THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
November 30, 2020
BATTLE OF ECO230 IR students petition for retroactive CR/NCR
Vol. CXLI, No. 11
House of Commons endorses extension of student loan payment suspension until June 2021 U of T graduate petitioned for relief, federal government yet to implement motion Cedric Jiang Varsity Staff
p.6 Allegations of poor course management, unjust grading Date Location Result
25 November 2020 Bloor Street & St George Street, Toronto, ON Faculty of Arts & Science victory
Belligerents A&S
Faculty of Arts & Science
Arts and Science Students’ Union International Relations Society
Leaders A&S
Foti Vito
Prof. Randy Boyagoda
Mary Noh Adams Aghimien
Strength Eighty petitioners
One faculty
On November 24, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion calling for an extension of the federal student loan repayment moratorium, which took effect until the end of September, for an additional six months. The endorsed extension would cover October 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021, during which those with federal student loans will not be required to make payments or build interest on their loans. However, the extension has not been implemented yet by the federal government. Accordingly, the National Student Loans Service Centre is still requiring payments, noting on its website that payments and interest began again on October 1. In an email to borrowers whose loans are due, the centre wrote, “Despite recent media reports, November payment on your loan(s) are due as scheduled.” Patty Facy, who graduated from U of T in 2020, initiated a petition earlier this month that called on the federal government to extend the student loan non-repayment period, given that it overlapped with the automatic repayment freeze for new graduates. The petition received support from multiple MPs. Calls for financial relief for recent graduates “With COVID-19 rates skyrocketing, the stress on young people and recent graduates is incredible. They lost their summer employment, they have few job options, and those available are often low-paying and put them at risk for COVID-19,” said New Democratic Party MP Heather McPherson, who forwarded the motion, in the House of Commons on Tuesday. In an email to The Varsity, Facy wrote that it was a relief to hear that the House of Commons had passed the motion. “This news is a major relief for Spring 2020 grads struggling to find work and reach a level of financial stability in the current climate of the pandemic,” wrote Facy. She commented that the extension will significantly help many spring graduates who have
been struggling to find job placements. In an email to The Varsity, Marielle Hossack, a spokesperson from the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion’s office, acknowledged that the youth will be at the centre of the recovery, and that the government will “remain committed to supporting students and ensuring youth get the experience and skills they need to succeed.” Hossack wrote in the statement, “We know students and young Canadians are still facing challenges, and we will continue to do what it takes to be there to support [students] and help them get through these challenging times.” More support for graduates still needed The adopted motion, however, still comes with concerns for even newer graduates. “I want to make sure that the students who graduate Fall 2020, or even Spring 2021 if [COVID-19] continues, get these benefits too,” wrote Facy. Although the House of Commons decision is great news for spring 2020 graduates, she wrote, fall 2020 graduates will still have an overlap between the extra benefit and their normal post-graduation grace period. She believes that the same extra benefit of loan non-repayment should be granted to any students graduating during the pandemic and has continued calling on people to sign the petition, which has gathered over 870 signatures so far. Another concern is that, although the motion would extend the moratorium on federal student loans, it does not apply to provincial ones. “For Ontario students for example, new grads are still expected to meet their [Ontario Student Assistance Program] payments, because those haven’t been frozen,” wrote Facy. She commented further that the interest on provincial loans is still being charged, which makes the relief incomplete. Facy wrote that students would like to see the provincial governments follow similar actions to suspend student loan repayment at their level during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A trip down front campus’ memory lane
Why decriminalizing drugs is not out of anyone’s mind
Varsity Blues women’s soccer captain on facing COVID-19
A student re�lects on dropping out — and why you should’t do the same
How a local restaurant An Armenian student perspective on the has been hit by the recent Nagornopandemic Karabakh con�lict
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Students face travel restrictions, difficulty finding alternative arrangements
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As many students are faced with COVID-19 travel restrictions and may not be able to return home for winter break, students who need to remain in residence over the entire break this year will be moved to CampusOne, a U of Taffiliated student housing building. Typically, residences shut down for the duration of the winter break, requiring students to move out when the university closes in December. This year, however, students in residences that are closing over the winter break will have the option to stay at CampusOne following concerns that students have to find accommodations elsewhere if they could not return home due to travel or quarantine restrictions. Some
students also expressed concerns that finding external accommodations brings an additional safety consideration during COVID-19. Students staying at CampusOne are required to stay for the entirety of the winter break, which begins on December 22 and now extends until January 10. The rooms provided at CampusOne are suite style, with multiple bedrooms and washrooms. U of T has also negotiated a lower nightly rate at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto for students who only need to stay for part of the winter break. Students must submit an application by December 4 at 12:00 pm, though they are not guaranteed a space. Confirmation will be sent on December 7, and students can cancel their stay by December 18 at 4:00 pm with no charge. Students staying at CampusOne for the
winter break will pay $300 for the duration. They may also choose to pay for a meal plan for an additional $300. The meal plan will include three meals a day delivered to each room. Limited kitchen facilities will be available to students staying at CampusOne, so students are encouraged to buy a meal plan. First-year Victoria College student Isobel Bird is planning to stay at CampusOne over the winter break due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. “People have said that [CampusOne] is a nice place, [so] I feel better,” she said in an interview with The Varsity. She feels that the $300 fee for the room is reasonable, but she does not plan to purchase a meal plan due to the cost. Despite being told there will be limited access to kitchen facilities, “They didn’t really elaborate,” said Bird. “So we’ll see how that goes.” Bird said that she thought moving students to CampusOne isn’t ideal and that they should have informed students earlier about the change. However, “It’s the best option they could have come up with,” she noted. Bird also took issue with rooms not being guaranteed upon application, which she felt left “room for people to worry.” In an interview with The Varsity, second-year Victoria College student Kalliopé Anvar McCall said that although she will not be staying in residences over the break, she still felt “relieved” that her friends who could not return home have a safe place to stay for the break. McCall added that she believes winter break housing should be offered in other years as well, beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. “Throwing them out into the city if you can’t go home, even without [COVID-19], I think is a little bit unfair. So I think it should be not just an exceptional thing that Victoria College does, but a thing that they do every year.”
2019–2020 saw lowest number of non-academic offenses in five years
Disruption was most common offense with four cases Joshua Chong Varsity Contributor
The University of Toronto recently released its annual report summarizing closed non-academic discipline cases from the 2019–2020 academic year, of which there were only eight. The report was presented by acting Vice-Provost Students Micah Stickel at a University Affairs Board meeting on November 24. Non-academic offenses are violations to the university’s Code of Student Conduct, a document outlining expectations for student behaviour and the procedures for handling behaviours that are prohibited under the code. The report also includes all historical data since the 2015– 2016 academic year. 2019–2020 report Eight non-academic discipline offences were resolved in the 2019–2020 academic year, the lowest number in at least five years. The eight offenses were part of seven individual cases against students, with at least one case involving more than one offence. The most common offence in the report for 2019–2020 was “disruption,” with four cases, followed by “offenses against persons,” with two cases. “Offenses against property” and “unauthorized use of University facilities, equipment or services” each had one case this past academic year. The report also broke down the cases by division. Four cases occurred at UTM, two took place at the School of Graduate Studies, and
one was at New College. Five of seven cases were concluded within 12 months of the incident date. One was concluded within 18 months, while another took more than 18 months to resolve. In the 2018–2019 academic year, half of the 12 cases were resolved within six months. Cases can be concluded by various methods, including an informal resolution, a hearing, or a withdrawal of the charges. There were no hearings held in 2019–2020, and only one hearing was held in the past five years. Stickel attributed the delays in case conclusion times this past year to the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID-19 has meant adapting our normal practices,” Stickel said at the University Affairs Board meeting. He said that the Office of the Vice-Provost Students had to change how it handles investigations to allow for remote interviews. “In the spring, this may have caused small delays in some cases as we [transitioned] from the in-person to virtual settings,” he explained.
Stickel also noted that cases may take longer to resolve if there is a parallel criminal case occurring at the same time. According to Stickel, the criminal case usually needs to be concluded before the Code of Student Conduct case can be finalized. Changes to policy This report on cases of non-academic discipline is the first one since the Governing Council approved changes to the Code of Student Conduct on December 13, 2019 so that it aligns with the Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. The amendments include updates to the list of sanctions that hearing officers may impose against offenders. New options for sanctions include mandated training, an assignment, a nocontact order, and conditions for participation in the university community. In addition, some existing sanctions were modified — suspensions can now be up to four years, when previously they were no more than one year, Stickel said.
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NOVEMBER 30, 2020
Controversial UMLAP invoked once in 2019–2020, down from eight cases last year Vice-provost students attributes decrease to communication with division heads
U of T releases updated centralized mental health resource website
Mental Health Policy Council questions effectiveness, calls for more diverse resources Marta Anielska Associate News Editor
U of T recently launched its updated website to help students find mental health resources and services offered at all three campuses and from partner organizations. The website, created in response to student demands from the Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health, is intended to be a centralized resource for mental health at the university. While the university hopes that the website will bolster a culture of care at U of T, some students remain concerned about its usefulness and ability to tackle other stressors that contribute to mental health challenges. The UMLAP has been widely criticized by student groups.
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Marta Anielska Associate News Editor
The annual report on U of T’s controversial university-mandated leave of absence policy (UMLAP) was delivered at the most recent University Affairs Board meeting, which highlighted the drop in use during the 2019–2020 academic year. Micah Stickel, acting Vice-Provost Students, emphasized that communication between his office and division heads was why the number of cases has dropped. The UMLAP, which went into effect in 2018, allows the university to place a student on a mandatory leave without academic penalty if they are deemed to pose a serious threat to themselves or others, or if their mental health is negatively affecting their schoolwork. The UMLAP has faced significant criticism from student groups and activists who argue that the policy lacks student input and will deter people from seeking help. Accordingly, Stickel also touched on raising awareness of the policy, and expressed the hope that this would reduce student concerns. Updates on policy implementation The policy was only invoked once during the 2019– 2020 academic year, and the student placed on leave returned to their studies in September 2020. This is a significant decrease from the eight cases in 2018–2019, the first year of the policy’s operation. Stickel explained that, while seven other potential cases had been brought forward by division heads, the Office of the Vice-Provost Students was able to communicate with them to decide that the policy was not appropriate for those cases. He said that in some cases where the policy was ultimately not applied, the university had not already exhausted its resources. As of July 1, there were still five active UMLAP cases, two of which were voluntary and three that were university-mandated. One of the students placed on leave in the 2018–2019 academic year has since returned to the university and graduated. During his report, Stickel noted that the policy is only considered when a student demonstrates concerning behaviour, and is not tied to the disclosure of a mental health issue. Moreover, Stickel disclosed that while there were other cases for which the UMLAP was considered, they did not move ahead. He said that the university will only place a student on leave if all other options have been exhausted. Other factors, such as whether a student will be at greater risk if they return home, are also considered. The university aims to tailor the approach of the policy to each case. In some cases, it also offers tuition refunds and allows the student to re-
tain access to the Health & Wellness Centre and student benefits. Stickel underscored the compassionate intention of the policy as well, adding that he hopes that “over time, the information presented in [the] annual reports will demonstrate the efficacy of the policy and judicious and careful way in which it is applied.” In an email to The Varsity, a university spokesperson wrote that many of the students under the UMLAP had returned to university or were in the process of doing so, and that families involved in the cases had “told [them] they appreciated that there was no academic penalty to their child.” Ongoing controversy, communication efforts Despite the university’s defence of the policy, many student groups remain opposed to the policy. In an email to The Varsity, U of T’s Mental Health Policy Council (MHPC) — an ad hoc student group involved in mental health advocacy — maintained that the policy remains problematic, and that it hopes to see a repeal or significant changes to it. The MHPC has criticized the lack of student consultation and the administration’s failure to implement policies that would support students’ wellbeing in other ways. The group added that the drop in cases says little about how the policy is affecting the U of T community. “We don’t know if many students have remained fearful of the Policy,” an MHPC spokesperson wrote in an email to The Varsity. The spokesperson also suggested that the drop could be attributed to “the number of students who have become fearful of their autonomy being taken away.” In response to concerns that seeking help for mental health concerns would begin the mandated leave process, both Stickel and the U of T spokesperson noted that health records and disclosures of mental illness are protected by strict privacy rules. However, Stickel did acknowledge that some students may not be aware of this and avoid reaching out as a result. “We will continue to work with our campus partners on an awareness campaign to reduce this concern,” he said. “We want students to seek the help that they need.” While the MHPC spokesperson wrote that they appreciated an effort for greater transparency, they also argued that the policy is not as effective when students lack access to other supports available to enrolled students. “We have seen students’ essentials -- their food, housing, financial supports as well as stressors, and more -- be changed without due notice or consultation,” they wrote. They also claimed that the policy has other issues than simply communication. They wrote that the issues with the policy itself “are equally and at times far more dangerous than those of ‘communication and transparency.’ ”
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Website functions The functions of the website range from a “Book an Appointment” button in the top right corner — which provides contact information for all three campuses — to a section where students can get urgent help. There is a search engine for resources that can be filtered by campus, provider, and need. Students can also choose their care type, which includes individual, group, and peer care, and they can choose whether they want to access a service in person or online. Additionally, a “Build Your Own Toolkit” button allows students to access other resources, such as podcasts, books, and apps. Development and consultation In an email to The Varsity, a university spokesperson explained that the new website is based on a stepped model of care for youth, meaning that the services offered can address different levels of care that a student might need. The model has been implemented at a number of Canadian universities with the purpose of providing flexible, clinic-based services. “Treatment intensity can be stepped up
or down depending on the level of client distress, need and readiness to engage in the growth process,” the spokesperson explained. The university developed the website after it received feedback from students saying that, while they knew resources were available, they had trouble accessing them. It was developed in consultation with students, who tested the search engine and chose a design they felt would work best for their peers. The U of T spokesperson also wrote that the university acknowledges the need to create a “culture of caring and compassion” at the university. The website is intended to curb stigma surrounding mental health problems and allows students to recommend resources. Those new resources will be vetted by U of T clinicians and added to the site when appropriate. Student concerns However, a spokesperson for the Mental Health Policy Council (MHPC) claimed that the explanation of the model is vague and that, unlike the previous version of the website, the updated website isn’t centred around the task force’s recommendations. Furthermore, they found it concerning that a website meant to connect students to mental health resources doesn’t offer any resources to deal with underlying causes that may be affecting a student’s mental health, such as “housing and financial insecurity, racism, academic difficulties, sexual violence,” and other factors. They also pointed out that the campus police are still listed “without disclaimers” as the primary contact for urgent safety situations. “In theory, one website that centralizes information on an institution’s key resources… is a great idea,” the MHPC spokesperson wrote. However, they continued, “this website is more visually pleasing but arguably less transparent.”
U of T has released a new centralized mental health website. COURTESY OF SHREYA PRAKASH
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SCSU AGM 2020: Motion to reaffirm commitment to BDS passes after contentious debate
Meeting left 11 items unaddressed due to time constraints Alexa DiFrancesco UTSC Bureau Chief
On November 26, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) held its first ever virtual annual general meeting (AGM) on Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 5:15 pm, one hour and 15 minutes after its advertised start time, because of technical difficulties. The main item that was debated was a motion for the SCSU to reaffirm its commitment to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which passed after a lengthy discussion. Although there were 13 member-submitted items on the agenda, relating to a variety of issues ranging from transparency to online voting, the SCSU only passed two in total due to time constraints. Discussion of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions motion UTSC student Ghaith Hanbali put forward a motion that the SCSU “reaffirm its commitment” to the BDS movement against Israel by “actively [supporting] initiatives that raise awareness about the state of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples.” At a board meeting last January, the union passed a similar motion to reaffirm the union’s commitment to BDS. The BDS movement, through boycotts, divestments, and sanctions, seeks to pressure Israel to amend its policies toward Palestine and Palestinians, including an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories. Critics of the movement characterize it as anti-Semitic and claim that it attempts to delegitimize the state of Israel. Hanbali claimed that executives had undermined the union’s commitment to the BDS movement, alleging, for example, that posters from Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine were removed from the student centre. The motion also further proposed that the SCSU
“refrain from engaging with organizations or participating in events that further [normalize] Israeli apartheid” and that the SCSU Board of Directors (BOD) draft a policy “to ensure that future elected representatives and staff of the Students’ Union uphold our collective commitment to justice in Palestine.” “It is crucial to understand that this motion in no way is to limit the freedoms of our student community, but rather to impose pressure on the Israeli government to conform with international law,” Hanbali said when introducing the item. Hanbali added, “The opposition and criticism of the State of Israel and Zionism are not active antiSemitism, and [I] stand [strongly] against all forms of discrimination toward Jewish [people] and all individuals based on religion, place of origin, and your ethnicity or any of the other guaranteed human rights.” SCSU President Sarah Mohamed spoke in favour of the motion. “We’re not targeting or discriminating against students who believe in Judaism [and] who are Jewish. If you’re Jewish, you can be pro-Palestine [or] you can be pro-Israel,” she added. However, in response to the part of the motion that asked the SCSU to ensure that future executives uphold a commitment to BDS, Mohamed added that, “We can’t really control future executives or future staff within the organization. We can only do what’s pertinent to the 2020–2021 academic year.” Yardena Rosenblum and Maxwell Fine, co-presidents of Jewish Life at UTSC, both urged members to vote against the motion. Fine clarified in his speech that, although he is specifically against BDS, he supports other boycotts of Israel. In part of their speech, Rosenblum said, “The BDS motion is rooted in fallacy and misinformation. Passing this motion would mean endorsing the narrative of one group of students while silencing the voices of another group and blatantly ignoring critical facts and context.” “[U of T] student unions have an abhorrent track
The SCSU annual general meeting took place on November 26. MAISHA ISLAM/THEVARSITY
record when deciding who and who isn’t participating in the normalization of Israel apartheid, which is the key phrase in the motion,” Fine added. As an example, Fine cited an occurrence last year in which Hillel U of T, a Jewish organization on campus, was not given support for a Kosher food petition by the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union “on the account that Hillel [was] ‘pro-Israel.’ ” The motion to reaffirm the union’s commitment to BDS was approved after the lengthy discussion. In a November 27 press release after the meeting, Rob Nagus, Senior Director of Hillel U of T, responded to the meeting’s vote by claiming that “Last night’s conduct by the SCSU violated [U of T’s] Statement on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination and harassment based on creed, ethnic origin, and citizenship.” Hillel also called on U of T to “[issue] a condemnation and rejection of the SCSU’s motion and [take] the necessary steps required to ensure Jewish student life is protected on campus.” Unaddressed motions The AGM was scheduled to finish at 8:00 pm. A member motioned to end the meeting at 8:09 pm, and it adjourned with 11 items unresolved. Other than the BDS motion, one other motion passed quickly without debate, which proposed that the SCSU’s bylaws include a subsection to allow the BOD to appoint directors to vacancies should
a circumstance beyond control of the BOD, such as a pandemic, prevent an in-person election, as the SCSU has yet to approve online voting. Among the motions that weren’t addressed were the creation of an SCSU sustainability committee, the development of a universal SCSU accessibility policy, and a motion proposing that the number of credits in which an SCSU director is allowed to be enrolled be raised from one to 1.5. Annie Sahagian, a student and an unsuccessful candidate in the SCSU’s 2020 executive elections, was scheduled to move two motions, both of which Sahagian previously submitted to the 2019 AGM. When asked what she thought about these motions being left unaddressed at the 2020 AGM, Sahagian wrote to The Varsity that she was “not surprised at the [SCSU’s] actions and the lack of democracy of the current team.” Following the meeting, SCSU Vice-President External Eesha Chaudhry addressed the unresolved motions through an Instagram story, writing, “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t have gotten through all the motions submitted by students, but it was an honour [and] privilege to be in that space with you all to share the work I’ve done… to better the student experience at UTSC.” SCSU Vice-President Operations Bruce Chan also took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the meeting. “Although it ends with regrets, we believe we can do it better in the winter,” he wrote.
UTMSU holds eighth Board of Directors meeting, discusses upcoming programs, initiatives, budgets Proposed laptop rental program, peer mental health support, equipments budgets also raised
Hafsa Ahmed UTM Bureau Chief
The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) held its eighth Board of Directors meeting on November 27 over Zoom. During the meeting, the executives shared what they have been working on in the past month and recapped the UTMSU’s annual general meeting (AGM). The board also welcomed two new members: Crystal Cheng and Ayesha Dayala. They were elected by the student representatives and will be working as first-year representatives for the board. Executive reports Each executive member of the UTMSU gave a report on what they have been working on. Fahad Dayala, Vice-President Internal, discussed his role at the UTMSU’s AGM, which took place on November 16. At the AGM, Dayala presented the UTMSU’s financial statements, which showed the union’s financial performance over the past year. He also outlined his work on adjusting UTMSU operations after Mississauga was placed under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All in-person UTMSU activity has been closed down, except for the Blind Duck Pub, which remains open for takeout for students on campus and in residence. With regard to U-Pass distribution, Dayala said that students can still pick up their U-Pass in person, but they also have the option to receive it by mail. He discussed an upcoming campus groups portal, which will be used for streamlining communication from the UTMSU to campus groups, clubs, and societies in regard to things such as documentation and financial statements. The portal is still in the works. So far, Dayala has met with some organizations and hopes to finalize plans over the next few weeks. Dayala also discussed the union’s progress in hiring a part-time coordinator for its Mental Health Peer Support Program, which has not yet been launched. He said that the UTMSU will be concluding the hiring process and finalizing the candidate soon. Anushka Sokhi, Vice-President University Affairs, highlighted the UTMSU’s Academic Advocacy Week that took place this past month. “We had sessions with our academic coordinators… who led sessions about academic integrity,” said
Sokhi. Lily Pan, Vice-President External, reported that she has attended meetings with food services administrators as well as members from the hospitality department at UTM. She said that administrators also gave updates that the contract between UTM and Chartwells, the campus’ food service provider, will be going forward. Noha Farawi, Vice-President Equity, discussed the UTMSU’s Divest Now Campaign, which seeks to get U of T to remove its investments from the fossil fuel industry. She expressed the UTMSU’s support of the University of Toronto’s Environmental Resource Network. Tarwah Afrah, Vice-President Campus Life, discussed plans for welcoming new and returning students for the winter semester. “The campus life team is also figuring out how frosh is going to look,” Afrah said. UTMSU President Mitra Yakubi highlighted the recent AGM in her report, saying, “[students] got to hear back from their [executives] as to what work [they have] been up to.” Yakubi also gave updates on the UTMSU’s Mental Health Peer Support Program, saying that the UTMSU has been holding meetings and plans to launch the project in the winter semester.
UTMSU equipment budget Following the executive reports, Dayala spoke about the UTMSU’s plan to replace its computers, looking for a budget of $25,000 to be approved. He highlighted the need for new computers, noting that the computers that the UTMSU currently uses were purchased around seven years ago. The new computers will be available for use by all full-time UTMSU staff members. Dayala said that the UTMSU is looking to have the budget approved first, and then will move on to calculate exact costs for the number of computers it will purchase, which Dayala did not disclose at the meeting. Yakubi moved on to discuss another initiative that the UTMSU is looking to implement, which is a laptop rental program. “We are trying to find different resources that we can make available… We know students are struggling when it comes to connectivity issues, [technology] issues… So this is one avenue that we want to support folks in,” she said. Yakubi noted that the program plans to make renting a laptop free of charge, and that they are currently working on the proposal for this program.
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NOVEMBER 30, 2020
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The Breakdown: The UTGSU’s financial transparency practices Reviewing accessibility, accountability ahead of the union’s 2020 AGM
Isabel Armiento Graduate Bureau Chief
The University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), which represents all 20,000 graduate students across U of T’s three campuses, is due to host its Annual General Meeting on December 1. Due to its vast membership and other revenue sources, the UTGSU controls over $13 million — though most of that amount is collected for the health and dental plan. With council members recently raising concerns about transparency, The Varsity inquired with the UTGSU about its current financial practices. Accessibility of financial information As of November 23, the UTGSU had not posted the names or contact information of any member of the Finance Committee on its website, except for the finance commissioner’s email address. This was a departure from previous practices of listing prior finance committee members on the website. Prior to the recent election of An-Noûra Compaoré as Finance Commissioner, Lwanga Musisi, the current university and governance commissioner, had been in charge of the finance commisioner’s duties, as decided at a May 6 meeting. The executive also allocated him half of the honorarium for the finance commissioner position. The Varsity reached out to the UTGSU executives about the lack of committee members’ names available on its website, and the names of finance committee members have now been updated. Moreover, Finance Committee meeting highlights have not been posted to the website for almost 10 months, with the most recent ones dating February 14, 2020. When The Varsity asked the UTGSU executives why they had stopped uploading meeting highlights, they responded, “The highlights from the finance committee minutes from this executive term will be posted on the website.” The union subsequently added a folder for 2020–2021 Finance Committee meeting highlights, although it remains empty at the time of publication. In the email to The Varsity, executives added, “We can’t comment on why the previous executive stopped publishing highlights from the finance committee.” Although the 2018–2019 mid-year financial statement is posted on the UTGSU’s website,
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it has yet to post the 2019–2020 mid-year financial statement, even though it was received by UTGSU General Council on June 30. Transparency surrounding executive honoraria At its most recent council meeting, the UTGSU passed its fiscal year 2020–2021 budget. Concern was raised over the new budget line for executive honoraria, which increased from $110,000 last year to $180,000 this year. Musisi, University Governance Commissioner and Finance Committee Vice-Chair, claimed the budget line increase was because it is “heavily based on the anticipated CUPE [Cost of Living Adjustment] increase on which our honoraria are tied to.” However, an amendment to UTGSU policy ratified in April 2019 froze executive honoraria at $15,505 per academic year for each executive position, plus $454 per month for the executive-at-large, who serves for a sixmonth term from November 1 to April 30. The maximum sum of the honoraria of all seven executives, plus that of the executiveat-large would therefore total $111,259 per year — over $6,000 less than the new budget allots. At the same meeting, a council member asked whether executive honoraria payment records could be publicly circulated. When asked why the union hasn’t made documenta-
tion of paid out honoraria public, the UTGSU wrote to The Varsity, “Documentation of executive honoraria has never been published on the website.” In the past, however, a document has been published on the website that includes both the monthly sum and annual sums being paid to each executive member. The UTGSU assured The Varsity that, despite the budget line increase, honoraria payments have not been increased at this time. “Previously, the executive honorarium was subject to a cost of living increase, however, these increases were removed last year because UTGSU was trying to save money due to the Student Choice Initiative,” the union wrote. The UTGSU added that the budget line increase was in case the General Council does approve an honoraria increase, as the Student Choice Initiative (SCI), a provincial government mandate that allowed students to opt out of certain fees, has been struck down. “If General Council does not increase honorariums we will be under budget in this area,” the UTGSU wrote. Budget organization In the recently passed 2020–2021 budget, three budget items from the 2019–2020 budget, “Union Fees,” “[Health and Dental] Fees Revenue,” and “Extra-Levies Revenue,” were combined into a single item called “Union
Revenue.” Health and dental insurance (HDI) fees are collected for health and dental expenses, and extra-levies revenue are distributed to levy groups for whom the UTGSU collects fees. The item “Union Fees” refers to revenue from the union’s levy fee. Union revenue may be obscured by combining these three items, especially considering that in the 2019–2020 academic year, HDI fees revenue accounted for over $11 million, while union fees only accounted for around $1 million. When the 2020 mid-year financial statement was presented to the General Council on April 28, after the SCI had been overturned, several members of the General Council spoke out against the change. Sophie McGibbon-Gardner, the former finance commissioner, claimed that this move decreased transparency around the UTGSU’s income. A motion for the General Council to receive the mid-year financial statement failed at the April meeting, instead motioning to send it back to the finance committee to make amendments, and the statement wasn’t received until the council meeting on June 30. When asked about the recombination of these three items, the UTGSU responded that the budget items were divided because of the SCI, which categorized different fees as ‘essential’ or ‘non-essential.’ “Now that the Student Choice Initiative is reversed, UTGSU has reverted back to the traditional way of including revenue in the same budget line,” the union wrote. Executive accountability Since the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year, executive reports have not been given orally — a break from precedent in years past. Previously, receiving executive reports has always been one of the first items of business at council meetings. Having the reports on the agenda also included a discussion and vote to receive the report, which serves as an executive accountability mechanism. Due to the executive only submitting written reports this year, the council has not been given time to discuss, ask questions about, or vote on receiving the reports. The UTGSU wrote that “oral reports unfortunately have not [been] heard by General Council on [a] regular basis due to time constraints.”
“Shameless”: UTGSU event criticizes unaffordable housing on, off campus with MPP Jessica Bell University rebuked for raising residence prices despite pandemic
Marta Anielska Associate News Editor
On November 25, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) hosted an event on unaffordable housing at U of T called “The Rent is Too Damn High.” The panelists’ remarks focused on the university’s decision to increase student housing prices during the pandemic, as well as broader problems in Toronto’s rent regulations and possible solutions. The discussion featured University—Rosedale MPP Jessica Bell, two executives from the UTGSU, and Aga Mroz, a U of T housing advocate. Criticisms of rent increase UTGSU University Governance Commissioner Lwanga Musisi and Mroz both condemned the “shamelessness of the administration” in raising rent during a pandemic. In his prepared remarks, Musisi explained that earlier this year, U of T
increased rent in residence buildings and family housing. At Graduate House, the only student residence at U of T serving graduate students, the rent for a single room increased from $1,102 per month in 2019–2020 to $1,168 per month in 2020–2021, an increase of approximately six per cent. To complement Musisi’s practical knowledge, Mroz told the story of how she had to move into student housing after her previous home was bought out by a company that conducted a series of renovations with the goal of evicting its current tenants. Mroz said that she moved into student housing because the cost of rent was reasonable, especially for the area. However, when the pandemic hit, her building got a notice saying that the rent would be increasing by a larger amount than the mandated 2.2 per cent. “For our household, [that] would have meant about $150 extra each month,” Mroz said. “My
immediate reaction was this was unfathomable… How could they be so callous at such a difficult time?” When an attendee asked Mroz what U of T’s justification was for raising the rent, she answered that the university had told her it was to pay its “operational costs.” Musisi also cited financial stress from increased rent as a possible factor in the worsening mental health of students, along with increasing costs of tuition. Broader problems and solutions In her remarks, Bell connected the students’ remarks to a broader rent problem in Toronto. She noted that Mroz’s experience with a landlord who purposefully renovated to evict her was not an isolated case. According to Bell, illegal evictions have become more common because when a landlord evicts a tenant in rent controlled housing, they can increase the rent for the next tenant. Bell also criticized the
MILIDAE CLAIRE UY/ THEVARSITY
decision to lift the eviction freeze that was created in response to the pandemic. She noted that her team is working to make housing more affordable in Toronto. One of her proposed solutions is ending vacancy decontrol, which allows landlords to raise the price of rent as much as they want after they have evicted a tenant. Furthermore, Bell emphasized the importance of making the housing market more transparent for regulation enforcement. All three panelists mentioned that working as a collective would make any action toward affordable housing more powerful. “I think we can all take away that we are stronger as a community in the face of these adversities,” Danielle Karakas, the event’s moderator and the UTGSU’s civics and environmental commissioner, concluded in her closing remarks.
Business & Labour
November 30, 2020 var.st/business biz@thevarsity.ca
The battle of ECO230: IR students unsuccessfully petition for retroactive CR/NCR option
Cancelled economics course controversial for alleged poor management, unfair grading could really have a handle on things and push the administration to finally get rid of the course,” Mary Noh, Co-President of IRSoc, said. “So I personally think that’s one of IRSoc’s greatest accomplishments… and it’s because we had so [much] of this feedback — years on — that we were able to push that through that year.”
Students allege that private tutoring was a necessity to pass ECO230. SAMARTH AGARWAL/THEVARSITY
Janhavi Agarwal Business Correspondent
International relations (IR) students recently launched a petition to the Faculty of Arts & Science advocating that any IR student who had taken ECO230 — International Economic Institutions and Policy in the past should have the option to retroactively declare it a credit/no credit (CR/NCR) course. Students in Trinity College’s IR programs of study were required to take ECO230 until the course’s cancellation, effective this year. The course has faced intense criticism from IR students over a span of years, with complaints alleging Academic Handbook violations, discrepancies between course material and course evaluations, and extreme difficulty. The petition, supported by the Arts and Science Student Union (ASSU) and the International Relations Society (IRSoc), did not yield success. Cleared from the curriculum ECO230 was ultimately removed from the Department of Economics offerings and the IR
program requirements in the 2020–2021 academic calendar, replaced in both by single-semester courses ECO231 — Economics of Global Trade, and ECO232 — Global Macroeconomics and Policies. “It was not a simple case of splitting Y-course content across two H-courses: a significant amount of deliberation and consultation went into specifying learning objectives for the two new courses,” wrote Robert Gazzale, Associate Professor and Department of Economics Associate Chair Undergraduate Studies, to The Varsity. Gazzale indicated that the change was part of a trend in the faculty to split yearlong courses into half-year courses. In an email to The Varsity, Professor Michael Ratcliffe, Dean of Arts and Vice-Provost Faculty of Arts at Trinity College, attributed the change in IR program requirements to the change in economics department course offerings. He noted that POL208 — Introduction to International Relations had also been altered due to a corresponding change by the political science department. IRSoc pushed for a change in the course last year, and claimed credit for its cancellation in an interview with The Varsity. “It was only… last year that IRSoc
A compendium of complaints A prevailing complaint was that, in order to be successful in ECO230, IR students felt pressured to use ECOMAN, a private tutoring service for economics courses at U of T. “Ever since I entered the program in 2017, I’ve heard concerns — warnings — from my upper years saying, ‘IR program is great and all, but be careful of ECO230. There’s a specific way to succeed in that class, and you can’t succeed in that class if you take your traditional methods of studying,’ ” Noh said. ECOMAN group tutoring sessions are priced at $60 per session, while one-on-one tutoring varies in price. Noh noted that the cultural expectation of enrolling with ECOMAN placed students in a financially weaker position at a disadvantage. “[ECO230 had] a financial discrepancy where the people who had these financial resources could do better because they could have access to this tutor, whereas people who couldn’t afford it had to just sit in class and put their grades at risk.” ECOMAN services were reportedly desirable in part due to the repository of past ECO230 tests they had amassed. “The course instruction had little correlation with the tests,” Vladislav Gordeev, a fourth-year international relations student, wrote in an email to The Varsity. “There was absolutely no access to past exams or any practice problems which made the exam considerably harder.” A call for clemency While ECO230 is no longer a requirement for all current and future students, there remain many IR students who are unhappy with having the course in their academic history. To address this, fourth-year
international relations student Foti Vito started a petition earlier in the semester requesting that the faculty implement a retroactive CR/NCR option for ECO230. Vito is an executive of the ASSU, but clarified in an email to The Varsity that the petition was started in his capacity as a private student, and not as a union leader. The petition highlighted allegations of poor course organization and instruction, highly negative student feedback in course evaluations, and the perceived necessity of ECOMAN to succeed in the course. Eighty IR students signed the petition, of whom, 40 included statements describing negative experiences with the course. This resulted in the petition ultimately being 27-pages long, single-spaced. “Like many international relations students, I was relieved to hear that ECO230 was discontinued and replaced with other course offerings,” wrote Vito in an email to The Varsity. “However, I was disappointed that an adequate solution was not found for previous students who continue to experience the highly consequential, negative, and unfair impacts of ECO230 on their mental health, finances, and academic standing. This motivated me to take collective action with my peers.” A closed case? On November 25, Vito informed petitioners that Professor Randy Boyagoda — the faculty’s Vice-Dean Undergraduate — had responded to the petition, saying that only individual student appeals submitted through the “established academic appeals process” would be considered. “The response has been incredibly disappointing to say the least,” Vito wrote. “I view this as complete disregard for student voices and wellbeing.” Yet, while disappointed, he doesn’t believe that this is the ‘end of the road’ for individual students. “I highly encourage former ECO230 students to pursue the individual appeals process regarding their standing in the course, and the Vice-Dean, Undergraduate is fortunately accepting future requests on an individual basis,” he wrote. — With files from Nicole Shi
Pandemic layoffs: United Steelworkers 1998
Union president on working from home, emergency benefits, safe transition back Sarah Folk Associate Business & Labour Editor
During the summer, U of T temporarily laid off 185 unionized workers due to physical distancing and lockdown measures shutting down its campuses. The employees included 92 administrative and technical workers represented by United Steelworkers (USW ) 1998. The Varsity interviewed Colleen Burke, President of USW 1998, regarding the state of affairs for USW 1998-represented workers who were laid off earlier in the year. The union has been working with U of T’s Labour Relations and human resources departments to determine which employees can return to work, as well as to ensure that there are proper safety protocols in place. “Most of our laid off workers returned to work in September,” Burke wrote. “The majority of our members are working from home.” Despite the efforts by USW 1998 and the university to ensure job security, Burke noted that 50 full-time members are still temporarily laid off, while another 21 members were permanently laid off due to the pandemic. Continued financial assistance The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) — which provided eligible beneficiaries
$2,000 per month — officially ended on October 3. Like many Canadians, unionrepresented workers at U of T transitioned from receiving CERB to Employment Insurance (EI), which pays benefits based on one’s average insurable weekly earnings. The university and the union have been facilitating this transition. Burke wrote that “there are pros and cons” to the transition to EI. “For our full-time members, the transition to EI wouldn’t make a big difference,” she continued. “Casual members who didn’t qualify for EI or members whose EI has run out, will transition to the Canada Recovery Benefit.” The Canada Recovery Benefit provides eligible workers $500 per week for up to 26 weeks if they are unemployed due to COVID-19 and are not eligible for EI. U of T has also made considerable efforts to provide financial support for affected workers. “U of T supplemented any CERB payments received by impacted individuals for the duration of the CERB program, and maintained benefits coverage for all employees for the duration of their temporary layoff,” a U of T spokesperson wrote in an email to The Varsity. “For any employees remaining on temporary layoff who transitioned to Employment Insurance (EI), U of T developed another temporary income top-up identical to the topup provided to employees on CERB,” they
continued. “These employees will also receive benefit continuation for the entirety of their temporary layoff.” The university provided no comment regarding any benefits or relief measures for employees who had been permanently laid off. An uncertain future With COVID-19 cases rising and the City of Toronto in lockdown, it is uncertain what the future holds. “The University of Toronto is guided by the principles laid out by the Province of Ontario, as well as municipal requirements. The requirements of the province and local public health will be followed as in effect at any given time,” the spokesperson noted in the email. With government rules and COVID-19 measures changing constantly on the severity of the situation, this leaves many workers unsure about when they may expect to return to work. Burke recognizes the difficulties of solely relying on government support. “While people are happy to have the support, it can be very hard to support yourself and your family on this income assistance,” she explained. The university has stressed that its ongoing priority will be safety. “At every step, our top priority will continue to be the health and safety of our students, faculty, librarians, and staff,” the spokesperson noted.
The university and the unions are collaborating to minimize back-to-work risk. CORINNE LANGMUIR/THEVARSITY
Comment
November 30, 2020 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
Don’t drop out — take it from someone who did
The pandemic will make living without a degree even harder Abigail Gooden Varsity Contributor
This marks my first semester back in school after dropping my studies in 2017. There were many reasons that stacked up to me accepting defeat and leaving Toronto after the winter semester. The past few years have been a tumultuous time of finding direction in an unwelcoming job market. The pandemic has highlighted the University of Toronto’s shocking lack of student support. The assignments, lab reports, readings, and discussion board posts are stacking up at a rate that I’m only just keeping up with. The support I’ve received from the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) has been reduced to a degree where I will have difficulty rubbing two pennies together after my tuition fee is taken care of. I’m sure I am not the only one in this position. The weight of the pandemic — the fear, loss, and suffering that it causes — has underscored the need for additional support. But it’s important for students to avoid dropping out. The unfriendly job market created by COVID-19 will likely have long-term negative effects, especially for recent university graduates. With thousands of small businesses struggling, and lockdowns closing many commercial sectors in Toronto, there are even fewer places for young people to turn after dropping out. This is why young, uneducated workers have some of the highest rates of unemployment during this pandemic. For those of us who have to consider student debt, entering this kind of job environment without the credentials to show for our time at school is not wise. It was especially unwise for me to drop out
since I landed what is now considered the ‘essential worker’ experience: part-time, minimum wage, frontline work. After dropping out, I was met with job application after job application requiring at least a bachelor’s degree. If I hadn’t already felt defeated, this quickly had me feeling as though I had run full sprint into a brick wall. And that was before ‘COVID-19’ was even a familiar term. I found myself working so many extra shifts at a part-time job that I felt like I was working full-time. This experience made me realize that my future was vulnerable if I did not find a path forward. I was acutely aware of the reasons I had landed myself in my position. The reasons are, perhaps, familiar to other U of T students. The administration refused to recognize a need for support, making it difficult for me to understand where to find it; I was under burgeoning pressure to navigate the cost of Toronto living while having little financial support; and the administration had a standard of achievement that was seemingly out of reach. I knew that I could not secure the future I wanted for myself on a minimum wage paycheck, nor could most do the same. I had sunk into $35,000 worth of debt, not to mention the unpaid tuition check hanging around my neck. Yes, there are career options available that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, including ones that are high paying, rewarding, and skilled career paths with plenty of opportunity for growth and personal development. However, those career paths sometimes require college diplomas or participation in an apprenticeship program. And when you have no money in the bank — and OSAP debt looming behind you closer and
ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY
closer — many of these options are out of reach. So, the solution to my situation started to become clear: I had to complete the studies that had burrowed me this far into a financial hole in order to give myself a way to climb out. My path back to being a registered student at the University of Toronto has been a winding but necessary one. I have hopped from retail store to retail store, the only places of employment open to me. I have experienced the deep depression that unemployment and loss of purpose bring. I have seen the vulnerability of a workforce in which livelihoods rely on unreliable hours and a lack of job protection.
And now, I have found myself facing some of the same stressors I encountered before, along with some new ones, owing to the online environment — except I view them with an entirely new outlook. I am more aware than most of the pressure of juggling the many difficulties of obtaining a degree at the University of Toronto. But take it from somebody who left their studies, only to spend three long years making it back here: the consequences may have you wishing you had never left. Abigail Godden is a fifth-year environmental science, environmental ethics, and political science student at University College.
Online classes focus too little on meaningful learning, too much on accountability A first-year student reviews education under the pandemic
Keah Sharma Varsity Contributor
As the fall semester of online learning comes to a close, many first-years’ college experiences have been defined by impending weekly deadlines, eating dining hall food at desks, and ironically savouring walks to the library — the brief time outdoors we get. Although this may seem a bit disheartening, first-years have no past involvement with the university lifestyle to compare their experience to. Academically, there is an unrealistic standard being set for what will suffice in the future for first-year students.
Many may expect the same methods and routines they are using now in online classes to scrape by, to be successful in the future — a damaging mindset corroborated by current courses’ structures. Some U of T classes have transitioned into accountability and task completion-oriented structures to ensure that students get practice outside of lectures and don’t fall behind. This structure seems to try to imitate in-person courses, but unfortunately, ends up being overwhelming and counterproductive. To succeed each week in some classes, one usually completes: frequent assignments to ensure lectures have been watched, discussion boards
to substitute in-class discussion, and frequent open-note quizzes. For example, these discussion boards that are meant to emulate class participation have given rise to redundant, roundabout, and vague responses, acting as busywork rather than meaningful class discussion. For first-years, this participation format perpetuates mindless task completion over learning and understanding material. Additionally, the accountability-obsessed format discourages first-years from learning and makes them focus on meeting deadlines instead. When students fall behind, they may resort to completing the task by any means necessary, even if that means not having learned the material FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY
simply because they didn’t have the time. Although this may work for weekly scraping by during our time online, it creates a sense of helplessness when it comes to truly learning the material and is simply detrimental for first-year students. Instead of having frequent weekly assignments, focusing on material with spread-out deadlines and group work may allow students to recover and learn effectively rather than solely complete work. For example, the format of MAT133 — Calculus and Linear Algebra for Commerce puts weight on well-spaced-out group work and projects, which allow first-years who may have been falling behind to take time to learn and work together to solve problems, rather than mindlessly complete an assignment. Instructors may not recognize it now, but their current formats are perpetuating a dangerous form of academic learning that can seriously harm their students in their future academic careers. The sudden necessity of online learning has been a challenge for professors, teaching assistants, and students alike. However, from the perspective of a first-year student, there is still much improvement to be done. We still don’t fully know how online learning is affecting retention of what’s being taught, but the little information we do have isn’t promising. Students are falling behind, overwhelmed, and invested in regurgitation rather than truly learning. Next semester, we must learn from these past few months. It is imperative that first-year courses cater to students’ learning rather than accountability — a goal that should be adopted by every course. Keah Sharma is a first-year arts and science student at Victoria College.
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COMMENT
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Op-ed: We can’t afford to be unpaid interns
Uncompensated graduate placements from the perspective of a pharmacy student William Nguyen Varsity Contributor
Internships are an essential part of graduate education. They provide first-hand experience in the fields of work that students hope to enter. However, now more than ever, unpaid graduate placements hurt these students more than they help them. As a fourth-year student in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, I know that students must perform 160 hours of unpaid placements at the end of both their first and second years. In their fourth year, students must perform 10 weeks of direct patient care in retail pharmacies — such as Shoppers Drug Mart or Rexall — 10 weeks of direct patient care in institutional settings like hospitals, and five weeks of direct patient care in any approved setting the student wishes. Additionally, the fourth year includes 10 weeks of “elective rotations,” which can either be involved in direct patient care or non-direct patient care. Unlike first to third year, the fourth year starts in May and is 12 months long and students are entitled to a 15 week study period. Similar to other professional graduate school programs at the University of Toronto, these placements are unpaid and have been the source of discussion and controversy, particularly as annual tuition fees hover around $18,060 for domestic students plus an additional $1,416.36 in ancillary fees. This does not include the costs of rent and transportation for students who need to
live in downtown Toronto, where the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment is $1,922 per month. In addition to rent, grocery costs can vary from $40–$100 per week, or about $300 a month, and transportation costs can be around $128 for a monthly TTC metropass. While unpaid placements no doubt are helpful and immensely useful in providing a professional real world experience that cannot be replicated inside a classroom — which has been linked to positive labour market outcomes and job prospects — I cannot fathom the
rationale of making it unpaid. Firstly, while considering the aforementioned tuition and ancillary fees, as well as the loss of jobs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, student debt is a concern. For example, in the National Graduates Survey released by Statistic Canada on August 25, many graduates from a professional degree — such as medicine, pharmacy, or dentistry — have student debt. The large proportion of student debt in these professional programs is attributed to the high cost of these programs. Making the placements paid
would provide some financial relief to these students. In the National Graduates Survey, results indicated that having a higher employment income, whether from regular jobs or paid internships, is associated with faster repayment of the debt. Not only can providing paid internships give students valuable opportunities to learn and apply the concepts they learn in their programs in the real world, but it also allows the student to have income that can be used to repay some debt. Having less debt means less delays in important life milestones, such
as starting a family or home ownership. Secondly, evidence from studies has shown that paid placements lead to better outcomes than unpaid placements. An International Labour Organization report on internships examined the effectiveness of internships’ ability to integrate people into the workplace, and it found that there is a positive relationship between paid internships or placements and number of hours worked. There is also a positive relationship between the number of hours worked and the seriousness of the placements. Encouraging social media discussion could be one step forward in arguing for paid placements and their benefits. Think of it as another capital investment; it is crucial that the university expands to meet the growing demands from students, just as it would by building more buildings to house more students and providing them a space to socialize or study, it should provide financial support through paid placements. We may be in different professions and may conflict with each other, but in the end, we are all here to care for the patient or client.
FATIMA ZAIDI/THEVARSITY
William Nguyen is a fourth-year pharmacy student at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. He is also a member of the 2020–2021 Academic Board of the Governing Council.
Letters to the Editor Re: Opinion: Verbal participation during online learning should not be mandatory “ Verbal participation”... Perhaps in similar vein... As with live classrooms... In business, when asked to manage staff and have routine meetings I realized I had zero learning about meetings process... and collaborative problem solving and decision making in groups (more than one person together)... In a same way, meeting facilitators might try some meeting practices on online learning... [wink] — Lock Hughes (from web) Re: Four U of T Community members test positive for COVID-19 after “informal… athletic activity” at UTSG Intelligent people know what to do. Distance, masks, wash hands. Together we win by remaining Apart. — Paul Newland (from web) Re: Opinion: Verbal participation during online learning should not be mandatory Professors will make speaking mandatory for a good grade when they have 100+ students in their course lmao — Nathaniel Lapp (from web)
Re: Opinion: Online learning is overwhelming — and students are falling behind @Stephen Brooke I don’t understand why these ppl are on you, but that’s a good observation a lot of people are looking into! I can’t get motivated to do online learning but I can play Skyrim for hours and hours. There’s research on gamification in education, more so since online learning came on the scene. It’s interesting stuff ! There are many scholars and corporate entities interested in ways to make academic learning as engaging as video games. — Civonitram Ade (from web) Re: Healthy snacks for students on a budget Peanut butter sandwiches are cheap, healthy and good for diabetics too. Yummy — Robert Bruce Maule (from web) Re: Opinion: Verbal participation during online learning should not be mandatory @Robert this is the most ignorant and frankly just plain stupid comment you could make here. Mental health doesn’t magically go away as you age. Universities should learn to accommodate all students, not simply operate under an ableist structure of “my
way or the highway”. — Alana Williams (from web) Re: Opinion: Online learning is overwhelming — and students are falling behind Civonitram- engaging, good- addictive (which these corporate entities have admitted) bad. This issue forms the heart of the Aristotelian difference between happiness and pleasure. Some important activities in life are not entertaining, yet they are done nonetheless. It might be fun or challenging to toss in a trivia game quiz or some on line interaction to cooperate in constructing some digital framework of success every once in a while. But in the end, work, and work hard, because you are talented, intelligent, and when the storm comes, whatever form it may take, you bear down and struggle on. That’s a life lesson video games do not teach from a couch- with a controller. — Paul Newland (from web)
Re: Opinion: Another student death reinforces the need for better mental health support U of T = University of Trauma/Tragedy. I hope everyone gets the help they need. One life lost is too many. — Sophie Cho (from web) Re: Editorial: Lacking centralization, tuition transparency — U of T’s 2020 COVID-19 response falls short Awesome journalism. While nobody can look, who knows what’s going on? Follow the money- if you can. — Paul Newland (from web) Re: Winter break extended by one week for all first-entry undergraduates due to COVID-19 pandemic No tuition refund for that week tho — John Qien Song (from web) Re: Study abroad cancellations: packed up with nowhere to go I’m always so thankful we went in 2019 — Albert Hoang (from web)
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November 30, 2020 var.st/photo photo@thevarsity.ca
The second wave: RASA
The impact of the pandemic on our restaurants
RASA’s walled heated outdoor patio with retractable awnings. CHARLOTTE HOOD/THEVARSITY
Tru�le gnudi.
CHARLOTTE HOOD/THEVARSITY
Charlotte Hood Varsity Contributor
RASA is a Harbord Village staple, located just west of UTSG at 196 Robert Street. Its globally-inspired menu and welcoming atmosphere have attracted a strong community of customers and staff and offered support to the restaurant in recent months. Amidst COVID-19 restrictions, the restaurant is open for takeout. Like all restaurants, it has not escaped the pandemic unscathed. I heard from partner and general manager Adam Minster to learn more about RASA and what the people working there have faced.
“The family of guests that dine at RASA over and over again, are the lifeblood of this restaurant. Our job is to provide them with a consistent experience every time, whether that is pre, during or post COVID. Our staff is the number one reason we can keep up that consistency and their attitudes above their skills is what creates it. They make people feel welcomed and loved every single time.”
RASA sits at 196 Robert Street in the Harbord Village. CHARLOTTE HOOD/THEVARSITY
“Our concept for RASA was to create the ultimate neighbourhood restaurant. We not only wanted the people in the Harbord Village/annex area to see us as their local neighbourhood restaurant, we wanted all of Toronto to see it as that. Everything we do, we do with the intention of making people feel comfortable, we strive to create a place that people see as their second home” Minster wrote in a written interview with The Varsity.
Chopped salad.
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“The best way to support RASA and restaurants in general is to… support their takeout program. Also, holiday season is upon us and gift cards are a really good way to support.”
The restaurant’s pomegranate harvest margarita. CHARLOTTE HOOD/THEVARSITY
On the topic of food, Minster remarked, “We are all over the map but we always know what direction we are heading. Our main goal, simply put, is to make tasty food. We aren’t concerned with a specific region or style, we are concerned with taste. We want our guests to take a forkful, put it in their mouth, and say ‘oh my god, that’s amazing.’ The menu is RASA, and if you want to get specific you could say it’s globally inspired, representing the diverse nature of Torontonians.”
The view of RASA from Robert Street. CHARLOTTE HOOD/THEVARSITY
“No matter what happens in this world, our identity at RASA will always be the same which is to treat both guests and employees like family.”
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FEATURES
“If only my nation could live in peace”: Armenian students’ experiences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Tri-coloured �lags were waved during the drive-a-thon. KHATCHIG ANTEBLIAN/THEVARSITY
Diasporic perspectives on a war of generations Khatchig Anteblian Associate News Editor
It was the first day of November, and the sky was overcast to match the occasion. A large crowd had gathered with their cars outside the Armenian Community Centre of Toronto. I didn’t know most of the people there personally, but on that day, we all knew each other’s history. Even though I had never spoken a word with most of the other protesters, I knew that every single person who gathered there carried the same weight on their shoulders as I and every other Armenian in the world did. Growing up in the diaspora, we have all learned about our ancient history that spans dynasties and thousands of years. We have heard stories of Tigran the Great, who expanded the kingdom of Armenia from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. We have learned that, during World War I, the Young Turks massacred over a million Armenians and deported hundreds of thousands from their ancestral lands in a genocide that Turkey denies to this day — ironic, since the word ‘genocide’ was coined in reference to the atrocities committed against the Armenians, as well as the Holocaust. Over 105 years later, we know again the importance of upholding our culture and language, lest we face another genocide. We gathered on that gloomy day for what was called a ‘drive-a-thon’ to protest the accelerating aggression between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh — called Artsakh by native Armenians — and to bring awareness to the humanitarian disaster that is being ignored by the rest of the world. Tri-colour flags draped over our cars — red, blue, and orange — banners at hand, Armenian music blaring
at the highest volume, we took off, headed toward downtown Toronto. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Artsakh, a small region to the east of Armenia de facto controlled and inhabited by Armenians but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has been brewing for decades. The conflict finally reached a tipping point on September 27, when full-scale fighting restarted. This war claimed many lives, and across the ocean in Canada, diasporic Armenian U of T students had to reconcile with their culture and heritage in a new way. However, to understand where it all began, we have to go a bit further back in history. The history of the conflict It was February 1988. Something unprecedented was happening in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh and part of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic at the time. A group of Artsakh Armenians staged a political rally in the central square of Stepanakert, calling for secession from Azerbaijan and the unification of Artsakh with Armenia. Earlier in the month, the regional government had held a referendum asking its citizens if they wanted to secede from Azerbaijan, which had passed with an overwhelming majority. The Azerbaijani government and the Soviet Union didn’t recognize the referendum, sparking the protests that had quickly started spreading outside of Stepanakert. Within weeks, hundreds of thousands were out in the streets, including in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, peacefully protesting and demanding the transfer of Artsakh to Armenia. Following the protests and the growing unrest within the region, Azerbaijani demonstrations started in the city of Sumgait, which
escalated into violence when, on February 28, angry crowds took to the streets seeking out Armenians. Around 29 Armenians lost their lives, hundreds were injured, and almost the entire 14,000 Armenian population of Sumgait left the city. If there was any hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, the Sumgait tragedy had completely crushed it. A full-scale war erupted in 1992 and went on until 1994, when it came to a halt with a Russian-brokered ceasefire, leaving not only the vast majority of the Artsakh region under Armenian control, but also the regions surrounding it. Throughout the years following the ceasefire, tensions between the two countries stayed high as multiple attempts at peace negotiations failed. Armenia repeatedly refused any compromises, and the territorial losses of Azerbaijan fostered an increasing anti-Armenian sentiment among Azerbaijanis, which was further fuelled by state propaganda. In July of 2020, clashes resumed. By September 27, it was full-on warfare. “I think in the big picture, Azerbaijan saw an opportunity here,” said Professor Robert Austin, the associate director of the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, at U of T in an interview with The Varsity. “I want to stress that the government of Azerbaijan was heading for a degree of trouble because it started to lose its legitimacy.” Austin also mentioned that since Azerbaijan’s heavy loss in the 1990s, Azerbaijan has been able to fortify its economy and war-making abilities through its increased oil and gas production. Meanwhile, in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan maintained the same firm line of previous Armenian presidents who were veterans of the first Artsakh
war and refused to accept any compromise during peace negotiations. With reconciliation still off the table, the result of all of this was a bloody war that lasted 45 days, ending recently in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides, brokered by Russia. The agreement came as a huge blow for Armenia, as all of the territories surrounding Artsakh that were gained in the 1990s, in addition to a few cities in Artsakh, were ceded to Azerbaijan. The war ended as abruptly as it had started, and tens of thousands of lives were permanently changed. The conflict’s impact on U of T students A significant difference between the war in the 1990s and the war in September was the immense social media campaign that accompanied the actual fighting. For those in the Armenian diaspora, we saw everything unfold in the news or on social media, as we were bombarded with all kinds of information and disinformation and tried to break through the chaos to raise awareness about the conflict. I spoke with Gabriella Batikian, a first-year student at U of T and the communications executive of the U of T Armenian Students’ Association (ASA), who shared her personal experience with dealing with the war. “It’s definitely been difficult to cope with everything that’s been going on for the past month and a half, especially since, as many diaspora Armenians do, I have a lot of family who live in Armenia right now,” Batikian said, highlighting the difficulty of being thousands of kilometres away, worried about her family members in Armenia. It was especially hard for her since some of her family members were fighting on the front lines.
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“Unfortunately, I did lose a family member because of that,” she said. The way she tried to cope was through contributing to fundraisers, protesting, and supporting Armenian-owned businesses. “[It’s] very important, especially in times like these, to do everything we can to financially help all the people in need in Armenia and Artsakh,” Batikian said. As part of her role at the ASA, she also helped with spreading information and raising awareness about what was going on, and sharing resources on how people could help. “We have been referring students to different organizations [to donate]; for example, there’s one organization called Kooyrigs, which is based in [the US], and [it’s] usually very transparent in terms of showing where the money goes to help everyone in Artsakh,” she said. Participating in the social media campaign to raise emergency funds and get people to pay attention to the conflict became a duty of every Armenian in the diaspora. In addition to online activism, many Armenian communities around the world organized peaceful protests and marches, including those in the US, Argentina, France, and Canada. On November 1, we drove instead of marching to follow physical distancing guidelines for COVID-19, but the message was the same. Karnie Iskedjian, a U of T student in her final year and a member of ASA, who was also a participant at the rally, said that it was a success. “I think [the goal of the rally] was accomplished in the best possible way you could accomplish it as a drive-a-thon,” she said. “There were a lot of people that approached different cars and asked what was going on, what the flags were on the cars, what we were chanting.” It was easy to see the effect that the rally was
having, as some people even asked if there was a celebration of some kind, which I think speaks most to the lack of widespread coverage of the war. The tragic irony that I find in this situation is the fact that the world turned its back on Armenians as civilians were being killed, cluster bombs were being used, and tens of thousands of people were being displaced and left homeless, and the burden of demanding attention fell on those affected. “Each Armenian had to take it upon themselves to educate the people that they knew and the people around them because the media wasn’t,” Iskedjian said. Education plays a vital role in establishing a collective consciousness about issues that are otherwise seen as far away and insignificant. Even U of T isn’t doing enough in this case. When Iskedjian took a class that explored the history of the twentieth century, she was surprised that the Armenian genocide wasn’t mentioned at all. “I ended up writing my essay for that class on the genocide because you could write about any topic within the century, but it was only read by my [teaching assistant (TA)] so it didn’t really make much of a difference,” Iskedjian said, since her TA already knew about the genocide and was frustrated as well about its absence from the curriculum. For now, for some Armenian students, the job of spreading awareness is our own. “People our age were dying on the front lines, and people our age are being displaced from their homes, so it’s the least we could do,” Iskedjian said. “But being in Canada, it’s also the most we could do because we are so far away.” Being away from your ancestral lands while your peers die to protect them takes an immense
psychological toll, and the subsequent feelings of guilt can be very difficult to reconcile. However, Batikian thinks that fighting through those feelings can bring you closer than ever to your homeland. “I definitely feel more connected to Armenia than I ever have before,” she said, noting that she is constantly being updated on what is happening and that her social media feeds are filled with news about the war. “It’s very difficult at times because some of the news we get [is] hard to process… but then I try to sometimes stay away from my phone, just so I don’t completely damage my mental health.” Looking forward In a difficult post-war atmosphere, while we must look back to analyze history, we must also remember that we shouldn’t give up on the future, and that the real work is only just beginning. After the agreement was signed, many Armenians felt betrayed and took to the streets of Yerevan to protest the decision and mourn the loss of thousands of their own. Huge concerns have also been raised regarding the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage sites in the territories that are being transferred to Azerbaijan. As Armenians leave everything behind and move from the region, the fear is that the Armenian history of those lands could be erased, as was the case in Nakhichevan, an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan where thousands of cemeteries, churches, and traditional ornate stone carvings, called Khachkar in Armenian, were destroyed by the Azerbaijani government. “[Armenians] are taking everything with them because they’re not planning on coming back,” said Austin, “and now we have to ensure
that Armenian cultural heritage is preserved.” The days and months following the conflict are as critical, if not more crucial than the conflict itself. “The population is going to have to accept this and focus on what the next stages are,” Austin said. “And this will be a long process, which is going to involve what will happen to Karabakh in the long run and what type of relationship it will have with Armenia.” Indeed, the status of Artsakh is a huge point of contention for Armenians, and it plays a key role in the future of the region as well. There is hope, however, as the French senate passed a resolution on November 25 recognizing Artsakh as an independent republic. With such a precedent being set, there is a chance for a future in which Artsakh can have the right to self-determination and independence. I often find myself wondering how different things could have been if I didn’t have to grapple with history this much; if only I could wake up one day without the weight of the past pushing on me, ever present, always lingering in the back of my mind; if only my nation could live in peace, and my people could live without the fear of a looming war. Perhaps one protest, one petition, one Instagram post, isn’t enough to change our future. However, I am certain that we cannot move forward if we only dwell on the past. At the end of the day, after driving through downtown Toronto and representing our country, our people, and our freedom, we arrived back at the Armenian Community Centre. I stepped out of the car onto the wet pavement. The rain had just stopped, the clouds were dispersing, and in the sky was the biggest and brightest rainbow I have ever seen.
Arts & Culture
November 30, 2020 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca
The many faces of front campus
A historical dive into the changes that King’s College Circle underwent since the 1800s Savannah C Ribeiro Varsity Staff
Front campus is centred around King’s College Circle. The buildings that bind front campus were built in waves — the first wave of buildings were built before 1900, the second set between 1900 and 1930, and a third set after 1950. Within and between these waves of construction were demolitions, all resulting in changes to the composition of the landscape. The first wave: tranquility in nature? An 1890 article by The Dominion Illustrated makes note of the surroundings of the university before 1900: “the quiet situation and surroundings of the University are congenial to the pursuit of learning. Secluded in a generous exposure of restful nature, few echoes of the busy noises of the city reach it.”
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The second wave: a ‘modern’ university In 1907, the observatory was moved from its original location next to Convocation Hall (CH) and rebuilt “stone by stone” on Hart House Circle, and that building now houses the University of Toronto Students’ Union. Two years later, the observatory was functionally replaced with the observatory at Bloor and Devonshire — which currently houses the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. Construction for CH began in 1904 and was not finished until 1907. A fund was set up to help pay for CH, with approximately $50,000 raised by the time the cornerstone of the building was laid. In 1924, a new structure was opened behind CH — Simcoe Hall.
The Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory was established in 1839, and the original structure was replaced with a stone building in 1855. The land on which Hart House stands was once a body of water — the McCaul Pond.
The Sandford Fleming Building (SF) was opened in 1907 to serve the growing engineering faculty. The School of Practical Science Building had been founded in 1878 and was quickly becoming too small for the needs of the faculty. The SF building would stand for 70 years until a fire nearly destroyed it in February 1977.
The third wave: rapid expansion Post-1945, the university grew rapidly. An article in a 1969 issue of The Varsity notes: “During the past three years, the growth rate has been fast and furious… the combined space of the new Medical Sciences Building and the new Research Library (now under construction) will exceed by 400,000 square feet the space available to the entire university… in 1945.” The aforementioned Research Library would become Robarts Library — opened to the public in 1973. In 1954, Sir Daniel Wilson Residence was built. The residence was built west of UC along St. George Street and included an inner quadrangle, now criss-crossed with walking paths. The current Medical Sciences Building was built in 1969. According to a 1924 proposed map for front campus, the old medical science building occupied the same space as the current medical building. Even in the 1924 map, we can observe the outline of our current campus.
University College (UC) was originally completed in 1858. However, in February 1890, it was gutted by a massive fire. Following the fire, The Dominion Illustrated wrote that the “value of what was destroyed cannot fall short of $750,000.”
A campaign was launched following the fire to replace the damaged structures. The resulting building, which now houses the Gerstein Science Information Centre, was built in 1892 to replace the university’s old library.
As a result of the fire, SF was gutted, and it was estimated to have caused $8 million worth of damage to the building itself, not including the technology inside. So much water was used to quell the flames that power lines went down and flooding followed the fire. Even the Queen’s Park subway station flooded. Like the UC fire before it, the SF fire brought up the question of rebuilding. A 1977 article by The Varsity reads, “Whether we like it nor [sic] not, the older buildings on campus (and there are plenty) are going to need replacement sooner or later.” One of the older buildings along King’s College Circle was Knox College, established in 1915. It was opened with a not-sohumble brag found in a 1915 article by The Varsity: “The latest addition to the buildings facing on the University campus… is conceded to be the finest work of art in stone among all educational institutions outside of Oxford and Cambridge.”
A fourth wave? The Landmark Project The Landmark Project claims to be the “boldest open-space project in the past 100 years” at U of T. There is a plan to make campus more accessible and increase green space. The plan will move parking underground, and introduce meandering pathways and gathering places. Additionally, the Landmark Project will allow the university to take advantage of a new geothermal field — which will also reduce a large amount of carbon emissions. The project launched in May amid some criticism that this expenditure in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic was not the wisest decision. If one thing has characterized U of T’s front campus, it is the eternal need for expansion and space. The new project, hopefully, will bring an environmentally-conscious character as well. Photos courtesy of University of Toronto archives
var.st/arts
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
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Doubting U of T’s Master of Creative Writing? Don’t, it’s worth it
Three students reflect on the program Isabel Armiento Graduate Bureau Chief
Despite their popularity, Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs have long been a favourite subject of criticism. Critics have written numerous books and articles on how these programs have homogenized a generation of creative writers and continue to amplify primarily white, wealthy voices. Others have argued that MFAs are oversaturated, expensive, and rarely lead to viable careers. While MFAs offer invaluable resources — such as workshops, writing communities, and opportunities for fellowships and publishing deals — these resources have now become even less accessible for those who can’t afford these programs, some of which require students to go into debt. An MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, for example, costs 71,040 USD per year. Despite the criticism, the number of MFA programs has more than tripled between 1994 and 2015, according to a New York Times article called “Why Writers Love to Hate the M.F.A.” During that time — in the 2004–2005 academic year — U of T launched its own MFAesque program: the Master of Arts in English in the Field of Creative Writing (MA CRW ). This program works similarly to an MFA, but, unlike MFA students, MA CRW students earn a Master of Arts (MA) in English literature, giving them the opportunity to pursue writing or academia. Unlike American universities, which mainly offer MFA degrees, several Canadian schools offer a creative writing MA instead. As an English master’s student myself, albeit in a different program, I was interested to speak with three students to challenge the common criticisms of MFAs through their own experience in the MA CRW.
Criticism one: why can’t you just write on your own? “It’s true that you can write on your own, and people should!” Isabel Yang, a first-year MA CRW student, wrote to The Varsity in an email. “But I do think there’s value to honing your craft in a structured setting.” Tamara Frooman, a first-year MA CRW student, agreed with Yang. “I think it’s really easy to say ‘I’ll just write,’ but I think most writers don’t actually do well with that,” Frooman said in an interview with The Varsity. “Twitter writers are always joking about, you know, ‘I’m a writer, which means that I just sit around all day not writing.’ ” Antonia Facciponte, a first-year MA CRW student who has a book of poetry forthcoming from Black Moss Press, wrote to The Varsity in an email, “There will always be reasons not to write. Writers write about life, but life is a constant distraction from writing. Workshop-based coursework forces me to create on a regular basis, and, as a result, teaches me to always, always be writing.” “Poetry demands to be an integral part of a writer’s everyday life,” she added. Criticism two: doesn’t the academic environment stifle your creativity? On the contrary, Frooman said that her schooling holds her accountable to a higher standard of writing compared to when there is no academic context. “I’ll certainly write a lot, but I rarely will bother to go through and edit things and make them polished unless there’s a grade on the line,” Frooman explained. Facciponte added, “By expressing my artistic processes in words, I become more aware of, and learn new things about, my writing craft. This skillset of expression is incredibly important when applying for funding, as artists must defend and advocate for the purpose of their work.” For Yang, the academic setting informs their creative process in a helpful way. “I was drawn to this program specifically because my writing, which
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wrestles with identity, aligns with my academic interests: posthumanism, queer theory, and critical race theories,” they wrote. However, Yang acknowledged that a university setting may not work for all creative writers. “I think the structure of the university setting, the workshop, and grading can limit the kinds of writing that people produce… experimental work that works against literary conventions doesn’t always benefit from the institutional gaze.”
skills that are relevant to most jobs.” Frooman added that she doesn’t expect creative writing to pay the bills, but she said “this program is nice because it gives us two years where we can focus on what we love to do and not worry about other things.” All three writers emphasized that for anyone who loves writing, the program is absolutely worth it. Yang summarized their thoughts on the matter: “A world without writing would be pretty awful.”
Criticism three: if it doesn’t lead directly to a job, is it really worth it? Yang urged aspiring creative writers to consider the value of the program beyond economic gains. “I have to believe that art and creative work has value, and I think most people also do, if sub-consciously,” they wrote. “If people insist on imposing the terms of capitalism, I do think that studying creative writing has those values in that it teaches the synthesis of large ideas, rhetoric, and logic, which are
Criticism four: MA programs can be expensive! Frooman told The Varsity that everyone in her cohort receives some form of funding. “We all got a $7,000 scholarship, which almost covers tuition.” She added that many students in the cohort are funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council fellowship, which totals $17,500, and that all of them are employed as teaching assistants for both years of the program, providing an extra source of income.
Book review: How To Pronounce Knife
This U of T alum’s award-winning debut of short stories is a must-read gic, Thammavongsa breaks down essential parts of love and intimacy with precise prose. In early November, the novel earned Thammavongsa the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Thammavongsa was born in Nong Khai, Thailand in a Lao refugee camp and was raised in Toronto, where she still resides. She is a University of Toronto alum, where she studied English literature. After completing her undergraduate degree in 2003, Thammavongsa published her essays and poems in various publications and completed a number of writing residencies. In How To Pronounce Knife, Thammavongsa’s short stories focus on the seemingly mundane aspects of different peoples’ lives: a former boxing champion getting a job at his sister’s nail salon, friendships formed while working at a COURTESY OF SARAH BODRI chicken plant, and a mother obsessed with a country singer. Many of these characters navigate challengSasha Dhesi ing workplaces, romance, and changing family Varsity Contributor dynamics as immigrants or refugees, undergoThrough a series of short stories, Souvankham ing experiences that Thammavongsa draws Thammavongsa’s How To Pronounce Knife ex- from her own life. Her stories highlight the hopes and desires plores the textures of the daily lives of immigrant families, elderly neighbours, curious of groups often undiscussed and ignored, like children, and more. Tender but never nostal- nail technicians, agriculture workers, and im-
migrants. By shining a light on the invisible, Thammavongsa is able to convey the universality of the desire to be loved and understood. In focusing her work squarely on immigrant and refugee families, Thammovangsa pulls out a range of emotions other narratives about these groups often fail to achieve. “I knew that whenever we encounter stories of immigrants and refugees, they are always sad and tragic. And rightly so; they are. But I feel like that image is very narrow about who we really are. We're also fun and ferocious and hilarious. And also we can be ungrateful and there should be room for that. I wanted the story to address that,” Thammavongsa told CBC Books in an interview earlier this month. Despite the romantic nature of The book was awarded the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize this year. many of her stories, Thammavongsa’s COURTESY OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE prose is economical; she wastes no time dwelling. In this way, her stories hit more deeply — rooted in simple truths, picking up some literature this coming winter the love and loss her characters experience break. At 192 pages in the paperback version, the book is a breeze to read, but don’t let that feels all too real. Bitingly funny in parts and heartbreaking fool you — Thammavongsa wastes no time or in others, Thammavongsa’s How To Pronounce ink in her thoughtful explorations of the daily Knife is a must-read for anyone interested in lives of immigrants and refugees.
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ARTS & CULTURE
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A roundup of U of T’s best-rated professors Food for thought: — and what makes them great Dessert edition Satisfy your sweet tooth with these easy-to-make recipes
Defining traits: passion, clarity, approachability, care
Jade Goh-McMillen, Reese Halfyard, Giselle Dalili Varsity Staff
Winter is encroaching on all of us, so what better time is there to step out of the cold and wet and make yourself a cozy — and most importantly, sweet — dessert? Below, you’ll find easy-to-make and delicious dessert recipes you can try at home.
These professors may come from different departments, but their teaching is on the same calibre. TOSIN MAIYEGUN/THEVARSITY
Ambika Maharaj Varsity Contributor
Let’s face it. We’ve all had a professor who’s made a class excruciating, whether it be because of their monotonous delivery, heaps of homework, or the fact that they don’t seem to understand that we don’t understand what they’re trying to teach. We’ve all also experienced that amazing professor — the one who has you actually looking forward to class, the one whose words seem like gospel, and the one who teaches their class so well that it makes you want to change your major. So which of the professors here at the University of Toronto fit the bill of the latter category? In order to determine some of the top-rated professors at U of T and what gained them this status, I first looked at course evaluation data. Then I looked at their Rate My Professors reviews. The results are in, and the students have spoken: below, you’ll find some of the top-rated professors across different departments, faculties, and campuses at U of T. Alex Hernandez, Faculty of Arts & Science, English For “generation of enthusiasm in students,” Hernandez scored a perfect 5.0, and his average score for “creation of an atmosphere conducive to learning” was 4.9. Students enjoy the passion he exhibits for his subject, the organization of his slides, and the fact that he facilitates questions and provides clear and insightful feedback. One thing that stands out about Hernandez is how accessible he makes course content. Students claim that he makes himself available to them outside of lectures and, in particular, he has initiated a group note-taking effort in his classes that eases burdens for students with accessibility requirements. Samer Henry, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, undergraduate Students seem most impressed by Henry’s kind and genuine manner of
treating them. He makes an effort to check on his pupils’ mental well-being and the effort he exerts to ensure that his students grasp programming skills does not go unnoticed. His lecture notes are extensive, and he is excellent at ensuring that his students understand — and, most importantly, enjoy — course content. It must be noted that Henry received the University’s Course Instructor Teaching Excellence Award in 2019. His overall rating as a teacher was five out of five on course evaluations. Jennifer Stellar, UTM, psychology Stellar must be commended for the clarity with which she imparts course concepts, provides instructions, and tests students’ knowledge. Her pupils find her passion for her subject inspiring, and many claim it has led them to take more courses within the field of social psychology. In response to the question of whether she created a course environment that was maximally conducive to learning, students saw it fit to consistently rate her between a 4.4 and a 5.0. This is no surprise, as she provides proper feedback on students’ work and carefully structures her course for the maximum absorption of information, keeping lectures concise, yet interesting. She also incorporates multiple teaching methods, from the traditional slides and oral lecture format, to participatory learning, such as conducting a savouring exercise with chocolate. Jeffrey May, UTM, historical studies May’s course evaluations showed that students gave him a full five out of five for the creation of a constructive learning environment. He heavily incorporates group work into the class, encouraging discussion of materials and ideas, yet he is considerate enough to mark individually so that students do not suffer due to shortcomings of their teammates’ work. His passion for his subject and teaching is evident during his interactions with his students, who describe him as enthusiastic.
May goes beyond the bounds of his job description, displaying a real concern for students, for example, by helping them to access the course textbook in the most affordable way. Students commend his comprehensibility and fair marking. To keep things interesting, he manages to inject a professional yet entertaining sense of humour into his lectures. Andre Simpson, UTSC, chemistry and environmental science Students gave Simpson a 5.0 rating on account of the effort he appears to put into explaining course materials, as well as many other admirable traits. Notably, Simpson overtly expresses that he cares about his students. Students describe his assignments and marking as “tough but fair.” What’s more, they have high praise for the quality of his lecture notes and seem to appreciate his use of practical examples. So, what makes a good professor? Looking at this lineup, we can see some trends emerging. What makes a good professor? A teacher who is passionate — about teaching and about their subject — seems most effective at engaging their students. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and students find it difficult to not like the subject as much as their professor does. Another integral ingredient is clarity. Students learn better when they can understand the concepts their teacher is explaining, as well as when they understand what exactly is expected of them in their assignments and tests. Being approachable also encourages students to discuss their ideas with the professor and makes them feel comfortable enough to make mistakes and learn from them, to ask questions, and to be brave. Finally, students want a professor who truly cares about them. Someone who cares, not only about how students do academically, but also about their mental health, about their journey, and about whether they enjoy their learning experience.
Oatmeal cookies, by Jade Goh-McMillen Oatmeal cookies were one of my dad’s main go-to dessert options when I was a kid, and this recipe is a version of it. I like a wide variety of toppings on cookies while my dad prefers them plain. It’s a family recipe, passed down for generations, copied out onto various index cards and sticky notes with headings attributing it to a mysterious “Liz” — someone none of my relatives has been able to identify. I think the mystery adds a little extra fun, but even setting that aside, these cookies are chewy, sweet, and wonderfully open to playing around with toppings! Ingredients: Cookies: 1 1/2 cups flour 3 cups oats 2 eggs 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup oil 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2–1 cup topping or toppings of choice Topping ideas: Coated candies — such as M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, or Smarties Raisins or other dried fruits Nuts Chopped chocolates Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together all ingredients except for the flour, oats, and toppings. Stir in flour, oats, and half of the toppings. Scoop dough onto a baking sheet about two tablespoons at a time, and place the scoops two centimetres apart. Arrange the rest of the toppings on top. Bake for eight to 10 minutes or until the cookies look solid and golden brown. The coconut almond butter cup, by Reese Halfyard As a kid, peanut butter cups were my favourite dessert. I always asked my mom to make them from scratch, and they remain a strong and joyful memory. I was then ultimately motivated to create my own version of peanut butter cups. Drawing inspiration from my family’s vegan lifestyle, I subbed in rich dark chocolate and crunchy almond butter. This unique twist, with the addition of coconut flakes and sea salt, creates the perfect bittersweet taste. I recommend this dessert for a small get-together or as a healthy morning snack. With only five simple ingredients
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and no baking required, this is the impeccable vegan variation. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons coconut flakes 2 teaspoons coconut oil 1 cup almond butter 2–3 cups dark chocolate — either in chips or a bar 2 teaspoons sea salt Directions: Set the stove to high heat and pour the coconut oil into a saucepan. Chop the dark chocolate into smaller pieces and place it in with the coconut oil. Stir every few minutes until the chocolate is liquid and smooth. Grab a 12-spot cupcake tray and put cupcake liners in. Fill a quarter of the liner with the melted chocolate. Scoop one to two tablespoons of almond butter on top of the chocolate. Sprinkle two teaspoons of coconut flakes over the almond butter and spread evenly. Fill the rest of the cups with melted chocolate until you reach the very top of the liner. Sprinkle sea salt and extra coconut flakes on top to complete the dessert. Put the cupcake tray in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until the cups are solid. Take out, wait a few minutes, and it’s ready to eat! Microwave apple pie, by Giselle Dalili There is no better time to cuddle up with some apple pie than in autumn, when apples are in season and therefore cheaper. And now, you can enjoy apple pie’s warming spices from the comfort of your dorm with this easy, microwave, apple crisp recipe. Ingredients: The apple filling: 1 apple 1/2 tablespoon water 1 teaspoon butter 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour 1 pinch salt The crisp topping: 3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 pinch salt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened Directions: To make the filling, peel and thinly slice the apple. Add the apple, butter, and water to a microwave-safe dish or mug. Microwave for one minute. After one minute, add the rest of the apple-filling ingredients. Stir to coat the apples. In a separate bowl, stir the topping ingredients together with a fork until they form small crumbles. Top with the oat mixture. Microwave for about two minutes, until the filling bubbles and the topping is firm. Serve with ice cream.
Science
November 30, 2020 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca
Explaining the case for decriminalizing drugs
KRISTAL-MENGUC/THE VARSITY
Examining the shortfalls of — and ways beyond — our current systems
Koen Bertens Varsity Contributor
As COVID-19 continues to rage across Canada and the world, experts have started to examine the consequences of this pandemic beyond the acute effects of hospitalizations and economic turmoil. Among these issues is the rise in illicit drug toxicity deaths, including overdoses related to opioids and other street drugs. According to pre-pandemic federal data, there have been “over 9,000 apparent opioid-related deaths” nationwide since 2016. In 2017, an average of 11 overdose deaths occurred every day. Many of these deaths can be attributed to fentanyl, a powerful narcotic that is often found mixed in with other substances. This trend continues at a provincial level. According to provincial data, from 2011–2013 there was a fentanyl-related death in Ontario every three or four days. From 2011–2014, opioid-related deaths in Alberta increased almost 20 times, and from 2012–2014 they grew seven times in British Columbia. Drug decriminalization is often proposed as a solution to the Canadian opioid crisis. Decriminalization usually refers to allowing people to legally possess small amounts of drugs. It is sometimes called ‘personal possession.’ The US state of Oregon recently passed a decriminalization law, which allows for legal possession of less than two grams of cocaine, 40 pills of oxycodone, and similarly small amounts of other drugs. Earlier this year, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police called for abandoning drug arrests, describing them as “ineffective.” Shortly afterward, the federal prosecution service released new guidelines that advise prosecutors to avoid using the criminal justice system for simple possession charges that don’t raise public safety concerns. Despite these shows of support, the actual public opinion on decriminalization is decidedly negative. In January, a poll from Ipsos found that 53 per cent of surveyed Canadians do not support decriminalizing small amounts of drugs. When asked whether they supported decriminalizing drugs in general, opposition rose to 64 per cent. However, this means that, depending on the circumstances, 36–47 per cent of participants are in favour of decriminalization. So what exactly motivates proponents of drug decriminalization? And what kinds of evidence do they put forward?
The Canadian opioid crisis in numbers COVID-19 seems to have made the opioid crisis in Canada even worse. Data released by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network shows a 38 per cent increase in the number of opioid-related deaths when comparing the first 15 weeks of the pandemic to the previous 15 weeks. The report proposes that this increase may have been caused by a lack of access to safe places to use drugs and support networks. In Alberta, the number of fentanyl-related deaths more than doubled from the first quarter of 2020 to the second, rising from 130 to 284, according to a report published by Alberta Health. In British Columbia, the first wave of the pandemic coincided with the largest number of overdose deaths in a given month since the province declared the crisis a public health emergency in 2016. Yet, with the crisis at a boiling point, some experts are still divided on how to best tackle the issue. What motivates drug decriminalization? Drug policy has generally followed prohibition over its opposing model of harm reduction. Prohibition-based policy regards drug use as an individual’s moral failing and something to be punished through the legal system. In this framework, punitive actions are meant to deter individuals from ever using drugs in the first place. Resources are spent on law enforcement and incarceration. Conversely, the harm reduction model views drug use as a health issue for which the negative consequences must be alleviated as much as possible. Accepting that some drug use is inevitable allows for pragmatic solutions without moralistic judgment, freeing up resources to be used on health, education, and societal development. One supporter of the harm reduction model is Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, who specializes in epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health practice. “As we look at countries that are moving away from a prohibitionist model, what we generally see is things go well, consistently,” he said in an interview with CBC Radio’s The Current. “What we see generally in countries that move away from a drug prohibitionist model is HIV goes down, [hepatitis] C goes down, overdose death rates go down, and people generally do better.”
Contrasting views Others say that prohibitionist policy toward drug use worsens the problem, including Akwasi OwusuBempah, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at U of T and an affiliate scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. “If the rationale for the war on drugs is to decrease drug use, it hasn’t worked,” wrote Owusu-Bempah in an opinion piece for University of Toronto Magazine on legalization. “Quite the opposite: there are billions of dollars to be made from the illegal drug trade… The United States, in particular, has been waging a war on drugs for several decades, and it’s still one of the world’s largest consumers of cocaine. This should tell us that we’re not going to reduce drug use through the enforcement of laws.” It is also impossible to ignore the harms that prohibitionist policy has on racialized people. “The data show that positive police discretion has not been exercised when it comes to racialized people,” Owusu-Bempah wrote. “The difference is in who gets stopped and searched, who’s found in possession and who ends up being arrested and convicted.” On these points, stepping away from punitive policy would be a big step toward more equitable treatment in the criminal justice system. Not all agree, however. Robert Mann, an associate professor at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, believes the push toward decriminalization comes too soon after the legalization of cannabis in Canada. In another University of Toronto Magazine article, also on the topic of legalization, he wrote that time needs to be given to properly study the effects of legalization on public health. The implementation, he believes, would be problematic as well. “Legalization creates additional headaches,” Mann wrote. “I’d be concerned about the possibility of governments adopting a free market approach where the focus is on sales and profits, as opposed to health and public health, and advertising and promotion are permitted – or use can be encouraged in other, more subtle, ways.” The Portugal case Portugal is often cited as one of the best sources of evidence for what decriminalizing drugs actually does. In 2001, the Portuguese government decided to strike down all criminal penalties for the possession of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamines, and other
drugs. People with a substance use disorder were offered public health services instead. While possession was not legalized, decriminalization meant that charges of drug possession would be treated with services, not criminal charges. Rather than jail time, those found guilty of possession would receive treatment from a psychologist, social worker, and legal adviser. A report published by the Cato Institute examines the rates of drug use and overdose in the years following the 2001 overturn. Deaths from opiate overdose decreased significantly after 2001. The number of newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS cases among users showed a similar downward trend not seen among non-users, indicating a decrease in the contraction of HIV from shared drug paraphernalia. In terms of rates of usage, however, results are less clear. Among youth aged 13–18, drug usage declined in the years following decriminalization. Some older counterparts showed a less clear pattern, however, with rates of usage increasing mildly postdecriminalization. The number of administrative proceedings — non-criminal in nature — increased significantly as well. However, these proceedings are designed to encourage users to seek treatment rather than punish them, which may have resulted in a decrease in future substance use. A health care perspective The Portugal case suggests that a health care perspective of substance use disorders is not only more effective in reducing substance use, but also in helping users. Even then, commentators like Mann are concerned about the legalized sale of drugs. However, decriminalizing drugs does not necessitate their legalized sale. A 2018 report from the Candian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction described decriminalization as distinct from legalization, by which governments can regulate and tax the sale of drugs like alcohol or tobacco. The report also stated that one policy change or act will not be effective since substance use disorders have complex causes. Yet, the report concluded with a strong recommendation to reframe the drug debate. “Recognizing that substance use is a health rather than a criminal justice issue is a fundamental starting point for reform.”
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THE VARSITY
SCIENCE
science@thevarsity.ca
DNA based-nanoparticles: a versatile and powerful tool for biomedical applications Recent U of T paper shows designs useful for drug delivery Biomedical Engineering, has published a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrating a way around these challenges. The team’s findings could provide scientists with a versatile and powerful platform for biomedical applications.
Kuorosh Rezaei Varsity Contributor
In the past two decades, the use of nanoparticles — microscopic particles useful for a host of engineering and research problems — in medicine and biomedical research has gained a lot of momentum. These nanoparticles are synthesized from various molecules — such as lipids, organic polymers, and proteins — and generally range between 100–500 nanometres in size. Due to their size, nanoparticles have properties that make them very attractive for drug delivery in the body. However, conventional nanoparticle platforms also have certain technical challenges and possible health risks that limit their use. A team at the University of Toronto, led by Warren Chan, a professor in the Institute of
Why are nanoparticles used for drug delivery? The United States Federal Drug Administration has approved over 51 nanoparticle products for diagnosing illnesses and treating them therapeutically in the past two decades. There are many advantages to using nanoparticles for delivering a drug. One major advantage of nanoparticles is that they allow for targeted drug delivery, where drugs are brought to the parts of the body that need them. Wayne Ngo, a PhD student in Chan’s lab and lead author of the paper, explained why nanoparticles are useful for drug delivery in an interview with The Varsity. He said that using nanoparticles for drug delivery can minimize side effects, as it delivers the drug to the intended organ or tissue without affecting other organs. This is important for cancer treatment, as the chemotherapy agents used in it are highly toxic compounds that kill both healthy and cancerous cells. Nanoparticles allow targeted delivery of chemotherapy agents to cancerous tissue and minimize drug accumulation in healthy tissues. This can increase the efficacy of chemotherapy and also reduce the side effects. Additionally, for a drug to have therapeutic efficacy it must be able to dissolve in water. Certain chemotherapy drugs have poor water solubility. If these drugs are injected into the bloodstream on their own, they have very little therapeutic
efficacy. However, storing these drugs in lipid-based nanoparticles can significantly improve their water solubility and improve their therapeutic efficacy. Conventional nanoparticles versus DNA-based nanoparticles There are some technical challenges to using lipidbased or polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery. One challenge is that these delivery systems require the drug molecule to have specific chemical properties. Ngo explained that it is challenging to store multiple drugs with different chemical properties into a single nanoparticle. The DNA-based nanoparticles developed by the researchers solve these problems by radically changing how drug molecules are stored. Every DNA molecule is composed of two complementary strands. When these strands are close to each other, they bind like a zipper and form double-stranded DNA. Each strand is made of four types of nucleic acid bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. Adenine in one strand pairs with thymine on the complementary strand, and guanine base pairs with cytosine. For two strands of DNA to be complimentary, all nucleotide bases in one strand must pair exactly with their complementary base on the other strand. The researchers took advantage of the specific base pairing of complementary DNA strands to control storage of drug molecules in the nanoparticles in a very specific and controlled manner. At the first step, they synthesize a set of complementary DNA strands. Then, one strand is incorporated into the nanoparticle, and its complementary strand is attached to the drug of interest.
Finally, when nanoparticles and drug molecules are mixed together, the DNA strand in the nanoparticle binds to the complementary DNA strand on the drug. This way, the drug molecule is stored in the nanoparticle. Applications of DNA-based nanoparticles This technique has two significant advantages. Because DNA base pairing is used to incorporate the drug into nanoparticles, the drugs’ chemical properties are not a limiting factor for storage. In this way, drugs with different chemical properties can be stored in the nanoparticle. Because scientists can design the complementary strands, they can also control the amount and ratio of different molecules being stored in each nanoparticle. The ability to load different drugs into a nanoparticle is also beneficial for chemotherapy treatments. Sometimes, cancer tumours show resistance to a single drug. However, when multiple cancer drugs are delivered to tumours, therapeutic efficacy can improve significantly. Additionally, this platform enables researchers to control the exact amount and ratio of different drugs in each nanoparticle, which further helps cancer research.
TONY YU/THEVARSITY
Opinion: Don’t dismiss the religious scientist in your lab just yet Sharing a desire to discover ourselves, our universe
Anson Sathaseevan Varsity Contributor
There are perhaps few topics of conversation more taboo in the lab environment than religion. You would be hard pressed to find a research lab where religion is discussed as freely in casual conversation as sports, popular culture, and even politics. This reluctance to discuss religion is driven by the belief that religion and scientific research are two seemingly incompatible systems. And yet, persons of faith abound in scientific research. A study led by researchers at Rice University that surveyed scientists based in research institutions in the UK and the United States found that close to 30 per cent of participants identified as having at least some degree of religious belief. This is not a recent development. Leading scientists who were devoutly religious during their lifetime include Francis Bacon, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Abdus Salam. There is also a pervasive stigma about being a person of faith in a scientific setting. According to the same study, more than a quarter of participating scientists perceive a conflict between science and religion, viewing themselves to be on the side of science. But people of faith do have a place in scientific settings — both historical and contemporary evidence say so. The science-religion divide does not have to exist. Ultimately, they are both rooted in our desire to understand ourselves and the universe we inhabit. And so, lab environments should be accepting — even welcoming — to people of faith. A poor conflation Adam Hincks, a Jesuit priest and professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, provides a useful starting point for comparison and contrast. In an email to The Varsity, he argued that “there are important ways in which [religion and science] should not be conflated.” This occurs when religious belief, or belief of any
kind for that matter, is conflated in the wrong way with science. With respect to religion, the extreme end of this kind of belief presents itself in new world creationists, who believe that the Earth and its inhabitants were formed in six days as recounted in the book of Genesis. This erroneous and harmful manner of thinking points to an important finding: it is nonsensical to hold a belief if that belief is shown to be false. At that point,
environment where we emphasize the pursuit of new knowledge and an attitude of momentum that continually strives for forward progress, these stereotypes characterize the whole of religion as an archaic system devoid of any place in our world. In response to the “perception that you can’t be religious and scientific at the same time,” Hincks noted, “That’s unfortunate because it simply isn't true, and it means that those of us who are religious don't
FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY
the danger is that it is no longer a belief, but rather a delusion for the person who holds it. Unfortunately, the secularized view of religion often reduces religion to these most extreme, erroneous, and draconian ideas. In the lab
always do a great job at getting that message out there.” A shared root To this end, when we discuss beliefs, including those of a religious nature, they must have utility for their
holder. Religious beliefs accomplish this, in part, by providing a sense of direction toward the ultimate mysteries, conceptualized in our anthropocentric lens, pertaining to the ‘whys’ and ‘whats’ of our existence and purpose, respectively. This desire to discover, albeit on different terms and under different circumstances, might represent the starting point of a serious discussion on the relationship between religion and science. We have an insatiable need to question, probe, ponder, inquisite, and understand both ourselves and the universe external to us. As Hincks explained, for persons of faith in scientific research, religion provides another outlet through which to accomplish these aims. “This in itself is something worth pondering: that diverse ways of knowing can be united within a single human subject,” he wrote. “The common factor is the human person who wants to understand the world, what our place in it is, and what the meaning of existence is.” Religious persons are more than capable of success in a lab setting, but this depends on the openness of the environment. The ethos of the lab environment should tolerate persons of diverse backgrounds in personal creed, including in matters of religion. This is a two-way front: religious persons likewise should not denounce those who do not share their beliefs. “In my own experience my fellow scientists are respectful and often open-minded when it comes to religion, even if they are not religious themselves,” Hincks reflected. “And I've also had good conversations about religion with other scientists of faith over the years. Some of my best conversations a few years ago were with a Muslim colleague. I think we both learnt a lot by sharing our experiences.” This is what we should strive to create. Open, honest discussion and mutual respect are at the core of the values that make the scientific environment such an enticing and fruitful one. These qualities ought to translate into the overall atmosphere of the lab.
var.st/science
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
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Science Spotlight: Professor Molly Shoichet, Gerzhard Herzberg Canada Gold medalist
Biomedical engineer’s novel hydrogel designs useful for regenerative medicine Mohammad Hadaddnia Varsity Contributor
Earlier this month, University of Toronto professor Molly Shoichet of the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry became the third woman to win the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold medal. Herzberg was awarded for “her outstanding accomplishments and discoveries, and for her advancement of scientific knowledge and innovation.” Her team is known for its development of synthetic hydrogel materials that can be used to repair damaged organs. The one million dollar prize is often called Canada’s most prestigious science award. A pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine, Shoichet first started working in the field after she graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a PhD in polymer science and engineering. Shoichet discussed her work and career in an email interview with The Varsity. Early years After getting her PhD, Shoichet started to work in the private sector. “I decided to work at a small biotech company in the greater Boston area that was focused on cell therapy. Lucky for me, I found myself working in the field of regenerative medicine before it really had that name,” wrote Shoichet. After three years, Shoichet moved back to Canada to start her academic career at the University of Toronto. “U of T has been a powerhouse institution in regenerative medicine for several decades and it is here that my career has blossomed, bolstered by amazing collaborators across Faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Science,” wrote Shoichet. Shoichet is an internationally known researcher for her innovative use of threedimensional hydrogels in the field of tissue engineering. Hydrogels are essentially water-
swollen materials and are found everywhere — from the food that we eat to the contact lenses that we wear. Hydrogels are also used as scaffolds for tissue engineering. These scaffolding hydrogels contain large pores to accommodate living cells. They can also be designed to dissolve or degrade, releasing chemicals to encourage cell growth and allowing the cells to proliferate in the pores. Shoichet and her team use hydrogels as biomimetic materials and have invented a series of hydrogels. “One hydrogel that we invented promotes tissue healing while serving as a vehicle for cell transplantation and therapeutic delivery,” wrote Shoichet. “This material is being advanced towards the clinic for the treatment of post-surgical pain by AmacaThera.” AmacaThera is a U of T startup that was built on the technologies developed in Shoichet’s lab. Repairing vision and spine degradation Shoichet and her team designed hydrogels to help reverse vision loss and repair spinal cord degradation. Age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition that millions of people suffer from worldwide, is caused by the death of retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells and photoreceptors in the retina. While researchers have tried to treat this disease by replacing the dead RPE cells or photoreceptors by implanting healthy ones into the eye, not much progress has been made due to challenges such as the low survival rate of the injected cells. As experts in using hydrogels for tissue engineering, Shoichet and her lab decided to use hydrogels to inject healthy cells. This can reduce inflammation, promote tissue healing after the injection, and the eventual degradation of hydrogels leaves the healthy cells behind. While their method resulted in partial vision
repair in a mouse model, the benefits were limited. Inspired by the fact that RPE and photoreceptors are considered as one functional unit, Shoichet and her team decided to see if delivering both cells at the same time would improve vision loss. The key to this method was that the characteristics of hydrogels allowed the delivery of multiple cell types. The results showed significant improvement compared to previous methods, but Shoichet and her team noted that there is still a long road until this approach can be applied in clinical practice. Afterward, the method can finally treat many vision impairment diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and change the lives of millions of people around the globe. Choichet’s lab has also demonstrated a way to use hydrogels to improve spinal degradation. Intervertebral disc degradation (IVD), one of the main causes of back pain, is the leading cause of disability in the world. While there has been a lot of progress in terms of cell therapy for IVD, there are still a lot of remaining challenges for clinical applications. Shoichet and her team used a specific hydrogel to treat IVD. Their hydrogel-based approach was found to be more effective compared to earlier approaches, and also has potential for use in clinical practice. A team of many Shoichet considers the interdisciplinary nature of her
research a crucial reason for her achievements. “Our research is at the intersection of chemistry, biology and engineering,” she wrote. “We bring our expertise in chemistry and engineering to answer questions in biology. We invent materials that are explicitly designed based on solving problems in medical research.” “We are successful because we have creative collaborators in complementary fields and because we have attracted superbly innovative students and post-doctoral fellows,” Shoichet added. So what advice does a successful researcher have for women in STEM? “Science, like life, requires a team to succeed. Find great people to join your team.”
Shoichet’s discoveries include a hydrogel design that can be used to repair damaged retinas. COURTESY OF ROBERTA BAKER
Why do we lose our hearing as we age?
A U of T study points to levels of specific acid in the nervous system Yixuan LI Varsity Contributor
Hearing problems are a frequent health issue as we age. Recently, a University of Toronto research group, led by Bernhard Ross of the Department of Medical Biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, has discovered a mechanism that explains why the elderly frequently have difficulties distinguishing speech from other noise. The researchers discovered that difficulty in understanding speech in noise (SIN) relates to the changes in central auditory processing caused by decreasing levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain. It has been theorized that GABA is partly responsible for controlling levels of fear or anxiety. Levels of GABA in the brain naturally decrease as we age. The results were published in the journal NeuroImage earlier this year. The mechanism of how GABA levels affect SIN understanding GABA is one of the major inhibitory chemicals that exists in all mammals’ central nervous systems. As an inhibitory chemical, its function is to hinder the transmission of signals between neurons. When GABA levels are too high, the abundance of nervous signals can cause seizures or mood disorders. When GABA levels are too low, the sluggish neuron-toneuron communication can cause sleepiness. In their study, the researchers began to use noninvasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure the GABA level in the brain. “Changes in the central auditory system that contribute to SIN loss are not as well-understood, and therefore much more difficult to correct,” the
researchers wrote in a written interview with The Varsity. “We have identified an aging-related change in the central auditory system – a reduction in the GABA level – which was correlated with SIN loss.” “This finding paves the way for more research into how GABA affects SIN understanding, and suggests we should look into how we might prevent an agerelated decline in GABA levels or restore them when they become low,” they added. However, the researchers also pointed out two subtleties in their result. First, they mentioned that GABA is only one of several factors that contribute to SIN loss. “It is only part of the complex interaction between changes at all levels of the auditory system, from peripheral hearing loss to cognitive deficits, that together cause reduced SIN understanding.” They also noted the distinction between biological and chronological age. Whereas chronological age is simply how old one is in real time, biological age is a more complicated measure of how the body is performing relative to healthy models. It ranges across everything from immune and inflammatory measures to blood sugar levels — and is changeable with diet and exercise, unlike chronological age. It is biological age that may actually affect hearing loss. “Individuals with the same chronological age can have very different biological ages,” the researchers wrote. “The process that causes reduced GABA levels is likely a part of normal, healthy aging, and reflects biological age more than chronological age. The broader context This paper is a continuation of research that was published last year that also connected declining levels of GABA to SIN loss. Whereas the first paper was more general, this second followup looked
The levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid have been associated with difficulty distinguishing speech from other noise. SAMANTHA YAO/THEVARSITY
specifically at which side of the brain has greater influence on SIN loss. Researchers found stronger correlations between the brain’s right auditory cortex — a region known to be associated with cognitive functioning — and GABA levels than the left cortex. It comes as part of a growing research program studying the impacts of GABA on hearing loss and cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). “The topics of aging, dementia (including AD), and SIN are more closely interrelated than
previously thought,” the researchers wrote. They had previously found evidence for a relationship between rhythms in one’s brain activity and “the degree to which noise affects listening and speech understanding.” “The same type of brain rhythms has been found useful as a biomarker for developing AD. In mice it has been found that stimulating gamma oscillations could delay the progression of AD.” The hope is that studying GABA will unveil the complicated mechanics of aging and cognitive decline.
Sports
November 30, 2020 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
In conversation with soccer captain Miranda Badovinac Midfield star talks team highlights, captaincy, and COVID-19
Laura Ashwood Sports Editor
Miranda Badovinac, fourth-year captain of the Varsity Blues women’s soccer team, has come a long way to get to the 2020 training season with the Blues. In light of a captaincy made complicated by the cancellation of the 2020 season, The Varsity sat down with Badovinac to learn about her rise to success in soccer, her favourite moments with the Blues, and what this year will look like going forward. “I started [playing soccer] when I was probably about three or four,” Badovinac told The Varsity. After choosing to follow in her sisters’ footsteps to play soccer in university, Badovinac rose in the ranks of club soccer, finding success on teams in Burlington, Stoney Creek, and St. Catharines. After years of success in middle and high school, the midfielder and Burlington native set her sights on bigger things. “It had been a dream for a while to play [Division 1] in the [US]. So, initially, I committed to play soccer at the University of Albany, [and] I played there for two years,” she said. After feeling unfulfilled by the amount of minutes she was playing and wanting a more academicallyrigorous environment, she joined the Blues at U of T. And join, she did: playing all 21 games and scoring 13 goals in the 2019–2020 season, Badovinac made her presence known on the field as one of the Blues’ best assets. But she’s not as focused on individual success as she is on team success: when reflecting on some of her favourite moments with the Blues, she didn’t list individual achievements, but ones that she had with her teammates. “Obviously, going to nationals was a really big time for us last year,” Badovinac admitted. “But I think one of the most memorable moments, aside from the bronze medal game… was when we played
Queens in the [Ontario University Athletics] quarterfinal last year.” “We had lost and tied them prior to playing them in the playoffs… So, playing against them at Queens and beating them 3-0 was such a good feeling for the team, knowing that we were going to progress to the semifinal and continue our chances of actually going to nationals,” Badovinac said. “That was a really big turning point in our confidence as a team. I think that it was kind of a defining moment for us, knowing that we are definitely capable of going to nationals.” But as Badovinac reflected fondly on her team’s successes together, she and her teammates have had to face a season of uncertainty during COVID-19. “Usually, in a typical week… Mondays, we would have obviously had off, [train all week], and then, we would have games [on] Saturdays and Sundays.” Because of the pandemic, this schedule looks a bit different. Already modified earlier this semester to reduce sessions and ensure physical distancing measures, the future looks even more uncertain. “There’s been a lot of… ambiguity with what’s happening. Every single week it’s changing, so it’s hard.” As captain, Badovinac has made it her mission to keep team morale high. “I feel like it’s really hard to get the team motivated to kind of be involved right now,” she admitted, but the team is implementing bonding activities like a Secret Santa to make sure everyone feels included and excited for whatever is to come. “This hasn’t really been the most ideal time for anybody. But I think that a really good way of coping with it is to be around your teammates as much as you can,” she said. Whether through Zoom workouts, online chats, or physically-distanced sessions in the gym, Badovinac makes sure the team knows that they
Miranda Badovinac is the captain of the women’s soccer team. HENRY ZHAO/VARSITY BLUES
have each other. Looking forward, she has made it a goal to build “that team culture, and [prepare
the team] for more of a team dynamic over the next coming months, into next season.”
Testing UTrain: Pilates Do the workouts really work?
Alexandra Waddell Varsity Contributor
Hart House hosts the UTrain pilates class.
MAHIKA JAIN/THEVARSITY
During the lockdown, I discovered pilates, and this week, I thought that I might try out the classes offered by U of T. I have found that while pilates doesn’t get me sweating, the mental shift that I experience from it has kept me sane during lockdown while improving both my mobility and strength. UTrain’s pilates class, hosted by Hart House, was taught by H. R. Martin Phills, who graduated from U of T in 1989. He is currently a program advisor at Hart House and has 25 years of experience in pilates matwork. This was the first pilates class I’ve taken that started at 9:00 am, and I — again — roped my roommate into the workout with me to keep me accountable. When we joined the class, Phills said hello to the clearly loyal community that he has built. The 20 participants, who were of all ages, had their cameras on and were saying hi in the chat or waving to Phills as we set up our equipment. Phills mentioned that he prefers when participants keep their screens on, but I decided to keep mine off as my other roommates rolled
out of their beds to start their days. We started with five minutes of breathing and spine mobilization. I took the class during the first big snow in Toronto, so Phills mentioned that the spine mobilization movements were great for anyone who needed to shovel their walk later. Phills continued the focus on breathing, constantly telling us to “breathe in” throughout the class. We did traditional pilates moves, like downward facing dog and a plank series, but we also did a lot of dance-focused moves as well. The hardest part of the class was the squat series, but no matter the movement, Phills called the exercises “stretches” rather than their traditional names. My roommate and I loved this because it gave the whole class a much more relaxed vibe. We ended the class with some more breathing exercises and were reminded to “get outside,” “go for a walk,” and be grateful for every day. He even gave us his email and said we could ask any exercise questions if we needed. All in all, I wasn’t tired or sweaty after the workout but rather refreshed and ready for my day. I would recommend Phills’ class to everyone!
var.st/sports
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
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What the health: Cold weather workout clothes
Opinion: When it comes to bulking, slow and steady wins the race Take a lean approach to properly build muscle this season
What to wear to exercise in winter Shreya Prakash Varsity Contributor
ISOBEL HEINTZMAN/ THEVARSITY
Can Gultekin Varsity Contributor
Another winter brings the unbearable dilemma: should you give ‘bulking’ another try? The ‘bro-science’ lurking around the fitness industry screams “yes,” but you ask yourself why this time will be any different than last year, when you gave your all trying to lose the bulking weight to fit into your swimsuit during the summer. Here is an explanation on what bulking is and how to do it properly. If you have been around gyms and have a few friends that are lifting, odds are that you have heard of bulking before. If not, ‘bulking’ is a phase of bodybuilding in which one gains weight and increases muscle mass, preferably adding as little body fat as possible. For most, the bulking phase occurs in winter. Lifters usually work to cut down during spring, shedding away body fat and aiming for the perfect beach body, with
— ideally — a visible set of abs. Bulking is achieved by eating more calories than you burn — a caloric surplus — whereas cutting is the opposite, and you eat less than you burn — a caloric deficit. While the research agrees that muscles are built on a surplus, the bulk could backfire, and you may wake up one day with a beer gut, wondering where it went wrong. Where most lifters go wrong is in trying to gain too much weight too fast — trying to gain more than one pound weekly, for example. Lifters start looking bloated, and hold a larger amount of water weight during the traditional bulk. What I recommend instead is an attempt at a ‘lean’ bulk. This oxymoron has much more restrictive implications. The purpose of the lean bulk is to add as much muscle mass as possible without the additional body fat that follows the traditional bulk. The goal is to gain one to two pounds of lean body mass every month. This process follows
a much more patient approach compared to a regular bulk, but, remember: slow and steady wins the race. With this more controlled approach, the lifter is able to experience the best of both worlds. Without adding too much body fat, they can stay lean and keep the visible abs, gaining as much muscle as possible. And since the lifter would not pack on much fat to begin with, they will not see the need for a mentally and physically exhausting, restricting diet during the sunny days of spring to make their abs reappear after the bulk. If you follow a lean bulking program, you will be fine with a more relaxed ‘mini-cut,’ or maybe you will not even need to lose any weight for the summer. In short, if you want to pack on some muscle, be patient and don’t try to rush it. Working out is a long journey; you should enjoy it, not skip to the finish line. Chances are, by being too hasty, you will do more damage than good. Since the sun sets earlier and rises later while our daily routines remain stationary, our body can have trouble adjusting, with our melatonin — the sleep hormone — and serotonin — the happy hormone — levels taking a hit. So, as the exam season creeps up on us, here are some ways to preserve your mental and physical wellness before the winter blues set in.
ZACH KOH/ THEVARSITY
How to fight the woes of winter
Strategies to combat the mental and physical struggles of the coldest season Angad Deol Associate Sports Editor
Does the winter weather make you feel blue? Well, you’re not alone. The change in season
from sweater weather to “it’s minus how many degrees?” can really make some people feel dreary. Studies show the shift to winter can negatively impact our circadian rhythm, the body’s system of keeping track of important function during the day and night cycle.
What are some ways to maintain our mental health in the winter? The approaching dark and cold winter is compounded this year with the oftentimes isolating restrictions of the COVID-19 lockdown and the anxiety that accompanies a pandemic. Steve Joordens, a psychology professor at U of T, told CTV News that anxiety has been a major health issue in the pandemic, with many worried about health and career insecurities. This anxiety could become depression, he warns, as case numbers go up and temperatures go down. There are a couple of ways to manage this. Research by Harvard University shows that 30 minutes of daily exercise can help produce endorphins, which play a role in pain reduction. Furthermore, meditation is also a great way to keep your mind sharp and healthy. There are many apps available for a wide variety of meditation styles, with Calm and Headspace being some of the most popular. Family and friends provide a great social system, especially in the winter months, that can lift us up when we’re down. While COVID-19 can make us feel further apart than ever, it is important to try and maintain these important relationships, especially as
As the temperatures begin to drop and gyms remain closed due to lockdown, the motivation to work out also crumbles. And, frankly, anything could convince you to postpone your workout. That’s why it’s important to find the perfect clothes to keep you warm as you brave the cold. Make sure to layer up, especially when doing cardio; it gives you some flexibility as you start to get warmer throughout the workout. Always make sure the layer closest to your body is a light moisture-wicking fabric like polyester or polypropylene. The rest of the layers can be made of anything that keeps you warm and is light and airy, allowing for maximum mobility and breathability as you get your sweat on. If you don’t know where to look, check out Old Navy or Gap! They have all the classic activewear styles from leggings and puffer jackets to performance joggers. Even better, the online stores are almost always having price-reduction events, which makes them a student budget-friendly option! If you’re looking for a more environmentally sustainable option with ethical production, and are willing to pay a little more, Outdoor Voices is a great brand that offers a wide range of activewear styles. The online store offers stylish, layerable pieces, all while enforcing fair wages, worker safety, and environmental sustainability. With proper care, one pair of leggings will last you a long time from any of these brands. With this knowledge, it’s time to go out there and get a workout in! Send in your health and fitness questions to sports@ thevarsity.ca for a chance to be anonymously featured! REBECA MOYA/ THEVARSITY
winter approaches. Light therapy — exposure to light from boxes for 30–60 minutes, recommended as part of one’s morning routine — has also shown promise for those who suffer from depression, with specific applications to season-induced depression. How is our physical health impacted by the winter? Our immune system has to put up quite the fight during the winter, as it coincides with the dreaded cold and flu season. As we spend more time inside, especially around other people — although COVID-19 restrictions have reduced the number of people in enclosed spaces — cold and flu can spread like wildfire. By practicing good hygiene, such as washing and sanitizing your hands, and coughing into your elbow instead of your hands, you can help prevent the spread of disease. Wearing your mask is also an essential part of keeping your community — and yourself — healthy. Moreover, our skin dries out more quickly in the dry winter air, so be sure to keep moisturizing. Also, find a few minutes for every hour that you sit at your laptop to stand up and stretch. Remember to roll out your shoulders and stretch your neck; these places can get tight as we hunch over for Zoom classes. In sum, while it can be easy to slip into bad habits as the snow starts to fall, it’s important to always take a step back and focus on yourself. A few minutes a day can change your outlook on the winter. Maintaining physical and mental wellness can go a long way no matter which season it is.
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NOVEMBER 30, 2020 -
FROM THE VARCHIVES 1955: 1918: The Varsity reported on U of T contributions in the wake of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Another bout of influenza that caused U of T to cut classes.
2010: Unlike most of our pop culture predictions, this call did not come true.
1970: The Varsity posted a correction to a story after some missed connections.