THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
October 30, 2023
Vol. CXLIV, No. 8
The power and play of the Halloween costume By transforming into who we aren’t, we become who we truly are Divine Angubua Associate Comment Editor
A core memory of mine is the first Halloween party I ever went to. In my first year of university, my friends and I decided to dress up and go to a frat house on Halloweekend. I was excited to dress up as a Black ’90s disco diva. Finally, the inner child that was robbed of afro wigs and flared jeans his whole life was going to be fed. Beneath the childish anticipation, ghoulish decor, and the promise of reckless abandon, I had never been a fan of frat parties. Still, one of my friends was celebrating their birthday, a few others were on the prowl for mates, others wanted to drink until they dropped — and I was the fresh victim of a failed situationship. My friends outnumbered me, so I surrendered to their plans with hope for the best. As the night unfolded, I watched a screaming Cher from Clueless get dragged out of a mosh pit with a
leg that looked broken; I saw a Peter Pan who lost the pirate of his dreams to a corseted pink bunny sob beneath the soft red light; and I witnessed a vampire and a fairy who will never speak of that night again and what it ignited between them. And I, the lone disco diva, will never forget how I watched the world transform under the power of masks, wings, and makeup to become a new thing — a wilder, bigger, freer, truer version of real life. The origin of Halloween traces back to the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain, meaning “summer’s end.” Practiced some two thousand years ago, this practice involved people dressing up in animal skins to drive away malicious
spirits and devils from amongst them. Trickor-treating, too, traces its roots back to the Celtic practice of mumming, where peasants dressed as goblins and performed a trick in exchange for money or food. Over the centuries, the tradition has gained traction and become a global cultural phenomenon. This year alone, the United States is projected to generate about $12.2 billion of spending for Halloween costumes. From the costumes and candies to the scary movies and bizarre parties, I think our obsession with Halloween comes from our desire to escape the confines of reality and convention, and to reckon with our deepest fears, anxieties, and desires. In North America and across the world — as they did in ancient Celtic society — people are coming together to celebrate as much as to confront their alter egos. Where the Celts cast out demons and evil spirits from their communities and homes, people today don the Halloween mask to come to terms with who they are. Behind a costume, we are made new. Nobody knows us, and by the power of anonymity, we can live by our own rules. We can be as weird as we want to be and still be socially accepted and celebrated. From inside the Michael Myers mask holes and under that orange Chucky wig, we can connect with our fear of death. As witches and vampires, we can play with the supernatural and believe in magic as children do. At haunted houses and themed tours, we can expose ourselves to our deepest fears within our comfort zones. In this, there is joy and the understanding that perhaps nothing is ever as scary as it seems and that we, too, can wear the face of fear and make our enemies tremble. Continued on page 12
SPORTS: Talking with U of T’s very own Formula-style racing team Page 18
FEATURE: How U of T could create access around precarious immigration Page 10
NEWS: Student activism responding to violence in Gaza Page 3
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The Varsity would like to acknowledge that our office is built on the traditional territory of several First Nations, including the Huron-Wendat, the Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit. Journalists have historically harmed Indigenous communities by overlooking their stories, contributing to stereotypes, and telling their stories without their input. Therefore, we make this acknowledgement as a starting point for our responsibility to tell those stories more accurately, critically, and in accordance with the wishes of Indigenous Peoples.
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September 17: The University of Toronto Students’ Union’s (UTSU) Board of Directors (BOD) discusses plans to abolish the union’s Senate, a governance body added to the bylaws last year to supplement the downsized BOD. The executive committee proposes replacing the Senate — which UTSU never actually implemented — with a group called the Advocacy Group Advisory Committee, composed of representatives from campus groups who would advise the BOD. UTSU’s October 29 Annual General Meeting, where students planned to vote on whether to remove the Senate from the bylaws, was postponed to November 19 due to a lack of quorum. September 23: The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union’s (UTMSU) BOD votes to hold a referendum asking UTM students whether they want to fund an expansion of the Student Centre. The referendum, which took place from October 24–26, asked students whether they agreed to raise each full-time student’s fees by $10 per semester from fall 2024 to spring 2027 or, if it comes sooner, until the UTMSU opens the expanded building. The fee would then increase to $30 until the UTMSU pays off mortgage payments on the expansion. As of October 29, the UTMSU has not yet announced the results of the referendum. September 25: The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union raises wages for its part-time staff
The UTSU, UTMSU, and UTGSU held Board of Directors meetings this fall. RYAN CHOW/THEVARSITY
and 1265 Bistro employees to $17.55 after Ontario increased the minimum wage to $16.55 on October 1.
2021 after a ruling that the caucus’ fee violated a UTGSU bylaw prohibiting discrimination based on nationality.
September 28: The University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union’s (UTGSU) BOD votes to suspend its president, Lynne Alexandrova. In a private session, the BOD discusses multiple allegations, including that Alexandrova made statements contributing to Indigenous erasure. With Alexandrova suspended, half of the UTGSU’s six executive positions remain unfilled. The BOD also decides to remove the UTGSU’s Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) caucus as a permanently funded caucus. The BDS movement aims to economically pressure the Israeli government to stop oppressing Palestinians and occupying Palestinian territories. U of T began withholding funds from the caucus in
October 17: After approval from the UTM Campus Council, the Executive Committee confirms the UTMSU’s request to establish two five-dollarper-session fees charged to full-time students — one levy for student sustainability group UTM Regenesis and one for Housing Our University Students Equitably Canada, a nation group that aims to build affordable student housing. In the two Spring 2023 referenda asking students whether they approved of the levies, more students abstained from the vote than voted in favour of the fee increases. Read more governance news online at thevarsity.ca.
The breakdown: Which library should you study in? Tips on navigating U of T’s libraries Iva Zivaljevic Varsity Contributor
At U of T, finding the ideal study spot can be quite the journey. Whether you thrive in a bustling atmosphere with snacks readily at hand, require a quiet haven for deep concentration, or seek a space for virtual meetings, U of T’s library system offers an array of options to cater to your distinct study preferences. For those who relish a bit of noise and a largely snack-friendly environment, Robarts Library — especially Robarts Common — is the go-to destination. The Common’s natural lighting and comfortable seating make it the perfect choice for group discussions and project collaboration. The Common is generally friendly to snackers, and the library at large allows students to munch away in the cafeteria area on floor two; the reading rooms on floors two, three, and five; the St. George apexes and adjacent group study rooms on floors nine through 13; and the central escalator/lobby areas on floors two through four. If virtual meetings and collaborative work are on your agenda, look no further than the Gerstein Science Information Centre — equipped with study rooms, video conference facilities, and ample desk space.
Seeking an atmosphere of absolute silence and unwavering focus? Caven Library, hidden within Knox College, provides the ideal setting for silent and uninterrupted study. E. J. Pratt Library, nestled in the heart of UTSG, offers a unique blend of tranquillity and varied study options, encouraging quiet study while accommodating diverse preferences. Each college on the university campus boasts its own library, with distinct ambiances and policies. The Trinity College and Emmanuel College libraries are known for their peaceful atmo-
sphere, while Innis College and New College libraries have more relaxed, social environments and study resources. It’s essential to stay updated on evolving library policies by consulting with library staff or checking their websites for the latest information. U of T’s Libraries website contains numerous resources, including information on study rooms, borrowing books, course reserves, and more. So, embark on your study journey, explore the possibilities, and find your perfect study nook within the rich tapestry of U of T libraries.
U of T libraries cater to distinct study preferences. SAIRA MEHNAJ/THEVARSITY
CORRECTIONS: A News article published in Issue 7 entitled “Students raise funds in response to earthquakes in Afghanistan” attributed a photograph to Henna Asgharie and Samana Naimi. The photograph should have been attributed to Omer Malikyar and Yalda Jamasi.
thevarsity.ca/category/news
OCTOBER 30, 2023
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Students across campus protest in support of Palestine and Israel. JESSIE SCHWALB/THEVARSITY
Students at U of T hold protests, vigils amid ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel Students mourn civilian deaths, demand campus action from U of T Muzna Erum Associate News Editor
Content warning: This article discusses death, violence, anti-Palestinian racism, and antisemitism. Since October 7, after attacks on Israel by the militant group Hamas and retaliatory strikes on Gaza by the Israeli military, U of T students and faculty have organized rallies, vigils, and protests across campus in support of Palestine and Israel. Some protesters organized in support of Israel and spoke about antisemitism on campus connected to the violence. Some called on U of T to publicly acknowledge the historical harms and violence perpetrated by the Israeli government against Palestinians. Others called on the university to sever ties with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) given its financial holdings in technology used by the Israeli military to monitor Palestinians. Current state of the conflict As of October 29, more than 8,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,400 people in Israel have died in the ongoing violence between Hamas — a militant group which currently controls the Gaza Strip — and the Israeli military and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On October 7, Hamas launched surprise attacks against Israel and took more than 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage. Hours later, Israel commenced airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. According to a statement from the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on October 24, the Israeli government’s air strikes have displaced over one million people across the Gaza Strip. Since October 9, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, exacerbating the lack of resources Gazans already experienced as a result of Israel’s 16-year blockade. Many Gazans lack access to water and food. Although Egypt, the only other country bordering Gaza, has generally kept its border closed, it recently sent in four aid convoys, and the Israeli government has agreed to restore water to a pipeline serving southern Gaza. However, the UN has warned that this aid does not provide enough food and water to fulfill Gazans’ basic needs. The Israeli government continues to bar humanitarian aid groups from bringing in fuel, hindering water facilities’, desalination plants’, and hospitals’ ability to operate. Fuel in the Gaza Strip has almost entirely run out. On October 27, the Israeli government cut off phone connections and internet services in the Gaza Strip, severing Gazans’ communications with the outside world. The same day, the Israeli military escalated airstrikes and ground attacks against Gaza. Pro-Israel rally met with counter protest On October 17, the student club U of T Conservatives organized a rally outside Sidney Smith Hall. On the group’s Instagram post announcing the event, it wrote that it held the event to show its “unwavering support for Israel against Hamas terrorism.” In a post on Instagram released before the protest, the U of T Muslim Students Association (MSA) called on U of T administration to stop the rally. The group’s post referenced statements made by Israeli
government officials that some commentators have characterized as calling for genocide against Palestinians. The U of T MSA wrote that, by encouraging Israel’s actions, the rally would foster “hatred and Islamophobia.” Hillel U of T originally announced on Instagram that it would take part in the rally but later posted that it did not align itself with the rally and had decided to host a “private vigil” instead. “Our intention is to create a space to come together peacefully as a community to mourn the lives that were lost, kidnapped, and abused in the terrorist attacks in Israel and the war that has begun since,” Hillel U of T wrote in the post. “We look not to create further division and animosity during this time, but rather stand united to grieve.” Joshua Heuberger, a first-year student studying political science, helped organize the rally. In an interview with The Varsity, Heuberger claimed that when he came to U of T, people told him that the university had “the most antisemitic campus in the country.” He hoped that the rally would show “that there is a Jewish voice, and a Zionist voice here on campus.” In an interview with The Canadian Jewish News, Heuberger explained he had seen people taking down posters about the hostages captured by Hamas, actions he described as antisemitic. According to the BBC, Hamas has released four hostages and still holds more than 200 people captive. The rally, which began around 5:00 pm, started with about 20 people. As Laura Smith — a Progressive Conservative Member of the Provincial Parliament — started speaking, counterprotesters began chanting “Free, free Palestine.” More than a dozen officers stood between protesters while the pro-Israel rally continued speeches, and almost 100 pro-Palestine protesters continued chanting. Sara Rasikh, a first-year master’s student studying social justice education, organized the pro-Palestine counterprotest. She explained in an interview with The Varsity that they organized the counterprotest after discovering that the event, which was initially planned as a vigil, had become a pro-Israel rally. Rasikh said she reached out to people she knew who were “already experiencing hurt and pain and anti-Palestinian racism on campus.” Rasikh described instances where professors asked students to remove their keffiyeh, a Palestinian scarf that symbolizes Palestinian resistance, freedom, and independence. In light of the Israeli government killing many Palestinian civilians, Rasikh said that a pro-Israel rally was “extremely dismissive of this pain.” Vigil and protest for Palestine Rasikh also helped organize a pro-Palestine protest that occurred on October 20 and a vigil for victims in Gaza on October 25. The October 20 protest, organized by a coalition of independent students, began at Sidney Smith Hall. In an interview with The Varsity, Rasikh wrote that more than 500 students attended the protest. The protest marched to another demonstration at Queens Park while yelling chants like “Free, free Palestine” and “Palestine will never die.” Speakers, who included students and a history expert, discussed Palestine’s history and the violence Palestinians have faced. The speakers also
criticized the university’s October 9 statement about the conflict, arguing that it did not adequately discuss the Israeli military’s air strikes on Gaza or the longstanding human rights abuses against Palestinians. On October 18, the Office of the President released another statement expressing sympathy for Israeli and Palestinian civilians and horror at the violence they have endured, calling for an environment that supports civil discussion. The speakers also called out U of T President Meric Gertler for not acknowledging the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital blast. The blast in Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on October 18 killed hundreds of Palestine civilians, including those who sought refuge in the hospital. According to CNN, Israel has provided evidence that the hospital blast was due to a misfire from a militant group in Gaza. The Canadian government has publicly stated that its independent analysis suggests “an errant rocket fired from Gaza” caused the blast, and multiple news organizations who originally attributed the destruction to Israel have later walked back their claims. The New York Times and the BBC have both launched independent investigations into footage of the blast, which they’ve deemed inconclusive, and the UN has called for an independent investigation into its cause. In speeches, the protesters demanded that the university explicitly acknowledge the apartheid and violence Palestinians have endured, ensure people have the freedom to speak about Palestinian rights on campus without public pressure, create resources so Palestinian students can report anti-Palestinian racism, and divest its endowment from Israeli companies. The U of T MSA and the Palestine Forum — a U of T educational initiative — helped organize the October 25 vigil. At the Gaza vigil, hosted in Sidney Smith Hall, participants mourned the Palestinians, particularly children, killed by the Israeli military’s airstrikes. According to the UN humanitarian organization UNICEF, the current conflict has killed or injured more than 4,000 children in the Gaza Strip and killed more than 30 children in Israel. Speakers included Palestinian students, who shared spoken word pieces and led a prayer, and Alejandro Paz, a professor of anthropology at UTSC. Paz’s research focuses on the Israeli government’s occupation of Palestinian territories. “My heart is heavy for those currently held hostage [by Hamas], including members of my extended family. My strongest fears, however, are about the Israeli killing machine and the enormous support the Israeli state has received from North Atlantic imperial powers,” said Paz during the vigil. Before the prayers began, organizers spent 10 minutes reading the names and ages of Gazans the Israeli government had killed in the current violence. RBC event disrupted During a recruitment event at U of T hosted by the RBC on October 18, a group of students walked on stage with signs displaying the words “Free Palestine” and “RBC is killing me.” In an email to The Varsity, the group of students wrote that they demanded “that the bank be removed from campus indefinitely” and highlighted RBC’s role in funding surveillance technology used by the Israeli
government against Palestinians. RBC currently owns over two million shares — valued at over $37 million — in the company Palantir Technologies Inc. According to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, the company produces a predictive system used by Israeli security forces to identify Palestinians they believe might be “[involved] in terror attacks.” 25 Canadian organizations, including Palestine and Jewish Unity, Canada Palestine Association, and the Niagara Movement for Justice in PalestineIsrael, recently signed an open letter demanding that RBC sell its shares in Palantir Technologies. RBC hosts recruitment on campus and provides internship opportunities to Rotman Commerce students. RBC has also donated money to U of T, including a three million dollar donation to fund ONRamp — a workspace for young innovators at UTSG. U of T Media Relations declined to comment on the protesters’ demand that the university sever its relationship with RBC. If you or someone you know has experienced harassment or discrimination based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship and/ or creed at U of T, report the incident to the AntiRacism and Cultural Diversity office: https://antiracism.utoronto.ca/help/. You can report incidents of anti-Muslim racism through the National Council of Canadian Muslims’ Hate Crime Reporting form at https://www.nccm. ca/programs/incident-report-form/, and antisemitic incidents at U of T to Hillel U of T at https://hillelontario.org/uoft/report-incident/. If you or someone you know is in distress, you can call: • Canada Suicide Prevention Service phone available 24/7 at 1-833-456-4566 • Good 2 Talk Student Helpline at 1-866-9255454 • Connex Ontario Mental Health Helpline at 1-866-531-2600 • Gerstein Centre Crisis Line at 416-929-5200 • U of T Health & Wellness Centre at 416-9788030 If you or someone you know has experienced anti-Muslim racism, you can contact: • Canadian Muslim Counselling at 437-8866309 or info@muslimcounselling.ca • Islamophobia Support Line at 416-6138729 • Nisa Helpline at 1-888-315-6472 or info@ nisahelpline.com • Naseeha Mental Health at 1-866-627-3342 • Khalil Center at 1-855-554-2545 or info@ khalilcenter.com • Muslim Women Support Line at 647-6222221 or gbv@ccmw.com If you or someone you know has experienced antisemitism, you can contact: Hillel Ontario at counselling@hillelontario.org • Chai Lifeline Canada’s Crisis Intervention Team at 1 (800) 556-6238 or CIT@chailifeline.ca • Jewish Family and Child Services of Greater Toronto at 416 638-7800 x 6234 • The Hamilton Jewish Family Services at info@hamiltonjfs.com
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U of T students paint mural calling for U of T to sever RBC ties as part of national day of action Event comes after UTSU signs open letter calling on banks to divest Jessie Schwalb News Editor
On October 24, students at seven universities — including U of T — held events calling on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to stop funding fossil fuel projects. At U of T, as a part of the RBC Off Campus Day of Action, students from the environmental activist group Climate Justice UofT (CJUofT) painted a mural and held a banner outside of Robarts Library, demanding that the university sever its connections to RBC, which funds events, fellowships, and a building on campus. In September, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) joined eight other student unions in signing an open letter criticizing RBC. The letter called on RBC and other large banks to respect Indigenous peoples’ rights and stop providing financial support for fossil fuel projects. Canadian student organization Change Course, which advocates against banks’ fossil fuel funding, coordinated the RBC Off Campus Day of Action. Students at seven universities located in Ontario and British Columbia held various kinds of events associated with the campaign, which included tabling and speaking with students. U of T mural painting event Around 2:00 pm, a group of approximately 10 students from CJUofT gathered outside of Robarts Library on the corner of St. George Street and Harbord Street. The students chalked an outline for the mural and then began painting. The students also handed out pamphlets and spoke to people walking by. Kalliopé Anvar McCall, a fourth-year student majoring in diaspora studies with minors in gender studies and sexual diversity studies, said that CJUofT hosted the event to raise awareness of RBC’s role in funding fossil fuel projects as well as violating the rights of Indigenous people and Palestinians.
In 2022, RBC provided the most money out of banks worldwide to finance fossil fuel projects, according to the Banking on Climate Chaos report released by a coalition of environmental groups. RBC also invests in the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which crosses Wet’suwet’en land and
story and critical studies in equity and solidarity, told The Varsity that most people passing by the mural seemed supportive but didn’t necessarily know about RBC’s involvement in the pipelines. However, they mentioned receiving some pushback related to the inclusion of the Palestinian
Banner calls on U of T to respect Indigenous sovereignty. JESSIE SCHWALB/THEVARSITY
has received opposition from the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, and the Trans Mountain pipeline — a project whose route is opposed by the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation, whose unceded traditional land the pipeline crosses. In a previous statement to The Varsity, an RBC spokesperson highlighted the bank’s commitment to achieving “net-zero lending” by 2050. The spokesperson also expressed the bank’s commitment to consulting with Indigenous communities and providing customers with ways to reduce emissions. Anaum Sajanlal, a second-year majoring in hi-
flag and the phrase “Free Palestine” included in the mural. The activists also highlighted RBC’s holdings in Palantir Technologies. In 2017, Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that Palantir Technologies provided a predictive data analytics system used by the Israeli military to identify Palestinians who might be “[involved] in terror attacks.” Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli military made arrests and detained Palestinians who hadn’t committed any crimes based on Palantir’s predictions. As of August 14, the RBC owned approximately 2.4 million shares in Palantir, valued at
$37,115,113 USD as of October 26. “Especially in this moment, I think showing solidarity with Palestinian liberation is so important,” Sajanlal said. U of T criticism U of T announced in 2016 that it had accepted a three million dollar donation from RBC to fund its ONRamp initiative — which provides workspaces, fellowships, and a speaker series to encourage entrepreneurship. McCall said that U of T’s decision to accept donations from RBC gives the bank legitimacy. “Where you choose to put your money is basically who you’re choosing to side with, and right now, U of T is accepting a lot of money from RBC, and they’re basically choosing to side with colonial violence,” said McCall. “If U of T were to divest from RBC, it would send a clear message to the bank that this is totally unacceptable.” UTSU signs open letter calling on RBC to divest from fossil fuels In September, nine student unions based in Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Quebec — including the UTSU — released an open letter addressed to the CEOs of RBC, TD Bank, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The letter notes that these five banks financed more than $1.12 trillion in fossil fuel projects between 2016 and 2022. The student unions, which collectively represent more than 450,000 students, called on the banks to stop investing in fossil fuel projects, stop funding the Coastal Gaslink and Trans Mountain pipelines, and respect Indigenous peoples’ right to freely determine whether projects can be built on their land. “If these banks want to continue to receive students’ business, they will need to change their policies to reflect our values,” the unions wrote.
U of T revamps UTAPS program with new need assessment measure U of T to assess student need internally through single form instead of OSAP
This October, U of T announced that it had revamped the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students (UTAPS) program — the university’s largest financial aid system. The redesign includes requiring students to fill out a form so U of T can independently assess their living costs instead of relying on Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) assessments. In the university’s announcement, administrators noted that U of T hopes these assessments will provide a more accurate account of what students need and get students more financial aid.
UTAPS calculates a student’s financial need based on their education and living costs and the resources the student gets from the government. UTAPS includes any costs associated with getting a university degree — from tuition fees and textbooks to housing and daily essentials — in calculating its education and living costs. The program determines a student’s total financial need by comparing their costs to their total financial aid from government programs like OSAP. U of T provided $94.6 million in need-based support to U of T students during the 2021–2022 academic year. Of this sum, U of T channelled $36.8 million to students through UTAPS grants. More than 15,500 students received UTAPS grants, with the majority being undergraduates.
What is UTAPS? UTAPS aims to cover the financial difference between students’ educational costs and the financial aid provided by provincial or territorial governments. To be eligible for UTAPS, a student must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or protected person, which refers to someone who would risk safety if removed to their former country of residence; demonstrate unmet financial need; and maintain full-time course loads — a course load of at least 1.5 credits or more per semester — during the fall and winter terms.
A customized approach to financial aid Historically, the university determined UTAPS grants based on the OSAP need assessment — a financial aid program in Ontario that provides support for students pursuing higher education. OSAP provides grants, which students don’t have to repay, and student loans, which they do. Ontario residents who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or protected persons are eligible for OSAP. The university noted that external factors, such as changes in government policy, can influence OSAP assessments. The OSAP assessment
Kamilla Bekbossynova UTM Bureau Chief
NILIMA PAUL/THEVARSITY
also assumes uniform living allowances across Ontario, although living costs are notably higher in Toronto compared to other parts of the province. For one-bedroom apartments, the average monthly rent in Toronto costs $2,614, while the average monthly asking rent in the province amounts to $2,281 according to Rentals.ca’s October report. U of T notes that these provincial differences mean that OSAP underestimates U of T students’ financial needs. As part of the program’s extensive redesign, UTAPS has devised its own need assessment measures. Streamlining the financial aid application process The UTAPS redesign also aims to streamline the financial aid process. U of T introduced a new Need Navigator tool for students, a singular financial need application for UTAPS and for support from faculties and academic divisions.
To be eligible for UTAPS for the 2023–2024 academic year, all students must fill out an application through the Need Navigator platform and provide any necessary supporting documents indicated in their application. U of T will validate the forms submitted by students before giving out grants. The application deadline for UTAPS assistance depends on when the application is submitted. Ontarian students enrolled in the fall and winter terms who applied by September 20, 2023 will receive their first payment in early October. Those who submit their application right before February 14, 2024 — the last day to apply for UTAPS for this school year — will receive their first payment by late February 2024. Donna Wall, director of financial aid and awards, announced that students can expect more updates to UTAPS in the coming years, including tools to support students and their families’ financial planning.
thevarsity.ca/category/news
OCTOBER 30, 2023
Spotlight: Fostering Iranian cultural exchange at U of T The Institute of Iranian Studies through the perspective of a second-generation Iranian student Hannah Guo Varsity Contributor
and programs the EOM Institute offers and how her work connects to her Iranian identity.
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali (EOM) Institute of Iranian Studies focuses on providing scholars and students across fields the opportunity to engage with Iranian history and culture. Established in 2020 through a $6 million USD donation from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute — a private foundation based in the United States aiming to preserve and spread awareness of Iranian culture and history — the EOM Institute runs events, provides fellowships and hosts Iranian scholars from across Canada. Yasamin Jameh is a fourth-year student majoring in international relations and peace, conflict, and justice studies and minoring in Near & Middle Eastern civilizations. Since 2022, she has been a work-study student at the EOM Institute, where she produces its official podcast Parse: An Exploration of Critical Topics in Iranian Studies. The Varsity spoke with Jameh about the activities
The Varsity: What do you think is particularly unique about the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute’s work? Yasamin Jameh: The EOM Institute is very unique because, although we’re a recent institute, we are hiring over 60 work-study students, so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved for the student body. It’s very unprecedented that we’re able to have enough financial and institutional support to manage a group of work-study students and researchers this large. The institute is also really a hub for the digital humanities. We have all these cool projects going on in collaboration with Encyclopædia Iranica — an international not-for-profit archival project — along with our own projects. This is real work being done to pave new avenues and new approaches to Iranian Studies rather than the traditional things that have
Touching grass: What to expect as U of T wraps up King’s College Circle construction
Construction began in 2020, goals laid out in its Climate Positive Camexpected to finish this fall pus Plan, a multi-year plan introduced by Rachel Liu Varsity Contributor
Have you noticed the new open stretch of grass in King’s College Circle? Construction in the centre of the UTSG campus — as part of U of T’s Landmark Project — began in 2020, and this fall, three years later, U of T expects to complete the project. Here’s a breakdown of the project and what students can expect from its completion. What is the Landmark Project? According to the university, the Landmark Project aims to make the UTSG campus more pedestrian-friendly and increase green spaces on campus. The project also included installing a geothermal field that will help the university reach the
the Committee on Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (CECCS) — a committee created in 2017 to guide the university’s actions addressing climate change. The plan includes measures to ensure that, by 2050, the UTSG campus reduces more emissions than it emits. After consulting with university stakeholders, a team of architects and urban strategists hired by the university first revealed the Landmark Project plans in April 2016. A one million dollar donation from the universities’ alumni association and another million dollars from the university’s Boundless Campaign — a fundraising campaign that was open to donors around the world — provided the financing for the project. The architects designing the project also collaborated with groups such as the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU).
Students review the UTMSU’s new digital U-Pass Scanning problems, battery concerns come up as the UTMSU implements a digital U-Pass Kamilla Bekbossynova UTM Bureau Chief
During the summer semester, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) piloted a digital version of its Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass) — a bus pass strictly for UTM students who use the MiWay transit system. Currently, students cannot replace the digital pass with the physical U-Pass card. The shift to a digital U-Pass system at UTM has sparked anxieties over phone battery life, scanning difficulties, and pass recognition when boarding public transit. The UTMSU decided to introduce the digital U-Pass after gathering feedback from over 200 students and speaking with MiWay policy makers about concerns such as replacement fees. If a student lost their physical U-Pass card, MiWay would charge them a $130 replacement fee. Students can now access the new U-Pass through the PRESTO app and tap their phones on card readers instead of showing the pass to bus drivers, eliminating the need to carry a physical card.
Battery life worries and scanning woes In interviews with The Varsity, students discussed issues with the digital U-Pass, including scanning difficulties, phone battery drain, and the lack of a backup option. Tanisha Batra, a master’s student pursuing a degree in management of innovation, told The Varsity that she worries about her phone running out of battery and upending her commute. She mentioned having to find ways to charge her phone on campus. Some students reported difficulties getting their smartphones to register on PRESTO machines consistently, leading to delays and frustrations during their commutes. Mckayla D’Souza — a third-year student studying biology for health sciences and chemistry — noted feeling a degree of anxiety when they boarded a bus because they didn’t know if the digital U-Pass would scan correctly. D’Souza mentioned taking precautions such as maximizing screen brightness and ensuring their data was on. Jeanna Gabriel — a second-year student majoring in anthropology with minors in forensics
been already researched for decades. When you are involved with the institute and with organizing these events, there is definitely a sense of community. As a person of Iranian descent, it was hard, especially with U of T being such a big campus and there not being as many Iranian students on this campus. The institute has served as a place for me to meet other Iranian students and form friendships with them through social events, events for Norouz — the Iranian New Year — other holiday events, and all the events that we hold both online and in person. It’s definitely a place to form lifelong friendships and networks. TV: Over the past decades, there has been an increase in Iranians immigrating to Canada. How does the EOM Institute provide a space for the Iranian diaspora in Toronto to explore their roots? YJ: Toronto has one of the biggest communities of diasporic Iranians. As a second-generation Iranian, I can definitely relate to the desire to learn more about your roots, whether it is through celebrating Iranian holidays or learning about your history, the Persian language, and cultural practices. When you’re away from your homeland and you’re sort of homesick, there’s definitely an urge to learn more and connect with it somehow. The EOM Institute is the first of its kind in Canada. It’s the first Iranian studies institute anywhere in
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Canada, and definitely the first one in Toronto. This is a great safe space for Iranians and non-Iranians to explore Iranian culture and not just the Iranian culture and history of Iran proper, but also the greater world surrounding Iran — the broader Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. It’s definitely a great place to start to connect with your roots. TV: How can students who are interested in researching Iranian studies get involved with the EOM Institute? YJ: One of the best ways that you can get involved is by attending our events. The second way is through our work-study positions, which are paid [part-time] positions for U of T students. The EOM Institute has a multi-year collaboration with Encyclopædia Iranica to compile information and resources for two distinct projects. One of them is Cinema Iranica, which seeks to compile everything related to Iranian cinema history under one umbrella. The other one is the Women Poets Iranica project. Persian poetry is famous, it’s one of the most ancient and rich poetic cultures in the world. However, throughout its existence, the works of men have been most talked about in academia and the literary sector. So the Women Poets Iranica project seeks to put women at the forefront and center their works. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Completed parts of the project According to the university, U of T will use the Alumni Plaza — the area outside Convocation Hall — to honour U of T’s alumni community, particularly during convocation ceremonies. The plaza also aims to provide a safer route for students trying to get to King’s College Circle. At the centre of the UTSG campus in King’s College Circle, U of T has installed the largest geothermal field in Canada. Geothermal field systems, created by drilling into underground water reservoirs, circulate water or hot steam for heating or cooling or to generate energy. U of T claims that the geothermal field will save an estimated 15,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Additionally, the university added granite stones to pave Tower Road, which is just north of King’s College Circle. To the west of this road, the Scace Walk — which winds from Hoskin Avenue to the Soldiers’ Tower — now includes concrete bleachers where students can watch sporting events on the Pan Am and Parapan Am fields. The university has also finished the “welcome path” — an idea proposed by the UTSU to give students a more accessible entrance to the campus “from Queen’s Park,” the Landmark Project page explains. Students can also enjoy two new gardens outside the Medical Sciences Building.
Parts of the project still in construction The university is still working on building an underground parking garage beneath King’s College Circle, which it expects to open up later this year. The university claims the garage will reduce surface parking in King’s College Circle, making the space more pedestrian-friendly. Currently, students can already use many of the granite pathways along the Scace Walk, but the university is adding granite pavers along Tower Road, as well as trees and benches. Work continues on the Temerty Plaza, which aims to transform the area north of the Medical Sciences Building into a pavilion with more greenery and outdoor seating for students. The university has not yet finished constructing a garden — with funding gifted by Chancellor Emeritus David and Shelley Peterson — that will be located south of Hart House. Like the Alumni Plaza, this garden will also include granite pavers connecting Hart House to King’s College Circle. To the east of Hart House, the Ziibiing project — which aims to pay tribute to the Indigenous populations that lived along Taddle Creek, a now-buried creek that ran along Philospher’s Walk — remains under construction. Once finished, U of T hopes to make it a place for Indigenous students, faculty, and community members to gather.
and biology — said in an interview with The Varsity, “Scanning takes way too long, especially [like], some people just don’t know how to scan it.” Hana Tran — a third-year student pursuing a degree in biology for health sciences and chemistry — also criticized the scanning process for being too time-consuming. “It’s definitely made [the commute] longer because we have to wait, especially when we’re at school — we have to wait so long just to get on the bus because everyone’s trying to scan the U-Pass.”
service. Its role will include participating actively in public meetings, such as those from the Transit Advisory Committee, and engaging in research data collection to better understand the specific needs and concerns of UTM students regarding transit. TransparentUTMSU — a group of student volunteers wanting to promote transparency within UTM — has started a petition to preserve the option of a physical U-Pass. It presently has more than 80 signatures. On the petition site, the group states, “Students should be able to use a pass that they pay for,” with the intent to advocate for MiWay and the UTMSU to offer students the option to select either a physical U-Pass or a digital one based on their preference. UTM students pay a mandatory U-Pass levy fee of $157.77 per session. In the statement to The Varsity, Bekbolatova wrote that MiWay’s protocol requires bus operators to allow UTM students to board regardless of U-Pass scanning results. If the QR scan doesn’t work, the operator should ask to verify the U-Pass’ expiration date and dynamic QR code. If a bus operator doesn’t follow this protocol, students should report the incident to Students can now access their U-Pass on the PRESTO app. the UTMSU. CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY
What’s next? Gulfy Bekbolatova, the UTMSU president, wrote in a statement to The Varsity that MiWay, the U-Pass service provider, initiated the transition to using a digital pass without consulting the union. When the UTMSU first announced the change in January, Maëlis Barre, the 2022–2023 UTMSU president, originally described the move as the union’s decision. In another statement to The Varsity, however, Bekbolatova explained that though the UTMSU signed about making the UPass digital, but that MiWay ultimately made the final decision without the union. The UTMSU plans to conduct surveys and infield audits to assess the UTM student experience on MiWay transit. To support these goals, the UTMSU’s president and vice-president external are in the process of establishing a U-Pass Committee. This committee will serve as a platform for dedicated UTM students passionate about advocating for improved
Business & Labour
October 30, 2023 thevarsity.ca/category/business biz@thevarsity.ca
Entrepreneurs showcase startups at Black Founders Network’s second annual Demo Day Event featured AI content-creation assistant, global money transfer platform Sami Khdair Varsity Contributor
On October 20, the Black Founders Network (BFN) celebrated its second annual Demo Day, an event which also marks the network’s second anniversary. Demo Day served as a showcase for the 10 business ventures in BFN’s 2023 “accelerator cohort,” which are early-stage startups launched by Black-identifying U of T community members from a variety of sectors. The program aims to connect Black-identifying startups and their founders with mentors, funding, and networking opportunities. “We witnessed remarkable connections and collaborations among our founders and the broader community,” wrote Justina Kanza, BFN’s program coordinator, in an email to The Varsity. The event featured $50,000 worth of prizes for participating start-up founders. A journey through innovation Kicking off the event, attendees had the opportunity to walk around and see tabling displays of the 2023 accelerator cohort’s start-ups, which ranged across artificial intelligence (AI), finance, health care, and sports conditioning. After some opening remarks from Program Manager Efosa Obano, the cohort’s entrepreneurs had the opportunity to pitch their startups to a
panel of judges representing the Black Opportunity Fund, the Spring Investing Collective, and the BDC — a loaning service and investor for Canadian entrepreneurs. All participants had the chance to win awards for their startups. The pitches were marked with inspiring stories, moments of laughter, and rounds of applause. Throughout this portion of the event, attendees, members of the BFN, and the cohort’s entrepreneurs also had the opportunity to network with investors and other Canadian entrepreneurs, all while indulging in delicious traditional African and Caribbean snacks — and believe me, when I say they were delicious, I mean they were really delicious! Empowering content creators The BFN People’s Choice Award went to OneCliq, founded two years ago by Tanika McLeod and Nathan Knight. The award grants OneCliq $10,000 in non-dilutive funding — which means that the funding was awarded by itself, not in exchange for a portion of McLeod’s and Knight’s business. OneCliq is an AI assistant that helps users create and curate content on social media, blogs, and newsletters. One of its functions is to take long videos and written content, and curate clips and excerpts of that content to use as promotional materials. The service has produced over 20,000 videos for its users, according to OneCliq’s website.
Why Canada is taking regulatory action against your local grocery chain Dramatic increases, discrepancies in food prices call grocery store profits into question Aunkita Roy Varsity Contributor
As Canadians continue to face the worrisome consequences of recent grocery inflation, numerous premiers have called on the Bank of Canada to “pause” the increases in its key interest rate. The latest Consumer Price Index, which is a measure of the overall change in prices of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by households over time, found that the price of food had increased by 8.3 per cent this June from the previous year. Rising grocery prices are another factor in the rising cost of living in Toronto, along with the soaring costs of rentals that have dominated headlines since the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns. As a result, U of T students are feeling the toll of rising prices on their living standards. But the causes behind soaring grocery prices are not clear or simple. A survey conducted this April by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Lab reports that 30.3 per cent of Canadians believe grocery chain CEOs are profiting from food inflation. CEOs of Canada’s biggest grocery chains — Empire, Loblaws, and Metro — have vehemently denied these sentiments. However, the corporations’ financial reports and the varying prices of basic ‘anchor’ products across grocery stores neighbouring all of the U of T campuses call their denials into question. The basis for the ongoing profiteering accusations An oligopoly — a very small number of very large companies — controls the Canadian grocery in-
dustry. Oligopolies mean that grocery companies do not have very much competition for customers, and they can do things like hike grocery prices without losing too much business. Oligopolic control of Canada’s grocery industry is especially concerning given that groceries are a basic necessity. This past September, Prime Minister Trudeau threatened major grocery retailers with “further action”, possibly even with “tax measures,” to combat alleged profiteering from inflating food prices. If it turns out that grocery retailers are simply increasing prices to keep up with increasing costs of supplies and labour, for example, or that increasing profits are the result of increasing sales, that is justified. But if companies are simply increasing prices to rake in a bigger profit, the federal government says it will step in and take regulatory action against the corporations.
Tomisin Salam’s FiatMatch won the BFN Top Venture Award at the Friday event. SAMI KHDAIR/THE VARSITY
A solution for international money transfers Tomisin Salam’s FiatMatch won the BFN Top Venture Award, securing $5,000 in non-dilutive funding. FiatMatch seeks to tackle a global problem that people face when transferring money internationally: being taken advantage of by what the company calls “manipulative” messaging from money transfer services that do things like charge hidden fees. The startup aims to address this problem by connecting its users to offers from multiple money transfer services, as well as other verified users who can facilitate international money transfers. The platform aims to make the fees associated with using various money transfer services more transparent. FiatMatch markets itself toward immigrants, especially those who move abroad to support their families in low-to-middle income countries. “As an immigrant myself, I understand the importance of financial support for families and the peace of mind it brings to know that loved ones are taken care of,” reads Salam’s manifesto posted on the startup’s website. “Think about Amazon — buyers and sellers come together, all on one platform… that’s ex-
actly what we do with money transfers,” Salam told the audience in his pitch at the Friday event. So far, Salam noted in his pitch, FiatMatch has facilitated over 1,000 transactions representing more than one million dollars, and accrued 21,700 pre-registered users.
Profit increases across the grocery industry Metro Canada has been reporting high profits and sales since January 2022, despite striking workers shutting down Metro stores in the GTA for the entire month of August this past year. The chain’s net earnings during its first 2023 fiscal quarter increased by 11.3 per cent compared to the first fiscal quarter of 2022. Metro Inc. operates the conglomerate, which also owns 975 other food stores and 645 drugstores. The company also reported an increase in food and pharmacy same-store sales for the third quarter of their 2023 fiscal year, encompassing April, May, and June. The company reported that online food sales were up 99 per cent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, No Frills markets itself on discount grocery options and is a popular competitor to Metro. No Frills has locations within reach of all three U of T campuses. No Frills is owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd., a company that also owns Shoppers Drug Mart, T&T Supermarket, Your Independent Grocer, and other grocery chains — and that experienced an increase in sales and profits in the second quarter of 2023. Loblaws maintains that these numbers do not account for inflation’s impact on the retailer. Loblaws president Galen Weston Jr. said that the actual margin between the sale price of individu-
al grocery items and the cost of supplying those items has actually decreased. Weston asserted that manufacturers who supply grocery items have had to pay more for the costs of inputs like raw materials and labour. FreshCo is a discount grocery store that is owned by Sobeys. Sobeys’ parent company, Empire, reported higher same-store sales and profits in its first quarter of 2023. Empire also reported that its food retail sales increased by one per cent for the full 2023 fiscal year. It attributed this to its expansion of the FreshCo banner. Overall, Sobeys controls 20 per cent of the Canadian grocery retail industry, while Loblaws and Metro control 28 and 11 per cent, respectively. These large shares of the market limit consumers’ ability to shop for necessary food supplies at other retailers, potentially making corporate profiteering more likely. Both retailers are among the chains who met with the federal government to discuss affordability in September.
Grocery prices have continued to inflate dramatically over the past year. KAISA KASEKAMP/THEVARSITY
Claiming more space in the startup world Demo Day concluded the second year of the BFN’s Accelerator Program, which was launched alongside the network’s founding in 2021. Kanza noted that the event was marked by “a shared commitment to fostering Black excellence in entrepreneurship.” This goes to the network’s purpose of closing remarkable disparities in funding and other opportunities between Black-owned and non-Black-owned businesses in Canada. U of T community members who identify as Black can apply to next year’s BFN Accelerate Cohort. The BFN is also running a Career Advancement Program to help connect Black individuals with hiring opportunities. The BFN will also be holding the Black Career Conference in January 2024 to share industry insights and hold workshops for Black students and entrepreneurs.
The future outlook The drastic rise in demand for food centers at U of T following the pandemic is just one indicator of this food crisis's effects on students. As the public need for more food support becomes more apparent and public trust continues to waver, food banks are preparing for a busier-thanexpected season ahead. The CEOs of Empire, Loblaws, and Metro have met with Prime Minister Trudeau and the agricultural committee to address solutions to the crisis. However, the lack of transparency in the information these corporations share threatens to jade public opinion even further. The federal government has proposed amendments to the Competition Act that will require them to disclose more financial information to the government. CEOs will return to Ottawa to explain their efforts to “stabilize food prices” for Canadians to the federal agriculture committee. The date has not been confirmed as of yet. The committee has announced that all grocers must submit a report detailing plans and improvements to these stabilization efforts by November 2.
Comment
October 30, 2023 thevarsity.ca/category/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
Letter to the Editor: Critical examination of recent articles about Israel-Palestine Re: The Western response to the Israel-Palestine conflict is hypocritical, U of T departments’ silence on Palestine displays immense cowardice, and We must acknowledge that Hamas’ Recent Attack Did Not Occur in a Vacuum Mauricio “Pachá” Vargas Sepúlveda Varsity Contributor
I am writing to express my concerns and critique regarding the three Comment articles recently published in The Varsity, dealing with the IsraelPalestine conflict. The articles contain biases and omissions that I believe are worth addressing. The risk of not addressing these issues is perpetuating the logic that leads to antisemitism and islamophobia spreading under the pretext of the current war. Re: “The Western response to the Israel-Palestine conflict is hypocritical” In this article penned by Raafia Shahid, the terminology employed to describe Israeli citizens victimized by Hamas is notably skewed. Shahid utilizes the phrase “the killing of Israeli settler civilians,” a mischaracterization given their location was the southern region of Israel, an area recognized under international law as legitimately belonging to Israel. Shahid adopts a writing that can be interpreted as derogatory in her reference to Israel, labelling it “the Zionist state,” and proceeds to draw a parallel between the actions of Hamas, specifically the heinous killing of innocent individuals, and the operations of the Israeli military against Palestinians since the year 2008. Strikingly, she appears to make no effort to distinguish between civilian casualties and targeted Hamas operatives. Further into her commentary, Shahid characterizes the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 as a “catastrophe,” which is the translation of “nakba.” It is noteworthy that Shahid and yours truly are affiliated with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and it is fair to acknowledge that we should agree to disagree on equating the foundation of Israel with a “catastrophe,” but it is essential to maintain proper rhetoric and stick to facts. Using the term “Nakba,” which translates to “catastrophe” in Arabic, to refer to the creation of the Republic of Israel in 1948 can be read as implying a sense of calamity and loss. The term inherently carries a negative connotation. The article also expresses that “in Israel the farright government has created an apartheid regime that allows for them to regularly harass Palestinians and treat them as second-class citizens.” The term “apartheid” originated in the context of South Africa, where a systematic, institutionalized regime of racial segregation and discrimination was enforced by the government. Some individuals and human rights organizations have used the term “apartheid” to describe Israel’s policies towards Palestinians, particularly in the West Bank and Gaza, citing issues such as restrictions on movement, unequal allocation of resources, and disparate legal systems. However, Israel’s citizens of Palestinian or Arab origin have the same legal rights as any other citizen, including the right to vote and serve in the parliament, something that the South African apartheid disallowed, and Israel even has an Arab Democratic Party. Re: “U of T departments’ silence on Palestine displays immense cowardice” In this article by Fatima Zahra Mohammed, there is an accusation against Israel for perpetuating “75 years of occupation,” dating back to its establishment as a Republic in 1948, and labelling it as “an apartheid state that is breaking international law to wipe out an indigenous population.” Israel stands as the sovereign nation-state of the Jewish People, whose indigeneity to the region of Judea is backed by historical and archaeological verifiable facts, now constituting a part of contemporary Israel. Spanning a historical continuum of three millennia, the Jewish people have maintained their presence and preserved their cultural mem-
ory in their ancestral homeland, notwithstanding myriad attempts at obliteration. Therefore, it is a misnomer to label Israel as an occupier on its own terrain, a land where Arabs are also indigenous. Israel epitomizes a liberal democracy. Israeli law prohibits discrimination based on race, and the government effectively enforces these prohibitions. Re: “We have to acknowledge that Hamas’ recent attack did not occur in a vacuum” I am especially disturbed by one of the statements by Lina Obeidat that appeared in print: “However, if some of them branch out into violent resistance, as they sometimes do, and if more civilian lives are regrettably lost on both sides as a result, let it not taint the image of all Palestinians and discourage support for their cause. Instead, let the international community take the deaths of these civilians as yet another sign that the ‘arc of the moral universe’ is not bending quickly enough in the direction of justice and that they must take action.” I see this as a blatant attempt to legitimize violence, oddly paired with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a leader known for his radical commitment to non-violence, who said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The statement “if some of them branch out into violent resistance, as they sometimes do” is simultaneously infantilizing and dehumanizing. Dehumanization flourishes when people see themselves and others not as individuals, but as “us against them.” “We” are victims — “they” are aggressors. It is only in this binary framework that violent acts can somehow be framed as just and noble, and murder can somehow be reflective of “the moral universe.” While it is essential to scrutinize the actions of nations, it is equally important to ensure that such scrutiny is grounded in reason. This comment article overlooks the 2016 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (UNSCR2334), which calls for an end to Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories and underscores the importance of a twostate solution. UNSCR2334 explicitly condemns violence against civilians and calls for the disarming of terrorist groups. It urges both parties to act on their obligations under the roadmap to peace, including the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to maintain effective operations aimed at confronting and dismantling terrorist capabilities.
Supporting all forms of resistance, including violent ones, raises serious ethical concerns. Promoting or condoning violence, even indirectly, goes against the principles of peace and the value of human life. The United Nations, through various resolutions and statements, has consistently called for non-violent resolutions to conflicts and the protection of civilians. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization in 2002 by the Canadian government, alongside the United States (US) and the European Union, for “us[ing] the Gaza Strip as a base for terrorist operations aimed against Israel.” When Hamas took control of Gaza in March 2006, 600 Palestinians were killed with such brutality that 35-year-old teacher Mohammad Ahmed-Hassan called it a “genocide.” In 2022, The Independent Commission for Human Rights, the human rights ombudsman organization of the Palestinian Authority, received at least 160 complaints against the police and internal security services in the Gaza Strip for torture and horrific conditions at detention centres run by the interior ministry. Human Rights Watch blames Hamas for arbitrary detention, torture, extra judicial killings, and other violence that regularly goes unpunished. The reports mention that Hamas terrorists deliberately shot at least 49 people in the legs who supported a rival faction between December 28, 2008, and January 31, 2009. Hamas also claims they want to liberate Palestine. Even more, there are several Civil Rights problems in Gaza and the West Bank. In October 2022, 25-year-old Ahmad Abu Marhia, a gay Palestinian man, was found decapitated on the streets of his hometown in the West Bank after living in Israel as an asylum seeker, where, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, about 90 2SLGBTQ+ Palestinians live. Also, in 2022, sisters Wissam and Fatimah al-Tawil, living in Gaza, aged 24 and 20, were denied access to a prosecutor to pursue their claims of domestic violence in court. In the words of Peter Beaumont, the Guardian’s former Jerusalem correspondent, “[Hamas] administers the education service while its police have broken the bones of children caught wearing scarfs signalling family affiliation with the rival Fatah movement.” Even in the context of political struggles, Hamas’ justification of violence is unacceptable and
breaches the international consensus on countering terrorism. This letter, in its current form, lacks a comprehensive view of the Israel-Palestine conflict, omitting key aspects of the situation, such as the need for disarmament of terrorist groups, the condemnation of violence, and the pursuit of a two-state solution, as highlighted in SCR2334. Robert Axelrod’s 1984 masterpiece The Evolution of Cooperation highlights the importance of cooperative behaviour. His insights have profound implications in international relations. It is time to focus on the mechanisms that foster cooperation in political systems. The role of media The role of media and public discourse is essential. It is incumbent upon outlets like The Varsity to set a high standard, steering the conversation away from violence and certainly away from those who describe civilian deaths as an acceptable but “regrettable” outcome. In closing, I urge The Varsity to maintain a reasonable approach when covering international issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict. Journalism influences public opinion, and it is imperative to uphold the highest standards of accuracy, fairness, and ethics. Thank you for taking the time to consider my perspective. I look forward to seeing more comprehensive discussions on this issue in your future publications. I remain hopeful that through reasoned dialogue and a steadfast commitment to peace, a just resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict can be achieved. Mauricio “Pachá” Vargas Sepúlveda is a first-year PhD student studying political science, in the international relations and public policy track, at U of T. Readers from the U of T community are welcome to submit letters to the editor that critique our editorial decisions. To hold our journalistic practices accountable, The Varsity is committed to publishing these letters. If you would like to submit a letter on an article that we’ve published, you can reach out to our Editor-in-Chief at editor@thevarsity.ca or our Comment Editor at comment@thevarsity.ca. If you or someone you know is experiencing distress please see resources on page three.
TROY LAWRENCE/THEVARSITY
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COMMENT
Let people wear their Halloween costumes in peace The pumpkin-themed slutshaming needs to go — it’s putting women at risk Isabella Liu Associate Comment Editor
Content warning: This article mentions sexism and sexual harassment. As a girl, it’s kind of a rite of passage. At some point in the mundane of our annual traipse around this October holiday, things start to change. Being a princess becomes less about the bright neon Party City garb, and more about how tight one can get the mini pink cocktail dress to be. With mom not around, nobody is there to tell us to cover up, and so the competition for who has the shortest skirt begins. And who can be blamed? Floor-length dresses aren’t exactly functional on the club floor. Yet, it’s also around this time when the comments start. The so-called ‘sluttiness,’ and the remarks on how we’re grabbing for attention — which, sometimes, leads to literal grabbing. Our Halloween costumes begin to walk a blurry line between having fun with our clothes and fielding judgement on our supposed lack of prudeness. As if girls aren’t objectified enough during the other 364 days of the year. Slut shaming on the regular is already an issue to discuss in and of itself — but in the context of Halloween, it especially makes no sense to me. In a holiday based around creativity and self-expression, the whole point is to have fun and dress up in what you find fitting and phenomenal. Sometimes, that means going all out and nearly causing a heart attack with all the fake blood on your body. Sometimes, it’s just another dress out of the closet and a witch hat thrown on top last
skirts, exposed torsos, and bunched cleavage. We are quite literally being sold “ass and tits,” and there is an imminent pressure to come cute and skimpy. And yet, when we do, it’s somehow still our fault? Whether a girl decides to Regina George-ify herself is up to her own liberties, comfort, and convenience. It does not define her character, or even remotely open any doors she doesn’t want opened herself. In the words of possibly the most famous Halloween quote ever, spoken by true cult classic protagonist Cady Heron herself: “Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.” Of course, Cady didn’t account much for the patriarchy — granted, because she was too busy fighting high school feudalism, so she gets a pass.
So as I sit here, applying lipstick to my white button-up shirt in preparation for this weekend, the mental safety checklist is kicking in. Don’t get drugged. Don’t let people get too close to you. Don’t back out of wearing what you want at the last moment just because you’re worried of what “they” may think. And, out there, I’m confident that about a hundred other girls are going through the exact same tragic thought process. It should not have to come down to this, but it has to be said: to all my girls this Halloween, be as cute as you want — and be safe.
minute. Whatever the choice may be, we should be able to celebrate this holiday the way we want in the outfit and the costume we want — free of charge. Isabella Liu is a third-year student at Victoria ColMoreover, there’s also the consideration of aslege studying public policy and international relasault. For most women, we’re forced to be extra tions. She is an Associate Comment Editor at The vigilant this time of year and know that what we Varsity. wear for ourselves, others may see as an invitation. We’re required to be alert and divide our attention from enjoying the night. Experiences like these are what ruin the moment, disincentivizing and destroying the enthusiasm to take part in this ever again. The fact that we are never able to celebrate in peace — that we’re given a warning sign on what should be a night for freedom — says everything about the issue. And it’s not like we entirely ask for this tradition of dressing less, either. The system is built to perpetuate a cycle of sexualization — made evident in Halloween costumes, or even just costumes at all. In a study that analyzed over 1,600 costumes and costume types, results found that 90 per cent of women’s costumes were sexualized, while only 11 per cent of men’s were sexualized. A Google search will tell you — show you, really — the exact same thing: look up classic costume ideas by gender, and you’ll find that male results are accurate portrayals of policemen or wizards or cats, but the female “Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it,” said Cady Heron in Mean Girls. counterpart is nothing but short UTKU EGEMEN UMUT/THEVARSITY
Gen Z will either reject or revive marriage — based on our risk assessment of it The standards of romance have changed, and so has our willingness to say “I do” Alia Ginevra Varsity Contributor
When I was younger, adults would thrust the concept of marriage upon me. They would say things like, “When you meet the one you want to spend your life with…” or, “When you get married one day…” While I was lukewarm to the idea at the time, I admit that my present desire to marry in the future has grown much deeper — with an emphasis on ‘future.’ As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that marriage has become a prevalent topic of discussion among my generation. Knowing that marriage is under the microscope, I predict that Gen Z will either embrace the aisle or ditch it completely — attaching the badge of “married” or “unmarried” onto themselves as a social signal — based on a more practical risk assessment, instead of on obligation. Gen Z’s case against marriage According to a new survey from the Centre of Psychology, two in five young adults say marriage is an outdated tradition. From how I see it, Gen Z — those born between 1997–2012 — is
generally risk averse. Studies demonstrate that we are getting our driver’s licenses later in life and that we aren’t engaging in risky behaviours as much as our predecessors. I believe that this aversion to risk will seep into Gen Z delaying or outright avoiding saying “I do.” Gen Z is already overwhelmed with the inconsistency of online dating and social media. Putting all your certainty into a union that has a 38 per cent divorce rate doesn’t sound like a safe bet geared toward a cautious audience. I imagine that the cautious, “unmarried” faction of Gen Z will attempt to find meaning in other pursuits instead of risking being stuck in an abusive or unhealthy marriage. Although it’s been statistically shown that marriage makes people happier, there are many ways one can be fulfilled without having a spousal relationship. Meaning can be found through one’s experiences, friendships, pets, hobbies, religious community, career, and charity work. Marriage is not for everyone, and even those who want to get married may not end up doing so. Considering that carrying the title of “husband” or “wife” is a status
symbol, I also predict that we will increasingly see people distinguish themselves using the “unmarried” label. In recent years, online creators have been dedicating their platforms to discussing the advantages they perceive to have gained from being unmarried. Just recently, a woman under the handle @pmdpod went viral for speaking about her Friday night seeing Beyoncé and her Saturday sleeping in and making Shakshuka. She boasted that being unmarried gave her the luxury of time to enjoy what she wants. Being 29, this woman is not a part of Gen Z, but her sentiments echo a prevalent Gen Z perspective. Gen Z’s case for marriage There is also a faction of Gen Z that anticipate marriage for the stability that can come from it. A lot of us do not want a short-term relationship, but a long, meaningful one that isn’t fickle or shallow. Simply based on chats with my friends, I know that we’re already tired of the dating culture of swiping left and right and that we crave real commitment. Although one can have a meaningful relationship without involving it, marriage can provide comfort and legal privileges that are
not accessible in its absence. When I brought up to my traditionalist dad how financial status deters marriage, I recall him saying that I would be waiting until my 50s to get my optimal salary. Essentially, he implied that even if you manage to get a relatively stable job in your late twenties, you will only make more money as you grow within that career. On the other hand, you may only have one chance to marry the right person while you are young — with opportunistic timing in your favour. I see him viewing the emotional abundance that marriage gives him as worthwhile — despite the financial burden. Given how @pmdpod’s TikTok sparked online conversation, I believe it will be interesting to observe the polarity between the two competing sides of Gen Z rejecting and reviving marriage. Maybe being unmarried will become more than an individualistic alternative lifestyle choice for Gen Z, but a chic, en-vogue lifestyle. Then again, what do I know — I’ve never been married. Alia Ginevra is a third-year student in the Faculty of Music at UTSG studying music and political science.
The standards of romance have changed, and so have people’s expectations. RACHEL LIU/THEVARSITY
Photo
October 30, 2022 thevarsity.ca/category/photo photos@thevarsity.ca
Refraction: Monsters of Oz Reflecting on my first time in the photo pit at a concert Ashley Jeong Varsity Contributor
5:47 pm, Wednesday, September 20. I’m nervously pacing around in my lobby, waiting for the taxi I booked to arrive at the curb. This was supposed to be my very first time photographing a show from the photo pit, with one of my favourite bands, Make Them Suffer, opening for Parkway Drive on their “Monsters of Oz” tour — and I was about to be late.
It was kind of funny really. Just 10 minutes before, I was sipping on a glass of protein shake and packing my gear at a leisurely pace after coming home from my biology practical because, for some reason, I had mistakenly thought the show was starting at 7:00 pm. Earlier this year, I wouldn’t have expected Make Them Suffer to have become a favourite of mine. I had known of them through Onslow — the side project of vocalist Sean Harmanis — but didn’t think much of them as I wasn’t really
into heavier music then. As the weather grew warmer, however, my taste in music shifted toward metal. A few metalcore shows in the spring and some Tidal algorithm recommendations later, I came across Make Them Suffer once more. This time around, I fell in love with their entire discography. They currently sit at the very top of my last.fm artist list, and I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. Ghost of Me was their first song that evening. They played a total of seven songs: their four latest non-album singles, two tracks from their newest album, and an older single from 2016. As it usually is with openers, the setlist was fairly short, so my personal favourites unfortunately did not make the cut. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed their set both inside the photo pit and out. Their energy alongside the sun’s presence meant easy lighting and dynamic shots, so I was very happy with my shots from the pit. When I wasn’t taking photos, I was mouthing lyrics and headbanging along to breakdowns, entranced by the mesmerizing blend of screams, riffs, and falsettos. Good bands are better live than in re-
cording, and Make Them Suffer was absolutely phenomenal live. The night wasn’t without its hiccups, however. I had to clear things up with security and the head event photographer after I unknowingly breached a venue policy as the second band performed. This left me a little shaken for the rest of the show, but I trudged on. Parkway Drive, the headliner, introduced me to pyrotechnics. I had never seen pyrotechnics at a concert before, and I was mere feet away from the stage in the photo pit when the flames kicked in during the first song’s chorus. The air was hot, and I felt lost trying to control focus and exposure through the fire, but I still managed a few decent shots and left the pit with my limbs and gear intact. I enjoyed the remainder of their set from the crowd, witnessing pyro in action once more and left just before the encore started. I had a plethora of firsts and beautiful images, both captured through my lens and etched into my memories. No matter where my concert photography journey takes me in the future, I’ll always look back fondly at this night.
Make Them Suffer kicks off their set with their newest single, Ghost of Me.
A crowdsurfer sings along to Idols and Anchors by Parkway Drive. Crowdsurfing is an integral part of rock and metal show culture.
The calm before the storm. Bursts of fire illuminate the stage just a few moments later.
As someone who’s never seen pyro before, shooting through bright, white flames was a challenge. At the same time, fire brings a uniquely exciting energy to a photo.
Alex Reade, the newest addition to Make Them Suffer. She is the first keyboardist in the band’s history to employ a keytar as part of her arsenal.
Make Them Suffer’s 30-minute set left me wanting more. I hope they return to North America with a headlining tour.
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FEATURES
U of T could open its doors to Canada’s dreamers — if it wants to Advocates from U of T’s faculty say it’s not a legal issue, it’s a moral one Georgia Kelly Business & Labour Editor
It’s a situation that legal clinic program director Sarah Pole is familiar with: someone comes to Canada as a minor, attends junior and high school in Canada, and makes plans — just like their classmates — to attend university. Then, they find out that they don’t have the legal documentation that universities require from them to apply. Pole founded the Childhood Arrivals Support and Advocacy program, which operates within the legal clinic Justice for Children and Youth. The program focuses on providing legal aid to people with precarious immigration status who arrived in Canada as children. Thousands of students in Toronto alone graduate from Canadian high schools, only for fears of deportation — and the restrictive rate of international tuition — to bar them from enrolling in colleges or universities. It’s a tragedy that was part of what eventually pushed York University (YorkU) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) to implement what they call “Sanctuary Scholars” programs: systems that allow people without secure legal status in Canada to apply to the universities’ undergraduate programs without inviting threats of deportation, and without paying international fees, which can be as much as nine times higher than domestic fees. Those behind the initiatives at YorkU and TMU have been pushing for U of T to follow their example. Advocates say U of T’s senior administration is dragging its feet. If U of T is afraid that opening its admissions to students with precarious immigration status will get the university in legal trouble as they suggest, perhaps it can look to its fellow universities in Toronto for some guidance. How access programs work The “Sanctuary Scholars” programs — launched at YorkU six years ago and at TMU this fall — are available for applicants who, although otherwise qualified for university, have “precarious immigration status” — an umbrella term for anyone residing in Canada who does not have citizenship, Permanent Resident (PR) status, conventional refugee status, or a valid study permit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Tanya Aberman, an officer of both YorkU’s and TMU’s Sanctuary Scholars programs, told The Varsity in an interview that the reasons behind applicants’ precarious status can vary widely. Sometimes, they are individuals who came to Canada very recently. Sometimes, they are mature students who had been unable to get a university degree earlier in their lifetimes. Oftentimes, they are people who came to Canada as children and graduated from a Canadian high school. Under normal circumstances, it can be next to impossible for these individuals to get a postsecondary education at U of T or at most other publicly funded universities and colleges in the country. But if applicants who lack legal status want to apply to YorkU or TMU, they can meet with Aberman, who is the sole confidant about each applicant’s immigration circumstances. “They don’t then need to disclose their exact situation to anyone else,” Aberman explained. For students who fear deportation or other immigration-
related sanctions, this part may be crucial in ensuring their security and even the security of their family members. From then on, applicants simply go through administration under the umbrella label of “precarious immigration status.” The admissions board will no longer require proof of PR or a valid study permit. The student will pay domestic rather than international tuition rates. And if the applicant does not have access to documents like high school transcripts, the admissions board will work around it. Aberman told The Varsity that she does not have full knowledge of the legal situation surrounding YorkU’s Sanctuary Scholars program. “There were some conversations with the province” when the program first launched, Aberman said — but aside from that, she is not aware that any serious concerns surrounding the program’s legality have come up. The legal question U of T faculty, students, and staff have said that the university’s hesitation here is unreasonable. Professor Alissa Trotz, director of the Women and Gender Studies Department, along with Audrey Macklin, chair in human rights law at U of T Law, are leading members of the working group that is calling on U of T to follow YorkU’s example.
Trotz put it her own way in an interview with The Varsity. “It’s not as if U of T would suddenly have its funding or its license yanked, [or be] thrown in some kind of National University Jail… that’s just not how things work,” she said. The working group consulted the law firm Blakes Law to issue a legal opinion on the matter, which the group received in November 2020. The group shared a copy of the opinion with The Varsity. The Blakes opinion essentially predicts
the kind and severity of legal risks publiclyfunded post-secondary institutions in Ontario might face in implementing access programs like the Sanctuary Scholars’ programs. It draws three major conclusions on the legal consequences of implementing such a program. First, Blakes concludes that post-secondary institutions like U of T admitting students with precarious immigration status are unlikely to get penalized under federal or provincial law. “There does not appear to be any provincial law or agreement requiring Ontario postsecondary institutions to refuse entry to applicants with precarious immigration status,” it reads. There is a small chance that an attorney could interpret the law as forbidding postsecondary institutions from “assisting” people to study in Canada without valid documentation, Blakes notes. However, the opinion argues that there’s no precedent to bring an educational institution like U of T to court over this, and the government is unlikely to try. Blakes points out that it is not aware of any legal challenges on those grounds to YorkU’s program since it was established in 2017. Even if they managed to succeed in doing so against U of T, Blakes argues, the university could raise a new challenge against the law itself for violating the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Second, Blakes considered the possible impact of such a policy on arrangements with the federal government. Universities like U of T enter into such arrangements regarding international students who come to post-secondary institutions in Ontario through the typical processes outlined by the government. The IRCC only issues study visas to international students admitted by “designated learning institutions” (DLIs), like U of T. DLI is a special designation given by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Would launching a Sanctuary Scholars program prompt the IRCC to revoke U of T’s designation, thus effectively barring it from admitting international students? Blakes concluded that this is
also unlikely, largely for similar reasons to the first conclusion. Third, Blakes found that post-secondary institutions likely do not have a legal obligation to “proactively” disclose information on
students’ legal status to the government. In other words, the law does not require U of T to alert the government whenever it finds out about a student living in Canada without valid documentation. A significant exception to this, however, is that universities would be obliged to provide this information if a court ordered them to do so. Immigration lawyers Elise Mercier and the late Francisco Rico-Martinez, along with Sean Rehaag, director of the York University Centre for Refugee Studies at Osgoode, reached similar conclusions in a research paper published under Osgoode Legal Studies. But the authors of this paper go further. Even if a university is found guilty of breaking the law for admitting students with precarious immigration status, they argue, well, too bad: “This is one of the limited sets of circumstances where pushing back against the law – and even breaking the law if necessary – would be warranted,” the paper reads. The Varsity reached out to U of T to ask why the university has not yet implemented such a program and whether it plans to in the future. The university declined to provide any direct response to these questions. “We are engaging in conversations and consultations to understand the particular educational barriers that people with precarious immigration status face and possible models to address them. Discussions on this issue are ongoing and no decisions
features@thevarsity.ca have been made,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Varsity. Fighting for access at U of T Trotz put it her own way in an interview with The Varsity. “It’s not as if U of T would suddenly have its funding or its license yanked, [or be] thrown in some kind of National University Jail… that’s just not how things work,” she said. Trotz and Macklin have been advocating for an access program at U of T through the working group for the past five years. Trotz said that the initiative came out of an event following shortly after the Sanctuary Scholars program’s launch at YorkU in 2017. Trotz recalled that community members from George Brown, Seneca College, and TMU had all come together to discuss ways to expand access to higher education to people with precarious immigration status in the wake of YorkU’s leadership. Over the years, Macklin said, the working group at U of T has made much progress “internally” — gathering fellow staff, faculty, and students to support the cause, mainly through word-of-mouth. Macklin also said that lower-level administration, such as the leadership from the various colleges, have shown enthusiasm for the idea. But Macklin said the working group has not gotten through to the university’s senior administration, which has the final say on the matter. “We had been trying to have conversations with [them] about this, and they really hadn’t progressed,” Macklin said. Those attempts at conversation, she noted, have mostly focused on the concerns about legal repercussions, although the group brought Blakes’ opinion to U of T’s senior administration to consider. When asked whether and how the university planned to collaborate with the working group in the future, a U of T spokesperson provided no direct response. A symptom of a larger issue Part of a more permanent solution to accommodating students with precarious immigration status might include addressing how Canada’s immigration system is set up in the first place. The IRCC tends to prioritize allowing newcomers to Canada on a temporary and conditional basis over pathways to permanent residency. This is part of why migrants’ rights groups have
been calling for years on the federal government to implement a regularization program, in which everyone who has been in Canada for a certain minimum period of time is granted permanent residency in the country.
The result is essentially that many people in Canada are stuck in limbo for most, if not all, of their lives. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his government to start looking into regularization options over a year ago, but the government’s progress on regularization has remained unclear. Organizations have continued to push for the government to implement such a program; in May 2023, the chair of the immigration law section of the Canadian Bar Association recommended that it regularize immigrants without valid immigration status already in Canada. The result is essentially that many people in Canada are stuck in limbo for most, if not all, of their lives. Pole explained that without access programs like those at YorkU and TMU, students have limited options. They generally need to cross their fingers that they can acquire PR status on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds,” as defined by the IRCC, if they want to be able to go to university with the rest of their high school graduating class. But doing so is essentially like playing a game of Russian roulette. A 2020 investigation from the Toronto Star found that attempting to receive PR status on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds” has a near “40 per cent chance of failure” — and that failure likely means that the IRCC deports the applicant. If students decide not to pursue PR, they can try to apply for a study permit, which would then mean the university they apply to classifies them as
an international student and charges them international tuition rates. International students across the country pay, on average, two to five times the tuition fees of domestic students. At U of T, international students pay almost 10 times the tuition of domestic students. Looking ahead The Varsity asked U of T about whether it plans to work on programs for students with precarious immigration status. U of T’s spokesperson pointed out a number of existing programs the university has implemented to expand financial access for students with impediments to higher education — although none directly addressed the issue of undocumented students’ legal access to a university education. U of T is a partner university in the Student Refugee Program (SRP), which connects refugee applicants with sponsors in Canadian universities. The program works within an official agreement that the SRP’s parent organization, the World University Service of Canada, maintains with the IRCC. It allows students arriving as refugees through the SRP to obtain PR status. The spokesperson also pointed to a number of financial aid resources available to students who are already registered at U of T, including its expansion of the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students program and its financial aid opportunities for international students. One of the programs it mentioned was the Scholars and Students at Risk Award Program, which is a grant of up to $10,000. According to its eligibility criteria, the award is available to students whose higher education has been impacted by volatile political developments outside of
Canada – this includes students who have been refugees within the past five years. The program strictly provides financial aid, not immigration-related aid. The spokesperson also pointed to the initiative it recently announced to entirely cover tuition for students from nine First Nations communities.
In the meantime, the working group is still advocating for an access program. It’s putting on a panel event on November 23, which is open to members of the U of T community and leaders from other universities. Trotz told The Varsity in an email that the event aims to facilitate discussion across leaders at Ontario universities on how to design and implement these access programs. For Trotz and Macklin, the matter of implementing the program does not come down to legal technicalities or financial concerns. “No matter what’s going on with their immigration, no matter what’s going on in their lives, the desire to go to school always comes out in front,” Aberman said. “It’s always just what amazes me.”
BIEW BIEW SAKULWANNADEE/THEVARSITY
Arts & Culture Continued from cover. The fact of sex also comes alive on Halloween. This is the only time of the year when we are allowed to embody the full spectrum of desire by embracing fantasy and taboo. I believe that to slut-shame anyone at Halloween is to be an enemy of progress and a hater of fun. Under the guises of leathery catwomen, jockstrapped sailors, guiltlessly exposed schoolgirls, and shirtless Mario brothers, we are no longer who we are, and so we can become who we truly are. For some, this can be liberating, as it lifts the pressure to portray innocence and demureness. In other ways, though, this liberation may empower those who wish to do harm: the relief of gender euphoria and sexual freedom exists alongside the unfortunate fact that the risk of sexual assault against women, girls, and gender-diverse people increases around Halloween. As I write this article, I am compiling items
October 30, 2023 thevarsity.ca/category/arts-culture arts@thevarsity.ca
for my costume magnum opus of the season. A pair of black flared pants. A stringy top with spaghetti straps. A nun’s habit and collar. Pointed-toe boots, black with the woven pattern of a signature Bottega piece. Perhaps a pair of black gloves and a black lace flower mask. A long pleated plaid skirt — let’s pretend it’s Vivienne Westwood. I want to be funny and sad; not scary, exactly, but fearsome; sexy, and empowered with abandon; and very, very dark. I would like to think that I am making these choices in a vacuum, outside of my personal relationship to my religious upbringing, my understanding of my body and its performance of gender, or my aching desire to be everything that I feel I am not. I want to be myself at my most visceral, without the judgment of the public, the violence of the male gaze, or the weight of expectation from my family, work, and personal life. Every year, we’ve got one shot to do that, and we need to make it count.
“Behind a costume, we are made new.”
ARTHUR DENNYSON HAMDANI/THEVARSITY
Midterms are not the scariest thing haunting U of T this October! Who are some of U of T’s local ghosts, and where do we find them? Cypress Chernik Varsity Contributor
is quite harmless, though prone to disappearing at random times.
Content warning: Mention of assault.
Hart House Hart House is famously a cultural centre, hosting reputable student organizations and boasting beautiful architecture. It also has a theatre known as the Hart House Theatre, home to a ghostly caretaker known as “Bert.” He apparently died in the 1950s but continued to show up to work for years after. Though he is now not seen quite as commonly, he once saved the life of former Hart House Theatre director Paul Templin. One night, while working late, Templin fell asleep in his office. Templin has reported that if not for his door that had opened and slammed closed, waking him, he would have died in an
Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, UTSG is definitely one of the places in Toronto where one might expect to encounter a spectre or two. If you’ve ever studied late into the night or found yourself wandering in an old building, you’ve probably felt a little chill on the back of your neck. In the spirit of the season, here is your guide to meeting some of the ghosts that roam the streets and halls of your university! Lady Chapel Trinity College has a beautiful chapel, which can be a great place for reflection and prayer when you need some peace and quiet. However, this sacred space is not immune to the supernatural activity at Trinity College. Behind the main chapel, there is a second, smaller chapel known as the Lady Chapel, and these two areas seem to have a concentrated amount of paranormal activity. In the main chapel, the U of T History Society tour tells of a student who reportedly saw a being of some sort sneaking and crawling around when they were playing the organ late at night. They even called campus police, who found no evidence of anyone having been in the chapel. In the Lady Chapel, there is a spectre known as the Gray Lady who allegedly waits in or outside of the Lady Chapel as though expecting the service to start. As far as we know, she
electrical fire that was spreading through Hart House. He claims to have seen a figure in the frosted glass of his door, and because nobody ever took credit for saving his life, Templin assumed that his mysterious saviour was none other than Bert. Trinity College tunnels While the other Trinity ghosts seem to be without malice, the stories about the steam tunnels connecting Trinity College and St. Hilda’s College are more than a little chilling. Allegedly, a woman student was assaulted down in the tunnels many years ago, and her ghost now wanders the tunnels acting as a protector. In addition to this, there is also a male spirit that is confined to the tunnels who has much more alarming intentions. According to this
legend, he is stuck behind a wall in the tunnels but occasionally finds his way out and kidnaps students who are passing through. Every time he manages to steal a student, he gets closer to escaping his brick jail. Even if you did feel the need to pay this malicious spirit a visit, however, the tunnels are no longer open for wandering visitors. University College An article about U of T’s ghost stories would not be complete without the story of Diablos and Reznikoff. Paul Diablos and Ivan Reznikoff were two of the workers who built University College (UC) in the 1850s. They had a tumultuous feud between them, as Diablos persuaded the woman that Reznikoff was going to marry to run off with him. One night, Reznikoff attacked Diablos with an axe; they scuffled, until Diablos ran off, carrying only a dagger. He hid until Reznikoff came running after him, then attacked him. Surprising Reznikoff gave him an advantage. When he was finished, Diablos threw the body over a stairwell, over which was built a staircase leading to the roof of the building. Reznikoff’s body allegedly stayed there until the UC building was ravaged by a fire in 1890. Reznikoff had haunted the college for years — but apparently, when his bones were found after the fire and buried under a tree in the UC quad, he found peace. So there you have it, folks; U of T is haunted, and not just by weeping exam-takers. Hopefully, now you know where to go for some late-night excitement!
The U of T campus is a great place to look for spooky spirits. RAYMOND WONG/THEVARSITY
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Two woman authors who reinvented the horror genre Mary Shelley and Carmen Maria Machado redefine the ‘monster’ Sofia Moniz Varsity Contributor
Content warning: This article describes abusive relationships. The horror genre relies on the discomfort of its readers. Successful horror stories keep readers guessing — which means artists of all mediums must be particularly creative, constantly reimagining ways to upset, repulse, and scare their audience so they don’t get too comfortable. In the literary world, two authors stand out to me as trailblazers in the horror genre: Mary Shelley and Carmen Maria Machado. Mary Shelley, best known as the author of Frankenstein, is one of the most influential horror writers to date. Unlike other iconic halloween monsters like zombies and vampires that have their origins in folklore, Shelley conceived of Frankenstein’s monster when her friend challenged her to see which of them could come up with the best horror story. Shelley’s story, named after scientist Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the infamous monster, was published as a novel in 1818 and has since made its way into popular culture, and served as source material for many contemporary movie and television adaptations. Carmen Maria Machado is a contemporary author revolutionizing the horror genre, coming up with new conceptions of the monstrous. Her Body and Other Parties, Machado’s debut short story collection, was published in 2017 to critical acclaim, and in 2019, she published her memoir titled In the Dream House. In her memoir, Machado uses the tropes inherited from Shelley and other classic horror writers to tell the story of her abusive relationship with her ex-girlfriend. Each chapter continues the narrative through the lens of a new literary trope: haunted mansion, man versus nature, and murder mystery are some examples. By crafting a disjointed story where each chapter shifts in style, Machado draws the reader into the disorientation she experienced in her relationship. Both Frankenstein and In the Dream House are remarkably inventive, stretching the limits of genre. Shelley not only arguably invents science fiction but also combines it with gothic horror and tragic romance. Machado completely subverts the memoir genre and incorporates essays and folktale motifs. This genre-bending speaks to the authors’ skill and creativity as writers to create something completely new out of the preexisting tradition of their genre. What I think is really effective about these texts is that, unlike in other horror stories, readers can’t close the book and walk away with the comforting knowledge that the monsters they read about don’t exist. Even though there are fantastical elements to Machado’s storytelling, we are reminded that it is grounded in reality. The first chapter is called “Dream House as Not a Metaphor,” where Machado establishes that the Dream House — the house she shared with her abusive ex — is not fantasy but a real place. Furthermore, although Frankenstein is fictional, the scientist and his monstrous creation embody real human hopes, fears, and flaws. Abusive relationships and biologically engineered humans are eerily closer to our own reality than zombies and vampires. One sign of a great novel is when its themes stand the test of time. Frankenstein and In the Dream House capitalize on our universal fear of powerlessness. The characters in Machado’s and Shelley’s books are stuck in a difficult situation for most of the narrative. As they struggle to escape the monsters haunting them, the reader struggles with them, experiencing repetitive and cyclical events through the form of the book. In Frankenstein, after Victor abandons his creation and loses track of him, he is stuck in a cycle of simultaneously hunting the Creature and being hunted by him. Shelley includes many long descriptions of setting and location, showing how far the characters travel, only for their situation to
remain the same. Machado also plays with formal elements in a way I had never experienced before. She illustrates the cyclical nature of abusive relationships through a chapter called “Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure.” Unlike traditional Choose Your Own Adventure books, there is no way to move on to the next chapter. Instead, every choice readers make for Machado’s character is somehow the wrong choice, sending them back to pages they’ve seen before. Both Victor and Machado’s characters realize that they will never feel safe again unless they manage to escape the cycles they’re in — a seemingly impossible task. Another way some horror authors inadvertently provide comfort to their readers is by using archetypes. Archetypes are comforting, even monstrous or villainous ones, because they feel familiar to audiences and can help them predict where the story will go. But by doing away with archetypes and creating nuanced protagonists with conflicting desires and motivations instead, Machado and Shelley don’t provide their readers with the comfort of having black-and-white notions of good and evil. While Machado does engage with tropes and archetypes, she subverts expectations, using them in inventive ways the reader may not have previously encountered. As Machado makes sense of what happened in her relationship, she sometimes doubts that her ex-girlfriend was her abuser and not the other way around. Because she doesn’t have physical evidence of the abuse she endured, other people don’t believe her side of the story, so she starts to doubt what really happened. In Frankenstein, there is also ambiguity and tension as to who the real villain is: Victor, or his creation. Despite the common notion that Frankenstein’s creature is an evil monster, in the original novel, both characters are morally dubious. Although the Creature has a frightening outward appearance, he is initially friendly and sensitive. It is only when he is rejected by society and by Victor — the closest thing he has to a parental figure — that he seeks revenge. While Victor is often depicted as a scientist who was in over his head after the creation of his monster, he does not take responsibility for his creation and stands by while innocent people take the fall for his actions. As storytellers themselves, both authors naturally guide their protagonists toward storytelling as a way to regain their power in moments of despair. Victor’s process of creating the monster is shrouded in secrecy. After he creates the monster and it begins wreaking havoc on Victor’s family, he keeps the secret out of guilt until he finds a confidant in Walton, who records Victor’s story in his letters. Similarly, Machado was forced to keep many elements of her relationship a secret to others and herself. She includes a demand her abuser made, which is particularly telling: “You’re not allowed to write about this… Don’t you ever write about this. Do you fucking understand me?” Machado, in the story, promises to comply. Then Machado, the narrator, says, “Fear makes liars of us all,” highlighting that by choosing to tell her story in her memoir, she has regained the power over her abuser. The idea of storytelling as salvation is an idea I often see explored in literature, and it’s one of my favourite ideas to encounter because it gives me a window into the author’s experience. Why did they put this story to paper? Why does anyone write a story? Shelley and Machado remind us why literature is powerful and why so many people enjoy reading and writing. Mary Shelley and Carmen Maria Machado’s contributions to the horror genre have been extremely influential, and it’s particularly exciting to see Machado make such big strides relatively early in her career. The horror genre needs constant reinvention, and it is thanks to the creativity of authors like Shelley to provide a solid foundation and authors like Machado to reimagine this foundation in a contemporary context that it may continue to unsettle and disturb readers for times to come.
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Horror movie hidden gems Four underappreciated horror films that will send shivers down your spine Burak Batu Tunçel Varsity Contributor
Content warning: Mentions of violence, death, and gore, and themes some may find disturbing. Looking for something spooky to watch for Halloween? Want to watch The Shining? No, you have seen it a dozen times already. What about The Exorcist? Maybe it’s a bit too classic. How about something that might have completely swept under your radar? Here are some carefully selected films which you may have never seen before. They are not talked about often, but they all have something interesting to offer. So bear with me as we explore these underrated gems… if you dare! House of Usher (1960) A young man on his way to visit his sick lover wanders through a forest of dying trees and mist until a crooked mansion comes into view. In this house, the protagonist learns about an old curse surrounding the family as a dreadful atmosphere builds up. Directed by B-movie legend Roger Corman, penned by Richard Matheson, and starring Vincent Price, House of Usher is a faithful adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The film symbolically illustrates the dark roots of the aristocracy and its slow decay over time by using the crumbling mansion as a metaphor.
Despite its very modest budget, the gothic set design and the ominous lighting are still effective to this day and inspire aspiring filmmakers working with limited money. Corman cleverly used every opportunity he had to handle the film as cheaply as possible, such as seeking a barn house about to be demolished for shooting the climax or taking
his crew to a fire site to shoot the brooding opening sequence. Carnival of Souls (1962) After an innocent car race ends up killing most of those involved, lone survivor Mary decides to start a new life as an organ player in a different town. However, she starts to become haunted by visions of dead people sinisterly staring at her. As time passes, she becomes more drawn into a nearby abandoned carnival, and the mystery ensues.
GUTS is a departure from the generic pop album Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album makes creative and witty criticisms while maintaining her original and authentic sound Alyssa Villar Varsity Contributor
After weeks of buzz on Instagram, I finally decided to listen to Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album, GUTS. Admittedly, I am not a devout fan of the pop star, although, like others, I couldn’t help but find her hits like “drivers license” catchy and enjoyable when they were trending all over TikTok. In all honesty, I was expecting another entertaining but somewhat generic pop album, but instead, I was intrigued by the social commentary found in the album. I feel pop music has been hitting a low in creativity and originality recently, and Rodrigo’s album is a refreshing departure from this tendency. GUTS stands out for a number of reasons, as it manages to encapsulate Rodrigo’s authentic sound and creatively highlights important messages for the artist’s many young listeners, a feature that makes Rodrigo unique in her mainstream popstar niche. GUTS makes witty film references and social commentary Despite “vampire” twice-ranking number one on Billboard’s Hot 100, I find that “all-american bitch” stands out from the rest of the songs in the album because of its wit and originality. The song seems to reference a popular film trope — the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) — through a satirical lens with Rodrigo’s classic pop-punk sound. The singer depicts herself as this “perfect,” perpetually positive, slightly offbeat character who seems to lack personal desires and goals, built only to care for and support her partner. Some notable lyrics that
characterize this include: “I’m alright with the movies that make jokes about senseless cruelty, that’s for sure” and “I don’t get angry when I’m pissed.” The angsty and almost sardonic undertone mixed with her yearning to actually be the “perfect” girl effectively illuminates the futility of trying to be “perfect” in the eyes of the male gaze, ultimately criticizing the plausibility of being a reallife MPDG. Rodrigo contrasts soft, gentle verses and an angry pop-punk chorus to demonstrate the tension and frustration of fitting inside this box of perfection when, realistically, we are all flawed and should not have this expectation of perfection. The criticism of impossible girlfriend standards perpetuated by movies — conventionally attractive, always optimistic, ever-caring, never angry, ‘different’ from other women, self-sacrificial — is often missing in pop music, especially within established celebrities of this genre. Olivia Rodrigo highlights unrealistic beauty standards in a meaningful way While GUTS is a mix of heartbreak, ‘girl power,’ fun, and upbeat teenage rage that has long defined the genre of mainstream female pop artists, this album proves to be so much more than this somewhat ‘superficial’ stereotype often attributed to women pop artists in music. Rodrigo’s songs “lacy” and “pretty isn’t pretty” in particular refocus attention on the systems and culture that create insecurities in women and girls, rather than just lamenting the in-
A low-budget psychological horror film from the ’60s, Carnival of Souls develops a nightmarelike atmosphere through liminal spaces and organ music. The camera is often positioned in a way that seems to secretly follow its protagonist. The audience becomes voyeurs through this technique — and when the opposite happens when the dead people start to look back at the viewer and break the fourth wall, the effect is impactful. It is as if the faces are inviting you to join them. This bizarre use of narrative devices can be considered revolutionary for the impact they still carry. It is also worth noting that shades of the film can be seen in other works, such as Night of
ing town. Yet, Martin still goes out during night to drink blood. An apparent aspect that differentiates Martin from other vampirism films is the complete rejection of tradition. Martin does not have fangs and uses tools to drink the victims’ blood. He is constantly asked about vampirism cliches, which he always denies and mocks. The representation of the vampire is strangely humane. Romero says this choice was made to emphasize that monsters are “expurgations of ourselves.” Still, the film never clarifies whether Martin is a real vampire or not. The black-andwhite visions, which resemble the ’30s monster films, are either flashbacks or fantasies, but Romero leaves the question open-ended.
Tenebrae (1982) Peter Neal is a crime novelist who arrives in Rome to promote his new novel, but he is thrown into a web of mystery when a serial killer with a Puritan morality starts to murder people by deriving inspiration from his novel. Tenebrae — directed by Italian horror and thriller director Dario Argento — is the most notorious film on this list, as its extreme sexualized violence resulted in it being added to Britain’s infamous list of banned films: “Video Nasties.” Tarantino himself paid MARLY IBRAHIM/THEVARSITY tribute to the splatter in a particular scene from Tenebrae in Kill Bill. the Living Dead, Final Destination, and Jacob’s As grotesque as it is in presentation, Tenebrae Ladder. is, at its core, a “Giallo” film, which is the term used to describe ’70s Italian thrillers where the Martin (1977) narrative’s driving force is the ‘whodunit’ plot. Now we’re getting into the disturbing stuff. Night However, the screenplay does have some unof the Living Dead director George A. Romero’s usual twists. Argento confronted the criticisms slow-paced and artsy take on vampirism has a he faced throughout his career by using the almore realistic approach than its predecessors. A ter-ego of Peter Neal. The film’s meta layer with 17-year-old teen named Martin believes that he commentary on media and violence is still worth is a vampire. He comes to live with his religious discussing today, even though the work is not cousin, who tries to “save his soul” in a decay- for the faint of heart. securities and blaming them for negative emotions. Although the artist stated in an interview with The Guardian that she never wants to “pigeonhole” her songs to one meaning, Rodrigo’s “lacy” could be interpreted to emphasize the effect of Eurocentric beauty standards on young women. Rodrigo sardonically sings about a “Dazzling starlet, Bardot reincarnate,” “skin like puff-pastry,” and “eyes white as daisies” — a deity of sorts, a figure, or a divine being that Rodrigo is obsessed with. The young singer doesn’t seem to be worshipping a real individual, but a representation of the American beauty standard that her loathing and insecurity arise from. Lines like, “Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you” demonstrate how the beauty standard looms over most women: a never-ending obsession to fit
the beauty standard, all while having contempt for its existence to begin with. Rodrigo’s song “pretty isn’t pretty” furthers this point with “It’s on the poster on the wall, it’s in the shitty magazines / It’s in my phone, it’s in my head” as she refers to the beauty standard’s prevalence once again. While emulating the jealousy and admiration of songs like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton or “Heather” by Conan Gray, “lacy” is still unique for its social critique of the ideal woman, rather than channelling that obsession and jealousy towards an actual person. Rodrigo takes away the competition aspect of jealousy and rather laments and acknowledges that her painful obsession is a product of having the beauty standard constantly pushed on her. Overall, GUTS is not only enjoyable for its catchy melodies but also the important messages that Olivia Rodrigo uses her vast platform to share. GUTS is truly witty and inspiring, and I hope to see more music like this from other large artists in the future. As Rodrigo said in an interview with The Guardian, “[That’s what music’s for:] expressing your rage and dissatisfaction.”
Behind the catchy tunes of Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS is a deeper social commentary. COURTESY OF BICHOTA B CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Science
October 30, 2023 thevarsity.ca/category/science science@thevarsity.ca
Monstrous mycorrhizae in Mexican Gothic
What about the mysterious fungi is accurate in this 2020 thriller? Medha Surajpal Associate Science Editor
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
ship. The mould provides more access to nutrients to plants, and in return, the mould receives photosynthesized carbs that it cannot get from the sun. The mould in High Place is different. The mildew is closer to black mould, a toxic household problem. The effects of this type of mould can persist and reappear long after the source is extinguished. The Doyle family has lived in the same house for generations — and as it turns out, Howard Doyle, the patriarch, has also held on for generations.
In an ancient dwelling overrun with mould and rigid principles, Noemí Tabaoda experiences the fear of fungi at full force. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2020 gothic horror novel follows the young socialite’s visit to her newlywed cousin in the Mexican countryside. Set in the 1950s, the story unfolds as Noemí is swallowed by the darkness of High Place, the mysterious house her new inlaws — the Doyles — inhabit. High Place: A living ruin The chilling tale takes place in a decrepit house that displays all the traits of an abandoned mansion but remains inhabited by both the Doyle family and a smaller evil: mould. Mould pervades High Place in black spots found in the pages of the library books, in the fungus clinging to the statues in the garden, and in the wallpaper plastered in Noemí’s room. It’s like the house was flooded and left to rot for decades. When Noemí arrives, she feels as if she’s stepped back in time, when oil lamps and candles were the only light sources. The windows are sealed shut, and the curtains are perpetually closed. The Doyles like it this way, as it’s how things are done. Their rules are not meant to be broken, but Noemí challenges them, letting the light in — though briefly. The physical darkness that High Place is shrouded in provides the perfect environment for mould and rot to set in. Combined with the constant rain and thick fog around the mountain residence, mould and mushrooms proliferate unchecked across the property.
At High Place, mould infests everything, even the people. MEDHA SURAJPAL/THEVARSITY
The enduring mould In the novel, the mould that fills the house is portrayed as decay, rot, and generally akin to the Doyles. In Noemí’s eyes, the house is a pit of darkness — unfamiliar and deceptive, like the mould that covers it. Non-fictional mycorrhizae are fungi that grow on the roots of other plants. Both the fungus and the host plant benefit from this symbiotic relation-
The past, present, and future of quantum dots
A supporter of eugenics, he believed that his ‘blood’ was superior to the locals. When he discovers a fungus in Mexico that grants him superhuman longevity, he exploits it and learns that, through sacrifice and cannibalism, he can be immortal. This fungus is referred to throughout the novel as ‘the gloom.’ The symbiotic relationship the Doyles have with the fungus is sinister. In exchange for immortal-
ity, Howard willingly feeds his own children to ‘the gloom,’ allowing the fungus to grow and spread from its heart in the damp basement of High Place. For someone with such twisted beliefs, it’s no surprise that he stole the fungus from the Mexican locals and used it to control them. Howard’s symbiosis with the gloom allowed him to manipulate anyone the mould touched. He abuses the fungus’ resilience and makes himself a sort of god — always watching, always keeping his descendants in the palm of his putrefying hand. He ‘haunts’ High Place, never allowing his blood to rest. The gloom holds the memories of everyone who has died in the house. It’s sentient and allows Howard to control everyone that the mould infects, whether they ingest it by accident or simply by breathing the air in High Place. It weakens Noemí, confuses her memories, and pushes her to believe she’s losing her mind the longer she’s in the house. While exaggerated in the novel, these are all real long-term effects of toxic mould exposure. Memory loss, anxiety, confusion, depression, and constant fatigue are all issues that can persist for years after mould exposure. The plot thickens, or is it decay? As a huge fan of horror fiction, getting lost in Mexican Gothic felt unavoidable. The constant imagery of mushrooms and black mould drove the feeling that something bigger was involved beyond the members of the cold Doyle family. Our protagonist is trapped in a dark, mould-infested house, and though the gloom drives deeper into her psyche and body, she never stops fighting. Noemí is resilient, ironically enough, like mould. She uncovers the history and every nauseating secret of High Place. The dark spores that line the walls and her dreams of golden mushrooms tell her the past. It makes sense that toward the end, more mushrooms appear than mould. Mushrooms and mould are both adaptive, but mushrooms hold a brighter outlook. Often found sprouting from deceased organisms, they represent new beginnings.
Quantum dot solutions with different colours from violet to red. COURTESY OF ANTIPOFF CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry highlights a discovery that changes how we look at light, quantum mechanics, and screens Jeanine Varney Varsity Contributor
On October 4, Louis E. Brus, Moungi G. Bawendi, and Aleksey Yekimov won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on quantum dots (QDs). QDs are microparticles of 10 to 50 atoms in diameter and can more heavily absorb blue light in the visible spectrum, making them useful for developing LED screens and better cameras. Discovering quantum dots in two different labs Yekimov started his work on glass infused with semiconducting materials — materials that can both conduct and insulate electricity — to examine the structure of the infused semiconductors. Yekimov tested the way glass infused with different-sized particles of a semiconducting compound called copper chloride absorbed light, and determined that the smaller particles absorbed more blue light. These small particles of copper chloride were the first QDs discovered. In a different lab, Brus started working on using solar energy to power chemical reactions. He created tiny particles of a semiconductor called cadmium sulfide for his experiments. When creating the particles, he noticed that they absorbed more blue light than larger particles, indicating the small cadmium sulfide particles were QDs. The increased blue absorbance held true for other QDs made from different semiconducting materials, demonstrating the
same results as Yekimov’s. In the early 1980s, both Yekimov and Brus created quantum dots independently of each other. In 1993, Bawendi, a former postdoctoral student of Brus, and his research group created a method for reliably manufacturing QDs by injecting the precursor chemicals of the dots, like copper chloride and cadmium sulfide, into a carefully heated solvent. QD crystals formed and grew in size as the solution containing the QDs was heated, and Bawendi could stop their growth by cooling the solution. Bawendi showed, then, that changing the temperature of a QD solution allows the size of QDs to be precisely tuned.
QDs can be precisely grown to size using Bawendi’s methods, allowing us to tune QD particle size and thereby tune light. The tunability of the light that QDs release means they can recreate most colours in the visible or infrared spectra when used in electronic screens.
Tuning the light quantum dots release In an atom, there are tiny particles called electrons, which carry a negative electric charge. In the atom, these particles behave simultaneously as a particle and a wave. When a semiconductor absorbs light, an electron is released from the chemical bond between the semiconductor’s atoms. In QDs, an electron is released from the bond when the QD absorbs light, but even once released, the electron’s wave is bound by the edges of the QD. The size of the electron’s wave determines the amount of energy, and different amounts of energy released create different colours of light. Thus, changing the size of the QD determines the size of the electron wave, which in turn determines the colour of light the QD releases.
What can quantum dots do? One current application of quantum dots is their use in QLED screens — LED screens utilizing QDs. Since QDs are able to efficiently emit a large spectrum of colours, many colours can be recreated accurately by QLED screens. In normal LED screens, there is a panel with tiny white LED lights that show through a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel to create the colours we see. The crystals in the LCD panel act like shutters that can let light through or block it. However, they often cannot block all the light, meaning darker blacks displayed on an LED screen can look grey. In QLED screens, on the other hand, the LED light panel has blue LED lights, and there is a filter
composed of many QLEDs that glow when they are hit with the light from the LED light panel — in addition to the normal LCD panel. QLEDs allow for screens that display greater contrast and more saturated colours, without looking washed out. QDs could also be used to expand the properties of cameras for imaging in adverse environments, such as those with low light. In the near future, they could be used in infrared cameras and to improve image sensors. Finally, QDs could soon be useful in creating transparent solar panels for windows, where QDs are infused into the window glass. The QDs can absorb light from the sun and emit it as infrared light that is collected by a solar cell at the edge of the window. QDs are an interesting and promising frontier for the future of chemistry and also for the field of quantum mechanics. They are already used in screens around us and their use will continue to multiply in the coming years. QDs show how quantum science can be used for everyday applications and how the interactions of light and molecules influence us everyday.
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It’s time to brush up on your dental health How to get clean teeth for cheap as a U of T student Jesse McDougall Varsity Contributor
It’s candy season in Canada, and this Halloween every U of T student should know how affordable the student dental plan is and why keeping your teeth clean can boost your longterm health. Dental coverage for UTSG undergraduate students Here’s a rundown of U of T’s undergraduate student dental plan, with the help of the University of Toronto Students Union’s (UTSU) Vice President of Finance and Operations, Samir Mechel. “[The dental plan is] used… by thousands… of students each year,” said Mechel in an interview with The Varsity. “It’s usually a pretty smooth experience.” All full-time undergraduate students at UTSG are eligible for dental coverage provided through the UTSU. This extends to domestic and international students, although some students with existing coverage can choose to opt out and save $102.58 — the cost of the plan this semester. Mechel oversees the plan, which provides a range of services to students at over 10 clinics close to the St. George campus. Every year,
students can have one oral examination with polishing and cleaning fully covered by insurance. Insurance also takes care of up to 70 per cent of X-rays and 80 per cent of extractions every year. The plan covers $800 worth of dental visits overall. I first used the UTSU’s dental plan last year, and I know it’s already saved me money compared to treatment in my home country. The Globe and Mail reported that the average dental checkup costs around $150 to $300, and that fillings cost $150 to $450. “Because we’re such a large organization… we get a very good rate for it,” said Mechel. “We do get pretty competitive coverage, even compared to other universities in Canada.” He went on to describe the online claiming process through Greenshield, the UTSG undergrad insurer. Similar coverage is available for UTSC and UTM students, also through Greenshield. In my experience, the Greenshield website is easy to navigate. It explains that students can claim their benefits in two simple steps: presenting their pay-direct card to the dentist, and submitting the claim either online, through the app, or by mailing it in. Importantly, help is always available at the front desk of the UTSU building at 230 College Street, and from there, dental clinics are within walking distance.
Most clinics near UTSG are familiar with U of T’s dental policy. Mechel mentioned that, at some of them, “you might just give [the dental office] your student number… so you never have to make a claim.” Words of wisdom from a Dental PhD student Letting loose on Halloween candy without regard to the health-related consequences might be tempting, but Zoha Anjum doesn’t think so. As president of the U of T Dental Students’ Society, Anjum says that staying consistent with regular check ups is best in the long term. “Really keep an eye on how your overall health is [because] we usually realize the importance of [our physical health] when it’s not there anymore,” said Anjum. “I’ve been there, I ignored it. And I faced the consequences of ignoring it.” When asked to discuss the availability of care for U of T students, Anjum mentioned regions outside of Canada where dental care is not accessible or affordable. “Not everyone can afford to buy insurance. Not everyone has that ability to walk into any clinic and seek the medical attention or dental attention that they need,” she said. According to Anjum, “If you [already] have insurance coverage, that opens up a lot of op-
tions for you.” Students with existing insurance who don’t opt out of U of T’s health plan can receive opinions from multiple clinicians in order to make an informed decision about what is right for their oral health. Anjum also treats dental patients in her PhD program, so she shared some dental wisdom with The Varsity. “A lot of times people [only] brush the front [of their teeth]... but they won’t brush the tongue side… where a lot of buildup ends up,” she said. “But [you] can’t brush this space in between the teeth,” Anjum pointed out. “Flossing is so important because it helps you remove that debris between your teeth…[in areas that are] more prone to cavities,” she added. “[Food] builds up over time and the bacteria has an opportunity to start breaking your teeth down.” At U of T, I have saved hundreds of dollars on eyeglasses and orthotics through my student health plan, but I think the greatest value the plan has given me was for my teeth. In fact, the idea for writing this article came to me while I was in a dentist’s chair just south of campus. Living life with healthy teeth feels great, and you can find out more about the UTSU plan online or at the UTSU front desk at 230 College Street. More information about the UTSC dental plan and the UTM dental plan is available online.
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OCTOBER 30, 2023
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Toronto Neurology Update 2023 A conference about training non-neurologists in neurology Ashiana Sunderji Varsity Contributor
On October 21, the U of T Faculty of Medicine hosted a hybrid conference titled “Toronto Neurology Update: Demystifying Neurology for the Non-Neurologist.” The event was directed by neurologists and assistant professors in the Division of Neurology, Dr. Peter C Tai and Dr. Jeff Wang. The event featured six lectures by neurologists on various topics, aiming to present emerging insights into diagnostic methods and treatments for neurological disorders to physicians of diverse specialties — for example, geriatricians, emergency physicians, and family physicians — who would run into these neurological diseases or issues in their own practices. Dizziness and vertigo Dr. Paul Ranalli, a physician in U of T’s Department of Neurology, Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, gave an insightful talk, seeking to make knowledge about addressing and diagnosing dizziness and vertigo accessible to the doctors and health care professionals in attendance. Dr. Ranalli claimed that most vertigo disorders can be diagnosed through virtual appointments as long as the physician can differentiate between vertigo and non-vertigo dizziness, as well as the type of vertigo. Non-vertigo dizziness is an ambiguous term and can indicate other issues that might relate to cardiovascular disorders, medication or metabolic problems, psychogenic disorders, or multi-sensory deficits. A patient experiencing true vertigo will hallucinate movement — they will feel as though they are either spinning or accelerating linearly.
A key takeaway from his talk for me was the segment on anxiety and how it can imitate forms of vertigo. Because of the similarity in symptoms, doctors might misdiagnose vertigo as anxiety, which could lead to the patient experiencing even more anxiety regarding their condition, producing an unproductive spiral. Sleep concerns Dr. Brian J. Murray, the head of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Division of Neurology and a professor in U of T’s Department of Medicine, gave a talk on sleep disorders. He explained that avoiding sleep for an entire night is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of 0.1 per cent, which equates to a state of impaired mood and driving skills. Sleep deprivation has wide-ranging consequences, from mood problems and attention disorders to cardiovascular health issues and immune deficiencies. Dr. Murray highlighted the importance of asking patients with suspected sleep disorders about medications and substance use. This should be followed by assessing common medical or neurological disorders. Then, the physician should conduct common sleep tests to compare the patient’s sleep to the “normal.” Regarding circumventing sleep insufficiency, Dr. Murray mentioned caffeine as the “ubiquitous” first resort for circumventing sleep disorder symptoms. We learned that one cup of coffee is only good to keep you attentive for an hour; up to three cups of coffee are effective per day, beyond which would not modify your state of consciousness. A common theme in the physicians’ talks was their explanation of interesting therapies. Dr. Murray spoke about light therapy, which is used to treat a subset of sleep disorders known as circadian rhythm disorders and has a much more effective impact than melatonin.
A presentation on functional neurological disorders at the Toronto Neurology Update conference. AIDA QAZI/THEVARSITY
Dementia Dr. Benjamin Lam is a cognitive neurologist and clinical associate at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre who presented a talk on identifying dementia for inpatient consultation in primary care or the emergency department. Dr. Lam walked us through the six cognitive domains: memory, visuospatial, language, executive function, attention, and social cognition. He explained how each domain links to different neurological conditions and, for each domain, what tests could be conducted to allow physicians to identify any underlying pathology relating to it. However, not every identification test in these cognitive domains is ideal for each patient. For example, before physicians use tests that examine language fluency when testing for left frontotemporal dementia — damage to neurons in the frontal or temporal lobes — or progressive aphasia — damage to the speech and language-controlling regions of the brain — they must consider that the patient might have never been exposed to a particular word or spelling of a word they’re using. Functional neurological disorders Dr. Sarah Lidstone is a neurologist and director of the Integrated Movement Disorders Program at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. She educated the audience on how to recognize and diagnose functional neurological disorders (FND).
FNDs are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Dr. Lidstone said that, when attempting to diagnose an FND, it is important to consider someone’s personality, coping, attachment styles, and control issues. She said, “Seeing somebody at a single crosspoint in time in your office doesn’t actually show you what that person’s nervous system has been exposed to.” She also made sure to distinguish FNDs from feigning disorders, where the patient intentionally fakes symptoms, emphasizing that just because there’s no lesion doesn’t mean there’s no disorder. In an interview with The Varsity, Dr. Tai said, “One of the aspects of ongoing practice in medicine is continuing medical education and enhancing your skills… as the field advances.” He went on to say that one of the responsibilities of neurologists is to educate community partners. Clearly, the conference’s organizers accomplished this goal as physicians took the opportunity to learn about emerging and novel intervention strategies, symptomatic management tactics, and upcoming therapies. Even as a student interested in pursuing a medical career, it’s important to become educated beyond your field of interest, as intersectionality and diversity are important in healthcare and science as a whole.
Cézanne’s vision of the world How Cézanne seemed to understand the science of vision in his art Malaika Mitra Varsity Contributor
You enter an art museum, let’s say the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You walk through the Great Hall and up the stairs, ignoring the allure of the gift store and Greek art. Finally, you enter a wing and check your map: 19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings And Sculpture. You walk straight to The Annenberg Collection. A painting of about two by three feet is in front of you. The plaque says Mont Sainte-Victoire, Paul Cézanne, ca. 1902–6. You observe the lines on the painting carefully. What they suggest is simple: a mountain, a valley, and maybe some houses nestled in that valley. The lines don’t seem to be careful delineations of the objects in space, but rather suggestions of them. You get the distinct sense that most of the painting is in your imagination and that Cézanne put oil to canvas to tease this imagination out of you. Cézanne was denounced and outright called insane by art critics. He was not an impressionist who made unsellable canvases, but worse. Impressionists revered light — a response to what they saw as realism in the then-emerging art of photography. They saw light as both a distinct dot but also a fleeting blur, a duality impossible to capture through realism in photography, which they thought made their paintings more real than a photograph. Cézanne held an open disdain for the Impressionist perception of light. To him, the way that light played on the eye was only one of many layers of vision, rather than the foundation.
Though he desired to truly “copy nature,” he realized that he couldn’t, because nature was made of abstract forms. So, instead, Cézanne created “nonfinito” paintings, or paintings that had blank space that made them seem unfinished. He painted enough lines and shapes for the viewer to understand what the image was, but only just. In doing so, Cézanne assumed that what we see is not necessarily what is, but what we make it out to be. Was this true? Is there more to visual perception than just seeing light? Does the brain merely process light as we see it or does it play a role in constructing the image? In a chapter called “Paul Cézanne: The Process of Sight” in a book titled Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer describes that by the late 1950s, neuroscientists already knew that light affected photoreceptors in the retina. The idea that light excited these receptors in the retina and caused our brains to reconstruct what our eyes saw was the basis for experiments carried out by neurophysiologists David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel. They flashed light on the retinas of an (unfortunate) cat and recorded electric signals from V1, the first stage in our brain’s visual cortex, in a chain of five regions in the cortex that interpret visual signals. The results were surprising: nothing happened. No electric signals were recorded when scientists flashed light on the cat’s retina, puzzling the scientists — as that meant that light was not exciting the cells of the V1 region of the visual cortex. This conundrum grew when they noticed a neuron that was excited at periodic times in their experiment — but only between experiments when there was no light. The cell
Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, ca. 1902–6.
COURTESY OF PAUL CEZANNE CC METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART AND WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
was excited by the shadow cast in between the procedures of the experiment. Lines, shadow, contrast — these are what our neurons like to react to, prompting signals in our visual cortex. Even with this knowledge, vision remains — at least in part — up to the subjective interpretations of our brain. The objects constructed with these lines and curves are still left to our imagination. Lehrer later describes the case of “Dr. P.,” a man who could see but whose vision received no input from his brain due to a cortical lesion. This meant that, although he could still see things, he couldn’t understand what they were; he found it difficult to pick out objects from one another. This is the man who mistook his wife for a hat, which neurologist Oliver Sacks writes about in the eponymous book. Let’s return to Mont Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne has painted only the basics of interpretation, what we need in order to understand the landscape and nothing more. Cézanne seemed to have an innate understanding that the visual
information we receive enters our minds as abstract and formless, only gaining meaning once it goes through several layers of cognitive processing. In other words, we see the shapes and lines and contours and assign meaning to these elements. This is how we are able to gain an understanding of our reality — otherwise, we would only be left with the original formless abstractions we see, like Dr. P. Cézanne forces us to become perceivers rather than passive observers. We fill in the blanks with what we need to make the painting meaningful to us, something we practice every day in our exploration of the world. We produce meaning through the interpretation of geometric abstractions that our eyes are inundated with every day. Looking at the painting, that all sounds exhausting — but also thrilling. You fold up your museum map and put it in your pocket. You accept your fate as the producer of the meaning of abstractions and vague suggestions.
Sports
October 30, 2023 thevarsity.ca/category/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
Faster and faster: U of T’s Formula Racing Team innovates and dominates The UTFR designs, creates, and competes with a Formula-style vehicle around the world edge,” LaRosa added, when asked about the UTFR’s appeal for students at U of T. “It’s a massive benefit, to be able to [join] this team and actually start using some of the things that you’ve learned in school.” Furthermore, a lot of team members move on to do internships at Formula racing companies, like Jaguar Racing, Williams Racing, and Red Bull Racing, while others find internships at automotive companies like Tesla. “The companies see a lot of value in doing the things that we do,” LaRosa said. But what exactly does the UTFR do during the year?
Kunal Dadlani Sports Editor
testing, setting up a mock competition by taking the car out to big parking lots or racetracks. “We’re [also] playing around with simulators, trying to simulate our car on a computer, so drivers can get a feel for it before they get to the track,” LaRosa said. The team has four drivers, all of whom are contributing members of UTFR. “We don’t recruit people to just drive,” LaRosa explained. “It’s a student team, so we want to get the students that… are really involved with the team to get the [first] opportunity to drive the car.”
Multiple competitions Once all the testing is done, the team begins comIn 1997, U of T began participating in the Formula peting. An FSAE competition is typically divided into Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) competwo categories: static events and dynamic events. tition, where university students are challenged “The dynamic events are where your car actually to design, create, and compete with an openruns and competes,” LaRosa explained. “And all wheeled, single-seater car — a Formula-style vethe static events are presentation-based.” hicle — in a one-year cycle. Since then, the UniFor the static events, the car is presented to a versity of Toronto Formula Racing Team (UTFR) panel of judges formed of automotive industry leadhas become a home for undergraduate racing ers. This includes a design competition, where the enthusiasts at U of T, all eager to get involved in team presents the car’s design, as well as a cost the increasingly innovative and evolving automotive competition. “Our entire car is costed down to the industry. bolt and nut. And that’s presented to the judges, “I think we’ve got around 40 active members Creating the car and they scrutinize how you costed your car,” that are actively always doing stuff for the team,” “The process from having an initial design to hav- LaRosa said. Finally, there is a business competisaid Daniel LaRosa, the UTFR’s team principal and ing a running car is about eight months,” LaRosa tion, where the team is judged on how the team is mechanical technical director — and a fourth-year explained. The team typically starts designing the financed and managed. mechanical engineering student — in an interview car in around June, spending most of their summer “For the dynamic events, there are four major with The Varsity. “[But] in total, we have over 100 designing the car. In September, the team uses their ones… acceleration, skidpad, autocross, and enmembers.” designs to manufacture parts. The manufacturing durance [tests],” LaRosa said. Acceleration tests Importantly, you don’t have to be an engineering process lasts into the winter semester when all the how well the car accelerates, while the skidpad is student to participate. “All students are welcome,” parts come in, and the car can be assembled. where the car drives on a figure-8 track, testing the LaRosa said. “We teach you a lot of the skills that “At around [the] beginning of March, the car runs car’s handling, responsiveness, suspension, and you need to learn… so it’s pretty inclusive.” and we do [some] testing, tuning, [and] validation.” setup. LaRosa describes autocross as being simi“The big benefit is you get to apply your knowlThe team does a lot of their own lar to “a qualifying lap,” where the team gets higher points the quicker they finish the track. Finally, endurance is a 22-kilometre race that tests the car’s reliability and pace, and the driver’s skill. This year, the team had a busy summer, travelling with their car to different competitions. In New Hampshire, the team finished in first place. Afterward, the team competed in the largest North American FSAE competition in Michigan. With over 70 teams participating, UTFR finished fifth. Finally, the team shipped themselves and the car out to compete in the Czech Republic for the Formula Student Czech Republic competition, ultimately finishing sixth out of over 40 teams. “It was a very sucUTFR’s newest car was outstanding at FSAE competitions this past summer. cessful season for us,” LaRosa noted.
Innovating and improving Yet, the team is always looking to improve. This year, the team constructed and competed with an electric car for the first time ever. The 2019
cycle was the last time UTFR used a combustion engine for their car. “[It was] because COVID hit,” LaRosa explained when asked about the move away from combustion. “The team decided that [it] was the right time to switch to electric.” This came with several new challenges the team had to overcome, like the new considerations that had to be made about battery management. UTFR built an electric car in 2022, yet it didn’t run. In 2023, the team tried again — and succeeded. Furthermore, the team also now develops a driverless function. “The European [FSAE] competitions are moving in that direction of implementing autonomous driving as part of their competition,” LaRosa said when asked about the motivation to construct a driverless function. LaRosa noted that moving into this new and innovative area helps expand the team. “There’s so much to do with autonomous driving robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning. All these different cool things that are happening… I think are pretty relevant now, even to the students.” For next year, the team aims to participate in three to four competitions, heading back to New Hampshire and Michigan before travelling to Europe to participate in some competitions. “We [also] run our own events, [and] we participate in a lot of sponsor events,” LaRosa added. After their car failed to run in 2022, the goal last year was just to build a running car. “This year, I’ve tried to place more emphasis on the design cycle, [so] designing things with purpose [like by] starting to design things for performance and finding areas where we can improve,” LaRosa said. “The big goal is to try and just design a faster race car than we did last year… [it] sounds simple, but there’s a lot to it.”
COURTESY OF EVAN TAL CC UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FORMULA RACING
The Toronto Blue Jays disappoint all over again With an early playoff exit, the Jays are still searching for that elusive ‘next level’ Kaitlyn Harris Varsity Contributor
Another year has gone by, but the story remains the same. After losing to the Seattle Mariners in the 2022 American League Wildcard (ALWC) series in epic fashion, the Toronto Blue Jays have once again bowed out of the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs after two short games. This time, the Blue Jays fell victim to a combination of the Minnesota Twins and their own questionable decision-making. After dropping the first game of this year’s ALWC by a score of 3–1 and ending the Twins’ 19-year playoff losing streak, the Jays still looked competitive early in Game 2. Jays starter José Berríos had pitched three scoreless innings — striking out five and walking only one — when manager John Schneider pulled him from the game in favour of Yusei Kikuchi. The lefty proceeded to load the bases and give up two runs in the fourth, allowing the Twins to sweep the Jays out of the playoffs with an eventual 2–0 shutout. Needless to say, Blue Jays brass wasn’t exactly lining up to take credit for the controversial call. General Manager Ross Atkins used his endof-season press conference to lay the responsibility at the feet of his manager, yet backtracked immediately, mentioning the decision may have
been part of an organizational strategy. Batting struggles The situation sowed frustration in the clubhouse and the fanbase, but it would be a mistake to assume that the season was lost in a singular moment. Regardless of their pitching decisions, a team can’t win a best-of-three series only scoring one run. The problems that sank the 2023 Blue Jays started well before October. The Blue Jays offense failed in critical moments throughout the season. Throughout the season, the Blue Jays posted a .256 team batting average — good for eighth in the Major Leagues. However, they placed 16th in total runs batted in and dropped all the way to 19th in the category of runners in scoring position. That’s the second-worst among teams qualifying for the postseason. Even with the likes of George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the lineup, the Blue Jays simply didn’t convert enough scoring opportunities to present a legitimate offensive threat. Nearly perfect pitching Public controversy is also nothing new for this group. Mystery still surrounds the status of 2022 Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah, who left this season after deeming himself “not ready to compete.” Projected to start the season as the team’s ace,
Manoah posted a 5.87 earned run average (ERA) across 19 appearances, earning him demotions to Jay’s minor league teams in the Triple-A and the Florida Complex League. He received injections in his throwing arm in September to deal with discomfort and inflammation, although team doctors failed to find any structural damage to it. It’s unclear whether the former starting pitcher will be ready for spring training next year. The good news is that aside from Manoah, the Blue Jays’ pitching was actually a strong point for the team this year. The five other starting pitchers had ERAs well under 4.00, with the bullpen combining to keep an average ERA of 3.68. The pitching staff’s success was supported by the stellar defense in the field, with five Blue Jays players being nominated for Gold Glove awards. There was no shortage of pedi-
gree or talent, but the roster never quite managed to equal the sum of its parts. Big decisions So, where do they go from here? Atkins confirmed that Schneider will return as manager for the start of the 2024 season, but his lineup will surely see changes. All signs indicate that defensive stalwarts Matt Chapman and Kevin Kiermaier will leave this off-season, and with the possible departure of Hyun Jin Ryu, the Blue Jays may also be looking for a fifth starter to round out their rotation. While young superstars Guerrero Jr. and Bichette are still under contract for two more seasons, time is running out to prove that this core can win a championship, or even a playoff game. For now, it’s déjà vu all over again for Toronto sports fans. Another year, same story. ZOE PEDDLE STEVENSON/THEVARSITY
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Will Brooks’ journey from star catcher to coaching staff Now in graduate school, Brooks reflects on his time with Blues baseball team Caroline Ho Varsity Contributor
Baseball has always been an integral part of Will Brooks’ life. His dad was a high school baseball coach, and being from New Hampshire, there was no shortage of stellar athletes for Brooks to idolize. He considers himself fortunate to have grown up in the New England area. “[I] was watching Tom Brady and [saw] how good of an athlete he was,” he explained. “I learned a lot about doing whatever it takes to win and trying to support your teammates… something that Tom Brady was just phenomenal at.” He also credits his start in baseball to his upbringing in New England. “I was a huge [Boston] Red Sox fan… that [got me] interested in the sport.” His experience playing catcher with the Varsity Blues baseball team had a modest start. “When I was younger… I just loved tossing on the [catcher’s] gear… and it just kind of stuck.” From New England to Toronto Brooks played soccer and baseball throughout high school, but his love for baseball persisted as he elected to continue playing at the postsecondary level. As a dual US-Canada citizen, he knew early on that he would attend university in Canada. He contacted Mike Didier, U
of T’s head coach at the time, and eventually earned a spot with the Blues. Brooks excelled athletically and academically in his undergraduate years at U of T. Initially starting in life sciences with hopes of attending medical school, he switched gears to kinesiology after realizing the extent of his passion for athletics. Through his experience as an athlete, Brooks’ interests shifted to physiotherapy and strength and conditioning coaching. He found that the “off-season strength and conditioning program was instrumental to making [him] the player that [he] was.” Brooks’ success is reflected in his lengthy list of achievements, which includes the George M. Biggs Trophy, Hill Powell Award, Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Academic Achievement Award, and Dean’s Student Leadership Award. He also worked as a student athletic therapist for the Blues’ track and field and football teams. Brooks is currently in the first year of his Masters in Professional Kinesiology, hoping to concentrate on high-performance strength and conditioning. He expressed a desire to give back to the community that shaped him into who he is today: “I wanted to find a way to impact young players the same way that the great strength and conditioning coaches here at U of T had affected my career.”
A Blues dynasty Success didn’t always come easily for the Blues baseball team. During Brooks’ first year, they came close to winning the OUA Championship, only to fall against the Laurier Golden Hawks in the title game. The next year, they suffered an early elimination from the playoffs. However, during the 2021 season, the team knew they had what it took to win. “Our goal from day one was just… to put our head[s] down and play up to our potential,” he said. The team went undefeated and brought home the title — a classic example of how resilience, determination, and hard work always pay off. “That was just such an amazing memory,” Brooks said, reminiscing on that magnificent season. “Our goal was always to win a championship together.”
capacity, whether as a strength and conditioning coach or as an on-field coach later on. Working with the Blues team that won their second OUA Championship in three years on October 15, Brooks discussed aspects of student-athlete life that are not easy. “I remember some days, [I] would go to Goldring and have a 7:00 am lift, then class all day, and then practice after... Staying organized was something that was really important for me to be able to do. With U of T, school is no joke.” His advice to current athletes: cherish your time here, and think about how you can positively impact the program that you’re involved with. “I was always really proud to put on the University of Toronto uniform and don the T-leaf,” Brooks said. “It’s one of the best schools in Canada, one of the best schools in North America, and just to be here and be able to play a sport at a high level and get such a great education, it’s definitely not something I’ve taken for granted.”
Entering the dugout After taking on a high school coaching job last summer, Brooks decided that even though he could no longer participate as a Varsity Blues player, his baseball career wasn’t over yet. “Just being involved with the game of baseball… is something I want to do in the long term,” he said. “Coach [Andrew] Needles, who is the head coach now, gave me the opportunity to be a part of the team and work as [sort of] a graduate assistant coach… to learn from the coaching staff.” In this role, Brooks continues to work closely with the program. “Coaching makes you think about the game in a different way than if you were a player. I love still being able to be a part of the game even though I’m not playing anymore.” His dream? To Brooks continues to be part of the team as an assistant coach. work in Major League Baseball in some COURTESY OF SEYRAN MAMMADOV CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
Nino Nikolovski’s stunning brace sends Blues men’s soccer team to quarterfinals Blues defeat Gaels 3–1, continue on the road toward OUA Championship Bruno Macia Varsity Contributor
On October 25, the Varsity Blues played in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) men’s soccer playoffs under the eyes of 200 spectators at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario. The Blues, dressed in their classic blue jerseys and coming
with four wins in a row, visited the Queen’s Golden Gaels, who didn’t want to lose their “lucky seven” win streak. In the end, it was the Blues who emerged victorious, earning a strong 3–1 victory. What happened Despite the Blues possessing the ball for much of
Nikolovski shined in the Blues’ dominant road win.
COURTESY OF ROBIN KASSEM CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
the game, the Gaels surprised them with a corner kick around 12 minutes into the game. The ball was kicked into the air by Gaels midfielder Andrea Gortana, finding defender Ian Ferguson’s head, who scored the first goal of the match from inside the box and put the Gaels ahead. Soon after, determined to return the game to the initial draw, after receiving a pass from Blues rookie forward Michael Maslanka, Blues midfielder Nino Nikolovski took a daring and stunning shot from just outside the area, placing the ball in the back of the Gaels’ net. There was nothing that Gaels goalkeeper Connor Adams could do to stop that ball from crossing over him. The rest of the first half had opportunities for both teams; the Blues registered three more shot attempts and the Gaels only two, with each goalkeeper having to make a save only once. The second half of the match started with the Blues moving the ball, and seven minutes in, it found Nikolovski. Like in his first goal, Nikolovski received the ball from Maslanka before taking a
beautiful curling shot from outside the box that passed just beyond Adams’ fingertips. The Blues now had the lead and maintained it thanks to their perfect line of defense, which not only caused multiple offsides for the Gaels but also contributed to the imprecision of the Gaels’ passes. At the 64-minute mark, Maslanka extended their lead, heading the ball into the Gaels’ net. Maslanka finished the game with one goal and two assists. The Gaels were unsuccessful for the rest of the afternoon, taking four shots at the Blues’ net, which Blues goalkeeper Alex Lin carefully protected. What’s next After this victory, the Blues played against the Carleton Ravens in the OUA quarterfinals. The game, played in Ottawa on October 28, ended in a 1–0 defeat for the Blues after conceding a goal in the last minute of the match.
Blues women’s soccer team shuts out Ravens to advance into OUA quarterfinals Anne Yeomans scored the Blues’ only goal in a tight 1–0 victory Kunal Dadlani Sports Editor
On October 25, the Blues women’s soccer team travelled to Ottawa to play against the Carleton Ravens in the first round of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs. In a tight game, the Blues’ defence held strong, shutting out the Ravens and earning a 1–0 victory — advancing into the next round. What happened The game started with both teams passing the ball around, attempting to get a precise scoring opportunity. The Ravens were more successful and threatened to take the lead early on with a free kick and a dangerous corner kick that
threatened the goal. Nevertheless, 16 minutes into the game, Blues captain Hannah Chown sent a long pass into the box that then bounced into the path of third-year Blues forward Anne Yeomans, who calmly slotted the ball into the Ravens’ net. For the rest of the first half, the Ravens fought hard to score an equalizer, forcing Blues goalkeeper Maria Godoy-Atrash to make four saves. Yet the Blues held strong and continued to apply pressure, as the Ravens’ goalkeeper, Chloe Lachance-Soula, had to make two saves. In the second half, the Blues were held back and made to defend their own goal. Early in the half, Blues forward Natasha Budisa received a yellow card — the only one in the game. For the rest of the game, the Blues didn’t register a single shot
on target, while the Ravens forced three saves out of Godoy-Atrash. Ultimately, the Blues maintained control and sealed their victory. Godoy-Atrash recorded her fifth shutout of the season, while Yeomans recorded her fifth goal of the season. What’s next On October 28, the Blues headed to Ottawa again to play against the undefeated University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the OUA quarterfinals. Earlier this season, the Blues lost 3–2 to the Gee-Gees in a thrilling encounter at Varsity Stadium. They hoped to get revenge against the number-one ranked team in the country this time but fell short, The Blues’ defense held the Ravens’ offense back. losing 3–0. COURTESY OF MARC LAFLEUR CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
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THE VARSITY
OCTOBER 30, 2023
DIVERSIONS
The Varsity’s Weekly Crossword — Forklift Noises
Answers to the previous crossword
Elise Corbin Puzzles Correspondent
Halloween at university
Bianca Delmar Varsity Contributor