coalition with the Bloc Québécois. Oh dear. It is my fatal error to have expected more from this front.

Repeated minority governments have told us something about ourselves that politicians can’t seem to get behind or ahead off. We’re centralists, sovereigntists, Maritimers, northerners, westerners and yes, far more ethnics than we admit to or record – we’re a lumpy mass of changing matter and if this country is not a “reckless coalition” I don’t know what it is.

More shortly.

Dionne Brand is a poet, novelist, and poet laureate for the city of Toronto. This opinions piece originally appeared on rabble.ca on April 4, 2011.

Ontario: the land of the high fees

By Annie Burns-Pieper

As the winter semester is coming to an end, you may be sitting down and taking a look at your finances. If you think this is a scary prospect, you’re not alone.

Over the past two decades, tuition fees have increased dramatically in Canada. This has primarily been a result of cuts in transfer payments from the government to universities. Although the picture is different across the provinces, there continues to be a tension between institutions and students when it comes to financing post- secondary education.

Last month McGill University was in the news. It was fined $2.1 million, to be taken from provincial subsidies, for charging MBA students nine times the provincial limit. The university argued that the fees were necessary to improve the program. McGill plans to increase MBA tuition for the next academic year by $3,000.

Like McGill, other universities have adopted the privatization model: Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario. By privatizing these MBA programs, universities can bypass provincial limits for tuition fees. This has made these programs the most expensive in the country. MBA programs averaged $28,773 a year for an Executive Master of Business Administration.

Another headline from March was that Dalhousie University would be selling ten seats in its medicine program to Saudi students for $75,000 each. The response from the institution was that this was necessary in order to improve the program. Recruiting international students who pay much higher tuition fees is another strategy universities are using to fund programs. Canada receives large numbers of students from China, South Korea, the United States, India and France.

Even though Canadian students pay less for tuition, students in Ontario are paying the highest undergraduate and graduate tuition fees in the country. Undergraduate students in Ontario are paying an average of $6,307 a year, almost $800 more than the province with the second highest tuition, New Brunswick, according to Statistics Canada.

The provinces where undergrads pay the lowest tuition are Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Students in Quebec actually pay almost one third of the tuition Ontario students pay, $2,415 and $6,307 respectively.

Students in Ontario have also seen the biggest increase in tuition fees from 2009/10 to 2010/2011. Tuition has photo: robert fairchild/flickr

risen by 5.4 per cent in undergraduate programs. Last year Nova Scotia was the only province in which tuition fees were reduced, by an average of $257 for this academic year.

On average in Canada, graduate students pay similar fees to undergraduates. Students in graduate programs pay the most in Nova Scotia, an average of $7,350 a year, and Ontario, an average of $6,917 a year. Again, Ontario had the largest increase in tuition: this time, a 10.7 per cent increase over the 2009/2010 academic year.

Although tuition fees in Quebec have been frozen for all but 10 of the past 43 years, they are set to increase for the 2011/12 academic year. Fees will rise by $325 a year, over five years. This will bring tuition fees to $3,793 per year for Quebec residents, which would still leave the province with some of the lowest tuition fees in the country if changes are not made by other provinces to reduce tuition.

Young people in Canada collectively have over $13 billion of federal student debt. That number doesn’t include money owed to provincial student loans, to their families or to credit cards or student lines of credit.

Debt and fear of debt have been shown to be deterrents for people from low- and middle-income families to attend university, according to the Canadian Federation of Students. Research from the University of British Columbia has shown that higher debt also correlates with the noncompletion of degrees.

The problem is that continued increases in tuition fees have the potential to change the demographics of Canadian universities. Universities will have to find a solution, which allows for the improvement of programs but also provides access to higher education for students from all income groups.

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Photos, clockwise from top left: United for a strong and equitable Representing herself and CUPE Union 79; Still standing strong; Philippines; Brazilian Women Drummers.

International 10   ryersonfreepress.ca

e Toronto; Women resist the privatization of Toronto services; ; Gabriella—Fighting for Women’s rights in Canada and the

l Women’s day

Photos by Erin Byrnes Ryerson Free Press april 2011 11

CULTURE Knit In for the Homeless

By Emily Loewen

On St. Patrick’s Day, line-ups outside the bars start early, but in the basement of the Annette Street library, a different kind of fun is going on. Angelica LeMinh is laughing as she gets help starting a scarf for the third time this evening.

She’s tried twice already but just can’t seem to get the green yarn on her bright red needles to cooperate. She leans over as fellow knitter Carol Barrett’s fingers quickly cast new stitches onto the needle. Barrett smiles and recounts devising her own method after watching the Brownies in her school knitting.

But don’t let the smiles fool you. These women aren’t just knitting for St. Patrick’s Day entertainment. This is a “Knit In” for StreetKnit, a project that collects new, hand-made clothing and donates the socks, mittens, toques and scarves to Toronto’s homeless population of more than 4,000 people.

StreetKnit was started in 2006 by Sadie Lewis, but she likes to credit her husband. “I left him alone too long at a yarn show, and when I came back he’d decided that it would be a really neat thing if we could run some sort of charity for the homeless where we gather hand-knitted goods, and StreetKnit kind of grew from there,” she said.

In the first year, she collected and donated around 100 items, but over five years, donations have multiplied. In 2010, they collected approximately 1,000 items, though there aren’t official records. Once clothing is collected, it goes to Windfall Basics, which distributes the clothing to more than 100 social service agencies across the GTA. Though StreetKnit started out as, and still is, primarily something people do on their own time, they have also started hosting “Knit Ins” twice a month, like the St. Pat-

rick’s Day gathering. Any seasoned or aspiring stitchers are welcome to come pick up yarn, needles and a lesson, all free of charge. The only catch is that you must knit something for the homeless.

The reasons people make the time for StreetKnit are as numerous as the individuals who take up their needles.

Barrett, a knitter since the age of six, joked that she started donating to StreetKnit because family members were sick of being given knitted items. But, really, the work just spoke to her. “We can’t build shelters, we can’t build affordable housing, but we can do something,” she said. Barrett hopes that by knitting the garments by hand, she can help people who are homeless know that they haven’t been forgotten.

Aled Omer, a program assistant at Windfall, agrees that the donated clothing is special because it’s hand stitched. “It’s beautiful, it’s all knitted and the colours are amazing,” she said. At the last drop off, “we looked at each piece and were just amazed.”

St. Patrick’s Day was Lynn Fisher’s first time at a “Knit In,” so Windfall has yet to see her wares. But she arrived with five sets of mittens, one pair of socks and she completed several inches of another mitten within an hour. Fisher came to StreetKnit because she loves to knit. “If I don’t have some knitting needle or crochet hook in my hand, I’m sick,” she said.

You can tell just by looking at her bounty that Fisher has skilled hands. But she has assurance that her knitting stands up to the elements. Her two children were living on the streets a few years ago and she knit socks for them, which they tell her are warmer than anything you can buy in the store.

Angelica LeMinh is another new StreetKnitter. Like Fisher, she came for the love of the craft, but also because she can’t use everything she makes. “I like knitting, but I can’t seem to knit anything but scarves,” LeMinh said with a laugh as she tried to cast on for the second time that evening.

Anyone of any skill level can participate in StreetKnit. Interested crafters can visit Streetknit.ca for drop-off locations or attend a “Knit In” from 7 to 9 p.m. at Wise Daughters Craft Market on the last Tuesday of every month, or from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. at the Annette Library on the third Thursday of every month.

No more Tiger Blood, just give me the news

By Regan Reid

Try as I might, I can’t escape Charlie Sheen. I can’t escape his “goddesses,” “winning!” or “tiger blood.” I’ve avoided his 20/20 special and “Sheen’s Korner,” and I have no interest in seeing his impending comedy tour (even if I wanted to, tickets are already sold out). I’ve simply been keeping up with the news.

Sheen has dominated the headlines for everything from being fired from his sitcom, to joining Twitter. But he is not the first, and he certainly won’t be the last, celebrity to dominate the mainstream media. Nowadays, it seems that every time I check out a news website or turn on the evening news, I’m bombarded with celebrity gossip.

Don’t get me wrong, I love keeping tabs on the famous and I even think there is an appropriate medium for which to do so (the tabloid and the gossip blog come to mind). But, in a society overloaded with information outlets, the news media is no longer needed to be a source of celebrity gossip.

In an article for the Atlantic, “Learning to Love the (Shallow, Divisive, Unreliable) New Media,” James Fallows says, “I no longer think it’s worth arguing whether journalism is getting ‘worse’...I now think it’s worth facing the inevitability of the shift to infotainment and seeing how we can make the best of it.”

I have to disagree with Fallows. Now, more than ever, the news media’s primary function should be to deliver the news, not to entertain. Journalists should resist this “shift to infotainment” and instead stick to providing the public with valuable information and insight.

Our newspapers, programs and websites need to focus on informing and leave the entertaining to the Gawkers and Us magazines of the world. People can get entertainment anywhere, but where else can they get the news?

There was a time when gossip had its place in the news media. Long before the Perez Hiltons of the world, there was Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper – these women were writing celebrity gossip columns during the world wars. In fact, in 1930, Hollywood was the third largest news source in America – only Washington and New York had more correspondents.

So there is, and always has been, an appetite for celebrity gossip. There are many theories

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for why we find ourselves obsessed with the famous. In an article for Slate, “The Irresistible Charlie Sheen: Why Do We Care about Celebrities?” Jacob Weinberg lists several possibilities: we like to live vicariously through them; we take pleasure in their misfortunes; or they can serve as replacement gods and heroes.

Anne Donahue, a writer for the music news website aux.tv, has some theories of her own.

“I think we like to put certain people on platforms and we like to compare ourselves to them,” she says. “We’re all voyeurs.”

Whatever the reason behind our celebrity obsession, the fact is people want to read about them. They want to read about their personal lives, their break-ups, or, better yet, their breakdowns.

In the last couple of decades we’ve seen an expansion in the variety of media available to consumers, and now this gossip can be found everywhere and anywhere.

First, there were the entertainment television shows in the 1980s and then the magazines such as Entertainment Weekly in the 1990s – all devoted to offering coverage of celebrities.

Liam Lacey, film critic for the Globe and Mail says that with the advent of these other media outlets, celebrity gossip coverage, which otherwise would have been considered tabloid fodder, was absorbed into the mainstream news media.

“I first became surprised about it about 15 years ago when I would see that [The Globe] would be running stories saying that things were ‘rumoured,’” he said. “We would sometimes even cite the National Enquirer.”

With the advent of the Internet, exposure to celebrity gossip is even greater. In addition to the entertainment magazines and TV shows, blogs, websites and forums all offer juicy gossip, too – and all at the click of a mouse.

So, with all these media devoted solely to producing entertainment news and celebrity gossip, are people really picking up a newspaper to learn the latest Charlie Sheen catch-phrase?

I don’t think so.

We no longer need the news media to give us our daily gossip. Just give us the news. photo: emily loewen

“Women in the Field” symposium advises reporters to find mentors

By Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif

Juggling the demands of life and the newsroom requires creativity, guts and stamina. Through it all, young journalists benefit from having strong mentors.

On March 22, Ryerson held a symposium called “Women in the Field: Changing the Face of Journalism.” The day included three panels discussing work/life balance, equality in the newsroom and women reporting in risky situations. The lunch between the first and second panel included a special lecture given by Jan Wong.

Journalists like Anne-Marie Mediwake, a CBC News Toronto host and mother to 3-yearold triplets, and Suanne Kelman, interim chair of the School of Journalism, talked about how they eventually struck a balance between their personal and professional lives.

“The difficulty is that if you’re not careful, [journalism] is all-absorbing,” said Kelman.

“You wake up and you’re 43 years old and you realize you have no kids, no friends and no hobbies.” Kelman joked that the trick might be to marry rich. Amidst the day’s practical tips on finding the best fixer – a local assistant – in a foreign country (try the local newspapers), on doing groceries at 11 p.m. and scheduling dates with significant others, the best advice was to find a personal mentor. Having a mentor can offer budding journalists personal and career advice on striking that elusive balance.

In a way, Jan Wong’s mentor got her her first job. No, he wasn’t the one hiring, nor did he have connections to the job.

He just told Wong to go for it, to demand a full-time job of what would have been yet another internship in a long series of internships.

So, Wong asked for the job.

And they said yes.

Wong, who once received a rejection letter telling her she “didn’t meet the minimum requirements to work at the Associated Press,” got her first job because she asked.

It sounds simple enough. But Wong knows that it was the wise words of her mentor that pushed her in the right direction. Wong’s relationship with her mentor, a retired Columbia

University professor of journalism, allowed her to develop her career strategically and, most importantly, to get advice from a seasoned journalist.

“Wayne Gretzky says you miss out on 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take. In journalism, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Latch onto someone who is a good mentor. On every move in your career, ask your mentor for advice,” she said.

Wong’s mentor is retired and Wong’s career is already well established, but she still calls him.

Mentors can support the joys of motherhood. Sadia Zaman, a director at the CBC, credits her mentors for some important life lessons and opportunities. When Zaman had her first baby, her mentor, who was also her boss, said “Let’s figure out a way to make this happen while continuing the work you’re doing.” Together, they created a work schedule that allowed her to balance broadcast and baby bibs.

Mentors can also tell you where to cry. As a foreign correspondent at the National Post, Kathryn Blaze Carlson went to Haiti after the earthquake shook the nation to rubble, and witnessed how Haitians struggled to live. The words of her mentor gave her perspective on her position in the crisis. “Try to remember that as hard as it is to see it, it’s harder for them to live through it. Tell their stories. Cry when you’re alone at night.”

For Erin James-Abra and Brigitte Noël, the two master’s of journalism students whose shared concerns about being women journalists started this symposium, those were the messages that resonated loudest.

“I think what came out of this the most is how desperately young journalists need mentors,” said James-Abra. “That’s next on the agenda.”

More than ever, young journalists need mentors to help them navigate the world of journalism.

Mentors give us the lessons, advice, wisdom and encouragement that no journalism school notes can ever provide.

the Origins of bikram yoga

By Deanna Mac-Neil

Spring is approaching and winter is leaving. Though I am a little late in my discovery, hot yoga has helped me get through the last of the cold weather as well as a cold.

I have practiced yoga on and off over the years, but was very surprised by how much I have been enjoying hot yoga.

The heat in a hot yoga studio warms up the body, allowing for deeper stretches and poses. With a temperature of 30 to 40 degrees, the breathing feels more pronounced, causing more attention to be paid to the breath and body. This awareness is fundamental to the practice.

Yoga has a history dating back 5,000 years, beginning with the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India. Its first mention was in Vedas, an old and sacred text that was used and updated by Vedic priests. “Yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuj,” which means to join or unite. When the self unites with “cosmic consciousness” or “universal spirit,” the goal of yoga is achieved. The intent is to be fully aware in the moment. Though there are various forms of yoga, their origins are very ancient, and the exact dates of inception are difficult to trace.

Georg Feuerstein is an author of various books about yoga, and traced its evolution from archaic shamanism into India with Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Both shamanism and yoga intend to “improve the human condition” and “heal community members.” Yoga had its start as a commuphoto: Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif

nity practice, though it appears to have become more about the search for self.

Bikram yoga, or hot yoga, originated with Bikram Choudhury. Choudhury was born in Calcutta and started studying yoga when he was four years old. He was a champion of the National India Yoga Contest at 13, remaining undefeated for three years. During early adulthood, a knee injury from weight lifting forced him to focus on healing. The injury was so severe that doctors believed Choudhury would never walk again. However, under the care of his former “yoga guru” Bishnu Ghosh in India, Choudhury’s knee was healed in six months. Bikram yoga was created through Choudhury’s recovery.

Yoga schools first began to open in India and then gained global popularity. Bikram worked with doctors in Japan at the Tokyo University Hospital, studying the medical benefits of his yoga system to cure chronic physical ailments and injuries.

Bikram created a combination of 26 poses practiced over 90 minutes. Participation in a heated room allowed for greater flexibility, a reduction of muscle strain and an increase in strength of the poses, all while cleansing the body.

The hot yoga I practice is held at Yoga Plus in Toronto.

The studio uses infrared heat rather than typical heat.

Convection heat has “forced air and baseboard systems with which hot air rises to the ceiling,” but with infrared heat, the

room feels warm like the sun, almost as if you are on a tropical vacation. The temperature increases with more people in the room, penetrating the body very deeply and causing the practitioner to sweat and release toxins, cleansing the body and skin.

The benefits of hot yoga are immense. It can relieve arthritic pain, strengthen cardiovascular and immune systems, reduce weight and cellulite, heal injuries and purify skin, tissue and cells.

There are many emotional, psychological and spiritual reasons to participate in hot yoga. The practice helps focus your mind on the body and breathing. Like meditation, it is a rest from nagging thoughts and stress, but a workout all the same. Yoga Plus has teachers that are compassionate. The clientele is very warm and friendly. Each session has been rewarding, with a union of people who are very happy navigating poses or stretches. Making noises that express pain or joy are welcomed. Feelings of peace are felt for hours afterwards.

It is a relaxant and stress reliever that helps bring about a better night’s sleep and provides relief from cold symptoms.

Yoga was known to have origins in the community, providing a means for healing and spiritual awakening. These days, yoga has become more of an independent practice, but when participating in a studio session with others, yoga gets back to its roots as a communal activity.

Ryerson Free Press april 2011 13

Reviews

MUSIC The Black Albinos – Escape Goat

J

oel Wheeler is a producer, engineer, songwriter, singer, performer, his own manager and isn’t even 20 years old yet. In February, he digitally released his debut album Escape Goat from his solo project The Black Albinos. The album was recorded largely during the summer between semesters at college, but for The Black Albinos, it’s not as simple as renting a recording studio and getting it done.

Wheeler currently resides in both London, Ont., and Nelson, B.C., and the album crossed the country more than once during his creative process. A student at Fanshawe College, Wheeler is studying music industry arts in London, but the majority of the album was born in his hometown, Nelson. Like most students, Wheeler worked full-time over the summer to fund his education. After a full day of landscaping, though, Wheeler would come home and sit down with Escape Goat, singlehandedly writing, recording and tweaking the sessions in his bedroom studio. When September rolled around and Wheeler was back in London, he was able to use the college’s facilities (and his classmates’ expertise) to finalize and release the album in February.

Escape Goat is an entertaining and captivating blend of catchy melodies, hilarious lyrics and unique instrumentation that tiptoes through a number of genres. “A lot of my songs end up being written and recorded months apart, meaning they could be drawing influence from a lot of different places,” says Wheeler. “I definitely want my music to be as catchy as possible, but still reflect my own tastes and interests. It’s pop music for myself, basically.”

Loosely self-classified as alternative pop, Escape Goat may not fit neatly into any one genre but seems to effortlessly blend a wide spectrum of them. From the laid-back psychedelic sounds of “Chemical Friends,” to the catchy minimalism of “If You Were a Cat,” to the pop-perfect, theme song-feel of “Good 4 Me,” the album explores many styles and techniques, but maintains its catchiness

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Native America North showcases Aboriginal music and talent

broken electric guitar cord couldn’t delay an explosive closing set by blues-rock group Digging Roots at Toronto’s Rivoli. The group was a part of Juno Week’s Native America North showcase on March 24.

The remaining members of Digging Roots playfully distracted the crowd with a reggae-inflected riff while guitarist Raven Kanatakta calmly asked other musicians for a spare cable. From different corners came the emergency parts and, within moments, Kanatakta set the nightclub ablaze with his playing; the club’s lights reflecting off the shiny, metallic finish of his resonator guitar.

Co-sponsored by Manitoba Music and the Canada Council for the Arts, the concert featured five Aboriginal acts, crossing the musical spectrum including folk, blues, rock, country and some very captivating fusions of traditional and contemporary sounds.

The evening was introduced by Alan Greyeyes, Aboriginal Music Program Coordinator with Manitoba Music, a non-profit recording industry association devoted to promoting that province’s musical talent.

Vancouver-based singer Christa Couture kicked off the evening, her warm voice drifting through the cozy Rivoli backroom, accompanied through her set by classically-trained cellist Cris Derksen.

Derksen’s seamlessly fused classical cello with traditional sounds and rhythms, mixed with electronic loops

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and coherence from beginning to end.

“I try to focus most intently on melodies and hooks, both vocal and instrumental,” Wheeler says, “So no matter what kind of styles I’m drawing from, that usually ties things together.”

The songs of Escape Goat are at once silly and serious, from longing for a cartoon world in opening track “Cartoon Logic,” to asking for a favour in “I’d Go There For You,” to the clash of insecurity and arrogance in the album’s closing track, “The Black Albinos Are Better Than You (jk... You’re the Best!).” Wheeler’s knack for songwriting balances humour, theme and structural necessity, a formula that, when combined with his meticulous mixes and instrumentation, creates an album that is a catchy first listen and builds with each listen after that. Once fans find themselves singing along to the tracks, they can find new intricacies and delights in songs they’ve already begun to love. “At worst, this album is a collection of songs from which I can still derive a great deal of personal pleasure, despite having spent countless hours over the past year creating, recording and mixing it. At its best, it’s a work of unbridled creative genius. At its ultra- best, it’s the greatest album ever made and the greatest story ever told wrapped in a single ethereal package.”

Even though he just released his first album, Wheeler is already thinking about what the future may hold.

He will be relocating to Toronto in September to keep promoting Escape Goat, but isn’t happy to dwell on one album for too long and is currently working on an EP to be completed in April. Wheeler also hopes to repeat last year’s musical success and complete a second full-length album in Nelson this summer.

Digital versions of Escape Goat are available for purchase online on CDBaby, Bandcamp and iTunes, and Wheeler is planning a physical release of the album in the coming months. Visit TheBlackAlbinos.com for more information on the band, or to listen to the album in full.

—Nicole Brewer

and pedal effects, mesmerizing the audience with a hypnotic fusion of genre-defying music.

Introducing her song “War Cry,” Derksen admits it was written in response to the George W. Bush presidency, but now, it has become more of an “inspiration from my ancestors.”

Multi-award winning group Eagle & Hawk turned up the volume in the following set.

Described by Greyeyes as “easily the most decorated Aboriginal group in Canada,” it was easy to hear why. The Winnipeg-based band delivers solid, well-crafted, no-nonsense rock songs and, just as importantly, their stage presence shows that they enjoy what they do.

Eagle & Hawk was followed by the raw singing of Yellowknife’s Leela Gilday. Gilday was named as one of Maclean’s magazine’s Top 50 under 30 in 2002, thanks in part to the bluesy folk roots music that engaged and involved the audience, particularly in the call-and-refrain sing along of her song “One Drum.”

The Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year was first presented in 1994, and has been won by artists such as Susan Aglukark, Buffy Saint-Marie and Robbie Robertson. Leela Gilday’s album Sedzé took home the prize in 2007 and Digging Roots won in 2010 for their album We Are. Eagle & Hawk, who won in 2002, are once again nominated in 2011 for their album The Great Unknown. —Peter Lewicki photo: Peter Lewicki

Hip hop community comes out for L.I.V.E. festival

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lternative education came to Ryerson in March in the form of the Live to Inspire Via Education (L.I.V.E.) hip hop festival, organized by the Urban Hip Hop Union. The festival, which ran from February 28 to March 5, aimed to educate Ryerson students and the public at large about hip hop and how the genre can further educate others.

The festival began with a live art show and later moved on to discussions about the genre and its numerous subgenres. It later culminated in the “Rap Session” panel discussion and concert at the Opera House, featuring hip hop artist Joe Budden.

The first two days of the festival showcased the work of Loko and Miigizi, who created live graffiti murals on Gould Street. These events were followed by panel discussions discussing hip hop in terms of photography, education, street culture, history and diaspora.

On the fourth day of the event (the third day was a “break day”), there were presentations and panel discussions about French hip hop around the world and women in hip hop. The French hip hop presentation and discussion was led by Lou, Vox and Waahli of the hip hop group Nomadic Massive. The discussion about hip hop and women was led by DJ Mel Boogie.

Speaking on the panel were artists Isis and Michie Mee, as well as local artist Zoi. The final panel discussion was led by Master T, best known for his work as a Much Music VJ in the ’90s. Sitting on the panel was hip hop artist, Michee Mie and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammed, of hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. The panelists invited the audience to ask them questions about what they felt were areas of interest surrounding hip hop and its culture.

In response to a discussion about the evolution of hip hop, and how popular hip hop has strayed so much from what its original meaning and form was, Muhammed posed a question

to the audience.

“What moves you?”

According to Muhammed, it is the answer to that question that is at the root of hip hop, or any art form for that matter.

Perhaps the answer to that question is one that would help the young people in the audience at that discussion, and all the L.I.V.E events, further cultivate the hip hop community locally and internationally.

The noticeably young and ethnically homogenous audience—most of the members were Black or part of ethnic minorities—was indicative of the hip hop community and how, if at all, it is viewed by the dominant majority.

Like the young, Black and minority-filled audience, hip hop is often considered secondrate and sub-par. The genre and culture, though financially fruitful in the mainstream popular culture, is not recognized as a legitimate art form. The festival was hoping to shed the negative associations that may come with hip hop and educate others about it. Ironically, it was perhaps those who would already appreciate the culture that were present at the weeklong event.

Despite the greater goal of the event, the turnout, particularly at the final panel discussion and concert, was substantial.

“I feel the event was a great success. The people who attended got to experience the learning aspect of hip hop which is sometimes overlooked or ignored,” says Razib Ahmed, co-president of the Urban Hip Hop Union. “I have heard a lot of positive feedback from people and I hope the trend continues where more organizations are having events to teach more about hip hop.” —Boke Saisi

Canadian Music Week throws spotlight on lesser-known musicians

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f you are wondering why Toronto’s hipster population seemed to double for about a week last month, you aren’t alone. If you are new to Toronto, or not up on the music scene, Canadian Music Week may have caught you off-guard and left you wondering what it was all about.

Canadian Music Week is essentially five days of concerts and industry conferences concluded by the Indies, or Independent Music Awards. Unlike summer festivals in the city, Canadian Music Week profiles mostly lesser-known bands, and focuses on musicians and the industry rather than the audiences.

“The whole point of Music Week is to get internationals to see our Canadian talent to then bring those bands to their markets and to help develop international trade,” says festival director Cameron Wright.

Canadian Music Week has been running for 29 years in Toronto. The conference portion of the week is attended by people working in the music industry. It brings to Toronto industry professionals working in radio, band management, ticket sales, music reproduction law, arts funding, record labels and music journalism, to name a few. Many are Canadian but a large number of them come from abroad to take part in the event.

The festival part of the event, which runs concurrently with the conference, included over 800 bands in more than 60 venues this year. Bands performed at smaller events in pubs as well as in big venues like the Guvernment and the Sound Academy. Types of performances were equally varied. International stars included Janet Jackson and Melissa Ethridge. Well-known Canadian indie groups like Karkwa, Canada’s last Polaris Music Prize winner, performed as well.

However, the majority of performers at Canadian Music Week are lesser-known PHOTO: Boke Saisi

groups trying to put themselves on the map. “We came to Canadian Music Week because it’s a good opportunity for our band to get our name out there and to be seen by people in the music industry,” says Liam Bryant, who came from Saskatchewan with his band Molten Lava.

Canadian Music Week has majorly impacted the success of some, now familiar, bands, according to this year’s festival director. “Canadian Music Week has actually launched the careers of many Canadian bands. Arcade Fire performed at the Indie Awards in 2004 when their first album came out and won breakout artist of the year. And here we are today watching Arcade Fire win artist of the year at the Grammy Awards,” says Cameron Wright.

The majority of groups are Canadian, as the name of the event suggests, but there is also a large presence of international performers. The line-up included Australian, Taiwanese and Irish showcases as well as a spotlight concert on Southeast Asia. Many artists and professionals involved headed the next week to South by Southwest, a more prominent festival of a similar type in Austin, Texas.

This year’s Music Week closed with the Indies, an awards show for independent music.

In this case, Indie is a bit misleading because independent music at the awards refers to the label instead of the sound of the music, as music from the Top 40 genre was up for a variety of awards as well. The awards featured live performers, among them Janelle Monáe, Shad and Hollerado. If you are a fan of awards shows, this one is fairly easy to get tickets to and includes a lot of live music.

The next festival is just under a year away. Don’t let the smorgasbord of options overwhelm you. Canadian Music Week is an opportunity to update your musical tastes and support Canadian performers. —Annie Burns-Pieper

Ryerson Free Press april 2011 15

STAGE Oleanna

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avid Mamet’s challenging play Oleanna twists preconceptions in the battle of the sexes. Soulpepper Theatre’s recent rendition only twists your imagination to believe that the fight is fair.

Mamet is best known for his fascination with words as weapons. This is the subtext for Oleanna, a play based on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s sexual harassment trial of the ’90s.

Late one night, a university student seeks help in her professor’s office and records his every word into her notebook. Carol (Sarah Wilson) claims not to understand the jargon of John’s (Diego Matamoros) academorrhea, his “paradigms” and “precepts” and “virtual warehousing of the young.” But, later, it is this literal transcript that becomes her weapon, as she makes herself a victim of his words. Exhibit A: We witness John speak these words with seeming innocence—a colloquial turn of phrase. Yet, later, under Carol’s inflection, these same words sound damning, and so foreign he insists he never spoke them. The audience must decide who is right.

It’s ironic that what brings about the professor’s downfall, the manipulation of words, is the same thing that weakens Soulpepper’s production. Director László Marton handicaps Carol in his direction of the leads, giving John the power of subtext and stripping Carol of any understanding of it. The initial physical conflict is subdued, making Carol’s complaint seem bizarre. Some critics say Mamet’s play is already biased unfairly in John’s favour, but this version siphons away all sympathy the audience might find in Carol.

Matamoros is well-cast in the role of John, looking and speaking like every pseudo-philosopher with a PhD. He’s a blowhard, but a likeable one. He turns Mamet’s characteristically repetitive dialogue into something natural. These repetitions are the power points of the entire play,

where words are thrown as artillery, twisted with new subtext. One character echoes the words of another, infusing different undertones and distorting the meaning entirely.

Wilson does her best with the role of Carol, but when her vulnerable charm wears off there is little to connect with in the self-determined victim. In the first act, Carol’s emotionless echoing of John’s words is a wrong note sung by a broken-winged bird. You want to hate the parrot but the poor thing wins sympathy. Her squirming and halted sentences make you suffer Carol’s intellectual frustrations and socioeconomic anxieties. She seems almost real, but then with one repeated phrase, she turns into an actor reading lines. Her echoes thump all context and meaning from the words.

While it may be the director’s intention to show the character’s literal viewpoint, thus explaining her later perceptions, it strips Carol of the power of endearment. By the second and third acts, she’s a feminist robot. She does not redirect her frustration as anger. It’s hard not to root for John when we hear Carol’s complaint, and even harder to care at all by the time the rope unravels.

For a play known for its words, the best elements of this performance are the nonverbal.

The set’s tilted walls seem one huff from collapse, and the actors mirror the slant, angling back and forth as the power shifts between them. Our focus tightens as their fates narrow. Like John and Carol, we feel squeezed into a corner, almost hoping for catastrophe. The finale gives relief that things can’t get worse. But the problem with beating down preconceptions is that in the end there’s nothing left to fight for. —Amy Ward

FILM Machete Maidens Unleashed

T

o enjoy Machete Maidens Unleashed! as the busty, misogynistic romp through the jungles of Manila that it is, check all your intellectual and moral judgments at the door.

Suppressing all disgust, especially of the anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-dictatorship and feminist variety, is necessary to appreciate the subject matter—B-movies filmed in the Philippines during the ’70s and ’80s. After all, they did belong to the “exploitation film” genre.

A repeated theme in the documentary’s interviews with filmmakers and actresses was “Don’t take anything we did seriously.” Since there were no stars available for these very lowbudget productions, it was all about exploiting the subject matter—“blood, breasts and beasts.”

But in its own B-movie way, there were some empowering elements. As they say in the film, you couldn’t sell female empowerment in the ’70s without “T and A.” In the same way that bra burning was a form of feminist protest, so too were the topless action-hero leads. The documentary talked of films with strong women, like Black Mama, White Mama and Master Samurai.

There were Black and Asian female leads galore in films such as in Ebony, Ivory & Jade and They Call Her Cleopatra Wong. This was unheard of then, and rare even now.

There were also films depicting guerilla warfare, although the irony was made clear. These films were made during the President Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship and Philippine martial law. The country’s army gladly supplied actual helicopters and soldiers for the military fighting scenes, after they were finished quelling real rebellions.

There were always many downsides to the few upsides. There were strong female guards torturing weak, scantily clad prisoners, a common theme in blockbuster hits like Women in Cages. While actresses kicked ass with big guns and massive machetes on screen, they changed

in jungle caves that also served as male urinals off camera.

Filipino filmmakers like Eddie Romero entertained international audiences, while Filipino extras and stuntmen worked for pennies. They did actual stunts, jumping through real glass windows and second-storey towers without safety equipment.

One standout from the genre is the best A-list film shot in the Philippines—Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Few will realize that this was not actually Vietnam in the Oscarwinning film, but rather Philippine jungles being bombed, and Tagalog being spoken. Another standout from the period is the rise of actress Pam Grier, better known as “Foxy Brown”—cinema’s number one soul sister. Grier is more recently known for her title role in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Tarantino was, of course, highly influenced by the B-movie genre.

If you stick around for the end of Machete Maidens, you will find a little surprise—the Filipino midget action-hero, Wang Wang. In James Bond spoofs, Wang Wang always got the chick after punching bad guys in their lower regions, and parachuting from danger with an umbrella.

The Wang Wang films are the only ones I would actually watch.

As a Filipino-Canadian, I had many “No wonder!” moments throughout the documentary.

Machete Maidens explained the cheesiness of contemporary Filipino films, considering the years of B-movie influence. Also, a disoriented sense of pride came from knowing that provocative scenes filmed in the Philippines filled giant screens in packed American drive-ins for decades, before big budget action movies took over Hollywood.

While my politically correct mind rejected everything, and my stomach churned, I must admit that there were many spectacles of debauchery I couldn’t help but laugh at. —Dyan Ruiz

Battle: Los Angeles

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attle: Los Angeles is not the first alien invasion movie, and if there is any justice for sci-fi lovers in this cruel world, it won’t be the last. My advice to you is to watch Battle: LA, but at the cheapest theatre you can find and on the cheapest day.

As an action flick, it did have some redeeming qualities, if you look past the unoriginal plot.

The movie began with the world believing meteors were headed for the planet and that the meteors would result in some destruction but not complete annihilation. Then, surprise, it’s aliens.

Surprise again, the invaders want earth’s water and humans exterminated. In L.A., Marines are sent to Santa Monica to rescue civilians before the authorities bomb the alien infestation.

The clichés were rampant: from the attempted tearjerker death scene to the obligatory human-alien sexual joke. Granted, the joke was funny, but for two seconds. And the child crying over his father’s limp body did elicit some hint of emotion from me. But by the time the mandatory hero-speech happened a few moments later, I was over it.

They took the military route with this film. Now we can officially call it an alien invasion war movie. The beginning was devoted to the humanizing of the Marines, who would be getting the majority of screen time. The opening scene was of the “hero,” Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz played by Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), running on a beach on the California coast. And all I could think of was Matt Damon running, also on a beach, in an opening scene in one of The Bourne Identity sequels.

Eckhart isn’t Damon and that’s fine because he made Nantz a redeeming character. He had the most detailed backstory. Nantz submitted his resignation and was destined for retirement. The last mission he led left him with a medal for his bravery and a heavy heart for the men he lost. It also left him with a reputation for unnecessarily sacrificing his own crew. True or not, the animosity directed towards Nantz from his subordinates created distrust directed towards him and, therefore, made for a dangerous combat scenario, aside from the attempted genocide of the human race. Eckhart is simply good at playing the burdened hero.

What isn’t fine is that between the speed of the invasion and number of Marines, there wasn’t sufficient time to build backstories for all of them. This caused lack of emotional attachment between the audience and the characters.

Take a hint from Independence Day (1996). It was a combined military-civilian alien in-

16 ryersonfreepress.ca

vasion flick and the invasion was strategically drawn out. This allowed the backstories of both the military and the civilian main characters to be sufficiently explored. When it comes to civilians, ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances are much more endearing and easily relatable. In Battle: LA, there were civilian characters—two adults, a man and woman, and three children—but their character development was lacking. The man had a brief moment of heroism followed by his death, but I wasn’t particularly attached to him. Other than that, who doesn’t like the everyday loser who turns into a force to be reckoned with when the apocalypse arrives? We’d all like to think we would kick ass in that scenario. Now add some military men and women, connect them with the civilians and you get the best of both worlds.

What’s a modern sci-fi film without a strong female character to balance all that testosterone? Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) played technical sergeant Elena Santos of the U.S. Air Force. Rodriguez’s character held her own in combat and I would expect nothing less from the actress who played a one-eyed freedom fighter in the Grindhouse spin-off Machete (2010).

It’s unfortunate that Santos was only introduced somewhat late into the movie and had no backstory. The only other main female role was a civilian veterinarian who was neither memorable nor necessary to plot development. Okay, she did some physical analysis of the alien creatures, but they could have assigned that role to the Marine medic.

Visually, the film was reasonably easy to follow. There is sometimes a tendency with action movies for sequences to happen so quickly, you’re not sure whose head was just blown off and by what missile. Battle: LA mostly avoids this trap, and action at the extraterrestrial level is best seen on the big screen. My sci-fi buddy described Battle: LA as Black Hawk Down (2001), but with aliens.

The film leaves me with one question, though: Why Los Angeles? I have this image in my mind of the behind-the-scenes movie execs saying to themselves that New York City had already been done. I would like to see Battle: Toronto with an alien ship impaled on the CN Tower. But until then, I am waiting for summer to get my next fix of the absurd: Cowboys & Aliens with Daniel Craig. Enough said. —Ruane Remy

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devrEyeopener

NEWS

Wednesday, April 1, 2011

Top 8 Canadian Immigrants of All Time In honour of the Canadian Immigrant Magazine’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Contest, we have compiled a list of the Canadian immigrants that have contributed the most throughout of all of Canada’s short but illustrious history.

BY Zsa Zsa McWilliams HISTORY EDITOR 8. Spanish Flu The only non-human immigrant to ever be awarded this honour, the Spanish Influenza Virus earns an Honorable Mention in this competition. Along with many other Eurasian viruses and diseases, the Spanish flu crossed the Atlantic on ships with the rest of the European colonizers and settlers. And just like the European colonizers and settlers, it explored the land from coast to coast, decimating indigenous populations as it went.

7. Hans Bernhardt In 1664 Bernhardt came to Canada, earning an honorary place in Canadian history as the first recorded German immigrant. We recognize Bernhardt here not just because he is a special first, but because he illustrates that even though Cartier founded the first French settlement in the Americas only a hundred years before, any person arriving to Canada that was not English or French (sometimes also Scottish and Irish) would be deemed an immigrant, while the English and French (and Scottish and Irish) were simply pioneers. This deeply Canadian practice of snubbing anyone else that attempts to build a life in Canada has been wholeheartedly carried on through Canadian policy, practice and government. One notable partisan is Mr. Jason Kenny, current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

6. Henry Hudson The story of Henry Hudson, an English sea explorer, illustrates the excite-

ment felt by Europeans discovering a new world and the glory in their adventures. In the early seventeenth century, Hudson explored the East Coast of North America looking for passage to the East for the Dutch East India Company. The river he explored in that area was eventually named after him.

In 1611, after spending the winter in James Bay, Hudson wanted to continue further West, but his crew, representing the only European explorers (other than the Vikings, see 2) to ever visit a foreign land and simply return, were apparently tired of the famous Canadian winter (I’m assuming they didn’t have toques or Sorels then), so they mutinied, and left Hudson, his young son and a few other crewmembers adrift in what was to become Hudson’s Bay, and they were never seen again. Upon returning to Europe, the mutineers were not convicted and executed as most mutineers are, instead they were charged with murder and acquitted, being that they possessed information of the new world that was far more valuable to north American colonizers than was justice, another tradition that has wound its way into the Canadian judiciary and political systems and since remained.

5. Chinese-Canadian railway workers We decided it would be pertinent to apply this honour to a group of people, and we would like to recognize the Chinese workers on the Canadian Pacific Railway for two reasons. The first being that they don’t appear to be formally recognized anywhere else. The

second, that they are the first and only immigrant population to be actually requested by the Canadian government, who today prefers illegal and/ or temporary workers. BC politicians of the time pushed for an accommodating immigrant program for workers from the British Isles (an obvious preference) after being given a strict time limit to build the railway. But our then Prime Minister, much like our current Prime Minister, recognized the true value and opportunity in cheap foreign labour, and he (John A. Macdonald) can be quoted as saying, “It is simply a question of alternatives: either you must have this labour or you can’t have the railway.” A true testament to early Canadian capitalism, Macdonald’s words illustrate the importance of making money over than domestic development needs.

4. Sir John A. Macdonald Macdonald moved to Canada with his family at the tender age of five. Similar to many immigrant experiences in Canadian history, his family struggled to find financial footing in their new home, and young John was forced to leave school at 15, (he was unable to attend university), to help support his family. With no post secondary education, and no interest in learning a trade, the only option for the man who was to enter politics and eventually become the first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada was, apparently, law. Along with being a solid number four on our list and the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald was also the first conservative Prime

Minister in Canadian history. A tradition that is yet to expire, but we’ve all got our fingers crossed.

3. William Lyon Mackenzie Mr. Mackenzie’s story is another classic tale of a struggling immigrant rising to make his own in a new and foreign land. Mackenzie left Europe at 25 because he lacked stable employment.

When he arrived here he worked on a canal in Lower Canada (present day eastern Quebec), and wrote for various local newspapers. He eventually established his own paper, the Colonial Advocate. His interest in local politics led to him running for office. This quintessential story of a newcomer in Canada peaked in 1834 when Mackenzie was appointed Mayor But Mackenzie only lasted until 1835 bcause he did not address the city’s debt or the need for public works another longstanding tradition.

2. Leif “the Lucky” Ericsson Leif the Lucky was the first European to visit North America, likely responsible for establishing the L’ans aux Meadows settlement in present day Newfoundland. It is not a very well known fact that the first Europeans to visit North America were actually Vikings. This is probably because the Norse explorers did so hundreds of years before anyone else and did not steal, colonize and claim ownership of the land to the same extent of their later counterparts. Some have surmised that their apparent lack of ambition or interest in the land (occasionally misinterpreted as an understanding that

the land was previously inhabited and not theirs to take) was what kept them out of the history books. We recognise Ericsson here because after his genial first visit to North America, he came back (after having returned to Norway and converted to Christianity) this time with a priest, kicking off a long and far less friendly tradition of European missionary work (also known as ‘forced conversion of the native heathens’ in some texts) in North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific Colonies, to name a few.

1. Christopher Columbus The Top Canadian Immigrant Award of all time goes Christopher Columbus, a fifteenth-century Italian sailor.

Though Columbus never actually made it to Canada in his lifetime, his extraordinary underestimation of the circumference of our planet lead to one of the most profitable mistakes in history for European colonization of the ‘Americas’. His famous navigational gaffe, landing him in the Bahamas instead of India, was the first of four famous voyages he made across the Atlantic, opening the door to colonization of North and South America and the decimation of entire indigenous populations. His infamous inability to distinguish between the cultures of North American indigenous peoples and those of India lead to the development of the terms ‘American Indians’, or ‘Native Indians’. His well-lauded racism, rapaciousness and the genocide and land-theft that were born of it are still celebrated in the United States today on Columbus Day, an official holiday.

WikiLeaks leaks shows that Canada is insignificant

BY CO-CO KENNEY WIKILEAKS EDITOR Canadian leaders are scrambling to contain the fallout from another set of WikiLeaks cables from American foreign diplomats.

The leaks demonstrate that Canada plays no significant role in global politics and that many believe its representatives to be pathetic and untalented.

Cable 113375, released on March 28, was sent from the London embassy of the United States, actually contained the sentence, “I’ve never met a more base, dry or angry human than Canada’s Steve Harper.”

Politicians in Ottawa are scrambling to respond, on both sides of the issue.

“Regardless of what some American egg-head thinks of me, they can go to hell,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Harper’s staff were more diplomatic, and shouted through the bathroom door to respond to journalists, as they comforted Harper who had ran into the accessible bathroom stall to cry.

“Our leader is great. Just because the Americans don’t like him doesn’t change how much we love, honour and dedicate ourselves to him and his work,” one staffer said, while sobbing.

The leader of the Official Opposi-

tion started to hyperventilate with excitement when he heard the news.

“As Canada’s top egghead, I am in absolute concurrence with my esteemed American colleague and friend,” Ignatieff managed to snort out. His staff were chest bumping and giving each other high fives behind the Liberal leader.

The WikiLeaks cable is an account from an American diplomat after a tense meeting between leaders from Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Ireland. The meeting was called to discuss the use of white phosphorous by Israel against the population of the Gaza Strip during the most recent offensive on the world’s largest open-air prison.

All the leaders were in agreement that a response was necessary, but what approach to take threw the Canadians into a state of hysteria.

“After two hours of discussion, those present agreed to co-sign a letter written to the Prime Minister of Israel lightly requesting that if they have to bomb Palestinians, that they should consider using either a less corrosive gas, or find an American supplier with a different gas name” the cable said.

“The Canadian guy was in the other

room watching the World Juniors Hockey Tournament when we called him in for his signature. He read the demands of the letter, dropped to the floor and started screaming, “Why do you all hate Israel so much?” the cable continued.

“The whole incident was really, really sad,” said Sir Humphrey Phillips, the British official who witnessed Harper’s meltdown.

“We asked his wife Laureen, who he had asked to be his designated driver, if we could give him some warm milk and valium to calm him down. She didn’t even notice that he was in distress. ‘I’m used to it’ she told us.”

Phillips read the American cable and said that the account accurately reflected how most world leaders view Harper.

“Aside from most of the dictators in the Middle East, Harper is a person non grata in diplomatic circles.”

Hillary Clinton, when asked to comment, forwarded the following response: “Thank-you for your email. I am currently away from my desk. If your concern is immediate, please email hsachin@freedom.gov.

James Smith, an intern with Joe Biden’s secretary, said that he has heard that Canada isn’t really a main player in high-level decisions. “I’m normally asked to book them tickets for our third tier of seating,” he said.

At press time, it was unclear if Harper would be OK having heard the contents of the leaked cable.

NEWS

Wednesday, April 1, 2011

devrEyeopener

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RSU controlled by 3-in-1 superbeing Rye VP

BY Alison Garvey RSU EDITOR The DevrEyeopener has discovered that Ryerson Students’ Union executives Toby Whitfield, Caitlin Smith and Rodney Diverlus are in fact the same person.

The discovery was made late last Thursday night when the DevrEyeopener News reporter saw what appeared to be Caitlin turning into Rodney.

Police have rendered a description of what Caitlin, Rodney and Toby must look like when they’re all together as one. PHOTO: POLICE COMPOSITE

“It was so weird. Caitlin walked into the hallway towards the bathroom, and Rodney returned,” said Megan Murphy McHiggins. “I stayed for at least five more minutes and it was very clear that Caitlin wasn’t returning. In fact, it became crystal clear that Caitlin is Rodney.”

Spurned on by DevrEyeopener reporting proudly based on conjecture and suspicion, students have often suggested that something wasn’t quite right about the current RSU executive. The DevrEyeopener’s biggest fan, second-year new media student and boyfriend of the Editor-in-Chief Jimmi Larue, said “I always knew that Caitlin, Toby and Rodney are actually the same person.”

“I’m now mostly confused as to how all three of them can have such different style,” said McHiggins.

When reached for comment, Caitlin Smith went on a tirade about journalism and research, that didn’t make enough sense to be published.

Toby Whitfield responded to interview requests, however. When asked about how long he thought he could hide the fact that Caitlin and Rodney and him were the same person, he said, “I don’t understand. Is this a joke?”

The evidence was presented to Toby, and he asked, “How was it that I became part of this if the only people you saw were Caitlin and Rodney?”

“They’re so obviously the same person, Toby’s too chicken to answer this question. It would kill his credibility with the Canadian Federation of Students and with Ryerson and his so-called twin brother, Troby,” said McHiggins.

Diverlus was more candid with the information represented and acknowledged that it looked bad. “I’m afraid you may have stumbled upon a piece of my success, that I am in fact a white man and a white woman, as well as a dancer. There’s no way any-

one can touch me.” Diverlus then sashayed away from the reporter and yelled, “morons.”

Many have suspected that there was something up among the RSU executive team, as they have managed to attend most on-campus events, and stayed positive in the face of unrelenting and unresearched negativity from the campus press.

But the news hasn’t been welcomed by everyone.

A poll has been running in the Rogers Communications Centre about how much more pressure it would take to break Toby.

Serena Sandhu, the front-runner of the poll, was upset when she heard that Toby is also Caitlin and Rodney.

“If he’s really three people, he’s never going to crack. I can’t believe I wasted five bucks on this stupid poll.”

Whitfield rudely threw his driver’s license at McHiggins during the interview to demonstrate his identity and said that there really shouldn’t be any question about who may be who at the RSU. “What frustrates me is that Ryerson’s senior administrators were caught collectively siphoning one million dollars from students in the form of their outrageous salaries, and you’re focusing on this. You people are hopeless,” Whitfield said.

“Classic Toby, or Caitlin or Rodney,” rebutted McHiggins. “You present him with a major scandal and all he can talk about is how much this guy is making, and how the post-secondary sector is crumbling, or how students are getting screwed. I can see right through him. This is a classic deflection strategy to ensure that no one realizes his evil and potentially dangerous secret.

Caitlin’s mother declined to comment.

Rodney’s mother declined to comment.

Toby doesn’t seem to have a mother.

Harper says no to Gay-Straight Alliance Parliamentary gays lose their shit Andrew Gabon McBratton OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF Stephen Harper has refused to allow parliament’s first Gay-Straight alliance to exist.

Formed through the pink triangle caucus of the Senate, the Gay-Straight Alliance was founded in response to rumors that the Federal government would try to de-fund Pride celebrations and the increase in covert expressions of homophobia in question period.

The queer community at Parliament Hill has erupted in anger.

“Gay Senators to Harper: Bitch, please” read the cheeky headline of the group’s release. Some people speculated whether or not this was a homage to a press released issued by Queers Against Israeli Apartheid upon being banned by Pride Toronto for their overtly human rightsy campaign.

Spokesperson for the Gay-Straight Alliance, Senator Addie Horton’s, said that Stephen Harper’s decision to ban these groups must be overturned immediately.

“I was appointed to the Senate by

the former Liberal government to be both gay and a thorn in the sides of the Conservative party,” said Hornton’s. The Senator represents both the Province of Ontario and the hockey and doughnut legacy of her uncle. “Harper’s ban on our group was the issue I needed to actually show up to work and attend the daily wines and cheeses that mark Senate life.”

“Harper doesn’t realize who he’s fucking with,” she yelled down the Rotunda as she ran toward a wine and cheese that was being hosted by the Canadian Association of Fertilizer Producers and Users.

While no one was surprised that the Gay-Straight Alliance ban has infuriated the mostly gay New Democratic Party, Senators and Members of Parliament are coming out to voice their opposition to the ban.

“Let me make this clear. I am not coming out,” said Member of Parliament John Baird.

Other Conservative politicians were more candid, yet embarrassed to be on the record.

I was appointed by the former Liberal government to be both gay and a thorn in the sides of the Conservative party.

—Senator Addie Horton’s, Gay-Straight Alliance Spokesperson “When I got elected, I thought I would come to Ottawa and make a difference,” said one Member of Parliament who refused to be identified because he’s a member of the Conservative caucus. “I am ashamed of my own caucus. Which is sad because I’ve always been somewhat ashamed of my caucus,” he added.

When asked directly about this decision, Harper said that he believed that allowing a Senate Gay-Straight Alliance would be similar to allowing parliamentarians to form Nazi organizations.

“I’m not saying that gay people and Nazis are the same thing,” said Harper, “But you have to admit that they share similar, and I’d argue dangerous, notions of style” he said to an obviously confused press core.

Despite the ban, it is clear that the Gay-Straight Alliance will continue to push for recognition. One member even said that they’re willing to bring this to the Queen of England to be overturn.

“If Harper thinks that he can police peoples’ sexuality based on his wacky religious beliefs, he’s in for a shock,” said one anonymous Member of Parliament.

“If he refuses to compromise, I’ll just have to take this queen to see the Queen. Lizzy will overturn this decision, she’s basically a gay icon” he said.

seen burning Kerr Hall to ground

BY Alison Garvey FIRE EDITOR Kerr Hall was burned to the ground last night.

In a strangely familiar display of fire, yet another building on Ryerson’s campus was burned down. Many have suggested arson.

Julie Flappard said she saw a woman who resembled Ryerson’ newlyminted Vice-President Administration setting the quadrangular high-school reminiscent building a light.

“I recognized her geek-chic senioradministrator power suit, and she was yelling something about wanting to have a new building because Sheldon Levy has like five,” said Flappard.

The Fire Marshall says that the cause of the fire is unknown, but due to how each of the four wings of Kerr Hall were engulfed in flames so quickly, he suspected that it was likely premeditated. “The fire was either set at once in four separate places, or someone used a remote control detonator to explode devises placed at each of the corners of the building,” he said.

Jamie D’Souza saw the flames and ran toward it to throw his textbooks into the fire. “I just can’t believe it. I hate that building so much. To see it in flames caused me to do whatever I could to ensure that the fire wouldn’t go out.”

Students affiliated with the Oakham ACT club also ran toward the flames and started dancing around it.

Ryerson University’s department of pubic affairs condemned the fire as an act of terrorism committed by fire’s insatiable desire to burn things.

Sheldon Levy expressed great sympathy for the 40 or so engineering students who were found dead in the basement of Kerr Hall North, and fused to their chairs by the intense heat.

Levy said that an investigation would be undertaken as many suspected that it was arson, and that he would head the investigation up himself, with the help of the Digital Media Zone. The police have said that they will be allowing Levy to do this, based purely on his charm.

But Vice-President Administration Ioana Planingsberg was less charming and even appeared angry at Levy’s fire briefing press conference. Planingsberg said nothing to journalists, but after the press conference, she tweeted “MLG, DMZ, Image Arts and Learning Commons? So long KH. I can finally oversee my own mini-empire.

And Sheldz can back off…”

Planingsberg refused to explain the tweet when asked later on during the day, but she said that she was tired from cleaning soot out of her clothes, so her tweets may be less coherent.

Staff from nutrition and the miscellaneous science and engineering departments expressed excitement over the possibility of replacing Kerr Hall’s old infrastructure. The Fashion department was less impressed.

The Ryerson Students’ Union is setting up a fund for the theater school that lost years and years of sets, miscellaneous props and at least two technicians.

Ryerson Athletics has successfully proposed a referendum on a fee increase of $467 per semester, per student.

devr

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volume 44 / issue 25 Wednesday, April 1, 2011 Ryerson’s Independent Paper Since 1967 devreyeopener.com

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