November 29th, 2021

Vol. CXLII, No. 11

THE VARSITY November 29, 2021

Gertler “alarmed” by SCSU motions on BDS Jewish student leaders say motions are discriminatory Syeda Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

U of T President Meric Gertler has publicly condemned two motions that passed at the recent Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on November 24.

The SCSU voted in favour of a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) policy which once again reaffirmed the union’s commitment to the BDS movement, a movement that economically sanctions Israel due to its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The policy mandates that the SCSU only work with companies that do not profit off of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. In his statement, Gertler also raised concerns about the removal of language that protected academic freedom for Jewish students from another motion.

The motions passed despite opposition by Jewish student leaders, who said that the policies attempt to control Jewish students’ views and will normalize microaggressions and discrimination against Jewish students.

BDS policy SCSU Vice-President Equity Isaiah Murray introduced the policy, explaining that a policy from the 2020 AGM required the union to create a policy reaffirming its commitment to BDS. The policy mandates that the union “Refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or participating in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid,” including inviting speakers representing the Israeli Defence Force or that otherwise support Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The policy mandates that the union try to avoid working with companies “that profit from the violation of Palestinian human rights.” It further requires that, when possible, the SCSU “terminate contracts with companies that are found to profit from the occupation of Palestine.”

While the policy does recognize that Kosher food products may need to come from sources that aren’t BDS-compliant, it requests that “Efforts should be made to source Kosher food from organizations that do not normalize Israeli apartheid.”

SCSU President Sarah Abdillahi defended the motion, saying that “there’s room for interpretation, and [we made sure] that there’s space for students to still be able to access resources.” In an email to The Varsity, Abdillahi wrote, “In accordance with our mandate, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) is opposed to all acts of discrimination and harassment.”

Jewish Student Life (JSL) Vice-President Internal Gabriela Rosenblum spoke against the motion.

“This motion imposes inequitable barriers to Jewish student life,” Rosenblum said. “This motion dictates what is acceptable for Jews to believe…

So Jews have to prove that they are good Jews in the eyes of the student government.”

Yardena Rosenblum, the JSL’s president, also spoke against the motion at the meeting. “We stand against this motion because we are scared that it will only normalize the microaggressions that we already face.”

Speaking in favour of the motion, Director of Biological Science Gautham Krishna said that the policy is “a stance against a government that has been and is currently oppressing thousands of Palestinian individuals in their own land” and that it isn’t antisemitic.

Amendments to Jewish students’ rights motion A motion to reaffirm the rights of Jewish students

at UTSC, written by SCSU Physical and Environmental Sciences Director Max Fine, was also presented at the meeting. However the SCSU Policy and By-law Committee made a number of amendments to the motion, mostly removing language that reaffirmed Jewish students’ rights to organize and advertise events in support of Israel and Zionism.

The committee removed a resolution mandating that the “SCSU re-affirm its commitment to ensuring that Jewish students are unencumbered by discriminatory policies or actions by the union or

“This motion imposes inequitable barriers to Jewish student life”

its officers, as promised by the union’s equity statement, and the Ontario Human Rights Code.”

Furthermore, the committee removed language that demanded the SCSU “[recognize] the right of Jewish students, like all students, to organize & advertise events to express their political, cultural and/or religious views.” The amendments also removed resolutions that ensured the SCSU would continue to recognize Jewish student groups that associate with outside organizations.

Abdillahi said that the resolutions were removed because they were redundant, as the SCSU already recognizes these groups. However, she added that the original motion is too broad in its wording and may allow for student groups to be recognized outside of the scope of the SCSU. She said, “It’s going to be out of our scope, it’s not going to be possible for us to do.”

Gabriela Rosenblum spoke against the amendments and stressed the importance of adopting the wording in Fine’s original motion. Despite the opposition, the motion was passed with the cuts made by the Policy and By-law Committee.

In an email to The Varsity, Fine wrote, “The decision by the executives of the SCSU to amend the Jewish student rights motion behind closed doors in a meeting of the Policy and Bylaws Committee showed the executive’s intention to strike specific protections and freedoms that Jewish student groups enjoy.”

Continued on page 2.

Editorial

Feature

Addressing sexual harassment in academia

Why can’t women be ‘real fans’?

Arts How to masturbate on the down low

CAUT lifts censure over hiring scandal Lifting of censure marks end of yearlong controversy Hannah Carty Editor-in-Chief

On November 25, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Council officially lifted its censure of the University of Toronto over a hiring scandal that erupted in September 2020 at the Faculty of Law. The censure was imposed in April 2021 over concerns that U of T had violated its commitments to academic freedom.

Two months after pausing the censure in September 2021, the CAUT voted to officially lift it at its 91st council meeting. While the censure was in effect, the CAUT asked that its members boycott appointments and speaking engagements from U of T. Background of the censure In September 2020, controversy erupted after allegations surfaced that U of T rescinded a job offer to Dr. Valentina Azarova for the position of director of the Faculty of Law’s International Human Rights Program. Allegedly, the job offer was rescinded after a donor to the university complained about her writings on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The CAUT paused the censure in September after U of T re-offered the position to Azarova. The CAUT had listed re-offering the position as a major component of lifting the censure. Advocacy from U of T community members also demanded that the university re-offer the position to Azarova.

However, Azarova ultimately declined the offer, citing “important uncertainties that could not be resolved in the course of negotiations.”

CAUT lifts the censure The CAUT announced in a tweet that the censure has been lifted in “recognition of actions taken, including new language in uni [sic] policy to prevent donor influence.” In response to the allegations of donor interference, U of T has modified the Provostial Guidelines on Donations and all hiring staff have attended training sessions on donor relations.

CensureUofT, an advocacy group created in response to the censure, issued a statement following the announcement saying that the U of T administration has “downplayed the problem of donor interventions and has ignored calls for better collegial governance practices and administrative accountability.”

In an email to The Varsity, a spokesperson for U of T wrote that the decision is welcomed by the university and that it is “pleased that the underlying issues that led to the censure have been resolved.”

“With this difficult period now behind us, the University looks forward to bridging the divisions that emerged in our community during this controversy,” wrote the spokesperson.

U of T also thanked the CAUT for interacting with the university in a “thoughtful way” throughout this period.

2

THE VARSITY THE VARSITY NEWS THE VARSITY Vol. CXLII, No. 11 21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON M5S 1J6 (416) 946-7600 the.varsity

thevarsity.ca

the.varsity

thevarsitynewspaper

The Varsity

@TheVarsity

MASTHEAD Hannah Carty Editor-in-Chief Aditi Putcha Creative Director Tahmeed Shafiq Managing Editor Stephanie Bai Managing Online Editor

editor@thevarsity.ca creative@thevarsity.ca managing@thevarsity.ca online@thevarsity.ca

Sarah Kronenfeld Senior Copy Editor

copy@thevarsity.ca

Lauren Alexander News Editor

news@thevarsity.ca

Maya Morriswala Comment Editor

comment@thevarsity.ca

Sarah Folk Business & Labour Editor Jadine Ngan Features Editor

biz@thevarsity.ca features@thevarsity.ca

Alexa DiFrancesco Arts & Culture Editor

arts@thevarsity.ca

Khatchig Anteblian Science Editor

science@thevarsity.ca

Angad Deol Sports Editor

sports@thevarsity.ca

William Xiao Design Editor

makenam@thevarsity.ca

Caroline Bellamy Photo Editor

photos@thevarsity.ca

Abigail Dollries Video Editor

illustration@thevarsity.ca video@thevarsity.ca

Aaron Hong Front End Web Developer

aaronh@thevarsity.ca

Andrew Hong Back End Web Developer

andrewh@thevarsity.ca

Nawa Tahir Deputy Senior Copy Editor Marta Anielska Deputy News Editor

deputysce@thevarsity.ca deputynews@thevarsity.ca

Lexey Burns UTM Bureau Chief

utm@thevarsity.ca

Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

utsc@thevarsity.ca

Padraic Berting Graduate Bureau Chief

grad@thevarsity.ca

Vacant Public Editor

Response from U of T In Gertler’s statement about the motions, he wrote, “The motions are specifically focused on Israel in a way that is troubling to many members of the community.”

“It is not acceptable to impose political tests on the recognition of Jewish student groups on any of the University of Toronto campuses,” wrote Gertler.

He confirmed the university’s intention to follow up with the SCSU directly to address this issue.

U of T has not previously commented directly on unions’ BDS activities, but it has taken an antiBDS stance. In a 2016 interview with The Varsity, Gertler said that “We feel that it makes little sense to support the idea of boycotting interaction with an entire nation.”

In February, a ruling by the Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies on the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union found that the union had broken its own policies on the grounds of discrimination based on nationality by mandating that graduate students pay a BDS caucus levy fee. The UTGSU ignored the ruling, despite the possible risk of losing its funding.

A complimentary statement from UTSC VicePresident and Principal,Wisdom Tettey and VicePresident, People Strategy, Equity & Culture Kelly Hannah-Moffat expressed similar discontent to Gertler’s statement.

“In passing these motions, SCSU has not represented the best interests of all students at U of T

publiceditor@thevarsity.ca

Talha Anwar Chaudhry Associate Senior Copy Editor

Sky Kapoor Associate A&C Editor

Cedric Jiang, Elizabeth Shechtman Associate News Edtiors

Mekhi Quarshie, Audrey Miatello Associate Sports Editors

Shernise Mohammed-Ali, Nina Uzunović Associate Comment Editors

Janhavi Agarwal, Ana Pereira Associate B&L Editors

Alyanna Denise Chua, Rhea Jerath Associate Features Editors

Rebeca Moya, Jessica Lam Associate Illo Editors

Angel Hsieh, Mehrshad Babaei Associate Science Editors

Ehsan Etesami, Corrine Langmuir Associate Photo Editors

Lead Copy Editors Linda Chen, Julia Da Silva, Selena Ling, Mona Liu, Safiya Patel, Sanjaya Sritharan, Kiri Stockwood, Ajeetha Vithiyananthan, Grace Xu, Cherry Zhang Copy Editors Oluwatoyin Aina, Jerusha Alvares, Jonathan Blumenthal, Sidney Choi, Robert Guglielmin, Maxim Guschin, Anastasia Kasirye, Angie Lo, Maggie Ng, Erin Poon, Jessie Schwalb, Valerie Yao

BUSINESS OFFICE

Parmis Mehdiyar Business Manager

business@thevarsity.ca

Angelina Ouyang Business Associate

angelinao@thevarsity.ca

Ishir Wadwha ishirw@thevarsity.ca Advertising Executive

Mansi Premkumar mansip@thevarsity.ca Advertising Executive The Varsity is the University of Toronto’s largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2021 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

Scarborough and has set a dangerous precedent for future U of T Scarborough student union decisions,” wrote Tettey and Hannah-Moffat.

In the statement, they shared that UTSC has been working with the JSL throughout the year to increase Kosher offerings and to “determine how to further support Jewish students.” They also announced a plan to offer antisemitism training to all student leaders in January.

Response from the SCSU and the JSL In a statement to The Varsity, President Yardena Rosenblum thanked Gertler, Hannah-Moffat, and Tettey for acknowledging the “reprehensible, bigoted actions” taken by SCSU at the 2021 AGM. She continued, “The passing of these motions is an act of blatant antisemitism and must be addressed as such.”

Rosenblum hopes that the SCSU will reverse the motions after it has witnessed the response to them, and that any conversations between the university and the SCSU will include representation for Jewish students. The official statements from university representatives give the JSL hope, but, in order for the university to again be considered a “positive learning environment for Jewish students,” the JSL says that it is necessary that the university respond with actions.

In an email to The Varsity, Yardena Rosenblum wrote, “At the AGM, the SCSU took deliberate steps to differentiate between Jews whose

political views they approve of, and Jews whose views they oppose… We will not exclude students whose political views may differ from those of SCSU, and we hope we will continue to program events with community sponsors who support Israel.”

Fine, who wrote the motion to reaffirm Jewish students’ rights, shared Yardena Rosenblum’s frustration. He affirmed his support for peace in Palestine, but maintained his disapproval of the SCSU’s BDS policy, as it “blacklists organizations that fight for peace, but don’t share the SCSU executives preferred tactic (BDS).”

Abdillahi highlighted that the BDS policy and the motion to affirm Jewish students’ rights were passed by the union’s membership at the AGM, which she described as “the highest decision making body within the SCSU.” She added, “The policies and bylaws implemented by our membership are the guidelines we must follow to direct us in this work.”

She also mentioned that the BDS motion was passed by SCSU membership at the 2020 AGM. Following this commitment, “the SCSU spent the last year researching, developing and consulting with stakeholders on- and off- campus to develop a policy that would satisfy the will of the membership.” Abdillahi highlighted the language used in the policy as being “intentional” in providing guidelines without restricting students from “receiving necessary accommodations.”

UTGSU elects executive-at-large, approves yearly budget

williamx@thevarsity.ca

Makena Mwenda Design Editor

Andrea Zhao Illustration Editor

news@thevarsity.ca

Board restructuring proposal develops further, all executives submit monthly reports Padraic Berting Graduate Bureau Chief

The University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) General Council met virtually on November 23 for its monthly meeting. The council voted to elect Kirthika Shanmugham as the executive-at-large, approved the yearly budget, and further discussed the board restructuring proposal which is set to be finalized at the UTGSU Annual General Meeting on December 7.

Monthly reports At the October meeting, four executives had failed to submit their executive reports in time for them to be included in the board package. The General Council had passed a motion for both their October and November reports to be included in the November meeting package, and all four executives followed through on this commitment.

Additionally, all six executives spoke and gave a brief discussion on the work they had been up to over the last month.

Internal Commissioner Sarah Alam reported working on the ongoing UTGSU restructuring, which was discussed later in the meeting.

Academics and Funding Commissioner, Divisions 1 & 2 Dhanela Sivaparan said that she has been working with individual students on departmental issues such as grade appeals, and with U of T on opening more study spaces for graduate students.

University Governance Commissioner Lwanga Musisi’s written report went over a number of meetings he attended on topics like the University-Mandated Leave of Absence Policy (UMLAP).

An-Noûra Compaoré, civics and environment commissioner, talked about working with a number of campus groups on advocacy, such as LEAP U of T and the Community Liaison Committee.

External Commissioner Justin Patrick noted that he recently attended the Canadian Federation of Students National General Meeting on behalf of the UTGSU and was successful in putting forward a “number of amendments to increase some solidarity with student movements [and] student unions around the world.” He added that further details would be discussed at the December Annual General Meeting.

Finance Commissioner June Li noted that she has continued to work on getting student grants

The UTGSU pub.

SHANNA HUNTER/THEVARSITY

and bursaries operational. Li also mentioned that the Black Graduate Student Excellence Bursary is now live, and she encouraged students to get the word out to their colleagues.

Financial audit and 2021–2022 budget approval Li discussed the annual financial audit of the UTGSU, which was conducted by an independent auditor. In her words, the union passed with “flying colours.” When discussing the budget for the upcoming year, she noted that staff expenses went up by $10,000 due to the addition of a new staff member and that the union increased funding for the Women and Trans Peoples’ Caucus from $200 to $800. The General Council voted to approve the proposed budget for the 2021–2022 fiscal year.

Executive-at-Large election At the October meeting, no one ran for the executive-at-large position, and it remained vacant.

However, at this meeting, Shanmugham ran unopposed and was elected. Shanmugham is a masters of engineering student who had previously run for the role of external commissioner during the spring 2021 election, and is currently the chair of The Varsity’s Board of Directors.

She cited her experience on the Grad Life Advisory Committee and volunteer experiences

at organizations like the Centre for International Experience as reasons for running. Additionally, her speech emphasized her desire to conduct “frequent town hall meetings so that students feel that their voices are heard.” After a brief discussion, she was elected.

UTGSU board restructuring Later in the meeting, legal counsel Matthew Joseph proposed slight modifications to the board composition presented in July and October 2021.

In the previous meetings, the board’s proposed restructuring included equity-based seats such as a queer and trans student representative, a disabled students representative, and a racialized students representative, as well as others.

However, at this meeting, Joseph proposed two other options that removed the equity-based seats and instead distributed the number of seats across divisions. After a brief discussion, 23 members voted for the equity-based seats alternative and 25 voted for the distribution across divisions. Thus, the board selected the latter as the preferred option.

These changes will be finalized and discussed at greater length at the AGM on December 7.

Disclosure: Kirthika Shanmugham is the chair of The Varsity’s Board of Directors for the 2021–2022 term.

thevarsity.ca/section/news

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

OHRC criticizes U of T’s review of mandated leave policy

3

The Ontario Human Rights Commission logo.

COURTESY OF THE ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

University says policy follows human rights code Lauren Alexander News Editor

On November 8, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) sent a letter to U of T, criticizing the ongoing review of the University-Mandated Leave of Absence Policy (UMLAP) and laying out concerns the commission has with the policy.

This is not the first time the OHRC has taken a stand on the UMLAP. In 2018, it sent a letter that laid out a number of concerns it had with the policy, which it is now claiming have not been fully addressed.

At this week’s University Affairs Board meeting, members of U of T administration responded to the letter, claiming that the policy does in fact follow the Ontario Human Rights Code.

The UMLAP is a policy that allows the university to put a student on a leave of absence without academic penalty should it conclude that the student in question poses a threat of harm to themselves or others. The policy has been controversial since it was first instituted in 2018 and is currently under review. Although the review is ongoing, the preliminary recommendations for the policy are making their way to the Governing Council.

The OHRC’s concerns In a letter addressed to Brian D. Lawson, the chair of U of T’s Governing Council, and Trevor Young, U of T’s acting vice-president and provost, OHRC Chief Commissioner Patricia DeGuire explained a number of problems the OHRC has with the UMLAP review, which she wrote lacked “several key components” of a fair review.

DeGuire wrote that one big issue with the policy is that it does not explicitly require “objective evidence of risk” or advice from medical

professionals when administrators decide whether a student should be put on leave. The OHRC is also concerned that the policy allows the university to take away important services from students who are deemed a risk.

The letter laid out a few recommendations for the review. It also said the university should commission an external review of the policy conducted by an expert in mental health and human rights, and laid out a number of specific aspects of the policy the review should consider. U of T’s review is led by two U of T professors, though U of T said it hired an external expert to assist them.

The letter also emphasized that the review should use an intersectional lens and investigate how the policy affects students in different groups, such as racialized students or students with mental health disabilities. Furthermore, the letter recommends that the review examine how the UMLAP works in tandem with accessibility services to examine what barriers might exist for students accessing these services, and that it should ensure that student groups and student voices are included in the review process.

Initially, the OHRC was concerned that the UMLAP might fail to meet the Human Rights Code or the OHRC policy on ableism and discrimination based on disability, and therefore infringe on students’ rights. It also expressed concerns about the policy’s ability to take away services like housing and health and counselling from students who are put on leave.

Though U of T addressed some of these concerns, DeGuire further objected to a September 27 statement from Professor Donald Ainslie, who is running the UMLAP review. In the statement, Ainslie claimed that the university had addressed all of the OHRC’s concerns about the policy before it was passed in 2018.

UTMSU reports substantial savings in 2021 because of campus closures AGM acknowledges successful events, programs despite pandemic Lexey Burns UTM Bureau Chief

On November 23, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) held its 2021 annual general meeting (AGM). These meetings are held annually to go over executive reports on the past year’s achievements and financial audits from the UTMSU and the Blind Duck Pub. Once it was confirmed that the meeting had reached quorum, the AGM was called to order.

It began with the approval of the 2020 AGM’s minutes. Corey Scott was approved as speaker for the meeting. Scott said he has taken a number of chairing opportunities at the UTMSU before.

President Mitra Yakubi gave the president’s address, which was a reflection on the past year.

“Throughout [the COVID-19 pandemic], the UTMSU has continued to host interactive online and in-person events, new and improved saving services and crucial advocacy to address the difficulties of being a [postsecondary student],” she said. “Together, we made so many positive changes on this campus and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

Yakubi said that the UTMSU is excited to continue advocating for UTM students and to overcome obstacles “to make students’ lives better.”

Financial audit reports Wei Lai, the UTMSU’s vice-president internal, went over the UTMSU and Blind Duck Pub’s financial audits from the 2020–2021 fiscal year. The Blind Duck received government assistance in the form

of a subsidy to balance out the 83 per cent drop in gross profit it saw from $229,851 in 2020 to $39,392 in 2021. Other factors pointed out in the financial statements were the alcohol money management fee — the Blind Duck is the only alcohol distribution service on campus — and an increase in the student levy.

According to the UTMSU audit, the union’s total assets increased by $2 million, which Lai explained was due to two factors. The first is the health and dental plan, as the plan accrued interest over the summer. The second reason was the lower Student Center expenses. The Student Center had fewer activities last year, so it did not spend as much on maintenance and student social events.

The info booth also dropped as an expenditure as it was not open. The UTMSU didn’t offer as many discounted tickets for students to movies and other events as they usually do, due to the pandemic, and the photocopy expenditure also dropped due to the UTMSU’s shift to an online format.

Lai said that many clubs did not pick up their funding cheques, which allowed clubs fees to decrease by 73 per cent from $73,130 to $19,494.

The UTMSU gave out almost $30,000 worth of gift cards to help bump up student engagement over the pandemic. Moreover, the Duck Stop, UTM’s convenience store, was only open for one and a half months over the entire fiscal year. Many of the commodities expired and they could not be sold at a later date.

Attendees voted to pass the two financial audit reports.

“This statement is not accurate, as the OHRC continued to have concerns with the revised version of the UMLAP, which was ultimately approved,” responded DeGuire.

“The OHRC appreciates that the University of Toronto has posted the OHRC letter, as well as the University of Toronto reply, on its student consultation website so that the correspondence contributes to an open dialogue on the policy.” wrote Adewonuola Johnson, the OHRC’s issues and media relations officer, in an email to The Varsity. “The OHRC is reviewing the University of Toronto’s response and has no further comments.”

Responses from the administration At the University Affairs Board meeting, Vice-Provost, Students Sandy Welsh said that, following the 2018 letter, “the university obtained expert external legal review of the draft policy by someone with an expertise in human rights and our obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code, and we believe the current policy is fully compliant.” She added that there are, however, areas where the policy can be revised, and that the university will “carefully consider” the review’s recommendations.

In a response to the OHRC letter, Young wrote Executive reports In their executive reports, the UTMSU executives gave updates on a number of the union’s campaigns and initiatives.

Yakubi talked about the “My Mental Health Matters” campaign, a larger campaign that the union has been working on. To continue with this campaign and celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week, programming started on November 24 and featured panels, game nights, a destressor scavenger hunt, and zumba throughout the week.

Yakubi also talked about the Safe Return to Campus campaign, saying that its goal is “to ensure that that return is gradual, and it is one that doesn’t leave anybody behind.”

Yakubi highlighted the UTMSU’s email zap where students have sent over 2,000 emails to U of T administration. The UTMSU also met with the principal and dean “to discuss students’ [concerns] regarding the general return back to campus.”

Yakubi also went over all the services provided by the UTMSU, including the Blind Duck, the Duck Stop, the Health and Dental Plan, and the Peer Mental Health Support program.

Yakubi mentioned that the UTMSU purchased new patio furniture as part of the Student Center renovations for the Blind Duck. The Health and Dental Plan increased vision coverage and issued refunds for students outside of Canada. Yakubi added that the Peer Support Centre is open for students to use during the winter semester.

Maëlis Barre, vice-president external, discussed the UTMSU’s campaign that advocates for fairness for international students. Barre said these students “deserve free and accessible education” and “don’t deserve to be treated like cash cows by our institutions.”

Ryan Tomlinson, the UTMSU’s vice-president equity, brought up the United for Equity campaign, where the UTMSU “aims to challenge all forms of discrimination and oppression on our campus, as well as in our communities and in student organizing spaces as well.”

The UTMSU created an equity handbook “to support and educate students on equity topics.”

that before the UMLAP was established in 2018, the university addressed the OHRC’s concerns about the policy.

“Although the Policy is deployed rarely, it provides important protections for students – including facilitating the provision of services and supports to enhance opportunities for affected students to be successful in their university education,” wrote Young. He emphasized that students who are put on leave still have access to campus services, and are assigned a Case Manager and Student Support Team, which includes a licensed psychiatrist. He also gave an outline of how the review has been conducted so far.

Jamie Kearns, the president of the Association of Part-Time Graduate Students, spoke at the meeting to criticize Young’s response to the OHRC letter.

“We feel that the reply is inadequate, as it does not meaningfully address the concerns raised by the OHRC,” said Kearns. They called for an extension of the review process to allow for a more thorough review, and said the university should reach out to the OHRC to get a recommendation for external reviewers who could look at the policy.

The Varsity has reached out to the UTSU and the UTMSU for comment.

— With files from Elizabeth Shechtman.

The handbook also contains numerous equity resources at UTM and beyond.

The UTMSU also introduced closed spaces where students can express their thoughts and experiences about being marginalized by institutions and societies, and provided ways to address these issues. The UTMSU has held three of these closed spaces so far. It has also hosted a seminar series titled Learning and Unlearning Sustainability, with different guest speakers. Tomlinson talked about Queer Orientation, which included three different events, including Mocktails and Tye-Dye and an LGBTQ+ townhall. He highlighted Indigenous History Month and Pride Month, both of which included multiple events. He also talked about the $100,000 worth of bursaries that the UTMSU distributed to students, and the food center where students can access alternative healthy food and hygiene projects.

Tarwah Afrah, the UTMSU’s vice-president campus life, went over this past year’s orientation, which was called CYBER21 and had both online and in-person events. Afrah also talked about Sauga Fest, which gave campus groups the opportunity to set up tables and do recruiting — something that hadn’t been possible since the beginning of the pandemic.

Merica Joy Carlos, vice-president university affairs, talked about Academic Advocacy Week, which was celebrated with an in-person barbeque event called “Oh My Grill” and other exam destressors.

Lai discussed the Job Readiness Support program, which gives students the opportunity to network and work on job skills like resume and cover letter writing and mock interviews.

The program also offers a new service where students can get professional headshots taken, along with free tax billing services. Yakubi ended the reports by highlighting the Textbook Exchange program where students can exchange textbooks that they don’t need anymore for textbooks that they do need, the Health and Wellness program, and a gym rental service that will be available in January.

4

THE VARSITY

news@thevarsity.ca

NEWS

Four students put on mandated leave Ghaith Hanbali of absence in 2020–2021 school year appointed as SCSU viceAnnual report on UMLAP compiled as policy review continues president operations responded to these criticisms at a recent meeting of the University Affairs Board, claiming that the policy does adhere to the code.

JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

Elizabeth Shechtman Associate News Editor

The annual report for the UniversityMandated Leave of Absence Policy (UMLAP) revealed that in the 2020– 2021 academic year, the policy was used to put four students on mandated leave. This is an increase by three cases from the 2019–2020 year, when only one student was put on mandated leave.

Background Approved in 2018, the UMLAP is a controversial policy that allows the university to put students on a mandated leave without academic penalty if they exhibit dangerous behaviour toward themselves or others. Since it was originally

implemented, it has continued to receive backlash and criticism both from members of the U of T community and from other groups such as the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

When the UMLAP was approved by the Governing Council in July 2018, the Council decided that the policy must be reviewed three years after its implementation. This review is still ongoing, though the initial recommendations are working their way to the Governing Council.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently sent a letter to U of T criticizing the policy, saying that it fails to meet the parameters of the Ontario Human Rights Code, among other criticisms. The university

Report “During the 2020–2021 academic year, the four cases that went forward under the Policy, involved significant concern for the student’s mental health and well-being and safety risks to others, resulting in a direct response from the University,” reads the report.

Since the policy was implemented, it has been used 11 times in total. As of July 1, 2021, five of the students who were put on mandated leave since the creation of the policy are still on leave. The report notes that two of the students who went on leave in the 2020–2021 school year have returned to their studies.

The policy includes “a full tuition refund for the courses the student was enrolled in, deferring exams, [and] late withdrawals without academic penalty.” The policy also requires the university to conduct continued risk assessments and an ongoing review of status and progress for every student on mandated leave by the vice-provost students and student support team.

Although many members of the U of T community have criticized the policy, the report notes that the policy “is to be considered in very rare situations where there is serious concerning behaviour.”

Hanbali shares his goals for his new role Syeda Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

Ghaith Hanbali has been appointed as Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) vice-president operations following the resignation of the former vice-president operations, Andy Mai. Hanbali is a fifth-year student specializing in political science and minoring in public law and public policy.

In an interview with The Varsity, Hanbali shared his goals for this position, and the prior experiences that have prepared him for it. Previously, he served as the president and secretary general of both the Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine and the University of Toronto Scarborough Model United Nations.

Hanbali said he was also the finance and sponsorship executive for Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine, as well as the internal coordinator for Model United Nations. Due to the experience he acquired from these positions, Hanbali is comfortable coordinating with sponsors and managing budgets as the SCSU’s vicepresident operations.

Hanbali said that when the vice-president operations position became available, he felt that “it [was] the next logical step to take [his] student leadership at least

to a broader audience and broader impact on the student community.”

As the SCSU’s vice-president operations, Hanbali hopes to “reignite the strong sense of community on campus,” as he feels that the pandemic has caused this sense of community to drift away. “We need to… ease the minds of students coming back to campus that are concerned for their health and to make sure that all our events are according to health regulations,” he said.

Ghaith Hanbali.

COURTESY OF GHAITH HANBALI

SCSU executive pay increased to $19 per hour at AGM Audit reveals nearly $1 million surplus in 2021 Syeda Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 24.

During the meeting, attendees voted to increase SCSU executives’ pay to $19 per hour. They were also presented with executives’ reports and an audit report.

Changes to honorarium, remuneration policy A motion to increase the remuneration paid to SCSU executives was approved at the meeting. Currently, the vice-presidents are paid $13.53 per hour and the president is paid $14.76 per hour. According to the motion, executive pay would increase to $19 per hour for all executives, and executives may be paid for up to a maximum of 40 hours per week.

President Sarah Abdillahi explained that the rationale for these changes stems from the SCSU’s advocacy for a basic living income. She said that, after researching the remuneration norms among student unions in the GTA, they discovered that most unions pay their executives $19 per hour. “We would want [the SCSU’s

pay] to be similar to what our counterparts at other student unions are getting paid as well,” she said.

The University of Toronto Students’ Union made a similar change in 2020, increasing its executive pay to $19 an hour.

Speaking against the motion, UTSC Jewish Student Life President Yardena Rosenblum expressed concerns with the SCSU increasing its wages without any promise that the executives will put in any additional work to deserve the increase.

On the other hand, UTSC student Marielle Moraleja remarked that “knowing that other student unions get paid $19 an hour,” the SCSU executives “deserve it as well.”

Another policy was also passed that financially compensates members of the SCSU board of directors for their work. The directors, having fulfilled their responsibilities for the entirety of their terms, will receive a $500 honorarium “for their service to the UTSC student body.”

Abdillahi, in her motivation for the honorarium policy motion, talked about how the SCSU acknowledges the work that the directors put in to represent and advocate for their constituencies. Abdillahi added that

The SCSU offices.

MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY

the policy also holds the directors accountable for the amount of work they contribute to their constituency since the directors’ honoraria will be proportional to the degree to which they fulfill their responsibilities. “So, if the [director] puts in 75 per cent of the hours of the responsibilities… then they would be receiving 75 per cent of the [set honorarium],” she explained.

Audit report According to the report on the union’s audited financial statements, the SCSU saw a slight decrease in its revenues and expenses in 2021

as compared to its revenues and expenses in 2020. The SCSU’s revenues dropped two per cent from 2020 to $6.6 million in 2021.

Expenses dropped by 8 per cent from 2020 to $5.7 million in 2021.

This left the SCSU with a surplus of over $981,000 for the year of 2021, a 120 per cent increase from the 2020 surplus.

The SCSU’s net assets at the end of its term also increased by 35 per cent, to $3.8 million in 2021.

Executive reports Vice-President Academics and University Affairs Rimsha Rahman

provided updates on the Education For All Campaign. She explained that, as part of this campaign, the SCSU is a stakeholder in the external consultations that are taking place to expand the credit/no credit policy, and that the executives will have an update on this matter in December 2021.

Another victory for this campaign has been the acceptance of the selfdiagnosed sick notes through Acorn.

“Self-declared sick notes through Acorn will now be a permanent measure and students are not required to seek other documentation if they use this tool,” said Rahman.

thevarsity.ca/section/news

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

5

UC to create six new scholarships for Indigenous students Report on Truth and Reconciliation follows up on 2019 recommendations Lexey Burns UTM Bureau Chief

University College (UC) has recently released an update on its progress on Truth and Reconciliation. The report follows up on the changes called for in a report from the Committee Responding to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was published in November 2019.

The report recommends that, two years from now, a new follow-up report be released to update the community on UC’s progress on the recommendations.

The University College Literary and Athletic Society plans to hold a forum to discuss the report on December 2, and has invited the community to share what they believe truth and reconciliation should look like at UC. Recommendations regarding space A few recommendations in the report addressed the physical space in and around UC. UC Principal Markus Stock has requested a revision to the two historical plaques in front of the main UC building. The revision will add acknowledgement of Indigenous history to the inscriptions on the plaques. The historical society in charge of the plaques has agreed to the change but it has not given a timeline for when the revision will be completed. Stock plans to regularly follow up on the progress of revising the signs.

The report also proposes the creation of signage within the main UC building that acknowledges the presence of Indigenous peoples and communities that UC resides on.

Another recommendation is that UC create a smudging space. Due to the age and

infrastructure of the main UC building, it cannot include a smudging room in the renovations of the Clark Reading Room or the Paul Cadario Conference Centre in Croft Chapter House. UC will continue to consider other possible locations for the smudging site in upcoming renovations to the UC Building and the UC Union Building.

The UC Library was not included in the original report, but the follow-up highlights some new initiatives for it. These initiatives included actively acquiring a mix of fiction and non-fiction books by Indigenous authors, opting to prioritize purchasing books from Indigenous booksellers, and engaging in outreach activities to promote the Indigenous authors and topics collection in UC. Scholarships and fundraising UC will also establish new scholarships and, according to the report, “amend the terms of preexisting scholarships to prioritize… Indigenous and Black students.”

In the summer of 2021, the Academic Advising and Registrar’s Office (AARO) began to offer financial outreach and support to Indigenous students studying during the summer term.

The next steps for the AARO include continuing to focus on financial initiatives and funding opportunities that can benefit Indigenous students, as well as meeting with the Office of the Dean of Students to discuss the process and practicality of establishing a UC mentorship program for Indigenous students.

Some of the new scholarships that prioritize Indigenous students include the Arriba Travel Award for Cognitive Science, the Indigenous Academic Excellence Award, and the Mary Elson Scholarship. There are other scholarships currently going through governance for approval that will be expected in 2022, including the

The report recommends a follow-up in two years.

TINA ZHOU/THEVARSITY

Fletcher-Clark Scholarships for Science and Economics, and the Marjorie Reynolds Scholarship for Indigenous Students.

UC is also exploring the feasibility of establishing a mentorship program for Indigenous students or an Indigenous Living Learning Community. Other initiatives, such as orientation week activities, may be put in effect in consultation with First Nations House.

The Office of Advancement also has “Indigenous Education” as one of its four themes for the UC fundraising campaign’s priorities.

Fundraising staff will ensure that Indigenous students’ needs are prioritized when reaching out to potential donors. Some of the funding

UC has already raised has been put into the previously mentioned scholarships.

Additionally, the Office of Advancement “has organized communications initiatives focused on Indigenous topics, engaging Indigenous writers and artists for content creation when possible,” reads the report.

Further recommendations in the report include new considerations for course curricula. The report suggests that UC consider making an Indigenous Studies course be required for the Canadian Studies program. It also suggests delving into research on land-based pedagogies, with special consideration to the UC One: Engaging Toronto.

U of T clubs having issues finding space around campus for meetings, events Student Commons, other spaces slowly opening up for club bookings Elizabeth Shechtman Associate News Editor

With the return to in-person campus activities, clubs and extracurricular events have been having a difficult time finding open spaces around campus to hold different events and meetings. Due to COVID-19, many spots at U of T are unavailable for club use and many spaces have capacity limits as well.

Finding space on campus Many groups, including the West Indian Students’ Association (WISA), have expressed that they’ve had difficulty finding spaces.

According to a spokesperson for WISA, “Trouble with finding event spaces on campus has limited the opportunity for members of WISA to interact with each other on a regular basis.”

The spokesperson wrote that the group held one in-person event this year, which took place outside with other COVID-19 safety protocols.

However, holding events outside is no longer possible now that the weather has gotten colder.

“Prior to the pandemic, students would have the opportunity to attend in-person club events where they could meet other likeminded students and students that are part of their community,” wrote the spokesperson.

“Unfortunately, with a lot of classes being online today, this further limits the number of opportunities for club members to really interact.”

They further suggested that U of T could allow clubs to use larger, empty classrooms on

campus. The group has not yet been able to obtain permission from U of T to do so.

Another group that had trouble finding spaces is the Society of Undergraduate Drama Students (SUDS). In an email to The Varsity, President Cass Iacovelli described the difficulties and hardships the SUDS had encountered as a club that depends on physical meetings. “Without space, making theatre is nearly impossible.

Drama needs spaces to create, perform, and do pretty much anything,” they said.

Iacovelli wrote that having practical experience is important for students looking to pursue theatre after university, and that lacking this experience sets students back when they’re looking for jobs. “The theatre spaces on campus also give us [access] to learning technical skills like lighting, sound engineering, and design as well as mentors in theatre staff,” wrote Iacovelli.

Although the SUDS has managed to find a few solutions by moving off-campus, it has been financially difficult. Iacovelli hopes that the university will keep its COVID-19 policies in place while still allowing student groups to access physical spaces.

A spokesperson for the university wrote in an email to The Varsity, “We know from discussions with student leaders that the need for student spaces is a concern. As we plan for increased in-person activity this fall our first priority is to provide space for teaching and learning and for that reason the centrally shared classroom, auditorium and indoor common spaces on the St. George Campus have not been available.”

Spaces on campus The 21 Sussex Clubhouse typically provides

FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY

over 50 clubs and student groups with office space, but the space is not fully available due to the pandemic. According to Student Life of Clubs and Leadership Development, “space is granted annually to selected recognized campus groups through an application process governed by the Student Activity Space Committee.”

Another space that has been closed is the Campus Life Resource Lounge, which is also located at 21 Sussex. Student Life describes the spot as “a place for student leaders to meet, eat their lunch, read a book, or simply relax between classes and meetings,” with meeting spaces and equipment for charging devices.

This place is typically used by student leaders and members of recognized campus groups and clubs.

According to the U of T spokesperson, some space is currently available to student groups at Hart House, New College, the UTSU Student Commons and any federated colleges at the St. George campus. Student groups at UTM were told by Ulife to contact the Centre for Student

Engagement in order to book space. For space bookings at UTSC, students are able to get in touch with the Office of Student Experience and Wellbeing, as well as the SCSU. The U of T spokesperson noted that “UTSC is working closely with Environmental Health & Safety to review all plans for on-campus events and activities prior to them commencing.”

Any recognized campus groups may book spaces. To make a booking, the contact person for the group listed with Ulife must fill out a Facilities Request Form. The signed form must then be submitted through an online portal.

Any booking requests must be made at least five business days before the date. To cancel, the contact person has to notify Academic and Campus events at least three business days before the date; failure to do so will result in charges for the space.

“We continue to look at what is possible under existing provincial regulations and are working with faculties and divisions to make more space available,” wrote the U of T spokesperson to The Varsity.

Business & Labour

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/business biz@thevarsity.ca

Looking back on a year of entrepreneurship at U of T UTE 2021 Annual Entrepreneurship Report on program highlights, new initiatives to EDI, French said, “[UTE is] just getting started.”

Adam Chabchoub Varsity Contributor

Last month, U of T Entrepreneurship (UTE) released its annual report for 2020–2021. In an interview with The Varsity, UTE Director Jon French addressed many aspects of the report, such as UTE’s initiatives and events that took place in 2021, as well as its goals for the future.

Report highlights The report covers many entrepreneurial activities that address pressing social issues such as climate change and health care, as well as other smaller issues. French noted that most of UTE’s pressing initiatives for social change have been mainly student-led.

“A lot of the time, the students or the entrepreneurs themselves are often able to steer which social issues or which topics the accelerators in the U of T entrepreneurial community focus on,” said French.

This year, UTE also placed a lot of emphasis on intellectual property (IP) and IP education. UTE provided a free education program on how students could maneuver through the entrepreneurship world without violating any IP concerns while also knowing their own rights.

Getting involved The new UTE website is the best way for students to get involved in entrepreneurship. This website is designed to streamline entrepreneurial activities, regardless of whether you’re a student, faculty member, entrepreneur, investor, or anyone else in the business sphere.

According to French, it is “the largest startup board for universities in the world,” and hundreds of initiatives and startups are posted on it for students to access and gain information about.

“There is no wrong door in the ecosystem and in the entrepreneurial community” when it comes to getting involved, said French. Some great ways

JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

to get started include talking to specific faculties or campuses to seek out opportunities they’re offering or events they’re holding, and to explore unique initiatives offered around campus such as The Hatchery at U of T Engineering or the entrepreneurship librarians.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion within UTE UTE is dedicated to incorporating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies in many of its initiatives to celebrate different voices in the entrepreneurship community within U of T. The Black Founders Network is an initiative launched in October 2021 that supports current Black entrepreneurs and Black students aiming to start out their entrepreneurship journey by providing them with necessary support. The support the Black Founders Network provides includes

access to capital, programming, and a community of peers, mentors, and allies.

FemStem is a UTE-led initiative with The Temerty Faculty of Medicine that is designed to encourage women and women-led startups in the life science and health science space. Many other initiatives are happening across the three U of T campuses, such as Pitch with a Twist, which is an initiative from ICUBE at UTM. The Cassel Fourlines Women in Entrepreneurship Fund, also presented by UTE ,supports various initiatives for women entrepreneurs.

One of the many other EDI initiatives discussed in the annual report was the Redbird Circle, an Indigenous entrepreneurship pilot program run out of UTM and led by Indigenous leaders.

UTE aims to explore even more EDI initiatives in coming years and make the entrepreneurship community more welcoming and diverse. When it comes

Looking toward the future “The general perspective from U of T entrepreneurship is that there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur,” said French. Many of the prospective goals and events that UTE has planned for the future will provide excellent opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs.

UTE’s entrepreneurship week, which will run from March 7–11 in 2022, provides many exciting events for young entrepreneurs. One of the main events is the UTE startup prize pitch competition, where selected competitors will showcase their business ideas to a panel of judges and compete for a series of prizes. The pitch competition includes over $60,000 in nondilutive prize money for competitors and a special social impact prize of $10,000.

Entrepreneurship week also features a screening of “Coded Bias,” a film about artificial intelligence and how algorithms may work in a negative way to disadvantage underrepresented minorities.

UTE is also excited to introduce the SchwartzReisman Innovation Campus, a new 750,000 square feet innovation space being constructed on the St. George campus that will act as the new home for UTE starting in 2023. This space is predicted to become a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation within Toronto and Canada as a whole.

When it opens, this space will be a “vibrant, incredible, inclusive and welcoming space for anyone that’s excited about startups and entrepreneurship across U of T’s tri-campus,” said French.

Furthermore, this space is also going to be the new home to the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which, French added, will “help consolidate Toronto’s leading position in the AI world.”

Entrepreneurship at U of T keeps growing, and the possibilities for advancement and innovation are endless. UTE provides countless opportunities for students to get involved.

Third-year Rotman Commerce student, her sister sign with a podcast network The Business Casual podcast aims to help young women in the business world Maggie Ng Varsity Staff

In less than a year and a half, Stacey Speranza, a third-year student at the University of Toronto, and her sister Marianna Speranza, a senior at The Country Day School, were able to start their podcast and then get signed to a podcast network. What motivated the pair to start this platform? The lack of perspectives and mentorship from women in the business world.

An open conversation Stacey is the host and co-founder of The Business Casual, where she finds and interviews incredible guests. Marianna is the podcast’s creative director: she manages the postproduction stage of editing the podcast, creates graphics for their social media accounts, and much more.

The Business Casual is an interview-based podcast, focused on helping girls around the world grow both professionally and personally.

In an interview with The Varsity, Stacey said that the sisters’ goal for their podcast is to “provide mentorship, provide a space to highlight female trailblazers and to really showcase that there are so many careers out there. And [to] really

promote finding a career that you truly enjoy doing, regardless of what that career is.” They have interviewed numerous women trailblazers in multiple industries and covered topics ranging from nonfungible tokens to imposter syndrome.

In March 2020, Stacey had a meeting with a career advisor, where she first got the idea of starting a podcast. The pandemic has isolated many individuals over the past two years, but it has also given many people more free time.

Stacey reflected on her first-year experiences at the University of Toronto and realized that she lacked mentorship in a university with thousands of students and countless opportunities.

“There was a huge gap between finding mentors and advice and finding different career paths from the perspective of a young female,” Stacey said. Seeing this as something she could solve, Stacey pitched her podcast idea to her sister, Marianna. Soon after, they established their podcast, and they aired their first episode on July 4, 2020.

Signing with a podcast network As of October 2021, The Business Casual is officially signed with GreenFresh Media, a podcast network and marketing company. Stacey and Marianna believe that GreenFresh Media saw and understood their vision.

“GreenFresh Media is a network for podcasts and podcast listeners. So they never really made it about them. It was always about what our brand [and] our vision was about,” said Stacey. With the

network’s additional help, Stacey believes that she and Marianna can really focus on creating content that is even more engaging for their listeners.

This is a huge step in their journey, and just one of the many goals that the pair had for their podcast. In the future, they would love to extend their efforts to their community. “As our audience continues to grow, [we want] to continue to promote philanthropy and working with community organizations, and also continue to give back to our community with the greater platform we have,” Stacey said. In December 2020, the Speranza sisters helped fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Society of York Region, raising over $4,000 for the cause.

As of right now, Stacey said their next steps are “finding a more effective way to connect [women] industry leaders with young professionals.”

Embracing an entrepreneurial spirit Stacey has always been someone who loves engaging in conversations with other people. “I’m definitely a people person. I just love people. I love working in teams, [and I] love working in groups.”

This could be attributed to the fact that she is surrounded by family members who are entrepreneurs themselves. “I had the pleasure of watching my grandfather, my mom, and my dad be very entrepreneurial, and start their own businesses or run their own business,” Stacey explained. This, in turn, has motivated her to study business herself.

Stacey is doing a specialist in management with a minor in economics at UTSG’s Rotman

Stacey (right) and Marianna Speranza (left) started The Business Casual podcast to offer perspectives from women on the business world.

COURTESY OF ROSANNA U PHOTOGRAPHY

Commerce program. She has been a part of numerous extracurriculars and was a marketing intern at Nestlé. Stacey plans on working for a corporation before eventually starting her own business.

Even for someone as social and entrepreneurial as Stacey, being a co-founder of The Business Casual was a daunting and scary task. She wants to encourage others who are apprehensive about what their next steps should be. “Nothing you ever start is going to be perfect. So you just got to start it and see where it ends up. And you also never know where an opportunity or where a relationship can lead or what doors it can open,” she said.

The Business Casual is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Comment

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

The U of T subreddit is a negative echo chamber Users of U of T’s subreddit are subscribing to a shared narrative that normalizes misery James Jiang Comment Columnist

On campus, engaging in student life has recently felt like being on cloud nine. After about a year and a half of closure, the excitement of university — of in-person classes, new friends, and brown truck poutine — has engulfed U of T’s streets.

However, this positive feeling does not exist everywhere. Our digital campus — the University of Toronto’s subreddit — has been a swirling storm of miserable and depressed students.

Here are titles that have headlined some popular posts on the subreddit in the past month: “Feeling lost, mental health is getting worse with each day,” “Mental health deteriorating,” “I am a failure, feel like such a loser and don’t know what to do…” and “I’m so lonely it physically hurts … any advice?”

Whenever you log onto the subreddit, you open dangerous floodgates from which gush out a flash flood of these posts.

For redditors who frequent the forum, this pattern is normal. A post about depression and anxiety is just another grain of sand on the beach.

The U of T subreddit is an echo chamber.

Just like on other forms of social media, some groups are vocal and some are quiet. In the subreddit’s case, the vocal group consists of students who constantly badmouth U of T and post about their poor mental health and cutthroat academic policies.

In this closed social media chamber, beliefs and ideas are amplified as they are echoed by its users. It is a toxic, pernicious cycle that restricts different perspectives, favouring the formation of a negative shared narrative by like-minded U of T students. These students desire to wallow in their problems as a group, because any pain becomes lighter when shared communally.

However, the shared narrative they create is dangerous. For prospective students, firstyears, and anyone else who has yet to be on campus, the subreddit can cause panic. They may plunge deeper and deeper into a pit of anxiety and doubt where they keep secondguessing whether or not U of T is the right choice for them.

The negativity also frames the idea that misery among U of T students is something normal. However, this is completely mistaken — being miserable is not representative of the U of T experience, nor is being mentally broken a requirement for a U of T degree.

While the U of T redditors are certainly entitled to their opinions, everyone needs to remember that the subreddit does not represent all U of T students.

The subreddit works similarly to what happens when grades for an exam or essay are released. We have all experienced how,

after marks are finally posted, classmates talk about their grades with one another, especially in group chats. Whether these discussions be on Discord, Messenger, or WhatsApp, there are always those extremely vocal students who announce their grades and make selfdeprecating jokes about how they expected to get a worse mark.

However, you seldom hear from the top scorers: they keep quiet and stay to themselves.

The same can be said about the U of T subreddit. Though they may not be as vocal, many U of T students love their school.

Of course, students are not lying when they write about their deteriorating mental health and academic troubles. There is no denying that some students are struggling and truly in need of help. These students certainly may head to Reddit with their difficulties. Nothing is unreasonable in this narrative. This is an easy concession to make, for U of T is known to CHERYL NONG/THEVARSITY

be academically rigorous, and its students are known to deal with schedules they feel to be cutthroat.

I am not trying to trivialize any students’ problems. Rather, I am spotlighting how the subreddit normalizes these problems and breeds negativity among its almost 80,000 members.

I guess it is easy for jaded students behind burner accounts to say the subreddit is normal, healthy, and representative. But when you have bonded with your classmates after experiencing your first ever in-person midterm; when you have studied at Robarts Library until closing while your friends sat across from you; when you have walked the streets of downtown Toronto and felt the city life moving around you; when you have laughed at how enormously huge the brown truck’s poutine portions are and watched gravy come out of your friend’s nose; when you have finally realized that you are living your best years with your best friends, and say to yourself that you would not choose any other institution in the world — at that point, you will understand why I find it so difficult to tolerate the subreddit.

As a breeding ground for negativity, the U of T subreddit drowns out the positive aspect of the school. If you pay a visit to the University of British Columbia or Ryerson University subreddits, you will realize how miserable U of T’s is in comparison. Like their digital campuses, our subreddit should be swirling with funny memes, words of encouragement, and optimism. Students should flood the subreddit with positivity, in the same way that they currently flood it with negativity. It should be a reflection of both the negative and positive parts of U of T — an authentic representation of the complete U of T experience.

James Jiang is a second-year political science and writing & rhetoric student at Trinity College.

UTSC commuter students not ready to return to campus Overcrowding, lack of improvements to TTC service make commuting difficult Anika Munir Varsity Contributor

I can still remember standing at Kennedy station waiting for the 905 Eglinton East Express bus to appear on early cold mornings in January 2020. I would take the train west toward Kennedy, the primary TTC station that connects Scarborough to the rest of the city.

While waiting for the bus to appear on winter mornings, I would notice how eager students were to get to school. Individuals would be rushing into Kennedy station, exiting buses, pushing through the crowds, and trying to reach the train. Some were trying to depart from Scarborough to enter other parts of the city, and many were coming into Scarborough.

From Kennedy station, students had one bus option to get to school: the 905 Eglinton East bus. Students attending UTSC, Centennial College, and a few local high schools — as well as some community residents — would all compete for the best seats on the bus. The buses became overcrowded.

Major commuting concerns Throughout the pandemic, the TTC implemented dedicated bus lanes for popular bus corridors around the city. Fortunately, one of those bus corridors was the 905 Eglinton East bus route.

Even during the pandemic, this route played an essential role in ridership around Scarborough.

After months of having this dedicated bus lane

in Scarborough, it was found that the bus route reduced the travel time by two to five minutes on average.

If the 905 Eglinton East dedicated bus lane continues to exist in Scarborough, it would help UTSC students return to campus this January.

It could allow them to get to school with faster and more reliable commute times. Before the dedicated bus lane, students like me would be waiting on the bus to get through traffic, which would lead to the bus ride being very long and exhausting. I believe students deserve to commute to school without feeling exhausted before they reach campus.

However, many students may not be ready to return to campus. Improvements have been made — like the dedicated bus lane — but there are still many other issues that students will have to face when commuting to school.

UTSC students are primarily concerned about the Scarborough RT, also known as the SRT or TTC Line 3. The SRT faces service issues because it cannot handle the snowfall during the winter months. This may cause commuter students to face delays and to have to look for shuttle buses, which can cause more issues. Furthermore, the TTC is not shutting down the SRT to build a new extension until 2023, meaning this issue will remain unfixed for a while.

Another concern is the TTC’s staffing shortages and service changes due to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. There have been more than

50 routes impacted across the city, and the 38 Highland Creek bus, which connects many UTSC students to campus, is facing service shortages. If this matter is not resolved, UTSC commuters will have to wait for buses longer in the winter.

Some non-UTSC students may wonder why we cannot just drive to school instead of taking public transit. Well, the reality is that student parking can cost quite a bit, and a yearly parking pass is about $955.59. Many students can save more money by using public transportation.

How UTSC students can make their commute easier Returning to school will not be easy for students like me who commute to UTSC. Many of us have found comfort during the pandemic in saving that hour of commuting to do other tasks like studying, working out, or relaxing.

However, it is important to remember the things that in-person learning provided us with. It allowed students to connect with professors, make friends, ask questions, and take part in fun activities.

If you or your friends have access to a car, consider carpooling, which will allow you to not only split the cost of a parking pass but also socialize with friends prior to classes.

However, if you must take public transit, try to avoid rush hour and pick a time when there are fewer passengers. This way, you can enjoy

the long ride with a seat and not feel like it is a competition to get on the bus. Try to make a friend as well so that you can socialize with someone on the commute, which can make the trip go by faster.

Also, while there is nothing wrong with sleeping on a bus, I recommend that you sleep earlier on days when you are aware you have to be at school early. This will make you feel less exhausted and ready to combat the long commute.

Finally, many transit issues persist in Scarborough, impacting commuting. An advocacy group called TTCriders advocates for better transit and has been urging the government for better transit in Scarborough. Students should get involved and let their voices be heard to help make a change.

UTSC commuters are right to have concerns, but as long as UTSC is calling for a full inperson return, commuters must make the best of their circumstances. Commuting to campus may be hard to adjust to in January, but so was online learning. We must stay hopeful that transit will develop and grow for the better in Scarborough, benefiting commuter students.

Anika Munir is a third-year public policy, city studies, and public law student at UTSC. She is the director of human geography on the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union and the co-president of the Geography and City Studies Student Association.

8

THE VARSITY

comment@thevarsity.ca

COMMENT

Universities are microcosms of global citizenship Universities have a significant role to play in forming the next generation Joël Ndongmi Varsity Contributor

In her case, the transnational nature of the curriculum and conversation may have been factors in her involvement with the climate movement.

And mass organizing by both students and faculty has paved the way for a greener University of Toronto: the university recently announced its plans to divest from fossil fuel companies by 2030 and to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Universities fostering places of global citizenship does have implications for marginalized students who may find it difficult to enrol and remain in university. If

universities create global citizens, then are universities also unwittingly creating a case of global ‘sub-citizens’ who possess fewer benefits and opportunities? Perhaps — but that question will require more thought, attention, and research.

Nevertheless, global citizenship has become increasingly important due to the emergence of a very pressing global challenge: COVID-19. Beyond getting our own communities vaccinated, vaccines have to be urgently distributed to lowerincome nations for the pandemic to end globally.

According to the United Nations, “inequitable vaccine distribution is not only leaving millions or billions of people vulnerable to the deadly virus, it is also allowing even more deadly variants to emerge and spread across the globe.” This process only works to exacerbate the economic polarization between the high-income and low-income nations.

As the world battles this pandemic, it is imperative U of T’s scholars coalesce to urge the Canadian government to act on global vaccine inequality. The academic diversity of U of T’s student body lends itself well to the fight against vaccine inequality, and both students and faculty can gather for advocacy and awareness purposes.

TY RSI EVA /TH NG TU NA FIO

In his inaugural speech as the chair of the Universities Canada board, U of T President Meric Gertler emphasized that universities have an important place on a global scale, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. He positioned the University of Toronto as a community leader, saying, “Many of us have pioneered vaccine mandates, the safe return to congregate living and assembling indoors in higher densities — well before other sectors have followed suit.” Gertler projected universities as forward-thinking microcosms of reality that can create local and global innovation.

Universities can also have a global impact beyond academic research, through their youngest and most energetic assets: students. Through their students, universities play an important role in training the next generation of global citizens that will rise to challenges around the globe.

Thus, at U of T and other universities with many international students, diverse perspectives are readily available, and one doesn’t need to travel far or use Google to access important and valuable information. The distance needed for transnational discussion decreases at multicultural universities such as U of T, allowing for localized transnationalism to occur. Even

the city of Toronto itself has a multicultural population, meaning that Toronto can be considered, to some extent, a microcosm of the ‘global village,’ a term coined by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan in 1960.

A transnational approach to learning about the world can ignite passion within students for salient and international issues such as the climate crisis.

Alienor Rougeot-Maroniez, an organizer at Fridays For Future Toronto, has previously told U of T News about how her time at the University of Toronto inspired her to take action.

Joël Ndongmi is a third-year political science student at Victoria College.

Toxic masculinity contributes to rising mental health issues in men Societal pressure on men hurts everyone Urooba Shaikh Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article discusses suicide and contains descriptions of rape culture.

With November comes the start of #Movember.

You’ve seen the posts talking about men’s physical and mental health, but why are they important right now? Well, the truth is that talking about men’s health has never been more important.

According to CBC, men and boys are populations that are at a higher risk for suicide and that account for 75 per cent of suicides in Canada.

Compared to women, men are about three times more likely to die by suicide. This disparity in suicide rates can in part be attributed to a centuries-old issue that has only recently received attention: toxic masculinity.

Toxic masculinity refers to the social construct of masculinity that compels men to display behaviours that are objectively negative. These behaviours include avoiding emotional expression, displaying violence and aggressiveness as a form of power, maintaining dominance over women, and expressing contempt for the LGBTQ+ community.

Essentially, toxic masculinity is the result of teaching boys from a young age that these are the behaviours they must engage in to fit into the social construct of their gender. The idea that socially accepted masculine behaviours represent strength reinforces the stereotype that any other behaviour is feminine and, thus, weak.

As a result, men feel the need to adhere to these standards for fear of not being accepted and becoming a social outcast. Even young boys are conditioned to avoid taking part in activities that are viewed as being inherently feminine, such as playing with dolls or dress up.

At the same time, these behaviours also push expectations on girls and women to act a certain way, and they are often told that they will struggle to be accepted in society if they act in ways that are ‘too masculine.’ The result is that both groups are forced into boxes that they may not necessarily fit into or feel comfortable in, which can be harmful to their mental health.

For instance, the standards of masculinity set by society can cause young men to refrain from

being emotionally vulnerable. Not surprisingly, this can cause many men to become susceptible to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, resulting in the alarming trends in men’s suicide rates we see today.

Furthermore, for youth and young adults of all genders aged 15–34 years old, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Within this age category, university students in particular are susceptible to death by suicide, especially because they are at a time in their lives that is full of confusion and discomfort. Men are an even higher risk group, since statistics show that suicide rates are higher among them.

The effects of toxic masculinity can also have dangerous consequences for women in particular.

In postsecondary institutions in Canada, about one in 10 students who identify as women are sexually assaulted. Many have attributed this to the normalization of rape culture — the idea that sexual violence against women is used by men as a demonstration of power. Toxic masculinity, which essentially promotes displays of power, reinforces a society where ideal masculinity is correlated with sexual violence.

As such, the main issue with stereotypical masculinity lies in the way it has been defined by society. Gender should not be defined by how dominant or aggressive a person is, and certainly not by how much they choose to emotionally express themselves. Rather than masculinity and femininity being viewed as polar opposites, they should be considered ways in which people can express themselves, without being limited to only one form. There is no ‘correct’ version of masculinity or femininity, but simply the way an individual chooses to express themselves however they are most comfortable.

In order to create a society in which men can be more emotionally vulnerable, it is necessary to start teaching children how to express themselves from a young age. Rather than saying “boys don’t cry,” all children should be encouraged to seek support when feeling pressured or upset. For the men who are already past this stage, it is important to reach out and let them know that they can find help. Furthermore, toxic behaviours must not be tolerated and must be called out when they are seen. Rather than drawing boundaries that define masculinity, individual expression should be

ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

encouraged in whatever form it may take.

While most universities have mental health resources for everyone on campus, some have created support groups specific to men’s mental health and unlearning toxic masculinity. For example, students at Brown University started a program called Masculinity 101, in which students meet weekly to discuss what masculinity means to them and how to disengage from the negative behaviours associated with it to develop healthier relationships.

Initiatives like this give students the space to talk about how they have been affected by certain issues and how they can improve going forward.

Similar initiatives can be implemented at U of T by creating resources that are specific to certain groups and their experiences, such as a support group for men who have grown up surrounded by toxic masculinity.

So let’s focus on men’s mental health by working to disassemble the societal structures that have led to the suffering of men and those around them.

Society needs to redefine masculinity by erasing its boundaries so that every individual has the capacity to be themself.

Urooba Shaikh is a first-year psychological and health sciences student at UTSC.

If you or someone you know is in distress, you can call: • Canada Suicide Prevention Service phone available 24/7 at 1-833-456-4566 • Good 2 Talk Student Helpline at 1-866-925-5454 • Connex Ontario Mental Health Helpline at 1-866-531-2600 • Gerstein Centre Crisis Line at 416-929-5200 • U of T Health & Wellness Centre at 416-978-8030 Warning signs of suicide include: • Talking about wanting to die • Looking for a way to end one’s life • Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose • Talking about feeling trapped or being in unbearable pain • Talking about being a burden to others • Increasing use of alcohol or drugs • Acting anxious, agitated, or reckless • Sleeping too little or too much • Withdrawing or feeling isolated • Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge • Displaying extreme mood swings The more of these signs a person shows, the greater the risk. If you suspect someone you know may be contemplating suicide, you should talk to them, according to the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.

Editorial

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

To combat sexual harassment, we must accept that academia is the problem The Andy Orchard scandal exemplifies the issue we’re up against

FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY

The Varsity Editorial Board

Content warning: This article discusses sexual harassment, assault, and rape culture.

Last month, Al Jazeera broke the news that Andy Orchard, former Trinity College provost and vice-chancellor, had been accused of sexual misconduct and of having sexual relationships with students throughout his career. Toronto Star confirmed that at least two complaints were made about Orchard to U of T, but the university took no disciplinary action against him. Instead, already vulnerable students were warned about Orchard’s apparently notorious reputation as a sexual predator.

In the past few months alone, U of T has had to confront multiple sexual harassment scandals. Over the summer, the Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association (FMUA) wrote two open letters in response to allegations of sexual harassment that had been shared on social media. They demanded a review of the situation and mandatory consent training for all faculty. In response, the dean acknowledged the “distressingly toxic” culture at the faculty and commissioned a review.

It feels like every time U of T is forced to confront its own mishandling of reports of sexual harassment or assault, it stresses to students that it already has policies in place to handle all of their concerns. As expected, President Meric Gertler’s response to the Orchard reports prominently features the existing support programs at the university.

“Before saying anything else,” wrote Gertler, “I want to encourage any member of the U of T community who has been affected by sexual harassment or violence to seek support from the University’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre.”

There’s inherent value, of course, in making sure students know what options U of T has when they’re in a crisis and to hear that their institution supports them — but the university’s basic response still leaves something to be desired.

There’s a commonality between Orchard’s behavior and the Faculty of Music incidents: the perpetrators of sexual harassment are often people with institutional power over their victims. They’re professors, mentors, and advisors. They’re well-known researchers who carry a lot of power within their fields.

In both cases, U of T’s reactive response fails because there’s a major problem it’s not taking into account, which isn’t isolated to any one specific incident. The problem is that the culture of academia is inaccessible and opaque, and it normalizes power imbalances that provide opportunities for sexual harassment. For example, a recent Statistics Canada survey found that harassment is much more common in academia than in other fields.

This issue is also common within the classical music industry. The FMUA pointed out in one of their open letters that “Fear of reprisal from perpetrators who wield vast influence and have no financial barriers has only further added the burden to victims.”

In both academia and classical music, a newcomer’s success is often dependent on their ability to impress people enough so that they’re valued and can get funding for their work. All of this makes academia prohibitively difficult to navigate without assistance from someone who has already gone through it.

So how does anyone break into the industry?

Well, there’s a system in place for that.

Experienced academics — people who have already succeeded in their field — help out promising young students who are excelling in their research. The assistance they can offer is viewed as an integral part of the training that students need to advance in the academic ranks.

In a lot of ways, academic advisorship seems intuitive — students will face a lot of problems they don’t know how to solve. Who is in a better place to give them a hand than someone who’s already dealt with the problems before?

But this creates a much bigger issue.

Students, who are often young and in vulnerable positions, are made dependent on their older, much more well-established colleagues — some of whom they may have already heard of and respect deeply. In some cases, they may feel like careers they have dedicated their entire lives to are placed entirely in the hands of their mentors.

Students who have faced harassment in academia have described a reluctance to report their experiences, for fear that their harassers would tank their careers. Students in former U of T professor David Gilmour’s creative writing classes reported to The Strand that he verbally harassed students during his lectures. Still, the students were hesitant to speak out against him for fear that he could harm their careers.

Near the beginning of her career, current U of T Vice-President and Principal Alex Gillespie was also harassed by Orchard, but as a junior faculty member, she didn’t feel comfortable speaking out.

There’s a vicious cycle of power imbalances in many university settings. It also especially disadvantages students and faculty who are already marginalized, because they are even less likely to find advocates or any meaningful support system from existing institutional power.

If we want to do anything about this, we need to re-examine the way we do research, and start taking action to actually break down the mechanisms that put students in precarious positions that allow abuses of power to go unchecked.

For one thing, U of T hasn’t actually banned teacher-student relationships. That should change — a formal ban would be public recognition by the university of the unbalanced power dynamics between students and professors, and would allow the university to take direct action against perpetrators of sexual harassment.

Moreover, we should work on facilitating students’ transitions into academia in ways that don’t make them reliant on the goodwill of their seniors in the field. For example, the fact that reference letters are required for a lot of academic advancements perpetuates the unbalanced power dynamics and professors’ biases. Plus, there’s evidence to suggest that they aren’t even very useful.

Of course, none of this is to say that students should stop trying to learn from their professors. Making connections and establishing professional friendships with senior researchers within their field of study can allow students to learn a lot and get excited about new research topics — but these interactions should never be tied to students’ chances for advancement.

To avoid this situation, the university could match students up with non-research advisors from outside of students’ programs, instead of or in addition to their research supervisors.

These programs would have to be different from the optional academic planning resources the university already offers: to properly replicate the benefits of academic advisorship, they would have to be set up as a program requirement. They would also have to include a lot more personalized time and assistance for individual students.

Any programs like these would not be immediately able to fulfill all of the same goals as a traditional advisorship program, since the supervisor would not be trained in the student’s field. U of T would have to design such programs very thoughtfully and carefully, with explicit oversight, and would have to make students’ rights an explicit focus. That being said, if implemented well, these new advisorship programs would still create more safety for students than the status quo. Since students wouldn’t be directly tying their career prospects to well-established professionals in their field, they would be put in much less tenuous positions.

Any of these solutions would be difficult and would require significant systemic overhaul. But if we want to effect real change, we need to be okay with that. We, both as institutions and as the individuals who benefit from them, need to be willing to change the system we operate in — even if it’s well established and even if we feel comfortable within it — when we know it is actively causing harm.

When people tell U of T that they are being hurt by its basic structure, the university’s reaction shouldn’t be to tell them that it already has mechanisms in place to deal with the situation. Instead, U of T — and every other academic institution — should take a closer look at itself. It should be asking why the people who faced issues weren’t able to use, or didn’t feel comfortable using those systems — and what the institution could do to change that on a significant level.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence or harassment and don’t feel comfortable reporting to U of T, here are some external resources: • Call the Women’s College Hospital Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Care Centre at 416-323-6040 • Call the Scarborough Grace Sexual Assault Care Centre at 416-495-2555 • Call the Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 866-863-0511

10

THE VARSITY

FEATURES

Why can’t wome

From sports to streaming, women a Piper Hays Varsity Contributor

Can you think of an object, trend, or activity that girls are predominantly interested in, but are not made fun of for? Is there anything that girls can enjoy and talk about without facing some flavour of backlash?

If you can think of something, that is news to me. But if you can’t, then you’ve just come face-to-face with a deeply confusing question — why is it that girls can’t safely have interests?

Why is it that girls can’t safely have interests?

No matter which gender something is marketed toward, women and femininepresenting people are often the butt end of jokes, snide remarks, and even outright hostility.

And, from my perspective, the problem isn’t getting better. In fact, not only is this problem not being solved, but many people are reinforcing it — whether they know it or not.

From my interest in hockey to my love of Young Adult (YA) fiction to my involvement in the gaming community, here are stories of my encounters with sexism in fandoms.

Sports The word ‘fan’ was first used in the context of baseball. Originally, if you told someone you were a fan, they would immediately assume you were referring to your passion for sports.

Although the word soon outgrew the baseball diamond, its association with straight, cisgender masculinity remains.

I was 13 when I first joined an online hockey discussion forum on Reddit. I could barely contain my excitement at the time. My first post was about how well Canada had done in the recent Women’s World Championship. Having an outlet to talk about hockey felt like a dream come true — that is, until I saw the first reply: “Who cares? Women’s hockey is boring as hell.”

I started replying to every rude comment with the fervour of a 13-year-old who didn’t know when to quit. This would become a recurring theme in my interactions with fandom. In my experience, sports fans constantly accuse women of being ‘posers’ and subject women fans to incessant questions to prove themselves as ‘true fans.’ Once, during my crusade, an internet user asked me to list all the winners of the Stanley Cup, from first to latest. This was a ridiculous question that none of the men in the same thread had to answer. But when I refused, the user mocked me for being a ‘puck bunny,’ a derogatory term for a girl who only watches hockey to pursue or crush on the players.

I got tired from trying to change so many minds that didn’t want to listen. I gave up. I unfollowed the NHL on Instagram, deleted all my Reddit posts, and deleted Twitter altogether. When my dad turned on the Canucks game on Saturday nights, I didn’t want to watch. I thought, “If hockey doesn’t

care about me, why should I care about it?”

Eventually, though, I managed to find my way back into hockey — but I consider myself one of the lucky ones, for not many girls do. And if you consider the broader patterns in sports fandoms, it’s easy to see why.

Major sports leagues cultivate a space that’s not welcoming to women, either. From what I see, official league accounts very rarely condemn sexist comments that are made on their posts. At the same time, I feel that they run an overwhelming amount of features and advertisements that spotlight and target men.

In the rare instances that sports features and advertisements do spotlight and target women, they often reference weight loss or beauty.

Instead of focusing on the challenge of playing sports, such women-targeted advertisements portray sports as ‘just for fun.’

To me, these stark differences in sports advertisements imply that most advertisers don’t believe that women want to compete at the same level as professional men’s sports. This culture ultimately diminishes the work of women athletes who devote themselves to competitive, high-caliber sports.

This pervasive double standard is problematic in many ways, and it also doesn’t make financial sense.

Major sports leagues are extremely competitive with each other for airtime and viewership — yet they leave entire demographics largely untapped and continue to cater toward their wellworn fanbases.

Then there are the superfans. We know who they are — the guys with dedicated Twitter accounts that paint their faces before every game day and craft the perfect basement suite decked out with paraphernalia of their favourite team. Not only are they considered acceptable, but they’re even commended — I’ve noticed that leagues and teams often repost the most dedicated fans. Half the time, I think they’re cool.

Women, however, don’t receive the same treatment, admiration, or even acceptance. Plaster a three-foot-tall poster of Connor McDavid in a room full of Oilers merch and it’s no big deal.

A girl does the same with a Harry Styles poster in a room full of One Direction merch and suddenly it’s cringy or creepy.

Functionally, both rooms are the same. But we see the stereotypically masculine one as an admirable show of deep interest and knowledge, while the stereotypically feminine one is treated as an embarrassing bid for attention.

Gaming In my opinion, there is probably no fandom more toxic or openly misogynistic than gamers. From mistreating women streamers to accusing women gamers that they are posers and disregarding games that become popular among women, there is seemingly no safe haven for women players.

Video games have a reputation for being an activity dominated by men. But, in reality, women have always played

games. In fact, a 2014 study by the Internet Advertising Bureau found that women made up 52 per cent of gamers in the UK. Many gamers, however, revolt when games start to cater to demographics that are not cisgender men. In 2020, Call of Duty: Black Ops revealed that their new release, Cold War, would have a third, gender-neutral option for character customization. In response, some fans revolted, and retaliated mostly against the traditional punching bags of “left-wing propaganda.”

It’s not just Call of Duty taking the hit. I’ve noticed that other games that have recently been gaining popularity among women and girls, such as Minecraft, are starting to get a bad reputation in the gaming community for becoming ‘soft,’ or for not counting as ‘real gaming’ anymore.

When Minecraft became popular in the early 2010s, most Minecraft streamers and YouTubers, along with their viewers, were not

women. I remember that back then, it was cool to play Minecraft and call yourself a gamer.

Now, new streamers seem to be ridiculed by older users for many reasons.

For example, when I first started watching the new generation of Minecraft YouTubers over quarantine, I was shocked by how many older men have taken to Twitter to air their grievances about how streaming has gone “downhill.” A few commented that the more effeminate nature of today’s streaming, caused by streamers accounting for women and nonbinary viewers, was ruining their experience of the game.

New women streamers have it particularly bad. I’ve heard many men players say that women streamers must have it so easy, because all they have to do is smile sweetly and show skin and they’re guaranteed views. Not only does this logic discount the numerous hours of work that women streamers put into their content, but it

features@thevarsity.ca

en be ‘real fans’?

are mocked for everything we enjoy also objectifies them as clueless and unskilled.

This logic doesn’t reflect reality, either. If just looking pretty is the only qualifier for being a successful woman streamer, then women would easily dominate Twitch popularity charts. But this isn’t the case. Women make up 35 per cent of Twitch users, but only one woman has cracked the top 20 most followed streamers. There are fewer than 10 women in the top 100.

Similar to hockey, gamers accuse women fans of being posers, unless these women fans have encyclopedic knowledge and are ready to whip that information out like they’re in a neverending game of Jeopardy.

I recently became interested in League of Legends. Like most people would, I turned to an online forum to ask about the lore behind a few characters I was interested in. While some people were helpful, others scorned my questions. One even insinuated that I was only learning these

things in order to talk about them with a man.

Evidently, casual fans get the short end of this particular stick. That makes it difficult for more enthusiastic women fans to bring friends into their fandoms without those friends taking a few hits along the way.

YA novels and fanfiction YA fiction is one of the biggest feminine-coded industries in the world. Despite the expectation that this industry mainly produces commodities by women for women, YA fiction is still not immune from patronizing derision.

Because YA mainly caters to younger populations — mainly preteen and teenage girls — many adults seem to consider it a fluff genre.

Even YA novels that do carry literary and thematic legitimacy seem to be boiled down to their most basic and marketable bones, erasing the nuance that the stories are meant to communicate.

REBECA MOYA/THEVARSITY

Take The Hunger Games as an example.

A sharp examination of class divide, media conglomerates, and mental health struggles, Suzanne Collins’ trilogy was a groundbreaking series for dystopian YA fiction. For many young girls — and boys — it may have been a first introduction into adult issues like classism, propaganda, and PTSD, spearheaded by a flawed, realistic woman protagonist. Yet public discourse about The Hunger Games focused on a single subject: should Katniss choose Gale or Peeta as her boyfriend? When I wanted to discuss the novel’s narrative choices or symbolism, many peers shook me off and just wanted to know whether I liked the kind blonde or the disillusioned brunette better.

Compared to YA novels with similar themes and men protagonists, like The Maze Runner series, I believe that The Hunger Games has been infantilized and dismissed as a fad for teenage girls rather than a well-written and socially relevant piece of literature.

When literary works get infantilized, so do their readers. Adults often criticized me when I read womencentric YA novels and then prodded me to read ‘more complicated’ books.

In high school, my teachers declared YA novels written by women as offlimits in their classrooms for being “not literary enough.” At the same time, they allowed passes for YA novels written by men, such as James Patterson’s ghostwritten novels.

The infantilization of women readers extends to fanmade works. Fanfiction has always been a relatively femininecoded endeavour: some of the first fanfiction was written by women in the Star Trek fandom. In 2010, 78 per cent of users on Fanfiction.net — the world’s largest fanfiction website — identified as women.

However, for fear of being labelled obsessed or weird, many women readers and writers feel compelled to keep their fanfiction a secret. I have a friend who once submitted a chapter of her fanfiction during a summer creative writing camp. When she read her chapter out loud, she did so proudly — at first. Eventually, she had to shout over shrieks of laughter and was mercilessly mocked to the point of tears. Since then, she kept her fanfiction a closely kept secret. Terrified of mockery myself, I kept looking over my shoulder as I wrote and researched about fanfiction for this article.

People even mock literary works that got their start as fanfictions, focusing more on their roots rather than actual valid criticisms of the works’ flaws. The Fifty Shades of Grey series comes to my mind as an example. While I personally don’t like these books because of their lazy plotlines and uncomfortable prose, the most common critique I hear that’s waged against the series is that it began as Twilight fanfiction — not that the book itself is bad.

What can women like?

Some of you may be thinking, “I’ve

never been sexist to women fans, and even if I had, I didn’t mean to be.” Indeed, people aren’t often consciously sexist with regards to fandom — sexism is just so deeply ingrained in our culture that we often don’t consider anything less than blatant sexism to be a problem.

There will always be valid criticisms of anything worth being excited about, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of someone’s happiness or self-esteem.

Sometimes, I feel like women are criticized for everything they do and don't do. There seems to be no right answer for what a young girl can like.

When young girls can’t find a safe space to indulge in their interests, it’s damaging. Growing up, the internet’s cruel treatment of women hockey players nearly threw me off loving the game for good. The constant, harsh criticisms of my well-loved YA books compelled me to struggle through classic novels that I hated just for that extra drop of validation. But when I started liking classics, I was labeled pretentious.

I’m exhausted. There are things I loved in grade 9 that I would never say aloud — even now — for fear of ridicule, and I know a lot of people who feel the same. Young girls — and young people in general — are vulnerable, and this kind of constant backlash, ranging from harsh to subtle, can affect everything from mental health to relationships years down the line.

There will always be valid criticisms of anything worth being excited about, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of someone’s happiness or self-esteem. It’s everyone’s job to start thinking about what they say, and how they react to the interests of girls and women. Half the time, the disparagement comes from the people around us — our friends, classmates, teachers, and parents. We’re all guilty of it, and it’s hard to stop.

But the next time a friend tells you about their interests, I encourage you to bask in their excitement, smile, and listen. That would be more than enough.

Arts & Culture

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture arts@thevarsity.ca

Madeline Szabo Varsity Contributor

I took off my clothes, lit a candle, and sat down on my bed. My mind focused on my crush, and my heart seemed to beat out of my chest.

Overcome by emotion, I began to masturbate.

That’s how it should’ve gone. In reality, my mom knocked on the door.

I screamed and spat out the excuse that I was getting dressed. I was so embarrassed that I didn’t masturbate again for six months.

When I finally gathered the courage to try again, I naturally assumed that my experience would end differently.

Surely, I thought, my new living situation — a Toronto apartment that I shared with roommates — would be more private than my parent’s house and its paper-thin walls. To my dismay, the focused stare of my roommate’s leopard gecko — which must have escaped from its cage during my self-pleasure attempt — quickly killed my horny mood.

My dear reader, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were reading this article to distract you from your urges to get off. If you’re reading from home, not being in the mood is fair — how can you begin to masturbate when your bedroom door could unexpectedly fling open at any moment?

Our university campus is surrounded by a ton of student-occupied dorms, apartments, and small homes. Given these cramped accommodations, it’s a wonder anyone at U of T masturbates at all.

In your twenties, shared living spaces can produce massive shame. While in confined

How to masturbate on the down low Given U of T’s cramped housing, it’s a wonder anyone touches themselves at all

ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

quarters with someone else, it often seems like any emotion is magnified because all of your feelings are always observed. I learn time and time again from my roommates that I can’t keep a secret in a 500-square-foot home — especially when that secret requires alone time. It’s no help that being horny drenches me in shame.

Let me be clear: I consider myself to be an oversharer. If you read The Varsity every week, you probably remember me as the girl who wrote about how she felt like she had a rock stuck in her vagina. So why am I, a sex-positivity advocate, fearful of a natural emotion?

It could be because of how much our society stigmatizes taking care of oneself sexually.

Sexologist Carol Queen suggested that the biggest source of this stigma is the idea that people are supposed to have sex with another person. But other common misconceptions about masturbation include that it causes hairy hands, acne, baldness, will stunt your growth, and make you infertile.

Despite this stigma, masturbation comes with some impressive health benefits. It can lead to better sleep, alleviate stress and menstrual cramps, and might even boost your mood. These

benefits are what I think of when I think of masturbation; it’s not dirty or selfish, but a self-care routine. After all, I need some way to calm down from long days of writing articles about sex.

That being said, masturbation is not as simple as putting on a face mask.

Sometimes, getting the luxury of privacy is an obstacle in itself. My bedroom door doesn’t lock, so it’s a big challenge to get me in the mood. As a solution, I look for an excuse to be naked. I take too many showers, change my clothing more than anyone should, and I especially embrace touching myself in the bath, because with running water, sound is not an issue.

Keep in mind that all spaces don’t need to have doors. There’s nothing to fear in burrowing under your covers or defiling a stall in an empty Robarts bathroom. If all else fails, think of what makes your environment cozy. Maybe you’re cramped in a closet and your childhood snowsuits make you feel a bit safer. If you’re shifting yourself against them, at least your naked body will be warmer.

In the small and crowded spaces that we encounter in our routines, we need to prioritize time for ourselves. No one should feel guilty for exploring masturbation — besides, 60 to 80 per cent of women masturbate, as do 95 per cent of men. Knowing, loving, and caring about your body is the first step to experiencing pleasure from it.

This being said, no matter how shamefree you are, no one will ever feel completely comfortable announcing their horniness to the world. So stop waiting for the perfect moment, find a cozy space, and get yourself off!

The last laugh: The history of laugh tracks The disappearance of this television staple reveals a shift in the tone of sitcoms Cherry Zhang Lead Copy Editor

If you’ve spent some time watching popular old television sitcoms, you’ve probably heard laugh tracks after their scripted jokes. Love them or hate them, laugh tracks have an undeniable presence in television history. Although they seem to have fallen out of popularity recently, it’s worth examining how they came to be and where they might be headed.

The laugh track first appeared on television in the 1950s, created by CBS sound engineer Charley Douglass. It came at a time when TV shows were primarily filmed in front of a studio audience. Douglass thought that the audience’s organic reactions weren’t the right fit for the taped shows. Audiences either laughed too much or didn’t laugh enough, and so the sound of their laughter was never right for the tone of the show.

Douglass started dealing with this problem by manipulating the audio levels of the audience’s laughter in postproduction. Eventually, he developed a machine that could play back recordings of laughter. Called the Laff Box, the machine was built to look like a typewriter — but instead of producing letters, it produced laughter. Douglass himself would haul it into postproduction rooms when it was needed to give TV studios the laughter they wanted.

Even when television started to turn away from canned laughter in the 1970s, shows kept studio laughter for audiences at home. Sitcoms like Cheers were recorded in front of a live studio audience and kept the audience’s natural reactions. The audience was in dialogue with the performers, mirroring their energy back at them and making comedy a joint effort.

Gradually, though, that laughter got erased.

Now, very few modern sitcoms actually include the sound of laughter at all.

Part of that can be attributed to shifts away from studio audiences, but part of it is because of a shift in comedy style. The humour of modern comedic writing has a very different tone to the sitcoms of the past. An article by the BBC describes modern sitcoms as relying on ‘cringe’

I think there’s a good reason for why laugh tracks are now going unused. Part of the original intent of adding laughter was to mimic the experience of the communal entertainment that was popular before television, like going to a movie or a play. Now, however, it’s probably

Laugh tracks have fallen out of popularity lately.

COURTESY OF MOHAMED HASSAN/PIXABAY

humor and dark comedy, calling the modern style “the awkward style of millennial UK comedy.”

The quippy style of today’s comedy isn’t as well-suited to loud laughter, artificial or not.

There’s something oddly disconcerting about watching a scene from The Office with laugh tracks added. Seeing the characters sing and dance to “Staying Alive” while Michael resuscitates a dummy might make you groan internally or chuckle, but not laugh out loud.

fair to say that none of us expect that communal quality. Since streaming services give us access to sitcoms on demand, watching TV is understood to be a more solitary experience.

There’s also the fact that laughter slows things down. When there are people laughing, there have to be breaks between jokes so the punchlines that follow them aren’t drowned out. While that pacing might work in episodic releases, it can start to feel slow or tiring when

we binge a series, the way we regularly watch television shows now. Because there’s an implied acknowledgement that laughter is part of the audience experience, forcing viewers to hear and register it can take away from the experience of the show itself.

Now that we seem to have moved past them, laugh tracks have become, funnily enough, a joke of their own. Critics argue that audiences have grown more sophisticated and don’t need to be told when and how to laugh. There are plenty of YouTube videos of sitcoms with their laugh tracks edited out, meant to show how awkward and unfunny they are without laughter.

On the other hand, there are also laughterdefenders, who maintain that laughter helps good jokes hit harder, as they can be reworked with the help of the audience response.

While I don’t think studio laughter is necessary anymore — modern sitcoms seem to be doing just fine — I don’t think that should detract from how we view old shows. It’s not fair to remove the laughter from a show that was filmed with a laugh track and say, “Look how uncomfortable and bad this is.” Of course it is; a crucial part of the show has been replaced with silence. The jokes are meant to engage with the audience’s laughter.

The fact that old sitcoms don’t appeal to our sense of humour anymore doesn’t make them unfunny. The disappearance of laugh tracks doesn’t naturally entail an improvement in the quality of television. There are good shows with laugh tracks, just like there are bad ones without them. It’s the way we engage with these shows that has changed. These days, we value dark comedy, cynical comedy — comedy that presents itself in a different way.

What the death of the laugh track really shows is an evolution of the sitcom genre. The laugh track is a character that has been written out of the scripts.

thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

13

As a South Asian woman, Never Have I Ever is harmful Mindy Kaling’s Netflix series lacks Tamil representation and shares ableist tropes Gayarthi Siva Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article discusses ableism.

In April 2020, Indian-American actress and comedian Mindy Kaling released her highly anticipated Netflix series, Never Have I Ever.

The series follows 15-year-old Indian and Tamil protagonist Devi Vishwakumar, showing how she copes with her father’s death.

Immediately after its release, Never Have I Ever was praised for breaking South Asian stereotypes. Nevertheless, being South Asian from a Tamil-speaking family, I thought that aspects of the show were harmful to South Asian representation.

A white man narrator The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening is a novel written by Jennifer Lynn Stoever, an associate professor of English at Binghamton University. It argues that American ideologies of white supremacy are as dependent on sound as they are on seeing the difference in people’s skin tone. Listeners are able to make assumptions about the speaker’s identity through their accent, dialect, speech, and extraverbal utterances.

Never Have I Ever is narrated by former tennis player John McEnroe. Even though McEnroe’s presence is explained by the fact that he’s Devi’s father’s favourite tennis player, his casting inserts whiteness into a nonwhite story. McEnroe, a

white man, constantly offers commentary to the audience about Devi’s thoughts, decisions, and interpersonal relationships.

The series’ first scene shows Devi praying to a shrine of Hindu gods. At the same time, McEnroe introduces her as a “15-yearold American-Indian girl.” Immediately after this phrase, McEnroe introduces himself as a “legendary tennis player” and the screen cuts to footage of him playing tennis. In the background, white crowds cheer.

Lack of Tamil dialogue My favourite scene of Never Have I Ever is from its second season. Devi’s older cousin, Kamala, greets her bosses in a cosplay outfit.

Devi’s mother’s face expresses a mix of shock, embarrassment, and disgust as she looks at her niece. She proceeds to ask Kamala a series of questions in Tamil. The way that she pronounces her words is different from any pronunciation I have personally ever heard.

This mispronunciation isn’t an isolated incident — nor does it make sense in the show’s context.

Devi’s family is Tamil and originally from India.

Her paternal grandmother resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, before she moves to California later in the series.

Devi’s paternal grandmother speaks only English, even when family visits her in Chennai.

Having been raised in Tamil Nadu, where Tamil is the official language, I find it strange that this woman does not speak Tamil with her family.

ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

Women of colour experiencing disabilities As previously mentioned, a large storyline in Never Have I Ever is Devi mourning her father.

In the show’s pilot, Devi is depicted as losing feeling in her legs as a result of this trauma. Devi uses a wheelchair for a few minutes before she ‘miraculously’ gains the ability to move her legs once again after seeing her crush in a parking lot.

This very ableist trope — referred to as the “miraculous cure” — leans into the false concept that a complete life can’t be lived by someone with a disability. It portrays the harmful idea that all those with disabilities want to be ‘cured,’ which viewers see through Devi’s newfound hopes for the new school year once she begins to walk again.

As Devi stands up from her wheelchair, her mom cheers. Her happiness is probably shared by the audience. This is an example of ‘inspiration porn,’ which can be described as the “exceptionalization of one community for the benefit of another.” Essentially, the show wants

You probably won’t be famous, but that’s okay Sharing your work isn’t crucial to your artistry — honesty is Aïssatou Odia Barry Varsity Contributor

I write this article for all students who have creative dreams and feel like their work must be well-known to matter.

Please continue making art, even if you feel that no one but you cares about it.

In high school, my shy demeanor kept me from being one of the ‘popular girls.’ For years, the harmful belief that I wasn’t well-known clouded

my perception of everything that happened to me.

During these confusing times, I often found solace in painting and writing, as these activities allowed me to process my emotions.

Something changed within me when I first got to U of T in 2018. I came to the powerful realization that I could try to reach any aspiration I wanted to, despite my social status. Fantasies of becoming the next Picasso flooded my freshman brain. I didn’t just want to make art — I wanted people to know about it. Suddenly, my goals extended further than just a high GPA. I wanted to create something that I would be known for after I died.

And then COVID-19 happened, and there I was: a student stuck in her room, confronted with the same frustrating emotions that her high school self dealt with. After months of solitude and introspection, I finally understood that I’d been thinking about it wrong.

Art was never supposed to make me a star; it was only meant to wipe my tears. In other words,

promoting yourself and sharing your work with the world is an honorable quest. But it’s not crucial to your artistry — honesty is.

As an emerging creative who’s striving for their 15 minutes of fame, thinking this way is much easier said than done. At this moment, I’m not expecting you to come to the lifechanging realization that I did. Rather, I’m encouraging you to read on with an open mind as I challenge you with one question: is the creative process in itself not rewarding enough?

What is creativity?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, creativity is, at its core, the ability to produce something new.

With this in mind, it’s important to realize that the creative process goes beyond art — it can extend to other disciplines such as science and architecture. Whether it be used for writing a poem or creating a vegan cupcake recipe, the creative process allows us to not only think outside of the box, but to jump over it.

In the creative process, there are no mistakes. All the work you produce is unfiltered.

Therefore, by creating it, you’re just learning about your truest self.

But if we invite the desire for recognition into our creative process, we start sanitizing our work by trading authenticity for notability. In other words, we reduce intimate creative activities to mere people-pleasing. We have to realize that recognition isn’t a reliable criteria to evaluate our own creativity. Many incredible artists are not famous, and many have argued that some famous individuals are neither creative nor talented.

The desire to be famous The desire to be famous is as natural to humans as breathing. We all want to be recognized for our talents and feel like we have a place in the

JULIEN BALBONTIN/THE VARSITY

audiences to be cheering for Devi to “overcome” her disability.

To make matters worse, McEnroe chimes in to say, “Can she shed her old identity as the paralyzed Indian girl… it’s not likely. Those things are pretty unforgettable, but with working legs comes a whole host of new possibilities.” The narrator’s comments imply the shame of being an Indian girl and suffering from a disability.

Furthermore, they imply that being able-bodied provides a person with a better life than if they had a disability.

The sad reality is that, while Never Have I Ever represented South Asians poorly, I appreciate that it included such representation at all. As a Tamil person, seeing the story of someone that I can relate to being distributed on Netflix feels surreal.

On another note, Never Have I Ever has been renewed for a third season. This gives its creators the chance to more accurately represent all the marginalized communities included in the show thus far. world. After all, we are social creatures — no one is immune to seeking validation from others.

Nonetheless, there is a darker side to this universal wish. When we daydream of fame, we may be coping with the emotional neglect we’ve experienced during our lives. A toxic household or a high school bully may have made us feel unseen, and we might think becoming famous will give us the love and warmth we were deprived of.

This is a false and naive belief. No amount of hysterical fans or Instagram followers will bring us the appreciation we seek. After all, fame is just a bunch of strangers knowing we exist.

However, building healthy and genuine connections with those around us makes us feel loved and valued — something that we really need.

Craving fame could also be a way of dealing with our own mortality. We remember deceased writers and musicians; when studying their work years later, we could think that fame will give the same validation to our own time on Earth. But we don’t need to create something that will live on after us; even if your funeral doesn’t have thousands of attendees, those who love you will never forget about you. That is more than enough.

An ode to the unknown artist Creatives face hurdles in their respective industries. For example, those who want to become famous through social media won’t always get picked up by their algorithms, so their profiles will remain unnoticed. Likewise, most performers won’t be cast in lucrative film productions and will instead have to work a second job to afford rent. Needless to say, fame doesn’t come easy, nor should we expect it in exchange for our efforts.

This reality shouldn’t affect your creative projects. Life-changing opportunities may not be in your future, but this is no means a testament to your talent. The creative process is much more than adoration from the masses — in the words of Albert Einstein, it’s your intelligence having fun.

So stop hoping that the masses will name you an artist. You’ve always been one.

14

THE VARSITY

arts@thevarsity.ca

ARTS & CULTURE

How to discuss mental health with your parents This is your sign to go to therapy Tomiris Frants Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article mentions stereotypes about mental illness.

I’m a part of Gen Z. In my bubble, therapy is widely accepted — even encouraged. From our perspectives, having gone to or currently being in therapy is the biggest green flag. Caring about your mental health is hot.

Once you step outside of that space, however, you have to face older generations who generally still believe the inaccurate stigma that one must be ‘crazy’ or be suffering from a mental illness to get help.

This disapproval isn’t something that should matter. After all, who really cares if your judgy old co-worker has something to say about you caring for your mental well-being? However, in the case of your parents, that judgement can hit closer to home.

Talking to your parents about wanting to go to therapy can be tricky. For some parents, you’d want to express that attending would be beneficial, but not in a way that makes them concerned about your mental health when there isn’t a reason to be. You may also want to avoid making them feel like they’re

the problem you want to address during your sessions — even if that might be the case.

I sought out therapy because of the benefits that I’ve heard from my friends who have attended it. I felt that I was stuck thinking in a negative way that didn’t allow me to process my emotions. I turned to self-destructive behaviours because I didn’t feel like I could talk to anyone I was close to without facing negative consequences in the future.

When first starting out, I had concerns about what therapy would be like. Would it be awkward? What if I didn’t like my therapist’s advice?

How could I share the deepest parts of myself — the ideas I had never expressed out loud — with a complete stranger? Were enough things ‘wrong’ with me to even validate going?

Thinking about therapy and actually attending it are two very different things. People rarely talk about the feeling of comfort you get from sharing your worries with someone who is not directly involved in your life. You can allow yourself to be honest without the concern that you will face consequences for expressing your honest feelings.

Perhaps the greatest advantage you’ll gain is the ability to be honest with yourself. In therapy, it’s okay if you say that horrible thing about your friend that you’ve felt for years but couldn’t acknowledge.

Better yet, it’s even encouraged that you do so.

JOSEPH DONATO/THEVARSITY

But explaining this to your parents is another ballpark entirely.

I approached talking about therapy with my parents by planting the idea in their minds slowly. Together, we began watching television shows whose plotlines incorporated therapy.

Then, I mentioned how one of my friends was benefitting from attending it. The key, I found, was to be consistent in these conversations so I could slowly change my parents’ perception.

In other words: yes, I did ‘Pavlov’ my parents into accepting therapy.

I would also recommend choosing an appropriate time to discuss the topic. Scope out your parents’ moods and create a conversation that eventually leads into talking about your emotions. Maybe even bring up a problem that’s been concerning you lately. Once your parents get insight into how you’ve been feeling, you

can mention that you’ve done some research and that you feel like you’re interested in exploring therapy.

However, it’s important to note that you can attend therapy without your parents’ approval.

U of T students who’ve paid their incidental fees have access to all of the university’s therapy services, including on-location counselling, group therapy, psychotherapy, and psychiatric care. If you feel that it’ll bring more harm than good, keeping your parents separate from that part of your life could be essential to your well-being.

At the end of the day, you know your parents best. You probably already know how to navigate a difficult conversation with them, too. If you feel comfortable doing so, showing them how much therapy means to you could open your relationship to a new depth of communication that you haven’t yet explored.

How a childhood in Singapore made me someone I’m proud of There are many things you can’t control — the ones you can are vital to your mental health

Reflecting on what I learned in Singapore.

ADITI PUTCHA/THEVARSITY

Alex Levesque Varsity Contributor

Dear Pandemic Alex, I’m writing to you as Post-Pandemic Alex, who, thanks to the diligence and determination of scientists worldwide, now lives with a vaccine for COVID-19. People in my world now gather in crowds — not cars — for concerts.

Living in the post-pandemic reality — one in which I’m no longer confined to a furnished prison — it’s easy to fall back into old habits. However, it’s important that you don’t disregard the important realizations that you made during quarantine.

Ergo, this letter.

Two years ago, your parents invited you to visit them at their apartment in Lachine, Québec. You were excited to finally read that Naomi Klein book and visit the bagel shop they’d told you about. You were proud to survive your first semester in university and excited to flaunt the stories of your newly acquired maturity. Little did you know that you’d soon be climbing back into the metaphorical womb.

Going into quarantine, you scavenged through numerous videos and articles for any nugget of inspiration for how you could fill your time. Unlike most people, you didn’t meditate to find your inner warrior or try to curb carbon emissions by swearing

off meat. Instead, you bought frozen Costco lasagna, draped a warm blanket over yourself, and turned to Netflix to find your better self.

Filled more with home-cooked pasta than with a sense of purpose, you turned to the mental gymnastics of recounting how Little Alex spent his free time. Who did he spend time with? Was he indoors or outdoors? Did he get enough sleep?

Opening up your dad’s photo albums, one particular time stood out the most: when you lived in Singapore. The rent in that country was criminally uncontrolled and so, with no moneygrowing tree to pluck, you moved houses a lot.

You were nine years old when you lived at the private housing estate Serangoon Garden. It had an outdoor dining room table where you used to doodle and paint during ‘siesta’ time, making the kind of large, colourful messes that perhaps Paul Cézanne would have admired. It had a walking path lined up against the house that, when wet with the hose, undoubtedly made the greatest slip-n-slide. It had a spacious living room where you and your father enjoyed playing extremely competitive games of chess before dinner, which you always lost. Alas!

You then decided to look at your life in a more macro sense; less oriented around what fulfilled you as a child and more around why they fulfilled

you. Remember when your parents took you to get candy every ‘sweet friday?’ Or when you went to the beach every weekend to cool off amid Singapore’s humid temperatures? These planned routines made you feel productive and secure. It became apparent that, at the most nostalgic times in your life, your parents made sure that you were always occupied regardless of your environment.

By settling into new places every couple of years, challenges to your routine often arose.

For example, Serangoon Garden didn’t have a pool in which your family could swim in every afternoon like you could at the Waterside apartment. To resolve this problem, your parents bought bikes and made sure that you and your sister got a breath of fresh air by cycling around the area instead.

Of course, you couldn’t expect your parents to create a schedule of your activities while in quarantine; that would be the equivalent of strapping diapers on you and plopping a pacifier in your mouth. Instead, you stood in front of a mirror and asked yourself what would make you happy.

What could you do to feel better about yourself?

You wrote down what you wanted out of the pandemic. You avoided any goals that seemed superficial and unrealistic.You came to the conclusion that you wanted to feel

more physically healthy and become more knowledgeable about the world.

So, possessed by the spirit of Jane Fonda — if it is even possible to get possessed by spirits of living people — you bought a workout mat, created a playlist of exclusively 1970s tunes, and subscribed to a summer fitness challenge. Every morning you participated in an hour-long workout and then listened to a podcast. This helped you begin each day knowing that you could control how you felt about yourself.

Being an adult means that you’re responsible for making your own routine. This routine should be guided by candid goals that give your day stability, structure, and purpose. Eventually, you started to understand that you couldn’t continue to operate without direction, because it made you feel drained.

All in all, quarantine taught you that while there are many aspects of your life that you can’t control, there are still aspects that you can. And, while few in number, they are vital to your mental health.

So when capacity requirements are removed and mask mandates are lifted, don’t spend your time bingeing Netflix or eating frozen lasagna under a weighted blanket. Instead, spend your time being true to yourself.

Warmly, Post-Pandemic Alex

Science

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/science science@thevarsity.ca

LGBTQ+ Math Day held for the second year in a row Panelists talk about dealing with prejudice in academia, coming out Sarah Kronenfeld Senior Copy Editor

On November 18, the Fields Institute hosted its second LGBTQ+ Math Day, a one-day online conference featuring LGBTQ+ people in mathematics.

The Fields Institute is a mathematical research organization located at the University of Toronto.

Deirdre Haskell, deputy director of the Fields Institute, told The Varsity that the institute organizes events to spotlight LGBTQ+ researchers in math, since equity-building conferences are vital to the mathematics community.

“I think it’s really important that we can support inclusion in mathematics — mathematics should be available for everybody to do,” said Haskell. “It’s really important to me personally to make it possible for people to feel safe about doing mathematics.”

What do LGBTQ+ mathematicians research?

The main part of the event consisted of talks from four speakers — Mohamed Omar, Becca Thomases, Seppo Niemi-Colvin, and Amanda Folsom — from various fields of mathematics. Each of their half-hour talks focused on a particular topic from their research.

Omar, an associate professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, started the first lecture with a simple, easily accessible concept — how many ways can you combine different sizes of chicken nugget orders? It turns out that, using only six-piece, nine-piece, and 12-piece chicken nuggets, you can get an order with exactly as many chicken nuggets as you’d like, as long as you’re willing to eat at least 44 of them.

He then used that intuitive idea of chicken nugget orders to talk about generating numbers from arbitrary generating sets in similar ways. He and his colleagues study numerical semigroups

— the numbers that are generated by those sets — and the different features they exhibit, which display properties that turn out to be very similar to the geometric properties of certain algebraic curves.

Toward the end of his presentation, Omar pivoted to talk about how his relationship with mathematics had changed over his educational career.

During high school, he often used math as a fun escape from stressful experiences in his personal life. “I had a really, really tumultuous coming out process, and for me, math provided this opportunity to dive deeply into interesting, fascinating problems in a land that wasn’t attacking me.”

Once he got to university, he found community and support in The Glow Centre, an organization at the University of Waterloo designed to serve queer and trans students. “My experiences through The Glow Centre made a massive difference in me being able to get through university in one mentally well piece,” he said. That support helped him engage with mathematics alongside his personal and professional life.

Similarly, the other lecturers each focused the majority of their time on a specific research topic, and some of them also talked about their personal experiences as LGBTQ+ people in STEM. Thomases talked about novel fluid dynamics research that modelled how microscopic creatures with flagella could swim through viscous, non-Newtonian fluids — in other words, as she put it, “How [they] swim through goo.” Niemi-Colvin talked about how taking the difference between two different topological measures of shape can help mathematicians find significantly complex and novel information — eventually tying it back to the theme of the day by pointing out the complexity of how gender interacts with other societal institutions. Folsom talked about mathematical explanations for and definitions of symmetry and the ways in which it’s traditionally associated with beauty.

U of T team wins 250,000 USD for carbon removal technology Umama Siddiqi Varsity Contributor

A team of researchers at U of T recently won 250,000 USD of seed funding in a competition run by XPrize, a foundation that holds competitions where teams come up with innovative solutions to real world problems. Team E-quester, a U of T Engineering team led by Shijie Liu, Celine Xiao, and Yi Xu, including student teammates Rui Kai Miao and Colin O’Brien, was among the 23 student teams that won prize money for their innovative carbon removal technologies.

This year’s competition is backed by Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who set aside 100 million USD to fund the most innovative solutions. The four-year global competition was launched on earth day — April 22, 2021 — and is designed for climate innovators who can create solutions that involve capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air or oceans and storing it away safely and sustainably.

XPrize received 195 project proposals from teams in 44 countries. E-quester was one of 18 student-led teams that received 250,000 USD to jumpstart their carbon removal project for the next phase of the competition. Five other student teams received 100,000 USD to develop technologies toward measurement, reporting, or verification of carbon removal solutions.

A more sustainable method for carbon removal The student team members — Liu, Xiao, Miao, and O’Brien — are very excited to be a part of this new project at its inception. Xu, their project

mentor, brings a lot of expertise in electrochemical systems design to the team, and Team E-quester advisors — Prof. Sinton, Prof. Sargent, Dr. Alex Ip, and Dr. Christine Gabardo — are able to provide guidance and support in terms of obtaining the required resources. Liu, Xiao, O’Brien, Gabardo, and Ip were also members of a startup company called team CERT that was a finalist in a previous XPrize competition.

What sets E-quester’s technology apart from their competitors’ is their novel electrochemical regeneration system. In this system, the alkaline solution used to capture the carbon dioxide is regenerated and recycled after the captured carbon dioxide is released. The pure carbon dioxide released can then be processed for subsequent utilization or storage. This process is entirely powered by renewable electricity.

In an email interview with The Varsity, Xiao, one of the three team leaders, further explained that “[the team’s] technology generates an alkaline solution that can chemically capture [carbon dioxide] directly from the air. The captured [carbon dioxide] stays in the solution while clean, [carbon dioxide-free] air leaves the system and returns to the atmosphere.”

“Traditional carbon capture methods require high temperatures to release the captured [carbon dioxide] from the capture solution. This thermal energy usually comes from combustion of fossil fuels which emit [carbon dioxide] in the process,” wrote Xiao. Furthermore, she added that since their technology is electricity powered, they can use renewable resources to minimize their carbon footprint and increase their energy efficiency.

CH

ER YL

Between lectures, speakers and organizers held short ‘coffee breaks’ in breakout rooms to simulate the experience of chatting at conferences. During these breaks, speakers and participants had the chance to catch up, talk about plans for future conferences, and carry on discussions about how to make events like these — and the world of mathematics in general — more accessible to all participants.

All of the lectures have been posted online on the Fields Institute’s YouTube channel.

An ongoing discussion The second part of the event consisted of a panel discussion on the experiences of being LGBTQ+ in mathematics research. Where the first portion of the event focused heavily on participants’ research, this discussion focused much more heavily on personal experience.

The panel was moderated by Evelyn Lamb, a science and mathematics journalist and co-host of the podcast My Favourite Theorem. She led panellists Catherine Cannizzo and Andrés Vindas Meléndez — both of them postgraduate mathematics researchers — in a discussion about their own experiences in the mathematics community, their experiences of being LGBTQ+ in academia, and ways of improving the academic culture for other LGBTQ+ mathematicians.

Meléndez talked about his experiences during

NO

NG

/TH

EV AR

SIT

Y

undergraduate and graduate school where he felt isolated because of the casual homophobic language his peers would throw around. At one point, when he tried to bring up his concerns to the institutions where he was studying, he felt like the university tried to placate him instead of actually talking to the students who were acting badly.

Today, he’s found ways to be more comfortable in his environment by learning about the LGBTQ+ community in the places he lives and being open about his identity in places where it’s safe to do so. “I try to be as open as I can, because I want a full mathematical experience with my full authentic self,” he said. He tries especially to be open with the students he advises, so that he can make a space where they feel comfortable being themselves and educating him on their own identities.

Cannizzo talked about her experiences discovering her identity and coming out in the middle of graduate school. She found herself in an environment that was supportive of her identity and her coming-out process, but she struggled with complicated feelings about her identity.

Coming out and making sense of her own identity, she said, really helped her get back to a place where she had an easier time engaging the creativity necessary for a mathematics career. “To do math, you have to be in a space where you can be yourself.”

Novel method helps combat climate change in a cost-efficient, sustainable manner

The team will use the funding to improve their concept and bring their project to life.

COURTESY OF TEAM E-QUESTER

Direct carbon capture (DAC) technology is an effective method that has been demonstrated for efficient carbon removal and is considered key for an energy system with net zero emissions — that is, a system where the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is equivalent to the amount removed.

However, current DAC methods are extremely expensive due to their operational and storage costs, which prevents their widespread use. “We wanted to leverage our lab’s expertise in electrochemistry and mechanical engineering to design a system that could be more energy efficient than existing systems,” wrote Xiao.

The success of projects like this is highly dependent on collaboration and the exchange of ideas. The E-quester team members are aware of their individual roles and expertise. They trust each other to put their best foot forward and are comfortable seeking advice from their mentors.

Moving forward Xiao wrote that the team will use the majority of the funding they’ve received to invest in equipment and in improving their concept. As the com-

petition progresses, they will aim to demonstrate the entire carbon removal process, from the point where it exists in the air to when it is put in the ground for permanent storage.

Winning the 250,000 USD prize has given the team a lot of financial reassurance and drive to keep progressing forward in the competition. “To be honest, the most challenging part of this project is yet to come,” admitted Xiao. She foresees that things will change once they transition from working on lab scale prototypes to full scale capacity, and that many areas of the system can be improved in preparation as they implement their project.

A competition like this not only aims to support creative climate change innovators around the world, but also highlights the urgency for immediate action toward the global climate crisis. Xiao hopes that large-scale global competitions like this one will inspire innovative climate change solutions and attract more funding into this field of research. The XPrize competition will also serve to educate and start conversations among the public about what we can do to minimize the impact of climate change.

The team’s progress can be followed at e-quester. com.

16

THE VARSITY

science@thevarsity.ca

SCIENCE

Do individual actions really count in the fight against the climate crisis?

Two writers go head to head on the defining question of our generation

Whether individual or collective, one thing is certain: action needs to be taken.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY

Hannah Carty, Tahmeed Shafiq Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor

Can any one person really make a difference in the fight against the climate crisis?

Many people ask themselves this question. We know that the climate crisis is the greatest challenge global society is going to face in our lifetimes, but we also know that climate change is overwhelmingly driven by the pollution of large companies and governments and not the actions of individuals.

Still, many people try to make ‘ecofriendly’ choices in their everyday lives and commit themselves to fighting climate change in whatever way they can. Do these individual actions really make a difference?

Focusing on individual action to fight the climate crisis is a waste of time Many mornings, I roll out of bed and wander to a nearby coffee shop. While standing in line, I eye the other patrons’ hands, looking for signs of a reusable mug that will inevitably bring on feelings of guilt.

“Good for them,” I think. I purchase a medium latte. “Is dairy milk okay?” the cashier asks. I nod yes, mostly because I’m unwilling to pay the 50 cent upcharge for oat milk.

These daily interactions and choices bring the climate crisis to the forefront of my mind and make me reflect on my role in it as a consumer. Although I try to make all the ‘right’ choices, the amount of options and the relative futility of my actions only exacerbates my anxiety.

For many of us, the pessimism and stress that stems from the fact that our world will soon be unlivable often feels overwhelming.

But it’s not one single person’s fault, and putting too much focus on individual actions can hinder progress toward effective climate action. For example, only 100 companies have been responsible for more than 70 per cent of global emissions since 1988.

In 2017, the energy sector comprised 73 per cent of total global emissions.

Statistics like these put into perspective just how desperately systemic change is needed.

It’s an understatement to say the situation is dire. Without widespread action, the seemingly far-off possibilities of flooded cities, compromised food systems, and further blows to the earth’s already decreasing biodiversity will rapidly become our reality.

Making choices in a flawed system is not going to get us anywhere.

There are whole companies built upon greenwashing, or advertising a product as specifically being good for the environment. Many of the claims they make, however, do not hold up to scrutiny.

No matter how much consumers try to spend their money ethically, individual choices can only go so far.

Policy changes are necessary before individual action can be truly impactful.

For example, choosing not to eat red meat does have a small impact, but we would see a much bigger impact from policy changes that stop the deforestation of rainforests for beef production, which is the biggest driver of tropical deforestation.

The short answer to whether one person can make a difference is “no.”

The longer answer is that we need to reframe how we think about individual action to relieve individuals of the burden of a crisis that they didn’t create, while still working toward collective goals.

In the long run, yes, we need to make fundamental changes to the way we live, eat, work, and consume the planet’s resources to maintain a livable planet. We do all have to care.

But instead of fretting about your choice to eat red meat or drink dairy milk, shift your energy elsewhere. Have conversations with friends and family about the impacts of the climate crisis that could be meaningful to them and hope that they will shift their focus toward effective political action and enforceable policies to hit concrete goals in emissions reductions.

The helplessness we feel when individual action doesn’t work can breed cynicism, and that’s the last thing we need. True, it’s infinitely harder to conceive of what we can do to help the environment beyond daily small choices.

But if we spend less time worrying whether we forgot to bring a reusable cup to the coffee shop and more time thinking about how we can educate other people, raise awareness, and participate in collective action, then we can create a movement strong enough to save the planet and ourselves.

— Hannah Carty Individual action can be a catalyst for the big changes we desperately need It is essential to understand that the problem facing our planet isn’t just one of policy or agency, but of anxiety.

Gen Z believes in the climate crisis.

But we’ve also been told since our childhood that it’s preventable, and that recycling and ditching gasolinepowered cars would count as ‘doing our part.’

We were never told that corporate giants in the Global North produce the vast majority of greenhouse house emissions, much more than any single household. We were never told that the crisis would be here — in the form of rapidly changing weather patterns, agricultural shocks, and mass extinctions — before we even owned homes we could fit with solar panels.

Hence the anxiety, the existential dread that we’re heading into a cataclysm that we can do nothing to stop. Governments are useless, businesses are uninterested, and we will be the first generation to pay the price for their myopic greed.

But if you can find hope, even just one ember of it, then you can see past the darkness.

So often, we talk of individual action in the narrow sense that was presented to us as children: individual acts of sustainability that present little inconvenience to our everyday life.

We need to change what we mean by individual action. We need to think of it

as the grounds for our hope — a diverse array of behavioural changes, some quite costly, that will motivate a consistent commitment to climate action.

Psychologist Elke Wuber of Princeton University elegantly calls this the realistic “silver buckshot,” as opposed to the silver bullet we were led to believe in.

She derives the case for personal action from psychology.

We are a species “not known for its rational deliberation,” she writes. We focus on the short term; we keep to the status quo when change seems difficult.

That’s why people who believe in the climate crisis can still resist making any adjustments to their lifestyle.

We need to act like the climate crisis is a crisis to motivate other, more important actions. Decades of psychology research demonstrate that human beings simply can’t make changes just by willing it — we need to do the work to make our new choices an ingrained habit.

So if we can make permanent behavioural shifts on the basis of our

climate awareness, we will surely be more willing to commit to the more impactful, political organizing that climate action requires. This is the conclusion Wuber comes to, although her suggestions are aimed at policymakers who want to encourage more public support for climate policy.

But I believe we should all take up the charge to make personal changes ourselves, because this crisis is also a justice problem, and the political action it requires of us is going to cost us in time and money. If we can’t learn to accept inconveniences to our own lifestyles, we will never be ready to truly organize and force governments to curb the parasitic corporations that are leeching our planet.

In this sense, individual action becomes much more expansive than mere recycling. It becomes the personal manifestation of a true, genuine resolve to make change. You learn the work by doing the work, and there’s no shortcut around it.

— Tahmeed Shafiq

thevarsity.ca/section/science

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

17

Octopuses, crabs, and lobsters are to be recognized as sentient beings in the UK Conclusion by LSE leads to animal welfare legislation Sahir Dhalla Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article mentions animal abuse.

On November 19, in response to findings by the London School of Economics (LSE), the UK government announced that octopuses, crabs, and lobsters will be recognized as sentient beings by law.

This announcement comes after years of wellestablished scientific research that says that these animals are intelligent and have consciousness. The LSE conducted a review of over 300 studies, which demonstrates sufficient evidence for the sentience of creatures either classified as cephalopods or decapods.

The science behind sentience Sentience was defined using eight overall criteria across the studies. The ultimate aim when determining sentience, as explained by the researchers in their report, was to see whether the target creatures have “the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort, and excitement.” The criteria looked at phenomena such as whether the creatures had reflex responses to pain, whether they would adapt their behaviours to avoid unpleasant sensations, or whether they engaged in self-protective reflex behaviours like rubbing a place of injury to soothe the pain from it.

The review by the LSE concluded that a sufficient

amount of the listed criteria were met by a number of animals categorized as cephalopods — octopuses, squids, cuttlefish — and decapods — crabs, lobsters, and shrimp.

Now that cephalopods and decapods are recognized as sentient beings, it is inevitable that we will consider and explore topics regarding the consciousnesses and minds of these animals.

There has already been speculation about the consciousness of octopuses. Some reports even suggest that octopuses may experience dreams. They have different stages of sleep, including some that are similar to the rapid eye movement sleep stage in mammals, which is associated with dreaming. Octopuses are also often described as incredibly intelligent, and are able to pass cognitive tests designed for children up to four years old.

What impact does this ruling have?

Although the law currently has no direct impact on the fishing, shellfish catching, or restaurant industries, it does have an impact on the welfare of these animals and how caretakers will treat them.

A rather inhumane example of a behaviour that will now be called into question is that of killing lobsters by boiling them alive. While it is no longer a common practice, there are still relatively accessible ways to buy lobsters for the purpose of boiling to death. The lobsters being boiled would have to endure immense pain until their pain receptors are

ROSALIND LIANG/THEVARSITY

burnt off. This practice has always seemed barbaric, but it appears even more so now that these creatures will be recognized as sentient beings by legislation.

Lord Zac Goldsmith, the UK Animal Welfare Minister, said that “[establishing] the Animal Welfare Sentience Bill provides a crucial assurance that animal well-being is rightly considered when developing new laws. The science is now clear that decapods and cephalopods can feel pain and therefore it is only right they are covered by this vital piece of legislation.”

The bill, once implemented, will also lead to the creation of an Animal Sentience Committee that will be responsible for overseeing the improvement of animal welfare.

Despite the passing of this legislation, many researchers are not optimistic for significant change to the status quo. Baroness Jenny Jones, a UK politician, argued that the UK government will continue to ignore issues regarding animal welfare and continue as they always have, just as they have done about climate change.

Philosophical implications By giving all of these creatures the status of

sentience, we are acknowledging that they have a capacity for pain, pleasure, joy, comfort, excitement, boredom, and more.

Any reasonable person would also acknowledge that pain, for the most part, is intrinsically bad. Therefore, we should be working to reduce pain in the world, regardless of which moral theory you subscribe to.

It follows, then, that a part of action to reduce pain in the world would be to look after sentient creatures. Such an action plan would have to involve respecting their right to live and stopping both the destruction of their natural habitats as well as human consumption and killing.

This report and ruling are an important step in fixing our destructive relationship with the natural world. Similar legislation must be implemented globally to move forward on the path to a more equitable world, both for human and non-human animals.

Investigating the big brain energy of the humble trout Trout brains change in size according to the season

GREGOR MOSER, MATT POWER/ COURTESY OF ANAECHIMEDIA

Sky Kapoor Associate Arts & Culture Editor

their breeding season. This means they require more brain power during that period.

We all know and love the expanding brain meme.

It’s versatile, iconic, and perfect for getting a point across.

Well, it turns out that trout might find this meme relatable too. A recent collaborative study by researchers at UTM, the University of Guelph, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources found that the brain size of these freshwater fish fluctuates with the temperature of their environment, suggesting that they have literal big brain energy in the fall and wintertime.

There are many factors that might contribute to this seasonal brain variation. For one, trout migrate to shore during fall and winter. Their big brain period also happens at the same time as

Trout go with the flow Trout are able to survive vast environmental change. Seasonal changes prompt trout to change their behaviour and movement patterns so they can migrate toward the shoreline to breed.

Temperatures in lakes decline drastically during the winter months and light levels decrease similarly, so trout need to be diligent when locating and capturing their prey. Their ability to navigate the harsher winter months is bolstered by their neural flexibility.

Currently, researchers hypothesize that these fish change their brain size in order to brave these environmental changes. For the collaborative study, fish from two trout populations in Algonquin

Provincial Park — from Lake of Two Rivers and Lake Opeongo — were collected seasonally. After appropriate and approved euthanization methods, researchers measured their brain sizes.

They found that trout brains are at their smallest in the warmer seasons, and larger in the colder months. However, researchers believe there are more contributing factors to this fluctuation besides changes in temperature. With fluctuations in weather conditions comes an increase in cognitive need.

Implications of brain size So, does size always matter? It turns out that, in lake trout, it may.

However, the entire trout brain doesn’t grow proportionately. Researchers found that certain brain regions demonstrated more of this growth.

Specifically, the telencephalon — or the cerebrum — which is the largest part of the brain, showed significant growth, while other parts of the trout brain showed a less significant seasonal change in size. It is still unknown whether or not trouts’ individual brain regions can change independently.

It was also suggested that the size of trout brains might be influenced by cognitive need.

When there is a higher demand on the fish to perform tasks that require more brain power, such as changing habitats, breeding, or increased movement, they may alter their brain size accordingly.

There’s still so much more to be discovered about the activity of these humble fish, including further exploration of their brains. Regardless, it’s safe to say that the trout’s fantastic ability to change their brain size is part of what allows them to be active year-round.

Sports

November 29, 2021 thevarsity.ca/section/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

Tiffany Ho Varsity Contributor

Burly, sweaty men. Obnoxious yelling at the TV. The incessant playing of ball games for hours on end. These are just some of the many things that come to mind at the mention of watching sports for entertainment.

Personally, I must admit, I have never been one to carve time out of my day to sit down and watch a football, basketball, or rugby game.

Thus, I can’t confidently vouch that these are indeed the realities of sports as entertainment.

But the media that I see as I scroll through my Facebook and Instagram feeds has conditioned me to believe that this is indeed the existing state of sports affairs — a set of activities that can be violent, man-centric, and definitely not appealing to people like myself.

Why is it that novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the chick flicks, thrillers, and comedy films that I avidly consume entice my heart and mind so much more than watching football or rugby games? I think it is all about the stakes and what I gain out of consuming the material.

I see glimpses of myself in the characters I watch and read about. In the film Mean Girls, I fervently root for Cady Heron to dethrone Regina George as queen bee because I can sympathise with her dislike of being around condescending people with superiority complexes. To some extent, I can understand her burning desire to push Regina off her high horse. In the novel The Great Gatsby, I yearn for the happiness of Jay Gatsby, because I can empathise with him and his desire to achieve something that is seemingly out of reach.

As I consume these forms of entertainment, I personally become invested in these stories and in their characters — I want them to succeed. By the end of a two-hour long film or a 300-page long novel, I know that I will have gone through

The world of sports needs to expand its audience The current state of sports entertainment lacks true representation

Televised sports aren’t The Great Gatsby, but I could give them a try.

DINA DONG/THEVARSITY

an entire journey, with a climax and an outcome that brings me a sense of closure or nonclosure.

Either way, I will have gotten a sense of fulfilment journeying with characters through their life and being transported into another world, where I can momentarily leave my own and live vicariously through them.

Beyond that, in movies and novels, you are eased into the storyline. Before you get too far, you’re provided the necessary understanding of the world you are about to be immersed into.

You are given a basic comprehension of the circumstances and the stakes at play in the story.

On the other hand, with copious amounts of

jargon and seemingly complex rules innately ingrained in sports, it seems rather daunting to watch any game if you are not already equipped with the necessary background knowledge about the sport. With the limited amount of free time I have for entertainment, this perceived additional obstacle has pushed me to consume other forms of entertainment, like the films and novels that I’ve grown comfortable with.

Growing up in a conservative, traditional Asian household — one where I was shaped to conform to particular gender norms — ballet classes, pink dresses, and Barbie dolls were always the way to go. My friends consumed romantic comedies and

romance novels with a passion. Rugby classes or track and field training? Definitely not a priority in the blueprint laid out for me.

In that environment, it is no surprise that sports as a source of entertainment was not something I even considered. It doesn’t help that in this day and age, there is an immense lack of representation of women in sports in mainstream media.

In 2019, a research study by Cheryl Cooky of Purdue University, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Southern California, found that coverage of women’s sports on the news only amounted to 5.4 per cent of all airtime, hardly any different from the 5 per cent reported in 1989. Since there’s barely any representation for women in sports in the mainstream media, this deprives young girls of women role models they can look up to in sports and inevitably reinforces the notion that sports are meant for boys, not girls.

Now, what can be done to make sports more inclusive and more appealing to people as a source of entertainment? The apparent answer would be to make fundamental changes to the world of sports and to its representation in the media, to make sure women are equally represented and respected.

But even though such a scenario would be ideal, this kind of systemic change will take much time and effort to enact and will not occur overnight. What can be done on a smaller scale?

On an individual level, existing sports fans can encourage their friends who aren’t fans to watch sports with them, to create an environment conducive to their enjoyment of sports. They should teach them about the games they’re watching, sharing why they are passionate about them and what their favourite things about the sport are.

Small but steady efforts like this will no doubt make the sports world a more inclusive one.

Blues fall short in home opener against the Ottawa Gee-Gees Blues Guard Liburd Mullings was a standout in the 10-point loss

The Varsity Blues lost both games of the double-header against Ottawa.

COURTESY OF TIFFANY LUKE

Mekhi Quarshie Associate Sports Editor

The lights were bright, the seats were full, and the atmosphere was electric as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues took on the Ottawa GeeGees on November 26 at the Goldring Center. The Toronto Varsity Blues men’s basketball team had lost all of their three Ontario University Athletics matches coming into the game. They were unable to turn around that record by the end of Friday night, and the game ended 82–71.

As soon as the game started, the Gee-Gees played a high press, barely giving the Blues any time to breathe on the ball. The first quarter was tight and low-scoring as Ottawa’s zone defense caused the Blues a little bit of trouble. It seems like every single bucket that the Blues got was hard-earned, especially with the way Gee-Gees

Forward Maxime Boursiquot was protecting the basket and contesting any shots in the paint.

About six and a half minutes into the game, the Blues were trailing 9–2. The Gee-Gees were by far the better team at this point, getting easy buckets, closely guarding the Blues players, and passing the ball around with ease.

Suddenly, the Blues were presented with a saving grace. They switched point guards from the reliable 6–2 veteran Inaki Alvarez to the 5–10 rookie Kalyem Liburd-Mullings.

As soon as Liburd-Mullings got ahold of the rock, he was sending it flying from beyond the arc and the shots were going in. The first threehit cut the game to a temporary five-point deficit for the Blues. As the ball hit the net, the crowd erupted as the Blues had finally found a way to score against the scrappy Gee-Gees’ defense.

With some help from Steven Rwahwire, who had

an acrobatic block, they ended the first quarter with only an eight-point deficit; 17–9 in favor of Gee-Gees.

The Blues seemed reinvigorated in the second quarter and more players started to contribute to the lead. But who was the player with the most points? Liburd-Mullings. Who had a three at the beginning of the quarter? Liburd-Mullings.

Who was that behind the arc? Liburd-Mullings.

Any time that he had the ball in his hands in the second quarter, the crowd cheered him on, expecting the shot to go in. On his fourth three, Liburd-Mullings turned around and looked at the crowd before the shot went in — a masterclass in showmanship. The commentators started comparing Liburd-Mullings to the professionals, saying that one of his shots was “Curryesque” — a hat-tip to NBA three-point specialist Stephen Curry.

Starting in the third quarter, more Blues chimed in. Blues’ 2019–2020 top scorer Evan Shadkami started to knock down some shots, contributing seven points. Former FC Bayern Munich basketball player Lennart Weber also started to look more comfortable in the paint.

The sole bright spot of the game, though, was definitely Liburd-Mullings. His sharpshooting made the loss still entertaining for fans, coaches, and players alike.

The Varsity Blues sought their first win in the second game of the back-to-back series against the Gee-Gees on Saturday, November 27 — however, that match also ended in a loss for the Blues, with a final score of 53–61 in favour of Ottawa. If the Blues can find a way to get more players on the scoreboard and tighten up their defense, the wins should follow in upcoming games.

thevarsity.ca/section/sports

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

19

Formula One’s latest rivalry: Hamilton and Verstappen’s turbulent 2021 Recapping the drama, and looking forward to the future Olivia Kairu Varsity Contributor

This season has delivered a title fight that fans of Formula One have craved since Nico Rosberg’s 2016 World Drivers’ championship victory. However, this time, instead of an innerteam rivalry, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has been engaged in a long-awaited battle against the audacious Max Verstappen.

With the 2022 season closing in, now is a perfect time to recap the wild ride so far.

Hamilton and Team Mercedes’ dominance has long been established, ever since the introduction of the turbocharged V6 power units back in 2014. However, Verstappen and his team, Red Bull Racing, have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with, potentially stopping Team Mercedes’ seven-year streak in its tracks.

This is all thanks to the competitive RB16B — Red Bull Racing’s new car model — that they are competing with this season.

The season started off with the implementation of new aerodynamic regulations that reduced overall downforce levels on cars. Despite the fact that it was aerodynamically hampered, Mercedes’ low-rake model — a model with a reduced angle between the front and rear of the vehicle — fared well enough to land Hamilton a win in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix (GP). However, Verstappen was close enough to stop the championship from slipping from his grasp completely after he won the iconic Monaco GP. Although Monaco was the beginning of Mer-

ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

cedes’ troubles and Red Bull’s winning streak, the Azerbaijan GP turned the championship on its head following unfortunate circumstances for both Hamilton and Verstappen. With just five laps left, Verstappen’s lead turned into a sudden did-not-finish status following a massive tire blowout on the rear left side of his car that sent him into a high-speed collision with the main straight barrier, causing the race to be temporarily halted. Hamilton also faced great misfortune after his right front wheel locked up, which caused him to finish 15th.

At his home race at Silverstone for the British GP, Hamilton was poised to win in front of 140,000 spectators. However, this was not the

main focus of the weekend. Verstappen won the sprint qualifying session to start on pole for the race on Sunday with home-town hero Hamilton following closely behind in second.

Although Hamilton did walk away with an eighth Silverstone win, controversy overshadowed his victory following a tussle in the first lap that rendered Verstappen’s race finished in a matter of seconds — Hamilton’s aggressive overtake into the Copse turn led to a contact that sent Verstappen sliding across the gravel trap.

Just when we thought the season had reached its peak, conditions at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP resulted in the shortest race in Formula One history, consisting of just one lap.

Later, the first Dutch GP in 36 years saw Verstappen engulfed in praise from a sea of ‘Orange Army’ Verstappen fans from all around Zandvoort, for a race one could only describe as designed for Verstappen. The Red Bull driver disappeared into the lead, taking a historic home-turf victory around the banked circuit.

After racers returned to Italy’s Monza circuit, there was a rehashing of the rivalry following the dramatic crash between the two championship contenders. When he left the pits on lap 26, Hamilton wound up alongside Verstappen as the two scuffled side by side into Variante del Rettifilo, colliding into each other and launching Verstappen’s vehicle into the air. The crash led to the end of both drivers’ races, as well as a three-place grid penalty for Verstappen at Sochi.

Recently, after his car failed a rear wing test, Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying races and thus had to start the last of sprint qualifying sessions in position P20. In an all but stellar drive, Hamilton recovered from the back of the grid to finish fifth. However, following a change in the W12 Internal Combustion Engine, an additional five-place penalty led to a start at position P10. A total 25 place grid penalty did little to deny Hamilton’s victory.

The two racers are currently separated by just eight points as of November 26, making for a scintillating end to the championship — there are just two races left, and Red Bull threatened by the strength in the Mercedes’ cars’ new package. The drama is reaching new heights, and Formula One fans have a lot to look forward to before the season is up.

How to recognize and manage burnout Focusing on self-care can help manage exhaustion and stress Shankeri Vijayakumar Varsity Contributor

As U of T students approach the tail end of the fall semester, a common concern on many people’s minds is the workload that accompanies yearend finals and projects. We’ve all been there.

Many students use words like “overwhelmed,” “stressed,” or “tired” to describe how they are feeling during this time. These terms are usually signs that individuals using them may be on the path to experiencing burnout or feeling its effects already. So what exactly does it mean to experience burnout?

Burnout is a state of exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress. It can lead to feelings of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. Other signs of burnout include feeling alienated from tasks and responsibilities and feeling a sense of reduced accomplishment.

I recall talking to my friends and peers, especially in our early years of university, about our upcoming tasks and responsibilities.

Everyone would try to emphasize the stress and workload that they had — almost as if we were trying to show off that we were extremely busy, and try to one-up each other on how overwhelmed we were.

Interactions like this are unfortunately quite common among students. Anyone can experience burnout, and it can be related to aspects of school, work, or personal life. In a society characterized by hustle culture and productivity culture, it can be hard to break away from thought processes and habits that may contribute to the path to burnout.

Because of this, it is important to recognize signs of burnout, as it can lead to impacts on our health and well-being.

When you’re going through a particularly busy period in school, work, or life in general, it can be easy to put your head down and try to power through. However, when you’re feeling

signs of burnout, it’s worthwhile to take the time to reflect and take action to prevent or manage your symptoms.

While you’re reflecting on your current state, evaluate whether you have noticed a change in your sleep or eating habits, your energy and motivation toward work, or if you have been experiencing negative feelings toward yourself or your responsibilities.

When actively trying to prevent or manage burnout, first and foremost, do not be afraid to reach out for support, whether that means speaking to a trusted friend or family member or seeking out a healthcare professional. Having the space to talk to someone about how you’re feeling and to be validated can go a long way in helping you manage feelings of stress, worry, or negative thoughts.

On top of that, proper sleep, eating well, and exercise are essential for well-being and physical health, and can be helpful in reducing feelings of stress or exhaustion.

When your school or work responsibilities are taking a toll, try to reframe how you look at your work and prioritize your tasks. Try to find aspects of what you are studying or working on that make you excited. Reframing your thoughts to think about the positive aspects can help you find motivation.

This can also involve setting boundaries between your school and work responsibilities and your personal life. Try to take breaks from technology and from responding to non-urgent messages.

Setting aside time to explore things that make you happy or help you relax is worth it, and it can have a big impact on managing symptoms of burnout.

If you think you are experiencing some signs of burnout, try to practise self-care in whatever way that suits you, whether by taking short breaks throughout your day, prioritizing your sleep, or trying some mindfulness activities. It’s always wise and brave to value your health and prioritize your well-being.

HANNAH FLEISCH/THEVARSITY

20

THE VARSITY

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

DIVERSIONS AND ADVERTISEMENTS Content warning: This comic discusses abuses committed as part of the residential school system.

Anjali Bhurji, Katherine Hartig, Uahikea Maile, Emily Shi Varsity Contributors

Our comic was inspired by the quote, “Where have you been? Why have you waited so long? How did you ever find us, buried… under whips and lies?” from Deborah Miranda’s memoir, Bad Indians. In

POL195, we talked about how Indigenous comics were ‘stories from below’ rather than ‘stories from above’ — stories told by and about people who have been oppressed by writers of colonial history.

When we were asked to create a comic about an ongoing Indigenous conflict, we decided to cover the remains of the 215 children found buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School this

May. In our early stages of planning, we decided to quite literally tell a story both from below and from above. We imagined what the children who were buried and erased might say, while narratives from above denied their existence.

Our comic reflects how contemporary Indigenous activists made it possible for past victims and present-day survivors of residential schools to

receive justice. It shows how, despite the attempts of settler colonial systems and governments to feign ignorance and pretend that these children were never missing or murdered, Indigenous communities have never forgotten about their existence. It is that enduring resistance of Indigenous communities that has forced Canada to reckon with the violence of its colonial past at last.