October 19, 2020
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Trinity Collegeʼs institutional reckoning
Vol. CXLI, No. 6
Students point to late decision, loss of in-person experience as multiple faculties, campuses move completely online
Changes to course instruction follow new restrictions to curb spread of COVID-19 Lauren Alexander Deputy News Editor
On October 9, Ontario announced plans to move back to Stage 2 of restrictions due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the province, leading several more academic units at U of T to transition more of their course delivery to completely online. The restrictions will be in place for a minimum of 28 days. On October 17, Toronto reported 374 cases of COVID-19, Peel reported 107, and York reported 93. Cases in Ontario hit a record high of 939 on October 9, and the province has reported more than 700 cases for the past six days. In accordance with the Stage 2 restrictions, U of T closed its gyms and fitness centres, limited seating in dining halls and food services, and set limits on social gatherings. Though the restriction on how many people can gather indoors does not apply to classes, Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regher asked faculties to review their in-person activities.
A culture of discrimination and a quasisecret society — a deep dive on page 11
More faculties move instruction online Shortly after this announcement, the Faculty of Arts & Science announced that all fall hybrid delivery courses will be moved entirely online after less than two months of in-person course delivery. The Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and the UTSC campus have also moved completely online. The School of Continuing Studies, which was meant to begin in-person courses in late October, will also be moving courses online. Most faculties started the year with almost entirely online courses or a guarantee for an online option. As of time of publication, no other faculties have announced changes to their course delivery. Courses that are fully in person may continue to be in person, along with activities that are deemed “essential,” such as lab courses, music instruction, and practical instruction, such as clinical work in the health professions like nursing and medicine.
Business & Labour
Comment
Arts & Culture
A look into U of T’s policy for telecommuting
How the late decision to move classes online hurts international, noncommuting students
By and for Indigenous peoples: delivering translated COVID-19 information
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Photo
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Still life tour: adventuring through pandemic-era UTSC
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Science
Sports
How COVID-19 is affecting Canada’s marginalized demographics
Winter sports season cancelled for Varsity Blues
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Students adjust to fully online course delivery In an interview with The Varsity, Mohsin Reza, a second-year computer science student, expressed sadness that classes would be moving online. He said that he had two hybrid courses that he was doing in person before they were moved entirely online. “It was almost to be expected, but at the same time was obviously disappointing because they told us since basically the beginning of summer that there is going to be both online and in-person options available,” said Reza. “Obviously, I understand that there is basically nothing they could have done about this, and they have to prioritize health and safety.” However, Reza said that he finds it “next to impossible” to focus in online lectures compared to in-person ones. “If I’m in person, it’s much easier for me to focus, and it’s also much easier to sort of engage with the professor and the material,” said Reza. He also mentioned that he found it easier to meet friends in in-person courses before the pandemic, though most of his friends are taking courses online now. Reza was also signed up for three in-person courses for the winter semester, all of which were recently moved online. The Varsity also spoke with fourth-year student Marriam Bacchus, who is doing a specialist in accounting, with minors in French and economics at Rotman Commerce. Though Rotman offered some in-person courses in the fall, Bacchus, who commutes to school, decided to take all her courses online to avoid using public transportation. Though Bacchus has been taking courses fully online since the summer, she said that she finds online courses to be particularly difficult compared to in-person courses. She feels that online courses have higher expectations for class participation through discussion boards and in-class discussions. “I think pretty much everyone I’ve talked to has said that this year and this semester feels so much more difficult than previous years. And part of that is mental fatigue, but also, I think, a change in expectation of how much you’re expected to contribute… your time and yourself to online classes,” said Bacchus. Bacchus thinks that U of T was too optimistic in starting the year off with in-person and hybrid course delivery. She feels hesitant to criticize the university since its plan was similar to other universities. “But I’d say everyone kind of knew there was going to be a second wave,” she added. U of T Media Relations did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.
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U of T’s “impartial review” of IHRP hiring controversy draws concerns about transparency, independence, effectiveness
Review follows global backlash against allegations of judicial interference at law faculty Khatchig Anteblian Associate News Editor
Following demands that the university investigate allegations of judicial interference in the hiring process of Valentina Azarova as the director for the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at U of T’s Faculty of Law, the university has ordered an “impartial review” of the situation. The review will be conducted by Professor Bonnie Patterson, former President of the Council of Ontario Universities and former President and Vice-Chancellor of Trent University. On October 14, Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Vice-President Human Resources and Equity at U of T, announced in a statement that she has asked Patterson “to review all relevant documents and conduct interviews” to come to a conclusion about the situation. Patterson has been asked to submit a report to Hannah-Moffat, Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr, and Faculty of Law Dean Edward Iacobucci by mid-January. However, some have criticized the review process, claiming that it lacks transparency, independence, and effectiveness. Criticisms, calls for an investigation Iacobucci has denied in an email that an employment offer was ever made to Azarova and also denied allegations of external influence in the IHRP hiring process. However, Vincent Wong, a former research associate who resigned from his position as a member of the hiring committee for the position of IHRP director, has written a series of tweets publicizing emails exchanged during the hiring process. He shared emails that showed that the committee agreed to reach out to Azarova to discuss an offer for the position after unanimously agreeing to hire her. Later on, according to the emails, Azarova’s candidacy was dropped, with hiring committee member and assistant dean Alexis Archbold citing immigration issues as the reason, although Wong tweeted that the committee previously had reason to believe that Azarova’s foreign residency would not be a major hurdle in hiring her. Multiple criticisms and open letters have been
U of T has ordered a review of the IHRP hiring process. MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY
published calling for more transparency and demanding an investigation into the issue. A group of international law and human rights practitioners and law school faculty and staff addressed a letter, which has close to 200 signatures, to U of T President Meric Gertler calling for an independent investigation. Human Rights Watch has published an article about the matter, saying that it “raises serious concerns on threats to academic freedom.” Most recently, on October 7, nine members of the Faculty of Law at U of T wrote a letter to Regehr in which they argue that the fact that “the Dean of Law could act in such a high-handed manner in the IHRP appointment process, without fear of being called to account for his decision, is a sign of a decayed collegial environment.” Concerns about the review process Following the backlash, the university announced that it would review the IHRP hiring process. However, this has drawn further criticism. David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), has claimed that the review is not independent since it will be presented to administrators such
as Hannah-Moffat, who has already publicly denied allegations of interference. CAUT has also begun a censure process against the U of T administration. If the censure is approved at the meeting in November, U of T would have six months to address CAUT’s concerns before it would take effect, meaning CAUT members would be asked not to accept appointments or speaking engagements at U of T. Samer Muscati, an associate director at Human Rights Watch and former director of the IHRP, also questioned the investigation’s transparency, asking why the report by Patterson will be submitted to administration, rather than published publicly. However, Hannah-Moffat noted that the findings of the report will “eventually” be published. Furthermore, in her announcement, HannahMoffat wrote that no one is obliged to speak to Patterson and that the decision about whether to do so is completely voluntary — raising concerns about the effectiveness of the investigation. U of T Media Relations did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.
UTSC moves all courses online following new COVID-19 restrictions All in-person class sections, labs, exams to be delivered remotely Alexa DiFrancesco UTSC Bureau Chief
Following the modified Stage 2 restrictions implemented in Toronto, Ottawa, and Peel regions on October 10, UTSC Vice-Principal Academic & Dean William A. Gough announced via Quercus that all in-person class elements on campus will be moved online for the rest of the fall semester. “If you are teaching or attending classes in-person, the in-person sections will transition to online sections,” Gough wrote. “Recording of [in-person] lectures for WebOption delivery can continue, but students may not attend.” Exams that were planned for in-person delivery will also transition to online. On October 9, U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr had asked the university’s divisions to consider limiting in-person activities on all three campuses. Following the announcement, the Faculty of Arts & Science moved all hybrid courses online. In his statement, Gough verified that since all courses were guaranteed to be available online from the start of the semester, all in-person courses have already been operating partially online. On Tuesday, UTSC elaborated on Twitter that access to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, which
all U of T students were able to access with their TCards, will be suspended. The tweet also mentioned that the only food options will be take-out. These decisions follow recent announcements of the modification of activities at UTSG, Following new COVID-19 restrictions, all classes at UTSC will be held fully online. mandated after residents MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY in Toronto were advised by the government to limit Despite these changes, UTSC continues to ofnon-essential trips outside their homes. However, UTSC has posted on its website that it is uncertain fer the fourth floor of Bladen Wing as a space for of delivery options for the upcoming winter 2021 students to access wi-fi and computer services. There are also a limited number of study spaces available in semester. “At the moment, we are planning for courses in the UTSC Library. However, UTSC’s website notes the Winter term to be offered online, with some ele- that the use of these spaces will also depend on future ments offered in-person, however, this is dependent changes to health and safety guidelines as set by the on public health and safety regulations,” the website provincial and municipal governments. reads. “We recognize that Public Health restrictions may not allow for in-person elements in the Win- The Varsity has reached out to UTSC Media Relations ter term. In this event, our current approach of being for comment. 100% online will remain in place for every offering.”
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Major student groups criticize U of Trinity College Meeting changes T’s COVID-19 response, calls for equity commission chair position from financial support, online accessibility appointed to elected by membership University promises to respond to open letter from nine organizations Joy Chan Varsity Contributor
On October 6, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) and eight other major student groups at UTSG released an open letter entitled “Statement on the University of Toronto’s COVID-19 Response, Student Supports, and Fall 2020 Semester Plans.” The letter makes 12 demands for financial support and relief from the university, including reducing tuition fees and the minimum fee to register, recording lectures for accessibility purposes, and for the university to address privacy concerns related to accessible learning. The letter cites the drastic changes in many students’ finances due to COVID-19, which may impact students’ ability to navigate employment, housing, tuition, ancillary fees, and other associated costs. The writers and co-signatories of this open letter were the Arts and Science Students’ Union, the New College Student Council, the Rotman Commerce Students’ Association, the Trinity College Meeting, the University College Literary and Athletic Society (UC Lit), the University of Toronto’s International Students’ Advocacy Network (ISAN), the UTSU Executive Committee, the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council, and the Woodsworth College Students’ Association. The Office of the Vice-Provost Students has acknowledged receipt of the open statement and is working on a response. Demands The statement demands a reduction in the minimum fee to register at U of T, which Tyler Riches, UTSU Vice-President Public & University Affairs, believes “would help students avoid being ‘Financially Cancelled’ for the academic term.” The demand is concerned for low income students who, due to COVID-19, may be experiencing lost employment and reduced hours. According to Anna Laranjeira from ISAN, international students’ study permits may also be impacted due to the financial issues associated with the deadline. The letter also demands accommodation for students and support for professors to offer more accessibility options and address privacy concerns, including recordings of live lectures. According to Riches, the demand mirrors the findings of the UTSU Report on Online Learning & Remote Classes, which found that students prefer synchronous live lectures, which
Motions passed to create first-year committee, ratify statement on U of T’s COVID-19 response
are structured like in-person courses, and that the tool students find most helpful are lecture recordings. The report also found that international students struggle with being in different time zones or have poor internet connection. Riches noted that students have raised privacy, logistical, and technological concerns to the UTSU about the use of online proctoring services, including Examity and ProctorU. Liam P. Bryant, UC Lit President wrote to The Varsity that the issue is especially relevant to “third-party software… which isn’t necessarily beholden to the same policies of the University, especially for-profit software where commercial entities may have access to (by asynchronous submission, synchronous video monitoring, microphone monitoring, etc.) student information.” Bryant added that the issue stems from the lack of support for teaching teams to make these accommodation changes and the academic culture that pits students against each other. Riches added that the university “should begin by asking students what they need to succeed in online classes, and what is working well right now.” “The focus should be on ensuring students are able to access and understand course material, rather than focusing on constant evaluation,” Riches wrote. Organizing the statement According to Riches and Bryant, the 12 demands were initially identified in late August through events such as town halls that the student groups organized on behalf of their communities, and direct feedback from individuals. Demands were then finalized through collaboration and input from student groups and societies across campus. The large scale effort was managed by students around the world through a group chat, frequent emails, and informal Zoom meetings. Bryant and Riches shared that the interested parties determined that the demands in this statement best advocate for students in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Other faculties and groups, however, can use this statement to create statements that advocate for the needs of students in their own faculties. “So even though they might not be on this document, their sentiments are in line with ours,” wrote Bryant. U of T Media Relations did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.
The UTSU and other student unions have published an open letter about the university’s response to COVID-19. HAYDEN MAK/THEVARSITY
Trinity College Meeting held its second meeting of the year.
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Rachel E. Chen Varsity Contributor
During the Trinity College Meeting’s (TCM) second meeting of the year, a constitutional amendment passed changing the position of equity committee (EQC) chair from an appointed position to being elected by the membership of Trinity College. The TCM also created a first-year committee and ratified an open letter signed by other student unions that criticizes U of T’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Equity committee chair The amendment to change the EQC chair to an elected position was proposed on the grounds that those who were already student government leaders held too much authority over the committee, were not from racialized communities, and had little interest in pushing committee members’ mandates or addressing serious issues for the college at large. According to Mary Ngo, who resigned as TCM treasurer last month, and who put forth the amendment with Female Head of NonResident Affairs Cindy Lui, the EQC chair and secretary have historically been appointed by the EQC during its first annual meeting. “I think, over the years, we have heard complaints from students. Unfortunately, because the heads are sitting on those committees sometimes, those complaints aren’t taken that seriously,” said Ngo. “I think, over the summer, we’ve heard a lot of stories from our [racialized communities] regarding that, so we thought… the best thing to do would be to remove heads and the TCM [executive], so we can be held accountable for certain things that go on in this college or for our own behaviours and actions.” This new amendment will have the EQC chair voted on by members of the college as a whole, as part of Trinity’s spring election cycle. The amendment still bars student heads and TCM executives from taking on the role.
The amendment also maintains that the EQC must call at least four meetings each year and adds that the EQC chair can call both scheduled and unscheduled committee meetings — a responsibility which was previously within the purview of the head of arts. To encourage more participation from members of college, the amendment also seeks to add four additional seats to the committee: two non-resident members-at-large, an international resident member-at-large, and an international resident member-at-large. It also requires two members of the previous year’s committee to serve on the committee. Although the motion was passed, it still requires a two-thirds majority vote in two consecutive TCM meetings. The amendment will need to be passed again at the next TCM in order to be ratified in the college’s constitution. First-year committee The other item on the agenda was the creation of the First Year Committee (FYC). The FYC was proposed to make student governance more accessible for first-years, as well as to get diverse perspectives involved in governance at the college. The committee will be a permanent standing committee of TCM with the ability to plan events and initiatives, and it will be required to report to the general TCM at each meeting. Members of the committee will be selected through an application process rather than an election in order to increase diverse representation. The committee will consist of four first-year heads, six non-resident first-year representatives, and four resident first-year representatives. There will also be two upperyear advisors to the committee who will also be selected by application. The motion passed at the October meeting, but it will also have to pass at two consecutive meetings before being ratified in the constitution.
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Statistics Canada projects financial losses for Canadian universities, decrease in international enrolment U of T expects similar enrolment, revenue numbers to the previous year
Marta Anielska Associate News Editor
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Canada has updated its data about revenues and expenditures of Canadian universities to include projections based on revenue streams from past years, including a breakdown of funding sources and a projection of how universities might be impacted by the pandemic. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Statistics Canada has created five different scenarios to project revenue losses, which range from $377 million to $3.4 billion. Statistics Canada projects financial losses and decreases in international enrolment for Canadian universities in general. However, U of T expects to see similar numbers to last year, although according to a U of T spokesperson, the final data will not be available until November. Government funding and tuition Canadian universities get nearly half of their funding from government sources, at 45.8 per cent. The second highest source of university funding comes from tuition fees, which account for 29.4 per cent of total funding. Howev-
er, at U of T, 48 per cent of the university’s revenue comes from tuition fees. While provincial government funding has increased over the past few years, that funding as a proportion of total university funding has decreased from 38.6 per cent in 2013–2014 to 35.4 per cent in 2018–2019. Meanwhile, tuition fees have increased as a proportion of total revenue. Of the $9 billion in tuition fees that Canadian universities received in the 2018–2019 academic year, more than one third of that amount came from international student tuition. International students pay much higher fees than domestic students and their enrolment rates have been steadily increasing. At U of T, international student fees accounted for 30 per cent of the university’s revenue in the 2018– 2019 academic year. In the 2008–2009 academic year, international students accounted for 7.9 per cent of all students, which has risen to 14.7 per cent of all students in 2018–2019. In 2020–2021, international students paid an average of $32,041 to attend university in Canada compared to domestic students, who pay $6,610. Statistics Canada projection scenarios
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MARTA ANEILSKA/THEVARSITY
Based on possible decreases in international and domestic enrolment, the loss to university revenue could range from $377 million to $3.4 billion, according to five different enrolment scenarios. Scenarios A, B, and C account for a 58 per cent, 32 per cent, and 13 per cent decrease in international student enrolment, respectively. The drop in international enrolment of 58 per cent is based on international student permit holder data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, which has historically had a correlation with enrolment rates. Scenarios D and E factor in a possible drop or rise in domestic enrolment. A Labour Force Survey over the summer found that an average of 20 per cent of 17–24 year-olds who had been attending school in March and had the potential to return to school in the new year would not be doing so. Scenario D assumes that the full 20 per cent will not return to school and that there will be a 32 per cent decrease in international student enrolment. The
last scenario assumes an increase in domestic students and a decrease in international students of seven per cent and 32 per cent, respectively. U of T was not listed among the example universities that announced cuts to expenditure in response to the pandemic. In an email to The Varsity, Dwayne Benjamin, U of T’s provostial advisor on recruitment, enrolment, and educational space & technology, wrote that “early indications are that our overall enrolment levels for the fall term are roughly in line with last year.” He added that university administrators “do not expect to see significant reductions in overall operating revenue.” However, they “have seen significant cost increases in many areas, including repatriation of students who were overseas during the initial lockdown. He also noted that the university has “provided more than $6.5 million in emergency bursaries to approximately 6,000 students dealing with loss of employment opportunities and unexpected expenses.”
Canadian universities could face steep financial losses due to COVID-19. STEVEN LEE/THEVARSITY
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Student engagement, technology issues: STEM TA’s discuss challenges of online education Advantages in communication, participation also appreciated
Isabel Armiento Graduate Bureau Chief
As most undergraduate courses are being taught online for fall 2020, with hybrid courses moving entirely online in the Faculty of Arts & Science, most teaching assistants (TAs) are teaching online, many of them for the first time. This transition ushered in a myriad of challenges for TAs, some of whom initially lacked the equipment or technological knowledge necessary for online teaching. Online teaching has come with a specific set of challenges for TAs teaching in STEM fields. Many STEM undergraduate classes have thousands of students, so 30-person tu-
torials are especially important for fostering collaboration and communication amongst students. The Varsity spoke to three TAs in STEM fields about these obstacles, as well as some advantages, of teaching online during the pandemic. Student engagement Tresa LeBlanc-Doucet, a fourth-year math and psychology major working as a math TA, told The Varsity that soliciting student engagement is more difficult when students can simply turn off their camera if they don’t want to participate. “When you’re in a real life
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classroom, you can’t turn off your video, you can’t mute yourself, but online, you can pretty much refuse to participate,” she said. Alex Rodriguez, who is getting his master’s degree in math and is working as a math TA, shared Doucet’s concerns about engagement. In an interview with The Varsity, he said that since he began teaching online, he’s had trouble shaping his tutorials around his students’ needs. “In person, there’s a lot of feedback I get from being able to see people’s faces and… being able to see how people react,” Rodriguez said. “On Zoom, everyone has their cameras off,” he continued. “So it’s sort of a challenge understanding where everyone is… In person, you sort of know your students after a while… Online, it’s like a brick wall. It’s just awkward, and I don’t know how to address the awkwardness.” Assaf Bar-Natan, a fourth-year math PhD student, works as a lead writing TA in the Writing-Integrated Teaching program and trains STEM TAs on how to foster student engagement when teaching online. In an interview with The Varsity, he confirmed that student engagement over Zoom has been a big problem for many TAs. He advised TAs to set the example for the class: “If you don’t have a camera, your students aren’t going to have a camera.” Platform issues Rodriguez has also experienced drawbacks to an online platform. “In person, I have four chalkboards, so I can spread things out and allow people time to take notes,” he said. However, on Zoom, “it’s really hard to know if… I’m moving through things too fast.”
“It’s also hard because sometimes I want to refer back to old material, and in person, I could just point to the first board, but here, I have to scroll back,” he added. “I’m probably ruining people’s notes.” Doucet reported that many TAs struggled to access adequate technology at the beginning of the pandemic, especially those teaching in STEM departments. “If you just have a laptop with no webcam, no microphone, just a keyboard, how are you going to do math?” she said. She added that, this semester, the math department has offered to loan TAs any necessary teaching equipment. Advantages of online teaching Alternatively, some TAs found that teaching online has unexpected benefits and that technology has opened up new ways of communicating and collaborating in the classroom. Doucet feels that online learning offers advantages for STEM students in particular. “We can really encourage different kinds of engagement,” she said. Since teaching online, however, Doucet has made use of low-stakes activities such as polls or word clouds, which students are happy to engage with. “It’s a way of participating that’s commitment-free for the students,” she said. “They don’t feel as shy to speak up [as they would] in front of… a tutorial of 30 students.” Bar-Natan added that communication with students can be easier when teaching online. “The nice thing about the online environment is that communication is all centralized and documented. So students are checking their email more often because they need to,” he said.
Divestment and Beyond panel discusses the climate crisis, fossil fuel divestment at U of T
“It’s time for a renewed push” for divestment, says former President’s Advisory Committee member Hannah Carty News Editor
Divestment and Beyond, a coalition of students, faculty, and staff at the university who support fossil fuel divestment, held a virtual panel discussion on October 15 to discuss divestment and climate at U of T, with speakers from various areas of the university. Global climate crisis Donna Ashamock, an educator and community organizer, began the panel by speaking on the importance of Indigenous voices in the climate movement, noting that they are “often left out of decision-making tables that affect [climate crisis] policies.” She added that, since U of T is one of the largest institutions in Canada and the biggest landowner in Toronto, any action that the university takes to address the climate crisis will have an even greater impact. Nadège Compaoré, who will become an assistant professor of political science at UTM in July 2021, spoke broadly about the climate crisis and climate justice, and situated U of T within the greater context. “What I want to do is to ask us to seriously consider [whether] this collective work between students and faculty at U of T can be understood as part of the evolution of current global efforts for climate justice,” she said. Compaoré talked about how companies and governance bodies use the language of principles such as corporate social responsi-
bility, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors to appease critics while maintaining the status quo. The University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation (UTAM), which manages U of T’s investments, uses ESG factors in its work. Divestment at the university level Matthew Hoffman, a political science professor who served on the President’s Advisory Committee (PAC) on Divestment from Fossil Fuels, gave an overview of the history of the divestment movement at U of T. The PAC recommended targeted divestment based on whether firms were spreading misinformation about the climate crisis or were particularly bad emissions offenders. Hoffman said that the PAC, after consultation with stakeholders, found that divestment can still be in line with the university’s legal fiduciary duty. He concluded by saying that he believes that it is time to get the divestment movement going again. “The radical option right now is business as usual,” said Hoffman. “The sensible option is to work toward the kind of massive transformation and just transition that we need — and to do so quickly.” Professor Scott Prudham criticized UTAM’s goal of reducing carbon intensity — which measures emissions per amount invested — by 40 per cent by 2030 instead of committing to a total reduction of carbon emissions. This means UTAM can meet its
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goal and still have more total emissions tied to investments than in 2017. “This talk of intensity is a smokescreen,” said Prudham. “We live in a world in which only absolute reductions in greenhouse gas emissions matter.” Staff and union concerns Kristy Bard, a grievance officer for United Steel Workers Local 1998 (USW 1998) — the union that represents administrative and technical workers — spoke about the union’s efforts to navigate the climate crisis. She said that some workers may be hesitant to support
divestment or a just transition if they worry that they will lose their jobs. “I can’t stress enough the important role that education plays in mobilizing union members to get behind divestment and to push the union leadership to take more drastic measures, such as calling for a general strike,” said Bard. Justin Holloway, a steward for USW 1998, added that “the linkage between worker health and safety and [the climate crisis] must be better understood by workers and by everyone,” explaining that the climate crisis poses a direct health threat to everyone.
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UTM principal responds to questions about university life during COVID-19 at town hall
Course delivery, financial, academic accessibility were discussed Hafsa Ahmed UTM Bureau Chief
UTM held its first Virtual Town Hall of the 2020– 2021 academic year over Zoom on October 15. During the meeting, UTM’s new Vice-President and Principal Alexandra Gillespie, who started the role in July, responded to COVID-19-related questions submitted by students and members of the UTM community in the presence of some of campus administration. Opening the meeting, Gillespie said that the point of the conversation was to discuss “how we get from now, October, to April, and how we do it and stay well and thrive and support one another.” Questions were presented by Andrea Carter, UTM Assistant Dean Student Wellness, Support & Success, and covered topics related to UTM campus life and operations, and student academics and well-being. Course delivery The first topic was course delivery for the upcoming semester. As Gillespie noted, 97 per cent of students are currently taking their courses online. This will continue into the winter semester, and students can expect to see the exact delivery modes for their courses in early November. For students who rely on certain courses for their prerequisites, the “vast majority” of prerequisite courses will be offered partly or fully online. Fees and finances With regard to incidental fees, Gillespie noted that U of T has changed the structure of these fees
for the 2020–2021 academic year. “If we’re not providing all of our ancillary or incidental services, we will not be charging all of our incidental fees,” she commented. Gillespie highlighted efforts to address financial inaccessibility, such as the $6.5 million in financial relief that U of T has provided at the start of the pandemic, as well as additional “financial aid that we provide to students in need on a regular basis.” She encouraged students who may be struggling to reach out to the registrar’s financial aid office at UTM. Gillespie also acknowledged the University of Toronto Mississauga’s Students’ Union’s (UTMSU) EducationForAll Campaign that calls for financial accessibility for students at UTM. She confirmed that the administration will be responding to the campaign and that it will continue to “think about different ways that [it] can make education more accessible to low-income students.” Community wellness Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs and Assistant Principal Student Services, addressed questions concerning community wellness and student mental health. He said, “This has really been a chance for us to think about and make sure that we do offer wellness components that everyone can access.” Overton highlighted student services options such as the Health and Counselling Centre, which is offering programs and services to help students stay active and access mental health support remotely. “It’s just a matter of students choosing to engage,” he said.
Accessible learning Gillespie went on to address questions surrounding accessible learning and accommodations for students who are disabled. She said, “UTM accessibility remains in charge of supporting students for accommodations connected to the pandemic, and they’re doing that on top of their normal accommodations.” She also mentioned efforts by UTM administration to aid instructors through their shift to online teaching and how it asked instructors to “think about what it means to teach inclusively in an online environment.” Gillespie once again commended the UTMSU for raising the issue of financial inaccessibility and said that UTM is looking directly into these concerns. She further noted that UTM is working on ways to support students studying from different time zones, such as by having people working at the registrar’s office 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Residence life, transportation, and travel Gillespie highlighted the measures the UTM administration has taken to follow physical distancing and safety protocols on residence, such as reducing
Alexandra Gillespie, Vice-President and Principal at UTM.
COURTESY OF DREW LESIUCZOK/UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
the number of students in residence and implementing new sanitation practices. She added how students quarantining on residence receive transportation from the airport, a private residence and bathroom, and three meals a day delivered to their door, among other things. She also mentioned how UTM has made the residence deposit fee refundable to address concerns, such as students who were not able to come to residence due to travel restrictions. UTM has also created a “transit reimbursement program for those who used to rely on the shuttle for transit between [UTSG] and UTM,” according to Gillespie.
“The meaning of safety is being rewritten”: Robyn Maynard presents at the 2020 Snider Lecture Hafsa Ahmed UTM Bureau Chief
Black feminist writer, activist on the mainstreaming of police, prison abolition
On October 6, UTM invited Black feminist writer, activist, and intellectual Robyn Maynard to give a lecture for its 2020 Snider Lecture, a series dedicated to learning, questioning, and reflecting on important issues. Maynard is a PhD student at U of T at the Women & Gender Studies Institute, and the author of Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present. Maynard’s lecture, titled “Abolish the Police, Abolish Prisons: Black liberation in a time of revolt,” took place over Zoom, with attendees from UTM and around the world. Maynard began her presentation by highlighting the cultural shift that has taken place in recent months, with conversations surrounding police abolition at the mainstream level. She discussed how the legitimacy of institutions like the police and prisons are now being questioned and how definitions of safety and violence are being made not just within scholarly spaces where they first materialized but also in the public domain. “We’re living through a time in which the meaning of safety is being rewritten — in which the meaning of violence and the place from which it originates is being massively shifted in the public realm,” said Maynard. Maynard discussed how the pandemic has exposed the varying vulnerabilities of different racialized groups to death, noting how the COVID-19 pandemic was not the great equalizer of our time, as many people — from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to Madonna — had posed. Rather, Maynard highlighted that Black and racialized communities have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, revealing historic and ongoing patterns of inequality that are now widely being deemed unacceptable. Maynard further discussed how people are becoming more knowledgeable about the disproportionate rates of police targeting, attacking, and killing mem-
bers of marginalized communities. Hence, people see that there is not only violence “at the hands of the police, but… [also] the police itself is a kind of violence.” This understanding of racial violence and inequality perpetuated by police is something Black communities have known for generations, expressed
Maynard. In recent months, however, she notes how this understanding has reached more levels of society. “We’re seeing a massive shift in the broader public’s understanding of the actual function of police versus their perceived function that many of us have been
Robyn Maynard, the speaker at UTM’s 2020 Snider Lecture. COURTESY OF STACY LEE
socialized with,” said Maynard. She discussed how this shift came out of earlier organizing in March and explored the trajectory of activism surrounding racial violence and COVID-19. In March, activists organized, expressing solidarity with incarcerated people, including those held in prisons and in detention and immigration centres across North America during the beginning of the pandemic, due to their high-risk situations. Starting then, Maynard said that “there was a critique not only of captivity in our society, but [also] a massive show of solidarity, of mutual aid and care, that is so much a part of the Black radical tradition.” She detailed the roles that incarcerated people, and the activists working closely with them, play in shaping the critical narratives that call the police and prison institutions into question, “So much of the thinking of this is coming from people who’ve experienced violence firsthand,” Maynard said. She also emphasized the importance of recognizing the work of Black feminists — especially Black abolitionist feminists — whose works have pushed forward many of the ideas circulating in the public sphere today. “There has been work happening for decades, often behind the scenes at times that don’t look like organizing because they’re not in the newspapers,” Maynard said. “[Those activists have] been steadily working… to create the kind of conditions in which we could finally actually question the necessity of these institutions, of the institutions of police and prisons.” Marnard closed her presentation by highlighting the point of abolition — that it is not only about dismantling the police and prison institutions from our societies, but also about “building safety and understanding safety differently.” She discussed how the current climate of abolition is “actually a time of enormous world building.” Finally, she explained how revolutionizing our way of understanding safety — and of understanding institutions like the police and prisons who claim to keep people safe — is what gives us “a chance to build something new.”
Business & Labour
October 19, 2020 var.st/business biz@thevarsity.ca
U of T startup ProteinQure applying computational methods to structurally design pharmaceuticals
Company one of two U of T startups selected for Google for Startups Accelerator Canada Sarah Folk Varsity Contributor
ProteinQure, a startup launched out of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at U of T’s Rotman School of Management, was recently selected by Google to join the first cohort of its new Canadian accelerator program. ProteinQure is one of only nine companies in the cohort and is joining the program alongside fellow U of T startup Bridge7. The company uses high performance computing and machine learning to take a structure-based approach to drug formulation. The company’s co-founders Lucas Siow, Tomas Babej, Chris Ing, and Mark Fingerhuth met through the CDL, where they were able to combine their areas of expertise. The Varsity spoke with Siow, ProteinQure’s CEO and an alum of Rotman’s master of business administration (MBA) program, about the company’s early days and company mission. Homegrown innovation Having access to programs like those offered by the CDL can play a critical role in starting a company. According to Siow, the CDL provides an ecosystem that can bring people together and allow them to compete with larger, established companies. When asked about ProteinQure’s business strategy, Siow explained that it was “knowing when and how to find help [and] knowing when to ignore help and when to listen.” He added that the co-founders’ diverse background provided them with additional insight from
each other’s varied work and academic experiences. Multidisciplinary science Siow described ProteinQure’s mission as “trying to accelerate novel therapeutic development by building and sharing the computational tools, which would help improve our understanding of biology.” Such an undertaking encompasses many fields — beyond the scope of Siow’s MBA and his academic background in mathematics and statistics. Babej and Fingerhuth were both in the CDL’s quantum computing stream. While working on a problem related to protein folding, they realized that they would need to collaborate more with experts in other subject matters. “They… set out to… find complementary people,” Siow said. “So that included Chris, who was doing his PhD in biology, and myself, who was from the business side and who was finishing up the MBA.” Going forward with Google The Google for Startups Accelerator is a threemonth-long boot camp designed to help startups grow and become sustainable businesses. Siow hopes that the program will help ProteinQure with software infrastructure and machine learning, as well as provide networking opportunities with other Canadian startups. “There’s always a lot of benefits from forming a network from which to kind of discuss and a peer net-
ANANYA ANANTH/THEVARSITY
work to get help from,” Siow said. Going forward, ProteinQure has ambitious goals and hopes to be a trailblazer in the biopharma field. They aim to become one of the first big biopharma companies in Canada that uses a computational platform to make multiple products. “The question with any kind of tech or science based startup [is] how do you get there?” Siow continued. “You have to build your way toward scientific breakthroughs, as well as the commercial breakthroughs, and that’s what makes the company challenging but fun.” Advice for the up-and-coming For aspiring entrepreneurs, Siow has two pieces of advice. “Really choose your first jobs selectively, and by that, I mean really emphasize and prioritize learning and the people you’re going
to work with,” he explained. “You’re much better off picking a team that you like and can work with and can learn a lot from and respect, and an environment where you’re going to be given a lot of opportunity to do learning, not just a small cog in the machine, if possible.” Siow also highlighted the importance of networking: “It’s super important when you do eventually decide to do a startup that you have not just a network of customers or investors, but really a network of peers that you can lean on.” He added that these connections can serve you in a number of different ways down the road and provide “a group of people from whom you can recruit.” Siow said, “Whether it’s to find your co-founders or future employers, it’s super important that eventually you are able to build — hopefully — a world-class team.”
The Explainer: U of T’s working-from-home policies Francesco Zangari Varsity Contributor
What do teaching assistants, resident advisors, student-workers have to know?
Many people working remotely due to COVID-19 have reported improved work-life balance and increased productivity. However, with these changes come new expectations regarding employment policies and workers’ rights for anyone telecommuting. U of T employees who are working online right now should be aware of what to expect and what is expected of them. Accordingly, the university’s Division of Human Resources & Equity has assembled a collection of resources and guidelines that govern the new reality of employment at a distance.
Suitable workspace and equipment The university expects its remote workers to provide their own suitable workspace — typically within their residence — and provide this information to their managers. Additionally, this workspace is mandated to be for private use only. Any meeting with visitors or shipments must be done using special arrangements at alternate locations. Equipment and supply needs are also to be fulfilled by employees. This includes, but is not limited to, hardware, software, and connectivity to a network. However, if the university does provide any equipment and supplies, this will be noted in working agreements and employees are expected to maintain and re-
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turn said equipment upon the end of remote working.
Maintained communication Being readily available through an agreed upon communication method — such as email or instant messaging — is strictly mandated by the university. Remote workers must communicate any telecommuting arrangements to their current managers, who can approve them as well as any changes to workplace shifts. Any other changes to this agreement and other requests must be communicated in writing. Workers must be available during the agreed upon work hours and are expected to prioritize their work during these hours, with reasonable consideration for caregiving obligations exacerbated by the pandemic. In the event of disruptions or internet connectivity issues, employees must make every effort to inform their managers and minimize the impact to their work. The more things change, the more they stay the same Remote workers are expected to perform their job duties in a similar timeframe to their prepandemic hours. Barring any changes, they must follow departmental procedures and request sick days and vacation time as usual. Any other ordinary personal responsibilities arising from work hours are also to be communicated according to normal processes. Employees dealing with confidential documents must also maintain the same level of privacy when working at home. This includes, but is not limited to, protecting the documents “from being damaged, destroyed, stolen, copied or otherwise accessed by unauthorized individuals.” During remote work, document disposal will
still occur on campus. As before, any breaches of privacy must be communicated immediately to managers. New responsibilities, new rights The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902 (CUPE 3902) is the bargaining unit that represents contract academic workers — such as sessional lecturers and teaching assistants — at U of T. “It does not appear [that U of T is] making or forcing anyone to install anything,” said Amy Conwell, the chair of CUPE 3902, in an interview with The Varsity. However, she added that choosing not to install certain recommended software may impact work performance. Under the Canadian Labour Code, all workers in Canada have the right to refuse dangerous work. Conwell noted that employees must have a legitimate reason to avoid potentially unsafe work, similar to the procedure for teaching in person. However, this would need to be a more urgent reason than just the existence of the pandemic, such as caring for an elderly family member or having an underlying health condition. Despite a clear delineation of workers’ responsibilities, a lack of specificity around workers’ rights — such as what constitutes an ‘urgent reason’ — is cause for concern for Conwell. “We have been asking the university to provide guidelines and policies… communicated to all workers and students about their rights,” said Conwell. “Specifically, we’ve asked them for weeks now the same question about accommodations and how they were going to systematically, across the board allow people to access accommodations and they haven’t responded sufficiently to that as well.”
Comment
October 19, 2020 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
Op-ed: Overloading coursework doesn’t keep students on track Weekly graded assignments make it harder, not easier, to stay on top of things
Alex Erickson Varsity Contributor
Some instructors have made a key mistake in designing their transitions to online learning during COVID-19. That is, by designing course structures with frequent quizzes, tight deadlines, and significant amounts of the course grade being devoted to such activities. The goal was accountability. The result, however, is simply overwhelming. Students are being pushed behind, and are therefore less accountable. I understand where instructors were coming from with this design: they don’t want students to fall behind. In an online environment, this seems to be of greater concern than in-person. However, their approach to keep students on track was simply to increase the academic consequences of falling behind, rather than adapting to a structure which allowed for recovery once people inevitably did. Falling behind is not typically a choice students make. Student lives are busy these days, many often balance full-time school with a job, family, and other responsibilities. And certainly, the more a person has going on, the more that person is susceptible to random events beyond their control. Sometimes, responsibilities require your
attention at an academically inconvenient time. Other times, your health is not always predictable — especially during a pandemic — and this too is academically inconvenient. No random event ever improves your progress on a project — the inevitable chance events in life always push you backward. These things happened in 2019 as they do now in 2020. The key difference this year is that courses were previously better at allowing students to adapt. In a typical college course structure, with few assignments and far-apart deadlines, it’s certainly possible to have your timeline pushed back and still recover in time. It’s a far more sustainable model for students. During classes before the pandemic, an instructor may have seen the few students falling behind as some pedagogical failure, and in fear of exactly these cases, the instructor designed an online course structure for this year that ‘prevents’ falling behind. However, weekly assignments don’t solve this problem; rather, they augment it for all of their students due to an increased workload. Students falling behind is not a new problem; new is the approach of adding more work and tighter deadlines to prevent it. Instructors don’t — and may won’t for some time — see the cumulative consequences of these new productivity systems on students
and, therefore, don’t respond to them. To the instructors: if you’ve significantly changed the structure of your course to favour accountability and keeping pace above all, I’d encourage you to reconsider. At the end of the day, we students are in postsecondary school because we want to be here. It’s not too late to ‘take the temperature’ of your class and propose a syllabus change to your students. Alex Erickson is a second-year economics and international relations student at University College. He is the director for social sciences for the University of Toronto Students’ Union.
AMBIKA MAHARAJ/THEVARSITY
The decision to move classes online should have happened much earlier International, non-commuting students now face unnecessary expenses, circumstances Hyerin Jeong Varsity Contributor
Commuters like me are likely to be most receptive to the recent move to online-only courses for Faculty of Arts & Science students — even though we may miss the classroom experience that a laptop in a tiny bedroom cannot replace. While moving most courses to an onlineonly delivery model is the best way to protect the student population from COVID-19, U of T should have made a unilateral decision for all faculties before the fall semester started. Now, the drastic shift to online-only courses halfway through the semester has inconvenienced a significant portion of the student population. On the one hand, commuters living at home have the least to worry about during this transition. The biggest pre-pandemic costs for most commuters were transportation and rent. Without a reason to commute now, our costs for the fall term have reduced. On the other hand, non-commuting and international Faculty of Arts & Science students now face high expenses and may feel trapped in a city that they have no real reason to be in anymore — all because the university failed to make the right decision from the start. Thousands of dollars wasted for non-commuters Many students living outside of Toronto decided to live in residences or rent apartments to attend in-person classes. The pandemic has not lowered Toronto’s steep living costs and
students are potentially paying upward of $2,000 a month to now attend classes that are solely online. With the lack of available jobs due to stricter restrictions in Ontario, students have spent a significant portion of money with few ways to earn it back. Students with the option to go home may have to contend with payments for breaking their leases, while students who live in residence will have to work with the university to sort out refunds if they no longer wish to remain in the city. Had U of T mandated that all faculties transition fully online before the start of the year, these students wouldn’t be stuck paying for rent and living expenses when they never had to travel to Toronto in the first place. International students left stuck and alone The issues that domestic non-commuter students faced are compounded for international students who were able to move to Toronto this fall. Despite travel risks in a pandemic, more than 730 international students quarantined through the program provided by U of T in order to travel back to Toronto to attend classes, according to U of T News. U of T helped these students with their re-entry plans and provided them with the 14-day quarantine program. However, now that courses are progressing completely online for many in the Faculty of Arts & Science, international students are left stranded with limited ways to get home. U of T provided aid for students to come back to Canada, but where is the aid for students who
Anticipating a second wave of COVID-19 in the summer could have prevented much duress for students. SAMANTHA YAO/THEVARSITY
are here and want to return home? Even if international students could pack and leave regardless of expenses, travel restrictions in Toronto have also been tightened, making it very difficult to board a plane back home. WestJet has recently announced flight suspensions in Atlantic Canada, and Porter airlines is suspending all flights until December. Overall the university should acknowledge its poor decision for the fall semester’s course
delivery, given the inevitability of the second wave. To say this decision inconvenienced a major portion of the student population is an understatement. With travel restrictions and signed leases, many students are left feeling stuck and frustrated in an already troubling time. Hyerin Jeong is a fourth-year physiology and cell and molecular biology student at New College.
var.st/comment
OCTOBER 19, 2020
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Op-ed: We need a united national student union that works for everyone Addressing a Canadian student movement that is divided
Justin Patrick Varsity Contributor
Student politics at U of T can sometimes seem confusing, with university students divided between unions both big and small. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond U of T there exists another layer of division: the divide between provincial and national student unions. This division could make provincial and national student advocacy incredibly difficult because advocacy initiatives uniting all students in Canada would require extensive negotiations between multiple organizations. For successful student advocacy that changes policies, students across the country need to work together, pool resources, and speak with a unified voice. The best way to do this would be through a single national student union in which all campuses take part. The average U of T student may not be aware of these larger student unions, so here is a brief summary. National and provincial student unions The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest postsecondary student union in Canada. It represents over 500,000 students and has a presence in every province except Québec. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is the other national student union, consisting of member locals that formed an organization separate from the CFS. CASA represents 264,000 students and is partnered with the Quebec Student Union. Together, these two organizations represent around 355,000 students. There are four provincial student unions whose memberships consist of students independent from national student unions. The British Columbia Federation of Students represents over 170,000 students, about 20,000 of which are part of CASA; the College Student Alliance represents more than 100,000 Ontario college students; the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) represents 150,000 students; and the Quebec Student Union represents 91,000 students. Where are the rest of the students? The total number of students represented by the
aforementioned provincial and national student unions is around 1.2 million. However, there are over 2.1 million postsecondary students in Canada, which means over 860,000 students — an estimated 41 per cent — are not represented by any national or provincial student union. These students may only have campus-level student unions that are generally limited in terms of enacting policy change beyond their respective campuses. In some cases, like the Royal Military College of Canada, these students may not even have a local student union. Efforts need to be made to include these students with only local or no representation to ensure their perspectives and shared experiences are accounted for in student-driven provincial and national policy proposals, be it by welcoming them into existing structures or by creating new national and provincial student unions that represent all postsecondary students in Canada. Critiques of the current systems Students in Canada need to work together and present a united front in order to successfully advocate for improving the student experience at provincial and national levels, including but not limited to, lowering or eliminating tuition fees, increasing student representation within postsecondary institutions, ensuring student perspectives influence education policy, and advocating for a more equitable and inclusive world. However, critiques of Canada’s national and provincial student unions call into question whether students who are represented beyond their local student unions are even able to maintain that united front. CFS opponents allege that unelected, non-student staff have too much power over student democracy, the union lacks sufficient transparency, and the defederation process is too difficult. Students have also critiqued CASA for a lack of grassroots student engagement and a need for proportional representation instead of one vote per member local. Furthermore, Nigel Moses, a leading researcher on Canadian student unions, argues that “OUSA is strategically aligned with university administrators, whose interests are not necessarily in the public’s or students’ best interests” and goes as far as to describe
OUSA as “a front organization for university administrators.” The future of student representation in Canada While it seems that greater centralization in Canadian student politics doesn’t lead to favourable outcomes, these challenges — and those posed by the borders of campuses, provinces, and territories — should not stop students from collaborating and helping each other. For some examples of what large-scale collaboration can do, check out the work of the All-Africa Students Union; European Students’ Union; and Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes, which represents students from Latin America and the Caribbean. Their work has led to advocacy initiatives in solidarity with students in Zimbabwe protesting government corruption, Europe-wide student-driven policy research, and contributions to international education policy discourse. For such a reality to be achieved in Canada, one national Canadian student union for the over 2.1 million postsecondary students would be ideal. This would make it easier to share resources and could help bring engagement in activism to levels sufficient to enact policy change. Furthermore, this union could be a space that welcomes critical thinking as an opportunity for improvement. To avoid the same critiques as those levied against current national and provincial student unions, the united national union would need a fair democratic structure that is free from control by unelected, nonstudent actors, and in which unity is achieved and maintained by consent. It would also need to have strong grassroots engagement and effectively balance high-level advocacy with on-the-ground activism. It should never sacrifice student democracy in favour of conformity to external forces or its own hierarchy. Obviously, this would not be easy, as decades of division would not be alleviated overnight. However, given the immense potential benefits, maybe it is time to try. Justin Patrick is a PhD student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and is the president of the In-
A national student union would empower Canadian students to enact real change. SAMANTHA YAO/THEVARSITY
ternational Association for Political Science Students. He served as the internal commissioner of the UTGSU from January to April 2019. He was a governance and policy analyst for the UTSU from June to September 2019.
Letter to the Editor: Calls to defund Campus Police lack evidence Re: “Opinion: U of T’s awareness of anti-Black racism isn’t enough — it must defund Campus Police”
Arjun Singh Varsity Contributor
I write this letter in response to an article entitled “U of T’s awareness of anti-Black racism isn’t enough — it must defund Campus Police,” which was published in the September 28, 2020 print edition of The Varsity. The article was quite problematic on several fronts and merits a response to address its claims in the interests of truth. The fact remains that Campus Police has been indispensable in ensuring both infrastructure and individuals at the University of Toronto are safe and secure. Campus Police keep records of vandalization, thefts from being rampant, and vagrants from entering buildings. It also maintains order at public events — such as protests, meetings, parades, and ceremonies — and runs numerous campaigns and initiatives — such as UTAlert, TravelSafer, the Telephone Emergency Locations System, and STOP Security Plates — to support its other endeavours. In a city where crime is acute, our community feels safe enough to walk, work, study, and remain active on campus, which is a testament to Campus Police’s effectiveness. Everyone at U of T — regardless of their race, gender, or beliefs — has benefitted from its service, and Campus Police’s low visibility gives credence to its quiet professionalism. As a racialized student who has lived and
worked on campus for over two years, I can wholeheartedly attest to this. It now remains to evaluate the article’s claims against reality — with which it is incongruous. In claiming that “police brutality” has existed at U of T — with a “racial” undertone being implied — the article did not provide specific examples that reflect a pattern of institutional racism beyond one instance of a student being handcuffed by police when under mental duress. It did not evaluate a single rule of engagement, administrative practice, investigative protocol, or any other statute or policy when making this assessment. Indeed, contrary to the title, the article’s actual engagement with the question of “defunding Campus Police” was thin at best — comprising merely a few short paragraphs of descriptive action by other groups and largely assessing other U of T initiatives to combat racism. That any reasonable person could assess that Campus Police is systemically brutal or racist — much less that it requires defunding — from such a piece is absurd. Scrutineers often ignore the vast majority of peaceful and productive interactions between police and citizens — including minoritized community members. The fact remains that such general trends cannot be sweepingly interpolated down to individual forces without assessing their personal merits.
If such logic were followed, Campus Police wouldn’t face current calls for “defunding”; a measure that I believe would make us less safe and add to our collective worries. To that end, instead of heeding the ignorant cries for “defunding” or, even worse, “abolition,” communities like our own should bolster our police with more tools, training, and capabilities to respond to developments in law enforcement and criminal justice. Additionally, we should not target services for the mere sake of virtue-signalling on mat-
ters of race or otherwise, which unfairly and ironically skews their ability to benefit us all. Most importantly, we must respect Campus Police and law enforcement for their service — for the risks and efforts they undertake daily. As a university, it falls on us to set an example for society; it’s time we started with the right one. Arjun Singh is a fourth-year political science and international relations student at New College. TROY LAWRENCE/THE VARSITY
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COMMENT
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U of T’s recent anti-racism efforts must expand to Indigenous students In Canada, justice for Black and Indigenous peoples go hand in hand
Cleo Sood Varsity Contributor
The summer of 2020 unfolded in the tense air of COVID-19. A global chanting of “Black lives matter” enveloped the digital realm and took to the streets after George Floyd, a Black man, was publicly killed by a police officer. The resulting movement against police brutality that sprung up in the United States reproduced itself in Canada. While well intentioned, institutions such as U of T have misconstrued the ideals of the movement by adopting its Americanized form without sufficiently accounting for its own domestic context. It is not only Black people in Canada who deserve justice — it is also Indigenous peoples. Institutions like U of T should recognize that efforts to address racism cannot be meaningful unless both anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity are collectively accounted for. American versus Canadian contexts Being a visibly Black person isn’t a homogeneous ordeal anywhere; experiences differ depending on where you are in the world. Black Americans remain one of the groups that poverty hits the hardest, have lower incomes on average, and are less likely to have a college degree than white Americans. This is due to an American history with roots in a prolifiic slave trade, the Civil War, and Jim Crow laws that crucially link the sovereign state’s development to the current disenfranchisement and oppression of Black Americans. It’s no wonder that the Black Lives Matter movement began in the United States. Colonial Canada too saw enslaved Africans brought overseas by French and British settlers when they were first establishing their colonies in the nation. However, the history and impact of
slavery is not as extensive in Canada as it was in the United States. While the descendents of enslaved Africans make up the vast majority of Black Americans, the majority of Black Canadians by contrast are African and Caribbean immigrants. This isn’t to suggest that there ceases to be racism toward Black people in Canada, or even that the Canadian system is kinder with its marginalization. Indeed, the Black Lives Matter movement is necessary in Canada too. The point, however, is that anti-racism efforts must address Canada’s unique development — one rooted in Indigenous genocide. In this way, we must ac-
count for the ways in which Canada and the United States are both similar and yet different. Indigenous peoples deserve recognition by U of T To list just a few of the ongoing institutional sins toward this country’s Indigenous population, Indigenous peoples face the highest rates of poverty, are overrepresented in prisons, and are still enduring intergenerational trauma from residential schools and the “Sixties Scoop,” which took children from their families, stripped them of their culture, and fostered a place
A distinctly Canadian context is necessary to combat racism. MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY
for both sexual and physical abuse. Furthermore, Indigenous children are overrepresented in the foster care system, and the genocide of Indigenous women is still a national crisis. It suffices to say that such matters are for Canadians to take notice of. The reality is that the structural racism we fight here in Canada was born out of a constant effort to brutalize and control Indigenous peoples. This is seen, for example, in the history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which was created for the sole purpose of displacing Indigenous peoples. Take into account that today, Indigenous people represent more than one third of those shot to death by RCMP officers between 2007 and 2017, while only accounting for 4.5 per cent of the national population. Clearly this is a practice that is still embedded into the structure of modern policing. Over the summer, in response to the movement against structural racism, U of T President Meric Gertler issued a statement condemning antiBlack racism and created an Anti-Black Racism Task Force. These major announcements made no mention of racism or violence against Indigenous peoples. This is not to say that every action against racism must include every racialized group — but U of T’s lack of focus on anti-Indigeneity demonstrates a lack of adaptation of this movement born out of an act of police violence into its own context. U of T must contemplate the way systemic oppression operates domestically and make tangible changes because this task can’t be delegated to anybody else. Cleo Sood is a third-year philosophy and economics student at Innis College.
Fellow American students in Canada, voting in the 2020 elections is essential There is still a sliver of hope to make change within the system
Zara Lal Varsity Contributor
When I think about the US elections, I increasingly ask myself, “What is American citizenship, and who gets to be a part of it?” When we talk about ‘we’ — both in the formal ‘we the people’ sense and the colloquial ‘our country’ sense — who are we talking about? Can voting change the boundaries and institutions of that ‘we’ or, for that matter, of anything else? When I spoke to some of my American peers — all of whom were raised in various places in the United States and have experienced the American state through gender markers, racial discrimination, police violence, corporations, or unaffordable medications — I found that the question of voting, and the puzzle of how to have a voice in the political process, was really complicated for everyone. Ultimately, however, we all plan to mail in our ballots before November. A sampling of America’s brutal history — which includes slavery, the Trail of Tears, using ‘model minorities’ as a racial wedge, and imperialism — shows that the American state was created to commit and profit from violence against racialized people internally and externally, while simultaneously hyper-privileging individuals based on a variety of inequitably distributed factors such as race, gender, wealth, and socioeconomic status. Voting thus seems like the built-in route for representation in a system committed to the opposite. We are frustrated and exhausted, and many of us, because of our racial or gender identity, have been politically silenced, whether at the polls, through institutions meant to ‘protect’ us, or via the struggles of growing up in an America where people have widely internalized notions linked to race, class, gender, and wealth about who belongs
in the country, even before 2016. Nonetheless, this election is a conversation about the ‘we.’ When the state does everything it can to exclude parts of that ‘we,’ we must still claim that citizenship for ourselves. It is not just our right, but our responsibility — both for ourselves, and for the sake of everyone fighting for survival. Voting is an important statement. It is a reassertion, a way of deliberately being part of the conversation, proving that we have the numbers to demand changes to our institutions — especially when our institutions do so much to keep out vulnerable populations. When it comes to the Black and Latinx communities in particular, voter suppression and disenfranchisement are unfortunate but undeniable realities. Voting gives us a chance to speak up and elect someone more likely to bring positive change than President Donald Trump, in the hopes that it may help — or even save — some lives. One reason our bigoted, discriminatory, and violent institutions have been permitted to stay that way for so long is not only that people don’t vote, but that they are actively prevented from voting. However, choosing not to vote exacerbates disenfranchisement. So, we’ve got to fight back, and I think we have a meaningful opportunity to do that this election — particularly from a distance. After we’ve been socialized to stay silent, this is one way to have a voice. The candidates we have standing before us today are the ‘we’ that was imagined by the founders. Like Trump, Joe Biden is also a straight, cisgender, wealthy white man who has unabashedly made racist comments in the past and has been accused of sexual misconduct. Supporting Biden feels hollow because it means supporting and legitimizing many things we despise in order to get rid of a president we despise.
Of course, institutional change won’t happen solely through voting, but with Biden, there’s a possibility that it could start. There’s still hope that a Biden presidency could start the process of bringing changes we want to see, particularly by giving an opening to the Democratic progressive wing led by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar, who are fighting to change the political system from the inside and alleviate structural inequalities. As the situation becomes more urgent, all of us need to act quickly and responsibly. A close friend of one American student I spoke to is setting up a GoFundMe right now just to afford medical treatment — they do not have the privilege to wait much longer for change. For the communities that are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the Trump administration’s mismanagement, acting now is critical. Voting now is particularly important for Americans who are living in Canada. Given the US role as a — contested — political and economic hegemon on the international stage, the decisions and policies of American leaders have an international impact, and often a more damaging international than domestic impact. Transnational issues such as climate policies, trade and international cooperation on a COVID-19 vaccine, and managing the pandemic affect everyone — from Americans residing overseas to innocent citizens of other countries. So we must act responsibly when it comes to the decision to vote. Furthermore, according to some, Americans in Canada are in a particularly unique situation: there are more Americans living in Canada than in any other country outside the US. If all the approximately one million Americans living in Canada who are eligible to vote in the US election turned out, this bloc could potentially
become an important deciding factor in the US 2020 election. Ordinarily, less than six per cent of the American-Canadian population vote. In a ‘we’ in which swing states and voter suppression decide the nation’s leadership, voting this election from Canada can present a real opportunity for change — and may even be able to make up for silent internal suppression and mismanagement. And in the end if they invalidate all our ballots, they’ll be left with an extremely visible and problematic number. So if there’s a way to undeniably show that we have the numbers, this is it. Without a doubt, Trump has exacerbated and highlighted the issues of racialized communities, the fragility of the gains made by women and the LGBTQ+ community, and the painfully wretched state of the American health care system. None of it began with Trump, and it isn’t going to end with him either. Yet voting, showing that we matter, is a start. Voting now is a way to show the discrepancies between what our institutions are doing, and what we want them to be doing. It is also an affirmation of citizenship, and a form of self-given acceptance into the ‘we.’ There’s also a chance for meaningful legislation that can improve and even save lives. We can’t stop protesting, donating, calling for curriculum changes, signing petitions, and supporting radical organizers for institutional change. But at the same time, within the system, there is still a sliver of hope — and it’s worth going for. Zara Lal is a fourth-year international relations and Near and Middle Eastern civilizations student at Victoria College. She is the president of the Near and Middle East Student Union and co-editor of the Near and Middle East Student Journal.
features@thevarsity.ca
Trinity College’s institutional reckoning
College community members reflect on culture of discrimination, legacy of secret society Episkopon Writers: Hana Sharifi and Joshua Chong Photographer: Samantha Yao
Content warning: this article contains discussions of suicide and sexual violence. Shantel Watson wasn’t sure what was going on when a fellow Trinity College student confronted her for using a communal residence washroom. Watson, then in her first year, was stepping out of a shower one morning when the white woman began to question Watson, as if she was interrogating her for not asking permission to use the shared washroom beforehand. “It seemed she was trying to police the way I was using the facilities,” Watson said in an interview with The Varsity. Upset over that encounter, Watson remembers leaving the washroom and feeling that someone was watching her. When she turned around, she noticed the same woman student had followed her out of the washroom and was staring her down as she walked down the narrow hallways of Trinity College. “We locked eyes,” Watson recalled, “and then she jumped back into the washroom.” Watson left that interaction confused. “I was just thinking why would she think I was [there] to hurt anyone or anything,” she said. Then the meaning behind the encounter began to sink in. Beyond microaggressions from teachers or strangers when she was younger, Watson had never experienced anything of that magnitude. She called the experience an “eyeopener.” Watson, now a third-year student at the University of Toronto, is one of a handful of Black students at Trinity College. According to Trinity College’s 2015 Student Experience Survey, Black students comprise approximately two per cent of Trinity’s student body population. Watson has experienced several other racist encounters at the college since that incident. This past summer, she decided to speak up by writing an op-ed for The Varsity with two fellow Black students highlighting the impact and extent of anti-Black racism at Trinity College. In doing this, Watson joins an increasingly large chorus of students and alumni who are coming forward with personal stories of discrimination and exclusion at the predominantly white college, which has a community that some Trinity College students characterize as elitist. These events led The Varsity to question the larger overall climate of Trinity College and how it is perpetuated at an institutional level. An institutional reckoning amidst a global movement Discussions surrounding these issues at Trinity College became heightened this spring following the killing of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. As corporations, organizations, and communities across Canada and around the world began to reckon with and examine systems of racism and discrimination embedded within their social structures, so too did the members of Trinity College. One June 1, the Trinity College Multicultural Society (TCMS) published a statement on its Facebook page in response to the deaths caused by police brutality and anti-Black racism. The TCMS, created in 2018, aims to “be a space for minority students to seek comfort and support when navigating our educational institutions, which are plagued with systemic racism.” In the 2023 Facebook group, Black TCMS leaders responded to the statement by coming forward with personal experiences of anti-Black treatment they have received and criticism toward Trinity student leadership’s lack of action toward combating anti-Black racism. Much of the conversation among Trinity College members in several Facebook groups centred around personal experiences with discrimination at the college or with Episkopon, a quasi-secret
society with a history of discriminatory practices with which several Trinity College students are associated — including multiple students in leadership positions. One of the catalysts that precipitated the vigorous discussions at Trinity College were a series of Facebook posts made in early June by current Trinity College students detailing incidents of racism. Shortly thereafter, Micah Kalisch, a secondyear student, brought the issue of Episkopon to a wider audience by posting a warning in the “Trinity College (UofT) Class of 2024” Facebook group, informing incoming first-year students about Episkopon’s discriminatory nature and actions. “The group is known for being inherently racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, [and] transphobic,” Kalisch wrote in the post. She went on to share that her message is part of an important movement of dismantling systems within the college that perpetuate anti-Black racism. The Varsity has tried reaching out to recent members of both the recently dissolved men’s and women’s branches of Episkopon for comment about these allegations of discrimination. They have yet to respond. “I chose to make that post in the incoming students’ page because when I was a new student, I had never heard of [Episkopon],” Kalisch said in an interview with The Varsity. “It’s important for people to know what this group represents, what this group perpetuates, and what it’s founded on.” Kalisch’s post — along with other posts about discrimination at the college — started a chain of events that lasted well into the summer and resulted in the resignation of multiple student leaders; an open letter to the college’s admin-
istration demanding action on discrimination, which was signed by over 1,000 individuals; and a pledge by several student leaders and college administrators to examine and reform multiple systems within the college. According to a statement by a Trinity College spokesperson in August, they claimed that to their understanding, both the men’s and women’s branches of Episkopon had dissolved. The women’s branch publicly announced its dissolution in June, and The Varsity has been unable to contact the men’s branch to confirm its dissolution. These events have been the subject of a threemonth long investigation by The Varsity into Episkopon and the culture at Trinity College, including interviews with over a dozen college students, alumni, and administration, along with the analyses of hundreds of pages of documents dating back to the late nineteenth century. The findings paint a disturbing picture of multiple forms of institutional discrimination, including racism, elitism, and exclusion that go beyond the bubble of Episkopon and pervade multiple facets of college and student life. The effects of this discrimination have been perpetuated by the inaction of college administrators and student leaders — a leadership team that, for decades, has had overlapping spheres of influence with members of Episkopon. Episkopon’s history For much of its history, Episkopon — or “Pon,” as it has been dubbed by students — was inextricably linked with Trinity College. Established in 1858, the society was described in the 1896 edition of the Trinity University Year Book as a “weapon of righteous indignation, humorous unbraiding or scornful reproval, just and meet.” Episkopon was, and still is, most well known
Varsity coverage of Episkopon, September 1992. FROM THE VARSITY ARCHVES
for its readings — evening gatherings where Episkopon members would recite gossip, often in the form of pointed insults or jokes, aimed at certain members of the community. The jokes and minutes from each reading would be recorded in decorated tomes, most of which are stored in Episkopon’s archives. Episkopon’s activities, however, did not go unnoticed by other students and the college’s administration, who were often critical of the readings’ content. Several attempts were made to discontinue the activities of the society throughout the first century of its existence, most notably in the 1870s. First-years in the college pushed back against Episkopon’s repeated criticism of certain students and the derision of their character, leading to the group’s temporary dissolution from 1875– 1879. Episkopon’s readings were also halted from 1887–1888 and again from 1945–1946. Despite these setbacks, Episkopon continued to thrive throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, maintaining its same raison d’être of ridiculing the flaws of other students in the form of jest and insults, all while continuing to receive funding from the Trinity student council as a recognized society. Episkopon attracted individuals who went on to be recognized members of Canadian society, including luminaries such as former Chief Director of Education of Ontario John G. Althouse, former politician and current Trinity College Chancellor Bill Graham, and former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson. It wasn’t until 1992 that Trinity College formally disassociated with Episkopon due to allegations that the group harassed students on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation. This was preceded by a string of serious incidents from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, and students threatened a lawsuit against the university if Trinity College failed to disassociate from Episkopon. A year prior to the college severing all official ties with the group, a student targeted by Episkopon threatened to take their own life, while another student who was critical of the society had a bucket of human feces and urine dumped in their room, as was reported by The Varsity in 1992. In spite of these incidents, there was considerable pushback from members of Trinity College — including students in leadership positions — against Episkopon’s severance from the college. Episkopon today Today, Episkopon remains officially disassociated with the college. Yet, since 2017, there has been a steady presence of several Episkopon members serving as elected officials for Trinity College each year. In addition, the three yearly readings — which are typically held at a variety of locations throughout the city, including Trinity Bellwoods Park — are well attended by nonmembers such as first-year students at Trinity College and, at times, alumni. The most distinctive structural aspect of Episkopon is its gendered nature, with the organization being split into two groups — that of men students, “Man-pon,” and that of women students, “Fem-pon.” A scribe functions as the head of each of these two branches, and each head is supported by two senior editors. Every other member who is initiated into the society is an editor. Victoria Reedman, an alum of Trinity College and a former Episkopon member, recalls her responsibilities as a member of Episkopon with aversion. “It’s very Mean Girls,” she said. “When I was a part of the organization, a lot of it made me really uncomfortable. I didn’t like writing the jokes, and I wasn’t very good at it. And I especially didn’t like writing jokes about other people.” Throughout the year, editors are responsible for updating a list, known among members as the “Shit List,” on a running Google Doc. It is
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Trinity College is known for its use of black gowns for ceremonial purposes. SAMANTHA YAO/THE VARSITY
part of their role to keep an eye and ear out for gossip circulating through the college and any drama that might be worth broadcasting at the readings. Joke writing is also done in a gendered manner. Women editors are responsible for writing jokes about women members of the college, while men editors are responsible for writing jokes about men members. Students may request not to be mentioned in the readings. But rather than an opt-in process, students must approach an Episkopon member in order to opt out. And sometimes, even this request is denied. Readings cover a wide range of topics and have even been known to target particular individuals for their sexual history, according to two former members. Scribes would denigrate women students for being virgins or would call them out for being too sexually active. In addition, the men’s branch of Episkopon would often craft sexist jokes that conveyed that the women’s jokes were inferior to men’s. Andrew Ilkay, a Black Trinity alum and a former member of Episkopon, highlighted how fellow members would don a “progressive” mask in their everyday lives, yet act far differently behind closed doors at Episkopon gatherings. “There was a general fake progressiveness that we kind of felt we embodied,” he shared. “But in practice, we probably didn’t embody it.” Trinity College’s Episkopon Policy has a negligible impact Since 2010, all incoming Trinity students are made to sign Trinity College’s Episkopon Policy. By signing it, students agree to refrain from organizing, participating, or publicizing any Episkopon-related events on college property or in connection with college events, and obtaining funding from Trinity College to support Episkopon events. However, The Varsity’s investigation reveals that few students pay much attention to the beginning-of-year forms that they are supposed to sign, including the Episkopon Policy. In addition, the rules are rarely enforced and often broken. For many first-years, their first introduction to Episkopon is through interactions with upperyear students. New students may hear about it during orientation week at the start of the school year, when orientation leaders affiliated with Episkopon would coax unsuspecting first-year students to attend the first reading by advertising it as a college-sanctioned ‘ice cream social.’ Episkopon’s open readings are also promoted over Facebook and informally spread through word of mouth throughout the college. Others may receive an innocuous card under their residence dorm door telling them to meet at a particular location off Trinity College property. Perhaps the most brazen form of recruitment, however, is when Episkopon members, dressed in their distinctive black robes and holding candles, promote readings at the end of college-sanctioned orientation activities — “purposefully fitted into the schedule” by the student heads, according to former Student Head David Ingalls in a Facebook post to a private group for Trinity College students. Ingalls resigned this past summer.
The Varsity has also tried reaching out to recent members of both the men’s and women’s branches of Episkopon for comment on the allegations that they continued to promote their group against Trinity policy, but they have not responded. For the 2020 orientation event, there were several students affiliated with Episkopon who were sitting on the orientation planning committee or going to be student leaders for the weeklong event. In a letter obtained by The Varsity addressed by the Dean of Students Kristen Moore to the orientation week leaders, the college requested students with prior involvement with Episkopon to step down from their orientation week positions in early July. “It would be inconsistent with College policy for us to permit students who have had involvement with Episkopon to hold such a crucial role in welcoming and introducing our new students to life at the College,” the letter read. “As such, we are requesting that you reflect inward, and make an assessment as to whether or not you have a current or former affiliation with Episkopon.” Since the resignations were based on an honour system, it is unknown if there are currently any members of the orientation week team that hold current or former affiliations with Episkopon. When Watson was in her first year, she and her friends were approached by a man orientation leader, who openly declared his Episkopon membership before trying to dispel the negative commentary surrounding the society. “To speak about Episkopon in that manner was definitely inappropriate,” she reflected. “His response should have been that Trinity does not promote or associate itself with Episkopon.” No matter the method of recruitment, for many first-year students the Episkopon described to them during the first weeks of school is far different from the real Episkopon. The Varsity investigated the past and present allegations against this group that is both shrouded in misinformation and secrecy, and occupies a major space of the social scene for Trinity College students. The readings Some receive an innocuous card under their dorm room door. Others are invited by their orientation leader to an “ice cream social.” No matter the method of recruitment, the Episkopon described to incoming students during the first weeks of school is far different from the real Episkopon. Before researching the history of the quasisecret society — now officially disassociated from Trinity College — Kalisch believed Episkopon’s events, or readings, were an exciting opportunity after receiving an invitation card. Kalisch recalls thinking “This might be a really good way to make friends, maybe I don’t know what this is but I want to be involved. I want to make sure that I’m getting to know people.” Then, after finding out about the group’s practices, she couldn’t bring herself to go. “I realized Episkopon’s historical roots of inequality, racism, and misogyny,” she said, “and I started looking into more stories about serious, serious harm that they had caused.”
Those who are oblivious to Episkopon’s activities do not see the harm in joining. Many attend the readings due to peer pressure, in the same way that many second-year students officially join the society through the influence of their peers. First-year students would gather together on a fall evening at the Philosopher’s Walk — just off college property — perhaps expecting a night of revelry. But for some students, the reality was far different from the night they expected. “We were all made to line up in a single file,” said Eve*. “And we weren’t allowed to talk — we were told to shut up.” Then, Episkopon members corralled first-year students — many confused and unaware of the nature of the event — onto the subway, toward St. Clair West station. “I felt targeted,” said Eve, who is a racialized individual and, as a first-year, was shamed during the reading by upper-year Episkopon members whom they did not know. Sarah Rana, a third-year student at Trinity College, felt similar feelings of discomfort and shame while attending that first reading. Rana, who is also racialized, said that “I had to sit there while people were cheering [the Episkopon members] on” as they mocked her. The initiation process In addition to readings, Episkopon also holds more exclusive events called ‘At-Homes,’ where members of the society will handpick first-year students by slipping invitations under their residence doors. They select students who they believe have the potential to be prominent parts of “Social Trin” — a common term used to identify Trinity College’s most socially active and popular students — who are then more likely to become members of Episkopon. This potential might be demonstrated by their attendance at parties at the college, how well they buy into Trinity College’s drinking culture, or their knack for humour — since their main role in Episkopon would be to write jokes for the readings. As indicated by the name, At-Homes are held at someone’s home, and filled with drinking and hazing activities to celebrate potential new members. After the event, the students are one step closer to becoming official members. However, Reedman recalls that the most traumatizing event of her time at Episkopon was the initiation to officially become a member of the group. In her year, potential recruits were selected through a note or phone call. They were then told to drink alcohol and blindfold themselves on the steps of Old City Hall. Soon after, they were put inside a van, where Reedman remembers people physically molesting her while blindfolded — grabbing parts of her body, including her breasts, and making jokes. “They were making jokes about how they were going to take us to the frat house that is loosely associated with Trinity called Kappa Alpha and let the guys there rape us,” she said. “It was really fucked up.”
She and the other recruits were taken to a member’s home, where they participated in hazing activities while blindfolded, with other members laughing at them. Eventually, they were given a golden key — the official symbol given to new Episkopon members who have gone through the initiation process. The process of initiation for the men’s branch of Episkopon is different. According to Ilkay, the scribe would decide which students would receive invitations to the initiation, which were delivered through letters or in person. When he was initiated, he was taken to Sir Winston Churchill Park, and from there, students were blindfolded and driven to Cherry Beach. Episkopon’s continued ability to thrive and attract new members, despite it being technically shut out by the college’s administration, can partially be attributed to the strength and support of its alumni network. Episkopon alumni regularly attend the final reading of the year, according to Reedman and Ilkay. Photos with captions on Episkopon’s old website from the early 2000s, retrieved by The Varsity through an internet archive database, show former Episkopon members who graduated more than two decades prior attending gatherings. Additionally, according to Reedman and Ilkay, men alumni members would — on occasion — provide funding to current members. A pervasive culture that spans Trinity College Though its activities are problematic, Episkopon is not the cause of racism and discrimination at Trinity College; rather, it is one of the many facets through which it is expressed. The territory of Social Trin extends farther than Episkopon. A significant number of students who occupy positions in Episkopon have been active in many of the established clubs and organizations at Trinity College, particularly the Trinity College Literary Institute (TCLI) and the Trinity College Meeting (TCM). Members of Social Trin are more likely to be involved with clubs and societies, hold many of the coveted leadership positions on boards and student government, and are generally the most recognized students of the college. Though Episkopon members comprise fewer than five per cent of the college’s overall population, they make up a significant proportion of the student leadership team. Two of the six student heads for the 2020–2021 school year have publicly acknowledged their past affiliations with Episkopon following calls from members of the college and resigned in June. This came during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement as a way to also make room for racialized voices. Two of the five executives who serve on the TCM, the college’s direct democracy council, have also publicly admitted to having former ties to the society. The two executives announced on September 21 that they would be stepping down. The involvement of multiple Episkopon members in several high profile leadership positions at the college has been a point of contention among several students and has put Trinity College’s
Varsity coverage of Episkopon, October 1992. FROM THE VARSITY ARCHVES
features@thevarsity.ca election policy into question. Currently, the policy stands that students who are members of Episkopon are allowed to run as student heads as long as they disclose their intended status within Episkopon for the upcoming school year. Since members of Social Trin have a greater chance of making friends and being voted into leadership positions, many first-year students feel pressured to join Episkopon in order to be included in the inner circle of Social Trin. “People wanted me to join this secret society, and so I felt really included and flattered and popular,” Reedman admitted. “Which are all vain things, of course, looking back, but I so wanted to be a part of it.” Reedman emphasized that many new students joined Episkopon because they believed that the membership would benefit them, especially with their electability to various executive positions within the college. Clubs will often be divided into different tiers of leadership, with entry-level executive positions that students run for in second-year acting as launching pads into higher-level president and head positions. “I think a lot of people, when they’re part of Pon, it makes it easier for them to get elected to those kind of middle positions that you have in your second year or third year, which makes it more likely for them to be a [student] head afterward,” she said. “Because they know people in older years who can vouch for them, vote for them — that kind of thing.” The social factor Students who are unable or unwilling to join Social Trin may feel excluded from clubs and events. In the college’s 2015 Student Experience Survey, which focused on the activities and experiences of students at the college and highlighted issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, 29 per cent of students said that the main factor that influenced their decision to not run for a TCM position was because they felt unwelcomed. This Student Experience Survey is conducted by the college every four years. The most recent one was published in 2018, but The Varsity did not have access to the demographics from that survey. The college cited the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The responses from the 2015 survey follow two main themes: either students said that they did not feel popular enough to win or that the environment of the meetings was unwelcoming. One respondent wrote, “Only the ‘Social
Trin’ clique of people ever get elected, so it’s not even worth it to try out, since there is basically zero chance of getting elected.” “The atmosphere of the college is not conducive to running for these positions unless you are a part of an exclusive group of people,” wrote another student. “If you do not subscribe to their beliefs, you are shut out.” One student wrote simply that the TCM is not a welcoming environment: “In this arena, politics get extremely personal, and I have seen my friends scapegoated multiple times for motions they spoke up against that ended up failing.” The rationale some students provided for the decision not to run for student head was similar. Many felt that they needed to be part of a certain clique to apply. One respondent wrote, “I haven’t ever been interested in these positions but the general understanding among my peers is that election to these positions is highly determined by Trinity networks/friends/cliques/Episkopon membership.” Watson remarked that she felt saddened and uncomfortable when she found out that many Episkopon members hold positions of power at the college. “It’s very disheartening,” she admitted. “Because Episkopon is a homophobic, anti-Indigenous, anti-Black group, it would definitely make students feel uncomfortable interacting with any of the student leaders, more so if they know exactly who it is [that is a part of the group]. As a student leader, every student should feel comfortable with approaching you if they have a problem.” Lauren* began to feel less safe speaking up to the leaders around them as they spent more time at the college. After reflecting, they said, “I don’t feel very safe speaking up at TCM. I don’t feel very safe going to this leader and saying, ‘Hey, this is a change that we should have.’ ” “It’s really hard, knowing that these people are our leaders, because they’re supposed to represent all of us: commuters, residents, people of colour, white students. But they clearly have a certain group of people they keep in mind.” Although there is currently no rule in place that prevents Episkopon members from occupying positions of leadership, there is certainly pressure — now more than ever — for these particular students to apologize and leave Episkopon or forfeit their leadership positions entirely. When Reedman decided to pursue a leadership position in her third year, she did not face any retribution for “dropping the key” and leaving the group. In fact, she found it
easy to make the decision to leave the society. Keeping her Episkopon membership would have meant that she would have needed to secretly collect information and gossip from the very students she was meant to represent as a student head — a position that Reedman did not want to be put in. “I didn’t want to be part of this organization that was spying on people while I had a role like that [as student head],” she said of her decision to leave Episkopon. “There were a lot of people who really thought that no one should be a head if they’re also a part of Pon.” Watson agreed that the pressure on those in Episkopon to reconsider their positions of power is necessary. “If the person is not willing to disassociate themselves with Episkopon, then they should resign, because having that type of energy on campus will not make for a very healthy environment,” she said. “As a student leader, you have to understand that a lot of the actions that you do take, people do notice, and people do look up to you as well.” The Trinity College Literary Institute and Trinity College Meeting Ilkay remembers facing a lot of discrimination at the college — perhaps the most jarring experience was an encounter with a student in blackface at a college-sanctioned Halloween party. Though he was generally accepted, he felt that it was a conditional acceptance, perhaps due to his choice to become involved with Episkopon and the TCLI. Looking back at his time at Trinity College, Ilkay describes it as “a harrowing experience of feeling super out of place.” “It was a very normatively white space,” he explained. “One of the things that I really found… most racist and shitty and damaging about Trin was how often people… would decide whether or not things were offensive.” When he would call something out for being racist, others would usually deny it. Ilkay also highlights that many members of Episkopon play active roles in other areas of the college, including the TCM. Although the TCM is supposed to be a safe space for all students to voice their concerns about college governance, students from minoritized groups have come forward in interviews with The Varsity to describe their experiences with discriminatory comments, gestures, and microaggressions — many subtle, but some overt — at college governance meetings. The 2015 Student Experience Survey revealed that students perceived the TCM as moderately inclusive but not really repre-
The history of exclusion at Trinity College goes beyond Episkopon. SAMANTHA YAO/THE VARSITY
sentative of the student body. LGBTQ+ and off-campus students, especially reported less feelings of inclusivity and representation from the TCM. Over a third of respondents felt that the TCM was not at all or not really inclusive, and 78 per cent of all students reported experiencing some form of discrimination at meetings. There has been a growing rift between commuter students and those who live on campus. In January, at a contentious TCM meeting, members of Trinity College passed a motion to allow those not living on campus to run for head of college. Another place where members of Episkopon play active roles is the TCLI — colloquially, “the Lit” — a satirical debating society. Historically, the TCLI organized debates on serious topics, but nowadays a typical meeting includes satirical debates poking fun at humorous topics or personal anecdotes. Rana remembers being approached by a TCLI member in her first year and being asked to speak against her own religion. Though hopeful about participating in an engaging debate, once at the meeting, she quickly realized the upper-year students had mischaracterized the TCLI — to her, it seemed it was more about making fun of the people in attendance rather than participating in a true debate. “I was the only woman; I was the only person of colour — the other speakers were all white men who were loud, drunk, and really aggressive,” said Rana. “I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life.” In a statement to Trinity College members in June, the TCLI’s then-speaker Katie Bray Kingissepp acknowledged that the society partakes in “racist activities” and has a history of “discriminatory behaviors.” “The Lit commits to changing our practices to make this more accessible space,” she continued in the statement. Since the statement was posted, Kingissep has stepped down from her post as speaker due to personal reasons. Deputy Speaker Nika Gottlieb assumed the role of speaker in early September and wrote to The Varsity in response to the events. “The issues levied against the TCLI commonly reference its insularity, which beyond presenting systemic issues, also isn’t helped by the nature of amateur comedy,” Gottlieb wrote to The Varsity. “The TCLI needs a rebirth — to cultivate a brand of humour that includes everyone.” The TCLI published a list of organizational changes, including a constitutional amendment banning hate speech during the meetings, implementing a code of conduct, and requiring debaters to send in their speeches for approval prior to each event. The group also plans to “transform toxic cultures” inherent to the organization, such as its drinking culture and the pressure on participants to use “self-othering” humour. Ilkay describes Episkopon, the TCLI, and the TCM as organizations that “mirror” the rest of the college. “The institution of Trinity College and the institution of the Episkopon are two entirely separate things,” Ilkay reflected. “But if you’re examining… the racist history and legacy of an institution, and all of the members of that institution… are also members of this other institution… [then] the racist history that we’re talking about is one racist history.” “I’m really hesitant to allow [Episkopon] to become the focus of the story about institutional racism at Trinity College because the institutional racism of the Episkopon is the institutional racism of Trinity College. They’re inextricably linked. They are one and the same thing.” The lack of transparency on Trinity College’s race-based data To understand how to best implement systemic change, race-based data is essential. Without a full idea of how Trinity College’s student body is composed, it is difficult to
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determine if Trinity has an overrepresentation of white students and an underrepresentation of racialized students compared to the overall U of T student body. It also becomes impossible to ascertain if there has been any progressive improvement to the diversity of Trinity’s student population. Though Trinity College does collect racebased data through its student experience surveys, which have been conducted twice — in 2015 and 2018 — the college has not been transparent with its findings, citing the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In a written statement to The Varsity, however, Trinity College Provost and ViceChancellor Mayo Moran wrote that “Trinity College is in fact quite diverse (based on information we have from a recent student survey) and generally mirrors the student body of U of T’s St. George campus.” Despite requests from The Varsity, Trinity College did not share which “recent student survey” it was referring to when saying that the college’s diversity “generally mirrors” that of the student body at UTSG. The only survey containing race-based data about Trinity that The Varsity managed to obtain was the 2015 Student Experience Survey, which was leaked to The Varsity by an anonymous source. However, its results alone cannot illuminate many additional findings about Trinity’s student population, as the survey only had a 25 per cent response rate. This survey determined that, in 2015, 53 per cent of Trinity’s student body was comprised of white students. Twenty-seven per cent identified as East Asian, Southeast Asian, or Filipino, while eight per cent identified as South Asian. Six per cent identified as Arab or Middle Eastern, and three per cent identified as Latin American. Two per cent of the college’s students identified as Black. While these results are crucial in showing the racial makeup of Trinity during that specific year, these figures stand alone in their importance, as there are no other comparable survey results that have been released and are statistically sound as a basis of comparison. For instance, The Varsity found the results of the University of Toronto’s 2017 National Survey of Student Engagement, but this survey only measured first-year and senior-year demographics at the university, and there was a two-year gap between this survey and the 2015 Trinity College survey. This prevents any additional definite understandings about how Trinity’s racial makeup compares to the overall U of T student body. In addition, because Trinity College has refused to release any updated race-based data, it is difficult to independently verify if the college has improved the diversity of its student body. The administration’s response To address the concern of discrimination at the college — specifically anti-Black discrimination — Watson founded the Trinity College Anti-Racism Collective alongside several other Black students from the college. On June 22, the group published an open
Shantel Watson, a student at Trinity College. SAMANTHA YAO/THE VARSITY
letter to the provost and college administration demanding five action items: creating a more equitable application process, establishing a scholarship and bursary for Black students, implementing mandatory antiracism training for staff and student leaders, making physical and social spaces “more inclusive and representative of diversity,” and creating an independent committee that will hold the administration accountable for its actions. The letter has been signed by over 1,000 students, alumni, and community members. Since its publication, Trinity College’s administration, along with several student groups, have come forward to address the items highlighted in the letter. According to Watson, the Anti-Racism Collective has been working constructively with the administration to implement the recommendations drafted in the letter. Watson is optimistic that change will come through. “[The Trinity College administration has] expressed [its] intention to work toward the action plans that were outlined in the open letter,” said Watson. “I believe that these issues can be addressed. I just believe… the task force… needs to act as an independent body for which we can hold admin accountable.” In a letter to The Varsity, Mayo did not commit to implementing all the recommendations in the letter and instead wrote, “The detailed suggestions in the open letter were also helpful and I appreciate receiving them.” The action items drawn up by the Trinity College Anti-Racism Collective were put forward in a motion before the college’s Board of Trustees in the summer, but failed to pass in a vote. Several items from the open letter, however, have already begun to be implemented, such as a special bursary for racialized students at the college, which, as of September, has raised over $40,000. The college has also committed to striking
University of Toronto 2015 Trinity College Demographics White East/Southeast Asian South Asian Arab/Middle Eastern Latin American Black 0
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30
Percentage (%)
40
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60
a task force composed of students, alumni, staff, and faculty, with “strong representation from those who can speak to the experiences of the affected communities” that will make recommendations in an effort to ameliorate the experience for racialized students at the college. A timeline has not yet been provided for when this task force will be established and the exact role of its members. Overall, for some students at Trinity, the vague actions and statements by the college organizations do not go far enough. They want to see concrete change and progress in their college. “We need apologies,” said Rana. “We need transparency and accountability. And we need administration to own up to the fact that they let this go on for a long time and that the emotional labour and the onus was on people of colour, but mainly Black students.” What will the future of Trinity’s student community look like? In addition to the provost, several student groups have also come forward to release statements in response to the events over the summer. The TCM has also drafted a seven-point action plan, which was released in one of Trinity College’s Facebook groups in midJune. It includes “instituting mandatory racial bias training for student leaders” and looking “into using online voting platforms at future meetings to allow for the inclusion of students who can’t attend [regular meetings].” Anjali Gandhi, the chair of the TCM, expressed in a written statement to The Varsity that she is “dedicated to serving underrepresented students at Trinity College.” With regard to previous surveys and anecdotes highlighting the exclusionary nature of the TCM, Gandhi wrote that she hopes to “empower voices that have been historically silenced.” On June 3, the Trinity student heads released a statement on the Trinity College Facebook group outlining three “primary steps” that need to be taken: amplifying students’ voices, following a “call to action,” and examining potential reform in student governance. Since the release of that statement, half of the leadership team has resigned, and the group has yet to put out a more comprehensive action plan. “We have an action plan, but with the recent departure of 3 of the other heads, we have been reevaluating our plans to ensure that we are able to follow through with them fully given our smaller team now,” wrote the three remaining student heads in a statement to The Varsity. The student heads cancelled a town hall event focused on exclusion at Trinity College
in early June and had stifled discussions on various Facebook groups by temporarily prohibiting new posts and comments. Despite these setbacks, they claim to remain committed to enacting reform at Trinity and addressing the issues highlighted by community members. The leaders have also been in conversation with the provost to discuss possible changes. “We are pushing to have all five of [the] action items [in the open letter] implemented,” wrote the student heads. They also affirm that none of the three current heads are or were affiliated with Episkopon. “We hope that as students who have never been affiliated with the organization, students will feel more comfortable approaching us about anything,” they wrote. “We plan to be more public and vocal in our denouncement of Episkopon than what we have seen in past years, in the hopes that we set a better example for students, and cultivate a culture where Episkopon not only doesn’t exist, but is not commended at all.” Elections to replace the student heads and TCM executives who stepped down occurred in early October. Ingrid Cui and Mariam Mahboob both ran for woman head of college on platforms that addressed concerns surrounding elitism and equity. Cui was elected with 53.57 per cent of the vote on the first ballot. Yiming (Ben) Xu ran unopposed on a platform that included increasing diverse participation in Trinity affairs, and was elected as man head of college. All three candidates were racialized and explicitly wrote in their candidate statements that they were never affiliated with Episkopon and never will be. Cui and Xu notably replace two white heads who resigned in the summer. Given these developments, Trinity College seems to be moving in a different direction. However, some uncertainties remain, such as how the anti-racism task force will deliver on bringing about institutional change or how the TCM will implement its action plan. For Watson, although she is hopeful and optimistic about Trinity College moving ahead, she does have a word of caution for the college community as it paves a way forward. “Any diversity efforts that you have will die… without equal action that is pointed to making sure that all students feel safe in the environment and making sure that they feel that their experiences and their views and their opinions are valued and appreciated by their peers and… the administration,” Watson said. “Diversity and inclusion are not mutually exclusive.” *Names have been changed out of fear of reprisal.
Arts & Culture
October 19, 2020 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca
Synchronous, asynchronous, in-person — what’s in a pandemic classroom?
Three students reflect on the ups and downs of different learning styles Jade Goh-McMillen, Drew-Anne Glennie, Mona Liu Varsity Contributors
As we enter into our sixth week of classes in the fall semester, students seemingly have had ample time to adjust to their classes. However, this year many had to juggle between the quirks of different delivery formats: asynchronous classrooms, with a learn-at-your-pace mantra; synchronous classes spent staring at 30 other small black squares on Zoom; and inperson, yet physically distant, classrooms. The following reflections were written before the Faculty of Arts & Science announced that any hybrid classes — those that offer an option for both in-person and online learning — will be switching entirely online as cases rise. As such, you might find that students talk of their excitement for future in-person classes or reminisce about the difficulty of participating in hybrid classes. Nonetheless, with so much uncertainty about the future of classrooms, we hope these reflections will provide insight into student experiences with COVID-19 learning. When it comes to in-person class, sometimes less is more, by Jade Goh-McMillen The first major difference that I notice going into the INI311 — Seminar in Creative Writing classroom is that, for the most part, there are two tables for each student. At those doubled tables are two spare chairs marked “Restricted Seat” and one unmarked chair in REBECA MOYA/THEVARSITY
which sitting is allowed. The doors are marked “ENTRY ONLY ” and “EXIT ONLY ” in all caps, and outside, on the carpeted floors and grey metal staircases of Innis College, there are big stickers with arrows. The layout of the arrows is a little confusing, and I still find myself being ejected from the building like a car from a highway when I miss my turn. But I’ve decided to find the fun in it and treat it like a little maze puzzle, even if it means I need to allow an extra 10 minutes or so when going to class. My in-person class is something I really look forward to every week — in part, I think, because I can predict how it will go logistically. I know what I need to do in order to prepare for and go to class from having done it for two years already. Meanwhile, I — like my fellow students and, I imagine, many of our professors — am still adjusting to online classes. In a schedule full of buffers to allow for technological frustrations, I think I appreciate having one class in a familiar format all the more. The idea of trusting my classmates comes up all the time when I talk to my parents about my one in-person class. It isn’t something I’ve had to think about much in either of my previous years at U of T, but I do think about it now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I do trust my fellow students. My family has come up with routines that work for us: carrying hand sanitizer everywhere — 70 per cent alcohol; another thing I hadn’t paid much mind to before — laundering our masks well before we’re out of spares and showering whenever we get home. I assume my classmates have such routines of their own. It’s become almost a cliché to say this, but we’re all in it together. With just 11 other students in my section of the class, I feel excited about the prospect of getting to know my classmates and their styles over the writing workshops and more informal bits of small group discussion we’ll have together in the next 21 class sessions. When it comes to group work, we still sit at different tables — we form a group by angling toward each other. Sometimes one group will go outside onto the rooftop terrace, but I’ve yet to be part of such a group and so I cannot report on how it is to work while remaining distanced outdoors. With our masks on, a few seconds of halting test words mark the start of every conversation as everyone in the room figures out how loud they need to talk to be heard by their own group without being so loud as to drown out all the others. Asking for clarification about what someone else said is commonplace now, which is a relief to me since it means nobody can tell the difference between asking because the masks muffled the sound and asking because I was distracted by the noise from a passing car’s stereo. This year, there have been so many little things I’ve begun to notice and appreciate in ways I never had before. Maybe some of it’s a stretch of the imagination, but I find that the oddities of an in-person class this year are helping me stay grounded during these uncertain times. On breakfast, isolation, and understanding: reflections on online synchronous learning, by Drew-Anne Glennie Picture this: it is Monday, 10:55 am. I am in my kitchen, pouring myself a cup of coffee and talking to my roommate while I wait for my toast to pop. Suddenly, I remember that I have a lecture at 11:00 am. I have been in this situation more times than I should probably admit. In past years,
it meant abandoning my breakfast to take a brisk walk to — knowing my luck — the other side of campus. This year, it means smearing honey and butter on my toast — try it, you’ll thank me later — going into my room, and booting up Zoom. At its core, online synchronous learning is functionally the same as in-person classes. The students complete the readings before class and the professor gives their lecture on the topic. If anything, online synchronous learning has maximized the average lecture format’s efficiency. The hand raise function makes sure that no student goes unseen, and the chat lets students stick a pin in their questions so as not to interrupt the professor mid-lecture. Many of my professors are being more accommodating in these novel times, such as by posting their notes or uploading the synchronous lectures to watch again if necessary. Despite knowing this, however, I still find myself struggling to stay engaged with my online synchronous classes. Online synchronous learning has made me realize that it was the informal parts of class that made my previous years at U of T so enjoyable. It feels lonely taking classes without being surrounded by a community of my peers. Digital interfaces make sitting next to a stranger and striking up a conversation impossible, and I find it difficult to get to know my professors when our interactions are filtered through a laptop camera. Attending online synchronous classes only reminds me that these things I’ve taken for granted are gone for the semester. Gianpiero Petrigelieri, an organizational behaviour professor at INSEAD, a business school, concurs: “Every time you connect to a Zoom call, you are having two experiences at the same time: the experience of reaching, and the experience of what you’ve lost.” I also find attending online lectures draining in a way that even hiking all the way across campus to sit in a three-hour philosophy lecture never did. According to experts, Zoom fatigue stems from a combination of factors, including difficulty in picking up on nonverbal cues and watching yourself on screen for prolonged periods of time. Dual delivery classes add additional challenges for students calling in. No matter how hard the professor tries, there is no doubt that their engagement with the students in front of them is different from the 25 squares sharing a screen behind them. Professors in these situations are caught between the new and the old — the way they are used to teaching and online learning. I have found that everyone actually present in dual delivery classes tends to fall back on old routines as they enjoy each other’s physically-distanced company. I worry what this means for my participation marks: will both sets of students be graded along the same curve, regardless of the increased obstacles online students have to overcome? At the end of the day, I understand. I understand why online synchronous lectures are necessary. I understand that we, instructors and students alike, are all trying our best. I understand that to get back in-person lectures later, we have to stay distanced now. Still, attending online synchronous classes feels like a reminder of what we have lost: so close to regular classes in theory, yet in practice so far away. Cont’d, next page
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The benefits of learning on your own time, by Mona Liu While elementary and high schools are struggling to remain in-person, the University of Toronto announced that the rest of the school year will almost entirely be switched to online learning. Students hoping to return to campus in the winter were let down with this news as COVID-19 cases continue to disappointingly rise. It’s been nearly eight months since the beginning of the pandemic and the first switch to online learning. From finishing up classes, to taking exams, to summer school, to the new school year, many of us have had more than enough experience with online learning by now. Many classes have been listed as synchronous but can be taken asynchronously for the most part. This means that while there may be
arts@thevarsity.ca
tutorials or class meetings, most of the content can be completed on your own time. Other courses are completely asynchronous, meaning that the professor will simply post lecture recordings and course content for you to review, and you’ll likely never see your professor or classmates in any other way. Personally, I find asynchronous classes much less stressful and easier to manage than synchronous classes. The professors don’t overflow you with weekly, participation-based assignments or quizzes to try and keep you engaged. These asynchronous classes trust that you’ll complete any assignments, readings, and lectures on your own time and be prepared for future assessments — much like what regular in-person classes would expect from you. The only downfall to an asynchronous class is self-regulation. If you cannot set deadlines for yourself and you fall behind schedule, it’ll
be extremely difficult for you to catch up when midterm or finals season comes up. For many second-, third-, and fourth-years, staying on schedule is something they have learned over time. However, for the first-years who are coming into university without any experience of what university-style learning really entails, they may not truly understand the importance of studying on time. In high school, you just learn along the way as you complete assignments and unit tests, but in university, you only have a few chances to demonstrate your course understanding. Thus, many upper-years have developed the ability to study on their own time and don’t enjoy being micromanaged, like some synchronous courses are doing. Asynchronous courses allow us to manage ourselves and learn the way and at the time that suits us best. Additionally, I find that I almost like asyn-
chronous online learning better than any other type of learning because when I am taking notes on the pre-recorded lectures, I can make the playback speed as fast as I want and pause or rewind whenever I need to write things down. Now, I never miss anything the professor says and I can always keep up with the lecture — unlike in person, where you don’t always catch what the professor is saying. Not only can a two-hour lecture become one hour, but I also don’t miss a thing and can create detailed notes. Of course, I would still give up the convenience of asynchronous lectures to be able to have a social life and the university experience again, but until we can understand the severity of this pandemic and take the necessary precautions to minimize the virus’ spread, life as we know it will never go back to normal.
Translations 4 Our Nations: creating accessible COVID-19 information for Indigenous communities The initiative’s founders discuss necessity, scarcity of adequate guidelines
Michelle Krasovitski Varsity Contributor
During the months that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken grip over the entire world, many flaws within our institutions have been exposed — be they structural, medical, or judicial. One key issue is that information about the virus is largely inaccessible to many marginalized communities. Due to health care access disparities around the globe, COVID-19 poses an especially grave threat to Indigenous peoples. Hoping to amend this and ensure that important information encompasses all languages and groups, Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, Sukhmeet Singh Sachal, Sterling Stutz, and Thilaxcy Yohathasan co-founded the Translations 4 Our Nations (TFON) initiative, which aims to translate documents related to COVID-19 awareness and prevention into Indigenous languages. In a written interview with The Varsity, founder Lopez-Carmen and co-founders Sachal, Stutz, and Yohathasan emphasized the urgency driving this initiative. Lopez-Carmen is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and the Yaqui Tribe, and according to him, he will be the first physician
in his tribe once he graduates from Harvard Medical School. He explained that accessibility was the main motivation for the inception of TFON. “I founded this initiative because I saw how my own Indigenous communities struggled with lack of COVID-19 information that was in their language or culturally relevant to their contexts. The idea was to work directly with Indigenous community members in the spirit of partnership, and making sure the benefits went back to them and their communities.” University of Toronto master’s student Yohathasan, a daughter of Tamil immigrants, wrote that her own background motivated her to join Lopez-Carmen’s project: “I joined this initiative to support the necessity of health communication documents being written into the languages you speak at home.” She continued, “Growing up, it was difficult to bring documents that were not in basic English from school to my parents who did not understand much written English. The gap of translated COVID-19 documents is something that needs to be addressed quickly, to mitigate further negative health outcomes for communities that are unable to understand English.” Sachal, a University of British Columbia medical student, echoed this sentiment, affirm-
ing that “people were being left behind due to language barriers.” He added that taking part in this initiative has been a rewarding accomplishment for him, as he is sure that “it is going to drastically help improve health literacy in Indigenous communities around the world.” Stutz, a U of T master’s student, emphasized the inequality that can arise due to incomprehensive access to health information: “Many Indigenous scholars have written about the possibility for COVID-19 to exacerbate existing health disparities.” This is what motivated her to join the initiative after seeing a call for volunteers in the spring. Stutz’s words are mirrored in the warning that Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller gave on September 30 when he announced that Indigenous communities experienced an alarming increase in infected individuals in the month of September. In an interview with the Canadian Press, Kluane Adamek, who was sworn in as the Yukon regional chief of the Assembly of the First Nations, asserted that “[Indigenous communities] need resources to support community-led, community-driven solutions.” TFON’s medical content is created and reviewed by individuals from Harvard Medical School and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
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Sinai. It attempts to provide community outreach on a larger, international scale. The number of languages TFON offers is as impressive as it is expansive: the 40 languages, translated by a team of over 120 Indigenous translators, are found in communities on several different continents. There are translations in Tumbuka, a Bantu language spoken in Zambia; Q’anjob’al, a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and Mexico; Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Sri Lanka; and Zambian Sign Language, which translator Obed Mambwe signs information in a series of videos. One of the languages missing from the library is Cree, an Algonquin language spoken across different provinces in Canada. “We have struggled to find translators for languages such as Cree,” Yohathasan explained. “This is because Elders have oral knowledge of their language but may not have written proficiency. There are also very limited speakers of traditional languages and that is largely due to colonialism and assimilation. In some instances, there are only a handful of speakers of certain languages.” The initiative, which relies on community partners and distribution through different linguistic and academic networks, has received positive feedback. Lopez-Carmen wrote, “We received anecdotes from communities who have told us how meaningful it is to have accurate health info in their languages.” Akinbulire Modupe Oluwapelumi, a translator for Yoruba, a language spoken in West Africa, emphasized that the ability to communicate vital information is key to battling the pandemic. “This novel virus COVID-19 has disrupted the activity of the whole world in a way we never imagined. It is not the type of virus that deals with people of a specific race or country and so we are all in this together, supporting each other, and one way we can do that is by communicating guidelines on how we can protect ourselves in various Indigenous languages.” The translator for Kikuyu, a Bantu language spoken in Central Kenya, Faith Magure, voices a similar sentiment: “the cause and preventive measures of COVID-19 can only be understood by the Indigenous communities when they relate to their familiar environment.” TFON is ever-growing, constantly accepting applications for translations from different Indigenous communities around the world. In terms of the initiative’s future, LopezCarmen expressed hope that it can grow beyond COVID-19 to ensure that necessary information is accessible to all. “There is potential to expand this initiative to other public health and primary care health topics, and continuing to work with our team of Indigenous translators to translate the information.”
var.st/arts
OCTOBER 19, 2020
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Masks, closures, and vaccines: how U of T faced the 1918 influenza pandemic Reviewing newspaper coverage of the virus — including The Varsity
Savannah Ribeiro Varsity Staff
The 1918 influenza pandemic, which lasted from 1918–1920, is estimated to have claimed 50–100 million lives worldwide. In Canada, the pandemic killed around 55,000 people. This flu had a high mortality rate for university-aged people, among other demographics. By late October 1918, the second wave of the flu was at its peak. Newspapers across Canada plastered headlines like The Toronto World’s “ ‘Flu’ Has Claimed Thousand Victims” on its pages. In another one of The Toronto World’s articles, a plea was printed for people to start wearing masks. “Why wait until all the Toronto citizens have influenza… or are dead, before starting the mask campaign?” Indeed, the Toronto local government took many measures: it closed theatres, cinemas, bowling alleys, and pool rooms, and Charles Hastings, then the medical officer of health for Toronto, made “Emergency Appeals” for additional aid for flu victims in the papers. The pandemic slowed the coal industry — a frightful prospect with winter looming and coal being one of the primary means of heating one’s home. In addition, hospitals were at full capacity. Nurses and doctors were overworked and also falling ill. In light of the pandemic, U of T closed its doors on October 18, 1918 and stayed closed until November 5. “The entire life of the University is naturally disrupted” On October 9, The Varsity reported that nearly one third of the men living at Burwash Hall had “contracted the disease with varying severity.” By October 18, St. Michael’s College reported more than 60 cases. The Varsity wrote that the Women’s Literary Society of Victoria College, despite a “long casualty list occasioned by the ‘flu,’” held its opening meeting on October 10.
On October 16, The Varsity reported that a hazing ritual of sorts for first-years was held at University College, but “due to… the prevalence of the ‘flu’ they were let off without a ducking [into the pool].” Like elsewhere in society, the flu had muted usual campus activities. Some events were cancelled or rescheduled even before the school closed. Alongside the announcement in The Varsity that the university would close, there was a call for medical and nursing students to help combat the outbreak. There was also an article on the symptoms, prevention, treatments, and precautions: “The sick should be separated from the healthy… Wash the hands frequently… Those attacked should not, on any account, mingle with other people for a period of at least ten days.” This seems familiar. The dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the time would later report that “many of the students put themselves at the service of the communities sorely in need of them, and thus did humanitarian work, while acquiring useful clinical experience.” When the school reopened, perhaps ill-advisedly, The Varsity put out calls for staff because of further enlistment during World War I and because “a considerable proportion” of its current staff was “absent from College from causes of sickness.” The call did not specify which illness, but it is safe to assume that it was influenza. A Halloween party at Annesley Hall was held in spite of the pandemic. Only 15 women were left at the residence, including two who were still ill. Also in attendance at this party were little “flu bugs.” Except, these were cut from brown paper and had “fortunately lost their power for one night at least.”
cupied by the Royal Air Force were slowly given back for student use. Reports of casualties still trickled in. The “Varsity’s Roll of Honour” was a regular update of U of T alumni who were in military service. In November, The Varsity included an entry on Captain Charles Sparling, who succumbed to influenza. In December, it reported two more men as flu deaths. It seemed a rather macabre posting but was nonetheless informative on how the war and pandemic were intertwined. Wartime injuries were coupled with the disease. Even in postings that were primarily about the flu, articles noted when the afflicted were military personnel. Separating the two events was impossible in the public mind. Even today, when we think of the year 1918, these two events inevitably creep up.
The war ended, but the flu continued Following the armistice on November 11, 1918, questions swirled about how former soldiers, who were students once more, would be integrated back into school at U of T. Residences and dining halls that had been oc-
Making a vaccine The Connaught Antitoxin Laboratory at U of T was established in 1914 in order to create a diphtheria antitoxin. Through the war years, the lab worked to provide tetanus and smallpox antitoxins. The lab developed a vaccine for the flu during the
The silver lining? The 1918 influenza pandemic and the response to it have some characteristics in common with COVID-19: the precautions, health care personnel fatigue and illness, disruptions to ‘normal life,’ and urge to create a vaccine. The feeling that there was no end in sight was likely felt then as it is now. We can learn a lot from 1918. Most importantly, COVID-19 will eventually end. And you should wear a mask.
Being an Italian-born West African person, and thus a member of the West African diaspora, my eyes light up when I see traditional African garments on display at the ROM. In the small infographics, I learn a little bit more about my people and start contextualizing some of the stories my parents tell me. Being torn between how my multiple nationalities should coexist, I’m often on the quest to discover what being a ‘true’ African means, despite never having been back home for an extensive period of time. Most of the time, my quest for truth carries an additional burden as all my sources of knowledge are inherently Westernized — including the ROM. With these thoughts come an internal overload of questions: Am I getting a fetishized version of what these practices were like? Am I getting a diluted version? By extension, where do these artifacts come from and how were they obtained? These are not easy questions to answer. A lot of museums across the world don’t actually have a definitive answer to questions about the provenance and the origin of some of their artifacts. In John Merryman’s book Thinking about the Elgin Marbles: Critical Essays on Cultural Property, Art, he writes that “85-90% of Classical and certain other types of artifacts on the market do not have a documented provenance.” The late Stanford law professor adds that some of them could have also been acquired through looting. Understanding the history of the ROM is important in this discussion. The ROM was primarily founded by Sir Byron Edmund Walker and Charles Trick Currelly. According to The Museum Makers: The Story of the Royal Ontario Museum, the ROM’s artifacts include archaeological dinosaur bones and goods from Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. It’s thus a no-brainer that some articles in the
ROM could be byproducts of colonialism and imperialism. During recent years, there have been multiple debates surrounding whether or not museums should repatriate certain items. This has introduced the call to decolonize museums. Though the meaning of decolonization in museums has fluctuated in definition and interpretation, it is understood as “a process that institutions undergo to expand the perspectives they portray beyond those of the dominant cultural group, particularly white colonizers,” according to The Washington Post. Some museums have taken this opportunity to engage in dialogue with marginalized communities. Others have decided to highlight Indigenous history by reorienting their exhibition structures. Still others have decided to approach the task by decentralizing European thought to make way for diverse ways of thinking. Over the years, the ROM has taken steps to decolonize when it comes to its Indigenous relations. It curated the exhibition Anishinaabeg: Art & Power, which, according to the ROM website, explored the “traditions, and sacred stories of the Anishinaabeg as told through their powerful art over the last two centuries.” Moreover, it has also been involved in talks surrounding decolonization with Indigenous peoples. Museums that replicate colonial dynamics have lasting implications for those who choose to attend such institutions to learn about cultures around the world. Not only are we receiving knowledge through a Eurocentric lens, but we are also missing the authentic stories that come from diverse communities and peoples. Moreover, this can lead to a metaphysical dilemma for members of the diaspora whose articles are shown off in a Western light. Museums, and to some extent our educational institutions, are therefore in dire need of decolonization, but are moving in the right direction.
Decolonizing museums like the ROM Conflicted feelings on a tour, hope for future reconciliation Joel Ndongmi Varsity Contributor
For me, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has always been associated with a sense of marvel. From its somewhat anachronistic architecture to the tall ceilings occupied by dinosaur bones, I get excited by all the possibilities of learning found within its walls. I’ve always been interested in museums. I visited this institution during my elementary and secondary school years, and recently, in my first year at U
of T for its Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches exhibition. It doesn’t come as a surprise that the ROM boasts an immense collection of artifacts. According to its website, the museum houses a collection of “13 million artworks, cultural objects, and natural history specimens.” During my visits, I often find myself gravitating toward the Middle Eastern and African collections. In the hushed silence of the museum, I contemplate the figures of the great and the objects of the common people of the time.
The ROM houses iconic dinosaur skeletons and goods sourced from Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY
The Connaught Antitoxin Laboratory at U of T developed a flu vaccine.
COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS/ORIGINAL FROM SANOFI PASTEUR CANADA ARCHIVE
pandemic. It was developed in “very large quantities” and was offered across the country for free. It was even sent to some US states and to the United Kingdom. It was, however, “emphasized that vaccination against influenza… was an experiment” but that participation was needed to “determine the possible value of such a vaccine.” To create the vaccine, the team at Connaught worked “day and night” for two months. The flu continued into 1920, so the vaccine was perhaps not as efficacious as hoped. But it represented a concerted effort to mitigate the flu not just in Canada, but also in other parts of the world.
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October 19, 2020 var.st/photo photo@thevarsity.ca
Hello again, UTSC Snapshots of UTSC during COVID-19 Candice Zhang Varsity Staff
After grabbing the latest issue, I walked toward my favourite spot: the valley. Unsurprisingly, students gathered around the area and shared their opinions. UTSC suddenly seemed more revived than an abandoned place. But amidst the darkness, I made it through and found The Varsity’s newspaper stand.
Scarborough. Downtown. North York. The four words and three regions perfectly sum up my life in Toronto. Whenever I’m not at home, my closest companions know that I’m scrolling through the city — on the bus or on my feet. Throughout university, I’ve developed a habit of exploring to escape the stress of assignments and schoolwork. Ever since I started finding the treasures of different cultures and urban landscapes, I knew that adventures were more than just a ‘college student’ phase. Three months after 2020 started, I still thought that this year would be the same as last. That was the naïve version of me at its best. Clearly, I was wrong, as I still spend most of the time in my room, fumbling through pages of notes and yawning during online classes. Although staying at home may have been ideal at first, I miss the places outside of my community. So, I embarked on a physically distant journey to UTSC to remember and relive the moments I experienced last year. As soon as I hopped off the bus, I realized that this visit was unlike the others, as the campus itself has become a ghost town.
Many of the entrances were locked and for the first time ever, I can say that navigating through the campus was like completing a maze. The outdoors scared me, so I thought that I should explore some of the inside instead. I entered the building and the surroundings suddenly transitioned into a darker colour. Reds, oranges, and greens turned into black, and security camera labels popped up beside me.
Seeing so many students together, I realized that perhaps I can explore again soon. It may not be in the near future, as COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise, nor will it be near an abandoned place. Regardless of where I will be, I hope to soon share that memory with a friend. The pandemic happened in the blink of an eye, and no one had the time to even say goodbye. But I believe that soon enough, we will be able to accomplish our old plans and cherish them with memories.
I headed onto the sidewalk by myself; only two students were in sight. The atmosphere remained silent as I walked near the daycare. Not knowing if I was being watched or not, I quickly snapped a shot of the festive playground, filled with Halloween-related decorations.
I walked to the quad, near Highland Hall. Not a peep or a sound could be heard from anywhere.
The smiling pumpkin hanging in the front of the house can be spotted, just like an entrance to Halloweentown. Quickly, I walked up the stairs and found myself standing in front of the Arts and Administration building. The U of T flag was still rising in the air, greeting the students who would visit every so often. But who will be there to notice it?
Science
October 19, 2020 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca
Seven month lookback: how U of T experts have studied the social effects of COVID-19 Research on racial, LGBTQ+, gender disparities, mental health
Shernise Mohammed-Ali and Hannah Nie Varsity Staff
Seven months have passed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its social and public health impacts are beginning to come to light. Recently published and ongoing studies from University of Toronto researchers examine the impacts of COVID-19 on seniors, students, and marginalized communities. Since March, it has become increasingly apparent that society’s most vulnerable are bearing the brunt of this virus. The effects of the pandemic are continuously oppressing those facing socioeconomic hardship, illness, and systemic racism. The need for physical distancing is weighed against possible consequences on mental health and quality of life, particularly in older adults. Effects of physical distancing on seniors’ mental health Older adults are widely recognized as the age group most vulnerable to COVID-19, with the highest mortality rate. As of May, over 80 per cent of COVID-19 related deaths in Canada were from long-term care homes, according to a report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. As such, physical distancing is crucial for this demographic — but the consequences on older adults’ mental health are largely unexplored. An editorial article co-authored by Dr. Charlene Chu, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Nursing, and colleagues at McMaster University, Grand River Hospital, and St. Mary’s Hospital, raises concerns about the impact of physical distancing on the autonomy, quality of life, and mental health of older adults in long-term care. Social isolation can increase morbidity rates by increasing risks for mental health disorders and other illnesses, and may even exacerbate neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. In long-term care specifically, strict visitor policies and lack of technology for virtual visits can deprive residents of much-needed social interactions. An ongoing University of Toronto-affiliated study is investigating the mental health, resilience, and coping of older adults in Toronto during the pandemic. The study is led by Dr. Benoit Mulsant and Dr. Linda Mah, in collaboration with the Baycrest Centre, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and several Toronto hospitals. In the coming months, this research will provide much-needed information on the emotional and mental impacts of the pandemic on older adults, which will guide decisions on physical distancing for COVID-19 and future pandemics. At the same time, the prevalence of deaths from long-term care home residents has prompted research into how their medical needs can be met in a safer way. Researcher Dr. Fahad Razak and his colleagues at U of T and St. Michael’s College’s Li Ka Shing Institute sought to develop a method for virtually diagnosing patients, avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations that may be a COVID-19 risk. Razak and his colleagues found that outpatient care services and a central virtual hub for physicians could manage longterm care medical needs. Social isolation and mental health One particular area of interest is the mental health of students learning in a new age. One study from the University of Toronto and McGill University followed up with 773 university students who participated in a mental health survey from May 2019 and reassessed their mental health in May 2020.
By comparing students’ mental health before and during the pandemic, the researchers observed varied effects of COVID-19 on mental health. For students without pre-existing mental health conditions, their social isolation increased and their mental health declined compared to pre-pandemic times. Surprisingly, students with pre-existing mental health conditions reported similar or improved mental health. These findings suggest that beyond supporting students with pre-existing conditions, universities and colleges should implement prevention and intervention programs for students who are experiencing increased mental health issues and stress during the pandemic. Shortly after the pandemic was declared, The Varsity interviewed Dr. Steve Joordens, a professor of psychology at UTSC, about his opinion on mental health and adapting to the pandemic. Joordens described how the pandemic produces feelings of worry because anxiety tends to come when “we feel like we’re under threat and… we’re either not equipped or we don’t have the power to do anything about it.” “In such situations, your sympathetic nervous system activates the fight-or-flight response, making you feel on edge,” Joordens said. He added that the pandemic has resulted in a loss of organization, structure, and human contact that school would otherwise provide. As such, feelings of anxiety and confusion might develop in students as they feel this loss. Dr. Greg Dubord, an assistant professor of psychiatry at U of T, also emphasized the need to reassert structure into one’s life and adopt beneficial habits. Both Joordens and Dubord suggested balancing the intake of news and social media, maintaining a clean and organized environment, listening to music, singing, and reading a favourite book to help cope with anxiety. Joordens later launched a free course on Coursera aimed at helping students maintain a healthy mental state in lockdown, divided into four modules that take a total of three hours to complete. How systemic racism affects access to health care in Indigenous communities Marginalized communities, including racialized individuals, immigrants, and those with lower income or education levels are at higher risk for COVID-19. Statistics from Toronto Public Health reveal that racialized populations account for 83 per cent of COVID-19 cases but only make up 52 per cent of the Toronto population. The rate of COVID-19 cases for Latin American, Arab, Middle Eastern, and West Asian populations was found to be nine times higher, and the rate for Black populations six times higher, than white populations. There has also been research conducted at U of T that specifically examines the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous communities. A recent paper by Dr. Lisa Richardson of the Faculty of Medicine and Allison Crawford, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, closely examined the relationship between the decolonization of Indigenous peoples and COVID-19. Both Richardson and Crawford contended that the medical practices of settlers in North America are but one of many aspects of life that was imposed upon Indigenous peoples during colonization. As such, many of the healing practices of Indigenous peoples were suppressed and ignored. This history of colonization has not only led to barriers in the health care available to Indigenous communities, but also deficiencies in their social determinants of health.
Equity concerns have been a prominent theme for researchers studying COVID-19. CANDICE ZHANG/THEVARSITY
Both authors maintained that addressing the social determinants of health in both short and long terms “will require the decolonizing of health care at individual, organizational and policy levels.” Dr. Michael Anderson, an Indigenous physician and a member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, led a study into the data collection for COVID-19 cases among Indigenous communities. Anderson explained that the health care system is centred around a history of systemic racism and discrimination. This not only results in lower health care funding for Indigenous communities, but the health care system’s history also makes it difficult for Indigenous people to trust the system. As such, Indigenous communities are not seeking medical attention, and accurate data examining the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous communities cannot be collected. The gendered impact of the pandemic On July 28, the Rotman School of Management’s Institute for Gender and the Economy and the Young Women’s Christian Association Canada released a report titled, “A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada: Making the Economy Work for Everyone.” As the report discussed, the effects of the pandemic have been unequal, to say the least. Although the Canadian economy has suffered greatly as a result of COVID-19, these effects
have been felt by some much more than others. Women, in particular, have endured worse labour outcomes than men during the pandemic. According to the report, women made up 70 per cent of job losses among working-age adults in March, the first month of most provincial-wide lockdowns. These job losses included a reduction in hours or dismissal from a position entirely, affecting up to one in five women nationwide. LGBTQ+ health and HIV prevention University of Toronto experts express concerns about challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community during COVID-19. In an article published with collaborators at the University of Victoria and the Community Based Research Centre in Vancouver, Dr. David J. Brennan and PhD candidate David Collict in the FactorInwentash Faculty of Social Work describe the possible effects of physical distancing on the mental, social, and sexual health of LGBTQ+ men and non-binary individuals. Additionally, Dr. Peter A. Newman from the University of Toronto and Dr. Adrian Guta from the University of Windsor have commented on potential challenges in HIV prevention during the pandemic, as marginalized communities face challenges such as discrimination and barriers to accessing condoms and HIV testing. Newman and Guta also mention the importance of positive, community-based engagement as strategies for HIV prevention, instead of strategies that stigmatize sex, which fail to account for the complexities of individuals’ sex lives and have been shown to be ineffective.
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How being Black, South Asian, Indigenous puts older populations at higher COVID-19 risks PhD student Shen Lin on the intersections of race, income, health
Brandon Yu and Deep Soor Varsity Contributors
Over the past six months, the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada has made persistent equity concerns paramount. Special attention has been directed toward individuals who are immunocompromised and aging, as well as those with underlying medical conditions. A recent Nature article reveals that being an older man increases risks associated with COVID-19, with individuals aged 75 or older having an 11.6 per cent risk of mortality. Now, a U of T-authored paper published in The Gerontologist suggests that race and Indigeneity may also place individuals at higher risk of COVID-19, as these two factors are correlated with chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Racialized communities see chronic health conditions Shen Lin, a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Institute for Life Course and Aging, is the author of the paper. He investigated the intersectionality of race and class, and how they contribute to health disparities across Canada. The findings highlight an evident health disparity between members of varying racialized communities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and levels of education. The probability of encountering medical conditions was highest in populations of Black immigrants and Indigenous peoples in Canada, followed by South Asian im-
migrants. The most prevalent conditions that these communities were at high risk of were obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Indigenous peoples in Canada were 1.96 times more likely to experience three or more underlying conditions in comparison to Canadian-born white individuals. Racial inequalities present themselves in real, measurable health conditions. Previous studies correlate decreased health outcomes, lower access to health care, and poorer quality of care with those exposed to racism. This motivates further investigation into the manifestation of inadequate care for marginalized communities.
The Gerontologist study used over 29,700 sample sets from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Lin investigated how racialnativity status, family income, education, and “the intersecting profile of these three social positionings” affected the frequency of multimorbidities associated with COVID-19 mortality, such as diabetes and asthma. In his paper, Lin wrote that “the intersectionality lens of race, immigration and old age has been largely overlooked” in existing literature. Income as a secondary factor In addition to minoritized status, the study found that income plays a significant role in
REBECCA ROCCO/THEVARSITY
one’s lifelong health. Individuals with an annual familial income below $20,000 annually were almost four times as likely to have three or more multi-morbidities than those with an income excess of $150,000. Individuals who are earning less than $20,000 have a 74.8 per cent chance of experiencing one or two medical conditions that are considered risk factors for COVID-19. The same statistic drops to 54.8 per cent when incomes exceed $150,000. In his paper, Lin suggests that being from a low-income background may affect one’s health while addressing that racialized individuals are overrepresented within these groups. The two factors of income and minoritized status are not independent. Lin also discovered that South Asian and Black immigrants were overrepresented among lowincome individuals, compounding their likelihood of chronic health conditions. “With COVID-19 spreading globally, health equity should be placed at the center of all policy responses designed to mitigate the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on underserved aging communities,” wrote Lin. This is in line with the official stance from Public Health Ontario, which clearly recognizes the increased COVID-19 risks for minoritized and low-income individuals. Recently, the US state of California announced plans for a statewide “health equity” metric to measure the pandemic response. As the Toronto Star reports, there have been calls for Canadian public health agencies to adopt the same strategy.
“Revenge of the pangolin”: the wildlife crisis at the heart of COVID-19 How wildlife markets may have caused the pandemic, and how Canada can respond
Aanya Bahl Varsity Contributor
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives all over the world. It sent billions into lockdown this past March and has spread from nation to nation. But how did it all start? The Varsity spoke with Kerry Bowman — a conservationist and bioethicist cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine, Joint Centre for Bioethics, and School of the Environment — who shed some light on the wildlife crisis that caused the global outbreak of COVID-19. The origins of COVID-19 from wet markets By now, many people have heard that COVID-19 is suspected to have emerged in the Wuhan province of China in a wet market in December 2019, but there is still confusion over what a wet market is. A wet market is simply any open-air space where perishable goods are sold, including local produce, seafood, and meat. Dry markets, on the other hand, sell non-perishable goods such as fabrics. Not every wet market sells wildlife — although COVID-19 is believed to have emerged from one that did. ‘Wildlife market’ is a more accurate term for wet markets where wild animal meat is sold. Bowman has a particular interest in these wildlife markets and has observed them around the world. He himself went to the Wuhan market in 2017, where he counted 56 species of animals. “The world wildlife trade is a multi-billion dollar industry,” he said. According to him, illegal wildlife is being sold in “markets all over the world” — from Africa, to South America, and even in East Asia in places such as China.
However, the market from which COVID-19 is said to have spread was legal. “We cannot continue to commodify and let wildlife be run by market forces,” Bowman said. “We’ve always looked at these outbreaks — [severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)] included — as one-time events, and anyone who’s knowledgeable about what goes on in these markets can see that [COVID-19] was an accident waiting to happen.” Addressing the disease risks from wildlife markets Would the complete halt of these markets stop viruses such as SARS and COVID-19 from spreading in the future? Bowman believes that it is not that simple. “I think wildlife markets absolutely should be shut down, but it’s not as easy as it sounds,” he said. “There’s elements of cultural expression that would have to be dealt with because eating wild animals goes back in some cultures about 5,000 years. For example, in Africa, there are issues of food security.” Nevertheless, Bowman believes one of the first things to do is to get endangered animals out of the equation and remove hybrid species from these markets. He thinks the best way going forward is to start with an international wildlife ban and then slowly figure out how to move forward in places such as China, where wildlife is farmed. But what exactly is wildlife farming? Dr. Shelby Riskin, an assistant professor at U of T’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, wrote to The Varsity that wildlife farming is “the commercial breeding of wild, as opposed to domesticated, animals.” “Wildlife farming is often presented as a way of relieving the pressure on threatened populations,” she continued. “The theory goes
that by breeding and then selling animals within a legal market, the pressure for poaching of wild populations will be decreased.” However, Riskin noted that bred animals do not always have the same economic value as those caught in the wild. “There are also ethical concerns for how the animals are treated in these farms, as opposed to captive breeding programs within zoos or other more formal conservation programs,” she wrote. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the wildlife trade is a global enterprise worth billions of dollars, involving tens of thousands of animal species. Apart from the complex parallel system of wildlife markets contributing to the spread of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19, Bowman believes that they also contribute to the global diversity crisis. “We’re losing biodiversity left, right, and centre; it’s not just the wildlife market,” he said. “What’s happening is that so much habitat has been lost [that] we have species that are not normally living on top of each other in a forest that gets smaller.” “On top of that, they’re very stressed by a changing climate, and some of the species are moving into different areas because the climate is changing.” Did bats cause the COVID-19 pandemic? The growing scientific consensus is that SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated in bats but required an intermediary animal host before it could be passed to a human. A Nature study published in late March was among the first to provide evidence of SARSCoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins. Agreement grew swiftly — a month later a study from Chinese researchers found a 91 per cent genetic correspondence between
the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a coronavirus found in pangolin tissues. Bowman’s own view is that the pandemic was partly caused by a recombination of viruses from species to species. “There’s a strange joke, but some people are calling this the ‘revenge of the pangolin,’ ” he said. “The pangolin is the most traded animal in the world, and [pangolins] are being wiped off the face of the earth because of the trade. They may be the trigger species for the virus.” Canada’s role in preventing future pandemics Even though such species are not popular in Canada, we may have a bigger role to play than we think. According to Bowman, an international treaty to stop the trade of wildlife exists, but has very little funding. “We’ve invested next to nothing in that,” he said. “The sad reality is, we don’t change things. It’s a matter of time until this happens again.” Bowman believes that part of the problem is that wildlife markets have gone from occasional domestic use to a commercial enterprise, especially in East Asia and Africa. Although people have eaten wildlife for a long time, the commercial enterprise of the illegal wildlife trade has elevated concerns significantly. Ultimately, if the wildlife trade does not face reform, we may not only exacerbate the biodiversity crisis — we could also be at risk of another pandemic caused by a zoonotic disease. The lack of scrutiny on the trade of endangered species in legal and illegal markets has damaged public safety. Perhaps now, when it comes at a personal expense to humankind, governments will take a stance. The Chinese government is already taking the first step by implementing a strict ban on the consumption and farming of wild animals.
var.st/science
OCTOBER 19, 2020
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Opinion: New data from over 18,500 commuter students should inform campus decision makers New Toronto survey demonstrates unique commuting challenges Amna Noor Varsity Contributor
A recent study for StudentMoveTO, led by investigators from four major GTA and Hamilton postsecondary schools — including U of T — indicated that 30 per cent of postsecondary students commute for more than two hours to get to campus and back, and a further 41 per cent indicated that commute times discouraged class attendance. This survey highlights the challenges that commuting students face. Course selection is one of them, as the more spaced out your classes are, the more days you need to travel. Commuting is expensive, too: the survey shows that commuting costs average to $220 per month, with costs increasing as one moves farther from the major urban areas of Toronto and Hamilton. Student groups and the university administration should prioritize commuters when making important decisions. We’ve seen in the past how ignoring commuting students puts them at risk, such as when classes went digital this past winter semester two weeks after the first documented COVID-19 case on the TTC, or when UTSG closed for a blizzard late into the afternoon in 2019. With more than 18,500 postsecondary student participants, the StudentMoveTO survey is the largest survey ever done on student transportation. As such, it should inform important decision makers on campus about what commuter students go through to attend class. Breaking down the numbers The average one-way commute hovers around 46 minutes and covers a distance of 14.6 kilometres. Preferred mode of travel varied greatly with the duration of the commute: commuters who travelled by car or bicycle, or chose to walk, had a commute of approximately 30 minutes, whereas those who travelled by local or regional transit had significantly longer commute times. Regional transit, including GO transit, was the mode of
travel for 60 per cent of all commuting students. Furthermore, the survey indicated that 41 per cent of all students felt that the long hours of the commute discouraged them from coming to campus, and 46 per cent reported that they had to pick courses based on the commute. This could be why trips to campus decline throughout the week after Tuesday, as students might try to pick as many classes as they can within a single day. The timings of commute support this theory as well: most commutes to campus occur from 7:00–10:00 am, and 39 per cent of all commutes from campus occur from 4:00–7:00 pm, indicating a tightly scheduled day. With a compact schedule and full day of classes, it is perhaps not very surprising that 60 per cent of commuters blamed their commute for their disengagement in campus activities and events, and 31 per cent of all respondents believed that their commute was a hindrance to academic success. Another 48 per cent noted that the commute was a barrier to their co-curricular experience. Research agrees: commuting isn’t ideal These findings support the idea that the duration of one’s commute negatively correlates with their contentment and time spent with family and for leisure. A 2004 study had respondents rate their mood while completing various daily activities and discovered that commuting was among the activities that received the highest negative scores. Research has established that commuters with long travel times face symptoms related to stress, such as headache, pain, and exhaustion, at a much higher rate than those with shorter commutes, which impacts not only mental health, but also the ability to engage in hobbies and spend time with families and friends. The health impacts of commuting also depend on the mode of transportation used. A 2019 UK study found that work commutes via public transport were associated with higher rates of ab-
senteeism and sleep deprivation. The researchers did find that people who utilize passive transportation, such as carpooling and public transport, have lower prevalence of mental illness compared to people who commute alone or drive. However, the duration of the respective commutes was not specified in this study, which can serve as a confounding factor. Thus, if one has a choice, it is better to take part in active commuting. Active commuting, such as bicycling or walking to work, can help resolve the physical inactivity and obesity epidemic that we currently face. How decision makers should view these results In an email, Tyler Riches, Vice-President Public & University Affairs of the University of Toronto’s Students’ Union, claimed that students have always faced various barriers to academic success due to mental health, which has only become more obvious since the pandemic began. He reiterated that even though there are multiple spaces present on campus, most are accessible to only a small population of the student body, leaving commuters with very few places to hang out at before and after classes or other activities. He also added that the pandemic has only made the commute harder for postsecondary students attending in-person classes, as the risk and strain of commuting and attending classes is exacerbated by infrequent TTC service and limited access to safe, on-campus amenities. These are some general considerations for commuter students that U of T’s administration should take into account when making decisions that affect an entire campus. But the buck doesn’t stop with awareness. There are several changes
“As a public university, it is the responsibility of the administration to take action,” wrote Amna Noor.
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that need to be made to the current governing policies to better accommodate commuters. All lectures and tutorials should be recorded and posted online after class to facilitate commuter students, as students can miss classes for reasons that are completely out of their control, such as when the TTC is unreliable. Furthermore, first- and second-year mandatory courses should be offered at midday rather than the morning or evening so commuters do not have to travel at odd hours. If classes are spaced out and at reasonable hours, one can expect to see more involvement from commuters in extracurricular activities as well. Ideally, the solution would be to have commuter-friendly policies as well as better transit infrastructure. However, it may take a while before we see any changes in the transit, so as a public university, it is the responsibility of the administration to take action. Disclosure: Amna Noor is co-president of the Cell and Systems Biology Student Union and an administrative representative for the Victoria Off-Campus Association.
You’ve heard the term, but what exactly is ‘nudge theory’?
From behavioural economics to corporate jargon Yixuan Li Varsity Contributor
‘Nudge theory’ is a concept that’s entering popular consciousness as the new corporate buzzword. In marketing and sales, it’s being seen as a new way to boost revenues and create brand loyalty. A ‘nudge’ is an attempt to influence someone’s behaviour without coercion. Nudges can be created in several ways, including by setting up default choices or giving choosers feedback on their decisions. But unlike other corporatized words like ‘synergy’ and ‘brand trajectory,’ nudge theory is an import from the world of behavioural economics, where semi-rational human agents make decisions in manipulable ways. The concept has rapidly been adopted by policymakers as well. Nudge theory basics In 2008, behavioural economist Richard Thaler — who later received the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics — and jurist Cass Sunstein formally proposed nudge theory in their book, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Unlike traditional economic theory that treats humans as totally rational actors, nudge theory is established on the assumption that humans are not totally rational. This means people do not always make decisions based on accurate calculations or make the most favourable choices for themselves. Due to inertia, prejudice, or ignorance, people’s choices are often not based on
maximizing their interests in any given moment. By changing the way choices are presented in the environment, people can be nudged to change the decisions they’d normally make. The Rotman report provides an example of charging the cost of a gym membership in small installments per month or per week rather than as a large sum per year, making the membership cost seem smaller. Nudging in education policy In September, Dr. Philip Oreopoulos, a professor in the U of T Department of Economics, published a paper, “Promises and Limitations of Nudging in Education.” In it, Oreopoulos examines a series of studies from behavioural economics about nudge intervention on education policies. These education policies are mainly for improving students’ enthusiasm to study, university application rates for academically successful high school students in poor households, and student GPA. Oreopoulos divided forms of intervention into nudges and ‘shoves.’ Nudges subtly point people toward decisions whereas shoves restrict alternative options outright. He also divided each nudge into ‘high-touch’ influences, such as meeting or talking person-to-person and ‘low-touch’ influences, such as contacting someone by brochure, letter, or text message. By using this methodology, Oreopoulos found that nudging to affect habits, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs may be less effective than nudging specific one-time actions.
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For example, Oreopoulos examines a case in which researchers used low-touch nudging in the form of motivational text messages to help students develop more positive perspectives on facing challenging course material and develop more patience in acclimatizing to campus life. The results showed that these chatbots had an impact on affecting time-sensitive actions, but ultimately had no impact on more academic aspects of their degree. Despite this, Oreopoulos says that some inperson high-touch nudges have significant effects, like a staff member who proactively helps students improve their GPA through one-toone coaching. This study suggests that nudging, in its traditional sense, may be ineffective in changing behaviour, but can be promising at the level of changing one-time actions. Nudging predicament “I’ve become skeptical about the potential for many nudges to generate meaningful change,” Oreopoulos wrote in an email to The Varsity, although he noted that there have been examples
when they have helped affect one-time actions. “This is based on evidence from randomized controlled trials. The success of a nudge will depend on what you’re trying to nudge, and the context. Small details matter.” In fact, the effectiveness of nudging has come into question. Dr. Varun Gauri, the co-head of the behavioural science unit at the World Bank, has questioned the value of behavioural science to the current COVID-19 response. He noted that behavioural policies were not yet developed enough to be successful in aiding the pandemic response. Still, proponents of nudging argue that it could have many benefits. The Rotman report suggests that policymakers should use different nudges at different stages in order to help people overcome various barriers for their actions. For example, the report suggests identifying the factors preventing someone from following through with a decision, and applying nudges when those factors arise. Ultimately, only time will tell whether nudge theory has broad applicability outside the boardroom.
Sports
October 19, 2020 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
Winter 2021 season cancelled for Varsity Blues due to COVID-19 OUA decision follows fall 2020 season cancellation as safety concerns rise
The volleyball season will be cancelled in light of this new decision. COURTESY OF SEYRAN MAMMADOV/VARSITY BLUES
Laura Ashwood Sports Editor
The Varsity Blues faced difficult news this past week with the cancellation of all programming and championships until March 31, 2021, as announced in a statement from Ontario University Athletics (OUA) on October 15. This falls in line with U Sports’ decision to cancel all winter 2021 national championships. Following the cancellation of the fall 2020 season, the OUA justified the renewed decision to further cancel the winter 2021 season given recently increasing COVID-19 case numbers, stating that “the health of student-athletes, coaches, administrators, officials, and fans is our number one priority.” In a recent Instagram post on the Varsity Blues official page, Beth Ali, Executive Director of Athletics & Physical Activity, wrote that U of T will “continue to deliver an engaging experience for [its]
student-athletes. We will maintain remote sporttraining programs and opportunities for teams to connect online.” Return-to-train protocols, which are contingent on regional and provincial COVID-19 guidelines, will still be in place at U of T. These protocols are policies like physical distancing, mask-wearing, and more guidelines to re-integrate athletes into team practices safely. As such, student-athletes will still be able to train at campus facilities. Gord Grace, OUA President and CEO, wrote in the OUA’s statement that “while we would love nothing more than to see our student-athletes back on the field of play and participating in OUA-sanctioned competition during the 2nd Term, we are not yet at a place where that can occur safely.” In its statement, the OUA Board of Directors have committed to continue monitoring the changes and status of the pandemic, reserving “the right to adjust these decisions on an on-going basis.”
Opinion: As U of T closes its gyms, why are students still paying for them? U of T students feel shortchanged out of exercise and community
Avishai Sol Varsity Contributor
On October 9, Ontario announced that it would be implementing additional restrictions to combat the rising case numbers of COVID-19 in the province. U of T responded with the closure of indoor gyms and fitness centres. Some facilities, however, are still accessible: outdoor intramurals are still on track to happen, the school teams for COVID-19-friendly sports will still be able to train, and virtual fitness classes are still a go. Even with the lower mortality rates and improvements in treatment, this is the worst I’ve felt about the pandemic yet. Even through the peak of the danger, we at least felt like we were slowly making progress. Now, it feels like we’re
going in reverse. Without access to gyms, many students will now feel unable to exercise as they would prefer and their fitness will be negatively impacted. There is also mental health to con-
sider: school athletics have always been a focal point of school spirit and community. While we can all look forward to lounging on the couch for the foreseeable future, the real is-
Closing gyms and athletic centres once again throws student fees into question.
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sue here is that students are forced to pay incidental fees for facilities that they now can’t use. While safety precautions are necessary, there has to be a recognition and response from the university to the cost of services that are no longer available — especially given the financial challenges faced by students during the pandemic. And this speaks to a broader issue: as the school starts to transition to fully online classes, getting your money’s worth out of the complete university experience has become difficult. We have the right to be upset about our losses, but let’s just remember that this is not for forever and that athletics will return. Until then, remember that this pandemic is a marathon, not a sprint. We will get our lives back, U of T — we just need to weather the storm.
Opinion: The sports industry must tackle its role in the climate crisis Believe it or not, the games we love are hurting the environment Jessica Han Varsity Contributor
For many people, sports are the love of their life. With screaming fans and dedication that knows no bounds for leagues, players, and teams, it’s no wonder the industry is a massive hit. There’s only one problem: we’re often so focused on the high energy and excitement that it blinds us from seeing how the sports industry hurts the environment. Believe it or not, sports play a role in the climate crisis. To all those diehard fans out there who might be feeling aghast from this, don’t be. The climate crisis is a serious issue, and to minimize and resolve it, we need all hands on deck. Pro league footprints Every year, major sporting events — the Super Bowl, the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup, just to name a few — attract people worldwide. But what are the lasting consequences of these events? Substantial carbon footprints are left behind from the increased transportation, large amounts of trash produced, energy required to operate these events, and growth in food production. Take the NHL, for example, a major hockey league that has countless sporting events. According to Allen Hershkowitz, who is currently on the Board of Directors at Sport & Sustainability International, the NHL’s annual greenhouse gas emissions from all the games, business activities, and league operations estimate to be about 530,000 tonnes annually. Compared to a single coal power plant’s emissions per year, which can be around 23 million tonnes, the NHL’s emissions may
seem relatively low. However, this is an alarming calculation, so the NHL tracks its emissions in order to become more environmentally sustainable. Hidden emissions It doesn’t just stop here — there’s more. Some sports, like motorsports, generate carbon footprints that we can see from a mile away by emitting greenhouse gases. Motor racing uses fossil fuels that contribute to the climate crisis. Yet, it’s not only the racing that hurts the environment; it’s also the manufacturing process. These vehicles require testing, labour, and resources such as energy and raw materials. Combine this with racing and you get carbon emissions everywhere. Luckily, adjustments are in the making to lower the carbon footprint to zero by 2030. Formula One is beginning to create and implement electric vehicles for a new racing series — Formula E — and use hybrid engines and biofuel. However, it could be a decades-long process to make an electric car that can compete with a Formula 1 car. Unlike motorsports, other sports such as skiing and golf quietly affect the environment. Their effects are not as obvious as motor racing’s, where the sport clearly is a factor in the climate crisis. However, skiing and golf are harmful to the environment even though people don’t often realize it. More specifically, it’s the golf courses and skiing slopes that are detrimental, taking up large areas of former ecosystems and natural terrains. The environmental cost of recreational sport But climate impacts aren’t reserved for pro leagues. Sports resorts are the enemies of the environment, especially ski resorts. From getting rid of plants and
trees to disrupting the wildlife, ski resorts are the epitome of failing to protect nature. To all the environmentalists out there reading this, don’t despair just yet. There’s some good news: we’re seeing ski resorts working to reduce the negative impacts they cause to our ecosystems. For example, Ontario’s popular ski resort, Blue Mountain, is dedicated to being environmentally conscious. Blue Mountain is continuously improving its relationship with its neighbouring natural landscapes, from having community clean-ups to managing waste and water supply to maintaining sustainable slopes. On top of that, in Ontario, Blue Mountain is the only ski resort to support the Sustainable Slopes charter since 2000. That’s only one resort, so what about the others in Ontario and in the world that aren’t environmentally aware yet — the ones that put financial gain over the environment? We can say that these resorts are absolutely contributors to why the Earth’s health is declining and why the climate crisis is occurring. It’s not only professional sports and organizations that should be doing something about mitigating the climate crisis. Even with the sports industry begin-
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ning to become more environmentally aware, there needs to be faster eco-friendly action taken right now as the climate crisis impacts and will impact everyone. We, the fans, also need to help create a greener sports industry — even the simplest actions like reducing, reusing, and recycling will make a difference. Sports are dependent on a healthy planet, but with this ongoing climate crisis, how on Earth are sports going to exist?
var.st/sports
OCTOBER 19, 2020
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Testing UTrain: Glutes, core, and more How good are U of T’s online workouts, really? Alexandra Waddell Varsity Contributor
With the suspension of all indoor sports and physical activity programs this weekend, online workouts have become even more important. The Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education has announced that it will expand its online program offerings, so we may have some new classes and updates to look forward to. This week I chose “Glutes, Core & More” to try something for strength and conditioning, and it was my favourite of all the UTrain workouts so far. I was expecting a lot of squats and situps, but this class was far above my expectations. Our instructor was Cindy MacDonald from
UTM. MacDonald has many teaching certifications for personal training, yoga, pilates, and more. Her experience was obvious as the class was well planned, the workout had diverse movements, and MacDonald herself did a great job at explaining each movement. MacDonald didn’t wait around to get the class started, probably because it was clear that most of the 22 participants were regulars and one student even had their camera turned on to make MacDonald feel more connected. The class began with a choreographed warm up timed to the music. Then, we progressed into an isometric balance-focused section before we moved on to the main workout. MacDonald kept the class pumping with remixed hip-hop classics by artists such as Kanye West, Drake,
and Will Smith. Although the tracks were hits, the movements we were doing were the opposite of classic. They mixed pilates, barre, and strength conditioning. It may just be the Thanksgiving leftovers talking, but these moves were hard! I was definitely sore the next day. MacDonald knew this would happen, though, and led us through some stretching and refocusing at the end of the class. Lots of participants stayed behind after class to say thank you and chat with MacDonald, so it was clear that she was appreciated. If you want to try out “Glutes, Core & More,” the program occurs on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. I’m excited to keep testing UTrain, but with MacDonald kicking my butt, it looks like UTrain is testing me!
Best stretches for Zoom university
Stretches to loosen you up after hours hunched over your laptop Jessica Han Varsity Contributor
You know that feeling you get when you sit all day? Your muscles are all tight and your whole body is aching. Since our classes are online, that feeling seems constant now. What happens to your body if you sit for too long? Hunching over a computer all day for your online classes can cause many physical and internal issues, including pain in the shoulder, neck, and lower back, as well as poor posture development. According to the Mayo Clinic, there is a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. To avoid this, simply take a break and stretch your tightness and pain away. You’ll be feeling loosey-goosey in no time!
MIA CARNEVALE/THEVARSITY
Breaking down golf — it’s not just for rich, old, white guys An outdoor sport that suits physical distancing
Golf seems to be the new COVID-19 obsession. Makes sense. It’s always been one of the most popular sports in the world, but now with this pandemic mucking things up, more people have been turning to the green. There are still concerns about golf and COVID-19 since golfers interact with other people on golf carts and in clubhouses. However, golf is an outdoor sport that people can play with their own equipment while staying physically distant. Hence, golf seems to be a relatively safe way, compared to team sports, for competitors to get their sports buzz. As a fan of pickup basketball, I’m very jealous. I’m a recreational athlete myself, and I’ve been searching for that same fix to scratch my competitive itch. That was how I was introduced to golf. A good friend of mine — one who’s played a lot of golf before — was the one who finally shipped me out and taught me how to swing a club. I want to write this for all you other first timers. I’ll give some tips and share my experience golfing for the first time. Get a putt buddy It was good to have a buddy, especially one who’s more experienced than me. My friend
MAHIKA JAIN/THEVARSITY
The cure for the computer-induced hunchback If your back is aching, the classic child’s pose will help a lot. To do this stretch, start with lining up your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Then, as your knees bend, sit your hips back and extend your arms in front of you. Make sure you’re looking down while holding this position. Not only does this stretch target your lower back, it also hits the glutes, hamstrings, and spine while de-stressing you. The posture saviour Being continuously hunched over, you’re hurting your back and ruining your posture. A torso stretch is a great way to fix this. First, face forward in a seated position with your feet planted on the floor. Take one arm, grab your chair, and proceed to rotate your whole torso in the direction of that arm. Make sure you stay in that rotated position for about 10–30 seconds. After finishing, do all the steps on your other side.
Get the crick out of your neck Sitting or lying down with your neck aligned with your spine, gently bend your neck to one side and try to get the ear to touch the shoulder. Hold that position for about 20 seconds and proceed to do the same on your other side. Repeat each side four times. We call this stretch the lateral flexion or the ear to shoulder stretch.
Avishai Sol Varsity Contributor
Do the workouts really work?
It’s not true. When my friend and I got to the course, I expected to see a sea of frumpy rich guys drinking and turning their noses up at us. Instead, I saw all different kinds of people: different cultures, ethnicities, genders, and social classes.
Shoulder rolls Feeling shoulder pain? It might be happening because you’re sitting and typing for too long. A super quick solution to help with the problem is to perform shoulder rolls. Tucking your chin in, position your back upright. Roll your shoulders in a continuous circular movement in one direction. Repeat this 10 times before switching directions. That put me at ease. I had avoided golf all these years not because I was against the sport, but because I didn’t subscribe to golf culture. Now, I have a better appreciation for what that culture really is and its place in the world of sport.
was able to correct my technique when I was off, I was able to pick up on the lingo just by being around him as he played, and most importantly, it’s good to have someone to talk to when you’re out there. There’s a lot of “in-between” moments in golf, so it’s important to have something or someone there to fill those. Keep swinging, even if you miss Don’t get discouraged. If this is your first time golfing, then you will be bad. I mean, really bad. I know I was. I could hardly hit the ball at all for the first few holes, much less get it on the green. The key is patience. Once you find your rhythm and start to get the hang of the technique, you’ll start to improve really quickly. By the end of the day, I was still bad, but at least I could play the game. Stick around! Don’t be embarrassed on or off the field. Golf culture seems so key to the sport, and I’ll admit, at first it made me uncomfortable. I had only ever seen golf as a sport for rich, old, white guys; it’s a game that you would play because you could do it while talking about business, or you were too weak to play anything else.
IVAN MILIUKOV/THEVARSITY
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OCTOBER 19, 2020
Varsity Publications Inc. invites you to its annual Fall Meeting of Members!
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2020 Time: 5:10 pm EDT Zoom meeting: http://var.st/5zk More information on the meeting can be found at: https://thevarsity.ca/fall-meeting-of-members
All full-time undergraduate and graduate U of T students are members of the corporation, and may vote. Make your voice count!