Volume 58, Issue 9

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER VOLUME 58, ISSUE 9 - FEBRUARY 23, 2016

ANTIQUE FABLES THEATRE COLLECTIVE: Updating the classics Page 10

#scholarships:

DATE THE STRAND:

iso treasure:

delving into vic's financial aid

we just need somebody to love

an interview with the bunzmom

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PAGES 7 - 9

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News • The Strand

UTSU blocks student from Facebook page, violates own grievance procedures VP Equity Sania Khan has yet to officially respond to a grievance filed against her in December, violating the UTSU’s own bylaws that require a response within two weeks Anthony Burton | Editor-in-Chief A grievance filed against UTSU’s VP Equity Sania Khan in December has yet to elicit any response from Khan, in violation of UTSU’s own bylaws dictating that grievances must be responded to within two weeks of the filing. The grievance was filed by UofT student Mitchell Gould to UTSU Speaker and Grievance Officer Brad Evoy on December 2.

On December 27, Evoy put forward a call for a mediated session in an email to Gould, Khan and UTSU President Ben

Coleman. It is not clear whether Khan or Coleman officially acknowledged this email, but in a later email to Gould on February 9, Evoy indicated that he had not received a response from Khan. Khan, Coleman, and UTSU Executive Director Tka Pinnock did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

UTSU’s bylaw XVII.2 dictates that any grievance filed must be responded to by the party involved no later than two weeks after the filing of the grievance.

In the case of this deadline passing, the Grievance Officer must send UTSU’s Board of Directors a report to be discussed at their next meeting. February’s Board of Directors meeting is scheduled to take place on February 28.

Gould’s grievance arose from claims that he was blocked from commenting on the Facebook event page for one of UTSU’s “Xpression Against Oppression” initiatives in November, an event called “Solidarity with Palestine: Building the

Student Movement.” In his grievance, Gould states that he felt “compelled to ask if the event organisers would also condemn the ongoing incitement to violence against Israelis.” He claims that this comment was deleted and that he was blocked from commenting further on the page.

Gould’s grievance requests an apology in person and in writing by the person who blocked him, as well as a general apology on the Facebook event page.

The Gardiner Gala, revisited Annual gala, postponed from its original Frost Week date, to take place February 22 in slightly retooled format Illustration | Natasha Rosslein

Erin Calhoun | Staff Reporter The Gardiner Gala is one of the chief traditions of Victoria College’s annual Frost Week, which takes place every January.

This year’s Gala was organised by VUSAC’s Arts and Culture and Scarlet and Gold Commissions, as well as the Dean’s Office and the Gardiner Museum. The Dean’s Office handled the administrative planning with the Gardner Museum, while VUSAC planned other details like booking a DJ and coordinating a VicXposure exhibit.

However, the Gala was postponed and failed to take place on its original date. The cancelation of this Vic tradition resulted from a lack of communication between all three parties. Communication became problematic for all parties throughout the winter break, as administration are not required to check emails at this time. This inconsistency caused the Dean of Students, Kelley Castle, to postpone the event due to the Gardiner’s increasing demands for control of pricing within the Gala.

To replace the Gala, the Dean’s Office hosted an event entitled “Aurora: An Evening at Goldring.” Attempting to make up for what was lost at the Gala, Aurora served appetizers and featured a cash bar.

It was here that VicXposure displayed their art exhibit of student submissions.

The new date for the Gardiner Gala is February 22. Just as before, the Gala is open to Vic students and staff and tickets are free of charge. Tickets were available for pickup at the Dean’s Office front desk on February 16 to 19. The other half of the tickets were made available in VUSAC’s on February 22 starting at 11 AM, on a first come, first served basis.

Along with a new date, VUSAC has made some changes to the Gardiner Gala.

In a short discussion with The Strand, VUSAC stated that this event will not have a heavy dance component, because there will not be a DJ. The hope is that this will be a more social event for students and faculty to mingle. Similarly, because

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VicXposure’s art exhibit already took place at Aurora, it will also be absent.

Originally connected to Frost Week (a week-long event occurring after winter break), the Gala is a classy event meant to reunite students and faculty members in a semi-formal setting. Now, after being postponed and separated from Frost

The Gardiner will also have a special exhibit, entitled “Across the Globe,” open for those who attend.

Week, the Gala’s current placement after Reading Week may jeopardise its potential for success. When interviewed, some first-

year students said that it was a nice idea, but they were just not interested. One student stated that the date of the Gala conflicts with her prior vacation arrangements made for Reading Week. Another student said that she would not be attending the event because of other attractions that are available to her on the week off.

After spending five weeks back in school and amongst peers, students may not feel the need to attend this semi-formal gala meant to reunite.

With the removal of a dance atmosphere, the social element becomes emphasized. Some students are looking forward to the Gala and the opportunity to interact with faculty outside of an administrative setting. First-year student Maia Kachan, who was planning on attending the Gala in January, says this about the

February date: “It’s a great idea! After not seeing my friends for a week, it’s a great opportunity to get dressed up and catch up.” With growing numbers and attention on the Facebook event page, many of those who planned on attending the Gala in January will surely be in attendance on February 22.

The Gardiner Gala will begin at 6:30 PM at the Gardiner Museum and will run until 9:30 PM. The Gardiner Museum will also have a special exhibit, entitled “Across the Globe,” open for those who attend. VUSAC is very excited for the event, and hopes that it will serve as a fun event to return to from Reading Week.

News • The Strand

Cheating the system: The burgeoning essay mill industry Rowan Miller | The Brunswickan Fake academic materials are produced for a wide variety of subjects ranging from introductory literature analysis to highlevel technical disciplines. The commercial production of false work is an international industry with operations ranging in scale from local ads to multimilliondollar production houses.

So when a student decides to cheat on a paper, they have a plethora of options to choose from. But why cheat in the first place?

Justin Colwell [not his real name], a student who used to freelance poetry assignments at the University of New Brunswick, believes fear of failure is a common motivator.

“I got most of my business during exam periods or midterm season, where somebody would just have too many things going on, usually the people were overloading, so six classes a semester, and they would just not have time to sit down

for that two hours and really understand what a poem was about.”

Colwell admitted that some students sought his services out of pure laziness.

These students are far less likely to succeed overall however.

“Most of the people I’ve done it for dropped out after first year,” Colwell said.

Professors are well aware of students cheating on assignments.

Matthew Sears, associated professor of Classics at UNB said the pressure many students feel to attain a Bachelor’s degree, despite personal desire, interest, or ability, plays a major role in creating academic dishonesty.

“It’s part and parcel of the industrialization of education in general now,” he said.

Sears said that many students consider a Bachelor’s degree mandatory for finding work and that it drives them to questionable behaviour. He said many

students come to believe a paper needs to be completed by any means necessary.

Desperation for a degree is also met with uncertainty in one’s own ability. Another anonymous writer who wrote university applications said that their clients were often unsure of their abilities to eloquently present themselves on paper.

“One hundred dollars for two short essays, why not?” reasoned one essay-writer The source found the ethics of their actions troubling, but the financial benefits were initially overwhelming. “One hundred dollars for two short essays, why not?” they said.

The source also said they were relieved the buyers didn’t always prosper.

“I was kind of sad [the client] didn’t get in, but at the same time happy as I know he wouldn’t have gotten in on his own merits.”

Admissions essays are projects particularly susceptible to forgery and substitution due to the highly anonymous nature of university applications.

Jennifer Andrews, chair of the English department at UNB, said that today’s culture of anonymity is a major reason for the success of essay mills. Andrew believes that academic dishonesty is perhaps a more serious problem at larger universities where triple-digit class sizes prevent instructors from becoming familiar with each student’s unique style of writing. At such institutions a student might have very little contact with their professor, and view them more as a merciless grading machine than a human being.

Scholarships 101:

The Strand talks academic funding with Victoria College registrar Susan McDonald

Illustration | Seolim Hong

Erik Preston | Staff Reporter With Reading Week behind us, the 201516 academic year will soon come to a close. For many, the end of one school year inevitably leads to the question of how to pay for the next. As tuition prices continue to soar, and with the City of Toronto no less expensive to live in, this question is more daunting every year.

But where certain voids in funding exist, there are resources available to fill them at Victoria College and the University of Toronto. Millions of dollars in bursary and scholarship money are available to students at Vic to help ameliorate this problem, but understanding how to receive funding is half the battle. Figuring out who has the money and how to get it is a daunting task, one that many students (myself included) have avoided at the expense of our future credit ratings.

The Strand sat down with Victoria College registrar Susan McDonald to better understand student funding within Vic as well as through the UTAPS program. As it turns out, scholarships and other supplementary funding are not as hard to get as you might think.

Supplementary funding falls into four main categories: admission-based scholarships, in-course scholarships, application-based scholarships, and bursaries. Understanding the ins and outs of each will help you to better judge what you qualify for, and where you can best allocate your time and effort.

According to McDonald, “The University of Toronto has a guarantee that anyone whose admittance average is 92% or higher gets an admission scholarship…

Victoria cuts off higher than that, because there’s a large portion of students that enter the university now with averages higher than 90%, especially at Victoria and Trinity Colleges.” These admission-based scholarships are one of the two sources of automatic funding available to students, for which there is no application needed.

In-course scholarships are a further source of funding for Victoria College students for which there is no application required. As a Vic student, if you achieve an A average (a GPA of 3.5 or higher) in an academic year, you will receive $1,000 automatically in supplementary funding. “Last year, 793 Vic students achieved this,” says McDonald. This equates to

over 30% of the student body at Vic. This funding is provided following completion of a group of five credits up to three times, meaning each Vic student has the opportunity to earn $3,000 in scholarships.

But if there is still a gap after potential admissions and in-course scholarships, OSAP, and parental funding, students can apply for bursaries through Vic, as well as through University of Toronto Advance Planning for Students (UTAPS).

Bursaries are needs-based, and thus students must demonstrate financial need in order to receive them. During the 201314 school year, $27.5 million in grants were provided to undergraduate students at UofT through the UTAPS program, of which $9.2 million went to students in the Faculty of Arts & Science. However, due to the higher tuition fees of programs such as computer science and Rotman Commerce, a large part of this bursary funding tends to go to students in these programs. Over 8,600 students received funding from UTAPS in the 2013-14 school year.

The bursaries available at Vic are given through endowments, as opposed to the operating budget. These are funds that have been given to the College by individuals for specific purposes, such as the Garnet Aikins Archibald Bursary, awarded to students expressing financial need following their first year of studies.

UTAPS bursaries, however, are a part of the university’s operating budget. These bursaries are made available through clawback funds, which are required by the Government of Ontario in exchange for the university’s ability to make tuition fee increases for direct-entry programs (Arts & Science, Engineering, etc.). In other words, for the university to make you pay more tuition, they also have to make more money available through bursaries to help you pay your tuition and other expenses. This is known as the Student Access Guarantee (SAG), for which the university was required to provide

$17.9 million in supplemental funding in the 2013-14 school year. The university also provided an additional $11.9 million that year for direct-entry programs.

When it comes to application-based scholarships, the conditions under which each are awarded can be found on the Victoria College website. One award that McDonald is especially proud of is the Dr. Lorus J. Milne and Dr. Margery J. Milne Award, a product of a large endowment fund, which is awarded to life sciences students participating in research projects who cannot afford to sacrifice income during the summer months. “It addresses two things,” she says. “It gives students a grant, which looks great on a resume, and it allows them to maybe not have to work and instead focus on their research.”

The Northrop Frye Centre Undergraduate Research Award is another such award given to humanities students for the same purpose, although with a smaller endowment than the Milne award. These are just a couple of the many applicationbased scholarships available specifically to Victoria College students.

While the last thing students want to do during or after a school year is write another paper or fill out another application, applying for bursaries and scholarships is a relatively simple way to gain those few extra dollars to get rid of some debt or prevent yourself from taking on more. Even if you’re not sure if you qualify for that scholarship or bursary, apply anyway. As Susan McDonald told me, “I prefer to interview someone rather than say no. Even if I’m going to say no, I’d rather educate them so that they don’t feel hurt by it, and so that they know how to apply properly in the future.”

For more information on scholarships and bursaries available to Vic students, visit: http://www.vic.utoronto.ca/Assets/ VicCollege+Digital+Assets/Victoria+College/ VicCollege+Digital+Assets/Registrar/ Awards+and+Benefactors+Booklet.pdf

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Opinions • The Strand

Photography | Kathleen Walsh

I don’t wanna be a princess Kathleen Walsh | Contributor When I was a little girl, I always thought to myself, “I never want to be a princess, because then I would have other people to solve my problems, and life would be so boring.” I’ve never liked the idea of princesses: they are most often depicted embodying dominant standards of beauty; they have rarely earned their status in life, but rather, have had it thrust upon them; they are typically reliant on men, and even when they are not, their goals in life seem limited to obtaining an “MRS degree.”

Last year, I wrote an article, published on Medium, called “‘Beauty and the Beast’: 18th Century Literature’s Incomprehensive Depiction of Beauty and Virtue,” on the confusing and patriarchal overtones present in one of the original 1765 editions of “Beauty and the Beast.”

In this edition, the now-classic tale was presented as a story being told by a governess to her young female students and thereby doubles as an indication of the 18th century’s education and socialisation of girls. As I put it then: “‘Beauty and the Beast’ ultimately tells the story of how a self-sufficient, independent woman is transformed into a reliant, feeble creature upon entering a man’s world.”

In spite of how poorly the story has aged, Disney’s Belle remains a staple of their Princess franchise: a brand which arguably dominates the imagination at the very mention of the word “princess.” A Google image search of the word reveals

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picture after uninterrupted picture of the Disney princesses, posed like members of a candy-coloured graduating class. These princesses certainly fit within the unfortunate parameters outlined above.

Reading Sara Chipps’s popular Medium post, “Papas, please let your babies grow up to be princesses,” was, therefore, interesting, as I found myself mostly in agreement with her thesis about the disparity between our conceptions of science and girliness. Chipps argues that our society needs to stop placing these concepts in opposition to one another because it positions femininity as something to be renounced: “We shouldn’t try to shoehorn girls in to our own concepts of what the childhood of a scientist looks like…

We’re teaching girls to change who they are in order to effect change as an adult.”

In Kasey Edwards’s recent Daily Life article, “The subconscious bias of ‘unisex’ baby name trends,” she, too, points to this movement away from femininity, even in a world of increased gender fluidity: “Not only is femininity not encouraged in boys, it’s often actively discouraged and routinely policed…Traditionally feminine things are still considered secondary and unimportant.”

Femininity should be embraced and celebrated, not ostracized and rejected.

The alienation of traditionally feminine interests and behaviour only serves to further uphold our society’s ongoing male-leaning gender bias.

Sometimes, though, even I have trouble looking past the gender bias and appreciating femininity, and I think the issue is this model that we have of girls as necessarily “princesses.” I look at parents whose daughters are decked out in pink and sparkles and think, “Wow, way to force gender down their throats.” I see their pictures on Instagram with baby shower cakes splashed in the obligatory pink or blue, and I get it — the only in-

To place so much significance on what protrudes or doesn’t from between your baby’s legs seems absurd formation these people have about their beloved little ones is from the vague silhouette on the sonogram. But, at the same time, gender is neither a static thing, nor a necessarily defining thing.

To place so much significance on what protrudes or does not protrude from between your baby’s legs not only seems absurd, but also speaks to the significant differences between the ways we socialise girls and boys.

After one of my many requests to my

mother for my own origin story, however, I learned that, for me, pink was always my own choice. Growing up with an older brother whose baseball and hockey pajamas were soon my hand-me-downs, I actually chose the route of the stereotypical girl, without pressure from my parents. I remember playing with my brother’s Thomas the Tank Engine figurines and monster truck toys and separating them into “girl” and “boy” colours, then making them play house—same with my Crazy Bones.

Although I seemingly decided for myself that Barbie was the girl for me, I was also a child of ‘90s toy commercials. These served as my homing device, teaching me that for bouncy blonde fiveyear-olds like myself, Barbie, Skipper, and Kelly were our leaders. Today, our toy aisles are still gendered and the marketplace capitalises on teaching boys and girls that they are different and need to buy separate, specialized products. When you pair this classic model of capitalism with our long-standing bias toward all things masculine, girl- and womanhood become eschewed as a choice for boys and for girls. At the end of the day, children of all genders need to feel okay to be girly, but I think we should also loosen our stranglehold on the “princess” role model. I still don’t want babies to grow up to be princesses, but I do think that they should be proud to grow up to be women.

Opinions • The Strand

It’ll get done...eventually Adina Samuels | Contributor We all know the feeling. Sitting down at the computer in front of a new Word document, waiting for 3,000 words to appear before the 9 AM deadline the next morning.

Why do we students do this to ourselves? Each time we put off our work, we know the result is going to be the same. We end up pulling stressful allnighters, relying on caffeine and our Spotify playlists to make it through the night. The myth of producing one’s best work under pressure is completely illogical. How do we know we work best in stressful situations if we’ve never tried anything else? What is it about leaving things to the last minute that is so appealing? Wouldn’t it be easier to spread out the readings throughout the week, or start the paper a few days before?

Scientifically, yes. Yes, it would.

A 2009 study by Nate Kornell at the University of California found that spreading out one’s study load over time results in higher overall marks and, for 90% of the participants in the study, proved to be more effective than cramming. Interestingly, students who cram the night before still believe that they do better on tests than those who spread out their studying, even though the data says otherwise. There is something alluring about ignoring our responsibilities, about blinding ourselves to the ceaselessly growing pile of work.

When put into writing, this seems absurd—why, then, is this such a common pattern among students?

Here are a few possible reasons why procrastination affects so many of us: 1. We’re tired! We’ve been at school the whole day, and the last thing we feel like doing is paying attention to a textbook and soaking in all that extra information. Did someone say Netflix?

That sounds like a much better idea.

Illustration | Seolim Hong

2. After being lectured at for a whole day, we need to feel in control. If I want to eat that tub of ice cream, I will! The laws of practical physics can’t stop me, no matter what the professors might say!

3. Procrastination is part of human nature! Examples of procrastination date back to Ancient Greece. If the people of the Golden Age suffered from this problem, it is only right that we do, too.

The real question is—does it matter?

The simple answer is yes. Cramming and pulling all-nighters can lead to impaired mental functioning, inconsistency in schoolwork, and biological imbalances, among other detrimental side-effects. In other words, as tempting as it can be to leave things to the last minute, in the long run it’s a bad idea.

But, have no fear. This epidemic can be prevented and annihilated once and for all! If you really want to eliminate your procrastination habits this midterm season, here are some tips: 1. Remove yourself from temptation and distraction. Find a study space free from distractions. Try turning off your phone—or at least putting it on silent—for short amounts of time. There are any programs and apps that can help you do this; for example, UNICEF has started an initiative where you can visit www.uniceftapproject.org to see how to help give clean water to children in need by not using your phone. If you need something a little more forceful, try a focus-aid app like StayFocusd or Cold Turkey, both of which work to limit or restrict your access to time-wasting sites.

schedule and stick to it. Small goals will help you earn the marks in the long term. If you tell yourself you will work for 30 minutes and then take a break, you will be motivated to use that time wisely knowing that a reward is around the corner. If scheduling isn’t easy for you, try the GoConqr Study Planner to help you figure out how to manage your time.

3. Know it’s okay to take a break, but don’t let it take over your study time.

Instead of sitting down for a movie, try a walk around the block or a short power nap, and then get back to work.

Keep these suggestions in mind, and you will surely see results. Your grades, your mind, and your body will thank you for it!

2. Make an achievable day-to-day

Lonely at the top: Kanye’s PR problems Ahmed Hasan | Staff Writer With the drawn-out release of his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, Kanye West is once again making headlines with alarming frequency. For the vast majority of us, not much recap is required. We’re at the point where every oddball tweet of his is reported as news, and everyone seems to have pronounced some sort of opinion on the man and his work. His recent antics have given his acolytes an increasingly difficult time defending his antics, while his detractors continue their advance, determined to prove that he is an utter hack.

In the midst of all this arguing, no one’s really talking about what kind of actions Mr. West could actually take to bring himself back into the public’s good graces. He had once resolved a similar situation—following the infamous Taylor Swift interruption—by releasing the universally acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, reminding critics and fans why he was a big name in the first place. His current

infamy is, however, miles and miles beyond what it was in 2010, and there seems to be nothing Kanye can do to bring back the image of the young college dropout with a refreshing and novel approach to hip hop.

Adding to his newly created infamy is the fact that MBDTF’s success in 2010 did not completely wipe his slate clean with regards to public perception. This is where the unfair expectations placed on black artists come into play. Following the initial Taylor Swift incident, itself very mild compared to his latest headline-makers, he was accused of being a “jackass” who didn’t “know his place.” Critics derided him as a talentless hack—though the ones who did so tended to have a tellingly negative view of hip hop in the first place—with his supposed inability to sing often cited for this. It’s interesting to note how Nicki Minaj, whose singing voice is in fact very diverse and can be incredibly impressive, often faces similar criticisms.

Mr. West cannot sway public perception through his art because the public is not willing to be swayed, for reasons that are sometimes valid—such as his brief Bill Cosby apologia—but often very problematic, in that his talents are downplayed due to his genre of choice. This is an overarching problem from which hip hop suffers, as it is a genre inextricably linked to black music and culture, the artistic merit of which is all too often devalued by a very vocal subset of the public.

A recent example is Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly, a sprawling opus that is arguably one of the most culturally significant pieces of music released in the past decade, but which managed to lose Album of the Year at the Grammys to Taylor Swift’s 1989. While 1989 is not by any means a bad album undeserving of praise, it’s worth thinking about how a black artist can release one of the most widely acclaimed albums of all time and still lose to a very good pop album that is

just that—a very good pop album.

Making an album with the scope of To Pimp a Butterfly is out of Kanye’s range, but it is clear that even that level of accomplishment would not salvage his current public perception.

Although Kanye is in part responsible for his current PR problems, he suffers from the disadvantage of never being considered good enough in the first place. Either way, he seems rather okay with where, and who, he is. As he states quite plainly when parodying parts of his fan base on the tongue-in-cheek interlude “I Love Kanye” from his (disappointing, in this author’s opinion) latest album, The Life of Pablo: “We still love Kanye, and I love you like Kanye loves Kanye.”

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OUR MASTHEAD Editors-in-Chief editor@thestrand.ca

Anthony Burton Rhianna Jackson-Kelso Holly McKenzie-Sutter

News

Nicole Paroyan

news@thestrand.ca

Opinions

Olivia Dziwak

opinions@thestrand.ca

Features features@thestrand.ca

Geoff Baillie Claire Wilkins

Arts & Culture

Clarrie Feinstein

artsandculture@thestrand.ca

Film & Music

Bronwyn Nisbet-Gray

filmandmusic@thestrand.ca

Stranded

Neil MacIsaac

stranded@thestrand.ca

Copy Editing

Jake McNair

copy@thestrand.ca

Design design@thestrand.ca

Emily Pollock Grace Quinsey

Photo

Genevieve Wakutz

photo@thestrand.ca

Art

Seolim Hong

art@thestrand.ca

Web

Kasra Koushan

web@thestrand.ca

Editorial Assistants

Joshua Kim Tanuj Kumar Ainsley MacDougall Tristan McGrath-Waugh Tamilore Oshodi Alison Zhou

Contributors Brenda Bongolan, Erin Calhoun, Katie Elder, Ahmed Hasan, Ryan Kay, Heather McBrien, Neil McKenzie-Sutter, Erik Preston, Adina Samuels, Alexandra Scandolo, Sara Truuvert, Kathleen Walsh Copy Editors Alexandra Jones, Ainsley MacDougall Illustrations Seolim Hong, Wenting Li, Emily Pollock, Natasha Rosslein Photos Kathleen Walsh, Sarah Glassmer Cover Photography Sarah Glassmer

The Strand has been the newspaper of record for Victoria University since 1953. It is published 12 times a year with a circulation of 2000 and is distributed in Victoria University buildings and across the University of Toronto’s St. George campus.

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Our offices are located at 150 Charles St. W., Toronto, ON, M5S 1K9. Please direct enquiries by email to editor@thestrand.ca. Submissions are welcome and may be edited for taste, brevity, and legality.

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The letter of the law: How our language regarding sexual assault reinforces rape culture and perpetuates the battery of victims Holly McKenzie-Sutter | Editor-in-Chief More Canadians per capita tuned in to watch the Super Bowl than Americans this year. According to CTV’s ratings, 18.2 million viewers, or 52% per cent of the population, tuned in on February 7. Those who stayed tuned after the event were offered a recap of the week’s biggest news stories, one of which was the ongoing Jian Ghomeshi trial. The voiceover caught those roughly 18 million Canadians up to speed on the case.

It mentioned that last week, the Ghomeshi defense team “dropped another bomb” on one of the witnesses during cross-examination in the form of email records revealing a more externally warm correspondence between the two than had previously been assumed.

“Dropped a bomb.” 18.2 million viewers, 52% of the Canadian population, many of whom may not have been following the case in detail at that point, were watching. When forced to pare the story down to its essential details, CTV chose to direct explosively violent terminology towards the witnesses testifying in a case of sexual violence.

CTV was not alone in using violent language to report on the trial proceedings. Christie Blatchford, writing for the National Post, described the third witness’s cross-examination by saying, “She might as well have been wearing a suicide vest, so thoroughly did she blow up.” The online version of Blatchford’s column is prefaced with a content warning for sexual language, but this sugarcoats the flippant and harmful associations she makes between sexual assault survivors, suicide, and the continued battery that comes from testimony.

Violent terminology was not only present in media coverage of Ghomeshi’s trial, but also in the legal tactics that were used throughout. Ghomeshi’s lawyer, Marie Henein, was accused of “whacking” the witnesses during cross-examination—a legal slang term specific to sexual assault cases, where lawyers use aggressive questioning techniques to discredit witnesses.

Speaking with CBC Radio’s The Current, Anne Kingston—who was covering the trial for Maclean’s—explains that “whacking” uses “very personal questions that should have been outlawed by rape shield provisions that have come into the Criminal Code over the last generation.”

A term that calls to mind Mafia-style assassinations is regularly applied to questioning techniques used against sexual assault survivors in the Ontario court system. That technique arguably should have been outlawed to align with the updated Criminal Code, so why hasn’t it happened yet? It’s likely for the same reason that the fourth witness’s name was tweeted out by courtroom reporters despite there being a publication ban on her name. Why didn’t they look up whether or not there was a publication ban in place? Because nobody really cares about the treatment of sexual assault victims in the courtroom, or the treatment of victims anywhere.

These past two weeks have seen much discussion of how a trial like this one, involving a national celebrity, inevitably becomes a spectacle given the nature of a transparent justice system. This is “the price of living in a democracy”, folks. The only thing the transparency of the justice system has shown us over the course of this trial is that something needs to change, not only in our justice system but also in our professional and personal lives, in how we handle and talk about sexual assault.

In a Toronto Star piece titled “No right to a dis-

criminatory defense,” Joanna Birenbaum, Pamela Cross, and Amanda Dale dissect the way sexual assault cases are handled in the Canadian court system. They point out that “in no other category of trial are discriminatory assumptions about how a witness ought to have behaved trotted out as regularly…inconsistencies on peripheral or extraneous matters routinely result in acquittals.” In a chilling condemnation of our court system, they write, “Fewer than 10 per cent of sexual assault victims will report to authorities. Even fewer go to trial. Fewer still are convicted. This too makes sex assault unlike any other crime. We are dangerously close to creating the conditions for impunity.”

The use of the term “impunity” directly calls to mind another piece written in December 2014 for The Guardian by former Q producer Kathryn Borel.

The piece details her experience reporting Ghomeshi’s harassment to her superiors and the CBC’s lack of responsive action. Borel writes of her experience, “I was essentially forced to either leave the show or allow my boss to lay his hands on my body at his pleasure. But since then, no manager or executive who was complicit in creating or maintaining a workplace in which Ghomeshi was allowed to operate with impunity has lost his job, let alone apologized.”

Everyone wants to operate in a social contract based on trust. But that trust is violated on all levels when women are abused in their personal relationships with men, in their workplaces, and in the courtrooms, and there is never a solution. Boys will be boys, this is just the way things are, this is a side effect of a transparent judicial system.

A Vice article discussing the Ghomeshi trial was published last week with the headline “Canadians are watching this sexual assault trial like it’s a real life episode of Law & Order.” Sensational? Yes, but there’s a lesson to be learned from that kind of commentary on the way we’ve been reacting to the trial. The piece took a comment from Thom Fitzgerald, friend of witness Lucy DeCoutere, who said he sometimes “tunes out the news because it’s upsetting to hear. The trial isn’t entertainment to friends and families of the witnesses or of the defendant…The nightly news doesn’t have time to build a three-dimensional character of each witness.” True, but it does have time to summarize the two-week long character assassination of the witnesses by saying that the defense “dropped a bomb” on said witness’s credibility in front of an audience of 19 million. Ghomeshi’s trial concluded without him even opening his mouth, and the women testifying against him were subject to a thorough “whacking” on the stand, to a degree that should be illegal under the Criminal Code. Records of their words in the form of emails, letters, and texts were used as a weapon against them. Ghomeshi was allowed to remain silent.

Ghomeshi is entitled to a fair trial and defense, but he is the one on trial, not the witnesses testifying against him. Fitzgerald is right: this trial is not entertainment. It’s personal to the many victims of Ghomeshi and their loved ones, and it’s personal to the multiple survivors of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault who are watching. The battery of women on a personal, professional, and judiciary level should not be entertainment for a nation, and if we learn anything from the Ghomeshi trial, it’s that our entire attitude and language regarding sexual assault needs a makeover.

Editorial • The Strand

<3 Date the Strand (Editors-in-Chief)

Major/minor: Minor talent for close reading, thesis composing, and essay writing, major lack of marketable skills Pick up line: “I brought food.”

Go-to date outfit: The seductive ensemble of panda footie pyjamas and pink Snuggie worn backwards like a cape never fails to please Patronus: Opossum (nocturnal, lives in trash can, loves a good neutral colour scheme, main method of conflict resolution = playing dead) Aphrodisiac: Proper use of semicolon

Major: Dead white guys Pickup line: “I’m a union delegate.”

Go-to date outfit: Che t-shirt What is love? Bourgeois capitalist construction designed to distract us from our perpetual oppression Morning after text: new phone who dis Fave Sex and the City character? The city of New York

Major/minor: Major in peace, minor in positive energy Pickup line: “I have no interest in working with anyone who is too important or too good or too traditional to take a call at 3am.”

What is love? I love the world bottom line and all I want is peace and positive energy Morning after text: “Exes can be mad but just know I never let them play with my ass… I don’t do that… I stay away from that area all together”

Date the Strand is a much-beloved, longstanding tradition. An institution, if you will.

To reduce this bulwark of The Strand’s journalistic heritage to banal, technical terms, it’s an annual feature we include in the issue that falls closest to Valentine’s Day. You may also recognize it as that time of year where a handful of your Facebook friends simultaneously change their profile pictures to strange, artistic renditions of themselves.

This time each year, we timid Strand folk emerge from our dens of old, crumpled up campus papers, empty coffee cups, and neglected academic assignments, shivering and blinded by the first daylight we’ve seen since last February, and attempt, yet again, to attract a date. It’s our one chance per year to use this student-funded newspaper to amplify our pitiful plea for someone, anyone, to take an interest in who we are as people and maybe, just maybe, get some for once.

As you can clearly see from the EIC profiles above, we’ve really knocked it out of the park this year. If you’d like to bask in even more of The Strand’s special brand of weird, borderline felonious, self-deprecating humour, just turn to the next page. There, you’ll see a glorious centre spread chock-full of funny, attractive, totally dateable masthead members—lovingly illustrated by the incomparable Wenting Li—just begging for you to fall in love with them. Really, just give us a look and I guarantee you’ll be entranced. Seriously, just do it. Please?

-Rhianna Jackson-Kelso

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Sup?

meh

fine...

Date the Strand (please)?

Hopefully this is the year we find true love (or at least someone willing to share their Netflix password)...

Illustrations by Wenting Li

? e r su

Major/minor: Obscure cultural stuff (Canadian Studies) and Tumblr (Book & Media Studies) Aphrodisiac: Grad school emails with with “Congratulations” in the subject heading Go-to date outfit: Smokey eyes, grey sweater, black fingerless gloves, the leftover garbage you and your racoon buds were eating last night What is love? Keeping the next line of this song to yourself, and definitely not texting it to all your loved ones to get it stuck in their heads

Major/minor: French horn (performance major) Patronus: Lumpy Space Princess Go-to date outfit: One of those tuxedo t-shirts with jorts/jeggings to showcase the gams; it lets people know that I'm classy but I can also keep it casj (short for casual) What is love? A mediocre Scrabble word Fuck, Marry, Kill (Jacob, Ben, Smoke Monster): Kill Ben, marry Jacob, fuck the smoke monster—provided it takes the form of Sayiid, Jin, Sayiid, Desmond, or Sayiid (really hoping it takes the form of Sayiid #arms) 8

Major/minor: IR and English Patronus: A shy goat that’s way too big for its own good Aphrodisiac: Morning breath and a generous handful of mozzarella sticks.

What is love? Carefully leaning in to the ear of your significant other—close enough that your lips tenderly graze their supple hearing organs—and whispering: “I farted.”

Morning after text: “Hey, do you happen to know where my retainer is?”

Major/minor: English major, history and drama minor Favourite pickup line: Guy: “Can I buy you a drink?” Me: “Yes.” And then I order the most expensive drink on the menu (try it, it’s fun!)

Go-to date outfit: My mother’s wedding dress What is love? According to Yahoo Answers, “I don’t really know, but I’ll answer this question the best way I know how. Personally, love is respect, determination, devotion, and do whatever you can for that particular person. Eh, what do I know? I’m just 14...” Smart kid!

Morning after text: Hook-up? What hook-up? We hooked up?

Major/minor: Literature, philosophy Pickup line: “Let’s get together and decay slowly with indecision sometime.”

Patronus: Kris Jenner or a small child Go-to date outfit: Comfy jeans and a big sweater with large pockets where I can keep my dates. We’re talking about the fruit, right?

What is love? Webster’s Dictionary defines love as “a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person.” In other words, baby don’t hurt me.

If you could live in any period of time, when would you live? The 1970s, because everyone wore denim everything and mood rings.

Features • The Strand

Major/minor: English and polisci Patronus: Flossie Dickey Go-to date outfit: Suspenders and utility belt Favourite non-pornographic magazine to masturbate to: Good Housekeeping Fuck, Marry, Kill (Donkey, Shrek, Fiona): Shrek is love, Shrek is life What is love? ^^^ Fuck, Marry, Kill (Jacob, Ben, Smoke Monster): I’d blow up the hatch brotha

Major/minor: Mathematics & computer science Pickup line: “Gurl, are you sitting on an F5 key? ‘Cause that ass is refreshing.”

Patronus: Anteater Aphrodisiac: Pomegranates Go-to date outfit: Batman cape Morning after text: pilates tmr?

Fuck, Marry, Kill (Donkey, Shrek, Fiona): Fiona, Shrek, Donkey

Major/minor: Specialist in Canadian Studies Morning after text: A video of poodles working out—has had mixed reviews Fave Sex and the City character? Samantha. She’s shameless. It’s empowering.

Fuck, Marry, Kill (Donkey, Shrek, Fiona): Fuck Donkey (please watch Vice’s documentary on the topic. Eye opening), marry Fiona (#becauseits2015), kill Shrek (no one likes ogres)

Major/minor: PoliSci/history & religion Pickup line: “Hi, I’m Date Mike. Nice to meet me. How do you like your eggs in the morning?”

Patronus: Strunk & White’s Rule 13 Go-to date outfit: Zoot suit What is love? A well-smoked brisket

Major/minor: B(achelor's)D(egree)(in) S(e)M(otics) Pickup line: Fishing wire Patronus: My cat Nico If you could live in any period of time, when would you live? The 1970s so I could bone ur dad before your mom did Aphrodisiac: A good wine and a bag of munchies Morning after text: A new issue of The Strand is out and at newsstands around campus!

Pickup line: “Wet dog and coffee smell the same.”

Aphrodisiac: Jamie Lee Curtis for Activia yogurt What is love? ...

Morning after text: Something original, like, “What is love?”

Fave Sex and the City character? The Rabbit (obviously)

Aphrodisiac: A cool breeze on a warm summer’s night What is love? A funny tingle in the gooch region Fave Sex and the City character? Mr. Big, a.k.a John James PRESTON ;) If you could live in any period of time, when would you live? The day I met you Fuck, Marry, Kill (Donkey, Shrek, Fiona): Fiona, Shrek, Donkey Fuck, Marry, Kill (Jacob, Ben, Smoke Monster): Smoke monster, smoke monster, smoke monster

okay.

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Arts & Culture • The Strand

Cash-free Facebook marketplace creates community The Strand interviews Bunz Trading Zone creator, Emily Bitze Claire Wilkins | Features Editor

Illustration | Emily Pollock

Two years ago, Toronto musician Emily Bitze needed a can of tomatoes but didn’t have the money to buy one. Hungry and broke, she made a Facebook group between friends that was aimed at trash-for-treasure exchange.

Bunz Trading Zone had only one rule: no money allowed. Over two years later, this simple imperative has created an unexpected community which has flourished into a virtual town of 30,000 artists, musicians, and thinkers. I sat down with Bitze at Get Well Bar a couple of weeks ago to talk about Bunz Trading Zone.

The Strand: I told my friends I was interviewing you, and they were like, “You know the person who made Bunz? That’s so cool!”

Emily Bitze: So many people know about it!

I didn’t think that it would become anything

when I made it. I think it’s really amazing that people are adopting this idea, because I think it’s important. We consume so much and we create so much. It’s like, don’t throw your shit out, man! Your things have value.

If you’re willing to post it and wait maybe a week, you’ll get something of value to you, and get rid of something you would throw in the garbage anyway. It makes sense and it’s easy.

Did the group hit 30,000 members suddenly, or has it been growing pretty steadily since you made it?

Around this time last year I was starting to notice, like, a lot of requests to get in the group. Finally, I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna cap it off at 20,000,” just because I didn’t want it to die and become so overrun that people would be like, “What is this? This is not useful to me at all.” So I started thinking about making an app. Through the group I met a few people who are working on a similar idea, and we decided to work together.

Who did the illustrations for the app?

This guy, Donald A. Clement. He’s great.

What we wanna do also—if we continue to exist—is have a new artist every couple of months rescan and curate the app. Artists from the Bunz community, of course.

So that’s a fun and interesting way to keep members involved.

Have you met any other new friends through Bunz?

Yeah, I have! Everyone I’ve met on Bunz is really cool. My co-worker, Morty, and I would have Bunz sessions before we put out the app, for people to test and provide feedback.

They would come over and hang out, and we’d just talk about Bunz and drink. It was so fun! Bunz is just about connecting people together.

It’s a community, for sure.

You’re always invited to the group by someone you know, so we’re all connected somehow. Through the act of trading—I think because we’ve taken money out of the equation—it leaves a lot more room for goodwill.

Not only am I helping someone, but it also feels good to help people. It’s a support system.

I read a post in Bunz today that said, “People aren’t appreciating the nature of Bunz and are asking too much for their items.” Do you think that Bunz has a “nature” that needs to be followed?

It’s kind of weird because people have their own feelings about what Bunz should be. It didn’t start off with any kind of mandate. The only rule was: “No money.” And obviously I’ll kick someone out if they’re abusing somebody or harassing someone; that’s a zero-tol-

erance thing. But people who’ve been around for a long time do think: “This is what Bunz is about. You don’t ask for equal value of your item in gift cards.” To me, gift cards suck, although I’m getting rid of stuff that I’m not attached to anymore, so it shouldn’t matter what I get in return. But a lot of people do that. And that’s fine, I guess; I can’t really do anything about it. But to me, trading items for items is always the coolest.

Where do you see Bunz going in the future, with the release of the app and everything?

I’m still trying to figure out what’s next. I really want people to get on the app platform.

I want people to get off Facebook. It can’t provide the things Bunz will need to move forward. I want it to be its own thing. Maybe people will hate the app and want the Facebook group back. But regardless, the Facebook group can’t live forever—it’s going to become so big that it will be useless. Bunz is either going to die on Facebook, or people are going to hate the app and it’s going to die there instead. But either way, we made this app for this community to use and it’s worth a try.

Bunz Trading Zone remains a closed Facebook group for the time being. If you can’t get an invite from someone you know, plead your case for entry by emailing ihavenofriends@bunz.com.

Antique Fables Theatre Collective: A diverse and contemporary look at classic texts Katie Elder | Staff Writer This past week, I met up with Liz Laywine—UofT theatre grad, co-founder of the Antique Fables Theatre Collective, and director and producer of the first show of their inaugural season, Medea. We discussed the process that she and her co-founder, Travis DeWolf, went through in forming the collective, as well as their goals to make theatre as diverse and accessible as possible.

Liz and Travis decided to form the collective after they co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Trinity College’s “Shakespeare in the Quad” in 2014, and won the UofT Drama Coalition Awards that year for “Best Production” and “Best Directors.”

You can check out Antique Fables Theatre Collective online and at their next two shows later this year: Devouring Time and Macbeth.

The Strand: Let’s start with the basics. How did Antique Fables start?

Liz Laywine: Travis [DeWolf] knew that she wanted to start some kind of theatre collective that focused primarily on classical works and bringing them to a contemporary audience in a really accessible way. We outlined how we wanted the collective to run, how we would give artists freedom within the collective to do other projects on the outside—which is really important to us—and what accessibility means to us when we talk about classical theatre. Things like making it financially accessible for artists and audience members, and making stories that traditionally isolate people of colour, people from different sexual and gender identities, people of different sizes and ages, and even women… taking those stories that are, quote-unquote, “timeless” and making them accessible, so that people who would normally never get to play those roles can.

That was kind of how we started, and then

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we got eight other people excited about it who wanted to be part of the inner circle of the collective. We’re the “Kingsmen”: we [make] all of the administrative decisions.

And then we also have an outer circle of people called “The Globe” and those are primarily performers. We only audition from that group of pre-selected performers, and that way we can keep a really tight community within the collective and have a really solid idea of what our resources are.

Diversity seems to be a very important goal for the collective. How do diversity and contemporary approaches function in your first show, Medea?

One of the things that I get really excited about as a director and as a theatre artist is finding opportunities to cast almostentirely-female shows. I had this original idea that I threw around with my assistant director, Margaret [Hild]: what if all of the other characters except for Jason are women, and we’re playing with a very contemporary 21st-century problem in feminism, which is woman-on-woman conflicts?

If we cast all of these roles as women, and have them all have these really differing and conflicting viewpoints, that becomes a very interesting, contemporary look [at] it. There are lots of different layers and lots of different viewpoints on feminism, too. How can you approach feminism if you don’t [subscribe] to … one gender [idea] of what feminism is?

That’s been really interesting for us to explore through this text.

What do you hope is next for Antique Fables?

Well, we have a lot of things already going.

Basically, as soon as we’re done Medea, we start the gears on our next shows—Macbeth

Photography | Sarah Glassner

and Devouring Time—and we’ve already put things in motion to start our education program which is going to be really cool.

We’re implementing this idea of “site-general Shakespeare,” as opposed to “site-specific,” where you can basically take a scene and literally put it anywhere. We’re going to take these site-general Shakespeare scenes, market them to different high schools, and figure out how we can make something we all really love now accessible to high school students.

I didn’t like Shakespeare that much when I was in high school, to be honest. I didn’t like how the teachers approached it, in retrospect, and I think there are a lot of kids who would actually find Shakespeare really moving and enlightening if somebody could come in and say “Hey, you don’t actually have to learn it this way.” We strongly feel that Shakespeare is timeless for us and it is incredibly powerful and still totally relevant, but it doesn’t have

to be just directed to specific human beings with specific viewpoints.

Do you have any advice for students who are looking to get involved with the arts and theatre scene in Toronto?

The one piece of advice I give to anybody coming out of a post-secondary, regardless of what field they’re in, is if you find that you’re procrastinating about something, it’s because you don’t really want to do it. I never procrastinate when it comes to Antique Fables because I love it. And I never procrastinate when it comes to theatre because I love it.

Personally, my main piece of advice would be: if you’re having a hard time where you are, really evaluate what it is that you want to do and how you can actually get there in a more realistic way.

Arts & Culture • The Strand

The Strand’s EAs go to Winterlicious!

Photography | Rusaba Alam

Photography | Winterlicious

Bannock Restaurant Alison Zhou We arrived to a full-but-not-crowded scene and were the last to leave, a few minutes after closing. It was Wednesday (Hump Day); one of my dates had just trudged through his midterm, the other in from Finch Station. Despite this and the dreary weather— my inspiration for the nicknames I have given my co-diners, Pugsley and Morticia—we left Bannock feeling rosy and warm-bellied.

When asked to describe her pumpkin soup appetizer, Morticia remarked that it felt like “being in a sauna with a warm loaf of bread and a spice merchant wafting curry into the face.” The winter greens, by contrast, were not a soup at all but a salad.

Had it been presented in another format, say a bouquet or a garden, I imagine its components (sharp blue cheese, bubbly chard, crisp green apple, and a mysterious, unidentifiable nut) would’ve complemented each other just as well.

Pugsley gawked at his main. We didn’t blame him; the weird marriage of potato and white fish left us guessing what he was eating. Taking pity on his amateurish decision, Morticia shared her oyster mushroom pizza, and I my griddled pork shoulder. The pork paired well with lentils and collard greens, the sauce tangy enough to notice but not overpower. The pizza was mild and savoury. The mushrooms gave a good umami for any questioning vegetarians (me, because I lack the willpower).

As with his main, Pugsley’s dessert was a miss. The “warm sugar beet and chocolate cake” was really just a brownie. Feeling hoodwinked once again, Pugsley slammed one porky fist on the table and shrieked for more beets. Morticia’s panna cotta was “redeemingly amerzing.”

Brownstone Bistro Tamilore Oshodi I had been out for only ten minutes in search of the “Brownstone Bistro and Bar” but it was safe to say the raw winter breeze had already chipped well into my soul. Thankfully, I noticed it neatly tucked into the corner of Yonge and Gloucester in time for my lunch reservation. While the front came off a bit lacklustre due to the basic black frontage, the interior aimed at a contemporary or hipster

vibe, with exposed brick walls, drooping chandeliers, and a faux Mona Lisa.

I started off with the “Arancino de Riso” (Sicilian cheesy rice balls) as my appetiser, and was presented with a bowl of tomato sauce that surrounded two large fried balls of cheese and rice. Sadly, the large amount of sauce overwhelmed the whole meal, completely masking the flavourful taste of the rice balls. For my main dish, I had a particularly savoury strip loin steak, rubbed in various spices and herbs, topped off with sautéed mushrooms, and served with a side of golden fries and boiled vegetables. The crisp and hand-cut fries, left with the skin on and just a drizzle of seasoning, were the particular highlight of my meal. Lastly, to top off my meal, I had tiramisu for dessert. It was elegantly presented and once it touched my mouth, a burst of light spongy goodness filled every crevice. All in all, my trip to the Brownstone Bistro and Bar was an engaging experience and—in spite of some setbacks— I’d make a second trip.

Brownstone Bistro Ainsley MacDougall If you have an affinity for large goat cheese discs, awkward service, and elaborately framed Mona Lisa reproductions, you would appreciate the Brownstone Bistro.

Taking advantage of Winterlicious, I ordered the warm goat cheese appetizer, the wild mushroom risotto, and the crème brûlée on the last day of the event. The goat cheese appetizer included some great bruschetta, but enjoying the breaded goat cheese atop a baguette slice was a bit of an experience. After googling “how to eat goat cheese breaded on bread” and other such combinations, I was still at a loss for how to eat the cheese. The main, the wild mushroom risotto, startlingly lacked any wild mushrooms or wild mushroom flavour. Perhaps my interest in mycology makes me a bit of a snob, but I don’t think you should call something a “wild mushroom” when all the mushrooms looked quite like regular button ones I could find at Burwash. I was excited for the crème brulée, which they apparently often run out of, but was disappointed with the texture.

Without any bounce in the cream or any real hardness on the top, it felt more like hardened, sugary egg.

The service was decent, the server only saying a somewhat-kind word to me as he handed me the bill, though one young woman was always at hand to refill my water, which I really appreciated. Additionally, I noticed that though I had booked a reservation, they had no record of it, because I had done it online; I am at a loss for why the system exists if it doesn’t actually reserve places.

If you are interested in some decent food on Yonge near UofT, and you don’t mind staring at strange Wonder Woman wall art, Brownstone Bistro should be on your radar, though you might do better to stick to more classic menu items.

Los Colibrís Tristan McGrath-Waugh Los Colibrís, or “The Hummingbirds” in Spanish, certainly doesn’t flutter about its 220 King St. W location. My friend and I were seated at a very romantic candlelit table for two, which made for many a cringe-worthy exchange of glances. However, as far as small romantic “dates” go, this one was quite a cozy spot. The servers were friendly, though a bit flustered, and offered us the wine and cocktails list. We chose water and started the meal with a plate of—not actually complimentary—guacamole with handmade tortilla and taro root chips. It was fresh, and the taro chips were a surprisingly better base than the tortilla chips. Between the two of us, we ordered the Ceviche Tradicional, the Papas Bravas, the Guarache de Pulpo, the Tesmole Rojo Cerdo, and the Tres Leches for dessert.

Each of the dishes was fresh tasting and well seasoned. However, one stood above the rest: the Guarache de Pulpo, octopus on a corn tortilla with basil jalapeño oil, squid ink, and habanero mayo, was perfect. The octopus was extremely soft, almost like a tuna steak, and the jalapeño and basil sauce filled your mouth with fresh, summer flavour and just the right amount of spice to bring you back from a bland flavourless winter. Leaning on the pricier side of things at $17, it isn’t the most student-friendly dish but does make for a great splurge. In disappointing contrast, the ceviche arrived with the same taro and tortilla chips as before, which encompassed most of the dish, and

for a higher price. We returned to the cold a little penniless at a $92 total—we are students, remember—but full and warmed.

All in all, the space was comfy, the food was hearty and flavourful, and the evening was a lot of fun.

Los Colibrís Tanuj Kumar In Toronto’s jittery nighttime, Los Colibrís maintained the energy of a gentle flame. The mosaic of peculiar Mexican wines and liqueurs captivated my gaze, set to the distant horns of son jarocho music. With impeccable service, it took little time for my dishes to arrive.

The first dish served was cod ceviche with pico de gallo, carrots, and mayonnaise, served on a crisp tostada. With a bite, soft fish and sweet lime washed over my tongue, and the crispy base collapsed as the tang of the onion and tomato melded with the cod. I’d read somewhere that the citrus was a great complement to the amino-acid-rich fish. Its splendid texture made me, for a nanosecond, forget all I knew in this world.

The second dish was chicken breast, drenched in a viscous black bean sauce.

Compared to the ceviche, it had a slower start, but then became a wash of thick, savoury flavour. The juices of perfectly-done chicken blended into the bean sauce. Bite after bite, I felt flitting memories of my native cuisine tug at the back of the head. It was almost as if this dish held the same essence as the dal makhani I loved as a child.

The final dish was a prism of delicate coffee flan, cut by a sliver of dark chocolate and gently powdered with cinnamon. This was the concluding piece, but perhaps the most subdued. I have yet to experience truly amazing regional Mexican food. Yet, it’s a testament to the city’s flowering culinary potential that hummingbirds from all over flock to places like Les Colibrís where we have the opportunity to experience a small taste, moulded by the streets and atmosphere, setting us on a midnight food adventure ignited by rich flavour.

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Film & Music • The Strand

A dying art form:

Does film have a future in Hollywood?

Photography | The Weinstein Company

Ryan Kay | Contributor “On the surface, The Hateful Eight operates as a kind of homage to John Carpenter’s The Thing,” was all the praise I needed to pre-purchase my ticket for Quentin Tarantino’s new movie. The fact that it was going to be shown in 70mm film, accompanied by an overture and intermission, only added to the allure of the event. So, on a cold winter’s night in late December, a couple of friends and I made our way to the Varsity Cinema to see it. The theatre was packed with an anxious audience.

The release of any new Tarantino movie has become an event, but its showing in 70mm added an unusual edge. As the overture played out and the opening credits began, The Hateful Eight unfortunately proved to be out of focus. “FOCUS,” yelled an audience member repeatedly, prompting others to run to the projection booth and voice their displeasure. Eventually, the projectionist fixed the issue and the crowd cheered, finally able to properly enjoy the spectacle of a Tarantino movie in 70mm.

The release of The Hateful Eight in 70mm was not an easy undertaking. “We put together 100 different venues in 44 different markets; it truly was a Herculean task,” remarked Tarantino in an interview with Deadline columnist Pete Hammond and fellow director Paul Thomas Anderson.

The comments echo the effort it took from the Weinstein Company and Tarantino to

release The Hateful Eight in 70mm rather than commit to the now ubiquitous digital format. Its release was a minor win for film formalists, and may suggest a potential future for film’s continued use in Hollywood. But this future hinges on the influence of a few powerful filmmakers as the industry continues to move towards a more cost-effective, digital future. For the past couple of years, film—technically referred to as celluloid— has experienced a significant decline in Hollywood. The bankruptcy of Eastman Kodak in 2012, coupled with Aaton, ARRI, and Panavision’s decision to cease the production of celluloid-based cameras, has greatly accelerated the industry’s shift away from the format. Tim Sarnoff, Panavision’s head of digital productions, defended his company’s decision to discontinue the production of celluloid-based cameras, arguing, “You have to be very pragmatic in this business—move with the times and provide what your clients need.” In a profit-driven industry, it is no surprise that the cost-effective digital format is taking over.

The economic benefits of using a digital format over film are significant. For instance, it costs approximately $1,500 US to produce and distribute a 35mm film print, compared to $150 for a digital print. Other difficulties associated with the film format range from the fact that it is not reusable, to

the problems editors and visual effects artists face when implementing CGI (Computer Generated Images). Cinematographer Roger Deakins, known for his work with the Coen brothers, commented on shooting the recently released Hail, Caesar! on film during an interview with Variety, stating, “I don’t want to do that again, frankly. I don’t think the infrastructure’s there.” While more filmmakers are becoming increasingly accustomed to using the digital format, some film formalists—such as Tarantino—continue to support the use of film. Tarantino argues that the push for digital production signals the “death of cinema” in the contemporary period. Director Martin Scorsese makes a similar, albeit less blatant point on film in the 21st century: “No matter where cinema goes, we cannot afford to lose sight of its beginnings,” he says. The creatives involved in the filmmaking process have had the film format taken away from them by the culture corporations in control of the industry, so it’s understandable why a group of them are pushing back.

The problem with preserving film is that the vast majority of consumers do not care.

Most of the people I know are more concerned with the movie itself and not the format it’s being projected in. The Hateful Eight is an exceptional case, in no way reflective of a shift back to film. Tarantino’s success is

more a result of his prestige as a filmmaker, and the support he has from the Weinsteins, than the industry’s desire to maintain its use of film. But, with a push from filmmakers like Tarantino, the film format may be able to carve out a smaller space in Hollywood.

While it is now unknown whether either of these movies will match The Hateful Eight’s 70mm release, directors Christopher Nolan and Colin Trevorrow have committed to shooting their next big movies—Dunkirk and Star Wars: Episode IX, respectively—in a film format.

There is no denying the value in maintaining film in the production of future movies. Director Steven Spielberg eloquently stated, “You can watch the grain, which I like to think of as the visible, erratic molecules of a new creative language. After all, this ‘stuff of dreams’ is mankind’s most original medium, and dates back to 1895. Today, its years are numbered, but I will remain loyal to this analogue art form until the last lab closes.” It now falls into the hands of future filmmakers and the audiences that fill theatres around the world. If a push from the creative community continues and the audiences respond positively to events like The Hateful Eight in 70mm, then film will continue to have a role in the future of the medium.

“I miss the old Kanye”: artistic evolution in The Life of Pablo Alexandra Scandolo | Associate Film & Music Editor Artists in the 21st century are expected to create and produce successful work with little turnaround time. Once fame is achieved, there’s only so much time before you’re left behind for someone keener, bolder, and maybe even younger. Frank Ocean and Rihanna have been prey to online communities begging for new albums after years of complete solo-career radio silence; One Direction faltered under its collective mantra of an album every year for five years.

There is a unique backlash that artists face along their path through their careers: the nostalgic fandom. Scrolling through music videos on YouTube or Twitter, you might catch a glimpse of people lamenting in the comments section over the loss of an artist’s older stage persona. At the forefront of this mourning is Kanye West, a man who has pioneered rap since The College Dropout, and who has created a variety of personas over time through his work and collaborations.

An ever-changing enigma, West has been trying to hail himself as the best artist of the century only 16 years in. Whenever

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you think that he may have topped himself, shifting title moved from So Help Me God West releases something newer and fresher, to Swish to Waves, and finally settled on The something completely different than before Life of Pablo—referencing one of his verses with the same Kanye taste to it. With his in the Kendrick Lamar-featured “No More fashion background exploding as everyone Parties In L.A”: “I feel like Pablo when I’m clambers for a pair of Yeezy Boosts and his workin’ on my shoes/I feel like Pablo when promised upcoming presidential run in I see me on the news/I feel like Pablo when 2020, fans were beginning to wonder: what I’m workin’ on my house.” West has always about the music made by focused on muses in his the “Old Kanye”? work, drawing from life Then came The Life of Kanye has never needexperiences, religion, and Pablo, Kanye West’s first ed to appease fans who artworks that inspire him album since the genesis are quick to criticize. in order to re-envision of his electronic hip-hop himself as an artist. creation, Yeezus, released The Life of Pablo has three years ago. What could be considered provided fodder for fans, but only on Kanye one of the most confusing and messiest al- West’s terms; it is evident Kanye has never bum rollouts, TLOP has managed to outdo needed to appease the fans who are quick to itself in uniqueness of release, sound, and criticize. On the a cappella, 45-second track medium. Revised album titles, cut and add- titled “I Love Kanye,” West’s voice rings ed artist features, and shuffled track listings out, “I miss the old Kanye.” He assumes the have cropped up on West’s Twitter since position of all the anonymous commenters May 2015; he has displayed his artistic pro- begging for him to return to the pink-polo, cess for the world to see amongst free-form shuttershade-wearing Kanye West who repersonal and political opinions that can be worked mainly soul music into his work. called questionable at best. The constantly The track’s placement in the exact middle of

the finalized album track list is purposeful; the break between his experimental track “Freestyle 4” and chopped-and-screwed ballad “Waves” is a callout to anyone questioning his artistic power. The track was supposed to be called “I Miss The Old Kanye,” but the switch to “I Love Kanye” is indicative of the rapper and artist that West has become.

An artist is meant to evolve over time, yet masses of fans pray for the return of the exact version of that artist they once idolized. Maybe you don’t think The Life of Pablo is the best Kanye West album, and even I’m not sure of my own opinions on it, but that is not the point of TLOP. It isn’t about redemption or garnering praise; West made this album for himself and for the sake of his artistic creation. The constant editing of the order of tracks and delays in release show that West prioritized creating the music he wanted, not what the masses wanted from him.

Film & Music • The Strand

The five crappiest films filmed in Toronto Neil McKenzie-Sutter | Staff Writer 5. Short Circuit 2 Whereas the original 1986 Short Circuit— also filmed in Toronto—was surprisingly successful, and had a compelling plot in a U.S. military robot that gains intelligence and escapes after “short-circuiting”, Short Circuit 2 catches up with the same robot several years later. He is embroiled in a gangster storyline as he struggles to fit in with human society, and it doesn’t get better than how that sounds.

This movie suffers from a lot of the same problems that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace received criticism for several years later: too much focus on animatronics/technology and too little plot, as well as some weird racist allusions with Fisher Stevens in brownface depicting a South Asian character. But while Phantom has created a legacy for itself, Short Circuit 2 seems to have simply “shortcircuited” the franchise, seeing as it’s been completely forgotten.

4. Humongous It seems like the director of 1982’s Humongous was a real horror fan, because it’s got everything: an apparently deserted island, a man-eating monster picking characters off one at a time, blood and guts flying every-

where, and girls in bathing suits running around. But it seems like the director was trying to do too much with too little, because it’s safe to say the movie has no focus; there’s no glue holding the movie together.

It’s hard to tell what the audience is meant to be feeling at any given moment, and the terrible acting only adds to this confusion. The movie currently has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I can’t argue against that.

3. Deadly Eyes Humongous wasn’t the only crap movie filmed in Toronto in 1982, as this year also produced a man-eating giant rat movie.

Deadly Eyes received a significantly higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes, around 20%.

But just consider that the giant rats in the movie aren’t rats, but are actually costumed dachshunds. Just let that sink in.

Something else to consider is that the movie was directed by Robert Clouse, also known for directing the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon in 1973. Oh wait, yep, also a crap movie. Nice martial arts but not so heavy on plot or much else, and the same can be said about Deadly Eyes (minus the martial arts).

2. Yeti: Giant of the Twentieth Century In any discussion of campy Toronto-filmed horror movies, 1977’s Yeti: Giant of the Twentieth Century has to be acknowledged.

It feels like a bad, under-budgeted Japanese monster movie except the film is very openly set in Canada; specifically Toronto, Newfoundland, and Niagara Falls. This movie is terrible, with overuse of blue-screen, bad acting, and a bad script, but it’s also incredible.

To think that Toronto created something like this… well, it’s something else.

Fun fact: Yeti was released in 1977—the year the Blue Jays became an MLB team— so watch for a pointlessly long scene where a crowd waves Blue Jays hats at the camera.

Why is this scene in the movie? Perhaps Yeti’s director was given money by the team or the league to endorse them, but that information has been long lost to the sands of time.

1. The Love Guru All other movies on this list have some endearing qualities, from cute robots and sorta-cute giant rats to bad/low budget special effects and yetis. While they’re terrible, I’d recommend all of them. They’re pure joy in a lot of ways, but Mike Myers’ 2008 film The Love Guru is on a different level of bad.

It has the typical fart/poop jokes you expect in a Myers movie, but nothing about this movie is funny. It manages to offend African-Americans, French-Canadians, women, dwarves, Aboriginals, and even Hindus.

The final group was, I think, a particularly bad decision considering that the movie is openly set in Toronto, which has a large and growing population of Indian-Canadians.

It’s a really flawed concept for a movie made in 2008, and I really wonder why no one took Myers aside and pointed this out to him. In any case, no one did, and Myers’s career hasn’t recovered since.

But is The Love Guru really that bad?

Really, this all sounds memorably bad on paper, but watching the movie, all I felt was boredom, because 95% of the jokes fell flat.

And I actually think that’s a distinct insult in and of itself. It’s also weird considering the pool of comedy talent in this film: John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jim Gaffigan, Kanye West, and Ben Kingsley are just a few featured actors. It’s amazing how bad and unfunny it turned out.

Review: Son of Saul Photography | Hungarian National Film Fund

Adina Samuels | Contributor Son of Saul, directed by László Nemes, tells a story of one man’s search for meaning in a world deprived of humanity. The film, set in the Auschwitz concentration camp, follows one prisoner’s quest for meaning after seeing the death of a boy he takes to be his longlost son. The film follows two days in the life of Saul Ausländer, played by Géza Röhrig, a member of the camp’s Sonderkommando unit, who searches for a rabbi to bury the boy and bring him dignity in death.

Nemes immerses the viewer in the frightening daily life of a member of the Sonderkommando. The Sonderkommando were a group of Jewish people chosen by the Nazis to carry out the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” primarily by helping to dispose of the bodies of the victims of Nazi cruelty. The Sonderkommandos had some level of superiority over the other prisoners in the camps and, as long as they did as they were told, would remain alive. However, after a short period of time, the Nazis would enlist new members of the Sonderkommando and kill the old ones. This sense of time and urgency presses upon the film’s story, adding an element of thrill and padding the emotive yet highly introspective plot.

The film favours mostly point-of-view and over-the-shoulder shots, so the audience sees everything Saul sees, hears everything he hears, and breathes everything he breathes.

This framing provides a unique and personal perspective on what is going on in the camp and gives a greater understanding of the daily torment and suffering that each victim of Nazi cruelty endured every day.

As members of the audience, we are given Ausländer’s personal truth. We see everything in his peripheral vision but never anything head-on. This is the way Ausländer survives in the death camp; by existing only at the edges of the truth. He lives a dayto-day life with no greater purpose and no reason to continue on, but once he sees the boy who survived the gas chamber, only to be suffocated by the camp doctor, he makes it his mission to bring dignity to the boy he takes for his son. Ausländer’s life changes with this self-imposed purpose. He no longer exists on the periphery. The lack of camera focus throughout the film reflects the lack of meaning in Saul’s life. It is only when he takes this mission upon himself that he, along with the camera, become focused and search for clarity and meaning. Ausländer

does not exist on his own. The very title of the film brings Ausländer to life only in relation to this dead son. Without the son, there is no Saul.

In an interview about the film, Nemes says that “we wanted to make a visceral kind of film.” The movie was filmed in Hungary, and by altering pre-existing structures instead of constructing their own, “we didn’t have the impression of being on a movie set.

There was a strange sense of being there.”

The Sonderkommando played a controversial role in the death camps, but Nemes believes firmly in their innocence. By creating this film, he “wanted to give back dignity to the dead and the dying,” and this is exactly what Son of Saul stands for. Through our immersion in one man’s search for redemption in the face of utter despair, we see existing aspects of humanity in a cruel and inhumane world. Son of Saul presents a struggle for survival, but on a deeper level, it demands an answer to and a struggle for unanswerable questions. Why fight to survive if the ultimate outcome is death? Why strive for honour in a world deprived of all dignity? Why hold on to tradition when the present day brings enough horror to cause

even the most devout of men to reject their god? Is there purpose? Can there be purpose?

Perhaps most important to Son of Saul is its ability to tell a novel and unexpected kind of history. Unlike past Holocaust narratives that draw out emotion through romantic or tragic plotlines, Nemes’s film is highly affective on a sensory level. The feeling of closeness to Saul contributes to the emotional impact of the film, transforming the physical space of the story into a space that forces the viewer to feel what Saul feels, and understand not so much the events of the past, but the effects of the past as they were felt contemporarily. This film has real power. It has received the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film, the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It is an important film that takes the audience on an emotional journey and immerses us in a part of history that must never be forgotten.

Son of Saul is currently playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

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Film & Music • The Strand

Misplaced nostalgia: HBO’s Vinyl doesn’t manage to find its rhythm Bronwyn Nisbet-Gray | Film & Music Editor Since Mad Men’s ending last year, I’ve been on the hunt for a new period piece to give my soul and procrastination time to. Vinyl, HBO’s new Martin Scorsese-Mick JaggerRich Cohen-Terrence Winter collaboration, seemed like a good candidate to fill said hole in my television-watching habits. However, the show falls a little flat and manages to feel out of place. The series’s pilot misrepresents what it’s trying to say about history; although set in the 1970s, it feels distinctly modern—the furniture, values, and narratives feel like they could be transposed into a modern drama. Vinyl gets caught up in its reflexivity, showing far too much of its creators’ influences and opinions, while trying to transform an era already coded into cultural memory.

On the surface, it feels a lot like it should complement Mad Men; it’s a similar NYC man-fest, set in the corporate world, making corporate takeover a major plot and story point. It’s a story of a fall from grace and (hopefully) redemption. Protagonist Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale), with his Connecticut, once-a-Factory-Girl wife, is a good approximation of Don Draper. However, Richie goes beyond Don-levels of selfdestruction, and attempts not to womanise, but to remain young. Richie is Don at the end of Mad Men, a rock-bottom figure who must struggle to come back to prominence.

Richie is improved by Cannavale’s strong

acting skills and good sense of timing, but ated by some visual flair. Undeniably, people the audience doesn’t know Richie, and his looking for a series about music will be disseeming inability to cope and stay on the appointed by Vinyl’s verbosity. right path does not endear him to audiDespite its flaws, the pilot remains inences. He feels weak, unlikable, and grossly teresting for the questions it raises about its out of touch. More than any error made by characters, as well as its creators. Juno Temthe director, cast, or crew, the pilot is weak ple’s outspoken, pill-pushing A&R rookie because it lacks the backstory necessary to Jamie is engaging, but although dressed in make characters feel glittery spandex jumplike real, likeable peosuits that are decidedly ple, and it does not While Mad Men and Boardnot from contempoend with any sugges- walk Empire were never rary designers, feels tion that it plans to afraid to let their characdistinctly like someone dive too deeply into our own decade. ters exist on the fringes of from Richie, beyond his The show’s emphasis job and the frivolity real history, Vinyl is trying on Jamie’s autonomy that accompanies it. to actually reinvent and edit seems to ignore and Vinyl is fun to the past, inserting the unerase the sexism inherwatch. Scorsese fills to the industry, real characters into a time ent the pilot with his viwhile also contradictsual style, using the where they feel out-of-place ing the literally orgasrapid-zoom-pan a and intrusive. mic displays of sex that little too frequently litter the episode. The throughout the pilot. Unfortunately, Scors- contradictions work, though, and become ese’s characteristic preference for heavy dia- one of the episode’s best and most interesting logue makes this two-hour premiere hard moments, allowing for a more reflexive view to focus on, and particularly in a pilot, this of both the decade and how the creators and comes as a little bit of a surprise. The em- writers see that decade in retrospect. phasis on verbal humour makes the show For audiences who lived through the feel imbalanced and runs counter to the lush 70s, this idea of what history looks like is visuals, while reducing its actors to talking questionable, and has been questioned in heads. The episode consequently develops subsequent reviews. But for me, as someslowly, with stretches of dialogue punctu- one who knows about the figures of the era

but is distinctly removed from their sense of history, the series is pretty fascinating for the themes it develops. Undeniably, the pilot feels like a Scorsese movie, and carries with it a lot of his favourite things: drugs, sex, money, a tragic fall from grace, the opportunity for eventual redemption, NYC, alpha males—the list goes on. Vinyl, with its allusion-heavy plot, seems to effortlessly slip characters into this typically glamorous postboho-pre-crime-explosion New York City life. While Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire were never afraid to let their characters exist on the fringes of real history, Vinyl is trying to actually reinvent and edit the past, inserting the unreal characters into a time where they feel out-of-place and intrusive.

Vinyl is a high budget, intellectual-esque series about an era that epitomizes trash-culture, and something about that seems out of place. While the show does a good job of simulating griminess and decay (shout-out to the Taxi Driver visual matches with the cabs and manhole steam), it crucially misses the experience of grime; the visceral feel of the show’s connection to the history of New York is that it’s only interested in the surface relationships among its characters, instead of its relationship to what history actually feels and looks like. While it sounds good, Vinyl’s pilot doesn’t progress beyond being a copy, determined to repeat the same purified, produced, and for-profit tones.

What’s Goin’ On In Toronto?

Music Film Open Mic Hart House, Arbor Room Free February 25, 8 PM

Back2Basics Jam Nest, 19+ $10, free before 11 PM February 26 & 27, 10 PM

Mad Max: Fury Road screening Innis Town Hall Free February 24, 2015

Calling all aspiring musicians; it’s time for another round of Hart House open mic performances! Each performer will receive 15 minutes to perform and sign up ends at 7:30 PM.

Get into the groove with retro hip hop hits at this College St club. Make sure to arrive before 11 PM to get in for free!

The Cinema Studies Student Union, together with the Innis College Student Society, are hosting a screening of George Miller’s blockbuster.

Tinashe Phoenix Concert Hall $29.50 March 4, 8 PM

Oscar Short Programs TIFF Bell Lightbox $10 for students Various times throughout the week leading up to the Oscars (February 21-27)

Yukon Blonde Lee’s Palace, 19+ $12.00 February 25 & 26, 8:30 PM The Kelowna-born indie rock band will be making a two-night stop in Toronto this weekend. Check out their Soundcloud before heading out for songs from their latest album, On Blonde.

AGO First Thursday Art Gallery of Ontario $12 March 3, 7-11:30 PM Have you ever wanted to party in Toronto’s prestigious Art Gallery of Ontario?

Check out their OCADU-curated First Thursday coming up this March, including slam poetry, talks from curators, and great music to dance to from DJ Bambii and DJ BOYRICH.

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After opening for Nicki Minaj this past summer, Tinashe is now on her own Joyride World Tour. In preparation, check out her feature in Snakehips’s “All My Friends”, and her new single, “Ride of Your Life”.

Good Kid The Silver Dollar Room $8 February 26, 9 PM Our cover story band from Issue 8, Good Kid, will be performing along with fellow Toronto bands Ginger Ale & The Monowhales, Sun K, and BamBoo. Swing by for a night of back-to-back indie Toronto sound.

See all the short live-action, animated, and documentary films before the Oscars screen on the 28th!

CINSSU’s Free Friday Films Innis Town Hall Free Every Friday at 7 PM Feburary 26: Winter’s Bone March 4: Audrey Hepburn Double Bill: Sabrina and The Children’s Hour The Royal Theatre’s Retropath Presents: The Tingler Royal Cinema $8 Friday February 26, 9:15-11:15 PM Come and see this cult masterpiece by William Castle! Once lauded for its absurd ap-

proach to horror, Castle’s film remains as ridiculous as when it premiered in 1959.

TIFF’s Food on Film: The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover TIFF Bell Lightbox Standard Ticket Price Wednesday March 4, 7 PM Join food scholars Mitchell Davis and Naomi Duguid for a discussion of Peter Greenaway’s controversial film.

Persepolis Screening The Revue Theatre $9 - $12 Thursday March 10, 9 PM Marjane Satrapi’s film, based on her graphic novel of the same name, is her autobiographical account of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Persepolis is charming, insightful, and entertaining; a must-see for animation fans.

Volunteer in Culture Bloor Cinema Free Saturday March 12, 11:00 AM Want to get involved in Toronto festivals?

Hot Docs is hosting an information session and networking event. The events will include a volunteer marketplace with various cultural organizations and a FREE screening afterwards for attendees.

Stranded • The Strand

What are the best and worst bathrooms on campus?

Image | Hugh Janus

Heather McBrien | Contributor Ever find yourself walking down St. George when you feel the urge and are unsure of where to turn? Do you look frantically back and forth between the intimidating Bahen Centre and Engineering Annex, knowing your decision about where to leak the lizard could mean either despair and suffering or a trip to a hidden Heaven-on-Earth? Fear no more—we’ve got your back. Here are the best and worst places to pee on campus.

The GOOD Knox College Library, 1st Floor Style/Ambiance: Gothic-1960s Fusion Accessible: Yes Gender-Neutral Option: Yes # of Stalls/Urinals: 3 Small, clean, and in the heart of one of the most underappreciated and beautiful colleges at UofT, Knox College is guaranteed to impress. Its hidden location under the seldom-used Caven Library helps keep it out of the way of the hordes of students coming from Con Hall after three-hour lectures, needing release. The aged stone interior sets the scene for an eclectic and vibrant washroom experience. Boasting a shelf on which to store bags and books, a traditional sink with hot and cold taps, a reliable paper towel dispenser, and that most notable rarity — two-ply toilet paper, Knox College’s first-floor washroom is an irresistible offering.

Goldring Student Centre Style/Ambiance: Contemporary Accessible: Yes Gender-Neutral Option: Yes # of Stalls/Urinals: 1-5 (depends on the washroom) If you’re looking for a place to blast the beast northeast of Queen’s Park, the Goldring Student Centre at Victoria College has a variety of urination stations available, all of which sparkle with cleanliness thanks to the attention of Victoria College’s caretaking staff. There are three ideal options in Goldring: two larger multi-stall facilities with automatic taps and chrome-plated doors, and a more understated single-room toilet in the basement commuter lounge. Completely hands-free, Goldring’s larger bathrooms have automatic taps and S-turn hallways instead of doors. Though the automatic soap dispensers may be excessive, when no expense is spared, the results are pleasant. Go to Goldring for the delicate aroma of cleaning products, and leave knowing your experience was perfectly sanitary.

Robarts, 8th Floor Style/Ambiance: Contemporary Accessible: Yes Gender-Neutral Option: No # of Stalls/Urinals: 12 Nestled in the depths of Fort Book, this washroom handles the challenges of frequent visits with grace. Despite

a client-base of a lion’s share of UofT students, it maintains a reasonable level of cleanliness. The centerpiece of this experience is the granite slab sink, and the dedicated mirror-and-counter area.

Whether the latter is for freshening your Snapple, changing your baby, or simply waiting for a friend, it’s the height of luxury. One might not expect to find such decadence in the Great Peacock given its age and brutalist architecture, but these Robarts bathrooms were recently renovated. So enjoy, but watch out—said renovations don’t extend beyond Floor 10.

Honourable Mentions: Rotman Commerce (all of them are good…every single one), Lash Miller 5th Floor, Bahen Centre Basement, and Con Hall (who knew?)

The BAD, The UGLY Gerstein Science Information Centre, 1st Floor Style/Ambiance: Ugly and smelly Accessible: No Gender-Neutral Option: No # of Stalls/Urinals: 20 Gerstein’s first floor washrooms are across from The Green Beet, which sells some of the nicest smelling tea on campus. Sadly, the washroom itself doesn’t smell anything like the café, which I suppose isn’t unexpected. But what it does smell like is all too awful. Despite its odour and the often-useless taps, the bathroom is impressive for its size. You

would think that with all those stalls, you could find a single acceptable and lockable stall, maybe with a hook on the back of the door if you’re lucky. Turns out, size doesn’t matter all that much.

Ramsay Wright Laboratories Style/Ambiance: Wet Accessible: No Gender-Neutral Option: No # of Stalls/Urinals: 3 The role of a washroom is to provide a safe, clean space in which patrons can relieve themselves. Never before has a washroom failed so miserably to do this. In such an oft-used building, this is a particularly grievous failure. One of the three stalls in the women’s washroom doesn’t flush, and has thus been equipped with an “out of order” sign.

Another one doesn’t lock. The final stall’s door must have been punctured, leaving a large ragged hole at about waist-level.

Said hole is stuffed with toilet paper. To top that, the floor is consistently covered in water. Further critique unnecessary: this is the most insipid and base parody of a washroom to be found. Be warned, and go find another privy.

Other Places to Avoid: The Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse Washrooms.

These are the closest to Café Reznikoff, and may seem like a viable option given Reznikoff’s lack of facilities. Do not fall into this trap.

Why does DiCaprio really want the Oscar?

Brenda Bongolan | Staff Writer It’s almost time, folks. The moment you’re not really waiting for but would rather pay attention to than that essay you’ve put off until “tomorrow.” The 88th Academy Awards: it’s a time of excitement, for some people! Apparently. Some are flocking to theatres to see the films nominated for an Oscar, while others have the nerve to pirate the nominated films online. And lastly, there are the folks that come crawling back to one of the most beloved of Academy Award pastimes: making gif-heavy jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio not having, and not receiving, an Oscar.

I’m not complaining. They’re pretty hilarious; laughter directed towards the failure and rejection of sincere, otherwise successful people brings a smile to

my face and a tingling sensation to my fingers, which I quite like. But maybe we should pull back. I’m not an economics student (anymore), but I’m positive we’re facing diminishing returns on the hilarity of Oscar-less DiCaprio jokes. It’s time we turn this obsessive need to mock DiCaprio into an obsessive need to find out why he isn’t getting an Oscar in the first place.

Perhaps the problem lies in his choice of roles; The Revenant is the second time he’s played a character that loses it and sprays spittle everywhere in the hopes of winning Best Actor. Coincidence? Perhaps the Academy just has a strong dislike for him after all his years of fame (and, unlike Rose, they’ll never let go of him it). Or perhaps there’s an

even darker secret behind it all. What if there’s a secret order out there devoted to sabotaging the results every year DiCaprio’s been nominated; not out of dislike or envy, but out of fear?

Why would people fear him, you ask? Think about it: how can someone so talented, successful, and under constant scrutiny of the public eye be so damn genuine and humble—a good “old sport” after each loss? And without one bad word about his colleagues, ever?

Are we just supposed to believe that the Academy is full of petty, prejudiced, unfair people? Nonsense! Therefore, it must be the fear DiCaprio instils in the Academy if he were to ever obtain that golden statue. Perhaps he’s an evil warlock who needs it for a dark ritual that will help

him take over the world. Perhaps he’s an alien mastermind, disguised as a handsome human, bent on using the statue as a key to destroy Earth. Or perhaps he’s a malicious, all-seeing, dimension-travelling, shape-shifting entity who needs it to wreak havoc on all beings just because he wants to!

Who can be sure? We need to step away from the Internet’s memes and gifs to find the truth. Meanwhile, continue to fear that glorious sonuvagun and deny DiCaprio an Oscar at all costs—his seemingly good nature be damned!

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Stranded • The Strand

How can I drive her crazy in 2016?

Sara Truuvert | Staff Writer So, it’s the end of another night out, and you’ve come home. That’s right: alone.

Again. Maybe you talked to one woman, maybe you talked to 20, but something just wasn’t clicking! All you walk away with is a decent conversation, and we know that’s just not enough.

And listen, we also know this can’t be because she’s actually not interested! The problem isn’t you; it’s just that you don’t know how to make enough of an impression. Keep reading for foolproof tips and tricks to make sure you’re the one driving her absolutely wild this year!

1. Netflix and Chill We know, we know: so overdone, right?

Think again, fellas! We want to draw your attention to a category on Netflix a lot of people miss called “Featuring a Strong Female Lead.” Everyone knows all of these movies are totally different from regular movies; so

offering to watch one shows her how generous and cultured you are… meaning the babe on the screen isn’t the only one you’ll be watching for long!

2. Ask Her Where She’s From Only if she’s not white, obviously. By invoking an inevitable feeling of alienation on her part, you will ensure your dominance in the conversation. Pro tip—mention how “exotic” she looks, like a tropical bird or a coconut. It’s a compliment!

3. Brag About Her Behind Her Back Seriously, doing this is like huffing glue: it will get you so temporarily high! Whether your encounter was last night or years ago, make sure you keep telling your buddies— maybe even some casual acquaintances— how one time something maybe happened.

When it gets back to her, why wouldn’t she be thrilled?

4. Tell Everyone You Want to Get With Her Emphasize it so much, it becomes part of her identity. Insane flattery, right? What quicker way to a woman’s heart than to have her identity reduced to your sexual desire for her…but, come to think of it, we guess it’s not really her heart you’re aiming for, are we right??

5. Spin Her Around…A Lot! This ol’ move is so underrated, fellas! If you meet a girl at a crowded venue, preferably with loud music, take her hand and literally spin her around a whole bunch. She’ll be so dizzy and confused that she’ll literally be falling at your feet!

6. Master “The Sigh” Your secret weapon, right here. Drop your head down as you let out a long, sad sigh when things aren’t going your way. She asks to use a condom? Sigh. She doesn’t want to

“She seems interested. I’d better keep talking!”

go further tonight? Sigh. Trust us, unwarranted guilt is every woman’s weak spot, so use it!

7. Follow Her When She’s Out Walking Simple as that! She’ll appreciate the company, and the adrenaline she’ll feel upon suddenly realizing you are there will fuel a conversation she’ll never forget. One last hint: nothing starts a conversation better than yelling something about her appearance. If she doesn’t respond, don’t worry! She just didn’t hear you. Yell again. Louder.

There you go, fellas! Use these tips, and you’ll be thanking us later. If you have a son, make sure he learns these tips too; after all, fatherhood is all about setting an example.

Happy hunting!

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Photography | 360CollegeDegrees, flickr

How was your Reading Week?

Anthony Burton | Editor-in-Chief That’s good. Oh? Mine was pretty good, too. Thanks for asking.

You visited your grandparents, cool.

I didn’t go anywhere. I’m pretty busy, you see. I had a lot of stuff to do on campus this week. Well, I spent a lot of time at the Jackman Humanities Building, specifically. That’s where the English department is located. They’ve actually got a lobby room where you can hang out and read, but it’s usually just grad students there. They’re usually pretty quiet.

Now that I think about it, I can’t think of the last time I saw another undergrad in there. So maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this? It can be our little secret, haha.

Oh, you’re in English, too? That’s cool, I thought maybe you were just auditing this course since you weren’t up at the front. Especially since today we were talking about Ezra Pound. I really don’t get why you wouldn’t sit at the front for that. Sitting in the front is super important if you want professors to recognize you when you go to their of-

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fice hours. Last week I was in my prof ’s office hours the entire duration. There were two or three of us just talking about how Pound’s total lack of unity in the Cantos is a reply to the dialectical materialist view of history. But it’s interesting because at the same time some of his fascism was influenced by Marx. Did you know Pound was a fascist? Interesting, isn’t it? But you have to separate the art from the artist, you know?

Have you read the Cantos? I have.

I read them over the Christmas holidays. I’m actually going to write a paper on them later this term. In one of my 400-level seminars, not this course.

Hopefully it doesn’t get in the way of the research I’m doing with this visiting professor from Cambridge. It’s actually a pretty crazy story as to how I got into that, haha. I saw the posting on the job board, yeah, but just a resumé and cover letter really don’t show what I’m all about. So I figured I would do some research on this prof before I met him, and

then I’d have something to talk to him about when I got the interview. I knew I’d get an interview at least; I put my GPA right in my cover letter. So anyway, I found his LinkedIn and then I found a bunch of papers that he had written and I printed all of them off, as well as a couple of photos from his LinkedIn and from his Professor page on cam.ac.uk.

Then I found his personal website and downloaded his CV so that I could really have an idea of what he’s all about. At this point I figured I’d try to run into him in Jackman—which I’m already at like all the time anyway—and with the photos I had a really good idea of what he’s looked like for the last ten years and was probably going to look like for the next 22 days between when I sent in my application and the deadline closed.

But at this point I figured “Well if I just make it clear to him that I’m the best student for the job he can just ignore the other applications,” so I was thinking of ways to run into him even if he wasn’t

going to be on campus and figured that I might as well just catch him on his walk to campus. So one day, before he knew who I was, I followed behind him walking west on Bloor towards Spadina station but then he got on the subway to go north so I made sure to get on the same train but in a different subway car than him and luckily I got in the one right behind him and when he finally got off I got a look at his wife and kids as well since they were at Eglinton station to pick him up but they were in a rush so I didn’t get a very good look. Anyway, after all that, at my interview later that week I knew precisely the questions to ask. Profs don’t like to admit it, but they really like it when you’re interested in their teaching. It gives them a sense of purpose, I guess. So of course I got the job, haha. Like I said, funny story.

Can I add you on Facebook?