Issue 13, January 9, 2023 (Volume 143)

Governing Council approves updated Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment PEARS Project, UTMSU express concerns before final vote

Lexey Burns Deputy News Editor

On December 15, 2022, U of T’s Governing Council approved revisions to the Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. The university had announced the proposed revisions over the summer, following the 2021–2022 review of the policy.

Policy history

During the Governing Council meeting, Sandy Welsh — vice-provost, students — provided background information on the policy’s review process.

In 2016, the Ontario government passed legislation requiring all postsecondary institutions to create their own sexual violence policies. The Governing Council approved U of T’s original Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment in December, 2016.

Welsh explained that the provincial legislation requires the university to review its sexual violence policy every three years and amend that policy as necessary.

U of T’s first review took place in 2019 and resulted in minor changes to the policy’s language and the university’s operations.

The second review, which resulted in the revisions that were up for approval at the Governing Council meeting on December 15, 2022 involved extensive consultations with more than 700 student, staff, faculty, and librarian participants. The review chairs consolidat-

ed the feedback from these consultations into 12 main recommendations, which the administration accepted in July, 2022.

Some of the 12 proposed revisions — specifically the seventh recommendation — had previously elicited concerns from some members of the U of T community. It proposed that the university establish formal supports for those accused of sexual violence or harassment.

Back in August, Micah Kalisch — founder and director of the Prevention, Empowerment, Advocacy, Response, for Survivors (PEARS) Project — explained in an interview with The Varsity that this recommendation “really raised some flags about the prevalence of professors and faculty being accused of sexual violence.” Furthermore, they called for more supports for survivors of sexual violence.

This fall, following the collection of feedback via an online form, three other revisions to the policy were added. First, as a result of a recommendation that the PEARS Project proposed, the updated policy would require U of T to publicize statistical information on sexual violence cases at the university in an annual report. The revisions also use stronger language for nontolerance of reprisals or retaliation against those who report sexual violence, whom the policy refers to as “complainants.”

The update also lays out clearer expectations for nonadjudicative processes — in which a neutral facilitator and the “complainant” and “respondent” discuss possible resolutions.

Student concerns

On November 20, 2022, an article published in Varsity revealed that, according to an external investi gation, UTM Professor Robert Reisz had violated the university’s sexual harassment policy. Following the ar ticle, the PEARS Project released an open letter calling on the university to terminate Reisz. The open letter has received over 1,800 signatures so far.

During the Governing Council meeting, Reagan Roopnarine, UTMSU’s vice-president equity, called out the university’s lack of transparency and questioned why, as a woman of colour, she and her colleagues still work five minutes away from Reisz’s office.

Kalisch brought their colleagues to stand with them when they spoke in front of the council. “This policy and these recommendations do not do enough. They do not keep us safe, they do not hold perpetrators accountable, and they do not support or protect survivors,” said Kalisch.

Kalisch asked the Governing Council to vote against the recommendations. They asked that the council demand that the university hire a gender-based violence expert to conduct an unbiased review of the policy and “create substantial change which is trauma-informed, survivor-centric, and actually keeps us safe.”

The revised Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment will come into effect January 1, 2023.

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PEARS project calls for another sexual violence policy review

Student advocates voiced objections to policy revisions at Governing Council meeting

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Content warning: this article contains mentions of sexual violence cases and attempted suicide.

Following the Governing Council’s December 15 approval of revisions to the Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, the Prevention, Empowerment, Advocacy, Response for Survivors (PEARS) Project has released a response demanding another official review of the policy.

The demand follows months of advocacy and sexual violence survivor support from the studentled grassroots advocacy group, which has openly expressed concerns about the recently approved set of revisions.

The latest review of the policy began in fall 2021, with the first five-month consultation phase opening in October of that year. In July 2022, reviewers submitted a report to the university’s senior administration containing 12 recommendations, which the administration publicly accepted.

There has been ongoing student advocacy alongside the university’s review process. In December 2021, the PEARS Project released its first policy analysis, and in January 2022, the group held several town halls to engage with students’ concerns regarding the policy.

In October 2022, PEARS also released a report on the review’s recommendations, titled “Too Little Too Late,” and organized a silent Simcoe Hall sit-in of the same name. Representatives from all three campus unions, including the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), and the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union, were in attendance at the event.

The Governing Council vote on December 15 represented the final stage of the university’s policy review process, and came after the university presented the review to other governance bodies this fall.

Student advocacy at governance meetings

After Sandy Welsh — vice-provost, students — presented the policy review at the Governing Council meeting, several governors summarized other governing bodies’ discussions on the policy. The majority of these summaries acknowledged student concerns with the review.

For example, Professor Ernest Lam, a teaching staff governor, mentioned that at the Academic Board meeting on November 17, a representative from the UTSU had said students hadn’t been aware of the student feedback stage for the draft policy, and a UTMSU representative had called for a more survivor-centric approach. According to Lam, a PEARS Project representative likewise demanded survivor-centric solutions, expressing concerns that the review’s changes failed to address campus rape culture.

Vikram Chadalawada, an administrative staff governor, told other governors that at the University Affairs Board meeting on November 22, speakers from PEARS Project and the UTSU said that the policy did not sufficiently protect students. These speakers referred to a recent article by The Varsity about UTM Professor Robert Reisz, which revealed that Reisz had violated the university’s sexual harassment policy.

I’ve seen restraining orders, which have not been maintained or upheld by this university. I’ve seen students have to drop out of classes. I’ve seen students have to transfer. I’ve seen survivors and students try to take their lives,” Kalisch continued.

Cheryl Regehr — vice-president and provost — later told governors that the university does not use non-disclosure agreements in sexual violence cases, although it does request that those involved in sexual violence investigations “maintain confidentiality” while the investigation is underway.

During Kalisch’s speaking time, four of their colleagues joined them at the front of the room. They had placed red duct tape over their mouths to signify the bureaucratic red tape that survivors face.

Kalisch asked governors to vote against the policy and demand that the university commission a policy review from a gender-based violence analyst. Survivors, Kalisch emphasized, cannot wait another three years.

“I’m asking that you make a choice today to help keep us safe.”

Response from administration and governors

Upon an invitation to respond from the chair, Regehr thanked the students who spoke during the meeting for their advocacy. She told them that the university had been “listening very carefully” to concerns shared at governance meetings, adding, “We know we have to continue to do better. You are right about that.”

As an example of how U of T’s processes are changing, she pointed to the university’s commitment to implementing recommendations from the Association of American Universities. These recommendations are designed to prevent “passing the harasser,” or permitting perpetrators of sexual violence to gain employment at other institutions.

During the meeting, several governors raised questions about the adequacy of the revised policy.

Janet Cloud, a lieutenant governor in council member, asked why the policy had not undergone an external review, as the PEARS Project had requested. In response, Regehr said that the review followed the typical process at the university, which does not include external review.

Professor David Zingg, an elected Teaching Staff Governor, asked, “Can we get a really clear, crisp answer as to why we don’t just take the recommendations from the PEARS Project?” To that, Regehr said that the PEARS Project’s only recommendation regarding university policy had been integrated, and that the group’s other recommendations predominantly addressed “process.”

Professor Jan Mahrt-Smith, another teaching staff governor, expressed concerns about the university’s transparency surrounding sexual violence on campus, including the Reisz case: “There are people in this room right now who feel less safe going to my university because of what they don’t know.” He asked whether there were legal reasons that the university could not provide more information on the subject. Regehr said that the university is striving for more transparency, but employment law restricts what’s possible.

Part-Time Undergraduate Student Governor Susan Froom asked whether the Office of the Ombudsperson could provide a report on the policy before its next official review. Regehr said that the university would take this “good suggestion” into account.

After fielding questions from 11 governors, Janet Ecker, the Governing Council’s chair, told governors that they would need to come to a resolution on the policy revisions, and suggested that they put the motion on the table. “If we don’t have this [policy], we end up with the old one, which we don’t want,” she said.

U of T President Meric Gertler also offered governors his thoughts. “[It] sounds like, while we have done our level best in this case — and I’m frankly not sure how we could have been any more inclusive in the process — there’s still dissatisfaction and unhappiness with both the status quo and recommendations embedded in the proposed new policy,” he said.

He added that everyone in the room shared a goal to do better, and during the next review cycle, the university could “embrace” the idea of an external review. “My inclination would be to approve the policy as it has been proposed,” he said.

Ultimately, the Governing Council voted to approve the revised policy, which came into effect on January 1.

PEARS Project’s response

Immediately after the Governing Council vote, Kalisch told The Varsity that it was “devastating” to witness the Governing Council approve the policy. They expressed appreciation for Governing Council members who had “heard them,” but added, “For the large part — particularly on the side of the president, the chair, the vice provost, and their lawyers who they had present with them — we were not being heard.”

“The vote that just happened is going to actively put survivors’ lives in danger,” Kalisch told The Varsity

Kalisch noted that, despite Regehr’s claim, the student advocacy group had in fact made multiple policy-specific recommendations, which had been reviewed by both a lawyer and a gender-based violence policy analyst.

Klark Janowski, the PEARS project arts and advocacy lead, expressed frustration that Ecker and Gertler had pushed to move forward with the proposed revisions to avoid going “back to the old [policy].” She told The Varsity that the PEARS Project’s goal was to only move forward with the policy once it was adequate.

According to Ontario Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, the university will be legally required to review the policy again in three years — a timeframe that multiple governors and speakers acknowledged during the meeting.

“What’s gonna happen in these next three years for me, for my friends, my classmates, anyone that is affected by this?” asked Nora Ahmadi in an interview with The Varsity. Ahmadi is the marketing coordinator for New Against Sexual Assault & Harassment, the New College branch of the PEARS Project.

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At the Governing Council meeting, student representatives from the UTMSU, the UTSU, the Association of Part-Time University Students, and the PEARS Project also addressed the governors about the policy.

Micah Kalisch, founder and director of the PEARS Project, spoke on behalf of the survivorled student group. “For the past three years, I’ve had to look survivors in the eyes and tell them that they’re right and that I cannot guarantee the university will help them,” Kalisch told the Governing Council. Members of the PEARS Project, including Kalisch, regularly take disclosures from survivors of sexual violence at U of T.

“I have seen [non-disclosure agreements];

On December 22, the PEARS Project released a half-hour video reflecting on the Governing Council decision. In the video, Kalisch said that, when Gertler had approached PEARS Project representatives after the Governing Council meeting, they had asked him how the PEARS Project could initiate the process of restarting the review. According to Kalisch, Gertler said that the PEARS Project could follow up in the new year.

In the video, Kalisch announced a demand that the policy undergo another review, one that is survivor-centric and trauma-informed. “We’re not waiting another three years,” Kalisch said.

In October, the PEARS Project held its “Too Little Too Late” protest outside Simcoe Hall.

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Governing Council holds final meeting of fall 2022 semester

President Gertler addresses antisemitism at Temerty in report to Governing Council

Jadine Ngan Editor-in-Chief

At a meeting on December 15, 2022, U of T’s Governing Council approved updates to the university’s Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, which came into effect on January 1, 2023.

During the meeting, U of T President Meric Gertler addressed recent reports of antisemitism at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. The Governing Council also heard reports from the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (ECCS) and the School of Continuing Studies (SCS).

Sexual violence policy

At the meeting, Professor Sandy Welsh — vice provost, students — offered governors a presentation on the second review of the Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, which began in October 2021.

Welsh expressed confidence in the results of the review, saying that the policy revisions “further [the university’s] commitment to creating an environment where all members of our community can live, work, and study free from harassment or violence of any kind.”

Following Welsh’s presentation, Governing Council Chair Janet Ecker opened the floor to several representatives from student organizations, who criticized the revisions and the university’s handling of UTM professor Robert Reisz’s violation of the sexual harassment policy.

After hearing the student speakers’ concerns, several members of the Governing Council pressed U of T administration on whether the revised policy was, as Teaching Staff Governor Jan Mahrt-Smith put it, “as good as it gets.”

However, upon prompting from the chair, the Governing Council voted to pass the revisions to the policy. Governors Janet Cloud, Professor Shashi Kant, and Professor David Zingg voted against approving the revisions. All other council members voted to approve the revisions. There were no abstentions.

The next review is legally required to occur in 2025.

President’s report

In his report to the Governing Council, Gertler addressed the issue of antisemitism at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

In early December 2022, Dr. Ayelet Kuper — a professor who was Temerty’s senior adviser on antisemitism from June 2021 to June 2022 — released a Canadian Medical Education Journal paper that noted a rise in “hateful attitudes” toward Jews at the faculty. Kuper is a descendant of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors. The paper describes her own experiences of discrimination, as well as similar “stories shared widely within [the] community.”

Soon after the paper’s release, the Toronto Star reported that the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, an antisemitism organization, had called for an immediate inquiry into the problem.

In light of those events, Gertler provided governors with a summary of the university’s relevant work to address antisemitism. He noted that the university has an antisemitism working group, which was established in 2020. Following a period of community consultations, the working group released a report in December 2021. According to Gertler, the university has committed to implementing each of the report’s eight recommendations, which include addressing harassment and academic freedom.

Gertler drew governors’ attention to the response at the faculty level, telling them that Temerty’s dean, Trevor Young, has commissioned research on the historical practice of limiting Jewish students to a certain quota. Gertler also mentioned that Temerty has revised curricula, introduced antiracism training, and carries out consultations with Jewish students to ensure that they feel supported.

“I want to assure members of our university community that we remain deeply committed to fighting the scourge of antisemitism on our campuses,” Gertler said.

On December 21, 2022, Gertler addressed the antisemitism issue at Temerty in a Globe and Mail opinion article.

Other reports

Ron Saporta — chief operating officer, property services & sustainability — presented the annual report for ECCS, of which he is co-chair.

The report addressed the committee’s progress over its five years of operations. One recent milestone that Saporta noted was the university’s 2021 launch of a climate positive plan. Saporta said this would make UTSG a carbon sink — an operation that absorbs more carbon than it releases — long before 2050. This year, the committee focused on advancing that plan through a decarbonization initiative called Project LEAP, which Saporta says will reduce emissions from the university by around 65 per cent.

During the questions period, Saporta noted that next year, U of T will launch an air travel emissions mitigation program that will offer the institution internal offsets “very similar to the type of offset programs you can get from Air Canada, in terms of cost.” According to Saporta, this program will help fund efforts to address emissions across all three campuses.

Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, dean of the SCS, also presented a report on a recent “recalibration” of the division’s strategic plan. Chandler-Crichlow informed governors that the SCS had carried out tri-campus consultations with the goal of boosting its open-enrolment program delivery, and that the

SCS plans to launch its new strategic plan early this year.

The next Governing Council meeting will take place Wednesday, February 15, at 4:30 pm.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence or harassment at U of T:

• Visit safety.utoronto.ca for a list of safety resources.

• Visit svpscentre.utoronto.ca for information, contact details, and hours of operation for the tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre. Centre staff can be reached by phone at 416-978-2266 or by email at svpscentre@utoronto.ca.

• Call Campus Safety Special Constable Service to make a report at 416-978-2222 (for U of T St. George and U of T Scarborough) or 905-569-4333 (for U of T Mississauga)

• Call the Women’s College Hospital Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Care Centre at 416-323-6040

• Call the Scarborough Grace Sexual Assault Care Centre at 416-495-2555

• Call the Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 866-863-0511

Al Aref Helal UTM Bureau Chief

From December 21 to January 2, during the university closure, approximately 600 residents continued to live in residence at UTM. These students faced food outlet and cafeteria closures, and were forced to pursue costlier alternatives to feed themselves.

The UTM residence website states that, “During the winter break… all on campus food services will be closed, [and] no caretaking or maintenance services will be provided.”

Some students may have decided to stay in residence due to travel issues. Over the winter break, WestJet and Air Canada combined cancelled over 1000 flights, leaving people stranded in Canada or abroad. Flight prices usually skyrocket over the Christmas holidays, but with all of the last minute cancellations, same day flight prices increased even more. Furthermore, with the projected increase in COVID-19 cases over the next month, many international students at UTM decided to stay in Ontario for the winter break.

Food disparity from campus closures

Students who choose to live on campus are required to purchase a meal plan, some of which cost over $4,000 for the school year. This requirement is to combat the lack of personal kitchens in certain residence buildings, like Oscar Peterson Hall (OPH) at UTM. OPH, which is the most popular residence for first-year students, has one community kitchen on the sixth floor to cater to the whole

building. Most of the other residence buildings are equipped with personal kitchens.

A fourth-year student and don at the OPH residence — who requested anonymity because she is reapplying for the position — feels that, over the winter break, students remaining on campus were left to fend for themselves.

Unable to utilize her meal-plan money, she found herself spending $60 a day on Uber Eats. She explained that she would order three meals at a time to save money.

Luka Zviadadze, an international student, ordered food from Uber Eats for every day of the winter break, spending on average $30 a day.

Both the don and Zviadadze found themselves spending far more money than they normal.

Unfortunately, students unable to afford the steep prices of Uber Eats had few other avenues through which to procure food. The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union food centre, which, during the year, facilitates access to food for students experiencing food insecurity, also closed for the winter break. This made it more difficult for students to find healthy and affordable food.

Social consequences as a result of campus closures

Consequences of campus facilities were not limited to the availability of food. The Colman Commons and Davis cafeteria are the main social hubs on campus, and their closure negatively impacted social life on campus.

In an interview with The Varsity, the don said that

the isolation and lack of social life were reminiscent of the isolation era of COVID-19.

“You would walk through campus and you wouldn’t expect that 600 people live here,” she said. “It’s like a ghost town, there’s not a single soul and there’s no one out, because there’s nothing to do.”

The closure of campus buildings left students who remained on campus with no way to interact with each other and nowhere to go. “It’s barren in these halls, as there’s no one here, but there are so many people here, they’re just isolated in their rooms,” the don said.

“Most of the students who have remained in the residences were international students,” said Zviadadze. They explained that for some international students, the majority of their social life consists of campus interactions. “So when the campus was completely closed, [it] definitely had a negative impact on our daily social life.”

24-hour quiet hours

UTM residence administration hung up “24 Hour Quiet Hours” posters, explaining to students that these Quiet Hours are active and enforced from December 7, 2022 until January 2, 2023.

“During this time we ask that all students respect their peers [sic] right to a quiet study space,” the posters read.

In an interview with The Varsity, the don explained that her responsibilities as a don were to “look out for any noises… if you hear a big gathering… you have to disperse them and tell them all to

go home and call campus safety.” No guests and no non-resident students are allowed on residence during the holiday period.

Garbage collection concern

Due to the interruption of maintenance and caretaking services, the don witnessed accumulating piles of trash that ended up covering accessibility buttons. She explained that some of the garbage piles were taller than her.

This lack of maintenance extended to the OPH communal kitchen, which she said is meant to be shared between 600 students. During the break, its unsanitary conditions prevented its use.

“It’s not cleaned, especially during the winter break,” the don said.

UTM response

In a statement addressed to The Varsity, a UTM spokesperson revealed that activities were scheduled for every day of the winter break and that mental health support and resources were made available to residents, including the 24/7 My Student Support Program.

The UTM spokesperson did not explain the reasoning behind the closure of food outlets, but stated that students were advised of the closures.

The spokesperson continued, “[Due] to reduced occupancy, the cleaning schedule was scaled back,” adding, however, that supplemental cleaning was performed during the break. The website explains that “no caretaking or maintenance services will be provided above and beyond emergency services.”

Proposed solutions

Faced with closed food outlets and unusable communal kitchens during the winter break, the don suggested a solution for both the social isolation and lack of food: “If Colman was open… it would solve the food issue… [and] the social issue.”

The Governing Council held the meeting on December 15, 2022. NICHOLAS TAM/THEVARSITY

Denise Chua UTSC Bureau Chief

On October 27, 2022, the Governing Council voted to reappoint UTSC Vice-President and Principal Wisdom Tettey for another five-year term, from July 1, 2023 to December 31, 2028.

Tettey was first appointed to the role in 2018. During his tenure, he launched UTSC’s five-year strategic plan, Inspiring Inclusive Excellence. Based on this plan, UTSC conducted a campus curriculum review that recommended 56 actions to diversify the curriculum and began construction on several capital projects, including Indigenous House, a medical school, a 750-bed student residence, and a new student services building.

Tettey also led the adoption of the Scarborough Charter, which is a national action plan that seeks to foster Black inclusion and address anti-Black racism in higher education structures, policies, and procedures.

The Varsity spoke with Tettey to discuss his vision for UTSC in the next five years and how he intends to address some of the key issues that UTSC faces.

The Varsity: U of T News states that you intend to continue raising UTSC’s “national and international profile for research and scholarly prominence,” as well as its reputation as “a destination of choice for student experience.” What concrete steps will you take in order to achieve this goal?

Wisdom Tettey: The key here is to continue to do what we’ve already been doing. For one, we will continue to elevate the core academic mission of the campus. Over the last several years, we have improved the research infrastructure that faculty, staff, and students have access to and opened up opportunities for students to become research assistants.

We have also put a lot of resources into enhancing the student experience. The upcoming student residence will address the issue of affordable housing for UTSC students. It will also be a learning community where people from around

the world will be able to build networks, engage with one another, and learn from one another.

Our strategic plan provides us with a roadmap for what we will do over the long term at UTSC. Our plan is very explicit that students are partners, and my commitment is to continue to work with our community here. U of T is already globally prominent, but we want to make sure that that prominence begins to shine on this side of the tricampus as well.

TV: U of T’s tuition fees are some of the highest among Canadian universities. Out of the three U of T campuses, UTSC has the highest percentage of undergraduates who receive help from OSAP. So why are tuition fees at UTSC so high, and what is the administration doing in order to mitigate these costs for students?

WT: According to U of T’s Policy on Student Financial Support, nobody who qualifies to come to U of T will be denied the opportunity to have an education here because of a lack of means. So we offer significant amounts of scholarships and bursaries to students based on need and academic achievement. U of T’s financial support to students far exceeds the provincial average.

Unfortunately, we still have students in dire straits, so we support the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union’s food centre to make sure that students are able to avail affordable food. We also reach out to donors. We do everything we can to make sure that students are supported.

On the international student front, the annual growth in international tuition fees has been reduced because we recognize that there’s a limit to what students and parents can afford. But the reality is that it’s expensive to run this program, and we need to make sure that we’re able to have the resources that we need in light of how much it costs to educate our international students.

TV: The high tuition fees are partly due to government defunding. What is the administration doing to raise provincial funding for UTSC and U of T more broadly?

WT: Ontario has the lowest per-student government funding across Canada, so it’s challenging for us to be able to do what we do. The president is advocating for the kind of support that would be necessary to sustain our operations at various tables. We let the government know what the challenges are and what the impact is on education.

However, some of these things are outside of our control. The best we can do is continue to raise these issues to relevant tables and hope that the decision-makers at those tables take up the cause.

TV: UTSC recently received a historic $25 million donation from Orlando Corporation, the largest privately-owned industrial real estate developer and landlord in Canada. Given that U of T’s Faculty of Law faced a hiring scandal in 2020 due to alleged donor interference, which in turn led to the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ censure, what is UTSC doing to ensure that its academic freedom won’t be compromised by donors?

WT: There’s absolutely no question that U of T does not allow donors to influence the academic mission. Each division, campus, and faculty establishes a set of academic priorities, which in turn, determines where we seek support. So, our eye is always on the question: to what extent is this support going to advance the academic mission?

The issue you’re referring to is an unfortunate thing. It wasn’t a case where the university was not committed to the integrity of the process. Certain things obviously fell through the cracks. Those things were identified, and the university moved really quickly to address those. It’s also important to note that, since then, the process has been made even more rigorous.

TV: UTSC has a lot of community partners in Scarborough. What responsibility do you believe UTSC has in giving back to the Scarborough community?

WT: It’s always important to remember that we don’t just see ourselves as ‘in this place’; rather, we are ‘of this place,’ which means that our state is inextricably linked with our community. So it’s in our interest to make sure we’re able to contribute to the community in a way that lifts it up. We want students from UTSC to be conscientious citizens, which means they’re connecting to the community in ways that awaken them to their responsibility as citizens. We do the same thing with our faculty and staff.

In September, for example, we had UTSC’s first annual Homecoming, which was open to folks around the community. That was a way to demonstrate that the institution is an extension of the community, and we see the community as an extension of the institution.

At the end of the day, we want our community to see us as partners, working together to advance our collective well-being and to ensure that we all thrive.

TV: You are about to finish your first term as UTSC’s vice-president and principal. I was wondering if there’s one thing you’ve personally learned about the university or education over the course of your first term?

WT: If you create space for [people] and bring them in as partners, then you will benefit from the richness they bring to the table. This continues to be a guiding principle for me because there’s just such an enormous pool of talent here.

I’ll leave you with an African proverb from my place [in Ghana]. In the African savanna, you’ve got these [massive] Baobab trees. You can’t wrap your arms around them alone; you have to depend on other people. So, you’re not omniscient, you don’t know it all. You have to be able to tap into what other people bring in order to be able to accomplish collectively what you seek to do. Anchoring your leadership in this principle opens a whole lot of doors.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Alyanna

Tettey was recently appointed for his second five-year term. COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Does U of T have snow days?

Lexey Burns Deputy News Editor

On December 15, 2022, forecasts of a winter storm prompted transit closures across Ontario.

Environment Canada predicted up to 15 centimetres of snow across the GTA. Although the province received wet rain as opposed to heavy snow, U of T’s decision to keep campus open prompted confusion from some community members, begging the question: does U of T have snow days?

How U of T decides snow days

Environment Canada issued a special storm warning and travel advisory to residents of the GTA for December 15. Although U of T remained open, the forecast led other Ontario universities, including Guelph University and Laurier University, to close their campuses.

According to City News, most school buses across the GTA did not operate on the day of the storm, and the TTC closed the train service on Line 3 (Scarborough RT) because of the weather conditions. Over 75 per cent of U of T’s students identify as commuters and rely on transportation — such as the TTC and Mississauga’s MiWay — to get to campus.

In an email to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote, “Decisions around cancellations or

closures due to adverse weather conditions are based not on one factor, but consideration of a multitude of factors.” Such factors include information from Environment Canada; academic divisions’ scheduled courses and exams; the local transit authority; the municipal and provincial police services’ stances; and the actions of “other relevant agencies and institutions,” including the Peel and Toronto District School Boards.

“[The] safety of the U of T community is a top priority for the University when deciding whether to cancel classes or to close one or more campuses,” wrote the spokesperson.

According to the Division of the Vice-President and Provost, U of T attempts to announce any closures the morning of, by 6:30 am. “Because there are thousands of classes, exams, tests, labs and tutorials on our three campuses throughout any given day, tens of thousands of students are impacted by a decision to close,” the U of T spokesperson added.

Snow day history

In a response to a Reddit post questioning whether U of T ever had snow days, the Arts and Science Student Union (ASSU) responded, “UofT St. George is famous for never closing, even when things are terrible outside of the downtown where most students are coming from.”

In January 2019, U of T received major backlash for their decision to cancel classes, labs, and tutorials at 5:43 pm due to a winter storm. Many people took to Twitter, expressing their frustration with U of T for not cancelling campus activities earlier in the day.

Ken Schnell, the manager, annual campaigns at University of St. Michael’s College, responded to the university’s closure announcement by tweeting, “You could have done this earlier in the day.”

Lindsay Tramble, a second-year Master’s of Teaching student at U of T, tweeted that the “announcement should have been made hours ago.” She explained that many U of T community members commute to campus and “now have to turn around and commute back home again in dangerous conditions and rush hour traffic.”

In February of the same year, students at universities including Ontario College of Art & Design University, Toronto Metropolitan University, and York University, as well as the U of T’s Scarborough and Mississauga campuses, received a ‘much-welcomed’ snow day.

However, UTSG initially decided to remain open, leading to the creation of a Change.org petition that received over 4,500 signatures. Around 4:00 pm that afternoon, U of T cancelled classes and labs at UTSG as weather conditions worsened.

Recent criticisms

From December 5 to 17, U of T honoured 2020 and 2021 graduates with in-person celebrations at Convocation Hall.

In anticipation of the storm, the ASSU took to Twitter on December 14 and asked U of T to publish “a clear update on the status of Convocation tomorrow.”

“Students [and] families are concerned about the ice pellets [and] freezing rain and if they can get the nice photo ops they’ve been waiting for!” tweeted the ASSU. The university did not respond to the tweet.

Ahmad Faizan, an Exchange Program student at the Faculty of Arts & Science, arrived late to his ECO364 — International Trade exam due to TTC delays. He explained that his average commute lasts just less than an hour. However, on December 15, it took Faizan close to an hour and a half to commute to UTSG. He explained that he “wished for the examiner to have waited at least [10 minutes] before beginning the exam” so that people who struggled to get to campus could start the exam on time.

According to the Sidney Smith Commons exam toolkit, students who arrive late should consult with their exam facilitator as soon as they arrive to discuss options. At the Downtown Campus, Accommodated Testing Services will not adjust the allotted exam time for students who arrive late to the exam. Testing services may also deny permission to write the exam to students with accommodations who arrive late.

Students are able to reach out to their individual registrars for more information.

The Breakdown: Dealing with problems post-exam

Lexey Burns Deputy News Editor

With the return to in-person classes, in-person exams have also resumed. Following the fall 2022 exam season, many students turned to social media, asking their peers for advice on academic offences, course petitions, and deferred exams. For students in these situations, The Varsity broke down how to deal with exam fallout.

Academic misconduct

U of T’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters classifies nine actions as academic offences: altering, forging, or falsifying documents; possessing or using unauthorized aids; impersonation; plagiarism; submitting work from a previous class; submitting work containing fake statements of fact or references to sources; altering, forging or falsifying an academic record; any other misconduct to obtain academic credit or advantage; or helping another student commit an offence.

Examples of academic offences include having a cell phone in your pocket during an exam; failing to cite information; forging a death or medical certificate; posting work online; submitting a purchased essay or an essay you did not write; and failing to reference quotes, passages, or sources.

In an email to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote, “Students with additional questions about academic integrity should always speak with their instructor or teaching assistants first, as they can discuss academic integrity as it applies to the particular assessments in their course.”

For assignments worth more than 10 per cent of the course grade, the process to investigate and arbitrate an alleged academic offence includes four stages.

If an instructor suspects that you committed an academic offence, they should inform you immediately of their suspicions and provide you with an opportunity to discuss the matter. Nothing a student says in this discussion can be used as evidence against them in their academic misconduct case.

According to the U of T spokesperson, the instructor’s initial review can take a considerable

amount of time to complete. If the instructor decides that your action doesn’t constitute an academic offence, the process ends. If the instructor thinks you committed an academic offence, they will report the action to the department chair.

In the second stage, the chair notifies you of the reported offence in writing. You receive a second opportunity to discuss what happened with the chair and the instructor, as well as to defend against the allegations. During this conversation, the chair can issue a sanction or penalty for the offence. Chairs determine sanctions based on factors including the context and seriousness of the situation, the number of academic offences you previously committed, and finally, whether you admit to the offence.

If you don’t admit to the offence, the department chair may bump the matter up to the dean. At this level, students can bring an attorney to their discussion with the dean, department chair, and instructor. The dean may dismiss the allegations or, if the student admits they committed the offence, impose a sanction. If the student admits to a particularly egregious offence, previously committed multiple offences, or does not admit fault despite the dean’s conviction that the student committed the offence, the matter might go to stage four, the University Tribunal.

The two most common types of offences are

utilizing “an unauthorized aid,” which makes up 66 per cent of all reported academic misconduct, and plagiarism, which constitutes 30 per cent of cases.

According to the U of T spokesperson, “The number of academic offences has been trending downward with the return to in-person assessments.” Over the pandemic, the university introduced multiple initiatives to address the increase in offences. Even with the return to in-person classes, the U of T spokesperson wrote that these measures continue to streamline sanctions and decisions.

They also explained that any students whose well-being is negatively impacted by the academic misconduct process have access to mental health supports.

Deferred exams and petitions

The criteria one must meet to defer an exam vary depending on program and campus. In a statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson noted that students wishing to petition for a deferral should ask their academic advisor or registrar and consult the faculty or division website for the respective course.

For courses in the Faculty of Arts and Science, a student generally must submit a petition to defer an exam to their registrar within five business

days of the final exam period’s end. Students who want to defer a December exam must have submitted a petition before January 6, five business days after the university reopened in January. For satellite campuses, students must put in a deferred exam petition within 72 hours of the missed exam. The university encourages students to submit a petition as soon as they know they will miss their exam.

Students can choose from three petition types, depending on their situation. If a student misses a final exam, they can petition to defer the exam. Since exam deferrals are faculty dependent, times for writing deferred exams vary. Students who deferred an exam for a fall semester course in the Faculty of Arts and Science write their deferred exam in February or April. Students can also apply for a ‘term work extension’ if they can’t hand in an essay by the deadline.

Finally, students can apply to withdraw from a course without academic penalty after the ACORN academic drop deadline has passed if they’ve experienced “extenuating circumstances” that negatively impacted their performance or participation in a course.

When submitting a petition, a student should include a copy of the course syllabus; a personal statement explaining the situation; and supporting documentation, including medical or death certificates, to verify claims made in the student’s personal statement. The faculty will then decide whether to grant or refuse the petition.

For a refused petition, outcomes fall into four subcategories. The first is ‘refused with recommendations,’ which include items for the student to consider. For example, if the faculty refuses your term work extension request because you completed very little work in the course, the faculty might recommend that you consider other petition types. Faculties can also ‘refuse with advising,’ recommending that the student seek advice from academic advisors. If a petition was refused and not considered, that means the request wasn’t within the Committee on Standing’s purview. Finally, a petition may be cancelled, usually by the student.

A granted petition may fall into one of three categories: ‘absolute grant’; ‘grant with recommendations or conditions,’ which might include reducing your course load or not taking courses during a particular session; and ‘grant with advising,’ when the decision recommends academic advising.

University’s decision to keep campus open despite snowstorms prompts criticism

What to do if you missed a final or were accused of academic misconduct

SCSU welcomes six new directors despite low by-election voter turnout

Union proposes that the BOD allow one credit card for all executives and staff

Alyanna Denise Chua UTSC Bureau Chief

On December 5, 2022, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) held its monthly Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in person at the Student Centre, during which the BOD ratified the results of the fall byelection, noting low voter turnout. SCSU Executive Director Nicole Brayiannis also presented a credit card policy to the BOD for approval. Additionally, SCSU executives updated the BOD about their advocacy efforts, academic campaigns, and upcoming events for the winter term.

Fall byelections and new hires

At the BOD meeting, the SCSU ratified the fall byelection results and welcomed six new directors: two first-year directors; a director of psychology, neuroscience, and mental health studies; a director of physical and environmental sciences; a director of human geography; and one part-time director.

Four BOD seats remain vacant, leaving international students and the departments of anthropology, English, and philosophy without designated representatives.

The voting period for the SCSU’s fall byelections ran from October 18–27, 2022. Only one per cent of the UTSC student body voted in the byelection. According to Vice-President External Thai Higashihara, voter turnout was low because many upper-year students formerly relegated to online classes came to campus for the first time this fall, so an unusually large number of students were “unfamiliar with university processes.” The byelection also marked the SCSU’s first in-person election since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Higashihara said that the byelection’s chief returning officer (CRO) submitted recommendations to the SCSU in an effort to streamline the election process, such as hiring the CRO earlier. Higashihara assured the BOD that the SCSU will

implement these recommendations in the upcoming spring election.

Nonetheless, Higashihara said that the byelection was a “resounding success” because “there were no major hiccups.” According to Higashihara, the election didn’t involve any mischief, violations of the voting code of conduct, or concerns about the voting process that would require review from the Elections and Referenda Committee.

In addition to welcoming directors, the SCSU hired Sarah Abdillahi as events and membership engagement coordinator — a new full-time staff position — in November. Abdillahi served as SCSU president during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 terms, working on numerous campaigns, some of which sparked controversy. In her new role, Abdillahi will help the SCSU executives handle event logistics.

New credit card policy

The SCSU presented the BOD with a proposal for a new credit card policy, which, pending the board’s approval, would grant the SCSU its own corporate credit card and allow SCSU executives and full-time staff to purchase materials without submitting expense reports.

Currently, staff members pay out-of-pocket when purchasing items for the SCSU and get reimbursed by the union. According to the SCSU’s December BOD meeting package, this reimbursement process “creates financial strain on individuals required to utilize their personal resources to make necessary and pre-approved purchases for the Union.”

Brayiannis said that the new policy will help “streamline” the SCSU’s operations and finances. The credit card will also allow the SCSU to earn points on business expenses, which it can then use toward its billing statements.

Brayiannis assured the BOD that the proposed policy includes “a number of accountability measures.” The SCSU would purchase credit card insurance to protect the credit card from employee misuse. The policy would also require the executive director, president, and vice-president

operations to approve any expenses, and members who use the card must submit receipts and documentation to the SCSU’s accountant.

The BOD will vote on the credit card policy at a later meeting.

UTMSU protest and U of T’s sexual violence policy

On November 30, 2022, Higashihara, VicePresident Campus Life Alyssia Fernandes, and Vice-President Academics and University Affairs Amrith David attended a protest organized by the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU). The protest demanded that U of T terminate Robert Reisz, a UTM professor who violated U of T’s Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, according to an external investigation commissioned by U of T.

During the BOD meeting, David said that the SCSU met with UTSC vice-deans to discuss Reisz’s case and some shortcomings of the latest proposed amendments to U of T’s sexual violence policy. Higashihara said that UTSC administrators did not express “much verbal support” on either issue, describing their responses as “lukewarm.”

According to Vice-President Equity Yumna Abdelhameed, many UTSC administrators considered Reisz’s actions to be a UTM issue rather than a UTSC one. However, Abdelhameed argued, “We shouldn’t be waiting for [sexual harassment] to happen at UTSC to care or take action.”

Ramadan accommodations

Currently, the union is advocating for Ramadan accommodations during UTSC’s winter exam period. U of T’s policy grants accommodations to students who observe religious practices during exam periods. However, Abdelhameed said that the SCSU wants a written policy outlining the specific steps that UTSC will take in order to accommodate students observing Ramadan.

According to David, the SCSU wants UTSC to give students who have to break fast more time to write their exams, so that these students can eat if needed while writing their exams. The SCSU also calls on the university to provide prayer spac-

es beside these students’ exam rooms.

David said that the SCSU decided to advocate for these policies so that students “won’t have to choose between faith and academics.”

According to David, Shelby Verboven, UTSC’s registrar and assistant dean enrolment management, already set up a working group to discuss the policy.

Meanwhile, the SCSU’s proposed course retake policy is pending approval at a February UTSC Academic Affairs Committee.

Other advocacy updates

David told the BOD that he has been meeting with Varsha Patel, UTSC’s assistant dean of career success at the Academic Advising and Career Centre, and Neel Joshi, dean of the Office of Student Experience and Wellbeing (OSEW), to implement a free Law School Admission Test (LSAT) prep course at UTSC. David noted that a free LSAT prep course is already available at UTSG.

SCSU President Michael Sobowale reported that, on November 3 and 29, 2022, he met with a number of student groups, U of T’s Planning and Budget Office, and OSEW to discuss proposed increases in UTSC student fees.

Sobowale said that the fee increase is intended to support the creation of a part-time outreach position at Health and Wellness, who will “[make] sure that students have that support that they need.”

Upcoming events

The SCSU plans to host a Week of Welcome at the beginning of the winter term, which will include puppy yoga and a chance to attend a Toronto Marlies hockey game on January 13.

The SCSU will also host its annual Undergraduate Research Symposium from March 30 to April 1 at 1265 Bistro, located in the Student Centre. This year’s theme is “Decolonizing Education.”

“We hope to center Indigenous, Racialized, and Black perspectives in our decision-making and throughout the symposium,” David wrote in the SCSU’s December BOD meeting package.

Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual harassment.

The SCSU held its last BOD meeting of 2022 on December 5, 2022.

JESSICA LAM AND MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY

Robert Reisz represents far more than just an individual issue

Noshin Talukdar Comment Columnist

Over a month after The Varsity brought forward the aftermath of an investigation conducted against UTM professor Robert Reisz, an expanding bubble of silence seems to be cocooning U of T’s campuses.

In 2020, U of T paleontology alumni Yara Haridy and Bryan Gee submitted a 72-page report to the university detailing the abuse of power they experienced at the hands of Reisz. In addition to several instances of sexual harassment that continued well into Haridy’s post-graduate career, the report alleged a litany of discriminatory incidents ranging from racial microaggressions to what Gee has called a “weird fixation on Chinese authenticity.”

A nearly two-year-long external investigation commissioned by U of T concluded that Reisz had indeed violated the social boundaries expected of faculty members. What has been a source of alarm, nonetheless, is how Reisz continues to enjoy supervisory privileges as a faculty member and is scheduled to teach courses at UTM for the winter 2023 semester.

It’s hard not to fall into the trap of seeing one professor — among over 15,000 faculty at U of T — as an individual outlier in the grand scheme of things. The university boasts courses upon courses on equity-related issues and seems to achieve a new milestone in progress almost every other month. To hear that someone has experienced harassment and bullying in what should be a safe space for all might be disconcerting to the average U of T student who has gotten used to navigating its diverse campus.

But Reisz and his comments do not exist in a vacuum. That a predator has faced no reper-

cussions for his actions against Haridy and Gee — at least, none that have been made visible to the general public — is itself indicative of how he does not act alone. The fact that he is comfortable enough to partake in such anti-Asian microaggressions in the first place evinces how an entire institution works behind him to lay the foundations for casual discrimination to transpire. And without openly stating the actions being taken — in addition to an investigation that Haridy and Gee have revealed to be “incredibly draining, and at times, retraumatizing” — U of T’s silence on the matter speaks to a wider culture of racism and institutional neglect pervading academia.

Education as a site for (in)justice Haridy and Gee took to Twitter and Medium last June to share their experiences, describing U of T’s reporting practices and processes as “intentionally opaque, a shield for the institution, not a shelter for the victims. There were (and still are) far more questions than answers.”

The reality is that post-secondary institutions

have been designed since their inception to commit to change so long as the perpetrators within their walls remain insulated against the charge of violence. From an endless barrage of bureaucratic hoops to jump through to a consistent lack of transparency, the structures of accountability at universities operate with the interests of the institution in mind. It hence becomes necessary to deplatform voices that undermine institutional authority and invisibilize decision-making processes to facilitate the illusion of progressivity and inclusion.

But make no mistake: U of T’s silence on the matter is more than just mere complicity. Secrecy and inaction are tantamount to violence itself, particularly at a time when targeted attacks against Asian Canadians have risen 42 per cent as of December 2021.

Amid this tsunami of hate, Resiz’s comments toward Gee serve as a microcosm of a society that has been steadily moving toward a fullblown normalization of anti-Asian racism. The university’s decision to stand quietly behind an abuser, meanwhile, betrays its allegiance to the maintenance of such socio-political hierarchies.

More importantly, U of T’s apathy ingrains an anti-Asian agenda into the fabric of academia, communicating not only that there are seldom consequences to power abuse but also that its Asian students should be content with vague re-

assurances and shadowy investigations for the continued comfort of those in power.

Systemic — not just individual — change

Following The Varsity’s report, students and campus organizations have called for the immediate termination of Reisz’s employment. But change cannot stop at just getting rid of Reisz, who represents but a component of the broader institutional failures that have produced the climate for such a series of incidents to occur.

As it stands, Reisz enjoys the protection of academic tenure. That his misconduct has not established just cause for dismissal itself conveys the lack of accountability embedded in the terms and conditions surrounding tenure appointment and removal. It begets reevaluation of the degree to which experience and skill should triumph over character within academic circles. It forces us to consider who stands to benefit from existing tenure rules above all else. It incites anger seeing how racism and sexual harassment are given anything other than what should be a complete zero-tolerance approach.

The reality is that U of T will continue to see sporadic repeats of cases such as those of Haridy and Gee’s so long as the structural mechanisms of investigations and policymaking are in favour of perpetrators rather than victims.

At the most elementary level, the university cannot hope to enact widespread change without first normalizing anti-racism conversations and creating space for those who have experienced racial and sexual abuse to talk about their experiences. On a more advanced level, these processes cannot be anything less than 100 per cent transparent, publicly informing and actively engaging the larger U of T collective in a communal act of equity promotion and progress.

There might always be a Reisz. What matters just as much is whether there will be someone to fight for survivors and seek justice on their behalf. The question that remains is whether U of T will be ‘progressive’ enough to be the one to do it.

Noshin Talukdar is a fourth-year student at Victoria College. She is the equity columnist for The Varsity’s comment section.

land for development. This decision would threaten future stability of protected lands and undermine conservation efforts.

velopment or beginning construction in existing undeveloped greenfields.

What should be done?

Chloe MacVicar Comment Columnist

The Ontario Greenbelt is the largest greenbelt in the world, featuring two million acres of land that promote climate resilience and support local economies. In 2005, the Greenbelt was created to prevent the further loss of farmland and restrict urban sprawl. Its natural ecosystems act as a carbon sink that prevents temperature rise, and the Greenbelt provides ecosystem services, which save Canadians $3.2 billion per year.

Continued support and protection of the Greenbelt are essential, especially as the consequences of climate change become more evident.

However, last November, Ontario’s provincial government led by Progressive Conservative (PC) premier Doug Ford announced plans to use protected Greenbelt lands for housing development. The plan includes provisions for the construction of 50,000 new homes, a move the government claims is necessary to address Ontario’s housing crisis.

Ford plans to reallocate 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt in exchange for the 7,400 acres designated for housing. The proposed land swap would result in the creation of thousands of homes, along with an expansion of the Greenbelt’s acreage. In theory, both the environment and government benefit –– however, balancing conservation with construction is not so easily accomplished.

Soon after the government announced its plans, a coalition including environmentalists and

local farmers condemned the proposal as both an inadequate effort to solve the crisis and an attack on environmental protection. Ford was criticized for breaking his promise to Ontarians, as a failed attempt at Greenbelt development in 2018 caused him to pledge to uphold environmental protections.

How will altering the Greenbelt affect the environment?

Initial news of housing development on protected land sparked immediate resistance, but deeper investigation reveals a more complex story. The government argues that the Greenbelt plan is favourable because it addresses the housing crisis while expanding protected land.

The government claims this land swap will have a net benefit for the environment. It is true that the reallocation of lands increases the Greenbelt’s acreage by 2,000 acres, but thus far, there are no provisions for environmental protection of this land. Such an expansion can have widespread positive effects, but a central issue remains: balancing the ecological value of newly added land with the destruction of previously safeguarded areas. The government’s lack of transparency paints a blurry picture of the alleged potential for net environmental benefit, undermining their portrayal of the plan as a win-win situation.

If the provincial government follows through with this plan to reallocate the Greenbelt, and thus allows this legislation to pass, then it would set a precedent that establishes the Greenbelt as viable

Removing any part of the protected land destroys the integrity of the Greenbelt system. One of the main concerns about the development plan is its subsequent effect on habitats, resource flows, and animal movements. Conservation is more complex than simply labelling certain areas as “protected.” The Greenbelt was designed with ecosystem functioning and species interaction in mind, and any adjustment to the current Greenbelt disrupts its intentional design and connectivity.

Will

Ford’s

plans really benefit Ontarians?

Agriculture is also at risk from the land swap, as the removal of farmlands decreases agricultural capacity and limits the food production that supplies Ontarians with produce. 40 per cent of Greenbelt lands are farmlands, and permanent protection of this area is vital to ensure that nearby communities have access to reliable food sources.

The Greenbelt plays a critical role in the health of its region, and unnecessary development puts Ontarians at risk.

The core issue is not the government’s desire to fix the housing crisis. Rather, environmentalists argue that the Greenbelt should not suffer because the government cannot meet its affordable housing promises with land already set aside for development.

The proposed land swap fails to address the entirety of the housing crisis, and there are options that don’t require development on Greenbelt lands –– such as working with the other 14,000 hectares of land that are designated for urban de-

Despite a public consultation that spurred major outcry and disapproval, environmental protections safeguarding 2,995 hectares of Greenbelt land have been removed. The government is moving ahead with its plans, amidst an ethics investigation that is exploring the connection between Ford’s Greenbelt proposal, private developers, and PC donors.

The problems of urban sprawl and climate change continue to wreak havoc on the environment, and the Greenbelt land swap pushes Ontario further toward the edge. For the Ford government to target the Greenbelt is to break its promise to the citizens of Ontario and set a dangerous precedent for the future of protected land.

Balancing conservation with housing development is a seemingly impossible problem. Regardless, the strategy is not to ask for forgiveness after the Greenbelt has been devastated by construction and development –– legislation and governments should err on the side of caution to ensure that no undue harm is imposed.

Conservation and housing development can exist synchronously, but the government’s current plan only prioritizes the latter. Protected land should be permanently protected, and the government should take advantage of available land designated for development.

As the first developers get to work, it’s likely that we will see continued demands to reinstate permanent environmental protection of the Greenbelt and further criticism of Ford’s decision to move forward with a plan wrought with controversy.

Chloe MacVicar is a third-year student at University College, studying environmental studies, political science, and writing and rhetoric. She is a Climate Columnist for The Varsity’s comment section.

U of T’s response reveals a culture of unaccountability and surface-level progressivity

On November 30, UTMSU held a protest calling for the university to terminate Robert Reisz. LEXEY BURNS/THEVARSITY

Ye is emboldening anti-semites

Ye’s online activity fueled a resurgence of anti-semitism in 2022

Sarah Stern Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of anti-semitism and violence against Jewish people.

Last October, before his Twitter was suspended, Ye, the American rapper and fashion designer, began posting anti-semitic comments and tropes online, horrifying the public with tweets such as, “When I wake up I’m going to go death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” By spouting anti-semitic comments and conspiracies, Ye has become part of a community of neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists.

I asked my father whether he had been following Ye’s increasingly alarming posts and my dad responded with something to the effect that he was not paying attention because Ye’s anti-semitic remarks were only of interest to the “twittersphere.”

However, this was before Ye met with Donald Trump and the anti-semitic white supremacist Nick Fuentes, before neo-Nazis hung a banner over a Los Angeles freeway reading “Kanye is right about the Jews,” and before Ye declared his steadfast admiration for Adolf Hitler. While Ye’s public displays of anti-semitism seem only inflammatory, the harsh reality is that they threaten Jewish livelihood — and it seems that others share this view.

Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian along with actresses Florence Pugh and Reese Witherspoon, among other celebrities, have rightfully condemned Ye and expressed their solidarity with the Jewish community. Meanwhile, Ye’s anti-semitic statements on social media have led many companies to end their partnerships with him.

However, Ye’s anti-semitic behaviour has still transported anti-semitism to the social media of the masses, a large component of which includes youth. Anti-semitism is obviously inexcusable and I am personally disturbed that, as a society, we still have to fight against antisemitic behaviour.

How has Ye’s anti-semitic behaviour led to a rise in anti-semitism amongst youth?

In the first week of December, at Sir Robert Borden high school (SRB) — a public school with a large number of Jewish students — in Ot-

tawa where I grew up, a Jewish student was targeted with a Hakenkreuz — a Nazi symbol that resembles the Swastika — and Nazi salutes by classmates. However, I’m hesitant to accept that the student’s classmates were ideological anti-semites.

I believe it is not a coincidence that young people in this liberal community are now displaying anti-semitism at the same time that Ye is gaining notoriety for his anti-semitic remarks. After all, many young people idolize Ye — his music plays at every house party I have attended, and I have memories of friends waiting in line to purchase shoes from Ye’s fashion collection. I believe this admiration for Ye may have led many young individuals to adopt his anti-semitic behaviour.

As a Jewish student growing up in Ottawa, I never felt unsafe. However, when I was 11, a scared friend confronted me asking if the blood libel was true; she had seen a YouTube video that argued it was. Then when I was 15, a peer drew a Star of David on my locker. I never found out who drew it and a small part of me always worried it represented an unfulfilled threat, though I knew it was more likely a cruel joke. In a climate distorted by Ye and his attempts to make anti-semitism mainstream, a Jewish student could just as easily find a Hakenkreuz on

their locker rather than a Star of David.

University campuses are reflecting a similar increase in anti-semitism in the months since Ye’s downward spiral. At Queen’s University’s homecoming, a building was vandalized with the words “Kill The Jews,” and Hakenkreuz were drawn in a campus residence. Meanwhile, in the United States, the number of anti-semitic attacks on campus doubled in the 2021–2022 academic year, and last November, a Jewish centre at Brown University received an antisemitic note.

Jewish students have long since encountered anti-semitism on university campuses. However, in recent years, anti-semitism manifested as hate speech disguised under criticisms of Israel and Jewish organizations were primarily concerned with differentiating between antizionist campus politics and threats to Jewish life. Now, the way I see it, Ye’s anti-semitic remarks have reintroduced the Holocaust denial and dangerous centuries old anti-semitic tropes about Jews being corrupt and all powerful.

It is important for anti-semitism to be recognized and addressed In my experience, it is difficult to combat and even identify nonviolent anti-semitism in today’s age. This is because many Jews have come to be

recognized as “white,” and as such, now benefit from white privilege. However, because of this privilege now afforded to many Jews, there has been a decrease in the seriousness attributed to anti-semitic hate speech, such as Ye’s.

The important caveat to this privilege and a reason why anti-semitic rhetoric is so terrifying is that while in North America, Jews no longer experience systemic discrimination, being of Jewish ethnicity or faith continues to put one at risk of violent crime. Only just over four years ago, a gunman walked into a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people in the worst antisemitic attack in American history.

The visibility of Orthodox Jews’ faith may explain why Orthodox Jews have experienced an increase in hate crimes in the past few months. With this in mind, it is essential that Ye’s remarks are recognized as attempts to incite hatred; they are not merely expressions of inflammatory language, and should be treated as promotions of violence toward Jews.

American President Joe Biden and VicePresident Kamala Harris publicly responded to Ye’s behaviour. Their comments equally display a commitment to fighting anti-semitism, but also indicate that anti-semitism has resurfaced as a conversation with implications for the security and well being of Jews across North America.

Ye has offered celebrity status to white supremacist organizations, but even more disturbing is how displays of anti-semitism are becoming more common among young people who are ostensibly the most liberal demographic. Ye is not uniquely responsible for the global increase in anti-semitism, as the proliferation of negative attitudes toward Israel shape current perceptions of Jews. However, it is clear that Ye’s platform has emboldened anti-semites and encouraged young people to engage in anti-semitic behaviour.

It is important that we continue to recognize that violence against Jewish people is a very real threat, especially with the emergence of anti-semitic behaviour from influential figures such as Ye.

The University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation (UTAM) announced that as of October 27, 2022, it had completely divested from direct fossil fuel companies, and is on track to divest from indirect investments by 2030.

Both of these goals were a part of the original commitment made by President Meric Gertler in October 2021. However the lack of participation from the federated colleges — the University of St. Michael’s College, Victoria University, and the University of Trinity College — must be accounted for when evaluating U of T’s actions toward becoming more sustainable.

Vic’s Annual Sustainability report for 2021–2022, as well as its plan for future initiatives in 2022–2023, emphasize reducing waste, including increased installation of 3-compartment bins and bottle filling stations, as well as reducing energy usage through changes to plumbing and air conditioning systems. However, the report does

not provide any information on whether the college plans to divest from fossil fuel investment. There is a striking lack of information on fossil fuel divestment from the other colleges as well.

While it is important that an institution of U of T’s size takes action to lessen their contributions to climate change on an individual level, it is also essential to consider how it may be enabling the harmful contributions of other corporations — and this is where divestment comes into play.

As Canada’s largest research university, U of T’s impact is undeniable, especially when it comes to financial support and investment. In light of this, divesting from direct fossil fuel companies demonstrates true dedication to mitigating the climate issue and sets the stage for other organizations, such as universities and corporations, to do the same.

With the three federated colleges accounting for a significant portion of this impact, it is essential that they follow in the footsteps of UTAM. Rather than pursuing unsustainable plans that have very small-scale effects and place the onus

on individuals to solve a world issue, it is time for large organizations to take responsibility for their contributions to climate change and to help mitigate the crisis.

One effective contribution U of T has made is the Climate Positive Energy Initiative, which focuses on collaborative research, training, and knowledge translation and promotion with the goal of ensuring that access to and production of energy is equitable. As a research-focused initiative, it can be highly effective for informing policies and plans for future climate action.

Throughout their planned and current actions,

it is imperative that the federated colleges and the university as a whole make transparency and communication a priority to hold integrity within the communities they serve. As students, the biggest form of action we can take is demanding accountability, and it is essential that institutions are unambiguous in giving it to us.

Urooba Shaikh is a second-year student majoring in molecular biology and minoring in public law and psychology at UTSC. Shaikh is a Comment-in-Brief columnist for The Varsity’s Comment section.

Sarah Stern is a third year English and European Affairs student at Victoria College.

JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

Urooba Shaikh

Comment Columnist

As of last October, UTAM completely divested from direct fossil fuel companies.

VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

Kayla Litschko Comment Columnist

Although many large corporations are becoming more ecologically friendly, many corporations only adopt a publicly favourable facade of going green while not actually becoming more ecologically friendly. These companies are now creating their own allegedly ‘eco-friendly’ products and solutions, using green marketing so that consumers purchase their expensive products, while still contributing to pollution themselves.

These corporations have raised the cost of many trends that promote eco-consciousness,

which has made ecologically friendly choices inaccessible for lower- to middle-class households, which represent the largest sector of the population.

For instance, larger corporations have commercialized increasingly popular activities like thrifting and veganism, both of which are beneficial in the fight against the climate crisis. This makes it difficult for many people to participate in these once affordable eco-friendly practices.

By developing expensive environmental solutions that many people cannot afford and thus cannot engage in, these corporations essentially shift blame for the climate crisis from themselves to the consumer.

Why is the commercialization of eco-friendly practices dangerous?

Eco-consciousness has largely increased within the past decade as the immediate and visible effects of the climate crisis have created a new sense of urgency. This has led to the widespread adoption of many eco-friendly practices such as thrifting, veganism and even the use of electric vehicles.

Additionally, the increasing popularity of eco-influencers on social media, that is, creators who promote eco-friendly lifestyles and raise awareness of environmental causes. These eco-influencers have made environmentally sound choices fun and trendy, appealing to large younger audiences and making ecofriendliness a widely accepted lifestyle.

However, the increasing popularity of these practices has led to their commercialization by larger corporations. By making practices such as thrifting and veganism expensive, these corporations have essentially made ecofriendliness inaccessible to the average person. What’s worse is that these corporations themselves sometimes engage in practices that harm the environment.

For instance, Tesla, branded as a company that strives toward a cleaner, greener future through the promotion of its electric cars, is constantly being hit with fines for its handling of hazardous waste and its production techniques, which contribute significantly to global pollution.

Berkshire Hathaway, a large investment, energy, and railway company, advertises a core principle of ‘environmental respect’ and pledges ‘transparency’ despite being the US’ fourth-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Beyond Meat, the non-organic monocultural vegan meal replacement company is annually under fire for refusing to release its emissions record.

All of these companies will sell their electric cars, energy, and food under the guise of ac-

cessibility and eco-consciousness. Yet, by attaching expensive price tags to their products, these companies are making eco-friendly practices inaccessible. Furthermore, while they claim that becoming their customer is contributing to climate preservation, they continue to destroy the planet behind closed doors.

How should we be eco-conscious instead?

By over-glamorizing once useful and affordable practices and engaging in practices that harm the environment, these large corporations are the real culprits of the climate crisis. It is downright criminal for these corporations to claim that purchasing their products is contributing to climate preservation while they produce tonnes of waste and pollution daily.

Young citizens need to understand that eco-friendly choices aren’t always going to be trending on TikTok, sold to you in a flashy package, or plastered across a billboard. The real way to help climate activists is to challenge the people who commercialized these practices in the first place, as they are often the entities contributing most to the destruction of the planet.

So, whenever a company tells you they’ve created a product or solution to help you lower your carbon footprint, remember that only 100 companies are responsible for over 70 per cent of global pollution.

Do not let these institutions shift blame. Don’t be afraid to thrift, go vegan, upcycle, and grow food in a less trendy way. Don’t be afraid to hold accountable the corporations that commodify these practices for their own gain.

Many large corporations will always prioritize profits over the planet. That’s why remember to always make informed decisions when it comes to engaging in environmental initiatives and practices.

Kayla Litschko is a second year student at University College studying History, Bioethics and Political Science. She is a climate columnist in The Varsity ’s comment section.

Op-ed: Student engagement needs to

at U of T

Varsity Contributor

Student engagement is becoming an increasingly valuable criterion for awards and career opportunities in addition to academics. Student engagement also has many beneficial impacts on campus life, including increasing academic performance, building social skills and soft skills, establishing support networks, and helping improve mental health.

As we continue to return to in-person learning, we need to do all we can to bolster a healthy, vibrant, and inclusive culture of student engagement. While the current extracurricular activities at U of T contribute to this goal, the university can also do more to give student engagement a muchneeded boost and help make U of T a global leader in this area.

A data-driven approach to student engagement

The university should measure its extracurricular participation rate at least once annually to assess what percentage of students are actively participating in extracurricular organizations and student governments. This would help in identifying systemic barriers to student engagement that may be preventing some students from getting involved on the campus.

This could be achieved through student surveys, but a better way would be to expand the co-curricular record and Student Life online platforms to more proactively recognize students’ extracurricular memberships and contributions so more concise participation rates can be calculated.

Once barriers to participation are identified, it will be easier to develop strategies to promote student

engagement and make getting involved as accessible as possible. The results of the data analysis should be shared publicly so student unions and student organizations can also adopt their strategies to address systemic engagement barriers.

A proactive but not imposing approach to student government

The university should more actively work to protect student autonomy by ensuring students have the resources and clarity they need to maintain a high quality of student democracy and navigate university policies that impact student unions.

This should take the form of providing timely advice about these policies, so students do not waste their and the university’s time following incorrect procedures or contacting the wrong administrators. I believe this would also be useful for nonstudent education stakeholders who regularly work with student organizations, such as deans and department heads, to ensure that they do not infringe upon student democracy. Additionally, existing university policies should be expanded to mandate that timely guidance be provided to students about the correct procedures to expediently accomplish extracurricular goals.

Furthermore, processes that involve the university directly interacting with student unions and organizations, such as in complaint processes, should be more transparent while providing complainants with whistleblower protections as needed.

A nexus for collaboration between student organizations

I believe that the best results for student engagement come from an interconnected extracurricular network where various groups can easily support

each other on joint initiatives when such opportunities arise. This network should be both horizontal across all facets of U of T student life and vertical to allow student access to extracurricular opportunities at provincial, national, and international levels.

For horizontal engagement, perhaps the online system where student organizations can share information about upcoming events with the university can be more streamlined and promoted more regularly to the general student population. The university can also suggest opportunities for potential collaboration between similar groups.

These connections could perhaps be leveraged to the point where large-scale social events consisting of hundreds or even thousands of students could be organized at the beginning and end of each semester through partnerships between the university and multiple student organizations. Another potential benefit could be more interdisciplinary activities that may lead to innovative ideas.

For example, as in other universities, student unions and student organizations at U of T should play an active role in encouraging students to attend games of U of T sports teams. These largescale events have great potential to boost student engagement, which can in turn lead to more participation in other aspects of student life, including student union elections and activism campaigns.

A study I am working on with some other students on Canadian undergraduate student union voter turnout has demonstrated that some of the highest turnouts in student union elections are in schools with vibrant extracurricular participation.

The university should also assist student organizations in accessing extracurricular and activism opportunities beyond the campus to scale up their activities. For instance, many can hypothetically obtain consultative status with multiple facets of the United Nations and have a direct voice in education and related policy resolutions that go to world leaders, which can also lead to partnerships and sponsorships with other organizations in these spaces.

There are also organizations and networks U of T student organizations can join themselves that span far beyond campus. The more networks these student organizations at U of T gain access

to, the more influence the U of T community will have on the future of education. U of T should integrate information into its existing resources and orientation sessions for student organizations about the various provincial, national, and international networks that exist which may be relevant. Resources and tips for upscaling extracurricular operations to the next level and building organizational capacities would also be beneficial.

I believe that there is a connection between the quality of extracurricular activities, student success, and effective student activism, and that the best results can be achieved when the university and student organizations work together to make the student experience the best it can be.

Justin Patrick is a third-year PhD student in educational leadership and policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He currently serves as the President of the Global Student Government and the President of the Leadership, Higher and Adult Education Departmental Student Association.

Saving the planet is expensive, inaccessible, and complicated

Large corporations are commercializing eco-friendliness and harming the environment

be improved

The university should do more to help student organizations improve student engagement

Justin Patrick

VINCENT QUACH/THEVARSITY

CUPE3902’s fight for health coverage

In November, CUPE3902 members reached an agreement with U of T, narrowly avoiding a strike.

EHSAN ETESAMI/THEVARSITY

Alice Boyle Associate Features Editor

Maggie Macdonald, a fourth-year PhD candidate at the Faculty of Information, has a lovehate relationship with U of T.

During the pandemic, MacDonald was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On top of this, one of her parents died of COVID-19. MacDonald, a Connaught PhDs for Public Impact fellow, attributes a significant amount of her academic success to the health benefits she has access to through being a member of Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902 (CUPE3902) Unit 1.

“If I had not had a chance to have my ADHD diagnosis… access to pharmaceutical intervention and a stable medical regime, [and] access to regular talk therapy to help me through the traumatic death of a parent… I truly don’t think that I would be thriving on the level that I am,” explained MacDonald.

MacDonald currently researches increased platformization of the pornography industry and is a teaching assistant (TA) at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies. This position makes her a member of bargaining Unit 1 in CUPE3902, the union that represents contract academic employees at U of T. Bargaining Unit 1 membership includes TAs, student and postdoctoral course instructors, exam invigilators, and chief presiding officers. Other units of CUPE3902 cover peer assistants, lab demonstrators, writing instructors, sessional lecturers and postdoctoral research fellows. Unit 7 includes graduate assistants at OISE.

Last semester, MacDonald’s health-care funding was at risk of being reduced, alongside that of everyone in Unit 1 and Unit 7. On October 17, acting vice-president of CUPE3902 Unit 1 Eriks Bredovskis posted a thread on Twitter, in which he called the reductions “unacceptable,” drawing particular attention to a proposed reduction in mental health care coverage.

In a statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote that, “The well-being of our students is a top priority for the University of Toronto.” However, U of T is known partially for the strain it places on its students and its en-

vironment of poor mental health. Some argued that, via the proposed reductions, the university was putting TAs — who assist professors with instructional responsibilities while grappling with their own academic workloads — at risk of losing access to important health services.

On November 29, the union announced that CUPE3902 Units 1 and 7 came to an agreement with U of T. The agreement secured current health-care benefits for union members until the end of their collective agreement, which is due to expire in December 2023. Interviews with different members of CUPE3902 Unit 1 show that this agreement goes beyond telling a story about TAs suffering from mental health strains. This is a story about student resilience and perseverance, as well as TAs who are passionate about their jobs fighting to be viewed in a dignified light by the institution.

[themselves in a] looping, cyclical pattern of intense work that changes almost every semester.”

For PhD candidates, this cyclical pattern of mental strain may continue for sometimes up to seven or eight years in a row.

In an interview with The Varsity, Amy Conwell, the president of CUPE3902, remarked that the emotional labour of being a TA exacerbates the academic stress PhD students face. Conwell noted that TAs are not only mentors to students, but are often the authoritative figures that students may feel comfortable reaching out to during difficult times. “[TAs] don’t even have any sort of training module saying, ‘This is how you respond to students in crisis,’ and I think that’s really shameful,” Conwell said.

Last semester, fourth-year PhD candidate Zak Jones was a TA for ENG140 — Literature for Our Time at UTSG and for ENGA03 — Intro to Creative Writing at UTSC. Across both classes, he taught approximately 125 students. Jones said that, while teaching, he was responsible for “expanding [students’] horizons, intellectually, personally and otherwise.”

To Jones, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a TA is witnessing former students grow in their English careers. Yet, this sense of achievement doesn’t detract from the emotional labour he often has to exert when teaching. Jones is aware that he is often the first academic support for the students that he teaches.

of T’s health and wellness website as including multiple levels of support including education, workshops, one-on-one counselling sessions, and crisis support. The website adds that stu dents can access different types of care at various times, “depending on their needs and their willingness to participate.”

The U of T spokesperson wrote, “A cornerstone of [U of T’s] new model are same-day and next-day counseling appointments.” Counselling differs from therapy as it is usually a shortterm treatment that provides solutions to immediate and specific issues. Therapy is treatment that can be broader and used for a longer term, functioning to help a patient understand and change patterns of behaviour, and often tackles more complex problems.

However, MacDonald noted the importance of long-term mental health services such as therapy. She also said that she believes that a counselling session phone call would make a negligible impact when students need to solve sustained difficulties like trauma and substance use.

In short, free campus mental health services may not offer all the supports that TAs require. That’s why, to address academic and emotional stress, some TAs access therapy off campus by using their CUPE3902 Unit 1 health benefits.

A budget breakdown

TAs’ mental health strain

To understand the potential implications of these proposed health-care plans, it’s imperative to understand the nature of being a PhD candidate.

As MacDonald explains: “[If] you’re doing a PhD, you’re not getting through without TAing.” Obtaining a PhD goes beyond learning and research, it also requires a candidate to market oneself to obtain work. Every semester, MacDonald applies for new TA positions. Once she’s hired, she learns the material for each course she’s hired to help teach.

“It’s a marathon of mental health endurance,” MacDonald added. “Even those who are in pretty good positions with their funding… finds

“I’m struggling to do the best job that I can with a whole lot of other people in tow that I care very much about, be it my peers or my students,” Jones said.

Mental health support at U of T Mental health supports provided by U of T exist free of charge on campus through the tri-campus wellness centres. A statement to The Varsity from a U of T spokesperson notes that, in the past two years, the university has made changes to how mental health services are delivered. These changes were made to “ensure students can get the help they need when they need it.”

With regard to on-campus mental health services, the university has implemented a stepped-care model, which is described by U

According to Bredovskis’ tweets, in 2018, Unit 1 workers accessed about $400,000 worth of mental health services. In 2022, this amount increased to $1.2 million. This semester, coverage for mental health, along with dental and vision care, was at risk of being reduced.

The recently proposed health-care reduction, if enacted, would have affected Units 1 and 7, which together consist of over 9,000 student workers. As part of their collective agreement, members of bargaining units 1 and 7 in CUPE3902 receive health benefits from their employer, U of T. Their health-care plan exists as a pool of money, as opposed to individual quotas. In their most recent collective agreement, U of T confirmed their commitment to paying up to $3.2 million per plan year.

Collective action prevented benefit cuts that would have saved U of T $400,000

“It’s a marathon of mental health endurance.”

“Working conditions for student workers are the learning conditions for students.”

pushed Unit 1 members over the $3.2 million allocated for health-care benefits. This is called overspending. To combat this, U of T proposed two plans.

The first was to reduce members’ dental coverage and mental health services by 10 per cent each, vision care by 50 per cent, and Health Care Spending Accounts (HCSA) by 35 percent; this plan was estimated to save the university $413,000. The second plan would reduce dental by 12 per cent, eliminate coverage for vision, and reduce HCSA by 35 per cent, estimating $410,000 in savings for the university.

In a statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote that the university “has not proposed cuts to CUPE’s healthcare plan” but “engaged in discussions as required by the CUPE3902 unit 1 Collective Agreement.” The spokesperson added that those discussions “included a review of some options to mitigate the projected overspend in the healthcare plan.”

MacDonald pointed out that this plan to save $400,000 was proposed by an employer which, in the 2022–2023 school year, had an operating budget of 3.23 billion dollars.

Jones also compared the amount of money saved in the university’s proposed plans to U of T President Meric Gertler’s salary, which was

$438,892 in 2021. In 2020, U of T’s highest salary was awarded to University of Toronto Asset Management Corp chief investment officer Daren Smith, who made $692,238.96. “They’re going to cut benefits to [9000 members] of their labour force to save two thirds of one [employee’s] salary,” Jones said. “It’s egregious.”

Currently, members of Unit 1 are receiving less dollar value in their coverage compared to four years prior, according to Bredovskis’ investigation. In the 2020–2021 round of bargaining, Unit 1 was able to secure a one per cent increase in this pool of $3.2 million — the largest increase they could bargain for due to Bill 124: Ontario’s Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act.

Bill 124 limits public sector workers’ compensation and salary increases to a maximum of one per cent per year for all benefits of monetary value. The bill does not take inflation into account. Conwell calls the bill “wage restraint legislation.”

As of October 2022, Canada’s inflation rate was at 6.9 per cent. Bill 124’s wage cap, along with the fact that Unit 1 membership has increased between 2019–2020 and 2021–2022, means that each Unit 1 member receives less money than in accordance with inflation.

In 2018–2019, each member was promised $571 from the pool of $3.2 million for healthcare expenses. In 2021–2022, after increasing 3.2 million by one per cent, the pool of money allocated for health-care funding divided equally among members was $527.18 — a decrease of 7.68 per cent per person before taking the 6.9 per cent yearly rate of inflation into account.

Making change

In a statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson addressed the changes proposed in November: “The University has proposed to maintain the health-care plan and all health-care benefit levels intact for the term of the Collective Agreement, and CUPE3902 has agreed to this proposal.”

However, in an interview, Conwell expressed that “the reason that the health care cuts were not implemented, and the university instead found a way to maintain levels is because of the immense pressure put on them.” According to Conwell, the departmental-level organization of stewards, leaders, and student workers in Unit 1 and 7 helped prevent cuts to the union’s health benefits.

CUPE3902 fought to maintain their health benefits in the midst of a greater labour move-

ment across North America. In Ontario, educa tion workers represented by CUPE walked off the job on November 4, after the province imposed a contract on them and made it illegal for them to strike. In California, about 48,000 unionized academic workers across the University of California system went on strike on November 14. Their demands included significant pay increases, enhanced health care for dependents, and longer family leave.

To Jones, the responsibility of taking action stretches further than himself and his current peers. “Just because we’re not here forever… doesn’t mean that we don’t have an obligation to the next group of people that come after us to secure these benefits,” Jones said.

However, Jones greatly appreciates U of T and plans to eventually apply for a job as a tenured professor at the university. MacDonald also expressed gratitude for U of T, specifically with regard to the current health benefits she receives as a TA. She explained that this gratitude is why she’s “so dedicated to protecting” the union’s benefits.

MacDonald also made clear that her issue with U of T was not borne of greed, a misconception that she called “one of the most insidious framings that unions in general face from popular media.” An example of such was how Ontario’s Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, explained Bill 28 — the legislation to ban Ontario education workers from striking — as a way of protecting students’ school years. This framing was evident in the official name of the bill, the Keeping Students in Class Act, which suggested that education workers were sacrificing students’ learning to receive better benefits.

“When the funding bodies, and when the employers who are responsible for balancing these budgets decide that this is not a budget line that’s worthy of their attention — that is where I dig my heels in,” said MacDonald.

Suffering versus perseverance

Jones highlighted the importance of viewing TAs and PhD students not as suffering, but instead as persevering through difficult circumstances. Despite feeling torn between a romanticized image of academia and the realities of being a student worker, Jones is not jaded about his profession. “I have yet to relinquish that romantic relationship to teaching and educating and learning… There’s a great kind of heartfelt and moral, spiritual point to all this,” he said.

detract from the systems he needs to perse vere through to be an effective TA. In our interview, MacDonald pointed out the hypocrisy of U of T promoting the achievements of their students while also proposing to cut their health benefits. “They love to show the level of success we can achieve, and that level of success for a great many very intelligent people is only available when they are supported,” MacDonald said.

For some, it’s easy to regard these proposed cuts as an example of the university’s culture of poor mental health support. This idea can be backed up by the tentative agreement that CUPE3902 Unit 3 recently reached with U of T, allowing the union to narrowly avoid a strike. CUPE 3902 Unit 3 includes sessional lecturers, music professionals, writing instructors, and sessional instructional assistants at U of T. Their demands for the current round of collective bargaining included job security, establishing pathways to permanent positions at the university, an increase in wages, and improving access to health care, including mental health supports.

However, to others, these cuts are not indicative of U of T’s culture — they’re an attack on U of T’s culture and academic environment. “I think that it’s a mistake to think of U of T as a topdown culture,” Jones said. Jones added that U of T’s culture is not made from the “highest echelons of executive leadership”; rather, it “actually exists in the relationship between the students and who they perceive to be their real teachers.”

On a provincial government level, change is happening. On November 29, an Ontario court struck down Bill 124, declaring the wage cap law unconstitutional. Although the Ford Government stated that they would appeal the court ruling, this decision meant that CUPE3902 Unit 3 was able to bargain for significant wage increases.

Bargaining for the next CUPE3902 collective agreement is set to begin in November 2023. Conwell said that, until then, the main way undergraduate students can help TAs is to pay attention to messages from their course instructors and TAs leading up to Unit 1 bargaining.

“Working conditions for student workers are the learning conditions for students,” Conwell insisted. “We’re not going to see the improvements that we need and be recognized and supported in the ways that we all deserve, if we don’t fight.”

“To others, these cuts are not indicative of U of T’s culture — they’re an attack on U of T’s culture and academic environment."

TAs are passionate about their jobs but are fighting to be viewed in a dignified light EHSAN ETESAMI/THEVARSITY

Are you worried about graduating into a recession?

Zen Nguyen Labour Correspondent

The International Monetary Fund is warning that at least a third of the economies in the world are expected to be in recession in 2023 — and Canada’s is one of them. This has become particularly concerning for graduating students who are currently seeking jobs.

Breaking down the recession

The key cause of the recession is interest rate hikes carried out by central banks in Canada and around the world to tackle inflation.

Both the Bank of Canada (BoC) and the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) are not shy to admit that their policies are aimed at influencing the labour market. The BoC has advised employers against giving workers wage increases in line with inflation. An economic slowdown with higher unemployment is a choice to prevent the feared wage-price spiral that they think causes inflation. Wage-price spiral inflation is the phenomenon by which an increase in wages causes an increase in prices, which in turn increases wages again.

A recession is typically defined as negative gross domestic product growth over two consecutive fiscal quarters. However, the issue of whether a recession will be announced in each country by national banks is more complicated.

Such an announcement requires considering various other factors, like unemployment rate and real income. Regardless, the likelihood and severity of a recession in 2023 are very real.

Recessions affect employment rates

Those who graduate into a recession will have a harder time looking for jobs because a key feature of a recession is high unemployment. Studies have proposed that graduating in a recession can have a pernicious, lasting effect on careers.

For example, a study by the Royal Bank of Canada found that those graduating in recession were less likely to be managers and had slower wage growth. A U of T study also found that graduating in a recession had a substantial cost to total income, with workers generally settling for lower-quality firms. A higher unemployment rate at the time of graduation is strongly correlated with lower earnings, although this can fade after five years.

The 2008 recession resulted in a depressed labour market. Starting salaries for those graduating in 2018 weren’t much better than those for students graduating during the 2008 recession. Generally, real income growth has been sluggish since 2008, and with higher inflation, it has decreased in the last two years.

A recession in 2023 will likely worsen this trend. Higher interest rates will make the more than two trillion dollar national debt a much

bigger problem for many Canadians, making it harder for graduates who plan to take out a loan to start a business or buy a house.

Federal student loans seem likely to stay interest free. However, graduates seeking further education may face tougher competition for bursaries and scholarships in a recession as funds and donations dry up.

How should graduating students prepare themselves?

Further education is a path many students have taken to avoid graduating in a recession, but this has not always worked and will be unlikely to help, since the problem they will face will be a lack of jobs, not qualifications. Most advice to graduates has been to simply try harder at school and pick their degrees wisely.

Improving your skills and trying to attract good employers by being open and flexible, focusing on marketing your skills and contributions, and finding work opportunities like internships

are some other pieces of general advice. Some even float the idea of using trendy ‘side hustles,’ trying out freelancing or getting into investing to secure yourself against unemployment.

However, investing always has winners and losers, and alternative work arrangements like freelancing lack the security and benefits often associated with conventional employment. They are certainly worth looking into and some will find success with them, but they cannot be solutions to a terrible job market.

Ultimately, graduates should ensure that they are aware of the state of the labour market, and of employment laws and conventions, to best secure a good job for themselves. Unionization, or joining a unionized workplace, can also help give you a leg up, since these unionized jobs have higher wages on average. Organizing for better economic policies notwithstanding, we can only do our best and realize that our employment opportunities are not always in our control.

Jasmin Akbari Varsity contributor

The COVID-19 pandemic popularized the hybrid work model, in which employees have the option to work both remotely and in-office. This offers them more flexibility and may also improve their work-life balance. However, this model can have undesirable effects on equality in the workplace.

Researchers at Rotman School of Management’s Institute for Gender And The Economy (GATE) looked into these effects on different communities in a report titled “The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?” The researchers involved are GATE Senior Research Associate Carmina Ravanera, Professor Kim de Laat from Waterloo University, and GATE Director Sarah Kaplan.

The winners and losers of the hybrid model When the pandemic first hit, remote work allowed employees to free up time from long com-

mutes and find affordable housing outside of costly urban areas. However, the enjoyment of remote work has come at a cost, one particularly concerning for women and racialized workers.

Some workers report that the option to choose their own hours and work remotely helped them to find adequate work-life balance. However, this was most common among workers who did not have children. Remote work also potentially creates mental health related challenges as individuals feel that they are missing out on being a part of a community.

When considering women who have just given birth and people with specific accessibility needs related to mobility, remote work can highly benefit them by allowing them to work from anywhere. However, the Future of Work report notes that remote work may compound existing stigmas surrounding these groups: “remote work does not fit within the pervasive and stereotypical ‘ideal worker’ norm, where employees show that they are completely dedicated to work,” it states. These harmful percep-

tions disproportionately affect women, and are more significant for Black women as compared to white women.

Furthermore, remote workers miss out on face-to-face networking opportunities. In the long term, the unequal impacts of hybrid work may increase barriers to higher leadership positions, which could prevent the perspectives of marginalized groups from informing organizations’ operating policies.

Students are suffering in the hybrid model

The topic of hybrid and remote work environments is an all too-relevant discussion for graduating students at U of T and those who partake in co-op and internships.

Vivian Lai is a fourth-year student studying economics and industrial relations and human resources. Lai has completed both in-person and online internships. “I personally feel that while remote internships are better for efficiency in task completion or technical skill building, they still fail to encapsulate the in-person aspect of being part of an organization for a few months,” wrote Lai in an email to The Varsity. In GATE’s report, 90 per cent of Canadians found themselves more productive when working remotely.

“Even though remote internships gave me a solid grasp on the technicals while doing tasks in my own time, it’s very hard to feel the corporate culture or network with my peers through the screen,” continued Lai. Networking is a vital part of any internship or new-graduate role, and maintaining connections made virtually is challenging. Students may also find it easier to network in person as they can grab coffee and make conversation with coworkers without the need for a screen or meeting invite.

This can become even more challenging for minorities within the workforce because of the isolation they already experience in person due to discrimination.

Changes for the better

According to the report, there are still ways that organizations can make hybrid environments healthier for all employees, namely creating policies to remove the stigma, work designs to facilitate different forms of work, and organizational initiatives.

Remote work policies must work with organizational and public policies that target gender and racial discrimination. In developing these policies, organizations can target the systemic issues that affect the way employees identifying with an affected community are viewed while working in a remote or hybrid work setting.

As suggested by the report, in order to ensure that this form of injustice does not persist, there must be meaningful steps forward in developing appropriate public and organizational policies that ensure that women and racialized people are not experiencing severe penalties to their careers such as low wages and lack of growth.

Moreover, creating meaningful and purposedriven networking opportunities online is incredibly important. Firms must think of ways to make these events not just black squares on a screen. Attending an event should not feel like a chore for employees; firms should consider different ways to make online events feel genuine to the participants.

Ultimately, not everyone starts in the workforce at a level playing field; some may come from racialized communities, low socioeconomic backgrounds, or historically disadvantaged groups. Reports such as this are helpful in the development of marginalized communities within the workforce. As the office work environment is redefined and evolves from the pandemic, it is important to consider possible ramifications that could affect marginalized communities.

The next economic downturn will have a large impact on new graduates

Hybrid work may be a way forward, but not all communities stand to gain

Not everyone’s grass is greener on the other side when it comes to work

DALAINEY GERVAIS/THEVARSITY

Arts & Culture

thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture arts@thevarsity.ca

Out with the old, in with the new

At the centre of New Year’s celebrations around the world is a desire to start anew

Alyssa Ukani Varsity Contributor

Every year, my family and I celebrate New Year’s the same way — together, huddled around the TV, counting down the seconds until the ball drops and we begin another year. Then, we watch the fireworks and celebrate with the rest of the world. With each explosion that sets the sky alight, we welcome the new year into our homes and our hearts, little by little.

The celebration can also make us wonder why we celebrate each year that comes to pass. Surely, choosing to celebrate at the end of every year, rather than every week, month, or decade, cannot be arbitrary, seeing how similar celebrations occur in so many diverse cultures around the world.

Casting aside the specific significance of New Year’s, however, reveals a far more interesting question: why do we hold celebrations to mark the passing of time? What significance do these celebrations really hold?

Our January celebration of New Year’s comes from the time of the Romans, when the solarbased, Julian calendar was first introduced. The beginning of the new year was a celebration honouring Janus, the god of transitions, beginnings, and time. It seems fitting, then, that in the days leading up to each new year, we undergo a transition, both in our individual lives and as a collective society.

This transition in preparation for the new year is not limited to our Gregorian calendar. New Year’s celebrations from around the world in vari-

ous cultures using different calendars have traditions centred around the transition into a happy and prosperous New Year’s.

Lunar New Year’s is traditionally celebrated across East Asia between January and February every year. These celebrations include cleaning the home to rid it of evil; serving lucky food such as dates, peanuts, and lotus seeds; and other traditions that vary between households in different regions and countries.

For Nowruz, traditionally celebrated by those with a Persian background and in Ismaili Muslim communities, Iranian families traditionally prepare a Haft-seen table. The table contains seven items — a lucky number — that symbol-

YI WANG/THEVARSITY

ize different aspects of springtime and renewal. Examples typically include garlic, hyacinth, coins, sweet pudding, sprouts, vinegar, and an apple. Traditions vary among others who celebrate the holiday, but the significance remains the same: celebrating the start of spring and the resulting renewal of nature.

Both of these celebrations, much like many other New Year’s celebrations globally, share a common theme of rebirth.

This theme of reflection and rebirth is not limited to any individual New Year’s celebration. Rather, it speaks to something much larger. Perhaps it’s only human for us to take any opportunity we see to wipe the slate clean and start

anew. After all, we see this narrative reflected year after year in our media — with each New Year’s roundup or predictions, we become increasingly aware of the possibility that the new year might bring.

The reflections on the past year and predictions for the upcoming 12 months that we see in our media encourage us to do the same. To reexamine the highs and lows of the past year and determine how we might go forward in the next 12 months, where we might go, and who we might become. Reflecting and resetting in preparation for the new year gives us the opportunity to put in a meaningful effort to change, at least in thought if not sustained action — to live happier and more fulfilling lives.

However, the goal for total rebirth that we might find in a drastic New Year’s resolution or encapsulated in the phrase ‘new year, new me’ runs the risk of being overzealous and inevitably leaving us disappointed when we lapse back into old habits. Though we may wish otherwise, complete and immediate change are often mutually exclusive.

Perhaps the answer to why rebirth is an illusion — and consequently why it so often eludes us — lies in the fact that the transformation we truly desire is not rebirth, but sustainable growth. The fundamental changes to our lives that we so desire — such as crafting more positive habits, mindsets, and reactions — require a continuous effort to become permanent. It is through that growth which we may see our lives transformed from year to year, and reap the true benefit: the satisfaction of triumph over challenge.

Cedric Jiang Varsity Staff

Students who have recently stopped by Hart House may have passed a new art installation at the east end of the basement level. The mural, “Intertribal, 2022,” is a mixed-media creation that depicts a celebratory Indigenous powwow, in which community members can be seen dancing in traditional clothes under an eagle — or “Migizi” in Ojibwe — and Toronto landmarks.

Quinn Hopkins, a multidisciplinary artist of Ojibwe and Meiti heritage, created the mural. In an interview with The Varsity, Hopkins explained that he was inspired by his parents’ backgrounds — spiritual and visual elements inspired by his Ojibwe mother, and the futurist style from his tech entrepreneur father. He said this connection between backgrounds has become part of his personality as an “Indigenous futurist.”

“I always like that term, thinking of the next several generations and what the future holds for my people,” said Hopkins.

An invitation for everyone Hopkins grew up going to powwows, and he always enjoyed seeing the thriving culture through songs, dance, arts, and crafts. After the pandemic put the tradition on pause, the first return of a crowded powwow under the Toronto skyline struck Hopkins with energy and excitement. “It felt like a really powerful image in my head,” he said.

Hopkins explained that “intertribal” is a dance style and an invitation to everyone regardless of their background to simply enjoy being part of the celebration. “You don’t have to be a dancer. You don’t have to have regalia on,” he said. “You can just go into the circle, and they play a

song and everyone dances and walks around.”

He described this inclusiveness and sense of sharing a culture with everyone, reflecting the kind of community he would like to create at Hart House. He said the artworks he likes are

the ones that people can get excited about, would be able to see themselves in, and would love to share with their loved ones.

At the centre of the mural is an eagle that flies high above the crowd and the city’s skyline.

Hopkins said the eagle is a representation of love, and the motion of it soaring toward the sky is a message of linking people to the creator.

“So it’s not really just an eagle. It’s love, and it’s kind of like being close to God, close to the creator, and finding yourself in that,” said Hopkins.

Technology and an ever-changing community

What makes the mural stand out is also its technological component. The artwork includes an augmented reality (AR) aspect that can be activated by scanning a QR code that redirects users to Instagram and prompts the audience to point the camera at the mural. Once the step is completed, your screen will show an animated eagle flying out of the mural and circling around the room.

“I always like to have [an]... Easter egg,” said Hopkins. “And [the AR flying eagle] tells another story about love. Love is a very introspective teaching in the admission of a culture. It’s about loving yourself, and then loving those around you like your community. And that was also sort of an aspect of it.”

Hopkins believes technology has been an extraordinary medium of art that expanded his creativity, and also a great tool to break down stereotypes and lead the community toward the future. To him, it is important to show young Indigenous artists like him that there are no limits on what they can do. He said Indigenous culture is not stagnant and has always been innovative, and the use of technology lifts up the community and creates a new category of arts.

“We are not limited to doing woodland paintings,” he said. “We aren’t limited to making totem poles, or all the stereotypical sort of creations that you think of when you think of native art.”

The mural, created by Indigenous artist Quinn Hopkins, is displayed at Hart House. VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

Burnout from above

How the Protestant work ethic paradoxically shatters productivity

James Lautens Varsity Contributor

“Just one more week.”

That’s a phrase I hear a lot from my peers during exam and essay season. The endless stream of quizzes and papers — followed by one more quiz because your professor thought the last one didn’t quite meet their standards — can be maddening.

Combine that with the dreaded productivity slump, and you’ve got yourself the perfect storm. You know exactly the storm I’m writing about. It’s the type of storm where you wake up one morning and proudly proclaim to the newly formed day that yes, you are going to write those four essays and write that one quiz released at 5:57 pm and due at 1:07 am on Quercus today. But then, after listening to your motivation playlist 50 times and chugging eight shots of espresso, you eventually end up doom-scrolling and screwing around on social media.

After that, the emptiness sets in. There comes the cold, creeping feeling of failure, dread, and whatever other nasty emotion crawling out of your subconscious. But why? Why do we feel that way? Why does neglecting one measly quiz about some long-dead guy called Louis LXIX completely redefine our self-worth? How does not writing down the introduction for our paper on the Emu War completely sap our willpower?

The concept of the Protestant work ethic, that’s how.

So what is the Protestant work ethic? The Protestant work ethic is a concept coined in 1905 by the German sociologist Max Weber in

his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber argues that the idea of predestination, proposed by the Protestant reformer John Calvin, motivated people to work harder to demonstrate they were one of the “elect.” The elect, according to Calvin’s theology, is a group of people who are predestined to be saved by Jesus Christ and whisked away to heaven while everyone else burns for all eternity.

Cheery, right?

How can one find out if they are part of this special group that was “elected” to go to heaven? According to Calvin, if someone is successful and any number of other things, including hard working, they could very well be part of the elect. The idea of predestination, Weber argues, motivated the development of capitalism, which then perpetuated the mythology of the Protestant work ethic. This mythology, created over centuries sug gests that the only type of good work is hard work and that buying into that idea will ‘save’ you.

same as being morally good. If you are a hard worker, you must be chosen by God, which therefore means that you are going to heaven. We see this type of thinking most obvi

ously in some opinions on people without housing. Under the lens of the Protestant work ethic, those without housing may appear lazy, which is a moral failing; it’s a sign that you are not one of the elect and means, to some extent, that you deserve what you get.

You might be thinking, how the hell does this apply to me?

Well, the Protestant work ethic permeates our society and, as a result, affects our lives at U of T. Not only that, but it also creates a toxic mindset for the individual. The idea that your worth is determined by your productivity stems from the Protestant work ethic. That ever-creeping sense of dread I mentioned before doesn’t just result from any evolutionarily developed instinct but also from our cultural values.

And that can have damaging effects.

For me, the Protestant work ethic has been fairly difficult to deal with. I’ve been described as a hard worker by my peers and family, but that comes

ing that “I should be writing a short story” or “I should be cleaning every square inch of this house.” Those thoughts can

be bothersome when all we really need is some rest and relaxation. And that’s just how I feel in my spare time.

When it comes to university, that feeling is cranked up to 11. Even if you’ve been diligently doing readings and taking notes for six hours, you still feel like you should write at least 1999 words of that 2000-word paper due in two months’ time.

Ultimately, the Protestant work ethic can be counterproductive, despite its supposed goal to promote salvation through hard work. People aren’t machines that can work 24 hours a day; we get burned out. The Protestant work ethic doesn’t take this into account, so it ends up creating a vicious cycle of working until you’re burned out and left feeling terrible for not being productive enough.

So, how can we deal with this mental healthshattering ethic? On an individual level, we can acknowledge that it’s normal to have peaks and valleys of productivity. We can’t be working all the time and we need our rest to be able to do our best. University is a marathon, not a sprint, and we must respond accordingly.

Another thing we can do is recognize that the Protestant work ethic is just one way to approach a problem. Sometimes working hard is not the best way to deal with a challenge; sometimes, we have to work smart. Finding little shortcuts to dealing with large workloads, for example, is crucial to doing well. Ploughing through it can help sometimes but not always, and tying our value to what we can produce within a short period of time can do significant harm to our mental health.

Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’ve got about six more articles I have to write and eight intern applications I’m behind on.

The politics of Christmas

Pappalardo Associate Arts & Culture Editor

The moment November 1 arrives, Toronto swiftly begins its transformation into a sensory overload of Christmas cheer. Just north of UTSG, luxury shop windows extravagantly advertise Christmas sales and trees are strung with festive lights. Whether you’re Christian or not, the holiday is unavoidable; even a grocery run or a quick stop at the drugstore bombards customers with one message: ’tis the season.

Some would argue that Christmas, the dominant religious and cultural holiday in Canada, can

degradation; its true essence has been sidelined for consumerism, and “happy holidays” has become the socially acceptable greeting of choice instead of “merry Christmas.”

What relationship do both Christians and nonChristians have with these “politics of Christmas”? The Varsity spoke with students of several denominations to reflect on their experiences during the holiday season.

Commercialization

Although the majority of her interactions during Christmastime have been positive, Catholic Toronto Metropolitan University student Aubrey

sent his only son for us. And I think that brings a deeper joy which lasts for us the whole year.”

As a marketing student, Djauhari has learned how commercialization works and why it happens. “I don’t think [it’s] some evangelization scheme,” Djauhari explained. “The Pope was [not] like, ‘we must commercialize this.’ ” Rather than displaying nativity scenes, which are much harder to come by, the season is littered with “huge marketing campaigns to sell products and services — sell the idea and the joy of Christmas.”

Manal Kamran, a Muslim student at U of T, also took issue with the commercialization of Christmas, but for a different reason. “[When] you go to Safeway in December, there’s candy cane decorations everywhere, and they have eggnog on display. Safeway is transformed for this holiday, and then [when] one of our Muslim holidays comes, Safeway looks kind of normal.”

Kamran agreed that the commercial emphasis on Christmas rather than the religious prevalence of Christianity caused her alienation during the holiday season. For Kamran, the commercial bonanza of Christmastime exacerbates her alienation, while for Djauhari, it can feel like something sacred to her has been cheapened. As cliché as it is to place all the blame on capitalism, the blend of religion and mass marketing is perhaps a common issue among people of all denominations.

Regardless, both Djauhari and Kamran could still appreciate how commercialization lends itself to developing the Christmas spirit.

Although Kamran admits that feeling excluded from Christmas festivities used to bother her, she gained a greater appreciation for the pomp and circumstance of the season after seeing people prevented from celebrating as usual during the pandemic.

Djauhari noted that the spirit of giving gifts and the atmosphere created by Christmas marketing brings a sense of joy to everyone around her.

Merry Christmas versus happy holidays

“Happy holidays” denotes a degree of neutrality and inclusivity, encompassing Christmas and other religious holidays celebrated in December. In North America, wishing someone or a crowd “merry Christmas” can feel like a gamble. In groups where people are culturally and religiously heterogeneous, not uncommon in Toronto or at UTSG, “happy holidays” is an all-encompassing, and consequently safe, bet.

When asked about her preferred greeting, although fine with receiving a “merry Christmas,” Kamran stated she preferred “happy holidays” for its secularism, taking into account the other non-Christian faiths in Canada.

On the other hand, happy holidays’ secular nature may reduce the traditional meaning of the season. “I don’t passionately hate ‘happy holidays,’ ” Djauhari said. She appreciated that it’s a popular expression that does not aim to erase Christmas. However, she admitted that her “heart breaks just a little” that a celebration so meaningful to her often gets a secular treatment in conversation.

In Canada, the reason for celebration —– the warm atmosphere, the lights, the holiday break —– during this season was originally Christian. People of all faiths can enjoy the secular benefits of this religious tradition, be it Toronto’s annual Christmas Market or the Nutcracker ballet, which Kamran, for example, attended with her family despite not being Christian. Thus, perhaps the joy a Christian celebration can bring to those of all religious backgrounds should not be overlooked.

The debates surrounding holiday greetings and the commercial dominance of Christmas ultimately come down to the validation a religion receives in the mainstream. Do the department stores enthusiastically acknowledge your faith with decorations and sales? Do your colleagues acknowledge your religious beliefs when wishing you goodwill over the winter break? Recognition is always welcome, but in a society where religious tradition has become so far removed from its secular festivities, deeper spiritual meaning during the holidays is what you make of it.

Kamran put it well: “I’m slowly coming to the realization that the commodification of a holiday has no bearing on how important or special it actually is… you get to decide how special it is to you. Not Safeway.”

HANNAH FLEISCH/THEVARSITY

Milena

MILENA PAPPALARDO/THEVARSITY

Losers

What a 1920s story reveals about our digital futures

Vicky Huang Varsity Contributor

During this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, director Damien Chazelle gave audiences an exclusive peek of his new film. Those next few minutes were absolutely incredible. A cornucopia of drugs, genitalia, and gore unapologetically sprawled across the big screen. It looked loud, raunchy, and bombastic, which was a direction no one had expected him to take, especially after his previous film First Man — an ambient tale of cosmic nihilism.

Chazelle turned to the astounded audience. “It’ll be big,” he promised with a sheepish, cheeky grin.

And, indeed, he delivered. What can only be described as a sexed-up Tolstoyan epic, Babylon is so massive that it completely surpasses expectations. The film is set during the tumultuous but opulent early days of Los Angeles, a decade before Hollywood attained its mega-power status. In this rising industry, there is only one bolded and underlined name: Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), an egomaniacal titan of the silent screen. He befriends henchman Manny Torres (Diego Calva) and addict slash wannabe starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie). Together, the trio attempt to conquer the primordial movie world, only to suffer tragic Napoleonic deaths.

Twitter critics have cheesily dubbed Babylon a “love letter to cinema” or, even more groan-inducingly, a “cacophony of demented depravity.” Emphasis and meaning seem to be derived from Babylon’s spectacular and dazzling mise-en-scène. However, I ask that we look beyond — or more correctly, look below — the enormous defecating elephant and mid-air, cocaine-fueled orgies. Despite Babylon’s maximalist sheen, the core of the film presents a much simpler, pedestrian line of inquiry: how does one grapple with modernity?

The challenges of modernity

In his study of modernity, Georg Simmel describes the transition from a concrete past to a technologically unrecognizable future as an invasive reconfiguration of society’s tradition-bound networks. Technological innovations uproot the natural rhythms of consumption and demolish existing modes of production. Changing economies obfuscate the once articulate split between public and private life. Prevailing attitudes completely remodel the iconic nuclear family. Maybe to Simmel, the rush to abandon the old and adopt the new was a spectacular danger that could erode the Anthropocene; the flare of modernity, while so attractive for a momentary thought, was perhaps something to approach with caution rather than reckless enthusiasm.

Babylon hits a similar tone. Set in the 1920s, the dawn of modernity, the film examines the change to the cinematic landscape as various technological, economic, and political developments nudge the industry toward a shiny, chromatic future. On one hand, it echoes naive, mainstream sentiments by framing the talkie — non-silent films — as an exciting push forward, glazed with a sense of wonderment and mysticism. This spirit is best captured when Torres goes to see his first audio picture. Upon witnessing the miracle of sound, the entire diegetic audience bursts into applause: a magnificent reaction that rivals the infamous Lumière legend.

On the other hand, Chazelle presents a counterargument in his depiction of changing production methods. Sound posed a myriad of problems for industry professionals. For one, the immobile and sensitive technology made filming painstakingly complicated. Audio was notoriously difficult to modulate and getting it right demanded every minutia to be considered.

Adding a third dimension to cinema also completely uprooted acting practices. Now that every

little timbre — the scuffling of fabric; a post-divorce sniffle; or the sloppy, wet kisses that fade out medieval romances — was acutely captured, any single mistake could be picked apart by audiences and critics. Actors needed to elevate their technical prowess. A pretty, expressive face was no longer sufficient for Hollywood.

These encumbrances were unpleasant and difficult to overcome. As Babylon demonstrates, cinema’s thrust into modernity was almost paradoxical: it was a move toward progress, yet, in that same vein, the growing pains felt like a regression back to zero. Like an injured babe learning to walk again, filmmakers woefully stumbled to adapt to the reinvented medium.

The losers of modernity

While some excellent actors successfully jumped onboard modernity’s ark, others weren’t even thrown a lifejacket. Among the unlucky few are Conrad and LaRoy. Failing to adapt to the new climate, each character experiences a maddening spiral that results in their drowning.

Conrad undoubtedly takes the highest fall. The dashing blond was once an enigma. A man with enough gravity that, within seconds of opening a door, he became the centripetal force that magnetizes horny femmes and bros desperate for his nod of approval. However, in Babylon, the advent of audio turns Hollywood’s biggest star into a B-grade extra. Hopelessness, disillusionment, and depression engulf him. Besieged by the bleak future, Conrad decides to end his life with a silver bullet.

Whereas Conrad begins at the top, LaRoy’s journey starts in the pits. Her ephemeral claim to fame comes from being the ‘wild child’: a 1920s synonym for ‘manic pixie dream girl’ with the essence of kitschy thrift store erotica. Sexy but tawdry. LaRoy’s crass eroticism turns her into a household name, earning her big roles and entry to crazy cocaine bashes — where she out-sniffs everyone.

But as cinema’s prestige increases, LaRoy’s signature grime is scorned and washed out by cleaner Mary Sues. Her bull-like nature, combined with her inability to adapt to sound acting, causes LaRoy’s career to take an Icarian splash.

Through their tragic descent, Chazelle demonstrates that modernity is a two-headed hydra. Echoing Simmel’s self-conscious moderate voice, Babylon recognizes that while modernity brings brilliant and necessary progress, it can be just as destructive, leaving behind a long trail of bodies. Conrad’s and LaRoy’s stories remind us to be critical of modernity’s sweet seduction: its siren song can very well be the beginning of our end.

The message is especially resonant in today’s fast-paced, changing techno-social world. Online platforms — the poster child of modernity — have revolutionized what it means to be famous. No longer is an aspiring ingénue at the mercy of the depraved sinful hubs of Hollywood to gain millions of doting fans; instead, they can post a TikTok. With the right aesthetic, she can go viral in just a few seconds. Stardom has never been so accessible.

However, as Conrad and LaRoy have shown, fame is fleeting — perhaps even more so on the internet. Just a wave of the algorithmic wand can take down seemingly invincible influencers. Or tomorrow’s new trendy platform will spur a mass follower exodus, transforming once popular accounts into billowing ghost towns.

Babylon is a valuable Archimedean point for the digital future. As society continues uploading, the familiar world is set to change. Although each innovation brings us closer to this riveting ‘utopia’ of Lana Del Rey nightcore and “get ready with me” videos, it is important to keep in mind that each pawn forward comes with a conditional set of destructive processes. The invention of recordable audio killed some of those in silent film. I wonder which industry is the next to implode by modernity’s grenade.

rejoice! Babylon is just for you

Babylon hides darkness behind its cacophony of hedonism. COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

January 9, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/science science@thevarsity.ca

U of T’s biggest discoveries of 2022

increased our understanding of the benefits and limitations of vaccines and the immune protections they provide.

Feeling emotions is the key to improving mental health in the long term

Sahir Dhalla Science Editor

From the oldest galaxies ever recorded, to artificial organs and quantum mechanics, research labs all across the world saw great discoveries in 2022. The past year has been important for research in many areas of science and technology — and at the University of Toronto, in particular, we saw studies and discoveries that changed the global landscape of fields such as astronomy, neuroscience, and more.

Here are some of the biggest stories from the last year, and the impacts they could have on future research.

A galaxy with the universe’s oldest star clusters discovered by U of T researchers

As 2021 ended, we saw the culmination of one of the biggest space projects in mankind’s history. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched by NASA on December 25, 2021, and has since brought us tremendous insight into the universe. Throughout 2022, research teams all across the world have been using JWST’s immense capabilities to help us uncover more than we’ve ever known about the universe we live in.

A research team at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at U of T, led by Lamiya Mawla and Kartheik G. Iyer, was able to use the JWST to identify some of the most distant and oldest star clusters ever recorded. The sparkler cluster containing these stars, located almost nine billion light years away, was determined to have formed close to the first time it was even possible for star formation to occur.

These discoveries gave us a look at the earliest phases of star formation in our universe, a feat that has been difficult in research thus far. Although many stars around us are quite young, most have already formed so we don’t have a lot of information on how they come into being.

est in the development of organoids, which are bioartificial organs that could theoretically be used to replace organ donations.

In 2022, U of T researchers were able to develop the first bioartificial model of a key part of the heart. Sargol Okhovatian and Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi, from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, were able to develop a smaller, to-scale version of the heart’s left ventricle, made from living tissue and cells and capable of pumping a small amount of blood through a bioreactor.

These lab-grown models, with such accuracy, offer a new way to study a wide range of cardiovascular conditions, and could open up potential avenues for therapies treating heart conditions. Miniature models such as the one developed by Okhovatian and Mohammadi could allow researchers to study cell function, tissue function, and overall organ function, without the need for any invasive procedures.

them. These atoms exist largely as a thin, extremely diffuse gas. This gas is virtually invisible and incredibly hard to detect throughout the universe, but we know it exists.

Cosmologist Adam Hincks, an assistant professor and researcher at the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, and his international team of scientists have been working to detect this gas using Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, the oldest source of light in the universe. By observing CMB radiation, Hincks and his team discovered that the gas in a 40-million-light-year-long region had a mass of about 50 billion suns, or 50 times as much as the entirety of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

This research demonstrates a new way to study the gas that makes up so much of our universe, allowing us to detect and learn more about a region that has been invisible to us so far.

New rapid antibody tests developed to monitor COVID protection levels

A major focus of the scientific community in 2022 was the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus is continuously evolving, causing new institutional strains and spikes in cases. Despite vaccines created to combat the disease and the availability of multiple booster shots, we still don’t know enough about how often we need to boost our immune system and prevent disease.

Igor Stagljar, a professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research and at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Shawn Owen, an associate professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Utah, led a study to combat this and better fight the pandemic. The study aimed to develop inexpensive but accurate rapid testing mechanisms that specifically measure Sars-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies which work to prevent infection. These rapid tests look for how well-equipped our bodies still are to prevent us from facing major COVID symptoms if we are infected.

When faced with intense emotional pressure from mental health concerns like anxiety and depression, many of us tend to shut down. We push away our emotions and continue about our day instead of feeling and processing them, either because it takes a lot of effort and energy or it’s too painful.

But the more we learn about these mental health conditions, the more it seems that repression might be the wrong way to go about handling our emotions. Norman Farb, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and Zindel Segal, a distinguished professor of psychology in mood disorders at U of T Scarborough, carried out a study that found that individuals who repressed their feelings were the most likely to experience relapses into depressive or anxiety-related disorders, even after going through therapy.

In the study, which was the largest neuroimaging study conducted on mental health relapses to date, Farb and Segal discovered that the brains of individuals with past experiences of depression had a tendency to shut down parts of the brain responsible for emotional processing when faced with emotionally-charged video clips, enhancing this cycle of repression and relapse. Meanwhile, individuals who were able to process emotions through bodily sensations were less likely to suffer a relapse.

These discoveries have the potential to lead to earlier detection of depression and anxiety while enabling better therapy techniques.

Quantum innovation leads to improved energy resources

One field of research that has made quite a lot of progress this year has been the collaboration between quantum mechanics and sustainable energy.

All current solar panels are made with high-purity silicon, a material that requires a large amount of energy to produce, making it costly and difficult to widely adopt. One alternative to silicon is known as perovskite, a material with an incredibly unique crystal structure that is being studied in labs around the world.

A

major step towards creating bionic hearts

The last decade has seen an increased inter-

Seeing the hidden universe 2022 was a big year for astronomy and cosmology. While galaxies and stars are responsible for most of the light we can see, almost 90 per cent of the atoms in the universe exist separate from

Explainer: The placebo effect

Lauren Vomberg Varsity Contributor

In the 1940s, at a time when supplies were low, World War II medic Henry Beecher administered saline solution to injured soldiers, claiming it to be morphine. Up to 40 per cent of soldiers responded as if the saline solution was the painrelieving medication. The soldiers’ belief in the medication treated their pain.

This is known as the placebo effect, meaning people will feel the effects of therapeutic treatments, even when what they have received does not have real medicinal properties.This response to a ‘fake’ treatment, or treatment with no inherent therapeutic properties, is known as the placebo effect.

Strangely enough, people will display effects of recovery from ailments even when they have been told the treatment is a placebo. In a 2021 Harvard-affiliated study assessing drug efficacy for migraines, one group was given real medication — labelled with the real drug name — a second group was given a placebo — labelled “placebo” — and the third group was given no treatment. The placebo was about 50 per cent as effective in providing migraine relief as the real drug.

This is not simply a psychological trick or a result of classical conditioning. These responses to a placebo intervention can manifest physically. One of the most common areas of research on the placebo effect occurs in the realm of pain management, in which researchers have discov-

Stagljar and Owen found that vaccines and prior infection only protected against past variants of COVID, and were unable to cope with newer ones such as Omicron. This was part of a series of studies on immune responses to COVID-19 studies across the world that have

The Sargent Group lab here at U of T is looking to harness the power of quantum mechanics to better stabilize the structure of perovskite and allow it to work as an intermediate layer that can effectively convert solar energy into electricity. The researchers are also working on methods that rely on quantum mechanical principles to create catalysts that can aid in the creation of hydrogen. Today, almost all hydrogen used in our energy systems comes from natural gas, but the ability to create catalysts used in the hydrogen formation process will speed up essential reactions and allow for cleaner energy sources.

ered that a placebo intervention in a patient can cause the brain to release naturally occurring endorphins, reducing pain and stress.

Research on the placebo effect is ongoing. Scientists are investigating not only how the placebo effect elicits relief, but also how they can harness it to improve and advance medical treatments.

DALAINEY GERVAIS/THEVARSITY

Research labs at U of T made immense progress in astronomy, physics, and more

How placebos can function just as strongly as traditional therapies

The morality and politics of abortion and matters of life and death

The bioethics symposium provides a platform for discussions on life, death, and

Daniyah Asad Varsity Contributor

On November 25, students hurried into the Jackman Humanities Building for the Bioethics Symposium. Spearheaded by the UofT Philosophy Course Union (PCU), all were welcome as three prominent speakers — Donald Ainslie, Steven Coyne, and Wayne Sumner — discussed matters of life and death through various lenses. Recent news, particularly after the US midterm elections, has brought these issues to the forefront once more and the PCU aimed to provide a platform for thought-provoking and educated discussions.

Ainslie started off the symposium, aptly titled The Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy of Abortion and Other Matters of Life and Death. He offered an enlightening perspective on the similarities and differences between conversations regarding COVID-19 and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). His own experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community along with his research gave him a unique perspective. He argued that the AIDS crisis showed similar patterns to the events following the emergence of COVID-19, only on a slower time scale. He reflected on the same degree of resistance to preventative measures and the pockets of anti-science communities that emerged in light of the developing preventative measures.

Ainslie pointed out the discrepancies between the rate at which institutions took action in both crises. A notable argument is that institutions implement policies that enable personal autonomy when seeking medical aid. However, a major fallacy is that this argument presupposes that the general public is aware of and will choose the best course of action prior to seeking treatment. These conversations reflecting on the disconnect between the bioethics standards and the communities they

are supposed to help are what drove him to pursue them in a more academic setting, exploring the idea of the bioethics of everyday life to ask and answer the questions of allowing personal autonomy when it comes to seeking medical treatment.

Following this talk was a local tale presented by Coyne. He walked the audience through the trials and tribulations of Henry Morgentaler, a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights activist, to discuss the motivations behind civil disobedience. Morgentaler housed an abortion clinic on 85 Harbord Street, Toronto, despite it being illegal at the time. Considering the criteria of philosopher John Rawls, civil disobedience must be a “public, non violent, conscientious breach of law” with political motivations. Morgentaler’s acts checked some of those boxes, par ticularly with his public announce ment at U of T in 1973, but this did not entirely justify his civil disobedience.

Kimberley Brownlee — Canada Researcher in Eth ics and Political and Social Philosophy — has a more individualistic formula tion of civil disobedience, which Coyne attempted to use to explain Morgen taler’s actions as motivated by individual moral convic tions. While this overcomes some of the situation’s short comings from Rawls’ point of view, it still was unsatisfactory.

Coyne concluded his talk by highlighting an overlooked as pect in this case study — Morgen taler’s special authority as a medical professional. He was not only acting as an activist but his actions were moti

vated by his duties and moral obligations as a licensed doctor. These opinions, while not entirely individual, did drive him to take matters into his own hands when he found that the institutions were lacking in providing the services he felt were imperative to women’s health care.

Building on this idea, Sumner, the third and final speaker, ruminated on the ramifications of the post-Morgentaler policies on the issue of abortion. Sumner explained that discussions of abortion disappeared from the public view, primarily because they are less controversial in Canada than in America.

morality

The debate around the moral status of a fetus, Sumner explained, revolves around discerning the sentience of a fetus and the implications it may have when it comes to abortion.

Political ideologies in the United States, while claiming to uphold religious ideology, show a clear dissonance when it comes to these discussions. Anti-abortion groups claim the sanctity of life on one hand but actively fight against gun control, which is contradictory to their stance.

With the closing remarks by the PCU, the seminar concluded with a round of applause for the three speakers.

Sabrina Wong Science Columnist

As residents of a dense city such as Toronto, many of us do not have gardens and backyards that we can call our own. Luckily for us, houseplants are an easy way to bring nature into our homes.

While the practice of incorporating plants into interior design has been around for decades, household plants have experienced a surge in popularity over the past few years. According to the National Gardening Association of the United States, houseplant sales in America increased by nearly 50 per cent between 2016 and 2019, putting total sales at a whopping 1.7 billion USD.

This adoration of houseplants only grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, with gardening-related sales sprouting a further almost 19 per cent in 2020 and more than 30 per cent in 2021. Such growth has been mirrored in Canada and beyond, with factors such as social media and at-home isolation playing pivotal roles in this growth.

With houseplants flying off the shelves, many of their supposed benefits — both personal and scientific — have been thrown around in conversation and in the media. But what among this discourse is fact, and what is merely fiction?

One popular belief about houseplants is that they improve air quality in homes. In 1989, NASA published research asserting that plants had considerable potential to help with indoor air purification.

However, recent research suggests otherwise. A 2019 study from Drexel University in Pennsylvania found that while plants indeed extract volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air, which are pollutants that decrease air quality, the rate at which plants remove VOCs is negligible compared to the rate of removal by natural or ventilated air exchange.

The previous experiment by NASA had been conducted in a sealed chamber that did not al-

low for the air exchange that occurs in ordinary indoor spaces. According to Drexel University researchers, anywhere from 100 to 1,000 plants per square metre would be necessary for the reduction of VOCs via plants to be comparable with that of a home’s air ventilation system or even a few open windows. Plants, therefore, contribute little to indoor air quality.

Still, while purging your living room of toxic chemicals may not be the strong suit of a house-

plant, some benefits remain when it comes to health and happiness.

One obvious benefit lies in the aesthetic value of plants. Compared to human-made structures, plants come in unique forms, colours, and textures that add visual appeal to indoor spaces. Additionally, the colour green itself has been shown to evoke feelings of calmness, comfort, and creativity while contributing to physiological relaxation.

In a culture that is increasingly prioritizing productivity, houseplants have also been shown to boost productivity and attentive capacity. Plants have a plethora of other mental health benefits as well, including improving mood and decreasing stress. These effects are in line with the biophilia hypothesis, which states that humans have an inherent predisposition to seek interaction with nature. Many benefits of houseplants for mental well-being arise from that feeling of connection.

Further, houseplants appeal to the caretakers in us while requiring only simple, minimal care in many cases. And for those of us who do not want the added responsibility, there are numerous houseplants, such as spider plants and aloe, that can go a week, or even several weeks, without water.

Altogether, despite some inaccuracies surrounding the scientific benefits of houseplants, the advantages for physical and mental health are clear. So, if you haven’t already hopped on the houseplant train, what is stopping you from being next?

JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

Blues’ men make a huge return with a 93–72 win

Callum Baker drops 31 points against York Lions on Wednesday night

Blues women’s basketball team losing streak prolonged after 56–83 loss to Lions

Victoria Paulus Varsity Contributor

On December 3, 2022, as university students across Ontario prepared for winter break, the Varsity Blues men’s basketball team endured their toughest loss this season against the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston.

It was a nail-biter match and although the Blues made a striking comeback in the third quarter, the Gaels’ guard, Connor Kelly, stole the 96–95 win after hitting a buzzer beater threepointer. Despite this outcome, the Blues’ powerful pair, Iñaki Alvarez, who carried both teams with 40 points, and Callum Baker, who secured 28 points and four assists, had an outstanding offensive performance.

After a well deserved break, though, the Blues were back in action on Wednesday, January 4 when they faced the York Lions at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. They previously faced Lions on November 16, 2022 and brought home a 69–60 win.

What happened

The Lions came out strong in the first quarter; they closed in on the Blues defensively and managed to take an early six-point lead. Although the Blues moved the ball quickly and created many goal-scoring opportunities, things really took off for the Blues in the second quarter.

Blues’ guard, Baker, created smart offensive plays and attacked the key with speed, securing 10 points in the second quarter. By the end of the second, the Blues took an 11-point lead and went into halftime with a score of 41–30.

In the second half, the Lions were determined to shorten the Blues’ lead and applied tighter coverage in attempts to shut down the opposing offense. However, the Blues were able to maintain a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

Despite the Lions’ efforts to make a late comeback, the Blues came out in the final quarter looking to increase their lead and they did just that: the Blues secured a final score of 93–72.

The powerful pair did it again: Baker led the Blues with 31 points, five assists, and three rebounds while Alvarez finished with 19 points, three assists, and three rebounds.

In a post-game interview with The Varsity, Alvarez was elated with his team’s performance. “I thought we played really good defense,” he stated.

“We fought together as a team, we moved the ball pretty well on offense, [and] a lot of guys were getting involved so I thought that was good.”

What’s next

On Saturday, January 7, the Blues men’s basketball team won in Guelph with a final score of 99–85. The Blues are ranked first in the OUA Central division, at 9–2 overall with a 0.818 win percentage. The Blues will play Lakehead University on January 13 and look to prolong their dominance.

The Varsity Blues women’s basketball team left for their two-week winter break with a fourgame losing streak, after a tough 57–81 loss against Queen’s Gaels on December 3, 2022.

On Wednesday, January 4, the Blues faced the York Lions at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

Earlier this season, the Blues and the Lions faced off on November 16 and the Lions took the win with a final score of 55–73.

What happened

The Lions broke down the Blues’ defencedefense early on and used every counterplay to their advantage, which gave them an early lead. With just under five minutes left in the first quarter, the Lions’ guard, Kiara Leveridge, scored a three-pointer that secured a nine-point lead, at 14–5.

This allowed the Lions to continue creating smart offensive plays and regaining possession through rebounds to help maintain a double-point lead on the Blues throughout the rest of the first half. Leveridge played a huge

role for the Lions offensively and finished the match with 13 points.

Although the Lions led the Blues 50–24 going into the second half, the Blues were determined to regain control of their defencedefense and assert more pressure offensively.

The Blues’ duo, Jessica Muha and Ellen Ougrinov, led their team on the court and the scoreboard. Muha, the Blues’ forward, attacked the key aggressively and secured her free throws in the third quarter, finishing the game with a total of 18 points.

Ougrinov, Blues’ guard, scored a total of 13 points and led her team with five assists. Despite the duo’s performance, the Blues were unable to make a comeback and fell to the Lions with a final score of 83–56.

What’s next

On Saturday, January 7, the Blues lost a 74–66 nail-biter against the Guelph Gryphons for the first time this season. The Blues are ranked fifth in the OUA Central division, at 3–9 overall with a 0.25 win percentage. The Blues women’s team will play their next game against Lakehead University on January 13.

The U of T Varsity Blues women’s ice hockey team kicked off the second half of the 2022–2023 season with a 3–0 victory over the York Lions at Varsity Arena on January 6. The two teams found themselves at separate ends of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East standings as the Blues entered the game in first place in the OUA with an 11-2-0 record while Lions were in last with a 3-101 record. The game was also the season debut for Blues’ captain Taylor Trussler, who missed the first half of the season due to an injury.

What happened

The Blues dominated the game from start to finish and flew out of the gate. They drew an early penalty for head contact, and on their first power-play of 2023, Olivia Hilton tipped in a Natasha Athanasakos point shot that made its way through traffic and into the back of the net to give the Blues an early 1–0 lead! The rest of the first period was a low-event ice hockey game, but there was tension that, at some

point, the game would open up, which it did.

Early in the penalty-filled second period, the Blues capitalized on a Lions turnover when Celine Frappier chipped the puck ahead to Nikki Mcdonald, who set up Sophie Grawbarger for a cross-crease one-timer to put the Blues ahead 2–0.

Late in the second, Trussler stormed her way through the Lions before drawing a hooking penalty to give the Blues a 5-on-3 power-play. On that power-play, Grawbarger buried a rebound for her second goal of the game, giving the Blues a 3–0 lead.

Lions started to get some offense going in the third period but Blues’ goalie Madeline Albert was up to the task stopping all 12 shots she faced and the Blues kicked off the second half of their season with a 3–0 win against Lions.

What’s next

With some new momentum after their win against Lions, the Blues now look ahead to their match against Nipissing Lakers, who sit one point behind them in the OUA East standings. Puck drop is at 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 8 at the Varsity Arena.

Blues forward Jessica Muha’s 18 points and 11 rebounds not enough to secure win

Victoria Paulus Varsity Contributor

Cole Hayes Varsity Contributor

York Lions apply tight coverage to break down Blues’ offencse.

VICTORIA PAULUS/THEVARSITY

Blues’ star guard Iñaki Alvarez shouts for the ball.

VICTORIA PAULUS/THEVARSITY

Blues skate off the ice victorious on Friday night.

COLE HAYES/THEVARSITY

Opinion: Why the Messi versus Ronaldo debate has ended Messi’s

Rubin Beshi Varsity Contributor

I was 11 years old when Messi lost the World Cup finals in 2014. The Argentinian team lost to Germany thanks to a late goal by Mario Götze in the 113th minute. My brother and I watched in horror as Götze scored; as huge Futbol Club (FC) Barcelona fans, we were hoping to see Messi lift the trophy. Messi had a great run in the World Cup that year, scoring four goals, winning the Golden Boot, and captaining his team through gruelling knockout matches against the likes of Belgium and the Netherlands. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and as the referee blew the whistle for full time, Messi could only look on at the World Cup trophy in agony.

Eight years later, Messi has finally achieved his biggest dream: to be crowned a world champion. His 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign was impressive, especially considering he’s 35 years old. He scored seven goals, gave three assists, and put on an overall magisterial display. With his World Cup victory, many fans and pundits claim that Messi has become the undisputed greatest player of all time, edging out his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Others are more reluctant to make this bold claim and argue that Ronaldo’s achievements still place him at the top, so let’s take a look into their histories to see which story holds up.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s career trajectory

Ronaldo started off his career with Sporting Lisbon, making his first team debut at age 17 in 2002. After one season, in which he put on numerous dazzling displays, he was signed

World Cup triumph sees him become the undisputed best

by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Ronaldo spent six years at United, scoring 118 goals in the process. The 2007–2008 season was particularly notable, with Manchester United winning the Premier League and Champions League. Ronaldo — who scored a header in the Champions League final — won his first Ballon d’Or, an award given to the best player of the year.

Ronaldo subsequently left United to join Real Madrid, spending nine seasons at the club and scoring a staggering 450 goals. At Madrid, he won the Champions League an additional four times, including a three-peat between 2016–2018, and four more Ballon d’Ors. After Madrid, Ronaldo played for Juventus, rejoined Manchester United for a season and a half, and recently signed for the Saudi Arabian club

Al-Nassr. Ronaldo overall has scored over 800 goals in his storied career.

Lionel Messi career trajectory

Messi’s career differs from Ronaldo’s. Before leaving in 2021, he spent his entire career at FC Barcelona. He rose to the first team in the 2004–2005 season, forming a partnership with Ronaldinho Gaúcho and scoring three goals. The following season, he won his first out of four Champions Leagues. Between 2009–2012, Messi established himself as one of the world’s best players under the management of Pep Guardiola, winning two more Champions Leagues and four consecutive Ballon d’Ors. In the 2014–2015 season, Messi formed a formidable front with Neymar and Luiz Suarez, winning his fourth Champions League and

fifth Ballon d’Or. Messi would win the Spanish League 10 times and Spanish Cup seven times during his tenure at Barcelona.

After joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, Messi won the French Cup in his first season. Messi overall has scored a phenomenal 793 goals and has given 350 assists in his career thus far.

Who is the better player?

In terms of club statistics, Messi and Ronaldo are neck and neck. Both have scored an unreal amount of goals, with Messi winning a remarkable seven Ballon D’ors and Ronaldo winning a stunning five Champions League titles. Since they’re so close, many consider Messi’s World Cup triumph to serve as the tie breaker. Ronaldo has also experienced international success, winning the Euro’s in 2016, yet football’s biggest prize still eludes him. Messi’s victory in Qatar sees him join the ranks of Pelé and Maradona as world champions, something which cannot be said for Ronaldo.

Many figures in football, such as manager Carlo Ancelotti, still refuse to concede that Messi is the greatest player of all time. I believe that these people are mistaken. If Messi wasn’t already better than Ronaldo, adding the World Cup to his trophy cabinet definitely ends the debate. I also believe that trophies and statistics should not be the only measures of a player’s greatness. It’s the intangibles that a player does on the field — the dribblings, passes, and movements — that are just as important.

Watching Messi create magic on the field for over a decade has long since confirmed for me who is the better player. That’s why I don’t believe Messi needed the World Cup to be considered the best. He always has been.

Home game advantage — fact or fiction?

Hargun Kaur Rekhi Associate Sports Editor

Vociferous crowds, rambunctious cheers, and lively chatter are all hallmarks of a wonderful home game providing a dream-like experience. Some say that in professional sports, staying close to familiar turf can spell the difference between a loss or a victory. For football — a game in which a team traditionally has 11 players on the field — home game advantage is dubbed the 12th player. However, amidst speculations and passionate theories, the truth behind home game victories can be found in insightful scientific research.

Simply put, “home game advantage” refers to the idea that visiting athletes have a lower chance of winning in comparison to players from the hosting teams. The studies about the applicability of this idea have included team and individual sports, with tests being conducted across professional, collegiate, and high school levels. This field of research has captured the interest of social psychologists and statisticians looking for an answer.

Boos, size, and jet lag

Social psychology suggests that crowds, familiarity, and travel influence athletes’ mental state, altering the degree of advantage they receive.

Larger crowds tend to provide greater benefits. Spectators who voice their criticisms and avidly “boo” bad plays tend to motivate players to perform better. Additionally, fewer fouls are given to home teams playing at stadiums with more noise as opposed to quieter arenas. The referees’ bias is not always intentional because being human can mean that they are privy to

subconscious influences.

Familiarity with the venue can increase player confidence. Soccer field sizes aren’t standardized and will vary slightly depending on dimensions. Research shows that relocated home teams tend to perform worse than ones playing in old stadi ums. Home teams in arenas that are uniquely shaped and are bigger or smaller in size play better in comparison to home teams playing in average-sized arenas.

Lastly, as travelling distance increases for away teams, the advantage for home teams is also inclined to increase. Longer distances often result in changes in time zones and can lead to jet lag. Unsurprisingly, tired athletes are prone to worse performances.

The math and the numbers

Research by social scientists has examined the results of various sports matches across high school, college, and professional levels and found that home teams won 70 per cent of their games. The percentage of victory fluctuates with different sports, but on average, statistics show that more than half of the games played on home turf were won by the hosting teams.

Soccer has been shown to have the highest home game advantage with a winning rate of 69 per cent in some leagues. For the NBA, that number is at about 63 per cent, NHL is at 59 per cent, and MLB clocks in at about 54 per cent.

The winning percentage for home teams in the NBA finals for games hosted between 1998–2008 was close to 80 per cent. Within a game, NBA home teams on average increase their scoring by 3.4 per cent and decrease

that home game advantage does exist. But if so, what happened in Qatar? At the 2022 FIFA world cup, Qatar was the first team to be eliminated, getting knocked out by the competition after just 2 games. Why did home game advantage prove to be unfruitful?

A slow statistical decline

The 20th century brought changes in the rules for sporting leagues with hopes that the playing field could be equalized. The addition of instant replay in 1999, combined with a coach’s ability to challenge a referee’s call, led to a drop in home game-winning rates for the NFL. Advances in sports medicine and improved travelling logistics have also played a role. At the 2022 FIFA cup, the organization used semi-automated technology to increase the accuracy of offside decisions. These changes are slowly altering precedents set by home game victories.

Home game advantage, as with any sporting phenomenon, has a lot of unknowns. Regardless of its efficacy, the joy of watching your local team decimate its opponent brings unparalleled satisfaction. If fans can help with the win, then, to be honest, that just makes it more fun.

Does being on your own turf affect the outcome of games?

COURTESY OF FANNY SCHERTZER/CC WIKIMEDIA, JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY