Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 12 December 4, 2017 thevarsity.ca —— University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
EDITORIAL
ARTS
SCIENCE
Reporting in a vacuum
Guillermo del Toro’s new film, The Shape of Water
Would you like crickets with that?
Refining our philosophy on journalistic bias
Director emphasizes learning to love and understanding ‘the other’ page 12
Nutritious insects may be the future of food
page 9
TCM constitutional amendment addresses clubs funding
page 15
Grey areas on green issues
Clubs with ties to Finance Committee receive up to three times more than those without Carey Davis Varsity Contributor
Trinity College’s direct democracy student government will address potential conflicts of interest affecting club funding at their meeting on December 4. A constitutional amendment is on its way to the floor of the Trinity College Meeting (TCM) regarding the correlation between the Trinity College Finance Committee’s (FC) allocation of club funding and its members’ affiliations with those clubs. Trinity student Jessica Rapson proposed the amendment after calculating that, this fall, Trinity clubs with previous or current executives on the FC received on average over three times the amount of funding as clubs without executives on the FC. The motion would amend the Conflict of Interest clause of the TCM’s constitution regarding procedures of the FC. The altered clause would read: “No member of the FC shall vote on matters pertaining to the budgets of levied or non-levied clubs of which they are current or previous executive members or signing officers. Furthermore, no member of the FC shall be present during any in camera
Although one of Canada’s most environmentally friendly employers, U of T does not make some major environmental stats publicly available page 4
Trin, page 5
Black Students’ Association organizes in response to racism in Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Town hall held November 28 after recent incidents of racial harassment Nouran Sakr Varsity Staff
The Black Students’ Association (BSA) organized a town hall on November 28 in response to a recent series of racist incidents in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Dozens of students and faculty members gathered at the Sandford Fleming Building to share their experiences with anti-Black discrimination, find ways to eliminate racism on campus, and create a sense of community. U of T’s Black Liberation Collective (BLC) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) attended and co-organized the event. In September, an international student in her first year of engineering approached the BSA with screenshots of two group chats in which three non-Black students repeatedly used the n-word and sent a picture depicting blackface. One of the group chats consisted mainly of
engineering students attending an orientation for incoming international undergrads. The racist remarks were initiated by one of the orientation leaders. The other group chat was a first-year civil engineering group. In response to an email from the BSA, BLC, and NSBE outlining the racist incidents, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Cristina Amon met with the respondents — the three students implicated in the anti-Black racism — to inform them that the incidents had been brought to her attention. Shortly after, an official investigation was initiated. The email was also sent to Vice-Provost Students Sandy Welsh and the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office. According to BSA President Anyika Mark, the three investigated students subsequently reached out to several Black students in hopes of finding the student who filed the complaint. Mark said that she is concerned about the safety of the complainant,
especially with the recent white supremacist posters on campus. “We’ve literally had to create a safety plan for her,” she said. “She’s the only Black student in her class so, sometimes we walk with her from classes and tutorials.” Criticism, calls to action from the BSA The BSA called for the expulsion of the three respondents, in addition to a $500 fine and 25 hours of community service, which are stipulated as possible sanctions in the Code of Student Conduct. Mark believes that there must be serious consequences in order to set a precedent for anyone who thinks that racial harassment is acceptable. Other demands include an independent Black studies department, funding an antiBlack racism campaign on campus, funding NSBE, and a higher recruitment of Black faculty and staff members in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Mark also added that they were told
BSA, page 4