The emergence of art rock In conversation with The Darcys Pg.14
Living on the minimum wage Students weigh in on the merits of an opposition proposal for a $15 federal minimum wage Emma Compeau
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
A recent vow by New Democratic Party (ndp) leader Thomas Mulcair to institute a $15 federal minimum wage is prompting mixed reactions from students. Last week, Mulcair said that he would put forth the notion of a $15 per hour minimum wage to a vote in Parliament. In 1996, the Liberal government eliminate the federal minimum wage in favour of provincial minimum wage laws. “Improving the minimum wage is key to reducing income inequality and building a fairer economy,” Mulcair said in a recent press release. Provincial and territorial minimum wage laws range from $10 in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to $11 in Nunavut and Ontario.
STUDENT PERSPECTIVES Matthew Li, an upper-year economics student who works a minimum wage part-time job, said that balancing work and school is often
challenging, but is necessary to avoid taking on excessive student debt. “I am taking on student debt to get my degree… I could probably get a better job and make more money somewhere else, but I don’t want to because I am comfortable where I work and my boss is flexible with my schedule,” Li said, adding: “I have friends who work other jobs where their bosses schedule them when they have class and through exam periods, and I don’t want to risk having to worry about that... I am pretty sure that I will be able to pay [my debt] off when I graduate.” Li said that life as a student working on minimum wage is difficult, but expressed concern that increasing the minimum wage may not be the right solution. “Being a student and living on minimum wage isn’t only hard — it’s becoming impossible without the financial support of outside sources or family. That being said, raising minimum wage that dramatically will only drive up inflation… The number will become irrelevant, because prices will adjust along with it,” Li said. “Life is expensive and Toronto is particularly expensive, but this is what we choose as
students attending the University of Toronto,” he added. McKenzie Embree, a third-year environmental studies student, said that increasing the minimum wage would have little impact on large corporations, but could negatively affect small businesses. “I don’t think that raising [the] minimum wage to $15 is a good idea. Large business and corporations like Chapters and McDonald’s can afford to pay their employees that kind of money without a major change to the franchise, but this will initially really hurt small business like privately owned bookstores, which are already suffering,” Embree said, adding: “[I]t will negatively affect the unique places that give Toronto its culture.” According to Mercer’s 2014 Cost of Living Survey, which measured the comparative cost of over 200 items in 201 cities, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment, Toronto ranked 101. Similarly, some have argued that Toronto’s transit system is the most expensive among large, North American cities with single-fare
public transit. While most other Ontario universities provide free bus passes to their students, the University of Toronto does not.
“10 PER CENT ABOVE THE POVERTY LINE” The Ontario Federation of Labor (ofl), a federation of Ontario labour unions that represents over one million Ontario workers from 54 affiliated trade unions, publicly supported the proposed federal minimum wage increase. Sid Ryan, ofl president, said that an increased minimum wage would benefit lowincome workers by bringing the minimum wage above the poverty line. “We believe that the minimum wage needs to be raised because people cannot live on $11.50 per hour. We originally supported a $14 per hour move, which would place minimum wage at 10 per cent above the poverty line. We want everyone above the poverty line,” Ryan said, adding: “[The ndp’s] move of $15 per hour is something we support because it
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INSIDE Comment
Features
Science
The Question: Is Tinder good?
The value of experience
In conversation with David Jenkins
Sports David Scandiffio on his time at U of T
Leading U of T nutritionist shares his thoughts on fad diets and eating on a budget
Key player from 1993 Varsity Blues football remains active at the university
Discussing the app’s implications for the dating world
Exploring the world of unpaid work
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VARSITY NEWS
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Students gather in the University College quad for a glow party. COURTESY OF ANA TARUC
Associate Design Editor Vacant Associate Photo Editor Vacant Associate Senior Copy Editor Vacant Associate News Editor Iris Robin Associate Comment Editor Victoria Wicks
WHAT’S GOING ON THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS QUEER ORIENTATION EDITION
Associate Features Editor Vacant Associate A&C Editor Daniel Konikoff Jacob Lorinc
MONDAY
THE EXPLAINER
LGBTQ lexicon 1. Asexuality — a sexual orientation characterized by little or no sexual attraction to anyone. It can also include little or no desire for partnered sex.
Associate Science Editor Vacant
QUEER @UTM KICK-OFF
Associate Sports Editor Vacant
RAWC, Gym C, 3359 Mississauga Road, 4—5 pm
2. Bisexuality — a sexual orientation that describes sexual attraction to two or more genders.
Contributors
Organized by out@utm, this event is a fun and interactive way to get to know others in a safe and positive space.
3. Binary gender/sex — a traditional and outdated view that there are only two genders/sexes.
Reshara Alviarez, Jasleen Arneja, Salvatore Basilone, Elizabeth Benn, Emma Compeau, Devika Desai, Nabi Dressler, Lee Eames, Heather Eason, Claire Fox, Anthony Frati, Joseph Ianni, Scheherazade Khan, Emma Kikulis, Rohan Kulkarni, Jacob Lorinc, Sofia Luu, Andrea Macikunas, Shreya Mathur, Alex McKeen, Anthony Piruzza, Iris Robin, Emily Scherzinger, Zane Schwartz, Kasi Sewraj, Michael Strang, Katerina Szylo, Alex Verman, Victoria Wicks, Nadezha Woinowsky-Krieger, Shije Zhou
Copy Editors and Fact Checkers Kieran Buckingham, Karen Chu, Lucy Genua, Hannah Lee, Manshu Li, Kaylie MacLeod, Hunter McGuire, Malone Mullin, Kalina Nedelcheva, Jessica Park, Maria Sokulsky-Dolnycky, Jonathan Soo, Suhas Srinivasan, Jessica St James, Rose Tornabene
Designers, Kawmadie Karunanayake, Vanessa Wang, Mari Zhou
Photographers and Illustrators Rusaba Alam, Julien Balbontin, Elena Iourteva, Arnold Yung, Kawmadie Karunanayake, Timothy Law, Catherine Macintosh, Helena Najm, Denis Osipov, Emily Scherzinger, Ann Sheng, Jessica Song, Jennifer Su
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The Varsity is the University of Toronto's largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. The Varsity has a circulation of 20,000, and is published by Varsity Publications Inc. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2014 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions. Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789
TUESDAY
4. Cisgender — a description for someone whose gender identity, expression, and gender they were assigned at birth are in alignment.
Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, 2—4 pm
5. Genderqueer — a blanket term for someone whose gender falls outside the gender binary.
This workshop will be facilitated by Coco Riot, author of Llueven Queers, the first Spanish graphic novel about queer life. No art skills necessary.
6. Intersex — a person whose biology (including hormones, genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics) does not fit within the labels of male or female.
GENDERPOO: EXPLORING GENDER THROUGH ART
WEDNESDAY LGBT DANCE SALSA & HIP HIP CLASSES Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, 7—9 pm This class covers the basics of salsa and hip hop, taught in a gender neutral environment. All fitness levels welcome.
THURSDAY TRANS TEA PARTY
7. Pansexuality — a sexual orientation that describes sexual attraction to people of all gender identities. 8. Queer — originally a slur used against members of the LGBTQ+ community, the term has been reclaimed by some as an identity. 9. Trans —a prefix most commonly found in terms such as transgender and transsexual, it denotes someone whose gender or sexual identity is different from the one they were assigned at birth. 10. Two-spirit — a term traditionally used by Native American people to describe individuals who possess traits or fulfill male and female roles at the same time.
UTSC, 2—5 pm. Join SC:OUT at a tea and cookie social for transgender and nonbinary students and allies. Activities, resources, and refreshments provided.
FRIDAY QUEER STUDENTS OF COLOUR DISCUSSION Hart House Arbor Room, 7 Hart House Circle, 7:30—11:30 pm Students of colour are invited to discuss how sexuality and race affect their lives and communities, and to share their experiences.
Correction: An article from the September 8, 2014 issue incorrectly said that Students for Barrier-Free Access (SBA) was working with university administration to implement some of the accessibility fixes found during the Great Barrier Hunt. In fact, SBA has never partnered with university administration on the Great Barrier Hunt. The article also said that the next Great Barrier Hunt would include the Athletic Centre and the Goldring Centre. Although the Association for Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS) has stated this, SBA has not confirmed these locations. The Varsity regrets these errors.
VARSITY NEWS
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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After Access Copyright Students report significant increase in course pack costs under new copyright arrangement Iris Robin
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
For the first time in two years, the University of Toronto is managing its copyright dealings independently of Access Copyright, a non-profit licensing organization that represents copyright holders. Although many of the university’s copyright rules remain unchanged, one major difference affecting the cost of course packs is the amount of material from copyrighted sources included in them. The university currently has free access to content that its libraries have purchased or are licensed to use, open access and public domain content, and content used under U of T’s Fair Dealing Guidelines (fdg). The fdg permit up to 10 per cent of a copyright-protected work to be considered a “short excerpt” available for university distribution. Under the Access Copyright license, this amount was 20 per cent. The fdg stipulate that faculty members and teaching staff may reproduce or communicate short excerpts from copyright-protected work as part of a course handout, on Blackboard, or as part of a course pack. The university terminated its controversial agreement with Access Copyright in December 2013, when the two failed to reach a deal
with which the university was satisfied. The agreement with Access Copyright ended when, according to a U of T press release, the university was unable to renew its licence for a price that reflected the value of services received. The university pushed for a deal that reflected the most recent changes to copyright regulation, including the 2012 amendments to the Copyright Act. In 2012, when the university reached an agreement with Access Copyright, students and faculty criticized the agreement as a challenge to academic freedom, saying the contract could permit surveillance of students’ and faculty’s email accounts. This year, in light of the changes in copyright handling, some students reported spending as much as $100 on course packs. Rebecca Hellam, a second-year political science and history student, said she noticed a significant increase in the cost of her course packs this year. “My POL208 [Introduction to International Relations] professor told the class we would have to buy [the] course pack for nearly double the price it cost last year due to the termination of the Access Copyright license. The fact that he was sincerely apologetic confirmed my belief that the price hike was a bit much to expect students to afford,” Hellam said. Under the old licence, students paid $27.50 annually for Access Copyright
The Copyplace provides course packs for a number of courses. jenniFer sU/The VarsiTy
services. Now, student fees are no longer used to fund access to copyrighted materials. Instead, the university administration supports the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright, which offers copyright-related services to students, staff, and faculty. Robert Glushko, scholarly communications and copyright librarian at U of T, explained that if a course pack contains more than 10 per cent of a copyrighted work, each page beyond the 10 per cent threshold costs an additional 10 cents. Under the old
Access Copyright license, there were no per-page fees for copying up to 20 per cent of material in the Access Copyright repertoire. “We’ve done extensive outreach to faculty to help them make use of free and licensed resources that should cost you nothing,” Glushko said, adding: “Some students are paying for materials that are available in the library catalogue for free because we have a licence for them. The idea here is most certainly to keep costs to students under control, and work-
ing with faculty to move towards licensed resources and away from printed course packs where appropriate is one part of those efforts.” Glushko maintained a positive view of the developments, both from legal and student access-based perspectives. “I believe that it’s certainly more in line with the reality of Canadian copyright law; the Supreme Court has been quite clear that educational fair dealing was meant to be seen in a large and liberal manner,” he said.
Tuition to exceed $9,000 by 2017 CCPA report investigated rising tuition fees across Canada Salvatore Basilone and Michael Strang VARSITY CONTRIBUTORS
Domestic students starting university in Ontario this year could be facing fees of nearly $10,000 by their fourth year, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (ccpa). In Ontario, the average cost of tuition and compulsory fees will reach $9,517. The report, released on September 10, investigated rising tuition fees across Canada. According to the report, the average total of tuition and compulsory fees paid by Canadian university students have nearly tripled since 1993–1994, after adjusting for inflation. According to the report, one of the main factors driving the rise of tuition fees is the decline of federal funding for postsecondary education. Chronic post-secondary education underfunding has been a problem since the 1990s. Successive provincial and federal governments, regardless of political persuasion, have cut back on post-secondary education funding. In 1990, the average cost of annual tuition was between $1,000 and $2,000 a year. Although education is a provincial responsibility, federal cash transfers play an important role in offsetting the cost of tuition prices. The average amount of federal cash transfers for post-secondary education dropped 50 per cent between 1991 and 2012. Between 1993 and 2001, as public funding decreased, tuition fees increased from 18 per cent to 37 per
The Ontario Legislative Building houses the Legislative Assembly. helena najm/The VarsiTy
cent of universities’ operating revenue. Domestic tuition fees are regulated under Ontario’s Tuition Framework. Under the framework, tuition fee increases for domestic students cannot exceed three per cent per year for most programs and five per cent for graduate and professional programs. The framework does not regulate international tuition fee increases. Individual post-secondary institutions are free to increase in-
ternational tuition fees as much as they like. This year, at the University of Toronto, international tuition fees are set to increase by an average of 7.2 per cent, while domestic tuition fees are set to increase by nearly three per cent. A U of T spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. The report also said that post-secondary institutions are increasingly
using compulsory ancilliary fees to fill funding gaps. The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, and the University of Toronto Students’ Union have all called on Ontario to increase investment in postsecondary education. On average, Ontario post-secondary students pay the highest tuition fees in Canada and have
the highest debt. Ontario also has the lowest per-student funding in Canada. The CCPA report also investigated how students selected their programs of study. Students who self-finance their education increasingly make the decision to study in programs with more lucrative career prospects versus programs of pure interest. Pierina Camarena, a third-year economics student from Peru, wanted to study abroad and found that U of T was the cheapest option that provided the level of education she wanted to receive. “I think it was worth coming here, [but] I can’t compare my experience to what it would have been in other potential universities in the US,” Camarena said. Camarena said, given the chance to start university again, she would have chosen to study computer science, as that field has stronger career prospects. Mitchell Bonney, a fourth-year geography student from the United States, said that the monetary cost was still much lower than comparable American institutions. “It was worth it for sure,” Bonney said, adding: “I couldn’t really imagine myself anywhere else.”
PROVINCIAL CRITICISM OF THE REPORT Reza Moridi, the Ontario Minister for Training, Colleges and Universities, was critical of the report. In a press release, Moridi claimed that the CCPA mischaracterizes the cost of at-
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VARSITY NEWS
Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
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Kathleen DeBoer on international affairs, careers DeBoer is deputy head of center and sales/marketing manager at the OECD Washington Center Nabi Dressler
for a job at the oecd. There are jobs for people with just an undergraduate qualification. The economist jobs and the policy analyst jobs, they’re normally looking for a Master’s or even a ph.d., but certainly like in my area, in publishing, people who are bilingual in French and English and have good drafting skills, and have some facility with numbers and economics, would be well qualified to work in the publications area. We have all kinds of other jobs ... but language skills are a huge benefit.
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Kathleen DeBoer is the deputy head of center and sales/marketing manager at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd) in Washington. She has worked at the oecd for the past eight and a half years. DeBoer founded the oecd Student Ambassador Program, which acts as an on-campus internship opportunity for eight to 12 students selected from North American universities. The program allows students to get a first look at the oecd’s work in international development and economics. DeBoer also teaches librarians, faculty, and students how to navigate the oecd iLibrary, a database of international economic data to which the University of Toronto subscribes. She shares the oecd’s findings on Canadian education with the Canadian government. The Varsity sat down with DeBoer to discuss the oecd’s work, student careers in international affairs, and the important of learning new languages.
TV: Would you have any advice for students who are studying a language now or who want to be bilingual in the future? KB: When I was in college, I really just studied French, Spanish, and Italian, but I’m a great believer in immersion. I went to France when I was 16-years-old and lived with a French family and worked for them, and I think if you find a language that you really like, the sooner you can put yourself in an immersion situation, even if it’s a volunteer job or going to study, at the younger age, the more hardwired that language will be. But I didn’t start learning Chinese until I was 38-years-old, but then I did live and work in China, and it’s amazing. I was just back there this summer and stuff comes back to me, so I think here in Toronto, it’s a very international city, there’s lots of opportunities to speak lots of languages but there’s very little substitute for the 24/7 immersion experience… Once you get a certain level of mastery, try to put yourself in situations where you’ll be forced to use the language.
The Varsity: How did you get involved with the OECD? Kathleen DeBoer: I’ve been working there for eight and a half years. I have an undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard, and I worked for several major publishers including Oxford University Press and Workman Publishing earlier in my career. I joined the oecd when I had come back from — I had been teaching in China from 2001–2005 and they had an opening up in the Washington office, which is responsible for dissemination of oecd work in the United States and Canada, so I applied for that job. TV: Can you tell me about the work you do with the University of Toronto specifically? KB: The University of Toronto subscribes to our oecd iLibrary, so I provide them training because we’re always updating. We just recently launched a new data portal that has some interesting functionalities so I would train the librarians and any students, graduate students, and faculty who are interested. And then I also field research requests. Sometimes a scholar will be doing research and there’ll be some internal document, what we call grey literature, from the oecd that’s not an official publication but they want to cite it in their research or they want to look at it, so I’ll help them find that, go into the archives.
is what the numbers are telling us.” We can’t dictate to a country if they should take our advice or not, but we can also look at which countries are doing well in certain areas and see if there’s any lessons that can be learned from those countries that could be applied to a different country.
to a specific country in Africa for education? What percentage of it is going for women’s education? What percentage of it is going for women’s healthcare? So by monitoring and publishing the results, we try to urge our member countries to pay attention to how they’re giving money.
TV: Does the OECD promote education in Canada, whether post-secondary, primary, or secondary? KB: The oecd work on education that Canada is very involved in is something called the pisa, the Program of International Student Assessment, and that tests 15-year-olds in a bunch of different countries on science, reading, and math. We also have some testing on skills that we published last year — adult skills. We publish the information and share it with, obviously, the Canadian government, so we want to bring numbers to the policy debate. That’s really our role. We will say, “This
TV: How do you work with developing countries, in terms of education? KB: Our mandate is to help our member countries develop and prosper economically, but also to engage with other countries. We have something called the Development Assistance Committee, the dac, that looks at how the money that oecd countries are giving to other countries is being spent, and how effective it is. The oecd as an organization does not give money. We’re not like the World Bank or the imf, but we monitor aid and report on it so people can see, and we also look at gender equity in that area. Is the money that’s going
TV: How can U of T students participate in this program, in the Student Ambassador Program, or in the OECD in general, if they’re interested? KB: Working with the current student ambassador, Hayden [Rodenkirchen], he is going to be organizing events, so to the extent that they want to come and hear oecd speakers, and ask questions. [Students] can also apply for internships either in the Washington office or in the Paris office. And then I’m going to be doing another talk on October 21 at the Munk School, at the graduate career fair, and they’re talking about how to actually apply
Kathleen DeBoer works at the OECD Washington Center. jessica song/THe VarsiTy
TV: Many U of T students want to pursue careers in international development. What advice would you give to those who want to pursue this career path? KB: One of the first things that I think is really important to remember is that economic development is local. If you got experience doing any kind of business here in Canada, whatever skills you would learn would be somewhat transferrable to another situation... I think that the idea that you’re going to just go to another country and help people start a business is, you know, it’s noble, but it shouldn’t be naive. It’s good if you have some expertise, something that you can share with them… And then, the other thing you have to be realistic about is that the culture may be completely different, the way of doing business in that country may be very different from the way that is in Canada, so you have to be very open-minded about that. I also say to people, don’t always assume that the job that you really want to have is going to be the first job. You might need to have five jobs before you get to that job, but you should be trying to work in a certain direction. So figuring out what part of the world you want to work in, figuring out how you’re going to acquire some language and culture skills around that, figuring out what other kinds of opportunities there are for you to go there. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
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VARSITY NEWS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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Note-taking service under scrutiny Students express concern with Accessibility Services program
arnold yung/THe VarsiTy
Anthony Frati
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Some U of T students are expressing concern over a number of perceived issues with the university’s volunteer note-taking service, and are urging that the university change the structure of the program to improve its functionality. Volunteer note taking is an Accessibility Services program that calls on student
volunteers to submit class notes for distribution to students living with disabilities or suffering from injuries. Some students say the program does not provide students registered with Accessibility Services with proper resources, leaving them with incomplete or inadequate notes. Accessibility Services, which works to uphold the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the University of Toronto’s Statement of Commitment regarding Persons with Disabili-
ties, offers confidential services for all U of T students with disabilities. According to the Accessibility Services website, the office collaborates with students and faculty to “provide effective, individualized confidential services” and to “assist in negotiated accommodation as required.” Information posted on the Accessibility Services website for volunteer note-takers tells students to attend class regularly and take lecture notes, upload class notes to a secure website on a consistent basis, and inform Accessibility Services if any classes are dropped. Janna*, a student who used the service in her first year after sustaining an injury, said one major issue with the program was the level of completeness in the notes she received. “An issue that I have experienced is one where the note-takers fail to properly take notes... It can be frustrating when a volunteer lacks commitment or does not match the same learning style as yours.” Kriya Siewrattan, president of the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students (apus) outlined a number of concerns with the program. “The concerns about the volunteer note-taking program centre on not having volunteers sign up to provide notes, or volunteers who provide notes then stop halfway into the course, or volunteers who provide inadequate notes,” she said. Siewrattan added that another problem with volunteer note-taking is the potential lack of instructor co-operation. In some cases, she said, announcements to the class requesting volunteer note-takers are not made. Siewrattan called on the university to improve the program by increasing funding for Accessibility Services programs. “The
volunteer note-taking program would be improved if Accessibility Services were given more funding by the university. There is currently one person who runs the note-taking program with a few work-study students assisting. At utsc and utm, the accessibility offices are given more resources to staff the volunteer note-taking program, which aids in the efficiency and effectiveness of the program,” she said. Siewrattan also recommended that instructors undergo equity training to better understand the needs of students who are disabled or injured. Other students, like Rahul*, a third-year engineering student, offered their own solutions to the program’s perceived problems. “If you could make it a paid position, more people would step up,” Rahul said. Rahul added that providing quality parameters, or even having the professors or tas look over the notes being provided, would greatly improve the program’s functionality and ensure that the notes being taken are adequate. Currently, the incentive for volunteers is a certificate of appreciation. There are also no guidelines that encourage instructors to ensure the notes being given out are adequate. At utm and utsc, prospective volunteer note-taker notes are first required to submit sample notes to the student requesting notes, so that they can choose a note-taker with a similar learning style. Similar programs are also available at other universities, including York University, which requires that prospective volunteer note-takers have a B average, at minimum. *Names changed at students’ request.
“From regulatory issues, to discrimination, to cultural differences” International students struggle with complex work regulations Devika Desai
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Even with recent changes that streamline the process, international students continue to struggle with complex work regulations. Unlike domestic students who do not need extra paperwork to work on or off campus, international students have always had to take an extra step to obtain the same work opportunities. As of June 1, international students with a full-time registration status and valid study permit looking for off-campus work do not need to apply for a work permit. Instead, they need a Social Insurance Number (sin), the application for which can be completed at any Service Canada office. An international student who wants to work in Canada usually needs to fulfill three requirements before he or she can apply for a sin. The student must be a fulltime student, with a valid study permit, and enrolled in a program that will last for more than six months. Additionally, international students can only work up to a maximum of 20 hours per week during the school year and full-time during scheduled breaks, although they can extend these hours by simultaneously working an oncampus job. According to a statement on the Government of Canada website, the recent changes “reduce the potential for fraud or misuse of the program while protecting Canada’s international reputation for high-quality education and improving services to genuine students.”
TimoTHy law/THe VarsiTy
“STRUGGLE TO SECURE MEANINGFUL WORK” Andrew Langille, a Toronto-based labour lawyer focused on youth employment, said that the employment picture for many international students is dismal. “From regulatory issues, to discrimination, to cultural differences, it can be quite a struggle to secure meaningful work.”
Langille said that international students are increasingly exploited for their labour. “Often, Canadian employers discriminate against people from other countries and people simply won’t be granted an interview. International students in Toronto are increasingly being forced to work ‘off-the books’ in the manufacturing industry in the northern part of the gta without being
granted the usual protections that employees receive,” he said. Maiko Mitsuhashi, a third-year international student, said that the job application process is often difficult to navigate for international students. “I think many international students are repelled from jobs because they are not familiar with the Canadian job application process and often have not been exposed to part-time work in high school, as was the case with me,” he said. Langille agreed that it was important for international students to familiarize themselves with the Canadian labour market and workplace practices before beginning a job search. Eros Grinzato, secretary of the newly founded International Students Association (insa), and Marine Lefebvre and Mary Githumbi, insa co-presidents, said,that apart from the Centre for International Experience (cie), U of T does little to accommodate its 10,276 international students. “This is, in fact, why we founded the insa: to help fellow international students and provide them with the much-needed services to allow them to smoothly settle down in Canada”, they said in a joint statement. Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T director of media relations, said that the rapid rise in international students over the years has increased the need for additional, specialized services for international students.
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Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
VARSITY NEWS
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UTSU, SGRT collaborate on homecoming SGRT says that decision to work with UTSU not indicative of future collaboration
The Blues defeated the Lions 70-0 in the homecoming game. FILE PHOTO: dENIs OsIPOV/THE VArsITy
Alex Verman
VARSITY STAFF
The St. George Round Table (sgrt) is saying that the decision to work with the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) should not necessarily be seen as a sign of future collaboration. After voting to organize a homecoming party independent of the utsu, sgrt eventually made the decision to partner with the union. The sgrt, an organization composed of the elected heads of the divisional societies on the St. George campus, abandoned their plans for an alternative homecoming party
CONTINUED FROM COVER maintains our goal of 10 per cent above the poverty line if it were to take place when he projected it.” The ofl also advocates for the limitation of part-time work, as some workers may have to work three or four jobs to earn a living, and urges workers to join unions to facilitate improved negotiation between workers and employers. Ryan added that the ofl works closely with the Canadian Federation of Students. The $15 per-hour campaign is meant to tie in with student campaigns, as many low-income workers are students. In terms of student-specific support, Ryan said that being a member of a students’ union is one of the best supports students can have. “Students can be exploited, there is no question about it. When it comes to large employers…we see a lot of student exploitation,” Ryan said. “Young workers will see when they graduate that the good jobs that their parents had no longer exist, and a union is the best day to get the most out of our employers,” he added.
UNIVERSITY SUPPORT Yolen Bollo-Kamara, University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) president, said that the proposed federal minimum wage increase would be an important step, but noted that it would only affect the small number of Canadians working in federally regulated in dustries. “Adjusted for inflation, the average minimum wage across Canada is the same as it was in 1975, but students are now working twice as long — more than 16 weeks, for a year of tu-
without the utsu despite having already begun work on it. The utsu did not respond to requests for comment on this story. This year, all sgrt student leaders were invited to sit in on the utsu’s Homecoming Committee meeting. Though the invitation initially fostered dialogue between the sgrt and the utsu, the sgrt began to find that they were displeased with the planning process. Initially dismissing these meetings as unfocused and unproductive, the sgrt abandoned the idea of a collaborative homecoming in favour of pursuing an independent homecoming party without formal cooperation from the utsu. ition for an Arts & Science student — to make enough to pay their tuition and ancillary fees, excluding other necessary expenses such as books and other school supplies, housing, transportation and food,” Bollo-Kamara said. “This means that our generation has to work much harder than previous generations to make ends meet,” she added. The utsu is also a participant in the campaign to increase Ontario’s minimum wage to $14. Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T director of media relations, said that the university is committed to supporting low-income students in a number of ways. “The University has put significant resources toward meeting our 1998 Policy on Student Financial Support, which states that ‘no student offered admission to a program at the University of Toronto should be unable to enter or complete the program due to lack of financial means.’” Blackburn-Evans added that the U of T provides financial aid to students in many different forms, including through non-repayable grants and scholarships. The university provides approximately $160 million in financial support each year. The university also provides support to students through a variety of career-oriented programs, allowing students to find both oncampus and off-campus opportunities. This year, according to Blackburn-Evans, the university’s work-study program offered 4,200 positions in areas such as research, event planning, marketing, customer service, administration, and finance. Blackburn-Evans also said that university administration continues to work with other
Last year’s homecoming was fraught with disputes. Citing a history of disagreement between the colleges and the utsu, Trinity College and the University of Toronto Engineering Society (EngSoc) declined to take part in the event, which they claimed intentionally undermined and ignored the divisional societies. This year, despite previous disagreements, the utsu and the sgrt found themselves working together. Rowan DeBues, president of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (vusac), said that, while many colleges stepped up to plan an alternative college-led homecoming, the process was not ideal. DeBues said that issues of organization and planning prompted the decision to work with the UTSU after all. DeBues added that the decision was not so much about fostering collaboration, and was more a product of concerns for expedience. “It was never about not doing the tailgate without the utsu. It was that the planning for the tailgate was not looking promising,” he said. Other student societies with a history of tension with the utsu were similarly displeased with the return to the plan for a joint event. However, they generally found the collaborative atmosphere and its greater college representation to be effective when incorporating their divisional perspectives. Connor Anear, Kaleem Hawa, and Tina Saban, student leaders at Trinity, said that their change of mind came about due to changes in attitude and structure on the part of the utsu. “It’s clear that our efforts translated into positive change: homecoming had no hierarchy or ulterior political motive,” they said in a joint statement, adding: “The sgrt met with the utsu executives who assured us that they desired a U of T homecoming rather than a utsu homecoming.” On Thursday, Anear, Hawa, and Saban submitted a letter to the executive members of the utsu that expressed concerns over recent discussions on online voting,
and the potential reduction or elimination of college and professional faculty representation on the union’s Board of Directors. In the letter, the Trinity College Meeting (tcm) called on the utsu to “improve the online voting system to address any technical issues that may exist with the current online voting system rather than eliminating the system.” The tcm also asked that the utsu “support a proposal for its Board of Directors structure that maintains colleges’ and professional faculties’ respective representation, power, and voting rights on the Board.” Despite the homecoming collaboration, the Trinity College leaders said that the move is not necessarily indicative of future collaboration. “Strong relations can only come about through a concerted goodfaith effort on the part of the utsu not to remove online voting in the upcoming election and to maintain elected college and professional faculty positions on its Board of Directors,” they said. Similarly, EngSoc president Teresa Nguyen expressed disinterest at the prospect of further cooperation with the ustu. EngSoc was not involved in the event’s organization, she said, as it conflicted with an EngSoc event. Nguyen cautioned against misreading it as an across-the-board approval of the union’s relationship with the divisional societies. “The decision was made by [the] sgrt because homecoming was a chance to bring the campus together at an exciting time of the year, not about anything else,” she said. Nguyen attributed the difficulties in communication and cooperation to what EngSoc considers the utsu’s shortcomings in areas of transparency and fairness. “Our priority conversation in our external affairs at this point in time is with the office of the Vice-Provost pertaining to the [Student Societies] Summit report released by the university this past April,” said Nguyen.
juLIEN bALbONTIN/THE VArsITy
stakeholders to improve transit options for students. “[S]tudents at the University of Toronto Mississauga supported a referendum to pay — by way of their compulsory, nonacademic incidental fees — for a U-Pass valid for Mississauga Transit. The ttc provides discounted metropasses for post-secondary
students and the university community continues to work with the ttc on service improvements, including the new Rocket bus service between Kennedy Station and utsc,” she added. The next federal election is tentatively scheduled for October 19, 2015.
VARSITY NEWS
var.st/news
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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Forum addresses prospects for an unequal world Annual Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs draws leading academics
University, and Miles Corak, professor of economics at the University of Ottawa. The event was moderated by Rodney Haddow, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Past topics addressed by the forum have included drone warfare, the effect of social
media on democracy, the effect of inequality on democracy, and the place for religion in the secular state. This year, both visiting experts gave presentations on their ideas about the future place of young people in an increasingly unequal world. Arnett gave a brief talk about his psychological research on young people and education, followed by a talk by Corak on his own researchon intergenerational mobility and the importance of labour markets and social policy. The presentations were followed by a 30-minute Q&A session where students had the chance to engage with the speakers. Emily Tsui, apss president, said the structure of the event allowed the audience to directly engage with the topic. “I thought it was great that we had experts from very different fields — not specifically political science — who could provide thought-provoking perspectives on the topic. I think it allowed people to engage in the debate a lot more. It was also good that we were able to make the issue more Canadian-focused this year,” Tsui said. Students, many of whom were not political science students, said the forum caused them to think about inequality in a different light. “The forum made me consider the idea of free education and how feasible that would be. In theory, it’s a very good idea,” said James Regan, a first-year equity studies and political science student. Lukas van Arragon, a first-year archaeology student, said that the forum prompted him to think about the issue of inequality from a different perspective. “The topic was engaging and I found the psychological perspective provided by professor Arnett very interesting,” said van Arragon.
UBC installs thirteenth president
Jeffrey Arnett was one of the panelists at the Keith Davey Forum. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
Claire Fox
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Last Wednesday, two leading academics came together at the Isabel Bader Theatre to discuss the political and economic
prospects for the current generation in an unequal world. The annual Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs, jointly hosted by the Department of Political Science, Victoria College, and the Association of Political Science Students (apss), brought together Jeffrey Arnett, professor of psychology at Clark
NEWS IN BRIEF Canadian education standard rises compared to other OECD countries
American universities seek international students for economic, cultural reasons
United States ends Ohio State probe
Due in part to a strong system of community colleges and robust assistance for low-income students, more Canadian adults have a postsecondary education than any other country in the developed world. Twenty-four per cent of Canadian adults are community college graduates. Canada also spends twice as much to educate each post-secondary student than the average Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd) country. “That’s the strength of the Canadian system; it offers many ways to get a post-secondary education and many bridges from the different pathways,” said Andreas Schleicher, oecd’s director of education and skills. An increase in education also appears to lead to an increase in trust among citizens, which provides the foundation for a strong economy and healthy democracy. The results were not all positive. Canada’s math scores have dropped since 2003 although they remain higher than the oecd average. “The math question is complicated… [it is] more likely a mix of factors, such as a changing student population, how teachers are trained, the way math is taught,” said Andrew Parkin, director general of the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada.
With public university funding on the decline, American universities are relying more than ever on tuition money for support. Much of this revenue comes from international students, who are recruited for both cultural and financial reasons. A high number of international students can consolidate a university’s global reputation, and the hefty tuition bills they pay offset some of the damage done by government underfunding. Statistics from the United States Department of Commerce state that international students contributed $24 billion to the American economy in the 2012–2013 academic year. According to the Institute of International Education’s most recent Open Doors report on international student trends, the number of international students enrolled in US universities is at an all-time high. In 2013, 819,644 international students were studying in the US, with an estimated figure of 966,333 for 2014.
Last Thursday, the United States Department of Education announced that it was ending a fouryear probe of Ohio State University’s handling of on-campus sexual assault and harassment. The department failed to reach a conclusion in the case. In 2010, an investigation began into whether the university violated Title IX, a statute intended to end sex discrimination in education. Ohio State’s “written policies and procedures for responding to complaints, reports and other incidents of sexual violence and harassment do not comply with the law’s requirements,” the Department of Education said in a statement. Ohio State administrators argued that the investigation failed to find a major concern at the university after four years of investigation, which led to an agreement between the university and the department. In the wake of the investigation, Ohio State took a number of steps to prevent sexual assault on-campus, including the creation of an office dedicated to Title ix compliance and the creation of a sexual assault consultation team. The university also said it would work to improve sexual assault prevention training for students. Seventy-eight American colleges and universities remain under investigation for their response to on-campus sexual assaults.
With files from Huffington Post — Iris Robin
With files from the Toronto Star
With files from Huffington Post
— Shreya Mathur
— Claire Fox
Arvind Gupta, the newly installed president of the University of British Columbia (ubc), has laid out his plans for his term as president. Gupta, who was named president last March, was sworn in as ubc’s thirteenth president on September 12. Gupta previously worked as chief executive officer and science director of Mitacs and was formerly a ubc computer science professor. Gupta spoke of wanting to lift ubc to the rank of the top 10 universities in the world, with a focus on research excellence. He committed to increasing the university’s funding for research by at least $100 million, with an emphasis on targeted research. Gupta also spoke of the need for increased student resources, including bursaries and scholarships. A ubc spokesperson said that the university received $564 million in research funding in 2014. With files from The Globe and Mail — Sarah Niedoba
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Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
VARSITY NEWS
news@thevarsity.ca
Start of term brings challenges, opportunities for small programs Three hundred and thirty-five majors, minors, and specialists available to Arts & Science students and specialist programs rather than a Bachelor of Music program is quite small,” McClelland said. McClelland said that the university makes sure that students are aware of the many ways to study music at the university. The music history and culture minor, for example, enrolls about 175 students.
Alex McKeen
VARSITY STAFF
There are a total of 335 possible majors, minors, and specialists available to students in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Many of these programs are anomalous, specialized, and very small, which presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for both faculty and students. Some students in small programs are criticizing the university for issues with course enrollment, networking, and administration, but others say that the programs provide opportunities that they could not receive in larger ones.
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES
Barnaby added that it is often difficult to be part of a program that doesn’t fit neatly into either the Faculty of Music or the Faculty of Arts & Science. “The lack of communication between faculties can be problematic…most of the time, schedules end up being fine in the end, [but] the worry about getting to that point can be pretty frustrating,” she said. Professor Ryan McClelland, associate dean,
academic & student affairs at the Faculty of Music, oversees the music major and specialist programs in the Faculty of Arts & Science. McClelland said that enrollment in music for Arts & Science stands at around 22 people. “[M]ost students who have studied music intensively before coming to university want to continue performance study at least for a couple of years, [so] the number of students who choose the music major
Tamara Trojanowska, associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures, said that enrollment numbers are not what makes a particular program impactful, and that smaller programs often present unique opportunities for student success. “U of T has one of the largest programs in North America in terms of course offerings, comprehensiveness, and number of students served,” said Trojanowska, describing the Polish studies program that she oversees. “Recent developments in Central and Eastern Europe and their effects on world affairs make academic study of [Poland] especially lively and relevant,” she added. Similarly, Anna Shternshis, Al and Malka Green associate professor of Yiddish studies, extolled the distinct advantages of taking part in the university’s small Yiddish program. “We monitor the progress of each student closely and advise them on [the] best possible selection of courses. All Yiddish students are automatically eligible for numerous scholarships and awards designed specifically for them,” said Shternshis. Shternshis shared Trojanowska’s enthusiasm for the value of her program, but said that the program’s uniqueness and the difficulty of promoting the program mean its reach is not as wide as it could be. “We are reaching out to Jewish studies students and German department students, but we would like more people to be aware of Yiddish courses,” she said. For both Barnaby and Kurchik, however, the benefit of taking the courses they love is worth the hassle. “The opportunity has been fantastic,” Barnaby said.
need pay substantially less, and virtually no student pays the full sticker price. The reality is that Ontario offers one of the most robust student assistance programs in Canada, with more than $1.1 billion provided to students each year — $800 million of which is in the form of non-repayable grants,” he added.
ment has committed to a three per cent cap on increases until the 2017–2018 year, the report said that “undergraduate tuition has regularly broken through the previous 5% cap, hitting an average of 6.1% over the past three years, casting doubt on the veracity of the new 3% cap. Further, the cap only applies to undergraduate programs; tuition fees in other programs can and do continue to increase by as much as 8% annually.” “The ministry is not aware of compliance issues with respect to the policy, which has been in place since 2013,” said Zak Paget,
special assistant to the minister of training, colleges and universities. Paget said that the cap is flexible, allowing for university undergraduate, professional, graduate, and college programs to increase up to five per cent, while maintaining the three per cent overall cap. Paget also took issue with the methodology used in the report, saying that the tuition calculations do not take into account certain programs exempt from the cap. He added that the calculated average yearly increases could be “somewhat higher than
STUDENT BARRIERS “I am in love with and very passionate about my programs of study,” said Madison Kurchik, a fourth-year student in Aboriginal studies and sexual diversity studies. However, Kurchik said that she has had to make a number of sacrifices to enroll in the unique combination, because of limited and often inconsistent course offerings. Kurchik also said that she has had difficulty making long-term connections with professors in the small programs, many of whom are on short-term contract. “[T]his causes more difficulty in the case of looking for a supervisor for an independent research project,” she said. Emma Barnaby, a third-year music specialist student who is one of the 22 students enrolled in the Arts & Science music program, also described her experience in the program as full of barriers. “Even before I started first year, I was on the phone weekly with each… faculty — music and Arts & Sciences — trying to work out scheduling and how I would be allowed into the program,” she said. Barnaby was required to audition twice in her first year, once for the program itself and again for admittance to the ensemble course. While auditions are routine for music students at the university level, she said that finding information about the auditions was a challenge.
CONTINUED FROM PG.3 tending university in Ontario. “By focusing purely on the sticker price of higher education, it glosses over student assistance programs designed to bring fairness to the system by offering decreased costs and increased access and affordability to those most in need,” said Moridi. Moridi argued that Ontario’s financial assistance programs offset the high base tuition. “Once all government supports are factored in, the students with the greatest
CONTINUED FROM PG.5 Apart from the cie, Blackburn-Evans cited a number of other services that the university provides for international students, including immigration and transition advice, intercultural and learning strategies support, uhip, orientation programs, peer mentorship, English communication classes, income tax clinics, and social and networking events.
BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE Hailey Wang, a Rotman Commerce student who is a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, said that, despite her citizenship, many employers still see her as foreign.
Sidney Smith Hall houses numerous Arts & Science offices. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
“[E]nrollment numbers are not what makes a particular program impactful... smaller programs often present unique opportunities for student success.”
DISPUTE OVER TUITION CAPS The ccpa report also cast doubt on the effectiveness of government caps on tuition fee increases. Though the Ontario governWang said that this perception has proven to be both beneficial and disadvantageous for job prospects. Wang said that international experience is often perceived as beneficial in the increasingly globalized economic environment. “Although I’m not actually international, most of my work experience do[es] come from abroad, and since applications don’t necessarily ask you about your nationality, employers tend to assume where I’m from and make decisions based on those assumptions,” she said. On the other hand, Wang said, some applications are rejected because of confusion over work eligibility. “Applications will always ask you if you work here legally, but even if you did work here legally, your perceived inter-
national status sends off the impression that you’re going to leave, and because of that, they’re less likely to hire you,” she added. For her part, Mitsuhashi said that her international experience enhanced her job prospects. “When the interviewer asks me to explain my background, I like to explain how my experiences living in different places have affected myself and my skills. I believe that this is one of the skills that set[s] me apart from other job applicants and is a great opportunity to highlight my strengths,” she said. Wang echoed Mitsuhashi’s sentiment, saying that her work experience and living experiences in different places made her appear more “cultured” to employers.
DEFINING INTERNATIONAL Lefebvre said that the group’s definition of an “international student” is broad and that lumping all international students into one category can be problematic. “We like to think of international as identifying with more than one place,” said Lefebvre, adding: “You might be a Canadian but have gone to a school in a different country. Or maybe you lived abroad and only came to Canada for university.” Grinzato echoed Lefebvre’s sentiment saying, “There are actually many students here who don’t pay international student fees but are still international. This could be because they have lived all their life outside Canada, schooled abroad, but have a parent who’s Canadian or holds a work visa. It’s a loosely defined concept.”
Comment
VAR.ST/COMMENT 22 SEPTEMBER 2014
comment@thevarsity.ca
Crying out for change U of T needs to make a public, principled commitment to eliminating sexual violence
Blue light emergency phones are scattered across U of T. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
Victoria Wicks
ASSOCIATE COMMENT EDITOR
Earlier this month, several orientation leaders from Carleton University were photographed wearing tank tops that said “Fuck Safe Space.” The crude slogan was chosen to poke fun at recent attempts on the part of university administrations across the country to establish and protect safe spaces on campus in response to sexual assault and harassment. This scandal is one of the many recent incidents that have sparked concerns about sexual violence on Canada’s university campuses. Last year, three McGill University football players faced charges of forcible confinement and sexual assault with a weapon, while six related sexual assaults occurred at the University of British Columbia (ubc). ubc and St. Mary’s University also came under fire for their frosh chants, which encouraged non-consensual sex. Just last month, two University of Ottawa hockey players were indicted for sexual assault. It is unsurprising, then, that the Ontario Women’s Directorate reports that 15 to 25 per cent of college and university-aged women will experience some form of sexual assault during their academic career. Of course, no one is denying that men are victims of sexual violence too, but it is important to note sexual assault is a genderbased crime. Statistics Canada has reported that women represent 87 per cent of sexual assault
victims, while 97 per cent of persons accused of sexual offences were male. This phenomenon can be traced back to various entrenched historical social norms, such as viewing women’s bodies as sexual objects, aggression as fundamental to masculine identity, women’s virginity as a prize, and so on. I assume most students accept that sexual violence is a pervasive gender-based crime, because the statistics and anecdotes are easy enough to Google. In fact, I feel my peers have been increasingly aware and vocal, showing solidarity through rallies like SlutWalk and Take Back the Night. In particular, I applaud our student leaders for eliminating discriminatory frosh chants. Their actions represent an obvious recognition of the problem, and a dedication to solving it. Such student-driven endeavors are necessary, but insufficient for ensuring social change. While students’ awareness is integral to solving problems of sexual violence, more should be done to make sure this movement does not lose momentum. Top-down administrative changes must occur in order to complement and bolster student activism. In particular, the university needs to make a public, principled commitment to eliminating sexual violence. It should not take a high profile sexual assault case to prompt us into hastily convening a working group on sexual harassment procedures, like in ubc or McGill. The administration needs to assert its leadership and act now.
Currently, U of T is rolling out a new bystander intervention program, while offering resources for sexual violence survivors through the Campus Safety Office, Sexual Harassment Office, and Ask First Campaign. While these programs are admirable, the university lacks an updated, formal policy that outlines standards of behavior regarding sexual violence. The most relevant existing policy concerns sexual harassment exclusively, and was published in 1997. Its definition of sexual harassment is only a subset of sexual violence, and thus fails to explicitly address more diverse issues of stalking, molestation, voyeurism, cyber-violence, and rape. The university would benefit from a new policy that specifically acknowledges the broadness of sexual violence, to ensure that all victims understand they can receive due process. Indeed, the Ontario Government recommends such a plan in their 2013 university resource guide, Developing a Response to Sexual Violence. The new policy should also emphasize survivor rights. Given the persistent stigma around sexual violence, many survivors stay silent for fear of reprisal and disbelief. Indeed, Statistics Canada’s latest General Social Survey results show that 88 per cent of sexual assaults go unreported. As such, the policy should emphasize that survivors will be believed and treated with respect, confidentiality, and compassion; creating a safer space from which to pursue due legal process.
To promote accountability, the policy could also model itself after Yale University and mandate yearly reports, which summarize sexual violence complaints and their outcomes. The privacy of individuals involved should of course be respected, but the complaints procedure would be transparent otherwise. This practice would raise awareness of available complaint options, and publicly record the university’s progress in combatting sexual violence. While it is undeniably difficult to enforce such a policy, the university’s formal commitment has enormous symbolic significance already. Creating a sexual violence policy shows that the administration, much like our orientation leaders, is recognizing a problem and recognizing its responsibility to solve it. This action would show solidarity with the student movement and validate survivors' experiences. This in turn would give students more confidence to continue agitating for change, because we would have the university’s formal authority to rely on. As powerful as student activism can be, the administration holds significant institutional power over us — they make rules we have to follow. In the fight against sexual violence, then, the university has a responsibility to use its exclusive policy-making capabilities in order to fuel important social change. Victoria Wicks is a second-year student at Trinity College studying political science and philosophy.
10 Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
VARSITY COMMENT
comment@thevarsity.ca
The Question: Is Tinder good? The Question
Good or bad, Tinder is here to stay. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
Tinder is only a passing fancy; it’s not a replacement for face to face interaction Lee Eames
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The recent popular explosion of the Tinder app is a logical development of smart-phone culture. Considering that "hooking up" is a primary concern of many young people, it is only natural that modern technology would come to streamline this process. The Tinder app embraces this mindset on its Facebook page with the slogan, “It’s how people meet.” Arguing for the merit of Tinder, one could justifiably claim that the extreme busyness and relative social alienation of urban life makes an easy means to meet a wide variety of people a relative good. While I wouldn’t dispute this line of reasoning, I doubt whether Tinder is indeed an enhanced means of socialization. My impression, after discussing the Tinder experience with friends and using the app casually, is that Tinder tends to operate on a shallow level. While exceptions undoubtedly exist, Tinder’s structure doesn’t seem to generally facilitate deep human engagement. One reason for this is that Tinder implicitly encourages its users to be inorganic in their social interactions. Since the goal for most users is to make as many matches as possible, the impetus for personal use becomes to seem as attractive as possible. In some sense, winning the Tinder game means appealing to the lowest common denominator of likeability. The prevalence of Tinder headshot experts and guides to making a good profile speaks to a general desire for the Tinder
masses to consume your profile in a positive way. While Tinder idealists might claim that people are simply looking for a good match, an equally common motivation is the desire for social and sexual validation. With each match we make, Tinder reminds us that people out there like us and find us attractive. Even if we go no further, we’ve received some evidence of our attractiveness. The problem is that this validation is basically shallow as it’s based in such an objectified version of one’s self. The initial good feeling is ephemeral unless it is succeeded by direct, face-to-face interaction. In my experience, this is where Tinder relationships tend to stall. After being guided painlessly through the introduction process, users must engage on a deeper level than mutual profile approval. In a way, the user is right back where he or she started, having to negotiate the excitement and pitfalls of romantic relationships by themselves. While many people enjoy natural text conversations and fulfilling meet-ups, this seems to be the exception, not the rule. The majority of my acquaintances that use Tinder say they are just in it for a laugh. The general consensus seems to be that it’s a frivolous distraction, not an important means for finding a partner. In this case, it’s best that we call a spade a spade, instead of entertaining notions that Tinder will transform the dating world. Tinder is limited because it all comes back to the inherent difficulties of face-to-face interaction. Lee Eames is a fourth-year student at Innis College studying contemporary Asian studies.
Mobile dating apps work because they give users a choice Sofia Luu
VARSITY STAFF
I was walking up St. George Street one day when I was stopped suddenly by another student pedestrian. His reason for stopping me was just to tell me that he thought I was cute, and that he was interested in taking me out on a date. When I politely declined, he tried again. His intentions changed when I told him that I was seeing someone. Instead of ending the conversation, he switched gears and asked me for my number because he wanted to get to know me better as a friend. Whatever his intentions were that day, he wouldn’t be satisfied without getting my contact information. This was not the first time I had to deal with this type of interaction in real life, and it definitely won’t be the last. In the real world, there is no way of predicting when these unwanted interactions might occur, and when they do, shutting them out is difficult. However, with apps like Tinder, users have some say over who they connect with online. For some reason, some people think of Tinder as being the perfect platform upon which to try out sexist or otherwise offensive pickup lines on strangers. Whenever I receive a message that goes beyond the standard greeting, perhaps offering an insensitive line, commenting on my race or physical appearance, such as, “I only swipe right for Asian women,” I don’t even bother respond-
ing. Why should I? Instead, I block that user, and prevent them from contacting me again. If this happened in real life, the best thing I could do is ignore them. Sure, some might encourage me to take these types of comments as compliments, not to be taken too seriously. Either way, when you are left faceto-face with another human being on the street, there is no block option. On Tinder, the only people who can message me are those who I have matched with by making myself available to be contacted. If a mutual match says something that rubs me the wrong way, I have the ability to block them. As a female, I am constantly aware of the risks of walking alone at night, of drinking too much at parties, or of leaving a drink unattended. I have been cautioned to walk with keys clenched in my fist in case anything were to happen. We all grew up learning about the dangers of meeting people we’d been introduced to online, but in the modern age, apps like Tinder can be really useful for connecting with people while shuttering out all of the extra noise. Tinder is bringing more choice to their users when it comes to expressing a romantic interest and contacting new people. As opposed to the awkwardness of a random faceto-face interaction, Tinder allows people to form a bond and have a conversation before they decide to meet. Sofia Luu is a fourth-year student at Victoria College studying diaspora and transnational studies, as well as book and media studies.
var.st/comment
VARSITY COMMENT
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
11
Tech support Are professors unable or unwilling to integrate technology into the classroom?
juLIEN bALbONTIN/THE VArsITy
Emma Kikulis
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
We've all been there: sitting in lecture scribbling everything down, while simultaneously referencing other notes, reading materials, and solving equations — such is life for a U of T student. But who is to say that this stoic, one-dimensional way of teaching is the most profitable for students — or professors for that matter? Hasn’t the time come for
course syllabi and lecture outlines to start reflecting the technological interconnectedness of the twentyfirst century? I am sure many of my classmates would agree that a more modern approach to lecturing and course structuring would be far more effective in helping students retain new information and obscure concepts. Fortunately, the majority of professors appreciate and embrace this notion — technology such as laptops, cellphones, and the Internet are vital
and welcome in many classrooms. As a tool for communicating with professors, tas, and other students, Blackboard, the Holy Grail of course information, is also an invaluable resource for students. By adopting the technological infrastructure that U of T has put in place, instructors can post supplementary information, lecture slides, and readings that students wouldn’t otherwise have access to. To the dismay of many students, myself included, it appears as though
many professors either don’t realize this correlation or don’t want to implement it into their teaching style. Imagine walking into a class and having the lesson structured around handouts that had been photocopied so many times that reading them was next to impossible and learning that, not only would nothing be posted on Blackboard, there would be no Blackboard site for the course. Change is hard and, in my experience, many professors don’t integrate modern technology into their
teaching. That is not to say that a traditional lecture style, with the occasional quotation and verbatim textbook reading, is not effective. In fact, it may be better suited to some students' learning styles. However, technology can do things that weekly speeches simply cannot. Media stimulates conversation; using slides, videos, and graphics is a way of bridging the communication and, often, generational gaps between professors and their students. Understandably, some professors have been teaching since before many of us were born and have refined their teaching style, syllabi, and lectures over the years to suit their personal preferences. That being said, many professors would benefit from a crash course in lecture-enhancing technologies — perhaps from seasoned Convocation Hall lecturers. Although that coliseum of a classroom is cramped and stuffy, professors who lecture there are some of the most engaging speakers I have ever heard. The combination of visuals, such as PowerPoint, video clips, and graphics, makes it easier for visual learners to take in the lecture material more efficiently. Sorry professors encourage live-tweeting during class to address any concerns about lecture material or to ask questions about the presentation, reaching out to students too shy to raise their hands. These professors tend to understand the value of Blackboard, which they use religiously to post slides, test information, and supplementary readings for the more ambitious students among us. If we could find a way to implement this big-lecture atmosphere into a smaller class, I’m confident that it would result not only in an increase in class attendance, but an improved knowledge threshold for students of all disciplines. Emma Kikulis is a third-year student at U of T studying English and sociology.
U of T’s culture of silence breeds a culture of complicity What U of T can learn from the US about opening dialogue around campus sexual assault Zane Schwartz
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
U of T claims that only two students were sexually assaulted at the St. George campus in 2013. Does that make any sense to you? It shouldn’t. Consider this: the United States Department of Justice found that twenty per cent of female university students were sexually assaulted at least once while completing a four-year degree. According to Statistics Canada, 51 per cent of Canadian women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, and those assaults are more likely to happen to young women at university. So does it make any sense that only two students were sexually assaulted at St. George out of a total of
57795? Maybe U of T is singularly capable when it comes to protecting its students. Or, maybe U of T is hoping the problem will go away by simply pretending that it doesn’t exist. Just last week, we were reminded of campus police's tragic ineffectiveness when a U of T professor was stabbed in his office — despite having reported his stalker to campus police. When it comes to sexual assault though, it’s not just campus police who are failing to protect students. The U of T administration hasn’t updated their sexual harassment policy since 1997, and it only applies if the assault happened on campus or the student was engaged in a university-related activity. There is a better way. The United States has finally realized that sexual assault is a massive problem
on university campuses for many reasons but the fact that we don’t talk about it makes it more likely to happen. Our culture of silence breeds a culture of complicity. Don’t believe me? Consider the fact that 60 per cent of men in university said they would commit sexual assault if they were certain they wouldn’t get caught. If that’s not something we need to talk about as a university, I don’t know what is. There are common sense reforms that U of T could implement: we only have to look to what the United States is in the middle of mandating for all post-secondary institutions. We could institute surveys to gauge how many students are actually sexually assaulted; after all, self-reporting is notoriously ineffective. We could establish a victim’s
advocacy organization that keeps information confidential and helps students navigate the labyrinthine systems of support that do exist at the university. Perhaps most importantly, we should not only talk about how potential victims can protect themselves, but also about how bystanders can make a difference — and hammer home what should happen to perpetrators. So, to return to the original question: does the number two make any sense? Of course it doesn’t. The fiction that only two students were sexually assaulted last year is emblematic of the larger problem. If U of T gets to claim that only two sexual assaults happened on campus last year then, officially, the university gets to claim that there isn’t a problem with sexual assault on campus.
Do you know a student who was sexually assaulted while at U of T? If you don’t, ask your female friends. They do. It’s often said that the first step in changing the discussion around sexual assault is to talk about it. So please, let’s start talking about it. Zane Schwartz is a fourth-year student who writes for The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s. He was The Varsity’s news editor last year.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE An extended version of this article is available online at thevarsity.ca/ comment
Thevalueof experience IRIS ROBIN explores the realities of student internships Illustration by Ann Sheng
I
nternships can be a good opportunity to get hands-on experience in the workplace and make connections. They are a chance to build skills you can’t learn in a classroom and can be impressive additions to a résumé. However, despite the opportunities they provide, internships — especially if they are unpaid — are often difficult to access or are financially unviable for the majority of people. Unfortunately, unpaid internships have become a necessary reality for many students on the road to achieving their career aspirations. Any kind of extensive, unpaid work that is not volunteer work can be called an unpaid internship. In some cases, they are synonymous with free labour, youth exploitation, and disappointing work experiences. Despite this, unpaid internships remain highly sought after, and the experiences that students have with them vary. Andrew Langille is a Toronto-based lawyer and founder of Youth and Work, an organization that aims to inform young people of workplace law and their rights. Though the definition of unpaid internship varies, if the number of students doing unpaid work-integrated learning in academic programs is combined with the number of unpaid internships undertaken by young workers outside of academic programs, he says that there could be as many as 300,000 unpaid internships annually. Despite a lack of historical data or ongoing tracking of the number of unpaid internships in the labour market, as well as a lack of official figures for people aged 18 to 25, Langille believes there could be hundreds of thousands of these positions occurring each year in Canada’s labour market. Langille is one of a number of commentators who have called on governments to begin collecting data.
INDUSTRY EXPOSURE “What’s clear is that unpaid internships have been getting increasingly common in the last two decades and have become particularly problematic in the post-financial crisis labour market,” Langille said. When asked why unpaid internships are so ubiquitous, Langille suggested, “It’s the classic catch-22: you need to have experience to get the job. Unpaid internships are a very easy way to do that.” Langille’s statement proved true for Emily*, a recent U of T graduate, who felt as though she had no choice but to do an internship. Working towards a career in publishing, she said that it is almost a given that, in order to break into that field, some very specific — often unpaid — experience is necessary. Emily worked at a small publishing firm for three months, where she carried out menial tasks like organizing the boardroom, getting paper towels, and buying milk. Emily was excited at first, but found that she was not getting the experience she had hoped for. “I didn’t feel challenged. I wasn’t allowed to participate in meetings. I gained exposure to the industry, but I wasn’t given challenging tasks — I had to bother them for things to do,” she explained. Although Emily was given a $500 stipend, averaging out to around $47 per week, this figure would not be nearly enough to live on. “Sometimes internships are necessary — you can have an ma and still have to do eight months of unpaid work,” said Emily. “The industry relies on interns.” Taylor Stinson, also a recent U of T graduate, took up a position in a local office during the summer before starting her Masters. There, she was placed in charge of the company’s social media accounts and blog. Stin-
son wrote engagement emails and did some small marketing tasks. “I had no idea what to expect. I went in with mixed emotions about internships and thought that I would at least be able to see what a real working environment was like and gain experience alone from that,” Stinson said, adding: “At first I felt like I was doing worthwhile work, but then I began to see that what I was doing was menial grunt work.” At one point, one of Stinson’s jobs was to contact people on Red Flag deals, which she described as “basically spamming people.” Stinson quickly realized that she hated the work. “I also felt really taken advantage of and unappreciated when I never received any of the weekly free coffee and lunches the company had initially promised me in the interview and job posting,” Stinson recalled. Stinson quit the internship after six weeks. “I probably wouldn’t advise anyone to do an unpaid internship, unless it involved school credit. I’m going to do my Masters in journalism this year at Ryerson, in which I have to do an internship for school credit; however, it is only six weeks, which I feel is a way more reasonable timeframe,” she said. “I think it’s absolutely financially irresponsible to have these unpaid internships that are not monitored at all. If you are performing work that benefits a company, you should be paid for your efforts. Many workplaces use year-round intern positions as a means of cutting costs and saving money on menial tasks, and it’s not right,” said Stinson.
DOING IT FOR THE EXPERIENCE “Nobody is questioning the value of internships — neither myself nor any of the groups I work with question that — but the thing is, if you’re doing work, you should be getting paid for it. Unpaid internships have become synonymous with free labour,” Langille said. Sofia Luu, a fourth-year diaspora and transnational studies and book and media studies student at U of T, worked at worn Fashion Journal as a publishing intern from April to November 2012. The internship consisted of 10 hours a week, with five hours spent in the downtown office doing basic housekeeping tasks such as packing issues, mailing them out, and preparing for upcoming shows. Luu also worked on promotional campaigns for the journal’s current and upcoming issues. Outside of the office, the work included research for campaigns, compiling emails for contacts, and working at shows. “I didn’t like packing big boxes for large shipments because it would take forever, but it’s something we only have to do twice a year,” Luu commented. “I’m happy I did the internship. Whether it was unpaid or not, it doesn’t really matter now. Everyone at worn volunteers their time to put a publication together two times a year, so it’s not like I was getting cheated or anything.” Luu said that she would intern at worn again if she had the chance to, but that she does not support all unpaid internships. “Unpaid full-time internships are still a big no-no. Even if there is a glimmer of hope in the form of a paying job in the end, it’s not worth it... Meaningless work is meaningless work whether or not you’re getting paid,” she said. Not everyone is able to complete an unpaid internship. It is a luxury to be able to work for free — a reality that even students who have benefitted from their experiences acknowledge. Kaleem Hawa, a third-year student at U of T, worked an unpaid internship with the World Health Organization (who) in Geneva during
the summer of 2013. With the who, Hawa investigated the links between public health and climate change, and analyzed the availability of healthcare technologies in three countries. As an international relations and global health student, this was a great chance to gain practical experience related to his interests and areas of study. This year, Hawa was able to reap the benefits of the internship, securing a paid position with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I can’t stress how valuable the experience was,” Hawa said. At the same time, Hawa acknowledged that not everyone can access opportunities like this. “People who have more financial means can work for free, but then it means that employers lose out on qualified candidates,” Hawa said. James*, like Hawa, started out as an unpaid intern and was later able to find paid work. The political science and American studies student began working for a Toronto-based not-for-profit labour rights organization during his first year at U of T. This is James’ third year with this organization and he is now paid for his work. “[Labour rights] is something I’ve
always been really passionate about,” James said about his decision to join the organization, which advocates for and educates workers in precarious situations. James’ work consists of sponsorship, event planning, and database and website management. “I feel like I’m contributing to the cause, and I felt the same even when I was unpaid,” James said. The work schedule is mercifully flexible — James said they are accommodating of his timetable as a student and make arrangements around the dates of his tests and exams. According to James, one year after he started work, the organization contacted him and said, “We would like to pay you.” James is happy with the organization and his experience. “They really value labour rights and are firmly rooted in their belief system,” he said.
INTERNSHIPS IN ACADEMIA Langille believes that unpaid internships shouldn’t exist outside of academia. Even so, he has serious reservations as to whether they should exist even in academic settings. “Certainly, co-op programs are good. I don’t think
Between 100,000 and 300,000 young Canadians are working as unpaid interns
Unpaid internships are the result of a decline in on-the-job training investment
“
According to the Employment Standards Act (2000), a person can only work without pay if all of the following condition are met: 1. The training is similar to that which is given in a vocational school. 2. The training is for the benefit of the intern. You receive some benefit from the training, such as new knowledge or skills. 3. The employer derives little, if any, benefit from the activity of the intern while he or she is being trained. 4. Your training doesn’t take someone else’s job. 5. Your employer isn’t promising you a job at the end of your training. 6. You have been told that you will not be paid for your time.
”
ONLINE: Read the full interview with Andrew Langille at var.st/internships anybody is attacking the idea of an internship or work-integrated learning in and of itself, but there are some serious problems,” Langille said. Helena*, a third-year McGill student studying chemistry and English, pursued paid employment at first, but to no avail. Midway through the summer, a professor who had given a guest lecture in one of her chemistry classes emailed her to offer her a lab position. “I decided to take it because it was a good learning opportunity, it was related to my field of study, and frankly, it gave me something to do over the summer,” Helena said. The role involved some menial lab work, such as cleaning glassware, tidying the lab, and refilling solvent bottles. Helena also helped others with their lab work and ran chemical tests. With assistance, she conducted her own tests and reactions, putting together a presentation for a group meeting. “I didn’t really feel like I was doing worthwhile work most of the time,” Helena recalled. “For the longest time, nothing was explained properly to me, so not only did I not understand the chemistry or the particulars of the proce-
dures, I didn’t understand why I was doing certain reactions at all — which was a bit detrimental,” said Helena. Due to this lack of communication, Helena had a conflict with one of her supervisors because she didn’t anticipate the tasks she had to do. Additionally, Helena found the lab disorganized and she was left without her own clear project. “I could not take initiative in my work — besides cleaning — I always had to wait and/or ask for someone else to give me tasks to do,” she said. However, Helena enjoyed learning many new lab techniques and some new chemistry, as well as making new friends. “In the end, yes I am happy I took the unpaid internship. I did learn new things that will contribute to my education, as well as how to deal with different people in a work environment. I am also glad of the new friends I made. I would say that the experience, above all, is worth it. Any experience is invaluable, so if the opportunity presents itself, I would say to seize it,” she said. Rebecca Zhu, a fourth-year English and psychology research double specialist student at U of T, did an internship at Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity as a full-time research assistant for two months in 2013. The internship was voluntary, but Zhu also received a stipend of $1,500 for two months. The money was not nearly enough to cover her approximately $4,000 in living costs. “It’s an interesting angle because universities are generally allowed to hire people for less than minimum wage whereas other companies can’t,” said Zhu. If Zhu’s stipend was converted into a per hour rate, she was paid around $5 per hour. Zhu said she expected the job to be very fast-paced and demanding. “When someone is investing money into you — even a small amount — they expect much more of you,” Zhu said. In the end, Zhu conducted a study on the development of number skills in fiveto seven-year-old children, taking full charge of the project. After the internship was over, Zhu corresponded with the professors with whom she worked over email, with the hope of publishing her research. “I have mixed feelings — I wish I had been paid more, but understand that I was lucky to get paid at all,” Zhu said of the financial aspect
of her experience. However, Zhu was pleased with the overall experience. “I definitely felt I was doing worthwhile work, especially since I got an academic paper out of it,” said Zhu.
WHAT CAN BE DONE? Ultimately, Langille is dissatisfied with the political efforts regarding unpaid internships. “I don’t think our society is doing a good job of addressing the needs of young people. You only need to look at the past provincial election or the current municipal election; Toronto has an alarming issue with youth unemployment and the candidates never talk about it,” Langille said, calling for the government to address the issue of youth unemployment in particular. As for students looking to advocate for their rights, Langille recommends joining political organizations and speaking out. “Three years ago, nobody was talking about the unpaid internship issue and now it’s quite a serious policy issue,” he said, adding: “Some groups are starting to form around these issues, but young people have to get active — that’s the only way that change happens.”
Arts&Culture
VAR.ST/ARTS
22 SEPTEMBER 2014
arts@thevarsity.ca
"A portrait of touring Canada as a rock band" The Varsity interviews The Darcys about their album, Warring, and their continued success as an artrock band
Emily Scherzinger VARSITY STAFF
The Darcys are a Canadian art rock quartet consisting of Jason Couse, Wes Marskell, David Hurlow, and Michael le Riche. Their dark, eclectic music has earned them a nomination for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize long-list as well as a 2014 Juno nomination for Alternative Album of the Year. In celebration of the oneyear anniversary of their 2013 album Warring, The Darcys are beginning another Canadian tour spanning from Thunder Bay to Vancouver, with more tour dates yet to be announced. After grabbing some “Wespressos” (a play on Marskell’s first name) from their favourite local coffee shop, Couse and Marskell sat down with The Varsity to discuss the state of Canadian art and their continuing music career.
ART ROCK Reflecting on their body of work, it makes sense that The Darcys are labeled as art rock, which Marskell references as “sort of like rock or alternative rock. It was a tag that was sort of applied to us. It sounds really pretentious.” Art rock, a subgenre of rock music, is loosely defined as music with a complicated or conceptual twist that is influenced by other forms of art. The Darcys’ discography follows this, tracking an intense journey heavily influenced by literature. “I got this [New York Times] list of the best 25 works published in the last 25 years and [Cormac McCarthy’s] Blood Meridian was number two on the list,” Marskell explains. “All of those books on that list were all books we read or I read during the making of [Warring] and they all have similarities… but those I think informed the record as much as anything else did.” McCarthy’s influence has leaked into more than just the band’s latest album. McCarthy’s Cities Of The Plain inspired "Hymn for a Missing Girl," a throttling 22-minute composition released by the Darcys for the April 2014 Record Store Day that sold out in limited edition vinyl in five minutes.
Marskell also references Don De Lillo as an influence, as well as Philip Roth’s American Pastoral as a “big book when we were writing.” As a result, Marskell explains that the writing on Warring was “less specific and the lyrics are not one-liners. They’re more drawn out.”
CANADIAN ART The amount of American literature that has influenced the band is not to take away from the Canadian-ness of the album. Their most recent album is also arguably the band’s most Canadian effort. “There’s something sort of effortlessly Canadian about our record that we weren’t even trying to do,” explained Marskell. “As a Canadian living in Canada, producing a document of being Canadian, it sparks a similar idea [to other forms of Canadian art]. There’s the Canadian sublime element. I think that, with that beauty and that awe, there’s an inherent darkness to the whole thing.” Similar to Alex Colville’s paintings or Alice Munro’s short stories, there are elements of sinister Canadian nature tracked throughout the album that the band picked up from touring the country. Couse points to the “universal experiences” of travelling vast distances and the creeping isolation of being on tour. “There’s so many times… your car breaks down outside of Edmonton, or you slide down the side of a mountain in B.C., and it just has this darkness that’s just inherent to the landscape and it comes out lyrically,” Marskell elaborates. “When you start to connect a few images, you see a very bleak, dark space and it’s a portrait of touring Canada as a rock band.” “Hunting,” the second track off of Warring, even goes so far as to track the death of Tom Thomson, a Canadian artist, through the lyrics, in an attempt to understand his death and how, as Marskell explains, “generally, people are drawn to the darker bits of the world.”
"PLAY IN SCHOOL" CAMPAIGN One of the topics Marskell and Couse were visibly most passionate about was the beginning of their "Play in School" campaign,
Couse and Marskell of The Darcys. Emily schErzingEr/ThE VArsiTy
which initially involved a series of free performances and workshops in 2013, hopefully to extend to schools across the country in 2014. They are openly critical about the music programs in high schools, citing the “antiquated model” of teaching classical music instead of having more modern options, such as music editing programs. “There’s a lot of awesome and interesting and financially stable jobs in the music industry beyond just playing in a band,” Marskell explains. “I think we were hoping to spark some debate.” Although school music programs “are great for introducing people to a different way of thinking,” Couse admits, it isolates a large population of students that are interested in the technological side of music. “Just because you don’t excel in the music program doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use resources that are still in a school or could be in a school,” Couse explains. “I mean, we always went in our own direction with that kind of thing. Every time we could apply a school
project towards music, we would. And all of a sudden it became our full-time hobby.”
NEXT STEPS Ultimately, The Darcys are still excited by Warring, and are looking forward to their tour and the future of their promising music career. “We’ve been trying to reinvent our creative process and how we write songs,” Marskell explains. “I think it’s been a really interesting period for us because it really allows us a lot of freedom. We just have a blank slate.” “We’re trying to forget everything that we know about writing music and kind of reestablish the way we work and reestablish the way we think about it,” Couse explains. “Warring was something that we wanted to do for so long, and we did it. But what does this mean as a symbol of something that represents us and our lives in the world? I mean, now it’s a year old and it’s away from us. And, in the words of Tom Petty, 'the future is wide open.'”
var.st/arts
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
15
If it’s broke, they’ll fix it The Varsity explores the ins and outs of Toronto’s Repair Cafe
Repair Cafe participants at work. courtesy of repair cafe
Joseph Ianni
VARSITY STAFF
It’s not often that in between readings and coffee you get a chance to hone any practical skills. So, when my pants need to be hemmed or my computer is being troublesome, I find myself either at the mercy of my grandmother, or at some Future Shop emptying out my wallet. That, or whatever it is that needs fixing often ends up in the trash.
I found myself in this position once again looking down at my trusty backpack, which had lasted me quite a while during my university travels. In the hopes of saving it, and some dollars, I made my way to the Repair Café. I was a little confused about the concept myself, but on the promise of free coffee and baked goods, I made my way over to the event to see what was what. A monthly affair, this month being held at Skills for Change on St. Clair Avenue West. On September 13, the
meet up involved furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, toys and more, all to be repaired for no cost at all. When I first arrived, my honest expectations were to meet elderly people looking to do something with their spare time and antiques. This wasn’t all wrong. But surprisingly, as the morning carried on, I noticed how diverse the group became. Experts on items varied in age and background, and so did those coming with broken items to
be mended. As I waited for an expert of my own, I watched as Sam, a young boy, helped a middle-aged man repair his old radio, while an elderly man assisted a young Russian woman with her laptop. The Repair Café not only offered the opportunity to learn new skills but also the chance to connect with skilled people. After snacking on the free coffee and baked goods for an appropriate amount of time, I made my way to the sewing room where two women were able
to help me stitch back together my tattered bag. The most interesting part of my experience was talking to the women while waiting for my bag to be fixed. I started learning about them and their lives and, without noticing, began thinking my grandmother. Throughout my life she had been the go-to person for my sewing needs, and I thought she’d be proud of me learning the skill that had originally helped her provide for her own family. Soon enough I found myself helping another person who had come in while I was waiting for my own bag to be repaired. I had never pulled a seam apart before that day but now I can say that I have. Often, when you get an item repaired, it’s a drop-off, pick-up process, in which you are entirely removed from the proceedings. But at the Repair Café, people are the process and the repairing of items becomes tied to engaging with others. It was an experience that would make the choice to return quite easy. I could come back with another item, or just come to learn about something I hadn’t known about before. The next Repair Cafe is being held Saturday, October 18 from 12–4 pm at the Cedarbrae branch of the Toronto Public Library. While I said my goodbyes to some new friends and packed my now repaired backpack, I saw a man in the corner working with books. I asked him if he would be there at the next Repair Cafe. He answered yes. So the next time I go to the Repair Cafe, I'll be learning about bookbinding.
Filming in the fall A look into U of T’s filmmaking community at the annual fall film screening party Heather Eason
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Hart House Film Board advertised its annual fall film screening party as a“swanky reception” followed by a screening of the U of T filmmaking community’s latest works. One glance at the extensive cheese platter assured me that the screening would not disappoint in terms of swank. The live music, outdoor setting, and ever beautiful architecture of the Hart House quad also added some elegant ambiance to the evening of amateur film last Wednesday night. Rick Palidwor, staff advisor for the Hart House Film Board and festival director for the U of T Film Festival, appropriately described the event as a mixed bag. Genres ranged from documentary to avant-garde to nunsploitation (yeah, that’s a thing). Themes explored include alcoholism, obesity, and survival, as well as lighter topics such as music, community, and — of course — love. Again?, a short film by the Film Board as led by Palidwor, kicked off the evening. The film was based on one that Palidwor made 20 years ago and was created in only 48 hours as part of the annual Film
The Gift, another film shown at this years annual fall film screening. MeDia pHoto.
Board Farm Project at Hart House Farm. Palidwor stated that the Film Board “made it funnier, [and] made it more interesting. It was quite exciting to see the kernel of an old idea turn into something new.” Later in the evening, a documentary short, Loving Large by Theresa Bonello, followed an obese woman who lost 150 pounds only to find
out that her partner was a “chubby chaser” who had initially been attracted to her because of her weight. Bonello expressed her desire to explore “things that can hinder not only ourselves but the relationships around us” throughout her filmmaking career. Bonello’s background is in visual art, and she was delighted that “the tran-
sition from still art to moving art is possible.” Carlo Shefter, creator of Satan’s Dolls, also started in visual art. He described his transition into filmmaking as a natural thing: “It just called to me, then there was no choice.” His neo-giallo film finished the evening with the tale of a con woman hiding out in a nun-
nery. “The best [thing about filmmaking] is the weird stuff that it allows you to justify. It’s complete madness,” he explained. The Hart House Film Board provides many opportunities for students and the community at large, including free or inexpensive filmmaking classes and equipment rentals. Ross Belot, creator of Growing Up Grateful, gave this advice to aspiring filmmakers: “Get yourself a camera and talk to these people [at the Film Board].” His documentary told of a couple raising three kids while following the Grateful Dead. Thankfully, the technical problems, causing some of the films to be shown in black and white, were fixed just in time to show the subjects’ tie-dye in all of its glory. The evening’s diversity assured that there would be a film for every taste. Bonello’s advice to aspiring filmmakers reflected this diversity of form and content: “Keep an open mind. Films don’t have to be in the shape that we expect. They can be pieces of artwork.” The screening was also a great way to learn more about filmmaking opportunities at U of T. Palidwor recommends that any hopefuls within the U of T community “keep it simple, keep it short, and get started.”
16
Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
arts@thevarsity.ca
Lost in translation
Toronto slang reflects the diversity of cultures within the city and the GTA Scheherazade Khan
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
A new school year brings with it recently graduated high school students, eager to start their postsecondary lives. There is no denying that coming to university for the first time is an adjustment, but there is one challenge people do not often consider: adjusting to the culture of the city of Toronto itself, and more specifically, its language. As an incoming international student, I didn’t think about the fact that I would be encountering different slang terms by living in Canada for the first time. A particularly embarrassing moment in my first year involved insisting that I did not know any “Timmy” when I was invited to join a study group at the ever-popular Tim Horton’s franchise — and, as I later found out, I was not the first one to make this mistake. Canada as a country has its own set of terms — ranging from “doubledouble” to “mickey”— as does Toronto, which boasts its own unique cultural vocabulary that reflects the diversity of its constituents. While there are plenty of Canadian-isms, from the frequent use of “eh” to the fierce attachment to the pronunciation of “zed,” narrowing down Toronto-specific language is difficult, given the variations within different areas of the Greater Toronto Area (gta) and constantly shifting trends within the city. Many of the words that I think of as “Toronto slang” in fact come from the different cultures that exist within the city — for example, the Jamaican word “wagwan" is
catherine macintOSh/the VarSity
something I hear from friends in the city all the time, yet is certainly not a Toronto-born term. While this diversity enriches the city’s vocabulary, it can also reveal underlying cultural tensions within it. The relationship between
slang from the gta and from Toronto is interesting as the two divided worlds collide in the form of occasionally contentious language. An example of this is seen in the division between “416ers” and “905ers,” the latter referring to
people in the gta with 905 area codes, and the former to people living downtown with 416 area codes. Someone who complains about being surrounded by “905ers” is situating themselves as someone from downtown, and stating a clear cul-
tural division between that world and that of the gta. Connie Tang, a U of T student from Markham, noted that different parts of the gta have different slang, saying, “Toronto slang is defined by the area that it is in. Not everyone is going to know all the slang from everywhere, so we just keep adding to the list as we learn it.” It is difficult to say where Toronto slang comes from — if I come across a word in the city that I have never heard before, I can sometimes attribute this to my being an international student, but often, new terms will suddenly gain traction on campus and in the surrounding area. This constant revision and addition to the Toronto vocabulary only makes it harder for those from outside Toronto to keep up. Janice Cha, from Vancouver, said, “Since Toronto is such a big city, it develops its own culture that exists within the city." In a constantly evolving vocabulary, popular nicknames for the city itself turn over, often varying greatly — from the historical title of the Big Smoke to modern monikers such as T-Dot and, as disseminated by Drake, the 416 or the 6. The language of Toronto is ultimately a sum of its many parts — the demographics of the city influence the words people use to express themselves within it. “It’s an amalgamation of a lot of different cultures,” says Amanda Stojcevski, a student from Sarnia, “all bringing in different aspects, which is what makes the lingo so interesting.”
Theatre review: Woyzeck The UC Follies put on the first student show of the season Jacob Lorinc
ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
The UC Follies performing Woyzeck. ruSaba alam/the VarSity
The crowd that gathered Friday night for the uc Follies’ Woyzeck huddled like a bundle of penguins to stay warm in the autumn weather. Using the uc courtyard as a stage and the natural surroundings as the set, the uc Follies aptly set the mood for the quirky and engaging performance. Woyzeck, a century-old play written by German dramatist Georg Büchner, shows the mental effect warfare can have on soldiers. The title character, Woyzeck, is constantly hounded by the infantry’s sociopathic doctor, and starts to develop schizophrenic visions. While the audience witnesses Woyzeck's slow ascent into schizophrenia, they also get a glimpse into the strenuous lives of Woyzeck’s friends and foes. This is where the uc Follies add their own twist to the story. Intent on focusing their performance around mental illness and the stigma that is so frequently associated with it, the uc Follies decided to have the other characters
in the play exhibit a mental illness of their own (something that is absent in Büchner’s original version). A drum major whose priority is to sleep with Woyzeck’s wife, Marie, is suggested to be a nymphomaniac. Marie, in turn, sleeps with the drum major, but is suggested to have a bi-polar disorder as well as a borderline personality disorder. Woyzeck’s ill-tempered doctor is supposed to be a sociopath and a psychopath, and Woyzeck’s captain is implied to have social anxiety and depression. The play sheds light on the way we, as a society, look at mental disorders, and how it should be dealt with. The uc Follies put on a thoughtprovoking rendition of Woyzeck, using an assortment of paint which the actors slathered each other with. Although the story was a little too abstract to follow at times, and important plotpoints were not emphasized nearly as much as they could have been, these issues were largely made up for in acting and delivery. Willa Cowan, acting as Woyzeck’s psychotic doctor, gave a stellar performance, adding a particular emotional range to the role.
var.st/arts
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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Review: The Importance of Being Earnest The Varsity reviews the first Hart House Theatre play of the season
The Importance of Being Earnest, being performed in Hart House. jeNNIfer su/tHe VarsIty
Katerina Szylo
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Centuries after its debut, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest still manages to make audiences cry with laughter. With the use of reversal, Wilde captures the essence of nineteenth century aristocracy. Jack Worthing, a notable man in London society, creates a made-up brother, Earnest, in order to escape to the countryside to take care of his ward, Cecily Cardew. But when his friend Algernon Moncrieff finds out about his
double life and, most importantly, his beautiful 18 year old ward, he decides to pose as Earnest himself. By doing so, Algernon puts Jack’s relationship with the love of his life, Gwendolen Fairfax, on the line, and much mischief and drama ensues. The Hart House production was skillfully produced, with director Cory Doran adding hilarious physical comedy to the play, highlighting each character's unique personality. Even during the scene changes, the butlers, Lee-Orr Orbach and Daniel Staseff respectively, did a wonderful job at making the transitions a joy to watch.
Hannah Drew, who portrayed Gwendolen, and Eliza Martin as Cecily channelled their inner aristocratic women, accurately portraying the self-absorbed yet lovestruck nineteenth-century characters. Michael Hogan and Victor Pokinko, Jack and Algernon respectively, both making their debut at Hart House Theatre, had great chemistry together on stage. Multiple times they each induced laughter by employing a single facial expression. Andrei Preda and Bailey Green, who played Reverand Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism, pulled off a hilarious side romance. Nicole Wilson's Lady Bracknell stole the show every
time she stepped on the stage with every line delivered better than the last. The set and costumes added to the overall performance nicely. The only negative aspect of the play was the position of the portrait on the stage, sometimes hindering the view of the audience depending on where you happened to sit. Charming and witty, hilarious and enjoyable, the cast kept the audience entertained, never breaking character even as they walked off the stage. The Importance of Being Earnest is a winning comedy, fit for audiences of every time period.
Turquoise Jeep at the Dance Cave Reviewing the Bloor Street staple's new concert series Andrea Macikunas
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Turquoise Jeep.courtesty of ace of cups.
As one Yelp reviewer astutely wrote: “You don’t go to Dance Cave, you end up there.” The owners of this well-known, student-filled dance venue may be trying to change this reputation, as they’ve just introduced a new concert series. Turquoise Jeep brought energy, interaction, and dancing to the aptly re-named “The Cave” last Monday night. Of course, The Cave is the Dance Cave, but apparently “The Cave” is meant to be more appealing. Though the room was not at capacity, it was by no means a boring show. The stage was very low, so the trio of Turquoise Jeep could get up close and personal with their audience — which seemed to be exactly what both parties wanted. Never have I seen that large a group of people dancing in sync and with that much enthusiasm. True to Dance Cave tradition, the floor started to bounce up and down with the crowd. Another surprising factor was the small but intense following the band had. Several people were wearing personalized homemade t-shirts with faces
from the band on them. Almost everyone in the room knew the words to every song, to the point where the band could point their microphones at the crowd and the lyrics were easily shouted back to them. I’ve seen this sort of maneuver fail with presumable far better known bands, so I was fairly impressed with the move. A cursory Google search suggests Turquoise Jeep didn’t feel they had their own genre, so they created their own: emb (Existing Musical Beings). They showed a weird affinity for “getting the ladies up here,” and encouraged the crowd repeatedly to fist bump. Though their music wasn’t exactly what I would usually listen to, it was catchy and the enthusiasm of the crowd was infectious. Some of the dance moves were pretty out there, but what I loved was that they didn’t seem to care — they were having a great time and so was everyone else. With song names like “Treat Me Like A Pirate” — which is the chorus, followed by “and give me dat booty!” — Turquoise Jeep may not sound as if they fit the typical Dance Cave vibe, but in reality the show was exactly what could be expected from my past experiences there: bizarre, a little scary, but overwhelmingly hilarious and fun.
Science
VAR.ST/SCIENCE 22 SEPTEMBER 2014
science@thevarsity.ca
In conversation with David Jenkins The leading nutritionist and diabetes researcher shares his thoughts on everything from fad diets to how to eat healthy on a budget
Science Literacy Week edtion Science Literacy Week was started a few years ago by Jesse Hildebrand, a recent graduate of the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology program at U of T. The goal of these events is to inspire and engage students in science-related topics.
Digging Dinosaurs: Fact and Fiction in Jurassic Park Learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about dinosaurs at this lecture by Dr. David Evans, assistant professor at the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Monday, September 22 5:00–6:00 pm Gerstein Library 9 King’s College Circle Free; register online
Misconceptions About the Big Bang
Dr. David Jenkins, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Metabolism at the Department of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
Jasleen Arneja SCIENCE EDITOR
Dr. David Jenkins is the director of the Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital, in addition to being the Canada research chair in nutrition and metabolism at the Department of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at U of T. Born and raised in London, England, he pursued both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford University. Jenkins recently spoke to The Varsity about his interest in the sciences and the superiority of plant-based diets, among other things. The Varsity: Could you tell us about your scientific interests and your reason behind choosing research as a career? David Jenkins: I’ve always wanted to research; my father was a doctor. When I was young, I thought everything would be cured by medicine. And then he would take me around the hospital and I would see sick people. And then I would hear later, with some distress, that some people had passed on. I realized then that medicine was absolutely not infallible and my father and his colleagues were not infallible. And I realized, because of the conversations I’d had, that we needed to know more about this and more about that. I realized that there was much more excitement and worthwhileness, in doing research than there was in just doing
individual treatment. So I realized at a very early age that that’s where I would have to go. But I was much more interested in outdoor activities; I wasn’t terribly interested in school. I just assumed that that was something that would pass. And then you went to medical school and then you went on to do research. It was a rude awakening when I was about 16 and I realized that things weren’t going to be handed to you on a plate, and that you’d have to be fairly resourceful and inventive in positioning yourself to get where you needed to go. And then for quite a while, I hit the books as hard as I could and I did modestly in examinations. I was quite good at biology and chemistry, and I had an aversion to physics and mathematics so that coaxed me along. I was quite lucky in meeting people who helped me along the way and opened doors. I think it was just sheer good fortune that I got into med school and I was able to do research quite early on. TV: What are the risks associated with extreme dieting, for example, paleo diets? DJ: I think, to be honest, Dr. Atkins started out with these low-carbohydrate diets. Everyone thought he was crazy when he said that you could have as much saturated fats and cholesterol as you’d like, just avoid carbohydrates. He changed to a diet that emphasized low glycemic-index foods. He changed peoples’ thinking about fats and I think our diets, in terms of advoca-
cy, tend to be higher in protein and more liberal with the right sort of fats. And I don’t think that will do any harm, but I do think that extreme diets are very hard to maintain. So with these diets, people stick to them for a short while and give up. It may cause confusion in the minds of people as to what is a good diet; is there a universal diet? And I think plant-based diets and fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds are the way of the future. It’s interesting that we’re coming to this conclusion nutritionally just as environmentalists are coming to this conclusion ecologically. TV: You recently published a followup study on your prior research about the cardiac benefits of almond consumption. Could you elaborate on the benefits of almonds and other nuts? DJ: We used to think nuts were bad for you. Nuts have made a 180-degree turn; they are good foods, for several reasons: they’ve got vegetable protein, vegetable fats, no cholesterol, and many of them are full of antioxidants. So they are good, especially from a heart health profile and an anti-diabetes profile. Chewing on nuts gives you a feeling of satiety. TV: What are the risks associated with the dichotomization of foods into either good or bad, and no grey areas? DJ: I think Shakespeare said, ‘There is nothing either good or bad but
thinking makes it so.’ And that’s probably so for food — anything is not good in excess. Any food you eat is likely to cause a problem if you eat too much of it. Some foods are essential in a very small amount such as micronutrients like chromium but are toxic in high amounts. TV: Do you have any advice for students who are living on a budget, yet trying to eat healthy, nutritious food? DJ: Plant-based diets can be expensive but can be eaten cheaply if you can make things from scratch. You can get legumes — beans, peas, lentils — and make soups and stews which are good because they’re protein-rich and have fibre. If you are eating out, there are Buddhist-Chinese vegetarian restaurants where you can get healthy vegetables for quite cheap, but otherwise you can eat at home. You can eat a peanut butter and banana split when you want to treat yourself. Just remember to eat your green, leafy vegetables and fruits — a lot of students forget those. I think we should have basic cooking classes for students and students that are going to university should see a dietician to see what their needs are. But avoid eating deep-fried foods and white and refined foods; always try to go the whole grain route. If you have a lot of assignments and tests coming up, make sure you have some trail mix in the house. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Is everything you know about the big bang from the title song of The Big Bang Theory? Then you should attend this lecture by Dr. Michael Reid of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Tuesday, September 23 5:00–6:00 pm Gerstein Library 9 King’s College Circle Free; register online
Observe the Wonders of the Night Sky Arrive at the elevators on the main floor and you will be directed to the observatories to catch a glimpse of the Ring Nebula, Mars, and other cool space things. Wednesday, September 23 8:00–9:30 pm (weather-permitting) McLennan Physical Laboratories 255 Huron Street Free; no registration required
From Euclid to Einstein: Milestones in the History of Science A rare opportunity to see some of the earliest works of chemistry, geology, engineering, and astronomy — including some by Galileo. Thursday, September 24 4:00–7:00 pm Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library 120 St. George Street Free; no registration required
var.st/science
VARSITY SCIENCE
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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2020 Mars rover first to probe underground A U of T researcher will help create a subterranean profile of the Mars’ crust Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
This summer, two years after the successful landing of Mars rover Curiosity, nasa has announced which instruments their new space exploration robot will be equipped with to be launched in 2020. Out of 58 proposals, only seven were selected, one of which is a radar antenna named Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (rimfax) that will collect data from below the surface of the planet. “It’s the first ground-penetrating radar that’s based on a rover that’s going to Mars,” said Dr. Rebecca Ghent of the University of Toronto geology department, who is one of eight scientists from around the world working on rimfax. The singular benefit of having a subsurface imager on a rover lies in its mobility, allowing the researchers to cherry-pick the loca-
Artist’s concept of the SuperCam Instrument for Mars 2020 Rover. COURTeSY OF NASA
tions they wish to profile. Ghent explained, “There are other radars that are in orbit around Mars that do a similar thing but not quite
in the same way; they collect subsurface reflections from wherever they’re orbiting and they can’t drive wherever they want.”
Ground Penetrating Radar technology is well known to scientists, and has been used extensively on our own planet for any and all earthly ground-probing needs, with applications ranging from civil engineering to mining and geophysical research. The antenna emits signals underground, which are then returned, in the same way that a ship would use sonar to detect what lies beneath the surface of the water. However, Ghent explains that her instrument is not quite the same thing. “It’s different from sonar in the sense that sonar are sound waves that are passed through water and these are electromagnetic waves that can pass through a vacuum or other material.” Although previous Mars rovers have captured stunningly clear photographs of the planet’s surface have delighted space enthusiasts everywhere, rimfax will offer us a whole new dimension of data. Ghent believes that a lot of the relevant geo-
physical information lies in the “vertical” rather than the “horizontal.” This three-dimensional aspect is one of the reasons rimfax was selected for the mission despite such steep competition. The instrument even has the unique ability to seek channels carved by water flow, hidden deep underground. Such buried formations would indicate that in the past the planet might have had conditions that could potentially sustain life. Even if the sought-after channels were formed by other geological phenomena, such as lava flow, Ghent is confident that any results to be yielded by rimfax will provide new clues about Mars’ planetary evolution. “For me that’s always the overarching goal: to understand the evolution of the planet as a whole. The life question is only a part of it,” she said. “Regardless of whether we succeed in our goal of finding anything out about habitable environments we’re [going to] get lots of great geological information.”
Nspiring students with the Discovery Series Nspire Innovation Network’s first Discovery Series event to feature a demonstration integrating Tesla, Android Wear, and Google Glass
Students at Nspire Innovation Network’s discovery series from 2013. COURTeSY OF NSpiRe iNNOvATiON NeTwORk
Rohan Kulkarni
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Nspire Innovation Network is Canada’s largest student-run non-profit organization in the business and technology sector,
operating on 15 campuses across Canada. On Tuesday, September 23, Nspire will be hosting the first event of their monthly Discovery Series (ds). “We operate as a platform for students to connect and network with professionals who can give them
an idea as to the skillset necessary to work in industry, and to succeed as an entrepreneur,” said Govind Peringod, the managing director of ds Toronto and a third-year Engineering Science student. “This year, we want to focus on the student’s journey of self-discovery,”
said Peringod. “We have a multitude of very interactive events focused on getting students to think about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and aligning their goals with their path,” he added. The group is hoping to set the tone for what they want to
achieve during the year with a comprehensive introduction to the world of mobile development. “We aim to give [students] a sense to what the industry is like, as well as provide some tangible opportunities for advancement for all sorts of people,” said Peringod. The event features a keynote address delivered by Nahim Nasser, the Vice President of Engineering at BNotions, followed by several interactive demonstrations. The most exciting of the demonstrations to be featured is an integration between Tesla, Android Wear, and Google Glass. Ananya Tandon-Verma, the president of the Nspire Innovation Network said, “Our three main goals are to connect, empower, and inspire students.” “We help students connect to like-minded peers, to organizations and think-tanks who could foster their ideas, and to both large companies and start-ups who could help their idea come to fruition,” said Tandon-Verma. “We empower them with the skillset necessary to take the leap between ideation and execution, and finally we inspire them to achieve what they never thought possible,” she added. “The sun’s rays are normally too diffuse to do anything, but if you focus them with a magnifying glass, you can burn paper,” said Peringod. “We want to be the magnifying glass that provides students with the laserfocus necessary to be leaders and innovators in whatever they wish to achieve.”
VARSITY SCIENCE
20 Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
science@thevarsity.ca
Arts & Science students sought after at the Hatchery The entrepreneurship Hatchery offers numerous resources to enterprising undergrads Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Julien BalBontin/tHe Varsity
“I’ve already had two companies and failed,” are not the words that you’d expect to come out of the mouth of an undergraduate student. With the constant pressure to hand in essays, finish assignments, and get as close to that 4.0 gpa as you possibly can, starting businesses is not the first thing on a lot of U of T students’ minds. Yet what a lot of Arts & Science undergraduates have not realized is that in the eyes of investors, we are an abundant source of untapped potential. The Hatchery is hoping to help students not just see but also realize their potential. Founded two and a half years ago, the Hatchery is an initiative that provides resources for undergraduates who possess the spirit of entrepreneurship, aiming to build a strong community for businessminded students from all disciplines. The Hatchery offers a weekly event, the Idea Market, where prospective
Ebola and bioethics A follow-up on last weeks panel discussion about ethical issues surrounding the Ebola outbreak Shijie Zhou
VARSITY STAFF
The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the biggest in history and is affecting multiple countries. To address the grave situation, U of T’s Joint Centre for Bioethics convened a panel discussion on the ethical issues surrounding the global public health responses towards the outbreak. The multidisciplinary panel featured Dr. Udo Schüklenk from Queen’s University and Dr. Nancy Walton from Ryerson University, in addition to Dr. Alison Thompson, Dr. James Lavery, and Dr. Ross Upshur from U of T. Dr. Temidayo Ogundiran and Dr. Abha Saxena joined the coversation remotely from Nigeria and the World Health Organization respectively. The discussion covered a wide variety of issues, with the most urgent being the lack of resources available. Schüklenk, recently having returned from Nigeria and having noticed the overcrowding of treatment facilities, pointed out that the demand for centres was far from being fulfilled. Given the high demand for and low supply of drugs, vaccines, and treatment facilities, the question of whether limited resources should be directed to data collection on the ground needs to be considered. Despite acknowledging the cost, Schüklenk was convinced that research should not be jeopardized. However, current research fails to respond adequately to the outbreak. On this front, Walton said, “Research guidelines are fantastic, but the context in which they could be applied is very narrow.” She believes that in order for any discussion to be meaningful, certain rules need to be broken for actions such as fast-tracking
a vaccine, but deciding which rule to override is an issue. Another of the many of obstacles to an acceptable global health response is the lack of public trust. Thompson asked the audience to think from a different perspective. She said, “You have people coming in, in spacesuits, telling you that you cannot bury your mom the way you want to... there’s a profound mis-
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trust in Africa around foreigners.” According to Upshur, we know the ethical issues and have the analytical tools. However, the disconnect between the thinking and planning out of possible solutions, and the application of those plans in case of emergency, is the largest obstacle. “We can talk about ethics as much as we like but it’s not going to impact how we practice it,” he said.
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humanities, who would never consider building or contributing to a successful start-up, due to the mistaken belief that compared to engineering and computer science, their programs of study don’t prepare them for taking on startups. Yet Zahid explained how it is precisely the need for multidisciplinary teams that leads the Hatchery to not just welcome, but actively seek out Arts & Science students. “We have had a lot of teams with people who were just engineers who had amazing ideas but just did not know how to articulate [them] properly,” said Zahid. Teams with students from a variety of disciplines set the studewnts up for success with well rounded ideas, and better thought-out propositions. Idea Markets are held every Wednesday at the Bahen Centre all year long, so as to help any and all students who have a bright idea mingle, connect, and form teams to kick start a business plan as soon as possible.
80% off Amazing string quartets and pianists Student tickets only $10 each at
Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts Box office: www.stlc.com, and 416-366-7723 /MusicToronto
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student-entrepreneurs can meet to discuss ideas and share skills and experiences with their peers in a creative environment. The first Idea Market was held on September 17 at the Bahen Centre. Affaf Zahid, a Hatchery Connector, admitted at the event that a large portion of the undergraduate student body remains aware of the Hatchery’s existence. “We are trying to make a point that this is accessible, because I am personally an English major and I didn’t know about the Hatchery until I started working here. Most people don’t,” Zahid explained. According to Zahid, a disconnect exists between the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Arts & Science. She believes Arts & Science students are hesitant to get involved due to the Hatchery’s involvement with the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. U of T has many students, especially in programs such as the
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Sports
VAR.ST/SPORTS 22 SEPTEMBER 2014
sports@thevarsity.ca
Seemingly superhuman: technology’s impact on sports Technology has drastically changed the way that sports are now played Kasi Sewraj
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
In the Summer Olympics of 1912, Canada’s George Hodgson broke the World Record for the 1500m freestyle with a time of 23:23:00 minutes. In 2012, Sun Yang of China demolished his opponents, and set his own world record in just 14:31:02. How is it possible that today’s athletes are so much faster than yesteryear’s? We have not exactly evolved drastically in the past 100 years, but there is a large change that can be noted: the evolution of technology. A significant part of athletic improvement in recent years has to do with adaptations made to sporting equipment. At the beginning of the twentieth century, most swimsuits were made of heavy, woolen knitted materials, which pulled and slowed swimmers down almost as soon as they entered the water. Swimsuits are now made out of polyurethane, which decreases the amount of friction between the swimmer’s body and the water, so much so that in 2009 when these suits were first unveiled, 168 world records were broken. Polyurethane swimsuits have since been banned due to the unfair advantage that they give to professional athletes, but they do show how important equipment advances are in an athletic setting.
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We can see how these assistive technologies are helpful in all sports, and each sport has made major changes in how their equipment aids athletes to achieve new recordbreaking heights. The entire goal of using science and technology to assist athletes is to drive humans to greater and higher levels of performance. One advantage of technological advancement in athletes’ supporting aids and personal protective equipment, that is often overlooked is how it increases performance as well as protecting the athletes.
Helmets are known to serve a very important purpose in trying to decrease cranial or spinal damage in many different sports. In the 1920s, football helmets were made out of soft leather and were not at all effective against head injuries. After, helmets were made out of hard leather, then further evolved to use plastic, then polycarbon. Additional features are added to many helmets such as cages and chin guards, varying from sport to sport. These helmets are now lighter and more effective in preventing injury, and most of this has to do with the
evolution of design technology and the development of new compounds that resist damage. Helmets are now designed to be lighter, more protective, more aerated, and allow the players to better see through faceprotective features than previously. Without these important aids, athletes would not have the personal protective equipment they would need to play hard and worry less about the chance of injury. Technological advancements are also being used to help our athletes train more effectively. Athletes are becoming more and more adept
to using instant replay and video analysis technologies to improve when training. Athletes can record themselves and use instant playback and slow motion to help them perfect their game with high-definition video or smart phone apps. They are able to analyze all angles and details of their movements and make adjustments to their personal mechanics to improve performance. Referees and umpires can also use this technology to help them make accurate calls. Additionally, programs like BodyByte are being used to help athletes manage their nutrition, training, and fitness for optimal athletic outcome. Training hard and training well has become a staple for every athlete, and new computer programs just make it that much easier to train and play more effectively. Comparing athletes from the past with our current athletes yield major differences that technology has had on specializing our athletes to make them the perfect machines for their specific sport. Our athletes are training harder, but more importantly, they are training more effectively due to advances in sports technology. Through evolution in sporting equipment, supporting aids, and new training technologies, who knows what the future holds for our forthcoming athletes?
Three of a kind A guide to baseball, fastpitch, and slowpitch
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Slowpitch differs from baseball both in the size of the ball, the manner in which the ball is thrown, and the field dimensions. A slowpitch ball is larger than that used in baseball and must be pitched underhand and lobbed towards the batter. U of T intramurals provides a slowpitch league during the summer for U of T students. The league is offered at both competitive and recreational levels. The softball intramural season consists of a summer tournament that welcomes both recreational teams for players new to the sport and competitive teams. Other variations of the sport can be found based on different types of slowpitch, and the league where it is being played
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BASEBALL “America’s favourite pastime” is the best known of the three variations, and is played with balls with a circumference of 23 centimeters, three bases 90 feet apart. The pitcher’s mound is 60 feet and six inches away from the plate. The fence is the longest of the three variations with centre field typically resting between 395 and 410 feet away from home plate. A typical baseball game lasts nine innings, during which each team’s offense has three outs to score as many runs as possible.
FASTPITCH Like slowpitch, fastpitch is a variation of softball, and is offered as a varsity sport at U of T. The pitching mechanics used in fastpitch differ from both those in baseball and slowpitch. The pitch is delivered underhand, but in a windmill style where the pitcher’s arm will move at least 360 degrees around and the pitcher launches off of the rubber. These pitches can reach up to 130 km/h The field is smaller with bases 60 feet apart, the pitcher’s rubber 43 feet from the plate, and the centre field fence typically around 325 feet away from the plate. “Pitching can dominate, but that’s part of the allure — the skill of making the ball rise, sink, curve, and change speeds,” said fastpitch head coach Craig Sarson. The women’s fastpitch team is currently sitting at a 6-2 record and at second place in the Ontario Inter-
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The Varsity Blues baseball and fastpitch seasons are underway, and the intramural slowpitch season recently ended. The differences between these three bat and ball sports may not be obvious to all. The following guide identifies what makes each sport unique and how to get involved, either as a player or as a spectator.
collegiate Women’s Fastpitch Association standings. “If you are a baseball fan, imagine the game being 1/3 smaller with the same skill level,” said Sarson. “Eerything moves faster, quicker and it’s intense every play because the dimensions allow the defense to make big plays,” added Sarson.
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VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Varsity Blues baseball team play their home games at Dan Lang Field, and are off to a strong start this season with a 3-3 record.
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Anthony Piruzza
kawmadie karunanayake/the Varsity
22 Vol. CXXXV, No. 4
VARSITY SPORTS
sports@thevarsity.ca
Varsity Blues alumnus: David Scandiffio Scandiffio reflects on his time as a top athlete on the Varsity Blues football team Elizabeth Benn
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Varsity Blues football team is halfway through its season and is sitting at a 1-3 record. The team is hoping to make a comeback in its last four games in order to make a playoff run. In 1993, the Blues were not relying on a late-season rally to find success in the league. This was the last year that the Blues won the Yates Cup (Ontario championship) and moved on to the national championships. The team then won the Vanier Cup (the national championship) for the second time in its history, 28 years after its first victory. However, before the season began, U of T was considering cutting the team. “Being part of the Vanier Cup winning football team was of course a major highlight, particularly given the fact that the program was supposed to be cut my final season,” said David Scandiffio, a member of the championship team as an offensive guard. “I am very grateful to the alumni that rallied both financial and influential support to resurrect the team; it is a key reason I am involved in the varsity alumni today,” he added. Scandiffio played five years of football at U of T and graduated in 1994 with a BSc. in actuarial science. In 1992, Scandiffio was named a first-team all-Canadian and won the Ontario University Athletics (oua) J.P Metras Trophy, presented to the top lineman in the province. He was named to the oua and Canadian Intercolle-
Scandiffio lead 1993 Varsity Blues to two cup victories. CoURTESy oF DAVID SCANDIFFIo
giate Sport (cis) first teams again in 1993, and was also drafted by the Toronto Argonauts. The highlight of his time on the team was, of course, the 1993 season when the team took both provincial and national championship titles. “In a lot of ways, winning the Yates Cup was almost even sweet-
er, as it was the first time in my varsity career that we knocked off Western, a constant nemesis for us,” said Scandiffio. “I think the celebration that night when we got back to Toronto was as big as when we won the Vanier. Our confidence grew and at that point we felt we could beat anyone,” he added
Scandiffio is a Toronto native who went to high school at St. Michael’s College. This was also where he first started playing football. The high school had a strong football program and saw many of its players attending U of T for university and joining the football team. “Ten to 12 guys on our Vanier team came from St Mike’s, including Lou Tiro, who won the President’s Trophy as the top defensive player in the cis our final year,” said Scandiffio. Scandiffio still sees his former teammates at an annual alumni event, and through the annual hall of fame inductions which allow U of T’s top athletes to reconnect. “What’s amazing to me is how quickly we quickly revert back to our interactions, even if you haven’t seen the person in a decade or more,” he said. After graduation, Scandiffio worked for Mackenzie Financial, and later joined Industrial Alliance, a Quebec-based insurance company, and became the executive vice president, wealth management, a role which he still currently holds. Scandiffio also coached at U of T for a few years after he graduated. “It provided me with a renewed appreciation for the sacrifices of our coaches as it was extremely time consuming,” he said. He is still involved with the football program through the Friends of Football program and as the director of the Varsity Leadership Foundation. Furthermore, Scandiffio also kept ties with St. Michael’s College by serving a committee for an alumni golf tournament.
Scandiffio was also a part of creating the Bob Laycoe Scholarship, awarded to a football player annually, by coordinating and communicating the support of the athletes who played under Laycoe. “[Laycoe] had a profound impact on each of us individually, reinforcing the character, determination, and collaboration required to succeed,” said Scandiffio. “Bob always stressed the importance of being an exemplary student-athlete, so we thought it was important as his players we could collectively set up an award that recognized and rewards Varsity Blue athletes embody those traits,” said Scandiffio. In 2001, Scandiffio was named to the Varsity Blues all-century team, and in 2013 he was inducted into U of T’s sports hall of fame. At least one game per year, Scandiffio brings his family to take part in the tradition. “The cis is a tough, competitive league, but... under Coach Gary the team has really turned the corner and is heading in the right direction. Establishing a winning culture can be a difficult and often elusive thing, but the coaching staff and players are certainly on the path to success,” he said on the current program. “Being a part of the Varsity Blues was a tremendous experience for me personally,” he said. “We spent endless hours together training, practicing, studying game tape towards a common goal, all the while trying to balance our classes and assignments. It was great prep for balancing [and] integrating work and life priorities later in life.”
Blues shut out RMC 3-0
Anthony Capotosto celebrates his hundredth win with the Varsity Blues Reshara Alviarez VARSITY STAFF
The Varsity Blues men’s soccer team had a tough lead to follow on Saturday afternoon after the Blues women’s soccer team celebrated a 3-0 victory over the Paladins. The men’s team certainly did not disappoint. It also enjoyed an important win over the Paladins of the Royal Military College of Canada (rmc) later that day in a 3-0 victory. The men’s head coach, Anthony Capotosto, celebrated his hundredth win as a Varsity Blues head coach. Capotosto’s hundredth win comes after eight years as men’s head coach and two seasons as women’s bench boss. Capotosto was an oua all-star when he played for the Blues in 1997 and 1999-2002. The Blues’ Nirun Sivananthan set up a cross to Russell Rodrigues who then scored in the seventeenth minute of the game, setting the Blues off to an early start. This was followed by an-
The men’s soccer team is currently fourth in the rankings in the OUA East. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy
other goal by Blues leading scorer Kilian Elkinson, scored in the thirty-second minute. Elkinson led the Ontario University Athletics (oua) with seven goals in six games heading into this game.
Heading into half-time, team captain Mario Kovacevic scored the third and final goal of the game, placing the Blues at a 3-0 lead over the Paladins. U of T goalkeeper Mark Rogal also per-
formed very well, making two saves in the much-anticipated oua match. The Blues men’s team played the Queen’s Gaels on Sunday and won 5-2-1, improving their re-
cord to 5-2-1 and jumping up to third place in the oua East division. The Blues look forward to similar success in the upcoming weeks leading to oua playoffs in October.
VARSITY SPORTS
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST A Trivial Comedy for Serious People By Oscar Wilde Directed by Cory Doran
SEPT. 19–OCT. 4, 2014 BOX OFFICE: www.uofttix.ca / 416.978.8849 Adults $28 / Seniors $17 / Students $15 $10 Student tickets every Wednesday!
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editor@thevarsity.ca
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Check out the solutions next Monday at var.st/crosswords
ACROSS 1. Cash on hand? 4. Statistical value 8. Mounted on 12. Hue and cry 13. Sailor’s hail 14. Lymph bump 15. Imitation, to gamers 16. A driver may change one 17. Didn’t guess 18. Fixed part of a motor 20. Cry heard by Cratchit 22. Give the edge to? 23. Tiered stage platforms 27. Cartographer’s concern 29. Thor or Thoth 30. Champion’s award 31. Wilderness song? 32. Farm mother 33. Building regulations 34. Similar type 35. Animal in the house 36. Trig ratio, briefly 37. French mathematician 39. Pass 40. He gives a hoot 41. Bug no end 44. Diagnostic procedure 47. Walkie-talkie word 49. Bit 50. Fabled racer 51. Propellers, of a sort 52. Stretch (out) 53. Good lookers? 54. Gala gathering 55. Checkers, e.g.
DOWN 1. Barbershop member 2. Clean copy? 3. Navy cruise missiles 4. Danson role 5. Midwest hub 6. Corleone’s title 7. Type of pencil 8. Crosses with loops 9. Storage unit 10. Burns writing 11. Chapel seat 19. Going rate? 21. First or foreign follower 24. Biodiversity setting 25. Hardly genteel 26. Architect’s detail 27. Lollipop, to Shirley 28. Caffeine source, often 29. Understood 32. Stockbroker’s term 33. Corn holders 35. Claw site 36. Not refined 38. Highway markers 39. Belgium treaty city 42. Water-skiing locale 43. Biblical plot? 44. H. Rider Haggard novel 45. Islet 46. It may follow you 48. Struggle
We’re hiring! The Varsity is looking to hire a student for the position of Business Associate. The Business Associate will be trained by the Business Manager and gain experience in media, advertising sales, team leadership, and the business and financial management of a corporation.
Experience and qualifications û Current post-secondary student at U of T, preferably not in final year of study û Experienced in managing finances û Experienced in bookkeeping and bookkeeping software
Please submit a resume, cover letter, and two references to hiring@thevarsity.ca addressed to Danielle Klein, Editor-in-Chief, by October 1, 2014, at 5:00 pm. More information can be found online at
var.st/bizassociate2014