The Strand | Volume 62, Issue 1

the

STRAND

The Orientation Issue ▼

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER VOLUME 62, ISSUE 1 | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

The Strand $3.00 The Strand is Victoria University’s newspaper of record, since 1953. We provide equitable and accessible coverage of issues and events that are important to Vic. We also create a biannual magazine. We provide opportunities to learn about journalism, writing, editing, graphic design, photography, illustration, and more. We host workshops, encourage work from all students regardless of skill level, and welcome anyone interested in student journalism to join! Visit thestrand.ca for more.

“The Student Choice Initiative will make the absolutely essential work that we, and other student groups, perform so much harder. There is so much more to student life than just going to class. UofT and Vic are such vibrant places because of student groups, clubs, levies, publications, and events. Without these things, school will, for a lack of a better term, really, really suck.”

02 NEWS

EDITOR | ANN MARIE ELPA NEWS@THESTRAND.CA

The evolution of orientation Shifting from tradition, growing into inclusivity

photo

ann marie elpa news editor

While Orientation Week at the University of Toronto has become synonymous with ice breaker activities and social events, it is inevitable that the long-awaited week brings years of rich college tradition to a new graduating class. From commencement speeches to multi-college events such as bed races (the competitiveness is real!), such distinctive traditions connect fellow students and alumni from different walks of life and make one’s first year experience unique.

Vic, in its extensive history as a federated college, has had a number of Orientation Week traditions that have since been discontinued.

While events such as Orientation Week plays and the Scarlet and Gold formal continue to this day, the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC) also wants to focus on creating programs that understand the needs of the changing student body.

Traditional Ceremonies, also known as “Trads,” have become synonymous with the notion of wearing formal clothing over academic robes.

Previously, they required male and female students to partake in individual services. Formerly gendered residences such as the all-male Gate House were known for their gruesome rituals involving firstyear students and practical pranks throughout Orientation Week.

The Strand sat down with this year’s Orientation co-chair, Cynthia Wong, to discuss Victoria College’s efforts in increasing awareness towards inclusivity during this year’s Orientation while reflecting on past programming.

What specific initiatives does Vic have in place to make orientation accessible and inclusive for all attendees?

The executive is committed to making Orientation as accessible and inclusive as possible. Continuing from last summer, we had an Equity Steering Meeting. This opened up the umbrella because we want to make safe spaces for students within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as spaces for students of colour. We looked at specific events over the week and made sure we were planning through an equitable lens to make sure it’s a comfortable space for everyone. We had a lot of great feedback during that session as well as from external parties. We also looked through improvements which could be made to leadership training.

Some other initiatives include parallel programming, where students have the option to attend either high or low energy events, and commuter billeting, which allows students who do not live in residence to have the same experience and opportunity to attend all events. In addition, we’re not enforcing a formal dress-code for events such as Scarlet and Gold and Traditional Ceremonies.

| hana nikcevic

From your experience, how has the orientation week experience changed since your time as a first-year student?

The biggest change to Orientation for me was when it changed from five days to three days. It became a lot less overwhelming, and a lot more transition-focused. I think it’s important to educate students and provide a space that will allow them to be comfortable and learn how to get into the “university” mindset. Traditional Ceremonies have undergone a lot of change since my year, after being de-gendered, and then being moved to the Isabel Bader Theatre. We incorporate as much tradition as we can from previous years, including the book signing and sand, and I hope a lot of students still enjoy it as much as I did!

What factors do you keep in mind when planning and executing events?

There are many factors that we keep in mind when planning these events. In general, we always look at student safety, reducing barriers, the budget, as well as any potential collaborations with other colleges and student groups. Whenever we plan something, we always look for feedback to see if we can continue improving!

Everything you need to know about VUSAC molly simpson contributor

The Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC) is Victoria College’s student government. VUSAC is run by twenty-seven students, nineteen elected and eight hired, and provides Vic students with a number of wonderful services.

At its core, VUSAC is responsible for using student fees to pay for events, services, and to support clubs. Full-time students pay VUSAC $29.82 per semester, which is allocated to various clubs, commissions, and other services by the council.

VUSAC also offers a number of services to Victoria College students including: five cent printing (some of the cheapest on campus!), free contraceptive and menstrual products, free coffee or tea, and a recharging station for your electronics! You can go to the VUSAC office to buy Victoria College merchandise (designed by VUSAC!).

You can even book VUSAC’s board room or backroom for meetings, or just as a quiet space to study.

VUSAC is headed by four executives. The President is in charge of executing VUSAC’s overall vision, leading the budgeting process, and liaising with organizations outside of VUSAC. The VicePresident External communicates what VUSAC is doing to outside bodies, including students at caucus, which is a chance for VUSAC and all of Vic’s levies (organizations that students pay into directly). Additionally, the Vice-President Internal is in charge of VUSAC’s internal workings and the office space, and the Vice-President Student Organizations which ensures all clubs and levies are running smoothly.

VUSAC is made up of seven commissions that plan events around their mandates and portfolios: Academic, Arts & Culture, Commuter, Equity, Mental Wellness, Scarlet & Gold (formal events), and Sustainability. These commissions are led by an elected commissioner and, in some cases, a hired co-chair. They also include students who assist in planning events such as Doc’n’Talks, Highball (Vic’s annual formal), The Bob Comedy Revue and more! Applications to join these com-

missions will be released on a rolling basis—be sure to check VUSAC’s social media or website for more information.

VUSAC also has eight councilors who serve as jack-of-all-trades voting members of council. They serve on different commissions and portfolios to ensure the smooth operation of council. These are the only positions elected in the fall, with nominations opening during Orientation Week. Of the eight councilor positions, three spots are guaranteed to be first years and three spots are guaranteed to be upper years. This position is a great way to get involved in VUSAC and learn more about your student government!

This September VUSAC will be electing eight councilors, holding a by-election for its Sustainability Commissioner (note that this position is for upper years only), and filling the remaining seats on the Victoria College Council and Victoria University Senate. For more information on elections, be sure to email the VUSAC Chief Returning Officer at cro@vusac.ca.

NEWS 03

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

The Strand: a primer What it is and how you can get involved leo morgenstern managing editor

Sections The Strand is the official student newspaper of Victoria College. The articles, photography, and illustrations that make up every issue of The Strand are organized into six sections: News, Opinions, Science, Features (longer, more in-depth pieces, often with a more personal tone), Arts & Culture, and Stranded (humour). If you want to learn more about what we publish in these sections, you can read past articles on our website or contact the section editor to ask questions! Email addresses for everyone on our masthead can be found at the front of this paper or on our website (www.thestrand.ca) under the “About” tab!

Masthead The masthead are the people hired or elected at the end of the previous academic year to run The Strand. These people include our Editor-in-Chief, our Managing Editor, and our section editors, who run each of the individual sections. These are the people you should go to if you’d like to see your work published in The Strand. Many of our section editors also have associates, who help them with their jobs. Other members of our masthead include our web editor, who runs our website; our design editor, who creates the layout of our print issues; our business manager, who handles the finances; and our senior copyeditor, who makes sure that every article in The Strand reads fluidly and is mistake-free.

Visuals At The Strand, we take visual design just as seriously as writing.

This means we put a lot of thought and effort into our layout, and we have staff dedicated to providing the incredible photos and illustrations that go alongside our written articles.

Magazine The Strand is not just a newspaper. We also create a magazine once per year, which includes personal essays, poetry, fiction, illustrations, and photographs; all capping off with a magazine launch. To celebrate the publication of our yearly magazine we hold a launch event, however, this isn’t just a celebration.

Often many of the contributors of the magazine will present and read aloud their pieces during the launch. All in all, the event is a lot of fun and a great chance to talk to the writers about their work.

Special issues In addition to our regular issues, we often publish special issues at The Strand, which revolve around a particular theme; the Orientation Issue is a great example. Other special issues we’ve done in the past include a Love and Sex Issue, a Queer Issue, and plenty of joke issues.

Podcast Our podcast is called the Strandcast and you can find it on our website. The podcast is a variety show of sorts with no set theme. Content varies greatly from episode to episode. If you have an idea for a segment or would like to be a part of the podcast production, send an email to our podcast editors or drop by their office hours!

Events Open House: Around the beginning of the year, we host an open house where we invite anyone and everyone interested in The Strand to our office to learn about who we are and how we operate. This is a great place to ask questions and get to know our editorial team!

How we operate The Strand publishes in two ways: in print and on our website.

The print issues feature a selection of content from each section, and our website features everything you can find in print plus plenty of web-exclusive articles.

Our office At The Strand, we’re very lucky to get to operate out of a beautiful and spacious office. This office is located in the Goldring Student Centre just behind the Wymilwood Lounge. To be able to work in this space is just one of the many benefits of working for The Strand. This office is the central hub for production of our issues and all of our staff meetings. In addition, the office is a great space for you to come and get to know our masthead. Every member of The Strand masthead holds weekly office hours. The schedule will be posted soon on our website and right outside our door.

Available Roles Writer: The Strand is always looking for new writers! If you know what section(s) you’d like to write for, the best way to get published is to talk to one of our section editors. We also

have Facebook groups for each section that you can join if you’d like. If you’re not sure what section(s) you’d like to write for, feel free to reach out to our Editor-in-Chief Rebecca or our Managing Editor Leo! Not sure what to write? You can always read past articles on our website or stop by our office to browse through old issues to get an idea of what we publish. And while you’re dropping by the office, you can talk to someone on our masthead - there’s always someone there. And don’t be shy, they’re all very friendly and happy to answer any questions!

Staff Writer: Our contributors gain the title of staff writer after they’ve been published in at least three issues in any given year.

Being a staff writer is a lot of fun, but there’s no pressure to become one. We’d be happy to have you for even just one article!

Illustrator: We are always looking for new members to add to our illustration team. The Strand uses illustrations in our print issues, on our website, and in our magazine. Get in contact with our Illustrations Editor Amy Jiao if you have any questions or are interested in doing illustrations for The Strand.

Photographer: Similar to illustrators, The Strand is always looking for photographers to take pictures that accompany our articles. You can even create a photo essay, as some of our photographers have done in this issue. Get in contact with our Photo Editor Ilya Sarossy if you’d like to join the photo team!

Editorial assistant: Editorial assistants help with production of the paper. These EA’s help with proofreading and copyediting and laying out the newspaper in our Adobe design software.

Working as an editorial assistant is a great way to learn about how The Strand operates and an even better way to help out in areas you most like. We’ll be hiring our editorial assistants soon! Follow The Strand on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more updates.

Copyeditor: We’re always happy to find people who want to join our copyediting team. Copyeditors read over finished articles and suggest changes before they are finalized. This includes tasks such as fixing spelling and grammar mistakes, fact checking, and providing commentary. If you’d like to be a copyeditor, you can get in contact with our Senior Copyeditor Sandy Forsyth.

Anti-abortion protestors sparked controversy at March for Life Pro-choice protestors held counter-protest in light of anti-choice activism alex byrne-krzycki contributor

UofT has an extensive history involving pro- and anti-choice protestors on its downtown campus. Graphic imagery and signs have been spotted around stretches of St. George and Harbord, calling for action against controversial groups on campus.

On May 8, a grassroots counter-protest was held in Queen’s Park in support of free, accessible abortions. The protest comes amid a larger anti-choice protest in the area, organized by the first ever Toronto chapter of March for Life, an anti-abortion activist movement with origins in Ottawa.

March for Life seeks to roll back a woman’s right to choose, or in the words of Niagara MPP Sam Oosterhoff, “make abortion unthinkable in our lifetime.”

Flanked by MPPs Christina Mitas (Conservative, Scarborough Centre) and Will Bouma (Conservative, Brantford-Brant), the 20-year-old Conservative MPP delivered a speech to several hundred anti-abortion activists on the front lawn of the Ontario legislature, espousing his

commitment to pro-life values.

Just behind them were another hundred and fifty counter-protesters yelling several profanities at the MPP. This grassroots pro-choice response may have been smaller in number than the anti-abortion coalition, but they were significantly more vocal. The pro-choice protesters drowned out the various anti-abortion speakers with chants, noise, and pro-choice cheers, in contrast to the March for Life supporters, who were largely silent to hear their speakers. Though the pro-choice movement was largely a grassroots eruption of support, the Canadian Federation Of Students sent representatives, including Sami Pritchard, to show solidarity. In conversation with The Strand, Pritchard said that people should be on guard for changes that the Ford Government might make, “since this new government has come into power they have been against people’s rights and our ability to make a choice.”

Also in attendance was Caroline Egan, from the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics, who has been protesting in support of abortion rights since the criminal code was changed in the 1980s. Egan was concerned with the tactics being used in the United States in states like Georgia, and that

similar tactics could be used to roll back abortion rights and accessibility here in Ontario.

While the Premier released a statement saying that he would not re-open the abortion debate, Egan asserts that Ford’s cuts to public health will hurt.

“Even when you look at what’s happening with the cuts to public health across the province, particularly one billion dollars over the next ten years, we see a situation where sexual health clinics are going to be cut. Birth control is going to be cut; referrals for pregnancy assessments abortions. So yeah, we see it as really problematic for women’s rights to control our bodies and for the overall goal—the goal of our reproductive justice,” Egan said.

Still, Egan is hopeful for the future, saying that while it is disappointing to have to keep fighting battles she already thought won, there is hope because of the new people being brought into the fold. “We see so many young people coming up behind us who are just taking up the torch and being clear that pro-choice and pro birth control facilities are something that’s really strongly held by the wider community.”

04 EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | REBECCA GAO EDITOR@THESTRAND.CA

University is about more than just going to class

the

strand V O L U M E

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Welcome to UofT, Victoria College, and The Strand

editor-in-chief

editor@thestrand.ca

rebecca gao photo

managing editor

business@thestrand.ca

| ilya sarossy

leo morgenstern

business manager

business@thestrand.ca

mishail adeel

news

news@thestrand.ca

ann marie elpa

opinions

opinions@thestrand.ca

meg jianing zhang

features

features@thestrand.ca

hadiyyah kuma

science

science@thestrand.ca

michal leckie

arts and culture

artsandculture@thestrand.ca abbie moser stranded

stranded@thestrand.ca

max nisbeth

copyediting

copy@thestrand.ca

sandy forsyth

design

design@thestrand.ca

keith cheng

photo

photo@thestrand.ca

ilya sarossy

art

art@thestrand.ca

amy jiao

web

web@thestrand.ca

eric mcgarry

podcast

strandcast@thestrand.ca

noah kelly jasmine ng

editorial assistants

vacant

rebecca gao editor-in-chief

contributors khadija alam, henry bathurst, alex byrne-krzycki,

cheryl cheung, tianren chu, ioana clotea, ellen

grace, james hannay, cisco juanes, vibhuti kacholia, rachel leggett, ronan mallovy, sana mohtadi,

molly simpson copy editors nate crocker, jen dufton, julianna he, kenneth kim design team keith cheng, rebecca gao, max nisbeth illustrations amy jiao, kim peralta photos cisco juanes, hana nikcevic, ilya sarossy cover art amy jiao

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, homophobia, 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.

FOLLOW US @STRANDPAPER WWW.THESTRAND.CA

To all our new readers, welcome to UofT, welcome to Victoria College, and welcome to The Strand. And for those of you who are returning, welcome back. We’ve missed you.

Entering your first year of university is both terrifying and exciting. The first week of classes often means meeting more new faces than you can remember (and adding a lot of new contacts named “girl from ENG140”), taking the wrong way through Queen’s Park (you’ll figure out the right path soon, I promise), and eating a questionable (but free!) slice of pizza at some informative event.

During my O-week, over three years ago now, I remember picking up a copy of The Strand and reading it between bites of a stale Ned’s veggie wrap. I remember how in awe I was of the thoughtful writing, the beautiful photos and illustrations, and the topics that were covered. I remember thinking, “I want to be a part of this.”

And, luckily, I am. Through The Strand, I’ve learned the ins and outs of writing for a newspaper, the meticulous work that goes into assembling an issue, the allconsuming process of creating a fully realized magazine, and the satisfaction of seeing people on campus pick up a copy. Being involved with The Strand, and being involved in campus life more generally, has enriched my university experience in immeasurable ways. Now that I’m nearing the end of my undergraduate career, I truly cannot imagine my university experience without The Strand.

This year, however, we are in trouble. In January 2019, premier Doug Ford introduced the Student Choice Initiative, a provincial mandate that gives students the opportunity to opt out of certain ancillary fees (this basically means any fees that aren’t strictly considered “tuition”). By deeming most ancillary fees optional, and in Ford’s words, “non-essential,” many student groups on campus are at risk of losing their funding. But to Ford, it’s not really about saving students money. It’s an explicit attack on student autonomy and it is meant to break apart student advocacy and equity groups, as well as student media—the very entities that work to hold our institutions accountable and provide services that often no one else will.

For example, VicPride! (with whom we share an office) is at risk of losing funding. Last year, they held numerous social events for Vic’s LGBTQ+ community; hosted free, public educational events; and held clothing

swaps and anonymous binder giveaways to provide all students with clothes they feel comfortable in. Their levy (aka their fee) for full-time undergraduate students is 32 cents per semester. Unless students opt in to ancillary fees, we at UofT face the loss of services such as those provided by VicPride!.

The Student Choice Initiative will make the absolutely essential work that we, and other student groups, perform so much harder. There is so much more to student life than just going to class. UofT and Vic are such vibrant places because of student groups, clubs, levies, publications, and events. Without these things, school will, for a lack of a better term, really, really suck.

It’s hard to imagine UofT and Vic without the wealth of student groups and societies. Apart from the life that they breathe into the school, they also provide a playground for students outside of the classroom. Groups like The Strand let students dip their toes into journalism and publishing. Campus theatre groups like the Victoria College Drama Society (VCDS) allow students to try on every single hat in a theatrical production—on and off stage. Art groups like Vic’s photography club, VicXposure, give students the chance to experiment and create with equipment and materials that are often hard to access independently. It would not be an overstatement for me to say that my extracurricular participation has taught me just as much as my classes and professors have during my time at UofT. I understand the compulsion to opt out of fees; I’m also a broke-ass student who would love to make even the tiniest dent in my debt. I know that people will make their own choices, and I respect that. But I hope that reading our first issue and walking through campus as Orientation Week events are in full swing will convince you not to opt out.

So please, flip through our O-Week issue and enjoy Ronan Mallovy’s personal essay about making university feel smaller, Khadija Alam’s feature piece on imposter syndrome, the comprehensive list of the best toilets on campus in our humour section, and the beautiful photos and illustrations compiled by our visual team. Walk through campus and grab some free food. Catch a student production of your favourite play or musical. Listen to any one of the talented musical groups on campus.

This is what UofT is all about—students doing what they love and sharing it with their peers and the community.

Thank you for picking up our first issue, and welcome to Vic, UofT, and The Strand.

OPINIONS 05

EDITOR | MEG JIANING ZHANG OPINIONS@THESTRAND.CA

Tilting at windmills My semester with Don Quixote sana mohtadi contributor

“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind,” writes Cervantes of the eponymous hero of his 1605 novel. Like an overworked UofT student working towards their degree, Don Quixote de la Mancha experiences a pathological attachment to his quest. In the case of Cervantes’ protagonist, an obsession with chivalric romances, full of knights errant and damsels in distress, blinds him to the reality of his existence as a middle-aged nobleman. The seductive pull of wellcrafted literature prompts an absurd journey not unlike that of a prospective university student.

In my first semester at UofT, I was assigned the entirety of Don Quixote, a nearly 900-page beast of a novel that came to define my introduction to university.

At once a satirical romp, a tragedy, and a chivalric romance, Cervantes’ novel bore a remarkable similarity to my own academic quest. Both Don Quixote and I were strangers in a strange land animated by dreams of what the future – or in my case, university – would hold. Campus itself was a fairy-tale novelty: high rises, Pizza Pizzas, and subway cars, stone buildings with spires and stained-glass windows promising to disclose every and any mystery to us students. I was itching to find my place within the university, to inhabit a niche that would accommodate both my mind and heart.

It's not just the act of reading but the urge to narrativize my young adult life that threw me into a tumultuous first semester. At first, academia appeared to be an intellectual Eden, full of great literature, challenging theories, charismatic professors, and impressive classmates. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by students who were just as passionate about books as I was. They spoke dead languages and perfect French, they had gone on Euro-tours between high school and first year, and, funnily enough, they even owned horses. It is undeniable that a certain class of students exists at UofT that has benefited from an exceptionally privileged academic upbringing, and

that those students tend to study the humanities. Like Don Quixote, I was a fraud, a miscast actor without the qualifications to exist in the same environment as my peers. The emotion wasn’t exactly jealousy. It transcended jealousy, as if my classmates were characters better-fitted to the University. Here I understood the genius of Cervantes’ satire: Don Quixote himself does not “fit” within the novel – he has none of the qualifications of a knight errant – and yet he persists despite the odds as Cervantes’ protagonist.

In the frequently cited “windmill episode,” Don Quixote mistakes windmills for giants, and takes it upon himself to challenge these nonexistent opponents. His skirmish with the windmills has come to represent the act of fighting “imaginary enemies,” and more broadly, Cervantes’ commentary on the consuming power of fiction. Yet, if I claim that Don Quixote is simply a

more at peace with the fact that so much of the next three years is a mystery to me. Through the example of Don Quixote, I embraced what Keats called “Negative capability,” or man’s capacity to “[be] in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.”

Author and critic Milan Kundera remarked that Cervantes’ definition of heroism is the ability to see “the world as ambiguity, to be obliged to face not a single absolute truth but a welter of contradictory truths, [...] to have as one's only certainty the wisdom of uncertainty” Great fiction has the power to accustom us to that same uncertainty, by presenting infinitely contradictory individual truths and allowing us to choose which representation of reality is closest to the one we perceive.

RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO SUCCUMB TO QUIXOTIC VERSIONS OF WHAT UNVIERSITY WILL BE

delusional romantic, I am only, by extension, calling myself a fool. In my own classes, I mistook classmates for adversaries. Rather than extending myself to the brilliant individuals around me, I felt threatened by what I considered to be their obvious advantages. Between “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” I was clueless as to which role I would play during my time at UofT. I wondered whether I would continue to study literature or if I would pivot to some other program. I wondered whether I would achieve the grades I needed to secure my future success, or whether a degree in the humanities would be useful at all in a turbulent world.

I still don’t have the answers to these questions, but I’m

Don Quixote isn’t a liar. He’s a dreamer. Maybe Cervantes believes that dreaming is an exercise in delusion when he himself asks: “What is more dangerous than to become a poet? which is, as some say, an incurable and infectious disease.” But maybe he isn’t advocating a cure. If either Don Quixote, a fictional fifteenth-century nobleman, or I, your average English major, have any advice to impart to incoming students, it would be this: resist the temptation to succumb to quixotic visions of what university will be.

Instead, embrace the reality that doesn't fit neatly into a preconceived plot.

illustration

| wikipedia commons

06 OPINIONS

EDITOR | MEG JIANING ZHANG OPINIONS@THESTRAND.CA

Building community on a big campus Has “student life” become hard to find at a school of 91,000 students? ronan mallovy contributor

As I enter my fourth year as an undergrad, I’m realizing more and more that if university students like to do one thing, it’s to complain about the university they attend. In fact, it is one of the best things about university students, and perhaps even a natural by-product of a post-secondary education. Universities expose students to philosophical conceptions of humanity, civic duty, and equality, and give them the opportunity to poke, prod at, and challenge what they hear using newly minted criticalthinking skills. Those same universities shouldn’t be surprised when students inevitably turn their criticism on the institution that gave them the ability to articulate it.

This tendency towards grievance may explain why so many of my peers go around touting the fact that the University of Toronto was recently ranked 19th globally by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Ranking while simultaneously decrying the sorry state of the University’s mental health and accessibility resources. Students are proud of their university and the quality of the education it gives them, but that pride leads them to expect more out of every aspect of the university experience, and to be understandably disappointed when the university fails to deliver.

Precisely what students should be able to expect from their university has long been a topic of controversy. In a different time and place, the concept of a university taking any responsibility for the general wellbeing of its students would have seemed ludicrous to administrators. Yet today, “student life” is considered a crucial component of a postsecondary institution’s obligations to its students.

Still, the way this obligation manifests itself ranges from the almost resort-like experiences offered by some liberal arts colleges in the United States, to the more hands-off approach of many British institutions. It is clear that no one solution will satisfy every student and work for every school.

For UofT students, the problem of how large a role we can expect our university to play in our everyday lives is made even more complicated by the sheer size of the school we attend. How can a university of 91,000 students across three campuses possibly cater to the needs of every single one? The question goes beyond the topics of mental health and accessibility (with which it certainly resonates) to a broader examination of university life: with such an immense number of enrolled students, can a definitive “University of Toronto experience” be said to exist, and if so, does the university administration really have any control of what it looks like?

The answer to both questions is no, with the conciliatory suggestion that UofT might at least be able to meet you halfway. For incoming students, it’s important to recognize that the experience of an Arts student at St. Mike’s who plays varsity volleyball will be vastly different from a New College Sciences student with a passion for musical theatre.

While this much seems obvious, it reveals the underlying truth that the University of Toronto is in many respects a fragmented campus. The sporting events, performances, special lectures, etc. that take place in the innumerable enclaves of UofT often have no bearing on the school at large, and exist solely for the people directly involved and their peers. This in itself isn’t any great shame, but it certainly gets in the way of generating a universitywide sense of community.

Part of this has to do with the fact that so many resources and opportunities are offered through individual colleges, faculties, and other non-centralized groups. While guides are offered by the UTSU that attempt to compile these opportunities

into one definitive list, it doesn’t change the fact students will surely be disappointed if they go in search of the “hub” of one activity or another on campus. “The college you’re in doesn’t really matter” is a commonly heard statement among students on the St. George campus. For the large part, it’s true. I myself am a UC student who has been involved with St. Mike’s and Vic theatre, and a Faculty of Music choir (not to mention the fact that this article is being published in the Victoria College newspaper). What my experience has shown me though is that, while the college you belong to doesn’t matter, the colleges themselves matter immensely.

The college system provides an alternate narrative to that which states that UofT is too big for any one student to be significant. When I was accepted to UofT, my father, an alum himself, gave me some advice: “Whatever you do, find ways to make it small.” At the time he was in school (the mid-80s), UofT was still considerably large, but that piece of advice has only become more valuable as the University has become more sizeable.

However, for my father, making a big school small meant joining a fraternity— a fact which to this day I cannot wrap my head around.

For me, it means seeking out as many nooks and crannies of this big and confusing campus as I can. It’s the places where those around you all seem like they have some sort of vested interest in being there that stick out to me as being of particular importance. It doesn’t matter whether the thing that unites everyone there is a love for astrophysics or a love for big couches; in either case, a real sense of community is more likely to form around that common interest. School-wide community is lacking in UofT as a university at large, and that’s not

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| cisco juanes

likely to be remedied, but it doesn’t mean that community at UofT can’t exist. Students are, for better or for worse, responsible for creating it themselves.

Seeking community as a way of finding support is of course no secret trick. It is a simple truth, albeit one that can get as lost as the many students who have failed to realize its importance. It’s worth returning to that favourite pastime of university students, airing grievances about the school they attend. The fact that such a simple and straightforward thing as the relationship between community and support could be lost among the daily goingson of university life is a failing of the university itself. The effort to foster community must certainly belong to students, when institutions like UofT fail to do so. In the immediate future, the onus is on students to carve out a world for themselves at a large and unwieldy school, wherever and however they can.

The best way to do that is to start small. Opt for the college library reading room over the soulcrushing hunk of concrete that is the Robarts Library; seek out the resources and opportunities that all of the colleges and faculties (not just your own) have to offer; speak to a real, human registrar instead of letting ACORN and Degree Explorer tell you what to do. Most importantly, rely on other students to foster community rather than waiting for the administration to do it. In the present, these are some of the steps one must take to carve out a world for themselves within UofT. But as students who are practically programmed to expect more from their university, it’s time to re-evaluate whether a school as big as UofT must be alienating, and find ways to ensure that it meets students halfway.

If nothing else, hopefully that will cut down on the number of people joining frats.

OPINIONS 07

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

Mental health can't wait The importance of connecting with resources early

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rachel leggett contributor

Two years ago, when I was beginning my first year, I remember looking through the list of Orientation Week programing. There were seminars about university life, about going abroad, and about clubs and extra-curriculars. All of them seemed more glamourous than the one at the bottom of the list: navigating mental health.

Mental health struggles aren’t comfortable to associate with the university experience. To anyone who has struggled before, it’s easy to think of the beginning of university as a new chapter where those troubles won’t follow you. As for those who haven’t had these experiences, it’s easy to think that you are immune to these problems and they won’t apply to you at all.

Sadly, I don’t believe either of those things are true. Mental health struggles are becoming overwhelmingly and increasingly prominent in postsecondary students, especially symptoms of anxiety and depression. While university pamphlets paint a pretty picture about the opportunities and enjoyment that come with being an undergrad, the reality is that much of our time is filled with the stress of an overwhelming workload, leading to a largely negative impact on mental health.

Though everyone deals with their mental health differently (what might work for you might not work for me), a significant change of scenery can affect a lot of students negatively. Going to university often means leaving behind previous support systems, whether that be family, friends, or members of your school community. Thus, many students lack the support they need from caring peers who can intervene and connect them with help. This fact, combined with the many stresses of university, places students in a vulnerable position where their struggle with mental health occurs in an unfamiliar environment.

Understanding mental health resources can be difficult. It can be confusing and intimidating trying to determine which services will work for you and which won’t. I think most people would find this

process overwhelming even in the best state of mind.

In the midst of a crisis, it can feel downright impossible.

But still, few people plan out where they can turn when mental health issues arise. Let’s compare this with our physical health. Even for the most obscure illnesses, most of us can gauge which illnesses are worthy of a trip to the hospital or family doctor, and which will go away after a few days of rest. But we rarely have the same knowledge about mental health symptoms. Think about it. Do you know where to go if you have a panic attack? Who to turn to if you are too depressed to go to class? Where to reach out if you are having suicidal thoughts?

For many of us, the answer to these questions is “no.” Unfortunately, the current stigma around issues of mental health makes it difficult to talk about some of these experiences. Even asking about resources can make us feel as if we are implicating ourselves by admitting that we’re struggling, which creates a lingering sense of shame. But ultimately, most people will struggle with their mental health at some point in their life. These experiences are a reality for many university students, and the best way we can prepare ourselves to handle them is to know what resources are available to us so that we’re equipped to reach out if we, or any of our peers, ever need them.

Since mental health can be so hard to navigate, below is an informal list of resources recommended to UofT students. These descriptions are informed by the experiences of myself and close friends, and from information these resources give directly. This list is in no way comprehensive, but hopefully will help as a jumping off point to understand what’s out there.

Health and wellness offers counsellors for mild to moderate concerns and psychiatrists who are able to give diagnoses and prescribe medication for more intense or long-term issues. At peak periods, the wait times for these services can be lengthy and there’s a fee to cancel within 48 hours of your appointment. However, this resource can still be a great first stop for getting help.

Accessibility services can assist students who have a mental health diagnosis with long term sup-

| kim peralta

ports to help manage their academics. Again, the process to get registered can be tedious, but knowing you have accommodations available to you once you’re registered can reduce a lot of stress.

Student crisis response runs within UofT and is meant for high-risk and crisis situations. They take confidentiality very seriously. Just note that they’re only open during business hours, Monday to Friday.

The Registrar's Office can be a great resource if you are concerned that your mental health will get in the way of your academics. If you are struggling and need to defer an exam or get an extension on an assignment, the Registrar’s Office can help you understand your options.

LinkMentalHealth is a service that works in partnership with UofT’s Student Union to connect students with therapists. They have a relatively easy to navigate website that uses an online questionnaire to match students with therapists for a variety of budgets.

GOOD2TALK is a free, confidential helpline specifically for post-secondary students. They work under KIDS HELP PHONE which also offers a hotline and even a crisis text line for quick, accessible support.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is walking distance from the UofT bookstore, and their emergency room can be used in crisis situations.

If you have a family doctor outside of UofT, they can help refer you to a therapist or psychiatrist.

Concerned about funding? UofT’s health insurance for full time students offers $100 per visit for up to 15 visits a year. Also, if you have a mental health diagnosis, you may be eligible to apply for the Bursary for Students with Disabilities (BSWD) through OSAP which provides up to $2000 per year for disability related expenses (and yes, this includes therapy!).

Ultimately, all of these resources are just places to start. Even if you reach out to one that isn’t the best fit for you, these services should be able to give you referrals to other services that would better suit your needs. The important part is to reach out somewhere.

08 FEATURES

EDITOR | HADIYYAH KUMA FEATURES@THESTRAND.CA

Dealing with imposter syndrome A first-year perspective KHADIJA ALAM CONTRIBUTOR

The crisp morning wind was a breath of fresh air, blue and white balloons danced in the sky, and the chatter of hundreds of students played like the scherzo of a symphony. It was Fall Campus Day, 2018. The University of Toronto campus was buzzing with the energy of the excited current students helping out around the premises, mixed with the nervous, doe-eyed prospective students trying to make their way around.

OUAC (Ontario Universities’ Application Centre) applications had just become available, but I wouldn’t be submitting mine for another couple of months.

Even though in the back of my mind I could already envision myself going to this school, there was another part of my brain casting doubt upon whether I’d get accepted, do well, or just so much as belong here. Even after receiving acceptances to both the university and the first-year Vic One program, I thought that it must have been a mistake. For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt as though the people around me have put me up on a pedestal I don’t belong on. That those who believe in me have misplaced their faith. That all my achievements are flukes. That I’m a fraud.

You know when you're in the middle of saying something, but you can't think of a certain word, and then someone chimes in with the exact word you're looking for? That's precisely how I felt a year ago when I discovered a TED-Ed talk by Elizabeth Cox entitled "What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it?".

Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon in which an individual will doubt the validity of their accomplishments and experience the fear of one day being exposed as a fraud. Even highly esteemed people, such as Albert Einstein and Maya Angelou, experienced these feelings. Einstein once confessed his feelings of fraudulence to a friend: “The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me feel very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.” Angelou has also admitted to feeling like an imposter: “I have written eleven books,

but each time I think, uh-oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.” Even though Einstein’s and Angelou’s achievements are rare, imposter syndrome is more common than you might think. Around 70 percent of the population has experienced it at some point in their lives, according to a 2011 study published by the International Behavioural Journal of Science.

Dr. Pauline Rose Clance, who was the first psychologist to study this phenomenon, alongside her colleague, Dr. Suzanne Imes, first experienced imposter syndrome when she was in graduate school. It wasn’t until she became a professor at an academically reputable college, where she heard her high-achieving students describe the same feelings she had, that she and Dr. Imes decided to study the phenomenon. In the beginning, they believed that imposter syndrome only affected women, but much more research has been conducted to build upon the foundation they set. This research shows that these feelings can manifest in any high-achieving individual, regardless of gender. However, imposter syndrome seems to be more common among people who belong to underrepresented groups. A study from the University of Texas found that dealing with imposter syndrome worsens mental health issues that are already associated with the struggles of being a student who belongs to an ethnic minority, such as Black, Asian, and Latinx populations. Even though “imposter syndrome” is not listed as an official diagnosis in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), many psychologists still understand that it encompasses very real feelings that can result in poor mental health and even anxiety and depressive disorders.

So what exactly can stir up these feelings in an individual? The environment in which a person grows up plays a significant role in who they become as they mature. Parents who frequently switch between overpraising and over-criticizing their children can sow the seeds of imposter syndrome. The societal pressure to

constantly be accomplishing our goals and striving for better ones is another factor to consider. Especially in the age of social media, where we can see all the incredible things that everyone around us is doing, it’s easier than ever to belittle our own achievements and push ourselves past healthy limits to overcompensate for our perceived shortcomings. Perfectionism is a character trait that can also lead to feelings of fraudulence, and it can manifest in two ways. An individual experiencing imposter syndrome may procrastinate due to the fear of not being able to meet their own high standards.

Alternatively, this person may overwork themselves in an effort to ensure that their work will meet their lofty expectations. Neither of these behaviours are ultimately productive, because they can take an incredibly large mental and physical toll on a person—they have certainly taken a toll on me.

High school felt like a breeding ground for imposter syndrome. One of my favourite parts of those four years was being a part of my school’s vocal jazz ensemble, although it was a bit of a journey to get there. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved music, and my high school music program allowed me to explore that passion more deeply than I could have ever imagined. After performing with the concert choir in grade nine and doing well in the vocal class I took that year, I decided that I would audition for the more challenging vocal jazz ensemble the following year. When it was time for my audition in grade ten, I was a mess. I had so much trouble sight-reading a few bars of music, and I could barely hold my own part in the audition piece while the director harmonized with me. Needless to say, I didn’t make the cut, and I was absolutely devastated. That experience pushed me to work harder at becoming a better vocalist. I practiced sight-reading and harmonizing every day, to the point where it was almost obsessive, and the director was gracious enough to offer me a second audition after seeing all the effort I put in and all the improvements I had made within such a short amount of time. But

FEATURES 09

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

ILLUSTRATION | AMY JIAO

even after getting into the ensemble through my successful re-audition, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I didn’t get in the first time, and that led to me feeling as though I didn’t belong there. I felt that all of my achievements as a leader in the group weren’t a result of anything I did. When someone congratulated me on a successful performance, I thought that they were simply being nice to avoid hurting my feelings.

Whenever I was selected to perform a solo, I thought that the director just pitied me and wanted me to feel better about myself. Even when I received leadership and honour awards at the Ontario Vocal Festival and MusicFest Nationals, I thought that I didn’t actually deserve them. I carried these feelings with me through my final performance at commencement.

Now that I’m starting university, it seems like all these feelings of insecurity have amped up due to worry and fear of the unknown. The University of Toronto is a top-ranked university. The sheer size of UofT’s St. George Campus, both physically and in population, is enough to make most students feel as though they don’t belong here, with the towering buildings and towering competition. In a school as reputable, intimidating, and academically rigorous as this one, I’ve found that it’s not uncommon for students to experience imposter syndrome.

Over the summer, I joined a Facebook Messenger group chat with other students in my program, where we discuss various topics ranging from television shows to U.S. politics. Over the course of a few months, many of us have bonded through shared interests and passions, but another thing that brought us closer together was our shared feelings surrounding starting school at UofT. Many of us feel inadequate, unqualified, and that although our abilities have brought us this far, they cannot help us succeed at this school. It’s definitely scary to have to start a brand-new chapter in your life with these constant negative thoughts in the back of your mind, but it certainly made me feel better to know that others are in the same boat as I am. Even

though UofT is a massive school, making connections with other students is crucial to helping me feel less alone. Forming a sense of community can help students combat the feelings associated with imposter syndrome, because it allows us to share our experiences and know that our voices are heard.

I’m currently in the process of shifting my mindset from believing that if I’m not immediately good at something then I’m a failure and my past achievements must have been flukes. I’m sure many students are able to relate to my experiences thus far and to these feelings of inadequacy. Not only do these feelings hinder us from trying new things, acquiring new skills, and building resiliency, but they also feed that voice inside of us that convinces us that we’re frauds. However, it’s important to remember that although change takes time, there are steps we can take to combat imposter syndrome. Adjusting our mindset is an important, albeit difficult, step. It’s crucial to understand that nobody is perfect, and we simply cannot constantly ask ourselves to do even better as a way to compensate for feeling insecure. Learning to acknowledge and celebrate our achievements is another change in thinking that can have a significantly positive impact on how we feel. Even though this is easier said than done and can feel awkward or wrong at first, it can result in a more optimistic outlook on our accomplishments and fuel intrinsic validation.

It’s important to set attainable goals. When we set unrealistic goals, and then, inevitably, don't accomplish them, it's easy to feel like we aren't as great as others think. We can be proactive in dealing with imposter syndrome by planning out what we want to accomplish, figuring out what steps are necessary to take to do so, and realizing when we are expecting too much from ourselves.

Talking to others about how you feel is a simple but effective way of dealing with imposter syndrome.

Open conversations are crucial in making sense of how we feel and often lead to understanding that we aren't

alone in those feelings. You might be surprised to find out just how many of the people you know completely understand how you feel. Moreover, it can be beneficial to speak with someone, such as a counsellor or therapist, who will be able to help you break out of the thought patterns that fuel imposter syndrome.

Even though dealing with imposter syndrome is exhausting, I hope that if you experience these feelings, you know that you’re not alone. Remember that imposter syndrome isn’t limited to the Einsteins and Angelous of the world. We are often our own worst critics, so it's easy to diminish our abilities and credit our hard-earned accomplishments to luck, but with time and effort, we can unlearn these thought patterns and become more secure in who we are.

A kaleidoscope of colour envelops the city, rooms slowly transform into homes, and we all begin writing the next chapter in the story of our lives. It’s Orientation Week, 2019, and I no longer need to imagine what life as a UofT student might be like because I’ve made it here now. I feel a strange sense of déjà vu mixed with nostalgia as I can vividly remember the first time I stepped foot on this campus a year ago, except now instead of feeling an overwhelming nervousness, I’m welcomed by familiar faces and a school that no longer feels so intimidatingly large and lonely.

Even though the feelings associated with imposter syndrome may never completely vanish, I know that we’re all capable of working our way through them because we’re not alone, and we do belong here. To anyone who is dealing with feelings of fraudulence related to their place at the University of Toronto: your abilities brought you to this school, and they will take you as far and as wide as you let them.

10 SCIENCE

EDITOR | MICHAL LECKIE SCIENCE@THESTRAND.CA

Dear Vic Letters from the Science Section photos

RE: Exercise Whether you are a future Olympian or a movement-averse turnip, exercise is a powerful tool not only to tone your body, but also your brain. Exercise has been shown to immediately increase cognitive performance by affecting the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in tasks such as concentration, critical thinking, memory, and planning. With longer-term training, exercise seems to affect the hippocampus, resulting in increased neurogenesis (the process by which new brain cells are produced) and improved spatial memory, and is also correlated with a lower risk for anxiety. Exercise is additionally shown to improve sleep quality, and when the quality of your sleep is increased, the time you need to spend in bed decreases. So exercising, contrary to common presumptions, can save you time. Getting in those workouts also doesn’t have to be solitary – find a friend to run laps around Queens Park with you, or join some intramural teams. If all else fails, the distances between classes at UofT can be a great opportunity for a quick sprint.

-Michal Leckie, Science Editor RE: Sleep One of the biggest misconceptions regarding university life revolves around sleep, and it largely stems from our misunderstanding of our circadian rhythms. When starting university, it can be tempting to sign up for 9 am classes. However, most people entering university are still adolescents, and delayedphase sleep is a well-studied phenomenon which makes one later to sleep and later to rise. Therefore, waking up for those courses—especially after long nights of homework or social events—can feel nearly impossible. Unless you are a natural morning person or have many required courses at 9 am, be cautious about signing up for too many morning classes and take a look at your sleeping habits. Everyone’s cycle is different.

Though nine hours of sleep seems to be a goal for many, sometimes sleeping too much can have the same effect as sleeping too little. Some people’s sleep cycles are not perfectly an hour and a half. Try documenting the days when you woke up feeling rested and the number of hours you slept. By finding a general trend to your sleeping patterns, you can set yourself up for a healthy sleep schedule.

-Jasmine Ng, Podcast Editor RE: Seeking help in the sciences The jump from high-school level to university-level science is no doubt a challenge for incoming students. But a large university does promise some great resources to help you succeed academically! Here are some pro tips: 1) Attend office hours if you need clarification from your professors. They don’t bite, I promise! 2) Make the most out of tutorials. Large class sizes and limited professor-student interaction can be intimidating, but TAs should be able to clarify course material. 3) If you find yourself struggling with concepts, homework, labs, or test ma-

terial, then drop into Victoria College’s free tutoring services.

Upper-year undergraduate students are available to assist with first-year Chemistry, Math, and Physics courses. They knowexactly what it’s like to take these courses as first-years and can often give advice about what upper-year courses are like. Tutors are found across campus - either at MacLennan Physical Laboratories, Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories, or at Victoria College. More information on where and when to find a tutor can be found on Victoria College’s website. Regardless of whose help you prefer to seek, don’t forget to come prepared with questions and to get help early. Hopefully these resources will make first-year sciences feel like a breeze!

-Ioana Clotea, Contributor RE: People University is where you find your people. Orientation Week is designed for you to make friends. The closest friendships of your life will be made in university. You may have heard some of these claims before beginning Orientation Week and picking up this newspaper. Lots of people do make great friends in Orientation Week, friends that end up moving in together off-campus in second year. But lots of people don’t. In fear of sounding super clichéd, don’t worry if you don’t make friends instantly! Do, however, seek friendships. Especially in big Con Hall science lectures, as you’ve probably heard before, it can be hard to get to know people. It can take time to find that strong bond (like the bond between hydrogen and fluoride).

But go to class, ask your neighbor for a pencil, and hang out on campus. You are not at school just for the school part. University, in addition to being an academic education of course, is a social education. Make meeting people a top priority, but don’t worry if friends don’t immediately land beside you.

-Michal Leckie, Science Editor RE: Mentorship programs on campus A great way to ease concerns about university life is finding a mentor! Navigating UofT's huge campus, numerous academic programs, large classes, and many extracurricular opportunities is undoubtedly challenging at first. Especially in the sciences, coordinating lectures and labs, figuring out problem sets and multiple-choice tests, and trying to meet with professors or TAs, having a mentor to reach out to for guidance and support can be invaluable. Mentors are typically upper-year students in your faculty motivated to share their experience and insights with younger mentees, because hey, they've been there before.

Many departments, programs, and student unions (including the Human Biology Students’ Union, Physics Department, and the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, among others) offer mentorship programs that pair up mentors and mentees based on similar personal experiences or academic background. Make sure to apply early in the semester!

-Tianren Chu, Contributor

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RE: Food In the coming weeks, you might settle into a diet consisting of mostly ramen and Kraft dinner. Or you might eat those delicious Burwash Hall home fries for three meals a day. But as writer Cal Newport says, “If you eat only junk food you will eventually get scurvy and die.” I’m not going to tell you why you should make an effort to eat healthily or intersperse your ramen with some celery and quinoa. Instead, I’m going to tell you about a few specific foods that are special when it comes to powering your brain through organic chemistry lectures and intellectually-stimulating dinner conversations.

Turmeric: Curcumin, the most active component in turmeric, can cross the blood brain barrier (which usuallystops things in your blood from reaching your brain in order to protect it from hazardous stuff) to have direct effects on cognitive function. It is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, to protect neurons from damage, and anti-oxidative properties to reduce levels of reactive oxygen species which can be harmful to the brain. Curcumin also increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a key growth factor that supports neuronal survival. There is also some evidence for an anti-depressive quality of turmeric, through its ability to increase serotonin and dopamine levels.

Pumpkin seeds: Pumpkin seeds, all too often confined to Halloween festivities, contain lots of key nutrients. Zinc is an important player in neuronal plasticity, copper is involved in neurotransmission, and iron keeps you feeling awake and alert.

Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate contains potent flavonoids, which are known to promote neurogenesis, the growth and development of neurons, and angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels (increasing the amount of blood, and thus nutrients, delivered to brain cells). Chocolate has also been shown to improve mood (and who can argue with that?).

-Michal Leckie, Science Editor RE: Spontaneity This might all feel overwhelming. Make friends, find a mentor, make use of tutoring services, eat well, exercise often… and you just arrived! Beyond these small pieces of advice, it is also important to just be spontaneous. Be open to new things, from tofu burgers to a class in medieval history. Decide to go to a guest lecture when you see a sign for it. Skate at Nathan Phillips Square instead of working on that problem set. Sit with new people at lunch. Attend an info session on study abroad. There are so many different things you can try during university; don’t hesitate to step out of your habits or routines, ignore all advice, and seek adventure.

-Michal Leckie, Science Editor

ARTS AND CULTURE 11

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER

What's in a name, that which we call a section?

My interpretation of “Arts and Culture” abbie moser arts and culture editor

Past Arts and Culture Editors have often used their first article in the first issue as a means of troubleshooting any potential questions for this specific section of The Strand. While this tradition is not exactly intentional, it is incredibly useful. It is pretty clear what sections like News and Opinions are looking for in terms of content and pitches, but not all sections are as straightforward.

I first became involved with campus newspaper production about a year ago, and as someone who hates to make decisions, I was stressed. There were so many sections to write for, so many potential article pitches, and so much room for error. Writing is daunting. Writing about things that you’re interested in or passionate about for a section as broad as Arts and Culture makes it much more so. When I first started writing, I would dig through past issues of campus newspapers, hoping for some sort of unlikely but explicit formatting guide that would help me figure out what I should write about instead of what I wanted to write about. Thinking that Arts and Culture was a space for curated reviews filled with abstract fluff terms to make mediocre movies sound better than they are for the sake of being a pretentious film nerd. Seeing that a section I loved did not seem to have space for non-review focused pitches, I felt a bit defeated.

When I first think about an Arts and Culture section, I immediately think of the arts portion of it. The

"culture" aspect of Arts and Culture is often no more than diluted, short articles roughly every other issue mentioning something brief about the most recently approaching non-Christian holiday, tokenizing culture instead of appreciating it and providing it with the space it deserves. Moving forward, I want to hear more about your culture on both an individual and community level. I want this platform to be used so that you can talk about your family traditions, recipes that have been passed down for generations, playlists of your favourite Bollywood songs, or even about mythology. The possibilities are endless, as culture envelopes so many expressive forms, philosophies, principles of social organization, and works of literature. Have some thoughts on internet culture and how memes work as a form of social capital? I want to hear them! Got an idea about how language is fluid and evolving, but you cannot seem to quite nail down the exact details? Send me a pitch and I can help you with it!

The ‘arts’ aspect of this section can feel repetitive: interviews with artists or lists of the top 10 restaurants near you that serve whatever food is popular on Instagram this week; all of which is repeated for the next issue with some slight changes so it seems like a new article when it is more or less a carbon copy of the last.

While I do want interviews, personal essays, reviews, and your favorite restaurants in the city to be showcased, I’m looking to expand the field of arts. Articles can be fun, but they’re not the only thing that can be published in a newspaper. For example, you can write a playlist. For this playlist, you can just list the songs

and artists, or you can add descriptions to the songs.

Why did you pick this song, why do you like it, how does it make you feel, what does it do for you?

My all-time favorite part of the newspaper when I was a kid was the comics section, and I want to bring this to The Strand. If you can draw or know someone who can, I want to showcase that work! Love to take pictures and are looking to put them somewhere other than Instagram? Send them my way! Love to write poetry, but always fail to meet the deadline for Victoria College’s literary journal The Goose? We publish more than once a year, and our deadlines are never-ending -- you’ll never miss your chance!

Writing can be intimidating and writing something that will be published for anyone to see can be even more stressful. Writing can often be very subjective; your personal feelings, thoughts, perspectives, ideas, and opinions will make their way into your words. Open and personal writing, in terms of both form and content, works to eliminate some of the barriers that can arise, not only when writing for this section, but in developing your own understanding of yourself as a writer. To be authentic within your writing requires you to value your emotions, which then allows an organic conversation to unfold between you and your reader. Arts and Culture make the world go around while making it a little less bleak. How does it affect your world or identity? Uncover the personal or local angle as you write about your favourite scene from that really weird movie that everyone’s talking about.

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| hana nikcevic

Songs for September Jam to this as you walk to the hellish Con Hall abbie moser arts and culture editor

If any month would be a villain in a horror movie, it’d be September. Omnipresent, always looming around the corner as summer comes to an unfortunate end, catching up to you by surprise. At least September comes with consistency: if you’re in school, it marks a time of beginnings, of taking another step towards completing something that may seem impossible at times. I’ve listened to many of these songs as I’ve trekked across campus, sometimes while purposely crossing Queen’s Park to Hart House while a Lamborghini was approaching in hopes that they’d hit me – then I could sue and get my tuition paid for.

“Schoolin’ Life” by Beyoncé

One of her most iconic and underrated songs. She chants: “Who needs a degree when you’re schoolin’ life?” with more confidence than I can ever imagine possessing, and as she should. Beyoncé never attended college but continues to floor expectations of what a superstar is capable of doing as she dominates not only pop music, but pop culture. Beyoncé may not be a teacher by occupation, but she can definitely teach us all how to think critically about normalized methods of education and success.

“Campus” by Vampire Weekend

Listen to this song on a loop as you walk across the entirety of the UofT campus. Don’t stop till you’ve covered every square inch, and this includes going to the weird isolated buildings on Spadina.

“Class of 2013” by Mitski

We interrupt your playlist with one of the saddest songs around. Mitski captures the struggle of moving back into your parents’ house as you cope with dying dreams, every young undergrad’s worst fear. Listen to her sing it live on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert”; she screams the lyrics into her guitar pickups, getting across emotions of fear and uncertainty better than you could ever articulate.

“Drain my brain” by The Memories

University throws so much information at you at such a fast pace. Unfortunately, science hasn’t reached the point where you can take old information out of your brain to make space for the content you’ll need for exams, so this song will just have to do. The work you put into getting a good mark for a class — that may end up ruining your GPA because you missed a class or two so your participation mark was 50% — is exhausting and draining. School sucks. This song is for when it’s just hitting you a bit too hard.

“Unemployed” by Tierra Whack

This is not only my biggest fear or yours, but it’s likely your parents’ biggest fear too. Despite the title, surrealist rapper Tierra Whack performs the song with the amount of confidence that Jeff Bezos definitely has.

Whack wrote this hard-hitting bop with the aid of her mom; you can thank her for the catchy hook. Her flow is refreshing, pushing out articulate lyrics at a rate that’ll make you have to listen to it a few times to catch all her points.

“Vowels = Space and Time” by Grimes

Honestly, I don’t really understand what linguistics is about or what people learn when they’re taking classes in it, and at this point, I’m too scared to ask. Based on my very vague understanding of it, words are involved, so this one is for any of you nerds currently in or considering taking it. I appreciate you, your program, and the work you do but I don’t really get it.

“8th Grade” by Mariah Carey

Middle School? Sorry, I don’t know her. The only 8th grade I’ll ever speak of is this song. Rumour has it that if you listen to Mariah Carey sing this, all of your gross and embarrassing memories from ages 11-13 will be erased.

Some things are better left forgotten, like the incredibly odd stage in life when you’re starting to come into your own but are doing it in a really cringey way.

“Put it Off Until Tomorrow” by Dolly Parton

My favourite thing about the beginning of a new school year is how wholesome it is. There’s so much hope, so many aspirations, dreams of actually being organized this term. How naïve of us all. I appreciate the spirit and energy that the beginning of a term brings but we all know it’s going to fall through. The illusion of working on that paper weeks in advance begins to shatter, and you end up putting it off until the day it’s due, or the day before, if you’re lucky.

12 ARTS AND CULTURE

EDITOR | ABBIE MOSER ARTSANDCULTURE@THESTRAND.CA

CISCO JUANES CONTRIBUTOR The beginning of university can be a stressful time for anyone. It is daunting and confusing to be suddenly surrounded by new people and to have to figure out how to live on one’s own. Even though I made friends during Orientation Week, climbing was where I ultimately found my place—as well as a sense of direction—as a young photographer in an unfamiliar city. What makes the climbing community different than most others is the feeling of camaraderie that pervades every climbing gym and out-

door crag; everyone sees your struggle and, whether you came to the wall alone or with a friend, there’s always someone climbing alongside you and supporting you through your effort. When climbing, personal differences are erased. All climbers stand on equal ground, united by the same passion.

Not only did climbing provide a supportive community, but it also taught me to be comfortable with myself and to be proud of my body and what it is capable of. Through climbing, I’ve made friends and memories that will last the rest of my life, and gained a sense of self-worth of which I was previously ignorant.

Cisco on “Ruth’s Roof ” – This boulder was a massive landmark for me and motivated me to begin training more seriously. Shot by Noah Walker.

Cisco on “Eye Candy” – This boulder has been a project of mine for a long time and has shown me how far I’ve progressed in the sport. I watched a friend of mine work on it during my first ever trip to the Niagara Glen and remember thinking that it looked impossible. Shot by Ilya Sarossy on 35mm Porta 400.

Noah on “Sepukku” – Another boulder I thought looked impossible until recently; now Noah makes it almost look easy.

Noah and two other friends I’ve made through climbing, both of whom live in Richmond, Virginia, from our first trip to the New River Gorge.

Noah on “Chesticles” – A very difficult boulder problem in the New River Gorge in West Virginia.

Shot by Cisco Juanes on 35mm Kodak 400TX.

Shot by Cisco Juanes

Shot by Ilya Sarossy on 35mm Porta 400.

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@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 03 SEPTEMBER 2019

Manic Pixie Dream Girls ILYA SAROSSY PHOTO EDITOR

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a cinematic trope intended to portray women as mythical and infallible beings, but it is instead a reflection of a society that requires her to follow the status quo.

As such, even in her repulsion from the status quo, she finds herself still locked within the male gaze. This trope was created by men who perceived women

Emma: “I think the main thing about the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is that it conditions a lot of people to rely on someone, usually a woman, to take on their burdens. It’s a lot of emotional labour for them. It tends to happen when a guy likes a girl and wants an emotional connection with her because guyguy friendships can be unemotional. Then people don’t ask her what problems are going on in her life. It’s not so much about the girl herself, but about the viewer. It’s a projection of the person observing or adoring her. It’s not a person, it's an idea.

No one is actually that archetype.”

The male gaze through the female gaze

a certain way. In this article, women of Toronto express their interpretation of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and how the fad has impacted them personally.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is an emblem of systemic issues, like how men have projected and idealized certain types of “independent” women into a confining one-dimensional character whose entire purpose is to act as a catalyst that betters the main male character throughout media.

Julia: “Ethereal yet gloomy, a dream you didn’t realize was a nightmare until you woke up. This ‘manic pixie dream girl’ fad combines self-pity and self-obsession into a kind of harmful dichotomy that glorifies mental illness and wraps it up in a silk bow to be displayed to the masses.”

Hannah: I understand the desire to emulate this type of personality, but I don’t think it’s healthy or productive. It’s an ideal created for a man by a man and I think it’s time we stop being for men and be for ourselves.

Pia: “The “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” ideal is just another mechanism we use to objectify women by categorizing them as a muse for others as opposed to free thinking, multi-faceted individuals.”

Olivia: “I remember when I used to have pink hair, all of a sudden I had boys inserting themselves into my life thinking I was going to save them, telling me I reminded them of Ramona Flowers or Clementine. At first I was flattered, but then I realized where it was actually coming from. At first I was like, “woah yay I’m liked,” but it became really apparent really quickly that they wanted to be around me/ liked me because of who they wanted me to be or assumed that I was, as opposed to who I actually am. It was a weird thing - and the only difference

was that all of a sudden my hair was pink and the rate of being called "a free spirit" or "different" or "ethereal" increased by 50000%. But it's not even that they're idolizing you; they have some other idol that's been handed to them by movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or 500 Days of Summer and then they just copy and paste you there. Like ‘a ha!

I have found her in real life!’ It’s crazy how normalized and celebrated that the idea of projecting what you want onto real woman is in our society.”

Adara: “In middle school, Oliver *fake name* was not the first, but maybe second or third in a looong long line of men who thought my friend was their MPDG. After them not dating at all, or her not indicating any romantic interest, Oliver told her he was in love with her. She then told him that she did not love him, again, because they were literally just classmates, and he wrote a poem that he posted on Facebook where he implicated her for breaking his heart and crushing his spirit. He then proceeded to bully her for the rest of the school year because she “broke his

Imogen: “Sometimes I'd pretend to be one and it felt good, almost like I was a cartoon, and there was this man I was leading through the streets as I tried to break into construction sites and climb fences and I knew our time together was short and ultimately meaningless as he said I'm in love with your spirit and I almost wanted to scream and rip my face off revealing a seventy year old witch with pomegranate smeared across her face, but instead we had sex by a pool and I ate poutine alone at 3am.

Do I give men too much credit?

Don't they know the part I'm playing?

Aren't they playing one too? Or was that it? No basement or attic, just a bungalow of emotion for us to rent.

I can see her. A white woman, listening to The Smiths. Pretty. A digestible quirkiness. I felt like a malfunctioned version of her. Almost— but a little too sweaty. Anecdotes are a little too troubling, body a little too overweight. Unable to walk in and out of someone's mind without leaving dirt from my shoes.

Manic Pixie Dream Girl. A kind of appetizer men get full from.”

heart” and would not let her focus in class and would talk shit about her to his friends.

This pattern was repeated multiple times throughout the school years and university.”

Sarah: I’m glad to see that it’s becoming less common in films, and that we’re starting to see far more well-developed female characters. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is on its way to becoming a thing of the past, marking a particularly shitty era for romantic comedies.

14 STRANDED

EDITOR | MAX NISBETH STRANDED@THESTRAND.CA

How to avoid being in Orientation stock photos Five ways to maintain your mystery ellen grace associate stranded editor

So: you’ve been looking at the UofT website for weeks now, seeing people eating hot dogs on the quad in various coloured shirts, and you’re excited to don some face paint and make a group of multicultural friends.

If you’re anything like me, you actively try to deny the existence of your corporeal form. This becomes difficult when you have to be in a situation where photos will be taken, such as Orientation. Therefore, so you can enjoy all the fun of Orientation Week while keeping that sweet veil of secrecy you’ve worked so hard to cultivate, I’ve created a sure-fire way to make sure photos of you don’t make the cut for next year’s website.

Always be moving as much and as fast as you can.

If you’re blurry, they can’t use the photo. I recommend learning the Naruto run, which you should be doing anyways as we all prepare for the area 51 raid (see you there).

Look too excited.

Yes, I could tell you to look bored, which obviously wouldn’t be good for UofT’s brand, but do you know what’s more deterring? Seeing someone look like they’re enjoying something so much that you genuinely don’t know if they’re okay. Keep your eyebrows raised and your eyeballs bulged, and never stop screaming.

Wear an Orientation shirt from previous years.

Go on eBay and get some merch that’s not old enough to be cool and vintage but not new enough for it to be relevant. Wash it six or eight times and wear it rolling down a hill for added holes. Make sure to always be in

a group of people wearing the new, 2019 shirts for extra standout potential.

Wear merch from other schools.

Your boyfriend goes to Carleton? Great, steal his hoodie. Your best friend goes to Western and got you a shot glass? Drink only out of that. Your parents graduated from Cambridge? Their hat is now your hat. Bring one or all of these things to all Orientation events.

Wear a green-screen-coloured shirt This might be the hardest to execute but it would be the

coolest in my opinion. Go to Walmart or the thrift store and buy a shirt (or a dress! or pants!) the exact colour of a green screen. The University wouldn’t dare publish a photo of you wearing this, as it would be prime real estate for hackers to make the shirt say whatever they want it to. Or, it will look like someone in the editing room forgot to add a shirt on to one of the models.

Either way, you come out a winner.

XOXO, Stay mysterious, my friends!

New Victoria College students mistakenly sign up for “Orienteering Week” james hannay contributor

Victoria College Quad – A fleet of tents were set up in the quad this week for the first annual Victoria College Orientation Week. New Victoria College students spent the days participating in various wilderness sport events and survival training, and spent the nights sleeping in the Victoria College quad. The Strand was sent to investigate this event further.

The website for the Victoria College Orienteering

Week copied the Orientation Week website perfectly.

With the inclusion of very small sub-text (fine print, if you will) that clarified that it was not in fact the website for Victoria College Orientation Week, the orienteers had completely disoriented orientation. This was the cause of confusion. A link included in this text will lead readers to a Google Doc containing the week’s schedule, a screenshot of which can be found below.

The Strand reached out to participants of the Victoria College Orienteering Week to find out more about

the activities that occurred during the week. Stephanie Ross, an incoming student, was enthusiastic to speak about her experience to the media to ensure this travesty did not occur again. “First things first, I can’t believe I fell for this,” said Stephanie. “Camping in the Victoria College Quad was not restful, my roommate — tentmate, I guess — did not secure their food up in the trees and we were visited by raccoons all night.” Stephanie was also very confused with UofT President Meric Gertler’s guest lecture on The Geological Composition of UofT. “The presentation was one hour of pictures of salt. Isn’t Meric Gertler supposed to be a geographer? This was highly unprofessional.”

Anthony Lu, another student participant in the program, was perplexed by the lectures on animal life at Victoria College and the lecture on the Northrop Frye McDonald’s. “The lecture on animals was conducted by a self-proclaimed squirrel expert, and the entire lecture was about squirrels. The other lecture about Northrop Frye is full of delusion. How can a whole university of people commit to the idea that there is a secret Northrop Frye McDonald’s? That’s ludicrous.”

Leaked documents from the Victoria College Orienteering week indicated that the session titled Orienteering 1: Navigating with Northrop, taught students that the Northrop Frye statue in front of Old Vic was the true centre of the world. Students were taught how to navigate not only the UofT Campus, but the entire world, with the Northrop Frye statue as their reference point.

The Strand was also able to get its hands on pictures from the event and noticed a lack of Victoria College faculty or staff at the events, except for crude impersonators of President William Robins and Dean of Students Kelley Castle. A keen eye at The Strand was able to notice two smug-looking figures in the background of many photos, who have been recently identified as the real President and Dean of Students of Victoria College, or so they say.

STRANDED 15

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

Backpacks that hide the fact that you know nothing henry bathurst contributor

Fjällräven Kanken: This is a great backpack to hide the fact that you really do not know what is going on.

This backpack shows the world that you keep up with trends and may be into art despite having absolutely no knowledge of either. You and everyone else with this backpack are struggling to come up with a revolutionary thesis statement for that essay on Toni Morrison’s Beloved. You want to think you are smart enough to impress your TA, but you really do not know what you are doing.

JanSport: This backpack is perfect for carrying your books and the weight that you will never be a child again. Despite all your attempts to stay youthful, you know that you have put on a bit of weight and that you suddenly have hangovers after three beers. This backpack can mask all of that and make it seem like you really still do have all the opportunity left for yourself in the world, even though all you see are closing doors.

Patagonia: You went tree-planting near the Hudson Bay last summer and don’t know how to talk to people now without bringing it up.

Herschel: You are still confused as to how your parents got you into Trinity, but it was probably because you are special. Whenever you look down at your Paul Smith’s they somehow seem to be whiter than the last time you looked down even though you just crossed Front Campus. You are trying to hide the fact that you are going to become a lobbyist for the Liberals from the cutie who sits next to you in tutorial and is always talking about a “materialist approach to history.”

SpongeBob SquarePants: You have truly wild sex on the floor of your apartment because you don’t want to break your bed again.

How the fuck do I get to Con Hall?!

I’m fucking lost vibhuti kacholia fucking lost

1. This is where you’ve been for the last three days, but now you have to get to your 11 am lecture in Con Hall. This is how the fuck you’re going to do it.

2. Vic tradition is getting breakfast at the Northrop Frye McDonald’s. It might take you a second to find it but it’s worth the hype.

3. This light fucking sucks—I’m not saying you should jaywalk but you tryna get to class.

4. Where engineer students lick the horse’s balls.

Yeah, I don’t get it either but once those purple

hooligans wake you up with their cannon in the front of Marg Ad you’ll know they deserved it.

5. This part of the pathway turns into a river when rains. Unless you wanna be that muddy and wet kid who is trying to dab their pants during lecture. AVOID WHEN RAINING. (Pro tip- take the scenic route past the law faculty .)

6. Jaywalking across this street will make you feel alive & make you hate people on bikes.

7.

There’s

a

cannon

here.

That’s

all.

8. Where you’ll decide if it’s worth getting your shoes muddy to take the hypotenuse to your final destination.

You will always think it is. It’s never worth it. I promise.

9. Here is where all the tourists take photos of the CN tower. They’re cute until they ask you to take a photo of them and you’re late to class.

10. You finally made it. Enjoy your first day before you realize Con Hall is truly hell on earth and fall asleep enough times to eventually stop coming altogether!

1 2 3

7 8 10

9

6 54 FUCK U DOUG

16 STRANDED

@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

Which bathrooms around campus are the best to poo in?

A serious and reflective piece that is not meant to be funny cheryl cheung contributor

Ground Floor, Woodsworth College Residence Choosing the suite life doesn’t mean playing Disney’s Zack or Cody when it comes to college. If you are a Toronto-based student, it likely means you would rather save a few hundred on housing and take advantage of a semi-private kitchen.

Unfortunately, the suite life can give you more than you bargained for if you wind up with roommates who believe in bottomless trash bins and the illusion of clean bathrooms.

When I lived in Woodsworth for a week last summer, I always made sure to hold my number two, take the elevator three floors down to the lobby, and walk-run some eleven seconds to the washroom across Rotman lounge. There, the facilities are always clean, and seldom occupied. The tissue is also rather thick, despite being only two-ply. The flush is always strong enough to allow a worry-free departure, and the paper towels seem to never run out. This stop is a stone’s throw (literally) away from the St. George Street exit of St. George Station. Swing by before you get on the subway. Just

make sure you show up before 10:30pm, because that is when the front doors lock. No worries if you have the magical I-live-here keycard, though.

Ground Floor, Cumberland House Situated on the northeastern corner of St. George and College, this bathroom lives inside an Anne of Green Gablesesque impostor-castle-looking-“house”. Though the bathroom facing the receptionist’s desk is not nearly as glamorous as its imposing brick facade, it does let in plenty of natural light. The flush is good for a regular dump. But do expect a toilet bowl that is reminiscent of the eon where the San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowl. This bathroom is also seldom occupied, and it has about twice as many stalls as the aforementioned location. Talk about free choice! I quite like this bathroom for a few good reasons, but the few are not good enough to justify a visit, in my very biased opinion.

However, there is something magical about going number two in the warm glow of the summer sun. With few visitors and no air dryer, this spot is perfect for a midday reflection on the loo. One point for productivity! Show three-summer-

internship-Isabelle who’s really winning.

Ground Floor, Goldring Student Centre There is usually a negative correlation between the quality of a bathroom and the age of its building. Among all the sub-ten-year-old buildings on campus, the Goldring Student Centre takes the crown for having the best bathrooms. My favorite is the pair by the west entrance. It sits beneath a spiral staircase, which leads straight to another pair of equally excellent bathrooms. When you are in a hurry to go, the ones by the door will be the ones to save you from nature’s call.

Again, there aren’t so many visitors, and the stalls seem to never go out of service. There is some natural light streaming in from small windows, and tons of sanitary products waiting about 50 feet away. Free pads and tampons currently sit in a basket in front of the VUSAC office, but I am hoping this is the year that they will make the great migration to the washroom counter. In addition, this washroom is only a Cheeto’s throw away from the Museum station. There are no washrooms at Museum, so you best visit this spot before starting your hour long commute home.

Doug Ford Opt-Out List Check off which items of Doug Ford’s you would like to opt out of His opt-out policy (ironic) His constant “My medicine makes me poop” look Ford’s persistent references to the mile-high club as the 1.7km club even though one mile is actually 1.609km The jean shorts on press days that have “Dougie Doo Doo Child” sewn on the back Justifying the removal of educational and health programs with one-dollar beers. Seriously what the fuck?

Doug Ford The fact that he opens bananas with a knife The fact that the only kind of cutlery he owns is forks The fact that he doesn’t eat bananas His attempt to convince Kawhi to stay by peforming his cover version of a classic Bob Marley song titled “No Woman, No Kawhi” His use of the Amber Alert technology to alert him when Domino’s One-Topping Pizzas are half-off All of the above