January 19, 2015

Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

19 January, 2015

The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

IN THE SPOTLIGHT In conversation with Lights on her new album Little Machines PG. 14

Where the university Tuition without representation meets the hospital U of T, Toronto teaching hospitals maintain unique relationship in teaching, learning Alex McKeen

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Last year, the average admission gpa of students in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine was 3.94. Two-hundred and fifty-nine students enrolled in the first-year md program.

There are nine teaching hospitals that are fully affiliated with the university, five of which are within one kilometre of the Faculty of Medicine, which is also the largest medical school in Canada.

All of this can paint an intimidating picture for prospective medical students, a sentiment that Ali Damji, a second-year student at the medical school and vice-president, external affairs of the Medical Society, says is very common.

“It seems very overwhelming when you encounter U of T and you see how vast its networks are,” says Damji.

Yet the “vast networks” Damji describes may be the most distinctive aspect of medical education in Toronto, while also having a profound impact on patient care and research advancements.

To Damji, it is a major incentive to attend U of T medical school in the first place. “I think it’s an enormous strength of the program,” he says.

AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM The Medical Sciences Building on the southeast side of King’s College Circle is just the tip of the iceberg in the University of Toronto’s health web. The university is an integral member in a network of institutions called Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (tahsn), which includes all of the university’s affiliated hospitals as full members, in addition to four associate level institutions.

According to tahsn’s website, members of the network participate in healthcare and biomedical research and teach undergraduate and post-graduate medical and healthcare professional students.

While the network may seem straightforward, the dynamic relationships between U of T and the academic hospitals represented by tahsn are unique.

Dr. Brian Hodges, vice-president of education at the University Health Network (uhn), works at the intersection of the hospital and the university. He describes tahsn as a consortium of independent institutions that are highly supportive of one another and share a common goal.

CONTINUED ON PG 7

International students protest inability to run for Governing Council Salvatore Basilone and Iris Robin ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS

Yelize Beygo knew that her Governing Council nomination would be rejected instantly. Nonetheless, the second-year student filled in the required form and went through the process to protest the fact that those without Canadian citizenship are barred from serving on the University of Toronto’s highest decision-making body.

“I think the question is, why should I not be able to serve on the Governing Council?” says Beygo, who has Swiss and Turkish citizenship and is a vice president of the International Students Association (iNSA).

“I pay my fees as any other student in the university, and the duties of the Governing Council are not things I cannot do,” she explains.

The U of T Governing Council manages most of the university’s affairs from budgets and academic programs to student life and tuition fees.

However, it is the Ontario government, not the university, which sets the rules that prevent Beygo and other non-citizens from serving.

The Varsity spoke with the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities,

which provided information on how any changes to the governance structure could be made, but did not say whether they would make such changes.

“The administration agrees with the merits of pursuing this important issue, and has begun to consult with legal counsel and with relevant staff within the Ontario Government to do so,” says Louis Charpentier, secretary of the Governing Council. “The question of such restrictions — not just for international students but for all governors — is a complex one and the University is actively engaged in exploring options to respond to it.”

Beygo met the rule with surprise. “I just found it unreal that in a country like Canada (regarded as a leader in human rights) and an institution like the University of Toronto (claiming to have the biggest international student body of the country), students were still excepted from running at the university’s highest democratic decision-making body based on their citizenship,” she says.

She describes her past experience in Turkey going to a school where students had no say,

CONTINUED ON PG 8

INSIDE Comment The culture of perfection

Features Paving new paths

Competition and pressure plague U of T students

First in the Family brings resources to first-generation university students

PG. 9

PG. 12

Science Undergrad secures $100,000 grant

Sports

First-year student Cathy Tie launches biotech company

Campus table tennis club seeks varsity status

PG. 18

PG. 21

Ping pong problems

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VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

news@thevarsity.ca

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

THE VARSITY VOL. CXXXV, No. 14

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Associate Design Editor Janice Liu Vanessa Wang Associate Senior Copy Editor Hunter McGuire Associate News Editors Salvatore Basilone Tamim Mansour Alex McKeen Iris Robin Associate Comment Editors Emma Kikulis Victoria Wicks Associate A&C Editors Daniel Konikoff Jacob Lorinc

SEX TOYS FOR BEGINNERS WORKSHOP Sexual Education Centre, 21 Sussex Ave., room 612, 11 am—1 pm To start saw off with a bang, this introductory workshop will teach you how to choose the right sex toy, how to care for it, and how to incorporate it into partnered or group activities.

Everyone is welcome.

Contributors Reshara Alviarez, Salvatore Basilone, Lisa Bernard, Emily Colero, Emma Compeau, Sampson Coutts, Adit Daga, Heather Eason, James Flynn, Jonathan Gass, Ahmed-Zaki Hagar, Emma Kikulis, Daniel Konikoff, Sarah Leaper, Jacob Lorinc, Matthew Manhire, Tamim Mansour, Alex McKeen, Malone Mullin, Linh Nguyen, Sarah Niedoba, Dmytri Polyanskyy, Iris Robin, Aidan Slind, Ivana Vujeva, Sandy Wang, Hannah Wilkinson, Alec Wilson, Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger, Wan Xian Koh Copy Editors and Fact-Checkers Alexandra Babiak, Salvatore Basilone, Isabela Borges, Elisha Bover-Maison, Kieran Buckingham, Karen Chu, Chun-Chi Chu, Adit Daga, Sonah Gill, Alexandra Grieve, Julia Hanbury, Tigesti Hidru, Jennifer La, Fu Yuan (Andrew) Liu, Tamim Mansour, Hunter McGuire, Soham Parelkar, Michelle Pedreiras, Maria Sokulsky-Dolyncky, Emaan Thaver, Rose Tornabene, Elliot Wright Photographers and Illustrators Julien Balbontin, Nathan Chan, Mallika Makkar, Matthew Manhire, Elham Numan, Jennifer Su, Kate Taylor, Arnold Yung Cover Photo by Mashal Khan

Business Office

Business Manager Karen Zhou

Business Associate Parsa Jebely Advertising Executives Anna Afshar Rachel Choi

WHAT’S GOING ON THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS:

MONDAY

Associate Web Developer Ishan Thukral

Designers Kawmadie Karunanayake, Janice Liu, Mike Wong, Mari Zhou

Submit your photos to photo@thevarsity.ca.

SEXUAL AWARENESS WEEK (SAW) EDITION

Associate Science Editor Nadezha Woinowsky-Krieger Associate Sports Editor Reshara Alviarez

Lead Fact-Checker Ujwal Ganguly, Sean Smith, Suhas Srivinasan

Masks on display at Trinity College’s one-hundred and thirty-second Conversazione Kickoff: Gold & Silver Ball. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

business@thevarsity.ca parsa@thevarsity.ca anna@thevarsity.ca rachel@thevarsity.ca

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 © 2015 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above.

The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions.

Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789

TUESDAY ASEXY TIME – ASEXUALITY WORKSHOP Centre for Women and Trans People, 563 Spadina Ave., 4:30 pm—7 pm Ace Toronto, a local meetup group for people identifying on the ace spectrum, hosts this interactive session. Come along to learn the basic terminology of asexuality, for a discussion on compulsory sexuality, amatonormativity, and different types of relationships.

WEDNESDAY ANONYMOUS, FREE, RAPID RESULTS HIV TESTING Sexual Education Centre, 21 Sussex Ave., room 612, 10 am—1 pm Executed in partnership with Women’s Health in Women’s Hands.

THURSDAY BACK-TO-BACK KINK 101 & 102 Sexual Education Centre, 21 Sussex Ave., room 612, 4 pm–7 pm Join sec for a triple session, including a Dirty Talk Workshop (10 am–1 pm), a Mental Health and Sex talk (1 pm–4 pm), and a Handjob Workshop (4 pm–7pm, held at the Banting Institute, 100 College St., room 131).

FRIDAY SEXUALITY IN CAREERS CONFERENCE

THE EXPLAINER:

SEXUAL AWARENESS WEEK EDITION

Sex stores in Toronto Come As You Are Co-Operative 493 Queen St. West

caya is the only sex shop owned by workers. With a strong anti-capitalist mandate, they do not make a profit on their merchandise nor do they take commission. caya is also trans-focused, and they sell binders and packers alongside sex toys, books, and dvds.

Good For Her 175 Harbord St.

This store organizes the annual Feminist Porn Awards, which celebrate erotica made by women and people from other marginalized groups. They do not consider films that rely on sexual stereotypes, and they welcome films that include kinks, fetishes, and BDSM. There are women and trans-only hours at the store on Sundays between 12 pm and 2 pm.

Seduction

577 Yonge St. At three floors of sex-related products, Seduction is North America’s largest adult department store. Seduction operates by a prejudice-free philosophy and encourages open communication about any sexuality its customers are looking to fulfil. All questions are welcome with the promise of respectful answers without judgement.

Northbound Leather 586 Yonge St.

A proud supporter of fetishism in Toronto, this store hosts events celebrating kink. You can buy an array of fetish products, including restraints, percussion, and latex items.

Northbound Leather also offers private consultations.

Hart House East Common Room, 7 Hart House Circle, 9 am—5 pm This all-day conference will address topics centred around sexuality in the workplace, including HIV stigma and employment, intersectional careers in sex, and sex and entrepreneurship. It will be followed by a reception in the Hart House South Dining Room.

Correction: An article from January 12, 2015 titled “A lawyer in your pocket” incorrectly stated that the name of the computer program, Ross, was inspired by Mike Ross from the popular TV series Suits.

var.st/news

VARSITY NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

3

UTM students condemn recommended fee hike Proposed operating plan to cover cost of ancillary fees, reserves Tamim Mansour

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Living, eating, and parking at utm is on the verge of becoming more expensive. The University of Toronto Mississauga Campus Affairs Committee has recommended approval of the 2015–2016 operating plans for all utm service ancillaries, which includes a rise in residential rates, parking, meal plans, and the price of food sold on campus.

Under the operating plans, residence fees will increase by 5.5 per cent, the price of parking permits will rise by three per cent, and meal plan rates will increase by 1.5 per cent on average. Retail food on the campus is predicted to increase by 2.76 per cent in accordance with inflation.

The operating plans will be sent to the utm Campus Council for approval on February 5.

EXPENSES AND UPGRADES According to Paul Donoghue, chief administrative officer of utm, the fee increases are necessary to cover ancillary expenses and “required reserves.” Ancillary expenses refer to all expenses including the cost of replacing equipment and furniture, maintenance, loan and interest payments, cost of supplies, and other expenses. Reserves are funds that are held in case of unforeseen or emergency expenditure.

University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (utmsu) president Hassan Havili says that the union has been trying to fight the rise in ancillary fees. He calls them “a major source of pain for a lot of students.”

Some of the increased expense is accounted for by recent projects to improve food and parking services at the Mississauga campus. Over the past year, the utm Food Service Department has opened the North Side Bistro and Innovation Centre Café, and renovated the Colman Commons. While this has broadened food options for students, it has also resulted in increased expenditure due to furniture and equipment depreciation. utm also recently created a new job, the casual communications person who, according to Donoghue, works to better engage the utm community by liaising with food service providers on advertising and marketing.

The utm Food Service Department also requires investment for several construction projects including the Davis Building Permanent Food Court and a food service in the North Building Phase II project. Even with the

The William G. Davis building at the University of Toronto Mississauga. FILE PHOTO: CAROLYN LEVETT/THE VARSITY

increased rates students will have to pay, the Food Service is still expecting to have a budget deficit from 2016 to 2019.

Havili says these changes are not enough to warrant an increase in fees. “We want improvements to the services on campus but we do not want that to be at the expense of food prices and therefore student pockets,” says Havili.

For Rachel Currie, a first-year life sciences major, these changes have made a major impact on her experience. “As a celiac, I’m in love with the new tea bar in [Oscar Peterson Hall] and the huge steps they’ve made in expanding good food options,” says Currie, adding that her optimism is somewhat curbed by the negative feedback she’s heard from upper year students.

The parking fee increase is partly due to a new initiative by utm Parking & Transportation Services to expand parking on campus.

The proposal is intended to address the reduction of parking space availability due to construction projects on campus and the increasing student population.

The parking deck will be built on top of the parking lot that sits across from the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre in order to avoid encroaching into the green spaces surrounding

the campus and will add 300 new spaces. Parking & Transportation Services will be taking a loan of $6.235 million from the utm operating budget to realize the project.

A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD To Stephanie Chen, a fouth-year interactive digital media specialist at utm, the more burdensome increase will be the cost of residence accomodations. First-year accomodation in traditional residence at Oscar Peterson hall cost students $7,424 for the 2014–2015 year. With a 5.5 per cent increase, the same space would cost $408 more next year.

Chen notes that residence rates create an accessibility issue for some.

“In the past two years, I haven’t been able to stick with the same roommate because they decided to live off campus due to the high cost of living on campus,” says Chen.

Including the fee increase, net income for residence is predicted to increase by 137 per cent before transfers for the 2015–2016 financial year. Though this is the highest budgeted increase in net income, students have not noticed the same increase in residence services.

Chen notes that in the older residence buildings

especially, the condition of the furniture and ceilings is below par. Havili agrees, saying that “the cost of living on residence can be costly relative to service and space.”

In fact, the main cost for residence services is loan and interest payments, which take up 40 per cent of total expenditure. These loans were made due to the financial strain that residence services faced as a result of the building expansion between 1997 to 2007. The remaining loan balance is forecast to be at $42.4 million by the end of the 2014–2015 financial year.

Havili says that the utmsu has been lobbying the university to look for other options to fund capital projects, such as the expansion of the deck.

“We would love to see money come from the [university’s] operating budget as opposed to the pockets of individual students that are required to attend classes, office hours, tutorials and all other campus activities,” he says. “We highly encourage student representatives...to engage and empower the council representatives to discuss alternative options to the development of our campus capital projects instead of knocking on the doors of students that receive minimal incomes based off minimum wage salaries.”

Goods, money stolen in Sandford Fleming Culprits return most stolen goods; EngSoc executives say act may have been targeted Emma Compeau VARSITY STAFF

On January 11, a break-in occurred in the Engineering Society’s (EngSoc) Blue and Gold Room in the Sandford Fleming Building. Personal items belonging to EngSoc members, items related to the group’s heritage, and $800 of student-raised money set to be donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank were reportedly stolen in the incident.

The break-in also resulted in damage to EngSoc property totalling over $400.

According to a breach of security statement released by members of the Blue and Gold Committee, which is in charge of many of the society’s activities and events, the room was opened using blunt instruments. Once the perpetrators

entered the Blue and Gold Room, they reportedly used tools taken from the room to enter several other rooms in the vicinity.

Teresa Nguyen, EngSoc president, and Alejandro Mejia and Aidan Solala, co-chairs of the Blue and Gold Committee, released their own statement on January 12, in which they speculated that that the incident may have been a “targeted act” carried out as a result of a “malicious” inter-school — or intercollege — “rivalry”.

The break-in occurred at the close of Godiva Week, an annual back-to-school series of events held for engineering students. Like many aspects of engineering culture at the University of Toronto, Godiva Week has deep historical roots, with events such as Ye Grande Olde Chariot Race dating back over 100 years.

Godiva Week is named for Lady Godiva, an

eleventh-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, who is known for placing the welfare of other people before her own. “[I]t was turning out to be another fantastic week, but ended on a not so great note with the break in,” said Nguyen when asked about the tone of Godiva Week this year.

The majority of items stolen have since been returned.

On January 13, the Blue and Gold Committee reportedly received an anonymous email taking responsibility for the break-in. The email claimed that the intention of the break-in was not to take extremely valuable items, but only to take school banners as a prank. The email’s author promised to return the items as soon as possible.

“We feel extremely guilty and ashamed to have brought U of T this sort of shame and disappointed so many students. We have all

decided to contribute money to pay for damages and we are deeply, deeply sorry,” reads a portion of the email.

A caretaker at the Gailbraith Building later found the items, “including the full amount of cash that was taken.” Some of the personal items recovered had been damaged.

Others, including a trophy and computer monitor, have not yet been returned.

Although the email indicated intent to pay for the $400 in property damages, which included a broken lock and door frame, the Blue and Gold committee has not yet received monetary supplementation.

Members of the Blue and Gold Committee believe that the uproar following the event and the involvement of both Campus Police and Toronto Police Services compelled the culprits to return the items.

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VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

news@thevarsity.ca

Former PM John Turner draws large crowd at Hart House event Panel addresses politics, trade deals, and the state of democracy in Canada Aidan Slind

VARSITY STAFF

Former Prime Minister of Canada John Turner. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

Last Wednesday, in the packed Hart House Music Room, former Prime Minister John Turner held court, joined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development trade and agriculture director Ken Ash. Simone Chambers, director of the Centre for Ethics at the University of Toronto, moderated the event, which drew over 200 people.

The Hart House Debates Committee organized the event.

Turner was Liberal prime minister for three months in 1984, having held many cabinet posts under prior Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.

Turner began the evening by expressing concerns about the political process under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“Democracy does not happen by accident.

We Canadians are taking it for granted… Parliament today is neutralized and powerless by the prime minister’s office and party discipline, all around,” he said.

Citing his work on the John A. Macdonald bicentenary campaign, Turner said he was looking forward to the eight-hundredth anniversary of the Magna Carta, a thirteenth century English charter — the principles of which he hopes will help correct political ambivalence.

“Let’s go back to Magna Carta, [and] start where democracy starts — namely, at the grassroots… We Canadians have got to get off our butts and restore democracy,” he said.

In the course of the discussion, the panelists commented on many past and current issues.

Turner expressed skepticism of the new Canada-eu deal, saying that he would have gone back to the drawing board on the North

American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, had he won the premiership in 1988.

“I actually read the agreement, which was an advantage over Mulroney, who hadn’t read it,” he said.

Income inequality was also among the subjects raised, with Ash coming out strongly favouring progressive taxes.

“You want to redistribute income from those that have it to those that don’t? You tax them,” Ash said.

Ash and Turner also discussed foreign policy, economic diversification, Canada-US relations, and the Keystone xl pipeline. “[Y]ou’ve got to find a good job that’s fun, as well as being rewarding. You’ve got to work hard at it. You’ve got to get along with everyone you’re working with and for and make it happen,” Turner said when the panelists were asked to give advice to the young people present.

For his part, Ash cited the job growth in smaller startups as an indication of where students might look to find employment.

“Don’t rule out at all the possibility of working for yourself,” he said.

Kaleem Hawa, president of the Hart House Debates Committee, said that the event was a major success.

“That is the most packed I’ve seen a room at Hart House in my three years at university,” Hawa said.

Turner said that he spoke at Hart House to reach out to the younger generation about his political experience.

“I believe in education. I believe that it’s important that I share some of my experience with the next generation as to why they ought to become involved in public life, and ensure that democracy is restored in Canada,” he said.

League of Legends fever hits U of T E-sports gain support, recognition on campus as UTSU holds popular video game tournament Tamim Mansour VARSITY STAFF

“It’s melon time!”

The crowd cheered on Friday as MorningMelon — the avatar of Daniel Yun — charged into battle. This was the scene in the auditorium at the Earth Sciences Building as two teams clashed in a best of five game of League of Legends, the popular multiplayer battle arena online video game where two teams of player-controlled champions and ai minions duke it out on a map.

The tournament was jointly organized by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) and the University of Toronto League Association (utla) as part of Frost Week 2015.

Preliminaries and semi-finals took place from December 16 to January 14.

The finals were screened live in-person at the Earth Sciences Building and online through Twitch.tv, a video game streaming website. The stream garnered over 13,000 views during its nearly five-hour run.

The tournament is the brainchild of Zijian Yang, utsu vice-president, campus life.

“I wanted to bring e-sports in general to campus,” Yang says when asked about why he wanted to organize the tournament.

He notes that, so far, there have been smaller e-sports events hosted by clubs at the university, but he hopes they will gain a higher profile.

Lawrence Zhang, utla vice-president, says that Yang approached him during a campus life

commission meeting with the idea of hosting the tournament. They managed to secure Riot Games, the creators of League of Legends, as well as asus and Red Bull as sponsors for the event.

The tournament saw 14 teams compete against each other, leaving UofT Azure and UofT Frost as the final two.

Both teams are considered to be the strongest in the university, and they have both competed in the North American Collegiate Championships, as well as against professional players.

Team Azure emerged as the victor of the match.

“It’s very interesting to see people get really excited,” says Enrico Baculinao, a third-year student in Cognitive Science and Linguistics who came to watch the finals.

The players themselves can be devoted to their avatars. For example, Yun says he stays true to his avatar’s name by eating a melon on the day of a match.

“It can be any variation of [a] melon,” he says.

“I have [one] before the game.”

Yun said that teamwork is critical in this type of competition. “Before any game, we have a ‘washroom break’ — we go to the washroom as a group to discuss strategy,” he says.

Kevin Ma, a player from the winning team who goes by the avatar name aceyy, echoes that teamwork is the key to success. “We practice for four hours, twice a week, and we need the whole team,” Ma says.

Yun believes that e-sports can no longer be ignored. “It’s not just a hobby anymore. It’s a lifestyle and even a career choice,” he says.

Ma agrees, calling it “a growing sport.”

Team UofT Frost. JENNIFER SU/THE VARSITY

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VARSITY NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

5

“Insensitive” University College fundraiser draws criticism UC Lit changes charity for Date Auction in response to student concerns Iris Robin

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

The University College Literary and Athletic Association (uc Lit) Equity & Outreach Commission received complaints for its third annual Date Auction, which features bidding for a date with a University College (uc) student to raise money for charity.

This year, the chosen charity was Walk With Me Canada Victim Services, a survivor-lead initiative that provides comprehensive services in Ontario and across Canada to victims of human trafficking.

After some uc students expressed concern, the uc Lit responded by agreeing to change the charity, for which uc students can now vote.

Candi (Kimberly) Chin-Sang, a uc student, expressed concern that the nature of the event was insensitive and trivialized the experiences of human trafficking survivors. “I think [uc’s] Equity Commission... did not completely think through or try to problematize linking a date auction to human trafficking,” she says.

Chin-Sang believes that the uc Lit Equity & Outreach Commission intended to promote bodily autonomy and agency through selling dates with students, but says that the nature of the event was disrespectful towards the charity’s cause. “[Throwing] our agency and autonomy to choose to go on a date is insensitive,” ChinSang says, adding, “[A] date auction may be triggering to survivors of human trafficking....

I believe that linking human trafficking to a date auction is problematic for the date auctionees themselves, as it makes it seem as if the Equity [& Outreach] Commission is selling bodies rather than dates with students.” ChinSang raised similar sentiments on a post to the event’s public Facebook page.

The University College Junior Common Room. FILE PHOTO: SHIJIE ZHOU/THE VARSITY

In principle, Eric Schwenger, uc Lit president, says that he does not have any concerns with the concept of a date auction. “We definitely appreciate, however, the need for care and hesitancy when approaching an event of this nature due to the necessary connotations that come associated with it and the sensitivity of the larger issues that can find themselves affiliated with these issues,” he adds.

According to Schwenger, the purpose of the event is to raise money for a good cause. “[If] our students have a specific preference of what

that cause is, we’re more than happy to listen and ensure our constituents know that their voices are being heard,” Schwenger says.

To Chin-Sang, the decision to change the charity is indicative of the uc Lit’s willingness to address criticism. “They are not afraid to admit when they are wrong or that there was an issue,” Chin-Sang says.

Although Chin-Sang was concerned about potential backlash for criticizing the Equity & Outreach Commission, she says she has received support and understanding from Schwenger

and Munira Lila, uc Lit vice-president.

Schwenger believes that that the event is an honourable project and would like to see it continue for future years. “If we can keep this thing going and continue to raise tons of money for great local charitable enterprises, while continuing to make sure our students are behind us and that their interests are put first, I think it’s a great event that has a huge potential for good among the student population here at uc,” he says.

The auction is scheduled for January 21.

“We don’t want to strike, but we will if we have to” CUPE 3902 members begin preparations for potential strike as bargaining continues Hannah Wilkinson

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (cupe) 3902 has begun preparing for a potential strike.

The union represents some 7,000 teaching assistants (tas), sessional instructors, and other staff at the University of Toronto.

In a frequently asked questions page on their website, cupe 3902 say that they had been “stonewalled” in their attempts to bargain with university administration.

“Our message throughout has been: we don’t want to strike, but we will if we have to,” says Thomas Laughlin, a cupe bargaining steward.

Such strike action could have dramatic effects. All tas, course instructors, and even sessional instructors may walk out and join picket lines around campus. Classes could be cancelled and buildings could be closed.

In 2008, York University experienced a strike that lasted 11 weeks, effectively shutting down the school for half the year. Classes were instead extended into the summer months.

The union is encouraging students to speak to their tas and ask questions. “Certainly,

students have a right to disagree with their tas on any of these issues without being punished or penalized in any way, so I hope [undergraduate students] will not hesitate to talk to us about their questions and concerns,” says Mike Ruecker, also a bargaining steward.

FROZEN BELOW THE POVERTY LINE? Due to the current funding package, many cupe members are living below the poverty line, Laughlin says.

“The highest priorities for the members are financial, since our current funding levels are well below the poverty line,” Ruecker explains.

It is part of cupe 3902’s mandate to seek financial improvements for its members, including increases in wages and benefits.

Laughlin claims that U of T is following an Ontario government policy of “net-zero compensation increase,” that wages have been frozen, and that the administration is refusing to consider any increase at all.

In the meantime, union members are standing strongly together on the matter.

“There is currently a lot of solidarity around our financial proposal,” Laughlin says. “We have spent months surveying and meeting with members in different departments around the university and there is a shared

sense that student-workers at Toronto need better support.”

“We haven’t been on strike since 2000. We are not a strike-happy union,” says Ryan Culpepper, vice-chair of cupe Units 1 and 2. “It’s not a good thing for anyone, but we can’t go on with no contract or allow cuts to wages.”

According to Culpepper, there has been “no movement on major issues” from the university. In the next round of bargaining, the union wants to see that change.

THE BARGAINING PROCESS Negotiations have been ongoing since April 2014, when the contract for cupe 3902 expired. U of T administrators have been meeting with union officials on a monthly basis, but that has not provided enough time to settle any bargains, according to Culpepper. cupe 3902 is organized into five different units. Unit 1, which represents tas and course instructors, held a vote in November where over 90 per cent of the union voted yes to granting union leadership a strike mandate.

On January 26, members of Unit 1 will meet and vote on a strike deadline.

Unit 3 represents sessional instructors and will hold its strike mandate vote from January 20 to 23.

Just before the winter break, Unit 5, representing post-doctoral fellows, reached a tentative settlement with the university.

After voting from January 8 to 12, 72 per cent of the union voted to ratify the agreement with U of T’s Governing Council.

Provincial Conciliation was filed for on December 12.

The conciliation process involves bringing in a conciliation officer appointed by the Ontario government.

While the conciliation officer’s decisions are not binding, such meetings are a legal requirement before either side can initiate labour action.

The first conciliation meeting is scheduled for January 27 with negotiations between the union and Governing Council expected to last for the next month. The university has scheduled dates to meet with both Units 1 and 3 and is remaining optimistic.

Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T’s director of news and media relations, says that the university’s goal is to work towards renewal collective agreements that are mutually acceptable.

“The University continues to be engaged in cupe 3902 Units 1 and 3 and dates are scheduled to meet with both bargaining units over the next several weeks,” she says.

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Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

VARSITY NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

University draws criticism for “administrative bloat” Creation of new vice-provost, innovations in undergraduate education position prompts concern from UTSU Jonathan Gass

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) president Yolen Bollo-Kamara is criticizing the university’s recent creation of the position of vice-provost, innovations in undergraduate education.

In December, university administration appointed professor Susan McCahan, most recently serving as vice-dean, undergraduate in the university’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, to the newly created position.

Bollo-Kamara says that she appreciates efforts made to innovate and strengthen undergraduate education at the university, but is concerned about “continued administrative bloat.”

“This is just one of the many new positions created within the central administration every year, often having little impact on our university experience,” Bollo-Kamara says.

Bollo-Kamara adds that, in shutting down recent calls for the expansions of Counselling and Psychological Services, the university cited underfunding and budgetary restraints.

Bollo-Kamara adds that the money spent on the new position could be used to hire more professors to decrease class sizes or to offer greater program and course diversity.

As of press time, university administration did not provide comment.

According to the university, the creation of

Simcoe Hall. FILE PHOTO: DENNIS OSIPOV/THE VARSITY

this position is closely aligned with president Meric Gertler’s commitment to innovation in undergraduate education.

U of T has long been considered one of Canada’s most innovative universities. From 2007 to 2011, 63 start-up organizations

were created by U of T students from multiple departments.

At the moment, the university offers numerous courses, programs, labs, and clubs to student entrepreneurs. For instance, the recently created Entrepreneurship Hatchery offers

mentoring from faculty members and entrepreneurs, guest lectures by successful entrepreneurs, access to equipment for producing prototypes, and numerous other means of support.

The appointment is effective from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019.

U of T professor helps organize rally to honour victims of Charlie Hebdo attack Grégoire Holtz plays key role in rally attended by students, community members Lisa Bernard

VARSITY STAFF

Attendees at a rally in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack. RYAN RAZ/FLICKR BY CC

Some came with big cardboard pencils, while others carried signs. Hundreds rallied together in front of Toronto City Hall on Sunday, January 11 to make a stand for freedom of expression in the wake of the recent attack against Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French newspaper.

The rally was organized mostly through social media by a group of volunteers that included University of Toronto associate professor Grégoire Holtz.

Holtz, who teaches renaissance literature at the U of T French Department, described himself as a “long-time Charlie Hebdo reader,” saying he tried to explain the magazine and the attacks to his students “in the most pedagogical way.”

After attending a rally on the day of the attacks, Holtz and his wife contacted the organizer to offer their help.

A group of supporters then planned a new rally for the following Sunday.

“We did it because we realized that otherwise maybe nothing would have been done,” Holtz says.

Holtz says he took charge of contacting the police and the local media, helped to decide which songs would be sung, and bought a book of condolences as a gift to the French consulate.

Showing support for their peers demonstrating in Paris, many U of T students from France also attended the rally.

Camille Charbit, an exchange student, says that when she first heard of the attack, it seemed surreal.

“I quickly got in touch with my mom, who works in Paris, to check on her and see how things were there. It is hard to imagine what the atmosphere must have been like when I’m so far away,” she says.

Anne-Cécile Lasnier Confolant, also an exchange student, admits that her first reaction was “stupor.”

Like Lasnier Confolant, many of the French students in attendance said that attending the rally was a matter of duty. “[B]eing present is a way to support my country and the freedom I so strongly believes in,” she says.

Holtz says he is glad the event did not turn out to be “purely French” and that the Francophone and Anglophone communities instead stood together.

After speeches by Toronto Mayor John Tory and federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver, volunteers took the stage and began singing songs.

“La Marseillaise” was played, as well as some songs from George Brassen, a famous French singer known for his political engagement.

After observing two minutes of silence, supporters were invited to write a few of their own words in the book of condolences.

var.st/news

VARSITY NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

7

$9 million for ‘direct diplomacy’ Munk School of Global Affairs, federal government partner on Digital Public Square project James Flynn

VARSITY STAFF

The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development Canada are partnering on the Digital Public Square project, a $9 million project that will “increase digital space for free expression and open political dialogue in places where civil society and citizen participation are under threat.”

The project, which was announced shortly after former University of British Columbia president Stephen Toope took over as director of the Munk School, will increase access to global information and communications networks for citizens and civil society organizations, and support citizen monitoring of human rights violations.

“Canada believes that by harnessing new digital technologies to support freedom and democracy we can help give a voice to the voiceless,” said Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in a press release. “Through the Digital Public Square project, the Munk School of Global Affairs will create open digital spaces to enable citizens to hold their governments to account in defending freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

“Fundamental to a university’s core values are the freedom to access information and share ideas. This project is about opening space for free expression, political dialogue, and communication in places where civil society and citizen participation is under threat — enabling the largest possible number of active participants to choose the best in the

The Munk School of Global Affairs. JENNIFER SU/THE VARSITY

marketplace of ideas,” said Janice Stein, the former director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, who is directing the project.

According to Stein, the Digital Public Square Project will build on past Munk School initiatives, including another Munk School proj-

ect, the Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran, which helped connect digital citizens in Iran with research and communication networks blocked in their country.

The Digital Public Square runs independently at the Munk School, but it is built on

research and tools developed by its programs over the past decade. It will directly connect with the School’s Master of Global Affairs program, complementing its academic programing, and offering new opportunities for our students to work on leading-edge research.

U of T’s relationship with surrounding hospitals is unique in several ways HEALTHCARE MODEL

CONTINUED FROM COVER “It’s a bit like a federation that brings together successful but fairly independent provinces that share ideas and work together,” says Hodges.

“It’s inclusive — we make an effort to bring everyone to the table.”

One result of this collaborative system is Hodges’ position itself, which he describes as a Toronto invention that is, in many ways, unique to this city.

In other jurisdictions such as the us, Hodges expects that his responsibilities are most likely managed on the university side in a dean’s role.

“The difference in Toronto is that the hospitals have chosen to really strongly support [the role] so it’s created as a [vice-president] on the hospitals side instead of a decanal role on the universities side,” says Hodges.

EDUCATION BASED ON INTEGRATION Prior to attending medical school, Damji had completed two internships at Toronto General Hospital. Here, he observed the inner workings of a “world-class” hospital and was motivated to attend U of T to have the opportunity to work in the same setting.

Damji explains that all medical students are sorted into one of four academies, each consisting of some of U of T’s teaching hospitals. Most of the in-hospital teaching that the medical students complete is within their own academy.

The academy placements are most pertinent in third and fourth years, the so-called “clerkship” years, in which medical students work alongside physicians in a hospital setting as part of a care team.

Damji says that one of the challenges of such an extensive network is that it can sometimes be difficult for students to transfer between hospitals as part of their experience, especially if they hope to learn in a hospital outside of their academy. “If I wanted to shadow at St.

The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomedical Research. MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY

Mike’s, there is some additional paperwork that I would have to do,” he says.

However, Damji maintains that there is ample support staff to help with these challenges, including a student liaison at every hospital.

Hodges says that reducing these sorts of barriers is an ongoing priority for him at the uhn, which represents multiple sites on its own, including the Princess Margaret and Toronto General Hospitals. “We are working hard to integrate that so that when somebody registers, it’s good across all the sites,” Hodges says.

Another aspect of medical education at U of T is the opportunity for students to learn first-hand from physicians. Damji says that physician lecturers are common in second year. “Now that we’ve learned the basic science, they are now trying to teach us the clin-

ical medicine,” he says. “I think they bring a valuable perspective.”

Trevor Young, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice-provost, relations with healthcare institutions, explains that physicians at any of U of T’s teaching hospitals also take on a university appointment. Each physician has a practice plan, which determines what proportion of their time is spent teaching or conducting research.

Cross-appointed teaching has some disadvantages. Damji notes that physician lecturers are “pulled from both sides” and are consequently harder to get into contact with to discuss content.

Overall though, Damji says that the level of support for medical students is high. “We do have access to course directors, tutors and academic counselors to help us,” he says.

Young is acutely aware of the learning advantages available to students because of the integrated tahsn network. “[W]e are uniquely positioned in Canada — and maybe even the world — in terms of the resources and partners that are available to us. And, in turn, our partners have us — the largest medical school in the country and one of the top medical schools in the world — right outside their doorstep,” Young says.

To Hodges, this advantage extends beyond face value. He describes Toronto’s health system as a way of fusing education and research with practice.

Hodges says that, on one side, it is advantageous to try innovative practices as soon as possible, and on the other, to generate data from hospitals that can be fed back into research and education methods.

“We have a lot of information that we generate according to how people are doing, what they’re learning, what their quality of care is, and we can feed that back into the education system. So having the two working closer together I think is a big advantage for everybody,” he says.

Hodges recently discovered that other jurisdictions are replicating aspects of this model.

The Ottawa Hospital recently hired its own vice-president of education, a graduate from the Toronto system named Dr. Viren Naik.

Ultimately, Hodges says, cross-institutional networks benefit patients and families.

Hodges cites alliances that have come to fruition because of the Toronto system, including the Medical Psychiatry Alliance and the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance.

The strong institutional relationships realized through tahsn give Hodges reason to rethink education as a collective responsibility. “I’m most proud of the fact the hospitals are starting to see themselves as educational institutions that have responsibility for the best training of everyone who’s inside the walls,” he says.

8

VARSITY NEWS

Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

news@thevarsity.ca

NEWS IN BRIEF Elton John aids Foundation gives $75,000 grant to Faculty of Law program

U of T alumnus Khaled AlQazzaz released after 558 days in custody

Québec province renegotiates tuition advantage for French students

The Elton John aids Foundation (ejaf) has given a $75,000 grant to the Faculty of Law’s International Human Rights Program.

The grant is to assist in launching a project that will expose the impact of Canada’s refugee policies on those with hiv or at risk of hiv.

The program was developed with “input from the Canadian hiv/aids Legal Network, the hivaids Legal Clinic of Ontario, the Committee for Accessible aids Treatment, the Refugee Law Office of Legal Aid Ontario, researchers in Lebanon, and Canadian academics.”

The project will involve U of T law students and will support ngos.

“The Elton John aids Foundation is proud to support this unique project, which is poised to bring about positive changes in policy, breakdown stigma and hold Canada accountable for its obligation to protect the human rights of vulnerable refugees,” says David Furnish, ejaf chairman.

The case studies will focus on Syria and Mexico. The program aims to change policies to allow hiv positive refugees or those at risk into Canada with access to treatment and safety.

A report will be published online with case studies and testimonies in 2015.

Khaled Al-Qazzaz, a former University of Toronto engineering student, has been released from custody after spending 558 days detained without charge in an Egyptian prison.

The 35-year-old Al-Qazzaz, who was moved from a prison cell to a Cairo hospital as his health deteriorated, suffered from a spinal condition that threatened permanent paralysis.

“It was very, very overwhelming. I didn’t know how to respond, there was happiness and tears and the kids were all there. I was very, very happy,” said Sarah Attia, Al-Qazzaz’s wife.

Al-Qazzaz is set to undergo spinal cord surgery when he flies back to Toronto. Until then, he is staying with his parents.

“It has been a very, very long 558 days and our family has a lot of catching up to do,” Attia said.

Premier Philippe Couillard has renegotiated a 1978 agreement with the French government that allowed French students to pay the local tuition rate of $2,200.

While other international students pay much higher rates ranging from $12,000 to $30,000, French students will now pay the out-of-province Canadian rate — about $4,400.

The arrangement was initially created to acknowledge the shared history between Québec and France. Olivier Marcil, vice-principal external and communications at McGill University, says that the new deal is a compromise that will increase revenues while maintaining an advantage for students from France.

“We agree that French students should have a special status compared with other international students, and even after the new fee is set, students from France will still enjoy an advantage,” says Marcil.

Marcil does not believe that the new rule will affect French enrollment.

U of T’s graduate philosophy department has been named the best in Canada, tenth in North America, and eleventh in the English-speaking world by the Philosophical Gourmet Report, which ranks Anglophone philosophy departments.

U of T is the only Canadian university ranked as a top-tier research university.

The Report was originally conceived as an unofficial guide for prospective graduate students, but has since gained a reputation with its advisory board of philosophers with U of T professors Rachel Barney and Cheryl Misak among them.

Data for the report is collected by means of a survey in which each participant answers questions about departments at universities in Europe, North America, and Australia — but without naming their own university and the university from which they earned a PhD in order to eliminate bias.

The rankings identify the philosophy of language, political philosophy, and the philosophy of science among U of T’s many strengths.

— Alex McKeen With files from The McGill Daily

— Iris Robin With files from U of T News

—James Flynn With files from the Toronto Star

U of T ranks highly in Philosophical Gourmet Report

—Emily Colero With files from U of T News

Students express concern over eligibility requirements for Governing Council seats CONTINUED FROM COVER adding, “I think taking part in the decisionmaking process of any institution is one of the greatest chance people have here.”

WHO GOVERNS? There are 50 voting members of the Governing Council, with eight seats reserved for students. Nazar says that this figure represents one of the highest proportions of students on a governing council among Ontario’s publicly assisted universities.

While the 50 voting members comprise the highest decision-making body at the university, much of the day-to-day policymaking is handled by the various Governing Council boards and committees, for which non-citizens are eligible. Charpentier says that these can be an alternative avenue for non-citizens to participate in U of T governance.

“It is also essential to note that there are more than 70 seats on the Governing Council’s boards and committees for students. None of these requires that the member be a Canadian citizen,” he says.

WHY SERVE? There are over 10,000 international students at U of T and their undergraduate tuition can range from over $32,000 to nearly $36,000 per year. The Governing Council sets the Tuition Fee Policy, which covers advocacy, fee revenue, fee differentiation, fee level commitment, and monitoring. Permanent residents, who pay domestic tuition, are also barred from serving on the Governing Council.

International tuition fees are not specifically addressed in the policy. Instead, the fee differentiation section pertains to variations between programmes and faculties.

Cameron Wathey, vice-president, internal and services with the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu), names tuition fees as a key reason why non-Canadian citizens should be given space on Governing Council. “[We] are also students at U of T and are not able to run for the highest decision making body which regulates our tuition fees,” Wathey says. “As of right now they are unregulated, so they could increase every single year, and we would just like to have a say in that body.”

Though Wathey is confident that the univer-

The Governing Council Chamber. FILE PHOTO: DENIS OSIPOV/THE VARSITY

sity administration is doing what they can to get the law changed, he also thinks students should continue to take action. “[I]t will only help if we as students ourselves take a stand and do what we can to pressure the government to make a change,” says Wathey.

He adds that there will be a motion for the utsu to take an official position on the issue at a board of directors meeting at the end of this month.

Ujwal Ganguly, a second-year U of T international student from India, says that he would not run for a Governing Council position himself, but would like the option to do so. “I’m a bit perturbed that they do make decisions that affect us, and I’d like to know that I can run if I want to,” Ganguly says. “I honestly think there should be at least one person representing international students on Governing Council.”

Eleanor Laffling, a third-year U of T student and permanent resident, finds it odd that permanent residents cannot serve on the Governing Council, even though they pay domestic tuition fees.

“I just don’t understand how I can be considered a domestic student like a Canadian citizen, but then when it comes to [the Governing Council], I am no longer treated like a citizen,” she says.

Mary Githumbi, president and founder of iNSA, says that changing this rule is an important step toward making the university accountable to the international students it works so hard to recruit.

“We’d want to bring up the topic of healthcare and de-regulated school fees [at Governing Council] because these are the main issues that affect international students,” says Githumbi, continuing, “[T]herefore, the International Student’s Association is backing Yeliz.”

LEGALLY BANNED The Governing Council is regulated by the University of Toronto Act of 1971, a piece of Ontario Government legislation. Section 2, part 4 of the Act states that “[n]o person shall serve as a member of the Governing Council unless he is a Canadian citizen.”

According to May Nazar, a spokesperson with Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, a change to the act would require that a bill be proposed by a member of the provincial legislature and be voted on.

While private entities like U of T can typically propose legislation, in this case the university administration can do no more

than lobby the government on the issue. Susan Froom, vice-president of the Association of Part Time Undergraduate Students and a member of the Governing Council, says that any changes to the law could involve a very lengthy process.

“International students, understandably wishing to hasten this change, have applied to run for Governing Council,” says Froom, adding that their nominations being declined is simply the university following the law.

According to Susan Froom, U of T is one of only five post-secondary institutions in the province which is prohibited by law from having non-Canadian citizens sit on its governing body. (The others are Western, Ryerson, Wilfred Laurier, and McMaster.)

Nazar states that the various university acts, which determine students’ eligibility for Governing Council positions, were passed at different times. Therefore, Nazar says, the act in question is a product of the time in which it was passed and reflects the political concerns of that time.

“The last major changes to the University of Toronto Act occurred in the early seventies, when Canadian nationalism was prominent,” Nazar says.

Comment

VAR.ST/COMMENT 19 JANUARY 2015

comment@thevarsity.ca

The culture of perfection

KATE TAYLOR/THE VARSITY

Competition at U of T breeds pressure and stress among students Linh Nguyen

VARSITY STAFF

For many of us, coming to the University of Toronto was a shock. In the ultra-competitive environment that surrounds students on campus, life often feels like a race for the highest marks, the most successful work experiences, and a thriving social life all at once — a feat that is impossible for most students to accomplish.

As students, there is a constant need to be better and to do more, which often creates a collective cycle of stress and sleep deprivation.

While it may be easy to blame these difficulties on U of T's highly competitive culture and institutional drive, the problems cannot be attributed to the university or to student life alone.

"I do think the culture [of perfectionism] is strong here," says peace, conflict and justice and global health student, Julie Zhang, adding, "People feel they need a really awesome balance of extra-curriculars and amazing marks. It's driven by this need to succeed in the future."

Zhang points out how the standards for getting a job after graduating have risen. Students need to put themselves one step ahead in order to be competitive in the job market. This cutthroat atmosphere is enhanced due to the prevalence of social media, which highlights successes and thereby can decrease our own feelings of self-worth.

"When we observe others around us, it's easy to see their lives as being a lot easier and more perfect," says Zhang, "I've definitely seen peo-

ple who, to me, are perfect all the time — that they're quite competent at achieving all these goals without feeling the stress and exhaustion that I feel. But I know friends whom people think are accomplished and great at what they do, and a lot of them tell me that they don't actually feel like they're doing the right thing."

Even for those who did think they could have it all, being successful at U of T proved to be far more demanding than expected.

"When I was in high school, I was nominated for Senior Athlete of the Year, I was the student council president, I had a very good average and lots of great friends," says Sam*, a second–year Trinity College student, "I felt like I had a really good handle on life and felt that I was a mature young person who had had many rewarding life experiences. Coming to U of T has really challenged those views I held about myself."

"I started doubting myself. I wondered if I really wasn’t good enough to accomplish my ambitions. I looked around and saw so many others who seemed to have it all. They had lots of friends, research opportunities, good grades, and elected positions. Whenever I looked at them all I felt was like I was falling behind these people and that I wasn’t as good as them. It was disheartening," he added.

However, both students recognize that this pressure to be successful at everything is not explicitly the university's fault.

"I think the structure of university, and specifically U of T, is a factor, but I don't think we can blame it on that alone," says Zhang, "It comes a lot from what our society is like...

I think I should prioritize my happiness more, and my health, such as sleep and going to the gym. But what I do end up prioritizing is still my academics and my grades, and not just any extra-curriculars, but the ones that I think will lead me somewhere. I wish I could focus more on my personal health and happiness, but I still end up focusing on the stuff that most students end up focusing on."

Krista Steeves, Associate Dean of Students at Victoria College, acknowledges the difficulties that students face by feeling pressured to have it all, and agrees that it is not U of T specifically that creates these unrealistic expectations.

"I would be lying if I didn't tell you I, too, struggle to take advantage of all the opportunities," she says. "I think it is challenging to be a student, but part of learning is [recognizing] what is really important to you and what you need to prioritize and make time for. That skill is something that students develop and carry with them throughout their entire lives. It will probably be one of the most practical skills you will ever use."

Sam agrees, but attributes part of the problem to the structure of the university itself.

"I certainly find that there is a culture of perfectionism and I completely buy into it for better or worse," he says. "While I do not feel that U of T is explicitly doing anything to create this culture, I do believe that, implicitly, they bear some responsibility. They accept too many people and have no intention of graduating everyone who enrolls. This means that classes are very challenging and that only the

exceptionally talented succeed. [Also], many of the people who attend are commuters, which makes creating a vibrant social environment more difficult," he says.

Though there is an immense amount of pressure applied to all students to be well-rounded and perfect, we will inevitably have to sacrifice as we move forward. It's important to recognize that there will always be a desire to have it all at every point in life, and that this is always going to be an impossible feat.

"I've found that it is possible to have everything to a degree," says Théo Van Vugt, a second–year architecture student. "However, there simply is not enough time in every day to have perfection in all of them. You have to let go.

That's not U of T's fault, that's life."

Learning how to judge what really matters is an acquired skill — one many find challenging to master.

As Steeves so accurately puts it: "Someone once said to me, 'you can have it all; you just can't have it all at once.' You do have to pick times you can be engaged. I do think this generation has really high expectations of themselves. Sometimes, they're not very nice to themselves… Realize that not every course is going to be the best fit, not every activity is going to be the best fit, and the process of learning is evaluating that for yourself and readjusting." *Name changed at student's request Linh Nguyen is a second-year student at Victoria College studying Literature and Critical Theory.

VARSITY COMMENT

10 Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

comment@thevarsity.ca

This student life With the massive success of programs like Serial, U of T should adopt podcasts into curricula Column Emma Kikulis

ASSOCIATE COMMENT EDITOR

With the recent surge in the popularity of podcasts, why aren’t more universities adapting to include the medium as an education tool to supplement the usual stable of lecture slides and course packs?

Audio-digital broadcasts have recently become the subject of much media attention after the unprecedented success of Serial — a podcast produced by This American Life — which quickly became the fastest podcast to reach five million downloads and streams ever on iTunes.

This success, however, isn’t limited to podcasts and entertainment-based broadcasts. Audio-digital mediums have the potential to appeal to a wide range of listeners, especially those in the university setting who are looking for more academic broadcasts.

U of T recently jumped on the podcast bandwagon, with the launch of its four-week mini-series, U of T Cities, which aims at informing students and Torontonians alike about issues concerning our

campus and the city at large. The series included talks by U of T authorities on transit, politics, and the future of our city.

Although the mini-series is a step in the right direction, U of T should consider producing further audiodigital publications — something our university is lacking considerably in comparison to other acclaimed post-secondary institutions.

The University of Oxford has an extensive library of podcasts addressing a wide array of subjects available for not only students of the university, but the entire Internet community to listen to, learn from, and enjoy.

In its Open Education corner, Oxford has recorded and catalogued lectures that not only serve as relief to students who miss class, but also are an opportunity for anyone with Internet connection to listen at their convenience and learn about subjects like war poetry, happiness and well-being, climate change, and philosophy.

Unfortunately for us, the University of Toronto libraries don't currently offer any collections of audio books, and many professors prefer that you don’t record their lectures.

With Oxford’s model in mind, U of

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T has failed to capitalize on the podcast and audio-broadcast craze, and should be working harder to make more audio available to students and the community at large. Initiating a system similar to the one employed

by Oxford would not only provide students with supplementary information to complement lectures, but would also be creating a system of convenience where, instead of sitting down to read through your textbook or notes, you could simply listen to lessons as you walk to class, drive, or work out.

If convenience alone isn’t reason enough to offer more audio-digital

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tunities to access audio modules in future courses.

With this kind of information and positive response, U of T would certainly benefit from implementing audio-based forums into its courses.

Not only would audio-digital broadcasts make university-level subjects more accessible to the general public, but they would also provide students with an additional way to succeed.

Emma Kikulis is an associate comment editor at The Varsity. She is studying sociology and English. Her column appears bi-weekly.

Why the delay?

Students and faculty fret over slow final grade releases Dmytri Polyanskyy

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

NEED TO LAUNCH YOUR CAREER AS AN ARBITRATOR, CONCILIATOR,

broadcasts to students, the research behind auditory learning, relative to other mediums like books and PowerPoint slides, is an important factor to consider.

A 2014 study by the University of Berkeley, which tested the usefulness of audio in conjunction with note-taking and lecture slides, found that audio-digital components increased learning outcomes. The same study also found that over 70 per cent of students who were tested agreed that the audio component increased their ability to understand course material. The students also expressed interest in more oppor-

As students return to campus from the long deserved winter break — and, for the most part, settle back in to academic life — the excitement of a new semester becomes evident. Students are armed with newly acquired knowledge and skills that they have attained from the previous semester and are ready to tackle their new courses.

Unfortunately, fall courses are still lingering in the backs of some students’ minds, as not everyone has received their final grades — even those who wrote their exams in the first days of December’s exam session.

Although this may not seem to be an immediate cause for concern, delayed grades cause a multitude of problems. Apart from the acute anxiety of waiting for grades, students also have practical reasons

for needing to know whether or not they have passed a course.

Students end up enrolling in certain courses that require prerequisite courses — possibly with a certain grade requirement — without actually having their marks available.

The nightmare scenario is being deregistered after a week or two of classes due to the apparent absence of these prerequisites. Not only is the student frustrated, but they are also held financially responsible for the course, as well as any timetable changes they may now have to make.

Professors are also being forced into a difficult position, as many are obligated to respond to the repetitive inquiries of students regarding final grades — even though the course is finished, and even if they have already sent in the marks for departmental approval.

This problem is also compounded if a professor strictly enforces prerequisites and cannot check for

them until waitlists have dropped.

People that may have been in the course without the necessary requirements have been taking up class space for students who were actually eligible to take the course. A quick glance at this situation poses several issues that may arise from final marks being delayed so long, such as selling spots in courses.

Given that U of T is a large school, we can applaud the fact that some marks are released more quickly than others. As a whole, it seems that the system we have in place does indeed do a decent job with releasing final grades. Nevertheless, it is critical for the university to address the problem and provide more support when it comes to resolving these troublesome issues.

Dmitri Polyanskyy is a second-year student studying math and computer science.

VARSITY COMMENT

var.st/comment

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

11

Satire and students Keeping an open mind in the aftermath of a tragedy Ivana Vujeva

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The Charlie Hebdo attacks took the lives of 12 people and shook both France and the rest of the world. Raw footage taken by frightened Parisians — bearing the gritty image quality and shaky handling one would come to expect from the filming of such violence — have made these acts viewable by virtually anyone, and have sparked global outrage.

They have also sparked a conversation — one that asks not only how such events could occur, but what ought to be done in their wake.

That we cannot, and will not, tolerate this sort of violence as a society is already clear.

However, the next question we have to ask ourselves is more difficult to reach a consensus on: can we, will we, tolerate the movies, articles, and cartoons that prompted the attack?

I think that we should — not just as a testament to those who were killed in Paris, which alone isn’t a good enough reason, and not for the sake of spiting our enemies, either. We ought to accept satire — more than that, embrace it — because doing so makes us better off as a society. Like a Shakespearean fool, the role of satire extends far beyond momentary comedic relief; it allows us to express our feelings in a way that — physically, at least — harms no one, and gives us a medium through which we can painlessly expose our own hypocrisy, and maybe even laugh about it. It’s funny, it's poignant, it’s effective — it's satire, and it does much more for society than we often give it credit for.

The most positive reason we need satire is because it reaffirms our position as a free society. That’s right; the very existence of publications like Charlie Hebdo and The Onion means we live in a culture free enough that we can make fun of the people in power (Stephen Harper, the IRS, the Illuminati) without hav-

ing to worry about being physically threatened. That’s deserving of a major pat on the back. Freedom of speech is a luxury enjoyed exclusively by the free; the presence of satirical works that push the limits of what we ought to say and think means that our governments trust us, at least enough to publish a cartoon or two that pokes fun at them or their policies.

Often, the funniest satire isn’t political, but based on the everyday happenings of our fellow citizens. While these cartoons and articles may be dismissed as shallow and overly provocative, they serve a vital purpose in making us laugh at our own ridiculousness. Articles like “The 12 Whitest Things Overheard at Whole Foods” are there to make us realize that we are really not above the things that we make fun of. In fact, we’re all full of material that warrants satire. Not only is this amusing, but it’s also a way of checking and balancing our collective ego.

I agree that satire can’t and won’t save the world. But there’s an equally valid point as to why people — particularly students and members of higher-learning institutions — ought to pay particular attention to these attacks.

There’s no mistaking the fact that the attacks were not on individuals, but on the principle of free speech. If students and faculty alike allow terrorists to silence the voices of satirists, who’s to say their own voices won’t be silenced at school? This could become a harsh reality should we choose not to take a collective stand. If we take away or limit satire, we limit the chance for analysis, critique, and revision: all basic components of academia. In short, we put our fears in the way of progress.

Beyond this, we need to see that the fallout of these attacks is going to affect us — be it through limitations of free speech, changes in policy, or just a general mindset of fear. As young people who are becoming politically conscious and are looking for ways to leave our marks on the world, cowardly shifts like

ARNOLD YUNG/THE VARSITY

these could greatly affect the way we might want to live our lives in the future. We can’t nip our own potential in the bud for fear of offending someone else.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned thus far in my life is this: you can’t please everyone.

Someone will always be offended, no matter

what you say. If expression isn’t a joke to those who will persecute us for it, it shouldn’t be one to us either.

Ivana Vujeva is a first-year student at Victoria College studying peace, conflict and justice studies, English, and art history.

Time for action A notice on the upcoming UTSU Board of Director’s joint proposal meeting Op-ed Natalie Petra and Ryan Gomes

CO-CHAIRS, JOINT BOARD PROPOSAL MEETING

It has been over two months since the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) Annual General Meeting (agm), and the conversations following the meeting have been dominated by entrenched opinions and a lack of compromise.

We are no closer to a solution to this crisis than we were after the agm, and the clock is ticking down to an October deadline.

It is time for action.

There is no question that students will be the true losers if their community leaders cannot work together on this pressing issue. The utsu must conform to the Canadian Not-for-profit Corporations Act by October, and it has become increasingly clear that the only proposal that could possibly be successful is one that brings everyone to the table and produces a compromise.

On January 21, we will be hosting a joint board proposal meeting that we hope will produce an honest conversation between all stakeholders in our union. To ensure that a wide range of voices are heard, the utsu, utm campus leaders, professional faculties and colleges, as well as course and equity groups have all been invited to attend, with many already confirming their attendance. Beyond these groups, however, the meeting is open to all students who are interested in seeing or being a part of a resolution to this problem.

As the chairs of this meeting, we hope to host a fair meeting where all voices and opinions are re-

Natalie Petra and ENGSOC Representative to the UTSU Board of Directors Ryan Gomes. JENNIFER SU/THE VARSITY

spected and heard. The conversation surrounding board reform needs a fresh start, and this meeting will offer everyone a chance to do this and find a solution that works for all of us. To accomplish this, we have three primary objectives: have an explicit structure for the meeting, set out clear goals, and ensure the space is safe.

To make sure that the meeting stays on topic, we will be using a set agenda to struc-

ture the meeting. This means clearly setting boundaries and constraints, openly discussing legal issues, and defining the needs of union members. We hope that by having a well-defined idea of what we want to produce, all parties will be able to engage in meaningful dialogue.

In addition, we want to get an explicit set of goals from those who choose to attend. What

do our student leaders want to see in this new board structure? What sort of objectives do they have coming into this meeting? At what point are they willing to compromise on their ideal vision? These are all questions that we cannot answer alone: they have to come from everyone willing to attend and voice their opinion.

Finally, it is paramount to us that the space remains safe. A recurring concern from board meetings, agms, and other general meetings is the lack of a safe space to have this kind of discussion. We will be operating under a one-warning system, and there will be zero tolerance for purposeful harassment or oppressive language.

As U of T students, we know how to think critically. Compromise must be the lens through which we build a new board proposal. It goes without saying that unless we can get everyone on the same page, this issue will continue to be dominated by partisan bickering.

We can all do better. Students deserve better.

Let’s create a solution together. We hope to see you there.

The joint meeting will be held January 21, 2015 at 5:00 pm in ES B142 Please check our Facebook event for more details: http://on.fb.me/1x1nPpb Natalie Petra is a University College student studying public policy.

Ryan Gomes is the Engineering Society’s VP Academic and a member of the UTSU’s Board of Directors.

paving new paths Faced with a unique set of circumstances and challenges, first-generation students can find support on campus

By Emma Kikulis Illustration by Julien Balbontin

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o commit to four years at an academic institution is a significant decision. It is a personal choice, and one that can be daunting and rife with unknowns. For many students, parents, older siblings, or other family members are an important resource; their university experiences can provide valuable insights, reassurance, and guidance.

They can also be a resource that we take for granted.

For students who are the first to attend a post-secondary institution in their family, the decision to pursue higher education is even more complicated.

First-generation university students make up a significant proportion of U of T’s student population.

Many face a unique set of challenges, as they do not necessarily have familial resources from which to seek advice.

“Many first-generation students may lack the ability to navigate this unfamiliar environment and may be unprepared for the challenges, expectations, and pressures of the university environment,” says Lucy Fromowitz, assistant vice-president of student life at U of T. These challenges are something first-generation university student Samia Tasmim experienced in her first year at U of T. “I was an international student new to Canada and living away from home… I also felt alone and without anyone to guide me,” explains Tasmim, who is currently in her third year studying health and disease and physiology and originates from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Fortunately for first-generation students like Tasmim, who are trying to navigate through university without shared experience with relatives, there’s First in the Family (fitf), U of T’s program for first- and second-year first-generation university students.

6% of U of T students report that hey are first-generation students

FACILITATING CONNECTIONS “[First in the Family] is designed to assist those students who do not have an immediate family member with experience attending post-secondary education who then act as a guide to the university environment,” explains Fromowitz. “It provides programming tailored to the needs of the first-generation student and ongoing support throughout the year,” she adds.

Creating space and resources geared toward supporting students who are first-generation university attendees is something Adonica Huggins, Student Life Coordinator for Academic and Peer Programs, acknowledges as one of the most vital services U of T can offer, even before students come to the university.

“First-gens need to work harder than second- and third-generation students,” says Huggins. “The First in the Family Peer-Mentor Program reaches out to students and their families at various events during the year, to continue to encourage first-generation students to find out about, apply, and attend postsecondary [school].” fitf operates as a surrogate family for first-generation U of T students seeking supportive relationships with other students who are in similar circumstances.

The program creates channels of communication and support on both a personal and academic level.

“I joined to get advice from the mentors,” says Tasmim, describing what initially compelled her to join fitf. “The program focuses a lot on academic skills and the mentees have, for an example, more direct access to the learning strategist at the Academic Success Center,” she adds. fitf is comprised of a network of mentors and mentees with the aim of creating a big brother or big sister type of relationship. Mentors like Nicole Fogel, a fifth-year science student, are there to give advice to mentees while developing their own leadership skills.

“During my third year of university, I sought an opportunity to make a difference in a student’s life by providing him/her with the knowledge and skills I had accumulated at my time at U of T,” says Fogel on her decision to join the program as a mentor. “I love the close community I’ve been able to create with mentors, mentees, and the fitf staff,” she adds. fitf mentors hail from a diverse spectrum of backgrounds and do not necessarily need to be the first people in their families to attend university. Mentors can be first-generation students or, alternatively, the

“The relationship between a mentee and a mentor is a unique one... mentors are more than friends.” first person in their family to have studied in Canada.

In addition to providing academic support and camaraderie, fitf mentors are also responsible for meeting with their mentees, with the aim of alleviating any general concerns they have in university and establishing a bond of trust and shared experience.

“The relationship between a mentee and a mentor is a unique one,” explains Fogel, who is the first person in her family to study in Canada. “Mentors are more than friends: mentees have to also be able to trust their mentors with personal academic and social issues that can be confidential,” she says.

Huggins, who was also a first-generation student, cannot stress enough the importance of fitf mentors, particularly those who have been involved in the program throughout their undergraduate degree.

“Upper year peer mentors are critical,” she explains. “[Mentors] establish supportive learning communities for mentees to ask questions, study challenging courses together in groups, share strategies for success, increase social skills, and to help navigate the campus.” A long-term involvement in the program better informs the mentors and gives them personal experience from which to draw in their mentor capacity.

The structure of fitf aims to optimize the experience of the program for both parties. Upon entrance to the program, student mentees get matched with a mentor in their program of study and gain access to the network of services the program offers.

These services include welcome events at the start of each term in September and January, which provide mentors and mentees with the opportunity to meet and begin to get to know each other. Other services include weekly learning, leadership and social events, and one-on-one meetings with a learning strategist. fitf also offers an annual campus-wide conference for mentees, mentors, alumni, and staff, providing another avenue for students to build connections with each other, hear the successes of others, and speak with staff. This year’s conference, Trailblazers: New Perspectives, will be held on February 28 at New College.

Tasmim, who is now a mentor for fitf, attributes her continued involvement in the program to her experience as a mentee.

AN ENDURING EXPERIENCE “As a mentee I mainly enjoyed my one-on-one interactions with the mentors” Tasmim explains, adding, “The mentor-mentee relationship is very friendly and supportive, and at the same time not hierarchical — we are quite informal with each other.”

Although she wasn’t a mentee in her first year, Fogel wishes she had joined sooner. “When I found out about the program, I wish I had been in first-year,” she says. “I know a lot of mentors who were mentees in the program, and this did spark their interest to join on as a mentor. We also have many returning mentees to the program as well,” she adds.

“I think it’s a great chance for students to connect with their peers as well as upper-classmen to help navigate U of T,” says Fogel of the fitf mentee experience.

The connections between mentors and mentees are unique, as they are stronger and more personally geared than joining a sports team or club. The mentors extend themselves to the role of pseudo-siblings, providing companionship, as well as advice on homework or academics.

“I think what fitf offers that joining a club or team does not, is strong and consistent academic and social support,” says Fogel regarding the unique advantages that joining fitf provides to first-generation students.

That being said, Fogel maintains that teams and clubs allow students to cultivate valuable connections.

“University clubs or teams can offer this too,” she explains, “but fitf mentors are able to meet with mentees on a regular or weekly basis and provide them with the skills and advice necessary to tackle their coursework… as well as help make their transition from high school to university more manageable.”

Tasmim explains that the formation of a bond between a mentor and mentee is the feature that distinguishes fitf from a club or team. “I really liked the idea of having both a close relationship with each

individual mentee,” she admits.

She is also careful to stress that the relationships within the organizations and between mentors and mentees are not hierarchical. “I do not appear as an authority figure to them… we respect each others’ time commitments and other boundaries,” she explains.

CAMPUS -WIDE RESOURCES Before students can access support programs and resources through fitf, they first must make the decision to pursue a post-secondary education — which, for many, is not an easy choice.

“U of T recognizes that access to a university education can be influenced by many factors,” says Fromowitz. She explains that while the university decision is a leap for any student, first-generation students can face unique and exacerbated financial, socioeconomic, and family circumstances that have a high degree of influence over their decision to attend or not to attend a post-secondary institution.

Huggins agrees, adding that strain can come from a confluence of factors, including being a racial or sexual minority. Combined, these factors can have considerable impact on a first-generation student’s decision to attend or forgo opportunities at college or university.

“First-generation students… don’t have post-secondary role models and supports,” says Huggins.

“Often they include students who also identify as Aboriginal, [racial minorities], international [students], esl, students with disabilities, and lgbtq who face exclusion and additional barriers,” she explains.

For these reasons, fitf maintains a close working relationship with other campus-wide services, including Aboriginal learning strategists, the International Mentorship Program, and Accessibility Services. As Huggins explains, mentors are encouraged to refer students to the services offered by these groups. These working relationships provide additional contacts for mentees based on their specific concerns and diverse backgrounds, and complement the support offered by fitf.

Ultimately, the goal is to make the transition as seamless and supported as possible. Huggins, once a first-generation student herself, can relate to the struggles faced by first-generation students while completing their undergraduate degrees, and wishes fitf had existed when she was a student.

“As a former first-generation student at U of T, who was experiencing an incredible amount of stress coming out as a lesbian in my first year…

I would have benefitted immensely from the support of the First in the Family,” she explains, while also noting the help and support she was provided with through the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office.

WORDS OF EXPERIENCE One of the most important pieces of advice Huggins can offer to first-generation students is to do their research about all the services the university offers before and after joining fitf, stating that first-generation students should “intentionally learn about supports before they need them, and pave their own path to success.”

Senior mentor Fogel emphasizes the importance of prioritization to her mentees. She says that creating a schedule, which includes a healthy balance of extra-cirriculars and social life, on top of attending class, is key.

“Balancing everything becomes more difficult in university as time is constrained and course difficulty increases,” she explains. “One of the keys is to know how much time to give yourself, when to start something, and how to use resources to effectively,” she adds.

Tasmim shares similar advice with her mentees.

She encourages them to fully engage in every aspect of their university lives. “I ask [my mentees to] participate fully in everything and always ask for help if needed.”

Tasmim adds, “I ask them to believe in themselves and carry on working hard.”

Arts&Culture

VAR.ST/ARTS

19 JANUARY 2015

"Rediscovering vision" Lights talks musical influences and the challenge of exercising creativity Article by Sarah Niedoba Photo by Mashal Khan

There are some musicians that have a certain Toronto-notoriety — Feist, Fucked Up, Metric, and Tokyo Police Club are just a few of the artists who got their start in the city. It’s a list that certainly wouldn’t be complete without Lights, who came out of the Toronto music scene in the late 2000s and hasn’t slowed down since.

So ingrained in the city’s culture that she even has a plate of Sneaky Dee’s nachos named after her (the dangerously addictive Cactus in the Valley, after her 2012 single of the same name), Lights is a name instantly familiar to most Torontonians, and for good reason. She hit the stage at the Hart House Great Hall this past Thursday before heading out on tour for her junior album Little Machines. Fortunately, she found the time to sit down with The Varsity to talk writer's block, musical influences, and next steps.

The Varsity: So you’re about to go on tour for your most recent album, Little Machines. For students who haven’t been keeping up with your music, how would you describe the sound of the album?

Lights: I have been sort of describing it as classic electronic. It feels like a collection of really powerful songs that can stand the test of time. At least, that’s what I go for when I write, things that can be stripped down and played on their own… But it’s really interesting classic synth-production, and by that I mean we use a lot of synth from the ’80s, synths that were actually used in that new-wave stuff… so you get this really current moment, this intimate moment with the song, and then the classic synthsound of the electronic production.

TV: So when you say that you’ve got a lot of ’80s synth going on with the album, what were some of the influences for you, in terms of that sound?

L: On this record, Kate Bush was a big one. Her production is so cool, and the way she phrases things, and the way that she sings things is just creative and cool, and you really believe her... I’m just a big fan of her, especially the whole Hounds of Love record is just amazing… Patti Smith was a big influence too — lyrically, poetry wise, she’s a great poet. I started reading a lot of her poetry leading up to this, and it’s just so inspiring.

TV: Can I put you on the spot and ask for one Patti Smith poem that you think people should read?

L: Oh my goodness… well actually there’s an entire book of poetry and it’s called Woolgathering…it’s a series of poems that are just amazing, and a lot of them she performed… I don’t know if you’ve read this book, it’s called Please Kill Me and it… looks at the punk rock movement through the ’70s and into the ’90s, and it talks about her performances with a lot of the poetry that she wrote that she would do sort of stand-up reading in New York and in Brooklyn. She would throw chairs, she would get right into it, and when you read the poems it’s just so cool that you can picture her delivering them that way. So I would suggest the entire book Woolgathering, and if you want to learn a bit more about her, Just Kids is a beautifully written book about her past and where her influences come from.

TV: Do you have any Canadian musical artists that you think students wouldn’t have heard of that you’d like to recommend?

L: Well I mean, people that are my peers that I’m a huge fan of would be The Arkells, they’re so talented.

People outside of Canada need to know about that band. And I would say another good friend and huge talent is Shad; he’s A+.

TV: So [you’ve said before that] you had some writer’s block in writing this album — can you speak to

that, and how you managed to overcome it?

L: I wasn’t interested in music — there was a period of time where I just didn’t want to listen to music, and that is my job. Something that you love doing suddenly becomes your livelihood, and then where do you find the balance between doing it because you want to and doing it because you have to. So, that was something that I had to rediscover…

I knew that creativity all comes from the same place — whether it’s your heart or your brain I don’t know — but it’s all sort of connected to the same muscle as I see it. So if an element of that is not inspiring to you, you have to reach out to other things you find inspiring. I started exercising my creativity in different ways — I spent a lot of time painting, and that was when I got into poetry as well. I actually made myself write a poem every night, I had this little book beside my bed and I would just blather into it every night. In the moment you can’t tell if it’s good or not, but you just get it out because you need to always be exercising your creativity… Ultimately what I noticed after the fact was that I was coming up with really interesting things, I just couldn’t see it. I think part of writer’s block is not having vision.

You can’t lose your talent, but you lose your vision, and without that you can’t see what’s good and what’s bad.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

arts@thevarsity.ca

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

var.st/arts

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

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“Laughter is brightest where food is best” Back of the House host Mike Christie talks about food, podcasts, and comedy FUNNY FOOD

Mike Christie has recently started his own podcast. MEDIA PHOTO

Daniel Konikoff

ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

I don’t usually go in for old Irish proverbs, but one that has been ringing in my ears ever since my hour-long phone call with Mike Christie goes like this: “Laughter is brightest where food is best.”

Back of the House, a new podcast hosted by Christie, champions that proverb, melding his passions for cooking and comedy into onehour interviews with local comedians. Each episode, Christie invites a Toronto comic into his home to cook a meal and chat about everything from comedy to urbanism. The hour begins with a step-by-step recipe guide, so trust me when I say you shouldn’t listen on an empty stomach.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Like vegetables you’d find at a farmer’s market, Back of the House came about organically.

“I’ve been interested in food and cooking for a long time now, but the Reader’s Digest version is, I’m good friends with one of the producers of the podcast, Chris DePaul,” says Christie, explaining further, “Him and his

brother have been putting on these really interesting comedy shows, called Comedy in the X. They’ve done Comedy in the Basement, which was in the basement of their old house.

Chris asked me if I wanted to [cater] the event, and I jumped at the chance. That was, I guess, the initial seed of the podcast.”

“Chris and I were talking about how he wants to grow the series, and he wanted to get me involved, as I was already involved making food for the events, and he wanted to know if I was interested in doing a podcast. I’m very much a fan of podcasts, as a consumable piece of media. I also just love doing interviews, period,” he says.

Christie has never tried his hand at standup, but, being a fan of comedy, he is immersed in the local scene.

“What I’ve noticed about [the Toronto comedy scene] is that it’s very supportive, very inclusive, and it celebrates diversity,” he says. “To have a place like Comedy Bar, an institution where people can gather, is extremely important. It’s immediately accessible, too; there isn’t any pretence, and you can go up to your favourite comedians and start chatting with them.”

“I guess it was my idea to cook for these comics,” Christie reflects, continuing, “Instead of doing standard comedy podcasts that are more free form, we wanted to do something a little more different, a little more focused, and something coming from me and my own perspective, which is food.”

For Christie, bridging the gap between cuisine and comedy has been small potatoes.

“When you’re at a comedy show and you laugh, it’s not a thoughtful, laboured thing; you’re reacting very instinctively to it — what makes you laugh makes you laugh. The same goes for food; you either think it’s delicious or you don’t. It’s very visceral, and they both offer these high levels of satisfaction within you.”

“When I go see most comedians in Toronto,” he adds, “I usually hear at least one bit about food.” (It’s at this point that we both share a hearty chuckle over a reminiscence of Jim Gaffigan’s timeless Hot Pocket routine.)

“Maybe it’s how [comedians] create their material, or maybe they’ve realized that there’s something you can tap directly into people with, but it’s something accessible that everyone understands that you can really explore.”

COOKING ON A BUDGET Comedy aside, if you want to slip on the oven mitts and explore cooking on a budget, Christie has a few tips to keep both your stomach and your bank account happy.

“I think chicken thighs are God’s gift to budget cooking. Not only do they have great flavour, but they’re usually cheaper than almost all the other cuts,” he says. “Get them with the skins on; they come off very easily, and if you put them in a pan or in the oven for about 20 minutes, at a medium temperature, it turns into crispy chicken bacon, which is one of the tastiest things you can taste.”

“It’s probably the least sexy ingredient, but I love beans,” he admits. “They’re cheap, nutritious, and you can get a lot of value out of a 99-cent can. Also, you can go to Bulk Barn and load up on spices; cumin, chili flakes, smoked paprika, et cetera. These can add a lot of amazing flavour to your food at essentially zero cost.”

Each episode of Back of the House ends with a series of Quick Christie Questions, which he consistently poses to his assortment of guests. We turned his questions back on the man who asks them, and here’s what he had to say: Where is the best place that you regularly visit in Toronto? Comedy Bar First intersection you think of when you think of Toronto? Bathurst and Bloor Favourite restaurant in Toronto? Bar Isabel (expensive); Brock Sandwich (cheap); Drupati’s (cheap) Favourite people to follow on Twitter? Shawn Micallef, Corey Mintz, and Chelsea Peretti Song that’s been in your head recently?

The War on Drugs - "Come to the City" Favourite meal to make in a pinch?

Having a sweet potato, a dark green vegetable (preferably Brussels sprouts but will do broccoli), and a cured pork (pancetta, prosciutto) – grate the sweet potato, let it cook in one pan so it gets crispy, cook the pancetta in a pan to get the pan all drained out, cook the green vegetable, top it with lemon and lime and garlic, throw some smoked chipotle peppers, and it can be done in about 15 minutes.

Dream guest for the podcast? Martin Short

Theatre review: Jesus Christ Superstar Hart House Theatre’s reimagined Jesus Christ Superstar is a musical powerhouse Alec Wilson

VARSITY STAFF

Running from January 16 to the end of the month, Hart House Theatre’s interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar is a boisterous reimagining of the messiah’s final days set within the tumult of the Occupy movement.

Though choosing to reimagine the production through the lens of a disgruntled and disenfranchised populist movement falls through in some key areas, the choice to modernize the production is admirable.

Beyond a non-descript bank building wall and a smattering of traffic gates and scaffolding, the set is quite barren and doesn’t serve the allusion as effectively as it might have. The perplexing decision to have characters Pilate, King Herod, Caiaphas, Annas, and their surrounding priests play as suited financial types seems to rob the narrative of some of its reason. Overall, the Occupy setting seems forced at times, and nonsensical at others.

However, what the show may lack in depth of storytelling, it absolutely makes up for in talent and activity. Notable performances include

Hart House's most recent production features rousing musical numbers. COURTESY OF HART HOUSE THEATRE

several debut Hart House actors including David Michael Moote as Jesus. Moote’s range as a singer is considerable, as he is given ample opportunity to demonstrate throughout the show. Other first-timers Harold Lumilan as Simon, James King as Peter, and Mark Gallagher as Annas bring additional talent and spectacle to a solid musical affair. Lumilan in

particular deserves some praise for his vitality and excitement, which come through in spades when he leads the cast in a number halfway through the first act.

It is Aaron Williams, another debut performer, as Judas, and Saphire Demitro as King Herod, however, who stood above the rest of an already impressive cast. Williams makes

for an exceedingly convincing Judas, belting out his frustrations with Jesus’ growing public persona and with it, the loss of the movement’s legitimacy, over wailing guitar. Demitro, on the other hand, steals the second act as Herod, petulantly testing the now captive Christ on his divinity during a more memorable number.

Other more experienced Hart House actors help round out the production. Claire Hunter and Jeremy Hunton put on commendable performances, with Hunter playing Jesus’ long suffering female companion Mary Magdalene, and Hutton as the internally conflicted Pilate, forced to condemn Jesus by the angry mob.

With the minor exceptions of a few technical incidents and a rushed transition or two — which are easily explained away as opening night wrinkles — the show seemed to go off without a hitch.

While the reinterpretation’s narrative seems lost at times, the cast and band prove themselves to be more than capable of overcoming and blowing the roof off over the course of the musically jam-packed evening. Audiences can expect to be wowed by the cast’s vocal chops and satisfied with a creative attempt to politicize one of Webber’s great works.

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Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

arts@thevarsity.ca

Student connoisseur: dining hall edition Some campus dining halls are a cut above the rest

Heather Eason and Daniel Konikoff VARSITY STAFF

While most students who indulge in their local dining hall’s cuisine have a meal plan, there’s nothing stopping commuters or even students from other colleges from sampling the various college eateries on campus. This week, we reviewed four of the St. George campus’ dining halls to let you know what’s worth your time.

NEW COLLEGE: AUDREY TAYLOR HALL New College’s Audrey Taylor Hall features a wide variety of options for the hungry student — pizza, vegetable biryani, beef goulash, grilled Italian sausage, an impressive salad bar, and a grill-your-own-panini station were all on display when I made my visit on Tuesday night. Each dish advertised its nutritional value, and posters advocated for locally sourced food.

The pizza was soft and not at all greasy, and the salad bar was a glorious array of fresh greens, protein-packed chickpeas, and hardboiled eggs. I should have gone for an oil and vinegar dressing, which lurked at a different station — the one I chose looked and tasted alarmingly like melted raspberry sherbet.

Desserts featured the always-present and never-wanted jello, ice cream cones, and an unimpressive coconut pudding, but all was ultimately redeemed with a selection of warm cookies.

Though I had to eat a considerable amount before feeling as though I'd gotten my money's worth, I was quite satisfied with my New College dining experience. Open from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm Monday through Thursday, the hall is available to all regardless of regular mealtimes.

Cost: $13.25 for all-you-can-eat Verdict: With its wide array of tasty options and attention to detail, New College's dining hall seems to be the place to go if you're concerned with what you eat. The only real obstacle I see to eating here is the somewhat steep price.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE: HOWARD

FERGUSON HALL

My first impression of Howard Ferguson Hall, colloquially known as “Fung,” was complete chaos. I had arrived at the height of lunchtime, and there were long, serpentine lines slithering out from each station. For a first-time diner, it was very difficult to ascertain which line was for which dish and which for the cash.

From what I did notice, the dining hall offered custom-made sandwiches, make-

your-own salad, chicken or vegetarian fajitas, beef tortellini with marinara or basil cream, hamburgers, and tuna Havarti quesadillas.

These tasty-sounding options were offered at various stations, many with silly names like “stir craze” or “fun grill.” I chose the fajitas along with a chocolate-filled croissant from the well-stocked pastry case for dessert.

I took a seat and dug into my fajita — it wasn’t as cheesy as a good fajita should be, but was perfectly edible. The pastry I ate bore little resemblance to any croissant I’d ever had in the past. In the end, I was not impressed with University College’s food, but, to be fair, I had only two dishes and the hall is known to be hit-or-miss.

Cost: Approximately $9 for a main, drink, and dessert.

Verdict: While the food was less than spectacular, Howard Ferguson Hall does have a few things going for it: meals are available to go, and you’re encouraged to bring your own containers to save money and the environment.

The pay-per-item system is ideal if you’re a light eater or simply aren’t too hungry.

VICTORIA COLLEGE: BURWASH HALL Burwash Hall is structured so that diners file past that day’s options in a single line and serve themselves. While this system conveniently takes you past every option without the hassle of multiple lines, it does pose an ethical dilemma: is it socially acceptable for those who aren’t interested in the first dish to bypass the initial bottleneck and butt in near a different dish? Only experts in etiquette can say.

On the menu was carrot ginger or scotch broth soup, chicken curry, aloo gobi masala,

warm naan bread, various hot vegetables, and pineapple upside down cake. Everything is selfserve, making it easy to get exactly what and how much you want. Unless you find yourself in the deepest pits of studying hell, I strongly recommend bypassing the coffee.

I opted for chicken curry, enough naan to render a fork unnecessary, salad, and a chocolate chip cookie (which I toasted illegally).

Burwash’s high ceiling and windows combined with its long wooden tables make it the perfect place to live out your Harry Potter fantasies (house elves not included).

The butter chicken was excellent, but, full disclosure, I am a Vic student, so I know other nights to be less than appetizing (I speak specifically of meatloaf night, avoided by all).

A good Burwash night is cause for celebration, but is certainly not the norm.

Cost: $13.50 for all-you-can-eat Verdict: Burwash is a bit pricy for the average quality of the food, so go when hungry and with enough friends to wile away the hours. Its greatest downfalls are its limited hours (dinner is from 4:00 pm–7:30 pm on weeknights) and its sometimes too-greasy food.

TRINITY COLLEGE: STRACHAN HALL Trinity College’s dining hall is a vision of woodpaneled opulence — a sort of Xanadu built from varnished logs, if you will. Coats of arms, which have neither jackets nor limbs, surround you as you try to eat your meal; a cluster of coats dangle precariously over the dining hall exit, accompanied by the haunting phrase, “Slow comes the hour; its passing speed how great.”

I think that means, “Eat, and get the hell out.”

The façade of ostentatiousness crumbled ever so slightly when I looked at the menu;

although advertised as “battered Pollock loin,” what arrived on my plate was little more than fish and chips. I eschewed the fajita station and went straight for the battered goodness, which came in a relatively tame portion size, but was nevertheless quite tasty.

The coleslaw (for some reason labelled as “coleslaw vinaigrette,” which, let’s be real here, isn’t fooling anyone) tickled my palate and complimented the fish and spuds perfectly. In my travels, I had seemed to miss the broccoli cheddar quiche, but judging by the unenthused demeanours of the surrounding students who had plopped one on their plate, I figured I hadn’t missed a whole lot. I ate my meal in solitude, under the watchful – and somewhat judgmental – eyes of the painted alumni, including one former provost of Trinity College from the early 1900s who tossed me exorbitant amounts of shade.

Cost: $12 for dinner Verdict: Strachan gets a bad rep on campus, and it’s not undeserved. Despite being perhaps the most beautiful dining hall, its food is over-priced and, despite fancy names, quite mediocre.

From top to bottom: A waffle station. MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY Waffles and ice cream. RUSABA ALAM/THE VARSITY Pizza at Trinity College. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE

var.st/arts

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

17

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 Students have often frequented the Guvernment night club for various clubbing events. MASHAL KHAN/THE VARSITY

In memoriam: Kool Haus and Guvernment

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Recalling favourite memories of the two iconic Toronto venues, which are closing their doors later this month Jacob Lorinc

ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

It’s finally time to pour one out for two of the most popular venues Toronto has had the pleasure of calling its own. After 19 years of duty, Kool Haus and the Guvernment are closing up shop, much to the chagrin of music lovers across the city.

There are ties to the venues that exist for many U of T students — both have hosted various club nights, a wide range of musical acts and the annual Frosh club night.

Three years ago, I was packed into the front end of the Kool Haus (which, ironically, is quite warm), awaiting the arrival of the night’s headlining act, The Kills.

Little Jacob, desperately awaiting a growth spurt, was pressed face-first into the back of an Allison Mosshart lookalike’s voluminous ’do, wishing desperately for a gulp of fresh air.

As the band emerged heroically from behind the stage, the lady in front of me began to sway violently to the non-existent rhythm of the guitarist’s amp feedback, thrusting herself forwards and backwards as an indicator of an oncoming mosh pit. Before I had time to get out of the way, the beat dropped, and I was being tossed around the room like a rag doll, swept up with the rest of the turbulent crowd.

It was a pretty unnerving experience, but one that I consider to be my welcoming moment to this venue. To formally say farewell, we’ve gathered a few stories of students’ most memorable moments at both venues.

The one and only time I’ve been to The Kool Haus was to see a Tame Impala concert. I don’t go to concerts very often, but this one was memorable. The setting established a vibe suitable for the music and performance of the band, and I

remember really liking the high ceilings and the shadowy lighting.

The place was really dark, and the ceiling seemed to go on forever.

Kevin Parker, Tame Impala’s lead singer, looked and sounded like a real-life angel in a magical world full of tall grass and rainbows and cotton candy. The bar was opposite from the stage on the other side of the room, so it kept all the drunk people away, leaving more room for the fans that Parker was really connecting with.

Afterwards, my friend and I met the singer himself, making it officially the best night of my life.

– Juliann Garisto On December 3, I attended the Flatbush Zombies concert in the main room of the Guvernment.

Being a sold out concert to see the Zombies, fresh off of their Clockwork Indigo EP release, one would assume that along with the assorted crowd, there was also an assortment of elicit substances consumed by nearly everyone in the audience. Considering the nature of this concert, things were bound to get rowdy. I soon found myself caught up in mosh pits, soaring stage divers, and a plentitude of crowd surfing. At one point, to my surprise, I noticed that Meechy Darko had climbed up onto the balcony over the audience, continuing to rap and bump his fist to the beat. Deciding to flirt with danger, he suddenly dove off the 10-foot high balcony, landing on the crowd. The crowd collapsed, driving Meech along with myself and the fellow spectators, to the ground. Following a mad scramble of being trapped under many bodies, a couple members from the audience dragged me free from the mess. Having nearly been crushed by the row of people behind me leaning in to catch a glimpse of the rapper in the crowd, I watched the rest of the set safely from the bar.

— Elliott Gallagher Doucette

In my hometown, the closest thing you got to live music was the, admittedly tireless, efforts of the church choir. When I was 13, I successfully convinced my mom to take myself and a few friends to Toronto to see a real live rock concert. While she waited patiently at the back of the venue, we crammed our heavily madeuped pubescent selves as close to the Kool Haus stage as physically possible, in order to witness the glory that was Three Days Grace.

It was loud, sweaty, and my hair smelt deeply of weed within seconds — in other words, glorious.

The next few years involved many return trips, with favourite acts including a young Arctic Monkeys and chilled-out Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I'm sad to see the place go, and won't forget it's shadowy presence anytime soon.

— Sarah Niedoba My first real concert was at the Kool Haus. It was Mika, I was 11 and accompanied by my mom and younger brother. He didn't end up enjoying it very much, but I did. I talked to all sorts of interesting, herbally scented people who cooed over my youngness and shifted over so I could actually see the stage. When Mika came on, everyone bounced around and sang along to the words. I was overjoyed to see that this was acceptable: I had been chastised for doing the same thing at a stage production of the Lion King some years before – something I felt was rather joyless. At the end of the show, confetti and giant balloons were shot into the crowd. The lead actor from Disney's Life With Derek accidentally batted a balloon away from my brother's tiny clutches, and my mom yelled at him until he shamefacedly slunk away to retrieve it. Kool Haus, we will miss you dearly.

— Isabel Putz-Preyra

$10 restauranteur: Tacos El Asador Koreatown dive serves up Salvadorian-inspired tacos Sarah Leaper

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

If you’re anything like me, you find yourself in a near-constant state of desiring tacos. To appease this neverending appetite while still maintaining a healthy and balanced bank account, I have often found myself traversing Bloor Street West to the Salvadorianinspired Tacos El Asador. Nestled in the heart of Koreatown at the corner of Bloor Street West and Clinton Street (right out of Christie Station), this tiny, family-owned restaurant has been dishing up authentic flavour for 25 years.

It should be noted that this place is charmingly seedy and quite small; housing six picnic tables that would snugly fit four around each, Tacos El Asador has a tendency to fill up during peak hours. Don’t let this dissuade you; let it instead serve only as testimony to how utterly amazing the tacos are. The tacos here are the star of the menu.

Served on a four-inch toasted tortilla, all of the tacos come with hot salsa and jalapenos on the side.

There’s a taco option for everyone, with vegetarian tacos at $2.45 per

taco and meatier options (choice of beef, chicken, chorizo sausage, pork, beefsteak, shrimp, fish, and the list goes on) starting at $3.55 each. Please, please try the fish tacos if your diet allows — they are divine.

Personally, I would suggest ordering two to four tacos depending on hunger level, as the tacos are on the smaller side, but this also gives you the opportunity to try a variety of different tacos in one sitting. Other than the tacos, Tacos El Asador also serves burritos, tamales, pupusas, quesadillas, and enchiladas — emphasis on the tamales, because they're the bomb. Be sure to keep an eye out for the chalkboards behind the register that list daily specials and meal combos, which add variety to the time-tested favourites of the set menu.

Seriously, if you are in the neighborhood or if you have time to make the 20-minute walk from campus, try Tacos El Asador. The hours are agreeable: 12:00 pm–9:00 pm every day except Sunday (2:00 pm–9:00 pm) — and the tacos are fantastic. The spice might burn your taste buds, but the price won’t hurt your wallet. Make sure to add a side of guac, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Science

VAR.ST/SCIENCE 19 JANUARY 2015

science@thevarsity.ca

U of T undergrad secures $100,000 for startup First-year student Cathy Tie launches genomic sequencing company Sandy Wang

Neural Stem Cells: From Development to Repair with Dr. Freda Miller

VARSITY STAFF

Many students and new graduates have opted to launch their own initiatives instead of going the traditional route in job hunting. First-year life sciences student Cathy Tie is one such student. Recently, Tie collaborated with a colleague to launch Ranomics, a company that uses ongoing research to develop a genetic database to sequence human genomes in a personalized manner. The company became legally incorporated last week.

Tie’s passions lie in the integration between science and business, and making scientific discoveries more available to the public. She has worked on a number of research projects in the past, with her most recent project in using dna sequencing technology to test for rare mutations.

In an effort to take a step in the direction of improving the field of preventative medicine, Tie hopes to create a means to better screen for possible diseases.

With $100,000 of funding from San Francisco-based venture capital firm, sosventures, Tie and her team will travel to San Francisco in February to participate in a 100-day accelerator program to further develop their project.

In an interview with The Varsity, Tie spoke about her research and the goals she has for her company.

The Varsity: Could you describe your research?

Cathy Tie: I’m working in Dr. [Frederick] Roth’s lab at Mount Sinai Hospital, and we are working on systematically changing every amino acid in rare genetic variants for disease genes. Ultimately, we are making a database of the effects of rare genetic variants of disease genes.

TV: How did you get interested in research?

CT: I’ve actually been conducting research since I was 14 or 15. Back in high school, I did a lot of science fairs.

In grade 11, I did a project that was in the Department of Immunology at U of T — it was on B cells [a type of immune cell]. I ended up publishing the paper, and did a science fair, and it was really, really exciting… This year, naturally, I just continued doing research, but in a different field — molecular genetics. I’ve always been really into bio research — whether it’s biotechnology, or biochem, or immunology.

TV: What are some contemporary issues in science that you are passionate about?

CT: Right now, what I’m really passionate about is… allocating funding for science projects. A lot of the funding from [the] government and the private sector is going to translational medicine research, and there is not enough going to basic science research. That’s a problem in the long run, because we need basic science re-

Hosted by the mgysu, this academic seminar features Dr. Freda Miller, a senior scientist of neuroscience and mental health at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Tuesday, January 20 12:00 pm–1:00 pm The Fields Institute, room 230 Free; no registration necessary

The Case of Public Awareness and Education around Bioethics through Social Media

Cathy Tie. MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY

search to build upon new discoveries.

I’m really passionate about that, and that’s why I started a business — because I think it’s a really good way to promote science and get funding in a different way than the traditional route from the government.

TV: Can you expand on the reason why you decided to start your own company instead of pursuing a more traditional academic route in scientific research?

CT: The main reason is because I feel like a business model is a tool for scalability and [reaching] the public. [It is] a lot better than writing a science paper and only affecting the people reading your science paper, which I find very exciting. I feel that [because of] the competition in the business world, we’re competing with a lot of tech companies, which is very exciting.

TV: How did you initially come up with the idea for your company and how did you go about making it come to life?

CT: I’ve been working on a group project with a post-doc at the Roth Lab since September. There was a competition for a biotechnology start-up in San Francisco, and I decided to put together a business plan spontaneously with a PhD candidate that was in the same building as me.

His name is Leo [Wan]… Roth is very encouraging, so we just applied. But then, right after we applied, we realized there could be potential to this company. So, we just continued working on this company and we applied for another startup accelerator in San Francisco, called Indie Bio, and its parent company is sosventures. What they do is they give you $50,000 for eight per cent equity and another $50,000 for lab equipment and indirect costs that you would need as a company. So it’s a total of $100,000. We will be moving to San Francisco to develop this company… and we are just waiting to start our accelerator program in February.

TV: What is the big idea behind your company, and what do you hope to achieve?

CT: The ultimate goal is to improve the preventative medicine industry by improving the personalized genomics sequencing… Right now, there is definitely not enough information on the human genome to say that, for example, “You have a 67 per cent chance of getting cancer,” which is why a lot of companies that do personalized genomic sequencing are not successful. We are trying to get more data [and] build a giant database through our technology to more accurately predict what kind of diseases you are likely to have based on your genomic code alone.

TV: What are the methods that you use to carry out this procedure and when will it be available to the public?

CT: Currently, we are testing different nucleotide substitutions in model organisms to give a functional assay score in every variant so we can see how a mutation can affect the disease gene. We are still very much in the research and development phase, so we are actually unsure when it will be available to the public, but we hope to reach out to the public at the accelerator program in San Francisco.

TV: How do you think this company will benefit society as a whole?

CT: This overall improves the preventative medicine industry. People [will be] more aware of their health before they actually get the disease — preventi[on] is always better than treatment. The earlier you know [about the illness], the better you are going to treat it.

TV: What do you think is the current relationship between business and science?

CT: I feel like in the past, science and business haven’t been together. It’s a merging field, definitely. There’s currently a biohacking movement going

on. For example, the organization SynBioBeta — I went to their conference in San Francisco two months ago, and I see work they are doing to support synthetic biology. It’s very similar to hacking in technology — computer programming, making apps — but this time it’s actually biology.

It’s very different from the traditional academic institution applying for government funding, but, rather, you are translating that kind of culture into a more competitive business culture, so you are mixing the two.

TV: What do you find exciting about your work?

CT: To be honest, I just really enjoy the competitive atmosphere of the business world, and also enjoy academic research. So, just mixing the two really excites me — because I get to do both [those] things at once that I’m super passionate about. At the same time, I’m reaching out to a lot of people, and I can potentially affect a lot of people’s lives in the future.

TV: Do you have any advice for students wanting to launch their own company?

CT: I guess I have a small piece of advice. I feel like from what I’ve learned, to start a science-based company is more about having a vision. Not necessarily specializing in a field of research or specializing in business, but rather knowing a lot about a lot of fields and having a vision to provide something in the larger picture.

TV: What are your plans for the future?

CT: I know that next month I’ll be going to San Francisco for the accelerator program, and I’m hoping to finish semester two, and I’ll be working on this company in San Francisco over the summer as well. I don’t really know much beyond that.

This interview has ben edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Hosted by the Joint Centre for Bioethics, this seminar features graduate student and Canadian Bioethics Society member, Ruby Rajendra Shanker.

Wednesday, January 21 4:00 pm–5:30 pm Health Sciences Building, room 108 Free; no registration necessary

Toronto Wearables Meetup 31 A monthly lecture where you can learn about wearable technology with Isabel Pedersen, Canada Research Chair in Digital Life, Media, and Culture, and Jennifer Allison of the Art and Sole Academy.

Wednesday, January 21 7:00 pm–9:00 pm Social Body Lab, ocad University Free; register on Eventbrite

Better Science Policy in Canada Students for the Right to Know, the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, and Scientists for the Right to Know come together to host a workshop with an impressive lineup of speakers including Margrit Eichler, Jim Turk, Christianne Stephens, Ted Hsu, Marty Cooke, and Rebecca Moore.

Friday, January 23 11:00 am–3:00 pm Old Victoria College, room 115 Free; no registration necessary

Planetarium Show: Moons and Their Effect on Life Explore astronomical bodies of the Milky Way at the Planetarium.

Friday, January 23 Multiple times: 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm, and 9:00 pm Planetarium, Astronomy Building (room AB79) $5; tickets at the door

var.st/science

VARSITY SCIENCE

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

19

Pseudoscience meets pop culture Health law researcher investigates fiction masked as fact Malone Mullin VARSITY STAFF

What do Gwyneth Paltrow and Ken Ham have in common?

It’s what they don’t have in common that connects them. Both public figures adhere to beliefs that — it is widely claimed — aren’t supported by science. Problematically for critics, they promote their respective beliefs as though the evidence for them is grounded in acceptable methods of inquiry.

Detoxification and creation science are considerable disputes on the public radar.

Yet, while these positions may be rightfully classified as pseudoscience, they aren’t so easily dismissed.

Last week, Dr. Timothy Caulfield, a health policy researcher from the University of Alberta, spoke at the Rotman School of Management about the role of pseudoscience in popular culture. Caulfield targeted celebrities who provide the kind of advice that scientific study either fails to support or contradicts entirely.

According to Caulfield, the danger of celebrity-driven pseudoscience lies in a luminary’s influence on public opinion. Caulfield charged medical professionals, such as Alejandro Junger, with using their cultural presence as leverage — making it possible to mislead consumers into believing that the body requires “cleanses” to remain healthy, rather than acknowledging the self-cleansing capabilities of our organs.

Caulfield has good reason to hold famous figures such as Paltrow and Junger accountable for spreading falsehoods. Since Paltrow, for instance, alleges proficiency on health and dietary matters, she should be held to the same scientific standard as any other expert.

“I think Gwyneth is fair game. She’s always talking about what we should all be doing,” Caulfield says. “And what we should be doing right now… is we should all be on the ‘goop’ detox.”

However, as Caulfield demonstrates, the Internet’s obsession with detox dieting is based on a premise that our bodies contain unnamed

Dr. Timothy Caulfield lectures on pseudoscience. MALONE MULLIN/THE VARSITY

“toxins” that can be eliminated by certain foods, drinks, or procedures. These premises are not founded in empirical studies, but pretending that they are is integral to maintaining the $5 billion detox industry.

Similar examples attract criticism from the greater scientific community. Outspoken creationists such as Ham, who debated pop scientist Bill Nye last February, attempt to combine religious belief and scientific method in order to support the idea that the Earth is scarcely 10,000 years old.

Perhaps less innocuous than Caulfield’s nutrition-based research focus is the anti-inoculation stance that threatens the dormancy of diseases such as tetanus and polio. Concerned parents, persuaded by online anti-vaccination

groups, argue that immunization shots are the likely culprit of autism in children. But the evidence that many of these anti-vaccinators cite is a single, badly designed study denounced by most medical professionals.

Like the detoxers, anti-vaccinators rely on flawed methodology to support their belief system. Conversely, an acceptable scientific process must test a hypothesis by recording the results of repeated experimentation, and should aim to falsify the thesis rather than confirm it. Pseudoscience, as distinguished from mere misinformation or conspiracy theory, tends to emphasize confirmation while still working within a structure that appears validated by experts. Often, a pseudoscientific process will devise biased, poorly structured, or irrelevant

experiments, or otherwise alter scientific procedure to produce a specific conclusion.

So, lacking the necessary empirical and structural validation, why do pseudoscientific claims maintain such prevalence in pop culture? Caulfield’s own thesis faults a long-term communication gap between researchers and the public.

Pointing to a disparity between equivocal studies and article headlines that sensationalize research conclusions, Caulfield suggests that the confusion resulting from media exaggeration leads the public to find more certain avenues of information.

Nutrition science, he says, is often based on cohort studies, which operate by associating the diets of participants with diseases or disorders that they happen to accrue. However, since this type of study finds only correlation, not causation, it is difficult to establish truths.

Caulfield speculates that when news reports portray these studies as dispensing certainties that are contradicted months later, it leads the public to find other sources of information.

To fix the problem, Caulfield suggests the founding of independent communication institutes. Here, researchers would better relay their findings, rather than allow reader-hungry journalists to misappropriate the conclusiveness of the evidence for their own ends. If there existed a trusted source of information, he believes, then the public’s propensity for irrational, mass media–guided behaviour may be mitigated.

Caulfield argues that pseudoscientific beliefs run deeper than a desire for a fix-all or denialistic refuge. Clinging to an ideology that glorifies green smoothies and colonic hydration — or perhaps one that condemns teaching about evolution in science class — is, at its heart, a means of self-identification. Because these beliefs are so firmly entrenched within a lifestyle type that is backed by outspoken cultural idols — and seemingly supported by science-based data — they are difficult to change.

Caulfield asserts that education — from the right people — is key to invigorating a healthy skepticism of pseudoscientific claims.

“Researchers need to jump in,” he says. “If we don’t, it will just be Gwyneth and the rest.”

SPIDER: Hunting for signals in universe’s oldest light Balloon-borne telescope may help answer physicists’ most pressing questions Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger ASSOCIATE SCIENCE EDITOR

Just a few weeks ago, on the very first day of 2015, researchers at the scientific McMurdo Station in Antarctica finally saw the successful launch of a balloon-carried telescope that has been in the works for over six years.

The project, which is called Spider, is one of the many enterprises in a recent surge in cosmologists’ hunt for the elusive “B-Mode polarization,” which is a signal in the primordial light from the early universe. This is also known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (cmb), which may hold the final proof of many current unresolved theories that are fundamental to contemporary physics.

The balloon, which successfully rose to its final height of 35 kilometres above the surface of Antarctica, will be nearing the end of its 20 day round-trip of the continent, where it has been taking advantage of the high altitude to collect as much unobstructed data of the very weak cmb signal as possible.

When Spider returns to the ground near its landing point of the McMurdo research sta-

tion, its team — which includes Jamil Shariff, a PhD candidate at the Department of Physics and Astrophysics — is eager to finally be able to analyze the data and find whether or not it has discovered the long-hunted and highly specific patterns that so many cosmologists currently seek.

“What Spider is searching for specifically are particular patterns in the cmb polarization directions across the sky,” Shariff said in an email sent from the McMurdo station, written in between monitoring the device, “These patterns, characterized by ‘swirling,’ are known as B-modes.”

If the B-mode polarization is found, its discovery will act as a confirmation of the 30-year-old “inflation theory,” which states that the early universe underwent an extremely quick accelerating expansion at an age of almost one decillionth of a second, and inflated from an infinitesimally small size to something large enough to fit perhaps in the palm of your hand. This theory is an incredibly specific prediction for something that happened so long ago.

As it turns out, inflation theory would help explain some of physicists’ most fundamental

unanswered questions. One of these questions addresses the problem of why the universe looks the way that it does.

“Inflation neatly resolves some outstanding questions in standard Big Bang cosmology,” Shariff explains, continuing, “So far, inflationary models are able to reproduce a universe in remarkable agreement with the observed properties of our universe.”

Additionally, the detection of the B-modes would be an indication of the existence of what are known as “primordial gravity waves,” and may help physicists develop a completely consistent quantum theory of gravity, which would help us fill even more gaps at the heart of our understanding of how the universe works.

In order to find these evasive polarization patterns, Spider is equipped with six telescopes that are sensitive to microwave light in two different frequency ranges.

“At the focus of each telescope is a camera whose several-hundred pixels consist of stateof-the-art detectors known as bolometers,” Shariff says, adding, “These bolometers act as very sensitive thermometers, changing temperature in response to variations in the

amount of cmb light shining on them. That’s how we’re able to image the sky.”

In order to measure something as cold as the background temperature of space (which is just a few degrees above absolute zero), the telescopes and detectors need to be cooled as well, which is done by enclosing them entirely in a large vessel of liquid helium. This entire contraption — along with a whole host of gps devices, gyroscopes, and various other sensors and machinery — must stay afloat and point in the right direction for the duration of the flight. This requires a pointing-control system, in which Shariff himself has had a hand in almost every aspect of the design.

“I guess you can say that I am the guy on the team who knows the best how to ‘drive the telescope,’” Shariff says.

After the recovery of the data, Shariff expects a one- or two-year process for it to be analyzed and the results released. In the meantime, there is already funding for a second flight. Improvements based on lessons learned from the current project will help Spider 2 bring us even closer to the goal of detecting primordial B-modes, if they are present.

20

Vol. CXXXV, No. 15

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Sports

VAR.ST/SPORTS 19 JANUARY 2015

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Mixed signals from Varsity Blues volleyball teams Women’s team dominates OUA while men’s team looks to rebuild Adit Daga

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Michael Denton and Charlotte Sider are captains of the Varsity Blues’ men’s and women’s volleyball teams, but their circumstances couldn’t be more different.

The men’s team has had a tough season, currently sitting in tenth place in the Ontario University Athletics (oua).

“The opportunities in each match will continue to present themselves, as they have all year. It’s just a matter of approaching them with confidence and composure to be successful,” says Denton.

Denton, a veteran of the sport, started playing volleyball when he was 12 years old. His love for the game was cemented after successful finishes on a number of teams, winning four club national and four provincial championships and two aaaa ofsaa gold medals in high school.

He attributes his development to his teammates and head coach John Barrett, who has been with the team for four seasons.

“John always says, ‘The only thing that stays constant is change… you either adapt to it, or you suffer because of it,’” says Denton.

“As a captain, you are always going to be a leader on and off the court. At times, you’re leaned upon by others and need to put on an emotional front for the benefit of your team, while on the court you are leaned upon to make the big play at key times,” Denton says.

Additionally, Denton recognizes the importance of the freedom with which Barrett lets his captain lead the team.

The men’s team has games coming up in the upcoming weeks against Western, Windsor, and Queen’s, all ahead of U of T in the oua standings.

Meanwhile, the women’s volleyball team is undefeated and in first place in the oua east division with a 13–0 record.

Sider, captain of the women’s volleyball team, attributes the team’s success to a specific set of skills, including “unconditional work ethic every day at practice, positive team dynamic and connections, understanding of our path, and overall belief and trust in each other’s abilities.”

Modesty is part of Sider’s character, something only surpassed by her focused ambition.

As an athlete, she is ranked ninth in kills per set in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (cis).

For Sider, this is only the beginning. “I hope to compete for Canada professionally on the National beach volleyball team and one day represent Canada at the Olympics,” she says.

When asked about the team’s prospects this year, Sider maintains that there is a lot that can still happen.

“Our objective as a team is to focus on what we can control, and that is to work our hardest every practice and be in the moments in order to best prepare for oua playoffs and cis nationals and each game leading up to it,” she says.

The Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team faced Western University, ranked fourth in the oua west division, on Friday, and will face Queen’s University, ranked second in the division, on January 24.

Looking forward, Sider emphasizes that the Blues focus on their own game and executing to their fullest potential. “[The team needs to] continue to trust in the routines and work we have put in throughout the season. This is the best way for us as a team to be confident no matter who we play,” she says.

The women’s team has an exciting phase of its season coming up with the end of the oua season approaching and the cis championships coming to the Goldring Centre at the end of Febuary. The men’s team’s chance of making the playoffs has ended, but it will look to the end of its season to rebuild for next year.

Charolette Sider is the captain of the undeafeated women’s volleyball team. COURTESY OF VARSITY BLUES

Table tennis team seeks varsity status Club struggles to find funding in pursuit to compete internationally Matthew Manhire

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The U of T table tennis team practise in Hart House. MATTHEW MANHIRE/THE VARSITY

Tuesday night had a dry bite to it as I approached the typically inviting doors of Hart House.

The friendly staff at the fitness centre’s front desk pointed me towards the archery room, and as I meandered down the stairs, I started to hear them — the signature back and forth of ping pong balls reverberating through the halls of the basement.

As I entered the room, a storage locker with no door humbly exposed glimmers of stashed trophies of past success and recognition. It is here that a small, skilled, and dedicated group of ping pong players meet to practice.

One of the club’s presidents, Aaron Wang, is making some repairs to his paddle as the others are practising their serve and attack strategy.

Wang, a decorated player himself, recalls his first experience playing table tennis when he was just six years old.

“There was a table tennis club next door to where I studied violin, and I had nothing to do for two hours after lessons, so I started playing with the guys next door,” says Wang.

That keen beginning brought him to a silver medal in the Canada Winter Games and countless other top finishes.

The club is currently struggling to achieve varsity status and create a truly competitive interuniversity community in Ontario for the sport.

However, the club is presently building momentum and its popularity often results in busy practises, which occur five nights per week at Hart House and Varsity Centre.

The club will continue to push on and strengthen the team and plan on applying to be reconsidered again in the near future. In the meantime, they mostly fund their own travels and entry fees. When it came to finding a way to Texas to represent U of T in the North American championships, they engaged the local community for help and ended up with respectable results.

The game involves quick thinking and strategizing, good cardio, and agile reflexes. I was amazed at how difficult it was to keep up with team member Paula Hsien. There’s an art to returning a tiny white ball that’s coming at you with speed, topspin, and curve.

The team will compete against McMaster University and Waterloo University in Mississauga this February to continue its season.

22

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VARSITY SPORTS

var.st/sports

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

23

Varsity Blues men’s hockey turns corner in its season Men’s hockey team wins 7–4 against Ryerson, loses 4–3 to Western Sampson Coutts VARSITY STAFF

Following a sterling 7–4 victory Friday night at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team hosted the Ontario University Athletics (oua) powerhouse Western Mustangs Saturday evening at Varsity Arena, losing 4–3 in front of a spirited utsu Frost Week crowd.

The Mustangs were excellent in the first period, controlling the majority of the play and forcing veteran U of T goaltender Brett Willows to make numerous high-calibre saves in his first game back from injury.

The Blues entered the first intermission down 1–0 thanks to a flukey Mustangs goal in the opening minutes, but had it not been for Willows, the game may well have been out of reach.

Sophomore defender Charlie Connell echoes this sentiment: “He’s saving games for us right now and it’s easy to play in front of that kind of goaltending... All the boys are really confident in front of him.”

The Blues responded with a much better second period, wearing down Western with

a relentless forecheck and scoring two goals.

The Blues tied the game just over a minute into the frame as star forward Michael Markovic fired a great shot top-shelf through a screen on a 4-on-2 rush.

U of T took the lead two minutes later thanks to a brutal defensive zone turnover by the Mustangs. Sniper Jeff Brown found himself all alone in the slot with plenty of time.

Though Western goaltender Greg Dodds made the initial save, he had no chance on the rebound attempt by veteran two-way forward Paul Van De Velde.

The Mustangs responded with two goals in the first three minutes of the third period — the first a beautiful shot on a 1-on-1, the second on what seemed like the fifth rebound in a flurry of Western attempts — but U of T kept their composure and tied the match a minute later.

Finding himself on a 3-on-2 rush, Connell, playing just his sixth game of the season thanks to a nagging injury, threw a beautiful pass to heart-and-soul forward Dean Klomp.

Klomp made no mistake, firing a one-timer against the grain and past Dodds’ right pad for the equalizer.

Kevin Deagle takes a shot against Western. EVAN LUKE/THE VARSITY

The strong play against Western and the win over Ryerson demonstrated the Blues’ progress this season, indicating that they have the po-

tential to finish strong this season. The team will face off against Lakehead University on January 23 at Varsity Arena.

Fixing your form How to correct faulty form in common exercises Reshara Alviarez

ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Maintaining proper form while exercising is one of the most crucial components to maximizing one’s performance and get results from a workout.

PUSH-UPS: The traditional push-up can be difficult to perform properly, and there are at least three common mistakes that people make when performing a set. It is one of the best body-weight exercises that one can perform in order to enhance upper body and core strength.

Back — The back should consistently be straight throughout their exercise. One should be mindful of their hips, ensuring that they don’t sway with each upward movement and that they engage the core for best results. Also, ensure that the elbows remain tucked at a 45-degree angle to the body.

Arms — The arms usually bear the majority of the weight in a traditional push-up, but people tend to want to shift this weight to other parts of the body to minimize the pressure being placed on the arms. This tends to reduce the overall benefit of the push-up. If the pressure is too

much, performing fewer repetitions per set is a more effective alternative.

SQUATS: Like push-ups, squats are one of the most effective weight-free exercises for the lower-body. It is a well known fact that the lower one goes, the more beneficial the movement can be. While this is true, it can be dangerous to go very low without remaining conscious of the back and knees.

Knees — The most common mistake people make when performing a squat is allowing the knees to protrude beyond their toes. When people put the pressure of their body weight on their toes, as opposed to on their heels, it is dangerous because it also puts a great deal of pressure on the knees.

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

Back — It is crucial to maintain a flat or slightly arched lower back when performing a squat.

This avoids having too much pressure exerted on the vertebrae as you lower your body to the floor.

DUMBBELL SHOULDER PRESS: The shoulder press is an excellent exercise that engages most of your upper body.

Back — One must always be aware of the back and head when performing a dumbbell shoulder press. The head and upper back should remain flat against the back of the bench while maintaining a slightly arched lower back and a neutral spine.

Elbows — When the weights are brought down, the elbows should be in line with one’s hips, just slightly in front of the body. One should always try to maintain a 90-degree angle here for best results.

Blues swimming dominate Winter Cup Ahmed-Zaki Hagar

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

As the season winds down, the Varsity Blues swimming team continues its dominating performance. This past weekend many swimmers competed in the Winter Cup. As half of the men’s and women’s teams went to Montréal for the Eastern Cup over the weekend, the remaining members stayed at the Varsity Pool for the twoday event.

The Blues won a total of 15 out of the 40 events held, more than any other group participating.

Friday saw the Blues take three of the 12

events. First-year Melanie McDonald won the women’s 200-metre freestyle. Rookie John Peltch and fourth-year Kent Kikot finished first and second, respectively, in the men’s 200-metre freestyle. Edward Liu finished first in the men’s 100-metre butterfly. Michael Sinla, Alex Magnan, and Josh Gold finished third, fourth, and sixth, respectively.

Saturday saw 28 events held, starting in the morning. Keith Eriks won the men’s 100-metre backstroke. Fourth-year Bridget Coley and rookie Lisa van Breugel finished first and second, respectively, in the women’s 400-metre freestyle. Third-year veteran Ester Haines ended the two-day meet for U of T by handily winning

the women’s 400-metre individual medley.

Third-year Edward Liu was the star for the Blues this weekend, winning every event in which he competed. Along with the 100-metre free on Friday, Liu also won the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre butterfly, 200-mere butterfly, 50-metre backstroke, and 50-metre butterfly on Saturday.

The Blues competed with their rivals from the Ontario University Athletics (oua) conference, like Western and Ottawa. The hosts of the event, the Toronto Swim Club, also participated.

The swimming team returned to the pool after winning its first meet of the new year last week against the Western Mustangs. Heading

into this meet, both the men’s and women’s teams were ranked first in the oua conference.

In the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (cis) rankings, the Blues are ranked second and third amongst other men’s and women’s squads.

This meet will be the Varsity Blues’ last at home this season. They will travel to Ottawa for the oua finals from February 5–7, and then to Victoria, British Colombia for the cis Championships from February 19–21.

The men’s squad will compete for its thirteenth-straight provincial title and thirdstraight national title, while the women’s squad contends for its third-straight provincial title.

24

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015

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