THE VARSITY January 14, 2019
The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Vol. CXXXIX, No. 13
Paint Dept. is an early-2000s indie rock-inspired group. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY
BATTLE OF THE THE BANDS BANDS Paint Dept. and Rocket Bomb faced off in the annual Battle of the Bands. Read the review, page 14
Rocket Bomb is a five-piece indie pop collective. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY
Students, climate activists protest provincial climate plan at Queen’s Park Ford’s plan lowers carbon footprint reduction target, includes funds for big polluters to cut emissions
Ann Marie Elpa Associate News Editor
Students and climate activists braved the cold weather on January 11 to protest Premier Doug Ford’s climate plan at Queen’s Park as part of Fridays for Future, a global environmental movement started by 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. The movement encourages students to protest outside of federal or local government buildings on Fridays to urge politicians to create better policies addressing climate change and ensure a sustainable future. In a speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference last December 14, Thunberg called upon world leaders to act on the effects of climate change, particularly targeting the personal interests of the one per cent. “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don’t care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet,” Thunberg said in the speech, which went viral. Her words inspired a movement of young people including Ava Lyall, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Adam Scott Collegiate in Peterborough, Ontario. Lyall arrived at Queen’s Park with a number of elementary and high school students, some from as far as Peterborough, others from schools downtown, who skipped class Friday morning to support efficient climate action at the greater municipal, provincial, and federal levels.
“We have seen the choices of our parliament affecting what’s going on in Peterborough,” said Lyall. “Programs that were supposed to address climate change, such as bike lanes, that were to be implemented in Peterborough have been cancelled from cap and trade.” Local politicians were also in attendance at the strike. MPP of Spadina— Fort York Chris Glover addressed the crowd, criticizing the decisions of the Ford government for combatting emissions and abandoning an effective climate action plan. “This government has made a number of decisions, jeopardizing our future, our environment, and cancelling the cap and trade agreement,” said Glover. “That’s had a really negative impact,” Glover said. “Not only on our environment because we are not reducing our carbon emissions as fast as we should be — it’s also had an impact on our economy because the money that was coming from the cap and trade system is going into environmental measures.” Allie Rougeot, a member of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council’s Sustainability Commission, was also present at the protest. “As older students, it still really matters for us to show that we’re going to support them,” Rougeot said. “And also say that we’re also part of that generation that’s going to get severely impacted by the effects of climate change.” Background on the climate plan The Ford government unveiled its muchanticipated climate change plan on No-
vember 29. The plan is modelled after Australia’s carbon emissions reduction fund and features the Ontario Carbon Trust, a $350 million allotment toward large corporations to develop clean technology and reduce emissions overall. The trust also includes a $50 million Ontario Reverse Auction, which awards businesses for sending in proposals to combat emission reduction. Ford has been a perennial critic of the federal carbon tax plan, which he claimed was a main cause behind the November announcement that the General Motors plant in Oshawa would be closing this year, though there is no consensus on this. The new plan was met with scrutiny from Ford’s opponents, including Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, who criticized its inefficiency and lower outcomes. “We need a climate plan, not a litterreduction plan. This is not a climate plan,” Schreiner said. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna was also quick to criticize Ford’s plan, calling it “backwards.” “All I know about Doug Ford’s plan — Premier Ford’s plan — is that they’re going backwards on climate action, that they’re making it free to pollute,” she said. Ford’s government has reduced the 2030 provincial target for carbon footprint reduction to 18 megatonnes, or 30 per cent below 2005 emission levels. While this is lower than the previous government’s target of 37 per cent below 1990 levels, it remains in accordance with federal and international targets.
Become the Wolf of St. George Street — investing advice from Hollywood
Business
7
Redefining selfcare: it doesn’t need a price tag
Feature
12
Meric Gertler makes surprise appearance at Winterfest drag show
Arts U of T at the forefront of astrophysics instrumentation
Science
14 18
(Realistic) fitness goals for 2019
Sports
23
Last year students voted to increase The Varsity’s levy. Volume 139 is excited to deliver. Find out more about our new projects.
Editorial
11
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Human Snow Globe Time: 1:00–4:00 pm Location: University of Toronto Students’ Union
Chili Throwdown
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St. George
Accessibility in 2019? With Hon. Minister Raymond Cho
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JANUARY 14, 2019 | 3
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Hundreds protest RCMP raids on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory
Raids come as RCMP enforce injunction to allow pipeline company access to land Josie Kao News Editor
Hundreds of people protested in Nathan Phillips Square on January 8 as part of a national movement against Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) raids on traditional unceded Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia.
Background on the Wet’suwet’en land issue
Protests across the country came the day after the RCMP enforced a courtordered injunction to allow pipeline company Coastal GasLink access to Wet’suwet’en territory. Coastal GasLink has not been able to access the land because of two blockades that have been set up by clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation to control access to their land. The first is a gated checkpoint by the Unist’ot’en clan, which has been in place since 2009. More recently, the neighbouring Gidimt’en clan set up their own check-
point, which was the one raided by the RCMP on January 7. Though the Wet’suwet’en Nation has been resisting the pipeline for a decade, the issue is coming to a head now because Coastal GasLink applied for an injunction that was granted by the BC Supreme Court in December. The injunction ordered for the camps to be dismantled to allow the company access to build its pipeline. On January 9, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs came to an agreement with the RCMP to allow them to keep their gated checkpoint, but will allow Coastal GasLink through to begin work. Part of the agreement also states that the RCMP will not raid the camp or enter the Unist’ot’en healing lodge without an invitation.
Toronto protest draws hundreds
The protest was mainly hosted by the Soaring Eagles Camp, a group that was created in response to the deaths of Indigenous youths Tina Fontaine and
Another year, another fight for group study spaces
UTSC students struggling to find spaces on campus to study or work in groups
In 2017, UTSC reported that it had enrolled more than 13,000 students. MICHAEL PHOON/THE VARSITY
UTSC talking circles established to address reconciliation with Indigenous peoples
Ten weekly circles to be led by UTSC’s Indigenous Elder Wendy Phillips, Circles of Reconciliation’s Susan Dowan Jayra Almanzor UTSC Bureau Chief
In the first of many upcoming talking circles, UTSC’s Indigenous Elder Wendy Phillips gathered with members of the UTSC community on Jan-
uary 11 to introduce the goals of this initiative and how it hopes to address the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The purpose of the talking circles is to build awareness in the UTSC community about Indigenous history and
The protest was held at Nathan Phillips Square and was mainly hosted by the Soaring Eagles Camp. THEO ARBEZ/THE VARSITY
Colten Boushie. Master of ceremonies and Wet’suwet’en Water Protector Eve Saint led the rally by calling on supporters to mobilize. “We have a fight ahead of us and we have power together,” said Saint. The protest began in Nathan Phillips Square and moved through the Financial District before ending at 100 University Avenue, which contains the offices of Computershare Trust Company, TransCanada’s transfer agent. U of T alum Jesse Wente, an Indigenous writer, broadcaster, and advocate,
told the crowd that “reconciliation does not come at the end of a gun.” “War… I challenge Canadians, is that the relationship you want with Indigenous people?” Speaker Vanessa Gray, from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, spoke to The Varsity after the rally, saying that people need to “question their pride in being Canadian.” “Canada is just as racist as it ever has been and we need people with privilege to act now.” U of T itself invests in the fossil fuel industry, a fact that has prompted much
backlash from student groups in the past few years. When asked about U of T’s involvement in the industry, Saint told The Varsity, “I would say that you are investing in Canada’s genocide of Indigenous peoples. There is death in these pipelines… It is stained with blood, Indigenous blood, because all the industry are on Indigenous land and territory and they poison people.” “If you want to fight climate change and stop this madness, back Indigenous people and be aware and stand together.”
Jayra Almanzor UTSC Bureau Chief
During finals season, second-year student Kie Koby and a group of friends sat in the indoor seating area of the Market Place, a cafeteria located in the Humanities Wing of UTSC. But unlike other students, they did not go there to eat or relax. As other students ate their lunches and shared friendly laughter, Koby shared her ideas with her group mates for their final group project. They analyzed news articles. They performed quantitative analyses. “It was so loud and hard to focus or talk,” said Koby. Koby had previously tried to book a private group study room, but “they were all booked out.” Koby’s experience speaks to the larger issue of UTSC’s lack of group study spaces, which make group
study and group projects more challenging. In 2017, UTSC reported that it had enrolled more than 13,000 undergraduate students. The UTSC Library offers 11 private group study rooms, one of which can only be booked by faculty, staff, and teaching assistants. If the room is not reserved, it is counted among four other rooms that are available on a first come, first served basis. The remaining six rooms can be booked online up to two weeks in advance. However, students have expressed concerns regarding the booking system for these rooms, especially during peak times like exam season. “I think it is difficult [to book a group study room] because a lot of the time… they are taken,” said Koby. Philosophy student Jazz Wong
said that the group study rooms are “always full” and that “there is literally no space to do group studies.” “I’d rather study alone,” said Wong. Another student, Vennie Choi, expressed the same concern. She told The Varsity that even when she tried to book a group study room early, she was still not able to find a vacant spot. To combat this issue, UTSC recently launched a new app called SPACEPLUSU that can help students find available study spaces. It is available on the App Store and Google Play. “The app can be filtered to search specifically for group study spaces that are free,” wrote UTSC Media Relations Officer Don Campbell to The Varsity.
struggles, as well as to share thoughts and feelings about the TRC’s report. Phillips has partnered with the Circles of Reconciliation’s Susan Dowan to hold these talking circles. Circles of Reconciliation is an organization that aims to “establish trusting, meaningful relationships between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples.” The TRC report was a landmark 2015 document that revealed the truth about Canada’s residential school system, and included accounts of Indigenous children who were physically and sexually abused in government boarding schools. According to the report, the TRC “identified a fractured relationship between [the] nations.” The TRC published 94 Calls to Action that asked the government to work to repair the damages from residential schools, and to reconcile institutional relationships with members
of Canada’s Indigenous communities. A number of these Calls to Action touched on changes to postsecondary education. “This process of reconciliation… takes a lot of work,” said Phillips. “What we hope to achieve with these circles is to provide the opportunity for advocacy and education.” Phillips began the program with a smudging ceremony, which involved Phillips lighting sage and passing the smoke around to the participants. This traditional ritual cleanses the mind and body, Phillips said. “A talking circle… is very common with the Indigenous nations,” said Phillips. “We have different talking items that you can use.” Phillips held out a carved wooden stick with colours of red, black, and yellow. “This is a talking stick, this was my
mother’s actually,” said Phillips. “The concept is everybody is given the opportunity to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions of what’s being asked of them. So, after you’re done, you say thank you and pass [the talking stick] onto the next person.” Dowan said that the talking circles will meet for 10 weeks, and that there are various themes each week. The themes can range anywhere from residential schools, to reconciliation, to Indigenous people. The talking circles will give UTSC students the opportunity for dialogue that “was not really there.” The topic for the talking circle next week will tackle the question of what exactly reconciliation is. “It is a lot of learning, there are a lot of stories and experiences,” said Phillips. “Sometimes it will get emotional.”
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Former U of T medical student convicted of rape in Calgary Prachur Shrivastava’s conviction a first under Calgary’s Third Option program Josie Kao News Editor
Content warning: descriptions of sexual violence. Former U of T medical student Prachur Shrivastava has been found guilty of a sexual assault that occurred in Calgary
news@thevarsity.ca in 2014. According to the CBC, the conviction is believed to be the first of its kind under Calgary’s Third Option program, which allows complainants to take time before deciding whether to report the crime to police. The program was created in 2011 and gives sexual assault survivors the option of having a rape kit collected and stored for up to one year as they decide whether to report. Previously, complainants would need to report immediately or not have a rape kit collected at all. Similar programs also exist in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. The sexual assault occurred on May 31, 2014, when the complainant, whom CBC identified as Laura as her name is under a publication ban, was in Calgary partying with friends. She became highly intoxicated and passed out at a friend’s house, after which Shrivastava arrived and raped her during the night. Laura woke up the next morning to see Shrivastava sleeping beside her and testified feeling “disgust and violation.” Though she described herself as “blackout wasted,” Laura still had a few flashback memories of the night and recalled waking up at one point to see someone raping her, to which she attempted to push him away.
In her decision, Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench Jolaine Antonio found Laura to be an “honest witness” and wrote, “I believe [Shrivastava] wanted to obtain sexual gratification from an unconscious stranger, and that is what he did.” “He deprived her of control over who touched her body and how, and thereby criminally violated her human dignity and autonomy.” Sentencing has not been announced as of yet. Shrivastava was enrolled in the Doctor of Medicine program at U of T in 2014–2016, during which he was involved with the University of Toronto Medical Journal, Medical Science Advocacy Toronto, and was the VicePresident Finance at the Faculty of Medicine. Shrivastava was also enrolled in U of T’s Master of Biotechnology program. According to a student profile put together for its co-op program, Shrivastava was on academic leave from medical school “in pursuit of multifaceted development.” An unnamed source told the CBC that since taking academic leave, Shrivastava has not completed his degree. U of T spokesperson Elizabeth Church told The Varsity that the univer-
Shrivastava was previously enrolled in U of T’s Doctor of Medicine program. PRACHUR SHRIVASTAVA/PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK
sity can’t discuss the status of individual students because it is personal information. Church added that U of T did have “a policy that governs the standards of professional behaviour for all health professional students.” The majority of the policy details appropriate behaviour in a relationship with a client or patient. However, the last requirement states
that students should not “[behave] in a way that is unbecoming of a practising professional in his or her respective health profession or that is in violation of relevant and applicable Canadian law, including violation of the Canadian Criminal Code.” A violation of this policy can lead to a reprimand, remedial work, denial of promotion, suspension, or dismissal from a program.
U of T faculty, alumni named to prestigious Order of Canada Award recognizes recipients for significant contributions in respective fields Ann Marie Elpa Associate News Editor Voting in the SCSU election will be held February 5–7 on campus. MAISHA ISLAM/THE VARSITY
Scarborough student union elections to begin February 5 Elections come one year after contentious campaign period Ilya Bañares Deputy News Editor
A year after a controversial election campaign that saw a presidential candidate disqualified twice from the race and a split-ticket executive, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) is set to hold elections for its 2019–2020 executive and board of directors in the coming weeks. The nomination period opened on January 7 and will close on January 16. The following Tuesday, January 22, an All-Candidates Meeting will be held to brief contenders on the election rules. The official campaign period opens the same day and closes more than two weeks later on February 7. Six executive positions and 17 board of directors positions are in contention. A by-election will be held in the next school year to elect first-year representatives to the SCSU board. The election comes about a year after last year’s dramatic campaign, which saw presidential candidate Deena Hassan disqualified twice. The first time she was disqualified, the SCSU
Elections and Referenda Committee claimed she had not collected enough signatures from valid members. The second time, the chief returning officer issued a ruling against her, claiming campaign violations including precampaigning, misrepresenting facts, and a “lack of fair play.” Last year’s election results were also historic because they resulted in a rare split-ticket executive. Rise Up UTSC, Hassan’s slate, swept almost all executive positions, with UTSC Voice presidential candidate Nicole Brayiannis the sole victor from her ticket. Voting will be held February 5–7. Unlike elections for the University of Toronto Students’ Union, which are held online, students will have to cast their ballots physically at the Instructional Centre’s Atrium, the Student Centre, or the Tim Hortons in Bladen Wing. The current SCSU board recently rejected a motion to debate implementing online voting in its elections, citing a fear of possible online coercion and a lack of trust in the university’s voting system, which is used by many student groups including The Varsity.
Over 24 U of T alumni and faculty have been named to or promoted within the Order of Canada as of December 27. Established in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes individuals for outstanding accomplishments in varying fields that impact and contribute to Canadian society. There are three tiers of membership within the order: Member, Officer, and Companion, with Companion being the highest ranking. The order is one of the highest civilian honours in the country after the Order of Merit. Among the recipients appointed
by Governor General and U of T alum Julie Payette are mathematics professor Dr. James Arthur and artificial intelligence pioneer Dr. Geoffrey Hinton — they are the only two members of the university community to be named as Companions this year. Arthur, a professor in the Department of Mathematics since 1978, was recognized for his research and contributions to contemporary mathematics, particularly introducing the Arthur–Selberg trace formula and Arthur conjectures, complex formulas that support the trace formula theory. Arthur was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1981, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992, and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. More recently, he was named a fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2013 and won the prestigious Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2015. “I have had scientific recognition
U of T recipients came from fields as diverse as mathematics and medicine. SOFIA LUDWIG/THE VARSITY
in Canada, but I feel very proud – and thrilled – to be recognized more broadly with the Order of Canada,” Arthur stated in a U of T press release. Hinton, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Computer Science, was recognized as a pioneer in artificial intelligence and deep learning, a branch of computer science that mimics human learning and development in technology. Hinton also boasts many achievements in the field, having won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Information and Communication Technologies category and the IEEE/ RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award in 2016, as well as the 2010 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. He was also elected a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2016 for his work in artificial neural networks in relation to speech recognition. Many other community members from the life sciences were named as Members to the Order of Canada. Mary L’Abbé, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, was recognized for her work on nutrition quality of North American foods. Physics professor Pekka Sinervo was recognized for his work on electromagnetic forces, atoms, and molecules. Sinervo has previously served as dean of U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science. Arthur Slutsky, a U of T professor of medicine, surgery, and biomedical engineering, was also recognized for his research on acute respiratory failure, non-conventional ventilation, classic respiratory mechanics, and the significance of lung protective ventilator strategies in decreasing mortality rates among patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
JANUARY 14, 2019 | 5
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The Breakdown: Greek life in universities across Canada Universities across Canada take handsoff approach to fraternities, sororities Sophia Savva Varsity Staff
Since 1960, the University of Toronto has had “no relationship” with fraternities and sororities, citing what it sees as Greek life’s discriminatory and exclusionary practices. But what exactly are the relationships like between universities and Greek letter organizations here in Canada?
Greek life at U of T
“We don’t recognize them as campus groups largely because they are not open to everyone,” said university spokesperson Elizabeth Church. Official campus group recognition requires that a group be “open to all members of the University community without restriction on the grounds of national origin, race, religion, colour, or sex,” Church explained. According to a previous article in The Varsity, U of T officially separated itself from Greek societies after 1960, when a Black student was ex-
cluded from joining a sorority. There are two Greek life societies at U of T: the Panhellenic Association, which represents seven sorority chapters, and the Interfraternity Council (IFC), which represents 11 member fraternities. This year, the two groups are no longer listed on the ULife website, though they had been in previous years. “These two groups were not granted campus group recognition. It is not the case that it was revoked,” wrote Church. Despite not having a formal relationship with the university, fraternities and sororities still continue to flourish at U of T. “I am in a house that is full of diverse women in terms of race, ethnicity, religious views, and sexual orientations,” wrote Jane*, who is an executive member in a sorority at U of T. “Although sororities are an all female space, U of T sororities accept anyone who identifies as female (regardless if this is their sex at birth) therefore I do not consider them a form of discrimination.” However, Jane noted that many sorority members tend to be of “middle to upper middle class” because of “the high price sororities cost per year,” but said that “in no way do sororities at U of T actively discriminate against any type of women.” Jane is “disheartened” that sororities are not recognized as official campus groups. “Sororities were founded by women at a time when they were a minority on campus, and experienced high degrees of sexism,” said Jane. “Although female students now make up the majority of the U of T population, having an all female space and organization provides both myself and many other women with a reprieve from negative gender-based behaviours and a community of supportive women.”
Greek life across Canada
Universities across Canada are generally passive when it comes to Greek letter organizations. Queen’s University is one of the only schools in the country to have an explicit ban on Greek letter organizations. Since 1933, fraternities and sororities have been banned by the Alma Mater Society (Q–AMS), the student government at Queen’s, because of their exclusivity. The policy ban is also endorsed by the university. “At Queen’s, we strive to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment free from hazing and other activities strongly associated with Greek life,” said Miguel Martinez, President of the Q–AMS, in an interview with The Varsity. “The ban has allowed this campus to grow and expand as an inclusive and diverse environment.” However, three fraternities and one sorority still operate in Kingston. According to a 2017 article in The Queen’s Journal, Greek life societies have trouble recruiting new members since they are banned from being officially affiliated with Queen’s and recruiting at orientation week. According to Martinez, “there is not really a presence of Greek life on campus” due to the ban, but Martinez believes the Q–AMS is “on good terms” with the Greek life societies located near Queen’s. The University of British Columbia (UBC) currently has the largest Greek system in Canada. The UBC Panhellenic Association, which represents eight sororities, and the UBC Interfraternity Council (IFC), which represents 10 fraternities, are both recognized by UBC’s own Alma Mater Society (UBC– AMS) and student government. The IFC and the UBC–AMS have been working together for around 50 years. The IFC functions as a club
within the UBC–AMS and goes there for advice. On the other hand, UBC administration has kept the Greek system at an “arm’s reach” for many years, according to IFC President Jamie Gill. Gill told The Varsity that “the university doesn’t necessarily recognize us as their responsibility,” but stressed that “it is imperative that there is some type of connection to the university.” In order to give the Greek system a direct “line of communication with the university,” Gill and the previous president of the UBC Panhellenic Association worked closely with UBC’s Managing Director to create a new position called the Student Community Liaison, who will be hired within the next year and paid for by the university. Gill hopes that the liaison will help increase the Greek community’s legitimacy in the eyes of UBC and bring the Greek system and UBC closer. Earlier this month, UBC announced that all UBC fraternity members will be required to undergo annual training on consent, bystander intervention, and healthier masculinity. The training will be administered by UBC–AMS’ Sexual Assault Support Centre. The McGill Panhellenic Council oversees McGill University’s five sororities and is currently not recognized by the Students’ Society of McGill University. However, McGill Panhellenic President Laura Schulz recently started the application process to become a recognized club. “I believe we are a fairly autonomous organization overall,” said Schulz. “Any student of McGill obviously has to abide by the McGill Code of Conduct and if we rent McGill property we have to abide certain regulations, but apart from that we enjoy a high level of freedom.”
Debate across North America
The legitimacy of fraternities and sororities on university campuses is not an issue that is unique to Canada, as it has recently become a subject of fierce debate in the United States. Most notably, Harvard University recently implemented a policy stating that undergraduates who are members of unrecognized single-gender social organizations, like sororities or fraternities, cannot hold leadership positions in recognized student organizations or sports teams and are barred from receiving certain scholarships. In a press release, Harvard stated that these groups “run counter to Harvard's long-standing non-discrimination principles, and have an outsized and negative impact on the social and personal experiences of Harvard College students.” The North American Interfraternity Conference, a trade association representing 66 fraternities — including ones with Canadian chapters — weighed in on the debate on its website. “A student’s first amendment right to freely associate with single-sex organizations has recently come under threat,” the trade association statement reads. “It is becoming increasingly common for higher education institutions to propose policies aimed at forcing these organizations to become co-ed or to impose other membership policies that would violate a student’s right to freely associate with organizations of their choice.” It was recently reported that, in response to Harvard’s policy, a group of Harvard fraternities, sororities, and students are suing the institution, arguing that the policy is sexist and goes against Title IX of the US Constitution, and the Massachusetts constitution and Civil Rights Act. *Name changed at individual’s request due to fears of repercussions from her sorority.
Ombudsperson’s office expanded to all campuses in hopes of growing outreach
Office helps resolve university-related issues, addresses system problems
Andy Takagi Associate News Editor
After over 40 years servicing UTSG, the Office of the Ombudsperson has expanded to place officers on all three campuses, following a vote by Governing Council in May. The expansion was done in the hopes that it would increase awareness of the Office’s existence and assist in outreach, according to Ellen Hodnett, the recently re-appointed U of T Ombudsperson. The Office of the Ombudsperson was founded in 1975 and acts as an independent body to help faculty, staff, students, and alumni resolve university-related issues and brings forward broader systemic problems to Governing Council. Hodnett describes the position as largely about directing people to the correct resource. In the past, the Ombudsperson’s report to Governing Council proposed the contentious university-mandated leave of absence policy. In an interview with The Varsity,
Hodnett described a lack of engagement from the broader U of T community as motivation for the move. Despite efforts made through social media, Hodnett explained that “none of that made much of a difference at all.” Hodnett was re-appointed to the ombudsperson position for an additional year after a three-year appointment ended last June. “I’ve been at U of T since 1975 in one capacity or another, mostly as a professor, but also as a graduate student and now as ombudsperson,” Hodnett said. “I still find navigating all the various websites and finding out whom I should contact about a particular issue, a challenge.” Hodnett and Secretary of the Governing Council Sheree Drummond decided to combine the roles of Assistant Secretary of Governing Council with Ombuds Officer — the positions are filled on the Campus Council at both UTM and UTSC. “There’s no conflict of interest,” she said. “There’s no administrative con-
U of T Ombudsperson Ellen Hodnett was re-appointed to her position late last year. Courtesy of CHRISTOPHER SORENSEN
nection here, so we can keep everything very confidential and within our office mandate.” Rena Prashad is the Interim Director of Governance and Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council at UTSC. At UTM, Cindy Ferencz Hammond is the Director of Governance and Assistant Secretary of Governing Council. Both agreed to fill the Ombuds Officer role for the announced expansion and were trained by Hodnett for the position over the summer.
The appointment for UTSG took longer consideration. Hodnett explained that the job description had to be similar to those on the other campuses and also required looking through a number of applicants. In mid-November, Dr. Kristi Gourlay filled the position of Assistant Secretary of Governing Council and Ombuds Officer for UTSG. Gourlay is the former Manager of the Office of Student Academic Integrity. On the topic of the university-mandated leave of absence policy, Hodnett
confirmed that the annual review of the conditions under which the policy was applied will take place in coordination with her office. “Our focus, as I said before, is unfairness,” she said. “We take that very, very seriously. I’ve written in previous annual reports [about] my awareness of the challenges posed by having the accessibility issues related to students with significant mental health problems. And there is no black and white here.”
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Governing Council membership underrepresents women, analysis of past 10 years show Men make up majority of U of T’s highest governing body
Nominations for student seats on Governing Council open Eight student positions to be filled by election in February Silas Le Blanc Associate News Editor
Andy Takagi Associate News Editor
Governing Council is the highest governing body at the University of Toronto, passing policy that broadly affects the lives of students, faculty, and staff — but what does it look like? The Varsity looked into the gender breakdown for Governing Council going back 10 years and found an almost two-thirds majority of men on Governing Council across the tenure of two presidents. Out of the 50 members that make up Governing Council, 30 are elected: 12 teaching staff, eight alumni, four full-time undergraduate students, two administrative staff, two graduate students, and two part-time students. Of the other 20 members, 16 are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor-
in-Council, the representative of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and two are appointed by President Meric Gertler. The remaining two members are Gertler and U of T’s Chancellor Rose Patten. While historically all positions of Governing Council are filled, in recent years a few government appointee positions have been left empty. Together, these members propose and pass policies that affect all members of the university community. Notably, Governing Council sets tuition, approves new programs, and passed the controversial smoking and universitymandated leave of absence policies. Despite Governing Council’s wield over university operations, the members do not accurately reflect the makeup of U of T. Women are widely underrepresented filling about 37 per cent of seats on Governing Council
on average. The 2018–2019 session of Governing Council had 29 men and 13 women, totalling a 30.95 per cent representation for women — the third lowest across 10 years. The year with the highest representation was 2011–2012, which saw 46.81 per cent of Governing Council positions filled by women. Representation of women dropped sharply in 2015–2016 from 41.67 per cent to 30 per cent. In 2017, almost 20 per cent difference in the proportion of men to women on Governing Council when compared to the representation of students. The representation on Governing Council, however, does match the statistics for academic staff and faculty. Women represent 36 per cent of fulltime tenured or tenure-stream faculty, as well as 41 per cent of part-time and full-time academic staff.
The Office of Governing Council has made its annual call for student nominations, open to all students in full-time and part-time programs. Nominations opened on January 7 and close at 5:00 pm on January 18. The eight student positions on Governing Council are an opportunity to become involved in the university’s most powerful decision-making body. If elected, members are expected to contribute to the future direction of the university. Collectively, Governing Council is responsible for areas of the university such as strategic direction,
finances, human resources, infrastructure, and academic quality. Of the eight student spots, four are reserved for full-time undergraduate students, two for parttime students, and two for graduate students. Previous experience in student politics is not required. To nominate someone or oneself, students are required to fill out a nomination form. Paper versions of this form can also be found at room 106 of Simcoe Hall. UTM and UTSC Campus Councils will also be holding nominations for their respective students. The online voting period begins on February 4, and ballots will be counted and announced on February 19. Elected winners will be declared on February 22.
Professor Carol Chin appointed as Woodsworth College principal Chin joined U of T history department in 2008 Ilya Bañares Deputy News Editor
Following a months-long search to replace Woodsworth College Principal Joseph Desloges, longtime history professor and administrative official Carol Chin has been appointed as the head of the University of Toronto’s largest college. Desloges is scheduled to complete his second term at the end of this academic year. Because of term limits, he is ineligible for reappointment under the Policy on Appointment of Academic Administrators. He has headed the college since 2008 and also teaches in the geography and earth sciences departments. In a statement released December 20, U of T said that Chin would serve as principal from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024. “Professor Chin is an accomplished researcher and teacher, and brings exceptional experience in academic leadership and governance,” the statement read, citing Chin’s previous service in a variety of roles since joining U of T in 2008, including working as Acting Principal of Woodsworth from 2015–2016. Chin had also worked as the interim head of the history department and served on the Academic Board of Governing Council and the Provostial Advisory Committee on the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence. Chin completed her undergrad-
uate studies in Chinese literature at Harvard University in 1977, and obtained an MA and a PhD in history from Ohio State University in 1996 and 2001, respectively. In an interview with The Varsity, Chin said that she was “delighted” to head back to the college she previously led in an interim position. She also said that she would work toward overcoming certain challenges and cooperate with students, staff, and faculty. “I think one of the biggest challenges for Woodsworth is numbers,” she said. “It’s the biggest college; it’s got a very small number of residence spaces — that’s not something that we can solve easily.” Chin added that “one of the things that makes Woodsworth such a special place is its legacy,” citing what she sees as its history of accessibility and equity. The process for searching for a new principal began in May. In a September interview, U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr said that after the initial announcement, an advisory committee was created. Following nominations, applicants underwent an interview process. No names were released to the public. U of T has not yet announced a new Principal of University College. Donald Ainslie, the current principal and a leading member of the Landmark Project, is set to leave his position in June.
Business
January 14, 2019 var.st/business biz@thevarsity.ca
“Think global, act local”
U of T students Kehkashan Basu, Quinn Underwood discuss grassroots activism, launching startups
TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY
Tahmeed Shafiq Varsity Contributor
Even as undergraduates, U of T students Kehkashan Basu and Quinn Underwood are already hard at work changing the future by innovating environmental protection measures and digital health technology. From October 17–20, youth leaders
and activists gathered in The Hague, Netherlands for the 2018 One Young World Summit, a platform aimed at empowering young people who are attempting to solve the world’s pressing issues. Among the delegate speakers: Basu and Underwood. Basu, the recipient of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, spoke about her youth organization Green
What can Hollywood teach us about investing?
A guide to getting started on investing, and what to look out for Matias Gutierrez Associate Business Editor
In Martin Scorsese’s black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the ambitious and bullheaded stockbroker Jordan Belfort, whose fall from grace at the hands of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is as sensational as it is stunning. In The Big Short, another Wall Street flick, Christian Bale plays Michael Burry, one of the few investors who predicted the housing market collapse in 2008. Outsmarting the entire financial industry, Burry shorts — that is, bets against — the housing market and emerges billions of dollars richer. However excessive the character or plot, if you’re like me, there is something undeniably attractive and glamourous about Hollywood’s portrayal of Wall Street and the world of investing. Among Hollywood’s idiosyncrasies is a fascination for the high stakes world of investing, finance, and stocks. Many people’s first exposure to investing is through movies, where a gifted stockbroker outsmarts competitors, or where
stereotypes of excess, wealth, and power manifest to create complex characters and dramatic storylines. Despite being portrayed as morally flawed or corrupt, these characters, often based on real people, enjoy the finest luxuries, and seem fearless in the face of their demise. Let this article serve as advice to those among you who fancy yourselves the next Wolf of Wall Street. While it might be possible to extract solid investing advice from Hollywood, remaining tethered to reality is still of the utmost importance. Here are a few things you should take away from the movies that spark the investing fire in all of us. First, you do not need to have a lot of money to start. In fact, investing small, controlled amounts at a time should be your goal. The old adage ‘time is money’ holds more weight when a trade is worth a million dollars, rather than a couple hundred. Opening up a brokerage account at your local bank and putting in even a tiny amount of money is a massive step in the right direction. Investing is only supremely lucrative for a handful of people. The reality is that investing should be used as a tool to supplement your savings —
Hope Foundation and environmental activism; Underwood discussed his experiences as Director of Global Business Development for digital health technology company Advin. The Varsity sat down with both of them to discuss balancing school and charitable work, the process of launching startups, and why grassroots activism should never be neglected in the debate around global issues. Youth leadership Basu, a first-year student planning to major in Environmental Studies, was born on June 5 — World Environment Day. “I always thought that it was preordained that I should grow up to be a new ecowarrior,” she said. At age eight, Basu began raising awareness about sustainability issues such as water conservation and recycling. Four years later, she was one of the youngest delegates at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. It was there that her interests turned to youth activism. “Their outcome document was called the ‘Future We Want,’ but it was our future that was being decided,” Basu said, “by adults who wouldn’t even live to see that future.” She went on to found Green Hope Foundation later that year to engage young people in creating a healthier environment. The foundation’s central tool is the ‘environment academy,’ a workshop created by young people for young people on how to “take action in their own zone of influence.” The group has a focus on reaching marginalized communities, including Indigenous communities and children with incarcerated parents. Underwood is currently a fourth-year student completing a double major in
you shouldn’t be risking everything on penny stocks, or expect investing to be your main source of income. If you pay attention, ‘the Wolf ’ himself hardly invests large amounts of his own money in the stock market. He values only his commission because he knows that keeping complete faith in the market is nearsighted and foolish. Don’t take on unnecessary risk while looking for large rewards. Be frugal. Second, be cool and be patient. Hollywood tends to fast-track the archetypal rags to riches story. Unless you give up your life and become a day trader, investing is about playing the long game and being incredibly patient with your earnings. In The Big Short, the protagonists were forced to be patient with their position, as banks around them fraudulently manipulated the state of the collapsing market to save their own money. Basic investing lingo makes use of ‘buy,’ ‘hold,’ and ‘sell’ as indicators for stocks. Oftentimes, the most important move you’ll make will be to not do anything at all. Holding firm in your position and being patient, however hard it may seem, is the name of the game. Yours truly has too often seen a few bad quarters and sold early. The important thing to realize is that stocks can recover just as quickly as they can fall, and that no decision should be made on impulse or little evidence. Stay informed and be patient: don’t let huge profits or huge losses get to your head.
Immunology and Health Studies. When he was in high school, he founded Indian Umbrella, a charity that raises funds and awareness for grassroots organisations in India. He entered U of T with the intention of going to medical school to further expand his work, but “quickly realised that if helping people was the goal, then being a doctor and working with individuals on a one-on-one basis wasn’t necessarily the best way to do that.” After a research trip to Myanmar investigating digital health applications to child malnutrition, Underwood joined Advin, a Bangladesh-based company rolling out digital health care systems in remote areas. Its hardware and software diagnostic systems currently reach 80,000 patients across the country with plans to scale to five million in the next five years in markets including India, Myanmar, and Tanzania. Life as U of T students Balancing school and outside responsibilities can be a challenge. But experience helps, Basu said. “I’ve been practicing this whole time management thing since I was eight… and I’ve been able to do it very well. Yes, I complete my assignments on flights sometimes. I have to work a little harder than my peers to study or get stuff done, but it’s very fruitful.” “I wish I had the time management skills she does, or perhaps the discipline,” Underwood said with a laugh. For him, achieving balance is a matter of exploiting the intersections between school and his charitable work to optimize his time “to do as much as possible.” “[For] professors like Joseph Wong in the Munk One program… Their number one rule is to be audacious, because in the rest of your courses and classes you have
to worry about the grade you’re going to get, and audaciousness kind of comes second,” Underwood said. “At the end of the day, it’s not checking boxes; it’s a gamble.” Philanthropic mentality This audaciousness is what drives Underwood and Basu to go out into the field and tackle global problems, far beyond the boardroom. Philanthropic work with a grassroots perspective is directly informed by the real needs of people affected by problems, according to Basu. “When you go into the field you can see that, ‘Okay, these are the problems that are not talked about’ and this doesn’t reach the big conferences and officials.” Basu noted that integrating this topdown approach with bottom-up groundwork is paramount to understanding issues. “You actually need to go out into the field and do something physically. Even if you can’t physically do it, work with someone who [can].” Underwood likewise stressed the importance of a bottom-up approach, through understanding issues from the perspective of those affected. He shared an account of how smokeless cook stoves were brought to parts of Africa and South Asia to solve respiratory problems from smoke inhalation — only for them to go unused because people did not like the taste of the food. Bottom-up social work is about “actually understanding what needs to be done,” he said. However, individualized grassroots work can only go so far, he continues. Effective solutions also require addressing systematic causes to problems. “It needs to meet in the middle: topdown and bottom-up,” Basu said. “Think global, act local.”
TAHASUN TARANNUM/THE VARSITY
Finally, do not underestimate the amount of time you’ll need to put in to actually see success. Unless you are prepared to monitor your portfolio every day and keep tabs on a specific industry every minute of every day, stay away from small to medium-cap stocks. Invest in large companies that exhibit steady and patient growth, and don’t try to pounce on emerging markets like weed or tech without doing exhaustive and thorough research. On film, stockbrokers are seen as either completely reliant on their gut, or on research and algorithms — like Bradley Cooper’s character in Limitless. The reality is somewhere in between. There will always be two
sides to every decision or trade you make, but there should be no limit to the amount of research behind every decision. Put in the effort to look at every possible source of information. This may end up taking up more of your time than you anticipated, but the reality of stock is that more and more of your time will be occupied with reading and interpreting the news than with actual trading. There is a lot more we can take from Hollywood on investing, but as a student, these are some of the most important lessons you should have in mind if you want your foray into investing to be worthwhile.
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January 14, 2019 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
No functionality without accountability
The UTGSU suffers from insider culture, financial mismanagement, and hostility with the media Sam Routley UTSG Campus Politics Columnist
At the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) Executive Committee election for the 2018–2019 academic year, Internal Commissioner-elect Lynne Alexandrova expressed that her priority was “building together a top-level policy-guided and funding guaranteed mutually supportive tri-campus community.” This commitment, in line with the UTGSU’s broader mandate to “advocate for increased graduate student representation and act as a voice for students,” has been unsuccessful. Made conspicuous at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, the UTGSU is an increasingly unaccountable and inefficient organization. A culture of insiders For several years, the UTGSU has been under the control of a small circle of stubborn insiders. While not illegitimate, their democratic mandate is shaky. During the 2018 Executive Committee election, only two out of six positions were contested and several incumbents remained in their positions. This shows an unengaged and apathetic electorate. As I have discussed before, lack of participation is a problem that faces all student governments. However, unlike the UTGSU, the University of Toronto Students’ Union, for all of its shortcomings, can at least conduct competitive elections, and has executive turnovers and productive meetings. At the AGM, Alexandrova was removed from her position after losing the confidence of the executive. Although her statements should be taken with a grain of salt, Alexandrova suggested that her removal corresponded with a culture that, as
a Varsity article notes, “supported returning executives without room for outside or ‘different’ perspectives.” Regardless of the substance of these allegations, this demonstrates an executive that, although not necessarily self-serving, avoids internal criticism and new ways of thinking. The problem, however, is that these governance principles are clearly broken. The lack of student involvement enables an environment that allows the executive to get away with not being entirely accountable, despite not being secretive. This has produced a broken and poorly managed organization, expressed most starkly through its financial situation.
efficient internal functionality. Avoiding financial default should be one of the top priorities for any representative organization. In addition to mismanagement, the UTGSU appears to lack democratic transparency and legitimacy. Members were unable to see, evaluate, and express their viewpoints on how their association spends their money: the union has yet to post its latest documents from the December meeting. The AGM subsequently lost any sense of productivity. It was reduced to logistics and, as a result, many of the attendees gave up, expressing a profound level of frustration. The meeting lost quorum and was adjourned with very little having been done and the organization’s future in question.
The Graduate Students’ Union has drawn criticism following its AGM in December. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY
Financial mismanagement The issue does not stem from debt or threat of bankruptcy, but a failure to provide a draft report of financial statements to its members in time for the AGM. This led to a failure to pass the statements, leaving the union at risk of financial default. Although it is not entirely clear why or how this could have occurred, the situation reflects a sense of tiredness within the organization, such that it cannot provide robust and
Lack of external accountability The adjourned AGM gave way to the General Council meeting. The organization has also seemingly hid from external transparency there: the presence of the student press at both the AGM and the General Council proved contentious. Reporters from The Varsity, who were there to cover the meetings, were barred from taking photos or live-tweeting the
event. Under the direction of editors, the reporters live-tweeted anyway. When discovered, The Varsity’s reporters were asked to leave, meaning that the outcomes of the General Council meeting, including the future of the organization, are left unclear to the public. In some cases, sensitive information can justify confidentiality, which could have informed the union’s decision on this matter. However, this cannot be said for the AGM. The AGM acts primarily as the way in which the executive maintains a link of accountability to the people it represents, who themselves can communicate their will for the organization’s decisions. The media, while not necessarily a ‘member’ in the strict sense, plays a crucial part in this process. The unconditional reporting of the student press is an established custom of student union meetings, and disregard for it suggests that there is something to hide from the public, especially when put in connection with other issues of accountability at the union. The need for new faces For any representative institution, accountability is necessary to perform the function it has been tasked to do, otherwise, it will fail as an organization. The UTGSU has fallen into this trap and risks failing the students it ought to represent. Together, an insider culture, an uncertain financial situation, and a strained relationship with student journalists point to a systematically unaccountable and broken dynamic — one that the current leadership does not seem willing to change. The UTGSU needs a much more engaged electorate and democratic governing culture, which can be brought first and foremost through new faces in its leadership. This can be supplemented by regular and competitive elections to avoid another broken culture. Sam Routley is a fourth-year Political Science, Philosophy, and History student. He is The Varsity’s UTSG Campus Politics Columnist.
One bad decision after another
The SCSU must abandon attempts to control student media and focus on better, democratic governance Michael Phoon UTSC Affairs Columnist
Student unions are, ideally, democratically elected bodies that advocate for the interests and address the needs of their student electorates. In turn, students should be able to hold unions accountable for those democratic processes, interests, and needs. However, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU), which is responsible for the 14,000 undergraduate students at UTSC, fell short of this ideal last year, with a number of controversial decisions. In November, a SCSU emergency Board of Directors (BoD) meeting rejected the addition of a motion on online voting for SCSU elections to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) agenda. Online voting is already used by the University of Toronto Students’ Union and could have served to address voter apathy during elections. Toward the end of the semester, the BoD voted to give an additional $4,500 of funding to the UTSC Women’s and Trans Centre (WTC) for its annual conference, even though the increase was rejected at the AGM. Evidently, the judgment of the SCSU does not align with the will
of the electorate. Most recently, and most controversially, the BoD unanimously voted on a motion to move toward controlling student media accreditation and access to meetings. Director of Political Science Raymond Dang, who moved the item, accused student media of misrepresentation and misinformation, without providing specific examples of such coverage. However, the motion clearly targets The Varsity and The Underground, which covered the controversial WTC motion, also moved by Dang. The SCSU has mischaracterized the student media as having published “false information,” which is certainly not the case. In reality, this is an attempt by the SCSU to censor and limit the student press’ ability to freely and independently cover student bodies, especially with coverage that exposes controversial decisions and is critical of those in power. Even though the SCSU plans to make decisions on media access based on the Canadian Association of Journalists’ (CAJ) ethics standards, the CAJ has described the SCSU's actions as undemocratic and called for U of T’s student unions to “abandon their attempts to block journalists from covering public meetings.” In choosing to control the media’s coverage of vital public meetings, the SCSU compromises its own integrity and credibility. It illustrates its ef-
The SCSU AGM in November was followed by controversial decisions by the Board of Directors. JOSIE KAO/THE VARSITY
forts to prevent the publication of material that it views as a threat to its own agenda. It opens the door to actions and decisions without accountability, and could potentially lead to the misuse of power. Without free discussion and criticism of authority, the electorate is left less informed. The SCSU must earnestly make improvements in its governance and rectify the issues that truly matter. Controlling the press is a distraction from the real purpose and role of student unions: to answer the pressing interests and needs of students. The SCSU has continually made poor and irresponsible decisions, including the WTC motion and inaction regarding incidences of food safety at UTSC. The role of the student press in exposing these shortcomings has been critical and should inspire the SCSU to do better. As CAJ President Karyn Pugliese stated, “No government is above the
law and journalists, including student journalists, have the constitutionally protected right to hold any and all governments to account on matters of public interest.” If student unions like the SCSU are to uphold their commitment to democracy, they must recognize that the student press’ freedom and independence are central to student democracy. The SCSU must trust the student media as journalists who are obligated to fair, objective, and truthful reporting for the public, not misinformation. To the SCSU: retract your motion to control student media and focus on competently addressing the issues that matter to students. Michael Phoon is a second-year Journalism student at UTSC. He is The Varsity’s UTSC Affairs Columnist.
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A student body divided against itself
Drawing lessons and parallels from the SFUO crisis at the University of Ottawa Justin Patrick Varsity Contributor
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) has been embroiled in a political conflict that could leave the student union destroyed after 49 years of relative stability. In September, the University of Ottawa (U of O) terminated its agreement recognizing the SFUO as the official undergraduate student union after “allegations of financial mismanagement,” and “improper governance… and workplace misconduct” were unearthed. This February, U of O students will vote in a referendum organized by the university administration to decide whether to remain with the SFUO or choose one of the new proto-unions formed by students who want change. This referendum takes resources and effort away from student advocacy, setting a new precedent for Canadian student politics. The executive coordinator Significant changes were made to the SFUO starting in 2011. The SFUO’s student court was abolished and a new, unelected, non-student position was created: the executive coordinator. The absence of the student court resulted in less transparency and accountability, while the executive coordinator position put most of the administrative power in the hands of someone who wasn’t an elected student. This led to a primarily mentorship-based role devolving into ensuring students adhered to the establishment’s dogma. All U of T student unions have a position like the SFUO’s executive coordinator, usually referred to as an executive director. At the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), this position became the centre of a lawsuit in 2015 when ex-
ecutives gave their executive director $277,726.40 as compensation following a contract termination, which resulted in an out of court settlement in 2017 involving part of the amount being repaid to the UTSU. These executive director positions at U of T student unions allow unelected non-students to potentially seek long-term careers in student politics and, as paid employees, have a vested interest in how student unions allocate their funds. Furthermore, current student leaders can become executive directors after graduating, so the cycle continues. Over time, resignations, removals, and mistreatment of SFUO executives and employees who did not side with the establishment began to occur. These individuals cited a toxic work environment, filibustering, and mistreatment in the workplace. One of the executives who resigned described the ordeal as making them feel “absolutely worthless.” Frequent resignations are also characteristic of U of T student unions. At the UTSU, seven elected representatives resigned in 2018 alone. The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union’s vice-president external and chief returning officer also resigned last year, both citing that they felt unsafe at work. Electoral processes The oppressive power structure in the SFUO fostered mismanagement. Voter turnout decreased from 27 per cent in 2009 to less than eight per cent in 2016, during which time its online voting system was reverted back to paper ballots. Money began to be wasted, leading to an over $1 million deficit in 2016, the worst in the SFUO’s history. During this financial crisis, the board — overwhelmingly filled by establishment figures — passed an 18 per cent increase to executive salaries. By this time, students had begun to resist, mo-
bilizing over 280 of their peers to the Winter 2017 SFUO General Assembly (GA) to reverse the decision to raise executive pay, the first time an SFUO GA had made quorum since its inception in 2014. One year later, over 400 students brought another GA to quorum, passing a motion for online voting with a 97 per cent majority. While U of T student unions may not suffer from such a level of financial mismanagement, they face similar problems when it comes to electoral processes. The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) and the SCSU still use paper ballot systems. A motion for online voting that was brought forward at the UTMSU November 2018 annual general meeting (AGM) was defeated. The SCSU also received a motion for online voting at its AGM, but its board of directors decided not to add the motion to the AGM agenda. Online voting at these campuses could have increased electoral accessibility and voter turnout. Assault on the press In the SFUO’s case, the establishment fought back against student resistance by trying to take over the board of directors of La Rotonde, the independent Francophone student newspaper that had written many investigative pieces about SFUO corruption. While this may seem like an outlier example, U of T student unions are no strangers to attempting to stifle the student press. In December 2018, the SCSU attempted “to control student media accreditation and access to meetings” and tried to restrict Varsity journalists from live-tweeting. For the UTGSU, restricting real-time reporting was a condition to press seating at its General Council meeting, and when Varsity journalists tried to resist in December 2018, they were removed from the meeting outright.
Despite all this, student resistance at U of O continued to galvanize and grow louder. Then, in summer 2018, allegations of fraud in the SFUO made headlines across the country. Let’s be vigilant at U of T Now, U of O is a divided campus. The fall semester has been marked by protests in front of the SFUO office and on social media. The establishment’s adherents who have not resigned are making every effort to keep the SFUO alive, even passing a series of policy-changing concessions that students have been advocating for since before the 2016 financial crisis. While the SFUO may seem like an extreme case, we should be vigilant about how similar issues have been or are taking root at U of T student unions. A good way to reverse such negative trends would be to view student unions as primarily democratic student governments, instead of as mere corporations that provide services. Contributions of the press and students are crucial to maintaining a healthy level of student participation, as an informed student body will be more likely to get involved in advocacy. Students and staff, regardless of the student union positions they hold, need to be welcomed and treated fairly, even if achieving this goal requires additional investments in human resources. Power should always be balanced in a way that maintains student democracy as the most powerful decision-making authority. Justin Patrick is a first-year master’s student in Political Science. Disclosure: Patrick is a UTGSU Council Representative for Political Science.
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Letters to the Editor
Whose voices are heard at The Varsity? An inquiry into which letters to the editor are published and the political viewpoints they represent
Re: Proposed smoking ban will not affect federated colleges “Im most concerned with how the smoke free policy will be enforced, do we make complaints to the campus police in cases where individuals may be smoking in front of [library] entrances?” — Sabrina Anne (from web) Re: The diversity dogma “I recognize that a Facebook comments section probably isn’t the best place to articulate this, but: The Varsity, this makes no fucking sense.” — Arjun Kaul (from web) “The only diversity that matters at uni is diversity of thought” — Clive Pereira (from web)
FIONA TUNG/THE VARSITY
Morag McGreevey Public Editor
Letters to the editor are an essential platform for The Varsity’s readers to publicly communicate with the newspaper’s leadership. These letters hold the newspaper accountable for its editorial decisions by creating a direct line of communication between The Varsity and its readership. The inseparable connection between accountability and criticism means that The Varsity faces an ethical imperative to publish letters that level substantive criticism at its decisions. Therefore, when a reader complains that The Varsity “is afraid of public opinion and scrutiny on itself — and is willing to abandon the principled stance of transparency for the pragmatic preservation of its readership and reputation,” I take this feedback very seriously. The reader who reached out to me has sought to contribute to The Varsity numerous times. And although their writing has been published by The Varsity twice, many other proposals for publication — including several letters to the editor — have been rejected by the Editor-in-Chief Jack Denton and Comment Editor Ibnul Chowdhury. Although Denton and Chowdhury offered various explanations for these rejections — a failure to make necessary edits, lack of relevance to U of T readers, and so on — the reader views the repeated rejections as reflective of The Varsity’s reluctance to publish politically conservative viewpoints. The reader wrote to me: “I have noticed a disproportionately leftleaning and politically liberal stance represented across The Varsity’s pages — and in particular, the Comment Section. The fact that these pieces elicit representation whereas mine (conservative in nature, but pertinent to students of the university) leads me to suspect that the paper is not representative of all students — seeking to only represent those aligned with the leadership’s moral and political views.”
I reached out to Denton and Chowdhury for their responses to this allegation. Both stated that The Varsity has no problem publishing letters to the editor that are critical of the newspaper and its editorial practices. They drew attention to Andrew Kidd’s criticism of The Varsity’s coverage of the University of Toronto Students’ Union Annual General Meeting and Rachel Chen’s criticism of the newspaper’s coverage of Faith Goldy during the mayoral election, which were both published last semester. Looking at the data, The Varsity has indeed published more letters to the editor than the newspaper did last year, suggesting an increased openness to reader feedback and public accountability. Denton told me that, as a general rule, The Varsity publishes all letters to the editor. However, there are some exceptions. The most common reasons for declining to publish a letter to the editor are when the content of the letter is hateful, such as making arguments that are racist and sexist, or when it levels ad hominem attacks at specific writers or editors. The newspaper also declines to publish letters that are too lengthy, or factually misrepresent its coverage, editorial processes, or official stances on issues. Denton explained that “while we are open to critical engagement from readers, we are under no obligation to publish materials that needlessly harm our reputation. Legitimate, substantive criticism from readers is an important part of building trust with our readership, but unsubstantiated criticism is not.” For Chowdhury, legitimate, substantive criticism must satisfy three criteria: the content is logically and fairly argued, relevant to the University of Toronto readership, and does not promote or advocate hate in any way. Within those confines, any view is publishable. But given The Varsity’s wide policy to publish critical letters to the editor, why do some conservative readers still feel that their viewpoints are not welcomed by the newspaper? According to Chowdhury, “The political leaning of the opinion pages is a question I’ve grappled and discussed with fellow
masthead members over the course of the semester. I don’t deny that most opinion pieces, where politics is concerned, do lean left.” Chowdhury hypothesizes that the political bent of The Varsity’s opinion pages is a natural reflection of the newspaper’s left-leaning contributor base, which may also be reflective of the student body. While The Varsity does publish conservative perspectives — whether in defence of free speech, Premier Doug Ford, or pro-life demonstrations — Chowdhury notes that the readership tends to respond most favourably to progressive views. Nonetheless, Chowdhury would like to see more political balance and conservative voices in the newspaper’s opinion pages. After speaking with Denton and Chowdhury, it seems that The Varsity’s leadership is in accord with the reader who reached out to me: both would like to see a newspaper that embraces public accountability, legitimate criticism, and diverse viewpoints. The tension between both parties, then, is a breakdown of expectations. The Varsity should be clear from the outset about the process it follows when choosing which letters to the editor to publish. That way, prospective contributors can formulate their thoughts in a style that satisfies The Varsity’s criteria for publication and, in the event that their writing is not published, understand the reasons for the decision. Selecting which opinion pieces to publish is undoubtedly a subjective exercise and the decision ultimately rests with the editor-in-chief. But this should not stop The Varsity’s leadership from striving to be fair and consistent in its decision-making process. The Varsity must continue to be selfreflective about the viewpoints that it publishes — the newspaper should reflect the breadth and diversity of its readership. Increased transparency about the selection criteria for publication helps to further this goal. Morag McGreevey is The Varsity’s Public Editor and can be reached at publiceditor@ thevarsity.ca.
Re: In defence of Ford’s minimum wage freeze “‘...Economic intrusions like artificial wage hikes...’ ? The entire marketplace is artificial. There are innumerable externalities to the market (by design) that are unaccounted for but have actual negative impacts. The stock market is built on fantasy and is the main driver of poverty today. Now more than ever the market is constructed - by legislation, not by itself, - to draw up capital to the advantaged to increase their wealth and solidify power. What foolish nonsense defending this corrupt and violent mechanism. The lessons of 2008 have not been learned.” — Ronnie Blake (from web) Re: Decolonizing by the pen and tongue “I never had any courses in any native language at school and I wish I could have” — Ryder Wh (from web) Re: This time of year is tough on mental health — don’t be afraid to ask for help “One of the ways you can help foster a culture of caring at U of T is to take the “Identity, Assist, Refer” online training. It takes about 20 minutes but it helps you to be able to recognize when someone around you is experiencing a mental health challenge, gives you strategies for having a helping conversation, and provides you with tools to make effective referrals.” — Chad Jankowski (from web) Re: Scarborough Campus Students’ Union disregards AGM consensus, votes to give some money to Women’s and Trans Centre “So I think we need to have some sort of checks and balances in terms of what the majority of the student population want and what the minority of the students want. It’s important that with a democratic society that also has individual rights we create a ‘third’ non biased branch that oversees the issues that have been voted down by the general population. It’s important to give the minority a voice. This would certainly be hard to emulate at the university level but I’m very interested to hear what everyone has to say about establishing a “judiciary” of sorts for student grievances” — Tebat Kadhem (from web) Re: Damn the exam cram “The article raises valuable points. Another issue I would like to point out is having to write two midterms just a few days apart or even on the same day. It might make sense to not conduct tests in 2 courses, which are taken as prerequisites, in the same week.” — Wajahat Naqvi (from web) “Counterpoint: having things crammed together forces you to prove you can handle stressful times while performing complicated tasks, which is why you get paid more for higher marks” — John Hinton (from web)
Editorial
January 14, 2019 var.st/comment editorial@thevarsity.ca
Check out The Varsity’s hottest new projects Following last year’s levy increase, Volume 139 is excited to deliver The Varsity Editorial Board
Last year, in the face of financial pressure stemming from a decade-long decline in advertising revenue across the media industry, The Varsity sought the direct support of students. We needed you to help sustain and grow our operations as a newspaper committed to building a strong and informed student voice at U of T. Specifically, we asked you to vote ‘yes’ on two levy referenda: one to increase our full-time undergraduate membership levy by $0.80; and another to establish a new levy of $0.80 for full-time graduate students. We were thrilled when you approved us on both accounts. The levy increase has enabled us to compensate our employees fairly, according to the new provincial minimum wage, without cutting costs. Furthermore, the new graduate levy means that full-time graduate students can fully participate in our operations, and our coverage of graduate politics and affairs has correspondingly grown significantly. And that’s not all. With the addition of five new masthead positions and the commission of seven new projects overall, our coverage and scope have grown and improved on an unprecedented scale this year. At the halfway mark of the year, we update you below on these expansions in detail, and we hope you find them to be worthy. We owe you for the support you’ve shown to your student press, and Volume 139 is excited to deliver. A truly tri-campus newspaper: the UTM and UTSC Bureau Chiefs The addition of the UTM and UTSC Bureau Chiefs has helped immensely in improving the quantity, quality, and diversity of coverage of the two campuses. With additional resources, we have been able to offer UTM and UTSC students the reporting they deserve and expect of us as a tri-campus newspaper. The bureau chiefs understand these campuses in a way that the UTSG-centred News team, alone, never could. The bureau chiefs have two major roles: to pitch stories about their campuses and to be there on the ground to report. If you glance through the News section, the vast majority of the articles about UTM and UTSC have come from pitches from the bureau chiefs. For example, one article announced the now open Chatime at UTSC. This seemingly small piece of news turned out to be one of our most popular articles of the year. The chiefs help the News section tap into our readership on a much deeper level. They also inform the other six section editors about stories that are relevant to their content. In the past, the News section would only have the resources to superficially report on UTM and UTSC student politics, especially due to the difficulty of getting students to go out to other campuses. Now, we cover a wide range of board and Campus Council meetings. Having our reporters in rooms where decisions get made means that we have
caught major policies that we otherwise would have missed in the past — for example, the article on the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union’s disregard for its Annual General Meeting consensus. Most importantly, the bureau chiefs are themselves students on the ground who are well-informed about the issues that matter at UTM and UTSC. This means that we are no longer limited to just covering routine governance meetings. In September, when there was a lot of buzz around UTM accepting more students than it could accommodate, our UTM Bureau Chief pitched articles documenting the space constraints of the campus, which have been an ongoing and pressing issue. When there was another discovery of a bug in food at UTSC, we were able to delve deeper into the issue when our UTSC Bureau Chief wrote about the wider healthy food concerns that students had. This is the type of coverage that the News section hopes to expand on this semester. With the support of the bureau chiefs, News intends to continue its watchdog-type reporting of governance at the satellite campuses, but also focus more attention on everyday issues that UTM and UTSC students care about. To get involved with News coverage at all three U of T campuses, contact News Editor Josie Kao at news@thevarsity.ca. Our seventh section: Business The new Business section was launched in October, with 30 articles published so far. This allows us to dedicate more attention and detail to the financial side of the university. Specifically, Business has focused on university investments and partnerships, student and alumni startups and entrepreneurship, donations and gifts, and events. The section is open to both reporting and opinion writing, so News and Comment contributors are equally welcome. Business is especially committed to keeping student readers informed about where university funding comes from and how it is being used, so as to hold the university more accountable for its dealings. For instance, our coverage of Huawei discussed the details of its partnership with U of T and how funding is used to support student research, while also questioning concerns over security and intellectual copyright. For the upcoming semester, Business strives to do more service journalism, cover the financial side of labour agreements and disputes, and begin to produce longer, more in-depth investigations and analyses of university finances and investments. To get involved with the section, contact Business Editor Michael Teoh at biz@thevarsity.ca. The Sports documentary: Beyond the Blue Line Since last semester, the Sports section has been filming and editing a documentary series on the journey of the members of the Varsity Blues men’s
TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY
hockey team in the 2018–2019 season. It promises to provide students, alumni, and the general public with an in-depth look into the course of an Ontario University Athletics season, and the joys, frustrations, and challenges of such an experience. Founded in 1891, the men’s hockey team is one of the oldest in U of T’s history, making it an easy pick for a documentary series. The series is still being filmed and edited, and approximately four episodes will be released over the course of this semester, including a final feature-length cut. The project has been an incredible and invaluable experience for the 14-member documentary team and is a feat that has never before been attempted at The Varsity. Stay tuned for its upcoming release. For more information on Behind the Blue Line, contact Sports Editor Daniel Samuel at sports@thevarsity.ca. The student life blog: The Squirrel The new blog, launched last week, is a lighthearted opportunity for students to express themselves and their interests in a concise, short, and humorous way. It focuses on activities to do and places to see on campus and in the wider city of Toronto. Furthermore, the blog showcases the unique experiences of some students who wish to either describe their interesting travel stories or share stories about how they overcame a challenge. The blog has been developing steadily throughout the past semester, with articles already available for readers. Ultimately, given the plethora of blogs these days, the project hopes to find and create a unique voice specifically for U of T, which we hope many students will wish to contribute to and read. Visit the blog at thesquirrel.thevarsity.ca. To get involved with the section, contact Blog Editor Joseph Naim at blog@thevarsity.ca.
Hearing people out: Podcast This year, we’ve built a podcast studio and started a Podcast section because we believe that podcasts offer more creative possibilities for our contributors. We currently have two shows: Bazaar and (Un)Spoken. The first is a variety show with multiple individually produced segments under one cool theme. Episode one was “FEAR OF,” and both “INFAMY” and “HEAD” episodes are on the way. The second is a talk show focusing on the experiences of marginalized groups at U of T. We’ve done episodes on exclusionary tendencies in academia and Chinese diaspora on campus so far, and we’re planning episodes on Black students’ experiences as well as women in STEM. Podcasts bring a unique focus to the importance of hearing people out — hearing a discussion as it was spoken or hearing the exact tone of someone’s voice. We hope to harness this to make the podcasts a more accessible way for people to look below the surface of U of T. As we continue with this very new project, we hope the podcasts can come to be seen as uniquely relatable and insightful output from The Varsity. To get involved with the section, contact Podcast Editor Blythe Hunter at podcast@ thevarsity.ca. Website redesign The Varsity’s website has not had a major redesign since 2011. This semester, our online and creative teams will be working diligently to redesign the website, making it more user-friendly, intuitive, and accessible. A primary focus in the redesign will be showcasing the variety of content we produce — from Arts & Culture articles to videos to live-tweeting governance meetings. We also want to creatively present featured stories in a visually appealing way and provide readers with contextual stories alongside the latest news. The Varsity is committed to reaching as many people in its community
as possible and providing them with the information they need to know. The majority of our readership is online and we’d like to engage readers in a dialogue, ensuring that our communication is a two-way conversation. Over the course of the year, The Varsity has implemented a few new projects designed to increase our online presence and gradually merge into a digitally-focused newspaper. Our new blog, podcast section, and this upcoming website redesign have been a threepronged online strategy to this end. For more information about our online strategy, contact Managing Online Editor Kaitlyn Simpson at online@thevarsity.ca. Professional development: we went to NASH The levy increase helped The Varsity to supplement its budget for professional development. This meant that a contingent of Varsity staff were able to travel to Calgary from January 3–6 for the Canadian University Press’ annual NASH conference. This opportunity allowed us to attend presentations, panels, and workshops from industry leaders in media on topics ranging from social media strategies to innovations in visual journalism to using open-source intelligence tools in campus reporting. Though only a delegation of staff were able to attend, the entire masthead and staff base will benefit from the takeaways from this conference. The conference also connected Varsity staff to student journalists from across the country, allowing us to share experiences and knowledge with a view to improving the strength and outlook of the student press across the country. Ultimately, we hope to apply what we’ve gained from NASH to improve the quality of our journalism for readers. The Varsity’s editorial board is elected by the masthead at the beginning of each semester. For more information about the editorial policy, email editorial@thevarsity.ca.
12 | THE VARSITY | FEATURES
Rejecting the self-care paradigm Pushing back against the corporatization of growth Writer: Ava Truthwaite Photographers: Dina Dong & Samantha Yao
I
t’s now 2019, which means that I, along with the rest of the world, have decided to fix my life. Not an easy task, I’ll have you know. At the time I’m writing this, it is six days into the new year and I have no idea what’s going on. Off to a great start. Every December 31, many of us fall victim to the idea of ringing in the new year with a list of personal chores. It’s kind of ridiculous, really. We set ourselves up for failure, and then we blame ourselves for being unable to accomplish impractical tasks. And although, rationally, I know this is the case, I’m no exception. One of my new year’s resolutions is to read more books for my own pleasure, not just for class. In 2018, the constant drone of university ate away at my love and appreciation for books. So I decided that for 2019, I would invest more time in reading books, rather than wasting it aimlessly scrolling through Twitter. New year, new me, or whatever it is we’re saying these days. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t make new year’s resolutions. It’s healthy to challenge ourselves and try to spend the year bettering ourselves. The problem is the things many people put on these lists. We make note of how to take better care of ourselves, usually based on what the internet tells us. But what we often don’t realize is that these ideas have been shaped by a society that obscures the definition of self-care. These ideas, in turn, completely shift our perspective and self-understanding, specifically for women. Suddenly women are pitted against one another, rather than lifting each other up. Consequently, this shapes our social interactions, and the cycle repeats itself. To kick off the year, I decided to start reading Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Interesting choice to begin a new year, I know. This self-help book is designed to help readers care less about the things they waste their time caring about. Considering that I need as much help as I can possibly get when it comes to silencing my overly analytical brain, I figured this book would be a great place to start. And as I kept reading, I found that it had a large focus on exactly what I wanted to write about in this piece: what it means to self-improve. So many of us view self-care as spa days and hitting the gym four days a week, or getting over eight hours of sleep per night. Here's a disclaimer: I’m not saying that any of those things are unimportant. Of course they’re important. But the fact that these are examples of what we see as the pinnacle of self-care and self-improvement is what I want to put under scrutiny here.
I want to emphasize vidual experience as a w mains rather misogyni white-presenting, cisge lege, and don’t experie that women of other id Subtle misogyny is often exhibited through and our desire to ‘selfnist, one-dimensional a woman nowadays is is viewed as the only “r pisses me off to no end There’s no doubt th tering glass ceilings. Th dialogue about ‘female that’s great. It is. It’s ab However, it’s impor tirely the case for ind white, able-bodied, h of ‘woman’. Women o women, and women than this model of ‘wo these identities interse complex. Social media and completely warped ou improvement really me provement as a kind o it’s mostly about aesth and society in general f to dedicate ourselves t that be our bodies, our wear, or our hair colou go two weeks without We’re called frauds feel the need to Facetu how our skin looks, the lines, because we feel accept us. And then w it. But then we’re also s skin pigmentation. We shave our armpits, our ies until they’re raw, be ‘gross’ and ‘unclean.’ We live in a society t tance of self-care, but self-confidence and sen
e that I am speaking to my indiwoman living in a society that reistic. However, as an able-bodied, ender woman, I have a lot of privience the same type of misogyny dentities do. the hardest to pinpoint, and it’s h social media that targets women -care.’ The standard white-femimindset of what it means to be plastered across the internet, and “right way” to be a woman, which d. hat we’re living in an age of shatThere’s been more conversation and e power’ now than ever before and bout time. rtant to note that this is not endividuals who fall outside of the heterosexual, middle-class model of colour, queer women, disabled who identify as anything other oman’ are not so lucky. And where ect, this reality is made even more
the privatization of care have ur idea of what self-care and selfean. Rather than viewing self-imof organic mechanism for growth, thetic presentation. Social media focus on how we, as women, need to improving our image, whether r skin, our teeth, the clothing we ur — because god forbid our roots a touch-up. with or without makeup on. We une and filter our selfies to change e whiteness of our teeth, our jawlike it’s the only way society will we’re made to feel ashamed about shamed for having acne scars and e’re expected to wax our upper lips, legs, our arms, and wax our bodecause hair on a woman is seen as
that currently preaches the imporsimultaneously shatters women’s nse of individuality. It’s impossible
features@thevarsity.ca
to achieve. But that’s what makes it so perfect — it’s making the unachievable seem achievable. People (read: companies) feed off of this. The need to ‘self-care’ is what makes those diet pills and detox teas for flat tummies sell. It’s what makes Facetune subscriptions sell. It’s what keeps Instagram running. Women are the perfect prey. And if we fight back in any way — choosing not to shave, embracing our weight, wearing what we want to wear, not filtering ourselves — we’re labeled as radicals, and we are silenced. The cycle is endless. I became hyperaware of this recently, when I had an acne flare up due to intense stress on my mind and body. I’ve never had acne in my life. Throughout high school, I’d get the occasional pimple around my period, and that was pretty much it. But this year, with assignment deadlines approaching, my sleep schedule practically nonexistent, and my mental health rapidly falling off a cliff, my hormones went ballistic, and my skin blew up. My previously smooth skin quickly became riddled with deep, painful cystic acne. In hindsight, it’s horrible to think that my first thought wasn’t, ‘What is causing me to break out and how can I fix that part of my life to help heal my body and mind?’ Instead, it was ‘what can I do to hide this so that I stop feeling ugly and dirty, and prevent people around me from thinking the same?’ I was embarrassed and ashamed, and I felt like my skin wasn’t my own. I’d scroll through Instagram and look at pictures of women with perfect complexions and toned bodies and wonder what was wrong with me. I’d been conditioned to see my breakout as abnormal, as defective, as disgusting, rather than a natural process that the body undergoes — a way for my body to tell me that I am stressed, not sleeping enough, not eating healthily enough, and not treating myself with the kindness and care that I deserve. I was prioritizing the aesthetic that I wanted to present to the world above my own health. This was further exacerbated when, at my doctor’s suggestion, I stopped wearing makeup to give my skin time to breathe. Now, not only was my face covered in bright red marks, but now I couldn’t even hide them. I
soon began to worry that I’d lose my femininity by not wearing makeup. I already dress in a fairly masculine fashion, and I relied on makeup to add a feminine touch to my everyday appearance — due to the fact that we have all been conditioned to see makeup as feminine. Without makeup to cover my bumps and marks, I worried my professionalism would be questioned while at work and in class. I worried that people would wonder why I didn’t look “put together” or “presentable,” as if me having pimples somehow made me a morally bad, unprofessional person. In writing this article, I’ve realized that we’ve come to moralize self-care. In a recent article for The Atlantic, Amanda Mull perfectly summarized this point: “The moral halo around ‘good skin’ isn’t a coincidence. The behaviours associated with a clear, even-toned complexion require those who want it to reject hedonism in a way that is still deeply ingrained as virtuous in American culture; that the wealthy have mastered the look that reinforces capitalistic notions of success and who achieves it (the ascetic, dedicated, and hardworking).” Now, as my skin slowly but surely heals, I am left with scarring, bumps, discoloration, hyperpigmentation, and flaky, peeling dryness. But I am happier than I was before. I’m sleeping more. I’m speaking to someone weekly to strengthen my mental health. I have to give my skin time to heal — I’ve accepted that. I can’t afford expensive treatments to speed up the process. I’m a student. I’m broke. I spent a lot of my free time over the holiday break thinking about this. While scouring the internet for acne remedies (hello, Dr. Pimple Popper, teach me your ways), I noticed that the immediate solutions that most websites recommend are professional treatments like laser scar removal, chemical peels, facials, and other expensive products. All of which, no surprise, specifically benefit the wealthy, ‘hardworking’, and ‘dedicated’. We’ve been trained to think that having perfect complexions, sculpted bodies, and straight teeth is ‘right,’ and grow to despise every aspect of ourselves that doesn’t meet this expectation.
To move past this, we need to learn to understand self-care and self-improvement in a different way, contrary to how we are conditioned to think. This process is no easy feat. Redefining self-care involves deconstructing everything social media and society has taught us to believe is a matter of fact. Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck emphasizes that “our culture today is obsessively focused on unrealistically positive expectations: be happier. be healthier. Be the best, better than the rest. Be smarter, faster, richer, sexier, more popular, more productive, more envied, and more admired.” In essence, these ‘modern’ ideas of self-care and self-improvement are primarily focused on having the most positive experience possible, which, paradoxically, turns out to be a negative experience in and of itself. This is because we are stuck fixating on the things we lack and emphasizing the things we wish we could have, rather than appreciating the things that we do have. We compare ourselves to others and shame ourselves for not being perfect. True self-care is about accepting that things suck sometimes, and that’s okay. By accepting this, we can begin to shift toward accepting what Manson dubbed “the benefits of experiencing healthy doses of pain.” It’s the trials and tribulations of our lives that make us grow. In shifting my own mindset from valuing my aesthetic presentation to valuing my own health, I was able to accept the fact that my skin sucks right now, but it’s getting better, because I am engaging in truly positive self-care. While I encourage readers to set goals and resolutions for 2019, I want to emphasize the importance of achievable goals that promote true self-care and growth, rather than the type we are expected to achieve. Take a moment to think about what you truly value, and what that means for yourself. And then ask yourself: what can I do to improve? It’s when we start asking those questions, and challenging what we think we already know, that we begin to see real progress.
Arts & Culture
January 14, 2019 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca
Winterfest 2019: Battle of the Bands A tale of two bands, a whole lot of beer, and one winner
Lead singer, Jagger Cleeves, from Rocket Bomb dominating the stage on Wednesday night. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY
Eddy Wang Varsity Contributor
I am seated on a beige bench in Lee’s Palace at 9:20 pm on January 9. Having just narrowly escaped death by a patch of ice on my way here, I note that the bench is one of those benches that you sat on in elementary school for recess. Above me, a disco ball reflects the purple lighting that engulfs the venue. There are four dangling lights surrounding the disco ball but only one of them is blue. It bothers me. Four well-dressed guys with white shirts come on and play “Someday” by The Strokes. They are Paint Dept., one of the two finalists. They sound like an indie rock band straight from the early 2000s — you know the type. They formed in a band member’s garage with sentimental lyricism
that makes you subtly miss your ex. The most standout member of the band is Kyle, the bassist. His hair is seriously gorgeous. Kyle described his hair as “blinding and buoyant.” It looks like expensive spaghetti that drops down to his shoulders. His dad later told me that Kyle used to be bald. Kyle confirms this, looking into the distance as he reminiscences about how he used to wear a hat when his hair was in the liminal state between baldness and the gorgeous spaghetti longness that it is today. By now about 70 people are in the venue. Most of the crowd sit on the beige benches while the few bravely standing hold their drinks and stare at the band. I look intently at one stander who is touching his right arm with his left hand like John Wayne at the end of The Searchers. Paint
Dept. gestures for the crowd to come closer before playing an Interpol cover. I debate whether I should stand up and engage in the crowdly escapades. I decide otherwise. My status as a note-taker who is jotting down everything with a near-empty pen prohibits me. The band tries to make banter the same way one tries to banter with a friend of a friend that one just met. It’s only when they play their second The Strokes cover, “Last Nite,” that the crowd really gets into it. It’s at this point — after a raffle in which I did not win anything — that Rocket Bomb comes on. Another five well-dressed guys start playing high-energy pop songs. Do you have to dress nicely to be part of a band? The bassist does not have long hair, but his bright red jacket combines with the purple lighting to accentuate the ’80s aesthetic the band is going for. Rocket Bomb are an indie dance pop collective with rose-tinted glasses for ’80s disco and funk who integrate modern pop sensibilities to create hip dance songs. They cite DNCE, John Mayer, Shawn Mendez, and The Killers as influences. They are more confident with the crowd, commanding the power to significantly increase the standing to bench-sitting ratio. While they go through their set, someone in the crowd shouts, “I love you Jacob!” and then the lead singer — whose name is not Jacob — takes off his black jacket and proceeds to cover Tiësto and Dzeko's “Jackie Chan.” Bodies move. Rocket Bomb gets the crowd to do that thing where everybody claps in the air. Rocket Bomb are definitely the larger entity: sporting over 350 Facebook likes, over 1,200 Instagram followers, and almost 5,000 monthly listeners on Spotify as of press time. Meanwhile, Paint Dept. has nine Facebook likes, about 100 Instagram followers, and no Spotify. In this sense, 2019’s Battle of the Bands is a classic David versus Goliath tale. Rocket Bomb advertise themselves as a product that 20-somethings can dance their 20s away to, while Paint Dept. are a grassroots garageband for 20-somethings who pontificate about how modern society lacks any realness.
Suddenly, Rocket Bomb starts playing the Wii theme. This is a level of post-irony that requires more alcohol in my system to appreciate, so I try to go to the washroom. Unfortunately, I am stopped by security who tell me I can’t bring a drink out. I do what any reasonable human being would do and finish the drink there. By the time I get back, Rocket Bomb is finishing their set. They tell the crowd to follow them on Instagram and that they have merchandise for sale at the back. Everybody gets closer for the last song. Or, more accurately, about 35 people get really close to the stage and about 28 people stay on the sidelines, either sitting on the beige benches or standing and staring intently from a distance. At the end of the night, these two seemingly distinct bands, in both sound and style, are pitted against each other in a battle of the bands. You’re probably here for an answer to this question: who wins? Well, to answer, I quote Jacques Derrida, the post-structuralist French philosopher: “Every other is wholly other.” For Derrida and his postmodern funkies, we don’t make comparisons with one another in terms of an objective standard. I can’t really compare Paint Dept.’s sound with Rocket Bomb’s, because any sort of objective standard by which I might compare the two wouldn't capture the singularity of each individual band. Derrida points out that to take otherness seriously, that is, for an other to be truly Other, there has to be something utterly irreducible about them. The other must always be outside oneself. As such, there must be something unfathomable and untranslatable between Paint Dept. and Rocket Bomb as musical acts. Yet that singularity — that thing which makes Paint Dept. ‘Paint Dept.’ and Rocket Bomb ‘Rocket Bomb’ is what makes each respective act meaningful in the first place. Declaring a winner for the battle actually defeats the ethos of both bands. Fortunately, the judges don’t have this philosophical concern — it is a battle after all. Rocket Bomb won.
Winterfest 2019: U of T’s drag show Forget RuPaul, U of T’s drag kings and queens have all the glitz, glamour, and glittaaa that you’ll need
Adam Lam Varsity Staff
Pop songs, lip sync battles, and performances by drag queens and kings lit up The Cat’s Eye Student Pub and Lounge on the evening of Thursday, January 10. Part of the University of Toronto Winterfest’s annual charity drag show, donations went to The 519, a charitable organization that runs a Toronto LGBTQ+ community centre on 519 Church Street. Wearing a conservative blazer, tie, button-up shirt, and slacks, U of T President Meric Gertler — or at least, his persona interpreted by a drag king — lipsynced to Brittany Spears’ “Circus” as he stripped off his layers of attire to reveal a white tank top, with the word “QUERCUS” emblazed on the front in blue. “That’s my president!” cheered an audience member in the middle. The audience was far from passive that night, with lively cheers, hoots, and clapping providing positive reinforcement for the performers, who responded well to the audience’s encouragement. Juno, a self-described “lesbian drag witch just here to have a good time,” came twice on stage, performing “Potential Breakup Song” by Aly & AJ, and later “Primadonna” by Marina and the Diamonds. She later told me how receiving the audience’s supportive feedback onstage helped ease her tensions to thrive in her persona. “I definitely was nervous before,” she said. “But, once you get on stage and everybody’s cheering, it’s a very happy, energetic vibe. It gets more comfortable because you realize, even if you do make a mistake, everyone here is just here for a fun time. Nobody’s
criticizing you very harshly.” Another performer, Camila Toe, who was described as a “newcomer to the Toronto drag scene,” was met by cheers for making intricate movements on stage look lithe and effortless. A fourth performer, ZacKey Lime, who was wearing a glitter top with track pants and sporting an exposed midriff, elicited joyous laughter and cheers for creatively incorporating a baby doll with baby powder into a playful performance. Interspersed between the performances were two lip sync battles between members of the audience who answered a call by lead organizer Jayde Jones, also president of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council. The first battle comprised of two teams of audience volunteers trying to outdo each other in a lip sync dance to a song by Ke$ha. A particularly inspired audience member grabbed two artificial glittery bouquets on the stage and repurposed the props from stage decorations to chest decorations. Laughter and cheers at the creativity won the enterprising audience member a gift bag during the election of the battle’s winner, based on Jones listening to the loud, enthusiastic receptions of the observing audience to each teams. During the intermission, Jones recommended that I participate in the second battle, citing it as an opportunity for “investigative journalism.” While I have too much respect for investigative journalists to claim this met that high bar, I did join a team onstage upon noticing there was a shortage of volunteers for the second round, in the interest of getting a better perspective on what it is like to perform.
Move aside RuPaul — there are some new drag kings and queens in town. SHANNA HUNTER/THE VARSITY
I’m not the best at dancing, but I did vaguely know its general principles. Like how I kind of went along playing basketball in high school gym class by mostly focusing on positioning to compensate for a dearth of ability to handle a ball, I decided to make full use of the stage space, avoid being static, and let the star performers take the lead. It was a showdown between two teams. Luckily for me, the two lead dancers Thomas Siddall and Trevor Fung, who had also performed in the first lip sync battle, had an excellent duo dancing performance that carried the team. Afterward, I caught up with Siddall and Fung for an interview. Siddall revealed that this was his first lip sync on stage, though he regularly lip syncs in the morning and at friends’ houses. Fung recalled how he developed his skills by practising in his room for years, getting caught by his siblings. Fung described how lip syncing can be empowering. It can let performers take on “the confidence
of the artist and their whole persona.” Siddall mentioned that being absorbed in the music can make you “forget who you are.” Siddall described how it can be healthy to feel empowerment in this way. He added that sometimes, being gay “can be a whole mess,” since his mom doesn’t accept his identity, often the case with families of Asian background. He recalled a stranger calling him a slur on public transit for just being on the train, and he also recalled feeling disturbed by the Church-Wellesley killings targeting members of the gay community. “Honestly, all we want out of this is just for people to be like, ‘Yeah, they’re people too,’” said Siddall. Because, despite the progressiveness of Canadian society, there are still “hurdles” to get over, explained Fung. LGBTQ+ community events like this Thursday evening’s, then, can perhaps help people recognize the humanity of others, regardless of sexual identity.
JANUARY 14, 2019 | 15
var.st/arts
The Varsity’s 25 best albums of 2018
2018 showed that musical poetry is truly for the listener
Ryan Akler-Bishop & Kate Schneider Varsity Contributors
2018 saw a fairly radical remodeling of the music industry. Promising talents solidified their names while countless established artists offered careerlows. This was a year defined by innovative ambient music, hypnotic art pop, and experimentations in hip hop album structures. Ultimately, 2018 provided representation to important voices, offering complex and profound commentaries on our ever-changing world.
13Historian by Lucy Dacus
It all begins with “Night Shift.” It’s the kind of indie rock showstopper that grips you with its first words and hurls you through the sky as the climax hits. Though the rest of the album never reclaims this peak, it offers a tender exploration of relationships and time. Lucy Dacus’ observant and witty songwriting is exceeded only by the sincerity of her voice. Between Historian and her work in boygenius (EP), Dacus has established herself as a vital presence in the indie world. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Night Shift” / “Timefighter” / “Nonbeliever”
OF EVERY PEARL’S UN25OIL INSIDES by SOPHIE SEE GHOSTS by KIDS 12KIDS SEE GHOSTS Essential tracks: “Ponyboy” / “Faceshopping” / “Pretending”
24TA13OO by Denzel Curry
Essential tracks: “SIRENS|Z1RENZ (feat. J.I.D)” / “VENGEANCE|VENGEANCE (feat. JPEGMAFIA & ZillaKami)”
and Earth by Kamasi 23Heaven Washington
Essential tracks: “Fists of Fury” / “Can You Hear Him” / “Street Fighter Mas”
22
Ordinary Corrupt Human Love by Deafheaven
Essential tracks: “You Without End” / “Night People”
21Persona by Rival Consoles
Essential tracks: “Unfolding” / “Dreamer’s Wake”
202012 - 2017 by Against All Logic Essential tracks: “Some Kind of Game” / “Now U Got Me Hooked”
19Sweetener by Ariana Grande
Essential tracks: “R.E.M.” / “Successful” / “breathin”
18Room 25 by Noname
Essential tracks: “Self ” / “Blaxploitation” / “Don’t Forget About Me”
Kanye West’s contributions to the world this year have been, at best, cringy and, at worst, intensely distressing. The sole exception to this standard is KIDS SEE GHOSTS: a 24-minute collaborative project with Kid Cudi. It serves as a reminder to the musical ingenuity that spawned his success. In the album opener “Feel the Love (feat. Pusha.T),” Kanye mimics a machine gun, his voice ricocheting across the song. Cudi is also in top form, with his emotional and haunting vocals contrasting Kanye’s hyperactive energy. KIDS SEE GHOSTS shows two of hip hop’s most gifted innovators embarking on a journey for inner peace. The result is unforgettable. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Feel The Love (feat. Pusha T)” / “4th Dimension (feat. Louis Prima)” / “Cudi Montage”
11Lush by Snail Mail
Though only 18 years old at the time of Lush’s release, Snail Mail demonstrates the songwriting abilities of an experienced industry pro. On Lush, she effectively carries heart-wrenching and beautifully crafted melodies with her crystal clear voice. “Heat Wave” showcases the delightfully charming inflections in her voice while highlights like “Golden Dream” reveal Snail Mail’s affinity for building to triumphant, soaring endings tinged with melancholy. Snail Mail has solidly established herself as an artist to watch in the years to come. (KS) Essential tracks: “Pristine” / “Heat Wave” / “Stick”
Fantasy by Car Seat Head17Twin rest 10Now Only by Mount Eerie Essential tracks: “Beach Life-In-Death” / “Sober to Death”
16Power by Lotic
Essential tracks: “Hunted” / “Power” / “Solace”
15Isolation by Kali Uchis
Like some sort of pop goddess, Kali Uchis burst into headlines this year with her show-stopping studio debut Isolation. Alternating between love songs and breakup songs, Uchis draws inspiration from jazz legends like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is the centrepiece, but the elegant funk sounds are equally absorbing. Uchis sings of past conflicts and joys with sentimentality, blending memories of pleasure and pain. Isolation is an R&B/soul extravaganza rarely paralleled today. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Miami (feat. BIA)” / “Your Teeth in My Neck” / “Dead to Me”
With his signature bleakness, Mount Eerie, also known as Phil Elverum, follows up last year’s A Crow Looked At Me with another album driven by fearless songwriting. Now Only broadens his thematic investigation, offering a sweeping probe into the nature of death. Naturally, he finds no answers. In “Distortion,” Elverum’s poetic stream of consciousness connect Jack Kerouac, a sexual encounter from his 20s, and his wife’s death into a grand tapestry. Drenched in morbidity and existential dread, Now Only is not an easy listen, but undeniably an essential one. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Tintin in Tibet” / “Distortion”
9Konoyo by Tim Hecker
5Dead Magic by Anna von Hausswolff
8
4In a Poem Unlimited by U.S. Girls
77 by Beach House
3CARE FOR ME by Saba
Even as a veteran ambient artist, Tim Hecker continues to find new ways to reinvent his sound. His ninth studio album release, Konoyo sets its gaze on the otherworldly. Konoyo is made up of synthbased soundscapes, marked by seering dissonance, and interspersed with slow-developing melodies that feel disconcerting yet bold. Inspired by his work with a gagaku ensemble in Tokyo, the album blends the artificial with the acoustic. In Konoyo, Hecker reaffirms his place as one of the most innovative electronic artists of the moment. (KS) Essential tracks: “This Life” / “Is a Rose Petal of the Dying Crimson Light”
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys have evolved from greasy Sheffield teens shredding gritty garage rock to international celebrities, producing suave lounge pop. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, the successor to the mostly vapid AM, shows frontman Alex Turner flexing unexpectedly toned songwriting muscles. Set on a luxury hotel built on the moon’s surface, their latest album blends science fiction tropes with cultural critiques. In a year where indie rock was plagued by the insufferable pretensions of The 1975 and Father John Misty, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was a delightful alternative. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Star Treatment” / “Four Out of Five” / “Batphone” A new album by Beach House, dream pop’s finest sorcerers, is a musical milestone in any year. The duo offers some of their bravest work yet with 7, a spellbinding collection of psychedelic homeruns. Known for synth and guitar arrangements that sound plucked from alien planets, their latest album demonstrates a subtle shift in their signature sound. Tracks like “Lemon Glow” boom with pounding drum beats as Victoria Legrand’s magnetic vocals dominate the listeners’ ears. 7 superbly captures the catharsis of dream pop; “Last Ride” plays out like a passionate, tear-stained farewell. Few musicians can naturally cast magic with the ease of Beach House. 7 is another unbreakable incantation. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Drunk In LA” / “Black Car” / “Last Ride”
Queen is a Reptile by Sons of 6Your Kemet
With Your Queen is a Reptile, Sons of Kemet reject the British monarchy and, instead, proclaim nine black female leaders as the true monarchs. Led by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, the jazz album is also inspired by sources across the African diaspora. The brass instruments weave in and out of urgent polyrhythmic beats, which imbue the album with persistent energy. Your Queen Is a Reptile calls for resistance and a reclamation of power in the UK, proving jazz is not a genre of the past, but of the future. (KS) Essential tracks: “My Queen is Mamie Phipps Clark” / “My Queen is Harriet Tubman” / “My Queen is Doreen Lawrence”
14All Melody by Nils Frahm
In All Melody, Nils Frahm immerses the listener in a mesmerizing mosaic of piano, beats, synthesizers, marimba, and various woodwinds. Frahm rarely deviates from a warm consonance that permeates the entire album. Within this framework, he is able to capture both surreal feels and complex interplays of rhythm and notes. While most of the tracks are marked by insistent, percussive arpeggios that contribute a sense of unwavering energy, Frahm also excels at pulling back into more introspective territory. (KS) Essential tracks: “Sunson” / “My Friend the Forest” / “All Melody”
On Spotify, iTunes, MP3s, CDs, or even vinyl — make sure you get a hold of these albums. KASHI SYAL/THE VARSITY
On Dead Magic, Anna von Hausswolff invites listeners into a simultaneously beautiful and disturbing world. Her voice shows versatility, with its Kate Bush-esque tone. Though von Hausswolff has a gorgeous voice, she isn’t afraid to sound hideous, crying out in desperation. Von Hausswolff shows incredible depth, building up to almost apocalyptic moments only to draw back to sparser, minimalistic tracks. She adeptly straddles genres to create a sound that is uniquely hers. (KS) Essential tracks: “The Truth, The Glow, The Fall” / “The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra” In a Poem Unlimited, the latest release of U.S. Girls, the solo project by Meghan Remy, presents a distinctly female perspective on the current political climate. Remy sounds angry and defiant as she rejects the male domination pervasive in our society. Her focus turns both toward male-led violence in the home — singing about domestic violence in “Incidental Boogie” — or abroad, criticizing Obama for his expansion of the drone strike program in “M.A.H.” Drawing influences from funk, pop, psychedelic rock, and jazz, the album makes a statement both politically and musically as Remy’s distinct voice blends seamlessly into the fabric of distorted guitars and varied percussion. (KS) Essential tracks: “Rosebud” / “M.A.H.” / “Rage of Plastics” Saba’s CARE FOR ME centres around the murder of Walter, his cousin, friend, and mentor. The album cover depicts Saba slumped forward, despondent and vulnerable; this is, more or less, the tone of the album. Irate and overcome by senseless violence, Saba navigates the terrain of his 24-year memory. With songwriting akin to Kendrick Lamar, Saba fashions himself as an Earl Sweatshirtesque wordsmith, cleverly rhyming around morbid themes. CARE FOR ME is both a beautiful eulogy and a sincere celebration of life. (RAB) Essential tracks: “LIFE” / “LOGOUT” / “PROM / KING”
2Be the Cowboy by Mitski
Be the Cowboy is a work that defies expectations. Constantly oscillating between desperation and defiance, Mitski delivers an impeccably crafted indie rock album. Comprised of 14 short tracks evocative of fleeting moments, Be the Cowboy is an album about misleading appearances. On the surface, it offers catchy, seemingly impersonal vignettes cloaked in lightly distorted guitars and bouncy synthesizer riffs. Underneath, the work is exploding with emotion. For women — and especially racialized women — Mitski’s lyrics resonate in a deeply personal way. She finds power in singing out loud her insecurities and unbearable isolation. In this vulnerable yet dauntless work, Mitski lets listeners know that you can thrive in taking up the space you deserve in this world. (KS) Essential tracks: “Geyser” / “Nobody” / “A Pearl”
1I’m All Ears by Let’s Eat Grandma
I’m All Ears is an all-consuming art pop spectacle brought to you by two teenage girls from Norwich. With production from SOPHIE, David Wench, and Faris Badwon, I’m All Ears shakes with psychedelic euphoria. The album is a kaleidoscopic fusion of textures — all easily intoxicating. Early tracks like “Hot Pink” explode with experimental subversions of pop conventions. Later songs, like “Cool & Collected” or “Donnie Darko,” develop over the course of ambitious, quasi-epic structures. Innovation collides with technical prowess in a work that flirts with both minimalism and maximalism. This album is everything. Grand and concise. Danceable and heartbreaking. Yet despite its many variations and self-reinventions, there remains a love for music. Its undiluted and uncompromising passion makes I’m All Ears the album we needed for the year. (RAB) Essential tracks: “Hot Pink” / “Falling Into Me” / “I Will Be Waiting” / “Donnie Darko”
16 | THE VARSITY | ARTS & CULTURE
arts@thevarsity.ca
The best and worst films of 2018
What to watch for the meme and what to watch for the movie
meet. The only way the family succeeds is by the children shoplifting. The Palme d’Or winner grabs your attention from the opening scene and does not let go until the credits roll, leaving film-goers in a state of satisfied shock. When surveying this year’s Oscar contenders — both foreign and domestic — Shoplifters is the pièce de résistance.
COLD WAR
This Polish film was shot in exquisite black and white 4:3 aspect ratio by Oscar-winning Pawel Pawlikowski. The passionate Shakespearean tale of two star-crossed lovers set during the spread of communism in Europe in the 1960s makes way for possibly the best film of the year. One knows you have seen a good movie when you don’t want it to end; Cold War portrays this phenomenon flawlessly. The Cannes Best Director Award winner leans heavily on its classical jazz score, contributing to the pace and brilliance of the script. The last act is so profound it left TIFF-goers ominously quiet. Cold War is a definite must-see from this year’s lineup.
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Riel Flack Varsity Contributor ITY
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NG A TU
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Attention cinephiles! Here’s the lineup of Hollywood’s cinematic hits and misses:
OSCAR-WORTHY: ROMA
The brilliant Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men) delivers yet another masterpiece shot in 4K black and white. A salute to his childhood, Cuarón presents the life of a wealthy Mexican family surrounded by political turmoil in the 1970s. The plot is driven by the mother and nanny who strive to keep the family together. A strong contender this Oscar season, Roma is a beautiful story of bravery and unconditional motherhood with no shortage of Cuarón’s classic breathtaking landscape shots.
THE FAVOURITE
The Favourite succeeds in reinventing the period genre, delivering a work that is both extremely entertaining and incredibly humorous. Director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) does an impressive job of illustrating his quirky style with use of unique camera angles and elaborate images. The epic combative lesbian love triangle between Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, and Rachel Weisz makes this film worth watching.
BLACKKKLANSMAN
Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee’s adaption of the true story about Ron Stallworth ( John David Washington), the courageous African-American detective who aided in exposing the maniacal behavior of the Ku Klux Klan, is impactful and consistently funny. BlacKkKlansman will leave you just as Do the Right Thing did — with goosebumps and a reflection on the still relevant oppressed Black experience in America.
GREEN BOOK
It makes perfect sense that this film was the Grolsch People’s Choice Award winner at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Green Book is a charming feel-good movie done in the vein of Hidden Figures, communicating an important lesson on segregation and racism in the United States. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali make a fantastic duo for this road trip that tests the limits of the Jim Crow South. The Varsity loved it so much, we reviewed it for TIFF.
SHOPLIFTERS
Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda presents an incredible narrative about a complex and mischievous family struggling to make ends
Barry Jenkins’ (Moonlight) adaptation of the James Baldwin novel is the perfect example of cinematic excellence. He tells the story of a young Black couple struggling to survive in early 1970s Harlem. The magnificent auteur makes use of his whimsical mise en scène styled with unique editing and cinematic techniques. If Beale Street Could Talk is driven along by a euphoric soundtrack, peppered with artists forever linked to this period. When has a John Coltrane/Miles Davis-infused score ever disappointed?
PASS ON: BIRD BOX
The psychological thriller promised potential but ended with far too many plot holes. The audience is left with questions like “Why did Sandra Bullock’s character name ‘Girl’ Olympia and not Ella, the birth mother's dream name for her child?” and “Why are the mentally ill unaffected by the monster?” Watch it for the meme, not for the movie.
THE DEATH OF STALIN
With a promising cast featuring Jeffrey Tambor and Steve Buscemi, this one unfortunately drops straight to the floor. From the creator of Veep, Armando Iannucci, one would expect timely one-liners and dark witty dialogue. Instead, the political satire was awkwardly delivered and lacked timing. This disappointment has potential to become a cult classic similar to Tommy Wiseau’s The Room; it was so bad, it was almost good.
TAG
Based on a true story about a never-ending game of tag, this movie couldn’t end fast enough. Void of any characters worth investing in, I suggest you file Tag for a Netflix-and-chill session. Acute attention is neither necessary nor required.
I FEEL PRETT Y
Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty is a failed attempt at a self-deprecating work of cuteness. The subject matter seems like low hanging fruit, but Schumer let the citrus rot before they got around to filming. It lacks, well, almost everything that makes me want to part with 13 hard-earned dollars. Trainwreck was somewhat bearable thanks to the eye candy John Cena provided where you can most definitely see all of him. Honourable mentions: for the good or the bad? 1. Capernaum 2. Crazy Rich Asians 3. Black Panther 4. Eighth Grade 5. Mid90s 6. Free Solo 7. Isle of Dogs 8. Burning 9. Beautiful Boy
Science
January 14, 2019 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca
WENDY ZHENG/THE VARSITY
Looking back at the top science stories from 2018 Spencer Y. Ki Associate Science Editor
From dinosaur teeth to quantum computing, U of T researchers made major strides in scientific research. Keep reading below for highlights from U of T’s scientific record in 2018:
JANUARY
Researchers identify key player in cell metabolism Previous studies reported that a molecule known as EXD2 could be located within the nucleus, but its precise function and location within a cell were unclear. In January, Dr. Etienne Coyaud and Dr. Brian Raught of U of T’s Department of Medical Biophysics discovered that EXD2 is found in the mitochondria. Using fruit fly models, the researchers also found EXD2 is involved in the cellular metabolic process. Selective pressures led to loss of weaponized tails in turtles Dr. Victoria Arbour, a postdoctoral fellow in the Evans Lab and the Royal Ontario Museum, led research that determined early turtle ancestors had spiked tails for defense. Over time, turtles lost their tails in favour of improved locomotive, feeding, and defensive traits. U of T research group developed catalyst that turns carbon dioxide into plastic A group led by Dr. Ted Sargent, professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, developed a copper catalyst that produces hydrocarbon products like ethylene, which are used to make plastic, from carbon dioxide, water, and energy. This method could alleviate some of the heavy environmental costs associated with producing plastic products.
FEBRUARY
Plant microbiomes could mirror human gut bacteria There are significant differences between the microbiome inside and the microbiome around the roots of plants. UTM PhD candidate Connor Fitzpatrick compared the role of the plants’ microbiomes to the role of gut bacteria in humans, writing to The Varsity in an email that “a really intriguing picture has begun to emerge, one suggesting that much of the evolution on our planet and the ecological dynamics can be attributed to interactions with microorganisms.” Stressed mice help explain biological basis for depression Researchers from U of T, the Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health, and The Hospital for Sick Children applied whole-brain structural covariance to mice to better understand the biological basis of depression in humans. The mice models’ brain activity was similar to the brain activity of young adults who suffered from childhood stress and trauma and later suffered from depression. Rotman study finds that eye movements are critical for memory recall Researchers at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest discovered a link between eye movement and memory recall. The authors reported in Cerebral Cortex that patterns in eye movement are associated with lucid memorization and could help monitor memory decline and other medical issues. While limitations exist, the findings could have valuable clinical applications. New device makes labs more accessible Dr. Ronald Soong, a senior research associate in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at UTSC, worked with Accessibility Services to develop a device that could make laboratories more accessible. Soong invented a device that can transfer precise amounts of liquids using a mechanical arm, as well as record and report changes to these solutions.
MARCH
Life-saving machine mimics the body to sustain pre-transplant kidneys Researchers from the University Health Network, The Hospital for Sick Children, and the Canadian National Transplant Research Program invented a machine capable of maintaining organs outside of the body in preparation for transplant. The machine maintains optimal conditions for organs like kidneys, which are the most frequently transplanted solid organs in Canada. Krkosek lab develops model to research social learning in fish populations The Krkosek Lab in U of T’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology determined that young fish learn social behaviour from their adult counterparts while migrating. Learning from adults of different schools could allow young fish to integrate into different population centres, increasing the genetic diversity of successive generations of fish. Researchers adapt cancer symptom phone app to Canadian standards Dr. Doris Howell of U of T’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing
adapted the British Advanced Symptom Management System phone app for Canadian cancer patients. The app allows patients to record the side-effects of cancer treatment in real-time, providing personalized information with which health care providers can work.
APRIL
Jane Goodall speaks at U of T on Earth Day Dr. Jane Goodall, the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, delivered a public address in Convocation Hall for Earth Day 2018. Goodall recounted her life’s work in research, conservation, and activism. U of T astronomers publish study hinting at origins of interplanetary visitor Discovered in late 2017, ‘Oumuamua was the first object ever detected at close range that did not originate in our solar system. Researchers from UTSC’s Centre for Planetary Sciences reported that the alien visitor originated from a binary star system.
MAY
U of T physicians and engineers collaborated to create a skin printer Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering PhD candidate Navid Hakimi invented a 3D printer capable of applying human skin tissue that can set within two minutes on wounds. According to Hakimi, the portable device could cater to patients with unique wound characteristics. Science Rendezvous brought science to the streets Sometimes called the ‘Nuit Blanche of the sciences,’ Science Rendezvous returned to the UTSG campus for its tenth annual exhibition. Featuring events from all branches of the sciences, attendees of all ages watched robots being built, indulged in liquid nitrogen ice cream, and much more.
JUNE
Raw Talk Live panelists share insights on science literacy and engagement Students from U of T’s Institute of Medical Science spearheaded Raw Talk Podcast to communicate scientific research to the public. The team hosted a live panel for the first time in June and discussed the role of scientists in public outreach, new methods for science communication, and more.
JULY
Differences in grey matter density in two brain regions may explain food-related decision-making
A study by Dr. Cendri Hutcherson, Director of the Toronto Decision Neuroscience Lab, found that the greater the grey matter volume of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the greater the likelihood that an individual would exercise dietary self-control. Further studies could attempt to discover what in particular affects these areas of the brain, potentially allowing for medical intervention. Researchers recover ‘lost’ memories in mice The Frankland Lab at The Hospital for Sick Children published a study wherein mice were optically stimulated to trigger their neurons, leading to a recovery of memories from early childhood. The findings might have applications in human memory disorders.
AUGUST
International researchers model molecules with quantum computing An international group of researchers including U of T’s Dr. Alán AspuruGuzik, Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical & Quantum Chemistry, calculated the ground-state energy of molecular hydrogen and lithium hydride using a quantum computer. The calculation demonstrates the power of quantum computing. U of T undergrads investigated risk-taking in earthworms In a study originally carried out as part of BIO318: Animal Behaviour, recent UTM graduates Oskar Shura and Pawandeep Sandhu found that starved earthworms were more likely to take the risk of being exposed to light in search of food than earthworms whose hunger was satiated.
SEPTEMBER
University Health Network researchers find insulin could play a role in the immune system Dr. Sue Tsai and Dr. Dan Winer of the University Health Network discovered that insulin also strengthens the body’s immune system by stimulating T cell activation and proliferation. Stemming from a study regarding the response of obese individuals to vaccinations, the study’s conclusions has led Tsai to believe that there may be further medical applications for insulin. Researchers identify a Neanderthal-Denisovan hybrid In a study published in Nature, an international team of researchers including U of T Assistant Professor Bence Viola discovered that a bone fragment
belonged to a hybrid Neanderthal-Denisovan, two species that descended from Homo erectus alongside modern humans. The findings hinted at interbreeding habits of early human relatives.
OCTOBER
UTM study shines light on sexual differences in animal mating behaviour UTM researchers found that the most sexually attractive North American dance fly females were those with large inflatable abdominal sacs. According to lead author Dr. Rosalind Murray, female dance flies expend energy on ornamentation to attract the ‘food gifts’ that male mates bring. U of T researchers investigated the health effects of indoor air quality Though indoor air pollution is not often reported in the media, it still poses a threat to public health. Dr. Douglas Collins, a former postdoctoral fellow in U of T’s Abbatt Group, studied the effects of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter on indoor air quality.
NOVEMBER
Suspended particulate matter could have drastic effects on our climate Dr. Megan Willis, a former postdoctoral student in the Department of Chemistry, published an article in the Reviews of Geophysics on the consequences of anthropogenic atmospheric aerosols. One long-term consequence of anthropogenic aerosols is the ‘Arctic haze,’ which forms when wind currents cause aerosols to blanket the Arctic atmosphere. U of T paleontologists discovered the origins of mammalian teeth UTM professor Robert Reisz and former UTM PhD candidate Dr. Aaron LeBlanc published studies that revealed how mammalian teeth developed from the dentition of mammals’ earliest ancestors. The pair highlighted findings from herbivorous ornithopods, or dinosaurs that had unusual teeth to cope with the demands of their plant-based diet.
DECEMBER
U of T team took second-place at International Genetically Engineered Machine competition The International Genetically Engineered Machine Giant Jamboree competition invites the world’s best and brightest to demonstrate their achievements in the field of synthetic biology. The U of T team took home a silver medal for engineering E. coli to bind to waste particles and float to the surface of a bioreactor for easier removal.
18 | THE VARSITY | SCIENCE
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The U of T astrophysicist toolbox
The Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics is a global leader in astrophysical instrumentation Spencer Y. Ki Associate Science Editor
Astronomy has progressed incredibly in the centuries since Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, and Nicolaus Copernicus, and the equipment required by the professional stargazer today far exceeds the capabilities of their primitive telescopes. Luckily for space scholars at the University of Toronto, the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics is at the forefront of astrophysical instrumentation development. While it would take a textbook to explore all the dazzling devices devised in part or whole at U of T, what follows is a glimpse at the instumentation being worked on right now. What is a telescope? What many people call telescopes are rarely used for research nowadays. The technology used frequently by amateurs and enthusiasts in the familiar lens-and-mirror tubes are largely obsolete in academia. Though there are exceptions, such telescopes are largely used by amateur astronomers and enthusiasts. Information in nature travels in waves, and some of the most useful waves are found on the electromagnetic spectrum. We perceive waves in the middle of the spectrum as colours, while radio waves have longer wavelengths and gamma rays and X-rays have shorter wavelengths. Detecting different kinds of waves with different kinds of telescopes provides different kinds of knowledge about the cosmos. For example, much like how Hollywood spies use infrared goggles to detect human heat, infrared telescopes can be used to detect the temperatures of celestial objects. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a telescope that detects extraterrestrial radio waves. Located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in the southern mountains of British Columbia, CHIME is mapping half of the night sky out to a distance of billions of light years, the largest volume of space ever surveyed. The ‘hydrogen’ part of the name refers to its search for traces of neutral hydrogen, measurement of which would do much to preciscely constrain exotic theories of dark energy. Yet there have also been other uses for CHIME. “We’ve picked up a few other science goals along the way, from monitoring pulsars to finding Fast Radio Bursts, which have really leveraged the power of this new telescope,” said Professor Keith Vanderlinde, a Dunlap faculty member collaborating on the project, in an email. CHIME was first put into use in September 2017, but U of T’s contribution to the instrument’s development goes back further in time. “U of T has been involved in CHIME from the beginning, helping to plan and design the project from the ground up,” added Vanderlinde. “During construction, our team focused on the supercomputer backend that allows the CHIME to ‘see’ the sky, converting the incoming raw radio waves into meaningful image data — processing almost [1,000 gigabytes per second] of raw data down to something more manageable — and which sits at the nexus of the many projects, producing distinct streams of data for each of them. Now that things are mostly up and running, we’re neck-deep in the commissioning and analysis efforts, to make sure we understand what it is we’re measuring.” Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy Led by Dunlap Director Professor Bryan Gaensler, the Canadian Initiative for Radio Astronomy (CIRADA) is less an experiment in
U of T astronomers work with complex instrumentation, including the Dragonfly Telescope Array seen here. Courtesy of TEAM DRAGONFLY UOFT/YALE/HARVARD
itself and more of a network of projects, looking to increase Canadian participation in three telescopes: CHIME, the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The objective of CIRADA is to give Canadian astrophysicists the tools necessary to convert the massive streams of raw data from the telescopes into easy-to-use catalogues and photographs so that scientists and members of the public can explore the data sets and contribute to discoveries. Contributing to the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), U of T is leading the charge with CIRADA by focusing on analyzing cosmic magnetism. “The VLASS is allowing three types of experiments with radio waves: mapping the emission from black holes, looking for explosions, and studying cosmic magnetism,” explained Gaensler in an email to The Varsity. “As part of CIRADA, the U of T team is taking the images coming out of VLASS, and converting them into maps of magnetism in space, a bit like the simple maps of magnetism you probably made in high school by sprinkling iron filings around a toy magnet.” Dragonfly An example of a ‘classic’ telescope, the Dragonfly Telescope Array began with the simple idea of latching together a number of commercially available camera lenses. The brainchild of Dunlap’s Professor Roberto Abraham, the array was originally commisioned in 2013 with three Canon 400-millimetre lenses, the same type used at events like the FIFA World Cup. Instead of viewing football, the array was placed side by side and pointed up at the night sky to look for galaxies. Today, the array has grown to 48 lenses, each modified to remove unwanted light. It is the world’s largest array composed solely of refracting telescopes, in contrast to the more popular reflecting telescope. While simpler in concept, Dragonfly is by no means less useful than its larger, more complex
counterparts. Its multiple lenses act as filters and are useful in detecting faint objects as the filters produce accurate images devoid of optical noise. Earlier this year, the array discovered what appeared to be a galaxy devoid of dark matter, an element previously thought to be ubiquitous in all galaxies. Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph Infrared astronomers are stargazers working at higher frequencies than radio, but still at lower frequencies than visible light. The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is U of T’s largest current contribution to the field of infrared astronomy. Led by Dunlap’s Professor Suresh Sivanandam, GIRMOS is a spectrograph that separates the input it detects into its component wavelengths and records said components. “GIRMOS is a one-of-a-kind scientific instrument specially designed to study very distant galaxies that are billions of light years away,” said Sivanandam in an email to The Varsity. “These galaxies are so small in the sky that we need to use cutting-edge optical technology, called adaptive optics, to get high resolution images of these objects. With GIRMOS, we will be able to study in detail how these galaxies look like and how they form their stars. This will help us piece together how our own galaxy formed.” The project is based on data received by the Gemini Observatory, which has two telescopes in Hawaii and Cerro Pachon, Chile. Despite the geographic distance, the project is a testament to Canadian ingenuity. “GIRMOS is truly a Canadian project that has institutions that span coast-to-coast,” said Sivanandam. “It takes advantage of the well of scientific and technical expertise that exists within Canada to make this instrument a reality. This project is a pathfinder for future scientific instruments on the Thirty Meter Telescope, Canada’s next big telescope.” Closer to home, Sivanandam also noted that “U of T has provided scientific leadership in
many projects that make use of the Gemini Observatory, which has ranged from imaging planets around other solar systems to studying some of the galaxies of the early universe.” South Pole Telescope 3G Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is located atop the geographic south pole, the southernmost point on Earth. Its exotic locale guarantees some of the harshest conditions known to humanity, just short of outer space. “From February to November each year, the South Pole is inaccessible due to the harsh weather. We have two scientists called ‘winterovers’ that stay at the station during this period, and work hard to keep the telescope running in some of the most extreme weather on the planet,” said PhD student Matt Young in an email. “The sun disappears below the horizon for 6 months, leaving them in 24/7 darkness and temperatures around -60 degrees C.” Originally built by the United States, the station is now home to an international collection of astrophysical instruments, including the aptly-named South Pole Telescope (SPT). The SPT detects waves in a number of wavelengths ranging from microwaves to submillimeter waves. Since the telescope’s construction in 2006, a number of cameras have been used to record said detections. The newest of these cameras is the SPT-3G, a microwave camera, the detectors for which are tested and characterised right here at U of T. Vanderlinde, former Dunlap Fellow Dr. Tyler Natoli, and Young have been U of T’s principal contributors to the SPT. Young travelled to the south pole in the winter of 2017–2018 to aid with installing the SPT-3G and is excited about the potential information to be gleaned from the newest camera. “[The SPT-3G] will allow us to observe the Cosmic Microwave Background, light emitted just after the Big Bang, in more detail than ever before. We currently have a detector here in Toronto that I’ll be taking down to the South Pole with me to install in the camera,” wrote Young.
JANUARY 14, 2019 | 19
var.st/science
How did flowering plants become insect pollinators?
PhD candidate David Timerman led research that examines the basis for the transition
Pascale Tsai Varsity Contributor
A recent study conducted by PhD candidate David Timerman and Professor Spencer Barrett in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology sought to understand the transition from insect pollination to wind pollination in angiosperms, or flowering plants. A 2002 paper reported that although most flowering species enable insect pollination, around 18 per cent of angiosperms use wind pollination. These transitions are thought to occur when changes to the environment cause a reduction in the number of available insect pollinators. The two forms of pollination differ in their pollen dispersal method as well as the characteristics of their stamens, or pollen-producing organs. Timerman and Barrett’s research explains the underlying mechanism behind this transition. In environments characterized by
the absence of insect pollinators, a lower natural frequency of stamens is favoured for wind pollination, which becomes essential to reproduction. The researchers linked this lower frequency to an increased release of pollen. These outcomes have important implications for the current understanding of the prevalence and evolution of wind pollination and the role of stamen as a direct mediator of pollen dispersal. These findings could also help researchers understand how climate change — an agent responsible for the pollinator crisis — could affect this transition in future generations. Timerman and Barrett examined wind-induced pollen release in Thalictrum pubescens, also known as the king of the meadow, which uses both insect and wind pollination. They speculated that this species may be currently undergoing the insect- to wind-based pollination transition, and could be used to measure important changes in the early stages
of the evolution. Using a custom-built wind tunnel, Timerman placed individual flowers onto a vibrating table and exposed them to a fixed interval of wind. He then recorded videos of the motion of the stamens in the wind tunnel, and measured the dispersal of pollen onto a sticky microscope slide down-wind from the flowers. “The videos permitted me to determine the vibration frequency of stamens and their acceleration in wind which I then related to pollen release,” Timerman wrote in an email to The Varsity. When the stamens’ natural frequency was lower, there was an increase in pollen release. However, this advantage was limited to the absence of pollinators. When pollinators were present, the increased pollen release and fitness of a lower stamen frequency was not observed. Likewise, in the absence of pollinators, female plants that were paired with males which had low stamen
natural frequencies produced a higher proportion of seed. This effect was not seen when pollinators were available. Timerman and Barrett’s findings highlight the important fitness consequences along the evolution from insect to wind pollination. Without the availability of pollinators, plants may evolve lower stamen natural frequencies that optimize pollen dispersal in wind. Over time, wind-pollinated lineages lose traits such as showy petals and fragrances that attract insects, but become structurally optimized for pollen transport in air streams. “My research shows that the stamens have evolved to harness wind energy causing stamens to vibrate and release pollen efficiently,” wrote Timerman. Currently, Timerman is working on a project that compares pollen release biomechanics across different wind and insect pollinated species of the Thalictrum genus.
“I am interested in this genus because wind pollination has evolved from insect pollination independently on several occasions,” he explained. “Each of these transitions represents an independent evolutionary experiment, thus providing the replication needed to determine whether a reduction in stamen natural frequency is consistently associated with or driving transitions from insect to wind pollination.”
iRIS DENG/THE VARSITY
U of T student wins Spanish Carbon Group prize for emissions research
Anton Sediako awarded for novel application of microscopy in carbon combustion studies Anton Sediako, a PhD candidate in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, won best poster at a 2018 conference in Madrid, Spain for his research in emissions reduction. The World Conference on Carbon, held in July by the Spanish Carbon Group, recognizes advances in carbon science and its applications. Sediako’s poster presents a novel technique for studying carbon particulate matter, a harmful by-product of fossil fuel combustion. Supervised by Professor Murray Thomson, his research explores the formation of particulate matter, its reactions with other substances, and its oxidation — how carbon loses electrons to form a compound with oxygen. Sediako entered Thomson’s Combustion Research Lab in 2014 and began investigating how current fuel types may be modified to produce fewer particulate matter pollutants. However, while studying fuel chemistry, he and his co-authors discovered that high-resolution electron microscopy could be used to observe combustion
reactions directly in the lab. Through a collaboration with technology firm Hitachi High-Technologies, Sediako and his lab developed the new technique to visualize nanoscale combustion reactions. The researchers focused on developing substrates — surfaces necessary to take microscopic measurements — appropriate for studying how carbon combusts, and how they might develop cleaner combustion techniques. Challenges with developing this imaging technique included accumulating the evidence necessary to garner acceptance from the wider academic community. “The biggest challenge by far has been bringing this [microscopy] technique to a whole new field and proving to them that it’s a valid technique,” explained Sediako in an interview with The Varsity. “[Combustion is] not a new field… You don’t really have to prove that your thermocouple works the way it should work because it’s a thermocouple — it’s been used before,” said Sediako, giving an example of an established technique. A thermocouple is a device that
measures temperature, and is often used in fuel and combustion experiments. Sediako’s microscopy technique is novel, and consequently unfamiliar to many long-time academics in carbon combustion research. He therefore had to anticipate a wide range of potential problems and concerns about the new technique, which could be raised by current academics in the field. Sediako had to convincingly demonstrate that his technique produced
imagery that truly represented what occurs during carbon combustion. “With the new technique,” said Sediako, “you really have to iron out all the potential flaws and own them.” Sediako believes communication skills — like being able to present the technique in an accessible manner to those with a limited background in microscopy — were essential in establishing the new technique. Sediako and his research group are now focusing on applying this tech-
nique to advance both basic and applied research in carbon combustion. In a collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, the researchers are designing nanocatalysts to consume carbon to “eat the harmful product and prevent [its] release into the environment.” They also plan to apply the technique directly to automobile engine design, improving battery materials, and develop better filtration methods for carbon emissions.
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PhD candidate Anton Sediako researches combustion and particulate emissions in the Thomson Lab at U of T. Courtesy of REMMI BAKER
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U of T launches new Master of Health Science program
Innovative course-based program will explore big data in health and commercialization of health technologies Jodie Lunger Varsity Contributor
U of T’s Department of Physiology is launching a professional, full-time Master of Health Science (MHSc) program to start in September. The course-based, one-year program aims to combine an education in physiology with emerging trends in health care, the only one of its kind in Canada. The MHSc program comes in response to a survey conducted on potential employers to determine current gaps in their environment. One of the trends that surfaced from this survey was using wearable devices, such as Fitbit, to monitor various physiological processes. Employers involved in this and other types of big data collection tended to lack personnel who could understand the physiological implications of large data sets. “A lot of people… are increasingly us-
ing wearable devices to track their heart rate and so on,” said Dr. Helen Miliotis, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and the new MHSc program director. “But [while] all of this data is being generated… there are not a lot of people that are able to not only understand how to analyze [the data], but secondly how to understand the biology of what is actually relevant.” Prospective students should have a basic understanding of physiology, and an interest in learning more about the emerging trends of big data in health care. The coursework and work placement aspects of the program have been curated to prepare students to meet these needs. The courses will deliver a deeper understanding of clinical physiology, big data in health, commercialization, and collaboration in physiology. Students will also work one-on-one with a faculty
member to address a specific topic of their choosing. Some personal tailoring is possible for the new MHSc. Students can select seminars to attend throughout the program’s two terms and can select three elective physiology courses. Students will be guided on professional development and how to apply for jobs. “They also have a number of hours where they go out and choose what they want to learn more about, whether it be project management… commercialization, entrepreneurship, so students [will] have a number of opportunities to tailor their program to what their career interests are,” said Miliotis. After the two terms of guidance and coursework, students will participate in a four-month-long practicum, during which each student will participate in a work placement. This placement may entail working at a research institute, a
hospital, a startup, or another organization in the biotech sector. “For example, we know of cardiologists [whose] patients are using wearable devices to track their progress, but these cardiologists have a gap in their team,” said Miliotis. “They need someone to be able to interpret the data, but can also have a conversation with them as to how that might impact patient care, so we foresee students filling those gaps.” The placement will provide hands-on professional work experience, enhance the student’s understanding of their chosen stream, and give each student a glimpse into a potential career path. At the end of the program, students will be prepared to enter newly emerging careers related to commercialization, clinical application, and big data analysis in health.
Science Around Town Emily Deibert Varsity Staff
The Story Collider — Control Five scientists will share their true stories about science at this Story Collider event hosted by journalist Misha Gajewski and Science Literacy Week founder Jesse Hildebrand. Date: Monday, January 14 Time: 7:30–10:30 pm Location: Burdock Music Hall, 1184 Bloor Street Admission: $12 Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Speaker’s Night Join the Toronto chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for its monthly Speaker’s Night, where a professional astronomer will present their latest research. Date: Wednesday, January 16 Time: 7:30–9:00 pm Location: Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road Admission: Free Policy Writing 101 Hosted by the Toronto Science Policy Network, this interactive workshop will teach you the basics of science policy writing and give you a chance to receive personalized feedback. Date: Thursday, January 17 Time: 5:30–7:30 pm Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Room 3311 Admission: Free with registration SWE Speaks The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) presents their first SWE Speaks event of the year and will feature a talk by Amber Foucault on her work with technology. Date: Thursday, January 17 Time: 6:30–8:30 pm Location: Zero Gravity Labs, 70 Richmond Street East Admission: Free with registration Can Robotic Technology Change Neurological Assessment? Robotic technologies have the potential to be much more accurate in quantifying brain dysfunction than even the most experienced practitioners. Dr. Stephen Scott will discuss these new technologies. Date: Sunday, January 20 Time: 2:00–3:30 pm Location: Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, JJR Macleod Auditorium Admission: Free with registration
Sports
January 14. 2019 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
Neoliberalism, sport, and the working class Toronto Workers’ History Project event features U of T academics
Scholars discussed the intimate ties between sports and the working class, as a site of both struggle and self-expression. DINA DONG/THE VARSITY
Kate Reeve Features Editor
United Steelworkers Hall hosted one of the Toronto Workers’ History Project’s monthly talks on January 8. Featuring two University of Toronto academics, the event was a discussion and presentation on the history of workers and sport in Toronto. Held in a basement room, audience members sat in fold-out chairs filling the space. Clearly, most had been there before: they called back and forth to one another, saying hello and exchanging news. No one was on their phone, or even sitting alone. It was initially discomfiting, in some ways, to feel so present — and somehow welcome — in a room full of strangers. The night was segmented into two brief but connected lectures and a discussion and Q&A session. Former UTSC Principal and Officer of the Order of Canada recipient Professor Bruce Kidd spoke first, providing a brief overview of historical generalizations about sport and its development in the modern period. Sports, Kidd asserted, began as a classed, gendered, and racialized practice. The sports most popular today in the Global North were not always
universal, he explained. Rather, modern athletics were created for and by the upper class men of imperial Britain. Further, the values they attempted to inculcate through sport — masculinity, elitism, achievement — still dominate much of our contemporary conceptions of the practice. Kidd went on to highlight how the excluded have fought and continue to fight for inclusion in sport. Working class people, especially women, faced a series of barriers to participation. First and foremost were their long, grueling work hours, which prohibited any possibility of leisure time. Although Kidd mainly referred to this impediment as a modern phenomenon, it’s clearly evident in the contemporary world as well — just look at neoliberalism’s marketization and atomization of every speck of free time an individual can muster. Not to be constantly working, constantly online, constantly striving is the ultimate failure. As demands on our time increase, so too does the cost of participation. While this was a barrier in the 20th century, the increased elitism of sports as we know them today consistently favour the wealthy. Kidd quoted a fellow scholar to exclaim that “if Gordie Howe were alive today, he wouldn’t have made the NHL!” Nevertheless, the working class did mount a re-
sistance to the wealthy dominance of sports. One of the most powerful organizations was the giant ‘Socialist Workers' Sport International,’ which counted two million members at its peak between the world wars. Every six years, they held ‘International Workers' Olympiads,’ which admitted all interested workers, dismissed the idea of national teams, and enthusiastically included female athletes. After the Second World War, the organization regrouped and is still active, but in a more collaborative capacity with establishment sports institutions such as the International Olympic Committee. Other, smaller groups also cropped up between world wars, such as the Jewish Women’s Working Sports Association, whose members met at Spadina Street and College Street to practice gymnastics and other activities. However, today, most of these organizations are gone. Participation in organized sport has fallen dramatically in the past twenty years, while the class stratification between athletes and the public has only increased. Kidd relates this gap to an atrophication in the public provision of leisure and sporting activities, as well as the dogma of neoliberal performance and elitism.
Kidd was followed by Janelle Joseph, an adjunct lecture at U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education Professor. Joseph, the author of the recent Sport in the Black Atlantic: Cricket, Canada and the Caribbean Diaspora, discussed her research and shared stories from her ethnographic interviews with older, male Canadian-Caribbean cricketers. She quickly introduced the audience to a few key concepts in Black diaspora studies, such as the power of routes, the process of travel, and roots — cultural push-pull — before grounding these concepts in the wave of Caribbean immigration to Canada in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these Caribbean immigrants settled in the Golden Horseshoe region, and many played cricket. The cricket leagues that formed were often extremely competitive but also extremely leisurely — players and spectators worked to recreate a carnival-like atmosphere around the cricket fields. Joseph described constant music, camaraderie, food and drink, and less demanding recreational activities, such as playing dominoes and dancing. These cricket teams provided both an anchor and a barrier for new Caribbean immigrants, allowing them to feel at home in Canada and to create a space for themselves outside the often whitedominated spaces which they lived and worked in. Joseph also spoke to the distinctly masculine nature of these cricket teams, explaining the processes of performance and communication embedded in different methods of play. Many of these Caribbean cricketers are aging out of the game, instead choosing to play in ‘Masters Leagues’, where the emphasis is on fun rather than competition. Many of these players struggled to encourage their sons to take up the game, and as such represent a last generation of committed and talented Caribbean-Canadian cricket players. Furthermore, the Caribbean dominance of Canadian cricket is today quickly being displaced by a strong contingent of South and Southeast Asian players. Sometimes, Joseph explained, tensions between the two groups of players can erupt, as both try to navigate their shared colonial attachment to cricket and its place in their cultural histories. Sports and the working class are intimately tied, both as a site of struggle and as a place of self-expression. Historically, working people have mobilized with incredible power to build parallel sporting institutions that were open to all, equitable, and firmly anti-capital. Today, the power of these institutions — as well as public services more generally — has dramatically waned. As Joseph highlighted in her talk, independently organized sporting events and organizations are a vital ground for building community — but the cricket leagues which she discussed were private undertakings, not a success of public services. In the era of neoliberalism, mainstream sports have effectively doubled down on their ugly roots: classed, gendered, and racialized.
Varsity Blues men’s hockey team edged by Brock Badgers
Joey Manchurek scored Toronto’s lone goal of the game
Toronto sits last in the OUA West men’s hocket standings, with just under a month left in the regular season. HENRY ZHAO/THE VARSITY
Ambika Sharma Varsity Contributor
The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team fell short 2–1 in yet another aggressive matchup against the Brock Badgers on Friday night at Varsity Arena. With just under a month left in the regular season, Toronto sits last in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West men’s hockey standings. The Blues were aggressive early in the first period, as Joey Manchurek shot one in the top corner of the net past Badgers goaltender Logan Thompson for what would be Toronto’s only goal of the night. Following the goal, both teams were involved in a physical altercation which resulted in both teams earning minor penalties. Toronto’s Ryan Kirkup was sent to the box for roughing, alongside Brock’s Tyler Rollo for cross-checking. Brock’s Ryan Burton answered with a game-tying unassisted goal to close the first period.
The second period went scoreless despite a Toronto powerplay that ended the period. The rough interactions between teams continued as Brock’s Ethan Price was given a 10-minute misconduct for foul head contact. Both goalies stood strong in the second as Toronto’s Alex Bishop and Brock’s Thompson each stopped eight shots on goal. With the score levelled at one goal a piece, intensity only increased in the third when Willy Paul drew a penalty for kneeing. Later in the period, Brock’s Ayden Macdonald’s shot took an unexpected bounce off the glove and then helmet of Bishop, for Brock’s go-ahead goal in the third period. Thompson was briefly attended to late in the third period after an awkward save but remained in the game. The Blues outshot the Badgers 28–24 in their loss. Toronto pulled Bishop to rally back late into the third period, but it wasn’t enough as the blue and white fell just short of the Badgers, 2–1.
22 | THE VARSITY | SPORTS
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Varsity Blues win big on first-ever Pride Night
Blues women’s hockey team defeats the UOIT Ridgebacks 4–1 Photographer: Theo Arbez
A Pride flag sticker is illuminated on the back of second-year forward Louie Bieman’s helmet. Fifth-year defenceman Julia Szulewska stands ready during a break from action. THEO ARBEZ/THE VARSITY
The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team huddles around starting goaltender Erica Fryer.
Blues captain Becki Bowering battles for possession of the puck.
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var.st/sports
How to crush your 2019 fitness goals New year, new fitness goals: be realistic and stay motivated
WEEKLY BOX SCORES BASKETBALL MEN’S 63–58
January 11 Varsity Blues
York Lions
71–67
January 12 Varsity Blues
Queen’s Gaels
January 18
Nipissing Lakers
vs
Varsity Blues
January 19
Laurentian Voyageurs
vs
Varsity Blues
WOMEN’S 69–61
January 11
Varsity Blues
York Lions
87–38
January 12
Varsity Blues
Queen’s Gaels
January 18
Nipissing Lakers
vs
Varsity Blues
January 19
Laurentian Voyageurs
vs
Varsity Blues
VOLLEYBALL MEN’S January 12 MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY
3–0 Guelph Gryphons
Varsity Blues
(25–17, 25–16, 25–22)
Levent Cagan Uslu Varsity Contributor
“New year, new me,” is what we say to ourselves every single New Year’s Eve. For many people, New Year’s resolutions contain fitness goals to hit, but many of us fall short. The primary reason why people don't achieve their fitness goals is because they don’t begin the new year with the required discipline and motivation that would keep them going for the rest of the year. So this year, I am going to help you, Varsity readers, to hit your goals by explaining to you step by step what to do. The most significant part is to decide on your fitness goal. There are different types of fitness goals and each require different strategies and steps to follow. The most common ones are losing fat, building muscle, and gaining strength. Once you decide the right fitness goal for yourself, you can start the journey. Losing fat If you are looking to get rid of some extra weight and get the physique that you’ve always wanted, never for-
get this: losing weight starts in the kitchen. Modifying your diet in a few simple ways will have considerable impacts on your health and weight losing process. The most basic modifications can be listed as: eat more soluble fiber, avoid junk food, consume less alcohol, eat more protein, and cut back on carbs and fats. But if you think that losing fat is only related to eating less and healthy, you are wrong. Training is just as important as eating healthy for leaning down. Strength training is a requirement because with strength training you build muscle, a process that burns more calories. And of course, don’t forget to pair your strength training with cardio. Building muscle When it comes to gaining muscle, what you have to do is fairly straightforward: eat big, train big. As you have probably heard from any ‘big guy’ packed with muscles, protein is the key to muscle building. In addition to eating more protein, you should basically stop cutting calories and start eating more.
In the gym, you basically should be lifting for two or three sets of an exercise for six to 12 repetitions, with short breaks between sets. Pay attention on keeping relatively lower weights to do more repetitions. Gaining strength In order to gain strength and build muscle, you should lift each workout, push yourself to your limits and hit your main muscle groups — your chest, back, shoulders, and legs. Try to maintain lower repetitions and higher weights to maximize the strength gains each workout. After learning more about what is the right goal for you, the next step is to actually start the journey. At first, it will be really hard, but once you make fitness and healthy living an integral part of your life, you will not only look better, but also feel better. Getting fitter and healthier is a long and difficult and it requires a good amount of patience, but as Samuel Beckett once said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
3–1
January 13
Varsity Blues Waterloo Warriors (27–25, 25–21, 18–25, 25–16)
January 20
Ryerson Rams
vs
Varsity Blues
WOMEN’S 3–1
January 12 Varsity Blues
Guelph Gryphons
(25–15, 21–25, 25–19, 25–16)
3–2
January 13
Varsity Blues
Waterloo Warriors
(25–22, 24–26, 25–17, 15–25, 10–15)
January 20
MEN’S
Ryerson Rams
vs
Varsity Blues
HOCKEY 2–1
January 11
Varsity Blues
Brock Badgers
3–1
January 12
Guelph Gryphons
Varsity Blues
January 18
Windsor Lancers
vs
Varsity Blues
January 19
Varsity Blues
@
Brock Badgers
WOMEN’S 4–1
January 10
UOIT Ridgebacks
Varsity Blues
1–0
January 12 Varsity Blues
Some of the most common fitness-related goals are losing fat, building muscle, and gaining strength. JULIA MALOWANY/THE VARSITY
Queen’s Gaels
January 19
Laurentian Voyageurs
vs
Varsity Blues
January 20
Nipissing Lakers
vs
Varsity Blues
24 | THE VARSITY | ADVERTISEMENTS
18/19
JANUARY 14, 2019
Hart House Theatre Season
HAIR
Book and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado Music by Galt MacDermot Directed and Choreographed by Julie Tomaino
Jan. 18–Feb. 2, 2019 $12 Student tickets every Wednesday evening!
Season Sponsors:
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