The Strand | Volume 59, Issue 8

the

strand VICTORIA UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPERER VOLUME 59, ISSUE 8 | JANUARY 30, 20177

MARCH IN JANUARY The Women's March takes Toronto 2 Rally for homeless shelters 3

Reflections on the Women’s March 4 Promises of a March for Science 5

features Truth and reconciliation at UofT

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arts & Culture The 2017 Gardiner Gala in photos 10

opinions What are you laughing at?— Comedy & mindfulness 6 .

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EDITOR | ERIN CALHOUN

NEWS

@STRANDPAPER

Toronto’s take on the Women’s March on Washington 60,000 turn out for march in Toronto, 5 million worldwide alexandra lambropoulos news associate editor

On Saturday, January 21st, Toronto was one of the 34 cities across Canada who took part in the Women’s March.

Many were clad in pink cat-eared hats, armed with cleverly worded signs. Protestors grouped in Queen’s Park before marching down the street.

Many used the inflammatory rhetoric of newly inaugurated President Trump to their advantage with signs that read, “Nasty Women Unite” and “Build Bridges Not Walls.” Protesters chose to wield, and not yield, to the hate perpetuated throughout the election campaign and turned it into something more constructive.

Over 60,000 Torontonians joined the Sister March in solidarity with their “American Sisters” participating in the Women’s March on Washington. As one protester put it in an interview with the Toronto Star, it is “important that we show solidarity, not just for women but for all the different groups that Trump is attempting to marginalize. This isn’t just about women at all. That’s really an excuse, a headline.

But we all need to stick together.” A sentiment shared by both the Women’s March organizers and represented in the faces, signs, and chants of the men, women, and children who took part.

The response worldwide was equally as spirited. According to the Women’s March site, there were approximately 5 million marchers, who took part in an estimated 673 marches worldwide. The result is an international display of solidarity, that touched all seven continents of the Earth.

The main march in Washington, estimates an attendance of almost 1 million people who, along with the hundreds of thousands of others who took part across the United States, produced one of the largest demonstrations in American history.

Back in Toronto, as the mass passed the United States

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consulate, they were funneled away from the building using barricades. On the other side, police mounted on bicycles and horses, and firetrucks lined up beside the edifice for safekeeping.

As another protester told the Toronto Star, “It’s a really positive vibe today and I’m excited for what’s going to happen tomorrow. Some people are scared this momentum will end but I don’t think it’ll stop today.” A sentiment echoed and promoted directly through the powerful words of the speakers at each march, and by the Women’s March’s new

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alexandra lambropoulos

initiative to keep the ball rolling, way after everyone had put down their signs and gone home.

The new 10 Actions for the First 100 Days campaign aims to “transform this diverse, organic movement into a powerful force for equality and justice, with practical goals.” The first of these ten entails sending postcards to US Senators to make them aware of the people’s concerns and demands. A simple act, but if Saturday proves anything, it is that a collection of small acts can leave its mark on the world.

VUSAC investigates missing funds from semi-formal ticket sales

UTSU wants out of the CFS

erin calhoun

kody mccann

news editor

social media director

On January 21st, VUSAC released a statement on their Facebook page which revealed that $500 is missing from the ticket sales cashbox for Code Red, this year’s semi-formal. In the released statement, the Council expressed that they will continue to work on stronger accountability policies for ticket sales.

The matter was discussed at VUSAC’s meeting on January 20th. After ticket sales for Code Red, had concluded, Scarlet and Gold Commissioner Zahavah Kay placed the cashbox, which included sales from the night of the event and days prior, with the cashbox for printer sales inside of a cabinet.

Kay had intended to leave the cashbox inside the co-president’s office, but no one who had access to the office (Co-Presidents, Rahul Christofferson and Stuart Norton, and Finance Chair, Nicole Gumapac) were present at the time.

The following day, Kay was able to recognize that money had been visibly taken from the cashbox.

A report for the missing money was filled late November

by Kay and investigated by acting Finance Chair Peter Huycke and Vice President External Steve Warner. The investigation concluded that approximately $500 was missing from the expected approximate-amount of $1600 from ticket sales.

VUSAC told The Strand, that they currently remain uncertain, after concluding the investigation, of just how much was stolen, due to discrepancies in tracking sales. The investigation turned up a discovery that a number of tickets were distributed, but not clearly recorded.

The knowledge of the missing funds was not revealed to the VUSAC Co-Presidents until the middle of December.

Without an active Finance Chair, the Council was not able to conduct a timely audit and investigation. VUSAC states that

On Tuesday January 24th, the UTSU issued a statement outlining how the union’s executives no longer support membership to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). With grievances listed, the UTSU says membership to the CFS “is something that the [UTSU]…can no longer support.”

A statement released by the UTSU noted how the 14 motions presented at the CFS general meeting, including motions to “prevent non-student staff from attending CFS meetings as delegates” and others regarding minutes taken at meetings and electronic voting systems, were not debated and were subsequently deferred to the next meeting.

The statement also noted the surprise request by the CFS to approve an audit during the opening session of the meeting and explained its ties to a “secret bank account” discovered recently.

UTSU executives present at the meeting inquired on the details of the account three separate occasions but did not receive an answer from the CFS. The UTSU explicitly asked whether or not the funds from the secret bank account were used to fund specific candidates in local elections.

While the UTSU is not allowed to initiate decertification, it says it will support all efforts in calling for a referendum on decertification. The UTSU outlined that it supports the existing You Decide campaign, and they will be lobbying for the chance for students to partake in a referendum to continue or end the University of Toronto’s involvement in CFS. This statement, signed by four out of seven UTSU executives, including President Jasmine Wong Denike, is one more addition to the continued movement against membership in the CFS. A previous article in The Strand from October 3rd detailed the state of the UTSU’s relationship with the CFS, which can be found on our website.

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rosa kumar

“the investigation thus had to be put off until the new year and was complete in time for the council meeting at which its results were announced.”

In their Facebook post, VUSAC stated that “because of the number of students both on and outside of council who have access to the VUSAC office, we are unable to determine any other details at this time” The council is continuing to employ new ticket sales policies, which are set to include a more consistent and thorough recordkeeping, more frequent cash deposits into a secure safe, and safer storage of cashboxes.

VUSAC stated in their Facebook post, “We will continue, as always, to strive to maintain the trust of Victoria College students.”

NEWS@THESTRAND.CA

NEWS

THE STRAND | 30 JANUARY 2017

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Pass the sugar, please Canadian university students take a non-traditional route towards paying off student debt erin calhoun news editor

access to their services by offering a free premium membership with the registration of a .edu account. In a press release, it was stated that “in 2016 alone, more than one million students around the world registered on SeekingArrangement to find relief from tuition, student-loan debt, and other college related costs.”

Alexis Germany, Press Correspondent for SeekingArrangement, released the numbers of users on SeekingArrangement, detailing that the highest numbers of users are Sugar Daddies (115,056) and Female Sugar Babies (412,528).

Sugar relationships are not seen as a vocation, but rather as a special relationship between two people. Some students seek these relationships to fill monetary gaps in their lives, but many individuals enjoy these relationships for what they are. Judgement of either motive for these relationships does not belong in the external. *Sophia has requested that only her first name be presented. *Students are referenced as anonymous to preserve their identity and experience

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lynn hong

Second-year student, Sophia,* sought a sugar daddy through Tinder, Kijiji, and Craigslist to help pay for school and other expenses. “Some of the individuals [that I engaged with], I enjoyed. Some were just not great people,” she stated, in reference to her experience in past relationships with sugar daddies.

SeekingArrangement, as an online dating service, connects individuals who have common interests. Intimacy is not explicitly stated as a requirement in these relationships, but can often be insinuated, according to Sophia.

A student, who chose to remain anonymous, reportedly attends her dates with sugar daddies where she does not engage intimately with them and is often given around $800. She finds that many of the men on these sites are socially unkempt and use sites like these to date more easily.

Another anonymous student was initially hesitant to join the site, but her need for extra money eventually led her to give it a shot. Although never going through with the date requests that she had received, the student felt overwhelmed by the offerings.

SeekingArrangement allows students to have easy

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Many college and university students in Canada are investing in relationships with sugar daddies to supplement the costs of rising tuition and living expenses.

A sugar baby/daddy relationship is a consensual relationship between two adults where the sugar daddy often provides their partner with material or monetary goods within the relationship. The two parties often share intimacy, companionship, or friendship.

U of T is recognized as having the highest number of students, sitting at 683, in Canada involved with SeekingArrangement, one of the leading sites that connects young adults, “sugar babies,” with successful, wealthy adults, “sugar daddies/ mommas” with the interest of engaging in a relationship. Ryerson University falls second on the list of with 577 registered students and University of Guelph, third—with 554.

SeekingArrangement caters towards students utilizing their services to find relief from tuition, student debt, and other school related costs. In a press release from the site, it is stated that nearly 207,000 out of roughly 1.7 million students in Canada are utilizing the site as an alternative method of financial aid.

On December 15th, the provincial government of Ontario set an overall tuition increase cap of three percent for another two years. Students in Ontario are already paying the highest average tuition for undergraduate degrees for 2016/2017, at $8,114. The lowest average for undergraduates is in Newfoundland and Labrador at $2,759. Brandon Wade, CEO and founder of SeekingArrangement, stated in a press release, “instead of waiting for the government to take action, their students are taking matters into their own hands.”

Shrinking shelter spaces and city funding spark rally in city’s core OCAP and supporters gather to protest lack of shelter space for homeless populations during winter months samantha santoro staff writer

On December 15th, 2016, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty OCAP hosted the event “Rally and March to Open Shelter Space Now,” where about 100 Torontonians gathered around a city-owned building at Dundas and Victoria with posters protesting the lack of adequate space and resources in homeless shelters around Toronto.

Despite the wretched weather conditions, Protestors proceeded to gather outside of Toronto City Hall. This was done in a collective effort to demand shelter for Toronto’s homeless.

Those who spoke outside the building stressed the horrid conditions caused by the overcrowding, currently found within Toronto’s shelter system, as well as the heightened risk on the lives of those who are homeless, not only when braving the cold of the Infamous Canadian Winter, but the rest of the year as well.

Not many individuals can remain standing in one position during the middle of a snow storm in Toronto.

It is hard to imagine that anyone would willingly seek refuge in these precise conditions, if it were not for the existence of the disagreeable alternative—staying in a shelter.

The estimated number of homeless people sleeping outdoors and in emergency shelters, Violence Against Women shelters, and in health and correctional facilities in Toronto on the night of April 17th, 2013 was 5,253. The estimated number of people who slept “rough” (meaning outside, on the streets), that same night, was 447.

The 2017 budget for the city of Toronto, focusing on Housing and Homelessness, exhibits serious cuts. $27.7 million will be cut out of shelter, support, and housing.

The current homeless shelter system in the city of Toronto is reported as full, operating with over 90% occupancy each night. Occupancy is expected to remain above and beyond 90% in 2017.

Many reports have indicated that the sheer density of homeless people within shelters has led to severe overcrowding, coupled with shortage of resources; both of these require a rapid solution, in order to prevent widespread suffering for these individuals. This problem has only increased as the years have passed, as there has been very little action by the city of Toronto taken to remedy this problem.

OCAP has pledged to “continue to fight for the armouries to be opened as shelters, as well as for the City of Toronto to endorse its policy of keeping shelters at a maximum of 90% occupancy. Hopefully, also, the percent at which shelters are closed down within the central area,” according to organizer, John Clarke.

As groups like OCAP continue to place emphasis on the urgency with which this issue should be handled, it is likely that protests like these will attract attention from leading policy makers and administrators who would be capable of taking significant action.

The refusal of Mayor John Tory and his administra-

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tors to provide adequate shelter facilities, has been, according Clarke, “The extreme expression of the agenda of austerity that is being imposed in Toronto.” There remains this inextinguishable, effervescent hope displayed by not only those who attended the protest, but also those who support taking action for this issue and could not attend. The hope is that there will come a day where lives are not lost in a way that is, as OCAP continues to express, largely preventable if tackled by the collective efforts of policy makers and citizens alike.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: ERIK PRESTON AND ALEXANDRA SCANDOLO

EDITORIAL

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the strand v o l u m e

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EDITOR@THESTRAND.CA

The anatomy of a protest Reflections and criticisms on the Women’s March the strand editorial board

editors-in-chief

erik preston

editor@thestrand.ca

alexandra scandolo

news

erin calhoun

news@thestrand.ca shailee koranne

opinions

opinions@thestrand.ca

On January 21st, millions around the world came together in protest on Day Two of Donald Trump’s presidency. While powerful and important, progressiveness can always be improved upon. Our editors look back on this massive demonstration and discuss where our activism must go from here.

tanuj ashwin kumar

science

science@thestrand.ca features

tamilore oshodi

features@thestrand.ca arts

&

molly kay

culture

artsandculture@thestrand.ca film

&

elena senechal-becker joshua kim

music

filmandmusic@thestrand.ca celeste yim

stranded

stranded@thestrand.ca copy editing

tristan mcgrath-waugh

copy@thestrand.ca genevieve wakutz

design

design@thestrand.ca photo

photo@thestrand.ca art

art@thestrand.ca

rosa kumar

lynn seolim hong

web

justine chen

web@thestrand.ca

arjun sawhney

editorial assistants

tyler biswurm ainsley doell amanda gosio grace king sabrina papas carol park

contributors aba amuquandoh, luca bellisario, kathleen chen, ted fraser, grace king, arin klein alexandra lambropoulos, kody mccann, wilfred moeschter, sabrina papas, carol park, samantha santoro, laura siracusa, harrison wade copy editors ainsley doell, amanda gosio, grace king, heather mackay, carol park, erik preston, alexandra scandolo design team

annika hocieniec, sonya roma illustrations lynn hong, varvara nedilska, yilin zhu photos isaac julien, rosa kumar, alexandra lambropoulos, hana nikcevic, jay watts cover image varvara nedilska

The Strand has been the newspaper of record for Victoria University since 1953. It is published 12 times a year with a circulation of 1200 and is distributed in Victoria University buildings and across the University of Toronto’s St. George campus.

The Strand flagrantly enjoys its editorial autonomy and is committed to acting as an agent of constructive social change. As such, we will not publish material deemed to exhibit racism, sexism, homo/transphobia, ableism, or other oppressive language.

The Strand is a proud member of the Canadian University Press (CUP).

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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There was a Women’s March protest on virtually every continent— even Antarctica—yet the protests seemed homogenous, unwelcoming, and even theatrical.

Most of the photos I’ve seen of the Women’s March show a sea of white women wearing pink hats and carrying signs saying things like “pussy grabs back.” These statements emphasize the idea that the women most affected by Trump and right-wing voters are cisgender and white. However, that couldn’t be further from reality.

I admire women standing up for reproductive rights and standing against sexual assault and “locker room talk.” Only a few days into his presidency, Trump has already implemented anti-choice laws that are putting women at risk. The question I have for these women is: Who are you marching for?

The cisnormative nature of the march, as well as its inaccessibility to people with disabilities, and the sheer whiteness of it all was upsetting. If you’re fighting for reproductive rights, but carrying signs that equate womanhood with having a vagina, you’re not marching for women. If you were outraged at Trump when the infamous tapes of him boasting about sexual assault leaked, but weren’t entirely fussed when he was having Hijabi women escorted out of his rallies, you’re not marching for women.

A majority of white women voted for Donald Trump, and nothing—not one march, and especially not a goddamn pussy hat—will absolve white women for their complacency in Trump’s election.

So, if you marched, and hopefully plan to continue marching, think about the women who are getting left behind in your dust—the ones whose voices should be at the front.

— Shailee Koranne, Opinions Editor On January 21st, I made my way down to Queen’s Park with a friend. We managed to get close to the front of the crowd, as we had arrived early to hear the speakers. It stretched all the way to College Street, and I was really happy to witness such a big turnout, especially knowing that this was happening simultaneously in cities all over the world. There were some beautifully decorated, clever, and inspiring signs held across the park, and the March organizers led us in chants such as, “This is what diversity looks like.”

Looking around me, I have to admit that I was constantly taken aback by the amount of signs that equated womanhood with genitals or periods. Not only does this seem oddly reductive, it doesn’t take into account trans women, or women who do not get their periods. It is crucial for us not to forget these women, as they are some of the most oppressed under Trump’s regime. I understand the need to push back against one of Trump’s most odious statements, “grab her by the pussy,” which has become a symbol of his misogyny and lack of respect for women. Phrases like “pussy grabs back” and the pink wool “pussy hats” have become increasingly popular in the fight against Trump’s policies and character. However, I don’t see the need to center feminism around one’s genitalia. It is common for white cisgender women to center their own needs above those of all others, and I definitely got a sense of that at the March.

I remember one of my favourite signs at the March featured an Audre Lorde quote: “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” More of this, please.

— Elena Senechal-Becker, Arts & Culture Editor

@STRANDPAPER /THE STRAND WWW.THESTRAND.CA illustration

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varvara nedilska

The significance of the Women’s March lies in that it was more than just a championing of women’s rights. Individuals all over North America and the rest of the world gathered to protest the rights that Donald Trump’s presidency threatens. The day was monumental, whether you were in attendance at the march or watching history being made through photos and hashtags, but we must consider what is next to come. Those opposed to Trump’s racist and sexist rhetoric began to think, “Where do we go following the march?”

As stellar and triumphant as it was to witness millions hoisting signs promoting resilience and respect, the fight is far from over. Social movements require political parties to implement change, much like The Great Society. The resilience of the people will create a united front, and propel forward the ideals that America envisions. The echoes of the people must continuously carry and challenge society.

— Erin Calhoun, News Editor The morning of the march, my roommate and I bumped into our friend’s mother on our way to Queen’s Park. She was proudly carrying a sign that read: “EQUALITY & COMPASSION FOR ALL #WHYIMARCH” on one side and “HEAR ME ROAR” on the other. As soon as she saw us, she ran over to us and gave us both a big hug. “I’m so glad I bumped into you two,” she began, “Young women like you are the reason I’m here walking today.”

The turnout was incredible—tens of thousands of people gathered in solidarity to participate in the Toronto Women’s March. Yet as empowering as this experience was, I must add that I am very privileged to have been able to participate in this protest. The fact remains that many people were unable to attend the march due to many reasons, including, but not limited to¬, mental illness and lack of safety. All of which, are valid and further solidify why we need protests like the Women’s March in the first place. Feminism doesn’t exist without intersectionality, and your activism cannot end just because the march is over. As more issues arise, given the state of our current political climate, it’s more important than ever that we stand together in resistance.

— Molly Kay, Arts & Culture Editor

With what may be the largest demonstration in U.S. history, leaving some hopeful for the years ahead, the Women’s March highlighted major feats that the country has yet to overcome. While I am fully in awe of the immense turnout for such an important cause, I still took it all with a grain of salt.

I watched throngs of people march in unison and was bemused, as I was fully aware that the majority of protesters were white women—52% of this same demographic voted for the new president of the United States. Where were they when the voices of female unity were needed in the times of struggle for women of colour? Or, is the march suddenly more important than those of the past because the consequences of their choices are suddenly glaring at them?

Unfortunately, I observed “white feminism” in action as their cries of female unity rung hollow. Where was such a stance in the protests that followed the deaths of Sandra Bland and others, which were seen as disturbances and a menace to the peace of their days?

Women of colour did just what was called unto them—they voted correctly and they were let down; they came out in spite of being left in the lurch. The American people are fully aware of their great ability to rally against worthy causes but hopefully, with this success, it can permeate through the concerns of all kinds of people in the nation.

Personally, as I am forced to treat the issues that arise with being a woman, I am also left to deal with those of being a person of colour. I don’t believe one issue can be more pertinent over the other, but the voices questioning them should never be hushed. It is, only if when all women actively address and fight for issues that pertain to those of different colors and backgrounds, that we can say we have truly stood as a unit and are finally able to fight all that comes our way.

— Tamilore Oshodi, Features Editor

EDITOR: TANUJ ASHWIN KUMAR

SCIENCE

SCIENCE@THESTRAND.CA

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The build up to the March for Science Attacks on climate change and the environment, plus turbulent histories, radical politics, and intersectionality tanuj kumar science editor

On January 24th, something peculiar happened on Twitter.

The official Twitter of the Badlands National Park Service (@ BadlandsNPS) began tweeting out a string of facts related to climate change. In the span of a few hours, the rapid-fire messages about atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and ocean acidification started making the rounds around Twitter. Following this display, and without explanation, the tweets were deleted. However, the damage had been done. Screenshots were taken, news outlets tipped, and folks around the internet were worried for the rogue Badlands staffer who had clearly tweeted out these facts in direct defiance of the Trump administration’s muzzling and censoring of climate scientists.

Donald Trump and the Republican party have made the discrediting of climate science and pro-environment efforts a core tenet of their campaigns and administrations. Ultimately, this has culminated in the passing of executive orders and bill proposals which specifically work to target and erase all instances of federal climate change data, defund environmental organizations, and decimate the environment. This has happened in the span of five days, among a string of edicts that are outright politically fascist in nature. However, climate scientists had been wary of this. A few weeks prior to inauguration of the demagogue, our university had its own mini hackathon on campus, with the explicit goal of preserving the scientific climate data that would inevitably be lost. Like clockwork, inauguration day saw the White House’s website scrapped of information on climate change, and as of today, the pace of erasure and censorship has been relentless.

In response, a number of other US government agencies have “gone rogue” with “alt” twitters. These are hosted by anonymous staffers, and dedicated to tweeting out the climate facts that are slowly being chewed away by an administration that dictates truth through “alternative facts” centered around rampant neoliberalism and xenophobic right-wing populism. There have been calls for a March for Science, in light of the recent Women’s Marches around the world, and coming into the context of a number of other Marches centered around other marginalized communities targeted by the administration. The idea of a Science March is great, and what makes it even better is how there are calls for it to be inclusive and intersectional. Despite this, the idea of intersectionality in the Science March has been an apparent point of debate among potential March partakers, with claims that it doesn’t necessarily have a place among the “objectivity of science.” History paints a different picture.

Science as a general pursuit of truth has been an international effort of humanity, from the mathematics of the Mayans and Babylonians, to the chemistry and physics of Muslim and Chinese scientists, to Indigenous medicines and medical practices that are sources of pharmaceuticals today. In contrast, science and scientific realism as a modern construct have emerged as a formalized system through the political tumult of white European men, and with that comes a string of consequences that have dictated the political realities of the world since the 1400s.

We can divide this into two camps: abuses justified through the name of science, and exclusions and erasure of other people from science. What kind of “abuse” has been done in the name of science? The European scientific revolution heralded theories upon theories about how our world worked, from the mechanics of the cosmos to the mechanics of our brains. But with this came

assumptions, and justifications of what was “right” and “wrong.”

Theories of psychology and the workings of the brain encouraged abusive, harmful, and violent treatments of individuals with mental illness. Justifications by a patriarchal system of medicine and psychology controlled exclusively by men worked to essentially undermine and dehumanize non-men by trying to “explain away behaviours.” Abuses of Darwinist theory combined with racist anthropological ideas to construct an imperialist system that was built on the idea of white supremacy and colonialism, leading to the systemic oppression of people of colour. “Biological sex” and gender binarism in science has been widely discredited, and gender and sex are now widely understood as spectrums.

But despite this, non-binary, intersex, and trans individuals have faced centuries of violence based on these assumptions. Yet today, we seemingly haven’t gotten very far, with prominent members of our apparent scientific community at the university, notably, still using “science” to debate basic trans rights.

the scientific community embracing the tenets of intersectionality and inclusion within the march, and encouraging it within their fields, would ultimately be a step forward in the noble ideal of bringing the fruits of scientific discovery to all people

But science as a whole? The idea of science bringing a “civilizational enlightenment” has been par for the course in European justifications of what’s essentially a worldwide imperialist genocide of indigenous people. “They’re not as civilized as we are, so we can enlighten them.” It has taken centuries for scientists who are female or non-binary, or scientists of colour, to even get their contributions acknowledged in the same way as their white male counterparts, despite working extremely hard within a system that has not been kind to them. Obviously, the problem is not with the impartial science itself. The issue lies within the community and system around it, and how, by adopting the “impartiality of science” as a characteristic of the scientists rather than a characteristic of the science, they attempt to shield themselves of valid societal criticisms and a bloody history. Today’s outlook is a mixed bag, with many attempts being made to make science a more equitable and intersectional place, alongside questions of whether “science really needs intersectionality” or outright denials of these societal issues. Science still provides the best way for humans to improve our livelihoods and discover amazing, beautiful things about our universe—but by ignoring the issues of the system, how can we ever extend this beauty to every person rather than a small subset of people holding power?

What does this have to do with a march about climate change, which is fairly impartial and universal? It has to do more with the context of why a March for Science should be inter-

sectional rather than not, and how the scientific system cannot disentangle itself from politics. A few things to note; the communities that will be biggest hit by the effects of climate change are precisely those that have survived European colonialism and are developing nations because of it—from sub-Saharan Africa, to the Pacific, to much of the “global south.”As well, a fight for environmental rights is deeply intertwined with Indigenous struggles for self-assertion on sacred lands. Scientific academia is facing a “crisis of capitalism.” As a result of global neoliberal policy, the academic system has been “clogged.” Younger scientists have bleaker future prospects for a sufficient livelihood in the field; project funding is tenuous, job security is unstable, and competition for funding is cutthroat in a way that perpetuates corporate scientific suppression along with an inability to sufficiently verify scientific results. The scientific ideal of universal collaboration for a mutual, international pursuit to uplift all humanity has been stymied by the same capitalist system that leaves the poor destitute, that traps developing nations in dangerous debt cycles, and that steals the livelihoods and lives of people around the planet.

A March for Science, like the scientific community as a whole, must not think of itself as “above politics,” when talking about the politics of the scientists themselves. Courses on Women & Gender Studies, Equity, Sociology and Criminology, and other such courses are often treated with sneers and punchlines by folks within STEM, as if these issues are independent from STEM. There is no rule or law, perhaps beyond the “law” of expectations of those in the community, that states individuals within the sciences must be politically neutral, especially when the politics in question are politics of human rights and inclusion. This is particularly true when scientific truths can be used to help marginalized communities around the world. Mathematician Alexander Grothendieck, who revolutionized his field, was also revolutionary in his political beliefs, famously lecturing mathematics in the forests outside Hanoi to protest the US’s carpet bombing during the Vietnam War. As scientists, the first step when coming across new terms in fields of social justice and intersectional feminism should be to investigate, learn, and read with the same curious mind that brought the scientist to their respective field in the first place. Ultimately, a March for Science will be fighting the rise of Trump’s fascism on the same front as Black Lives Matter, NoDAPL, queer and women’s rights groups, Muslim rights groups, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, and anti-fascist groups. All of this is interlinked, and indeed, the scientific community embracing the tenets of intersectionality and inclusion within the March, and encouraging it within their fields, would ultimately be a step forward in the noble ideal of bringing the fruits of scientific discovery to all people. But this is our first step in a political reality that has made it clearer than ever that science is not free from politics. We must protect the data, we must protect inclusion and intersectionality, and we must protect a positive future for both science and humanity.

A collection of “rogue” federal agency twitters: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): @altUSEPA and @actualEPAFacts, the US Forest Service: @AltForestServ, NASA: @RogueNASA, the US National Park Service: @AltNationalParkSet, the Badlands National Park Service: @BadHombreNPS

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EDITOR | SHAILEE KORANNE

OPINIONS

@STRANDPAPER

What are you laughing at?

Be mindful about jokes made by comedians of colour shailee koranne opinions editor

Jasmeet Singh is a popular YouTuber and Vine user from the GTA who goes by “JusReign.” JusReign’s presence on the internet is important to me. He’s achieved fame by being able to make brown people laugh at some of the absurdities of our community’s culture. His style of comedy is often based on stereotypes that everyone can understand, but a lot of the time, the Vines and YouTube videos he posts are based on inside jokes within the brown community. Often, they critique the way brown people are treated in societies that are white-dominant.

I wonder, however, what non-South Asians see in JusReign’s jokes. What are they taking away from this Vine about a Hindi tongue-twister? People that aren’t familiar with the Chandni Chowk gag and its presence in Indian culture (remember that scene from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham?) are just laughing at the funny sounds that JusReign is making. That’s what it boils down to; if you don’t know Hindi, and don’t know why it’s funny that JusReign would say the Chandni Chowk tongue twister instead of the woodchuck one, you literally do not understand the joke and are, therefore, only laughing at foreign sounding words.

Similarly, what is going through a white person’s head when they watch a Vine that is clearly about them—like JusReign’s Vines about how white people like to joke that all brown people are somehow related? Yes, it’s just a joke, but JusReign is calling white people out for being part of the racism he felt as a kid and probably still has to deal with. His Vine about how white teachers were impatient with the pronunciation of his name resonates so much with me and lots of other brown kids that grew up as part of the diaspora.

So then, when white people watch these Vines, what’s going through their heads? Are they self-assured enough in their understanding of racism that they believe they are allowed to laugh at the jokes that critique them? Do they think that kind of social commentary isn’t about them, but rather, other white people—the ones who are “actually” racist?

This is not to say that every white person who laughs at JusReign’s videos is racist. Perhaps these people are just too comfortable with their understanding of race to understand that they might actually contribute to a system of racism by not questioning what they find funny in JusReign’s videos.

Some of the content is literally only funny because it features extreme close-ups and silly expressions and is relatively harmless.

Honestly, it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know that a lot of the people who think they are laughing with JusReign are actually laughing at him.

It’s not a stretch to imagine that some of JusReign’s audience is made up of the type of people that bullied me for being brown—and I don’t have to apologize for being offended

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about that. Imagine growing up constantly having to dodge jokes about terrorism, your parents, accents, the pronunciation of your name, and more, and then seeing the same people who did that to you laughing at a brown man who is comfortable enough to make those jokes about himself.

Even I cannot fully relate to some of JusReign’s content.

Some of his videos and Vines are specific to Sikh and Punjabi culture, which I am not a part of at all (surprise—not all Indians experience life the same way!) My parents, who are Gujarati and Marathi, make lots of jokes about Punjabi people.

I don’t understand the Punjabi language, and I don’t have to deal with the prejudice that other Indians inflict on Sikhs.

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I don’t know what kind of people JusReign wants watching his videos, and I’m not trying to tell you to stop watching his videos if you’re not brown. What I want us all to do is to think critically about what we are laughing at when we watch a JusReign video—or anything else comedic for that matter.

The connotation behind laughing at jokes that have nothing to do with you is overtly arrogant. It doesn’t matter how aware you think you are; understanding racism is not a one-step process and we must constantly check ourselves and our privileges. Being an ally doesn’t give you a pass to laugh at jokes that hold you and your privileges accountable. Being “woke” doesn’t mean you’re in on the joke.

Defining friendship in the Internet age kathleen chen

bards us with stylized images of friendship. We live our friendships, but we also broadcast them—we not only watch other people’s performances of friendship, but we also watch our own.

It is not easy to have an intuitive understanding of friendship. Social codes are complex, especially in the context of university. Navigating the social landscape is one of the most challenging aspects of first year; not only do you need to build a new support system, but you also need to deal with friendships that are newly changed by distance.

Coming from a small high school to a city, one of my biggest challenges was adjusting to the university’s culture of semi-public space. Both classes and Burwash contain a combination of friends, faces I recognize from somewhere, and total strangers.

Because I have met so many people, I have become more selective with who I call my friends. But because I have met so many people, I have learned so much about life, the world, and myself. I have managed to find deep, meaningful connections, through quiet moments: accidentally sitting for two hours at Ned’s one night talking about our childhoods, trekking through the snow to buy avocadoes at Rabba’s, talking over dinner until the restaurant closed No picture or post can do justice to moments like that.

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also recognize my own discomfort about those kinds of interactions. Is closeness really equivalent to sharing everything in your lives, from secrets to mascara? Maybe, but not necessarily.

In addition, Buzzfeed equates authenticity with being loud and comfortable with sharing private space, thereby dismissing introverts or people who are more reserved. Buzzfeed’s understanding of friendship seems to be a rebuttal of Taylor Swift’s carefully crafted, camera-ready squad—it exaggerates the grittiness of the “real” friendship to differentiate it from an Instagramworthy (and possibly fake) one. However, this creates yet another type of friendship that is not always representative of different people’s lived experiences. In attempting to include those who do not fit the picture-perfect mold, they have actually created another standard which is, itself, exclusive, and perhaps even more so, because if you don’t fit the Buzzfeed model, you aren’t even “real.”

The media’s portrayals of friendship implicitly shape our culture’s conception of values such as loyalty and generosity, and influences unwritten social contracts and expectations. We doubt ourselves and our relationships not because of a single Buzzfeed article, but, perhaps, because social media bom-

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Many articles have been written about the illusionary tactics of social media. It has undoubtedly confused our perceptions of the real versus the edited. In contrast to photoshopped magazines, social media seems to represent the everyday lives of ordinary people, an impression that is hard to shake despite our awareness that our online profiles are curated. While it is certainly entertaining to look into the beautiful lives of other people, we also crave realness; since it is so easy to become Facebook friends with people you meet once, close friendships become all the more important. Social media has also caught on to our desire for rawness—Buzzfeed claims to know what “everybody else” thinks or does, offering us yet another chance to compare ourselves.

Buzzfeed’s definition of a best friend as the person with whom you share the most intimate and un-photogenic moments, creates a representation of friendship that insists on its own authenticity.

The issue is that representations of rawness are still performative.

I know that it is irrational to believe my score on Buzzfeed’s “How Close Are You and Your Best Friend?” quiz, but I can’t help but feel troubled by how far from the mark I fall. The quiz’s consolatory result tells me, “You guys aren’t the kinds of best friends who’ve seen each other naked, but…” When I look at the characteristics that this relationship is supposed to have, I feel disappointed that none of my friendships fit the bill. However, I

hana nikcevic

opinions associate editor

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Merging music with the deaf in the theatre We should be aspiring to make theatre as accessible as possible arin klein

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As diversity in film and television has increasingly become a point of interest and concern for myself—I’m always trying to search for representation—so too has diversity and inclusivity in the theatre.

I was pleased to notice that many of the audition calls for this year’s UofT Drama Festival were seeking people of colour and non-binary actors. These castings allow many communities’ experiences to be expressed both in writing and performance through the far-reaching and deeply affecting medium of theatre. In one of my classes this semester, I had the opportunity to explore another community’s experience, expressed in theatre, through my research of Deaf West Theatre Company’s Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. A theatre company for the deaf is not a difficult idea to understand, but involving deaf actors in musical theatre is harder to imagine, as music is often thought of as only auditory. In this revival of Spring Awakening, music is still fundamental and made accessible to the deaf community through the creativity and hard work of the director, translators, actors, and others involved in the process. Researching this show’s work opened my mind to another type of inclusivity in the theatre to which I had, previously, not been exposed.

To understand the effects of this collaborative project, it’s necessary to understand the process and concepts involved in this particular production. Spring Awakening is a musical set in Germany in the late 19th century, dealing with topics such as sexuality, ignorance, and the difficulty of communication between adults and young people. Deaf West’s revival involved a cast of both hearing and deaf actors, casting some of the deaf actors in lead roles. In making these critical characters deaf, the theme of miscommunication is further reinforced and explored. However, the production does not exclude the deaf actors—and deaf audience members—from the words and music of the show. The entire production is signed in American Sign Language (ASL), with hearing actors singing the songs and delivering lines out loud while signing as well. The lead deaf characters each have a vocal counterpart who plays an instrument in the band; the hearing counterpart sings the character’s songs while the deaf actor signs their lines and plays the role. Evidently, this requires extensive rehearsal to ensure synchronicity between all the actors and musicians onstage. The production then relies heavily on physical and visual cues, establishing these performances as inherently collaborative. It also creates a reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship between deaf and hearing actors and audiences; the use of ASL is both accessible and adds a visual tool to the story.

The ASL translation of the show in this production is equally as valuable as the original book and lyrics. ASL is incorporated

into the choreography not only to provide translations for the lyrics, but to convey the rhythm, emotion, and language of the songs. I did not realize previously that there are not always wordfor-word translations from English into ASL—it is its own, completely separate language. The translators must match elements such as rhythm and emotion in the English lyrics. The translators focus on translating concepts and feelings into signing and movements. One example provided by a cast member in an American Theatre Wing YouTube interview was the lyric, “Who can say what dreams are?...Who can say what we are?” The sign translation for this production would be directly translated as: “Dreams in a jar…can’t…Us in a jar…can’t.” The concept conveyed is that the idea of our dreams and who we are is too big to be confined to a jar, to be easily pinned down and explained. The concept conveyed in the English lyrics is translated into ASL in a way that ensures it is visually and rhythmically appropriate to match the music that is heard.

As the ASL translation of the lyrics must be visually connected to music and spatially incorporated into choreography, it also exists in time. The translation must be able to match the

rhythm and tempo of the music. This is where cues are a key element of this production. Certain cues include lighting effects, and movements such as standing up, leaning forward, or interactions with the deaf actor. Particularly for deaf actors who have hearing actors playing their singing and speaking voice, there is a high degree of collaboration required to ensure synchronicity.

The deaf actor must be alert for cues, other actors must perform these cues, and the hearing actor watches the deaf actor’s signs so that the vocal lyrics are synchronized with the signed lyrics. Visual effects outside of the sign language are also used to convey the feeling and tone of music. Director Michael Arden discussed in a YouTube interview that his focus on making purely instrumental segments of the music accessible to deaf actors and audiences, providing the example of an instrumental piece involving a harp.

He expressed the sound of this instrument in the flickering of candles and soft lighting on stage.

In this production, one method of communication is not privileged over the other. Everyone in the cast signs, whether they are deaf or hearing, and the music, both auditorily and through physicality, is made accessible to each member. The different abilities of both deaf and hearing actors are valued. The success of this revival of Spring Awakening, highlighted in its moving to Broadway, demonstrates that deaf and disabled actors are equally capable of performing. As both hearing and deaf communities benefit from bringing sign language to musical theatre, these theatres become inclusive spaces within and beyond the production.

Within the productions, deaf and hearing actors are joined in their collaboration during the rehearsal process and onstage, facilitating an introduction of hearing people to a culture that may have been previously unknown to them. Outside the company, the production can serve as a source of inspiration for members of any community to learn sign language and approach the deaf community. This production reinforces the significance of the movement of deaf listening, and shows that these elements add depth and meaning for hearing listeners as well.

The inclusivity of the deaf community in musical theatre has exposed me to a new way of reflecting upon how music can be understood; how the visual, tactile, and kinesthetic are important in making sense of music. I believe it is crucial to understand how these listening elements are also involved in the hearing community’s understanding of music, and not to privilege one way of listening over another. Exposing the inclusivity of Deaf West’s production to smaller theatre communities such as the drama societies at UofT further opens the discussion of diversity and accessibility in the theatre and our society. With conscious effort, desire, and collaboration between the deaf community and the hearing community, music can be reconciled.

With large-scale productions such as Broadway revivals, the public nature of performance allows this inclusivity, collaboration, and open-mindedness to be spread to large audiences. In a community such as the University of Toronto, a production comprised of deaf actors may not be possible simply because of its demographic of students. However, with the inclusivity I have witnessed so far within the drama communities here, I am inspired by the opening of doors for people whose voices are not always given a platform in media such as film and even the stage.

I hope that keeping in mind the inclusivity of Deaf West’s Spring Awakening and its success, will continue to inspire people in smaller-scale theatre communities to write and perform pieces that amplify and spread the voices of those who are stifled by the hierarchies of society, and for those, who are not directly involved in theatre, to support these inclusive projects.

How our psychology betrays us The link between social media and dissatisfaction ted fraser opinions associate editor

Across the globe, individuals struggle with mental illness everyday. Simultaneously, advances in medicine, welfare, and human rights have elevated living standards for billions. Mental illnesses are complex, and their causes are still relatively unknown.

I believe the paradox of proliferated mental illness and technological advancement is a fascinating by-product of evolutionary adaptation. Social media, increased marketing, and—oddly enough—higher living standards have morphed this adaptation from a beneficial survival mechanism to a detrimental, self-destructive second nature.

We have a genetically hard-wired desire to survive that is incredibly strong. To ensure we’re doing everything correctly, we get our cues from other Homo sapiens.

We think, “if I’m like everyone else—in terms of health, wealth, and happiness—I am doing well.” It would be exceptionally exhausting to constantly compare ourselves to every other human on earth. To simplify, humans have a more efficient comparison tool. We almost exclusively compare ourselves to the people immediately around us.

Yet, the irresistible allure of comparison can harm us. In America, Utah ranks first among states in terms of life satisfaction, but has the ninth highest suicide rate.

In contrast, New York places 45th in life satisfaction but has the country’s lowest suicide rate . David Lester, a sui-

cidologist who was featured on a Freakonomics podcast, discussed this theory: “If your quality of life is poor, and it may be you’re unemployed, you’re an oppressed minority, whatever it might be, there’s a civil war going on, you know why you’re miserable. You know as the quality of life in a nation gets better and you are still depressed—well, why?

Everybody else is enjoying themselves, getting good jobs, getting promotions. Why are you still miserable? There’s no external cause to blame your misery upon, which means it’s more likely that you see it as some defect or stable trait in yourself. And therefore you’re going to be depressed and unhappy for the rest of your life.”

I believe social media is one of the main culprits behind the mental health epidemic. In, say, the 1950s, our traditional “immediate surroundings”—as Stouffer puts it—were our friends, our family, maybe a few of our acquaintances. The introduction and omnipresence of social media has done two things. Firstly, it has made everyone our immediate surroundings. An average Facebook user has hundreds of “friends” that they see every day on their newsfeed. The modern scope of comparison is significantly greater. Secondly, we only see what people want to post. A newsfeed is devoid of the monotony of everyday life. It is the highlights of people’s days, weeks, and months. This gives individuals a spurious sense of

reality, heightening dissatisfaction with their own, seemingly boring lives. Indeed, recent studies have shown that overuse of sites like Facebook can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and feelings of jealousy .

Marketing also comes into play. A typical American is exposed to 5,000 advertisements a day, a 150% increase from 30 years ago . The ubiquity of these ads normalize splendor and extravagance. The idyllic life portraits and handpicked models are registered by our subconscious.

After a while, we’re unimpressed and indifferent towards it all. And when we are unimpressed by the 2.0 Version of Life, we become apathetic towards our own—however, apathy is not the same as mental illness. The former is an emotion, while the latter is an illness.

I do believe there is an overlap between the two.

Higher living standards, social media use, and exposure to the unrealistic ideals used by marketing may not trigger mental illnesses, themselves. They can, however, inadvertently cause us to devalue our lives and foster feelings of apathy, worthlessness, and guilt. There may not be a causal relationship, but there could be a correlative link.

Indeed, the paradox of wellbeing is a mindboggling phenomenon. In my opinion, the widespread use of social media, manipulative marketing, and higher living standards have had a significant impact on the prevalence of mental illness in society today.

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Where truth begins Starting reconciliation efforts from a place of honesty at the University of Toronto grace king

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stretch of window hugs the hallway in the First Nations House. Along the window’s ledge, from left to right, a row of green plants stand shoulder to shoulder. Their leaves reach beyond the windowframe, spilling into the open light of the hall. For one moment, here, these plants compel the passerby to pause. Where does growth begin?

The “House” is actually a single floor in a building shared with two other centres and the Campus Mail Service. No signage outside calls attention to the FNH’s presence within. UofT maps refer to the three-story space as the North Borden Building—a name that, rather than reflecting any of the organizations inside the walls, refers to a long-forgotten dairy company that once occupied the property.

Lee Maracle, a Traditional Teacher at FNH and a member of the Stó:lō Nation, spoke to The Strand in her office—just down the hall from the plants on that windowsill. Maracle is an advisor to UofT’s Steering Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which comprises over fifteen Indigenous scholars, students, and specialists. This January saw the official release of the TRC Steering Committee’s final report to President Meric Gertler, marked with a special ceremony at Hart House.

The report, which was commissioned by Gertler in response to a nation-wide report on reconciliation by the TRC of Canada in 2015, investigated five Terms of Reference at UofT regarding reconciliation: the recruitment and support of Indigenous students, staff,

and faculty at all three campuses; the engagement and involvement of Indigenous alumni; the inclusion of Indigenous curriculum content throughout University programs; the enhancement of Indigenous-focused courses and programs; and the inclusion of Indigenous themes in the University’s programming. From the findings of these investigations, the TRC formulated 34 “Calls to Action” for reconciliation efforts at UofT. “Nothing about us, without us,” Maracle said of the central message behind these “Calls to Action.”

She explained, “I don’t think people should start doing projects and then invite us in once it’s all organized, knowing they’ve decided all that they’re going to do. I don’t think that’s a good way to go. I think that’s a colonial way to go—and a lot of people are doing just that.

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A discussion with Traditional Teacher Lee Maracle and voices of Indigenous Education Week 2017 on the “calls to action” in the UofT Truth and Reconciliation Steering Committee’s final report

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EDITOR | TAMILORE OSHODI

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That’s what residential school was—it was someone else deciding what was good for us. And that turned out not so well.”

The report states that as a national and global leader in education, UofT must address and accept the entirety of the past. From its opening paragraphs, it makes it clear that the truth, and only the truth, will lay the necessary foundation for reconciliation; “The University of Toronto must acknowledge frankly that it has historically been an instrument of oppression of Indigenous peoples.”

UofT may not have participated in the direct implementation of residential schools, yet the University was still a participant in the system. The TRC explains that the University educated the “generations of political leaders, policy makers, teachers, civil servants, and many others” who became proponents for the abuse and oppression happening in residential schools. Even after the harm and damage of the residential schooling system became widely known, the University did not urge its strong research faculties to investigate.

The reality of this complicit participation in the residential schooling system can be a hard truth to face, as the report acknowledges. For any student who has walked across the University’s St. George campus and seen the banners promoting the school’s Boundless campaign, it would be difficult to imagine an education system not designed for the individual’s liberation.

Each banner displays a research question, putting forth the image of an institution dedicated to individual liberation and improvement through education. In its very title, the Boundless initiative reasserts that UofT students are genuinely freed through their education.

For most students and educators, this assumption is a natural one; education is empowerment.

Any student who reads the TRC’s final report, however, might come to view these Boundless flags differently the next time they see them on the way to class. As the report explains, UofT ignored the residential schooling system that existed not to liberate, but to repress. This truth should not be passed off as a thing of the distant past, either. The birth year of many UofT students in their third year coincides with the closure of the final residential school in Canada; the last registered school to close its doors was only terminated in 1996. By that time, over 140 residential schools had operated in Canada, and an estimated 150,000 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students passed through their doors. Today, as Canada comes into its 150th year, it must be remembered that the residential school system, in many ways—from personal trauma, to community memory—still exists.

However, this piece of history forms only one part of the entire truth: the truth that comes from colonialism, forced conversion, and ignorance; the truth that encompasses a long list of tortures; the truth that is cultural genocide. But giving a number to the faces, or articulating black-and-white facts in academic language, does not hold substance for the path towards reconciliation. “Fine words are not enough. ‘Mindsets’ have to change, especially among the members of the dominant community,” the TRC urges.

If mindsets are to change, the Canadian narrative must grow. This was a central theme in the 2017 Indigenous Education Week at UofT, which followed on the heels of the TRC’s new report. The IEW expanded upon these “Calls to Action” by bringing forth the necessary narratives of Indigenous novelists, poets, and artists. For the repression of truth does not, by any means, happen strictly within Canadian institutions. It happens just as actively and forcefully within Canadian literary and arts circles.

One of the creators that contributed to this discussion and shared their works during IEW was Gwen Benaway, a Two-spirited Trans poet of Anishinaabe and Métis descent. In a 2016 interview, she relayed, “I think ‘CanLit’ is a cluster of bullshit which avoids the truth of Canada.” The majority of acclaimed Canadian authors

can be placed within a loose grouping of works that Benaway describes as “being used to sell a particular vision of Canada and its history, a cottage-lined Muskoka painting of a rough land with cold winters and unbalanced homesteaders.” This is a concern for reconciliation efforts at UofT, as many of these Canadian authors are the ones that the University has chosen to lift the highest. In doing so, authors like Lee Maracle, herself, who has been praised on the international scene and recognized for numerous published works, are left unmentioned in favour of the canonical regulars.

the report states that as a national and global leader in education , uoft must address and accept the entirety of its past ... the truth , and only the truth , will lay the necessary foundation for reconciliation Considering the ever-increasing emphasis on accessing and utilizing information, the bandwagon of liberal values, and the developing political awareness of youth on campus and across the nation, the need for more realistic and truthful narratives in the twenty-first century can no longer be deferred. Canadians have collectively failed to depart with the passive narrative of centuries ago, opting instead to remain an idle member of what the TRC describes as “a dominant settler culture.”

The truth, Benaway explains, would entail that, “if we talk about cottages, it’s because wealthy white people own them and have pushed us out of our ancestral lands.” In shifting from the colonial narrative, IEW reminds students and citizens that the arts will be a vital tool.

Benaway’s event, which also featured Gregory Scofield, a Red River Métis of Cree, Scottish, and European descent, and Lee Maracle, was titled “Poetry for a Unified Future.” This title considers two possibilities at once: the significant role of the arts as UofT and Canada move forward with truth and reconciliation efforts, and also providing a subtle warning of the many Canadian works that have moved us in the opposite direction.

Again and again, IEW speakers echoed the TRC’s “calls to action,” particularly in addressing the importance in revitalizing Indigenous languages. In her conversation with Professor Karyn Recollet, a Cree from the Sturgeon Lake First Nations, the artist Joi Arcand of Muskeg Leg Cree Nation presented the danger of Indigenous language loss through a photographic series, “Here On Future Earth.” Each frame features a standard building seen in small Saskatchewan towns—a gas station, an ice cream stand, a town hall—and in each frame, the English text on the building’s signage is digitally edited to read in Cree Syllabics.

The importance of language is reinforced by Maracle, as well. “We think it’s important to get people speaking our languages, because in our languages is our relationship to the land. And we’re hoping that Canadians will make that same connection.” Providing an example, Maracle explained that the Longhouse people “have a prayer they say that’s called The words that come before all else.” This prayer, Maracle described, was more

than simply words; “before we make a decision, we recite these words, and it’s our commitment to stars, sky, land, water, animal, trees, small plants, and human beings.” Laughing, she said, “So, before we buy a car, we make this commitment. It stopped me from buying a car,” she grinned. “Yeah, I didn’t really need it.”

New programs at UofT will be necessary to sustain the language involved in such traditions. In the province of Ontario, Maracle said, there are “a lot of Crees, a lot of Inuits, a lot of Ojibwes, and a lot of Six Nations people. That’s quite a few languages, and I think they only have three of them available right now at the University.”

In spite of the hard truths still to be confronted and the immense journey ahead—or perhaps because of them—there is a sense of hope within the TRC and the participants of the IEW. When asked if she thought a shift was to occur for reconciliation efforts in 2017, Maracle was quick to correct the assumption that such a shift could only be in the future tense. “I think the shift occurred probably about five years ago. The ceremony was just a recognition of it. It’s a bigger shift now, but it started with Naylor, shifting the way he did business with us.”

If the shift truly began with Naylor, who stepped down from his presidency only in 2013, then there exists a pressure for his successor, Meric Gertler, to continue building the shift of which Maracle speaks—to continue growing these healthy, new relationships with Indigenous peoples, inside and outside of UofT. It does appear, according to Maracle, that “the University is committed to putting things in place that will ensure access to our knowledge, to Indigenous Studies, and to our languages. It was denied us for 125 years, so that’s a good thing.”

“We’re hiring a permanent director, which I think is really great,” Maracle says, in relation to the Centre for Indigenous Studies. “Indigenous Studies has been a bit wobbly for a few years because we don’t have a permanent director.” With a new director in place, the Centre can begin securing faculty members who are committed to Indigenous Studies. “Right now, our professors are mostly committed to other programs,” Maracle explained. “Like, 49% Indigenous Studies, 51% whatever else. These things are crippling when you come to disagreement about things.”

While she admitted that the future permanent director for the Centre for Indigenous Studies will have a difficult position in building a program from scratch, her conclusion was one of optimism. “There’s a lot of hope, and I think that’s what this TRC is all about, really—to restore hope for us. You know, Canadians have always had their hopes. They came here with their hopes and dreams, and those hopes and dreams got realized. Ours, at that time, were being crushed.”

None of this, the TRC’s report discloses, is for the sake of pointing fingers. To reduce the topic to merely a matter of blame would be ignorant of its longitudinal and latitudinal context in Canada’s social, cultural, and political growth. As the TRC explains, “Reconciliation is not about closing a sad chapter of Canada’s past, but about opening new healing pathways of reconciliation that are forged in truth and justice.”

Returning to that hallway in the FNH, the thriving plants along the windowsill remind us of the question: Where does growth begin? In this empty hallway, before this one window, these plants can show us what becomes possible when we grow. This image of the plants is not to imply, however, that growth will be a tidy or comfortable process. To grow healing pathways that can move us towards reconciliation, we must face an “uncomfortable, messy process,” as the report notes.

However, the recognition of this messy reality is just another part of the truth—another step towards beginning reconciliation from a place of honesty. Like the root of a plant must come before the bud, the TRC reminds us that the process of reconciliation can begin nowhere else than with the truth.

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Gardiner Gala 2017: A resounding success A snapshot of the evening elena senechal-becker arts and culture editor

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On Thursday, January 26th, VUSAC, in conjunction with the Dean’s office, held their 4th consecutive Gardiner Gala at the Gardiner museum, adjacent to Victoria College. Held in a beautiful room with large glass windows on the Gardiner’s third floor, this year’s sold-out semi-formal event was extremely busy, as the room was full to the brim with Vic affiliates and their guests.

VUSAC’s Arts and Culture commission shared the responsibility with the Dean’s office to organize and plan the event. Decisions about booking the space and catering were made together, and the cost was shared between both offices.

VicXposure, Vic’s photography club, holds an annual photo contest aptly named Art Gala at the event. Vic students who had submitted their photographs had the chance to see them exhibited along the walls during the event. This year, there were over 200 submissions for the Art Gala. The photographs added a pop of colour to the room and provided a fun viewing activity for guests to partake in.

Although the submissions consisted mainly of photos, there were also some paintings and drawings strewn around the space. Cute decorations, such as oversized gold balloons spelling out “VIC,” added character to the room.

Apart from its ties with the Art Gala, the Gardiner Gala is mainly a social event, with professors, faculty, and students attending. An abundant spread was set up in the middle of the room, with foods such as meat skewers, pita rolls, and chocolate truffles (which were delicious). The Gardiner’s catering service, A la carte, catered the event.

The band Sheepishly Yours, composed of Sam Clarke, Yasmine Shelton (vocalist), and Aaron and Noah Philipp-Muller, performed a live music set, which added a considerable amount of atmosphere to the room. Shelton’s vocals were quite impressive, as were the other musicians’ performances.

Olivia Klasios, VUSAC’s arts and culture commissioner, shared her thoughts on the evening: “I’m incredibly happy with the way it turned out. [...] The Vic community really turned out for this event and I hope that [it] continues to grow in popularity over the coming years. It’s a great opportunity to showcase student art and to further develop the long standing relationship between the Gardiner Museum and Victoria College.”

Overall, this year’s event was indeed a success. With the attendance through the roof and an appropriate organization, the 2017 Gardiner Gala certainly set a standard for years to come.

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THE STRAND | 30 JANUARY 2017

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Isaac Julien: Other Destinies The Strand previews the ROM’s upcoming exhibit

carol park editorial assistant true north series, triptych of digital prints on epson premium photo glossy,

On Thursday, January 19th, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) hosted a media preview of Isaac Julien: Other Destinies.

This exclusive viewing was presented to a select group of OCAD students, student journalists, and figures in creative industries. It was comprised of two film installations: WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) and True North (2004).

Upon entering a secluded room on the fourth floor of the ROM, invitees were greeted by a long table with light refreshments and an array of pastries. At the head of the room, stood a podium and three rows of seats facing the stand for eager spectators and journalists.

Josh Basseches—New Director and CEO of the ROM— gave a brief introduction of Isaac Julien and his work, mentioning that Julien’s film installations were included in the ROM’s Contemporary Culture collection. Furthermore, Basseches stated that in the coming years, the ROM would be working towards introducing projects relevant to themes of migration and diaspora presented in Isaac Julien: Other Destinies.

Following Basseches’s introductory remarks, OCAD University President, Sara Diamond, also praised Isaac Julien and his artistic vision. She announced that Isaac Julien is the Artistin-Residence at OCAD University and that a select group of students will soon have the opportunity to work closely with him.

Thereafter, Julien stood on the podium and explained the

thematic significance of Isaac Julien: Other Destinies, and its two film installations. The theme of both installations, Julien began, is expeditions in time and the retracing of history; the forgotten history of individuals who were not given credit where credit was due. Julien went on to explain that this neglected interval in Western history is what True North (2004) aims, in particular, to explore—retracing history, but also memorializing the achievement of a historical figure who was not acknowledged in the mainstream historical narrative. Julien concluded by thanking the audience for attending the media preview.

Guests were led out of the private room on the fourth floor and were directed to the third level, where the screenings were taking place. Near the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of Byzantium, spectators were guided to a secluded area that divided into two separate screening rooms: one for WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) and the other for True North (2004). Before entering either one of the screening rooms, spectators were greeted with a short yet detailed biographical description of the artist as well as an abstract account of Isaac Julien: Other Destinies.

Both film installations were featured on three large flat screen TVs set up side by side, which offered a panoramic screening experience. WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) was visually stimulating. It captivated the viewers with the sen-

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courtesy of the artist

suality of the waves caressing the boats and the vibrant colours of neglected pieces of clothing, floating in time with the gentle tides by the shoreline. The change in scenery from the lull of the open waters and sleeping men in small boats to a grand and extravagant palace with unrestrained movements of bodies expressing freedom, drew the audience’s attention towards the film’s aesthetic.

Similarly, True North (2004) was aesthetically pleasing.

However, the main difference between WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) and True North (2004) was in the auditory experience. The narrator’s voice in this film installation portrayed emotions of awe, fear, and sadness. While the aesthetics of the film were alluring, the narrator’s deliverance of the lines “to freeze as you walk or to drop in starvation” and “death can come in a hundred directions” truly entranced the audience, demanding them to feel the psychological distress and dejection of the figure in the film.

The screening of Isaac Julien: Other Destinies was remarkable and incredibly moving. Both installations captured the viewers’ attention, and demanded complete focus to the artistic techniques employed in each film. Overall, the preview was a sensual and an inspiring experience, leaving the audience wanting more.

The Power Plant celebrates 30th anniversary A conversation with the curator and director of the gallery’s winter opening party sabrina papas editorial assistant

On January 27th, The Power Plant hosted their annual Winter Opening with the presentation of three solo exhibits by Jonathas de Andrade, Maria Hupfield, and Kapwani Kiwanga. Latifa Echakhch’s Cross Fade opened last October and remains on view this season.

Prior to the opening, The Strand had the chance to speak with Director Gaëtane Verna and Curator Carolin Köchling about the winter exhibits. Concerning the relation between the exhibits, Verna explains “how four artists from completely different backgrounds—how all of these artists don’t know each other and can all be under the same roof speaking of their own voices, but as if they are speaking in harmony,” and the significance in this.

De Andrade’s On Fishes, Horses and Men is comprised of three parts. The first is a film entitled O peixe (The Fish), with ten vignettes of various men catching fish and killing them in their arms.

The film is described as “brutal and tender,” however, the brutality is at the forefront. The images are disturbing and any sentiment of compassion is tarnished by the overt depiction of death. The intention was to represent a power imbalance between predator and prey, but the unsettling nature of the images made it difficult for this message to be appreciated. Köchling says, “Visitors can bring their own experiences and associations to it, [the work] becomes political,” and in this sense, de Andrade succeeds. On this subject, Verna explains “as spectators, we can see one object, but see it from different views.” The gallery’s purpose is “to be the bridge between this work.”

The second part of de Andrade’s exhibit includes O Levante (The Uprising) and Cartazes para o Museu do Homem do Nordeste (Posters for the Museum of the Man of the Northeast). The latter features portraits of local workers from Brazil’s northeastern region. These portraits were staged in response to the Museu do Homem do Nordeste, a museum in Recife, Brazil, that was established to represent multiculturalism as “a positive force.” De Andrade’s portraits aim to criticize the museum’s failure to acknowledge the history of racial discrimination in Recife through this portrayal.

“Working on the binary of fact and fiction, [On Fishes, Horses and Man] helps us to reveal the reality in a very interesting and enriching way, also addressing universal issues,” explains Köchling.

Hupfield’s The One Who Keeps On Giving is centered around an oil painting by the artist’s late mother, connecting past narratives with the present.

Although visitors encounter Echakhch’s Cross Fade upon first entering the gallery, the concept of the work thoughtfully links the works of de Andrade and Hupfield, by presenting a sky that is common to all people. “[It is] astonishing and great for us to see how the work stays in the center of our gallery with all these changing neighbours and still addresses issues of the sky,” says Köchling.

Kiwanga’s A wall is just a wall feels incompatible with the other exhibits, as it does not present

a human narrative, and the harmony that Verna speaks on becomes less clear. The coloured walls and lights simply served as a backdrop for people’s selfies.

The Power Plant is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, and Verna’s main goal is to “hopefully keep the gallery going for another 30 years—it’s true that I really feel our responsibility to keep on building the work of this gallery and this legacy—it’s everyone that came before, [they have] been part of the work that the gallery has done.” Through their unique programming and presentation of diverse voices, visitors can be expected to share this same hope for the future of the gallery.

The exhibits by de Andrade, Hupfield, Kiwanga, and Echakhch will be on view until May 14th.

On February 21st, join Curator Carolin Köchling for a talk with Maria Hupfield.

kapwani kiwanga, still from a primer,

2017 |

co-produced by the power plant, toronto and

the logan center exhibitions, university of chicago courtesy the artist and galerie tanja wagner, berlin, and galerie jérôme poggi, paris

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EDITOR | JOSHUA KIM

FILM & MUSIC

@STRANDPAPER

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore Looking at the life of one of show business’ most influential female figures sabrina papas editorial assistant

In the year 1970, Random House published Sisterhood is Powerful, a collection of influential feminist essays. In August, the National Organization for Women sponsors The Women’s Strike for Equality—the first large-scale protest for the Women’s Liberation movement throughout the US— and in September, The Mary Tyler Moore Show premieres.

The show starred actress Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away on January 26th at the age of 80.

it’s

2017, and i still want to

be mary richards when i grow up.

The story begins with Moore’s character, Mary Richards, moving to Minneapolis after breaking off her engagement.

There is no implication that she leaves to escape an unhappy life—she simply wants to start anew, on her own. Upon settling in, she applies for a secretarial job at WJM, a local television station, and is offered the position of associate producer of the Six O’ Clock News. Mary accepts the job, and works in an office that is dominated by men. Her position as the only woman working on the program is not made to be a huge issue, and her abilities are never undermined by

her male co-workers. The only instance that this difference is highlighted is in the third season of the show, when Mary discovers that she is being paid less than her male predecessor. She stands up to her boss on the wage gap, and receives a pay raise— showing young girls and women that there is more to admire about the character than just her great apartment and incredible wardrobe.

Her independence carries on throughout the show, as she never does marry. Mary Richards’ life stood in contrast to Moore’s role on The Dick Van Dyke Show as Laura Petrie, a devoted housewife and mother. Although she dated various men throughout the seven seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and these relationships served as plot-lines for many episodes, romance was not her main priority. Her main focus was always on her career and her friends. Through Mary Richards, Moore offered an alternative to a life of marriage and childrearing. Her embodiment of the modern woman also managed to make an impression in mainstream media, winning two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her role.

In her own life, Moore was equally commendable. She produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show through MTM Enterprises, a company that she established in 1969 with her thenhusband Grant Tinker. The company produced numerous other television shows that garnered programming success,

including The Bob Newhart Show. Moore also became known as an activist for animal rights, advocating vegetarianism and raising awareness about the immorality of the meat industry.

The influence of Mary Tyler Moore will unquestionably continue to span generations. It’s 2017, and I still want to be Mary Richards when I grow up.

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Split and other contemporary horror A look at M. Night Shyamalan's recent film and the genre surrounding it harrison wade staff writer

photo

There are many things that could be discussed about Split, the newest release from divisive director, M. Night Shyamalan. It could be considered as a return to form for him or as an empathetic—yet still problematic—portrayal of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Instead, I’d like to consider it in context of other recent horror films—It Follows, Green Room, The VVitch, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Don’t Breathe— to examine this contemporary horror movement, which I’ll call, for simplicity, the “escape thriller.”

The above horror films are not necessarily the best or the highest grossing, and are only taken from mainstream American cinema, but they share similar themes and fears, revealing a larger cultural interest. Escape thrillers might be what monster movies were for the ‘30s, or supernatural horrors were for the ‘70s, and slashers were for the ‘80s; that is, a subgenre of horror based on contemporary issues and fears. In our case, it’s the fear of oppression and trauma at the hands of societal institutions.

Formally, escape thrillers can be categorized by clean and controlled cinematography, distancing the audience from their often graphic violence; Split restricts its gore to a few jarring moments. It uses sound for thematic interludes, as do most of the other escape thrillers. They draw as heavily from the thriller genre as they do from that of horror.

Escape thrillers work on the premise of simulating the

feeling of being trapped. Unlike other horror houses which are supernatural or part of the home-invasion subgenre, escape thrillers are about getting out of someone else’s house.

The heroes are either captured, or enter freely—although they are often pressured by societal forces. Split’s characters are taken against their will, with an extra mystery of wondering why they’ve been locked up in a basement. There’s room for creativity though, as in The VVitch, where the hero’s trapped on a farm, or in It Follows, which expands the “house” to an entire neighbourhood in Detroit.

The protagonists are all young, white women, barring Green Room’s Anton Yelchin. Anya Taylor-Joy fills this role in Split, as well as in The VVitch. In this aspect, escape thrillers don’t differ from the genre’s long history of the “Final Girl,” but what does separate them is their readiness to criticize this cliché. At a minimum, they call attention to the hero’s gender. At the most, the entire movie revolves around a woman’s sexuality.

These women are all in conflict with a villain—almost always a white man. But escape thrillers distinguish themselves in this aspect; these are not serial killers, aliens, or supernatural beings, but people grounded in realism. When there are elements of the supernatural, they’re always couched in social commentary and psychology—It Follows’ villain takes on the form of a father. Split’s villain is sympathetic through

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a brilliant performance by James McAvoy, but the portrayal is nonetheless ableist, which does nothing to reduce stigma surrounding mental illness. Strangely, this happens in two other escape thrillers as well—Don’t Breathe and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

It is in the escape horror genre’s villains and through the serious empathetic tone that cultural fears come to light. The protagonists often have histories of abuse and the confinement by father-like figures in homes which are not their own is not a coincidence—I think these films play on our fear of sites of oppression. Escape thrillers call attention to the possibly repressive nature of institutions, realized in the form of a man—whether it is the institution of sex education (It Follows), the military (Don’t Breathe), colonialism (The VVitch), medical care (Split), or entertainment (Green Room). They highlight the fact that we, along with the protagonist, feel trapped in the “houses” of these sites, and that the only way out is to fight back or try to outsmart them.

Although escape thrillers, and horror films in general, hide their ideology behind narrative tension, their popularity reveals something about their appeal. Often without realizing it, we encounter a fear drawn from contemporary society.

Horror films allow us to confront that fear and begin to work through it. They let us ask, “what are we truly afraid of?”

FILMANDMUSIC@THESTRAND.CA

FILM & MUSIC

THE STRAND | 30 JANUARY 2017

13

Oscar Noms 2017 Staff writer Wilf Moes give The Strand his take on this year’s Oscars wilfred moeschter staff writer

On January 24th, this year’s Oscar nominations were finally revealed. La La Land (my personal favourite this year, and maybe ever) grabbed a recordequalling 14 nominations, leading the way against a field of amazing films, including Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, and My Life as a Zucchini. Notably, eight people of colour were nominated for directing and acting, a step up from previous years. I was planning to submit a satirical piece on the nominations to Stranded along the lines of: “Boycott the Oscars! Trump was just elected, do you think we’re ready to recognize this many actors/actresses of colour right now?! Start with Oscar Isaac or Jennifer Lopez and break us in slowly!” Naturally, one could say that I should deal with this topic in a more tactful way, so here’s a more level-headed piece in the Film and Music section.

Last year, my friend and I started a tradition.

We made a bet on who would be able to predict the most Oscar winners; I lost and had to wear an atrocious pink fluffy jacket (and something more embarrassing underneath) for a full day. This year the stakes are higher, so I need to choose carefully.

Some of the categories are easier to predict; I think it’s cute that the Academy needs to pretend that there’s a chance La La Land might not win the Best Original Score & Song awards and that they may go to the other nominees. Then there are other categories, like Best Picture, which are harder to decide.

I’d like to preface this by recalling the 2014 Oscars.

12 Years a Slave ended up winning Best Picture and Ellen referred to this in her opening monologue: “Possibility #1; 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture.

Possibility #2; you’re all racist.” Although 12 Years a Slave ended up being the clear winner, with a Golden Globe and BAFTA (among others), there was trepidation within the Academy. Would voters back Gravity, a gripping, visually spectacular, but non-political film, or 12 Years a Slave, which was a masterpiece in its own right, but was also socially relevant and politically charged?

According to the L.A. Times, two voters privately admitted that the “films about slavery can’t lose” sentiment was why they voted for 12 Years a Slave, without watching it. Which brings us to this year; my vote for Best Picture would be torn between La La Land and Moonlight. This choice raises an is-

sue that’s much more significant than “will Wilfred need to publicly embarrass himself again?” and in my mind, this evokes the 12 Years a Slave dilemma.

Today’s social climate has given political undertones to Moonlight’s success. With that in mind, would Moonlight take the award, or La La Land, which was outstanding in an artistically motivated and nonpolitical way?

Voting Moonlight to make a statement on diversity could make the Oscars less legitimate as a celebration of film. On the other hand, film is an accessible and effective medium for conveying themes of social relevance, and the Academy should therefore recognize Moonlight as not only an excellent film, but an excellent film with an important message. Arguably, this makes a “safe” choice, like Moonlight, have just as much legitimate significance. Does a story about growing up, masculinity, and being African-American outweigh a story about love, jazz, and surviving in the world of music and film? Should today’s political climate influence this?

If you were looking for an opinion, you won’t get one because writing this article has made me even more torn than I was originally. I’m also determined to keep my final votes a secret from my friend until the ceremony date, so it’s all fair game—nice try, scumbag.

Dev Patel’s Best Supporting Actor nomination reminded me of something else; the lack of Asian nominees throughout Hollywood’s history. I realize that other groups deserve to be discussed, but we’d need another article. If you go to the Wikipedia page entitled “List of Asian Academy Award winners and nominees” you’ll find: 8 Best Picture nominees 2 Best Actor nominees (Both are Ben Kingsley) 1 Best Actress nominee 8 Best Supporting Actor nominees (Two of which are Ben Kingsley) 5 Best Supporting Actress nominees 6 Best Director nominees

If this list seems substantial, remember that the Oscars began in 1929. Another thing to take into account is that our society tends to restrict the definition of Asian to the “Far East” and doesn’t con-

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lynn hong

sider that the continent contains many more countries and people—for instance, Ben Kingsley is half Indian. Considering all of this, 30 Asian nominees in the major categories I listed is very sparse.

Although I think that highlighting actors, actresses, directors, screenwriters (and all the rest) of colour is important, reading their various lists on Wikipedia and seeing how little of them have been given recognition in Hollywood felt like reading a collective admission of guilt. It was like when I worked at an ice cream shop last summer and my boss mistimed our weekly delivery, leaving us with half of our listed flavours; “We’re sorry we don’t have much, but what we DO have is great!” The film industry’s got work to do and, no matter who wins Best Picture and what this signifies socially, I think this year’s nominations are an optimistic sign, following the protests of the Academy Awards in the last two years. I can hesitantly say that we’re moving in the right direction, and now we just have to hope that more people of colour in film are being given chances to show their talent. Hollywood better not leave us with just vanilla.

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Anglicans to UofT law students in Jackman Hall: “Stay out of our church!”

Tensions rise between Anglicans and law students over “Anglican-ChurchLooking” law building lluca bellisario staff writer

After a recent string of disputes over classroom space and its use at the Jackman Law Building, tensions between local Anglicans and UofT law students are at an all-time high.

Shortly after the construction of the new building, groups of Anglican churchgoers began celebrating daily mass inside the new law building, leaving many UofT law students without adequate classroom space, and a need for answers.

In an effort to get to the bottom of such confusion, we interviewed someone with an objective, non-partisan perspective—UofT law professor and devout Anglican, Willow Hudson—to comment on the phenomenon.

“While U of T claims they designed the new building to be a hub for postgraduate law studies, no one can deny how shockingly similar the design of the JLB is to various modern, Anglican churches. From the sharp and sweeping exterior lines of the roof that subtly reference the classic look of flying buttresses, to the nave-like lobby which lead upwards to the cathedral ceilings, or even the massive, speckled windows which clash against the concrete walls to really create that “it’s the 21st century and God is Good” look that Anglicans are so enamored with, the building’s design really strikes a nice balance between modern architectural concepts and a reverent respect for church history.”

Hudson says, “Naturally, scores of Anglicans see what appears to be a cool modern church and begin celebrating mass there. And that is just not their fault.”

Law Students, however, see the issue from a different perspective. Newly admitted law Student, Brent Norman, says, “I showed up for my first law class, arrived at the new law building, and immediately found myself in a lineup of people enthusiastically waiting to receive the Eucharist. Needless to say, I was very confused and angry.”

“If they want to come into our church, claim that it is a place of law instead of a place of worship, they have another thing coming to them—like the wrath of a Pro-Divorce God,” an impassioned and emphatic Reverend Camden Mitchell said to a group of Anglican protestors outside of the Law Building.

The conflicts have not been all bad for UofT law students, however. In an interview, Richard Eightson, a third-year law student, said, “Don’t get me wrong, I was a

devout Roman Catholic and I came to this school to study copyright law, but damn, these Anglicans have some pretty interesting ideas. I have converted to the faith and have refocused my studies so I can become a divorce lawyer. Father Mitchell is very proud.”

When asked about the Anglican protests, UofT law student Melissa Martinez took a moderate approach. “It is kind of baffling. I guess the new law building does look a lot like a modern Anglican church? I mean, yeah, I guess I kind of see that.

Does that give them the right to use it as their church? Who’s to say? All I know is that King Solomon isn’t going to walk through that door to solve this conundrum for us.”

Student groups are now pressuring UofT to build a new building for law students—one that is unmistakably not a place of Anglican worship—by the year 2021. photo

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patar knight

Open call to answer the questions my dad keeps texting me laura siracusa contributor

What’s that Amy Winehouse song that I really like?

Where can I find my Apple ID?

Did you delete my Waterfront Cities of the World recording?

What ever happened to Feist?

Did you see that email I sent you with that article about the top-paying jobs of 2014?

How can I put this on a CD?

Did you see that email that I sent you with the YouTube video of Mark Knopfler in Amsterdam?

What do you think of me getting your mom a robe for Christmas?

Which one is Jimmy Kimmel?

STRANDED@THESTRAND.CA

STRANDED

THE STRAND | 30 JANUARY 2017

ST(rump)I A political poem by Lena Dunham aba amuquandoh contributor

You Seduced me with your Talk of white nationalism and Conservatism and Fascism and I found myself head over Heels The way you hate those Muslims And I, too, want to keep those Mexicans out And yuck black people

I’m mad :( (Humph) And now that I’ve been infected I must take action W(hite women)e must take action Our voices must be heard! (Save my vagina) But You are being divisive when You tell me I’m Racist You don’t understand I must speak for all of us That matter All Lives Matter But mine is the most Important

I supported you I loved you I defended you I voted for you But now I hate you because You took away my fuckin birth control And Nuva Rings are like $1000 What the fuck Have things always been this expensive???

We are one in the same I, the perfect white woman You, the perfect white man And so, I took you and your ideals in Because I have everything to win And nothing to lose We’re the opposite sides of the same coin You, white man and I, white woman So, I took you in It did not feel like a sin

Anyways I nurtured you I protected you I took you into my bed And you’ve infected me with oppression Which is something I think only coloured people should feel But now I’m mad And I realize what kind of disease you are

I am Lena Dunham.

Tips for white guys in University How to be a cool white guy ally in your African Studies, Aboriginal Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Asian Studies (and more!) classes luca bellisario staff writer

1

Shhhhhh!

4

Stop acting so guilty and then taking up all the space by talking about your guilt

2

Donate to Black Lives Matter

5

Please stop speaking

6

Your grandparents being Italian immigrants has no bearing on this discussion about the residential schools and white supremacy. Whenever you feel the need to reference this, suppress it and then donate to Black Lives Matter

3

Stop talking so much

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7

Recognize that you know nothing and are most certainly part of the problem

8

Shhhhhh, please

9

We need to stop starting our answers with, “Just to be devil’s advocate…” Like, we shouldn’t be speaking in the first place. But when we do speak, starting like this is redundant. As white people, especially in a class focused on the brutality of slavery and white supremacy, being the devil is our default

Please shhhhh… Please

15

WE INTERRUPT THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED STRANDED SECTION SO THAT YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE TO BE IDLE DURING THIS VERY SCARY TIME...

We did the work for you: Here is a full-length, customizable letter to send to your Member of Parliament regarding the #MuslimBan Go to the thestrand.ca for a downloadable, hyper-linked version and instructions about how to contact your local MP Dear _______________________________,

States outlined the conditions under which a refugee is permitted to immigrate into Canada despite having arrived first in America. This Agreement is both outdated

I, __________________________________, am writing to you today with respect to the Executive Orders (EO) signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, Janu-

and inadequate in dealing with the challenges posed by the refugee crisis created by the EO. Specifically, this Agreement only admits refugees into Canada who:

ary 27th, 2017 proposing policies of a 120-day suspension of visa holders and

— are related to Canadian citizens,

no-admission of any nationals or refugees fleeing Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Libya

— are under the age of 18,

and Somalia and indefinite ban of Syrian passport holders.

— are making requests through public interest exceptions,

Canada has historically been known to welcome refugees. We are a state party

— and refugees with Canadian visas and work permits.

to both the 1951 UN Convention and the 1967 UN Protocol on refugees. We are

As a consequence of President Trump’s ban, refugees denied entry into Amer-

one the few signatories to the Convention who provide not just temporary protection

ica are unable to take refuge in Canada if they do not fit into the above narrow and

but also offer permanent resettlement. We are also party to several other Human

unreasonable parameters imposed by the Safe Third Country Agreement. I implore

Rights Treaties which obligates us to safeguard human rights in a non-discrimi-

you to repeal and replace the Safe Third Country Agreement with an a policy which

natory manner. We have made history and gained an international reputation for

meets the following requirements:

ourselves by accepting over 37,000 Hungarian refugees between 1956-1957, over

1) Inclusiveness of any person seeking asylum denied entry into America, in-

10,000 Czechs in 1968 and 1969, and 60,000 South-East Asian refugees between

cluding but not limited to students with visas and passports from Iran, Iraq, Syria,

1979-1981. We site our refugee protection programs as having “[…]helped the

Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia.

world’s most vulnerable”, and on January 28th, 2017 our Prime Minister tweeted:

2) De-listing of America as an adequately “safe third country” in light of this

“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless

country’s abject human rights violations of vulnerable migrants who are refused

of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada”. If we claim to be a

safety. The effect is such that these migrants have become of victims of Ameri-

country with a ‘responsibility to protect’ we must continue to protect refugees; we

ca’s abdication of their legal responsibility to uphold their obligations to the UN

must put our words to actions.

Refugee Convention. President Trump’s policies are discriminatory and will cause

Donald Trump’s executive orders suspending the admission of above refugees

great harm to people simply because of their ethnicity, race, and religious belief.

and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen are

In wrongfully turning these refugees away, the President of the United States is

exclusionary policies. They are in fact violations of the fundamental human rights

complicit in the harm against the vulnerable.

of the excluded, those excluded for their nationality and religion. Such orders fail

Repatriation of All Impacted Canadians:

to safeguard human rights in a non-discriminatory manner, a commitment that the

According to Statistics Canada, there are 35,000 Canadians who share citi-

United States has affirmed as a signatory of the 1967 Protocol, by its endorsement

zenship with the seven countries covered under the ban, as of 2011. This number

of the UDHR, and by conduct, in ratifying international human rights treaties, all of

has likely grown significantly since this data was collected. This number includes

which are contrary to the aforementioned executive orders. I, the undersigned aca-

our own minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen. It is

demic from The University of Toronto, would like to voice my concern. While there

imperative that the Canadian government continue to ensure that all Canadian dual

is no overarching authority to hold the United States accountable for their human

citizens are permitted to travel to the United States, and that they are not stripped

rights violations, Canada, a country which maintains the same commitments is in

of their mobility rights and independence. These citizens have family members,

need of your urgent and immediate action. We, as, Canadians must continue to

and friends in the United States, just as US dual citizens have in Canada. Many

provide international aid by mandating the following:

must travel for employment or for educational opportunities. I implore you to condemn the ban and continue to fight for the rights of Canadian dual citizens who are

Immediate entry to those stranded in limbo: The people, in particular the students whose status may be reconsidered un-

facing discrimination. We must continue to guarantee a safe and legal entrance into the United States.

der this EO are not unlike us. They have chosen to pursue wide varieties of dis-

Public Denouncement of The Executive Orders and Reaffirmation of Canada’s

ciplines, fields of study, and personal convictions. Migrants with documentation

Commitment to Refugees:

from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia who were denied entry

Silence during a time of government-ordered racial, ethnic, and religious dis-

into the United States of America should be welcomed and encouraged to enter

crimination is in itself an act of complicity. The onus and responsibility is on you

a free country like Canada today, not tomorrow, nor within a few months. The de-

as a Member of Parliament, a democratically elected representative of Canada, to

nial of their entry to the US is no different from islamophobic, racist, and classist

publicly voice your denouncement of the discriminatory policies President Trump

enculturation.

has already implemented and will no doubt continue to do so in the future. At a

Increase of Federal Refugee Sponsorship Cap:

time when there has been a disturbing silence from international politicians, we

On December 19th, 2016 a “temporary” policy of the Canadian Federal Government imposed a cap on the number of processable applications, a limit that

need you to be an outspoken opponent to President Trump’s executive orders, which are unwarranted and unconscionable.

meant only 1,000 foreign nationals (the principal applicants and family members)

The need for your proactive and immediate action is required. The need for

gained entry. The recently enacted policy, on January 25th, 2017 is an overwhelm-

reform which directly affects a culture of islamophobia is not a distinctly American

ingly inadequate response to a crisis, which has seen almost 40,000 Syrian refu-

problem. Reports from 2016 show that hate crimes against Muslim-Canadians

gees enter Canada since November 2015. In light of President Trump’s recent

have more than doubled in just three years. It is time that Canada stops resting

EOs, the cap should be expanded to highlight the special plight of the Syrian and

on its laurels and starts to take action to do its part to resolve the current crisis.

Iraqi refugee community. There are 1,364 students in a first-year Anthropology course here at U of T alone. It should be clear to all U of T students that this

As a student, I am asking you to act on behalf of our friends, our family members, and our peers.

temporary policy is substantively and morally unacceptable. It ignores a real-time, ‘life-and-death need’ for reform, therefore it is a policy that requires an immediate

Thank you very much.

amendment.

Sincerely,

A Repeal and Replacement of Safe Third Country Agreement (2004): On December 29, 2004, an Agreement between Canada and the United

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