February 27, 2017

Vol. CXXXVII, No. 19 February 27, 2017 thevarsity.ca —— The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

Governing Council election results released Successful candidates call for fossil fuel divestment, fee reforms, nap space Josie Kao Varsity Staff

After nearly a month of campaigning, the results for the recent Governing Council election were released on February 21.

The Governing Council is the highest decision-making body at U of T. It is made up of 50 members, of which eight are students.

Victoria College student Robert Xu and Trinity College student Amanda Harvey-Sánchez were elected for the Constituency I seats, which represent full-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts and Science, UTM, and UTSC. Xu won a total of 1,057 votes, well ahead of Harvey-Sánchez’s 636. He ran on a platform of ten unique campaign promises, which included the pledges that school should never start on a Thursday and that Robarts should have beds.

One of his largest goals is to reform the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), which he believes is dysfunctional and racist. In his campaign statement, he wrote, “The Student Union is incompetent, [sic] cut cost, decrease size, fix election procedure.”

“UTSU has been a pretty bad student union with a lot of scandals, ... [and] has wasted way too much of our money,” Xu told The Varsity. “Last year, they disqualify [sic] an elected Chinese student simply because she used Chinese to campaign during the UTSU election. The international student population, at least I can say for the Chinese ones, are extremely unsatisfied with the way our student government is.”

Xu’s statement is in reference to the 1UofT slate’s disqualification after posting non-English campaign material without approval from the Chief Returning Officer.

Since the UTSU is a federally incorporated non-profit that is independent of the university, it is unlikely that Governing Council will have a significant impact on how the union is run.

U of T at odds with city over 698 Spadina

e torey residenc to build a 23-s and e at du ra U of T wants rg ty for 549 unde on the proper ents. ud st te gradua

Heritage de signation fo located on r the Ten Ed 698 Spadin itions book a Avenue is store approval, w pending Cit hich could y Council affect U of T’s plans to build a residence on the lot.

Tensions flare at UTSU over in camera meetings VP UA releases statement criticizing February 9 meeting proceedings Tom Yun News Editor

Questions regarding in camera meeting sessions have been raised after a tense Board of Directors meeting at the University of Toronto Students’ Union.

When the Board of Directors votes to move in camera, anyone who is not a director, executive, or staff member must exit the room and any discussions that happen during the in camera session are not recorded in the minutes.

During the February 9 meeting, the board voted to move in camera to discuss the union’s ongoing lawsuit against its former executive director, Sandra Hudson, and to continue the discussion from an in camera session that took place at the January 27 board meeting.

The union’s legal dispute with Hudson began in September 2015, and it alleges that Hudson was improperly issued almost a quarter of a million dollars in severance pay. Hudson subsequently countersued the union for $300,000, alleging racism and harassment from leaders within the UTSU. “Going in camera when we did was a breach of our duties to our students, and quoting policy at me and others is just a distraction from UTSU’s refusal to engage in good faith with Black students about issues of anti-Black racism,” said UTSU Vice-President University Affairs Cassandra Williams.

Mathias Memmel, VP Internal declined to comment on anything that was said in camera, writing in an email to The Varsity, “That’s how going in camera works.” He explained that the union’s Board of Directors has “consistently discussed the lawsuit, and everything related to the lawsuit, in camera.”

Williams revealed that during the in camera session, she attempted to add a motion on the agenda regarding the lawsuit.

Governing Council, page 2

UTSU, page 3

Comment — page 8

Arts — page 10

Sports — page 15

Exploitation or exposure Considering the merits of unpaid internships

Goodnight, sweet sounds Why Toronto’s music venues are closing

Blades of fury Blues women’s hockey team skate to semis after double overtime win

2 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

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The Varsity has reached out to UTSU President Jasmine Wong Denike and has not received comment.

Xu has also expressed interest in improving the Health and Wellness Centre, writing in his candidate statement that “Students should not be treated like numbers.”

Harvey-Sánchez’s campaign focused on environmental sustainability and affordable education.

“In my role on Governing Council I will push UofT to divest its endowment from fossil fuel companies,” she said in regards to her campaign promises. “If UofT wants to be a leader in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, we must divest from companies that violate their right to free, prior, and informed consent regarding fossil fuel projects.”

“According to Statistics Canada, the average cost of domestic university tuition in Ontario is $8,114, which is higher than the cost of tuition in any other province. I will also use my role to actively lobby provincial and federal politicians to provide more funding to schools like UofT so that our tuition doesn’t have to rise each year.”

The seats for Constituency II, which represent full-time students in the professional faculties, were won by law student Aidan Fishman, who has already served on the council for three terms, and Engineering Science student Twesh Upadhyaya. Fishman and Upadhyaya won a total of 270 and 269 votes, respectively.

In his candidate statement, Fishman said that the professional faculties need a “wise, experienced representative looking out for our interests.”

“The student experience in the Professional Faculties differs from Arts and Sciences primarily in the more focused and intensive nature of the programs, as well as the higher tuition accompanying them,” said Fishman. “In light of these circumstances, many ProFac students have asked that they be permitted to opt-out of ancillary fees for services such as Hart House and the Athletic Centre, and I intend to work with Simcoe Hall to see if and how this can be accomplished.”

Upadhyaya’s campaign promises focused on “a lower tuition cap, more consistent

TAs, and investment in campus nap spaces,” according to his candidate statement.

“Some TAs prepare additional review materials and question handouts that are unavailable to all students. By requesting TAs to post all their materials on Portal, students in all sections would have access to the same resources,” explained Upadhyaya. “The goal is to improve consistency across the TAs in the same course for a given year.”

In regards to his pledge to implement nap spaces, Upadhyaya explained that he would use data to show U of T why this plan would benefit everyone.

“Various studies have been conducted that show well-rested students perform better than their counterparts,” said Upadhyaya.

“Moreover, students, especially those who plan to commute, would be more enticed by the promise of nap spaces, which could increase the University’s admission rate. Finally, having dedicated sleeping spots would free up computer labs and library chairs, reducing facility expansion needs.”

The newly-elected students will begin their one-year terms in July.

Governing Council strikes presidential review panel Gertler considers seeking second term in 2018 Emaan Thaver Associate News Editor

With Meric Gertler nearing the end of his four-year term as President of the University of Toronto, the Governing Council has put together a Presidential Review to oversee the hiring of his successor, or his reappointment.

Gertler, the university’s sixteenth president, will complete his term on June 30, 2018, although he has expressed “a willingness to consider re-appointment.”

According to a Governing Council memo published on February 17, the Presidential Review will seek input from various interest groups across the university and make its recommendations to the Governing Council at the next meeting on May 18.

According to the memo, the Presidential Review aims to “seek input and advice from governors and from specific groups and in-

dividuals within the University of Toronto community and beyond” in making a decision about the next president.

The review will be undertaken by the Executive Committee itself, although it will create several smaller panels of Committee members to conduct interviews and discussions. Board and Campus Council Chairs, which include representatives from UTM and UTSC, will also be invited to participate in the process by serving on the panels.

The Governing Council’s Executive Committee is made up of a number of staff, faculty, students, and other interest groups, including four government appointees and two alumni.

Additionally, the Governing Council will also solicit written input from various groups, including the presidents of the five student governments, faculty and collegebased student associations, the University of Toronto Faculty Association, key individuals

from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and select alumni and donors.

Local partners of the university such as the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, MaRS and other universities in the GTA will also be consulted.

If Gertler is re-appointed, he will be following in the footsteps of several former presidents who have taken on multiple terms. Gertler’s predecessor, David Naylor, for example, served as President of U of T for eight years.

Gertler’s term began in November 2013.

An urban theorist by education, he has previously served as an advisor to local, regional, and national governments in Canada. He also holds multiple degrees — including a Masters of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley along with a PhD from Harvard University. Before his tenure as president, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science for five years.

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Faculty of Arts and Science to introduce School of Cities Consultation process about to begin on U of T’s latest foray into urban research Helena Najm Varsity Staff

On February 16, U of T Provost Cheryl Regehr announced that the Faculty of Arts & Science’s plans to launch a School of Cities, which would train and cultivate urbanists spanning all disciplines. The decision was inspired by a commitment from U of T President Meric Gertler, who comes from an urban studies background, to increase awareness for urban research at the university.

Plans for the School of Cities have not yet been concretized, with the consultation process beginning this semester and culminating in a draft proposal to create an ExtraDepartmental Unit in the fall.

Dr. Joshua Barker, a prominent urbanist in the Department of Anthropology, will be leading the consultation process, along with an advisory committee, including the Deans of the Faculty of Arts & Science, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and De-

sign, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, and the Rotman School of Management.

The other two U of T campuses are also involved in the consultation and planning process for the school.

“The U of T is fortunate in that we have a critical mass of urbanists in many different disciplines across our three campuses – from the humanities, social sciences and sciences to business, architecture and engineering,” said Barker. “Consulting with them and benefitting from their expertise will be key to ensuring we create a School that will most effectively connect, build upon and leverage our strengths in urban teaching and research.”

The decision to develop the School of Cities comes three years after the U of T Cities Centre was shuttered. It was billed as an administrative decision and its closure was mitigated by its merging into the Global Cities Centre.

While this decision sparked contro-

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

versy at the time, the Dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, who is now on the School of Cities advisory committee, had made a statement emphasizing the university’s continued interest in research geared towards cities and city-building.

FEBRUARY 27, 2017 • 3

var.st/news UTSU, from cover “The motion in question would commit UTSU to engaging with Black students and student groups on the issue of anti-Black racism and the lawsuit for which we have repeatedly heard concerns about anti-Black racism. Past commitments to meaningfully engage with racism and anti-Blackness have been empty, and this is something that UTSU ought to find tremendously concerning,” Williams said in an email statement.

“Further, the motion would ensure that the Board of Directors — who have ultimate authority over the lawsuit — actually have the opportunity to have their voices heard on a lawsuit that has been kept out of their hands despite their authority on the matter,” she continued.

In October 2016, the Black Liberation Collective (BLC) staged a protest at the UTSU office, demanding an end to the union’s lawsuit against Hudson.

Members of the BLC also came to observe the proceedings of the February 9 board meeting, but they had to leave once the meeting entered into an in camera session, along with all other non-board members in the room.

“We’ve done this not because the whole thing is confidential—although much of it is—but because giving the opposing party insight into our internal debates could be very damaging to our legal position,” Memmel explained. “You can’t go in camera to avoid awkward situations, but you can go in camera when there are things that you don’t want opposing parties to know. Student governments often abuse the ability to go in camera, so we’ve been very careful not to do that.”

After the meeting was no longer in camera, Williams announced that none of the information that was discussed in camera was confidential. A heated exchange between Williams, New College Director Sila Elgin, Woodsworth College Director Christina Badiola, and VicePresident Equity Farah Noori followed.

During the meeting, Elgin defended the use of in camera session, saying, “This board is not a space where a lot of people feel comfortable talking, and for people to say that we are avoiding transparency by having in camera discussions is outright disgusting

and disrespectful.”

In response, Noori, who was also serving as the meeting’s anti-harassment officer, pushed back at Elgin’s statement, and suggested that people defending the in camera session should “stop victimizing themselves.”

To this Badiola responded, “You’re the antiharassment officer, and you just told someone to ‘stop victimizing themselves.’”

Memmel weighed in on the exchange during the meeting: “After somebody has just announced that they’re not necessarily speaking in this space, and that they want their thoughts to be brought outside of the meeting, and therefore, they feel the need to have it in camera, to then have that completely ignored is disgusting and it’s cruel.”

On February 23, Williams released a 1100word public statement about the ordeal on the UTSU’s official letterhead.

“When it came time to discuss adding this motion to the agenda, the Board voted to go in camera, kick those Black students out of the room, and ensure that there would be no record of the Board’s private conversation,” a part of Williams’s statement reads.

In her statement, Williams asserts that Elgin “claimed that it was justifiable to kick those Black students out of the room and have an off-the-record discussion because not everyone feels ‘comfortable’ speaking openly” and criticizes Memmel’s use of the word “disgusting” in his statement at the board meeting.

Williams also writes that Badiola “attempted to silence these concerns by citing procedural technicalities — effectively silencing discussion about UTSU acting nontransparently, and acting in a way that could be reasonably considered racist.”

Williams further alleges in the statement that Elgin “has in the past also commented that it is wrong to criticize UTSU for its lack of commitment to trans students and trans issues because not everyone feels ‘comfortable’ enough to be an ally and support trans people.”

“These events constitute just one chapter in what seems to be a never-ending story about the Union’s neglect for Black students and issues of anti-Black racism,” the statement concludes.

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

Williams revealed that the she proposed a motion discussing racism in the UTSU’s lawsuit against Sandy Hudson.

Memmel responded by clarifying that his comments at the meeting were in reference to Noori and not Williams.

“I’m an adult with a job to do, and going through every lie in that extended tweet would be a waste of my time,” he told The Varsity.

Echoing Memmel’s comments about the use of in camera sessions, Badiola told The Varsity, “It does not matter if what is said in camera is ‘legally confidential’ or not. If something is said in camera, it cannot be repeated outside of an in camera session without breaking Canadian law.”

Badiola also called it “absurd” that she was singled out for making such statements.

“Many other directors brought up my same exact points, in that what was said in camera cannot be repeated outside of an in camera session, whether anyone likes it or not. The fact that [Williams] has chosen to single me out and not the other directors who made the exact same points as me right after me goes to show that this statement was not solely written out of a desire to be ‘transparent’ but also to target myself and other specific board members, out of a personal vendetta,” she said.

In addition, Badiola attached a document with the UTSU’s official letterhead and a statement addressed to “RE: All of you,” saying “Eat my ass.” This was an attempt to demonstrate, she stated, that “anyone can use UTSU letterhead, and it doesn’t make it an official statement.”

Elgin denied that she was justifying excluding Black students.

“My interests were to remind my fellow directors and the executive that we have had conversations about how difficult it can be to speak to a room of sixty people without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed,” she told The Varsity.

“I use these words because disabilities and mental illnesses are complex and can be quite personalized, and I did not want to speak on behalf of my fellow directors,” she said.

Regarding Williams’ allegation that Elgin made comments regarding the UTSU’s commitment to trans issues, Elgin responded: “I cannot comment on a conversation that did not take place. I have always firmly held my ground that a university of this size will have students from multiple backgrounds that create a number of different factors in their lives, all of which contribute to their mental health. I am well aware of the mental health issues our trans students are facing, and by no means was erasing that fact, but it is important to remember that they are not alone in this fight against mental illness.”

On February 26, Elgin informed The Varsity of her intention to resign from the UTSU Board of Directors.

Noori and the BLC did not return The Varsity’s requests for comment.

Disclosure: Sila Elgin contributes to The Varsity’s Photo, Features, Comment, and Arts & Culture sections.

Community Council votes to designate Ten Editions bookstore as heritage site Decision potentially affects U of T’s plans to build student residence on lot Josie Kao Varsity Staff

On February 22, the Toronto and East York Community Council voted to recommend designating 698 Spadina Avenue as a heritage site, potentially adding an obstacle to U of T’s plans to build a new student residence at Spadina Avenue and Sussex Avenue.

The site of 698 Spadina Avenue originally housed the John James Funston grocery store. Since 1984, it has been the site of the Ten Editions bookstore.

The university has been trying for years to develop new residence buildings to meet a growing demand from students for more affordable housing. U of T’s plan is to construct a 23-storey building containing 549 bed-sitting rooms for both undergraduate and graduate students on 54 Sussex Avenue and at 698, 700, 702, 704, 706 and Spadina Avenue, which are located on the north-west corner of Spadina Avenue and Sussex Avenue.

The university’s proposal to the city included a heritage impact assessment on the

property. The report concluded that 698 Spadina has “minimal design, historic, or contextual value.”

The City of Toronto’s report from the Chief Planner and Executive Director reached a different conclusion. It stated that the building, which was constructed in 1885, has significant value for the neighbourhood.

According to the City of Toronto’s report, “The building has design value as an example of a late 19th century corner-store building type designed with a high degree of craftsmanship in the late Victorian style.”

Christine Burke, Director of Campus and Facilities Planning for U of T, said the university had not been aware beforehand that there were plans to designate 698 Spadina Avenue as a heritage site.

“We were surprised learning the city’s intentions to designate it last month,” said Burke. “It doesn’t mean that the proposal is not going to continue ... we’re ready to work with the city staff and the councilor to determine any changes going forward to the proposed development ... it’s a very important project to us and again we’d like to see this residence probably as much as students.”

Sherry Pedersen, the Preservation Coordinator for the City of Toronto, echoed Burke’s statements: “I suspect that it’s going to re-

quire some redesign of their proposal ... but by designating the building we’re looking for the university to work with us to find ways to accomplish what they need to do on this site while conserving the resource.”

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) has expressed support for the proposed residence. Matthew Thomas, the UTSU’s Vice-President External, said, “The university has had to turn away hundreds, almost thousands of residence applications.

I have an obligation to make university as accessible as possible through my work, and this residence is my opportunity.”

The Harbord Street Business Improvement Area (HSBIA) also supports the project. HSBIA Chair Neil Wright wrote a letter to the Toronto Preservation Board, calling the campus “a strong economic engine which benefits all communities surrounding the campus and beyond.”

“We believe this development will enhance this relationship and will have a long lasting and positive effect in this area,” the letter concludes.

Ward 20 Councilor Joe Cressy, who represents the ward in which the building is located, has expressed his support for a plan that allows the university to move forward with development while also protecting the building.

“I am confident and optimistic that with further changes and hard work that this can be a site that will work for the community and the university,” stated Cressy, at the Toronto and East York Community Council meeting on February 22, “I don’t believe that when we designate a building that we do freeze a building in time ... rather I think it adds a layer of complexity, but complexity that at times can improve a site and improve a neighbourhood.”

The Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA), which represents the neighbourhood in which the building is located, wrote to the city to declare its support for the designation.

“The building is important to the neighbourhood for its physical presence and level of preservation, but also because it has been a major contributor to the intellectual and cultural life of our community,” states their letter.

Sue Dexter, who is on the board of directors for the HVRA, further commented at the Community Council meeting: “There’s no reason the University of Toronto should ever be killing a bookstore, it doesn’t compute.”

Toronto City Council will have final say on this matter when it reconvenes on March 9.

The Varsity visited Ten Editions to seek comment, but Susan Duff, the owner of the bookstore, declined.

4 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

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Campus police report recommends reviewing complaints process, educating students Report commissioned after UTSU call for inquiry Erin Calhoun Varsity Contributor

A review of Campus Community Police involvement at a U of T Free Speech rally in October was published on January 31 by Assistant Dean at the Faculty of Law Alexis Archbold after a demand for a public inquiry from the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU).

Archbold stated in her report that, days after the rally, the UTSU sent a private letter to Provost Cheryl Regehr which included complaints against the Campus Police, which stated that the police “failed to protect transgender and Black students from verbal and physical aggression.”

The UTSU released a public statement on its Facebook page, which demanded the inquiry by the administration be public as it will “restore confidence in the ability of the University, and of the Campus Police in particular, to guarantee the safety of students on campus.”

The report addressed issues between the Campus Police and students’ understanding of the limitations of the service. U of T Vice-President University Operations Scott Mabury told The Varsity that the report “advances the continued discussion between students and U of T about campus climate and safety, freedom of speech, and the role of campus policing.”

According to the report, Campus Police practiced a “hands off” method at the rally,

and six officers were stationed around the parameters. The report claims that if officers were to insert themselves within the rally, it could possibly cause “officer-induced jeopardy” in which the presence of an active officer may precipitate more conflict in the crowd.

During the public event, Campus Police responded to complaints and gave friendly and respectful responses to students where they clarified the limitations of their job, Archbold reports. Officers also explained to students how to engage in the complaint process by which they operate.

According to Mabury, the university did not consider conducting a review of the actions of the Campus Police before the rally as “Campus Police were performing their duties consistent with the scope of their authority.”

The Toronto Police were called by Campus Police Associate Director Sam D’Angelo after a fire alarm was pulled in Sidney Smith Hall, which resulted in hundreds of students flooding out into the rally space.

Archbold states in the report that the rally became more “chaotic and challenging” due to factors such as the event being outdoors.

Elements such as the outdoor setting, lack of clear organizer, and participation of individuals on both sides of the issue who instigated verbal and physical conflict resulted in the Campus Police deeming it unsafe to immediately intervene and control the crowd.

Student awareness of the role of Campus Police and the university administration at student events is an initiative recommended

by Archbold and Mabury, as the university “will work to educate the U of T community about the role of Campus Police.”

STEVEN LEE/THE VARSITY

The UTSU criticized the report for not engaging “meaningfully with how trans students and Black students were treated at and after the rally.”

The report also noted that there were non-U of T community members engaged in behaviour considered “very problematic, including making offensive comments, committing physical assaults, and making threats.” The report recommends putting in place a process of reporting people who are not members of the university community.

Other recommendations include creating a dialogue on campus civility and safety and educating students about the “risks of outdoor events.” The report also recommends revising the Policy on Disruption of Campus Meetings, which does not address outdoor events, and reviewing Campus Police’s complaints process.

Despite the fact that several students approached police officers at the rally with con-

cerns, no students made formal complaints about the rally.

Speaking on behalf of the union, UTSU Vice-President Internal Mathias Memmel criticized the report. He told The Varsity, “The report concludes that Campus Police did their job properly. We disagree. Campus Police have a mandate to keep students safe, but there was violence at the rally, and they did nothing to stop it.”

Memmel described the mandate of the Campus Police as “so narrow as to be meaningless.” He also expressed disappointment that “the report didn’t engage meaningfully with how trans students and Black students were treated by Campus Police at and after the rally, as the UTSU requested.”

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Matthews meets undergrads at UTSU hosted roundtable Minister, students discuss tuition caps, professional faculties representation on advisory council Joshua Scott Varsity Contributor

On February 16, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) hosted a roundtable discussion on the cost of higher education in Ontario with Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Deb Matthews. The conversation was held at Hart House, and the panel included students from a variety of backgrounds and fields of study.

The UTSU’s brief for the event had three main areas of focus. It recommended that the Ontario government should firstly, “maintain arts and science tuition increase caps at 3%, lower professional faculty tuition increase caps from 5% to 3%, and regulate international tuition fees,” secondly, increase “government funding for post-secondary institutions,” and thirdly allow for “a permanent seat for the U of T Professional Faculty students on the Minister’s Post-Secondary Student Advisory Council.”

Currently, professional faculties have no official representation on this council. Given that there is no professional faculty association on the provincial level, the brief asserts that U of T — which has 11 professional faculty programs including approximately 15,000 students — would be in a strong position to “represent and advocate for professional faculty students.”

The roundtable brought with it two main developments: first, an expressed commit-

ment from Matthews to hold similar events in the future and meet with the UTSU on an ongoing basis, and second, a promise from Matthews to consider adding a seat to the Minister’s Post-Secondary Student Advisory Council for a professional faculties representative.

“What real commitments can be made right now regarding the ministry and the UTSU’s continued relationship? For example, holding this event again,” asked Matthew Thomas, the Vice-President External at the UTSU. “Yeah. I mean we couldn’t be any closer,” responded Matthews, with a laugh. “You know where to find me and I know where to find you, and I look forward to continuing a great relationship.”

Later, Ryan Gomes, VP Professional Faculties at the UTSU, asked Matthews: “Would you consider [having] a dedicated seat to someone in my position, someone from the UTSU, on [the council]?”

“Absolutely. I would have no problem with that,” replied Matthews.

Thomas termed the meeting “a victory,” and emphasized the importance of the role played by “direct student input” in creating the tuition package brief and in the roundtable discussion. “When I came into this position, I wanted to set up a relationship between the UTSU and the Ministry,” said Thomas. “And today, we did that.”

Aidan Swirsky, a third year University College student who participated in the

PHOTO BY PATRIK BASSI, COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENTS UNION

From left to right: UTSU VP External Matthew Thomas, Minister Deb Matthews.

roundtable, raised the question of whether future funding will be based more on the quality of education, as related to its associated job or skill-based learning.

“We haven’t defined... what these quality metrics are, so that is still very much an active conversation. That work is underway now,” replied Matthews, suggesting a potential long-term shift in the approach the government plans to take towards targeted education and tuition funding.

Matthews added that she “would be really interested to hear... how students would define success in education.”

Samuel McCulloch, an engineering student, repeatedly emphasized the need for still greater transparency as to where exactly students’ grants and loan money comes from and Shaan Bhambra, fourth year Trinity College student, reiterated this point.

Both expressed that measures like the government’s new online tuition cost calculator are a step in the right direction. The calculator displays the amount in grants and loans that prospective students are likely to receive based on a few basic questions.

Throughout the roundtable, Matthews emphasized the importance of breaking down financial and social barriers to postsecondary education.

Despite its prominence in the brief, discussion regarding the need to establish new tuition increase caps was limited. While a portion of the discussion concerned the high cost of tuition for international students, no tangible inroads were made on this front either.

According to Matthews, the new OSAP application and relevant information should be available online in “two to three weeks.”

UNITE HERE Local 75 food workers striking at UTSC, York Hundreds rally at UTSG, Queen’s Park Jenna Moon Associate News Editor

UNITE HERE Local 75, which represents food services workers at York University and UTSC, held a rally at UTSG on February 23 and are calling for higher wages.

Hundreds of union members and supporters gathered in front of King’s College Road before walking towards Simcoe Hall.

The crowd subsequently circled King’s College Circle and gathered around a rock on Queen’s Park Crescent beside the Medical Sciences Building.

UNITE HERE Local 75 began striking on February 9 at UTSC over “poverty-wage jobs,” noting that food service workers at both UTSC and York find themselves in positions that pay low wages, have little job security, and offer few benefits.

Similar rallies have been held at York and UTSC. Workers at York University began striking February 16. The strike only affects the university’s Keele campus.

York and UTSC have workers subcontracted via Aramark, a US-based food service provider. Aramark previously provided food services at UTSG, until the university began running food services in-house in August 2016.

Workers argue that the wages they are paid at UTSC and York constitute poverty wages.

UNITE HERE Organizing Director David Sanders told The Varsity that workers at UTSC make $11.50 per hour. York workers make $12.21 an hour.

“It’s also impossible to live on the $12.21 at York and universities, as anchor institutions in our community, have a responsibility to make sure that nobody works for poverty wages on their campuses, whether they’re working for a subcontractor or directly for the university,” said Saunders.

When asked if the union looked to see something similar to the UTSG takeover of food service, Saunders said it’s “up to the university how it wants to run things. The point is that people should not be working poverty wage jobs.”

UNITE HERE argues that the responsibility lies on universities to ensure that staff are not working for poverty wages.

“Most of our members are immigrants from all over the world who came to Canada to build a better life for themselves… They get here and they’re locked into these deadend poverty-wage jobs and those should not exist at university campuses, especially at two of the best universities in Canada like University of Toronto and York University” said Saunders.

UTSC Media Relations Officer Don Campbell confirmed in an email to The Varsity that the contract negotiations are “between

TOM YUN/THE VARSITY

Cafeteria workers at UTSC and York, who make $11.50 and $12.21 an hour respectively, are calling for higher wages.

Aramark and its employees so it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to interfere, but we [at UTSC] do respect the process.”

Similarly, in a statement published online, York stated that it “respects the collective bargaining process which is currently underway between Aramark and Unite Here.

As York is not part of these private and confidential negotiations, we are not involved in the bargaining process.”

Aramark could not be reached for comment.

— With files from Tom Yun and Mahrukh Ali

6 • THE VARSITY • ADVERTISEMENTS

thevarsity.ca

Notice to Members: St. George-wide Referendum Referendum Question 1: The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) is seeking consent from its members on the St. George campus for the establishment of a UTSU accessibility resources fund. Each member of the UTSU would pay 50 cents per session, including the summer session beginning Fall 2017. The collection of this fee will continue for five years until Spring 2022, after which a referendum will be required for its continuation.

Ballot Options: Yes, I am in favor of the establishment of the UTSU accessibility resources fund.

No, I am not in favour of the establishment of the UTSU accessibility recources fund abstain Voting information: Tuesday, March 14th, 12:00 am (midnight) to Thursday, March 16th, 06:30 pm

The UTSU would be required to spend the collected fees exclusively on caption for UTSU events, American Sign Language for UTSU events, personal support workers for UTSU events, and any other accommodations that a member with a disability would need at the UTSU event. The UTSU would not be permitted to spend any of the collected fees on UTSU human resource costs.

*Note: Vote online at utsu.simplyvoting.com. Online voting opens March 14 at midnight and will be open for 24 hours until the voting period ends.

Campaigning information: In-person campaigning: Monday, March 6th, 09:00 am to Monday, March 13th, 12:00 am (midnight) Online campaigning: Monday, March 6th, 09:00 am to Thursday, March 16th, 06:30pm

Notice to Members: St. George-wide Referendum Referendum Question 2:

The University of Toronto Aerospace Team

Ballot Options: Yes,

(UTAT) is seeking the consent of UTSU

I support the establishment of the UTAT Innovation Fund

members at the St’George Campus to establish

No,

the UTAT Innovation Fund. Each UTSU member

I do not support the establishment of the UTAT Innovation Fund

at the St’George Campus would pay a fee of $2.77 per session (excluding the Summer session) and would be able to opt out of said fee through the UTSU. The fee would be collected from Fall 2017 to Winter 2019, at which point a second referendum would be required for continued collection.

UTAT would be required to spend all of the collected fees on co-curricular aerospace projects. From 2017 to 2019, the UTAT Innovation Fund would fund the development and launch of a microbiology research satellite.

LEARN MORE AT UTSU.CA/REFERENDUM

Abstain

Voting information: Tuesday, March 14th, 12:00 am (midnight) to Thursday, March 16th, 06:30 pm *Note: Vote online at utsu.simplyvoting.com. Online voting opens March 14 at midnight and will be open for 24 hours until the voting period ends.

Campaigning information: In-person campaigning: Monday, March 6th, 09:00 am to Monday, March 13th, 12:00 am (midnight) Online campaigning: Monday, March 6th, 09:00 am to Thursday, March 16th, 06:30pm

Comment

February 27, 2017 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

Violent suppression of speech sets a dangerous precedent Protesters at U of T, Berkeley should be condemned Robert Zhang Varsity Contributor

Recent and notable cases of self-proclaimed ‘anti-fascist’ demonstrators forcibly disrupting campus events are cause for concern with respect to both public safety and freedom of speech. As a University of Toronto student, I am deeply concerned about the events that have transpired both at U of T and the University of California, Berkeley over the past weeks.

At Berkeley, in response to the announcement that right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was slated to speak on campus, masked protesters set fire to public property, smashed windows and doors with crowd-control barricades, and assaulted and pepper-sprayed both bystanders and Yiannopoulos supporters. This culminated in Yiannopoulos being escorted off campus in a bulletproof vest.

While the protests were comparatively tame here at U of T, campus and city police were called in response to protesters at the Toronto Action Forum, a conference featuring speakers such as Ezra Levant and Jordan Peterson.

One protester attempted to lunge past an officer, as The Varsity reported in its news coverage of the incident. The event was ultimately derailed when someone pulled a fire alarm

— a violation of Section 437 of the Criminal Code of Canada — which resulted in chaos and forced security to shut down the event.

Among other motives, these criminal activities were targeted towards fighting against hate speech. Yet perhaps we will have a better idea of whether the rhetoric of Yiannopoulos, Levant, and Peterson truly represent hate speech if they are actually allowed to speak first.

The ability to voice your opinions, no matter how controversial or unpopular they may be, is one of the cornerstones of a functioning democracy. It disturbs me greatly that suppression of these opinions occurred on university campuses, places that traditionally facilitate and encourage the unfettered exchange of knowledge and ideas.

I am fully aware that there are necessary contextual restrictions on all freedoms, freedom of speech included. Laws against hate speech exist to protect our most vulnerable and to maintain the civility of our society. As of late, however, the term ‘hate speech’ has been hijacked by various groups to describe any opinion that does not conform to one’s own, sometimes with bizarre results.

For instance, the prospect of Yiannopoulos — a gay, Jewish immigrant — advocating hate against people like himself is absurd, and yet he has been accused of being ho-

mophobic, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic by many who disagree with his opinions.

It is easy to avoid controversy, ignore differing opinions, or slap a label on someone because their views are offensive. Yet, as intellectuals and future leaders of society, we cannot in good conscience declare one opinion to be superior when we have not given any others a fair chance.

The violent shutdown of speech on campus is ironic, particularly when supporters allege it to be in the name of preserving a safe space on campus. If someone’s views are truly hateful, they should be defeated with reason and logic, not intimidation and censorship.

Everybody has the right to protest, and I imagine that the majority of those involved in the protests were only there to represent their views and not incite violence. What is troubling, however, is the muted response by authorities against those who did carry out violent acts.

The U of T administration has yet to issue any official statements regarding the protests against the Toronto Action Forum. South of the border, the mayor of the city of Berkeley took the time to tweet that “Hate speech isn’t welcome in [the] community,” and only added his disapproval of the violence used to shut it down as an afterthought.

While the protests at Berkeley were indeed more violent than the protests at U of T, both

shared the common goal of shutting down free speech — a goal that should be treated with the same level of condemnation.

We are living in an age where individuals are condoning the use of physical violence to express disapproval, and descending a slippery slope where crime is being normalized, as long as it is committed from a misguided moral high ground. The right to peaceful protest should be protected, but smashing doors and windows should not.

Violence is never justified, and it is important to condemn it when it is carried out to silence others. Yet, in a gross display of cowardice, universities have stayed quiet on this issue, or have even taken the side of violent perpetrators.

U of T ought to loudly and publicly denounce the individuals who disrupted the Toronto Action Forum for what they are: anti-democratic, dangerous, and criminal. What the university should also do is invite speakers like Yiannopoulos, Levant, and Peterson to the university — demonstrating that we value free speech and polite debate, and that we will not be intimidated by extremists who resort to violence to silence opposing views.

Robert Zhang is an Industrial Engineering student currently completing his professional experience year.

Why students should vote in the 2018 Ontario election From tuition costs to financial deficits, the economic interests of student voters are on the line Abishnan Ravi Varsity Contributor

Ontario’s forty-second general election was recently called for June 7, 2018. On this day, students will be among those heading to the polls to elect the government that will lead our province for the next four years.

The person who is elected, or reelected, Premier of Ontario will inherit a problematic situation; they will have to balance Ontario’s growing fiscal deficit and the need for massive infrastructure expansion, and handle concerns specific to students such as the desire for affordable post-secondary education and job growth.

Ontario requires prudent and innovative leadership to navigate the novel socioeconomic challenges of the twenty-first century.

Undergraduate education can be a financial burden on families, especially when considering rising costs of living and stagnant wages. Students alarmed about the soaring costs of undergraduate education and about Ontario’s financial situation in general should voice their concerns at the 2018 polls.

The incumbent provincial Liberal government has tried to make undergraduate education more accessible with the Ontario Student Grant, a reformation of OSAP that will offer substantial grants to eligible students.

Unfortunately, these changes will also involve the elimination of government tax credits, and professional education programs — which are usually more expensive, do not qualify for federal grants, and are typically subsidized by tax credits — will miss out.

Students planning on attending graduate school or professional studies should be es-

pecially concerned about this redistribution of government resources, as it can put Ontario students at a disadvantage in an increasingly competitive job market that demands highly specialized skills.

Students, along with the general population, have also long demanded an expansion of our subway lines and roads in order to shorten rush hours and reduce traffic congestion. The Ontario Liberals hope to satisfy these demands by spending an additional $160 billion over the next 12 years on subway infrastructure.

Although this initiative will add 31,000 jobs to our economy, it will also increase Ontario’s provincial debt by an additional $50 billion, which ought to be cause for concern.

The Financial Post describes Ontario as being the “world’s most indebted sub-sovereign borrower,” having accumulated a provincial debt of over $300 billion. To put this into context, Ontario contains a third of the population of the state of California, but has accumulated twice the debt.

A recent report by Ontario’s auditor general Bonnie Lysyk indicated that our provincial budget allocates more financial resources towards interest payments on existing debt — totaling approximately $350 million per year — in comparison to the resources allocated to post-secondary education. Lysyk also predicts that Ontario will need to cut funding from additional government programs in the future in order to compensate for high borrowing costs.

Current students should be worried about the future stability of Ontario’s economy as the province’s credit rating declines and the interest rate on its debt increases. This

SILA ELGIN/THE VARSITY

Tuition, infrastructure, and government debt are likely be prominent issues of the 2018 provincial election. is all the more significant considering the concerns with how money is presently being managed in the province, which will play a part in determining how financially secure students will be once they enter the workforce and have to start paying back debts.

The Wynne government recently launched privatization of 60 per cent of Hydro One in order to fund infrastructure projects. Consequently, Ontario is expected to lose $500 million per year in the long run due to a loss in profitable dividend payments. Energy bills are also expected to rise in 2017, while Ontario has failed to determine a long-term solution to our energy crisis.

The Ontario Liberal Party currently holds a majority in Queen’s Park with an aggregate of 57 seats. Yet Wynne has seen her party’s popularity hit historic lows after being plagued by multiple scandals stretching back to the McGuinty era.

In contrast, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario — currently the official op-

position with 29 seats — has seen a revival.

This reversal of fortune can be attributed to its charismatic new leader Patrick Brown.

CBC’s Éric Gernier indicated that the Progressive Conservatives were currently outpolling the Liberals by a staggering margin of 15 per cent, suggesting that we may see a leadership change come 2018.

Ultimately, it is critical that U of T students — and students across the province — closely follow the campaign promises and platforms of all political parties contesting in the forty-second Ontario election in order to determine which platform most closely aligns with their needs. Student voters have the ability to exercise control over the election’s outcome — and it is in the best interests of all Ontario citizens that students make informed decisions at the polls.

Abishnan Ravi is a third-year student at UTSC studying Human Biology and Political Science.

8 • THE VARSITY • COMMENT

comment@thevarsity.ca

Debate Club

Are unpaid internships fair?

Two contributors spar over concerns about unpaid internships

SOFIA PHAM/THE VARSITY

Zach Rosen and Avneet Sharma Varsity Contributor and Varsity Columnist

Resolution: “Be it resolved that unpaid internships are fair.”

Debate Club is a column that pits writers head-to-head on questions that matter to students. Though it lacks the shaky knees and microphone feedback screeches that typically accompany any oratory competition, rest assured that Debate Club is not for the faint of heart.

In favour: Zach Rosen (ZR), first-year History and Philosophy student at Trinity College

ZR: It’s nearly spring, and for many of us, the changing of the seasons is accompanied by a realization: in six short weeks, we will be free from schoolwork, with little else to occupy our newly emancipated time. Unpaid internships are one way to fill the vacuum in our hearts that papers, assignments, and midterms can no longer occupy.

The issue at hand today comes down to whether a distinction can be drawn between an intern and an employee, and my position is in the affirmative. Fundamentally, interns are not at work to contribute or help out in meaningful ways. Instead, an intern is there to observe, learn, and make connections. An intern is working for their own benefit, and should be compensated as such — which is to say, not at all.

year. Anyone can get coffee, make copies, or take notes or messages. An unpaid intern is, by nature, expendable. Unpaid internships are not intended to replace part-time jobs; they simply exist to allow students to gain meaningful experience.

Furthermore, it’s absolutely true that not everyone can afford to do unpaid work. But similarly, not everyone can afford to go to university, and of those of us who can, not all of us can live on campus. It is an unfortunate and problematic fact that the road to achievement is bumpier for some than it is for others, yet condemning unpaid internships — which are beneficial to those do who engage in them — is not a comprehensive solution.

AS: Unpaid internships are inherently unfair. They may offer learning experiences in a student’s prospective field, as well as the opportunity to make connections. Yet, such opportunities are only accessible to those who have the financial means to support themselves. Should a student lack a steady income, they may be forced to seek part-time jobs, which they may find unsustainable in regards to time management and mental health.

Ultimately, unpaid internships are for the benefit of employers and the upper class while putting those without similar resources at a disadvantage. It is crucial to view unpaid internships as a method for corporations to exploit students, cut the costs of paid labour, and alleviate their legal obligations and potential liabilities.

ZR: Let’s not kid ourselves here: anything an unpaid intern can do, a current staff member is already doing the other nine months of the

Opposed: Avneet Sharma (AS), second-year English and Cinema Studies student at Trinity College

AS: We shouldn’t minimize the contributions that interns make to their respective corporations. Getting coffee, making copies, taking notes and messages may be mundane, but they are tasks that keep a business afloat and organized. Additionally, this scenario suggests that unpaid interns are performing tasks that other employees are paid to do, revealing concerns about exploitation.

I don’t disagree that university itself is unfair — students from lower income households are put at a disadvantage when burdened with tuition, textbook costs, and living expenses. Yet these inequalities are exacerbated when some students can afford to spend their summers working for free, while others are forced to turn down such opportunities in favour of financially feasible, but potentially less meaningful work.

This point reveals a more widespread issue of putting students without financial means at a disadvantage, and unpaid internships are clearly part of the problem.

A survey that actually matters.

NO,

REALLY.

Look for your NSSE email today If a student submits a survey, does anyone listen? The answer is YES! The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is how you tell us about your U of T experience and how it can get even better.

And that leads to actual change.

We’re listening and making changes. Want proof?

Visit uoft.me/listening

Editorial

February 27, 2017 var.st/comment editorial@thevarsity.ca

Sounding the alarm

Letters to the Editor

Shocked responses to hatred are understandable, but we should take care that they are productive

Re: Freedom of hate “This is a good article that raises important points. I would agree that there definitely needs to be a “reeling in” of some of the far right and xenophobic rhetoric. At the same time, said rhetoric has grown largely as a reaction to the increasingly authoritarian far leftism. When we shut things down and censor folks, it only drives those further to radicalized views.

The left certainly needs to reel in its crazies as well, and hate and bigotry is coming from the extremes on both ends. The vast majority of folks don’t want to see a rise in either sides extremism.”

— Chad B. Hallman (from web)

ay clock

Doomsd

Photocred

Re: Resuscitating evidence-based policy “The EPA is way out of line. The only way is first principles. The relative reality is not part of the scientific method, nor is consensus. Consensus is for the lazy.

In my career as a Canadian scientist (geologist) I have never seen the USA have any respect for the scientific endeavours of any other country. To the contrary, science has no nationalistic xenophobic boundaries. Incidentally by blocking out (mentally) the work of none but US scientists, the world suffers. Anyone can have a fresh idea and there is no monopoly on science. Yet we have forgotten an important warning.”

— Francis T. Manns (from web)

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

The Varsity Editorial Board Our jaws often drop in the face of discriminatory conduct that surfaces on campus, in politics, and in the media.

Yet for communities that are constantly plagued by prejudice, resurgences of hatred are hardly surprising. Particularly in the midst of the dramaticism that has pervaded the current political climate, hatred in its less blatant forms often slips by unnoticed — but we should not lose sight of the systemic factors that underlie shocks to the public conscience.

Shock has a productive role to play in the fight against hatred. Instead of dwelling on surprise, we ought to heed isolated instances of extreme hatred as warning signs — encouraging us to come to terms with the pervasive ignorance around us. Ultimately, it is in our best interest to utilize reactionary responses in a more productive manner.

Blunt and overt hatred is becoming the new normal in political environments across the globe. In the US, Donald Trump kicked off his campaign by labelling Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and criminals.

In Europe, Geert Wilders, leader of the farright Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, has suggested that Europe is facing an “Islamic invasion” and has been charged with inciting hatred for making racist comments about Moroccans. And with the notoriously anti-Muslim Marine Le Pen preparing a bid for the French presidency, the Western world is witnessing a campaign of open hatred that is incomparable to mainstream political behaviour in recent years.

Perhaps it is due to this newfound blatancy that many remain in sheer disbelief that hateful sentiments continue to pervade political discussions. Regrettably, this may delay or interfere with confronting them directly. Canadians are certainly not exempt from such phenomena, and we see examples of this on campus as well.

For instance, some critics of The Algenheimer’s recent conclusion that U of T is the “third worst university in North America for Jewish students” were based on the erroneous proposition that campuses are now entirely free of antiSemitism. This is ignorant of instances of anti-Semitism that occurred this very academic year, such as the defacement of campus signage with swastikas.

Meanwhile, classroom conversations about politics are often riddled with expressions of surprise at the experiences of victims of injustice — including fellow students — on the parts of those who do not regularly experience marginalization.

The reactionary dog-whistling of bigotry has been an effective and long-standing tactic in response to unseeming policies targeted at marginalized groups. At the same time, we should not lose sight of our top priority when calling these instances out: investigating potential solutions.

There is another sense of urgency associated with this, in that students are among the most affected by politics.

Long-term shifts that we have only just begun to observe will eventually take their toll on our generation, and it will be up to us to make sense of what we are now witnessing.

Students also have a unique ability to address hatred where it lives. Our position at the epicentre of the university, a locus of political conversation, grants us enormous advantages in terms of organizing for social change. Our education trains us to be more critical and discerning in what is now so popularly referred to as a ‘posttruth’ world. Considering the institutional resources we have at our disposal, it is difficult to imagine a time in our lives when the same quantity and quality of information will be so readily available.

Therefore, we must collectively take advantage of the opportunities at our disposal to equip ourselves with facts and logic. Doing so will allow us to dispel the myths and falsehoods that appear so often in political demagoguery.

Once armed with the facts, we can initiate more conversations about the true pervasiveness of bigotry when it arises in the form of isolated incidents.

The hope is that the existence of bigotry will eventually come as less of a surprise to all of us, having developed a better understanding of why and how it spreads. At the same time, veering from shock to more nuanced understanding should not be done in the name of desensitizing ourselves to the often traumatic effects of hatred, nor dilute the condemnation we ought to express in its face.

If anything, urgency should be accompanied by a collective acknowledgement of how much work there is to be done before systemic issues are truly eradicated.

Such a pairing is optimal, and ought only to spur us forward.

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

Re: Bigotry bears no right to a platform “But who gets to decide what is racist or islamophobic or this-ist or that-ist? If you do not let controversial views to be aired in a forum precisely designed for the exchange of viewpoints, what becomes controversial or unacceptable grows ever enlarged. We eventually (if not already) default to whoever is more outraged. Freedom of speech is indeed merely a legal right, but there is an ethic to it as well - a population that is intolerant of dissent, however noxious, eventually will have no qualms about the abolition of our legal speech rights.”

— Josh Xiong (from web) “‘Speakers who promote racism, Islamophobia, or any other kind of bigotry should never be given a space here.’

I think that’s quite an ironic statement. Heisler seems to miss what standing for freedom of speech means. I agree that racism, islamophobia, and intolerance of any kind is abhorrent. However, refusing to give a platform to ‘fascists’ lends credence to the arguments of those you are against. You’re implying that the only way to shut down these ideas is to not let them be heard, you’re admitting that the ideas have power, and if you really had a good argument against them you would be able to shut them down with rational discourse. This is how a society is supposed to function, through the free exchange of ideas, not through censoring ideas you disagree and driving the hateful underground to fester and rise up.”

— Riley Moher (from web) Re: Documents reveal “tentative platform” of UTSU elections slate “Everything about this situation is hilarious, especially the irony of the alleged presidential candidate stating that pre-campaigning is against the rules.”

— Iris Robin (from web) “I like how ryu says he can’t discuss the document due to election rules. Then clarifies that not everyone is getting fired.”

— Hardy Weinberg (from web)

Letters to the editor should be directed to editorial@thevarsity.ca. Please keep submissions to 250 words; letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Arts&Culture

February 27, 2017 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Torontonians, hold on to your music venues A spate of closures underscores the need to preserve the city’s nightlife Ben Harrison Smith Associate Arts & Culture Editor

It has not been a good year for Toronto’s live music lovers. Since January, the city has said goodbye to venues such as The Hoxton, Hugh’s Room, Soy Bomb HQ, and The Central. The alarming rate of closures has caused anxiety in fans and musicians alike regarding the future of Toronto’s music scene, and the city must respond to their concerns.

Toronto continues to expand outwards and upwards, showing no signs of slowing down.

Property values increase while rents skyrocket. Students are well aware of the increasingly high cost of living, and fewer of them can afford to live downtown. This applies not only to students, but to young people in general, as well as Toronto’s artistic community.

People are searching for alternative, affordable housing, and the downtown core of Toronto is losing a degree of excitement.

Toronto’s music venues are scattered around its downtown core, where condominiums are rising, along with rental prices. The fewer the number of young people living downtown, the harder it becomes to get anyone into these venues, and the more difficult it becomes for these places to occupy their expensive real estate. It is clear that the forces of commercial gentrification are putting significant pressure on our local music community.

Things may seem bleak, however, many might argue these are growing pains in the natural development of a city. The population of the Greater Toronto Area is six million, and it continues to grow. While more people want to live here, the supply of houses is low, rendering condo development necessary.

However, Mayor John Tory and city councillors must remember that an abundance of visible skyscrapers does not equal a thriving city. It is the people inside these buildings that comprise a city’s culture. The ‘buy local’ movement needs an artistic equivalent: we must start getting out to support our local musicians.

Musician Jacob Switzer of the bands Goodbye Honolulu and Headspace has been performing live for seven years. Along with band mates Emmett Webb and Fox Martindale, he also founded the independent record label Fried Records.

“When I first started playing live music, I was an underage high school student… Quite limited when it came to opportunities and venues willing to allow my band to play. We also would try to find venues that allowed us to play for free, like The Central... and The Cavern,” said Switzer.

Switzer also commented on the pressure on artists and venues to draw crowds to maintain Toronto’s artistic scene.

“Everyone in the arts is competing for eyeballs... People getting out and supporting local live music is really important, and means a lot to the bands, and lets venues continue to operate and want to put on shows,” Switzer said.

“It’s unfortunate when venues close down, especially for ugly condos, but it’s just part of city development, and as long as people support live music, venues will continue opening.

It just sucks to lose all that history,” he added.

Recently there has been speculation surrounding the closure of cultural landmark The Silver Dollar Room. After a string of venue closures, the announcement of the Silver Dollar’s impending shutdown seemed to awaken protests, and city hall was soon called upon to address the closures.

THEO ARBEZ/THE VARSITY

The Silver Dollar Room, a popular downtown venue for live music, will close temporarily for construction of a nearby condo.

A joint message from Tory and Councillor Josh Colle, the Chair of the Toronto Music Advisory Council, described their concern and shared disappointment in the city’s dwindling supply of live music venues.

In early February, it was announced that although the Silver Dollar will be closing temporarily for development of a neighbouring student residence, it will indeed reopen once construction is over. This is

good news for local music fans, given the venue’s historic cultural significance, as well as its iconic signage that alone is worth preserving.

Toronto is a growing city, and rents can be expected to continue to rise, contributing to increased pressure on the local music scene.

However, people can also take action to support our local artists, and demand that the city attempts to as well.

When art doesn’t imitate life An investigation into tolerating unethical behaviour in art Gabriel Verveniotis Varsity Contributor

During my first tours of campus, I was bombarded with promotional leaflets and explanations of U of T’s significance as a breeding ground for ideas. I came away with the impression that these intellectual grounds were sacred, and that it was our job as students to analyze and question, in order to dispel ignorance.

And so I continue to question: lately, the question has been how some elements of our courses can be allowed to be investigated within the ethical framework of our university.

Namely, why are students taught pieces of literature with depictions of morality that directly contradict the code of ethics enforced on our campus? In these circumstances, I find it difficult to reconcile our responsibilities as students with our moral duties as human beings.

As an English major, one of the most formative experiences of my university education occurred when I encountered the infamous Vladimir Nabokov text Lolita, which centres on a man who preys on

a young girl after becoming her stepfather.

Prior to entering university, I was aware of the novel but felt my experience with it had been compromised because of how I first encountered it in the 1997 film adaptation of the same name.

However, I still found the subject matter intriguing, and English 101 seemed my chance at last. What was disconcerting, however, was that instead of dealing with the moral implications of the novel’s content, I was told instead to respect its aims and the quality of its prose. My professor briefly concluded that the subject matter of the novel was indeed controversial, but could still be appreciated for its risqué nature.

As part of a course on postcolonial literature, I also read J. M. Coetzee’s novel Disgrace. In the book, the character of Lucy, a rape survivor, expresses the view that she deserved to be violated, because she feels responsible for what she perceives as historical colonial injustices.

She and her father argue over the incident and whether or not Lucy’s rapist should be reported. Lucy’s father begs, “Lucy, Lucy, I plead with you! You want to make up for the past, but this is not the way you do it.”

Lucy muses in reply, “What if… what if that is the price one has to pay for staying on? Perhaps that is how they look at it; perhaps that is how I should look at it too.

They see me as owing something… Why should I be allowed to live here without paying?”

A postcolonial reading of this text allows us to examine whether Lucy’s rape might be perceived as deserved in some way because of the atrocities committed by her ancestors. This question is able to be explored in a classroom because the crime takes place within a work of literature that is rife with complex themes and ideas.

But I cannot help but question how out of place this discussion seems, given the degree of sensitivity with which issues surrounding rape culture are handled in every other aspect of university life.

Should real victims of crimes such as these also intellectualize and rationalize their experiences in this way? Certainly we would not expect this. Perhaps it is dangerous to even entertain the idea that we are able to find any rationale for these acts of violence, even within the context of a novel.

Contextualizing art and morals I spoke to U of T Philosophy Professor Dr. Devlin Russell about considerations surrounding ethics in literature. “The view that ethical flaws in an artwork can actually produce aesthetic merit shows the importance and consideration in participating in these kind of discussions about art,” Russell said. “If it is true that ethical flaws have aesthetic benefits than they should be read and considered in spite of them,” he added.

Russell argued that there must be a way to “contextualize” this kind of work, at least within a classroom, by giving proper warnings and discussing the issues inherent with the work in question.

Still, what I found problematic about my experiences with Lolita and Disgrace was that both novels contain content that contradicts the values and ethics taught by our university. The lewd acts, expressions, and modes of behaviour that are explored in these books would undoubtedly be deemed unacceptable by the Code of Student Behaviour.

For more of this article, visit thevarsity.ca.

FEBRUARY 27, 2017 • 11

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Openness is the theme at this year’s TEDxUofT conference Toronto academics and performers comprise an engaging and immersive experience Allegra Wiesenfeld Varsity Contributor

U of T’s own TEDx Conference, an independently organized event licensed by the TEDx initiative, is most definitely a communitycentred event. It comes with a sense of familiarity, like seeing students whose faces you recognize from classes as conference coordinators or hearing professors you’ve admired silently from across a lecture hall speak about their passions.

The theme of the 2017 conference was OPEN, which was broad enough to encompass the wide variety of topics discussed by the speakers. Seven of the 12 speakers were academics at U of T, from graduate students to professors, giving attendees the opportunity to see what those in the offices around campus are up to.

In addition to academics from across the spectrum of breadth requirements, TEDxUofT also featured performing speakers from around Toronto and a variety of energetic musical acts.

A spotlight on academia Many people in the audience recognized speaker and computer scientist Sanja Fidler from press coverage in outlets such as Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, and the Toronto Star on the algorithm she helped developed that evaluates fashion sense.

Fidler’s presentation, equipped with interactive displays and humorous graphics of a personified robot, was friendly even to those without any knowledge of her field, taking the audience through the many steps necessary to create a cognitive agent.

Other audience members cheered for Human Biology Professor Bill Ju. The reasons behind Ju’s popularity became clear when he explained his conscious effort to improve learning by connecting with his students through social media.

Computer Science Professor Raquel Urtasun explained to the crowd why self-driving cars are the future and outlined affordable

solutions to mapping — the financial obstacle to self-driving transportation.

Urtasun suggested that self-driving cars would be incredibly beneficial to society, lowering the risk of accidents, decreasing pollution, and providing mobility for the elderly and disabled.

Organic chemist Patrick Gunning got the most laughs of the day with the line “biologists call us cooks.” This was an impressive feat considering Gunning’s attempt to guide the audience through the complicated process of building a cancer-killing molecule.

Going global TEDxUofT also featured presentations geared towards provoking the audience into thinking about the roles they played in their local communities and on the global stage.

Joe Wong, the Ralph and Roz Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs, brought the latter into perspective, with the clear message that we must reach out to those who are hardest to reach in our community. Explicitly, those who are born in city slums — the undocumented, the uneducated, the unvaccinated and the forgotten.

His talk was a call to action for the younger generation, which Wong hopes will use innovative thinking to overcome the obstacles that have faced previous generations.

Speaker Paul Hamel offered a local arena for change, proposing that the first stage of global health work is here in Toronto, where we can engage in strategies to end poverty, inequality, and ultimately, ill health.

He identified the stereotypical conceptions surrounding global health, a term that prompts images of far flung, impoverished villages and challenged them by arguing that we must think of issues of global health as transnational.

Photographer Yannis Guibinga turned his sights internationally as well, presenting his efforts to fight one-dimensional representations of Africa. Guibinga’s work seeks to highlight diversity and the intersections of gender, culture and socioeconomic status, in

PHOTO COURTESY OF TEDX U OF T

Onoscatopoeia performs at this year’s TEDxUofT conference at the Isabel Bader Theatre. order to remind us that Africa and African identity are not monoliths.

Individual and artistic journeys Another theme of the conference was individual journeys and choices. This was best underscored by actor Rajiv Surendra, beloved for his role as Kevin G in the cult classic Mean Girls.

Drawing on his personal six-year journey to become the protagonist of the film adaptation of Life of Pi, Surendra highlighted the importance of embracing the possibilities of success or failure. Surendra remarked that it is better to have embarked on a journey than to have played it safe.

Researcher Liza Futerman described the moment she showed old photos to her mother, who had been diagnosed with dementia, to trigger her memory. Instead of sparking her mother’s memory, it sparked her imagination, and she began to tell stories, opening her mind up to her daughter.

By connecting through storytelling, Futerman was able to find a way for her and her mother to transcend the ‘patient’ and ‘caregiver’ roles. This experience gave way to her work to create programs to improve the quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The tiny houses movement is one of the trendiest alternative living choices, but Cristina D’Amico’s presentation explained why it only offers an individual, marketbased solution to the systemic housing

problem. Comparing it to renting an apartment, D’Amico stated that living in a tiny home is not a socially transformative act — though it may be an Instagrammable one — and that to make housing a social right, “we need to think bigger than tiny homes.”

Performing speakers also brought an artistic flair to the conference. Will and Matt, a duo of magicians, incorporated the audience into their masterful tricks all while exploring how to make a living doing what you love. Their secret comes from a combination of business sensibility, understanding the difference between customers and consumers, and never allowing something you love to become something you regret.

Finally, spoken word artist Tobi Ogude from Black Canvas Gallery painted a beautiful picture of the love and mutual respect that governs the underground community in Toronto, underlining the need for the city to work with communities where culture is built and crafted in order to allow them to flourish.

TEDxUofT aims to be an immersive experience, which entails a nine-hour day.

Despite the long day, the event is structured to maximize the information audience members can absorb, with breaks occurring after every set of three speakers.

While not a seamless day, with technical glitches impacting almost every performer and a touch of corporatism provided by the tables of merchandise for sale, TEDxUofT remains a day that showcases remarkable talent and accomplishments that are meant to inspire rather than intimidate.

Science

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE February 27, 2017 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

No pain, no game: how hurt can help forge connections between teammates. var.st/teampain

Women in STEM

Promoting women in STEM from an early age National campaign encourages young women to #ChooseScience Connie Liu Associate Science Editor

February 11 marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, established by the United Nations “to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

To celebrate this, the Government of Canada launched a national campaign to encourage young women to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan announced the initiative at an exclusive event held at Facebook Canada’s headquarters, using the hashtag #ChooseScience on social media to spread the word.

20 girls from the U of T Engineering Outreach Program were among those invited to join Canada’s leaders, scientists, engineers, and educators in a discussion about women and girls in STEM. The panel, hosted by Erica Ehm, founder of the Yummy Mummy Club and former Much Music VJ, was broadcast via Facebook Live. Duncan sat alongside Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Status of Women; Jennifer Flanagan, the CEO of Actua; Amanda Mason of Oculus, a virtual reality company owned by Facebook; and Dr. Angela Schoellig, a professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“A career in science is an adventure,” said Duncan, recounting the Arctic expedition she led to investigate the of cause of the 1918 Spanish Flu. However, she had not always cherished a passion for science. Having spent her childhood studying the arts, Duncan only discovered her passion for the field upon entering university. “[Science] can open up new doors, take you to faraway places, and helps you change the world one discovery at a time.”

Science has left an impression on Monsef in a markedly personal way. “As a Canadian woman, I’m so grateful to be alive at this moment in our history because it hasn’t always been like this,” she said.

Monsef opened up about her mother’s efforts to study medicine, and how that dream was suddenly taken away in the heat of war. “In this room right now, there is a lot of privilege, there is a lot of opportunity, there are really big dreams, and the world is rooting for you to achieve those dreams.”

Flanagan, who works in science communication, helps people understand why science matters, how it impacts their lives, and what the opportunities are in the field. “Science has been the vehicle for me to combine all of my passions,” she said. It has allowed her to bring together her love for teaching, social justice, and business.

Science has likewise allowed Mason to unite her past and present passions. “I am curious about the world… I’ve been that way since I was a little kid,” she said, as she recalled her childhood interest in working with dinosaurs.

Mason and her team are now developing a product that allows her to do just that. With an Oculus Rift headset on site, audience members, too, had a chance to come face-to-face with a dinosaur in virtual reality.

Schoellig is a robotics engineer who believes that the collaborative and creative aspects of research are often overlooked.

“I think it’s underestimated, what we can do,” said Schoellig, sitting beside an early

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

The #ChooseScience event featured a number of prominent female scientists, politicians, leaders, and media personalities. prototype of the aerial robot she designed to detect algae in bodies of water, “It’s just amazing to me how you can use math and programming to design a robot that actually moves and interacts with the world.”

This panel of successful women in science not only demonstrated the diversity of paths that science offers, but also encouraged open conversations about the struggles women and girls in STEM continue to face today.

Women account for 55 per cent of U of T’s undergraduate student body. These numbers are fewer when it comes to some STEM disciplines. For engineering, only 25 per cent of the undergraduate students are women.

In the United Kingdom, women make up 49 per cent of people with a PhD in science.

In the United States, that drops to 46 per cent. In Canada, it is 32 per cent.

“We need women’s views, we need their perspectives, we need their insights, and I’ve been clear that when we don’t include women, it can have real consequences,” said Duncan.

An example of these consequences can be seen in the airbags of cars, designed by engineers who were largely men. Airbag prototypes were made to fit men’s bodies and were not well-suited for women and children.

Similarly, the first voice detection software had only calibrated to men’s voices.

Unfortunately, this is a persisting problem that extends beyond everyday inconveniences.

“Gender parity isn’t just for gender parity’s sake,” said Flanagan. There is a scientific imperative for research to account for the half of the population that does not have a Y chromosome; there is an economic imperative to meet the growing demand for labour in the workforce; and there is a social imperative

to curb the overrepresentation of women in underpaid, unemployed, and single-parent populations.

Mason attributed this gender imbalance in science to the subtle messages that young girls receive. “I think science is about failure. You have to fail to create something new,” she said.

“Part of the reason there are so few girls [in STEM]… is that when we fail we’re taught to be ashamed of it and it’s not okay to fail, whereas boys are encouraged… to try again.”

However, the reality is that STEM fields are highly competitive environments where students often cannot risk compromising grades. Flanagan acknowledged the challenge of finding such “experiential learning programs where the risk-taking and failure is an option,” which often must be actively sought out.

“It’s a simple problem to solve in that we just need to encourage [girls] more. But it’s very difficult because it’s so pervasive in our society to inherently not do that,” said Flanagan.

Among undergraduate students, the proportion of women in engineering is half the proportion of women studying life sciences.

Many believe this to be due to the lack of role models in the field. “The textbooks… mostly [had] images of people who didn’t look like me, who didn’t have my background, that I had a hard time relating with, though I admired them so much,” recalled Monsef.

“And that’s why engineering has been challenging, because there’s so few women, and then that kind of perpetuates itself,” said Flanagan. “Many kids haven’t met a lot of engineers, let alone a woman engineer.”

The knowledge that children hold about the field often stems from the media, whose depictions of engineering may amplify existing stereotypes and misconceptions, and play a role in turning girls away.

Of the women who enter STEM fields, the challenge to remain in them manifests itself in a phenomenon known as the leaky pipeline: women become an increasingly prominent minority as they climb the career ladder.

The perceived incompatibility between familial responsibilities and career ambitions is among the many causes of the under representation of women in STEM. As a woman enters her childbearing years, her decision to advance her career may be influenced by this apparent trade-off. “We have to stop pretending that having children is a disability for women,” said Mason.

“I think that’s the paradigm that we need to change,” agreed Flanagan. Women can and do engage in their work while balancing other priorities in their lives. “[Having children] does not take away from their success at work.”

The Government of Canada has implemented policies aimed at facilitating the challenge of this paradigm. Last September, the University and College Academic Staff Survey was reinstated to better understand the composition of the research community and monitor the progression of women through the science hierarchy so that faculty reflective of Canada’s diversity can be recruited.

New diversity requirements for Canada Research Chairs have also been set to better represent women.

At the community level, parents and teachers can support young women by challenging stereotypes. “If you think you have to be a certain way to go in a certain field of science, you are like everyone there. You will not make the biggest contribution,” cautioned Schoellig, “If you are different you’ll make the biggest contributions because you look at things differently, you ask different questions.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2017 • 13

var.st/science

Accelerating drug discovery with machine learning

Science Around Town

U of T researchers develop machine learning algorithms to accelerate drug discoveries

The Making of Memories Long-term potentiation is one of the most frequently researched processes in the field of neurophysiology. Dr. Tim Bliss of the National Institute for Medical Research, who discovered it, will be hosting a seminar to discuss the process, as well as his current research.

Date: Monday, February 27 Time: 4:00-5:00 pm Location: Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, Room 3231 Admission: Free Cell & Systems Biology Student Union (CSBSU) Academic Seminar The CSBSU will be holding a seminar with the popular Dr. Kenneth Yip as the keynote speaker. Come hear Dr. Yip speak about his ongoing cancer research and possible treatment for cancer.

Date: Tuesday, February 28 Time: 2:15–3:15 pm Location: RW 010, Ramsay Wright Zoological Laboratories, 25 Harbord Street Admission: Free

OREOLUWA ADARA/THE VARSITY

Utkarshna Sinha Varsity Contributor

Researchers at U of T have developed new machine learning algorithms to determine the 3D structures of proteins, paving the way for faster and more efficient drug discoveries and diagnostic methods.

In order to be effective, drugs must bind to specific proteins in a cell in the right orientation. They do this by changing the conformation of a protein, which results in a change in that protein’s function. Knowing the 3D structure of a protein can significantly enhance understanding of how they work in the body and consequently, aid in the development of drugs targeting the potential harmful effects of these proteins at unprecedented speeds and efficacies.

“The ability to discover 3D structures of protein molecules is one of the major goals of the field of structural biology.

Proteins, which are the building blocks of every biological process, are tiny molecular machines that interact, bind, move and work together to make life happen,” said Ali Punjani, a PhD student who is working on these algorithms under Professor David Fleet, Chair of the Computer and Mathematical Sciences department at UTSC. This team of researchers, along with Dr. Marcus Brubaker, an Assistant Professor at York University who worked on these algorithms with Fleet as a postdoctoral researcher, have developed new machine learning algorithms to dramatically speed up the process of solving the 3D structure of a protein.

This novel approach does not require a scientist to guess what the protein could look like.

“We employ an algorithm for finding 3D structures that effectively ‘explores’ the space of possible structures to find the one that best explains the observed data,” explained Punjani, “Generally, with our algorithms, if a protein can be purified and 2D images of it can be acquired of sufficient quality, the structure can be solved without prior knowledge.”

High-resolution protein structures can now be identified rapidly and automatically, targeting a computational bottleneck in the field. “Previous approaches [took] days or weeks to solve a single structure on expensive computer equipment. Our new algorithms, running on an inexpensive desktop computer, can solve the same structures in minutes,” added Punjani.

This can dramatically improve the speed at which scientists can identify complex structures and use it to discover more effective drugs to target a protein’s function.

Since there are many proteins in a cell, existing drugs on the market may bind off-target proteins and cause unwanted side effects.

The new method can allow researchers to design drugs with optimal structures that target proteins with high specificity to reduce those side effects.

These algorithms use microscopic images of proteins taken using electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM), a tool that enables the direct discovery of 3D protein structures. Cryo-EM works by firing a beam of electrons at a protein sample and detecting the emerging electrons to map out the struc-

ture of what the electrons collided with. This process takes thousands of 2D images that are then computationally analyzed to uncover the 3D structures of proteins at a near atomic resolution.

The ability to visualize the accurate 3D protein structure will equip researchers in academia and industry with a tool to harness that knowledge for further work. “We hope that the techniques we’ve developed will help other scientists solve structures quickly and accurately, paving the way for drug discoveries and a deeper understanding of how biological life works,” said Punjani.

The paper was recently published in Nature Methods. The team collaborated with U of T professor Dr. John Rubinstein, a Canada Research Chair in Electron Cryomicroscopy, and their work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.

The team’s startup, Structura Biotechnology Inc., has developed a software called cryoSPARC. It uses these algorithms on a cryo-EM platform and has already been integrated in labs. Their graphical user interface allows many users to work on the program remotely, upload and share data, and view the results in real time as they are computed.

The startup is being funded and supported by U of T’s Innovations and Partnership’s Office through the Connaught Innovation Award, U of T’s Early Stage Technologies Program, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Commercialization Partnerships Program with York University.

Ascension Conference 2017 The Canadian chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space is teaming up with the University of Toronto Aerospace Team to host their annual space conference.

The conference will be filled with workshops and other events students can attend to deepen their understanding of the world outside our home planet. Speakers for the event include U of T lecturer Dr. Aaron Persad, George Washington University’s Dr. Kris Lehnhardt, and many more!

Date: Friday, March 3 to Sunday, March 5 Location: Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St. George Street Admission: $70 for students Confluence: Merging Streams The U of T Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence Students Association will be holding the first iteration of Confluence, an annual undergraduate conference.

The conference will bring together undergraduate students in the field of cognitive science to give them an opportunity to present their research and other work.

Date: Saturday, March 4 Time: 1:00–6:00 pm Location: SS2102, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St George Street Admission: Free

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Sports

February 27, 2017 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

Blues conquer quarter-finals after thrilling double overtime win Queen’s Gaels get blown out of town Brock Edwards Varsity Correspondent

The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team defeated the Queen’s University Gaels in a best-of-three quarter-final playoff series this past week. The Blues will advance to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinal round beginning March 1, where they will face the second-seeded Nipissing Lakers.

The quarter-final round represented the first hurdle in the Blues’ quest to capture their first OUA championship since the 2002– 2003 season. The women’s team finished third in the OUA division standings with a 17–7–0 record, setting them up to face the sixth-seeded Gaels (14–10–0), who defeated the Blues in each of their two contests this season.

Going into the playoffs, the Blues carried on from a successful second half of the season. A slow start in October led to a first half 6–5–0 record for the Blues despite solid goaltending from Yordanov and career-high numbers from Day. The team hit their stride in the second half of the season, stringing together a series of wins — including five in a row to start the new year — and improving to 13–6–0 by the end of January. The Blues concluded their regular season by winning each of their last four games. Their rise in the standings was due in part to the stellar goaltending tandem of Yordanov and Katey Teekasingh, who posted identical .942 save percentages at the close of the regular season, tying them for third in the league.

Additionally, the Blues’ special teams shined throughout the season. A home game on January 27 was particularly illustrative, when the Blues notched four powerplay goals and one shorthanded goal in a fiery, penalty-filled 5–1 rout of the visiting UOIT Ridgebacks.

Toronto ended the season as the best penalty-killing team in the league with a success rate of 94.3 per cent, and ranked second in powerplay scoring percentage — 18 per cent. Their success was due in large part to Day’s outstanding play; she has six powerplay goals and four shorthanded goals on the season. Third-year defencemen Julia Szulewska contributed three powerplay goals in her career-high 12 points this season.

The first game of the quarter-final series took place on February 22 at Varsity Arena.

The Blues found themselves holding a commanding 3–0 lead midway through the game. Veteran forward and Toronto’s top scorer Taylor Day opened the scoring on a powerplay just into the fourth minute on the second shot of the game. Blues Defender Cristine Chao made it 2–0 taking a perfect pass in the high slot from forward Becki Bowering and sending a hard wrist shot past Gaels goaltender Stephanie Pascal.

Day’s second marker of the game came shorthanded; following a deft steal off a Gaels defender, she skated in alone and deked out Pascal to make it 3–0.

The Gaels were down but not out. A series of Toronto penalties allowed the Gaels’ powerplay unit to capitalize twice, cutting the home team’s lead to one goal. At 16

Blues women’s hockey team caps strong season with quarter-final win. PHOTO BY MARTIN BAZYL, COURTESY OF THE VARSITY BLUES minutes into the second period, Queen’s defender Micaela Smith chipped the puck under Blues goaltender Valencia Yordanov’s arm in a goalmouth scramble to score. Eight minutes later on a powerplay, Gaels captain Jessica Wakefield weaved around a Blues defender and slid the puck past Yordanov’s outstretched pad, making it 3–2.

Day nearly scored her third of the game after deflecting a pass on net and beating Pascal but not the goalpost, the puck was eventually cleared to safety by a Gaels defender.

The Gaels pulled their goaltender in the final minute of play, but their six attackers could not solve the strong Blues defense and solid goaltending of Yordanov. Toronto held on to the win with a razor-thin margin of 3–2, and they travelled to Memorial Centre in Kingston on February 25, hoping to sweep the series with a win and advance to the second round.

The Gaels responded with a solid effort on home ice, notching a 2–1 victory to even the series at a game apiece. After a scoreless and tight-checking first period, Queen’s forward Addi Halladay fired the puck past Yordanov to take the first lead of the game in the tenth minute of the second period. Toronto responded twenty seconds later, Day evaded the defence and beat Pascal to tie the game at one apiece.

A tripping penalty called on the Blues’ netminder led to the go-ahead goal, Gaels forward Katrina Manoukarakis batted in the puck in the seventeenth minute.

A penalty-filled third period yielded no goals for either side — Yordanov stood tall battling two Queen’s 5-on-3 opportunities — and the Gaels held on to tie the series at a game.

The third and deciding game of the quarter-final series was at home the next night, February 26. The atmosphere was tense prior to the game, as both teams knew that one of their seasons would end following the game.

The Blues struck first in the sixteenth minute of the first period. After hard forechecking, the Blues forced a turnover, and forward Kassie Roache flew in on a partial breakaway to chip the puck past the Gaels netminder. The Blues continued to apply pressure, racking up 17 shots in the first frame, but Pascal settled in and turned away a number of quality chances.

The Gaels fought back in the second period to tie the game. As a Queen’s powerplay was expiring, forward Megan Farrell drove to the net and slid the puck past Yordanov making it 1–1. The Gaels nearly made it 2–1 when forward Clare McKellar took a pass at the top of the crease, but Yordanov robbed her with a quick pad save to keep the score even.

Neither team could break the tie in what was a desperate, physical third period. Blues forward Kiyono Cox made an outstanding defensive play, breaking up a centring pass to a wide open Gael in front of the net. The score was still tied at one at the end of 60 minutes sending the game into overtime.

The Blues were the only team in the OUA

who were undefeated in overtime in the regular season. On Sunday night, the Gaels were almost equal to the task, breaking up a number of Toronto rushes with excellent defensive stick-work.

Pascal made save after save as the Blues’ shots on goal surpassed 40. A string of penalties taken toward the end of the first overtime period put the Blues in a dire situation.

The Gaels had consecutive 5-on-3 opportunities when forwards Kristi Riseley, Meagan O’Brien, and Day were sent to the box on separate penalties. Toronto’s remarkable penalty-killing unit, led by the superb goaltending of Yordanov, faced their greatest test of the season and survived.

After 80 minutes of play the score remained deadlock at one goal apiece. In the second overtime period, the reinvigorated Blues held the edge in shots on goal but could not beat the Queen’s netminder.

As the second overtime period wound down and fatigue began to set in on both benches, it became evident that the next mistake by either team would decide the game.

After the Gaels failed to clear the puck out of their zone, the Blues dug in. They cycled the puck along the boards, tiring out the Gaels defenders. Blues forward Alessandra Bianchi took a centring pass from Katherine Gale and slid the puck through a defender’s legs to an open O’Brien at the top of the crease, who cut wide and slid the puck past a diving Pascal to win the game — and the series.

FEBRUARY 27, 2017 • 16

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