November 12, 2018

THE VARSITY November 12, 2018

Vol. CXXXIX, No. 9

The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

Muslim Students’ Association says executives receiving surprise visits from law enforcement

U of T remembers

Officers have shown up unannounced to offices, homes asking for information since at least 2016 Josie Kao News Editor

The Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) at U of T said that its executives have been receiving surprise visits from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) for at least three years. According to the group, officers have, on occasion, show up unannounced at executives’ homes.

According to current and former MSA executives, officers have visited them on the basis of building community relations, as well as to seek information on a specific member of the group. The officers have always shown up in plainclothes.

The most recent incident occurred over the summer, when an RCMP officer visited the MSA’s offices at 21 Sussex Avenue on the St. George campus.

According to the MSA executive team, no one was there at the time so the officer went to the ULife office next door and left a card. The MSA said that during this visit the RCMP was “[seeking] information on a past member.”

When asked by The Varsity to confirm these visits, RCMP spokesperson Louise Savard responded only by writing, “The RCMP will not confirm or deny if an investigation is taking place. If an investigation is taking place we will only comment if charges are laid.”

The Varsity spoke with a former MSA executive who was visited at his home by CSIS in 2016. The executive, who wished to remain anonymous, described how two plainclothes officers showed up at his doorstep unannounced and went with him to a coffee shop nearby for an hour.

According to the former executive, the officers started asking in a very “cordial” tone about the MSA and what it does, but it soon became clear to him that they were looking for information on radicalized students.

He remembered questions about the number of members who were from the Middle East and what

groups the MSA associated with.

He also recalled that the officers said that they thought U of T might be a place where students were becoming radicalized, and that they wanted to get to them before that happened.

The former executive said that this approach showed “ignorance on how radicalization happens, ignorance on how to deradicalize,” and suggested that law enforcement would have done better by involving community leaders to address the issue.

“I think it’s an absurd way of trying to [keep] tabs,” he said.

“This is not a joke”: community responses to the visits In an interview with The Varsity, the current MSA executive team described this pattern of visits as “very shocking.”

“This stuff shouldn’t be seen as normal… We’re talking about the safety and well-being of [U of T] students, particularly students of faith. This is not a joke,” said the executives.

They added that they were worried about how this issue might stop people from getting involved with the MSA. The former executive said that during his tenure, he knew of students who had left the club after hearing about the visits from law enforcement.

“We shouldn’t have to think at the back of our heads about the threat of being surveilled,” said the current executive team.

They also emphasized that they do not want “this incident to be viewed in isolation,” saying that it speaks to a larger problem of Islamophobia.

In an interview with The Varsity, Jasmin Zine, a professor of Sociology and Muslim Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, said that these types of visits have been happening at MSAs around the country.

Zine has interviewed multiple Canadian MSAs and said that many of them, including the MSA at Laurier, have experienced similar contact from law enforcement.

Zine has been in touch with the U of T MSA about their own experience with these visits.

MSA, page 3

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A service commemorating members of the university community who served in the World Wars and other conflicts takes place at Soldiers’ Tower.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

Feature Rising up, speaking out: radical politics on campus through the years

12 Editorial

“We’re talking about the safety and wellbeing of [U of T] students, particularly students of faith. This is not a joke.”

The press is not immune from self-reflection: scrutinizing race in the newsroom

11 15

Science Astronomy department in talks to build new planetarium

Move follows pledge made in September 2017 Silas Le Blanc Associate News Editor

Arts & Culture The “depressing” relevance of Hart House’s The Penelopiad

U of T to ban all forms of smoking on campus in 2019

17

Sports The Sports Ethicist weighs in on cannabis use in the NHL

21

The University of Toronto has officially decided to ban smoking on all three campuses by January 1, 2019. This includes smoking tobacco or cannabis, as well as vaping.

This will fulfil a September 2017 pledge, which was made shortly after McMaster University announced that they will ban smoking on their property effective January 1, 2018.

The existing smoking policy dates back to 1995 — 11 years before it became illegal to smoke in bars and pubs in Ontario.

The university will allow each campus to designate “smoking spots,” which will be decided based on how far away they are from main buildings. These smoking spots will be temporary, however, as the university aims to move toward a smokefree environment. Exceptions will be made for Indigenous ceremonies and medical requirements.

“Our existing smoking policy is decades old and recent changes by the provincial government that allow smoking of cannabis in public spaces may increase the risk of exposure to second-hand smoke,” Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Vice-President Human Resources and Equity stated.

“We feel this change is consistent with our goal to have a healthy campus environment.”

The policy still needs to go through Governing Council in order to be fully approved. If this occurs, U of T will join 65 other universities and colleges across Canada that have banned smoking.

2 | THE VARSITY

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

THE VARSITY

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U of T alum Joyce Fienberg was found to be one of the victims of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fienberg graduated from University College in 1964 with a degree in social psychology.

Joyce Fienberg graduated from UC. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

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Tree of Life Shooting

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Twelve people were arrested at the protest. ANDY TAKAGI/THE VARSITY

Hundreds of protesters massed outside of Roy Thomson Hall on November 2 to oppose the Munk Debate on populism between Steve Bannon — noted white nationalist and former White House Chief Strategist — and David Frum, former White House speechwriter under George W. Bush. Police used pepper spray and batons against protestors after some tried to break a barricade protecting attendees of the debate. Toronto Police reports 12 people were arrested at the demonstration.

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The AGM took place on October 30. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) held its Annual General Meeting on October 30. At the meeting, students voted to endorse the separation of the UTSU and the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union. Members also voted to ban slates in UTSU elections. In a student submitted resolution, students also voted for the UTSU to reject Premier Doug Ford’s free speech mandate and refuse to participate in its implementation. Vice-President Operations Tyler Biswurm announced that the Student Commons, which was due to open in January 2019, would be further delayed until April.

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news@thevarsity.ca | 3

THE VARSITY | NEWS MSA, from cover “This is profiling that’s happening.

It’s racial and religious profiling,” she said. “I hope that universities will have the courage and the bravery to step up.”

U of T’s Vice-Provost Students Sandy Welsh did confirm that the university is aware of these visits and wrote via email that the university has “been in contact with [the MSA], and are scheduling a time [to] meet. We welcome the opportunity to hear their concerns.”

“Students’ personal information is protected by provincial privacy law and we do not share material about individual [students] and student associations unless legally compelled to do so,” wrote Welsh.

After the off-campus visits, U of T President Meric Gertler sent the MSA a letter of support, which, according to Welsh, “[reinforced] the University’s commitment to a safe and welcoming place for the widest breadth of communities.”

“We want to support our students in the range of activities they are engaged in. Organizations such as the MSA are vital to the social and cultural diversity of the University,” wrote Welsh.

Though the MSA executive believes that the university is “sympathetic” to their problem, they said that they still hope for more support.

“We’re not sure, legally speaking, that U of T can tell RCMP not to come…

but what we are going to be pushing for is stronger support from admin,” said the MSA, suggesting that U of T could contact the RCMP and show support for the MSA, as well as explain the work that they do.

As one of the largest clubs on campus, the MSA offers prayer spaces, workshops, and social events, among other programming that is aimed at attending to the social and spiritual needs of Muslims on campus, said the executives.

For instance, the MSA offers a weekly space for Jummah prayers every Friday afternoon, as well as a resource for where to find Halal food around campus. “[The MSA] has also existed just [to] provide a space for Muslims so they just feel like themselves,” said the executives.

Zine also emphasized the good work that MSAs do across the country and hopes that the U of T MSA will be able to receive more support from the university, especially when they meet to discuss the issue.

“I’m hoping it will not just be a meeting where they get heard but nothing happens afterwards,” said Zine. “I hope that the students will make sure that there's some accountability from the university administration.”

The Varsity has reached out to CSIS for comment.

The Explainer: How Ford’s free speech policy mandate will affect student groups

Free speech complaints must be made through university complaints process, funding may be revoked Sophia Savva Varsity Contributor

As part of Premier Doug Ford’s recent free speech policy mandate, student groups and student unions of publicly funded universities and colleges in Ontario will need to create and follow a free speech policy or risk having their funding or recognition revoked.

According to the mandate, schools must create a free speech policy that meets the government’s minimum standards by January 1.

Part of the requirements are that “institutions consider official student groups’ compliance with the policy as condition for ongoing financial support or recognition, and encourage student unions to adopt policies that align with the free speech policy.”

The free speech policy U of T’s policy on freedom of speech, which has been in effect since 1992, was endorsed by U of T President Meric Gertler in September in the wake of the provincial government’s announcement, but university administration is still waiting to receive specific details of the provincial legislation to see if the current policy needs to be altered.

Joshua Grondin, Vice-President University Affairs of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), is also monitoring the policy with the Office of the Vice-Provost Students to see what changes are made, if any.

“The Ministry of Training, Colleges

and Universities is actively working with publicly assisted universities and colleges as they draft their own policy,” wrote Stephanie Rea, Director of Communications to the Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, in an email. “Universities and colleges are able to consult with their communities on the specifics of their policy, so long as it is consistent with the minimum standard.”

Starting in September, colleges and universities will need to report annually to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, who will then evaluate each institution’s report and provide recommendations to the min-

Law enforcement officers have been visiting MSAs around the country for years, according to a sociology and Muslim Studies professor at Wilfrid Laurier University.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

ister. If institutions do not comply with the free speech requirements, their operating grants may be reduced.

“The Policy will not only protect free speech but ensure that hate speech, discrimination and other illegal forms of speech are not allowed on campus,” wrote Rea. How will student groups be affected?

Student organizations are covered by U of T’s Policy on Open, Accessible and Democratic Autonomous Student Organizations.

“That policy includes provisions such as a commitment to ensuring that members’ voices and perspectives can be heard,” said university spokesperson Elizabeth Church.

“Student Organizations” include Student Societies and Campus Groups.

Student societies are defined by a compulsory non-academic incidental fee that U of T collects on their behalf and automatic membership upon registration and status in a particular division or program.

There are two types of student societies: Representative Student Com-

mittees, which includes the University of Toronto Students’ Union, Association of Part-time Students, Scarborough Students’ Union, and University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union; and Divisional and Faculty Student Societies, of which there are 38 in total, including the Arts and Science Students’ Union, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union, and The Varsity.

Recognized campus groups are “voluntary organizations” created by members of the U of T community. There are over 1,100 campus groups recognized by the university.

U of T’s policy on student organizations uses a complaints-based process.

If complaints are brought against a student society for not following the free speech policy, and the matter cannot be resolved internally, it would then be brought to the Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies (CRCSS).

The CRCSS Panel is composed of five voting members and one nonvoting member. The voting members include a chair and four student members drawn from a pool of appointees

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from each student society.

The CRCSS Panel would decide if any actions are required and if fees should be withheld.

The vice-president and provost ultimately decides whether to withhold fees and, depending on the situation, has the power to take immediate action without the recommendation of the CRCSS. For recognized campus groups, the campus-specific Office of Student Life will look into complaints or charges against a campus organization after complaints have been made directly to the organization first. The complainants would appeal to the Office of the Vice-Provost Students.

Recognition or room-booking privileges may be withdrawn from a campus group if complaints made against it are found to be valid. Groups may reapply for recognition any time after the following September 30.

The UTSU’s response At the UTSU’s Annual General Meeting on October 30, the UTSU voted in favour of “going on the record opposing Ford’s free speech policy” and “refusing to participate in its implementation as a students’ union.”

The motion was submitted by a member, and Grondin characterized it as “widely supported” by those in attendance.

In Grondin’s personal opinion, “this Policy is harmful for the wellbeing of marginalized students on our campus.”

“I believe the union owes it to members to be political and take a stand when it is needed, and this justifies action in my opinion,” Grondin said.

“I think students have a right to be safe on campus, learn in an atmosphere that doesn't threaten or question their identities, and be in a space that is free from violence and the promotion of hateful ideology.”

4 | THE VARSITY | NEWS

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The Breakdown: Student union transparency

A look into how unions remain accountable to their constituents Ann Marie Elpa, Silas Le Blanc, Andy Takagi Associate News Editors

All students at U of T are represented by student unions, which organize resources for those students, advocate for their interests, and provide services such as health care plans. The Varsity analyzed the accessibility and transparency of information at student unions at U of T. University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) “The UTSU is firmly committed to transparency in its actions and function. By virtue of the fees and political assent delivered by mem-

bers to the UTSU, a reciprocal duty of responsible stewardship and according disclosure is incumbent on those who steer the organization,” said UTSU Vice-President Operations Tyler Biswurm in an email to The Varsity.

The union implements measures such as open board meetings, published minutes, agendas, reports, and are made available on its website.

However, the UTSU does not send out notices of board meetings through its social media, website, or Listserv.

Financial documentation, such as its annual operating budget, its audited financial statements, and the audited financial statements of affiliated levy groups, are made avail-

able on the UTSU website.

However, audits for the 2017– 2018 fiscal year have not been uploaded.

As of the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), members are allowed to vote directly to change operational and procedural policies at AGMs. According to Biswurm, a major operations portfolio project is under works and aims to increase transparency and accountability in regards to financial disclosure and the union’s overall governance. However, details have not yet been revealed.

“A specific solution being pursued at present is a complete revamp of all aspects of the UTSU website’s governance-related pages to radically reinvent how members, the press, and the wider public can observe and get involved in the Union’s governance,” said Biswurm.

University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) In an email to The Varsity, UTMSU President Felipe Nagata said that “The UTMSU is committed

to always communicating with our membership and being open about the practices and work the Executives, Board and Staff do everyday.”

Board meetings and AGMs are open for any student to attend, though the UTMSU does not send out notices of board meetings through its social media, website, or Listserv.

Audited financial statements are posted on their website for each academic year until 2016–2017.

The agenda and minutes for each board meeting are also easily found on their website. These are up to date, with the most recent upload from November 2, 2018.

The UTMSU’s office has an open-door policy for members, and allows students to visit from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm every weekday.

“Many students are passionate about the work that we do as a union. What we promote and harness is a space of student activism…

We ensure students are always guiding and leading the work ahead and can always come to the student centre and get involved,” Nagata concluded.

Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) SCSU posts financial statements on its website, as well as audited financial reports. It also posts a package for monthly Board of Directors meetings outlining its Campaigns and Advocacy as well as Services and Operations executive reports.

Earlier this week, the SCSU almost removed a Varsity contributor from one of its meetings for not giving 72 hours notice that they were attending, even though the SCSU only gave 48 hours notice for the meeting. This was in violation of its bylaws, as emergency meetings must be announced 72 hours in advance.

In terms of policy, the SCSU’s website has an in-depth list of numerous constitutional policies, such as an anti-racism policy, multiple funding policies, and hiring policies.

Each student union has a set of bylaws, some of which concern transparency and accountability.

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SCSU emergency meeting allows motion on holding more meetings, rejects online voting

Motions to be added to Annual General Meeting agenda Layla Anciano Varsity Contributor

The Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) held an emergency board of directors meeting on November 7, exactly a week before its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The emergency meeting discussed whether to add several recommendations from the SCSU Policy and Bylaw Committee to the AGM agenda.

One such motion was presented by Sarkis Kidanian, the President of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Campus Association at UTSC.

Kidanian motioned to have the SCSU “host a Fall General Meeting and a Winter General Meeting to make the Student Union’s work transparent and allow the students to hold their executed tasks accountable.”

According to the motion, these additional meetings are necessary because not everyone can attend the AGM and “the student body cannot hold SCSU executive accountable with only one [AGM].”

The committee recommended that the motion be added to the AGM agenda with some amendments,

namely specifying dates during which the additional meetings could be held, as well as giving the SCSU the power to make any bylaw and policy amendments necessary in order to hold these meetings if passed.

This recommendation and all associated amendments from the committee passed.

Another motion was made by member Anup Atwal to allow online voting in SCSU elections.

Atwal is the President of the Scarborough Campus’ Union Reform Club (SCU Reform), which was founded in September as a students’ movement against the SCSU. In the motion, Atwal raised SCU Reform’s concern that the “SCSU has struggled to address the concerns of voter apathy over the past several years, resulting in less than 15 per cent of members participating in the electoral process.”

The voter turnout in the last SCSU election in February was around 13 per cent.

Atwal recommended that the SCSU solve this issue by “permitting electronic balloting for all future

Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS) In accordance with the organization’s bylaws, APUS publishes its audited financial statements under

Elections and Referenda held by the Union through the U-elecT system.”

The committee recommended that the motion not be added to the AGM agenda, with a committee member explaining that they did not approve it because of the proposal to use the U-elecT system.

Director of Philosophy Rebecca Saldanha agreed with Atwal but said that “it is problematic to trust the university as we are a union separate from the university.”

“It’s the union’s job to check students like in any other union, in work rather, you’re separate from your work because you’re supposed to depend on your union,” Saldanha continued. “We have two different mascots for the university and the union. We don’t trust them with the mascot, how do you trust them with something so serious as voting?”

The U-elecT system is run through the university and is used by several student organizations, including The Varsity.

SCSU President Nicole Brayiannis said that “one of the biggest concerns with online voting is coercion.”

the “What We Do” section of its website.

However, APUS did not have any assembly meeting minutes or agenda packages posted to its website for 2018–2019 until last Friday.

While the organization’s bylaws do not explicitly state a timeline for making minutes of proceedings publicly available, they do require that the information be published unless “such information would be deemed confidential or protected under legislation of Ontario or Canada or which would otherwise be protected by common law.”

APUS has offices located in Sidney Smith Hall, room 1089, and North Borden Building, suite 236, with office hours posted on its website as well as a general email and phone number to reach the union at.

University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) The UTGSU last posted a council meeting agenda and executive reports on June 6, despite having had subsequent meetings in September and October.

While its bylaws do not specifically require minutes, agendas, and other union-related documents to be posted on its website, members are entitled to view these items by appointment. The UTGSU has not posted meeting minutes for any council meetings this term.

Posted on its website, in line with its bylaws, are the audited financial statements from two years ago as well as a breakdown of its membership fees.

Various committee highlights are also posted on the website. No highlights have been posted since June 28.

According to the union’s bylaws, only members are allowed to attend meetings unless otherwise invited and members are to be notified seven days prior to a council meeting.

The UTGSU has an office at 16 Bancroft Avenue with office hours as well as an email and phone number for inquiries.

APUS, the SCSU, and the UTGSU did not respond to requests for comment.

Brayiannis outlined that “right now at least we have tape lines so that students can’t physically go with other students to the voting area” and “if [voting] is online there’s no safety measures for students to vote.”

While Brayiannis agreed that online voting can be convenient, she said that “for now I don’t think it’s a smart move on the union to implement or seek to kind of rush this process by the spring election.”

The University of Toronto Students’ Union underwent a similar debate before it approved online voting in 2013.

After a lengthy debate, the recommendation was passed, meaning that the motion will not be on the agenda at the AGM. The SCSU emergency meeting was announced just over 48 hours in advance on the SCSU’s Facebook page. This was in violation of its bylaws as outlined in section 2.2 of the SCSU constitution, which states that notice of emergency meetings has to be given at least 72 hours in advance.

SCSU has not responded to requests for comment.

NOVEMBER 12, 2018 | 5

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Antisemitism “won that day”: UTSC’s Jewish community remembers Pittsburgh attack victims, condemns antisemitism

Jewish club holds vigil, discussion amid SCSU room booking confusion Jayra Almanzor UTSC Bureau Chief

Tears from the morning rain dripped off the leaves of trees on UTSC’s Rock Walk, where the UTSC Jewish Student Life ( JSL) club organized a vigil on November 5 to commemorate the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack and to condemn antisemitism.

The October 27 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania took the lives of 11 Jews.

One of the victims was a U of T alum.

Amid the cold nightfall, Jewish students softly sang prayers while other students hummed along.

The 11 victims were each represented by a candle. Volunteers, one by one, lit the candles as attendees read biographies of the “murdered brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh,” followed by Rabbi Sylvan Kamens’ poem, “We Remember Them.”

The poem, which is one of the most well-known readings in Jewish liturgy, emphasizes the importance of remembrance in Jewish tradition.

“Our community is very small,” said Gabriela Rosenblum, Vice-President

of JSL, at the vigil.

“When someone gets attacked, it’s never a stranger… these people who were murdered in Pittsburgh, they’re not just names. We share a community and we share their loss.”

Tyler Samuels, a Jewish student studying Political Science and History, walked to the front.

“I didn’t really believe in God anymore, but I thought at least once, this time, God would protect his so-called chosen people, and he didn’t. And that night, I cried and cried,” said Samuels.

“Antisemitism, the oldest form of hatred, won that day.”

He said that antisemitism should not only be condemned in cases of violence, but also in the everyday antisemitic campus experiences of many Jewish students.

“Several times on UTSC when people see me with a kippah, they shout out in a cunning, baiting tone, ‘Free Palestine.’ As if they knew my thoughts on such a problematic issue,” said Samuels.

According to Samuels, several incidents of antisemitism have been reported to the Scarborough Campus

A shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue took the lives of 11 people, including a U of T alum.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

Student Union (SCSU), but “nothing has been done.” He also spoke of the “failure” of former SCSU members to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day. For the post-vigil discussions, the JSL booked a room with the SCSU at the Student Centre. However, due to booking confusion, discussions had to be held in a smaller room where some people ended up either sitting on the floor or standing outside.

SCSU Vice-President Campus Life Ankit Bahl attended the event and apologized on behalf of the union.

“I’d like to apologize for this whole room booking confusion… this, it shouldn’t be, it’s a minor thing, room booking confusion, it shouldn’t happen —” “This is not a minor thing,” interrupted JSL’s staff liaison Renan Levine.

“This is not acceptable.”

Bahl replied, “Yes, I understand that.

It’s a minor thing that we should be able to fix on our end, and it’s a major

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issue for all of you… [the room booking confusion] is something we’re definitely going to look into.”

During the discussion, students, parents, and U of T alumni exchanged feelings about the Pittsburgh attack.

Emotions ranged from heartbrokenness to confusion.

JSL President Rachel Landau said that there are numerous ways to show support to Jewish students on campus.

One way is by sending letters of support to Hillel at U of T. Another, which Landau emphasized, is through social media.

“I often see people posting things on other kinds of racism, whereas for this I only see a lot of silence,” said Landau.

“I only see Jewish friends sharing it.

Sharing it, sharing emotions… makes a difference to Jewish students and shows that you care.”

Rosenblum added that showing up to events is also a way to show support to the Jewish community. She thanked

everyone who came to the vigil. Almost teary-eyed, she said, “I was very worried that nobody would show up.”

Shahid Zafar, a Campus Police staff member, also expressed his sympathies for the Jewish community. Addressing Samuels’ concerns about antisemitism on campus, Zafar said, “Our sole mission is to try and make you feel safe on campus.”

He mentioned the Travel Safer program, where students can ask Campus Police anytime to be walked anywhere on campus.

Zafar also said that although racism is not always a criminal offence, it can be dealt with under U of T’s Code of Student Conduct. If someone is reported for racism, Campus Police will investigate and the person may be put before a tribunal. If found guilty, the person in question will have sanctions like suspensions placed on them.

The Varsity has reached out to the SCSU for comment.

6 | THE VARSITY | NEWS

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Service of Remembrance commemorates fallen U of T members in military conflicts Over a hundred gather to remember sacrifices by U of T community Adam A. Lam Varsity Staff

Braving high wind chills and rain, more than 100 people gathered at the foot of the Soldiers’ Tower in King’s College Circle for a Service of Remembrance to commemorate the sacrifices of U of T faculty, staff, alumni, and students during World War I, World War II, and other military action on November 9.

The service began at 10:20 am with “words of welcome” from Matthew Jurczak, Chair of the Soldiers’ Tower Committee, the subcommittee of the U of T Alumni Association that coordinated the event.

It continued with a prayer from Richard Chambers, Director of U of T’s Multi-Faith Centre.

Of the multiple performances throughout the ceremony, there was a naval hymn sung by the service’s choir,

a sacred prayer of Thanksgiving made

by Jacqui Lavalley of the Shawanaga First Nation, and a reading of University College alum John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields” by retired Canadian Army Captain and former International President of the Zeta Psi Fraternity George McNeillie.

The poetry reading was followed by a memorial prayer titled “El Ma’alei Rahamim,” recited by Rabbi Julia Appel from Hillel at U of T. “May their memory be a blessing, and may they rest in paradise,” Appel said. “Master of mercy, may they find eternal shelter beneath your sheltering wings, and may their souls be bound up in the bond of life. God is their portion. May they rest in peace.”

Muskan Sethi, a student from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, continued with a statement commemorating Private Clifford Ellis Rogers, who died from a gas shell on

A retired captain read UC alum John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields” at the ceremony.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

November 7, 1918, and was the last person from the University of Toronto to be killed in action during World War I. Near the end of the ceremony, over a dozen wreaths were laid in recognition of a diverse range of people who were connected to World Wars I and II. A two-minute silence followed, after which the service concluded with a performance of the national anthem.

Principal Tettey: looking forward

UTSC’s new principal, former UBC senior official speaks to The Varsity Patricia Popoola Varsity Contributor

Collectivity. Community. Us. These are all words that UTSC Principal Wisdom Tettey used liberally during an interview with The Varsity.

Tettey was appointed this year, leaving his former job as the dean of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan. He received his master’s degree from UBC and PhD from Queen’s University, and said that his experience has enabled him “to adapt to different circumstances” and build a knowledge base that allows him to face new situations head-on.

Tettey acknowledged that society is becoming more diverse and that this is “a reality that we cannot run away from.” Instead, he believes that people need to turn it “into a strength as opposed to a basis for division.”

“My goal has always been to see where we build those bridges and strengthen those relationships where [diversity] becomes a plus as opposed to a negative.”

Tettey is aware of the challenges that he is facing, and says that he is familiar with the issues, as they are not unique in institutions of higher education.

He is in the process of implementing several strategic plans to tackle big issues, such as creating a more inclusive community, diversifying the faculty to reflect the diversity of the student body, making housing more accessible, introducing stronger research support, and, overall, enhancing the undergraduate experience.

In addition to these issues, another important goal for Tettey is defining UTSC to the world in a way that the UTSC community is “proud of.”

To commemorate the 100 years since the armistice of WWI, the song “Everything that Rises Must Converge” premiered from the bells of the Soldiers’ Tower soon after the service ended. The piece was composed by U of T alum Scott Allan Orr and commissioned by Alumni Relations.

Kathy Parks, administrator of the Soldiers’ Tower Committee, wrote in a statement that members of the U of T community can show support for vet-

erans and their families by donating money to the Royal Canadian Legion in exchange for a poppy.

“The donations enable the Legion to do their good works in the community, and also it helps the morale of veterans and senior citizens to see people wearing a poppy,” explained Parks. “As time passes, fewer people seem to wear one and maybe that saddens the veterans to observe that. Wearing a poppy is an expression of ‘social solidarity.’”

One year after demographic data pledge: no public data on students, faculty, staff this year No timeline from U of T on demographic census, details lacking Andy Takagi Associate News Editor

Tettey previously headed the Faculty of Arts & Science at UBC Okanagan.

Courtesy of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH

Tettey wants everyone to know that he and his team are committed to finding suitable answers.

Housing is one problem that Tettey specifically names as one of his top priorities. He is aware of the comfort that living on campus can bring to both parents and students, as well as the positive impact that student residences have on the overall campus community. However, several factors affect the approval process for residence buildings, and new residences won’t be coming to the Scarborough campus until 2021 or 2022, at the earliest.

In addition to new residences, Tettey is also hoping to erect other buildings. These buildings are intended to address the lack of informal learning spaces on campus, as well as take the pressure off classrooms. These buildings will also be more adaptable to what he sees as inevitable changes in the “nature of teaching and learning.”

An important aim of these initiatives is to create a space where community and inclusion are recognized and felt by the entire campus.

Although he faces many challenges, Tettey says that there are things that he loves about the campus he serves.

Namely, the diversity of the campus, its connection to the broader community, and the “culture here of supporting the margins of our society.”

He also appreciates “the work that faculty do to support quality teaching” and their “dedication to ensuring that the undergraduate experience is solid.”

There have been many things that Tettey has found “refreshing” and that are in line with “[his] own sense of what [he wants] a campus to be.”

For Tettey, collectivity is vital for a strong foundation in communities.

Five years from now, Tettey wants the community to look back and say, “Kudos to ourselves.”

One year after U of T pledged to publicly release demographic data on students, faculty, and staff as part of the Universities Canada Action Plan for Inclusive Excellence (APIE), the university said that it still has no timeline for a demographic census.

The purpose of the APIE from Universities Canada — an advocacy association for Canadian universities — was to better understand diversity and demographics in universities across the country and to develop support for underrepresented groups.

The pledge, announced on October 26, 2017, is non-binding. However, all Canadian university leaders agreed to implement or improve equity, inclusion, and diversity at their institutions.

In a statement to The Varsity, ViceProvost Students Sandy Welsh said that the university plans to conduct a census, but has yet to develop a timeline for when that will happen.

“We’ve replaced our student information system with a new one that we hope will allow us to collect this information.”

U of T’s 2016–2017 Employment Equity Report is the last published demographics report that the university has; it surveyed staff and faculty on gender, race, Indigeneity, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

There is currently no publicly released demographic data on U of T students.

Universities Canada reaffirmed its commitment to the action plan one year after its announcement and has developed an online tool to track various practices and policies at postsecondary institutions across the country.

In a statement on its website, Universities Canada President Paul Davidson expressed his confidence in the work that member institutions have made toward the five-year action plan.

“The high level of commitment and involvement from all levels of the university community gives us confidence that we can indeed make a difference in improving equality of opportunity on university campuses over the coming years.”

The advocacy organization said that it plans to conduct a survey this fall to determine the progress that Canadian universities have made toward the pledge of increased equity, inclusion, and diversity.

However, details are lacking in regards to how both U of T and Universities Canada plan to fulfil the pledge.

In a statement to The Varsity, Nadine Robitaille, Communications Manager at Universities Canada, reiterated that the survey will be conducted across the organization’s 96 member institutions.

Robitaille also confirmed that while Universities Canada currently has data on gender balances in university leadership, the demographic data to be collected will be “for across the country, not granular down to the individual university.”

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Trinity College planning new residence building

Project in earliest planning stages with limited information Patricia Popoola Varsity Contributor

Trinity College is in the earliest stages of planning for a new residence and academic building, likely to be located at 15 Devonshire Place, which is currently the parking lot in front of the Gerald Larkin Building.

Trinity could not provide any information on the new building as the planning process has only just begun.

In a statement to The Varsity, Director of Communications & Public Affairs Young Um said, “We are currently continuing our consultations with members of the community to discuss how to revitalize the campus and the proposed new building.”

When asked about various aspects

of the building’s design, such as the timeline, the current stage of development, the size of the building, the number of rooms, and the architectural design, Um responded that Trinity will be working on these issues over the next year.

This will be Trinity’s third residence, joining St. Hilda’s and Trinity proper.

The shortage of residence spaces has become a pressing concern at U of T in recent years. In March 2017, the university released a report estimating that it would need 2,300 new beds by 2020 to meet housing demand.

A residence at Spadina Avenue and Sussex Avenue was recently approved in August after years of prolonged negotiations with the city.

The Breakdown: What is the Academic Handbook?

The rules that govern Arts & Science students, professors Zeahaa Rehman UTM Bureau Chief

Though professors enjoy a great deal of freedom in their teaching, an Academic Handbook exists for all instructors in the Faculty of Arts & Science (FAS) that many students may be unaware of.

The handbook consists of rules, regulations, mandatory expectations, and suggestions on best practices for all instructors teaching undergraduate courses in the FAS. Included in the handbook are explanations on syllabi, final examinations, student appeals, and more.

The Varsity looked into the first five of the 19 to see what rules govern FAS courses.

Syllabus

A syllabus must be distributed in class or posted on an instructor’s course website as it is their contract with students.

Syllabi must also include anything that contributes to the students’ marks, such as the marking scheme and late penalties, and a copy of the instructor’s marking scheme must be submitted to their undergrad administrator or program adminstrator. The marking scheme and late policies must be advertised no later than the last date to add courses.

The marking scheme must refer to each marked test or assignment, its weight in the final course grade, and its due date.

Assignments & Assessments

The new residence will join the current buildings, St. Hilda’s and Trinity proper.

TOM KUHN/THE VARSITY

Test and Exam Services to change late registration process for exam accommodations

Students must first go to accessibility advisors in move to “streamline” operations Ilya Bañares Deputy News Editor

A month before the year-end exam season is set to begin, the University of Toronto is now saying that students will have to request late accommodations through Accessibility Services (AS) instead of the central Test and Exam Services (TES).

The change will be effective November 19, meaning that late requests will only be considered once a student’s advisor at AS provides verification to TES. The deadline for requesting accommodations is two weeks in advance of the exam date.

“The idea was that this would streamline things and make it easier for students who are eligible for consideration,” U of T spokesperson Elizabeth Church said. “Before, they would go to Test and Exam Services, and then the people there would con-

tact the student’s advisor.”

According to TES, late accommodation requests will only be considered in four circumstances. This includes if the professor changes the date of the test, if the student breaks a limb, if the student is writing a deferred exam and could not book within the 14-day registration deadline, or if there is an emergency, which is defined as hospitalization, serious family circumstances, or unforeseeable situations.

The registration deadline for exams during the coming December period is November 16.

If a student misses the regular registration deadline, they have some options, according to TES: contact their Accessibility Services Advisor, write the exam without any accommodations, or — in the case of a final exam — file a petition to defer with their respective registrar.

No one essay, test, or exam can be worth more than 80 per cent of the grade. No term test or tests with a value greater than 25 per cent of the grade total may be assigned in the final two weeks of classes, regardless of the session.

At least one marked assignment must be returned before the last date to drop courses; this marked assignment should be worth at least 10 per cent for half-year courses, and 20 per cent for full year courses.

If an instructor cannot meet the deadline, they must notify their undergrad administrator. “In such cases,” the handbook reads, “the students are normally allowed to drop the course after they have received back the marked work even if it is beyond the deadline.”

Term work deadlines should not extend into final examination periods, though instructors can grant informal extensions within these periods.

Instructors are asked to make clear any specific directions for submitting assignments.

If they intend to use Turnitin, an on-

line service that checks for plagiarism, they must inform their students of this.

They must also advise their students that use of Turnitin is voluntary and provide them with alternate means of submitting assignments if they choose not to use the website.

Final Exams

All 100-level courses must have a faculty-run exam worth at least one-third but not more than two-thirds of the final grade. Any exemptions must be requested to the Dean’s Office via the Faculty Registrar. Exams for 200-level courses are expected, and any exemptions are requested within the instructor’s department. The instructor is suggested to consider whether the weight of the exam is worth the cost of administering it.

Exams for 300- and 400-level courses are normal, but an instructor can decide whether or not they are necessary.

All exams must be either two or three hours.

Enrolment in Courses

Instructors must not mark assignments for students not officially enrolled in their courses. Instructors can, however, request late enrolment on behalf of a student.

If the student petitions and is granted a late enrolment, however, it is the student’s responsibility to catch up on missed work.

The department may charge them a fee for issuing a letter recognizing a course audit.

Attendance & Participation Policies

The faculty does not have a policy requiring students to attend class. The handbook advises instructors requiring attendance to keep in mind that they would have to: take attendance each class, be prepared for the “bureaucratic business” of exceptions, illnesses, and documentation, and acknowledge that disability might affect some students’ participation.

Electronic Devices in Class

The handbook acknowledges that some instructors may limit the use of electronic devices in their classrooms but advises them to be wary of the challenges this prohibition might create.

For example, professors must accommodate students who require electronic devices for accessibility purposes without violating their privacy. Thus, professors cannot have a prohibition on electronic devices and grant an exemption to students with accessibility

needs, as it “violates student privacy.”

Instead, the handbook recommends designating a section of the classroom to students using electronic devices.

Talking in Class, Dealing with Disruptive Students

The handbook states that “It is never a good idea to ‘dress down’ or humiliate a student, even an offending one, in front of classmates or to allow other students to do so.” Instead, U of T recommends that professors look at chattering students and wait for them to stop.

If the disruptive behaviour escalates, the instructor can end the class session early and consult their undergrad coordinator — usually their associate chair or program director. Instructors do not have the authority, however, to “evict” enrolled students from their course.

Term Work

If the instructor wishes to change their marking scheme after making it available, they must “hold a vote in a regularly scheduled class and obtain the consent of the majority of students attending the class.”

The instructor must announce the vote no later than the last class before the session in which the vote is scheduled.

Instructors must obtain an ethics clearance before assigning assignments that involve human participants.

Assignments are students’ property and thus must be returned in “an appropriately secure manner.”

Instructors are told that they should, under no circumstances, “leave work outside [their] office or in a stack in front of the classroom to be picked up by students.” Instructors are also advised to not put the students’ mark on the cover sheet of the assignment.

Adjustments to marks should be made on assignments rather than the entire term mark.

Requests to Re-mark Assignments & Term Tests

Students may ask the person who marked their work for a re-evaluation no later than two weeks after it was returned. If a teaching assistant (TA) marked the work, the request should first go to the TA before the instructor.

Students can appeal a re-mark beyond the instructor to the undergrad coordinator of the courses department or program for an assignment worth 20 per cent or more of their course mark, again, no later than two weeks after the work was returned. Students must also accept the new mark, regardless of whether any change occurs or not.

The Academic Handbook has 19 sections that govern courses in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

Business

November 12, 2018 var.st/business biz@thevarsity.ca

U of T commits $1.4 million to support students studying abroad Agreement with Mitacs will foster international collaboration in academia

Ridha Ben Mrad (right) is an engineering professor at U of T and Mitacs' Chief Research Officer.

GEOFFREY VENDEVILLE/UOFT NEWS

Vaibhav Bhandari Varsity Staff

U of T has announced a $1.4 million partnership agreement with non-profit organization Mitacs to support global research opportunities for U of T students. The deal, spanning a three-year period, will primarily fund Mitacs’ Globalink Research Award program, which provides undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows with financial aid to conduct research at universities in 40 different countries.

With the expenses of studying abroad contributing to students’ ret-

icence in opting into international experience, this partnership with Mitacs will allow up to 200 U of T students to apply for funding per year. At least 80 international students will also receive funding from Mitacs and U of T to conduct research in Toronto. With an equal division of financial dues among Mitacs and the partner university, the recipients of the awards — both inbound and outbound — will receive $6,000 each for 12-week or 24-week placements.

Dr. Ridha Ben Mrad, a professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Mitacs’ Chief

Research Officer, said that Mitacs is a “bridge between the private sector and the university.”

“This [new] deal with the U of T is more strategic in the sense that we are allocating a certain number of internships for University of Toronto’s students to go do internships outside of the country,” said Ben Mrad.

Internships abroad and exchange programs give students the opportunity to expand network connections, gain work experience in different cultures, and access new ideas and perspectives. The partner institutions that host these students get expertise in the

field to help provide solutions to problems, said Ben Mrad.

“In the same token, U of T, being a global university, is able to attract researchers from outside. So this will pay for U of T students but the idea is that this will enable two-way mobility to U of T and from U of T,” he said.

Since starting its internship program in 2003, Mitacs has expanded its role in connecting academic research to the private sector in several educational disciplines. Of the 7,112 projects listed on its website, approximately 84 per cent are in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, while ap-

proximately 15 per cent are in the social sciences and humanities.

Ben Mrad said that Mitacs is making “a substantial effort” to fund more non-STEM projects because “there is so much innovation to be done there.”

Much of the funding for Mitacs’ programs comes from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada, a department of the Canadian government. ISED has provided around $56 million to Mitacs’ programs over a four-year period between 2012 and 2016, in which the Globalink program itself received close to $20 million.

With additional financial contributions from the private sector, Mitacs has supported over 20,000 research internships since it was founded in 1999.

As it continues to grow, Mitacs has set a goal of delivering over 10,000 internships annually by 2021–2022, with 2018–2019 projections at 8,190 showing promise toward that target.

To match the ambition of such goals, partnership agreements like this one with U of T are critical. According to Ben Mrad, the partnership will “enable U of T to develop strategic relationships, to choose where to send a good number of their researchers, [and] to establish strong relationships with one or multiple parties.”

UTM students had the opportunity to network with Oxford Properties executives.

PHOTO BY HARSHITHA NARAYANA AND BENJI LIM

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

Addressing financial illiteracy through art

UTM adjunct professor Radha Maharaj’s campaign seeks to improve student financial literacy Matias Gutierrez Associate Business Editor

Financial illiteracy can be a recurring issue for many university students. Dr. Radha Maharaj of UTM’s Communication, Culture, Information and Technology department wants to tackle this issue through a campaign called Elly. Maharaj’s financial literacy campaign involves a study, a survey, an artistic competition, and a series of interviews, all of which aim to improve financial literacy.

The study aims to assess the level of financial literacy among students and the extent to which students are affected by debt and other financial issues.

The survey, which runs from September to March, is an opportunity for all UTM students to take stock of their financial situations while also voicing any concerns and issues that they may have regarding personal finance.

The competition aspect, entitled “Elly in Action,” involves students submitting a creative presentation — be it song, dance, art, or a short film — with a financial theme. The campaign encourages students to explore artistically topics such as being burdened with student debt or getting one's finances in order. The submission period for the competition ends on November 15.

Finally, the interview component is meant for students to ask questions, receive advice, and

share their concerns regarding personal finance management.

Maharaj wrote in an email to The Varsity, “There is a taboo around talking about money. This is a generational problem. It’s simply a topic that we have not discussed about openly in the past and it continues today.” She added that students “are usually overwhelmed and apprehensive by the topic itself, because finance has a reputation of being complicated and boring.”

The use of music, dance, and art therefore aims to connect with finance in a way that students can more easily engage with. According to Maharaj, though art and finance are seemingly juxtaposed with one another, they “are in fact essential and complementary to our daily existence. Elly is the start of the movement to make this connection.” Maharaj is also in the process of designing “immersive personal finance courses” that will incorporate creative works.

Engaging with students in a seemingly non-traditional manner is key for Maharaj, who is also eager to improve the program and determine the best way to deliver the appropriate material to students who need assistance and are interested in learning more. “We do a good job of preparing students for the world of work and making money,” Maharaj said, “but we hardly spend the time teaching them how to manage that money in their personal life.”

UTM hosts business case competition oriented toward beginners

UCS, SMA co-run sixth annual Ready, Set, Market!

Angela Bosenius Varsity Contributor

UTM’s Undergraduate Commerce Society (UCS) and Student Management Association (SMA) co-hosted their sixth annual Ready, Set, Market! conference on November 3 at the Communication Culture & Technology building. The conference provides UTM undergraduate students with workshops, networking opportunities, and a real-world marketing case to solve. Oriented toward beginners, the conference aims to enhance students’ professional development skills and business preparedness.

Kristena Disalvo, Marketing Director of the UCS, wrote in an email to The Varsity that “the main takeaway from the [students’] perspective was the experience they gained. Many of these students never competed in a case competition before… and they were thrilled with how much they learned.”

UTM students were able to register for the event in groups of four. Case competitions require participants to develop solutions to a business-related case study within an allocated time. Selected finalists present their innovations to a panel of judges.

This case this year was developed by real estate firm Oxford Properties Groups — also the event’s sponsor — with a marketing focus that integrated accounting, human resources, and other financial aspects. The event began with a talk from Claire McIntyre, Oxford Properties’ Vice-President of Marketing and Communications. The talk was followed

by workshops that addressed key skills in business, such as how to network and use LinkedIn more effectively.

Students had the opportunity to practice what they had learned in small groups with Oxford Properties representatives, before participating in an open networking session. The experience allowed students “to step out of their comfort zones,” said Disalvo.

The case competition took place in the afternoon, and its broad theme allowed groups to pursue any idea related to innovation, technology, and creativity. According to Disalvo, some notable presentations included the implementation of zen gardens, multipurpose desks that could be used for both group work and quiet work, and creating designated pet care places in the office.

In its second consecutive year as sponsor, Oxford Properties increased its involvement by meeting with each team two weeks before the conference to offer presentation coaching and provide early feedback.

Overall, Disalvo hopes that the conference helped students to improve their “presentation, time management, teamwork, networking and leadership skills.”

Ready, Set, Market! has evolved considerably since its inaugural case competition in 2013; skill-building workshops were introduced in 2014. Looking forward, the organizers of the conference hope to see it grow even further, with Disalvo aiming to open the conference to non-UTM students.

Comment

November 12, 2018 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

It turns out that turnout matters

A Canadian-American student reflects on the recent US midterm elections Adina Heisler Varsity Staff

Being a dual Canadian-American citizen means that, among other perks, I can vote in the elections of both countries.

Last Tuesday, the 2018 US midterm elections were held. They occur every four years at the halfway point of the current president’s term and are often regarded as a referendum on the president. Fortunately, UTSG’s fall reading week coincided with the election date, which meant that I was able to go home for a week — not only to see my family, but also to cast my ballot.

While a perk, this responsibility comes with the stress of having to focus on two separate political systems. As an American attending school at U of T, it is difficult to give myself the kind of separation from American politics that most of my Canadian peers do.

Granted, many Canadians do tune in to American politics since it affects Canada. But for Americans who live abroad, the added layer of the US being our ‘home’ country especially compels our attention to the political situation over there — at least, to the federal races.

Living in Canada makes it especially difficult to follow the multitude of local

races in my home state of Connecticut, which occurred alongside the higherprofile federal races. In Canada, I felt a sense of urgency when I voted in the Ontario and Toronto elections this year, as well as a sense of camaraderie with voters around me. By contrast, I am unable to fully invest myself in the politics in my hometown of Norwalk. I found myself unaware about many of the local ballot measures and candidates.

I’m certainly glad that Ned Lamont, a Democrat who promised to defend key sections of the Affordable Care Act, was elected to be the governor of Connecticut. However, I won’t really be able to share the feeling or the implications of this election when I return to Toronto. It makes me wonder if I can be an American beyond the citizenship, especially since I am less affected on a daily basis by politics in the US than in Canada.

And I’m not alone in feeling disconnected. In a 2014 survey, at least 28 per cent of American respondents living abroad were certain that they had not voted, while 15 per cent were unsure. Of those who did not vote, 23 per cent felt out of touch with their national or local community.

However, this year saw upticks

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

in Americans living abroad seeking assistance to vote in US elections. And it wasn’t just overseas voters: while the 18–29 age bracket has historically poor turnout rate, this year saw a 188 per cent increase in youth voter turnout from 2014.

And that wave had a very striking direction this year. Millennials are more likely to lean Democrat, and the Democrats ultimately won the House of Representatives, along with several governor seats.

The vote can be seen in two ways: either this is an angry rejection of Trump and Republicans, or a signal of excitement for Democrats. I argue that it’s both. Millennials tend to get more excited with progressive candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was recently elected as the youngest

congresswoman in history.

They joined a trend that saw one of the highest rates of voter turnout in a non-presidential election. There is no doubt that this was the result of intense campaigning by both major parties.

Republicans used racial overtones and fear-mongering to suggest that, if Democrats won victories, the country would be “overrun by masses of illegal immigrants and massive caravans.”

Democrats noted that the president’s actions since inauguration have occurred mostly without any checks on his power. In both cases, the president casted a long shadow over the entire country — making local politics seem even less important.

As I mentioned, it’s already difficult to feel in touch with American politics — especially local politics — when

you’re living abroad. As a result, many of us don’t vote. Furthermore, many millennials feel that their vote doesn’t matter at all.

But in an increasingly polarized country, every single vote does count.

With just a small increase in the number of millennials choosing to vote this year, the tide shifted tremendously.

What would happen if even more of us voted?

As much as I sometimes want to when I watch the news, I have no plans to throw away my American citizenship.

As long as I am a citizen, I still have a stake. And if you’re also a dual citizen living here, so do you.

Adina Heisler is a fourth-year Women and Gender Studies and English student at University College.

In defence of the humanities

Examining how the scientific-right’s vilification of ‘grievance studies’ is flawed

FIONA TUNG/THE VARSITY

Gavin Foster Varsity Contributor

Last month, Areo magazine published a year-long project, dubbed Sokal Squared, that sought to expose the humanities as unscientific, devoid of truth, radical, and outlandish.

A team of three academics, who have previously defended and supported militant-atheist, anti-feminist, socially right-wing libertarians, crafted 20 deliberately absurd papers to be published in, what they term, “grievance studies.”

These are fields that study social injustice and cultural theory: women’s studies, gender studies, and critical theory, to name a few.

Over the course of a year, they managed to get seven of these papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals. One paper that discusses how dog parks are “rape-condoning spaces” gained special recognition in Gender, Place, and Colour.

All these papers are, of course, ridiculous and should not have been published. While the intention was to show that these so-called ‘grievance studies’ are lacking academic rigour and truth, the project does more to highlight the ideology of the ‘scientificright’ — those who believe that ‘nonscientific’ fields deserve less respect.

They believe that the humanities and social sciences are fields that uniquely allow nonsense to be published.

Nowadays, when discussing the humanities, many of those in the scientific-right are quick to jump to labels like ‘postmodernism,’ ‘relativistic,’ and ‘radical left.’ There is no doubt that these associations have gained recent popularity through their constant employment by controversial U of T psychology professor Jordan Peterson.

The political objective of the scientific-right is to eradicate alternative methodological approaches to understanding the world, such as postmodernism and critical theory.

But the scientific-right overlooks how the sciences are just as, if not more, susceptible to the fallibilities of the disciplines they decry.

Three years ago, three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students crafted an artificial intelligence called SCIgen to generate ostensibly legitimate, but actually nonsensical, computer science papers. This resulted in the publication of 120 nonsensical papers in highly respectable scientific journals, many of which were peerreviewed.

This wasn’t an isolated phenomenon.

In 2010, Cyril Labbé revealed that he had utilized his own program, HAL, to generate 100 false papers in, once again, well-regarded, peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Add to that the fact that foundational theories in many scientific disciplines are plagued by the replicability crisis, leading to the possibility that the tremendous amount of work that is dependent upon these theories could be completely meaningless.

This is not to attack the scientific-

right in the same manner in which they attack the humanities. Rather, it is a call to recognize that while both the sciences and the humanities are fallible disciplines, neither should be entirely discounted.

Each discipline has separate intellectual objectives, and should be respected accordingly. The aim of the humanities is not to exclusively investigate matters that are scientific or mathematical in nature. Rather, they are often concerned with matters intrinsic to humanity and culture.

Furthermore, the very arguments that the scientific-right uses to demean the humanities — such as lacking in truth — almost always employ notions developed in the humanities themselves. For instance, when students associate the sciences with figuring out what the ‘truth’ is, they fail to understand that the very notion of truth is developed and investigated within the humanities, not the sciences.

A core investigation in philosophy, which is a branch of the humanities, is the question of what defines truth, whether it is: correspondence to the real world; coherence among a set of held beliefs; or agreement among professionals in ideal conditions.

Perhaps it has no definition at all.

Similarly, publications by Thomas Kuhn in the 1970s garnered a new outlook on the history of science: a picture of scientific practice as being influenced by socioeconomic and cultural factors. His arguments laid the groundwork for a re-examination of how scientists conduct science, and whether they are truly partaking in an objective, value-free discipline,

independent of anything that is investigated within the humanities.

Additionally, the ‘grievance studies’ are critical for providing inquiries into the normative questions that plague the sciences. An example of such a question is whether we ought to pursue lines of inquiry and regard them as ‘truth,’ when the consequences of such a discovery could lead to widespread human suffering.

Possible examples may be investigations into ‘race realism,’ genetic enhancement, and nuclear energy. All these inquiries could lead to extremely disastrous effects for states and, potentially, for the world.

Inquiries into ‘grievance studies’ allow us to examine the social conditions under which scientific investigation operates — a crucial, morally necessary survey that influences and shapes the sciences.

The very fact that a year was wasted on such a project is an embarrassment to the academics who have endorsed it.

At most, they shed light on the issues plaguing academic journals in general and should be framed as such, rather than seeking to delegitimize specific disciplines for political reasons.

Sokal Squared shows how out of touch those on the scientific-right are. It is time that they recognize the importance of the humanities, both in relation to the sciences and in their own right.

Gavin Foster is a third-year Philosophy and History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at Trinity College.

10 | THE VARSITY | COMMENT

comment@thevarsity.ca

“To serve and protect who?”

Toronto Police should listen to marginalized LGBTQ+ folks and attend Pride — without the badge

Letters to the Editor Re: UTSG should have reading week in October — just like everyone else “November is better because it tends to be the most heavy time of the term, and in October we have Thanksgiving weekend. Having to in November is far more relieving in terms of the timing of everything.”

–– Anvesh Jain (from web) “To any students interested, the Arts and Science Students’ Union are going to be inquiring about the possibility of this with the Dean and Faculty later this month and we’ll be keeping everyone updated.

This article has a lot of great research in it, and we’ll definitely be including it on the agenda when we meet.”

–– Joshua Bowman (from web) Re: Academizing the anti-#MeToo movement “Great article, poignant and drives the message home - that justice requires that all human beings are treated with equal amounts of fairness, that our collective humanity provides that moral compass, which allows one to treat another with respect no matter what personal opinion one might have about another’s gender. Well done, for provoking that different type of discussion about gender violence.”

The re-entry of the Toronto Police Service for the 2019 Pride Parade has drawn criticism.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

Anna Osterberg Varsity Contributor

Last month, Olivia Nuamah, executive director of Pride Toronto, announced that the Toronto Police Service (TPS) will march in the 2019 parade in uniform, following their absence in the last two parades. In the 2016 parade, a Black Lives Matter protest successfully demanded that police floats be removed and officers not show up in uniform for future parades. Some view the upcoming re-entry of police as a step forward for the community’s relationship with the TPS. But it has also drawn ire, particularly among marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community, whose negative experiences with the TPS had made it difficult for them to attend the event in the past. They had been strongly supportive of the absence of the TPS. One can understand the desire to portray a united front when trying to achieve reconciliation. The presence of the TPS at the Pride Parade might one day become a symbol of the triumph of community and love over injustice and persecution.

However, it is inappropriate to access this symbol until that triumph has actually been attained in an effective and permanent capacity. Many of the most vulnerable among us still feel as though their relationship with the police has a long way to go toward respect and repair.

A demonstration in opposition to police in uniform at Pride was held in front of Pride Toronto’s headquarters on November 3.

Organized by Ashley Cooper, the Facebook event for the demonstration drew support from over 1,000 individuals.

The event was attended by leaders in the LGBTQ+ community, including Nick Mulé, an associate professor at York University and the Chair of Queer Ontario, sociologist and activist Gary Kinsman, one of Canada’s leading academics on LGBTQ+ issues, and Alphonso King Jr., also known as DJ Relentless and Jade Elektra.

Their speeches were impassioned, focused, and reflected a bitter frustration toward the executive directorship of Pride Toronto for what feels to many community members like a severe betrayal of Pride’s history of resistance.

It is important to recognize that the Pride festival exists to commemorate the progress made by activists against decades of violence abetted and often executed by governmental and law enforcement bodies.

Kinsman opened his address by introducing himself as one of the organizers of Toronto’s first Pride event held in June 1981.

“I want to remind people a little bit first of all about the history of that first Pride. 1981 was the year of the bath raids and the mass resistance on the part of our communities to the police invasions of our lives, the arrests, and all of the horror that occurred as a result of those raids.”

Thirty-seven years ago, on February 5, 1981, the Metropolitan Toronto Police conducted a raid of four bathhouses, arresting 286 men and prompting outrage from Toronto’s gay and lesbian community and its public allies.

Toronto Pride Week grew out of the mass protests that ensued, which were organized against not only the raids, but also against the systemic discrimination of the queer community perpetrated by the city’s police force.

The insistence that the officers be allowed to march in uniform is accordingly troubling.

The attempt to paint the social institution of policing as an ally in those achievements, as opposed to its historical role as aggressor and deterrer, is misleading.

“It’s right there at the top of their website: ‘To Serve and Protect.’ But to serve and protect who?” Cooper asked of those in attendance at the November 3 demonstration.

Recent interactions between the community and the police indicate that the relationship is far from healed.

In the fall of 2016, it was brought to the public’s attention that the police were

engaging in an undercover operation titled Project Marie, in which police arrested 72 individuals after luring them into soliciting sex acts at Marie Curtis Park. The 89 charges laid were almost entirely bylaw infractions, a baffling choice considering that undercover operations are utilized primarily for cases of criminal activity.

This year, the arrest of Bruce McArthur for the first-degree murder of eight men between 2010 and 2017 dug a deeper schism between the community and the TPS. In December 2017, already months into an investigation, Chief Mark Saunders claimed that there was no evidence of a serial killer targeting the gay community.

Not only did the TPS publicly deny the connection of the disappearances to a serial murderer, but a statement released by Pride Toronto in April revealed that the community had earlier voiced their concern about the disappearances, only to be dismissed by the investigators.

At the demonstration, it was made clear that many feel that the decision to once again extend the invitation to police is primarily based on a threat to Pride of losing its government funding. “‘It has come to threaten our very existence as a publicly funded non-profit community organization.’ That is a direct quote from their statement,” Cooper cited from Pride Toronto’s announcement.

To insist that the LGBTQ+ community be the first to extend their hands in friendship to the police, especially in invitation to an event that is such an emblem of rebellion against oppression, is neither fair nor reasonable when reciprocal efforts toward reconciliation have not yet been appropriately rendered.

“The people who wear the badge are welcome,” Cooper said. “It is the badge we have asked to stay at home.”

Anna Osterberg is a f irst-year Master of Teaching student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

–– Wakanyi Hoffman (from web) Re: Arrests, violence at protest against Munk Debate hosting Steve Bannon “Right wing ideologies are inspiring real life violence against visible minorities all over while violence arising from a controlled environment such as this protest is just that, a controlled and contained protest that just got a little passionate and nothing more unlike violence that Bannon and his cronies inspires out of racist followers.”

–– Taufiq Sufi (from web) “Seriously? Can you at least try to be impartial? The majority of the violence was incited by ‘anti fascist’ protestors.

This is exactly how the CBC and other new outlets reported it. The police response, if at all condemnable, was in protecting the attendees who were making their way in. Instances of the use of force were only done to quell the violent eruptions. Context is so important, why leave that out?”

–– Tanzim Rashid (from web) Re: UTSU AGM 2018: Union rejects provincial campus free speech mandate “The headline and description of this article confuse our stance on his issue a bit. Socialist Fightback completely supports free speech. However, Ford’s ‘free speech’ policy is actually an antiprotest policy that bars ‘ongoing and disruptive protest’.This is why we say that the policy is Orwellian, as Ford is attempting to cover suppression of the right to assemble under the guise of ‘free speech.’”

–– Socialist Fightback U of T (from web)

Editorial

November 12, 2018 var.st/comment editorial@thevarsity.ca

Putting colour in print A growing anti-press climate should not preclude critical self-reflection on race in the newsroom Dhillon’s departure from the Globe shows that Canadian media must do better for journalists of colour.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

The Varsity Editorial Board

Freedom of the press, on a global scale, is under threat. From the alleged Saudi assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Turkey, to the US President’s ban of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta from the White House, the ability of media to criticize power can carry heavy consequences.

Trust in the press is fading too. The Varsity itself had to grapple with issues of trust following criticism of our coverage of Jordan Peterson in the fall of 2016.

Beyond campus, ‘anti-establishment’ forces accuse and dismiss mainstream media of ideological bias. In the US, outlets like CNN and The New York Times are labelled “fake news” and “the enemy of the people” by some on the right. In Canada, some call to defund the CBC. Though not necessarily new, this is undoubtedly a dangerous environment. Journalists play an important role for the public in uncovering truth and holding power to account. They should be valued and protected.

However, this narrative of an oppressed press — which is important — must be coupled with an otherwise neglected story: that of race in the newsroom. Internal power dynamics demand as much scrutiny as external ones. In fact, racial equity can help media to better fulfil its role and legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

Freedom of the press comes with a responsibility to tell untold or undertold stories and bring underheard storytellers to the centre. In engaging in more self-reflection on its shortcomings, the media can take a step toward improving its commitment to the public interest and regain legitimacy.

The Sunny Dhillon case The departure of reporter Sunny Dhillon from The Globe and Mail in late October exemplifies the importance of discussing race and journalism in a Canadian media landscape that is largely white.

In a Medium article, Dhillon revealed that he chose to leave the paper because of both a “single incident and a continuing pattern.” The instigating factor was that, in his coverage of the Vancouver municipal election, his editor told him to focus more on the election of women to the city council, and not on the fact that a city of almosthalf Asian background had no corresponding ethnic representation at all. When he disagreed on the angle, she informed him that the newsroom is “not a democracy.”

Last year, a Varsity editorial argued that there is no such thing as unbiased reporting because “re-

ports are created by authors and shaped by editors whose perspectives and personal experiences are inherently injected into the final product.”

The obsession with ‘objectivity’ is flawed because the very same ‘objective’ reality — such as the Vancouver municipal election — can be covered differently, based on who the reporter is.

One’s personal identity, which includes race, class, gender, and more, cannot be divorced from one’s professional journalism. Identity informs what is valued, reported, discussed, and published.

But this nexus is a shortcoming to suggest that we should strive for total ignorance of colour. It is instead what makes the presence of journalists of colour so crucial.

Intrinsic and instrumental value Representation in the newsroom has intrinsic value. Workplaces should look like general society, and they should actively seek to hire people of colour, given the discriminatory tendency of institutions to overlook qualified and competent racialized candidates.

But it also has an instrumental value: without it, the media risks insufficiently or inaccurately covering a story or missing a story entirely. This is as much about self-interest as it is about racial justice.

Last week, a Guardian article noted that “appearance is not the real problem. A democratic media is.” Not only should journalists of colour be ‘included,’ in a numerical sense, but they should take up space, voice, and power in the newsroom to identify gaps in a paper’s coverage and tell stories in a more accurate and nuanced way. In turn, the communities that they reflect can be better represented in media and become a readership that fully trusts such organizations.

Media reports also shape public opinion and dialogue. By not reporting on the racial gap in the Vancouver municipal election, the general public was left unaware of the problem. Instead, the public is left with misrepresentative and stereotypical stories that only portray Asians as “foreign real-estate buyers and money [launderers].” Until the media addresses its own race problem, the general public will continue to be misinformed and racism will continue unaddressed.

Dhillon’s story headlined because his experience of the fact that what he “brought to the newsroom did not matter” was shared by many other journalists of colour, who feel ignored, silenced, and overlooked when it comes to race. But many continue to endure it all because leaving the newsroom would mean abdicating responsibility to represent what is already so unrepresented.

In a follow-up Medium article, Dhillon shared some of these responses from other journalists of colour, which pointed to another side of the issue:

they are not just their race. They are also individuals with a diverse range of abilities and interests.

They should not be hired to serve as essentialized, go-to ‘ethnic’ reporters.

The Canadian media problem Dhillon’s story should be understood in the context of other Canadian media’s shortcomings on racial equity.

In 2017, columnist Desmond Cole, best known for his activism and journalism on anti-Blackness in the Toronto Police, resigned from the Toronto Star. After being told that he wrote about race too often and that journalists can’t simultaneously be activists, Cole ultimately chose “activism in the service of Black liberation” over his column.

Writers like Cole are expected to deliver diversity quotas and improve media’s inclusionary image, but when they attempt to reshape journalistic culture and public conversation about antiBlackness in this country, they are pushed out. As a Varsity editorial noted, media coverage on antiBlackness had already been disappointing. The loss of Cole, who was also one of the only Black columnists in mainstream Canadian media, made the situation even worse.

Around the same time, prominent Canadian media figures defended disgraced Hal Niedzviecki in the ‘appropriation prize’ controversy. He had encouraged writers to “imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities” in their work. This swiftly drew criticism from Indigenous peoples, given the connection between cultural appropriation, Canada’s colonial history, and the record of Canadian media in the misrepresentation and exclusion of Indigenous communities and voices.

Last week, Maclean’s released the cover of its December issue, which unironically represented white Conservative Party leaders as “the resistance” to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax plan. This decision dangerously reinforces the view of many far-right figures and movements today that white conservatives are oppressed and marginalized in this country. Furthermore, it coopts the struggle of actually marginalized communities — queer folks, Black people, Indigenous communities — who are the real resistance in Canada to establishment leaders.

It is clear that Dhillon’s story is not isolated.

Canadian media organizations must do much better in deciding which stories to tell and who to tell them — especially when it impacts how the public understands the world around them.

newspaper, commented that for mainstream media, doing better on diversity starts with, and should draw inspiration from, student papers. After all, whereas columnists in Canada are mostly cisgender, straight, white men, student paper mastheads do better with representation.

However, this should not be cause for celebration alone. As The Strand noted in an editorial last month, student journalism should strive not just to be accurate, but equitable. As student journalists, many of us are the future of Canadian media — and therefore we have a responsibility to be the generation that does better on equity.

At The Varsity, we realize that we are no exception when it comes to journalistic fallibility.

Although we are proud of our diverse masthead, our reporting and publishing can and has come up short for underserved communities in recent memory. We realize that the presence of journalists of colour must be qualified with power.

We continue to strive to improve our newsroom culture and practices in order to better empower marginalized voices, including by building relationships with those communities. We know that what we cover — and don’t cover — has implications for student public opinion, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly.

Today, the press is threatened on multiple fronts. On the one hand, powerful actors seek to undermine the legitimacy of and trust in media.

On the other hand, the press is undermining its own legitimacy when it fails to serve marginalized communities. This is especially concerning because, with the global growth of the far right, race and identity are increasingly at the heart of all things political. Media must therefore strive for sensitive, responsible journalism when it comes to race — more than ever.

And it starts with internal reform. Of course, media leaders should hire and elevate more people of colour to positions of power to ensure that they have a strong voice in the newsroom. But as as a recent J-Source article noted, it is not those at the top who will lead the change.

Rather, it is the workers — reporters, fact checkers, designers, photographers — who must collectively organize and demand change for a more equitable workplace. They are to whom the newsroom belongs.

When the Globe editor said to Dhillon that there is no democracy in the media, she wasn’t wrong. But there should be. Let’s start by putting more colour in our print.

The responsibility of student journalists In a Globe and Mail piece this summer, Amy O’Kruk, former editor-in-chief of Western University’s Gazette, Western University’s student

The Varsity’s editorial board is elected by the masthead at the beginning of each semester. For more information about the editorial policy, email editorial@ thevarsity.ca.

12 | THE VARSITY | FEATURES

A brief overview of radical politics in Toronto Writer: Justin Patrick Photographer: Jason Hargrove/CC Flickr, Marc Falardeau/CC Flickr, The Varsity Archives

T

oronto has a rich history of radical politics. Over multiple generations, University of Toronto students have consistently taken the initiative as political participants and leaders.

As early as the nineteenth century, U of T students have advocated for a more inclusive campus and improved broader community. The very first issue of The Varsity, from October 7, 1880 contains an article staunchly defending the then-contentious idea of allowing women not only entry into university, but the same access to programs of study, scholarships, and extracurricular activities as men. In that same year, students challenged conventional teaching methods, describing curricula as “too much reading… too little thought.”

These early years of recorded student activity are characterized by intellectual resistance, wherein students advocated for change and independent thinking. With that said, universities were still dominated by white, privileged men, who shaped the institution in their image — to the exclusion or marginalization of other groups. Nevertheless, these primary organizing ideas manifested into student organizations designed to facilitate the extracurricular activities and advocacy that students demanded. By the early twentieth century, U of T had a student government. Students would also play a key role in creating the National Federation of Canadian University Students in 1926, the first national student union in Canada.

In the city at large, radical politics in the early twentieth century took the form of grassroots social collectives, united under causes like feminism and anarchism. Toronto also sheltered political exiles from the United States, including the influential Emma Goldman.

Goldman was a Jewish-Russian immigrant who challenged all injustices she came across, including poor working conditions, a lack of social supports for the lower classes, and discrimination against women. This led her to join, and eventually lead, anarchist movements in Canada and the United States. Goldman lived in Toronto

briefly, in a small walk-up apartment on Spadina Avenue, and died in a friend’s home on Vaughan Road in 1940.

Goldman gave speeches calling for many things taken for granted today, including birth control, tolerance of non-heterosexual orientations, an eight-hour workday, and banning corporal punishment in schools. Her actions attracted the negative attention of police, and she soon bore the nickname “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World.”

One of Goldman’s Canadian successes was halting the extradition of Attilio Bortolotti, a key figure in Toronto’s early anarchist movement. Bortolotti, an Italian immigrant, edited anarchist journals and advocated against Benito Mussolini’s policies from abroad. He was slotted to be extradited to Italy, and many speculated that once he’d arrived, he’d be killed by the fascist government for his dissidence.

Goldman engaged in campaigns to raise awareness and garner public support about Bortolotti’s plight, successfully pressuring the Canadian government to cancel his extradition.

Despite the cataclysmic events of World War II and the resulting onset of the Cold War, radical politics in Toronto and on campus persisted. Tommy Douglas, described in a 1954 issue of The Varsity as “the only Socialist premier in Canada,” came to speak to U of T students in the fall of that year.

Throughout the early 1960s, The Varsity made it a priority to hear from those in society who had largely been silent in mainstream media, including communists, sex workers, and those suffering from drug addiction.

In 1960, the U of T Communist Club was founded. Their first meeting was crashed by a crowd of anti-communist students shouting “Rule Britannia,” attempting to drown out the communists.

Supposedly, they gained a majority in the room and began to force the club to adopt anti-communist stances, such as the endorsement of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s speech at the United Nations,

which condemned the imposition of political and economic orders on new countries. The Varsity interviewed one of these communist students to get their perspective.

U of T students also flirted with communism abroad. A mysterious letter sent to The Varsity in 1960 under a pseudonym told an account of five U of T students who joined Fidel Castro’s resistance forces in Cuba to fight against the oppressive Bautista regime. According to the account, the students spent two months wandering through Cuban jungles until they found the rebels' camp and met Castro himself, who welcomed them into his ranks. The students participated in military activities and were active members of the resistance movement.

While The Varsity's editors at the time questioned the truthfulness of the account, it was compelling enough for them to publish it with a disclaimer, and it has since become campus legend.

And then came 1968, a pivotal year for student movements, which saw unprecedented mass protests around the world in countries including Brazil, Mexico, Czechoslovakia, France, and the United States. The University of Toronto was swept up in this current, which saw a spike in activism on campus and in the city. Students impacted by a housing crisis in Toronto built a tent city outside of Hart House to call for change. This newly-formed community began to host their own events, entertainment, and advocacy initiatives to raise awareness about their need for accessible to housing. In fact, they became so organized that they arranged for ads in The Varsity to inform students about their upcoming activities.

While most U of T students were not directly affected by the Vietnam War and the military draft lottery that led to massive student protests south of the border, they still recognized the war’s controversial nature and empathized with their American counterparts. Fall 1968 saw a large protest consisting of students and local activists in front of the American consulate in Toronto, which resulted in a number of arrests and instances of police violence, including the beating of protesters and riding horses into crowds. A number of students wrote to The Varsity, denouncing the Toronto police as pigs, while a later issue was filled with letters from students defending the police as trying their best to maintain order.

During this time, student demographics were beginning to change significantly. The first scholarship students from Africa arrived at U of T in 1960, which in the same academic year prompted a series of articles calling out racist behaviours on campus. By 1970, a Black Students Union had formed, and the Students’ Administrative Council — now known as the University of Toronto Students’ Union — decided to allocate $5,000 annually to this organization to support marginalized students. In 1969, the University of Toronto Homophile Association (UTHA) was established to advocate for equal rights and freedoms for students of non-heterosexual orientations.

This marked the first time that such a group had been organized in Ontario or at any Canadian university. The advocacy of UTHA activists helped bring about changes in paradigms of sexuality and gender in Canada and across the world. Today, the UTHA is now known as Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans People of the University of Toronto (LGBTOUT) and has a permanent space on campus for organizing a variety of events and programming for LGBTQ students.

features@thevarsity.ca

While many Canadian protests in the 1960s had been in response to events in other countries, everything changed with the rise of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). Québec separatism exploded in the early 1970s with the election of separatist governments, mailbox bombings, and the kidnapping of politicians. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act and deployed the military in Québec to restore order. However, what is not well known is that martial law was enforced in other parts of Canada as well. Two University of Toronto students were arrested for allegedly supporting the FLQ, and their rights of habeas corpus were suspended under Trudeau’s invocation of the War Measures Act. Despite this, many U of T students were committed to bringing about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Several meetings about the crisis in Québec were held on campus in 1970, with the ultimate conclusion being that U of T students should take action.

After two Indigenous women from Kenora were unjustly jailed in 1970, a protest was organized at Queen’s Park by Indigenous activists from across the province, highlighting the racist behaviour of the judge who presided over the case and Indigenous peoples’ limited access to legal counsel. In 1992, an organization now known as the Indigenous Students Association was formed, dedicated to providing community for Indigenous students on campus and advocating for their needs.

Environmentalism also began to catch on in the 1970s, with articles in The Varsity outlining how corporations were lobbying

against environmental protections to make more profits. Other students began to theorize how these sentiments could develop into a lasting political movement to foster policy change.

The 1980s saw the rise of neoliberalism and a more conformist ideology spread through academia, which emphasized focusing primarily on academics and spending less time on activism. U of T seems to have felt some of this as well, with activism focusing more on smaller local issues like high rent prices. It was not until the 1990s that University of Toronto students would rise up again in large numbers, this time in response to the proposed tuition increases of the Progressive Conservative government in Ontario, led by Premier Mike Harris. Roundtables were held on campus that hosted prominent speakers like former NDP Ontario Premier Bob Rae, who encouraged students to build coalitions with other community groups.

Over 7,000 people attended a protest at Queen’s Park in 1995 to challenge the Harris government’s budget cuts to education.

As in 1968, police tried to disperse the demonstrators. A column of officers in full riot gear, 14 wide and five deep, advanced toward the protestors, beating anyone in their path with batons. Then-U of T student Allison Starkey, who attended the protest, described an incident in which a police officer cracked open the skull of a mother of four with his baton. Student leaders were influential in the protest, with Arts and Sciences Students’ Union and Graduate Students’ Union representatives and members asserting their

presence among a number of students from Toronto secondary schools. The Students’ Administrative Council was criticized by students for not formally attending the protest.

The twenty-first century would in many ways see a continuation of advocacy for the social issues brought to the forefront in the twentieth century, and in some cases these issues would blend together. The 2008 financial crisis prompted the formation of a number of social movements designed to highlight economic inequalities by physically occupying areas of cities where financial power was concentrated. Occupy Toronto was one of these groups, formed in 2011, which organized a 40-day protest with activists setting up camp in St. James Park.

From their encampment, the activists would go to Toronto’s financial district to engage in a series of demonstrations. The camp was largely sustained through the generosity of Toronto residents.

Other, more organic protests formed in response to the G20 summit held in Toronto in 2010, with activists challenging elite politicians and discriminatory economic policies, as well as the cost to Canadians to host the summit. Police established a temporary detention centre and arrested over 1,100 people, most of whom were later released. A report by the city's Office of the Independent Police Review Director released two years later outlined that police tactics during the protests had breached Canadians’ constitutional rights.

It may be argued that in recent times, student engagement in advocacy activities and political participation in Canada, outside Québec, is insufficient and has little genuine influence on policy. However, students today benefit from powerful democratic student unions that, in addition to advocacy, provide services to help improve the quality of education in spite of unfavourable economic and policy trends.

Identifying issues and working together as students necessitates communicating effectively between large numbers of students. An independent student press is crucial for highlighting important issues for students today and tomorrow. At U of T, we’re lucky to have multiple student newspapers. Similarly, extracurricular groups on campus need to work together to engage their members toward common goals. A good way to facilitate campus coalitions is to host joint events and activities where different memberships can develop friendships and exchange ideas. Cooperation between undergraduate and graduate student organizations, and even secondary and postsecondary students, is particularly valuable.

Furthermore, students should always ensure that their own organizations, especially student unions, have fair decision-making processes. Any authoritarian practice, including excessive power in the hands of unelected officials, financial mismanagement, discrimination, lack of transparency, or interference with democratic processes, should be challenged. That way, we’ll be ready for future crises.

As history shows, a strong framework for student advocacy exists, and can continuously be improved. The challenge lies in identifying tangible policy goals and the accompanying political tactics that would be the most successful in achieving them.

Arts & Culture

November 12, 2018 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Where’s the old Kanye?

The idea that you need to be unstable to be a successful artist is damaging and dangerous Michelle Krasovitski Varsity Staff

In late October 2016, my best friend and I dished out over $150 for Kanye West tickets.

I was out of the country at the end of August when he first brought the Saint Pablo tour to Toronto, so I was determined to see him in December. Of course, that never happened, because on November 19 in Sacramento, California, Kanye started his concert an hour and a half late, performed for 15 minutes, and then gave a half-hour rant before running off stage. The tour was immediately cancelled and Kanye was hospitalized and placed on psychiatric hold.

Kanye left the public eye for a while, and from his few appearances, it seemed as though he was getting better, healthier.

Then, this spring, Kanye resurfaced, more controversial than ever. He pledged his support for Trump, louder than he had in 2016, sporting that signature garish red hat with the white script.

Those of us who follow Kanye’s social media — and had heard quiet murmurings that a new project was on its way — hoped that this was just a publicity stunt to reemerge into public consciousness. In the age of streaming, when curiosity-clicks on YouTube and Spotify generate legitimate revenue, any form of attention is promotion.

And Kanye knows a thing or two about controversial promotions.

Some of Kanye’s previous albums have been directly preceded by some controversy or petty feud, usually sequestered in the Hollywood-sphere. Before Graduation’s release in 2007, Kanye was in a public rivalry with 50 Cent; he even moved his album’s release date to the same day as 50 Cent’s to heighten the sense of competition. Kanye's infamous intervention in Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs and the subsequent fallout probably helped in the conception of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released in 2010. The Life of Pablo was released after three very public re-namings in 2016, and was concurrent with part two of his Taylor Swift drama, in which he and Swift had a falling out over lyrics in his single “Famous.”

Kanye has always used the public’s gaze to his advantage: luring admirers and critics in with whatever drama he has managed to stir up, only to deliver thoughtful, experimental, and groundbreaking music.

Kanye’s Trump love last spring therefore had me crossing my fingers and hoping that this was just his latest approach to promotion. After all, it doesn’t make sense for Kanye to support someone like Trump.

Because if we do as musicians generally expect us to do — take their lyrics as an extension of their thoughts and beliefs — we get a picture of Kanye who, for all intents and purposes, would not be backing Trump.

In the first verse of “New Day,” Kanye raps: “I mean I might even make [my son] be a Republican so everybody knows he love white people.” In “Two Words,” he references police racially profiling Black men.

In “Murder to Excellence,” Kanye manages the most jarring lyric on the track: “Three hundred and fourteen soldiers died in Iraq, five hundred and nine died in Chicago.” Violence in Kanye’s hometown of Chicago is a recurrent theme both in his lyricism and public activism. In “New Slaves,” he raps about racism and the prison-industrial complex.

Kanye has always been progressive. In 2009, he criticized the hip hop industry for its attitude toward gay people. In 2005, he shocked millions when, during a relief concert for Hurricane Katrina, he ad-libbed the now famous quip, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”

Kanye was contrarian, but more importantly, he was logically sound and presented nuanced ideas and thoughts — granted, usually in less-than-ideal circumstances. So, I, like many of his other fans, had hoped that this unabashed political outspokenness was a new approach to promotion. Alas, it proved to be something much more.

This controversial era is unlike his others — primarily because his statements stand polar opposite to the person Kanye used to be. Nowadays, it seems like Kanye is being contrarian simply for the sake of being contrarian. By his own admission, Kanye admires Trump because Trump is doubted: it is as if Kanye is looking to be ostracized.

And it’s left many of us scratching our heads, wondering how and why. We can get into a heated discussion about what fuels Kanye’s Trump endorsement — is it dissonance, egofuelled self-promotion, or a genuine personal investment?

And then, just as quickly and suddenly as it had begun, Kanye’s Trump love ended: a few weeks after his White House meeting with the president, Kanye donated over $120,000 USD to Democratic Chicoagan mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. A couple of weeks after that, he tweeted that he felt he was being used: “My eyes are now wide open and now realize that I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in.” For the time being, it seems that Kanye is distancing himself from politics.

My intention is not to condemn or defend Kanye’s recent political outbursts: politics is just one small fragment of Kanye’s unique presence in pop culture. Rather, this is meant to spotlight his slow and bizarre descent into martyring himself as a tortured artist.

Can suffering be inspirational? Motivational? A combination of the two? Our understanding of art history is plagued with figures who are as tortured as they are talented: the starving artist, the poète maudit, the quixotic writer. Drug addiction and substance abuse; sexual repression and frustration; narcissism, self-loathing, and anti-sociality — these are all things we expect to find when we dig into the biographies of auteurs.

It’s been hammered into our heads that creativity stems from adversity. Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear, Sylvia Plath was clinically depressed, Oscar Wilde was jailed for his homosexuality, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was exiled to a labour camp, and historians believe that Edgar Allan Poe suffered from bipolar disorder.

It seems that the message we are pedaling as a society is that to create good art, you must suffer. Take Damien Chazelle’s 2014 film Whiplash, or even this year’s A Star is Born for more contemporary examples. The problem with this belief is that not all dives into addiction and mental illness come with brighter days afterward: all of the aforementioned artists ended with unfortunate deaths.

Our adherence to the mythos that anguish and misery is conducive to creativity is incredibly dangerous, it is alarming, and clashes with today’s overall attitude toward mental illness. To suggest that a writer writes best when manic, or that an artist paints better when depressed, dismisses the importance of

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

their overall health and stability.

This is where we return to Kanye’s diagnosis. On October 1, Kanye sat down with TMZ for an interview in which he mentioned that he was off his medication. Link this to his song “Yikes,” in which he calls his bipolar disorder a “superpower,” and you get a very disturbing picture of Kanye’s mindset right now. Considering that the psychology community has long debated whether or not bipolar disorder has a direct link to creativity, and maybe Kanye’s mindset is not all his doing.

For an individual who takes art and the creative process extremely seriously, it should surprise no one that Kanye puts his ability to create above his health. When we prioritize achievements and success over everything else, what other outcome could there be?

We glorify and romanticize artists who have suffered throughout history, arguing passionately that their success came from strife. In the twenty-first century, the tortured artist is scrutinized by fans, ostracized by the media, and laughed at by society as a whole.

Is Kanye under the impression that channeling his mental illness will help him create better music? Are all these bizarre public outbursts just a side effect? Can we blame him if they are? We love tales of suffering disguised as underdog stories, ones that conveniently leave out tragic and unfortunate

endings. Mental illness is not something to be ashamed of, but it’s not something to indulge either. “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome,” reads the cover of Ye. This is not to say that we should give Kanye a free pass. However, we do need to be patient and allow Kanye to return to form, to the Kanye who approache drug-dealing in impoverished neighbourhoods with nuance in “We Don’t Care” and criticized excess in celebrity life in “So Appalled.”

The fact that Kanye paints his disorder as a superpower should ring alarm bells. The fact that there are real communities that believe that not taking medication results in heightened creativity should worry us.

Our perception of mental illness is skewed and harmful, and we have to start a dialogue about what kind of messages we — the readers of newspapers, listeners of Spotify, viewers of cable — retain and promote.

There’s a lot of things to unpack here: both the endurance of the tortured artist trope, and the lack of serious conversations surrounding mental illness, particularly for Black men. We need to reassess our attitude toward art and creativity.

You should not have to have a public meltdown, or cut off your ear, to make good art or be considered a gifted artist.

Hopefully, someone lets Kanye know that.

NOVEMBER 12, 2018 | 15

var.st/arts

The tales of a Victorian ghost University of Toronto History Society tells the stories of the university’s haunted past Josie Greenhill Varsity Contributor

It seems that more and more people are interested in U of T’s history or, rather, its hauntings. The University of Toronto History Society’s (UTHS) ghost tours doubled in size this year; after its October 29 event sold out within a week, the Society added another tour on October 30.

Tickets were sold out, with over 200 people gathered each night to hear some of UTSG’s spookiest stories.These tours shed light on the 191year history of the campus and, most importantly, the ghosts that haunt it.

Student interpreters led their groups while dressed in Victorian clothing and wearing ghostly makeup, making the experience even more immersive.

It is unsurprising that between U of T’s oldest colleges and their surrounding buildings — University College (est. 1853), St. Michael’s College (est.

1852), Trinity College (est. 1851), and

Victoria College (est. 1836) — there is no shortage of stories.

Here are some highlights for those who couldn’t snap up tickets to this popular event: University College Two stonemasons, Ivan Reznikoff and Paul Diabolos — both of whom have cafés named after them at UC — worked on the UC building in the mid-1800s. Conflict arose between the two men when the supposedly fitter and more handsome Diabolos pursued the fiancée of the heavier set and more disagreeable Reznikoff, eventually persuading her to elope with him.

Reznikoff discovered their plan and confronted Diabolos on the work site, axe in hand. The two men dueled, and Diabolos ran off to hide in the scaffolding. Knowing he was no match for Reznikoff ’s stature and weapon, Diabolos armed himself with a small dagger and jumped out from his hiding place. He struck Reznikoff, killing him instantly, then throwing the corpse into the stairwell before encasing it in cement.

Reznikoff ’s ghost is said to have haunted the campus until his body was discovered decades later after a fire at University College. Neither Diabolos nor Reznikoff ’s ex-fiancée were heard from again.

Laidlaw Library You may know that Laidlaw, the UC library, houses collections relating to UC’s humanities and social sciences programs. What you may not know, however, is that it is haunted. Legend says that an overnight watchman,

The Penelopiad on stage at Hart House this November Director and cast member discuss feminism in theatre, Kavanaugh, and the #MeToo movement

The Penelopiad is a novella by U of T's very own Margret Atwood, part of the first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HART HOUSE

Khyrsten Mieras Varsity Theatre Critic

From November 9–24, Hart House will host a production of The Penelopiad, based on the novella and theatrical adaption of the same name by Canadian storyteller Margaret Atwood.

The story uses a female perspective to

deal with themes such as class, feminism, and violence.

The Varsity sat down with Michelle Langille, the show’s director, and Jeanne-Arlette Marie Parson, who plays Anticleia and one of the maids, ahead of their Hart House debuts.

They discussed the premise of The Penelopiad, its adaptation, and the rel-

Barry Breen, was studying in the library late at night, so late that his desk lamp was the only remaining source of light in the room.

A wave of drowsiness suddenly overcame him and he fell asleep, only to be awoken by a chill in the room.

When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that all the desk lamps and ceiling lights were on. The student alerted campus police in a state of shock, but records showed no one had entered the library while he was asleep. Whoever turned the lights on might not even be a “who,” but a “what.”

Victoria College Chapel A former president of Victoria College died in the 1950s, and the Victoria College chapel was used for his funeral. Because he was so well-known and well-liked, the service had to take place over two days: one day for the university community, including students and colleagues who knew him well, and the other for close friends and family.

The coffin containing the president's body was left in the chapel after the first service, and the security guards began their rounds of the college that night. One guard patrolled his usual spots, checking the back of the building, the third floor, and making sure all the doors were locked. He swore he heard the chapel doors rattling, but they were securely locked.

The guard patrolled the same area several hours later, and this time the chapel doors began to shake violently.

The frightened guard unlocked the door and saw that the coffin, too, was shaking as though someone was try-

evance of staging an all-female play in today’s political climate.

The Varsity: Could you give us a quick summary of the play?

Michelle Langille: The Penelopiad is essentially a reimagining or re-exploration of Homer’s myth, The Odyssey, so the story of Odysseus. Odysseus had a wife named Penelope, who very, very lightly appears in the story and is sort of seen as this faithful woman who sat around for 20 years while [Odysseus] went off and fought in the Trojan War. He then had all these crazy adventures on the way back to her, and she’s sort of viewed as the most faithful, the most patient woman in that mythological world. So, Margaret Atwood has written a story that basically gives us her side of the events and what happened to her while she was waiting for Odysseus.

TV: Why did you want to be a part of The Penelopiad?

Jeanne-Arlette Parson: I was definitely drawn to [her] imagining of The Odyssey — kind of flipping history and letting our voices be heard, especially in this time and with the theme of sexual violence and rape claims and accusations. I think it’s really important, especially having a full-female cast, to really have our voices be heard and shed light on what’s going on and reflect reality in order to hopefully inspire people to take action and be a part of her story and... what’s going on in today’s society.

ML: I’m really interested in the idea of how we silence women and how women silence other women. It’s coming more and more to the front

The U of T History Society runs campus ghost tours every-year — see for yourself next Halloween.

CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON/THE VARSITY

ing to escape; thumping and groaning could be heard from within.

Terrified, the guard locked the chapel doors and ran, never returning to Victoria College ever again. The body was, of course, buried after the second service the following day, but no security guard has dared to go into Old Vic alone since that night. They always go in pairs, there’s always a light on, and sometimes, the doors still shake.

Is there a plausible explanation for this phenomenon? Or is it the former

and forefront, the idea of intersectional feminism, which is that idea that I, as a white woman, can talk about my experience, but there’s always going to be another woman whose experienced not just what I’ve experienced because she’s of her gender, but because of her race, because of her status, because of all of the things that have factored into who she is, which is really a thing that kind of gets pushed to the side sometimes.

TV: The play deals with a lot of mature issues. What message do you want the audience to take away from it?

ML: Action. We’ve talked a lot about how Atwood’s play was written. It continues to gain in relevance, which is exciting for theatre-makers, but it’s sad for the world. We’ve gained more vocabulary around this kind of stuff, around feminism and around equality and around what the dangers are of not listening and not being heard, and then the way that we treat women’s voices.

If we’d done the play six months ago, we wouldn’t have the Kavanaugh experience, but there were other things that were shifting and so, every time this play gets revisited, I think sadly [that] it’s still relevant to the world. Like Penelope says in the script, “I can see that your world is still as dangerous as mine was, way back then. Through eons we still continue to suppress the voices of women.”

JP: I think it also gives light to the women who are complicit in what is going on. Kavanaugh’s wife and people who have that privilege, who can stay silent because they may have had

president, trapped forever in his coffin, trying to escape? You can decide for yourself next time you pass the chapel.

These are just small snippets of the stories that UTHS researched, wrote, and delivered during their tours. It’s unsurprising how quickly the event sold out, considering its concoction of history, lore, and ghosts.

Keep these stories in mind next time you find yourself alone on campus — especially at night.

some experiences but because of their status, they don’t have to deal with it if they don’t want to and I think Penelope is kind of a perfect example of that.

When we’re all gone from this earth, [what matters is] what guilt are you left with, what did you do to make this world a better place, what did you do to help someone who was in need, kind of thing.

TV: Was it important to you to do the play right now during the #MeToo era, with Kavanaugh and everything that’s going on?

ML: The pitch had been accepted before the Kavanaugh thing even started. Back in the spring, I knew I was doing the play and I knew why I was intrigued by it, but that’s actually just continued to deepen based on world events changing. I rewrote my director’s notes like six times because every week it was like, ‘Well, I can’t say that now because now it’s moved onto this; this other horrific thing has happened.’ It’s just crazy, depending on where your optimism levels live. It’s wonderful that the play can continue to be relevant and gain in relevance, but the fact of what it stays relevant to is a little depressing.

JP: It’s definitely very taxing on actors and directors because we know these things are still happening — and kind of getting worse, to be honest — in the world. It’s also a collective — almost bravery to be like, ‘Hey guys, we’re putting our emotional selves into this piece of work to show you the reality in maybe a different way, in a way that you might understand’ and hopefully that can inspire people to continue to do the work that needs to be done to help change it.

16 | THE VARSITY | ARTS & CULTURE

arts@thevarsity.ca

Yearn 2 Learn

Six students share their thoughts on the privileges that come with studying at an institute of higher education Yasaman Mohaddes Varsity Contributor

Going to school can often be taken for granted, especially when we are overwhelmed with the stress of assignments and midterms. It is very easy to overlook how lucky we are to be studying at university, instead of acknowledging how privileged we are to be able to study, attend classes, and learn beyond ourselves.

As students at one of the best universities in the world, it is imperative that we take a step back and recognize the many advantages that come with having access to an education — an opportunity that many people are deprived of during their childhood and adolescent years.

Yearn 2 Learn is a project created by U of T’s chapter of The Citizens Foundation, which aims to raise awareness and fundraise to help create educational infrastructure through community building and mentorship programs. The foundation also started an initiative to build primary and secondary schools for children in Pakistan.

The Yearn 2 Learn photo project hopes to shine a light on the diverse perspectives of U of T students about what education really means to them. In doing so, the project seeks to demonstrate the various ways in which education has had a role in “shaping individuals and society” and in turn, make us more mindful about why we choose to pursue higher education.

“I have had the privilege of being able to attend the University of Toronto for my undergrad. The University of Toronto, in every way, has fundamentally changed the way I carry myself: Every type of knowledge I experienced at UofT was a gain, especially grammar knowledge! My education is something I hold onto dearly: It has literally created a huge part of my being and purpose. Education is the one thing that makes me hopeful for the future, for my own and the world around me.”

Alexandra Sterjovski is a fourthyear student studying English and Human Geography.

“Education to me means freedom. It’s the power to think critically and examine the world as we know it. It gives us the tools to unbiasedly formulate our own opinions and as a result creates who we are. I think education is the most important opportunity anyone can ever receive because it’s the value to not only learn about the world but also about yourself. Education is freedom because without it you’re left vulnerable to the biased views of others. Education gives you the ability to take knowledge and examine it from multiple angles.

It’s the freedom to formulate your own ideas that you can take into the world, and hopefully, make it a little better.”

Aryana Munsamy is a fourth-year student studying Environmental Studies and Sociology.

now at one of the top universities in the world. However, many children around the world are not as fortunate... I see education as an opportunity to teach others as well as an opportunity to learn from those that you teach.”

Haya Faisal is a first-year student studying at Rotman Commerce.

“Education is the ability to obtain the tools needed to take on the challenges of the future. It is the pathway to creatively discover the unknown, and provides the resources to implement new knowledge in a productive and beneficial way. Education provides an avenue to challenge the knowledge of the present and to consistently improve and better our understanding of ourselves, and the world we live in. Ultimately, it provides the necessary mechanisms to discover one’s own capabilities, enabling one to use these skills to innovatively contribute to society.”

Georgia Dryden is a fourth-year student studying Evolutionary Anthropology and Archeology.

“For me, education is the gateway to success. It is the ability to inspire others with knowledge, it’s awareness of self. All the advancements and inventions that we see around us are a result of it. I believe it is a basic right of every human to have access to education and accomplish their dreams.”

Fatima Zahidi is a third-year student studying at Rotman Commerce.

“Education is a privilege and a power. We have to realize how lucky we are to be in the positions we are and how much opportunities we receive because of where we are. It is easy to let the stresses of it all fog up the freedoms education offers us, but I think it’s important to always take a step back and realize how lucky we are to have the resources necessary to consume new information. I believe we are a mixture of personality, experiences, and knowledge so education does take a huge part of who we are.”

Sabrina Rollock is a fourth-year student studying English and History.

“Education to me is a chance to change lives. Education is the gateway to success. From education, we are able to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to grow, mature and be successful. I consider myself to be extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to study in one of the best schools in Saudi Arabia and

You can visit The Citizens Foundation's Facebook page to learn more about Yearn 2 Learn.

Yasaman Mohaddes is the Director of Corporate Relations for The Citizens Foundation.

Overlooked: Departures

Escape Toronto’s November and explore the world through this travel show

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

Angie Luo Varsity Contributor

I first stumbled across Departures on my Netflix dashboard, hidden in the depths of the Travel & Adventure Documentaries category. I frequent this category to feed my desire to escape from the confines of school and academics, and instead travel and see the world. Before long, the series had succeeded in at least partially quenching that thirst.

Departures documents the journey of

three young men who leave their conventional lives behind to travel the world.

Their travels take them to the corners of the world, including North Korea, Ascension Island, and the far north of their native Canada, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones too.

Departures is unlike traditional travel shows. The beauty of the series lies in its delicate balance between documenting the trio’s destinations, new experiences, and personal struggles over the course of the year.

This balance is established from the start, with awe-inspiring visual landscapes in the title sequence. The whimsical background audio is overlaid with the travellers narrating why they have chosen to travel the world and the sacrifices they have made to do so.

Soon enough, you develop a deep bond and love not only for the destinations they visit, but for the men behind the show themselves. Scott, the resident dad, leads the three, making sure that they don’t get into too much trouble

along the way. Justin, the goofiest of the three, provides lighthearted charm while Andre’s brief and infrequent cameos from behind the camera offer humorous snark but also remind viewers of the intimacy of their travels. At the end of the day, their grand and beautiful excursions are really just three guys filming themselves while having fun.

Over the course of their three years of travel you become immersed in their friendship. You feel like — or at least want to be — the fourth bro taking part

in their foreign nightclub escapades, attempts to eat exotic foods, and hikes through remote destinations.

The show simultaneously subdues my wanderlust and makes it scream even louder. It will satisfy your appetite for adventure momentarily, but not before sending you into an obsessive research spiral for the gear that you’ll need and the places that you’ll visit during your very own post-graduation backpacking trip.

Science

November 12, 2018 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

Genes fads: research bias has neglected most of the human genome

Most genes remain a mystery nearly 15 years after scientists sequenced the human genome Salma Shickh Varsity Contributor

When the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, scientists were optimistic that a medical revolution was on the horizon. The promise of personalized medicine seemed within reach.

But 15 years later, this revolution hasn’t materialized and researchers are still uncovering the meaning of the genome.

The research bias Although the human genome has about 20,000 genes, researchers have focused most work on a small minority of genes.

In 2011, Gary Bader, a professor at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, and his colleagues contributed to an article in Nature that highlighted this gap in research.

More recently, a study led by Thomas Stoeger at Northwestern University reported that the gap remains and scientists are still studying only a fraction of the genome.

Based on Stoeger’s work, approximately one quarter of genes have never been studied by a full publication and remain poorly characterized.

Gene trends through the decades Different genes have been popular over the decades, falling in and out of fashion with time.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the United States has been tracking publications on genes in its PubMed database, which revealed these trends.

In the early 1980s, a significant chunk of genetic research focused on HBB, a gene critical for the development of hemoglobin, the molecule responsible for carrying oxygen in red blood cells.

Interest in hemoglobin was spurred by the work of researchers in the 1940s and 1950s who discovered the role of abnormal hemoglobin in sickle cell disease, a disorder in which individuals

are at risk of developing multiple infections and pain episodes over their lifetime.

But hemoglobin’s popularity was short-lived.

The 1980s brought about new medical concerns that shifted genetic research to different diseases.

In particular, an unknown immune system disease that was striking apparently healthy individuals at alarming rates and overwhelmingly affecting gay men shook the public and the medical community to its core.

Scientists soon discovered that the mysterious illness was attributed to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a virus that targets CD4 cells, which are a type of mature T cell that help coordinate the immune response to an infection.

The outbreak of HIV across the world garnered attention from politicians, policymakers, and the research community. By 1987, the CD4 gene dominated genetic research and retained its popularity until the mid-1990s.

By 2000, the TP53 gene was gaining traction.

Dubbed the ‘guardian of the genome’ by some, the TP53 gene is a tumour suppressor gene and mutates in nearly half of all human cancers.

While completing his doctoral studies at the University of Vienna, Peter Kerpedjiev sifted through the NLM records and generated a list of the most studied genes. His work showed that TP53 is not the only popular cancer gene: four out of the top 10 most studied genes of all time — TP53, TNF, EGFR and ESR1 — all play some role in cancer development or are targets for cancer drugs.

TP53 was briefly dethroned by APOE, a gene that was initially associated with cholesterol but whose popularity exploded when researchers made a link between variants in the gene to a risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Kerpedjiev’s work showed that both genes remain popular in research today.

Why are some genes more popular than others?

“Researchers usually first study these genes since

The most studied genes shed light on trends in scientific research.

SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY

they seem most important, and this is the answer why only a ‘minority’ have been studied so far,” wrote Stephen Scherer, director of U of T’s McLaughlin Centre and The Centre for Applied Genomics at The Hospital for Sick Children, in an email to The Varsity.

Steven Narod, Director of the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit at Women’s College Hospital, whose research focuses on BRCA1 and BRCA2, two well-characterized genes, proposed that other factors could also be at play, such as the prevalence of mutations in the genes.

He further explained that research tends to focus on genes “where the clinical implications are clear and the interpretation [of mutations] is straightforward.”

There are also significant barriers that deter novice researchers from studying unknown genes, according to Bader. In an email, he explained that “it can be difficult for researchers to take risks and explore new territory because if they don’t succeed, they may not be able to continue being funded.”

Based on Bader’s commentary, funding agencies are generally risk-averse and are less likely to support studies on lesser-known genes, which poses challenges to researchers interested in studying such genes.

What does the future of genomics hold?

Scherer is hopeful that change will come over time. “[The genes] will all be studied but there are only so many resources (human and financial) available, and this will take some time,” wrote Scherer.

Bader stressed that funding agencies can be part of the shift, by encouraging researchers to explore unknown regions of the human genome.

For example, the US National Institutes of Health has established funding opportunities targeted at researchers investigating poorly characterized genes.

The advances in genomic technologies will also likely play a role in the future.

“New genomics technologies are accelerating progress and making it easier to discover interesting genes,” wrote Bader. He also encouraged researchers to “consider devoting a percentage of their time to exploring new territory, if they are not already doing this, in addition to the major projects that they work on.”

With advancing technologies and support from granting agencies, perhaps the rest of the human genome will become less of a mystery.

New planetarium in the works at UTSG

The world-class facility will provide unparalleled access to the cosmos Ashima Kaura Varsity Contributor

The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics is planning to replace the current Astronomy & Astrophysics Building with a new structure that includes a planetarium, which could become a tourist and cultural centrepiece in Toronto.

The proposed construction is at 50 St. George Street, where the facility is currently located.

According to Raymond Carlberg, Chair of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, the new planetarium will seat around 150 people, six times more than the 25-person capacity of the department's current planetarium. Blueprints for the planetarium could be finalized as early as 2020.

The planetarium attracts students and the general public for its shows like the Grand Tour of the Cosmos and The Life and Death of Stars, which are usually led by U of T graduate students.

The new planetarium will be used for public outreach and academic research.

ESO B. TAFRESHI/CC WIKIMEDIA

However, the current theatre has limitations.

It is not wheelchair-accessible, and requires patrons to plan early to avoid the dreaded ‘bad seats,’ where catching a glimpse of the stars comes with a side of neck tension.

According to Carlberg, the new planetarium would also improve pedagogy.

“In Canada, most of the planetariums are in things like the Ontario Science Centre — but they don’t have an academic use there,” said Carl-

berg. “We’re not looking to do what Ontario Science Centre does, which is orient it to the public at large. We’re interested in giving students the best possible education.”

In addition to providing one-of-a-kind learning opportunities for their students, the department hopes that the new planetarium will be a forum for reconciliation and Indigenous education.

“Indigenous people… have a sky lore of their own,” explained Carlberg.

“We have a sky lore with our Greek and Roman constellations and they have theirs. In fact, there [are] several, for different native communities across North America because they each have their own stories. So that's a thing we would ike to do, is reach out to folks and to try to help them succeed within the University of Toronto.”

The department is now in the ‘idea stage’ of the design process. Since the current Astronomy & Astrophysics Building would have to be demolished to build the planetarium, there is discussion over other potential features of the building including an observatory, faculty offices, and teaching labs.

Though details are sparse, the department hopes that the new facility will be an architectural landmark whose purpose goes beyond the scope of astronomy, from visualizing climate data to exploring the neural networks of the human brain.

18 | THE VARSITY | SCIENCE

science@thevarsity.ca

Can artificial intelligence transform health care?

U of T researchers are at the forefront of artificial intelligence applications

Vaibhav Bhandari Varsity Staff

Artificial intelligence is undergoing a moment of zeitgeist. From the hosts of Westworld to Turingtested humanoid Ava from Ex Machina, the paranoid references to its possibilities and horrors are exploited in cinema. Siri, Cortana, and self-driving cars are perhaps popular, practical examples of the technology in use.

Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) provides enticing opportunities that could transform the medical field.

In September, U of T Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton and President Emeritus David Naylor both published articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association on deep learning and its potential to transform medicine.

Hinton, who is also a vice-president and engineering fellow at Google, distilled intricate aspects of deep learning in his article, while Naylor explored prospects for machine learning in health care in his.

At U of T, Canada Research Chair in Robots for Society and Associate Professor Goldie Nejat and her team develop socially assistive robots to aid seniors, and Professor Shahrokh Valaee uses AI and artificial X-rays to pinpoint diseases.

“I believe in artificial intelligence in the long run,” said Dr. Franz Rudzicz. “I believe there is a future out there where you’ll have something like Echo in your house and Echo itself could diagnose you.”

Rudzicz is an Associate Scientist at the International Centre for Surgical Safety of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St Michael’s Hospital and also a faculty member at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

He is among a number of researchers working to use AI to transform the practice of medicine.

At the Speech and Oral Communication lab (SPOClab), Rudzicz’s team of researchers investigate machine learning and natural language processing for use in health care practices.

Their aim is to use data to produce software that helps individuals with disabilities communicate.

“We’re interested in the whole mechanism of speech and language processing. From the acoustics in speech, to how it is physically produced by the articulators, to how it’s produced in the brain,” said Rudzicz.

In the short term, Rudzicz sees the speech recognition technology as being a Google search for physicians, providing them with relevant medical information on their patient’s history.

It could help reduce the clerical burden for physicians by providing a transcription of communication with patients and integrating that with their electronic medical record.

In the long term, with growing knowledge on the illness-related effects on the articulation of speech and speech patterns, the technology could be used as an end-to-end package to diagnose diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cerebral palsy, with some human oversight.

Despite such endeavours, there remain several hurdles that need to be overcome prior to introducing machine learning applications to a clinical setting.

Rudzicz warned against looking into the magical crystal ball for predicting the future, which “can be fun but it can also be wildly off-base.”

There remain several hurdles that need to be overcome prior to the introduction of such technology into the market.

For instance, accessing datasets that are used to develop the machine learning programs can be an expensive proposition for AI developers.

These are expensive to obtain but important as input in training the machine learning programs.

Through providing samples of variables, the input, along with its feedback, is required to build an AI. Large and diverse datasets are also critical

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

to avoid biases.

The Vector Institute obtains a large dataset of Ontarians through a collaboration with the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences.

Rudzicz explained that obtaining datasets is only the first step. The next steps would be to build an AI model, which would undergo rigorous clinical trials.

The final step is the buy-in from communities of health professionals who use the technology.

These stages are critical in developing an accurate machine, which is especially significant in medical practice.

Take Watson — a computing system developed in IBM’s Deep QA project — whose successes and failures attest to fallacies of machine learning.

At first, consumers hailed Watson as a potential breakthrough in cancer treatment, but recent news on Watson has been far from complimentary, citing inaccurate diagnoses, unsafe treatment advice, and general dissatisfaction from doctors.

On the other hand, recently published studies that use deep learning and deep neural networks to identify retinal disease, pneumonia, and skin cancer show hopeful results. Deep neural networks performed on par with a group of 21 dermatologists.

Though AI is still in its infant stages, U of T is in a position to revolutionize how machine learning is used in health care.

Crohn’s: a complex malady

Scientists face a mammoth task in pinpointing the cause of Crohn’s Vaibhav Bhandari & Mark F. Mabanglo Varsity Staff

Crohn’s disease is one of two major forms of irritable bowel disease (IBD). It is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects the digestive tract and can be localized anywhere from the mouth to anus.

In 2004, U of T researcher Dr. Katherine Siminovitch and a team of researchers from the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital isolated a gene that predisposes individuals to Crohn’s disease.

The work that led to the discovery began 10 years prior.

Dr. Vivian Huang, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital, explains that Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are “both multifactorial, in terms of that GEM idea — genetics, environment, microbiome… no one knows exactly what causes it.”

One research group at the Mount Sinai Centre for Inflammatory Bowel Disease led

by Dr. A. Hillary Steinhart and Dr. Kenneth Croitoru is part of the Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Genetic, Environmental, Microbial (GEM) Project.

Steinhart is the Head of the Combined Division of Gastroenterology for Mount Sinai

Hospital and the University Health Network.

“We’re trying to identify biomarkers, whether it’s from proteins or genes or even the microbiome in the intestine that can allow us to predict a patient’s likely course of disease, predict their response to a given treatment or a class of treatment so that we can individualize the management plan, or the treatment plan,” says Steinhart.

As there is no known cure, patients are left to manage their symptoms through diet and nutritional control, anti-inflammatory medication and immunosuppressants, or surgery in severe cases. In the US, up to $15.5 billion USD per year is spent on direct and indirect costs associated with managing Crohn’s disease. And for patients who suffer from it, the personal health toll can become much more desperate.

The symptoms associated with Crohn’s may include diarrhea and fever, and complications can sometimes lead to ulcers and colon cancer.

What this simplified, painful definition of a medical condition fails to capture are the intricacies that can lead to this disorder.

Genetic factors are known to increase an individual’s chance of inheriting Crohn’s.

Mutations in genes like NOD2 and HLADRB1 could predispose someone to Crohn’s.

But there’s no definite answer since over 200

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

genes are now linked to Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

As Steinhart points out, “I don’t use the word ‘cause’; they are ‘associated.’ Even the ones with the strongest association… might increase the risk by five times or 10 times.”

The presence of such genetic indicators is no guarantee of developing Crohn’s.

Environmental factors and lifestyle choices are also associated with Crohn’s. That said, it’s difficult to pinpoint a particular habit or factor to the disease.

In addition, microbes in the digestive system complicate research efforts. These microbes are host to trillions of microorganisms, and studies have shown that IBD, obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis could also be linked to the microorganisms that live in our gut.

“That is why no one has been able to find a cure or a prevention or an exact predictor for IBD, because it’s not one thing,” Huang says.

NOVEMBER 12, 2018 | 19

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From scraps to plastic

Science Around Town

Luna Yu founded Genecis to repurpose food waste into products

Nubaira Forkan Varsity Contributor

In 2016, Luna Yu started Genecis Bioindustries with a team of likeminded individuals, including U of T students and graduates. Genecis uses food waste to make highquality products using a multi-step process.

The company uses polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) — products of bacterial fermentation — from waste to create useful materials. The process uses a bacterial culture to break down food waste into fatty acids, which are then induced to another bacterial culture to produce PHAs in their cells. The cells from the bacterial culture are then lysed to collect the plastic.

The plastic created from this process can then be used in flexible packaging, compostable coffee pods, and 3D printing filaments, to name a few.

Yu first realized the potential of food waste after completing her studies at UTSC in Environmental Science.

“What appealed the most to me was the ability to integrate advancements in artificial intelligence, big data, automation, and genetic engineering together to build the platform for the next generation of industrial chemical

manufacturing,” writes Yu in an email.

At first, Genecis aimed to repurpose and sell processed food waste from local restaurants that companies could use to make into biodegradable plastics, biofuels, and pharmaceuticals.

A year later, Yu and her team won second prize in the early-stage category of the RBC Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

But that accolade wasn’t the end of their growth.

Genecis continues to grow for the better, following months of market research and planning.

Yu says that it was the discussion with professors, PhD students, and her potential customer base that led them to redefine Genecis’ operations. “[The ensuing market research] has led us to also change our business model to be one of technology licensing and production distribution, dramatically reducing our own capital expansion costs.”

Genecis uses organic waste and reprograms microorganisms to “buy low, sell high.”

Yu also stresses the importance of corporate partnerships, be it for business development, scale-up, research and development, or commercialization.

In the last two years, Genecis has

Emily Deibert Varsity Staff

Genecis founder Luna Yu studied environmental science at UTSC. Courtesy of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH

amassed 15 partners, which include waste processing companies and manufactured bioplastics buyers.

Many of these partners are also locally based firms.

With a team comprised of award-winning scientists and engineers experienced in biotechnology and programming brought together by a common goal and a bit of serendipity, Yu has big dreams for her company in the next five to 10 years.

The company is in the process of developing synthetic biology plat-

forms to reprogram bacteria to produce the highest quality product.

“We aim to grow into the Industry Leader for Industrial Chemical/ Materials Production using our Synthetic Biology platform. Our main value proposition is to make chemicals [or] materials currently too expensive [or] difficult to produce traditionally more economical,” writes Yu. Yu advises aspiring entrepreneurs to “move fast, be firm in objective but flexible on details, and never give up.”

Talent Tuesdays - Gaming Are you considering a career in gaming? This event, hosted by the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL), will connect you with mentors in the field who can help you on your path toward a career in the gaming industry.

Date: Tuesday, November 13 Time: 12:00–2:00 pm Location: Gerstein Science Information Centre, 9 King’s College Circle, DCSIL Admission: Free The Amazing Universe Join Dr. John Percy, U of T Professor Emeritus in Astronomy & Astrophysics, for a nontechnical presentation on the wonders of our universe from an astronomy perspective, and discover how the world around us is just as exciting as science fiction.

Date: Tuesday, November 13 Time: 2:00–3:00 pm Location: Deer Park Library, 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Program Room Admission: Free Exploring the Emergence of Leadership in Animal Societies Dr. Jonathan Pruitt, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour at McMaster University, will explore the emergence and function of leadership in various animal societies.

Date: Thursday, November 15 Time: 12:00–1:00 pm Location: Arts and Administration Building, 1265 Military Trail, Room 160 Admission: Free

UTM researchers used machine learning to model fruit flies’ vision.

Eye spy a fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster can distinguish other flies Zeahaa Rehman UTM Bureau Chief

Most of us don’t think much of fruit flies other than as noisy nuisances with their sights set on spoiled food.

However, according to Jonathan Schneider and Joel Levine, researchers in UTM’s Department of Biology, fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster, have a higher capacity for visual comprehension than previously believed.

Schneider, a postdoctoral fellow, and his supervisor, Levine, Chair of UTM’s Biology Department and a senior fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Child & Brain Development program, detailed their research in a

paper published in the October issue of PLOS One. The research was funded by a CIFAR Catalyst grant and conducted in collaboration with Nihal Murali, a colleague from the Department of Machine Learning at the University of Guelph’s School of Engineering, and Graham Taylor, a Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning.

Though fruit flies have a limited scope of vision, they possess an incredibly layered and organized visual system, including hyperacute photoreceptors.

Schneider and Levine wanted to determine whether fruit flies, despite their limited input image, could distinguish individual flies.

BOTAURUS/CC WIKIMEDIA

To do so, the researchers equipped a machine with 25,000 artificial neurons to mimic the eye of a fruit fly.

They then recorded 20 individual flies — 10 male, 10 female — for 15 minutes for three days using a machine vision camera. From these recordings, they developed standardized images, which they resized to imitate the images the flies perceived.

They showed the images to ResNet18 — a computer algorithm without the constraints of ‘fly eye’ technology — their ‘fly eye’ machine, and human participants. All three were tasked with re-identifying the fly whose images they had been shown.

The results indicated that fruit flies can extract meaning from their visual surroundings and can even recognize individual fruit flies, something that even fly biologists have had trouble with.

“So, when one [fruit fly] lands next to another,” explains Schneider to Sci-

ence Daily, “it’s ‘Hi Bob, Hey Alice.’”

Fruit flies’ extent of visual comprehension has implications for their social behaviour, and this study could help researchers learn how they communicate.

As well, these findings are significant because while most programs designed to mimic human capacity — such as virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant — come close to it, rarely do they go beyond it, like with the ‘fly eye.’

Machines like these can bridge the gap between engineers and neurobiologists. The former can use their findings to design their machines as biologically realistic as possible.

The latter can use that biological accuracy to hypothesize how visual systems process information and, as Schneider and his colleagues put it, “uncover not just how [fruit flies], but all of us, see the world.”

Classes without Quizzes: Turning poo into power to save the world UTM alum Fahad Tariq will talk about how we’ve literally been flushing a tremendous cleanenergy resource down the toilet in this Classes without Quizzes lecture.

Date: Thursday, November 15 Time: 7:00–8:30 pm Location: William G. Davis Building, 1867 Inner Circle Road, Room 3140 Admission: Free with registration Spark After Dark: Unexpected Connections Hosted by the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, this event will combine science, comedy, and exploration for an evening full of unexpected connections.

Date: Friday, November 16 Time: 7:00–9:30 pm Location: Supermarket Restaurant & Bar, 268 Augusta Avenue Admission: $10

Sports

November 12, 2018 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

Success from challenges: lessons from dragon boat An in-depth look at UTSC’s Crimson Tide dragon boat team Shadi Laghai Varsity Contributor

UTSC’s Crimson Tide dragon boat team.

Courtesy of the UTSC DRAGON BOAT TEAM

Sweat. Maybe some blood. Maybe some tears.

Dragon boat athletes know that it’s a mental workout, as much as it is a physical one. Overcoming challenges “fortifies your mind,” says Rome Rehman, a third-year student at UTSC and a paddler on UTSC’s Crimson Tide dragon boat team.

Last season, the team won one silver and one bronze medal at the Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, but medals aren’t the only fruits of their labour. The work put into this sport prepares athletes for life.

What is it about dragon boat that equips athletes with life skills? What can we learn from them?

The stakes There are 22 people on the boat: 10 paddling on each side, one drummer in the front, and a steersperson in the back.

In dragon boat, everyone rows in sync, which means that the weakest link sets the pace for the rest of the team, says Rehman.

“You have to stay on top of your stuff to help the team move up instead of even maintaining where you are or even bringing the team down.”

On her first cold morning practice, Rehman described her surprise at having to row a 2,000-metre race in the rough wind and rain.

“I’d never done a 2k anything before,” she laughs.

Aware of the several times that she had stopped, and her small frame and lousy technique, she

thought about quitting during those first few practices. “I was mostly just scared that it was going to be tough or that I’d make a fool of myself and end up letting people down.”

The team In this sport, there are 21 people who are literally in the same boat as you.

“The team is your support and it’s like a mental game,” she says.

Rehman learned that in moments when panic sets in and you’re feeling disappointed by your performance, the best thing to do is to talk to other people.

You may be afraid of letting them down but “that’s when [your teammates] talk you through it and that’s when you keep pushing through, keep working hard.”

Rehman describes her team as friends who became like family. There’s an organic vision of how each team member contributes to the team’s success, and how the team supports the development of each athlete.

Rehman explains that while she’s come to appreciate how the team understands when you miss practices for school, she gets her academic responsibilities and work done well beforehand so that she can be a strong participating member at team practices.

There’s also “something about suffering together

but then still achieving your goal at the end,” she says.

“Dragon boat is a cult,” Terrence Yu, coach of UTSC’s dragon boat team, jokes. “Once you become involved, it’s easy to stick around because your friends are all in it.”

The lifestyle Students appointed by Yu make up the executive team, or the “core.” They’re in charge of leading workout sessions throughout the week and nurturing the winning mentality.

This includes identifying individual-specific goals to improve, especially when you’re having a tough time.

After stopping during the 2k rowing, Rehman recalls Yu telling her, “As long as you get one per cent better next practice.”

By focusing on and implementing each specific piece of advice to improve her rowing technique, she would get through. “You’ll work on hinging more or going forward, or work on shifting your weight out, work on pulling the water through, or something like that. Each time you get one per cent better, so over time you get through it.”

“It’s all within your own ability to prevent that from happening again,” says Yu. “That’s where the self-development comes along.”

In fact, rather than letting the negatives bring you down, Yu describes the challenges themselves as

part of the positives. You build upon your strengths.

“That’s the great thing about sport itself,” says Yu. Compared to the long haul of school, it’s putting you in scenarios where you are constantly challenged and constantly receiving results.

Once you have your breakthrough moment, whether it is accomplishing a personal fitness goal in the gym or winning a race with the team in the water, overcoming athletic hurdles gives you the confidence to take on difficulties at school and in the workforce.

“That’s one thing that I know,” says Rehman, “I have this experience now in my arsenal that I know if I push through I can get through.”

Yu encourages students to think of how to use dragon boat opportunities to fuel their personal development.

“At the end of the day, we just want people who are like-minded in making themselves a better person and hopefully improving their fitness and having a great time as a group,” says Yu. If you think you could use a vehicle to bond and get along with others, to develop leadership skills, and become mentally and physically stronger, try dragon boat.

If it’s not for you, simply take it as a metaphor for overcoming any of life’s challenges.

Keep rowing.

Keep growing.

Inside Sport & Rec’s Diversity and Equity Team

Sport & Rec is hosting a Diversity and Equity Conference on November 17 and physical activity programs to the U of T community. With an emphasis on accessibility, their initiatives aim to cater to all skill sets, body types, genders, and other diverse forms of identity.

Through activities and events such as the weekly trans-positive swim time and the bodypositive Move with Pride! series, the group is creating non-traditional fitness spaces for underrepresented bodies on campus. With its programming, the group hopes to provide spaces where students feel accommodated, comfortable, and encouraged to get involved in the Sport & Rec community.

Whether attending alone or with friends, Diversity & Equity events are a great way to learn more about fitness, make new friends, or simply destress from hectic university life.

If you’re looking to incorporate some education into your fitness journey, the Diversity & Equity team is hosting a Diversity & Equity Conference on November 17, in collaboration with the 519 Community Centre and the Toronto SAD Collective at 519 Church Street. The conference includes a series of lectures, workshops, and interactive panels on topics ranging from Indigeneity to mental health. Registration is only $5 and includes dinner and snacks.

Sport & Recreation’s Diversity & Equity team works to promote equity and inclusion in physical fitness at U of T. Courtesy of CAROLYN LEVETT

Tsitsi Macherera Varsity Contributor

From the squash court to Mindful Moments drop-ins, there is always some way to get active at the University of Toronto. Despite the many options available, students still struggle to find fitness spaces that are right for them. It can be especially difficult for students who don’t see themselves represented in such spaces.

Aiming to shed light on these anxieties, one

group on campus is working to break down the barriers to physical and mental health facing U of T students: Sport & Recreation’s Diversity & Equity team.

Composed of undergraduate and graduate students from across campus who work to promote equity and inclusion in physical fitness, the Diversity & Equity team is a part of the Sport & Recreation division of Kinesiology & Physical Education, which offers sport

Courtesy of the U OF T SPORT AND REC DIVERSITY AND EQUITY STUDENT TEAM and the 519 COMMUNITY

NOVEMBER 12, 2018 | 21

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A blunt look at cannabis and the NHL Opinion from the Sports Ethicist Kasi Sewraj Sports Ethics Columnist

As we were all highly anticipating, recreational cannabis was legalized on October 17 across the Great White North. While this was an exciting event for a lot of us, it has larger implications for the world of sport.

The NHL was quick to make headlines stating that it would not be changing its cannabis policy to accommodate Canadian teams. Although cannabis is generally banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and thereby the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP), the NHL has the most lenient rules toward its usage out of all major sports leagues.

The NHL has never suspended players for having weed in their systems, and an anonymous ex-player interviewed by Sportsnet estimated that 60–70 per cent of current players already smoke the drug regularly. With that being said, is it ethical to regulate cannabis usage for NHL athletes?

This is a question that has already been asked by nutritionists and sports therapists, but the debate rages on about whether or not weed actually has benefits as a painkiller. Most evidence is anecdotal at best and there is little to no conclusive data from independent clinical studies.

Zack Smith, an 11-year NHL veteran, has also expressed the potential for cannabis as a sleep aid, since athletes are often under intense travelling schedules and need to find time to get a good night’s rest.

Riley Cote, a retired player for the Philadelphia Flyers, has gone on record touting weed’s benefits for sleep, reduced anxiety, and overall increased moods. Even if these benefits are not empirically proven, the step that Canada has taken by legalizing cannabis chips away at the ever-present stigma of its use and opens up the floor for Canadian institutions to examine the effects of the drug in sport.

While the restorative value of weed remains up in the air, I believe that the larger ethical issue resides in the distribution of and access to the drug among players in the NHL. As we know, a majority of teams in the NHL are based in the United States, where cannabis is still illegal. Not only would there be logistical issues — as Canadian teams would not be able to

bring any weed over the border — but it would also present issues of fair play, as American teams do not have access to treatments that utilize cannabis.

In the case where cannabis does improve the sleep, recovery, and overall mood and anxiety levels of NHL athletes, American teams should have the same access to these resources that Canadian teams do, or else this could be seen as an unfair advantage.

Regardless of legalization, U of T’s varsity hockey athletes still have to follow the same rules.

Ryan Medel, Varsity Blues men’s hockey head coach, reminds us that weed is still prohibited by U SPORTS. “All student-athletes are not permitted to use during their season. That is league-wide and we are in line with that,” Medel says.

Although cannabis has been legalized in our country, it isn’t feasible for the NHL to change its policy because of the variation in laws between countries.

This being said, I believe that the CADP’s decision to maintain cannabis as a banned substance for athletes was an ethically sound judgement, based largely on fairness in access to the drug by athletes. This decision is not a moral one and, if one day the US decides to legalize cannabis federally, then the NHL and WADA may have to change their policies and decide how the drug can be used as an aid or therapy for athletes.

But for now, Canada’s favorite pastime cannot, and should not, go green.

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

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THE ARTS? WE SHOW YOU HOW ONTARIO GRADUATE CERTIFICATES

“Instructors aren’t just teaching you the theory of something. They're teaching you how to do what needs to be done. That was a really great aspect of the program: people who are already doing it are teaching you what to do.”

Tamara Tatiossian Music Business Graduate

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Hart House Drop-in Series: Flexibility Fusion Attending a Flexibility Fusion class at Hart House Fatima Abdulla Fitness Columnist

One of the best ways to spend reading week is to take up residence at Gerstein library. Of course, it is in your better interests to also take a break.

I did just that by going to the Flexibility Fusion class at Hart House on a breezy Wednesday afternoon.

The first thing that I noticed when I walked in was that those in attendance seemed to already know what they were doing. It just so happens that the instructor, Edith Varga, has been teaching this class since 1984.

Varga has known some of her students for decades. Since it was reading week, there were fewer students than usual.

Starting with a few moments of mindful breathing, we took time to sync our breaths and relax. This conscious act of breathing deeply activates the parasympathetic nervous system and promotes relaxation. Throughout the class, Varga would gently remind

us of our breathing, maintaining that we should feel comfortable with the way we move and that we should not force ourselves into uncomfortable patterns.

After the relaxing introduction, 30 minutes were spent on the floor, using gravity and working against it for reclining warmups. Limited movements then became much deeper stretches — twists and turns facilitating the flexibility of the hips, shoulders, and neck, and also stabilizing the core. For the finale, another short sequence of relaxing motions pulled us all back down to our mats.

With every challenging movement, Varga offered alternatives, and with every simple pose, she offered more challenging variations. She would also offer tips to accommodate for and prevent injuries; for example, placing our hands off the mat to prevent wrist pain.

Maintaining a consistent stretching routine prevents muscle weakness and

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

loss of flexibility, ensuring a healthy range of motion. Regularly stretching can relieve tension and prevent injury. A good rule of thumb is to hold a stretch for 30 seconds and not to bounce, which can cause injury.

According to Varga, the class is called Flexibility Fusion because she fuses poses from various disciplines that she’s studied, such as dance, martial arts, and pilates. She notes that creating new movements is a creative outlet for her, and that members enjoy

WNBA pay disparity

Why WNBA players want a larger share of revenue

2018 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart made $57,000 USD last season.

LORIE SHAULL/CC FLICKR

Isaac Consenstein Varsity Contributor

On LeBron James’ HBO Show The Shop, the Los Angeles Lakers star discusses pop culture and politics with other entertainers and influencers. Recently, one of his visitors was WNBA all-star Elena Delle Donne. Delle Donne has become a major advocate for pay equality for WNBA players.

She has voiced her disappointment with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s comments that the WNBA simply doesn’t currently attract enough young fans to become profitable and that increasing media coverage is not the answer to WNBA’s financial struggles. While WNBA players such as Candace Parker and Delle Donne are excited to have a voice on LeBron’s

show, recognition from NBA players is far from the solution.

NBA players live like rock stars.

Cameras and recorders follow them the moment they walk off their bus at the arena. A multitude of Instagram accounts are dedicated to their pre-game outfits, handshakes, and highlights of their games. The internet is flooded with comments about Lebron’s music choices, Russell Westbrook’s extravagant outfits, and Kawhi Leonard’s ridiculous laugh.

Everything they do gets attention. We glamourize them for social outreach endeavours, big stat lines, and broken records. In the end, the exorbitant revenue made by the NBA allows its players to reach such incredible levels of stardom.

Diana Taurasi, star of the Phoenix Mercury, has expressed frustration with being covered in makeup before an in-

terview. In the past years, WNBA marketing has encouraged female athletes to fit an inauthentic image and added unneeded pressure to WNBA players.

Silver explains that the new goal should be to market the players as themselves. “They’re certainly the best female basketball players in the world… but once that’s established, you have to build out their character… so people have ways that they can connect with them, beyond basketball on the court.”There appears to be a consensus that changing the WNBA’s marketing strategy will eventually get WNBA players the higher salaries that they deserve.

While NBA players connect with fans by sharing inspiring messages, buying their mother a house, or owning several sports cars, WNBA players do not have this luxury. The ability to solely focus on

the variety. I agree, as there were some stretches that I’d never encountered before, which I loved.

“I’ve never taught the same class twice in 42 years. There’s a structure and there’s certain things you have to cover, and there is a certain familiarity to the flavour, the patterning, but I like to vary it.”

Overall, Varga facilitated the class with visual language that allowed me to envision the way my body would move and helped me stretch beyond

what I thought possible. She notes that many people think that they already have to be flexible to take this class, but that is not required at all.

Whether you’re flexible or not, I would recommend this class.

Flexibility Fusion runs in the Exercise Room with Varga on Wednesdays at 1:10 pm and Fridays at 12:10 pm, with Martin Phills on Tuesdays at 8:10 pm, and with Debbie Sabadash on Sundays at 10:10 am.

winning, living a healthy lifestyle, and simply staying in the United States during the offseason, is a privilege held by NBA players. For women playing in a league that has existed for 22 years and has yet to earn a profit, they continually have to prove their value as a “product” worth investing in.

To accurately portray the WNBA’s image, however, is to make the public aware that WNBA players do not live glamorous lives, or even lives fitting for professional athletes.

WNBA players live regular middleclass lives. Mirin Fader’s article in B/R Mag opens with the daily struggles of the Connecticut Sun’s Layshia Clarendon as a professional athlete. Clarendon had difficulty affording a proper diet or finding a nice gym to practise in. Her WNBA salary only affords her a $30 USD a month LA Fitness membership, where her jump shots off a slippery, injury-inducing floor hit the ceiling.

Kayla McBride was the third overall pick in 2014 and averaged 13 points per game as a rookie. She earned $48,000 USD that year with the San Antonio Stars. In the offseason, she played in Hungary and broke her foot. She rushed back to the WNBA shortly after surgery because she felt pressure to play well and sign another generous overseas contract.

When she returned to WNBA basketball, she broke her foot again. This year, she is off to Russia to play for a contract that is six times her WNBA salary.

This year’s third overall pick in the NBA draft will earn $5,467,200 USD and $6,402,800 USD in their second year. This is more money than most young adults know what to do with. It is enough to give back to their families and communities, buy a luxury home, and pay a personal chef.

This past season, Sylvia Fowles was named the WNBA MVP and earned $109,000 USD. Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns’ Leandro Barbosa will earn $500,000 USD, although he was waived in July. He will earn half a million dollars without setting foot on the court.

While NBA organizations worry about players living too lavishly and getting into trouble off the court, WNBA

organizations worry about players maintaining their diet, having access to good gyms, and hurting themselves overseas.

This year, the NBA is expected to generate over $9 billion USD in revenue, while the WNBA will earn around $60 million USD, less than one per cent of the NBA’s total revenue. WNBA players earn about 22 per cent of the leagues revenue, while NBA players receive about 50 per cent. In 2018, ESPN will air up to 33 WNBA games, including 13 regular-season games. ESPN will host 84 NBA regular-season games, and up to 44 NBA playoff games along with ABC. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve believes that the WNBA plays under a “media blackout.” Players are concerned that if people cannot watch games from their home, then they won’t be encouraged to buy tickets.

Silver responded to this concern with, “I’m a little bit frustrated.”

He believes that ESPN has been generous enough, and that the WNBA needs to focus on social media to attract a younger fan base. Fader accurately describes this as a chicken-oregg debate. Once it becomes more popular through increased national telecasts, social media presence comes naturally.

Although a marketing strategy change will allow players to represent their authentic selves, the ‘authentic’ WNBA player today is a woman who needs to leave the country to make a living each year and who waits in line to use weights at a local gym.

For men, becoming a professional athlete is the ultimate victory. It doesn’t just represent winning, doing what you love, and becoming the hero of a city; it represents luxury and access to many other things that they could want.

For women, the dream is not equal.

It may take them the same amount of time and effort to become professional athletes in the United States, but the payoff is bleak and incomparable. There is ample work to be done until female basketball players can live the life that is expected for professional athletes.

Ultimately, increasing salaries will keep younger women inspired to pursue sport.

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How to go dairy-free

All the info you need to cut dairy from your diet

Amrit Bola Varsity Contributor

More often than not, individuals seeking to make healthy lifestyle changes are bombarded with a plethora of new and trendy diets, many of which seem impossible to implement. However, with a little bit of help, some of these diets can be easily conquered.

With some celebrities and athletes swearing by the health benefits of a dairy-free diet, it is important to note that eliminating dairy products from one’s diet does not always result in significant health improvements.

However, going dairy-free can help some people reduce bloating, lose weight, and gain clearer skin.

Here are some ways to go dairyfree.

First, it is important to compensate for the vitamins and nutrients that you will miss by eliminating dairy.

Many of us rely on dairy as our primary source of calcium, and so it is crucial to introduce alternatives into one’s diet. Just one cup of cooked collard greens contains 36 per cent of the required calcium intake for one day, and many milk alternatives, such as almond milk, can provide up to 45

per cent of a day’s calcium needs.

Dairy can also be a significant contributor to the daily value of protein for many people, and so it is important to make up for this loss with alternatives such as meat, beans, and nuts.

Second, stay true to your diet by carefully reading labels on food items.

Oftentimes, foods with dairy can be easily identified by looking for ingredients such as milk, butter, and cheese. However, dairy ingredients are sometimes hidden in less recognizable names, such as ghee and lactoglobulin. It is important to do your research so that you are able to recognize these ingredients. When in doubt, don’t hesitate to do a quick Google search.

Third, eat more whole foods.

Since there are hundreds of dairy additives, it is always safer to eat foods with less ingredients. Look for food items that are less processed.

Fourth, when dining out, choose restaurants that cook meals from scratch.

Many chain restaurants simply prepare pre-packaged food in the kitchen, and so they are unable to control what goes into your food.

When dining at restaurants that cook meals entirely from scratch, you can let your server know to alert the chef that you don’t eat dairy.

Follow these helpful tips and you’ll have no problem adjusting to a dairyfree life.

Good luck!

WEEKLY BOX SCORES BASKETBALL MEN’S November 9

November 10

Laurier Golden Hawks

83–50 Varsity Blues

94–55 Varsity Blues

Waterloo Warriors

November 16

Varsity Blues

@

Brock Badgers

November 17

Varsity Blues

@

McMaster Marauders

WOMEN’S November 9

November 10

67–65 Laurier Golden Hawks

Varsity Blues

76–73 Waterloo Warriors

Varsity Blues

November 16

Varsity Blues

@

Brock Badgers

November 17

Varsity Blues

@

McMaster Marauders

HOCKEY TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

MEN’S November 9

2–0 Varsity Blues

Brock Badgers

4–1

November 10

Varsity Blues

Laurier Golden Hawks

Tushar Sharma Varsity Contributor

As the new year is approaching and the temperature is dropping, it’s official — bulking season is here. If those words immediately remind you of long hours on the treadmill until you can’t breathe or lifting weights until you can’t move the next morning, it may be time to try something new.

Powerlifting may help take your body to the next level this bulking season. Simple in concept, the goal of a powerlifter is to move as much weight as possible. Powerlifting is all about increasing strength above average capabilities and pushing your body beyond what you consider its limits.

Powerlifters focus on compound movements, such as the benchpress, deadlift, and squat. These exercises are multifaceted and incorporate many more muscles than simple isolation exercises like dumbbell curls and leg

extensions. By focusing their efforts on compound movements, powerlifters are able to increase their overall strength because they train as many muscles as possible within a single workout.

Bigger and stronger muscles are for more than just show, as weightlifting has been proven to increase bone density, ward off chronic disease, improve mood and sleep, and boost metabolism, among countless other health benefits.

Another good reason to start powerlifting is because it is relatively simple compared to other workout regimens. All you really need to powerlift is a barbell and weight plates. These can be found at the university gyms, and pretty much every gym in Canada. If leaving the house isn’t your thing, a bar and weights are also relatively inexpensive and can be adapted easily to create a home gym setup.

Western Mustangs

vs

Varsity Blues

November 17

Guelph Gryphons

vs

Varsity Blues

LACROSSE

It’s time to try powerlifting Winter is coming and so is bulking season

November 16

November 9 McGill Redmen

TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY

However, this workout regimen is far from simple brute strength. In order to lift properly, let alone powerlift, there are multiple aspects of training that one must master, including proper form, nutrition, and willpower. Powerlifting is as much about finesse and technique as it is about raw power, so don’t just walk into a gym and start lifting as much weight as possible, Rather, take it slow and learn your workouts.

If you want to try powerlifting this bulking season, it’s vital that you start slow, stay consistent, watch your form, listen to your body, and get advice from someone more experienced. These five tips will make your experience more enjoyable and ensure that you see results that’ll carry over into next summer.

More than anything else, powerlifting is an investment in yourself, but the first step is getting in the gym.

MEN’S November 10

11–6 Quarterfinal Baggataway Cup

Varsity Blues

VOLLEYBALL 3–1 Varsity Blues Trent Excalibur (25–17, 23–25, 25–20, 25–20)

November 16

Varsity Blues

@

Western Mustangs

November 17

Varsity Blues

@

Windsor Lancers

WOMEN’S November 10 Varsity Blues

3–0

Trent Excalibur (25–12, 27–25, 25–16)

November 16

Varsity Blues

@

Western Mustangs

November 17

Varsity Blues

@

Windsor Lancers

24 | THE VARSITY | ADVERTISEMENTS

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

18/19

Hart House Theatre Season

THE PENELOPIAD Nov. 9–24, 2018

By Margaret Atwood Directed by Michelle Langille $12 Student tickets every Wednesday evening!

harthousetheatre.ca

Season Sponsors:

Invitation to 2019 Governance Elections Information Session for Students

YOUR CAMPUS PHARMACY AND PRINT SHOP 11.5% discount for students, faculty and employees in Pharmacy

Wednesday, November 21, 2018 at 4:00 p.m.

Location: Governing Council Chamber (2nd loor Simcoe all 2 ing College Circle RSVP to governing.council@utoronto.ca

• Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Homeopathics • Natural Beauty Products • Talk to a professional about your treatment • Improve your memory and • UofT insurance plans accepted • Registered Homeopath on duty (undergrad insurance coverage) 193 College St Toronto, ON M5T 1P9

For more information please contact the Chief Returning Officer, Anwar Kazimi at 416-978-8427 anwar.kazimi@utoronto.ca or the Deputy returning Officer, Patrick McNeill at 416978-8428 patrick.mcneill@utoronto.ca

20% discount posters • Spiral binding, business cards and more!

647 351 1708 contact@stgeorgehealth.ca stgeorgehealth.ca 416 596 1708 contact@imagexpress.ca imagexpress.ca