November 3, 2014

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

3 November, 2014

The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

Back to the drawing board

Board proposal defeated, UTSU has one year to draw up a new board structure Iris Robin, Alex Verman, and Tamim Mansour VARSITY CONTRIBUTORS

After a heated debate, the controversial proposed changes to the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) Board of Directors structure were narrowly defeated at the Annual General Meeting (agm) after having been externalized. Several other bylaw amendments were passed in omnibus.

If passed, the amendments would have granted representation to colleges and professional faculties through a committee and replaced the current board structure with constituency directors with purview over specific equity-based issues.

MIXED REACTIONS Following the failure of the amendment, many students present at the meeting erupted into loud cheers, while others appeared disappointed.

Many members of the Engineering Society (EngSoc) voted against the proposal and encouraged fellow students to come and do the same. “I’m feeling relieved, but also saddened, in the sense that knowing this is going to car-

ry on for another year,” said Teresa Nguyen, president of the Engineering Society.

“I am pleased with the vote. There was a clear divide in the room and it is important that everyone can agree on a new structure,” said Pierre Harfouche, utsu vice-president, university affairs.

“Obviously, I’m thrilled with the result of the Board of Directors vote,” said Ryan Lamers, president of the Innis College Student Society.

However, Lamers said that the vote highlighted the gaping divide between campuses at the University of Toronto. Lamers believes that the vote stressed the need for a St. George campus–focused students’ union.

Najiba Ali Sardar, utsu vice-president, equity, did not vote in favour of the proposal. “I do feel like this proposal was flawed in many ways,” she said, adding, “If there is a proposal that is seeing this much backlash from our students, are we really representing our students on campus?”

Yolen Bollo-Kamara, utsu president, said that she was disappointed with the result of the vote given that the majority of students voted in favour of it.

The amendments would have passed had they required a simple majority.

SAFE SPACES AND SECURITY Ashkon Hashemi, the chair of the meeting, called for order and decorum repeatedly throughout the meeting as the students present applauded, chanted, and became increasingly unruly. Several complaints were heard over the course of the evening, including displeasure with some of the language used.

“I don’t believe that the space at the agm was safe. People were constantly being asked to stop heckling, stop hooting, stop shouting/ laughing at others. It continued from the very beginning right until the end,” said Ali Sardar.

Ali Sardar also condemned the exchanges she saw online. “A large portion [of students] used Twitter to attack and make fun of their peers. I am disgusted by the things I’ve read online,” Ali Sardar said, adding, “If I were a first-year student and this was my first experience, I can guarantee I would never go back.”

Ali Sardar said that there is no excuse for the behaviour that took place at the agm and that she expected better from U of T students.

Angelo Mateo, a student in attendance, noted that he saw members of the utm Blind Duck Pub security team at the meeting.

Mateo said it was inappropriate for secu-

rity to be standing inside the room during the meeting and alleged that their presence was an intimidation tactic. “If the utsu was actually concerned, they should have asked Campus Police to attend — not the security detail of utm’s Blind Duck pub,” Mateo said.

“The Blind Duck Pub staff have assisted with entry for the past few years, after an agm where inebriated students created some difficulties,” said Bollo-Kamara, who said that their assistance facilitated smooth entry and minimized delays to the meeting.

MEETING ADJOURNED Following the end of the voting on the proposed board structure, Vip Vigneswaran, former campaign manager of the Unite slate, motioned to adjourn the meeting before a motion mobilizing an anti-war coalition and a motion regarding the Student Commons Management Committee, among others, could be addressed.

“I felt that tensions were high, people were tired, and all the contentious issues that required membership approval had been dealt with,” said Vigneswaran of his motion.

CONTINUED ON PG 4

INSIDE Comment Responses to the AGM

Features In conversation with Adrienne Clarkson

Arts & Culture Developing student art

Science Transatlantic Science Week in review

Sports Blues field hockey wins silver

Two writers analyze the contentious UTSU meeting

2014 Massey lecturer talks citizenship, the CBC

A profile of U of T artist Will Power

Scholars, ambassadors gather at Hart House

CIS Championship hosts place second

PG 10

PG 12

PG 14

PG 18

PG 21

2

VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

THE VARSITY

news@thevarsity.ca

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

VOL. CXXXV, No. 9

21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON, M5S 1J6 Phone: 416-946-7600 thevarsity.ca thevarsitynewspaper @TheVarsity

Masthead editor-in-chief editor@thevarsity.ca Danielle Klein Production Manager Catherine Virelli production@thevarsity.ca Managing online editor online@thevarsity.ca Shaquilla Singh Design editors Kawmadie Karunanayake Mari Zhou design@thevarsity.ca Photo editor Jennifer Su

photo@thevarsity.ca

senior copy editors Lucy Genua Rose Tornabene

copy@thevarsity.ca

news editor James Flynn

news@thevarsity.ca

comment editor Alec Wilson

comment@thevarsity.ca

Features editor Samantha Relich

features@thevarsity.ca

arts & culture editor Sarah Niedoba

arts@thevarsity.ca

science editor Jasleen Arneja

science@thevarsity.ca

sports editor Elizabeth Benn

sports@thevarsity.ca

illustration editor Julien Balbontin illustration@thevarsity.ca Video editor Jamieson Wang

video@thevarsity.ca

Web Developer Eric Bannatyne

web@thevarsity.ca

Associate Design Editor Vacant

A spider appears at Convocation Hall just in time for Halloween. jessica song/THe VarsiTy

Submit your photos to photo@thevarsity.ca.

Associate Photo Editor Vacant Associate Senior Copy Editor Vacant Associate News Editors Iris Robin Alex McKeen Associate Comment Editors Victoria Wicks Emma Kikulis Associate Features Editor Vacant Associate A&C Editors Daniel Konikoff Jacob Lorinc Associate Science Editor Nadezha Woinowsky-Krieger Associate Sports Editor Reshara Alviarez Associate Web Developer Ishan Thukral contributors Zaigham Ali, Emily Colero, Emma Compeau, Nabi Dressler, Heather Eason, Misara Elgammal, Meerah Haq, Daniel Konikoff, Christopher Lee, Jeremy Li, Amna MahderBashi, Alex McKeen, Christian Medeiros, Sarah Niedoba, Daria Petrovich, Iris Robin, Zane Schwartz, Kasi Sewraj, Caroline Shim, Aidan Slind, Ian Thompson, Thomas Vangou, Alex Verman, Brittaney Warren, Victoria Wicks, Hannah Wilkinson, Nadezha WoinowksyKrieger, Ameena Yousef copy editors and Fact-checkers Elizabeth Benn, Julia Hanbury, Hannah Lee, Jane Lee, Joanne Lee, Hunter McGuire, Malone Mullin, Sarah Niedoba, Jonathan Soo, Suhas Srinivasan, Catherine Virelli Designers Kawmadie Karunanayake, Tiffany Wu, Mari Zhou cover Photo by Sarah Niedoba

Photographers and illustrators Julien Balbontin, Brittany Gerow, Elena Iourteva, Daniel Konikoff, Janice Liu, Evan Luke, Mallika Makkar, Sarah Niedoba, Denis Osipov, Priyanka Sharma, Jessica Song, Jennifer Su, Mari Zhou

Business Office Business Manager Karen Zhou business@thevarsity.ca Business Associate Vacant Advertising Executives Anna Afshar anna@thevarsity.ca rachel@thevarsity.ca Rachel Choi 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

WHAT’S GOING ON THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS MONDAY ASSU PRESENTS: TA-NEHISI COATES Isabel Bader Theatre, 7:00 pm–9:00 pm Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of “The Case for Reparations,” will be speaking about the issue of reparations to African-Americans in the United States, followed by a Q&A panel

TUESDAY UNFILTERED: TRUTH TALKS AT UTSC UTSC Management Wing, MW 130, 4:00 pm–5:30 pm In partnership with the UTSC Equity & Diversity Office, this discussion session’s theme is Race, Gender & Culture in Higher Education.

WEDNESDAY DANCE WORKSHOP: LGBT SALSA! Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, Fitness Room, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm An informative session followed by a Salsa dance workshop open to all. This event is hosted in collaboration with LGBT Dance at U of T.

THURSDAY FIGHT LIKE A GIRL — WOMEN’S SELF-DEFENCE WORKSHOP Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, Fitness Room, 4:00 pm–5:30 pm Learn self-defence techniques in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Those under the age of 18 require a waiver to participate in this event.

FRIDAY 7TH ANNUAL GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM Dalla Lana School of Public Health, 8:00 am–6:00 pm This symposium will be centred on the recent Ebola crisis. Experts and healthcare professionals will be present to discuss controversies and challenges.

THE EXPLAINER

Things you still can’t do in Canada Pay for an iPad in nickels: If you’ve been saving your spare change for such an occasion, you’ll be disappointed to know that the Canada Currency Act of 1985 restricts purchases with nickels to a $5 cap. Don’t even think about trying to pay with pennies. (May the penny rest in peace, along with Pluto’s planetary status.)

Paint a wooden ladder in Alberta: The Occupational Health and Safety Code of Alberta prohibits the painting of wooden ladders, as it might conceal the ladder’s condition.

Painting a ladder intended for artistic purposes may still be in the clear.

Jump wherever you want in Lake Ontario in Toronto: The Toronto Port Authority restricts your swim-

ming freedoms to designated zones. This only applies to those gutsy enough to brave the lake’s putrid waters in the first place.

Be anything but dapper as a cab driver in Halifax:

Taxi drivers in Halifax are required to bring their A-game to every shift. T-shirts are off limits.

Pretend to practice witchcraft: Section 365 of the

Canada Criminal Code makes it illegal for you to pretend to possess supernatural powers. A Toronto man was charged for this in 2012, when he convinced a woman to pay him to rid her family of a curse. You may wish to remove pictures of your realistic Halloween witch costume from Facebook as soon as possible.

Corrections: An article from Issue 8 contained outdated information about the Goldring Centre’s opening date and fundraising progress.

An article from Issue 8 incorrectly said that the vice-provost did not release the list of members under U of T policy; that Deloitte was hired independently by the CFS; that, in July, the GSU was seeking legal counsel; and that the GSU Litigation Committee was formed in response to a petition’s failure.

VARSITY NEWS

var.st/news

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

3

Divest petition launch disrupted Host organization demands response from university following intrusion from off-campus group Representatives of Israel on Campus, a student group dedicated to celebrating Israeli culture and history, were also present at the event.

Members stated that the jdl is largely shunned within the greater Jewish community.

Hannah Wilkinson

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

On October 27, the Graduate Students’ Union’s (gsu) Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (bds) ad hoc committee hosted U of T Divest, a launch event for their Divestment Campaign.

The campaign protests the university’s investment in certain military and weapons manufacturing companies.

The event, which was held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (oise) building, was almost cut short due to an unforeseen disruption by the Jewish Defence League (jdl), an off-campus group with no official affiliation on campus.

The Divestment Campaign petitions U of T to stop investing money in companies they believe to be complicit in international war crimes, specifically in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

According to the campaign, the university invests $3,777,326 in three allegedly complicit companies: Hewlett Packard, Northrup Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.

In December 2012, the gsu voted to endorse Palestinian civil society’s 2005 call for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, which included these three companies.

PROTESTING THE PETITION Midway through the event, protestors began to rebel against the panel, cutting speakers off and refusing to peacefully vacate the premises.

Campus police were called, and the event was recessed while they attempted to settle the disruption.

After much negotiation, the event coordinators managed to secure a new room at oise — albeit a smaller one.

When the disruptors refused to leave, campus police officially cancelled the event, citing orders from the Office of the Vice-Provost.

This sparked a major outcry from students and faculty alike.

“This is really shameful... This is a block of freedom of speech,” said Rand Askalan, assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics, at the event.

QUESTIONS ASKED IN AFTERMATH OF DISRUPTION

The event was held at a theatre in the OISE building. DENIS OSIPOV/THE VArSITy

Meir Weinstein, a spokesperson for the jdl, said there is an ongoing campaign to challenge the administration of many campuses to stop the bds movement, a campaign that attempts to place economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with certain goals, including the end of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

“The bds movement is one of the most vile, anti-semitic movements around today. The jdl and the Jewish community, I may say, is very concerned of their presence on campus. It leads to hostility against Jews, and that’s the reason we were there,” said Weinstein.

CONTROVERSY The event last Monday marked the launch of the Divest petition, and was focused on creating financial pressures to curb the allegedly immoral activities of certain companies.

Sam Spady, a phd student at oise, spoke on behalf of U of T Divest.

“We want to talk about how our tuition dollars are complicit in war crimes that we think are not ethical or just. These are war crimes by international standards. We’re trying to pressure [the companies] financially to encourage them to not participate in these crimes,” said Spady.

The event featured academic speakers who encouraged the audience to help push the

movement forward.

Shourideh Molavi, a phd candidate at York University; Hazem Jamjoum, a doctoral student at New York University; and Dr Nahida Gordon, professor emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, all spoke at the event.

Haider Eid, an associate professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, sent a video of his presentation as he receives only intermittent power in Gaza.

The video was not shown due to the disruption by protestors.

In her address to the audience via Skype, Molavi said that it is important for this movement to take root in universities. This is especially true of U of T, she said, as it is one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country and, in many ways, the face of Canada.

Throughout the panel, disruptors in the audience continued to shout over speakers. Halfway through the second presentation by Jamjoum, the audience became unruly and a crowd of protestors loudly interrupted the event.

Around 8:00 pm, attendees were asked to wait outside while the event co-ordinators tried to work with campus police to remove the disruptors.

It was around 9:00 pm before the event was able to continue. Although officially cancelled, the event continued after moving upstairs.

Over the last week, the main focus of many within the U of T community has been addressing U of T policy with regards to how the disruption was handled.

Around 30 faculty and staff have signed a letter sent to Angela Hildyard, vice-president, human resources & equity, demanding answers and accountability for how Monday’s disruption was handled.

The letter requested that the jdl be officially banned from campus.

As of press time, the vice-president’s office has not responded to the letter.

In a press release sent out on Friday, U of T Divest condemned the acts of the jdl and demanded an immediate response from the university.

Monday’s event was not the first time such a problem has arisen.

Jens Hanssen, associate professor of history and near and Middle Eastern civilizations, said that this sort of activity has been a recurring pattern in her career at U of T since 2002. “I have witnessed a growing depoliticization of campus,” he said.

Hanssen also said that faculty were upset by the presence of campus police and by the fact that some students were denied the opportunity to speak.

“All these tactics are contrary to the spirit of what our university should encourage,” Hanssen added.

Weinstein said that the event was a onesided conversation. “These people are not interested in free conversation. Their starting point is to make an accusation against Jews and Israel that is abominable, and to assume that anyone there — or everyone — should agree with their definition, and they can’t move beyond that,” he said.

U of T Divest has said it will continue its campaign while it awaits an official response from the university.

Ed Iacobucci to head law school Tuition concerns bubble up as new dean prepares to take office Aidan Slind

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

On October 23, professor Ed Iacobucci was named the new dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. He currently serves as the faculty’s associate dean of research and Osler Chair in Business Law. A scion of a distinguished legal family with deep roots at the university, Iacobucci’s father, Frank, served as dean of the Faculty of Law from 1979 to 1983.

“I’ve been here a long time, and I care a lot about the place,” said Iacobucci.

Before taking office on January 1, Iacobucci said, his first priority is to consult the law school’s stakeholders to determine the school’s order of business.

“I hope to get a real sense of what the priorities are… I think there are opportunities for outreach on different kinds of dimensions, and I’d like to hear what people think about that,” he said.

Nonetheless, he has an idea of what some of the key issues will be over his five-year tenure.

Tuition, which increased by 320 per cent under former dean Ron Daniels, is an issue for many prospective and current U of T law students.

“Accessibility will undoubtedly be a priority,” he added.

Asked how he would maintain U of T’s status at the top common law school in Canada, Iacobucci said that the faculty must work to take advantage of the opportunities presented by globalization, while not compromising the school’s defining feature: an academic approach to legal education.

U of T placed first overall in the 2013 Maclean’s Canadian Law School Rankings.

Iacobucci also favoured furthering involvement with other U of T departments.

“I think it’s worth exploring a greater outreach within the university, with the Munk School, for example,” he said.

“With the building ready to go [in 2016], we’re in a good position to start thinking about what we’re going to do programmatically to make this place even stronger. It’s a really exciting time and I’m just delighted to be a part of it,” he added.

However, Ella Henry and Riaz Sayani-Mulji of the U of T Law Union were less optimistic, saying the appointment may not be a good sign for students in difficult financial circumstances.

“The university’s decision to appoint Prof.

Iacobucci as Dean suggests to many that the school is more interested in maintaining its old boys club, than addressing issues of affordability, accessibility and diversity,” they said.

Furthermore, as reported by the U of T law

Iacobucci was appointed for a five-year term. COUrTESy OF JOHNNy GUATTO

students’ paper Ultra Vires, many students felt their input in his selection process was not taken seriously.

Padraigin Murphy, vice-president, Student Affairs and Governance at the Students’ Law Society, reiterated that sentiment.

“It is no secret that students have been distrustful of this process since the beginning. That said, the process is what it is, and it isn’t set by the Faculty of Law,” Murphy said.

However, Murphy remained positive about the appointment.

“I, for one, am very excited about this appointment, and optimistic for the changes on the horizon for our community,” Murphy said.

Similarly, Mayo Moran, Trinity College provost and former law dean, had nothing but praise for Iacobucci.

“He is an absolutely first-rate academic, an outstanding teacher and an engaged administrator and university citizen. Any institution would be fortunate to have Ed as a leader and there could not be a more fitting choice to lead one of the world’s great law schools,” she said.

4

VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

UTSU THROUGH THE YEARS

news@thevarsity.ca

Controversial board proposal rejected at AGM CONTINUED FROM COVER

2011

However, Victoria College utsu director Zach Morgenstern, who moved many of the final motions, was dismayed at the lack of recognition paid to the projects. “As someone who thinks that the union needs to radically improve its involvement levels, I’m disappointed that I didn’t get the agm audience,” Morgenstern said.

Understanding that many of the students who voted to adjourn the meeting had long distances to commute, Harfouche regretted the lack of discussion on the Student Commons motion. “Not being able to discuss that motion may stall the Student Commons project. It’s unfortunate that leaders from utmsu [University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union] could not communicate this to their members — who were welcome to leave, but did not have to force the meeting to end,” said Harfouche.

For her part, Bollo-Kamara was saddened that much of the evening’s conversation revolved around the board structure proposal and that the meeting adjourned early. “We didn’t get to talk about any of the other motions that students put forward,” she said.

2012

MOVING FORWARD Ryan Gomes, utsu engineering director, said that his plan moving forward is to work with the board to craft a new motion that has representation for equity issues and for colleges, as well as pushing forward his original alternative proposal to the membership if the former fails.

Patrick Andison, utsu Trinity College director, expressed the need for an open and collaborative discussion, including open access to utsu’s legal counsel for all interested parties — regardless of their political affiliation.

“This means consultations and meetings with college and faculty representatives before any further proposals are drafted or submitted,” Andison said.

Bollo-Kamara hinted at more consultations and discussion to come. “I am glad that we’ve been able to start this conversation about how best the utsu can represent its members and I’m looking forward to continuing that over the next 12 months,” she added.

Harfouche said that he will be working with the utsu Executive Committee and members of the Board of Directors to draft a new proposal.

Harfouche also said that he hopes to host another agm in the spring. The utsu has one year to put forward and submit a new structure for the Board of Directors.

2013

2014

International students “frustrated” with early adjournment of AGM Motion to support international students’ issues went undiscussed Tamim Mansour

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Several international students were unhappy with the early adjournment of the University of Toronto Students’ Union’s (utsu) Annual General Meeting (agm) last Wednesday.

A motion to support international students went unconsidered as a result of the adjournment. The motion was among the last items on the meeting’s Order of Business.

The motion was moved by Cameron Wathey, utsu vice-president, internal and services.

The motion recognized that, while international students at the University of Toronto pay the highest tuition fees in Canada, they remain without representation on the Governing Council and do not have access to the

Ontario Health Insurance Plan (ohip).

Domestic tuition fees are regulated under the Ontario Tuition Framework, whereas international tuition fees are set at the university’s discretion.

If approved, the motion would have given the utsu a mandate to support campaigns for the regulation of international student tuition fees, the extension of ohip to international students, and representation on the university’s Governing Council.

Mary Githumbi, co-president and founder of the International Students Association (insa), was present at the agm. She was disheartened that the motion did not get the chance to be read.

Githumbi said that her and other insa executives went to the agm especially to support the motion.

“It was very, very frustrating,” Githumbi said, adding: “We waited for five hours and we waited patiently... and we didn’t get to vote on our motion.”

Githumbi said that the early adjournment was unfair. “If people wanted to leave, they could’ve left. But calling an early adjournment was completely disrespectful [to] the other motions that were meant to be discussed at the meeting,” she said.

Many people began to leave after the defeat of the motion to approve Bylaw V, which contained a contentious proposal to restructure the utsu Board of Directors. Githumbi herself was in support of the bylaw amendment, as it would have given international students a designated representative on the board.

Currently, international students do not have any dedicated representative on the utsu Board

of Directors or Executive Committee, though they are allowed to run for any of the positions.

Last year, The Varsity reported that international students’ tuition fees could rise about 50 per cent over the next five years.

Githumbi noted that proof of adequate financial support is one of the requirements for a study permit in Canada. The unregulated fees, therefore, make it difficult for international students to plan ahead financially.

According to Githumbi, the motion will be brought forth to a future utsu Board of Directors meeting.

But this is far from the platform that she had hoped to raise the issue. “U of T has good public relations in terms of getting international students to the university. But, when it comes to student representation in the university, it is very poor,” she said.

var.st/news

VARSITY NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

5

University’s research income rises seven per cent $1.1 billion in research income top among Canadian universities Misara Elgammal

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

This year, scientists finished unraveling and sequencing the human genome, a complex system of an estimated 19,000 genes.

In the context of this breakthrough, some members of the scientific community are concerned that government research grants will not provide adequate support to sustain these kinds of discoveries.

To harness more knowledge from the genome and develop the next generation of scientific breakthroughs — like treating patients based on their genetic makeup — more research is required into each specific gene.

According to George Fantus, associate dean, research at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine, learning more and researching each gene requires anywhere from three to five dedicated laboratories — a costly endeavor.

This month, Research Infosource, a research and development data sourcing organization, released its annual top 50 research income ranking for Canadian universities.

As expected, U of T maintained its number one position, drawing $1.1 billion in research income — nearly double the income of secondplace University of British Columbia.

Peter Lewis, interim vice-president, research and innovation, said that “most research is awarded through competition, [as it’s] the optimal method of ensuring excellence.”

The university saw a seven per cent rise in research income this year — more than the average hike of 1.1 per cent, but less than its 13 per cent hike the previous year.

Much of this funding goes to the Faculty of Medicine. At its nine affiliate hospitals, including Mount Sinai, St. Michael’s, and Princess Margaret, the faculty has conducted more than $974 million in research.

U of T tops the list of Canadian university research income rankings. mallika makkar/THe VarsiTy

BASIC VERSUS APPLIED RESEARCH The issue facing scientific researchers today is not how much funding, but for what purpose funds are being allocated. “[O]ur society is looking for ways to create immediate solutions to complex problems,” said Alison Buchan, vicedean, research and international relations at the Faculty of Medicine.

In other words, Canada’s national research agenda is driven to create jobs by pumping funds into applied rather than basic research.

This is “a direct opposition to the trajectory of medical innovation,” said Buchan.

Basic research projects like human genome sequencing, which started in 1988, usually have longer timelines.

These projects, in turn, breed applied research — a key driver of growth, productivity, and jobs.

Fantus estimated that the currently available pipeline of basic research is available to streamline applied research for the next 10 to 15 years.

After that point, innovation could be severely curtailed.

Last year, government sources funded 69 per cent of universities’ research, with the lion’s share going to applied research. “[W]hile the [focus on job creation] is fair and important, it should not be detrimental to basic research,” Fantus said.

CIHR ALTERS APPLICATION PROCESS Moreover, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (cihr) is instituting a system-wide change to its method of funding via two programs, Project Scheme and Foundation Scheme.

Project Scheme targets short-term programs based on “great ideas,” while Foundation

Scheme focuses on long term research projects.

The program splits applicants into junior and experienced researchers, receiving funding for up to five years and more than seven years, respectively.

The system attempts to simplify the process of applying for research funds by requiring applicants to submit only one application. While the intent is to reduce program complexity and improve quality, fairness, and transparency, it limits the researcher’s flexibility.

Buchan said the system change is “producing uncertainty and funding dislocation across Canada. This combination will, at the least, impact our ability to train the brightest and best students, and at the worst cause entire research areas to be abandoned due to funding loss.”

In response, cihr media specialist David Coulombe emphasized that the new system is intended to relieve burden on researchers.

“Researchers volunteer their time to review applications and it would increase their workload significantly if the same (or similar) applications were being reviewed in more than one competition,” said Coulombe.

OPERATING COSTS STAGNATE Once researchers win approvals, they must continue to seek funding to cover operating costs.

Fantus said that new equipment supplied by the Canada Foundation of Innovation (cfi) was left idle until the university raised additional funds to hire the technicians to run the machines. cfi has since changed its policy, incorporating 30 per cent of its funding towards operating costs.

Conversely, funds for operating costs through cihr have stagnated, curtailing the agency’s ability to attract the best scientists in the field.

Coulombe said operating costs are “eligible through the indirect costs program.”

Aware of this program, Fantus noted that indirect costs are mainly used to pay for things like a portion of hospital electricity bills.

Cost of Ramsay Wright upgrades “greatly increased” Changes call for new equipment and open lab space at the teaching laboratories Caroline Shim

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The cost of the project to upgrade the Ramsay Wright teaching laboratories has “greatly increased,” according to Planning & Budget Committee documents.

Details about the cost will not be made public until the project goes to tender.

The project was discussed at a Planning & Budget Committee meeting on October 29.

Almost one-third of all first-year students registered in the Faculty of Arts & Science are enrolled in courses in Ramsay Wright Laboratories.

Jay Pratt, vice-dean, research & infrastructure for the Faculty of Arts and Science, said that U of T’s science programs are among the best in the world, but students do not get an experience that corresponds to the university’s quality.

Many teaching laboratories used by the Departments of Cell & Systems Biology (csb) and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (eeb) — both of which have very high undergraduate enrolments — are located in Ramsay Wright.

Currently, csb and eeb share the Earth Sciences Centre for labs that require fume hoods, which require equipment to be moved between buildings after each semester.

Ramsay Wright houses classrooms and laboratories. elena iourTaeVa/THe VarsiTy

The renovation will address this issue by relocating most of the teaching lab activity to Ramsay Wright.

There also will be design changes for the teaching labs at Ramsay Wright in a bid to increase undergraduate teaching space — some of

which include benches that are reconfigurable and movable, and eliminating solid walls to create an open lab layout.

The project further calls for accommodation of requested changes, building code requirements, Environmental Health & Safety requirements,

and it requirements by including air conditioning, emergency power, fire alarms, additional showers and sinks, and new network rooms.

Open lab layouts have been successful in other science buildings at the University of Toronto.

Amy Mullin, professor of philosophy and vice principal and dean at utm, added that the changes in the lab design will also accommodate students with disabilities.

Christine Burke, the university’s director of Campus and Facilities Planning, pointed out that the labs have not been upgraded since they were built in the 1960s.

Scott Mabury, vice-president, university operations, echoed Burke: “Over the last ten years, all three campuses had major renovations in their teaching labs.”

In order to avoid disrupting teaching activities at Ramsay Wright, the timeline of the renovation adheres to semester start and end dates.

The project will be undertaken in three phases over two-and-a-half years. The first phase is scheduled for completion in January 2015, while the second phase is scheduled for completion in August 2016 and the final phase in April 2017.

6

VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

news@thevarsity.ca

Minding our minds Day-long conference addresses mental health on campus death for Canadians aged 15–24.

A major factor in mental health development for university students — first-year students in particular — is that they are in a transitional phase.

Many first-year students are experiencing independence for the first time, which brings about new challenges and stress to school life.

ACHIEVING BALANCE

Student panelists at the conference. priyanka sharma/The VarsiTy

Meerah Haq

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Mental health is a crisis taking over Canadian universities. According to one estimate, 89 per cent of university students claim to feel overwhelmed.

In a bid to address the mental health crisis on campuses, students, faculty, and administrators from

across Ontario gathered at Victoria College on October 30 for the Minding our Minds conference.

Accordingly to University of Toronto provost Cheryl Regehr, the conference’s keynote speaker, university students are at the highest risk for mental health issues.

Seventy-five per cent of mental illnesses emerge before the age of 25, and suicide is the leading cause of

Although stress levels play a key role in mental health, Regehr asserted that stress is also an important factor in challenging oneself. Regehr said that people who perform best in society tend to fall in the middle of the stress spectrum — too much stress is bad, just as too little stress is bad.

“If stress wasn’t a good thing, who would ever run for government?”

Regehr joked.

According to Mark Kingwell, professor of philosophy, balance is the most important thing for students to achieve.

“Think about what you want to get out of being here in the first place, and everything follows back on that,” Kingwell said. “Do I want to work this hard for an A? Or am I okay with a B if that means I can get involved with extra-curriculars?”

During the conference’s student session, students addressed things that both help and hinder students in university.

Andrew Echevarria, a student panelist, said that prescription drugs are in high use in populations of stressed students.

Echevarria also said that there is still a stigma surrounding mental health.

To that end, Kaleem Hawa, a student panelist and member of the Provostial Mental Health Committee, suggested support mechanisms that universities should adopt in order to create a more welcoming and safe environment for students with mental illnesses.

Noting that the first person someone suffering from a mental illness will often talk to is a friend or a campus leader, Hawa suggested the adoption of “mandatory training session for all teaching assistants to educate themselves on how to respond to a student who is stressed, anxious or depressed.” He also suggested that the university “prioritize those candidates who have shown a commitment to learning about mental health.”

He also noted that there is no clear policy outlining the steps to take when a student cannot complete an assignment due to mental illness.

Hawa suggested, “[The] University of Toronto needs to have clear policy on what exemptions are given to students with mental illness, and how accessibility services factor into that.”

HIGH-STRESS ENVIRONMENT Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology, took an opposing stance, saying that the university environment is not toxic at all.

Every field involves competition, Peterson said, and that is simply replicated in university.

Peterson said that U of T should instead implement a mandatory time management class where students plan out their year, adding that implementing a mental health policy would prove too difficult because “relaxed guidelines are difficult to interpret and work with.”

Peterson referenced one client who was accommodated for a mental health illness during his undergraduate career, leading him to take eight years to complete his degree. “[It] might be better to fail out in the first place and find something you are better at,” Peterson said, adding that such a scenario may work out better than being stuck in the competitive university system.

Nonetheless, both Peterson and Kingwell said that U of T is overworking students, which in turn contributes to high levels of stress.

Both cited the need for a re-evaluation of each class’ workload, as well as an assessment of whether the university gives students the skills needed to survive in the competitive academic environment.

CFS, Council of Canadians issue charter challenge to Fair Elections Act Challenge claims act prevents certain demographics from voting Nabi Dressler VARSITY STAFF

Even before the Fair Elections Act received Royal Assent last June, it faced considerable criticism.

Although Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s minister of state for democratic reform and the lawmaker behind the bill, claimed that the act would ensure everyday citizens are in charge of democracy, some Canadians are calling foul on the legitimacy of his assertion.

After amendments were made to the act last spring, the Canadian Federation of Students (cfs) immediately drew attention to what it deemed were problematic aspects of the act.

The cfs and the Council of Canadians, a left-leaning advocacy group, jointly filed a charter challenge to the act with the Ontario Superior Court in early October.

“The Federation and the Council of Canadians felt that it was necessary to continue challenging these changes because the changes will undoubtedly create further barriers to voting in the next federal election,” said Jessica McCormick, national chairperson of the cfs.

“The challenge includes statements from other individuals who attest to the barriers that make it more difficult for Canadians to vote,” she added.

ACT PROVISIONS The act eliminated the use of vouching and Voter Information Cards to prove residency, and rejigged Election Canada’s mandate such that it focuses on “the basics of voting: where, when, and what id to bring.”

“Eliminating the use of Voter Information Cards to prove residency will disenfranchise many students,” McCormick said. “For students, it can be challenging to present a piece of id at the polls that includes the address of the riding they wish to vote in because students move frequently and may choose to vote in the riding where they’re studying rather than their home riding.”

According to McCormick, Elections Canada ran a pilot project on some university campuses where Voter Information Cards were distributed to students living on campus and those students could use the cards to prove residence.

McCormick pointed out that students will not be able to do this in the next election.

Both students and other specific demographics suffer under the act, McCormick argued.

Over 100,000 Canadians signed petitions opposing the act’s provisions during cfs’ Let People Vote campaign, which included demonstrations at Conservative mps’ offices nationwide.

Last April, Liberal Party of Canada

briTTany gerow/The VarsiTy

leader Justin Trudeau vowed to repeal the Fair Elections Act if elected prime minister.

“These restrictions will make it more difficult to encourage youth, Indigenous people, new immigrants, and many others to exercise their right to vote,” McCormick said.

Seniors and lower-income earners will also be negatively impacted, McCormick said in an October 9 news release. “The restrictions will also make it harder for the Chief Electoral Officer to communicate with Canadians about election fraud,” McCormick said.

“MASS IRREGULARITIES” According to Poilievre, the act targets election fraud.

As stated in a news release on the Canadian government’s Democratic Reform website, the act “cracks down on voter fraud by prohibiting the use of vouching and Voter Information Cards as replacements for acceptable id.

Studies commissioned by Elections Canada demonstrate mass irregularities in the use of vouching and high rates of inaccuracy on Voter Information Cards.”

“The Fair Elections Act will make our rules tough, predictable and easy to follow. It will be harder for election law breakers and easier for honest citizens taking part in democracy,” Poilievre told reporters last February.

Despite these claims, Garry Neil, executive director of the Council of Canadians, said in a cfs news release that “the government has legislated rules that will make it impossible for certain citizens to exercise their right to vote and next to impossible for citizens to challenge election results that may have been fraudulently obtained.”

The cfs and the Council of Canadians are asking the Ontario Superior Court to overturn sections of the act that they believe will unfairly suppress certain demographics in the upcoming 2015 federal election.

“We are still only in the early stages of the proceedings,” McCormick said, adding: “The application was filed earlier this month so now the federal government will have an opportunity to respond.

The goal is to have the Court make a decision in advance of the next federal election.”

“The Federation filed this challenge along with the Council of Canadians because we felt it was important to continue our efforts to stop these unfair changes to Canada’s election laws from being implemented… The federal government should be finding ways to make it easier for Canadians to vote, not more difficult,” McCormick said.

Poilievre’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

var.st/news

VARSITY NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

7

Does post-secondary education fail low-income earners?

Canada Post-Secondary Education Act proposes conditional cash transfers to higher learning institutions to address issues of accessibility and accountability While affordability and accessibility are related, according to Usher, lowering tuition will not have a major impact on students being able to access higher education.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd), Canada spends $20,932 usd per tertiary student every year, and ranks first among oecd countries in levels of adults with a college education. At the university level however, Canada ranks eighth.

“Canada spends 40 per cent more on education than Germany. Education is not free to provide, and I’d argue that the quality is lower in countries where tuition fees are absent,” continued Usher.

Usher is also unconvinced about how accessible implementation of the Canada PostSecondary Education Act would be, saying the conditional cash transfer would have ambiguous effects on students who take into account other opportunity costs of not advancing their education, such as future earnings.

“An act like this is not the way to do it,” said Usher.

Brittaney Warren

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

In the developing world, Conditional Cash Transfers — programs that make welfare programs conditional upon the recipients’ actions — are used to alleviate poverty for those struggling to make ends meet.

Rathika Sitsabaiesan, New Democratic Party Member of Parliament (mp) for Scarborough–Rouge River, is now looking to implement this model for the benefit of low-income university students.

Sitsabaiesan’s private member’s bill, the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act (Bill C-265), seeks to “establish criteria and conditions that must be satisfied before a full cash contribution may be made to a province in respect of postsecondary education programs.”

The bill mimics the Canada Health Transfer, Canada’s primary health care funding program provided to the provinces from the federal government.

Provinces must meet specific criteria, as outlined in the Canada Health Act, in order to qualify for the full cash contributions. The funds are distributed on a per-capita basis.

The proposed criteria in the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act focus on accountability, quality, public administration, and accessibility.

The act gives power to the Minister of Finance to distribute funds or to withhold them from the provinces depending on how well they comply with the standards outlined in Bill C-265.

ACCESSIBILITY AND QUALITY In the 1990s, the federal Liberal government cut funding to provincial programs by approximately $7 billion. According to the Canadian Federation of Students, this prompted post-secondary institutions to hike up tuition prices, thereby restricting university access for low-income earners in the provinces.

The Canadian Federation of Students (cfs) is supportive of the new private member’s bill as a way to combat accessibility issues.

“The [cfs] has, for many years, been calling for the implementation of a post-secondary education act that would establish conditions on the provinces for receiving post-secondary education transfer payments,” said Jessica Mc-

ACCOUNTABILITY

Universities in Canada educate about 1.5 million students each year. courtesy of mone cheng

Cormick, cfs national chairperson.

Section 5(a) of the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act sets terms and conditions that post-secondary institutions must “ensure reasonable access to all qualified persons in the province, regardless of socio-economic status or membership in a group or class.”

McCormick added that setting stringent conditions on the cash transfers is also a virtue.

“Basing cash contributions on a set of criteria established in consultation with provinces and post-secondary education stakeholders ensures that both quality and access to post-secondary education are prioritized,” she said.

With regards to quality, Section 3 of the act cites student-to-teacher ratios, the protection of

academic freedom, and independent academic inquiry as standards that province should meet.

The act does not detail what the studentto-teacher ratio is or should be, nor does it define academic freedom or inquiry.

CRITCISM In an article published in Maclean’s Magazine last January, Alex Usher, an associate at Higher Education Strategy Associates and prominent post-secondary education analyst, argued that rising student debt is a myth.

Usher referenced rising education costs in the 1990s, and said that increased federal expenditures on grants in the early 2000s could be accredited for the leveling off of those prices.

The Canada Post-Secondary Education Act would put more control into the hands of the Federal government to assess post-secondary institutions. According to section 2 of the act, all post-secondary institutions must be directly administered by the provincial government or by an approved notfor-profit organization.

Reports to the government and public audits would also be a requirement under the act.

McCormick explained the rationale behind these accountability measures. “In return for upholding those principles, provinces would receive adequate and predictable funding.

Upholding these principles ensures provincial governments are held accountable for the money invested in education by the federal government,” said McCormick.

The bill has completed its first reading in the House of Commons. Similar bills have been introduced in previous sessions of Parliament, including the first session of the thirty-ninth Parliament and the third session of the fortieth Parliament.

First-ever Asexual Awareness Week at U of T Events held at Woodsworth College, Grad Room Emily Colero

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Two Asexual Awareness Week (aaw) events took place at the University of Toronto last week for the first time. aaw was founded in 2010 as a call to action for asexual people to educate their communities about asexuality and related sexual orientations.

Asexuality is the sexual orientation of those who experience little to no sexual attraction or sexual desire.

Members of the asexual community sometimes refer to themselves as ‘ace’, an umbrella term that denotes a sexual orientation towards the asexual end of the sexuality spectrum.

Kicking off the week, Woodsworth Inclusive (WiNC) and Rainbow Trinity co-hosted a social for ace and allied students.

Around 20 people attended the October 27 event held in the Waters Lounge of Woodsworth College.

“It’s important to have Asexual Awareness Week events on campus both to spread awareness of such an unknown orientation, and to provide support and acceptance for asexuals who may not easily find it elsewhere,” said Brian Langevin, co-vice president of WiNC and co-director of non-profit organization Asexual Outreach.

Noting the lack of ace-focused events at university campues, Langevin said that he would like to see aaw events spread to campuses worldwide.

“With Asexual Awareness Week events starting only this year at U of T, it’s not difficult to imagine a lack of events on other campuses, and that is something we will hopefully work to correct,” he said.

The following day, Ace Toronto, a local meet-up for ace people and asexuals in the

Toronto region, ran a workshop at the U of T Grad Room designed to provide basic education on asexuality.

Ace Toronto serves to connect ace people and collaborate on ace projects. This is often done through social events, asexuality-themed discussions, and public educations sessions.

“There needs to be more available information about asexuality and more community connections available,” said CJ Chasin, founder of Ace Toronto.

Chasin emphasized that lgbttiqq2sa (hereafter referred to as lgbtq) spaces should be more informed about asexuality, as it is not always accepted in the lgbtq community.

The workshop included a 101-style presentation that covered the terminology of ace orientations and intersecting identities, a group discussion activity, and a question period. The presentation explained that anyone, regardless of romantic orientation, race, class, ability, and

gender identity can be asexual. According to the presentation, one in five asexuals are trans, gender variant, or non-binary.

A frequently misunderstood aspect of asexuality is the way in which ace people form relationships. Chasin clarified that aces participate in relationships with their friends, families, and communities.

They may also participate in romantic relationships, and intense non-normative relationships such as queerplatonic relationships.

Queerplatonic relationships are not romantic relationships but cannot be adequately expressed as a friendship.

Chasin illustrated the concept of queerplatonic relationships using examples from popular television such as Corey and Shawn from Boy Meets World, or Torres and Sloan from Grey’s Anatomy.

WiNC and Rainbow Trinity are planning to co-host another ace-specific event next semester.

8

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

VARSITY NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

Should I stay or should I go?

Students cite research clusters, location, funding as factors in choosing between graduate schools in Canada or abroad Alex McKeen

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Upper-year University of Toronto students who are considering graduate studies must choose between staying at one of the top research institutions in Canada and taking their talents elsewhere.

Many are finding ample reason to stay put. Of the 29,000 applicants to graduate studies at the University of Toronto in 2013, 4,000 already had an undergraduate degree from the university.

For those wishing to pursue graduate studies elsewhere, however, there is a propensity to head to the United States as opposed to other Canadian cities.

Students turning south of the border cite increased funding opportunities and prestige as incentives to study in the us.

UNIVERSITIES IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT Locke Rowe, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, is not surprised that University of Toronto undergraduates are considering international graduate options.

Rowe said that there are many reasons students choose to go away for graduate studies — and it’s not because students think U of T is lacking.

According to Rowe, when students choose between graduate programs, they consider potential mentors and research clusters to be more important factors in their decision than the educational institution itself.

While U of T has strong clusters in some areas, it cannot specialize in everything.

“Often, you can imagine that the advisor that students want to work with or the concentration of faculty that they’re attracted to are going to be in the us,” said Rowe, referencing the fact that the number of us academic offerings is massive in comparison to Canadian options.

Rowe also cited fatigue as a reason that students might leave U of T for destinations in the us. “[O]ften, these are undergrads that grew up in Toronto, they’ve done their undergraduate degree, and they look in front of them and they say, if I’m going to do grad school, wouldn’t it be great to go somewhere [else]?”

To balance the number of students leaving, there is a significant inflow of international students attracted to the University of Toronto’s graduate offerings. Rowe cited his own area of

juLIEN bALbONTIN/THE VArsITy

expertise, evolutionary biology, as an example of a flourishing research cluster at U of T. “We do have a large evolutionary genetics group [and] we have a large systematics group.

These are the groups that pull people in from the us and Europe.”

Seventeen per cent of graduate students at the university are international students, while in 2013–2014, another 14 per cent came from Canadian provinces outside of Ontario.

Rowe said that the sheer number of incoming students is evidence that U of T is competitive on an international scale. “Our comparators are large, top public institutions in the us,” he said.

NAVIGATING GRADUATE OPTIONS Some prospective graduate students at the University of Toronto cite more than just research clusters and faculty as factors when assessing graduate schools.

When asked about what she takes into consideration for graduate education, Sarah Koval,

third-year music history and theory major, cited funding as a top concern.

Koval was previously admitted to the University of Victoria for a master’s degree in English following completion of an English literature degree from Queen’s. She said that funding for her Canadian program was plentiful.

Her experience looking for a musicology graduate program, however, has not been the same.

“With music, I just felt right away that it was more of an American scene compared to English,” she said, adding: “In the us, they are explicit about exactly how much funding you get, and it doesn’t just cover tuition. It covers the cost of living.”

Harvard University, for instance, guarantees six years of tuition and living expenses funding for those admitted to the musicology phd program.

For Koval, reputation is also an important factor in her decision. “One of the ways I research is I look at professors I like and I look

at where they’ve gone to school... They tend to have gone to well-known schools,” she said.

Virginia Georgallas, a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, agreed that going to a school with an international reputation has its advantages post-graduation.

“Because the schools in the us do have such excellent reputations, attending a famously prestigious school (i.e. Harvard or Yale) will likely enhance your career prospects,” Georgallas said.

Of the programs that Koval is looking into, she found that the us offers more direct entry into phd programs, as opposed to Canadian programs, in which she would have to go through an additional masters’ stream. She has also been encouraged to broaden her horizons beyond U of T, and thinks that the us is the place to do that.

“There’s only one or two good schools in Canada, so if I felt like I wanted to switch, where would I switch?” Koval said.

U of T graduates receive $130,000 in funding Three former students granted funding from Silicon Valley startup program Emma Compeau VARSITY STAFF

Three U of T graduates returned from a prestigious two-month entrepreneurship program in Silicon Valley last year equipped with new tools to enter the global economy.

While attending the program at the Draper University of Heroes — founded by prominent venture capitalist Tim Draper in 2013 — the students developed startup ideas and received free housing and offices for the length of the program.

Draper is internationally recognized for his investments in Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, and SpaceX. Colin Heilbut, Arun Nijhawan, and Hubert Ka received $130,000 usd from Draper to launch their ideas upon completion of the program.

Their original startup concepts were Heilbut’s commercial real estate business, Nijhawan’s water leak detection tool, and Ka’s plan to “gamify” education.

After Heilbut’s initial concept for commercial real estate fell through, he paired with another

Draper University entrepreneur to launch a facial recognition cat feeder called Bistro.

The concept became an international crowd funding hit this summer and is set to announce the successful closure of a multimillion-dollar round of venture capital financing.

Bistro is an app that allows cat owners to track how often their cat eats and collects statistics on cats’ weight. Bistro also offers a smart portion control feature in an effort to combat feline obesity, as well as an option to check in on your cat via smartphone monitoring.

Mu-Chi Sung, Bistro’s founder, developed the idea after he found one of his three cats very ill.

The cat’s illness could have been caught earlier, Sung believed, if he had been able to collect better information on its eating habits.

In one month of operation, Bistro had $250,000 worth of sales from buyers all over the world.

While studying philosophy at U of T, Heilbut was already interested in entrepreneurship. As one of his earliest ventures, Heilbut found a way for students to access free Internet by connecting their Bell and U of T accounts online, then

shutting down the Bell account.

“I set up a little booth outside of Robarts and called it ‘Free Lunch Internet Services’ where, for $30… we would teach students how to get free Internet,” Heilbut explained.

Later in his university career, Heilbut sold study note packages that he had made through computer technology.

Heilbut discovered the Draper University program while attending a lecture on the difficulties of startup culture.

Heilbut said that the program is attractive to people who “aren’t looking for the standard, stuffy university experience, but are instead more open-minded to radical approaches.”

Classes at the Draper University of Heroes range from lectures on lie detection tests to astrophysicists discussing the nature of the universe.

Heilbut said that there is value in having a diverse educational experience because different people connect with different things.

The campus is built with office spaces linking a network of entrepreneurs, which is referred to as “hero city.”

With an office in hero city, Draper is able to

stay heavily involved in the activities around campus.

Heilbut expressed confidence that no other program could match his experience at Draper University.

“There’s no other place in the world that you could go to and have that density of talent and experience,” he said.

Heilbut cited hearing from the founder of PayPal as just one example of the advantages Silicon Valley was able to offer him.

When asked about how his time at U of T shaped his career, Heilbut said, “I think that U of T is a great school, and I benefitted a lot from being here.”

However, when it comes to his entrepreneurial success, Heilbut credits the Draper program with having a much more formative effect.

“We have a ways to go in order to be competitive with the best-in-class programs in the United States,” he said.

“I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of a career in entrepreneurship to spend some time in Silicon Valley,” Heilbut added.

Comment

VAR.ST/COMMENT 3 NOVEMBER 2014

comment@thevarsity.ca

Universities as social incubators Trinity College’s failed constitutional reforms represent a failure in progressive politics

Mari zhou/The VarsiTy

Zane Schwartz

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Trinity College is a place apart. We wear gowns, have a not-so-secret society, and burn Guy Fawkes in effigy. Mostly, our traditions are good. Tradition builds camaraderie and community; tradition allows us to honour those who came before us and, often, enjoy ourselves in the process.

However, once in a while, something happens to remind us that holding on to ideals that made sense at the college’s founding 163 years ago can be quite problematic.

Or, as in the case of what happened recently, can simply promote bigotry.

At the Trinity College Meeting (tcm), the Trinity student body rejected two proposals. The first would have replaced the term “men and women of college” in the constitution with “members of college.” The second would have instituted a single, gender-neutral tcm, instead of holding separate gender-segregated tcms at the end of each year.

These were amendments that would have made the college a more inclusive space for students who don’t identify within the gender-binary model. However, neither passed.

And since neither amendment passed, it’s important to take a minute to acknowledge why that happened.

A lot of people claim to know why the amendments failed. I’ve spoken to University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) directors who conflate the failure of these amendments with proof that all ideas coming out of Trinity are fundamentally misguided.

I’ve spoken to Trinity students who feel this proves the college as a whole is deeply bigoted. An op-ed in The Strand summed up the general opinion amongst those who have been following the issue: “I am ashamed to attend the same university as those tcm members.”

These sentiments are understandable. It’s easy to see what you expect to see. It’s harder to see what’s actually there.

So, let’s talk specifics. Seventy-six students voted for the “members” amendment, with 44 against and four abstaining. That’s five votes off from the two-thirds majority needed for approval. Forty-six students voted in favour of the amendment to end the gender-segregated tcms, with 63 opposed. The notion that there is no support at Trinity for these proposals is simply not true.

To be clear, some arguments in opposition were bigoted. I understand the desire to mock young men — in the bastion of white privilege that is Trinity College — bemoaning the feeling of no longer being a man if the word “members” replaces the phrase “men and women.” But ridicule doesn’t result in change.

Instead, it has a deeply chilling effect. It drives the opposition underground. Those who may be open to persuasion will never admit they supported the amendments.

The only way to change someone’s mind is to talk with them. Not at them, not to them, but with them. We must reach out, engage, and persuade. This article is for everyone who voted for the amendments.

I know how absurd it is to put the onus on rights-claiming groups to convince the majority.

In a perfect world, they shouldn't have to. They're right. But if they want people to recognize that rightness, they need to convince them. Practically, those who oppose these amendments are best served by doing nothing. Therefore, those who support these amendments must take action to shift the debate.

There were two arguments put forward in opposition to the amendments: tradition and masculinity.

The tradition argument goes a little something like this: “we should separate students based on gender because it is what we have always done.” For this to be true the proponents would need to prove both that

separation by gender was correct when first introduced, and that those reasons are still valid today.

While there was very little understanding of gender theory in 1884 when women were first admitted to Trinity College, viewing gender as binary has always been a social construct.

Indeed, just as there was never any sound reason to deny women equal access, there is no reason to deny full participation to those who do not self-identify as male or female. In this respect, the Trinity College policy has always been exclusionary.

In any event, whatever might have been legitimate in 1884, the world has changed.

Ironically, opponents purported to rely on the significantly better treatment of women today by pointing out, for example, that they are not relegated to a separate building. But that is exactly the point — societal understandings of human rights have progressed. Indeed, we are no longer a college that exclusively educates privileged, white, male Anglicans.

The masculinity argument is the one that particularly bothers so many people, and rightly so. But it also has an appeal to some men at Trinity College that they find hard to articulate. It usually goes something like this: "I am proud to be a man, and I will feel like less of a man if the word 'man' is removed from the college's constitution."

There are three problems in this kind of statement. First, the phrase “men and women of college” is intended to divide upper years from first years — not men from women.

Second, men are included under the phrase "members of college," so it is not as if men will cease to be represented under the new system.

Members can include anyone: men, women, you name it. Third, the idea that Trinity doesn’t have places that permit men to congregate is silly. Trinity College features gender-segregated floors, intramural sports, bathrooms, even common rooms — all of which are premised on the flawed binary system.

To reiterate, those who want these changes shouldn’t have to ask. But the reality is that they do. And as difficult as it will be, there is reason to hope. After all, universities are incubators for social progress. Changes here can affect the country, even the world.

In 1969, Jearld Moldenhauer took out an ad in The Varsity to solicit members for the first “homophile association” on a Canadian university campus. The group's first president, Charlie Hill, said something about why he wanted to join the group that is eerily applicable today: “We were an invisible minority and as long as we were invisible, people could create their own theories about us.”

Hill and Moldenhauer helped foster dozens of similar groups across the country, and were part of a generation of activists that changed gay rights in Canada for the better. Transgender rights have a long way to go, and what’s happening at Trinity College is only a small part, but it will help make a difference.

At their core, these amendments would make Trinity College, and this university, a more inclusive space. They should have passed at the tcm and I believe that, eventually, they will. Indeed, there are many positive signs: a motion asking everyone to use the term “members” as opposed to “men and women” has passed, while all of the Heads and nearly all of the student leaders were doing so even before that.

The Dean of Students and the provost are working behind the scenes to try and make Trinity more inclusive. Eventually, though, the amendments will have to come back to the tcm, and it is vitally important that they pass. For that to happen, though, those who support the amendments need to directly engage with those who oppose them.

Zane Schwartz is a fourth-year student at Trinity College. He was The Varsity’s news editor last year.

VARSITY COMMENT

10 Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

comment@thevarsity.ca

Responses to the AGM Two writers share their perspectives on the contentious UTSU meeting STUDENTS’ UNION IS FACING A SIGNIFICANT CRISIS OF LEGITIMACY Ian Thompson

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

If there was a single moment that best captured the spirit of the 2014 University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) Annual General Meeting (agm), it came shortly after the defeat of the contentious proposed amendment to the union’s Board of Directors.

The next item of business concerned the creation of an Arts & Science Committee and a Professional Faculty Committee. Yolen Bollo-Kamara, the president of the utsu whose name was attached to the motion in the meeting’s Order of Business, stood up to argue against the motion she herself had moved.

By the time she was informed by the chair that this would be out of order, the damage to the union’s credibility had already been done.

The utsu is suffering from a credibility crisis, and while it’s relatively easy to pinpoint the actions and decisions that have led the union to this point, it’s a bit harder to understand the logic that has guided that path.

A few examples: why was Bylaw xv of the utsu not among those up for amendment, and why did the agm take place without 21 days notice, as is required to be compliant with the utsu’s own bylaws?

Bylaw xv states that, in order for an amendment to be made to the union’s bylaws, a two-thirds vote by the membership is required. This conflicts with the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (cnca), which states that amendments may be made on most issues by an ordinary resolution — a majority vote. Now, the purpose of the changes to the bylaws, as explained by the union, was to bring the utsu into compliance with this new piece of legislation. So, how can the utsu, working with legal advice, have failed to propose an amendment to a bylaw that clearly wasn’t in compliance with the cnca?

Bylaw III of the utsu states that notice of the agm shall be given 21 days in advance by an email sent to the entirety of the membership. This didn’t happen. Emails were sent during the week of October 20, which was too late to sign a proxy form.

These sorts of decisions, simply put, look bad on the utsu. They give it the appearance of an organization that’s trying to stifle democratic participation and using the new legislative context as an excuse to enact the changes it wants, while overlooking the changes that are deemed unimportant. And, while it’s hard to imagine that a students’ union would truly do these sorts of things, decision-makers at the utsu need to understand that appearances matter. Rules that are set out need to be followed, and saying “we tried” isn’t good enough.

There’s one year left to put together the necessary changes to the bylaws to bring the utsu into compliance with the cnca. It’s going to require the colleges and faculties to come to the table with the utsu, along with other interest groups, and find a solution that works for everyone. To do that will require good faith from everyone involved, and as long as the utsu is playing fast and loose with its

Students at the AGM. sarah niedoba/The VarsiTy

own regulations, good faith will be in short supply.

Ian Thompson is a mature student studying life science.

STUDENTS HAVE GOOD REASON TO CHEER AFTER THE CULMINATION OF 2014’S AGM Victoria Wicks

ASSOCIATE COMMENT EDITOR

It would be an understatement to say that the utsu's agm was disorderly.

The meeting began almost an hour late and was plagued by unfortunate technical difficulties.

This is not to mention the lack of decorum — ranging anywhere from irritating side-chatter to disrespectful heckling and blaring vuvuzelas — that slowed the entire process down.

Case in point: it took nearly half an hour to vote on a motion for a fourminute recess.

Perhaps more crucial, however, was the plain display of undemocratic behaviour. The chair of the meeting, for example, a Canadian Federation of Students (cfs) representative named Ashkon Hashemi, clearly revealed his partisanship.

Given his repeated emphasis on courtesy and respect, it was hypocritical for Hashemi to consistently belittle, interrupt, or just flat-out ignore those who questioned the utsu’s proposals. He nonchalantly allowed utsu supporters to galvanize the agm attendees — who should’ve been speaking directly to him — while rebuking the opposition for doing the same. Perhaps this conduct should not be too surprising, considering that Hashemi was implicated in a cfs-backed scheme to interfere with student union elections in the Greater Toronto Area in 2010.

There was also a potential conflict of interest in the counting of votes, as Kaleem Hawa, chair of the Trinity College Meeting, brought up. Counting so many votes manually is already extremely vulnerable to human error, so it’s easy to imagine that the utsu-

affiliated vote counters could fudge the numbers.

Students were already concerned with the integrity of the vote counting process, since Hashemi attempted passing the motion to approve previous agm minutes without actually counting the votes. What’s more, the vote counters seemed to introduce a different process of raising and lowering vote cards during the vote on the Board of Directors structure. This process left students visibly confused, which is obviously undesirable, especially during such a controversial vote.

From these agm proceedings alone, it’s obvious why many people bemoan a broken system. However, it would be overly pessimistic to believe student democracy has become as dysfunctional as people say. In fact, the presence of such intense debate at the agm speaks volumes about how students remain invested in democratic principles of accountability and representation.

Students haven’t just been complaining about the mess that is student politics. They showed up to the agm, stayed for at least five gruelling hours, and asked pertinent questions that held our representatives responsible for their actions. Most importantly, students stood up and spoke out to dispel myths about the board structure proposal.

Actually, there’s a whole year to figure out a new structure through deliberate, public consultation. Yes, there are more options than the single proposal that was on the table. No, the fight for college representation is not inherently anti-equity.

In an age of anxiety over low voter turnout and increasing youth apathy, the passion and engagement at the agm was incredibly heartening. The crowd erupted into cheers after the board structure failed to pass, simply because student democracy had prevailed. I’m sorry, Mr. Chair, but if this triumph didn’t deserve a rambunctious celebration, I don’t know what does.

Victoria Wicks is The Varsity’s associate comment editor. She is a secondyear student at Trinity College studying political science and philosophy.

Everyone has opinions. Share yours. comment@thevarsity.ca

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE

FROM PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO PUBLIC FINANCE, THIS PROGRAM OFFERS THE UNIQUE SKILLS YOU WILL NEED TO LAUNCH YOUR CAREER AS A COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, PROGRAM OFFICER, POLICY ANALYST, BUSINESS ANALYST AND MANY OTHER EXCITING CAREER OPTIONS.

business.humber.ca/postgrad

var.st/comment

VARSITY COMMENT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

11

Why are youth generally apathetic when it comes to politics?

The Question

Political candidates' signage on Spadina Avenue. jENNIFER SU/THE VARSITy

Young people aren’t naturally uncaring; they Students are busier, and more inundated by just aren’t being adequately engaged negative political media than ever before Christian Medeiros

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

“They don’t find it interesting”; “They think they are too cool”; “They don’t know enough” — these are the classic lines spouted off on the issue of youth political apathy.

The notions that youth are simply uninterested and uninformed when it comes to political affairs lead critics to believe that better information and advertising will galvanize youth and bring them to the voting booth. However, these conceptions are unfair to youth and assume the problem is easily fixable. They overlook the underlying structural issues that keep youth away from politics.

If you have read any major Canadian newspapers over the last several years, the consistent line has been that youth cannot find proper jobs, they are in a lot of debt, they are not buying homes and cars, et cetera. This is a serious structural issue in Canada; youth unemployment is hovering around 13 per cent — nearly double the overall national employment average.

While this issue is large and definitely needs solving, unemployment issues are already coopted by the political system. Almost every party has a plan to create more jobs; some have even been audacious enough to name their entire platform after job creation. To the average young adult, it seems that all political parties will attempt to create jobs in some way; — choosing one does not really matter all that much. Furthermore, even if the records of all parties are deemed spotty, the post-2008 financial crisis world has shown that group action on structural economic issues is arguably meaningless. The failure of Occupy Wall Street and of financial experts to completely right the system does not give youth much hope

that their political actions will have much success either.

The poor financial state of youth exacerbates their alienation from the political system. By many accounts, youth are getting started later in life than ever before. Education and training take longer, steady jobs are further off, homes are on the distant horizon, and the thought of starting a family does not even cross their minds.

All these markers of adulthood are traditional mainstays of political engagement. Most political campaigns are directed at adults and therefore build their platform around taxes and policies in the areas of employment, housing, and families. Canadian youth’s new pathway to adulthood and their changing preferences will keep them alienated from this system. Unfortunately, it won’t be until youth grow into these roles that the political system will reflect their needs.

While many youth may engage in politics at a young age by supporting various parties, they have not been effective in promoting policies that are directly relevant to their demographic. It becomes an almost philosophical debate over what they think would be best for their eventual adult selves.

Youth are therefore stuck in a bit of a catch-22. They don’t feel like engaging in politics because the system does not accurately reflect their needs — but if they want to engage appropriately in the current political system, they need to become more like traditional adults. Something could eventually break the catch. Perhaps youth will stand up en masse and demand to see policies that impact them, or maybe youth will start new parties for a new century.

Christian Medeiros is a third-year international relations specialist at Trinity College.

Christopher Lee

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

I never thought the day would come, but the 2014 municipal election campaign in Toronto is finally over. So what could possibly be next?

The 2015 federal election campaign is already well underway. The Liberals and the ndp are already giving sneak previews of their platforms; ndp leader Thomas Mulcair proposed a national child-care plan on October 14.

Because the last federal election was in 2011 and much of the opposition parties’ leadership has changed since then, pundits also expect voter turnout to rise relative to 2011.

But will you go out and vote? Will your peers?

Trends say you won’t. The numbers say youth are increasingly disengaged from the political process and are turning out in record-low numbers at the polls. So the real question is, why? Are youth naturally politically apathetic?

A look into history indicates that youth political apathy is a recent phenomenon. As former Ontario premier and former Federal Liberal interim leader Bob Rae put it, for youth back in the day, voting was “just what you did.”

Hence, youth political apathy isn’t something “natural,” but rather a product of a cause-and-effect scheme with several factors taking place over several decades. Historically, youth turnout has been lower than older age cohorts, but only dropped below 50 per cent after the turn of the century.

One important factor is negative media coverage. Most of the information that young people receive from the media on the political sphere is defined by salaciousness and scandal.

Whether it’s the provincial gas plant scandal,

Senator Mike Duffy’s lavish expenditures, or Rob Ford’s endless gaffes as mayor of Toronto, the media’s all over it. As a result, youth generalize. Youth find it hard to remember days of more honourable political conduct.

Another factor is the government’s perceived inability to tackle major issues, such as rising tuition, dim economic prospects, and climate change. Different leaders from different parties have all pledged change, but many issues still look dire as ever. This is why many young people think different candidates and parties are “all the same.”

The fact that these issues are also singularly relevant for the future of generation Y and Z’s well-being and survival fosters an attitude of pessimism that translates into absence at the polls.

Present manifestations of those issues also decrease youth civic participation because having tangible priorities can diminish the urgency of voting as a civic duty.

Students are busy — arguably busier than ever. It’s very hard to find time to do research and keep yourself updated in order to cast an informed vote, let alone navigate through the bureaucratic process and physically line up at the polls.

That’s only the beginning of why civic participation has dropped to tragic levels among today’s bright young people. It will be a steady process, but things can always turn around.

Take a look at the world around you. Talk to people. Broaden your horizons and see how public policy has influenced countless lives. It can affect yours, too; you just have to let it.

Christopher Lee is a second-year student at Victoria College studying peace and conflict studies, as well as justice and employment relations.

Former Governor General and journalist Adrienne Clarkson discusses her CBC Massey Lecture series and the nature of citizenship

By Sarah Niedoba Illustrations by Janice Liu

B

eing inside Adrienne Clarkson’s living room is not unlike entering a small, personal museum. Everywhere you look, a different piece of art catches your eye and makes you wonder where it might be from and who created it. Waiting for Clarkson to greet me for our interview, I tried out three different couches in a goldilocks-like attempt to find one I didn’t look remarkably out of place sitting on.

My nerves were amplified not just by the stature of the room but by the woman I was about to speak with. Clarkson’s list of achievements is genuinely staggering; her official title is the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (pc), Companion in the Order of Canada (cc), Commander of the Order of Military Merit (cmm), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police (com), Canadian Forces Decoration (cd). A U of T graduate, she held the office of the Governor General of Canada from 1999 to 2005, being the second woman and first visible minority to ever be appointed to the role. Clarkson has written five books as well as several articles for various Canadian publications including Macleans. As Linda Cullen put it in the cbc Radio series Double Exposure, she is “...Adrienne Clarkson, and you’re not.”

ON THE CBC Settled into the correct couch, the interview began, and the conversation turned immediately to the cbc.

Clarkson is also renowned for her work as a journalist, co-hosting the cbc investigative program The Fifth Estate from 1975 to 1983, and later hosting the arts program Adrienne Clarkson Presents from 1988 to 1999.

She has just completed the annual cbc Massey Lecture series, in which she travelled to five different Canadian cities and gave a lecture to each in turn — the final of which was delivered at Koerner Hall in Toronto last Tuesday. At the event, Clarkson referred to cbc Radio as being “the blanket of Canada,” and spoke of having it permeate her home from an early age.

Speaking about the work of the cbc, Clarkson said ,“the difference is quality — you can’t always see it immediately, but people know the difference.”

“No one else does it like the cbc does, really, anymore,” she told me, discussing how the cbc still works within a structure of various different producers and journalists. She explained that journalists today are expected to have diverse skills and to be able to take their work through much of content production, rather than specializing in certain areas of the process.

As this year’s Massey lecturer, Clarkson recently released the content of the series in a book entitled Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship.

Related to her lecture, Clarkson said, “I think journalists can certainly affect change,” elaborating that they have the opportunity to facili-

“...We start in this country not with a political status quo from which an idea of ‘citizen’ devolves, but with an idea of citizen from which a nation evolves.”

— Adrienne Clarkson, in Belonging tate change through their ability to connect people on different sides of a debate.

“TO DESIRE A BETTER COUNTRY” Citizenship is a subject Clarkson is well-acquainted with, having come to Canada as refugee from Hong Kong at the age of three, as well as in her work as Governor General.

“Well, I founded the Institute for Canadian Citizenship... so when they approached me to do the talks, citizenship was the word that really got me,” she explained.

In Belonging, she writes, “It is worth noting that the motto of the Order of Canada is ‘to desire a better country.’ This motto indicates, with typical Canadian understatement, that the country is not a wonderful basket of goodies to which we and others contribute and draw interest from. Instead, it assumes that as citizens we are proud of our country and therefore we will help make it better.”

The concept of Canada as a membership, rather than a nation of individuals, is a key theme of the lectures.

Building on this, Clarkson also focuses on the contrast that exists between the desire for personal achievement and acknowledgement of public good.

“So much emphasis is placed on our becoming individuals, with particular stress on competition and victory over others,” she writes, continuing, “The greatest challenge for us is to understand and satisfy both our natural competitive instincts and this deep longing for cooperation.”

When asked how she balances personal drive with an understanding of the needs of a greater community, Clarkson responded, “I’ve always been a very driven person, it was something that was instilled in me from my family from a young age... I don’t know if I would say it is an immi-

grant [thing], but I think it is Chinese, I think that would be fair to say.”

Clarkson described having a constant need to complete the things that she is working on, and never being able “to drop anything.”

The only thing she recalls ever having put on hold is the book she is currently writing for Penguin, which she postponed in order to participate in the Massey series, an opportunity which she could “not pass up.”

“I would say that I have this constant humming within me, that never really goes away,” she reflected, adding, “I think I have an energy that’s going to stay with me — it’ll leave me when I die, but it won’t until then.”

CITIZENSHIP AND IDENTITY “Our actual being, who we are, how we are perceived and accepted by other people, is all we’ve got,” Clarkson writes in Belonging.

She expressed that she feels that who she is as a person is inextricably linked with her identity as a refugee.

When asked what questions about identity new immigrants to Canada face, Clarkson responded, “I think there’s the fact that you have to prove yourself in a sense — if you’re a doctor in another country, it’s not the same as being a doctor in Canada. Even how you relate to your patients will be different.”

Clarkson explained that she was “aware” she was trying to prove herself due to her status as an immigrant when she was young. She recalled having a similar experience when she went to study in Paris in her twenties.

“I didn’t want to be French, but I wanted to learn the language, I wanted to immerse myself in the

culture,” she explained, providing a look into the feeling of coming to a new country for the first time.

“It was through imagining that I could be part of [Canada] that I did become part of it,” she writes in Belonging, continuing, “My grade seven teacher, Miss Bernice Jackson... said to me: ‘You weren’t born here, but everything you do and will do will prove that you know what it is like to have been born here.’”

Clarkson’s identity as a woman also presented certain challenges when she was growing up in Canada. In her Massey lectures, she described how, as a child, she always assumed that she would have to sacrifice certain things to succeed as a female.

“At the time, I didn’t question that I would have to make sacrifices. All around me were examples of friends’ mothers who had obviously sacrificed. Their faces were often, as the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald observed of women over thirty, ‘relief maps of petulant and bewildered unhappiness,” she writes. Looking at Clarkson’s face, it’s clear that Fitzgerald’s words do not apply — still, I asked her if she felt she had made sacrifices as a prominent female figure.

“I mean, I [identify with] second wave feminism, because when I was [in my early twenties], that’s what was happening,” Clarkson said.

“I remember when I came to my producer and told them I was pregnant... they told me I would have to be back on the job in six weeks, or I would be fired.” She expressed satisfaction that proper maternity leave now exists for women, but wishes that universal day care was available for working mothers, as in France.

way beyond a certain age, say five,” she explained.

For Clarkson, having parents engage their children in their country is of critical importance.

She also went on to discuss the idea of politics as being something people choose not to discuss. I brought up the old adage: “It’s not polite to discuss religion or politics at the dinner table.” She responded that politics is not merely a topic of conversation but “the fabric of our country.”

TALKING POLITICS

CEASELESS DRIVE

Clarkson’s experiences have given her extensive perspective, rendering her incredibly well-informed when it comes to approaching the problems facing Canadians today.

During her lecture on Tuesday, one audience member asked Clarkson about how best to engage with the idea of change in Canada, to which she responded that she believes that, to affect “real change”, you have to go into politics, because being involved in non-governmental organizations (ngos) only results in lobbying.

When asked what could be done to engage the people of Canada with various political and social issues, her response was that engagement needs to start from an early age. Clarkson credits much of her success to access to good public education — she frequently refers to it as one of the largest connecting forces available to all Canadians and often speaks of her high school English teacher in interviews about education.

“I’m of the Piaget school of thought, who says that children don’t really change in any significant

Somehow, however, the topic of our discussion always returned to the idea of citizenship. In Belonging, Clarkson writes, “In Canada, we understand what it is to have at the heart of our citizenship an act of immigration. We know that we can be citizens who are not related to each other by blood, religion, or even past history... We start in this country not with a political status quo from which an idea of ‘citizen’ devolves, but with an idea of citizen from which a nation evolves.”

After our conversation, I couldn’t help but connect this sentiment with all her accomplishments, and her seemingly ceaseless drive.

When interviewing people to work at the cbc, Clarkson explained that she would present them with a hypothetical situation: you walk into a studio in complete disarray. What do you do? “And if they said, well I would go down to maintenance and ask what the problem was, I wouldn’t hire them,” she said, resolutely, adding: “But the ones that I did hire would say, ‘Well, I would just start clearing it up.’”

ON BOOKS Finally, the conversation turned, inevitably, to books. One of the funnier, albeit quite poignant, moments in Clarkson’s lectures is when she shares the experience of having a man ask her if she read.

“From time to time,” she answered, prompting the response: “A woman after my own heart! I don’t believe in reading. It fills your head with ideas and makes you think too much.”

Recently, Clarkson’s head has been filled with Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress, although she explained that she spends much of her time reading older works and non-fiction. She announced that she considers Vassily Grossman’s Life and Fate to be the best work of the twentieth century and something everyone must read.

Clarkson confessed to reading Middlemarch every five years or so and expressed her admiration of Ernest Hemingway: “He really is the technician, he is the craftsman of writing. You know T.S. Eliot says, ‘what does the poet do, purifies the language of the tribe.’ That is what Hemingway did — he was purifying the language of the tribe.”

Arts&Culture

VAR.ST/ARTS

3 NOVEMBER 2014

arts@thevarsity.ca

"My art is mine"

A profile of U of T student and visual artist Will Power Daniel Konikoff

ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Will Power certainly has an awesome name, but he certainly doesn’t like being called an artist.

“The title literally means nothing anymore. I hate calling myself an artist because it means I’m nothing. I’ll tend to use more specific terms like photographer or painter when referencing another person — never artist… To be an artist, to me, is to paint or draw or take photos or make music — art is fostering your own creativity for yourself. It’s an institution now. Everyone’s an artist. It’s disgraceful to the people who work hard and have real talent and who deserve to be recognized,” said Power.

In his third year at U of T, double majoring in cinema studies and visual art with a minor in American studies, Power is more a jack-of-alltrades than anything else.

“My medium of choice is definitely photographic film, usually 35-milimetre, though I also enjoy video — tapes, not digital," he said, adding, "I’m definitely strongest at photography, though one of my strongest areas of expertise is in digitally editing film and sound, so there’s that too. But photography will always be something I can claim as my own.

My process recently involves a lot of Photoshop, and the darkroom technical stuff I can do in my sleep by now.”

When asked where he stood in the debate of “art for art’s sake” pitted against pieces of art with broader socio-political themes, Power responded bluntly: “I literally make art because it looks cool. I like the way it looks. I’ve never had a message behind my art and I never will.

It doesn’t represent anything. All those other artists, good for them, they have some sort of message behind their work and that’s great.

But I make art because I simply like working with my hands.”

“There’s never much process other than making something and finalizing it,” he adds. “I hate thinking about making something for too long — conceptualizing it. I just do it and hope it looks rad. For example, one of my favourite efforts was this conceptual piece I did in high school where I’d flip the camera off, lower my hand, and try to find the exact same position, and do it again 24 times. My favourite recent work

is this faceless Polaroid collection I’m doing, which is exactly what it sounds like. Spooky. Creepy.”

At this point, Power offered an amendment to his previous answer. “’It’s not an overarching theme, but if you want to consider ‘creepy’ a style, then I’m fine with defining my work with that label.”

However, finding time for his own artistic pursuits, outside of those assigned to him by his visual arts professors, has been tough. “[Balancing photography and studies] has been a battle of ice and fire,” he said, visibly satisfied with his Game of Thrones reference. “I used to find art as a reprieve from academia, but now I just feel like it’s a chore, even with my freelance stuff. I have no time for either, and certainly no time for both. I’ve been very stagnated lately, so I haven’t really gotten around to doing much.”

U of T’s art program has done little to dig Power out of this creative rut.

“The art program is strange when compared to my high school and what I’ve heard about at other universities. As is typical of U of T, most of the classes have readings, and we have to 'learn' things about the specific art we’re doing. I just want to do art, you know? In terms of creativity, it’s actually pretty stifling.

Cheap arts

Power working in his dark room. Daniel konikoff/THe VarsiTy

They bombard us with so many examples from other artists that it just stagnates you. They technically give us free reign when it comes to the ideas of our art but it somehow all just backfires and any creative spark I have is lost in the vagueness and the examples. It hasn’t been a helpful environment for my own art, but it’s a small program, so there’s some solace in that,”he said.

A small program, however, doesn’t quite equate a strong artistic community. “The only time there are collective shows is when they force you to hang your work up at the beginning of December. God only knows if people do art outside the South Borden building.”

The lack of community hasn’t been a complete deterrence, however. Gearing up to make a docu-

Under $10, pay what you can, and free arts events happening around the city this week

Star Trek Variety Comedy Show

The LIFTS, sponsored by Hogtown Brewers

MariProject: Artist Networking Event

A night of Star Trek improv with The Dandies, as well as music from Nerds with Guitars Wednesday, November 5 8:00 pm The Social Capital Theatre $8

Featuring opening acts Ghost Daze and OL' CD Thursday, November 6 9:00 pm The Cavern PWYC

Bring your work, mingle with fellow artists, and learn new tricks of the trade from likeminded, creative individuals Thursday, November 6 6:30 pm Artist Resource Centre $10

mentary about millennials and nostalgia, and on the verge of finishing some 4x5 prints, Power is going at it alone: “Forget community in art. You don’t need collective collaboration. You can do it yourself. My art is mine.”

Are you a student artist? Email arts@thevarsity.ca for a chance to be featured in The Varsity.

By Daniel Konikoff Canadiana Music Night

Day of the Dead

A night of "indie folk rock/feel good roots music" from Reynolds Creek, Kevin Foster, and Marcus & Nolan Saturday, November 8 9:oo pm The Central $10

A two-day celebration of the Mexican holiday, filled with music, ofrendas, and more Saturday, November 8–Sunday, November 9 All day Harbourfront Centre Free

var.st/arts

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

15

Class without cash

A frugal student’s guide to sophisticated entertainment complain about their mundane lives; your life is mundane too! Next time you and your friends need to vent about your days, set your conversation to a subtle drum beat and snap your fingers instead of giving each other advice or support. You'll immediately feel more in tune with your artistic side.

Heather Eason

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Some might think that, as students at an established scholarly institution, we spend our spare time following appropriately cultured pursuits. Unfortunately, whatever time we spend not studying often ends up being devoted to refuelling ourselves with caffeine under the guise of social interaction.

As students on a budget, our idea of entertainment is likely whatever’s on Netflix accompanied by juice that’s been in the fridge for so long that we hope it has become alcoholic.

Should we accept this sad, juicefilled, binge-watching state of affairs?

No — social activities that sound respectable enough to discuss with your grandparents are in fact possible, even on the tightest of budgets. Read on for economical spins on classy affairs and elegant rephrasings of time-wasting activities you probably do already.

THE BUDGET WINE AND CHEESE Pro tip: if you pour box wine into a respectable jug, no one will be the wiser.

For the slightly more affluent, step up your wine-tasting with a selection of inexpensive (read: fluorescent orange) cheeses. For extra panache, remove cheese slices from their individual wrappings before guests arrive. And remember: aerosol cheese sounds respectable if you call it “mousse.”

THE SHORT, FREE FILM FESTIVAL Watch YouTube videos. Call it a film festival. Grow a goatee. You just earned yourself some serious cultural capital.

THE BUDGET WINE TASTING Invite friends. Instruct each to bring a bottle of cheap wine. Spend an evening spouting words such as “nose” and “character,” or phrases like “the bouquet suggests notes of turpentine, while the body reveals hints of regret.” Swirl your wine in your wine glass (or water glass, mug, or solo cup) to bring out the wine’s flavours while maximizing pretentiousness.

Bonus points for interspersing your comments with randomly chosen French words.

THE MODEST AFTERNOON TEA Instead of a pricey latte, try a beverage that’s basically water but sounds

THE HALF-PRICE FOURCOURSE MEAL

Student wine and cheese. Jennifer su/The VarsiTy

like what fancy people drink. It is said that the origins of afternoon tea can be traced back to the mid1800s, when the Duchess of Bedford had her servants sneak her some tea and snacks because she got hungry between meals. This admirable practice caught on amongst high society

ladies and remains a classy way to spend an afternoon.

For a budget version, forgo the smoked salmon and clotted cream; simply serve tea with an assortment of finger sandwiches. Finger sandwiches can be filled with just about anything cheap: raw vegetables and

margarine, or an assortment of old condiments… the possibilities are endless, as long as you cut the crusts off — what are you, a savage?

THE THRIFTY POETRY SLAM Forget paying cover at a cool coffee house or bar just to listen to people

Saunter over to your favourite affordable restaurant in an evennumbered group. Order half as many appetizers and desserts as there are people and one different entrée each. Share the apps, switch mains halfway through the meal, then share dessert. You’ve just indulged in a leisurely, European-style, fourcourse meal for the price of two. For even more class and even less cash, don’t order anything for yourself, steal a bite of everyone’s entrée, and call it a “tasting menu.”

On your mark, get set, grow How to conquer Movember with facial hair finesse Selleck. Realize that 30 days is not enough time for you to grow a glorious handlebar.

However, hanging inspirational photos of Tom Selleck — or your preferred moustache muse — is strongly encouraged.

2. PLAN AHEAD If your facial hair still creeps in like it did when you were 16 then you may want to give yourself a bit of extra time at the end of the month — donations are also accepted beyond November 30.

3. KEEP IT CLEAN If you’re going to partake in Movember festivities, uphold the reputation of mobros everywhere and do it with class. The people sitting next to you in tutorial should be mesmerized by your insights into course material, not by the remnants of your lunch displayed on your upper lip.

TimoThy law/The VarsiTy

Hairison Visage

MOUSTACHE EDITOR

Leaves are crunching underfoot, frost is bringing a joyous end to allergies, and moustache season is upon us. It is once again that uniquely uplifting

and startling time of year when men everywhere start sprouting hair on their upper lip. Although releasing the facial hair kraken can be a symbol of male solidarity in the pursuit of raising awareness about men’s health issues, there is a right way to grow a

moustache — and Brad Pitt in Inglorious Basterds is not it.

1. ACCEPT YOUR LIMITATIONS Not everyone can be Tom Selleck.

In all likelihood, you’re not Tom

4. GIVE PEOPLE A HEADS-UP You should probably tell your insignificant other about your plans as well. While you and your boyfriend may both be planning to mo' together, a surprise ‘stacheattack for a girlfriend may lead to six of the most dreaded words

known to man: You stop shaving, I stop shaving.

5. BE CONFIDENT During the early stages of growth, your budding facebroom will be a target for abuse. Face the snide remarks about caterpillars and your promising porn star career head-on and give your ’stache the support it needs.

See Nick Offerman for a refresher on moustache pride.

6. STICK WITH IT The four stages of Movember: hope, crushing sadness, anxiety, glory. You can’t get to glory without those first three weeks, so persevere past the itch — don’t be a second-week-shaver.

7. DONATE Movember is about more than an impressive display of lip-holstery; make a lasting difference by collecting and donating to your chosen men’s health cause.

8. SHAVE THE DATE The last days of the month are the time to elevate your misplaced eyebrow to awe-inspiring lip plumage.

Invest in a good razor to shape your masterpiece and proudly display your moustache at a gathering of your best bros.

16

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

Behind the curtain A backstage tour of Hart House Theatre ahead of their production of The Tempest

Sarah Niedoba

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

This Wednesday, November 5, Hart House Theatre will open its curtains for its latest production, The Tempest, which was last performed at U of T in 1957 featuring a young Donald Sutherland. Ahead of opening night, marketing and publicity coordinator, Andrea Wasserman took me backstage to give me an idea of what the show will look like when it’s performed.

The set for the show, designed

by Joe Pagan, is a series of oceanic shapes, all painted white with accents of blue and brown.

Wasserman made sure I noted the “weight-supporting” hanging ropes.

Though she couldn’t speak about what happens in the show, she said she had seen director Jeremy Hutton swinging from them. She also mentioned that several characters will be painted to blend in with the set, from which they will emerge at various points in the show.

“The idea is that it’s going to be multi-level,” Wasserman explained, motioning to several ladders built into the set. “All of those ladders are going to lead up to performance spaces.”

One of the first things to note about the production is that it features a whopping 29 student volunteers, a few of whom I encountered as we made our way past the stage and into the corridors that make up the theatres back stage. Noa Katz acts as set design assistant for the production, and was busy adding a painted look to a number of costumes when we walked into what is normally the theatre's dressing rooms, but was temporarily being used as a work space.

The costumes for the show are,

as Wasserman described, “made, bought, or borrowed.” Hart House Theatre often travels to Stratford or Shaw to get the necessary costumes for its performances. The look for this production of The Tempest will be of the Napoleonic period, and, glancing around the space, I could see a variety of richly coloured navy blue and dark red jackets.

Costume designer Kathleen Black walked me through some of the looks for the different characters.

For Caliban, the island native and wayward servant of Prospero, a costume has been created that is half in pristine condition, half ripped and destroyed, to capture the essence of his rebellion against his servitude. For Prospero, the main character of the play and patriarch of the island, a beautiful cape has been created.

By far the most interesting costumes that I had the chance to see belonged to the island spirit Ariel — a white feather bustier and a cape of brown feathers made by a co-op student who works with the theatre.

Aside from how visually impactful both the set and the costumes appear to be, I was struck by the amount of student work that has gone into the production. In my time in the theatre — only about half-an-hour during a lunch break — I encountered two student volunteers. But during the busier hours of the production, there are countless student jobs that have been filled, from Victoria McEwan as assistant director, to four student assistant stage managers. If anything can be definitively said about the theatre’s latest production ahead of opening night, it’s that it’s quite beautiful, and that it’s come to be so through the help of many of U of T’s own students.

The back stage of Hart House Theatre. Sarah niedoba/The VarSiTy

arts@thevarsity.ca

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

var.st/arts

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

17

Not quite everything to do with sex Discussing the absence of safe sex dialogue at the annual Everything To Do With Sex Show

One of the exhibits featured at ETDWSS. Courtesy of jo gorsky

Daria Petrovich

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Write for arts & culture Email arts@thevarsity.ca

Last weekend, the Direct Energy Centre hosted the fifteenth annual “Everything To Do With Sex Show” (etdwss). Over 150 exhibitors and speakers showcased the best in sex and romance goods for couples, singles, and groups. What seemed to be missing from North America’s largest sex consumer show, however, was just about everything to do with a healthy representation of sexuality and the presence of sexual education.

This week, The Varsity sat down with Rachel Costin of U of T’s Sexual Education Centre (sec) to discuss problems of diversity and awareness, or lack thereof, at the threeday exhibit.

Being a first-time attendee of the etdwss, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I spent a couple of hours walking through the various booths, listening in on a “Kinky Bondage Basics” workshop and ending the evening with a burlesque performance by Roxi D’Lite. In the end, however, I found myself more concerned with what I didn’t see.

Although the show’s attendees were surrounded with flashy products, glamorous stage performances, and seminar speakers, it quickly became apparent that the etdwss encouraged a very particular demographic — one that didn’t seem too representative of anyone that wasn’t straight, confident, or heterosexual.

The sec’s Rachel Costin spoke about the U of T organization’s first time at the show this year: “The problem we found with the etdwss is that it was a very hetero-normative environment. It pushes the standard ideal of a woman’s body and the standard attractiveness — [specifically] the attractiveness of white women — on people.”

The sec, which encourages an environment of positivity, diversity, acceptance and support in all aspects of human sexuality and relationships, found itself going unnoticed among the crowd of booths showcasing leather, toys, lingerie and vibrators last week. “We weren’t what people were there for. They weren’t coming for sexual education, they were coming to buy sex toys,” said Costin.

Despite going into the show knowing its objective was different from their own, sec members at least hoped to find a place for themselves amongst the different offerings. “Our goal was to hopefully be visible," says Costin, “as a resource available to people, because there are quite a few university students interested [who] do go to the show.”

Sadly, the group’s information on health centres around the city, dealing with transphobia, beginner bdsm, and free contracep-

CALL FOR ENTRIES POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE

CONNECT:

ENABLING CHANGE POST-SECONDARY DESIGN COMPETITION 2014 – 15

Is arts your cup of tea?

tives didn’t seem to make the cut in the idealized world of the etdwss.

“We were too alien to the show… Most people skipped by our booth and were confused as to why we were there,” explained Costin.

Given the etdwss's emphasis on exciting sexual activities, I wondered if U of T students were aware of how to practice them in a safe way. “...The mainstream side of the etdwss, with the sex toys, is what is pushed on them in the media…It is forcing a standard on them of what your sex life should be, which is really unfortunate,” said Costin.

When asked if she would recommend the show to U of T students, Costin replied honestly: “I don’t think it's necessarily worth it…

It’s a novelty, and it’s not necessarily the best place to go for education.”

In today’s culture, sex toys and kinky merchandise are finding their way into mainstream attitudes about what having sex is like, and since such products are now readily available, “you don’t have to go to this one show to find [them],” said Costin. “There are definitely a bunch of other places [that] are better able to provide a more inclusive service,” she said.

Whether this trend suggests a greater accessibility of products for interested consumers or forces a more limited view of how sex should be is still up for debate. While the world of toys, bondage, and sexy costumes is a justified and natural part of many students’ sex lives, the problem with the etdwss was its presentation of these kinks as the only possibility. By disregarding so many crucial aspects of sexuality, the etdwss just couldn’t live up to its title.

FROM TRADE SHOWS TO WEDDINGS TO CULTURAL FESTIVALS, THIS PROGRAM OFFERS THE UNIQUE SKILLS YOU WILL NEED TO LAUNCH YOUR CAREER AS AN EVENT COORDINATOR, SPECIAL EVENTS ORGANIZER, ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE, CORPORATE MEETING PLANNER AND MANY

CONNECT: EnAbling Change Winners receive up to

is a competition open to Ontario post-secondary students in ALL design fields.

Project ideas that remove barriers for people with disabilities and promote greater inclusion are welcome.

Inclusive digital, interactive and web design projects are encouraged.

$2,000 and have their work included in an exhibition at Design Exchange in Toronto!

Deadline: April 1, 2015 DX.ORG/CONNECT

OTHER EXCITING CAREER OPTIONS.

business.humber.ca/postgrad

Science

VAR.ST/SCIENCE 3 NOVEMBER 2014

science@thevarsity.ca

All eyes on the Arctic

Transatlantic Science Week 2014 addresses sustainability and safety in the Arctic Making Software Tracing Practical and Scalable: Experiences and Lessons Learned Software tracing is useful for analyzing the behavioural aspects of software systems and can be used for verification, program understanding, debugging purposes, anomaly detection, fault recovery, and repair.

Monday, November 3 12:00 pm–1:00 pm George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, room ENG288 Free; no registration necessary

Techno Showcase The fifth annual Techno Showcase provides a space for startups to exhibit their innovations and an opportunity for participants to learn about the technology in a hands-on setting.

Wednesday, November 5 3:00 pm–6:00 pm MaRS Atrium Free; no registration necessary

HIV Cure Research: Ethical Challenges and Implications for Developing Countries

Lars Kullerud, President, University of the Arctic addresses the audience at TransAtlantic Science Week at Hart House. ELENA IOURTAEVA/THE VARsITy

Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger ASSOCIATE SCIENCE EDITOR

Toronto hosted the thirteenth annual Transatlantic Science Week (tsw) at MaRS and Hart House on October 27–29. This was the second time that the conference has been in Canada. Toronto was flooded with major stakeholders from three countries — Canada, Norway, and the United States — with the purpose of collaborating on challenges and opportunity in the Arctic. Both Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, the Norwegian Minister of Education and Research, and Dilek Ayhan from the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries were in attendance.

“International cooperation and higher education and research should be intertwined,” said Isaksen during his welcome remarks at the conference opening session on Monday morning, which was moderated by U of T professor Dr. John English of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History. During his speech, Isaksen stressed the importance of collaboration regarding the Arctic, and discussed how the problems concerning the region are no longer distant.

“It’s a matter of very profound global challenges,” he explained, “For example, we face a paradox: global warming is bad news for all of us; at the same time, the melting of ice caps opens up new commer-

cial opportunities. Thus, the Arctic is in a strong position to make the most of these opportunities and to find the right solutions.”

Isaksen continued to lay emphasis on the importance of research and sharing knowledge — not just for the countries of the region, but on a global scale as well. “The Arctic is a barometer of global climate change. That is why research done here is crucial [to] understand changes that are taking place in other parts of the world,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Isaksen made it clear that he held high hopes for the conference and for the future. “I’m ambitious on behalf of our facilities to find innovative solutions to the climate challenge,” he said during his closing remarks. He added, “I’m confident that we will find solutions to make the most of opportunities like the ones we see in the Arctic.”

Representatives from the Norwegian ministries were not the only speakers at the conference who expressed their dedication to strengthening collaboration. Fran Ulmer, who was appointed chair of the US Arctic Research Commission

by President Obama, was present for the opening plenary session as a keynote speaker.

Ulmer addressed the fact that next year, the chairmanship of the Arctic Council — which is currently held by Canada — will be assumed by the United States.

She emphasized that the hopes of

the US Arctic Research Commission, like those of the Norwegian government, lie with institutions of higher education.

“We have many shared circumstances, shared interests, shared capacities, and shared resources,” said Ulmer, referring to the three counties present. She continued, “Shared, yes — because we all have a part of the Arctic. Shared because we all have a system of public education that recognizes the importance of empowering younger generations to solve problems, not only in their own personal lives and communities but in their countries and the world.”

Ulmer went on to explain that, although there has always been change in climate, it is the rate of change in the Arctic that is alarming. She proposed that this is something that will continually need to be addressed among the engineers, construction companies, planners, and decision-makers who are seeking to build new business and economic enterprises in the harsh environment of the Arctic.

“How do our universities, who are educating the next generation of engineers and planners, sufficiently accommodate this rate of change in business practices, to actually prepare those young men and women to be as adaptive as they need to be in the next coming decade?” she asked, adding, “These are challenges that we all share.”

National Inuit leader Terry Audla, who is the president of the Inuit

Tapiriit Kanatami, also addressed Canada’s interests. Audla’s speech served as a powerful reminder that research institutions are not the only resource that we have in meeting our Arctic and climate change difficulties. “Inuit experience the ongoing changes in the Arctic firsthand, and we know that much of what we are now seeing in our homeland was not originally there.”

Audla added, “It is an important reminder that Inuit are the only players who have the advantage of holding a rich ancestral wisdom that allowed us to thrive for thousands of years in one of the harshest climates on the planet,” he said.

Audla’s speech drew attention to the fact that Canada’s collaborative interests on the Arctic reach far beyond the walls of our academic institutions. “Inuit are not, and nor do we want to be, simply observers in a changing world. Inuit have a vision for our homeland, and we will continue to be active, adaptive players in this modern world,” he said.

Although two days is a short time, the message from every representative present at the conference rang loud and clear. All three nations hold our existing bonds and partnerships in high esteem, but when it comes to studying our northernmost regions, there is always room to strengthen and improve communication, so that action is taken in the most effective and sustainable manner possible by all parties involved.

Dr. Stuart Rennie, head of the unc Center for aids Research Ethics Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be exploring the issues surrounding hiv in developing countries.

Wednesday, November 5 4:00 pm–5:30 pm Health Sciences Building, room 108 Free; no registration necessary

Everything Neuroscience (∑N): The Digital Brain This all-encompassing conference explores the intersections of neuroscience and computer science with keynote speaker Dr. Randy McIntosh, director of the Rotman Research Institute and The Virtual Brain Project.

Saturday, November 8 10:00 am–3:00 pm Medical Sciences Building Cost: $5.25; register on Eventbrite

HackerNest Toronto Job Fair A few of the companies recruiting include Desire2Learn (d2l), Bionym, Digital Media Zone, Free the Children, and Sidekick, among various others.

Saturday, November 8 1:00 pm–6:00 pm Exam Hall, University of Toronto Free, register on Eventbrite

var.st/science

VARSITY SCIENCE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

19

A country’s personality affects its environmental activity Study: countries with higher levels of agreeableness and openness perform better on sustainability Amna Mahder-Bashi VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

According to a recent study published in the Journal for Environmental Psychology, the personality traits of a country’s population affect its performance in terms of environmental sustainability. The study was led by Dr. Jacob Hirsh, assistant professor of organizational behaviour and human resource management at utm.

Previous research has shown that individual characteristics can predict environmental attitude. However, this study looks specifically at how entire populations can have a large-scale impact on sustainable behaviour.

“A study of this sort pushes personality psychology beyond where it started… we used to think of personality as a solely individual conquest,” said Hirsh. “We are now starting to understand that there [are] large-scale social implications to personality… within a population,” he added.

Usually, personality tests rely on the five factor model of personality: extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Each of these traits relates to sociability, creativity, self-discipline, empathy, and emotional stability, respectively.

“Using a previously published database containing completed personality questionnaires of 12,156 people from 51 different countries… we calculated the national personality scores and then compared them to the Environmental Performance Index (epi) of each country,” said Hirsh.

Countries that had higher levels of agreeableness (defined as empathy or compassion) and openness (relating to intellectual curiosity and aesthetics appreciation) had higher scores on the epi. The other three traits from the five factor model— extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism— had no effect on the epi score. Other factors such as wealth, education, and population size also did not affect the epi.

The epi ranks countries based on how they are managing their ecosystems and environmental resources. “A number of different environmental indicators taken from different resources are put together to create a composite index of environmental sustainability,” said

BRITTANY GEROW/THE VARsITY

Hirsh. The method uses 22 environmental indicators in areas such as water resources, air pollution, and climate change. The higher the value of the epi, the more environmentally sustainable a country is considered to be.

Often, the discussion about sustainability is centred solely on politics, economics, and ethics. Hirsh wishes to reframe the discussion of environmental stewardship to include the role of psychology in helping to promote sustainable

behaviour, which will in turn allow for greater appreciation of the psychological underpinnings of environmental issues.

“This study shows that psychological factors like personality, even on a large-scale, national level, can have an impact on the policy decisions that are put forward and the types of environmental choices that are made,” said Hirsh.

Although the study offers an interesting perspective on the relationship between psychol-

ogy and the environment, Hirsh mentioned that it has limitations. “We are looking at population differences; there is a lot of variability among individuals even though they may reside in the same country,” he said.

Thus far, the results have been consistent with the epi predictions. “It is important to continue the research in this area to understand what consequences entire populations may have on the environment,” said Hirsh.

Probiotics: an effective treatment for infants with colic Study: SickKids researches way to manage puzzling condition in North American babies Jeremy Li

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children may have found a viable treatment for infantile colic, a mysterious condition that causes excessive crying and fussing in otherwise healthy infants. Children with colic cry inconsolably, often for more than three hours a day, three days of the week.

Dr. Gideon Koren, professor of pediatrics at U of T and the director of the Motherisk program at SickKids, along with other researchers from various Canadian universities and hospitals, conducted a study that surveyed children with infantile colic for responsiveness to treatment by the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri. The study, published in the advanced online edition of The Journal of

Pediatrics indicated that treatment with this probiotic significantly reduced the symptoms of colic in breastfed Canadian infants.

Probiotics are microorganisms that confer health benefits to the host, usually by managing the balance of microorganisms in the gut.

While crying is normal behaviour for infants, serving to alert parents of their needs, infants with colic cry for extended periods of time causing great distress to the child and the parents. It is estimated that five to 20 per cent of infants have this condition.

Colic typically occurs in children as young as two months old and usually disappears at three to four months of age.

Despite the prevalence of infantile colic, its underlying cause remains unclear. A large number of theories have been proposed, including overproduction of gas in the intes-

tine, hypersensitivity towards milk proteins, and parental overstimulation, to name a few.

Poor understanding of its underlying cause makes colic difficult to treat.

“Doctors and patients alike have struggled with a lack of treatment options to ease colic symptoms in early infancy,” the study stated.

The study was conducted with 52 exclusively breastfed Canadian infants as participants. Of these, 28 were assigned to a control group and given a placebo, while 24 were assigned to the test group and given probiotics. Children were randomly assigned to these groups in a double-blind arrangement, where neither the children’s parents nor the researchers were told which participants belonged to which group until the data were collected and analyzed. Double-blind placebo-controlled experiments such as this one eliminate bias on the part of both the par-

ticipants and the researchers and are considered the standard for medical research.

The study found probiotics to be highly effective in eliminating colic symptoms in breastfed Canadian infants, consistent with similar studies conducted in Italy and Poland. It is speculated that geographical dissimilarities in the microbial culture of the digestive tract will cause differing responses to probiotics.

“Infants from one area may be more susceptible to the effects of the probiotics than other regions,” stated the study. A study in Australia, for example, found that probiotic treatment resulted in no improvement to colic symptoms.

The researchers conclude, “Our study provides evidence from North America that supplementation of probiotics in early infancy is effective in managing colic symptoms.”

20

ADVERTISEMENTS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 9

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conNotice any sectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean typos? commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean Frustrated? massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur Edit forridiculus us. mus.

Donec quam copy@thevarsity.ca felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem.

Nulla consequat massa quis enim.

Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

ads@thevarsity.ca

thevarsity.ca/volunteer

ADVERTISING – MEDIA MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION EVENT MANAGEMENT FASHION MANAGEMENT & PROMOTIONS FINANCIAL PLANNING GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MARKETING MANAGEMENT PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

business.humber.ca/postgrad

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo.

Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium.

Integer tincidFOR THE ANNUAL unt.

SAUL GOLDSTEIN Cras MEMORIAL dapiLECTURE bus.

Vivamus elementum semper nisi.

NORTHERN ONTARIO’S NEW ECONOMIC ENGINE? Aenean vulputate Speaker: The Honorable Bob Rae, eleifend former Premier of Ontario and former leader of the Aenean Liberal Party of Canada. imperBob Rae is working with First Nations communities on the proposed Ring of Fire mining development in northern Ontario. diet.

Etiam Wednesday, November 12 @ 4:00 p.m. ultricies Kruger Hall Commons, Woodsworth College, 119 St. George St. nisi vel All are welcome augue. reception follows lecture CurabiRegister: www.alumni.utoronto.ca/woodsworth tur ullaMore Info: events.woodsworth@utoronto.ca or 416-978-5301 mcorper ultricies nisi.

Nam www.wdw.utoronto.ca

JOIN US

The Ring of Fire

FREE

www.wdw.utoronto.ca

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE

FROM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TO ADVERTISING, THIS PROGRAM OFFERS THE UNIQUE SKILLS YOU WILL NEED TO LAUNCH YOUR CAREER AS AN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, MARKETING MANAGER, MARKETING SPECIALIST, PRODUCT MANAGER AND MANY OTHER EXCITING CAREER OPTIONS.

business.humber.ca/postgrad

Sports

VAR.ST/SPORTS 3 NOVEMBER 2014

sports@thevarsity.ca

Blues field hockey win silver medal in CIS championship U of T Varsity Blues, UBC Thunderbirds, Guelph Gryphons, and Victoria Vikes compete in CIS championship

The Guelph Gryphons and the Victoria Vikes met for a second time in the bronze medal game of the tournament. After the tight encounter between the two teams on Thursday,

both teams expected another close game; however, the Vikes came out on top with a 6–0 shutout.

The Vikes were off to a quick start scoring just two and five minutes into the game. The team added a third goal to the score just before the first half ended, allowing them to go into the second half with a comfortable 3–0 lead.

Guelph’s defense was stronger in the second half, holding the Vikes back until the fiftieth minute, but within the final 13 minutes of the game, the Vikes managed to score three more goals, all on corners, to secure their win. The win marked a full team effort with defense strong and five out of the six goals scored by different players. Stefanie Langkammer and Sheridan Goodmason led the team with two goals and strong defense in net, respectively.

For the seventh time in tournament history, the Varsity Blues and the Thunderbirds met in the championship game. The first half of the game was scoreless after strong goaltending by U of T’s Madeline Cho who allowed only 15 goals throughout regular season play, and cis Rookie of the Year Lauren Logush.

The second half began with the same level of defence, but in the fourty-seventh minute, fourth-year midfielder Poonam Sandhu scored the go-ahead goal for the Thunderbirds. Nine minutes later, Sarah Keglowitsch scored a second goal for the Thunderbirds giving them their second goal, which would also be the last of the game, as the Thunderbirds won their fourth consecutive championship title with a 2–0 shutout over the Blues and the Blues lost their first game of the season.

U of T’s Amanda Woodcroft was named championship mvp, and the Varsity Blues were named the winners of the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award. U of T’s three cis all-Canadians were also named championship all-stars: Alison Lee, Alex Thicke, and Amanda Woodcroft.

Canadian Intercollegiate Sports, also follow a similar trend. There are usually a few thousand people at the games, ranging from about 1,000–4,000 students.

Other reasons for the lack of attendance can range from a lack of time to attend to a lack of effective advertising by the Varsity Blues.

“I don’t attend the games because I never really see advertisements for them. I’ve only ever seen the ad for the homecoming game. I would really like to go for the experience but as of right now, it’s not really a priority,” said Danielle Owusu, a secondyear student.

Second-year student Monica Sallai had a similar remark: “I don’t go to games because I really don’t know when they are, and honestly I don’t know any of the people on the teams.”

Other students say that sports don’t really interest them and that they usually have other priorities, which makes coming out to games difficult. What may help to improve attendance at games may be more effective advertising on the part of the Varsity Blues, incentives to attend the games, and games being played at U of T’s new Goldring Centre.

Thomas Vangou

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

For the ninth time in history and the first time on the new Back Campus field, U of T hosted the Canadian Intercollegiate Sport (cis) field hockey championships. The field consisted of the top two teams from the Ontario University Athletics (oua) and Canada West divisions.

TEAMS The University of British Columbia (ubc) Thunderbirds have won the previous three championships and were named this year’s Canada West champions. This was the seventeenth straight and thirty-fifth overall cis appearance for ubc. The team’s goalie, Lauren Logush, won cis Rookie of the year.

The U of T Varsity Blues entered the tournament undefeated and as oua gold medalists. This was the team’s thiry-seventh cis appearance.

This season, fourth-year Amanda Woodcroft won cis Player of the Year, and Blues coach John DeSouza won cis Coach of the Year.

The University of Victoria Vikes made the tournament on an assigned berth by finishing second in Canada West. This was the team’s thirty-third cis appearance.

The University of Guelph Gryphons were named the oua representative by earning the conference silver medal.

This was the team’s eighth straight and ninth overall cis appearance.

The tournament consisted of three days of round-robin games and one final day for medal games from October 30 to November 2.

U of T finished second in the CIS championship. EVAN LUKE/THE VARSITY

Later that evening, the Varsity Blues played their first game of the tournament and shut out defending champion ubc 3–0.

The first half was evenly matched but the Blues were able to score two before halftime. In the second half, the Blues gained momentum and scored a third goal to secure the victory. Second-year Lauren Sudac scored the game-winning goal and was named the Blues’ player of the game.

In the second half, both teams exchanged goals, finishing in a 4–1 Blues victory. Heather Haughn was named the Blue’s player of the game for her playmaking contributions.

The rain continued into the evening match where ubc earned its first tournament victory by defeating conference rival Victoria. Both teams scored early and finished the first half tied. The second half featured strong performances by both teams’ goalies. The game ended in a 1–1 tie.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

The first game of the tournament saw Victoria beat Guelph 3–2. Victoria scored two goals in the first half and the eventual game winner early in the second half. Guelph never quit and ended the game with two goals in the last 12 minutes but ended short of the comeback.

The second day of games featured conference rivalries and rainy conditions. The Blues played in the day’s first game against oua rival Guelph.

In the early minutes, Guelph put pressure on the Blues defence, but the Blues regrouped and went on to score three goals in the first half.

Championship rankings were finalized as the teams competed in the final day of round-robin games. In a close game, the Blues managed to score the game’s only goal in the second half and defend their lead to defeat Victoria 1–0. Midfielder Emma Wingrave was named the player of

the game for the Blues. This victory clinched the Blues a championship berth. Meanwhile, Victoria’s fate would be decided by the final game of the day.

The final round-robin game decided who would face the Blues in the finals and Guelph in the bronze game. ubc had to score four goals to pass Victoria in the standings on goal differential. The team was ready for the challenge. ubc scored five goals in the first half and padded their lead in the second half to beat Guelph 7–1. ubc earned its sixth straight appearance in the championship game.

SUNDAY

Where is everyone?

Varsity Blues sports consistently draw small crowds Kasi Sewraj

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The University of Toronto is home to over 40 sports teams, each composed of talented athletes who are also students’ peers. Our teams work hard and play well, but one thing has been recurrent during the sports season: the lack of attendance at home games.

Attending university games boosts the team’s morale and is a great way to show support for the school, but the fact that attendance numbers have been dwin-

dling have our athletes wondering: where is everybody?

This year’s homecoming game was against the York Lions, where U of T came out on top, winning with a score of 70–0. It was a great game and approximately 2,220 students came to support the team. Our football team also played at Western’s homecoming game, where over 11,400 students attended.

Attendance hasn’t always been so shabby; in 1974 when Toronto played Western during the Vanier Cup at the cne, around 25,000 people came to watch. This is one example that may indicate that the

location of events may have an impact on attendance.

Sports like basketball and volleyball, which usually take place in the Athletic Centre’s Sports Gym, have the lowest attendance, and there have been times when there hasn’t been a single person in the crowd.

Games that take place at Varsity Arena usually have a few hundred attendees, and numbers range significantly for games played in Varsity Stadium, from zero to a few thousand.

Attendance for bigger games, like Ontario University Athletics and

VARSITY SPORTS

22 Vol. CXXXV, No. 9 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

OMBUDSPERSON Confidential advice and assistance with complaints unresolved through regular university channels is available to U of T students, faculty and administrative staff.

The services of the office are available at all three U of T campuses.

sports@thevarsity.ca

Fitness class review: Zumba Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre now hosts fitness classes for U of T students

To make an appointment with our office, telephone 416-946-3485 or email ombuds.person@utoronto.ca For additional information visit www.ombudsperson.utoronto.ca

excellence is a worthy calling... become the teacher you've always wanted to be.

Tyndale’s Bachelor of Education program: • • • • •

16-month program — 60 credit hours 112 days of classroom experience Three distinct placements Experienced educators as professors and mentors Small, collaborative and diverse learning environment www.tyndale.ca/education 416.218.6757 | 1.877.TYNDALE Toronto, ON

Fitness classes are offered at all three campuses. JAN FREDRIK FRANTZEN/FLICKR BY CC

Ameena Yousef

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The University of Toronto’s new Toronto Pan American Sports Centre is now open and holding fitness classes for students, similar to those held at gyms at the Mississauga, Scarborough, and St. George campuses.

One of the classes offered is Zumba, a one-hour class that incorporates Latin American dance into a high energy workout.

The class is accessible for those at every fitness level. People who

CUPE 3902 Unit 1 Membership Meeting Unit 1 members are invited to participate in a members meeting on Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 from 6-9pm in Father Madden Hall located at 100 St. Joseph Street St. Michael s ollege) to discuss a strike vote.

Refreshments will be provided.

attended the class ranged from talented dancers to those with no dance experience. The class can be modified for pace so that people at all fitness levels can participate.

The atmosphere in the class was positive, the music was exhilarating, and the instructor was encouraging.

When people think of Zumba, they tend to think of a party-like atmosphere, where there really isn’t much working out going on.

But, to my surprise, I was out of breath and feeling the burn after just one hour of class. With the fast pace and the variety of moves that

work out every inch of your body, this class had me breaking a sweat in 15 minutes.

The only negative aspect of the class was that, as a first-time participant, I felt a bit lost. However, the classes are held every week and the dances remain the same over the course of a few weeks, so if participants attend more frequently, then they will learn the moves faster and be able to better follow the instructor.

This class was able to provide participants with a great workout while dancing and having a great time.

CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Membership Meeting Unit 5 members are invited to participate in a members meeting on uesda , November 11th, 2014 from 6-9pm in VC 212 located at 91 Charles Street West (Victoria College) to discuss a strike vote.

Refreshments will be provided.

VARSITY SPORTS

var.st/sports

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014

23

New captains, new court, and a new season Women’s basketball looking forward to a fresh season Zaigham Ali

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The Varsity Blues’ women’s basketball team is hoping to reach a higher level in standings, coming from the fourth seed in the Ontario University Athletics (oua) East Division last season.

The team is focused on running deep into the playoffs and reaching the national championships at Laval.

Under guidance of captains Jill Stratton and Jasmine Lewin, the team looks forward to playing with a promising bench. Each member of the roster has the ability to see a substantial amount of playing time and make a huge impact on the court.

“As a team captain this year, being a leader is one of my biggest roles,” said Stratton. “This involves leading by example and being a role model for the younger players. I have to make sure I am always working hard and encouraging others to do the same,” she said.

Being aware of individual differences in learning styles and tendencies of players is a large part of Stratton’s focus.

During the off-season, aside from getting up shots, Stratton spent quite a bit of time in the weight room gaining muscle.

“Historically I have been one of the smaller, skinnier players, so I would... constantly get thrown and pushed around by stronger teams.

I spent a lot of time in the weight room and I gained quite a bit of muscle,” said Stratton.

Jill Stratton will act as one the women’s basketball team’s two captains this year. COURTESY OF VARSITY BLUES

Building on her leaderships skills as a captain, Stratton worked with coaches at skill sessions during the off-season as well.

Leading into training camp, the Varsity Blues lost a few players to injuries, which has been a setback for the team, and many players missed substantial time on the court.

The team recently travelled to Montréal for a tournament, and Stratton explained the difficulties

during practice and how the team looks to battle back, with the first regular season game at the University of Waterloo on November 7.

“It has been difficult to practice with a minimal amount of players. Additionally we have a pretty different team this year, so none of us have really played together before,” said Stratton.

“We are still trying to figure things out and improve our team chemistry. Our pre-season did not

go as well as we would have liked, but we had some good moments,” she added.

However, the team managed to compete in close games in the Montréal tournament with teams ranked in the Canadian Intercollegiate Sport top 10 who had more substantial preseason training than the Blues.

“Pre-season was kind of a wake up call, so we are now aware of what we have to work on and

things we need to fix before the season starts. We know we have a lot of work to do, so everyone is bringing a great work ethic to practice every day,” said Stratton.

The Blues as a team is considered small compared to other teams in the league. This provides difficulties in rebounding and post match ups. However, being a small team has its advantages as well.

“We are quicker and more athletic than other teams, which allows us to get out and run and capitalize on fast breaks,” said Stratton.

“We can spread the floor, and everyone has the ability to shoot the three. We want to be known as a hard-working, high-energy team.

This year we hope to make a run deep into playoffs and get to the national championships at Laval,” she said.

Varsity teams at U of T are looking forward to regular season games at the new Goldring Centre. The new facility features seating for 2,000 and features a state of the art weight room and other fitness equipment.

“I am really excited that we will be playing at the Goldring Centre this year. I am happy I will get the chance to play in it for my last year.

Hopefully it will help bring more people out for games which will provide a great atmosphere to play in,” said Stratton.

You can catch the team’s home opener on November 14 against the University of Windsor. The game will be at Kimel Field House in the new Goldring Centre.

Women’s cross country team heads to St. Johns for CIS championship Men’s cross country season ends after OUAs, women advance to CIS championship

The women’s cross country team is heading to the CIS championships. COURTESY OF VARSITY BLUES

Thomas Vangou

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

A “dedicated bunch” is how head coach Ross Risstuccia described the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

“They take the time day in and day out,” he said. Throughout the season, both teams have shown strong results.

Although the men’s team did not qualify for the Canadian Intercollegiate Sport (cis) championships, Risstuccia acknowledged

the effort the team gave in each race. “They have shown dedication and perseverance this season,” he said.

At the Ontario University Athletics (oua) championship, the men’s team placed seventh. The team was lead by third-year Sacha

Smart and fifth-year Zain Ahmed, as well as first-year Riley Alvarez.

Many of the athletes compete primarily in track and field and will be focusing on that in the upcoming months to prepare for that season.

As the men’s season has come to an end, the women continue their season for one final race. The team’s accomplishments this season include first and second place finishes, and a fourth place finish at the oua championships.

The team is lead by second-year Gabriela Stafford, who placed first at two seasonal races and second at the oua championships.

The women’s team has combined to finish races in the top 15 individually and will try to continue these times for the cis Championships.

Risstuccia understands that the women have it cut out for them at the finals, but despite their strong competition, the team’s goal is to be on the podium.

“We have to perform the day of,” said Risstuccia. “Anything can happen. Our results at oua’s show we have the talent... [and] the

oua is known to have some of the strongest runners.”

The main competition for the University of Toronto will be the University of Guelph, who finished first in the oua championship, and the University of Western Ontario.

Regardless of the placing this season, the coaches Risstuccia and assistant coach and physiotherapist Terry Radchenko are proud of their runners. “The two teams are representing U of T well,” said Risstuccia.

The runners have similar sentiments to share about their coaches.

Stafford has been working with Radchenko since high school. She has attributed much of her success to the two coaches.

“Honestly, not enough can be said about how supportive and caring Terry and Ross are as coaches. Being a part of this team is something really special,” said Stafford.

On November 8, the women’s team will compete at Memorial University in St John’s, Newfoundland for the cis Championships. The women will compete in the 6-kilometre race and vie for a podium finish.

24

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

ADVERTISEMENTS

ads@thevarsity.ca

The Master of Management of Innovation is an accelerated 12 month (8 month course based & a 4 month experiential term in industry) professional management degree. Leading researchers in direct contact with students through a very small & selective class provides a focused learning experience in economic analysis, technology management, strategy, finance, accounting, marketing & policy.

MMI IS AN EXCELLENT COMPLEMENT TO YOUR SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING DEGREE. www.utm.utoronto.ca/mmi

U OF T’S PERFORMING ARTS LEADER SINCE 1919

THE TEMPEST

By William Shakespeare Directed by Jeremy Hutton

NOV. 5–22, 2014 BOX OFFICE: www.uofttix.ca / 416.978.8849 Adults $28 / Seniors $17 / Students $15 $10 Student tickets every Wednesday!

www.harthousetheatre.ca

Season Sponsors: