November 30, 2016

vol. cXXXvi, no. 10

T he UniversiTy

of

ToronTo’s sTUdenT newspaper since 1880

30 november 2015

A 2012 issue of Maclean’s magazine declared a mental health crisis on campus, citing the overwhelming frustration, exhaustion, and depression students face across the country. Three years later, we’re still only beginning to wrap our heads around the problem.

E D I T O R I A L PG 11

MINDING WHAT MATTERS: PART II The institutional strategy for managing mental health on campus

U N I V E R S I T Y A D M I N I S T R A T I O N PG 3

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE CAPS’ summer integration into Health & Wellness met with favourable reviews

INSIDE In search of the Renaissance student

Teodora Pasca on the attraction of a general education Comment PG 9

Digital dreams

Are we being adequately prepared for the jobs of the future?

Features PG 12

Kitchen confidential

A look at the dark underbelly of the city’s culinary culture Arts & Culture PG 14

Sexual violence and sport

The Varsity sits down with Laura Robinson, journalist and author of Crossing the Line Sports PG 21

2 NEWS

T H E VA R S I T Y

M O N DAY 3 0 N O V E M B E R 2 015 news@thevarsity.ca

Issue 10 Vol. CXXXVI

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

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MASTHEAD Alec Wilson Editor-in-Chief

editor@thevarsity.ca

James Flynn Managing Online Editor

online@thevarsity.ca

Sarah Niedoba Managing Editor Margaux Parker Creative Director

managing@thevarsity.ca creative@thevarsity.ca

Sean Smith Senior Copy Editor

copy@thevarsity.ca

Iris Robin News Editor

news@thevarsity.ca

Victoria Wicks Comment Editor

comment@thevarsity.ca

Alex McKeen Features Editor

features@thevarsity.ca

Jacob Lorinc Arts and Culture Editor

arts@thevarsity.ca

Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger Science Editor science@thevarsity.ca Emma Kikulis Sports Editor

sports@thevarsity.ca

Lisa Wong Design Editor

design@thevarsity.ca

Mallika Makkar Photo Editor

photo@thevarsity.ca

Julien Balbontin Illustrations Editor Shaq Hosein Video Editor Damian Klambauer Web Developer

illustration@thevarsity.ca Fireworks burst over City Hall in Nathan Philips Square during the Cavalcade of Lights, Saturday, November 28. DOMINICK HAN/THE VARSITY

video@thevarsity.ca web@thevarsity.ca

Mubashir Baweja Associate Design Editor

Teodora Pasca Associate Comment Editor

Nathan Chan Associate Photo Editor

Jaren Kerr Associate Features Editor

Elham Numan and Diana Pham Associate Illustration Editors

Corey Van Den Hoogenbend Associate A&C Editor

Salvatore Basilone Associate Video Editor

Shahin Imtiaz Associate Science Editor

Sonali Gill Associate Copy Editor

Vacant Associate Sports Editor

THE EXPLAINER THE VARSITY ’S GUIDE TO SE CRE T NON-DE NOMINATIONAL G IFT G IVING It’s approaching that time of year again. Whether your organized gift giving is with your friends, co-workers, or community, here is what you need to know after you draw that name out of the hat.

Devika Desai, Emily Johnpulle and Tom Yun Associate News Editors Lead Fact Checkers Joannie Fu, Ujwal Ganguly, Ariel Gomes, and Sigrid Roman

1.

the spending limit. If the spending limit is $15,

Designers Cheston Sin, Yash Kanabar, Kitty Liu, and Chloe Somjee

Parsa Jebely Business Manager

business@thevarsity.ca

2.

The Varsity is the University of Toronto's largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. The Varsity has a circulation of 20,000, and is published by Varsity Publications Inc. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock.

Content © 2015 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions.

Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@ thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789

gifts are quirky and humourous ones.

6.

either. You’ll look like you’re trying to flaunt your

use at one place.

7.

Don’t tell anyone who your match is. The word

look like a cheapskate.

‘secret’ is in the name for a reason. If you have a

Make sure the gift-giving date is on a day that

burning and irrepressible desire to do so, tell a

everyone is available. It’s sad to be away when you

select few people and only with the purpose of

If you’re worried about getting someone you don’t know too well, try and gather intelligence beforehand. Be cunning. Be subtle. Be Batman.

4.

Avoid gift cards, unless you know that they want one. Gift cards are literally cash that you can only

finding out who has you…

know there’s something fun going on without you.

3.

Don’t be afraid to get creative. Some of the best

don’t buy a paperclip, but don’t buy a Rolex wealth and put everyone else to shame, or you’ll

Cherlene Tay Business Associate Emmett Choi and Michelle Monteiro Advertising Executives

5.

thing significantly over or significantly under

Copy Editors Isabela Borges, Joannie Fu, Ujwal Ganguly, Darya Kuznetsova, Hilary Lo, Ainsley MacDougall, Corinne Przybyslnski, Sophia Savva, Gabriel Wee, and Cassandra Yanez-Leyton

BUSINESS OFFICE

Set the rules and follow them. Don’t buy any-

Creep your match’s social media profiles. You’d be surprised by what their LinkedIn says about them.

8.

Overall, don’t forget to have fun!

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UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION

Students report improvement in mental health services New integrated system well-received, long waitlists remain an issue AIDAN SLIND

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Mental health services at the University of Toronto have long been the cause of widespread student dissatisfaction. At the beginning of the fall semester, Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) merged with Health & Wellness in an attempt to improve the quality of mental healthcare on campus.

A POSITIVE RECEPTION Health & Wellness executive director Janine Robb believes that the organization is well on its way to accomplishing its goals of an improved experience for students. “What has happened is we are having staff which were previously fairly separated by the floors who are now communicating to each other face to face, through the electronic medical records, and also through clinical conferences that occur weekly,” Robb said.

Maria*, a third-year undergraduate student who previously faced difficulties with the CAPS system, was tempted to agree. “I’m much more satisfied with the service that I am receiving compared to the first time I tried accessing CAPS. The kind of care I am receiving now is the kind of care I wish my first-year self had, but I am glad I am receiving it now, rather than before when I had nothing.”

Javier,* a third-year student, had a similarly positive experience. “[A]s a service to renew and issue prescriptions and give cursory psych evaluations, it’s really quite good,” he said.

A large part of the new, integrated system has been the inclusion of other medical professionals in the treatment process. Maria recalled, “First, I was signed on for a 30 minute consultation with a nurse, then I took a se-

ries of questionnaires, saw a registered physician, and then immediately afterwards, I was signed on for an anti-depressant, a series of therapy workshops and counselling with the team located on the first floor.”

Robb underscored the importance of this new assessment process: “Everyone who presents [themselves] goes on to the nursing staff, who then determine whether we have the resources to refer them: either to mental health or to primary care. Typically we’ll refer them to a [general practitioner].”

“It’s important that everyone have a GP because we want to make sure their physical health is not contributing to mental health difficulties. Not only the interventions we offer as a continuum, but the resources and use of our staff are along the continuum as well.”

DOES THE NEW SYSTEM HELP WITH WAIT TIMES? A common complaint about the former CAPS system was long waitlists. “I tried using CAPS back in my first year, but ultimately, the time between my initial consultation and the follow up took so long that I wasn’t able to receive the care that I needed,” said Maria.

“I applied in March and only got my assessment in May,” recalled Anton*, another student who has experienced both the old system and the integrated model. “After I returned from the summer in September, I was told I had to wait two more months before a slot would be available.” He expressed doubts that the waiting time has improved under the new Health & Wellness system.

Robb believes that the issue of waiting times has improved. “I honestly think we have managed to reduce wait times because

Students have reported positive experiences following the merger of CAPS and Health & Wellness. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

everyone gets seen,” she said. She also noted that urgency is taken into account when determining how a patient will be treated.

Javier, who only recently sought out treatment for his mental health issues, seemed to agree. “I had my request for an immediate appointment accommodated and was very impressed by that.” He also spoke highly of the online application system.

Maria’s account of the new process was also positive. “It took a month between first going to Health & Wellness and actually getting an appointment, but afterwards, receiving care has been quick and streamlined.”

ALTERNATIVES U of T’s Health & Wellness program offers a wide range of services for students outside of

mental health issues including general medicine, immunizations, flu clinics, allergy care, and even support for smokers trying to quit.

One alternative for students with mental health problems is the OISE Psychology Clinic. Students completing their practicum for their masters of psychology staff the clinic under supervision by registered psychologists.

The initiative provides both assessments and psychotherapy. Availability and wait times vary there as well, but the clinic offers its services free of charge for U of T students, though it receives no funding from the university to do so. *Names changes at students’ request.

ENVIRONMENT

U of T delegates head to Paris for COP21 Students hope to gain better understanding of climate change RACHEL CHEN

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Five student delegates have been selected to represent the University of Toronto at the Paris Conference of Parties 21 (COP21), which runs from November 30 to December 11. The delegates, Alice (Xia) Zhu, Alissa Saieva, Christelle Broux, Sophie Guilbault, and Larissa Parker will focus on different subtopics surrounding climate change including renewable energy, emission reduction targets, and the sciencepolicy gap.

Implemented in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, the annual COP objective is to review the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After hearing about previous COPs, Zhu, a third-year environmental chemistry specialist and the University of Toronto Students’ Union’s sustainability commissioner, approached the undergraduate student advisor for the School of the Environment, David Powell, about sending a delegation.

“For me, the main reason I wanted to form a delegation from University of Toronto is because I want students to understand and be informed about climate change,” Zhu said. “COP21 is a major negotiation for the world, but most students have not heard of it before,” she said.

Five U of T students are off to Paris for the COP21 climate conference. VIA CLIMATE IMPACT NETWORK / YOUTUBE

Powell himself will not attend the conference, but political science professor Matthew Hoffman and professor Stephen Scharper, of the Department of Anthropology and the School of the Environment, will be available to students for advice and support.

“I am confident that attending COP21 will be a great learning experience for the student delegates with respect to understanding the complexity and nature of international environmental agreements,” Powell said. “These agreements take a long time to be implemented, to evolve, and to achieve meaningful

change, which is frustrating for everyone who is concerned about climate change, particularly young people, so coming to terms with that is an important experience,” said Powell.

COP21 could be crucial in negotiating a successive agreement for the Kyoto Protocol, which set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in 1992 for the years 2008-2012. A UNFCCC study shows a good plan could prevent a global warming above 2°C by 2100, as opposed to a 3°C — or the worst-case scenario 6°C — rise.

Over 60 energy and environment ministers around the world went to the pre-

COP, which the COP21 website cited as one of the largest and most productive in UNFCCC history.

“I am interested to see what the new [Canadian] Government will commit to and its proposed implementation strategies,” said Saieva, a second-year law student. “However, I understand the complexities of international environmental agreements and that Canada has not had an ‘impressive’ environmental track record to date. As such, I am cautiously optimistic about the experience.”

“For myself personally, I am thankful for this opportunity and hope to gain a better understanding of the complexity of UN negotiations,” said Broux, who is completing a B.Sc. in environmental science and geography. “My experience will be valuable I’m sure, and I hope to share as much information as I can with the student community, both during and after conference.”

The delegates have organized campus events leading up to COP21 and will manage a blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account throughout their time at the conference.

“By going to Paris, I hope to be a key liaison between students at U of T and the events that are happening in Paris,” said Zhu. You can follow their blog at http://www.utcop21.org/.

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STUDENT LIFE

Student groups condemn Islamophobia Rise in Islamophobic acts prompt statements of solidarity

CORALS ZHENG/THE VARSITY

DEVIKA DESAI

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

In the aftermath of the recent Paris terrorism attacks, Toronto has seen an influx of Islamophobic activity. Osama Omar, a University of Toronto student, wrote a Facebook post on November 17, claiming that a stranger insulted him and spat on him at the intersection of College and Spadina. Omar believes the assault was an act of Islamophobia.

According to a CBC News interview with Omar, he stated that the attack occurred while he was waiting for a streetcar at the intersection. “[While] waiting for the streetcar home, a man approached me and straight up SPAT on me. He proceeded to verbally abuse me with swear words and attempted to swing at me, twice. I was quite caught off guard with such an unexpected incident, I didn’t know what to do. There was no one around except for a couple of people at the other end of the platform.

I decided to walk away. The whole time, the man swore under his breath and stared me down,” Omar wrote on Facebook.

Abdullah Shihipar, president of the Arts & Science Students’ Union (ASSU), told The Varsity that Islamophobia has always been prevalent on campus, and that while it may ‘spike’ after such events, it doesn’t “necessarily go down.”

Shihipar referenced the public Facebook page, UofT Confessions, as a site where Islamophobia manifests. “At one point,

every week, there was a post on Muslims, Muslim women, ‘why do Muslim women wear hijabs’ and stuff like that… those are U of T students and their opinions,” Shihipar said.

When Shihipar heard about what happened to Omar, his reaction was mixed.

“Surprise in a sense that you’re always surprised when an incident like that happens on campus, a university campus… but at the same time, not surprising because we’ve been hearing about this string of Islamophobic attacks, in the city,” he explained. “I think we have to get over the surprise aspect, because we have to realize that this type of racism, Islamophobia does manifest itself in a city that we think is inclusive, and in a campus that we think is inclusive,” Shihipar said.

Other groups have echoed Shihipar’s sentiments, many choosing to release public statements condemning the incident. “[It seems like everyday, there is yet another story of a racist hate crime. This time it hits home even further, with an attack on our campus, on a fellow student,” read a portion of the ASSU’s statement.

“For a student to be made a target of a hate crime like this is unacceptable,” said the U of T Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) in an online statement. “Islamophobia and racism are real and when it hits this close to home on campus, it is cause

for concern.” Since then, the MSA has promoted a series of events and resources, such as a workshop focusing on selfdefence for Muslim women.

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) published a statement, in which they expressed disgust at the attack and other Islamophobic incidents, and offered support for Muslim students. “To all Muslim-identifying students on campus: you have nothing to be apologetic for. Instead, you have every right to prioritize your mental, emotional and physical health above everything else,” read part of the UTSU’s statement.

U of T president Meric Gertler also released a statement, stating that discrimination is “intolerable” and against the principles of the university. “Such actions are reprehensible and antithetical to the fundamental values of our academic community. Instead, our institution reaffirms its commitment to be a safe and welcoming place for the widest breadth of communities — and their perspectives, ideas, and debates.”

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ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS

Bruce Kidd installed as vice-president, principal of UTSC Kidd talks athletics, public transit, campus growth

Bruce Kidd is the tenth vice-president and principal of UTSC. TOM YUN/THE VARSITY

TOM YUN

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

A large crowd gathered at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at UTSC to witness the installation of professor Bruce Kidd as the tenth vice-president and principal. Kidd was formally appointed to the position on November 20.

“You know, I’m the chief executive and chief academic officer of the University of Toronto Scarborough [Campus],” said Kidd regarding his new role at UTSC. “And in that role, I’m the overall — I’m the ultimate decider in decision making.”

Prior to his installation, Kidd was serving as the interim vice-president and principal, a role that he held since 2014. He was also previously the warden of Hart House and the founding dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. Kidd attended U of T as an undergraduate and later completed a Master of Arts and PhD in History at York University.

“I’m very much a product of U of T and so the sense that I am an effective leader, it’s because I was schooled in the service of U of T in leadership,” Kidd said.

ATHLETICS AT UTSC Prior to entering academia, Kidd was an accomplished athlete. As an undergraduate student, Kidd competed in track and field both nationally and internationally. In the 1962 Commonwealth Games, he won gold for the six-mile race and bronze for the three-mile race. He also competed in the 1964 Olympic Games. Four years later, he was inducted into the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He is also an honorary member of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “[Being] at the university where I studied as an undergraduate during which time I represented Canada, raced all over the world with Toronto and that experience taught me a lot about representation,” said Kidd.

After retiring from competitive track and field, sports continued to play a profound role

in Kidd’s life. Before becoming dean of the faculty, Kidd was a professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and has written extensively about sports policy.

His office shelves are lined with books on sports policy and the politics of sports. The Olympic Torch that he carried in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is mounted on his desk.

“All of that goes into the leadership that I [bring],” explained Kidd. “It wasn’t just one thing. It was these experiences” As interim vice-president and principal, Kidd oversaw the construction of the Toronto Pan Am Centre, with the aim of expanding the role of sport and physical activity in the university experience.

“I see sport and physical activity as complimenting an outstanding, demanding higher education,” Kidd emphasized. “There are all kinds of co-learnings. I see physical activity providing a lifetime of habits and knowledge about productive living.”

Kidd even expressed support for mandatory physical education at the post-secondary level. “You know, if I had the control, I would make compulsory physical education [or] physical activity part of every undergraduate’s education — maybe every graduate student’s education,” he said.

“I think daily physical activity should be something that every student member, faculty, and staff ought to be engaged in, whether its on campus, with family, or somewhere else. I’ve come to that conclusion from my own experience, but also being involved in the policy field of sporting a physical activity all my adult life.”

A GROWING CAMPUS UTSC has grown considerably over the past several years. Kidd told The Varsity that he was concerned over what he saw as a “space deficit” on campus.

“I guess our biggest challenge is the lack of adequate space for faculty, for teaching, for research, for students, from study space to club and activity space, for some of our departments to be located in the same space

Kidd is a former Olympian and keeps the Olympic torch he carried in 2010 in his office. TOM YUN/THE VARSITY

so they can enjoy the synergies of being together,” Kidd explained.

Walking along the campus, one can spot several portable classrooms only a few metres away from the building that houses Kidd’s office. To combat the lack of space, the Scarborough Campus has seen several major developments in recent years.

In 2011, the Instructional Centre was the first building that opened north of Ellesmere Ave. in an area now called “north campus.”

There have been more developments on the north campus: the Toronto Pan Am Centre — where Kidd’s installation ceremony occurred — opened last year, in time for the Pan Am and Parapan Am games. This year saw the opening of the Environmental Science & Chemistry Building.

These developments are all a part of the UTSC’s Master Plan, which also includes further expansion plans northwards onto the City of Toronto-owned lands, improving access to public transportation, and building a central campus core. Kidd reiterated his support for the continued development of the campus but said that he would like to see it done faster. “[We’re] working away,” he said, “but it’s slower than we’d like.”

Kidd also emphasized his support for public transportation improvements on campus.

According to a 2013 survey, an estimated 68 per cent of students at UTSC rely on public transit to get to school.

“The lack of public transit… is huge. It’s terrible,” said Kidd.

Kidd explained that he spends “a good deal” of his time lobbying decision makers with other groups and advocating for better transit in Scarborough and the eastern GTA. “We’re just lobbying for a solution, because our students, Centennial students, patients at local hospitals, companies that want to invest, companies that employ lots of people here, and the citizens all suffer from a lack of good public transit.”

Overall, Kidd asserted that he wants UTSC to “continue to be a vibrant, community engaged, research-intensive, energetic university. Simultaneously, with outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, with a big focus on experiential learning, being at the head of the curve as it always has in the way it draws upon new technology to enhance education.”

Kidd sees the Scarborough campus becoming a hub in the east end of the city and said he wants to “enhance the well-being and vitality of this part of the city region.”

“So it’s in terms of education, in terms of research, in terms of environmental awareness and teaching, in terms of athletics, in terms of culture, this is an anchor institution,” said Kidd.

“I’m very proud of what we do and I think that there are such outstanding features of UTSC that every student considering university ought to consider this university.”

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STUDENT LIFE

Three U of T students win prestigious Rhodes Scholarship Jessica Phillips, Kaleem Hawa, James Flynn to study at Oxford next fall EMMA COMPEAU VARSITY STAFF

Three University of Toronto students have claimed Rhodes Scholarships and will be continuing their post-graduate education at Oxford University next year.

Jessica Phillips, Kaleem Hawa, and James Flynn are all active members of U of T’s academic community. Phillips is the president of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Club and she has completed field research in evolutionary biology at the Salmon Coast Field station in British Columbia.

Flynn is the managing online editor and former news editor of The Varsity, and founder of CodeNL, an initiative that offers free coding classes to students in Newfoundland.

Hawa is a member of the Hart House Debates Committee, director of the G8 Research Group, and co-president of the International Relations Society. Flynn and Hawa and are both alumni of SHAD, a summer program that they attended as high school students, which they say helped prepare them for success at university.

The Varsity spoke with Phillips, Hawa, and Flynn to capture to the scholarships, their defining moments at U of T, and their plans for the future.

The Varsity (TV): “What is your major?”

Kaleem Hawa (KH): “I am in my fourth year at Trinity College studying towards a BSc in International Relations and Global Health.”

James Flynn ( JF): “Double major in Economics and Political Science.”

Jessica Phillips (JP): “I am working towards a Specialist in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, a Major in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, and a Minor in Psychology.”

TV: “What is the most rewarding experience that you have had at U of T?” KH: “Serving as Chair of Trinity’s lively student government has been the great honour of my time at the University of Toronto. And one that I never wish to repeat again.”

JF: “Working for The Varsity, first as an associate news editor and news editor, and now as managing online editor. At The Varsity, I have had the opportunity to work with an incredibly talented team of student journalists. They are some of my best friends, and I continue to learn from them each and every day.”

JP: “Though it’s very hard to decide on one most rewarding experience, I would probably have to say that it was spending two months living and working at Salmon Coast Field Station while doing an independent project under the supervision of Professor Martin Krkosek after my second year. Prior to this I knew that I liked the idea of doing field work but was unsure of how I would handle the reality of working in the field. This experience made me realize my passion for field work, and marked a turning point in my time at U of T after which I became much more involved in the University’s research activities.”

TV: “What program will you be taking at Oxford?”

KH: “I hope to study an MSc in Integrated Immunology and an MSc in Global Governance & Diplomacy. I’ve long been fascinated with the changing face of national security and foreign policy — and the emergent risks that are now preoccupying policymakers in these spaces. In my case, I’ve focused on two substituent areas: pandemic threats (like SARS, Ebola, MERS, and influenza) and climate change, which will present significant challenges to the well-being of Canada’s indigenous populations and to global food security.”

JF: “I plan to pursue a Master of Science in Social Science of the Internet, followed by a Master of Public Policy, beginning in October 2016.”

JP: “I hope to do a DPhil in Zoology at Oxford University.”

TV: “How much of your success do you owe to your time at the U of T?” KH: “Most of it! U of T and Trinity have taught me to balance multiple competing priorities: the ever-piling mounds of schoolwork, the importance of staying close with your friends, extracurricular commitments in debate and global health, and keeping in touch with family. Attending this school here has

President of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Club, Jessica Phillips. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

Co-president of the I.R. Society, Kaleem Hawa. PHOTO COURTESY OF KALEEM HAWA

Managing Online Editor of The Varsity and founder of CodeNL, James Flynn. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES FLYNN

been a phenomenal learning process that has no doubt shaped me for the better!”

JF: “At the University of Toronto, I have had the opportunity to study under truly outstanding professors, like Dr. Kanta Murali and Dr. Lynette Ong. Both have expanded my interests, helped me approach problems from new angles, and helped me develop academically. I owe a great deal to their advice and guidance.”

JP: “I would definitely not be here today if it was [sic] not for the amazing opportunities U of T has which allow undergrads to participate in research and many other extracurricular activities.”

TV: “Who is your mentor or role model?”

KH: “I’ve benefitted to a large extent from the mentorship of many people throughout my U of T career: I owe a great debt to Professors Joy Fitzgibbon, John Kirton, Arun Ravindran, Helen Dimaras, Arne Kislenko, Mairi MacDonald, and Robert Bothwell. I’ve also received phenomenal support from Provost Mayo Moran at Trinity College, Andrea Levinson and Janine Robb at Health & Wellness, Danielle Thibodeau and Jennifer Newcombe at Hart House, and the staff at the Loran Scholarship Program. Overall however, at the risk of being unimaginative, my role models will always

be my parents, whose struggles in immigrating to this country and making a life for themselves will forever overshadow my own paltry trials.”

JF: “My mother. She has worked so hard to give me opportunities to succeed, and she has supported me in every single one of my endeavours. She is always the first one I go to for advice; I owe so much to her.”

JP: “I find Emma Watson’s work very inspiring.”

TV: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

KH: “After working for a few years for an international organization like the World Bank or WHO, I hope to be serving as a policy advisor or political staff at Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs or at Environment and Climate Change Canada.”

JF: “Learning, whether in a formal, academic environment or an informal one. Education is such a valuable experience — no matter one’s age.”

JP: “I see myself researching Antarctica’s biodiversity and being involved in efforts to protect the continent and the species that inhabit it.”

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MENTAL HEALTH

UCLit releases mental wellness handbook Booklet designed to connect students to resources, share experiences SAMINA SULTANA VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

The University College Literary & Athletic Society (UCLit) has published a mental wellness handbook in an effort to combat the stigma of mental illness. The handbook was developed by the UCLit’s Mental Wellness Initiative Committee.

Matt Thomas, university & academic affairs commissioner of the UCLit, suggested the creation of a handbook when the Mental Wellness Initiative Committee first met over the summer. The committee formed task groups dedicated to the content and layout of the booklet and to conduct research of available campus resources. The committee also put out a call for submissions from students.

“We want to encourage students to talk about their experiences and share their stories so that other students might take comfort in knowing that others dealt with similar experiences, while also learning about where to go for help,” UCLit president Amanda Stojcevski told The Varsity. “We want to provide an outlet for students to express their feelings. We’d like to eventually involve more students in the Mental Wellness Initiative at UC, especially in the possible creation of a second booklet, so it can really be a product of the community it serves,” she said.

Copies of the handbook were distributed at one of the UCLit’s monthly coffee houses as well as at the society’s most recent pancakes and hot chocolate event. The UC Lit will continue to distribute copies around University College and at future events.

“So far, the response has been all positive,” said Stojcevski. “We brought it to the University College Council meeting the other day and students, faculty, and staff all reacted very positively.”

The first page of the handbook includes anonymous personal responses from students who discuss causes of personal stress.

Examples include a heavy academic workload and a lack of control. “[The] resources are available, and the safe spaces exist, but one of the biggest issues on campus is that the student population doesn’t know about them,” wrote Thomas in the handbook’s introduction.

The handbook contains suggestions for how students can cope with stress. These include sleeping, reading, and gaming, as well as asking for help and talking to others.

In addition to three student-submitted pieces, there is a map of the campus that highlights mental wellness resources. There is a description of each service and its contact information and hours of operation.

The final page lists contact information for residence and student life staff at University College who are available to assist students in need of help.

Stojcevski told The Varsity that there is a possibility for future issues of the handbook and that the UCLit is looking for feedback.

“In future issues, I’d like to see more students involved in the creation of the booklet, as well as more submissions from students,” Stojcevski remarked. “Having more students involved would be a very positive thing, and we’d like to see our initiative slowly grow.”

“If more students are knowledgeable and aware of the problems that exist and the resources to go to for help, we can all work together to help support each other. By starting the conversation about mental health, we can slowly start to reduce the stigma surrounding poor mental health and mental illness, and hopefully students will feel comfortable talking about these things with people they trust.”

The UCLit published a mental wellness handbook combining student experience and campus resources. MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY

8 NEWS

T H E VA R S I T Y

M O N DAY 3 0 N O V E M B E R 2 015 news@thevarsity.ca

ACADEMICS

Ontario universities struggle to identify under-represented groups Educational institutions struggle with recruitment, outreach, report finds EMILY JOHNPULLE

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

A new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) examined data to see how Ontario’s 20 universities are defining and identifying under-represented groups. The data was taken from university websites, viewbooks, Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs), and the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre instruction booklet. The report also analyses the programs that the universities currently have in place to improve access, as well as how the institutions evaluate their efforts.

There is variation in the under-represented groups referenced in outreach materials.

For example, according to the HEQCO, “all 20 universities mentioned first-generation students in their SMAs, but only three did so in their viewbooks,” with the exception of Aboriginal students, who were featured prominently in viewbooks.

Ruth A. Childs, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), revealed that the University of Toronto does not explicitly mention anything about firstgeneration students, or students with disabilities, and the services available to them in its 2014 and 2015 viewbooks.

Althea Blackburn-Evans, director of news & media relations at U of T, said that the content of the viewbooks looks to cover information on admissions and general information about the university. “We know that prospective students are most interested in program and admission info, so that is what’s highlighted – and that content is common to all students regardless of background.”

CHANTEL TENG/THE VARSITY

The report also indicated that, while each university in Ontario has outreach and recruitment, access through admissions, and retention initiatives in place to improve access to post-secondary education for under-represented groups, they face challenges in evaluating the effectiveness and reach of these initiatives, particularly in Aboriginal communities.

Although U of T has a dedicated recruitment officer for Aboriginal students, Jonathan Hamilton-Diablo, director of First Nations House, said that it is difficult to measure the success of outreach and recruitment methods in First Nations communities because recruitment officers often work with younger students.

“We go to elementary schools and the reason for that is that when we go to high schools in First Nation communities, the issue that is unfortunately a reality is that there are a lot of students who have dropped out of high school already, so if we’re only talking to grade 11s, we’re not talking to the whole potential,” said Hamilton-Diablo.

Ontario universities also have trouble ensuring they are actually reaching under-represented students, since many students may not identify with a particular group.

“There are lots of reasons why students choose not to self-identify with a particular group or situation. Fortunately, at U of T, we have a number of contact points so students

can choose which services will best meet their needs,” said Blackburn-Evans.

“My hope for U of T (and for all of the universities) is that they will support the full range of access initiatives — outreach to younger students in middle and secondary school, recruitment of students as they finish secondary school and later, flexibility in the admissions process, and supports once students arrive on campus – and that they would ensure they are reaching students who are not already on a path to post-secondary education,” said Childs.

COMMENT var.st/comment

30 November 2015

comment@thevarsity.ca

In search of the Renaissance student Blurring the lines between educational camps in academia

Photo of a stereotypical well-balanced student . BENJAMIN LAPPALAINEN/THE VARSITY

TEODORA PASCA

ASSOCIATE COMMENT EDITOR

Some of the most famous historical intellectuals are praised not only for their creativity but the diversity of their talents. Leonardo da Vinci was not only one of the most important painters of his time, but also an author, inventor, and mathematician.

In his spare time, when he wasn't developing the modern principles of physics, Isaac Newton was also a famed philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician.

In contrast, the academic environment at modern North American universities veers away from ‘Renaissance scholarship’ towards models of educational specialization.

Considering the current employment market, there may be practical limitations on applying the broad educational approaches of the Renaissance. However, extremely specialized education comes with its own disadvantages. By creating strict boundaries between area of interest, students are divided into

educational camps. Such division limit empthy and discussion between disciplines.

It is against this backdrop that one division between the arts (social sciences, humanities, and fine arts) and the sciences (mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences, and engineering) is particularly prominent. When students are confronted with a perspective that stems from outside their own educational backgrounds, confusion ensues.

For example, as a criminology and ethics, society, and law student, I benefit from an education in the social sciences. My classes involve discussion of current events, debates on controversial issues, and dialogues on equity.

Yet, when a professor brings statistical data into the conversation, the level of anxiety in the room spikes.

Anything involving numbers can induce horrifying flashbacks; among us, it has become acceptable to be terrible at math.

Furthermore, I know students in the sciences and engineering who re-

coil in the face of sociopolitical issues.

From the perspective of students who do not regularly discuss them, ethical debates are put aside in favour of the more concrete answers. This occurs, despite the significant implications of these debates: the Syrian refugee crisis and the marginalization of Aboriginal communities, for instance, are not issues that mathematical logic or scientific observation can solve, but this certainly does not mean students should not discuss them.

Instead of sticking to what they already know, students should strive to understand other fields, and learn from different disciplines. Only in this way can we become well-rounded.

The skills taught by other disciplines also have practical applications that cross academic boundaries. Statistical literacy and the scientific method are necessary for students undergoing research in the social sciences. Simultaneously, ethical protocols guide all trajectories in scientific research, ensuring that the rights of people and animals are protected.

Clearly, elements of specialization are necessary for universities to prepare their students for careers in particular fields. In recognition of the importance of general education, efforts have been made within academic circles to strive towards well-roundedness, arguably reflecting the Renaissance ideal.

The university offers interdisciplinary programs of study at the undergraduate and graduate level.

It is also a graduation requirement that students fulfill breadth requirements by taking courses from different fields. The efficacy of the latter method in promoting general education is debatable — particularly since many students do not exactly go to great lengths to excel in breadth courses — yet, it at least opens doors for students who would not otherwise consider enrolling in classes outside of their programs of study.

Given persistent specialization within faculties and departments, the university should also continue to encourage collaborative

scholarship across different disciplines. For example, the Hatchery at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering uses technology to solve social problems, while the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs focuses on the intersection of information technology, human rights, and security.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that the significance of education traverses beyond the narrow frameworks within which we are currently pursuing our studies. As students, we should therefore make efforts to step out of our academic comfort zones.

Perhaps this generation’s Da Vinci has yet to pick up a paintbrush.

Here, it is important to note that UTSU’s request is not discouraging non-black participation or presence at XAO, but merely acknowledging systematic power imbalances that permeate our campus. When marginalized groups talk about their experiences, too often they are immediately questioned, belittled, and denied legitimacy by those who are privileged enough to not have had the same experiences. Such discussion trends are so prominent that society has given them names like “whitesplaining” or “mansplaining.”

Consequently, asking people in positions of privilege to default to actively listen and reflect is simply encouraging allies to be cognizant of their place in the conversation, and to be careful not to speak on behalf of or silence those who are actually directly affected by the issues at hand. This can hardly be called discriminatory or censorship

— the UTSU didn’t close the door on allies, just reminded them to be aware of the space they take up.

There is value in giving minority students a safe space to speak.

Conversations flow easier: you know you are in the company of people who have experienced similar things, or support you nonetheless. That itself lightens the burden of having to bite your tongue and silence yourself; it ensures that no student will feel ignored and no experience dismissed. I stand with UTSU’s efforts to promote safe spaces for students on campus, and extend my thanks to the organizers for making these events happen.

Teodora Pasca is a second-year student at Innis College studying criminology and ethics, society & law. She is The Varsity’s Associate Comment Editor.

Her column appears every three weeks.

Why we need safe spaces Active listening and reflection is encouraging support, not censorship MILEN MELLES

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

As a black female student, I bear witness to transgressions against my communities every day, from anti-black police brutality to the pandemic of sexual violence on university campuses. Constantly dealing with the weight of these issues — not to mention subtle micro-aggressions from unaware peers and faculty — has profound detrimental effects for marginalized group’s mental and physical health. See, for example, The Atlantic article titled “How Racism is bad for our Bodies.” The article collected various studies to illustrate

how discrimination “has been shown to increase the risk of stress, depression, the common cold, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and mortality.” In fact, even the mere anticipation of racism has been shown to increase stress levels.

It is in this context that the University of Toronto Students Union (UTSU) Equity Committee held their annual event series titled “eXpression against Oppression” (XAO). This event series created much needed safe spaces for minority students on campus to engage and learn from one another’s experiences of oppression and resistance. By carving out areas to explicitly recognize and deconstruct otherwise systematically ignored issues, the XAO series was an excellent step towards fostering much-needed support and sense of community for marginalized people on campus.

Unfortunately, the UTSU and XAO has faced criticism for being exclusive and discriminatory. In light of the issue at stake, these criticisms are far from warranted; instead, they actually solidify why XAO and other related equity events are necessary in the first place.

One recurring criticism is that the UTSU should not be supporting events that “actively segregate” the very students it is meant to represent.

This came in response to one of the XAO event’s Facebook description that called for “non-black allies...to contribute to the space by way of active listening and internalized reflection.” Apparently, by “excluding the white individuals who came to that event in support of the collective,” this request was “inherently racist.”

Another Reddit user claimed that “those kinds of rules imposing some sort of speaking authority based on race is reminiscent of a fascistic way to carry out a meeting.”

Milen Melles is a first-year student at Victoria College studying humanities.

10 COMMENT

T H E VA R S I T Y

M O N DAY 3 0 N O V E M B E R 2 015 comment@thevarsity.ca

Protests and pipe dreams

Wherefore art thou, romance?

Widespread ideals of love are both misguided and unhealthy

KIMIA GHANNAD-ZADEH/THE VARSITY

Celebration over rejection of Keystone XL is misguided MATTHEW PICK

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Earlier this month, environmental activists cheered Obama’s decision to reject the hotly debated Keystone XL pipeline project. U of T’s 350 branch, for example, called the move a “historic victory” that “is a reflection of the courage of thousands of people who stood up to fight this project.” They even set up a system by which people could send President Obama a “thank you” card.

This victory in the name of environmental concerns, however, is suspect at best.

The total US demand for oil is unlikely to change, meaning that one of two alternative, less carbon efficient schemes will likely occur. In the first scenario, the US will reduce oil imports from Canada, and turn to Venezuela — this would, in effect, actually increase carbon emissions from refineries in the US. The additional pipeline capacity provided by Keystone XL is unlikely to displace the lowest-cost conventional crude, but may have an impact on the last marginal barrel, which in the US comes from Venezuela. The comparison between carbon emissions from conventional crude and heavy crude are moot.

Alternatively, production from new oil sands projects in Canada will simply be ferried to markets in the US by rail. According to analysis undertaken by the University of Calgary School of Public Policy regarding the Northern Gateway Project, transportation for oil shipped by rail produces carbon emissions three times higher than those shipped via pipeline. This is not to mention that, as the National Post has noted, “rail transportation is widely regarded as more dangerous than pipelines…[and] are not as regulated as pipelines.” In either case, the carbon intensity of US oil demand will not fall, and may very well increase — not a particularly laudable outcome for environmentalists.

Granted, the controversy surrounding Keystone XL’s approval is also fundamentally related to land rights. Topics that are at the forefront of this debate include to what extenet one has the right to determine what infrastructure is built, both on their property and others’, as well as how to balance potential repercussions to individuals against

society’s greater interests. Indeed, many news organizations were cloyed by images of farmers desperately attempting to protect their land from the nefarious toxic pipeline.

However, this is not a common experience among landowners on the Keystone XL route: many simply agreed to have the pipeline on their land and accepted payment from TransCanada.

In fact, 91 per cent of landowners along the pipeline site in Nebraska have signed voluntary agreements in favour of the project. While people may point to the 9 per cent that have not agreed, it must be noted that if a society were to require that 100 per cent of landowners affected by a proposed infrastructure project agree to its construction, it is unlikely that any project would ever be completed.

The same principle could be applied to Aboriginal land claims. Like any other identifiable group of people, indigenous people have a diverse set of opinions and as a result, the requirement of social license from Aboriginal groups should not require unanimity. I doubt that similar land claims protesting a transmission line providing green energy to the masses would elicit the same public support.

Furthermore, there has been broad societal buy-in for other similar projects in the United States — pipelines totalling multiple times the magnitude of the Keystone project have been built since 2010 with little protest. It is thus puzzling, at best, why activists have created such a fuss over Keystone.

Assuredly, some activists on our campus would like to see the end to projects outside their backyard, such as Energy East and Northern Gateway, in order to choke off the Alberta Oil sands. However, this loses track of the real issues at hand. Especially with the COP21 conference looming, it is important we concentrate on tangible, practical solutions, such as carbon pricing.

If we want to make the world better, we need to base decisions on facts and not mere symbols.

Matthew Pick is a fourth-year student at Innis College studying economics, mathematics and history.

AMBER NGUYEN/THE VARSITY

MANUEL AUGUSTO VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

When our thoughts turn to the topic of love, many of us immediately recall William Shakespeare’s famous romance, Romeo and Juliet. As the lines penned for Romeo declare, “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vexed a sea nourish'd with loving tears: What is it else? a madness most discreet, A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.”

However, Romeo did not actually understand the difference between love and infatuation. In fact, Romeo was so desperate to be in love, he often fell victim to debilitating heartache upon the realization that it just wouldn’t work out in his favour. This confusion between love and infatuation, as well as his obsession with falling in love, ultimately led to his tragic demise.

Although Romeo’s predicament is an extreme case of being attached to the idea of romantic love, five centuries later, Shakespeare’s words are still relevant. Despite the fact that it is a work of fiction, what is shocking is how many people today still confuse Romeo and Juliet for a star-crossed romance, rather than a tragedy.

Oftentimes we confuse addictive or unhealthy behavior with romance, because we have been taught to overvalue romance to the point where we ourselves can become exemplifications of Romeo’s worst attributes: obsessive, attached, and needy.

The tendency to overvalue romantic relationships begins early on in our lives. Fairy tales, for instance, play an integral role in our development. They are often the first form of media that we are subjected to as children, when our conceptions of what relationships mean are still being formed. Most fairy tales are centered on some romantic story line, in which a dainty damsel in distress needs to be saved by her prince in order to live a fulfilling, “happilyever-after” life Although some forms of modern media embrace romance as a means of expression, most outlets over emphasize its significance in

our lives. Somehow, romantic narratives are crammed into almost every novel, film, and television show — even if they are completely unrelated to the genre or the overall plot. As a result, these narratives make their way into our psyche by becoming the main concern within our platonic relationships. Consider the number of times a prying relative has interrogated you about your love life. There is definitely a correlation between the messages we see in the media and the interactions we have in our own networks. Furthermore, it is these messages that influence our mind-sets, particularly throughout our teenage years, when we are developing a sense of self-worth.

It is unhealthy to let these romantic misconceptions get in the way of how we feel about ourselves. When we feel unworthy because we aren’t in relationships, then it’s time to reevaluate our mind-sets. Why are we craving something that we don’t have instead of appreciating what we do have?

In Buddhism, it is taught that craving and obsession are the ultimate causes of suffering.

If we are not mindful, and attach ourselves to people and things, we are more likely to feel unsatisfied in our lives. Thus, allowing these notions of romantic love to control your selfesteem and self-concept will not only lead to depressive feelings, but also increases the likelihood of developing other mental illnesses, such as anxiety and eating disorders.

Especially in university, it may feel natural that a relationship is necessary to be worthy, happy, and complete. Yet, with a focus on the self and release of false societal standards, it will be easier genuinely embark on the personal growth that post-secondary education and youth has to offer.

Manuel Augusto is a second-year student at Woodsworth College studying sociology, Buddhist psychology and mental health.

var.st/editorial

EDITORIAL 30 November 2015

editorial@thevarsity.ca

Minding what matters: Part II THE VARSITY EDITORIAL BOARD VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

I

2013, The Toronto Star published the results of a study conducted by the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services measuring the mental health of more than 30,000 students at 34 colleges and universities across the country. Eighty-nine per cent of the participants felt “overwhelmed by all they had to do” and 86.9 per cent reported feeling “overwhelming anxiety.” Terrifyingly, nearly 10 per cent of those surveyed had “seriously considered suicide”. Over the past several years, society’s understanding of mental health has dramatically expanded to incorporate a wide range of innovative approaches to treatment and prevention. Much of this work has been developed on university campuses. In an effort to measure this progress, as well as analyze where we as a post-secondary educational community can still do more, The Varsity’s Editorial Board has elected to publish a three-part series on mental health on campus. This is its second installment.

JULIEN BALBONTIN/THE VARSITY

N

THE INSTITUTION It is something of a truism that universities are a major source of stress, and consequently mental health problems, for students. In light of the newfound independence that characterizes post-secondary education, the pressures of juggling deadlines, exams, and extra-curricular programs suddenly fall squarely upon individual students’ shoulders.

At the University of Toronto in particular, our academic reputation of boundless excellence adds additional weight to this precarious burden. Our colossal, decentralized campus has long been criticized for failing to foster a supportive environment — there are over 68,000 undergraduate students, over 16,000 graduate students, and almost 20,000 faculty and staff members, all spread across three distinct campuses. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, U of T’s 2014 Report of the Provostial Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health states, “at the University, the number of students registering with Accessibility Services for reasons related to mental health has doubled in the past five years.”

As it stands, there seems a sizeable gap between the extent to which mental health issues are affecting students, and the support that is available to them. We have heard from friends who have struggled with anxiety to the point of late-withdrawing from courses, or who have reported negative or insufficient experiences with Health Services’ counseling options, often citing long wait times, or the inability to get in touch with counsellors. We have also heard more ominous stories, such as when students were reportedly asked to leave residence after revealing their serious mental health issues. The mental health crisis with which the university is now confronted threatens to destabilize students’ learning, and is in fact already doing so.

With the recognition that universities are prone to fostering mental health problems amongst their students come questions about the university’s responsibility to remedy the issue. Unfortunately, the extent to which the university — as an institution almost exclusively dedicated to research and education — is responsible for and actually capable of providing specific mental health services is unclear.

In their mission and purpose statement, U of T has expressly committed itself to “fostering an academic community in which the learning and scholarship of every member may flourish,” not to mention assisting students in realizing “their physical and emotional growth and well-being.” Given that poor mental health can significantly deplete students’ ability to learn and flourish in university, U of T, according to its mandate, must have a stake in combatting the recent spike in mental health problems on campus.

While it is tempting to believe increased funding or the implementation of a specific service provider will solve the problem, there is no silver bullet solution. Mental health is a complex issue acted on by various interrelated factors; as such, it requires a holistic and multi-faceted framework to be understood.

To its credit, U of T has recognized the need for, and pledged its commitment to, a “systems approach” of promoting mental wellness. Their strategy outlined in the Report of the Provostial Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health uses a “mental health continuum” to acknowledge all students and their varying needs, from difficulties with stress-management to “crisis” states. It also commits to the fostering of a pervasive mental-wellness culture, which would increase awareness of mental health issues for faculty, staff, and students alike.

The plan constitutes an optimistic, earnest aim. Recently, it manifested in tangible changes that saw Counselling and Psychological Services integrated with Health & Wellness. But perhaps most notably, the university has recognized that, as an educational institution, it is uniquely positioned to prevent mental health problems, rather than to act as a service provider What the university must recognize is that the implementation of a mental health plan based on the “systems approach” will be fraught with difficulties — not the least of which will be the challenge of measuring progress when the students most in need of support are so susceptible to losing touch with the system. It is further challenged by the broader mental health service deficit that exists in this province, the reason that counselling (especially counselling that is covered by Ontario Health Insurance Plan) is in such high demand, and such short supply. These kinds of challenges may mean that the university will need to adapt its plan according to the changing mental health environment, and to play a role in improving mental health services on a broader scale.

Nonetheless, it is essential to U of T’s statement of purpose that the school not abandon these aims. In this academic institution, learning cannot fully flourish without addressing the mental health of students.

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

LETTERS TO

THE EDITOR V

.C

VI,

.

Re: Seven motions pass, one fails, five motions not discussed at SCSU AGM “SCSU continues to function because they don't need to squabble about power dynamic politics of two campuses. Good job SCSU, good move when you left the UTSU in 2002.”

— Pierre Harfouche (from web) Re: When the music stops “Hart House and UCLit aren't the only ones trying to promote local artists. VUSAC has done a lot of work to book local, up-and-coming artists every month in an effort to stimulate St. George's music scene.

This month's offering is a UTSC student with a deep and rich music background and is a signed artist on multiple labels!”

— Gabriel Zoltan-Johan (from web) Re: Fair or unfair? Two perspectives on our reactions to Paris “Hierachy is the chief component of civilization. One wonders what on earth this - student has in mind for when he is the majority? He sets up a straw man argument based on an attack 7 years ago that was widely covered. I encourage you to think what this attack means. It means that more and more Europeans are going to reject those principals of 1789 and elect a Far Right government. That is the future before you.”

— Mark Stewart (from web) Re: Op-Ed: We need a dialogue about the injustice of abortion “Thank you Blaise for bringing the issue of abortion to a place of discussion. In the light of the Planned Parenthood disclosures and consequent defunding, an assessment should be undertaken in Canada whether the abortion facilities are also providing human

,

fetal parts as commodities which may be purchased and packaged for delivery.”

— Rose Vander Ploeg (from web) “It's called research and it doesn't run like your local meat market.

Furthermore the defunding of Planned Parenthood hurt the facilities that NEVER offered abortions but did offer contraception, sexual diseases testing and other services related to the woman's body.”

— Sarah Genowefa Durrand (from web) Re: Meet Khalil “What an article. Heart rendering, painful, sad, joyous and all of those other emotions. Makes your heart ache for a world so full of hate. Great journalism.”

— Mary Harris (from web) Re: U of T has lost $550 million by choosing not to divest from fossil fuels, report claims “I wonder how much more they will lose if they don’t divest now?”

— Ben Donato-Woodger (from web) Re: Chew on this: Fring’s Restaurant “Appreciate your authentic review of this restaurant.”

— Jan Remple (from web) Re: Undergraduate CEOs “What a great concept! This will change everything for the clients as well as the pharmacists!”

— Paulina Haghi (from web) Re: In Photos: U of T Boxing Club “The boxing club is amazing and so are these photographs!”

— Sohaib Shafi (from web)

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

Content and

As the modern job market becomes increas platforms, young people emerge at the for ARTICLE BY CORINNE PRZYBYSLANSKI

I

N HIS POEM,

“Pioneers! O Pioneers,” Walt Whitman called upon western youth, “impatient [and] full of action,” to “ debouch upon a newer, mightier...varied world.” With the exception of the name by which we now address young people, and the context in which they forge their generational impact, Whitman’s language is still easily recognizable today when older generations address millennials. Millennials have been subjected to scores of criticism regarding their social and academic lives. These critiques often reference young people’s measures of achievement (or lack thereof), and their rejection of traditional values.

This is partly symptomatic of the fact that we, as the millennial generation, are beginning to remove ourselves from the perception that education begets employment. The cultural zeitgeist may be switching back to something resembling the baby boomer model, where effort begets income. In recent years, this mentality has been manifested in a tremendous focus on digital literacy.

The worldview on success is going through a colossal change as the Internet is increasingly becoming integrated into successful career options, and a subset of creative millennials is leading the charge.

A CRITICAL AWARENESS One of the most daunting challenges of today’s job market is that the jobs many students will want to have by the time they graduate simply may not exist yet. After all, the 2015 job market is swimming with positions that did not exist only five years ago. Dr Siobhan O’Flynn, a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto whose research has centred around digital media, confirms that, “Anywhere where digital technologies are changing the possibilities of what you can build or how you can communicate, there is a strong likelihood that the career you will have in 10-15 years may not exist yet.”

This reality frames digital literacy in a new way. When your job prospects hinge on your ability to keep pace with changing technologies, gaining digital skills and critical skills across a range of disciplines that allow you to adapt when new opportunities arise should be a central focus for those entering the labour force today.

In the digital era, interconnectivity and incessant exposure to digital platforms has created an increase in digital literacy to the extent that it has become a de facto skill, says O’Flynn. Through her extensive academic research and artistic practice in the digital humanities, O’Flynn has noted that the entirety of the millennial generation is already digitally literate — and yet “it’s how critically aware you are of your digital literacy” that indicates how prepared you will be for the challenges of the emerging job market. In this area, some young people are making noticeable gains, despite an education that has hardly prepared them for these particular challenges.

FORMALITY VERSUS FREELANCE Some millennials today are assailing customary expectations in a landscape where the vast majority of conventional careers are already oversaturated with candidates — it becomes difficult for youth to penetrate these industries without a unique advantage. With curren youth unemployment at 13.5 per cent in Canada, roughly double that of the national average, it is unsurprising then, that a subset of Generation Y has been compelled to reinvent their ideas

of success, using the connectivity of the Internet to excel in informal, adaptable careers in which they posses an advantage over older generations.

Lauren Nostro, the music news editor for Complex, contends that, whether or not one is “naive and still believe[s] in print,” it is “delusional” to think that it is possible to “have a career without the Internet.” She attended the University of Toronto in 2007, and New York University afterwards for a postgraduate degree in journalism. While Nostro is appreciative of her graduate school classes and the experiences they lent her, though she regrets that much of what she learned she was able to gain “through real life experience at a publication.”

Nostro notes that the traditional education path that brought her to graduate school was not ultimately helpful in her career. While a graduate degree may once have been a ticket to gainful employment, for Nostro, “experience is more important than formal education,” due to the fact that her program — one that caters to an industry that relies heavily upon freelance work — “rarely looked at freelancing as some reliable means to live.” From within the thick of the competitive creative community that is New York City, she remarks how “some of the most successful writers I know — who make...twice what I do — are freelancers.”

Nostro demonstrates that, for a subset of millennials, digital metrics and informal work arrangements are dictating how they view success. Across the board, university students in highly academic environments lust for similar milestones: high grades, a paid position within a viable field, and a payroll that will provide lump sums of consistent cash.

Though it may have once been a

“

unique advantage to achieve an un formal education is no longer gua It seems as though educational ins it comes to embracing these new Patricia Recourt, a freelance po education system during her secon to New York City. The rapid chang 2005 and 2015 implicated itself in allowed her “career [to] unfold ver responses [she] was receiving on Recourt has penetrated a creative mendous critical acclaim; she has h internationally recognised publica an internship with Annie Leibovi Recourt fervently believes that penetrable but agrees with Nost to do with success in these areas. played a fundamental role in her ca advocate of social media.” “It is sing network…especially in the industr To Recourt, this experience is

Anywhere where are changing the what you can bu can communicat likelihood that t have in 10-15 yea

d its creators

singly dominated by informal work on digital refront of a group that is redefining success ILLUSTRATION BY CHANTEL TENG

ndergraduate degree, the reality is that arantees anything besides a diploma. stitutions are behind the curve when conceptions of success. ortrait photographer, left the formal nd year at Sheridan College to move ge of the Internet’s landscape between n what she saw for her future, which ry quickly based on the international nline.” For all intents and purposes, e industry, much like Nostro, to trehad her artwork published by scores of ations such as Vogue Italia, and sports itz on her curriculum vitae. creative and freelance industries are tro that formal education has little . She contends that the Internet has areer, and describes herself as “a huge gle-handedly the most reliable way to ry of fashion, media, and advertising.” the essence of digital literacy’s “influence on

businesses and entrepreneurs,” and it plays an essential role in “becoming successful” — much more so than formal education. She feels that “going to school for an art based program is extremely challenging and quite limiting,” especially since the merit of one’s work is often subject to criticism by a single individual. The negative feedback that “you’ll always get” is not necessarily representative of the work’s quality.

This begs many students who are hoping to embark on creative and digitally informed careers to question where the value in education lies altogether. A competitive edge in the job market is increasingly reliant upon the extrapolative and creative uses of skill sets that are not typically acquired in a classroom. The rigid environment that characterizes formal education can dissuade some from pursuing careers in freelance industries, causing some students to undoubtedly graduate with degrees that will have few applications in the future. Perhaps the experiences of Nostro and Recourt — which are increasingly ubiquitous in the modern market — indicate that formal educational institutions are behind on offering programs tailored to digital, informal contexts.

Or perhaps, it means that formal education is simply losing some relevance in the changing job market. The reality is that creative people find ways to innovate and to use platforms in new ways. This is a skill that the classroom — whose primary focus is criticism — does not usually grapple with.

e digital technologies e possibilities of uild or how you te, there is a strong the career you will ars may not exist yet.

INTELLIGENCES IN THE MODERN MARKET

”

Considering the cultural landscape of the Internet, one might assume that there is a greater weight attributed to ‘creative’ intelligence than there is ‘academic’ intelligence in these

emerging fields. It would be easy to assume that students with very academic priorities display their intelligence through good study habits and the eventual pursuit of professional careers, whereas students with creative priorities will allow their abilities to manifest themselves through alternative media; however, the two are far more relative than their topical impressions may suggest.

The more meaningful fissure, according to O’Flynn, falls not between creative versus academic intelligence, nor between creative versus noncreative industries. O’Flynn believes that “the more meaningful split [asks] how university education can best serve you,” with adaptable skills. In other words, responding to the challenge of the changing job market, from the vantage point of educational institutions, is not a matter of diverting a certain subset of students to learn practical digital skills, but of integrating critical digital literacy and adaptability into all areas of study.

While professional areas of study, such as pharmaceuticals, medicine, and engineering, seem to have permanent demands, these disciplines are still bound to evolve over time. Meanwhile, degrees in the humanities have the potential to generate flexibility, enabling individuals to move laterally across industries, as well as vertically within specific lanes. This is to say that, a strong academic student –regardless of their area of study – will need to thinks creativity in the changing job market.

THE ECONOMICS OF SOCIAL SHARING In digital spaces, quantifiers of success have been reimagined, largely by a group of pioneering young people. With the Internet, millennials are able to exploit their creative abilities for capital in ways and that previously were not possible.

In the digital era, success has a variety of definitions, and these definitions can be represented by anything from Instagram followers, to the number of retweets on Twitter, to the numeric value of a network on Facebook. The principle of connectivity and access underlies the Internet, and this produces a notion of boundlessness that allows millennials with the requisite know-how to invent and create a digital marketplace of ideas. Within Internet communities, digital metrics constitute feedback on the products that people publish. This happens in real time, and all the time, because of the way that people are constantly connected through smartphones and other computing devices.

These modes of interconnectivity have added a new frontier to the way that we think and the way that we communicate. By effect, the criteria for success in the digital age have likewise changed.

We find ourselves, therefore, at a critical juncture, in which pioneering individuals navigate new careers in digital spaces, and educational institutions no longer hold a monopoly over the path to success.

The millennial generation has brought new meaning to the notion that the ‘content is the creator’ in digital space. O’Flynn says that, as people increasingly pursue success on the Internet, “not everything will be brilliant, but something will.” This sentiment is at the crux of this generation’s efforts to incorporate digital presence into waking life. The rapid growth of digital media outlets permits youth to penetrate new, emerging industries, and to innovate in ways that were previously impossible. The education equals employment contingency has become obsolete, leaving the definition of success in the digital age largely up to the ambitions of a determined group of millennial pioneers.

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ARTS&CULTURE

arts@thevarsity.ca

30 November 2015

THE DARK SIDE of the kitchen

Across restaurants, alcoholism and drug abuse haunt Toronto’s culinary world Restaurant workers are often subjected to over 50 hours of work per week. BRIAN RANKIN/THE VARSITY

ANDREW FRIESEN VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

One of the great benefits of U of T’s St. George campus is its centrality within Toronto’s ever-expanding landscape. Students have the privilege of being at the epicenter of a burgeoning cultural scene. Although its artistic precedence is often overshadowed by the stage, page, or canvas, Toronto’s culinary culture is more popular than ever.

Of some 42,708 students attending the St. George campus, many tire of cafeteria food and its common atmosphere. Instead, they seek out inspired dishes prepared at exciting and trendy restaurants. While many search for the best spots to eat in Toronto, and where the best food will be, we rarely consider the life of those who prepare it for us. Since U of T lacks its own culinary arts program, many students don’t really have a clear perspective on the inner-mechanisms of Toronto’s culinary world. Most importantly, we often overlook the shady side of the culture that surrounds it.

The Globe and Mail published an article earlier this October outlining the arduousness of restaurant work; the long hours and low wages that cooks, servers, and dishwashers are often subjected to. They estimate that employees frequently work over 50 hours a week making minimum wage without overtime. They are well-fed, yet financially starving. If the kitchen can be a catalyst for stress and anxiety amongst its

employees, how does one deal or cope with this tension?

After years working in a kitchen, the tendency for those working in the industry to develop problems with drug abuse, alcoholism, and general self-destructive behavior no longer comes as a surprise given the conditions. Yet it seems as though this observation is not entirely an isolated experience. In fact, it has become somewhat of a trend in the industry itself.

Drew Mattiacci, an aspiring chef who has worked at The Piping Soup Kettle Co. can testify to the problems that chefs in the food industry face. “A lot of cooks and chefs work long hours with no breaks, so to compensate for that they take up smoking as an escape from the line,” he tells me. “To keep up with the upbeat and fast environment, cooks rely on uppers — the worst being cocaine — to keep themselves alert and ready for what can be a long and busy night.”

When I ask Tyler King, a cook who has worked at numerous Toronto establishments, about this aspect of restaurant culture, he remarks that “working in kitchens is pretty low on the totem pole as far as social hierarchy and everything. The work is really hard on a couple levels, the pay is shit, and the hours are terrible. So we try to live like rock’n’rollers to feel better about ourselves.”

Often the coping mechanisms that cooks and chefs use to deal with the stress of the kitchen get carried outside the workplace.

After a long, 12 hour shift that would end past last call, King would often end up at

various after-hours bars — places which were known to serve alcohol until the early hours of the morning and would turn a blind eye to other, often illegal, indulgences. These places accommodate industry folk who work late, but still want to unwind and socialize after regular business hours.

The manager of a popular restaurant and bar in Toronto’s west-end, who wishes to remain anonymous so as to not implicate or jeopardize their job, noted that they felt “overworked,” due to long shifts and high pressure environments. After work, “I end up partying so hard… the lucky thing about my job is that I work long hours… but I am out of there by 1:30 [am] so I can slam back a ton of booze afterward… I’ve never done that thing where you ‘bump’ before you go to work, but I have definitely had days where I’ve slept for only a couple hours the night before.”

Despite the forms of substance abuse that are a frequent reality of restaurant life, Chris Mathias — a seasoned professional chef of 31 years, who currently works at Cote De Beouf — is quick to note the bright side to working as a chef. “It’s a hard life and it’s not perfect… but if you work hard you can reap the benefits,” he tells me. “There are a lot of worse jobs out there and a lot of worse places to be.”

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Art exhibit review: Doors Without Keys The Aga Khan Museum’s latest exhibit focuses on homey architecture from multiple countries REUT COHEN

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Photographer Abbas Kiarostami creates a multicultural neighbourhood in his latest exhibit.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AGA KHAN MUSEUM

Stepping inside the Aga Khan museum has an immediately calming effect. The ceilings are high, the walls are muted shades of white and grey, and the subtle hymn of a muezzin plays over the loudspeaker.

Abbas Kiarostami’s Doors Without Keys has just opened to the public, and as the first exhibition by a solo artist at the museum, it certainly sets a high bar.

Meticulously curated, the multidimensional exhibit combines its visuals with lighting and sound to create a fully immersive experience.

To create this installation, Kiarostami took photographs of abandoned doors in his home country, Iran, as well as France, Italy, and Morocco.

This past August, Kiarostami flew to Toronto to supervise the painstaking process of printing each photograph on life-size canvasses.

Meanwhile at the museum, over 800 hours of labor were put into creating the installation’s structure.

The walls that were being constructed needed to be freestanding, but weighty enough to hold the artwork on both sides. Now, the exhibit has been arranged into a labyrinth-like

formation, compelling the viewer to seek out the doors for themselves.

Each door is different. They are made of different materials, and are shown in different seasons. Some doors are locked; some doors are not. It’s impossible to identify which country each door belongs to, save for stickers with Farsi and Arabic slogans on a few.

What each has in common, however, is that it is abandoned; that seems to be the point. The overdubbed soundtrack of indistinct conversations and children playing force us to imagine a life behind each one. Who lived there? Where did they go? The exhibit’s approach is far more visceral than trying to extract meaning from an abstract painting hung on a white wall.

I find myself filling in the gaps, imagining the world that surrounds each door. Other walls are decorated with snippets from Kiarostami’s poetry. The poems exude themes of melancholy, solitude, and exclusion. “The bell is broken, please knock at the door,” one reads. Lines like these appear to be the most overt messages of the exhibit. They seem to demand action and engagement from the reader.

Interspersed in the maze of doors are a number of hammock-like daybeds on loan from the Lahore Tikka House, a halal restaurant in the east end of the city. When I try to perch on one to take notes, I am forced to lie back. There’s no way to sit here distractedly; every aspect of the exhibit is crafted to ensure viewer participation.

While I lie back, I read a transcript of Kiarostami’s interview with journalist Nazzy Beglari conducted in August. In it, he explains how he wanted to create “a neighbourhood” with this exhibit. He has done just that.

I visited the Aga Khan museum hoping to gain some insight into Iran, the country from which my grandparents fled, and that I may never see. When asked why he always returns to Iran after long periods away, Kiarostami says, “I appreciate myself inside Iran.” Through his latest exhibit, this statement rings true.

Doors Without Keys is showing at the Aga Khan museum until March 27, 2016. Admission to the museum is free on Wednesdays from 4:00 – 8:00 pm.

Searching for David Schwimmer The Varsity speaks with the directors of the Bob Sketch Comedy Revue COREY VAN DEN HOOGENBAND ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Fans of sketch comedy emerged at the Isabella Bader Theatre Friday night to witness the 143rd annual Bob Revue, “The Bob: With David Schwimmer?”

Every year, Canada’s oldest collegiate sketch comedy show hits the stage for a night of humour, satire, and absurdity, performed and directed entirely by U of T students.

The Varsity spoke with this year’s codirectors Greg Martin and Blaire Golledge about their show’s history, style, and the David Schwimmerness of it all.

The Varsity: Can you give our readers a bit of the history behind The Bob Revue?

Greg Martin: The Bob is Canada's oldest collegiate sketch comedy

show. We think it might even be Canada's oldest sketch comedy show, but we're not sure, so we don't say it out loud. “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” is probably older. We've had famous alumni like Margaret Atwood and Lester B. Pearson on the cast at various points in our history, so statistically at least one member of this year's cast will end up writing the first ten pages of a great novel.

Blaire Golledge: Or have an airport named after them.

TV: The annual revue has a history of poking fun at some of the issues and trends on campus for that year. Without spoiling anything, what are some of the facets of U of T life that this year's Bob Revue plans to satirize?

GM: We've actually tried to steer away in recent years from campus in-jokes, in favour of sketches that work by themselves. There's nothing worse than spending a night not being in on the joke, and we want everybody who comes to the show to enjoy themselves. Some of our sketches focus on the trials and tribulations of being students, and some of them focus more heavily on the implications of time travel and whether it's appropriate to stereotype evil villains.

BG: We also figure that the best way to get back at U of T is to just not talk about U of T at all.

TV: What do you think is the strength of sketch comedy as opposed to say, single narrative story-

telling in a live performance?

GM: I think there are strengths to both of these types of comedy.

Sketch comedy allows us to explore a situation that maybe doesn't warrant an entire narrative to itself, so we can afford to be a little more out there when selecting sketches. Single narrative storytelling requires much more planning and setup but the comedic payoff you can build with a single narrative can often be much bigger and more rewarding.

BG: As well, it seems that sketch comedy is gaining more popularity lately because the current trend in comedy is to be absurd. Absurdity is harder to maintain over a two-hour single narrative storyline. People are more willing to suspend their disbelief for each sketch.

GM: This year's show is going to feature a mix of the two styles for the first time, and we're excited to see what a new format can bring to The Bob. TV: What's this I hear about David Schwimmer?

GM: David Schwimmer is a fantastic actor and all-around great person. He frequently donates to charity, and has recently picked up alto saxophone again, after a twenty-two year hiatus.

BG: The show this year is called The Bob: With David Schwimmer?

So it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that he’ll be at the show.

We don’t know! We just hope he’ll be there for us, when the rain starts to pour.

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That time of year

Toronto's Christmas market runs until Dec. 20 at the distillery district. BRIAN RANKIN/THE VARSITY

oronto s annual hristmas mar et is nostalgia at its finest SHAFIKA RAHMAN VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

"Mommy, I want to see Santa now," says a little boy from his first-class view upon his father's shoulders. The family, among the crowd of hundreds, counts down in unison to the lighting of a majestic 45-foot spruce tree. Murmurs conjoin in eager anticipation, and I'm suddenly transported to the first time I watched the Nutcracker on my parents' silver-box television. The Christmas spirit has returned.

The Distillery District's old-world charm is the home to the annual Toronto Christmas Market; an event inspired by the German tradition of Weihnachtsmarkt.

Stepping through the small side gate is like stepping into Narnia: the world on the other side is vastly different from the place you came from. Once inside, vendors in dainty log cabins sell various treasures made by international artists. The crafts range from unique, wooden carvings to handmade toys. A large painted sign of the late and oncelocal Gooderham and Worts — Canada's historic and most prolific

distiller of alcohol — illuminates the season's early twilight alongside glowing slogans: peace, love, joy, family.

For those like me, the holidays are a time to indulge in the magical whimsy of the season — particularly the food. Poutine, baked treats from Petite Thuet, Soma's hot chocolate, and of course, a ride on the gleaming ferris wheel for when it’s time to digest. As the night passes, Toronto's late-November chill is warmed by fire-lit lanterns among a sea of amber string lights crafted in picturesque shapes, both shielded and cradled by the district's Victorian architecture.

Regardless of religion or spiritual belief, Toronto's Christmas Market is commendably inclusive. The collective ambience is one of enchanted joy, and acts as a therapeutic calm of slowing down from the city's restlessness. Traditional Celtic hymns and modern melodies filled the air alongside the occasional selfie.

Suddenly, a voice yells, "Jägermeister this way!" Like a slow-motion recap of an Olympic marathon, adults gracefully leap to it. Under their feet, the cobblestone is reminiscent of the nearby lake's edge, where only colorful pebbles and stones coat the soil.

Their drinks are slurped heartily.

The fully lit spruce tree is now clad in its glistening jewelry. A red stage adorns young singers — now performing Hallelujah — and violinists play songs while simultaneously engaging in an impressive tap-dance routine. In receding to the frontier's gate by the night's end, children cheer in delight as Santa reveals to them the ultimate insight: every one of them is on the nice list this year.

For the community, by the community Artist Phil Sarazen is the brain behind the lively bike racks adorning Toronto’s streets SANA ALI

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

In a city full of cyclists, bike racks make up a significant portion of Toronto’s street furniture. While often disregarded as a mundane aspect of our otherwise lively infrastructure — rarely warranting a second look from passersby — certain bike racks around the city have a notably artistic story. In 2008, Toronto-based sculptor and artist Phil Sarazen began working with local community members on an art project that aimed to transform local bike racks into a new form of street art.

Out of this collaboration came the Kensington Market bike rack — located at the corner of Augusta and College St. — followed by a series of other bike racks around the downtown core.

Sarazen, who spent a portion of his life in downtown homeless shelters, created this project to give marginalized communities a chance to express themselves artistically.

Noting the amount of unused talent that the city has to offer, Sarazen hoped to create a project that would easily engage the community.

Artist Phil Sarazen collaborates with members of his community to create artistic bike racks. SNEHA DASGUPTA/THE VARSITY

INSPIRATION BEHIND THE PROJECT Now 62, Sarazen realized the importance of community engagement when living in a temporary housing facility called Tent City' that emerged near the waterfront in the early 2000’s. From this realization came the idea of making art projects out of bike racks. Homeless people, ex-convicts, and drug addicts were given a constructive form of expression as well as a source of work. The artists were paid for their designs, and it allowed these individuals to develop their own ideas and transform them into bike racks to be used around Toronto.

BIKE STAND ART: A PROJECT FOR THE COMMUNITY, BY THE COMMUNITY The first bike rack project was developed alongside the Parkdale Recreation Centre using designs made by people who suffered from mental illnesses. The racks aimed to capture the personalities of those who designed them, as well as the stores and businesses in the Parkdale neighbourhood. One of the bike racks in Parkdale, located outside the music shop Gary Armstrong Woodwinds, is fittingly made to resemble a treble clef.

Aside from the bike racks’ artbased significance, the racks continue to remain functional as well. Walking through Kensington Market, you’ll see plenty of bikes chained along the letters that spell out ‘Kensington.’

IMPACT OF THE BIKE RACKS According to Sarazen, the bike rack project has had a social and cultural impact on marginalized communities within Toronto. “You’ve changed their lives,” expresses Sarazen, referring to the individuals who got involved with the project. Sarazen notes that the project also has an interesting psychological affect on the artists, who in many cases come into the project with bruised egos, but are able to express their true selves through their art.

FUTURE OF THE BIKE STAND ART: GO STATIONS? Sarazen believes that if GO bike stations were made to be part of the project, it could play a role in encouraging people to use bicycles instead of their cars. He said that while it’s a commonly held opinion that bike racks should be simple and low cost, developing further installations of bike rack art could encourage the mode of transport, as well as support the community.

Sarazen notes how, primarily, it’s important to put bike racks in areas where they can be used to encourage biking. He lists Toronto’s hotel district and the Lakeshore area as a couple frontiers that the project is aiming to tackle.

The bike stand project is ongoing today, and according to Sarazen will feature a new development in Bloordale within the coming year. With multiple designer bike stands across the city, the bike stand project is a significant addition to Toronto’s vibrant cycling community, and provides an artistic element to basic infrastructure. Seven years since the project was created, the bike stands are now a prominent feature of Toronto’s street furniture.

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he attle o the filmma ers aindance and the SHAQ HOSEIN VIDEO EDITOR

The University of Toronto’s filmmaking club Raindance On Campus recently collaborated with the Hart House Film Board to present the first 48-Hour Film Challenge of the school year. As the name states, the challenge for the filmmakers was to write and produce a short film over the weekend prior to the screenings. Necessarily, the challenge was met with expected difficulties and unexpected bonding amongst film crews.

On Saturday, November 21, the eight films were screened in the Debates Room located at Hart House.

art

ouse ilm oard host

In their first joint effort, club leader Sina Dolati and film board curator Minsoo Koh organized the event with the aim of bringing together aspiring filmmakers to have their artwork presented to an audience. Dolati and Koh both found the event to be a rewarding experience. “There were definitely people from Raindance that didn’t know about Hart House and people from Hart House that didn’t know anything about Raindance, so it was good to get all those people into one big festival,” said Koh in a post-screening interview.

The pair were supervised by Rick Palidwor, program advisor at Hart House and director of the U of T

o

s

Film Festival, an event that occurs March. Together, the trio acted as film exhibitors, planning the competition in September, when Palidwor hosted a screening party and expressed interest in collaborating.

The bulk of the night was spent watching films that ranged in durations, styles, and genres. The only stipulation was that all films had to feature, at some point during the movie, a wired phone, and the line “they all gave me dirty looks.” How each theme was presented, and exactly how prominently, was entirely up to the filmmakers.

It was interesting to see what teams came up with, given the circumstances and how each element

hour film competition

was incorporated, whether it was to humorous or horrific effect. Keith Cameron, whose film I Think My House Is Haunted placed first, shared the brainstorming session with his team, explaining that “for a while we weren’t sure… it was kind of a washout for us. It took us a long time to come up with an idea, and we almost buckled… But when we came up with the basic idea, then we started coming up with jokes for it.

We all kind of had a sense of what we were doing.”

For future competitions, Dolati and Koh inform me that they wish to see submissions from other campuses, and that they are in the early stages of another challenge that

will begin over the holidays. Dolati hopes to see triple the amount of submissions, and thinks that with the help of other campuses, this could very well be attainable. “Every film had something that was really good,” he says. “Some films had an amazing story, some films had amazing camerawork.”

With an overwhelming sense of positivity, the duo is looking forward to future U of T events in which moviemakers are encouraged to submit their art for an audience to see.

heatre re iew Legally Blonde li ia ewis gi es an e ceptional per ormance in the

ollies latest show

Olivia Lewis stars as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. COURTESY OF UC FOLLIES THEATRE COMPANY

NADEZHDA WOINOWSKY-KRIEGER SCIENCE EDITOR

Hart House theatre was alive this weekend with the energy and enthusiasm of the UC Follies’ Legally Blonde: The Musical. Based on the 2001 movie starring Reese Witherspoon, the musical tells the story of blonde, cheerful sorority sister Elle Woods, who, after being dumped by her boyfriend in favour of a more ‘serious woman,' applies to Harvard Law School in a grand romantic attempt to win him back. Although this may seem like a setup for a sexist criticism of women who only care about fashion and boys, those who are familiar with the story know that it becomes quickly obvious that the themes are in fact strikingly feminist and aware. The musical is telling the story of a young, ambitious woman who works hard to succeed at her goals.

The story is particularly appropriate for a contemporary U of T audience — as there are many young undergraduate women (and men)

who can relate to Elle Woods as she struggles to balance identity, ambition and stigma from both her peers and professors.

Director Cierra Walker explained to The Varsity via an email interview that she was well aware of the significance of the underlying message when selecting the show. “Elle's story still resonated so strongly in me,” she said, “as a woman, and as a university student …I just needed to bring that to a stage, because I know so many people can still connect to Elle Woods.”

The very spirit of Elle herself was embodied perfectly by the Follies’ lead actress, Olivia Lewis, whose effortless on-stage joie de vivre and phenomenal singing abilities blew the audience away scene after scene.

The force of her presence, as well as the singing and acting talents of many of the individual members of the cast carried the show where the ensemble of 27 otherwise succumbed to disorganization. The underlying air of shoddiness was not aided by the handful of micro-

phone dysfunctions, which sadly caused a couple of the more iconic jokes from the original movie to fall flat. However for every joke that was rendered inaudible, there were at least as many delivered with such a profound spirit of ‘on point-ness’ as to induce the hysterical laughter that a performance of Legally Blonde calls for.

Ultimately, it was no doubt the ambitious choreography and the well executed vocal harmonies from the full ensemble that were more than enough of a payoff for the jumbled presentation. It was evident from beginning to end that each and every member of the cast and production was having the time of their lives throughout the duration of the show, and that this atmosphere was thoroughly absorbed by the audience from the very first number.

Classical, opera, jazz, baroque, contemporary and world music concerts on campus!

Over 100 free performances each semester All ticketed events are only

$10 for students

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var.st/science

SCIENCE 30 November 2015

science@thevarsity.ca

The future of food Designer meal replacement may do in a pinch but leaves one student unsated ARTICLE BY SEAN SMITH AND PHOTO BY MALLIKA MAKKAR

F

reeze dried astronautical ice cream was one of the greatest disappointments of my childhood. I was so excited to try it — after all, as a child, astronauts and ice cream were two subjects that stood firmly on hallowed ground. I remember biting into it and feeling betrayed; science had ruined two of my most cherished things. Recently, when I decided to try Soylent, I was excited to taste the latest in food-tech. I didn’t bother to recall the dehydrated ice cream incident. I probably should have.

The Soylent came in a white minimalist vacuum sealed package with black print. The package contained 2,000 calories, weighed 460 grams, was covered front and back with daily values of a variety of nutrients, displayed a list of ingredients that contained an extensive collection of polysyllabic compounds, and a short series of directions.

The directions were simple: mix the powder with water and keep refrigerated. The powder resembled a very fine sand and when mixed with water produced a sludge-like consistency.

It tasted like I imagine liquefied dough would taste — with just a touch of sugar. The slightly sweet aftertaste became progressively more

The three and a half cups of thick liquid per meal sat in Smith’s stomach like a rock. MALLIKA MAKKAR/THE VARSITY

noticeable as my palate became increasingly starved of variety.

The press kit available from the Soylent website claims that it is “a pioneer in food technology, delivering engineered staple meals that provide all the essential nutrients required to fuel the human body.” The same kit also states that Soylent “provide[s] maximum nutrition” and that “its nutritional makeup is comprehensive.” While all this sounds rather impressive, what’s missing from their provided documentation is any promise that this product is a decent replacement for food.

For example, it doesn’t say anywhere that Soylent is a sufficient source of sustenance, although the commercial on their website would seem to indicate as much. Perhaps part of the reason why Soylent dances around making claims is that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has clear cut quantitative checks on what type of statements can be made about how much of a given element is in a particular product; the only claims legally allowable are that something ‘contains X,’ that something is ‘high in X,’ or that something is ‘very high in X.’ There is no category for complete sources of a given nutrient.

My experience with Soylent left me exhausted. I calculated my caloric intake using the app on the Soylent website, and the first day I decided to drink my calories in three ‘staple’ meals a day. The three and a half cups of thick liquid per meal sat like a rock in my stomach; each time requiring a period of recuperation, followed by hunger, and then inexorably the next dose. The following days I sipped slowly at the sludge, which meant lugging two litres of liquid around with me everywhere I went and teetering just this side of hungry, never quite full. I slept through two appointments in two days; getting out of bed was a genuine challenge.

Either the calorie calculation was off, or the product is just not calibrated for active students. As a commuting student, I am seldom home and carrying premixed liquid around in my backpack wasn’t feasible. The alternative is of course mixing as you go, which in retrospect would have been easier, still the packages of powder would have had to be carried with me. The lack of energy made doing anything other than being nominally present in class unrealistic. If it were the case that I was simply not drinking enough Soylent then solving the problem would only add to the

inconvenience of being tethered to an even larger bottle of liquid.

There are other considerations, or circumstances in a healthy life, for which the exclusive use of Soylent would not suffice. Engaging in exercise which requires replenishing protein to either facilitate muscular regeneration or muscle growth would require a food source beyond what Soylent could provide. Similarly, it is unclear whether or not Soylent’s recommended daily intake approach to vitamins and minerals should be encouraged. It is widely accepted that an above average intake of certain compounds can reduce or prevent a variety of ailments, for example, vitamin D and omega-3 are thought to help with depression, and vitamins A-E help ease inflammation.

It is conceivable that Soylent may provide an excellent meal replacement strategy when augmented by food; however, as a fundamental shift in how we eat, especially as students, it does not provide added nutritional benefit to eating well. Furthermore, it may very well be that like endurance sports or weight lifting, academic performance requires more than just the bare minimum of nutritional sustenance.

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Tiny but mighty: the truth about needles Dr. David Lowe of Health and Wellness answers our most pressing uestions a out the u shot

O erall the more se ere side effects of the

MISHKA DANCHUCK-LAUZON VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Needles and vaccines: these are words that tend to strike fear in our hearts when autumn rolls around.

While we are nearing the beginning of December, the middle of vaccination season is also upon us.

You might be sitting in Convocation Hall reading this article beside someone who can’t stop coughing, which might have you wondering: should I be getting the flu shot?

For some reason, there is a lot of stigma around flu shots, questions abound whether the vaccines are safe and effective. To shed some light on

this topic, The Varsity interviewed Dr. David Lowe of the Health and Wellness Centre at UofT. The Varsity: What are the risks and side effects of getting the flu shot?

David Lowe: Most side effects that will appear are minor, such as feeling slight pain in the arm that was injected. It is important to know that, contrary to popular belief, you can not get the flu from getting the flu shot. There are some rare side effects pertaining to the flu vaccines. First off, the vaccine may trigger an allergic reaction. It may also be a little risky for people who have an egg allergy because of the

way the vaccine is made, however it is still safe for most to get. The other two major side effects would be Ocular Respiratory Syndrome and also Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Overall the more severe side effects are very, very unlikely to happen.

TV: How is the flu transmitted? Is it an airborne disease?

DL: Most of the flu is transmitted through coming into contact with little droplets when infected people sneeze or cough. It can also be transmitted from touching a surface that has been infected with droplets. To help prevent the flu, it is important to stay at home if

shot are ery nlikely to happen. WFIU PUBLIC RADIO/CC FLICKR

you are sick, and also to wash your hands as much as possible.

TV: Why is it important to get vaccinated against the flu every year?

DL: Every year, there are different strains of the influenza virus that are the most likely to cause the disease. The vaccines are updated every year to reflect these strains, so you are protected from different viruses.

TV: Should university students be getting the flu shot?

DL: There are a lot of opportunities for students to catch the flu, for example in class and in residence. Getting the vaccine reduces

your chances of being infected by influenza — you are about 60 per cent protected — and it also reduces the severity of the disease if you do get infected, which may be helpful in the long run. The flu may hit certain students harder.

For example, students who are diabetic, on medication for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, or who have a lung problem. The vaccine may be beneficial for these students. Although in the end it is the student’s choice as to if he or she believes that the pros of the vaccine outweigh the cons.

rain fi

Sunnybrook breaks blood-brain barrier LUKE JEAGAL

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Human innovations of every kind have been erecting and demolishing physical and ideological barriers for millennia — we need not look further than the Great Wall of China or the Berlin Wall for examples. After hacking at it for decades, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) has now been breached — but for a noble purpose.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a biological barrier made of epithelial cells that separates the brain fluid from the rest of the bodies’ circulation to prevent the entry of toxins or harmful molecules into the brain.

A successful surgical trial funded by organizations including the

Focused Ultrasound Foundation as well as the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, made headlines worldwide earlier this month for achieving the first ever noninvasive breach of the blood brain barrier to deliver brain cancer treatment using focused ultrasound.

This was the first trial of a study potentially involving up to 10 patients also in need of treatment for brain tumours.

In the procedure, the patient is first injected with gas filled microbubbles, before a low ultrasound that resonates with the frequency of the bubbles is applied, allowing the bubbles to puncture through the BBB. These punctures are also used to

administer a specifically targeted chemotherapy treatment.

The research attempts to determine how safe, and effective this non-invasive method is in administering chemotherapy to the brain, and the procedure has the potential to replace traditional invasive surgeries currently used to remove parts of patients’ brain tumours.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s: The Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program partnered with Insightec for the study. The ultrasounds are administered using Insightec’s Exablate Neuro System. Another researcher with Sunnybrook, Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, director of physical sciences, discovered the ultrasound technique.

The study’s primary investigator is Dr. Todd Mainprize, also an associate professor of neurosurgery at U of T. He spoke on behalf of his team at Sunnybrook in a press release saying that they are “encouraged that [they] were able to temporarily open this barrier in a patient to deliver chemotherapy directly to the brain tumour.”

“The blood-brain barrier (BBB) has been a persistent obstacle to delivering valuable therapies to treat disease such as tumours.”

A sample was sent to a lab to analyze the success of the procedure with brain scans seeming to indicate significant results. However, it is still unclear whether the analysis shows this form of treatment to be

more effective, or even safer than traditional methods. Some scientists, like Dr. Egle Solito, a senior lecturer at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, are cautioning against celebrating too soon. Dr. Solito told the BBC that “we need lots more research.

The blood-brain barrier is a sealed system that protects the brain and when you open it, even temporarily, there are risks.”

The majority of responses have been optimistic that this breakthrough will open doors for safer and more effective neurosurgical procedures and treatments — not only in the treatment of cancer, but also for conditions like Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.

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Too much of a good thing Study out of UTM suggests that couples who have sex more than three times a week may be stunting overall happiness

Scientists suggest having sex once a week can provide maximum levels of happiness for the average couple. VICTORIA WICKS/THE VARSITY

MALONE MULLIN & VICTORIA WICKS VARSITY STAFF

Media often bombard us with messages claiming sex and happiness go hand in hand. Cosmopolitan, for one, has essentially built its brand upon glorifying sex as the key to earthly delight, with headlines like “106 Minutes of Sex a Day Makes You Happy.” But according to a recent study from the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), this truism may need to be reconsidered.

A survey sample of over 30,000 strong found the relationship between the frequency of getting freaky and overall wellbeing is curvilinear, not linear as we had all assumed. In other words, you can indeed have too much of a good thing — happiness peaked when correlated to sex once a week, plateaued, and then actually began to decrease when sex occurred over three times weekly.

The team found flagrant romping unnecessary for a healthy relationship. “We suspected that at a certain frequency engaging in more frequent sex would no longer be associated with greater happiness,” said Amy Muise, a social psychologist at UTM who led the research. Instead, they suggest having sex once a week can provide maximum levels of happiness for the average couple.

These results fly in the face of pop-cultural exhortations to have sex on a daily basis. Yet their findings seem to align neatly with basic economic theory. Specifically, the law of diminishing marginal utility states that as a person in-

creases consumption of a product, there is a decrease in the benefit they derive.

Indeed, the UTM study cited other findings in positive psychology that showed typical benefits, such as socializing with friends, also lacked a positive linear association with wellbeing. This suggests that even highly beneficial activities ought to be experienced in moderation to maintain an optimal affective state.

As for the quality of sex, Muise told The Varsity she was able to control for this factor in a follow-up analysis. “After accounting for how satisfying the sex is, we still see the same pattern of results,” she wrote.

Yet other studies found that daily sex did not correlate to a drop in happiness. Researchers in Australia, who looked at a sample of about 3,800 adults, showed that having sex about once a week was actually correlated to less happiness than having sex once a day.

When asked about the conflict in findings, Zhiming Cheng, one of the researchers behind the Australian study, indicated that cross-national comparison might be unwise.

“Comparing results from different countries is difficult because sexual activities are related to a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic factors,” Cheng explains. “It is particularly difficult to tell why using social surveys that were primarily designed for different contexts.”

It is also important to note Muise’s results were pulled from an observational study, so the curvilinear association they found merely shows correlation. That is, contrary

to the Toronto Star’s coverage of this study — “Sex boosts happiness,” published earlier this month — it is unclear whether having sex at a particular frequency has a causal impact on happiness. Conversely, happiness may plausibly change sexual behaviour, or a third variable, such as health, could affect happiness and frequency both. “It is difficult to tell which causes what,” says Cheng.

A study published earlier this year attempted to manipulate the frequency at which couple’s had sex, in order to establish a causal connection between sex and happiness — but their experimental control had an “unintended adverse effect on the quality of sex.” The directive to have sex, the researchers surmised, led to decreases in sex drive and satisfaction overall.

Muise could not comment on the possibility of libido disparity between partners affecting happiness. “It is possible that couples may have a frequency that is a compromise between partners’ desired frequency and this helps to maximize well-being for both,” she says.

Conflicting results, cultural divides, and logistical hurdles all contribute to the difficulties of establishing truths in sex research.

Muise and her teams’ conclusion was more tempered than headlines around the world would lead us to believe. Instead of prescribing a fixed standard for sex, the team offered sensible advice. “If couples are engaging in sex frequently enough to feel satisfied with their relationship,” they concluded simply, “they are optimizing well-being.”

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SPORTS 30 November 2015

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Sexual assault and sports: in conversation with Laura Robinson Journalist and author of Crossing the Line discusses a sinister side of athletics JACK FRASER

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

In 2014, two members of the University of Ottawa men’s varsity hockey team were charged with sexual assault for an incident during a trip to Thunder Bay. Instead of disciplining the players involved, the university suspended the entire team for 15 months, and created a task force focused on creating behavioural guidelines. In a CBC News article, Allan Rock, president of the University of Ottawa, explained how the incident “disclosed widespread behaviour that was disreputable...” and suggested that there was “an unhealthy climate surrounding the team.” Among the experts consulted about the situation was journalist Laura Robinson. Robinson believes this ‘climate’ is not unique to the University of Ottawa. In her 1998 book Crossing the Line, Robinson investigated the phenomena of hazing and sexual assault in junior hockey. Since then, she has been actively involved in researching rape culture in sport.

The Varsity: “What did you contribute to the University of Ottawa task force?”

Laura Robinson: “I gave them a report particularly about best practices for gender equality in sport. Now, the CIS [Canadian Interuniversity Sport] does have a women’s hockey committee responsible for gender equality, but it’s almost all male.

It’s incredible. The model the CIS is using is a professional sports model, which inherently favours established men. I don’t believe that university sport is meant to operate under that model, and I don’t know how it can, considering how many Canadian athletes go to the States. The NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] is so much bigger, and so much more money is spent promoting it; I don’t know why the CIS would even bother to try and emulate their model when it has its own wonderful qualities.”

TV: “In Crossing the Line you talked about a “locker room culture.” What is it and what effect does that have on players?”

LR: “The locker room subculture is a very dangerous one. It’s locked, it’s small, it’s inherently vulnerable, and it’s always highly charged because players are only in there before or after a game or practice. Anything can happen in a locker room, and often to stay on a team you have to go along with whatever happens, because if you’re a rookie it can only get worse if you don’t. I hope that these practices occur less often than they did when I wrote Crossing the Line, but I have little reason to believe that’s the case. I know initiations are outlawed, but of course that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. If you don’t go along with it, if you’re not the “bitch” for the week, then you don’t get to stay in that world. You constantly have to prove that you deserve to be a member. It’s also telling that the language [players] use is always feminizing. It’s clear that girls or women are lesser, because it’s an insult to be called a girl in this culture. It ends up helping to create a very misogynistic culture off the ice.”

TV: “An anonymous survey referenced by the Task Force Report said that around 30 per cent of male students admitted that they might force a woman into sex if they knew they could get away with it. How relevant is that statistic to these incidents?”

LR: “There’s very little accountability in junior hockey, and one of the huge problems for anyone who stands up to the local team — male or female — is that the team is often owned by many of the most powerful men in the town. You’re not just up against the hockey team, but the town itself, and they can easily create a horrible situation for anyone who dares to challenge the team’s behaviour, no matter how appalling it is.

Nowadays of course teams are marketing machines. One day players are luring teenagers into basements at parties, and the next they’re singing Christmas carols at an old folks home.

“Aren’t our boys wonderful, here they are doing things for the community, and carrying the whole town on their backs when

Author and journalist Laura Robinson uncovers gender biases in sport. PHOTO COURTESY OF LAURA ROBINSON

they play hockey, how could they ever have done anything like this. What’s wrong with this girl?” Even convicted offenders can be given second chances from Canadian universities; there is the example of Jarret Reid in my book. Hockey has never admitted a rape culture, and it’s never been forced to.”

talented, the badminton team is talented. They don’t have a history of a rape culture in those sports. I also really believe that all CIS competitions should, in a manner of speaking, be co-ed. Track and field, swimming, rowing were always organized so both the men’s and women’s events were held at

“AREN’T OUR BOYS WONDERFUL, HERE THEY ARE DOING THINGS FOR THE COMMUNITY, AND CARRYING THE WHOLE TOWN ON THEIR BACKS WHEN THEY PLAY HOCKEY, HOW COULD THEY EVER HAVE DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS GIRL?”

TV: “A lot of hockey fans still characterize so-called “accusers” as money-grubbers with nothing to lose. Is this actually the case?”

LR: “Virtually every female I talked to who was courageous enough to charge a hockey player or team with sexual assault had to leave their community, and a number of them had to leave Canada. Almost all of the girls have to change schools, quit their jobs. They get completely ostracized, and no one would go through that just to “get back” at an ex. On top of that, there’s no money in criminal trials, for heavens’ sake!”

TV: “The Task Force recommended an initiative including extensive consent education. Can that effectively penetrate the cycle of peer pressure young players are exposed to?”

LR: “I think it’s helpful, but it’s not sufficient. The culture is too deeply entrenched. There has to be a greater understanding of the sociology of sport, they have to understand how it happens. There are solutions outside of simple education. For example, hockey players need to understand that the sport they play doesn’t make them exceptional. The rowing team is

the same time so the teams would travel together. What happened in the case of the U of Ottawa team was that those guys allegedly got a girl isolated in a hotel room. That would not have happened if the women’s team [were] on the same floor.”

TV: “Do you support the University of Ottawa’s decision to suspend the entire team rather than just the implicated players?”

LR: “It’s a difficult decision, especially for those who had nothing to do with it. I can believe that maybe even a majority of those players didn’t know what happened. However, usually what I found when writing my book was that a minority of the guys commit this behaviour, but the rest of them are paralyzed by the learned instinct to keep their mouths shut.

There are lots of male players, who would like to speak out, but the culture of secrecy is so ingrained, and it travels with the team 24/7. However, I think [U of Ottawa president] Allan Rock made the necessary decision. The responsibility of the team is to represent the school, and no matter the culture, allowing things like this to happen without saying anything is unacceptable.”

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Blues Fastpitch season recap Women bring home bronze at OIWFA championship

The Blues fastpitch team claimed bronze this season. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN BAZYL

EMMA KIKULIS SPORTS EDITOR

This October, U of T’s women’s fastpitch team won bronze at the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastpitch Association (OIWFA) championships held in Napanee.

Full of relatively young athletes, the medal marks the first time since 2011 that the women have placed on the podium.

Coach Craig Sarson attributes this feat to the number of veteran players on the team, who not only played exceptional seasons, but also acted as role models for their younger teammates.

“We’re carried by some tremendous veterans,” said Sarson.

“We’re a different team now, less powerful, but a deeper, more rounded group.”

Fastpitch, which is not recognized under the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) or Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), holds yearly championships through the OIWFA.“Our OIWFA has done a lot for us and our sport,” said pitcher Renee Ridout, adding, “I love being a part of an organization that, while our sport struggles to be recognized, is actively trying to progress fastptich in university athletics.”

Ridout, who is in her last year with the team, is especially proud of the amount of growth the team experienced this year.

“We have a fantastic group of girls who, for two months, have to spend every waking hour together,” said Ridout who plays battery (pitcher/catcher duo) with her sister Danielle.

The OIWFA tournament started off slow for the team, who all cited inclement weather conditions as a major barrier for all teams in the tournament. “Fastpitch (like baseball) is a very mental game,” said Ridout. “We really had to work hard to focus ourselves.”

In their first game of the championship against the Queen’s Gaels, the women dropped a sizeable lead and eventually lost 10-5. This is when the team knew they needed to switch things up.

“I think we were all concerned about our chances in the tournament,” said second-year pitcher Taisley Isaac. “We didn’t bring the team we normally do in that game.” Luckily, the team was able to shake off the loss and come back to win against the Windsor Lancers the next day, 13-1.

“We knew we had the potential to bring home a medal, so we pushed each other to win,” said Nicole Knudsen, who also felt the pressure after the loss to Queen’s. “I was worried,” she admitted, “but our team knew that we had to win… so we did.”

The team then pulled off an exciting win against the Ottawa Gee Gees, 4-1, to win the bronze medal. The matchup was something Sarson and the team were prepared for. “Playing against Ottawa was a matchup we always liked,” he said, citing standouts like Isaac and the Ridout sisters as major contributors to the match. “Everything went according to plan, and the offence did what it was supposed to do. The defence was

great, and we played as good a game as we’ve played all year, a total team effort.”

When asked about their favourite plays of the season, Ridout, Isaac, and Knusden all recall plays from championship games.

At one point during the bronze medal game, play was stopped for the playing of “O Canada” on a neighbouring pitch, which was problematic for Isaac. “It was so cold out though and we did not have our warm-ups on so before the next play I had to go over to my short stop, Mercedes Roddau, and ask her to hug my shoulder to warm it up again so that I could pitch.” Ridout remembers her sister’s last pitch of the bronze medal match as her favourite play, while Knusden notes the entire tournament as the best part of her season.

Although the women are now experiencing a much-deserved break to focus on midterms and exams, Sarson says that we can expect to see 15 women back on the field next season, and that the team will hopefully continue to generate medals for the Blues even though they’re currently in search of a catcher. “We’re hunting for a catcher in our recruiting, but I believe we’ll have the roster to contend for medals in the future.”

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All aboard the bandwagon A closer look at the ‘fake fan’ phenomena ROCK LI

VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

In the world of sports, the concept of a band wagoner refers to a person who shows sudden interest and support for a team only once they start to win. Contrary to the opinions of many long-term fans, however, the trend of bandwagoning isn’t as simple as a distinction between real and fake fans.

It’s easy to understand why diehard sports fans who have invested hours of their time, not to mention an exorbitant amount of their money on a specific team, are quick to criticize bandwagon jumpers for being fake fans. Those who jump on the bandwagon of a winning team have never experienced the heartbreak of seeing the team they’ve supported all season eliminated from the playoffs. Sebastian Manna, a paddler on the New Dragons dragon boat team, points out that the term ‘bandwagoner’ isn’t so black and white, and tends to be misconstrued: “you could be cheering for a team that is most likely going to win… but also those that hope for a team to win may just [happen to] be supporting the home team,” he points out.

Although it is frustrating, the trend does make sense. It’s our nature to want to be associated with winners. No one wants to lose forever, but unfortunately, losing has become synonymous with Toronto based sports teams in recent memory.

Toronto’s most heartbreaking team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, have not been a division leader since the 1999–2000 season, and they have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) recently dropped from being the most valuable franchise in the NHL, proving that fans can only take so much losing. The Leafs are still in the third position overall with a $1.15 billion evaluation from Forbes and are the second most valuable Canadian team, behind the Montreal Canadiens, This could signal that the Leaf ’s lackluster performances are finally catching up with the franchise. Now that fans are leaving, this could be the motivation MLSE needs to improve important aspects of both the franchise and the team.

A more recent example of bandwagoning is the amount of ‘life long’ Jays fans popping up now that the team has had their first taste of the playoffs since 1993. Unsurprisingly, at-

CHANTEL TENG/THE VARSITY

tendance also rose to the highest it has ever been since 1993.

Declining attendance places pressure on management to intervene, “The reason why Montreal [Canadiens] can contend in the playoffs is usually because when the team is doing poorly the fans stop supporting them,” suggests Manna. “The Jays did well too because the managements jobs were on the line.”

Many fans perceive bandwagoners in a negative light — why should someone who can’t name more than five players on the roster, or who doesn’t know the difference between a homerun and home plate, get to call themselves a fan? Long-term fans, however, can learn to embrace bandwagoners, and instead of being upset over their ignorance, can take the opportunity

to bombard them with as much sports jargon as possible — they’ll love it.

At the end of the day, team sports are a form of entertainment for fans, especially those who invest large sums of time and money to support a team. If a team consistently performs poorly, no one should feel obligated to support them — especially not for 22 years.

“A fan is anyone who supports a team,” says Manna. “People say true fans support a team through rough times and the good times but in the end a fan is a fan.”

Russian athletes’ doping controversy Sports communities react to the Russian ban RAGHAD A.K. VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

ANNIE DE GUZMAN/THE VARSITY

On November 9 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), released a report regarding an internal investigation that concluded the existence of a state-sponsored doping program within the Russian federation. This means that the Russian Athletics Federation (RAF) was complicit in an organized program that prevented its athletes from being sanctioned for using prohibited substances like testosterone as performance enhancers, many since the Sochi olympics. As of now, Russian athletes have been banned from all world athletics competitions while the RAF is investigated for anti-doping violations.

Although there has been talk of stripping various Russian athletes of their London 2012 medals, so far the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) has only suspended team Russia from participating in international competitions. Although this may seem like a harsh punishment, considering not all Russian athletes who competed in the London and Sochi Olympics used performance-enhancing drugs, all athletes are being temporarily barred. Many of the accused athletes are from the Olympic sport “athletics” also known as track and field, where Russia is facing a provisional ban that the country will not protest.

“It was probably a long time coming,” said professor Peter Donnelly in an interview with U of T News. “I suspect that athletes from other countries at the London 2012 Olympics felt there was something going on in Russia.” Although Donnelly, who is the director of U of T’s Centre for Sport Policy, believes that Russia is at the center of this current scandal, he acknowledges the difficulty of proving that other countries that could be running similar programs. “The secrecy of such actions makes it very difficult to know whether other countries are involved to the same extent,” he said.

It’s also important to note that the Russian ban is the first time in IAAF history that an entire country has been banned from competing in international competitions due to doping violations. Although Russian president Vladimir Putin and the RAF will not contest the provisional suspension, they have agreed to work on reforming their doping program so that Russian athletes can compete in Rio next summer.

Putin also mentioned in an interview that he would rather see the individual athletes punished than the entire group of Russian athletes banned from competing in tournaments — citing that summer Olympic athletes should not be penalized for the actions of their winter counterparts.

In light of this controversy — on top of the country’s notorious anti-gay policies — multiple petitions calling for the removal of Russia’s hosting rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup have cropped up, as well as several other competitions the country was slated to host.

Because the ban focuses mainly on Russian track and field athletes, the IAAF will be heavily involved in the decision of whether or not to bar Russian competitors from future athletics competitions. Donnelly finds Russia’s sudden dip to ninth in the world in athletics following the recent world championships, telling, but does not believe in collective punishment.

“The punishments should be applied to those who have been found to be in violation of the regulations, or those who have assisted others in violating the regulations.” He said, adding that, “the punishments should also fit the crime… it would be a mistake to assume collective guilt.”

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