September 14, 2020
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Vol. CXLI, No. 2
LIVE MEETING
“The time for empty solidarity statements is over” U of T academics join Scholar Strike for Black Lives in Canada SUSAN HILL
BEVERLY BAIN
Two day strike involves teachin, anti-racism demands for universities to implement
CHRIS RAMSAROOP
Business & Labour Hannah Carty News Editor
U of T professors and students joined the nationwide Scholar Strike for Black Lives in Canada, pausing their work from September 9–10 to participate in a teach-in. The scholar strike originated in the US in solidarity with the WNBA and NBA, which striked in protest of police violence against Black people such as Jacob Blake — who is now partially paralyzed after being shot by police. Beverly Bain, a lecturer in the department of historical studies at UTM, along with Ontario College of Art & Design University professor Min Sook Lee, decided to organize a Canadian counterpart to the US strike. In an interview with The Varsity, Bain expressed that the strike is about concrete action and moving beyond the statements of solidarity that universities often release. “In this particular time, it’s not enough for all universities to just put out a statement on ‘anti-Black racism’ and ‘Black lives matter.’ ” As part of the teach-in aspect of the strike, Bain moderated a discussion with journalist Desmond Cole called “Abolition or Death: Confronting police forces in Canada.” Over 170 U of T community members signed onto the list of demands, which includes disbanding campus police at universities, supporting CUPE 3261’s petition to
end the outside contracting of caretaking services at U of T, and hiring more Black and Indigenous faculty members. However, Bain added that “it’s not enough to just hire people in secure jobs.” “You also have to create an environment that allows them to stay and work without violence in that environment.” Bain also explained that universities, through campus police forces, become an “extension of the carceral state.” Bain referenced an incident last year where a UTM student was put in handcuffs while seeking mental support, noting that campus police officers only escalated the situation. Bain described the importance of disbanding Campus Police in the greater context of police violence at this time. According to Bain, Campus Police are “participating in a larger network of carceral practices and policing practices that are actually becoming much more intensified, particularly in this climate where there is a lot of anti-Black racism, a lot of antiIndigenous racism.” Stephanie Latty, a PhD student at the Ontario Institute in Studies in Education, wrote to The Varsity that, “as a Black Ph.D Candidate, educator and scholar, it’s important to participate because I know that this is truly a life or death moment for Black and Indigenous people.” Latty echoed the need for U of T to
implement some of the central demands of the strike, such as removing Campus Police, hiring Black and Indigenous faculty, and making education more affordable. “U of T is not exempt from these demands for action, and the time for empty solidarity statements is over,” she said, noting that academic institutions need to grapple with how they can be harmful spaces for Black and Indigenous people. “As scholars we are being called to make our work more meaningful and to join demands for justice,” she added. Zoë Wool, an assistant professor of anthropology at U of T, said that she wanted to participate in the strike in solidarity, and she sees it as a learning opportunity for scholars to come together and use their skills to support anti-racist work. In addition, she expressed that scholars can use their platforms to enact changes in academia such as legitimizing Indigenous forms of knowledge, which have historically been devalued. On the importance of scholars striking, Wool said, “It’s really important to acknowledge the role that scholars have in perpetuating these structures, and the possibilities that are available for scholars to help dismantle them.” “We’re not in some kind of bubble apart from the rest of the world when it comes to issues of racism, colonialism.”
What a Conservative Party under Erin O’Toole means for students
Comment VP academic & public affairs calls on university to reevaluate tuition
Feature Literary road trip through time: a re�lection on Jack Keroauc’s On the Road
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Arts & Culture TIFF recommendations and how this year’s festival is more accessible than ever
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Science A dino-mite diagnosis: co-authored U of T study �inds cancer in a 76-million year-old fossil
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Sports Opinion: Can the Chicago Blackhawks justify not changing their name and logo?
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Two nurse practitioner students share perspectives on hospital work during pandemic Isabel Armiento Graduate Bureau Chief
While over 90 per cent of U of T undergraduate classes will have remote delivery options this academic year, many graduate students will return to inperson learning — and for some, this learning will happen on the front lines of the pandemic. Students at the nursing and medicine faculties are preparing for in-person clinical placements this year, where many of them will be working in hospitals with patients who have tested positive for COVID-19. In-hospital clinical placements Justin Struss, a second-year student in the Master of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner program, will soon begin his clinical placement with the University Health Network at Toronto General Hospital. Returning to in-person clinical placements doesn’t worry Struss, who currently works at Toronto General as an intensive care nurse. “I work with COVID-positive patients… all the time so it doesn’t really bother me so much,” he said in an interview with The Varsity. “Most people [in the program] are probably more comfortable with it because they have to work in a hospital environment or with patients; it’s part of their job.” Struss reported that the Faculty of Nursing has implemented additional safety restrictions for clinical placements. “We’re not allowed to be in any rooms if there’s an aerosol-generating medical procedure happening,” Struss said, adding that outside of his placement, he regularly performs such procedures as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. Struss said that although clinical placements are mandatory for nurse practitioners this year, the Faculty of Nursing is flexible in accommodating individual students’ needs. “The faculty is generally pretty good about if you have certain issues or concerns, like if you were an immunocompromised person or something like that. They would generally work with the student on a one-to-one basis to figure out how to move forward and meet your degree requirements.” Meagan Noble is a Master of Nursing student in the second year of the Nurse Practitioner program who is starting her clinical placement at Toronto General Hospital. She wrote in an email to The Varsity that, like Struss, she is not concerned for her safety. “I am comfortable taking care of immunocompromised patients since it is part of my everyday profession as [a registered nurse],” she wrote.
The Faculty of Medicine is imposing additional restrictions on the types of clinical placements students can do and will be prohibiting students from working or volunteering at long-term care facilities. Patricia Houston, Vice-Dean Medical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, wrote in an email to The Varsity that students will be accommodated if they have health or safety concerns regarding their clinical placements. “In some cases, it may be appropriate for a student to consider a Leave of Absence,” she added. The majority of graduate nursing and medical students, however, seem to be comfortable returning to clinical placements. In fact, according to Struss, the Faculty of Nursing is having difficulty finding enough clinical placements for nurse practitioner students. “They’ve been having trouble… finding individual preceptors for every student who requires a placement,” he said, explaining that hospitals have only recently reopened to student learners, so the number of graduate students enrolling in clinical placements is higher than the number of available placements. Clinical placements essential for student learning When asked whether students could opt out of clinical placements this year, Noble stressed that, in her opinion, they were essential to the program. “I don’t think an option without a clinical placement would suffice,” she wrote, adding that “most of us learn more hands on.” Clinical placements were cancelled on March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as student learners were no longer allowed in hospitals. Noble feels that her peers’ upcoming fall 2020 placements are even more important because they have already missed their spring placements. “At this point, we are down a placement… If we don’t have the clinical experience with patients, it will effect [sic] us as future Nurse Practitioners,” Noble wrote. According to Struss, many other graduate students feel the same way Noble does. “The sentiment of the majority of the graduate students was… that having our placements cancelled wasn’t necessary because we’re used to working with these types of patients,” Struss said. “We’re already licensed health professionals.” According to him, many nurse practitioner students agreed that cancelling clinicals “affected [their] education,” though he noted that it was the Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network, not U of T, that made the decision to remove student learners from hospitals. Even though nurse practitioner students couldn’t
The Faculty of Medicine building. NATHAN CHING/THEVARSITY
attend in-person clinical placements last spring, Struss said that online learning included “digital simulated assessment clinics.” He explained, “We had a simulated patient and we came together as groups to assess them.” Noble, however, added that she tried to supplement this learning with hands-on experience. “I practiced health assessments on family and friends as appropriate and bought case study books to review on my own,” she wrote. “You had to get creative in order to demonstrate resilience in the pandemic.” Accommodation during COVID-19 “The [nursing] faculty has been pretty responsive to us,” said Struss. “They very much have stressed that safety is the number one priority.” Noble agreed, adding, “We have to realize it has been a struggle for them too. They have had to deal with panic from many students and change many policies and procedures which is no easy feat.” Houston elaborated on this by outlining the steps the Faculty of Medicine is taking to ensure student wellness during this time and drawing attention to the resources available at the Office of Health Professions Student Affairs (OHPSA). “OHPSA provides confidential individual counselling to students on both the St. George and Mississauga campuses, as well as other supports,” she wrote. “OHPSA works collaboratively with U of T Health & Wellness Centres at both campuses to expedite access to service.” According to Houston, the Faculty of Medicine recognizes that the future is uncertain, and it is prepared to adapt to accommodate students’ needs. “COVID-19 may pose unique challenges for students and trainees, and the University is committed to providing as much flexibility as possible in the circumstances,” wrote Houston. The Faculty of Nursing did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
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Meric Gertler on COVID-19, anti-Black racism, tuition U of T president weighs in on university’s reopening plan
Andy Takagi Varsity Contributor
Through a virtual interview with The Varsity, U of T President Meric Gertler discussed the 2019–2020 year, the university’s COVID-19 plans, and antiBlack racism at U of T. The Varsity: Concerns have been raised that U of T has not listened to the advice of its own public health scientists following a recent ‘D’ grade on its reopening plan. How was the decision behind holding in-person classes made? Meric Gertler: I should begin by just stating that the health and safety of all members of our community is really paramount. We have been following public health guidelines that have been informed by and created by a wide variety of experts, including our own, but also following guidance from municipal, provincial, and federal health authorities, and following the literature, which has been evolving very rapidly as you know. Like a lot of other universities, U of T is going to offer only limited in-person activities starting this week, such as labs, which are difficult to do in virtual or online format in some small classes. In all of those cases as I think The Varsity has already reported, physical distancing measures are going to be implemented so that we will have far fewer bodies in classrooms than we normally would have — reducing the density and the occupancy. We will have much more prevalent hand sanitizer stations, plexiglass barriers — we’ve really done a comprehensive review of air circulation and ventilation systems and air filters, as I know there’s a lot of interest in that issue, making sure that our filters meet or exceed all of the standards that have been set. TV: And do you think, in hindsight, you would do anything differently regarding consulting unions, professors, faculty, and staff ? MG: We’ve been consulting with the [University of Toronto Faculty Association] and with our other union partners quite regularly since the pandemic began in March and informing them of our plans. When we began planning for September a few months ago, we anticipated that the situation, in terms of the control of the virus, would be perhaps a little bit more advanced than it is now. But as it became clear that there was still a significant risk to members of our community, we began to scale back on plans. We’ve always made it optional with regard to faculty deciding to teach in person or to teach online. And, as a result of that, the proportion of our teaching offerings that we put out in person has declined over time as faculty have updated their own decisions about whether they’re comfortable to be in the classroom or not. So we’ve done everything we can to listen and to respond and adjust, and we’ll continue to do so. TV: What’s the enforcement protocol behind mask wearing, sanitization, and physical distancing? MG: Like the City of Toronto and like a lot of other public health agencies, we’re emphasizing education as the kind of foundation for our enforcement based on the non-unreasonable assumption that if people understand why certain measures are being implemented, they will be much more likely to comply. And I have to say, our experience thus far, for example, in reopening research labs over the summer has borne that out. People have adhered very closely to the kinds of guidance that we’ve provided and the kinds of new rules that we have set. We are trying to send signals as clearly as possible. We’ll put additional measures in place if need be, but by and large, we will be taking an educational approach. TV: Earlier in March, The Varsity reported the first case of COVID-19 at U of T, but at the time, the university denied knowledge of the case. What is the university’s plan on reporting cases of COVID-19 within the community to students, faculty, and staff, and will that information be made publicly available? MG: We have excellent plans in place for contact tracing, as well as to support students if they need a place to self-isolate, whether they’re in residence or
U of T President Meric Gertler. BRIAN RANKIN/THEVARSITY
not. And, as we did in the spring, we will be following the guidance of government and public health authorities and follow their advice in releasing information about cases on campus. TV: Will the university close down again if a second wave comes in the fall, and is there a plan to support students in residence or those who otherwise have no options to leave the university? MG: There’s a lot of discussion about what a second wave might look like, and I think the [Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam] has talked about a ‘slow burn’ model, where we will see smaller bumps in the curve but not a massive wave. And that does seem to be the widely agreed upon, most likely scenario. If that is the case, we think that we can manage our activities quite successfully, but yes, if conditions worsen significantly again, the health and safety of our community members is paramount, and we will take whatever measures are necessary in order to protect our community members. TV: Given the financial implications of the pandemic and the shift to an online learning experience, how do you balance providing tuition relief for students and paying workers who might not be fully back at the university, with faculty and administrator salaries — many of which exceed $100,000 and the highest being up to about a million? MG: Oh, welcome to my job. University budgets are always, even in normal times, things that have to be very carefully managed. There are a number of really important principles that guide what we do. One is that our core mission is around teaching and research and that has to guide many of our — indeed, ultimately, all of our — decisions. Secondly, we are, of course, an institution that’s very committed to equity and access, and ensuring the continued diversity of both our faculty and staff, as well as our student body. We have continued to prioritize financial aid for students. When the pandemic struck, we provided a lot of emergency bursary funding and have spent close to seven million. So we are acutely aware of the impact of this kind of cataclysmic change on our student body. We waited as long as possible, provided as much pay continuity as possible, for as many of our employees as we possibly could. But, in services like food services or in parking services where demand basically disappeared during the pandemic, we got to a point where our ancillary budgets could no lon-
ger sustain the full cost of keeping all of those folks on the payroll. We managed to work closely with unions to transition those folks onto emergency relief benefits that the government made available. We’ve done this in as humane and as fair a way as possible, but I just want to emphasize that the total numbers involved are pretty small relative to the size of our employment base. TV: In light of calls to abolish police forces and an incident last year where a student was handcuffed during a mental health crisis, will the university make any changes to Campus Police, whether that be policy changes, abolition, or defunding? MG: Campus Police and the university continue to review police practices with regard to the safety and well-being of members of our community and with a particular focus on student well-being. All officers and building patrol staff are receiving training on issues, addressing equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as anti-bias training. So they’ve been watching what’s happening and paying attention, and doing everything possible to make sure that they do adjust their practices and that they do take advantage of resources that we have, like the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office to make sure that everything they do serves the community and helps address the well-being of our students. TV: How does U of T plan to combat anti-Black racism? MG: Well, let me just say, as I’ve underscored in public statements repeatedly, we stand united with members of our Black community across all three of our campuses in both condemning anti-Black racism and committing to taking tangible actions to reduce or eradicate it. So, several years ago, the provost, working with deans, decided to set aside a special fund to increase Black and Indigenous faculty representation, recognizing that the composition of our faculty body did not mirror the population, and that we had to do a lot of work to enhance representation. Since 2016, something like 30 new Black faculty members have been hired, including 14 who were hired in the last year alone. We have also looked, for example, at other stages in the talent pipeline. The provost also created a postdoctoral fellows program to increase opportunities for Black and Indigenous researchers. And, as part of that exercise, we have now got 12 Black postdoctoral scholars in this program. There’s also
been, of course, a lot of coverage of the wonderful initiatives in the Faculty of Medicine, with the Black Student Application Program, where we now have 24 Black medical students admitted this fall. We’ve been working with public school systems through the academic mentorship, like the Imani program that U of T Scarborough has had in place for several years and the SEE U of T program that we’ve developed just recently with the Toronto District School Board, where we have focused on high schools and a number of disadvantaged neighbourhoods that have a high number of Black and people of colour students attending those high schools. Our efforts have been to work with those schools to encourage more of those students to, first of all, graduate, and secondly, consider applying to an institution like U of T. TV: Certain American universities will be pursuing efforts to shield students studying Chinese politics from the country’s new national security law. Has U of T made any similar efforts, and what will the university do to protect the rights of those who protest against the Chinese government on campus? MG: So we find ourselves in a somewhat unusual condition in which many of our students are studying from abroad, tuning into lectures and other teaching and learning activities offered here. We are, of course, mindful of this, and we’ve been working, through deans and department chairs, to encourage instructors to be thoughtful about where their students are located. As we proceed with this somewhat unusual fall term, to remind them that in some countries there’s greater likelihood of surveillance, that this may impact a student’s ability to engage with some course material. We want our instructors to be mindful of these issues and understand the constraints and challenges that our students may face. We’ve also taken advantage of the expertise of our Information Security Council, which is a council of faculty and staff who advise the vice-presidents and president on matters related to information technology, and there’s some great experts there. So we will continue to refine our guidance as the situation evolves, but that is something that we’re very, very mindful of. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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UCheck: U of T launches COVID-19 self-assessment web portal Community members encouraged to use the tool prior to visiting campus
Khadija Alam Varsity Contributor
The University of Toronto has launched UCheck, a COVID-19 self-assessment web portal. The portal was designed in partnership with Thrive Health to help students, faculty, and staff determine if it is safe for them to come to campus or leave their residence room. The self-assessment can be completed on smartphones, tablets, and computers with an internet connection. It consists of a series of questions designed to gauge whether or not an individual is at risk of spreading COVID-19, including questions about the individual experiencing the symptoms associated with the virus or coming into contact with another individual who has exhibited symptoms. Tracking risk statuses UCheck generates a “risk status” upon completion of the questionnaire — a ‘green’ risk status indicates that it is safe for the individual to visit campus or leave their residence room, and a ‘red’ risk status indicates that it is not. Individuals are encouraged to
follow the recommendations provided along with the result of their self-assessment. In an email to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote that the portal was created in partnership with Thrive Health due to its expertise in health care data privacy. Thrive Health is also behind the Canadian government’s COVID-19 self-assessment app. For privacy, the university will not be able to access an individual’s responses to UCheck’s questionnaire. However, employees’ and students’ risk statuses will be collected by the university for administrative purposes, such as to potentially track an increase in ‘red’ risk statuses. Statuses will also be sent to various university bodies to provide follow-up support. Students’ statuses will be shared with their registrars, health and wellness professionals, the occupational health nurse (OHN), and the dean of students or dean of residence, if applicable. For employees, their status will be shared with their supervisor, along with the OHN and health and wellness professionals. The spokesperson informed The Varsity that while the use of UCheck is not mandatory, “what is required is that all members of our community moni-
tor their symptoms and stay home if they are sick.” As such, individuals are encouraged to complete a new self-assessment every time they plan to visit campus or leave their residence room. In addition, a ‘green’ risk status must be presented before entering U of T athletic and recreational facilities. Students who are unable to use UCheck due to lack of access to a smartphone, tablet, computer, or the internet are asked to contact their registrar, who is able to provide paper versions of the assessment. Criticisms, limitations CUPE 3902, a labour union at U of T that represents over 10,000 contract academic workers, has openly opposed the university’s reopening plan due to safety concerns. In an email to The Varsity, Amy Conwell, Chair of CUPE 3902, expressed that the launch of UCheck does not mitigate her concerns that U of T has no concrete plans for contract tracing. “The University has told us that they are exploring contact tracing for a ‘potential future phase of UCheck,’ but have provided no information about when that future phase might be,” Conwell wrote. UCheck statuses provided to the OHN will be
used for follow-up support, “potentially including contact tracing.” “In the meantime, they have no plans to contact trace or even to publicize information about the number of positive cases on campus,” Conwell wrote. Without concrete testing plans, she expressed that “the UCheck tool is a distraction.” UCheck’s FAQ page acknowledges that this portal does not contact trace and that a risk status is not the same as a medical diagnosis. “We know that selfassessment and staying home when you have symptoms is a key way to slow the spread of COVID-19,” the U of T spokesperson wrote in an email to The Varsity. “Though not mandatory, UCheck is an easy way for members of our community to assess their symptoms on a daily basis and not come to campus if they have any.”To encourage students, staff, and faculty to use the portal, U of T will promote the portal across all three campuses through emails, posters, student newsletters, social media, and digital screens on campus. UCheck can be accessed with a UTORid at ucheck.utoronto.ca.
Online learning, tuition, mental health, sinophobia: survey gauges Chinese international students’ perspectives during COVID-19
90 per cent will continue to enrol despite pandemic
Cedric Jiang Varsity Contributor
Amid a pandemic wherein classes are mainly offered online and travel restrictions may prohibit some students from studying in Canada, a new survey conducted by the Easy Group has examined the perspectives of Chinese international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey looked at their opinions on a number of topics, including online learning, tuition reduction, mental health, and sinophobic — anti-Chinese — sentiment. Chinese international students make up a significant 60 per cent of U of T’s international student population. International students as a whole account for 30 per cent of the university’s revenue. Easy Group is an education research company founded by a U of T alum. The survey was conducted in summer 2020 and consisted of 389 responses from Chinese international students who were intending to enrol in Canadian universities for the first time. Survey findings The survey results found that nearly 90 per cent of surveyed Chinese international students still planned to enrol in Canadian universities, with the remaining seven per cent attempting to defer their admission, and three per cent not planning to enrol at all. However, 57 per cent of the respondents will not move to Canada this fall, meaning that remote
. GRACE WU/THEVARSITY
learning will be their only choice. Despite being a common option for international students, remote learning does not seem to be popular among respondents. Nearly 70 per cent of Chinese students felt negatively about online learning. Among different programs, humanities students were the most open to online classes. “I think it is safe to assume that online learning poses additional anxieties for foreign students, especially non-nativeEnglish speakers,” wrote Scott Moscowitz, who designed the survey, in an email to The Varsity. The vast majority of respondents felt that tuition should be reduced given the situation. However, most don’t think it is necessary to cut tuition down significantly. “This suggests Chinese students’ flexibility and commitment to Canadian education in the face of changing circumstances,” reads the report. Still, Moscowitz advised that students would not appreciate universities taking this commitment for
granted. Instead, he commented that international students “want to feel like the university welcomes them as an integral part of the community.” The report also mentions certain disadvantages for Chinese students, particularly due to drastic differences in the education systems of China and Canada. Canadian education typically involves more holistic components such as extracurricular activities and community involvement. Students from China may not understand that these components are part of Canadian university life until they experience it themselves. “But if they are now attending school without ever having set foot on campus… they won’t know exactly what they are missing,” wrote Moscowitz. Jacky Zhang, founder of Easy Group, believes that for Chinese international students to succeed, understanding the options available to them and learning to pursue their interests are the keys to closing the gap between them and Canadian campus life. Another challenge for Chinese students is access-
ing mental health resources. The report points out that Chinese students are from a culture where seeking mental health support may be stigmatized. According to the report, “this finding speaks to a need for special cultural sensitivity and awareness on the part of universities in allocating mental health resources and shaping attendant communications.” Sinophobic sentiment With the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians of Chinese or Asian descent have been experiencing an increasing amount of racism, something that is on the minds of Chinese international students. Around 60 per cent of the respondents do not feel positive about enrolling in Canadian universities as such sinophobia continues to rise. Referencing the rocky relationship between the US and China, Oliver Zhang, a fourth-year Rotman student, wrote that he “[worries] that this antiChina attitude will spread to Canada.” Still, a large number of Chinese international students remain optimistic. This result, in Moscowitz’s opinion, shows that Canada might have a comparative advantage in attracting Chinese students. “They may not feel that [sinophobia] is on the rise as much in Canada as compared to other locations in the world.”
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
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UTM Hindu Student Council faces backlash for name change proposal, attributes opposition to misinformation
HSC executives describe online harassment from critics
August 28, the UTSG branch of the Hindu Student Council (UTSG-HSC) as well as the UTSC branch (UTSCHSC) both came out with statements condemning the move and supporting the peition’s organizers. However, in an interview with The Varsity, some of the HSC-UTM’s executive members argued that the petition JOSEPH DONATO/THEVARSITY and movement had been Marta Anielska fuelled by misinformation. Associate News Editor They also expressed frustration and stress regarding the harassA petition against a proposal to change the name of the UTM branch of the Hin- ment and cyberbullying they had consequently du Student Council (HSC-UTM) has been cir- faced. culating, created by some of the club’s alumni and other stakeholders. The HSC-UTM had been in Motivation for the petition the process of exploring a name change for the The description under the petition, which has gargroup to make it more inclusive, though mem- nered over 1,200 signatures to date, says that the bers never formally decided on what they might club, with its current name, is already diverse. It also argues that changing the name would fundachange the name to. The HSC-UTM was founded in 2005. Accord- mentally shift the values and priorities of the club. Moreover, it states that the “present proposal ing to its Ulife page, the group’s purpose is to “promote Hinduism and educate people about Hindu to change the club name by an exclusive decision of the executive committee” violates the inclusive culture, religion, spirituality and way of life.” The petition criticizes a name change proposal nature of the club, and calls for broader discusdue to the already inclusive nature of the word sion and debate on the topic. It concludes that the “Hindu,” its connection to the club’s roots and val- creation of a new club could address any concern ues, and the undemocratic proposal process. On that the HSC-UTM does not currently represent
all values and identities. While the description does not explicitly mention the removal of the word ‘Hindu,’ simply stating that there is a proposal to change the name, the picture on the petition reads “Removal of ‘Hindu’ from Hindu Student Council - UTM.” This may have fuelled some confusion about the proposal, evidenced by the fact that HSCUTSG and HSC-UTSC’s statements both condemned the decision to remove the word ‘Hindu’ rather than a proposal to change the club’s name. HSC-UTM released a statement on its Instagram on August 29 that said it would no longer pursue the proposal. However, HSC-UTM also pointed out that much of the anger was based on misinformation and that they had followed all procedural steps correctly. The petition is currently active, and signatures are still being added. Response of HSC HSC-UTM executives, who wished to remain anonymous due to harassment, told The Varsity that while the original proposal had been aimed at expanding an already inclusive club, much had been lost in translation. One member said that removing the word ‘Hindu’ “wasn’t even part of… the discussion.” They continued, “That’s never the way [the executives] thought of it.” The original idea to change the name in May was driven by the chance to include students from other backgrounds who may have felt excluded from the club due to its name. “We really wanted to open up and be the most diverse club on campus,” another executive said. “I have Muslim friends on campus who are a part of India… but they cannot join HSC because of the name tag,” said one executive.
The club had been in the early stages of considering a proposal — speaking with the founder and other stakeholders — and hadn’t yet decided whether to vote on a name change. The executives expressed frustration that they were not consulted by the petition organizers before the petition was published and spread on social media. Despite the fact that the name change was never a formal motion, and they decided not to go through with a name change, the executives said that over the past few weeks, they have received harassment online. “The word ‘Hindu-phobic’ was used throughout social media,” one recalled. Another mentioned the toll that the online backlash has taken on their mental health. “I already have very bad anxiety,” the executive member noted. “I [opened] up my social media, and it was hundreds and hundreds of… notifications of me being tagged on… random Instagram posts,” the executive member said. They said that they had continued to get messages even after HSCUTM released its statement that it would not change the name. The executives interviewed also expressed that they had been shocked by the statements from HSC-UTSG and HSC-UTSC. “They didn’t consult us or ask us anything regarding this statement,” an executive said. “We did have a discussion with them after… so we did mend relations. But at the time that the statements were released, we didn’t really have any communications with them.” They added that they would put more effort into communicating with the branches in the future. The organizers of the petition did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.
UTGSU investigation committee finds 2020 elections legitimate after defamation allegations Report gives recommendations for fairness, impartiality in future elections
Lauren Alexander Deputy News Editor
dates.” As such, it recommended that no candidate have access to voter contact information.
The University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) has released the final report from the Executive Elections Investigation Committee (EEIC), which found that the 2020 elections were legitimate but suggested improvements to the overall election system. Recommendations include creating an “[information technology (IT)] oversight” role, changing the process of appointment for the Elections and Referenda Committee (ERC), and requiring all campaign materials to be approved and distributed by the chief returning officer (CRO). This follows Adam Hill and Jesse Velay-Vitow, two unsuccessful candidates in the executive elections, alleging defamation at an April 28 meeting of the UTGSU General Council. They pointed to an email that was circulated to some members of the UTGSU during the election that described the two as racist and sexist candidates. Subsequently, a motion passed during the May 19 meeting of the UTGSU struck the EEIC to investigate “the impact UTGSU bodies may have had on the fairness and legitimacy of the election.”
Reaction from Hill and Velay-Vitow The Varsity reached out to Hill and Velay-Vitow, the two unsuccessful candidates who appealed the results of the elections in April. Each wrote an email to The Varsity expressing frustration with the report due to its lack of focus on the 2020 UTGSU executive elections. “They barely commented on the actual proceedings of the April 2020 elections, let alone demonstrated exhaustive investigations of the actions that justified striking the EEIC in the first place,” Hill wrote, claiming that the EEIC did not investigate the claim that a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Caucus, which allegedly sent the defamatory email, was a member of the ERC. Hill also felt that the UTGSU Board of Directors did not give enough guidance or oversight to the EEIC. Velay-Vitow wrote, “Without a Chair to facilitate communication between the EEIC and the Board, it was required that the EEIC would need to interpret its own mandate without guidance.” Velay-Vitow felt that the EEIC fulfilled part of its mandate, since it made recommendations to increase fairness for future UTGSU executive elections, but that it did not determine whether the elections were fair or legitimate with “due diligence.” Both Hill and Velay-Vitow claimed that they were not contacted by the EEIC, which they felt was important in the investigation. “From my perspective, justice has not been served, and I’m not confident that the Board of Directors has the current capacity to restore justice,” Hill wrote.
Recommendations from the EEIC final report The EEIC report suggested that future elections focus on increasing voter turnout, selecting members of the ERC randomly, and providing a more established appeals period to address elections concerns more effectively. One recommendation given by the report was providing a more defined IT oversight role, which would monitor UTGSU emails and websites, and create stricter rules for who can access
Left to right, Adam Hill and Jesse Velay-Vitow alleged defamation during the 2020 UTGSU executive elections. LEFT: SHANNA HUNTER/THEVARSITY, RIGHT: COURTESY OF THE MERCATUS CENTER
and use them. Moreover, the IT oversight role would monitor UTGSU emails and websites and ensure that they are “always linked to specific users.” In the case of the 2020 elections, the alleged defamatory email was sent from a UTGSU-affiliated email, with the identity of the sender remaining classified. The report also suggested that the roles of the ERC and CRO be better defined and the appointment process modified to eliminate potential conflicts of interest. The report recommended that the CRO role be expanded to include mediating online election materials, which would involve approving and distributing candidate statements and messages. It also suggested that campaign materials
be limited to official UTGSU platforms, such as email servers and the UTGSU Facebook page and website. By requiring campaign materials to be approved and distributed by the CRO, the elections “would at least avoid issues of defamatory emails coming from UTGSU bodies,” reads the report. Furthermore, the report suggested issuing additional demerit points for candidates who advertise outside of the approved UTGSU platforms, as well as increasing demerits for repeat offenders. On the topic of any potential defamation, the report suggested that the ERC be in charge of “finding those responsible” and preventing “the efforts to oppose the election of other candi-
6
THE VARSITY
NEWS
news@thevarsity.ca
A guide to reopening at: UTM UTSC
How services will be operating — or not — at UTM this fall
On-campus services will operate differently during fall 2020
Alexa DiFrancesco UTSC Bureau Chief
As the University of Toronto reopens for the fall semester with a mix of in-person classes and online learning, The Varsity broke down the services available to students at the UTSC campus.
UTM services are operating differently during COVID-19.
Hafsa Ahmed UTM Bureau Chief
While many students will find themselves working and studying remotely during the fall 2020 semester, others will continue to be present on campus, whether for class, living on residence, or to access campus resources. Here is a breakdown to help you navigate UTM during COVID-19. Food In order to accommodate physical distancing measures, dining spaces have rearranged seating in the William G. Davis Building and Oscar Peterson Hall. Colman Commons, located in Oscar Peterson Hall, has takeout and pickup options for food orders. The Davis Food Court, located in the Davis building, has ‘Grab ‘n Go’ options, which include salads, wraps, sandwiches, and other togo items. Remote transactions can be made for services and programs with UTM Hospitality & Retail Services. To promote food safety during the pandemic, the ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ program at UTM has been suspended. Additionally, all fruits, in-house baked items, and cutlery at food service locations will be wrapped for protection, and self serve condiment stations will offer single-use condiment packets. Sally, a “personalized and hygienic food service option that allows you to create fresh customized salads any time of the day,” will also be available for use in the Davis building. Transit During the fall 2020 term, the U-Pass service, arranged by the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) and the University of Toronto Mississauga Association for Graduate Students, will continue to operate for UTM students, except for those in the Master of Management and Professional Accounting and Master of Forensic Accounting programs. Students can read and fill out the UTMSU’s U-Pass pick-up form to determine their eligibility and schedule an appointment to pick up their U-Pass. As highlighted on UTM’s website, MiWay, Brampton Transit, Oakville Transit, GO Transit, and the TTC municipal services can be expected to continue their operations during the fall term. The UTM shuttle bus service, which normally operates to and from the St. George campus and Sheridan College, will be suspended, and fees related to this service for fall semester will be waived. The Brampton Transit express service, which otherwise runs between the Brampton Gateway Terminal and UTM, will also be suspended.
SHANNA HUNTER/THEVARSITY
Athletics The Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre will remain closed until further notice. Varsity and U of T tri-campus competitions, including intramurals and varsity sports, will be suspended for the fall semester. However, as highlighted on UTM’s quick facts page, students “can still compete in a range of mainly outdoor intramural sports, including badminton, spike ball, table tennis and dodgeball.” In the spirit of encouraging fitness during the pandemic, students are offered a range of virtual, at-home, and outdoor options for staying active. For example, students can register for “on-demand classes,” offered free for incidental fee-paying students who are enrolled in fall courses at U of T. Students can also find a list of virtual fitness and recreation programs offered by UTM. This includes the option to train with a UTM fitness specialist over Zoom. Library The UTM library will be open and operating, but students must book their spaces online up to one week in advance and present their identification and booking confirmation to security when they enter. Students can learn more about how to reserve a space through the library website. Physical books across all of U of T’s campuses will be quarantined for three days after being returned. Students also have remote access to 2.5 million books and additional references through the online repository, HathiTrust, and can request curbside pickups for items that are unavailable online through HathiTrust. Parking UTM will not be offering special rates or discounts for parking this year. Permits will continue to be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, and all parking lots will be operational and maintained in September. In the case that students who are still working or studying from home don’t purchase their pass at the beginning of the year, the option to purchase remaining permits throughout the year is available, and these permits will be allocated monthly. Students can visit the campus website for more details on parking rates and permits. Accessibility Services Accessibility Services at UTM will remain available for registered students. However, appointments and programming will be moved online. Students can book appointments by emailing or calling the department. Information on how to register for Accessibility Services at UTM can be found online.
Library The UTSC Library partially reopened as a study space on September 8. The library is open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday. Study spaces are available by appointment to all U of T students through an online booking system. Small group study rooms are limited to individual use. All visitors are required to wear non-medical masks and follow physical distancing guidelines. Hand sanitizers are available on both levels of the library. A curbside pickup is also available for print books that are unavailable via UTSC’s HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service. The service only provides access to books housed in the UTSC Library. The UTSC Library Makerspace remains closed. The BRIDGE is operating remotely via Quercus. Athletics and recreation The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is reopening to both students and the public on September 14. Available amenities include the gymnasium, rock climbing wall, training pool, and track. Regular hours of operation will resume at this time. UTSC athletic programming will begin the week of September 28. This includes group fitness classes and registered programs. The competition pool will also be reopening at this time. All activities require pre-registration. Registrar’s Office Though the Registrar’s Office is not serving inperson visitors, it is offering a “Live Chat” function on the homepage of its website, available Monday through Thursday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00–4:00 pm, as well as Friday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The live chat can be used to speak with staff members and ask general questions. However, staff cannot research specific account information because they are unable to confirm the identities of students. The live chat button is unavailable outside of service hours. The Registrar’s Office is offering extended live chat services through September 21. Study spaces Some campus spaces are available for walk-in, physically-distanced studying, including Bladen Wing’s fourth floor, Meeting Place, Meeting Place’s seating area, and the Instructional Centre Atrium. Food Various campus food vendors have reopened with more limited operating hours.
Academic Advising and Career Centre The Academic Advising & Career Centre (AA&CC) is open Monday and Tuesday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 am to 6:45 pm, and Friday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Pre-booked, in-person appointments are available Tuesday through Thursday during service hours. Virtual drop-in sessions are available Monday through Thursday from 1:00–4:00 pm and Friday from 1:00–2:30 pm. Students can call the AA&CC at 416-287-7561 or email aacc@utsc.toronto.ca to schedule an appointment. There will be no on-site drop in service available; however, there will be limited in-person service available, with appointments, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. AccessAbility Services AccessAbility Services is offering the following services via online platforms: registration for tests and exam accommodations, disability consultants and assistive technology appointments, counselling appointments, and writing services. Volunteer note takers are uploading notes to the myAIMS portal. Students can also download the note taking package and the announcement script, and email it to course instructors directly. The AccessAbility office can be reached via telephone at 416-287-7560 or email at ability@utsc. utoronto.ca. Health & Wellness Centre Though the Health & Wellness Centre remains open, students are advised to call or email in advance to book, reschedule, or cancel appointments with a counsellor, nurse, or physician. Same day counselling and nurse or doctor’s appointments, in addition to academic support, are available over the phone. The centre is reachable via telephone at 416-2877065 or email at health-services@utsc.utoronto.ca. International Studies Centre The International Studies Centre is open virtually Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. In-person appointments are available Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Virtual appointments with an immigration advisor are available from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Students can also chat with immigration officers online on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00–10:00 pm, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Student housing and residence life UTSC’s Residence Office is open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Centre for Teaching and Learning The Centre for Teaching and Learning is offering writing tutorials, math and statistics tutoring, and English Language Development counselling online. Scheduling, cancelling, or attending a service can be done here. All Facilitated Study Groups have been moved online to Quercus.
The UTSC campus reopens some campus services and spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic. SHANNA HUNTER/THEVARSITY
Business & Labour
September 14, 2020 var.st/business biz@thevarsity.ca
Erin O’Toole: a prime minister for youth?
Reviewing the new Conservative leader’s policies aimed at recent grads, young entrepreneurs
free each year. The Conservative Party hopes that this approach will act as an incentive for skilled workers to grow the Canadian economy at home as opposed to expatriating to work abroad.
Erin O’Toole took 59 per cent of the vote on the final ballot of the Conservative leadership election. COURTESY OF ANDRE FORGET
Alex Levesque Varsity Contributor
Despite Erin O’Toole’s fairly recent entrance into politics — having been elected for the first time in 2012 — the former veterans affairs minister is now the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He consistently polled second behind former Progressive Conservative Party leader Peter Mackay for the duration of the leadership race before winning with 59 per cent of the vote on the final ballot. O’Toole has inherited a fractious party from outgoing leader Andrew Scheer, and his pitch to both his party and Canadians will need broad support if he hopes to become prime minister. Based on
what he’s said on the campaign trail and in published platform documents, O’Toole’s plan includes policies to recover from the pandemic and attract undecided youth along the way. Taxes, taxes, taxes O’Toole has promised an extra $100,000 in tax breaks for new graduates under the age of 30. Anyone who completes an accredited apprenticeship, college diploma, or university degree would be eligible for the breaks for their first three years after graduation. The plan would expand the existing basic personal tax exemption, which allows all income tax payers to earn a certain amount of net income tax-
Cutting red tape One of O’Toole’s stated economic objectives is providing small businesses with more financial help and fewer bureaucratic barriers. ‘Small businesses’ are formally defined as companies with fewer than 20 employees, and would include most studentand graduate-founded startups. In 2014, the Stephen Harper government introduced the Red Tape Reduction Act with the goal of increasing productivity and reducing the financial costs of businesses. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat estimated that this act saved 290,000 hours of dealing with bureaucratic barriers. Taking inspiration, the new Conservative leader has promised to appoint a minister with a mandate to reduce red tape and introduce at least one Red Tape Reduction Act every year. Additionally, O’Toole plans on rolling back certain parts of Justin Trudeau’s government’s small business-related tax reforms. The government claims that the reforms closed loopholes that benefited the wealthy. Contrastingly, O’Toole argues that such reforms have only hurt middle-class, small business owners. “Some reduction in regulatory rules would be useful,” Dr. William Mitchell, a professor of strategic management at U of T’s Roman School of Management, wrote in an email to The Varsity. “But it needs to be thought through rather than simply made as a sweeping promise.”
Dealing with debt Prior to COVID-19, previous Trudeau government budget deficits had accumulated more inflationadjusted debt per person than any other Canadian ministry not suffering from a recession or a world war. Growing national debt, due in part to larger interest amounts, is ultimately paid by future generations of Canadian taxpayers. O’Toole plans on instituting a “Pay-As-You-Go” rule where every dollar in new spending must be matched by a dollar in savings. Former US President George H. W. Bush’s administration introduced such a plan as part of the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act. New community projects would also be funded by existing resources. For example, O’Toole’s proposed Great Country Grant Initiative would aid community-based organizations while funded entirely by existing federal government departments. O’Toole hopes that debt-conscious Canadians will look to him as the fiscally responsible choice. His appeals to small businesses are also well targeted, with 30.8 per cent of small businesses having seen a reduction in workers as of April this year. However, in the midst of a pandemic economy, one must question if familiar political appeals will be as effective. “Part of the job of any government budget is to invest in infrastructure — both physical and human capital — that supports growth, which is particularly important in economically challenging times,” commented Mitchell. “If a government refuses to invest, then we risk becoming locked into downturns rather than being able to grow out of them. Indeed, interest rates tend to be low during downturns… so that ‘debt’ in a downturn is almost cost-free… and pays for itself if it spurs growth.”
Excelerate: career consultation amidst a contagion Rotman Commerce grads found mentorship, networking service Yixuan Li Varsity Contributor
Despite June’s gloomy graduation, two new graduates still managed to launch their careers this summer — and they’re looking to help others do the same. Sarbjot Gill and Harveen Sidhu, both 2020 graduates of Rotman Commerce, founded a career consultancy platform named Excelerate in July. The startup connects current students and new graduates with experienced professionals to help the former plan their careers. The Varsity interviewed Sidhu to discuss the origin and business model of Excelerate, as well as the future of the platform. Customer experience is key Excelerate’s services are split into six categories: Breaking In; Perfecting Your Application; Practical Workshops; Postsecondary Engagement; Things You Should Know; and Find a Partner. Its programs and consultants aim to help students explore their own industry while providing suggestions and resources. “Our consultants have navigated the challenges of breaking into various industries, and most importantly, have done it recently and are ready to help you do the same,” Sidhu wrote. “[They] offer accurate, timely, and relevant advice, and are available at a moment’s notice to help students plan their careers.” From Sidhu’s perspective, Excelerate’s strength is in its rigorous selection of profes-
sional consultants who aim to provide personalized consultations specific to each participant’s situation. “We recognize that customer service, relationships with your clients, and results are of utmost importance,” Sidhu wrote. Sidhu explained that Excelerate’s programs exist to build self-sufficiency in participants. “Beyond the initial consultation, we give you all the tips and tools on how to apply yourself critically such that you can think for yourself and be self-sufficient,” Sidhu wrote. “We’ll always be here to help, but we pride ourselves on teaching you how to fish, not fishing for you.” An ambitious blueprint Currently, all of Excelerate’s services are free and are anticipated to remain free for as long as the pandemic hinders job markets. Accordingly, Excelerate has yet to turn a profit. “Our biggest goal right now is to expand awareness across southern Ontario,” Sidhu wrote. “We’re also very invested in learning about more avenues for exposure and continuing to raise awareness about Excelerate.” In the short term, Excelerate will focus on perfecting current services. The team plans on expanding their current team of career consultants to include experts in more disciplines, and generally improving their services by listening to user feedback. In the long term, Sidhu wants Excelerate to expand beyond a single medium. “As avenues like blogging and podcasts gain more traction,
Harveen Sidhu and Sarbjot Gill co-founded Excelerate after graduating in April. COURTESY OF EXCELERATE
we’re interested in seeing how we can take advantage of them to deepen our service offering and reach,” Sidhu wrote. “We’re also really excited about ed-tech, and the opportunities it presents to help people at scale in both academic and professional environments.” A platform to help people Sidhu and Gill — good friends since their firstyear orientation — graduated into an economy ravaged by the pandemic. They noticed many people in their network suffering from the de-
pressed job market and saw the opportunity to help others while founding their own enterprise. “Having gone through university, you realize that many people help you out along the way. Whether that be with classwork, extra-curriculars, or landing your first internship, it’s more than likely that someone helped you succeed,” Sidhu wrote. “Recognizing this, we knew that we could pay it forward and also make a positive impact. Be that person or mentor remotely, to anyone, anywhere.”
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September 14, 2020 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
Op-ed: Hey U of T, let’s talk about tuition UTSU VP public & university affairs: administration must financially support students through the pandemic
Tyler Riches Varsity Contributor
The new school year is fast approaching, and, for many students, this means planning out their finances for the new year. However, the 2020–2021 school year will be unlike any other. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned all of our lives upside down, and the University of Toronto has opted for a hybrid delivery method of instruction, with in-person and online classes taking place in conjunction. Considering the quality of online learning Students have argued that since online classes present a number of barriers to the experience that comes with a high-quality education, tuition fees for those classes should be reduced. On May 21, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) issued a statement calling on the university to “[consider] the reduction of tuition fees for classes operating remotely.” However, despite repeated calls from students, the university has indicated that it will not be reducing tuition for the 2020–2021 school year, arguing that “academic programs [will] continue to be delivered through alternative means.” This justification seems to ignore the reality of online learning: it simply isn’t the same quality as in-person classes. It doesn’t take into account the international students who are 12 hours ahead and will have to sit through synchronous classes and exams. It doesn’t factor in the accessibility challenges posed by online lectures. And it doesn’t consider that many students may not have access to adequate technology or a reliable internet connection. Administering courses remotely through online learning is crucial to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but the university can’t ignore the very real challenges presented by online learning and argue that the quality of education will be the same as in-person classes. Unique challenges for international students Additionally, international tuition fees are set to rise by an average of 5.3 per cent in the University of Toronto’s 2020–2021 budget. This is especially concerning because international students have been particularly affected by COVID-19. Many have had to abruptly navigate international travel and border closures, and the upcoming fall semester has been marred with uncertainty for international students attempting to plan their education. International students newly admitted to U of T may not be allowed to enter Canada at all this school year, since only international students outside of the US with study permits on or before March 18 are permitted to enter Canada under current travel restrictions. They may also be asked to prove “nondiscretionary” or “non-optional” travel at the border. This will undoubtedly have a severe impact on these students’ academic careers at U of T. It’s important to recognize that the university is not entirely at fault for raising international tuition fees. The Varsity reported
IMANE ZOUHAR/THEVARSITY
that the “decision to increase international fees was made in consideration of the province’s choice to reduce operational grants by $750 for every international student enrolled in an undergraduate or master’s program.” The provincial government needs to properly invest in postsecondary education in order to ensure financial accessibility. However, this does not excuse U of T from choosing to raise international tuition fees during a pandemic instead of re-evaluating the 2020–2021 budget to better accommodate students who are already struggling. Students are struggling The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on students cannot be understated. According to a Labour Force Survey, the employment rate for postsecondary students in April 2020 was only 29.8 per cent, down from 52.5 per cent in February. Employment opportunities and jobs that students had lined up for the summer disappeared, while many of those who continued to work faced reduced hours. The federal government did announce the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) in late April, in an attempt to fill the gaps in the existing Canada Emergency Response Benefit. However, international students were left out of this benefit, and the $1,250 per
month CESB payments do not even cover the average market rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto, which according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, stood at $1,374 in the fall of 2019. This doesn’t even touch on the savings needed to pay tuition fees this fall. Many students rely on summer jobs to save up for the school year, but this year, that opportunity has been dashed for many. As a low-income domestic student, I plan my finances on a year-to-year basis, and I rely on summer jobs to save for tuition, rent, and groceries for the upcoming school year. While I’m privileged to be employed at the UTSU this year and am taking part-time classes as a result, I would likely not otherwise have been able to afford to pay for rent or fulltime tuition this school year. This is the reality for many of my peers, as students struggle to make ends meet amidst the crisis that COVID-19 has created. What U of T needs to do The first line of U of T’s Policy on Student Financial Support reads, “No student offered admission to a program at the University of Toronto should be unable to enter or complete the program due to lack of financial means.” There’s a number of actions that U of T
needs to take in order to fully realize this principle. Financial aid for students should be increased, particularly for needs-based bursaries. In recent months, the COVID-19 Emergency Undergraduate Grant has been a great support for students in urgent need. However, students need support in paying tuition — which is not an eligible expense under this grant. The international tuition fee hike also needs to be cancelled. Raising tuition during a global pandemic risks putting international students in an even more precarious financial situation; tuition should be maintained at the 2019–2020 fee levels. Finally, the tuition fee framework should be reassessed for classes operating remotely. The quality of education will inevitably suffer as a result of online learning; this should result in a reduction of cost, particularly now when students are facing uncertain circumstances. We need financial support now more than ever, and it’s time that U of T steps up to provide that support. Tyler Riches is a third-year human geography, urban studies, and women & gender studies student at University College. They are the vice-president public & university affairs of the UTSU.
Wanted: three smart, highly intelligent programmers to work on a project with Jerry Ross and become a 1/3 partner This project will be like Kijji.ca.
Your experience should be similar to Mark Zuckerberg when he first started Facebook. For more details, email: jerryross8000@gmail.com
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
9
Margaret Wente’s Massey College appointment reflects Canada’s apathy toward racism Reviewing the summer’s controversial incident — and how it goes beyond U of T
DIANA PHAM/THEVARSITY
Shernise Mohammed-Ali Varsity Contributor
Margaret Wente is an award-winning Canadian journalist and former staff columnist at The Globe and Mail. She is regarded as “one of Canada’s leading columnists,” and she holds conservative and bold opinions that have often “provoked heated debate.” Given Wente’s achievements, it should have come as no surprise that Massey College, an affiliate of U of T, appointed her — alongside numerous other distinguished appointees — as a member of the Quadrangle Society this summer. However, despite Wente’s ostensible success, many of her pieces have been criticized for racism, sexism, and transphobia, alongside plagiarism. Her views can only be described as staunchly uptight and inherently flawed. In her article, “Advice to younger women: Practice manning up,” Wente argues that young women must learn to withstand sexism and misogyny rather than suggesting that men should drop their locker-room culture. In an article about Nicholas Wade’s book, A
Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, Wente contends that genetics, rather than society, have shaped many of the economic and political disparities existent between races. Furthermore, Wente’s 2016 article, “The bullies of Black Lives Matter,” described the Black Lives Matter movement in Toronto as “a tiny group of noisy activists who borrow their branding and their belligerence from the United States.” She further belittled the motives of the Black Lives Matter movement and mocked the notion of there being systemic racism within the police force. Thus, the appointment of someone such as Wente to a position within the U of T community prompts the question: how could this have happened? Despite her resignation from Massey College following backlash toward her appointment from the U of T community, the fact that Wente was able to publish such problematic articles at The Globe and Mail — one of Canada’s leading newspapers — and be appointed a position at Massey College reflects a tolerance for racism not only at the Uni-
versity of Toronto, but also in Canada as a whole. Wente’s appointment and subsequent resignation particularly stand out in the current political climate. The filming of the cruel death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police resulted in a worldwide reckoning that has made it impossible for people to remain ignorant of systemic racism. We are now at a pivotal moment in history to redefine race relations around the world, particularly in North America. However, this mission proves to be difficult as many Canadians continuously refuse to believe in the existence of systemic racism within the country. As Canadians, we pride ourselves on our diversity, kindness, and acceptance. There exists a strong belief that discrimination is something that only ever happens south of the border. In response to the anti-racism protests in the US, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, “Thank God we’re different [from] the United States, and we don’t have the systemic, deep roots they’ve had for years.” After receiving much criticism for his remarks, Ford said, “Of course there’s systemic racism in Ontario. There’s systemic racism across this country.” The reality is that many parallels exist between Canada and the United States — Canada has its own sordid past. However, we often reflect on Canada’s history with a convenient ignorance of racial discrimination. We never speak of the 200 years when slaves were forcibly brought to Canada. Nor do we speak of the racial segregation that occurred in primary, secondary, and postsecondary school institutions — including U of T. We have chosen to ignore the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and only briefly skim over the long history of residential schools. When understood in the larger social and historical context, Wente’s appointment fol-
lows a pattern of behaviour in Canada. It is anything but an individual oversight. It represents what is merely a continuation in the long history of oppression and indifference. There still exists a collective prejudice and ignorance among Canadians when it comes to systemic racism. Wente’s appointment — and the fact that issues regarding her beliefs went unnoticed by U of T — underscores this phenomenon. Canada is apathetic toward racism. We live under the pretense that we are moving forward in the pursuit of justice and tolerance — and that race relations at home don’t need to be critically examined. But to ignore racism is to be complicit in its perpetuation. While Canadians pat themselves on the back when looking at the events occurring in the US, our neighbours south of the border have already begun a period of racial reckoning. Across America, remnants of the Confederacy are abandoned. The streets are flooded with people protesting anti-Blackness as more begin to educate themselves on its history in America. This all marks the beginning of what is hoped to be a new era in race relations. This is why the appointment of Wente represents such a critical moment for moving forward in a post-racial society. Appointing Wente — someone who openly expresses discrimination — shows that Canadians are complicit in systemic racism. Putting such people in positions of power and influence only serves to drive forward the institutional racism that is deeply embedded within our society. This ultimately results in a continuous cycle that perpetuates the disparities between races. In an article written after her resignation, Wente preached the idea that the fight against systemic racism stifles the voices of heretics, and she contends that the attack on her is part of a larger crusade against free expression. But, if there’s anything Wente can really teach us, it’s that Canadians still have a long way to go in eradicating racism and our own deliberate ignorance. Shernise Mohammed-Ali is a second-year neuroscience, psychology, and English student at Victoria College.
Letters to the Editor Re: Six U of T unions sign petition for courses to be entirely online in fall, express ongoing safety, equity concerns “As a U of T alum who is now at UNC, yea. Don’t do the in-person thing.” — Leslie Thomson (from web) Re: Open letter: President Gertler, defund and abolish Campus Police “I agree the police aren’t necessarily needed for issues of emotional distress or medical/addiction issues. But who should answer the call when someone calls for help from one of the many emergency distress stations?”
Re: UTSU’s proposed decertification motions at CFS–O General Meeting forwarded to executive committee “What this article should be stating is that the UTSU does not get the backing of other locals to propose their reforms. It’s as if conservative mp proposes a bill and it doesn’t get the support by other voting members on the floor. To state that “The CFS has not yet implemented online voting, though member locals have been calling for it for years” is a bogus statement as it implies that the CFS has a mandate to conduct online voting, where it doesn’t. Yes, numerous motions were delivered and submitted by the UTSU executive over 4 years, they were voted down regularly by the the [sic] general assembly at the national general meetings. When they were submitted provincially, they were tabled to the executive committee, discussed and investigated along with the UTSU local rep and voted down in a working group of the committee. What should be examined is how much money the UTSU has spent on trying to decertify instead of fighting to lower tuition fees. Rumour has it that the UTSU hired students to get petitions signed. It wasn’t successful, obviously as they do not have the connection to their membership to begin with. Similar tactics were employed by CUSA when they ran a decertification vote, which they lost. Please consider rewriting and get the full story from CFS elected reps or perhaps other locals that voted it down instead of the complaints of sore losers not getting their way.”
Re:Toronto residents push back against U of T’s proposed 90 Queen’s Park facility “This building is hideous and entirely inappropriate for this historic location. I am also quite curious why a New York City based firm is one of the main designers on this project.” — Adam Wynne (from web) Re: An ode to a full campus “ALL HAIL THE ALLCONSUMING [sic] VOID OF EMPTY.” — William Dobias (from web)
10
THE VARSITY
FEATURES
Facing burnout and self-doubt, I went on a lockdown road trip through time — this is what I learned Figuring out that the magic of life comes from highway exits
Writer: Chloe Kapanen Illustrator/Photographer: Chloe Kapanen
Frantically, I had packed to return home with only 24 hours notice as news of COVID-19 and border closures answered previously naïve conversations. Taking deep sips of coffee that burned our throats, we had once wondered whether or not we should be getting worried. I hugged my friends, promising to be back again once everything calmed down. We talked of the time frames under which we would be reunited and things would go back to normal. We hid worried eyes under overly reassured voices. I arrived at the airport early in the morning. In the desolate check-in areas, where the security ropes were set up to control large crowds, the lyrics of R.E.M. sang out, “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” The irony wasn’t lost on any one of us — those who stood there, looking around at others like deer in the headlights. Time blurred with indefinite isolation, physical stagnancy, and the loss of the notion of weekdays and weekends as morning and night merged together. Within our homes, the breaking news headlines of the 24-hour news cycle bounced around inside, delivering the daily death tolls with unintentionally cruel detachedness. Countless names were replaced by one consolidated number. My life became a montage — a body on an ever-
rotating hand of a clock: wake horizontal, stand vertical, lay back down again. After a while, I started to droop over the side of my bed to let blood rush to my head for fun as I tried to make sense of an upsidedown world. Time lost its value to me. Gone were the days of setting an alarm — snoozing for five minutes, jumping into stiff jeans, and running to class just in time for the professor’s first words. I thought of this time fondly, as I gazed into the fridge holding the door open for who knows how long, trying to decide what to eat at 2:00 pm. I had royally proclaimed this the new hour of breakfast — a cultural renegade, without conviction. This, however, did not last. One morning I woke up as the sun was just rising, made espresso, and sat thinking about how long I had been purely existing with no agenda. Realizing the bounty of opportunity with which the lockdown had provided me, naturally, I went out to buy the original scroll of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, written during three weeks in 1951. High on benzedrine, Kerouac had cut and taped paper to form a scroll where he began to unleash an unadulterated stream of consciousness. The copy I picked up reported that he wrote a “125,000 [word] full-length novel,” the “whole thing on a strip of paper 120 foot long… rolled it out on the floor and it looks like a road.” An introduction piece analyzing Kerouac’s writing by Joshua Kupetz described the way that Kerouac had set out on his journey across America thinking he
could take one highway called ‘The Redline’ all the way from New York to California and back. Within the first day of his travels, he was already on winding back roads leading in directions he had not planned to be going. When I set out to read On the Road, I thought I would be gleaning insight into what America had looked like in the ’50s across all — at the time — 48 states. I thought Kerouac would studiously observe every cultural relic from the price of commodities to the hearty laughs of sailors on Market Street in San Francisco. He did actually do both of these things, but this, I learned, was not the point. Almost speaking directly to me, Kupetz wrote, “I had been trying to dispel in my teaching, those assumptions being that he mattered first as a personality and that what makes his texts worth reading are the ways the content intersects with cultural histories.” By throwing literary tradition out the window, Kerouac’s style mirrors the very metaphors embedded within each allegory of his travels. It is his critique of our traditional conception of time that ironically stands the test of time. When we conceive of time as being purely linear, we set ourselves up for failure. Success is only plausible through accepting that our preconceived notions of how we will achieve our goals are most likely going to change. Success is recognizing that we never obtain exactly what we seek to experience and inevitably, that experience changes us, for better or for worse. This is what Kerouac calls the ‘circle of despair.’ He believed that “the experience of life is a regular series of deflections from our goal.” Being deflected from my goals was not a new experience for me. However, the pandemic’s harsh interruption of my pursuit levelled all my life goals and I momentarily lost myself
in the eye of that very same circle of despair. While the details of my meticulously planned future began to warp, the past seemed to be the only thing that occupied my present. From friendships that had faded, to romantic flings that left me feeling emotionally burned, to wrongdoings of my own accord, I was forced to reminisce on the past in ways I had previously evaded. But with global catastrophes bearing down on the world, this forged a passageway for me back to existing in the present, and it brought me a measure of closure. My days were once governed by a planner, as I was bound to deadlines, coffee dates, and exams. There was always somewhere to be, and perpetuating anxiety wherever I was in the present, as I was antsy to get on to the next. Kerouac used his friend Neal Cassady to represent the idea of ‘exhaustive time,’ a term coined by Micheal Foucalt to describe a way of almost cheating time by subdividing it into smaller and smaller units: a day into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes, each minute into 60 seconds which, if done properly, would eventually freeze time altogether so that you could finally be free to do whatever, without the clock running. Kerouac depicts Cassady having relationships with two women: his wife and mistress. As Cassady scrambles between them, he plans each moment down to the very minute. Kupetz describes exhaustive time as “a technique that subjugates the actor to time while promising emancipation from it.” I, too, had segmented each part of my life, but in a way that was only exhaustive to myself. I was often overwhelmed with fatigue, practically falling under the weight of various items to attend to. I was preoccupied chasing the future I felt bound to, and I could rarely ever enjoy things that felt frivolous to my overly pragmatic goals I had once called ‘dreams.’ I had conceptualized a point dividing each segment, labelled as moments starting from birth to elementary, middle school, high school, university, law school, work, marriage, children, retirement, and finally death. I had never planned it in this literal form, but the subliminal plan was assumed from a young age and never questioned as it compounded
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further and further into my subconscious. As I drove down the highway with the radio blaring, people on air spoke of the constant feeling of anticipation during the time of COVID-19: experts attempting to predict the second surge or decline, government officials administering new sanctions — shutting down cities and reopening them here and there — and the world refreshing their news apps with hungry eyes just waiting to read that a vaccine was finally on the way. My eyes stayed fixed to the yellow lines ahead as the car glided easily in a straight line, keeping me from veering off and crashing into other cars in a fiery life-altering accident. Perhaps this was the commonplace idea, that the straight line was necessary — with fear propelling our feet, we all speed by the rest stops and the highway exits that lead to winding roads, where bending trees create a natural tunnel of gradient shade fading into pitch black. Perhaps we feel that when we stick to the — straight and open — road we know, we are on course. At times, we permit our eyes to wander the landscape, and look away briefly from the horizon ahead, and fantasize about those winding roads, imagining ourselves in a different life, slowing to a stop before making the turn to a destination unknown. But, quickly, the fear of taking our eyes off the road for a moment too long, of spinning out and losing what life we had at the moment, manufactured our consent to not wander again. After all, what would happen to us if we did not keep going? Back in high school, I was often filled with anxiety over the somewhat small act of picking a major. Although I was aware that I could easily change it, the decision seemed symbolic of my larger life decision of deciding who I was and whatever my purpose was — if I even had one. I feared that I was convincing myself that I had purpose in some area of work, but that this might actually be a guise for simply wanting to make money. “You’ll become another cog in the machine,” whispered a drunk Karl Marx in my ears. But my mom reassured me that she had felt the same. She had taken those personality tests that gave you the job positions you would be good at. Her test had come back pretty much inconclusive, along with another girl who broke down in tears over the test asking her what she thought she was going to do in life. My mom reassured me that it would just happen, and that the process of finding it out over time was really the best part of life. When my mom graduated from university she went into graphic design for four years. One day, she and her best friend Mike decided they needed a change. Applying to just two law schools, she mailed in applications as she and Mike set off on a road trip starting in Toronto, down the coast to Florida, out west, and then back up the other coast, ending in Alaska. There, she received the call telling her she had got-
“After all, what would happen to us if we did not keep going?”
ten in and left the next day to begin school the following week. For whatever reason, I had found ways to justify why I had to stick to a plan that fit neatly and consistently into squared-off segments of a well-worn path. Whether it was rationality, fear, or some mix of both, I blindly followed in the steps of the people before me. Judgmental voices echoed in my mind, telling me to focus, fearfully, on defining myself through a set of numbers and letters, a GPA that would act as the sole determinant of my future and define my worth and reason for existing. I was very annoyed with my mom’s whole TED talk that said this process was somehow fun. At one point I had sat down to consider what I wanted to do with my life, and I had tried to weave an underlying theme through the events that had impacted me the most, looking for a purpose to adhere to. But that time had suddenly become ancient history. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I had lost the drive that set me on this course in the first place, and I was merely parroting a well-rehearsed speech and carefully designed persona. However, through some luck and the privilege of having a safe home to live in during lockdown, this process forced me to take a step back and be honest with myself in a way that I was unable to before. When I was able to take on this notion that really, nothing in my life mattered very much to others, and it was only me driving toward some outcome that I thought ‘should’ happen, I felt more like myself in a way I hadn’t felt in a very long time. There were many cliché sayings that I am sure each of us has heard at one time or another, ranging from “anything is possible” to “be yourself; everyone else is taken” and the hegemon of them all: “live, laugh, love!” I do not want my message to be confused with these things, nor do I want it to be seen as some condemnation of any particular path. Simply put, if this somehow resonates with you as a reader — I give you my final pitch — read just a little Kerouac. On the Road follows no real plot. There is no obvious tension, no fights to the death between the antagonist or the protagonist. You may reach the last page and wonder what all that time you spent reading was really worth. But the essence of what I got was that the book forces you to read it the way that conveys the spirit of Kerouac’s approach to life. The more you try to force linearity or any preconceived notions of how this book should be understood upon it, the more confused you will be. But if you sit back and allow for this book, like life, to be a tangled mess that will eventually reveal itself to be a larger picture, you will be able to look back with more colour and texture than you could have ever originally envisioned.
Arts & Culture
September 8, 2020 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca
TIFF 2020: Scaled back, but more accessible than ever A look at the structure and most anticipated films of the festival, running from September 10–19
KRISTAL MENGUC/THEVARSITY
Will Gotlib Varsity Contributor
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a world-renowned staple of Toronto’s arts and culture scene, and a major stimulus to its economy, featuring a sprawling week of premieres and advanced showings of hundreds of films. It shouldn’t be surprising that things are going to be very different this year due to the pandemic, but it’s not all bad: TIFF 2020 might be the most accessible year yet for the ‘festival of festivals.’ Adjusting to the pandemic The scale of the festival has been significantly reined in. While last year’s lineup had 250 feature films, this year has only 50. As a byproduct of that and other circumstances, there probably won’t be as many highly-anticipated award magnets or blockbuster hits like 2019’s Parasite or Knives Out. As multiplexes struggle for survival, the TIFF Bell Lightbox, out of which the festival runs, will be the only indoor theatre showing films. The arrangement of how festival-goers will actually be watching films is the most striking change for this year. It is split between the Lightbox, open-air theatres, driveins, and digital screenings. If you decide to go to a movie at the Lightbox, you’ll have an assigned seat distanced away from other patrons, given an Ontario government mandate that venues can sit, at most, 50 people per
theatre. Whenever you’re not sitting down, relishing in the novelty of going to a theatre, you’ll have to wear a mask. If you’re comfortable with the risk, it’ll probably be a cozy experience; that’s if you manage to get a ticket. They sold like wildfire, and, at the time of publication, there are no more available tickets to screenings at the Lightbox. More hopeful alternatives are the new outside venues: there are two drive-ins, where you pay by the car and watch the big screen from the safety and comfort of your vehicle. There’s also one open-air theatre, much like a drive-in but where you’re allocated a so-called ‘lawn pod’ for two to set up camp in. It may not fully immerse you into a movie, but given that COVID-19 can potentially be transmitted while in close contact with other people, outside settings like this provide a balance of assured safety and the experience of watching a big screen with others. The most significant new venue is what TIFF has dubbed the “Digital Cinema.” Even though its existence may not be surprising, it’s still a game-changer. Every film and short program will be available for an interval of 24 hours through the service’s website to anyone in Canada. No more waiting in lines or even leaving your home! These digital screenings are not free, nor are there student discounts to anything at the festival; their prices are consistent with normal in-person screenings. However, there’s nothing to stop multiple
people from watching a digital screening with a single ticket. Technically, it would make watching TIFF movies far less expensive the more people are involved. Due to demands from distributors, there are still caps on ticket capacity for these home screenings. Buying far in advance gives you the best chance of securing tickets, but, at the time of this writing, most of the biggest films still have many tickets left. This exact digital system is not unique to TIFF. For one, it was used at the Fantasia Festival in August. Daniel Azbel, a friend of mine who virtually attended a few screenings, wrote to me saying that the films “[play] quite smoothly,” aside from some quality loss and technical quirks, which should be avoidable given the asynchronous nature of this year’s screenings. Recommendations for this year Looking for movie recommendations? Picking between even 50 films might still be overwhelming, so here are a few picks. One Night in Miami is the directorial debut of Regina King, who’s coming off winning an Academy Award last year and starring in HBO’s fantastic Watchmen series. The film follows a fictionalized meeting between Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali, among others. It’s got a great cast and sounds both potent and entertaining. MLK/FBI is a documentary by Sam Pollard covering information drawn from newly declassified documents about the J. Edgar Hoover administration’s “interference and harassment” of Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s a fascinating subject that Pollard seems poised to tackle. Shiva Baby comes out of the more underthe-radar Discovery program. It tracks a young Jewish woman through a series of uncomfortable encounters at a shiva, where her “steamy secrets” are laid bare. It sounds relatively light and fun, and if anything, it uses an under-done setting. Another Round is directed by celebrated Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg and stars Mads Mikkelsen. It’s about a group of friends who embark on a quest to maintain a mild level of intoxication for a whole day. One can only assume it’ll be very entertaining and then it’ll get sad — the recipe for a great film. Watching a movie on your computer or TV, as most festival-goers will end up doing, is not the same as sitting in a theatre. But, all the same, this is a very rare opportunity to ‘attend’ a film festival without almost any of the inconvenience attached. It’s one that might not come again for another 100 years — and who knows where we’ll be then?
Ending undergrad with a click
Ceara Arellano Varsity Contributor
A fourth-year student reflects on distancing learning
I didn’t think I’d be finishing my undergraduate career at home, but as it turns out, I’ll be spending my entire fourth year online. Course selection happened during month four of lockdown. Amidst the scramble to find what courses were available and who was teaching them, a key question arose: in-person or online? It wasn’t much of a choice for me. As a student who lives in Mississauga and studies downtown, the commute is the obvious factor. I had no days off in my first year, which meant that I spent 10–15 hours a week on public transit. In these new circumstances, I’ll be cutting that commute time for more important things — namely, sleep. Ironically, I will be taking 9:00 am courses for the first time ever! Yes, I am a lazy bastard, but before you judge me too harshly, I would like to point out that this is also the first time that I can take an early course without needing to wake up at 7:00 am so I can actually eat my breakfast before running out the door. If
not now, then when? As beautiful as it is to sleep in, I’m more soothed by the fact that I don’t have to put myself at more risk for infection. Although the TTC has protocols in place to make public transit safer for everyone, I was already uncomfortable when people close to me coughed in pre-pandemic times. It would be less of a problem if my route were shorter or had fewer transfers, but I can’t help but think of all the people I’d run into during the course of only one day. I’ll be more than happy to ride the subway when this is over — delays and all — but for now, I’ll take my chances talking to my professors on Zoom. Another benefit: no need to switch classrooms when you only need to switch tabs. Despite its convenience, distance learning is no replacement for on-campus learning. It’ll be harder to create and develop new relationships with both classmates and professors, especially as someone who’s better at communicating in person — sorry to anyone I’ve left
on read! I’ll miss squeezing through seats to sit next to a friend and having someone to talk to during breaks. The closest thing I’ll get to that is a different tab to chat with my friends outside of Zoom, Quercus, or wherever — a second monitor has never been so handy. Don’t even get me started on turning the camera on for class. I never used it during the winter 2020 semester, but as a fourth-year looking to go to grad school, I feel more pressure to pop up onscreen, knowing that it’ll be easier to connect with professors if they know what I look like. No more pajamas and messy hair, but they might get an eyeful of the plushies on top of my drawer. At the end of the day, I kind of don’t care that I’m seeing my professor from my computer. I’ll still be paying tuition and doing the work. All I want is to walk across the stage in my cap and gown, and if distance learning helps me get there, then I’ll do whatever it takes.
JADINE NGAN/THE VARSITY
Introducing Food for Thought — Arts & Culture’s newest column!
Find easy-to-make, cheap, and delicious recipes
Noora Zahedi Neysiani, Grace Xu, Chaerim Yang Varsity Contributors
Easy-peasy pancakes, by Grace Xu Whether you are looking for a breakfast to start your day, a quick snack, or a little something to conquer boredom, this pancake recipe is a great choice. You do not need to have a lot of cooking experience or skill to make these pancakes. All you need is just a little bit of time and the right ingredients. There is only one catch: this recipe does, in fact, call for a generous sprinkle of love, a pinch of cooking enthusiasm, and an appetite. Grab your apron along with several bowls and let us get started; this will make eight to 10 pancakes! Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons of baking powder A pinch of salt 2 tablespoons of white sugar 1 1/4 cups of milk 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 tablespoons of melted butter or any vegetable oil Directions: In a large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, placing the yolks in a medium-large bowl and the egg whites in a medium-sized bowl. In the medium-large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract, and melted butter or vegetable oil. Combine the milk mixture and the flour mixture until a batter is formed. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Lightly grease a non-stick pan. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan — you can use a ring mould for uniformity. Flip when the bottom edges begin to brown. Serve fresh off the pan. You can add the toppings of your choice! Vegan chickpea salad from a part-time vegan, by Chaerim Yang Let’s get one thing straight: I am decidedly not a vegan. So, naturally, it has been a curious journey for me to overcome my aversion for meatalternative products and the preconceived notion that vegan food isn’t anything but tofu with
var.st/arts
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
Anxiety, uncertainty, worry: starting university under COVID-19 A first-year student reflects on the unprecedented challenges of fall 2020
CHARMAIN WONG/ THEVARSITY
Ashiana Sunderji Varsity Contributor
I always felt a mix of eager anticipation and anxiety at the thought of starting university. I wondered about moving across the country, whether I would make friends and connections, the elevated academic expectations, as well as the ways in which I would fund my education. These fears are legitimate, acceptable, and common amongst almost every person who has ever been or thought about becoming a university student. However, none of these fears factored in a pandemic that would force universities to adapt to remote learning — trading in lecture halls for video screens on kitchen tables, and organic first impressions in study groups for social media algorithms introducing incoming students to each other via their Instagram feeds. It has occurred to me that this highly anticipated transitional period in my life has arrived in conjunction with this unprecedented transitional period in how our world operates. This realization only contributed to the pre-existing uncertainties of starting
university. I always pictured myself moving into my dorm at the beginning of the semester. I had watched enough college dorm room reveals on YouTube and comingof-age movies to connect postsecondary education to a new living situation. I chose the University of Toronto partially because I wanted to move from Vancouver and experience living in a new province. And, while anxieties around moving out were palpable, I could look to a plethora of students who have already accomplished this. It is precedented. As a consequence of the virus, being physically present at the school in which you are attending isn’t even a requirement. I went back and forth on my own decision to live on or off campus for months. Studying from home would mean distractions and a different time zone, as well as a lack of a community of students that would inspire motivation to study. Moving to campus would allow me to have as normal of a start to my university experience as I could possibly have during a pandemic.
However, I worry about a second wave or what would happen if I had to return home with the arrival of a second lockdown. Everyone around me has an opinion; however, no one can offer up any similar experiences. No one has started their university experience during a time when being within two metres of someone else without a mask is enough to provoke an argument. That’s why I’ve decided to stay home until the winter semester begins in January. What started as a small voice in my head worrying that friends would be hard to come by in a new city is now a fully formed anxiety that I probably will not have many friends who go to my school in the first semester. The presence of eager engagement from other first-year students on social media is apparent, but nothing can replace the in-person connections my older relatives reminisce about when they speak about their days in college. Will I ever get that? Of course, students who started university before COVID-19 felt uncertain about their new academic chapters. However, anxiety around success in school is magnified due to the abrupt transition to online learning during our last semester of high school. Some of my course content was altered, shortened, or removed as a result of online learning — will this affect my preparedness and comprehension levels? We are consistently reassured that it will all work out — we will experience normal university life when the time comes. If the pandemic has taught me anything, it is that this is not completely guaranteed. Such a pivotal moment in my life will not occur, at least not in the way I had planned. Life events that had a set script shifted, and the high school graduates who had known for years that they would celebrate their graduations did not. That being said, why is a guarantee better than an unpredictable turn of events that may just pave the way for a change?
In March, I was grieving. In September, I joined The Varsity’s masthead Let’s talk about the difference that six months can make
Alexa DiFrancesco UTSC Bureau Chief
If you’re a frequent consumer of The Varsity’s ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ column, then you know it’s been six months since you’ve heard from me. However, in the event that you’re unfamiliar with me, below is the most intimate summary of a stranger that you’ll ever read. My name is Alexa DiFrancesco. I’m the grieving journalist who, last March, penned an open letter to an ex-boyfriend following her father’s COVID-19 diagnosis. In those moments, I was anguished by both the actions of a boy and the effects of my father’s illness. Mercifully, my father’s health soon became better. Also mercifully, the contact I kept with that boy did not. After reading my previous piece, you may have been cheering for the protagonist to have been offered a final rose once again in a picturesque Bachelor-style. We’ve just emerged from a locked-down, self-reflective summer; perhaps, the tradition of warm haze and reckless serotonin transforming to a rekindled love would continue. I’d be lying if I claimed to have never fantasized the same. The breakup I referred to had occurred on August 26, 2019. At that time, I had organized a ‘Cut-Off Day’ — a moment at which the allocated time for this boy to reach out would expire, and I would make every effort to permanently erase him from my memory. As I write this letter to you, the anniversary of this day has just passed. To celebrate my new vow, I curated a list of recent achievements — one which includes a new position as a journalist. Let’s talk about self-esteem. I’d first encountered The Varsity a week before my writing was published in it. My voice was hoarse. My nose was quivering. I was gasping through tears. I couldn’t form a coherent thought, so for the first moment of my life, I listened. I read every article in the Arts & Culture
section, awestruck by the words of its writers, each one wittier and more brutally honest than the next. The reflection, “Why my best friend from college and I are not even friends on Facebook anymore,” had impacted me to the degree of seriously considering journalism as a profession for the first time. Moreover, it birthed a desire to create a better environment than what I’d been given — a mantra I follow to this day. Let’s talk about potential. I was recently part of a telephone call for Margins Magazine, a UTSC publication for which I volunteer as an editor. My interviewee, an executive member of a campus organization, advised me to never again write when not compensated for my work. I’d assumed his comment was insincere flattery; three days later, he’d messaged me the job posting for the UTSC bureau chief position at The Varsity. Let’s talk about belief in goodness. I doubted I would be offered the position. Due to unprofessional household noises and shitty backyard wi-fi, I debated whether or not to attend the interview. I was certain there would be more qualified candidates than an arrogant 19-year-old with limited writing experience. Let’s talk about new beginnings. I haven’t been on a date since last year. I recently met someone at a physically-distanced party that my best friend’s cousin hosted. As soon as I saw him, I felt a burst of energy. After speaking with him, I learned that he’ll be transferring to UTSC for the 2020–2021 academic year. He asked me on a date; it was pleasing. I’m happy. I know that ‘happy’ isn’t synonymous with ‘permanent.’ I’ve made peace with that. Let’s talk about evolution. Similar to six months ago, I’m crafting a love letter for The Varsity. This time around, it’s for myself. I’m no longer grieving; instead, I’m embracing an anniversary and celebrating an earned position. One year ago, I vowed to heal through ‘Cut-Off Day’; as part of its commem-
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questionable additives. Quite ironically, I spent a summer working at a local vegan bistro in my hometown. When I learned about this vegan chickpea salad, my opinions about veganism shifted. I love this recipe because it is so easy to make, totally scrumptious, and so filling. Furthermore, the recipe is fairly open for personal tweaking to better suit your own preference — which is always a bonus. Let the cooking ‘ve-gin’! Ingredients: A whole can of chickpeas, drained and washed 3–4 stalks of celery, chopped 1/2 an onion, diced 1/2 a sweet pepper, diced 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds 1/2 cup of dried cranberries 6 tablespoons of vegan mayo — which can be modified with regular mayo 4 tablespoons of maple syrup 2 tablespoons of lemon juice Ground pepper to taste Directions: With a fork or potato masher, lightly crush the chickpeas in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the chickpeas and mix well. Enjoy as a salad, on top of crackers, or in a wrap! Baked sweet zucchini with tofu, by Noora Zahedi Neysiani When I planned my new meal plan, I had one goal in mind: feel fuller with meals to minimize snacking. I already knew fiber was a big player in feeling full, but what I’ve recently learned is that getting your protein intake has the same effect! Tofu — firm tofu to be exact — is high in protein, fiber, and estrogen; it is a very versatile ingredient. At this point, all I do under COVID-19 restrictions is figure out new ways to flavour firm tofu. This recipe serves one to two people. Ingredients: 2 zucchinis 1/2 a block of firm tofu Desired spices — I like garlic powder, paprika, salt, and black pepper 2 garlic cloves Olive oil Chili flakes Maple syrup or honey, in a pinch
TROY LAWRENCE/THEVARSITY
oration, I am once again making a promise. Via my new role, I vow to evoke the same sense of comfort in you, The Varsity’s reader, as was summoned in myself when discovering the writing in its pages for the first time. I vow to inform you of the entirety of facts with fairness and honesty and to comfort you in circumstances of uncertainty. I vow to propose new ideas, to provide you with a glimpse of the ‘better’ you fantasize of. I vow to update my work when information I’ve shared is no longer accurate; for example, I’m no longer disheartened that my so-called ‘soulmate’ didn’t ask about my dying father as an act of courtesy — I’m now thankful for it. I’m now 19, and I’ve become part of a masthead. I don’t write because a boy broke my heart. I don’t write out of grievance. I don’t write for revenge. I write as a reminder of a more substantial world. Let’s talk about how my idea of ‘fate’ has evolved.
Directions: Take a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. First, cut the zucchinis in half and scoop out the seeds. Pour a little olive oil over them and rub the oil all over, inside and outside, to coat it. Season the inside with your desired spices. Cut the tofu block into small cubes. Then, use those cubes to fill the zucchini halves. Slice the garlic cloves and place the slices all over the tofu cubes so it gives them flavour while cooking. Season the tofu cubes with paprika and more salt. Sprinkle chili flakes over the cubes as much as you want, and drizzle some oil over them, as well as some maple syrup or honey. Place in the oven for 30–35 minutes until the zucchinis have softened and the tofu cubes look cooked. You can broil for one to three minutes at the end for a more finished, golden colour, but that’s completely optional. Serve with more maple syrup or honey on top. It’s really the mix of the sweetness of zucchini and maple syrup, or honey, with the heat of the chili flakes that makes everything come together.
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THE VARSITY
ARTS & CULTURE
arts@thevarsity.ca
Bardcore has me ‘shooketh’
Reminiscing on medieval song covers, ‘plague culture’ in memes, and nostalgia Megan Brearley Senior Copy Editor
With everyone spending far more time online than usual, the past six months have seen their fair share of trends. On TikTok alone they seem to rotate from week to week, from fluffy dried mango seed friends, to mashed up Hamilton audios, to hundreds of others that I could not manage to name. Among them, however, covers of songs made in a medieval style — or ‘bardcore’ as the cool kids call it — are the icing on the cake. I’ve spent the last couple of days immersed in it, going through countless videos on TikTok, then YouTube, then Spotify playlists — a journey I’ve dubbed a ‘bard crawl.’ Each one is incredibly intricate, beautiful, and unbelievably separate from the original track. “All Star” is somehow hopeful; “Creep” makes me want to march out to war or embark on a long journey. They’re a meme. Of course they’re a meme — and a wholesomely hilarious one at that. But they’re also not quite like any other meme. Any musician can tell you the time it takes to write, perfect, and record a track, especially when dealing with multiple layers of instruments. And these are no exception; listening to them, I’m drawn to the fingerpicking styles, the rearranged tempos, and the new feelings that emerge that I would never associate with the original version. These remixes are, undeniably, art in their own right.
So what are they? Where did they come from? And why are we so drawn to them? While bardcore may have kicked off during this lockdown, it’s nothing new. In the same way that every niche music genre gets discovered, there are medieval covers dating back as far as the late 2000s — an eon in internet years. However, they saw a resurgence this year in April when YouTube user Cornelius Link started upload-
ing videos, and bardcore really took off toward the end of May, as others such as Hildegard von Blingin’ joined in on the fun. So really, the question is, ‘why now?’ The obvious answer is, of course, COVID-19. A resurgence of ‘plague culture’ is accompanying the closest experience we’ve had to a plague on a global scale. Some have pointed out that medieval revival in memes and modern
culture is nothing new — just think of every time you’ve seen a medieval or classical painting as the base of a meme. Even the quickest Google search will bring forth images of ugly babies or people with axes in their heads featuring modern captions like, “When your life’s falling apart but you gotta smile through the pain like.” Bardcore-based memes on TikTok are not too far off from these. The tag ‘#MedievalTikTok’ is over-
COURTESY OF FLICKR
whelmed with videos of people doing little jigs to YouTube user Stantough’s cover of Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” on top of greenscreen backgrounds that showcase medieval paintings and text that reads something along the lines of, “When I use my French Market Bag at the grocery store.” But while meme culture may play a role in medieval song creation, is it enough to entice musicians — ‘bards’ — to spend hours writing and recording these tracks? I would like to posit another theory. I think our attraction to bardcore is part nostalgia, part ambiance. Nothing will light up your office, apartment, or wherever you happen to be quite like bardcore — calming; new, yet familiar; and exquisite. And if you happen to have friends or family in that space, all the better because they are also a hilarious hit — something akin to an inside joke as you watch your friend across the room slowly realize what song the bard is covering. The instrumentation and even occasional ‘medievalized’ lyrics are so brilliant that you can’t help but laugh out loud. But they’re also a way to listen to songs from our childhood in the context of our grown up lives. Hear me out. You wouldn’t listen to the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” while writing your essay; you might, however, listen to Stantough’s medieval cover of it. Bardcore is a little more sophisticated stylistically, but equally outrageous and fun.
Navigating U of T as a Muslim student? Here’s where you can find resources The university could improve in its offering of halal food options
U of T, while still steeped in its Christian roots, has taken noticable strides to accommodate religious minorities. KARL FREDRICKSON/UNSPLASH
Mayesha Chowdhury Varsity Contributor
Ostensibly, the University of Toronto seems like a university that has no particular religious affiliation or bias. However, U of T’s history is deeply intertwined with Christianity. This is evident through its founding as King’s College in 1827, which was initially controlled
by the Church of England. Although the church relinquished its hold on the institution, other ecclesiastical colleges soon joined U of T, including Wycliffe College in 1889, St Michael’s College in 1890, Knox College in 1890, and Emmanuel College in 1925. These colleges still carry their religious identities, notably St. Mike’s, which is known by the staff and student
body as a college with a strong Catholic presence. I remember being a first-year undergrad and finding out that my college was St. Mike’s. Safe to say, I was apprehensive at first and thought that the college would have a lot of religious events centred around Christianity. I was worried that I would be left out as I wore a hijab and strongly identified
with Islam. However, I decided to take a chance by taking part in the weeklong orientation, and I am glad that I did. It’s true that the college hosts a lot of religious events and sponsors programs such as Christianity & Culture and graduate programs such as Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies. But during orientation week, everyone was open and accepting of my beliefs. Even though religious events such as Mass were held, none were mandatory. Overall, orientation week was a really valuable experience. Outside of my college, I started to find out the different ways that U of T accommodated the Muslim student population. An important part of this journey was my discovery of the Muslim Students’ Association, which gave me a safe space to practice my religion. It provided me with important resources such as halal places to eat at U of T, community support, and special events with religious speakers. Most importantly, I felt included in a community where we shared the same beliefs. Another important way that the university has managed to help Muslims feel comfortable on campus is through the prayer spaces. These rooms are located at different ends of the St, George campus, including Robarts Library, the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education building, the Medical Sciences Building, and Emmanuel College.
These prayer rooms are extremely convenient for busy students on the run. I personally recommend checking out the prayer room at Robarts Library which is inclusive and supplies a place to practice different religious activities, whether you want to simply meditate after classes or pray your daily midday prayers. Lastly, the Multi-Faith Centre is another invaluable resource for those looking to improve their spiritual faith and learn about the teachings of other religions through interfaith dialogue. Typically, the Multi-Faith Centre hosts various events focusing on meditation, scripture readings, and workshops to help achieve wellness through spirituality. Despite the numerous resources U of T offers, one aspect I feel that the university could improve on would be providing a few more halal-friendly options on campus. Even though places like the Robarts Library Café, Innis Café, and Veda offer halal meals, I feel that it’s often hard to find places to eat in other areas of the campus. The University of Toronto has come a long way from being associated with the British Church to becoming a secular institution that respects the beliefs of different groups. To achieve greater religious integration, the university should continue to cooperate with different faith groups and listen to the concerns of practicing students.
Science
September 8, 2020 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca
U of T-affiliated study discovers the first case of cancer in a dinosaur An innovative technique diagnosed the 76-million year-old Centrosaurus fossil with osteosarcoma
Ashiana Sunderji Varsity Contributor
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Canadians — one estimate suggests that almost half the nation’s population is expected to have cancer in their lifetimes. But cancer does not only affect human beings. An article in the Wellcome Sanger Institute blog explains that although some species like the bowhead whale and the naked mole rat are resistant to the disease, certain animals like dogs and clams can get cancer. On August 1, a study co-authored by a U of T associate professor and published in The Lancet Oncology detailed the findings of the first identified case of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in a dinosaur fossil — specifically, in a fossilized leg bone from a Centrosaurus apertus, a herbivore in the same family as the more commonly-known Triceratops. This fossil is estimated to be 70–75.5 million years old. David Evans from the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and the Temerty Chair in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), was the U of T-affiliated author involved in the study. How do you diagnose a dinosaur? This oddly formed fossil was discovered in Alberta in 1989 and was only recently picked for further examination. The tumour was believed to have been a fracture before an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including a paleontologist, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine, and an os-
teopathologist decided to challenge this claim. Malignant tumours have never been objectively confirmed in dinosaurs before for a myriad of reasons. Beyond the fact that dinosaur fossils are rare and have undergone preservation, they lack soft tissue samples. Doctor-approved patient information from the American Society of Clinical Oncology explains how in humans, a cancer diagnosis is made through collecting a biopsy
tists had to take a more complex approach. The “multimodal” approach the team took used a number of distinct diagnostic techniques. A press release from the ROM explained the methodology behind the approach, describing it as a structural analysis accomplished through a three-dimensional reconstruction of the way that the cancer may have spread to help visualize the tumour; the researchers also used a microscope to observe thinned samples of
ISABELLA CESARI/THEVARSITY
and analyzing the tissue. The pathologist checks the types of cells and how they are arranged in the tissue, and checks for any abnormalities. In the case of the Centrosaurus apertus, which hasn’t possessed live tissue in over 76 million years, scien-
the fossil. The team analyzed a healthy fibula of another Centrosaurus apertus along with a human fibula of an osteosarcoma amputee and the fibula of the Centrosaurus apertus in question. Similarities were
found amongst the Centrosaurus apertus’ fibula and the human cases of osteosarcoma, such as immature bone development. They found that the Centrosaurus apertus’ tumour failed to follow the traditional patterns of bone growth. This discovery refuted the initial belief that the abnormality was simply a healed fracture, which helped confirm this new hypothesis of osteosarcoma. Technique’s success might lead to more discoveries The severity of the lesion also gives scientists reason to believe that the cancer was prominent in that Centrosaurus apertus for an extended period of time and could have spread to other body parts. Evans told The Globe and Mail, “It’s like a needle in a haystack… You need the cancer to have progressed to the point where it manifests on the bone, and then you need the bone to have been preserved.” It might be a statistical anomaly that the researchers were able to discover the first case of cancer in a dinosaur. However, now that techniques have been successful, this groundbreaking discovery will lead scientists to search for other forms of the disease amongst extinct species. Their study called for an increase in the use of the “multimodal” approach when attempting to identify atypical lesions on fossils. Further research on these abnormal fossils will allow paleontologists to understand more about the creatures that came before us, and potentially open up the possibility of further innovations in cancer research.
Study finds that transgender individuals in Canada experience higher rates of chronic illness HIV, diabetes, and asthma experienced disproportionately more
Adrian Constantin Tanjala Varsity Contributor
In a groundbreaking study — the largest of its kind in Canada — co-authors and University of Toronto professors Alex Abramovich and Claire de Oliveira established that transgender individuals in Ontario are more likely to experience chronic health conditions. In a memo, lead author Abramovich, who is a transgender man, explained that the paper “demonstrates the need to provide transgender competent and inclusive health care and the need to improve the capacity to identify transgender individuals in administrative health data, so that we can understand the factors underlying the high rates of disease burden.” A lack of data on transgender health Prior research on the health of the transgender community — a marginalized group estimated to account for 0.5 to 1.3 per cent of the adult population — has established a connection between the stigma and discrimination that the community faces and a generally poor state of health. However, in the study, the authors posit that
this aforementioned research lacks quantitative and systematic rigour for a variety of reasons, one being that the usage of sex designation data in Ontario’s general health care system — including OHIP — cannot reliably identify transgender individuals. Through canvassing four clinics that specialize in serving the transgender population, the authors sought to remedy this lack of rigour. The authors carried out a cross-sectional study examining a population of 2,085 self-identified transgender individuals and 10,425 age-matched controls, where five cisgender controls were matched to a transgender person of the same age. A number of sociodemographic variables, including age, income, and migrant status were measured in all participants and compared against medical and health care usage variables, such as physician and specialist visits and hospitalizations. Disproprotionately physical and psychiatric health conditions The results of the study were appalling and grave. A number of clinical comorbidities — the simultaneous presence of multiple chronic conditions — were found to be significantly higher in transgender patients compared to cisgender controls; these include asthma at 23.5 per cent versus 19.5 per cent, and diabetes at 5.5 per cent compared to 3.4 per cent. HIV prevalence is notable: only 0.1 per cent of cisgender controls were found to have HIV; when compared with 1.6 per cent of enrolled transgender patients, this was 16 times less than transgender patients. The study also examined psychiatric comorbidities, an area of particular interest for the
study team based out of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Although no specific comorbidities were named, the study found that only 22.9 per cent of cisgender controls presented a psychiatric comorbidity, whereas 76.1 per cent of the transgender patients enrolled in the study presented a psychiatric comorbidity. Together, these results provide the strongest support yet for the well-established hypothesis that transgender individuals face a significantly higher burden of illness — especially mental illness — when compared to their cisgender counterparts. What causes these health conditions to be more prevalent? The causes for this are complex, multifaceted, and misunderstood. For one, the study found that transgender individuals are more likely to live in lower-income neighbourhoods and receive lower income, as determined by a higher prevalence of low-income markers, such as usage of the provincial drug plan. The authors premised that this result may “increasingly contribute to the adverse health circumstances and high rates of suicide experienced by transgender individuals.” It would appear that the stigma and discrimination transgender individuals face not only contribute to marked socioeconomic disadvantages but also further work hand-in-hand to detract from their health and quality of life. On the contrary, the study found that health care use is significantly higher across the board in the transgender patients when compared with the cisgender controls. Transgender patients use primary care, emergency, and specialist services
more than cisgender controls, with a particular emphasis on the uptick of mental health emergency visits and psychiatric consultations. This finding makes more sense when viewed as a result of the transgender community’s higher burden of disease, as opposed to a cause. The study’s results and conclusions provide valuable feedback to clinicians who have transgender patients. For one, the paper makes it evident that it is essential for caregivers to identify a patient as transgender and then remain mindful of their unique health needs as members of the transgender community and of the inequities they face. Furthermore, particular attention must be given to psychiatric care. To remedy these issues, awareness and action is necessary at all levels in health care, from frontline caregivers to senior policymakers.
TROY LAWRENCE/THEVARSITY
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THE VARSITY
SCIENCE
science@thevarsity.ca
A graduate’s conundrum: what are some non-academic careers for STEM students?
Approximately 50 per cent of STEM graduates are seeking such prospects Vinayak Tuteja Varsity Contributor
U of T graduates are supposed to be highly sought after, and are among the most employable in academia, with a one-in-three to a onein-five shot at a tenure track, depending on the faculty. This employment rate in academia is comparable to that of Stanford University. However, even with a U of T degree, careers in academia are increasingly competitive. The average PhD graduate has a 10–25 per cent chance of achieving a tenure-track position, thanks to a growing number of PhDs with a much slower increase in academic positions. While a large proportion of applicants are able to land a non-tenure position — such as teaching, adjunct or lecturing faculty — graduates are increasingly trying to switch away from academic careers due to low salaries, poor work-life balance, and grim prospects for promotions. So what kinds of jobs are out there for STEM graduates? Careers in consulting and communications There are numerous other positions available for STEM graduates depending on their interests. Students who are interested in writing or communication may pursue scientific communication or outreach, marketing, or public relations. For those interested in problem solving, there are jobs pertaining to policy framework and advising, or consultancy in both the public and private sector. For those who don’t want to
lose touch with the more technical aspects of the sciences, there are research and development jobs in the private sector, most notably in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and information technology industries. A considerable number of graduates are also combining their scientific knowledge with other degrees, such as a Master’s of Business Administration or a law degree for careers in finance, banking, or law. These are only a handful of careers that some known STEM graduates have gone on to pursue — there are numerous other options. Skills to develop You should start developing employable skills during your degree — many of them even overlap between academia and nonacademic jobs. “One of the best ways that STEM students can prepare for careers, whether academic or non-academic, is to get involved beyond [their] courses and/or research,” wrote Farah Qaiser, a recent Master’s of Science graduate from the University of Toronto’s Department of Molecular Genetics. According to Qaiser, being involved in extracurriculars can help students develop people skills such as communication, teamwork, and leadership qualities. It is also important to show well-roundedness and adaptability by taking courses in a wide variety of fields outside STEM, such as picking up a language, or taking courses in the humanities and social sciences. Having a diverse course load can help show that you can adapt to different and challenging environments — an important quality in corporate culture.
Alongside such skills, it is important for students at any level of their career to work on their networking skills, especially if looking for a career outside academia. Networking may seem like a ‘tryhard’ attempt to get an internship, and many students, especially at the undergraduate level, don’t invest a lot of time in it. However, networking is more than a way to hunt for jobs. It is a way for students to learn more about the skills employers are looking for, the type of jobs that are out there, and what students can really expect in a specific industry. How can U of T help? Workshops focusing on industrial skill development have been offloaded onto U of T Career Exploration & Education, which holds numerous events such as Backpack to Briefcase events, networking events, and LinkedIn profile and resume development events. U of T also offers experiential courses focusing on professional development and internships. However, such courses have limited ca-
STEM graduates find their skills valuable in industries ranging from consulting to communications. SAMANTHA YAO/THEVARSITY
pacity and a lot of events that are held around U of T can go unnoticed. U of T can play a significant role in helping students prepare for a world outside academia by increasing the capacity for such experientialand internship-based courses and make them a requirement for graduation. Regardless of what courses you end up taking, there are opportunities outside the classroom for students to prepare themselves for a variety of careers.
How virtual medical diagnosis could be valuable for long-term care home residents
New U of T-based paper on reducing avoidable COVID-19 hospitalizations The severity of the LTC home health care problem While the population of older adults living in LTC homes has developed more complex needs over the last decades, a provincial strategy to keep up with these needs has stuttered, according to a policy briefing by the Royal Society of Canada. In June, the society tasked an LTC working group with identifying specific problems and proposing solutions to address this. The briefing described that LTC home workforce standards have not kept up with the growing needs of the population, and have even declined. Restructuring the workforce would require better governance to improve funding and direct it toward hiring, training, benefits, mental health care, and related areas. The working group explained that the challenges we currently face include resistance to using existing evidence; an absence of data collection that could be used to monitor, compare, and learn from reforms; and a lack of courageous leadership. Researchers believe a team of two physicians using a virtual diagnostic tool could do the work of seven physicians at hospital sites. CDC/UNSPLASH
Safa Ahmad Varsity Contributor
Hospital admissions are a crucial part of pandemic planning for long term care (LTC) home residents. They are a potential hotspot for COVID-19 transmission, and admitted residents may carry the virus back to their LTC facilities. In May, federal government data indicated that residents of LTC homes accounted for over 80 per cent of all Canadian COVID-19 deaths. In a recent paper addressing this issue, University of Toronto researchers have suggested that the key to better health care for people in LTC homes might be to diagnose their problems vir-
tually. Using data from over 300,000 GTA-based hospital admissions over the last nine years, U of T and St. Michael’s College’s Li Ka Shing Institute researcher Dr. Fahad Razak and his colleagues modelled the resources that would be required to achieve a hypothetical elimination of potentially avoidable LTC-to-hospital transfers. The upshot was not only a reduced risk of viral transmission during the pandemic, but also greater hospital resource availability for those who need it. Razak spoke to The Varsity about the paper and the team’s findings.
The value of virtual diagnosis Razak and colleagues have designed one additional potential reform for health care in LTC homes — a method to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and conserve resources for those who need them more. Their methodology centred on analyzing existing hospital records for potentially avoidable LTC-hospital transfers. A potentially avoidable hospital transfer was defined as a presentation to the emergency department without admission, or an admission that lasted less than 72 hours — in other words, an almost direct trip from an LTC home to a hospital with no prior hospitalization. They found that existing outpatient care services and a centralized virtual physician hub could be equipped to handle these potentially avoidable hos-
pital visits. Using queuing models — “mathematical models used to study services such as call centres” — the team was able to “create a distribution of typical times LTC patients would be arriving.” They found that two to three physicians at a centralized virtual hub could replace the efficiency of seven physicians at seven hospital sites. Beyond their significance to pandemic planning, these findings are important in light of other hospitalization-associated harms to older adults in Canada, such as increased risk of suffering falls, delirium, and acquiring other respiratory infections. Implementation with government programs The study’s findings feed into the Ontario Health program, LTC+, that was designed to avert avoidable hospital transfers by directly connecting physicians at LTC homes with specialists and nurses. According to the researchers, “approximately 4050% of calls from LTC centres to LTC+ program resulted in the resident not being transferred [to the hospital].” However, scaling up the program to avert more avoidable hospital transfers will also depend on on-site resource availability, including human resources. Razak explained that personal support workers and nurses provide crucial care for the management of acute medical conditions. “The program, when used, looks like it does work, but if it were scaled further or more heavily used, it would require more people to implement it,” he said. The current staffing shortage in the province was among the factors not addressed in their model. Improved staffing depends on good governance, funding, and the political will to use mounting evidence — all factors that the Royal Society’s LTC working group has identified to be currently absent in LTC home management in Ontario.
var.st/science
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
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It’s not just you — snow is disappearing from Toronto’s winter landscape
Researchers find downtown snowfall has decreased since the Industrial Revolution
Downtown snowfall has been steadily decreasing by 0.26 millimetres per year since 1849. SHANNA HUNTER/THEVARSITY
Nicole Szabo Varsity Contributor
Winters in Toronto have been growing warmer and less snowy over the years. University of Toronto researchers Dr. Micah Hewer and Professor William Gough have confirmed your suspicions by analyzing precipitation patterns in downtown Toronto over a period of 169 years, finding that snowfall has been decreasing at a rate of 0.26 milimetres per year. Due to this decrease, winters that were once mostly snowfall have instead become dominated by rain. For this new study published in the journal Atmosphere, Hewer and Gough retrieved historical data on rainfall, snowfall water equivalent, and total precipitation from 1849–2017. Originally, 61.5 per cent of total winter precipitation fell as snow. “But now, the percentage of total precipitation that falls as snow is less than 50 per cent,” said Hewer in an interview with The Varsity. “So really, if you think about it [from] a lived experience, we are experiencing rainy winters, not snowy winters.”
Winter precipitation downtown has shifted from predominantly snow to mostly rain Hewer and Gough also characterized precipitation phase changes by classifying days throughout the 169 years as either a snowy day, a rainy day, or a dry day. “So now we’re not so much concerned about volume, we’re just concerned about frequency,” Hewer explained of this second metric. Not surprisingly, they found that the number of snowy days decreased from 80.9 per cent of precipitation days to 67.4 per cent. However, while increasing in number, rainy days are still less common. “If we’re going to experience [a winter] day with precipitation, it’s more likely to be a day with snow than it is to be a day with rain,” Hewer said. “But it doesn’t contradict the other findings that we’re experiencing.” Hewer explained that snow days produced lowvolume events such as flurries, while winter storms were more likely on rain days: “When it rains, it pours.” Thirty years ago, a winter storm in downtown Toronto would have resulted in “considerable efforts to clear the roads and a snowpack that would have lasted for a week,” according to Hewer — a far cry from today’s January thunderstorms that water the now year-round grass.
This stark contrast within just three decades confirms that decreased snowfall is observable in one’s lifetime. “Really, what we’re seeing is a transition period. And we’ve lived through that transition period [that we’ve] experienced as humans, and we can remember these snowy winters but we don’t see them anymore,” said Hewer. Rising temperatures in the city Hewer and Gough investigated whether increasing temperatures have a role in Toronto’s disappearing snow. First, they confirmed that winters in Toronto are in fact warming, changing from an average of -5.0 degrees Celsius in 1849 to -2.1 degrees Celsius in 2017. They also found that the last 50 years is “when the rate of that observable change in temperature has been the most exponential,” which may explain why some people today claim that their childhood winters were different. Comparing these trends to their findings on snow and rainfall, they confirmed that warming explained “between 40–50 per cent of the observed variability that we saw in the precipitation phase.” Having found a causal relationship, Hewer and Gough were able to characterize the temperature
thresholds that correlate with a change from majority snow to rain. Their finding was consistent with what they had previously discovered: when average maximum winter temperatures exceed 0.5 degrees Celsius, less than half of the winter’s precipitation is likely to fall as snow. Currently, winters hover at around 0.9 degrees Celsius. But why does temperature only account for around half of the observed precipitation changes? Hewer said that this is not surprising. “There’s so many other factors in the climate system from local features [like] lake ice and lake temperature, to global features like oscillation patterns, and so forth.” Further studies would be necessary to confirm which other factors are involved. In the future, Hewer said he wants to expand this study geographically to other parts of the GTA and beyond. Perhaps other areas will continue to live up to our cold and snowy reputation, but Canada’s largest city appears to be headed in a different direction. Making sense of where we were and where we are going, Hewer said that the Toronto of winters past resembled snowy Montréal, but may soon become another Vancouver. “[Those] frequent days with light flurries that we’re experiencing eventually are going to become frequent days with light rain.”
Mapping the magnetic field of the Milky Way
U of T astronomers uncover additional pulsars in the Northern Hemisphere Umama Siddiqi Varsity Contributor
How many times have we looked up and wondered how massive and complex our universe is? Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy with a central bulge and four spiral arms. It has a diameter spanning about 100,000 light years. Large-scale mapping of the magnetic field around the galaxy is an active research field. Although the galactic magnetic field is much weaker than the magnetic field close to the Earth’s surface, astronomers believe mapping it could help us to understand astrophysical processes like star formation and cosmic rays dynamics. A team of astronomers at the University of Toronto’s Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics has recently mapped a portion of the Northern Hemisphere of the Milky Way Galaxy’s magnetic field using data acquired from the novel Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. The team’s results were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Collecting data from ‘lighthouse’ stars CHIME is a radio telescope located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, British Columbia. Unlike traditional radio telescopes, CHIME has a stationary cylindrical design that captures a wide-field view of the sky. Cherry Ng, a lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Dunlop Institute, described CHIME as a “transit telescope” in a written interview with The Varsity. “What it means is we don’t point and track a specific point on the sky, instead, the sky drifts overhead during the course of an observation,” Ng added. CHIME performs by capturing radio waves from distant pulsars. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron
stars, which are compact remnants of massive stars that are undergoing supernova explosions. These stars emit electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles. Pulsars are often compared to lighthouses — when facing the earth, their radiation can be collected by radio telescopes, and when facing away, the emission signal is out of view. As a result, pulsars are observed as periodic pulses of radio emissions. So how are radio emission signals from pulsars used to calculate the magnetic field of the Milky Way Galaxy? The answer lies in the term ‘faraday rotation.’ As the polarized radio emission of pulsars travels toward the Earth, it is encountered by free electrons. The electrons generate a parallel magnetic field along the path of the radio wave and this generated field rotates the plane of polarization of the incoming radio wave along the line of sight. By quantifying this rotation you can derive the galactic magnetic field. “Using rotation measure [sic], you are able to discern information about the magnetic field structure along the line of sight of your observation. So, when we observe pulsar signals that are very far away in our galaxy, we are able to turn that data into measurements of the strength and direction of magnetic fields in the interstellar medium between Earth and the pulsar,” explained Ayush Pandhi, a former undergraduate research student and another lead author of the paper, in an email to The Varsity. The advantages of the CHIME telescope What was different about the data collected from CHIME compared to previous telescopes? Due to its unique design and ability to scan a large portion of the sky at a time, CHIME was able to collect data from 10 different pulsars simultaneously. Besides a large collection area, CHIME operates at a much lower frequency with a wide range of 400–800 megahertz compared to most radio facilities. One of the biggest selling-points of CHIME is its
The team mapped the galactic magnetic field using bursts of light from dense spinning stars called pulsars. COURTESY OF DENIS DEGIOGAN
location. While most of the world’s radio telescopes are located in the Southern Hemisphere, CHIME is situated in the Northern Hemisphere. “This means that it is looking at a lot of new pulsar rotation measures that haven’t previously been observed and the lower frequency leads to more precise results,” wrote Pandhi. In fact, the current study reported a total of 80 new measurements of galactic magnetism — 55 completely new and 25 improved data points. This was a marked 20 per cent increase in the known pulsar sample size in the Northern Hemisphere, helping provide a more complete picture of the underexplored magnetic field of the Milky Way. “A big advantage of CHIME is that we get a lot of observation time, we were able to combine multiple observing sessions to maximize signal-to-noise, and were able to detect pulsars that were further away than previous studies,” added Ng. Looking forward When asked about any difficulties they faced during the course of the study, Ng recalled the struggle of working with a new telescope without a set manual
to follow. She wrote, “We needed to make sure what we are seeing are not artifacts of the instrument and accurately quantify the uncertainty in our measurements.” Pandhi similarly noted that, “Learning how to work with that [back-end software] system and create the pipelines required for this project were fairly challenging aspects of this study.” With everything set in place now, Ng hopes to collect more measures and “be able to revisit the large-scale Galactic magnetic field structure.” Understanding this will uncover the properties of the galaxy we are in. “The magnetic field also traces the shape… of the galaxy. [It] plays a key role in the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies,” reminded Ng. Ng had some advice for undergraduate students who are interested in research. “I am particularly impressed by how much my student Ayush was able to achieve during the few months of the summer undergrad research program,” she wrote. “There is a lot of value and opportunity to make forefront discoveries by participating in these kinds of programs, I’d encourage [U of T] students to get in touch if they are interested!”
Sports
September 14, 2020 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
skepticism that the US NHL team would have adopted Chief Black Hawk as a logo had they truly known and admired his historical impact. And yet, the statement released by the Blackhawks on July 7 proclaimed that they “celebrate Black Hawk’s legacy.” Brenda Wastasecoot, an Indigenous Studies professor at the University of Toronto, spoke to The Varsity about this conundrum. As far as she is concerned, professional sports team logos displaying Indigenous peoples are hardly a celebration — they’re “a sign of conquest.”
Opinion: the Blackhawks’ name has got to go
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The NHL team resists a logo change for Indigenous education — and it’s not enough Emma Paidra Varsity Contributor
In my first team hockey photo, I’m nine years old and happily wearing a jersey emblazoned with the Chicago Blackhawks logo. Looking back at that picture now, I can’t help but think, “Um, is this okay? Shouldn’t I, like, burn this photograph?” Well, according to the Hawks, I shouldn’t lose any sleep over the ethics of my childhood team’s jerseys. On July 7 — amidst rising controversy surrounding professional sports monikers such as that of the Washington Football Team, whose name used to include an Indigenous slur, and Cleveland Indians — the Blackhawks stated that neither their name nor logo will be subject to change. Since this announcement, both the Washington Football Team and Indians publicly shared plans to shed their offensive titles, though the Clevelandbased Major League Baseball (MLB) team may not be officially rid of its tasteless trademark until 2022. So, where does this leave the Blackhawks? As the only professional sports team in North America displaying an Indigenous logo to opt out of updating their crest after recent backlash, they have some explaining to do. After all, looking at the Washington Football Team and Indians’ forsaken logos side by side with the Blackhawks’ logo, I can’t help but think it would be a trying task to differentiate the latter: all three feature an Indigenous man, supposedly a chief, sporting a traditional headdress. The most immediate distinguishing feature setting apart the Chicago logo is the war paint depicted on the Blackhawks’ emblem. Traditionally used to coat its wearer in a shield of protective prayers before battle, war paint is still used today for specific Indigenous ceremonies, such as Sun Dance and
Naming Ceremonies. Considering the deep historical and cultural significance of Indigenous war paint, its presence in the design doesn’t help the Blackhawks’ case. So, really, what is the difference between the emblem of the Blackhawks compared to those of the former Washington Football Team and Indians? Chief Black Hawk, an anti-colonial symbol The reasoning given by the hockey association is that, unlike the MLB and NFL symbols that depict unspecified and stereotyped Indigenous men, the Blackhawks logo honours a particular person: Chief Black Hawk. Born in 1767 in Saukenuk, a Sauk community of present-day Iowa, Chief Black Hawk was a remarkable advocate for Indigenous sovereignty. Perhaps most notably, he led Indigenous groups such as the Sauk and Fox peoples in opposition to the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. This treaty surrendered 50 million acres of tribally owned territory to the United States government, which proclaimed the land had been lawfully acquired via an Indigenous representative. But, for good reason, Chief Black Hawk didn’t buy it. Sensing foul play, the chief and his people reoccupied the sought-after territory near Rock River, Illinois, resulting in the 1832 Black Hawk War: a brutal affair in which between 450–600 Indigenous people were killed, and most of the occupied land was lost. Chief Black Hawk’s relentless fight for Indigeneity through events like the Black Hawk War inspired the Blackhawks to name their association after him — but does the name truly fit? An ally with the British during the War of 1812, Chief Black Hawk’s priority was keeping Indigenous land out of the American government’s clutches. To me, this alliance breeds
Tokenized iconography and the “Dead Indian” Wastasecoot argues that these crests utilize symbols of Indigenous heritage and pride for something they simply “shouldn’t be used for”: marketing and commodifying Indigeneity. Due to usages of this nature, “native peoples were erased in so many ways,” particularly with “a whole cycle of shaming.” It is in our current social climate — one in which Indigenous peoples may be hesitant to express their culture for fear of backlash — that Chicago Blackhawks athletes wear symbols of Indigenous heritage. These very symbols are ones that Indigenous peoples themselves have fought so hard to preserve. In Wastasecoot’s words, with regard to elements of Indigenous life, “It really has to come back to where it comes from — the people; that’s where it belongs.” Of course, it is possible that the Hawks were fully cognizant of the chief ’s importance when selecting him as a symbol. But if that is the case, the Blackhawks have a whole lot of Indigenous activism to do if an Indigenous warrior in a headdress will remain their logo. Wastasecoot explained that the Indigenous headdress is indicative of “a leader that is highly respected” and who “has won the confidence of many over a lifetime.” She also said, “[The headdress is] something that you receive from others, not something that you create for yourself.” Given the nature of receiving a headdress — also known as a war bonnet — the Blackhawks’ self-appointed decision to emblazon jerseys, helmets, and gear bags with innumerable depictions of headdresses should be subject to scrutiny. “There’s a lot of responsibility that [comes] with it,” Wastasecoot said on the topic of wearing a war bonnet. I have to wonder whether any weight was given to this responsibility when Chief Black Hawk was selected as the NHL team’s logo. Perhaps, even more so than rendering Indigenous traditions a commodity, logos like the Blackhawks’ additionally erase Indigenous peoples of the present. “They don’t recognize us as we exist today, but they love the romanticized version of what we were,” Wastasecoot said. As it stands, she’s not the first person to express this frustration. Thomas King, author of The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America, coined the term “Dead Indians” in echoing the same thoughts as Wastasecoot. He explained that
a Dead Indian isn’t simply dead. Rather, “They are the stereotypes and clichés that North America has conjured up out of experience and out of its collective imaginings and fears.” The North American psyche has become so convinced by the concept of the Dead Indian, argued King, that “North America no longer sees Indians.” In place of these peoples, we see “war bonnets, beaded shirts, [and] fringed deerskin dresses.” What King’s work ultimately points out is that logos such as that of the Blackhawks — which depict an antiquated and traditional kind of Indigeneity — make it impossible for white people to acknowledge Indigenous folk as members of the modern day world. Instead, it relegates them to being a thing of the past. This accusation could not have been made any more clear to me when King includes the Chicago Blackhawks in a list of organizations that have participated in turning “the Dead Indian… into products.” The first steps toward progress? It does seem, though, that the Chicago-based hockey team may be willing to engage in the practice of informing Blackhawks fans of their trademark’s history. Their statement on July 7 additionally proclaimed a commitment “to raising the bar even higher to expand awareness of Black Hawk and the important contributions of all Native American people.” In an attempt to rid Chicago’s United Centre of cultural appropriation, the Blackhawks have banned fans from sporting Indigenous headdresses during home games. These efforts are a fine start, but they’re also riddled with some glaring issues. In the NHL’s 104 years of existence, only about 80 NHL uniforms have been clad by Indigenous players, the New York Times calculated. That’s about one per cent of the 7,623 athletes who have ever participated in the league. As a lover of hockey myself, I hope the Blackhawks don’t fall short on their commitment. Edmonton Oiler Ethan Bear’s decision to sport a jersey emblazoned with his name in Cree syllabics, as well as Matt Dumba’s pregame anti-racism speech, are hopeful indicators that hockey may be ready for the Hawks’ promise. At the same time, I can’t help but think that this NHL team has just put its big Bauer-clad feet right in their mouth. If the Blackhawks are really serious when it comes to education about the Indigenous peoples who have been pushed to the side of hockey, they’ll take the time to uplift all groups that may find themselves facing oppression in an arena — and that’s a lot of people. Only time will tell, but until I’m proven otherwise, the Chicago Blackhawks’ promise echoes only of stagnancy and a dash of foolhardiness.
Some Varsity Blues water polo players to train with the national team this fall Foregoing the university’s COVID-restricted program in favour of more training Laura Ashwood Sports Editor
This fall season will look different for every Varsity Blues team this year, with the cancellation of all Ontario University Athletics and U SPORTS games for the fall semester. The difference will be especially notable, however, for the water polo team, as familiar faces will be noticeably absent from practices. Some players have decided, instead of dealing with the university’s strict and limiting COVID-19 training guidelines for varsity teams, to train instead with the national water polo team at their facilities in Montréal. As Québec continues to open up in phases, training facilities have been allowed to open, and Water Polo Canada has created a list of guidelines that will allow for training. Diego Gonzalez Delgado, a player in his second
year of eligibility, wrote to The Varsity that there are two U of T players training at the national water polo team in Montréal. “Some players are here to get back in shape in order to play for a professional team in Europe, while others are here to train at the highest level in the country and get better.” His teammate, Minos Kotzambasis, also in his second year on the team, spoke to The Varsity. He commented that, although he will not be training with the national team, he agrees that there will be merit for those who do. As someone who has trained with them in previous summers, he described a typical week as “three training sessions a day, six times a week, and then you always got Sundays off.” This volume of training contrasts that available at U of T, which is limited by pandemic precautions. Gonzalez Delgado wrote that, although U of T has a great water polo program, it can’t compete with the
The men’s water polo team win the OUA championships in 2016. COURTESY OF THE VARSITY BLUES
almost 22 hours of training at the national centre. “Due to the coronavirus, the practice time at U Of T is greatly reduced, along with the implementation of online classes, practicing away from toronto with the National Team is much more doable.” Kotzambasis confirmed that at U of T, practice in “the fall semester is going to be twice a week in the water, Mondays and Wednesdays, and then they’re also going to be getting two weight sessions twice a week… It’s a lot less training in the fall than what we
usually have.” It’s clear that athletes who want to challenge themselves are attracted to the national centre training program. In terms of whether Gonzalez Delgado sees himself coming back for the winter term, he wrote that it depends on a lot of factors: “Obviously the delivery of classes online can negatively impact my learning and if there are in person labs and tutorials, I would definitely have to put some thought into returning to Toronto, only time will tell.”
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Opinion: The politics of a podium — some things are bigger than sports Angad Deol Varsity Contributor
How athletics and activism intersect
When you tell the stories of some of history’s legendary athletes, it’s hard to ignore their political contributions. You can’t speak of Muhammad Ali without mentioning his opposition to the Vietnam War — an opposition that cut his boxing career short. But his actions were bigger than boxing, just like how when San Francisco 49ers football player Colin Kaepernick knelt in protest of police brutality during the national anthem, the moment was bigger than football. These are the actions that rouse statements like “Shut up and dribble” from those who demand that there be a boundary between sports and politics. When you are placing athletes on a global stage, it should be expected that they use this platform to voice their opinions on polarizing political topics, no matter what stance they may take — some things are bigger than sports. As protests for justice erupted in May following the tragic murder of George Floyd, among the loss of countless other Black lives, many rose to the occasion and used their platforms to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement. Faces from many major North American sports leagues — including
the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, US tennis’ Coco Gauff, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Israel Adesanya — marched in peaceful protests across the globe, following in the footsteps of the athletes before them who have spoken up in times of strife. In late August, the Milwaukee Bucks took an unprecedented step in sports history by walking out of their playoff game against the Orlando Magic in protest of the brutal shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In the days following, the NBA, as well as other major sports leagues in North America, cancelled games and joined the strike. In lieu of cancelling the season, the NBA decided to convert willing arenas into polling stations in the upcoming 2020 election. In a U of T News article, Simon Darnell, an associate professor at U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, described the Bucks’ protest as the result of a shift toward player empowerment in recent years. “I think there are several reasons for what is happening now,” Darnell said. “I think many athletes are less intimidated about speaking out than they used to be, and also have more control over their own messages and narratives when they want to express a political perspective.”
CORALS ZHENG/THE VARSITY
Darnell also went on to discuss the fact that although activism by athletes alone will not solve systemic racism, it is a great step in moving society toward ending racism. The Bucks’ actions, among many others, have created an intensely political moment in sport, which is why it’s not surprising to see championship-winning squads boycott the annual White House tour, for example. Nor is it a shock to see NFL players kneel during the American national anthem, even in the presence of US Vice-President Mike Pence. There cannot be sports without politics. You cannot create a podium in front of the world and expect those behind it to remain silent. I was 11 years old when Trayvon Martin, a Black high school student in Florida, was shot. At the time I was as big of a LeBron James fan as anyone, which is why when I saw him speak out with the rest of the Miami Heat squad by posing with his hood up — just like Martin had that night — it helped me understand that athletes are human, just like us. They also carry a responsibility to speak out against injustice. LeBron has been no stranger to protests either, as he was one of the first athletes — alongside Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, and the late Kobe Bryant — to don a shirt reading “I Can’t Breathe.” This statement went viral in 2014 after the death of Eric Garner, whose cries for help went unheard as he was held under a chokehold during an arrest, which led to his death. Whether you find yourself on the court or cheering from the bleachers, you must understand that some things transcend sidelines. Moreover, it’s important to realize that these sports attract a large number of eyes, and thus, they create a platform for activism. The NBA returned on July 30 at the new COVID-bubble campus in Florida’s Walt Disney World, with “Black Lives Matter” written at centre court. As viewers clamour to watch the sport they’ve missed for months, one can hope that this message resonates with audiences across the globe, continuing to pass on the message that athletes have been passing down from generation to generation. Some things are bigger than sports.
The case for skipping more than just leg day The importance of rest and recovery in making fitness gains Paranjay Sahanii Varsity Contributor
From fierce competitors like Michael Jordan to general gym-goers, one thing that everyone should emphasize in their health journey is rest and recovery. The absence of these essential training tools can cause issues that prevent us from making progress in our physical fitness and performance. Rest is the time we do not spend on the training ground or track, and recovery is a more methodical process of protecting our muscles and energy levels. The latter includes following a nutritious diet, managing our sleep schedules, and forming a healthy lifestyle. We need to realize that physical fitness is a lifestyle. Professionals take rest and recovery seriously; they know that a good recovery schedule is the difference between playing on the field and watching from the sidelines. Everyone, including amateurs, needs to take care of their muscles, even when working out daily in the gym, as it allows recovery from the constant wear and tear on our bodies. We need to include recovery time into our fitness schedules because it allows our bodies to adapt to the pain of physical exercise and movement. So, what does this look like? Our recovery process needs to include a nutritious diet that aids our recovery and a solid stretching routine that follows a workout. Studies show that one’s diet should be rich in calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin A, which are all necessary for muscle recovery; the diet should include products like carrots, cottage cheese, eggs,
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What the Health?
The Varsity’s health and fitness hotline
Paranjay Sahanii Varsity Contributor
Question: What and when should I eat before a workout? Is it different for cardio or weights? For a pre-workout meal, you should focus on a balance of macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and low quantities of healthy fats, as they are necessary for the body to function. Protein aids in building and repairing our muscle tissues, which is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Some proteinrich foods that one should include in their diet are nuts, eggs, and lean meat. Carbohydrates and a low quantity of nutritious fats help people replenish their energy sources, which can increase the intensity of their workouts. Given the negative impact of some fats and carbohydrates, one should have healthy versions of these macronutrients such as oats, avocados, and beans. This balance shifts depending on the type of workout you want to do: cardio or weight training. While cardio workouts call for a higher carb ratio, weight training requires a different diet — often high in calories — which changes depending on whether you eat before, during, or after working out. It is important to note that you should stay hydrated and have a complex meal containing carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats two to three hours before a workout. However, if you are eating an hour before you exercise, you should ensure that the meal is easy to digest. It’s also a good idea to see a personal nutritionist because each person’s body is unique and has different needs. Send in your health and f itness questions to sports@thevarsity.ca for a chance to be anonymously featured!
lean meat, and chia seeds. Furthermore, our recovery routine should focus on stretching muscles in every direction in order to promote flexibility and reduce soreness from working out, as well as focus on following a fixed routine of exercises that open up our muscles. Doing yoga can help with this, and there are lots of poses for recovery yoga. The pigeon, for example, is great for hip flexibility. It involves crossing one leg at the top of your mat and extending the other behind you, all while focusing on the hip’s external rotation at the front for best results. General stretches like a reclined twist, great for easing back pain, also work to help muscle tension; to do this, lie on your back, extend an arm in one direction, and twist both legs the other way. However, given the unique needs of our body,
visiting a trainer can help yield more restorative results, as they can curate specific recovery programs for you. For athletes, rest days and proper recovery after workouts can reduce injuries and increase their career spans. A lack of injuries is extremely important given the competitive nature of sports. Even non-professionals face injuries because of exertion, overworked muscles, or improper form, which can prevent them from continuing their fitness journeys. This fear is responsible for many people leaving gyms; however, if they followed a good rest and recovery system, then they could see the true impact of fitness in their lives. Physical fitness is an important aspect of our lives, which we can only protect with a conscientious rest and recovery system. Become aware of the methods and benefits of taking a rest day!
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The Varsity is taking illustration submissions! Submit comics and other pieces to: illustrations@thevarsity.ca . ROSALIND LIANG/THEVARSITY