Issue 14, Volume 143 (January 16 2023)

THE VARSITY

Schwalb Assistant News Editor

On January 9, U of T hosted a panel on international students’ success and mental health. The panel promoted the launch of U of T’s International Strategic Plan (TISP), a collection of commitments that will guide U of T’s global approach between now and 2027. However, the plan received criticism from the UTSU for failing to adequately support international students.

The International Strategic Plan

In December 2022, the office of the Vice President, International released the most recent TISP, a five-year plan to support learning abroad, increase diversity on campus, partner with global businesses and universities, and strengthen the university’s presence on the world stage. The plan reflected eight months of consultation with faculty, staff, and students.

The TISP focuses on three dimensions — global learning, global reach, and global impact — and includes 10 strategic objectives. According to the plan, U of T is committing to increase the number of countries of citizenship represented among students. During the 2021–2022 academic year, the university represented students from 170 different countries and regions.

According to the plan, U of T also hopes that, by 2027, two out of five undergradu-

ate students will participate in one or more learning abroad experiences during their undergrad; in comparison, only 3.9 per cent of undergraduates studied abroad in 2019–2020. The university specifically aims to increase participation in learning abroad for students of “diverse backgrounds,” committing to a 10 per cent increase each year of the plan. They plan to drive these increases by supplementing financial aid, advertising, and expanding partnerships with universities in the global south.

Additionally, the TISP includes commitments intended to support international students, who made up 28 per cent of U of T’s student body in 2021–2022. By the 2023–2024 school year, U of T pledges to devote six per cent of international tuition to financial awards for international students. The university also hopes to increase international student participation in paid work-study positions from 2.9 per cent in 2022 to six per cent in 2027.

The panel

U of T’s virtual panel on international student success drew over 150 attendees.

“International students’ success is a very complex topic because it has many facets,” said Thaisa Tylinski Sant’Ana, a panelist and fourth year UTM student from Brazil specializing in biotechnology. “As international students, we’re not only facing the challenges and the learnings of

navigating the university experience, but we’re also understanding and adapting to what it means to exist and succeed in a country that is not your home.”

Many such difficulties affect international students’ mental health. Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, highlighted the “additional stressors” faced by international students, who often lack local family, face financial burdens, and fear losing legal status in Canada.

According to Alexie Tcheuyap, head of international student experience and the panel’s facilitator, 33 per cent of international graduate students reported that they were concerned about their ability to maintain good mental health. Data from Navi, U of T’s campus mental health wayfinder, indicates that international students primarily ask for help dealing with anxiety, homesickness, and stress.

Some international students also face difficulties identifying when to seek help. “Our international students are coming from parts of the world where mental health may not be something that is talked about and/or certain services may not even be available,” said Welsh. Even if a student decides to seek help and manages to navigate the Canadian and university health-care systems, Welsh explained that language and cultural barriers can limit the effectiveness of counseling.

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Welsh highlighted the importance of peer support programs. According to Welsh, peer mentors can often better navigate cultural barriers and guide students to other resources. Welsh revealed that U of T, in collaboration with another GTA university, decided to submit a proposal asking the provincial government to fund a peer support program for international students.

In the past few years, U of T took additional steps to support international students’ mental health. These steps include increasing the tools available on Navi, providing same day appointments with mental health counseling Monday through Friday, and expanding access to the My Student Support Program so students outside and inside of Canada can talk with professionally trained counselors in over 146 languages.

Welsh explained that international and domestic students who live in residence tend to feel more comfortable transitioning to university: “Building residences may not seem about mental health, but it's why, across our three campuses, we’re focused on building our on campus residence capacity.”

Currently, U of T residences are in high demand, leaving thousands on waitlists and driving U of T to offer students money in exchange for withdrawing their housing applications.

The panel also discussed how U of T could better connect international students to resources. Sant’Ana explained that, in her first few weeks at U of T, she felt like she was “bombarded” with information, much of which she didn’t absorb. She suggested that U of T constantly remind students about supports by setting up in spaces where students tend to congregate, as opposed to simply sending emails.

Sant’Ana also highlighted the need to expand the definition of international student. “Sometimes being international is defined simply by your immigration status or by the tuition fees that you’re paying, and it’s really not that clear cut,” said Sant’Ana. She noted that she

has many friends who are Canadian citizens and pay domestic tuition, but have spent most of their life abroad. “They may be facing very similar challenges that international students — as defined by our immigration status or tuition fees — might be facing.”

Student reactions

In an email to The Varsity, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) President’s team welcomed the TISP’s efforts to expand learning abroad opportunities for diverse students. However, the team expressed concerns about the lack of financial aid available to international students, who pay roughly 10 times the tuition of their domestic Ontario resident counterparts. The UTSU called on the university to develop a separate plan specifically aimed at supporting international students.

The UTSU team also expressed concerns about U of T’s plans to recruit more international students, since the university has a “financial incentive” to increase enrollment among international students. “Many international students have claimed that Canadian university recruiters provided them with inaccurate or idealistic information,” wrote the team.

In an email to The Varsity, Joseph Wong, Vice President, International, indicated that U of T awarded International Scholar Awards to more than 10 per cent of the international students offered admission for fall 2022, a $53.04 million commitment. In the same year, U of T contributed $11.10 million towards Lester B. Pearson Scholarships.

Lester B. Pearson Scholarships are awarded to around 37 international students who are eligible through first-entry undergraduate programs. The scholarships cover the student’s tuition and books, as well as incidental fees and four years of living in residence.

Wong wrote that U of T’s share of international students is slated to increase by less than one percentage point between 2021–2022 and 2025–2026. They refuted claims

that university recruiters provided international students with inaccurate information, writing, “Unlike some private career colleges and other institutions in Canada and elsewhere, the University of Toronto does not contract with thirdparty recruitment agents or agencies. U of T staff lead student recruitment and provide a realistic understanding of the opportunities of studying at U of T and the challenges of learning abroad.”

In an interview with The Varsity , Rohina Kumar — co-president of the U of T Mental Health Student Association and a fourth year international student from Dubai specializing in psychology — said that she receives student feedback on the university’s mental health services.

“The general consensus is that people are a big fan of the peer support service that they offer, especially in person,” said Kumar. She noted that the informal environment and drop in format make peer counseling more accessible for many students.

However, Kumar pointed out that there are limits to what peer counseling can accomplish. “There’s no consistency in terms of the person you're meeting. What if you’re building rapport with the person providing the service and the next day, it's a different person, and you feel the need to start over again,” she said. Overall, Kumar classified peer support as an immediate distress response. “Obviously, it’s not a long term service,” she said.

Kumar believes that, although U of T has put in place numerous effective supports for international students, there are additional steps that the university should take. She pointed out the need to increase cultural competency in immediate distress support. She also suggested that U of T offer support groups for international students and use different marketing strategies to make services more appealing to international students, particularly those coming from contexts where mental health is highly stigmatized.

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UTSC medical school construction, opening slated to be pushed back

Alyanna Denise Chua UTSC Bureau Chief

The UTSC Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) and the UTSC Campus Affairs Committee (CAC) met on January 10 and January 11, respectively. During these meetings, university administrators unveiled construction, occupancy, and student intake plans for the upcoming Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH).

They reported on the decrease in active academic integrity cases at UTSC, as well as concerns surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) tools. They also presented the campus’ plans for online learning and new courses for the 2023–2024 academic year.

SAMIH updates

Announced in March 2022 by U of T and the Government of Ontario, the SAMIH is intended to address Ontario’s strained healthcare system and the shortage of healthcare workers in Scarborough and Durham.

The plan, presented by the SAMIH’s planning committee, will be up for approval by the Governing Council on February 15.

At the CAC, UTSC Director of Business Operations and Campus Development Therese Ludlow said that the four main divisions that will occupy the upcoming SAMIH will be the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and UTSC.

At full enrolment, Ludlow estimated that the SAMIH’s annual graduating class will consist of

up to 50 physicians, 30 physician assistants, 30 nurse practitioners, 40 physical therapists, and 300 undergraduate life science students.

Construction for the SAMIH is set to begin in October 2023, and the building is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in time for the 2026–2027 academic year. Previously, the SAMIH was set to break ground in early 2023 and begin operations by the 2025–2026 academic year.

At the CAC, UTSC Vice-President and Principal Wisdom Tettey explained that the first cohort of the SAMIH graduate students will mostly start at UTSG, while their undergraduate counterparts will start at UTSC in the 2024–2025 academic year. Once the SAMIH opens, Tettey said that U of T will transition these students into the SAMIH.

“The idea here is to make sure that the construction does not hold back progress toward addressing the healthcare needs of our community,” said Tettey.

In response to a concern raised by a committee member about the current lack of spaces at UTSC to accommodate the first SAMIH cohorts, Tettey emphasized that the Instructional Centre (IC) 2 building will significantly increase UTSC’s classroom capacity. IC 2 is currently under construction and is set to open in late 2023.

Academic integrity and AI tools

The dean’s office at UTSC saw an 88 per cent decrease in the number of academic integrity cases from April 2022 to January 2023.

Currently, the dean’s office is handling 33 cases of academic integrity violations, reported

UTSC Vice-Dean Recruitment, Enrolment, and Student Success David Zweig at the AAC meeting. Five of these active cases come from the recently concluded fall exam period.

In April 2022, the number of cases at UTSC was 278, of which 96 were from 2020 and earlier. Zweig reported that the dean’s office has now resolved all pre-2021 cases.

Zweig also addressed concerns about students’ potential use of AI tools to accomplish term assessments. He specified ChatGPT — a viral, advanced AI chatbot released by OpenAI in November 2022 that can generate graduatelevel essays — as a concern.

Zweig said that U of T is working on its tricampus response and approach to AI tools. “As soon as we know more, we can provide more detailed information and guidance for instructors,” he said.

Zweig shared his personal opinion on the matter, which is that U of T must shift its pedagogical practices as opposed to creating new academic integrity regulations. “I feel like we’re never going to win this race, in terms of keeping up with the advancement of these technologies,” he said. “We have to… shift how we think about teaching and assessment.”

Plans for online learning

UTSC is offering around five per cent of its courses online this winter term, reported UTSC Vice-Principal Academic and Dean William Gough at the AAC meeting. He said that some of these courses transferred online in order to accommodate instructors.

Last fall, online courses comprised around three per cent of course offerings at UTSC.

Gough also reported that the dean’s office is developing a small number of courses that will be permanently offered online. A team led by Vice-Dean Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs Katherine Larson will develop criteria to evaluate whether certain courses can be delivered online while remaining “high quality.”

Gough said that these courses could benefit students who have long commute times to UTSC. According to a 2018 Varsity article, over

In honour of those lost on Flight PS752 and in other aviation tragedies, Canada observes January 8 as the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Air Disasters.

75 per cent of U of T students are commuters.

Previous Varsity opinion articles also discussed UTSC students’ long commute times on the TTC to get to campus.

More broadly, U of T is working to offer a “robust set” of online course offerings in the summer terms moving forward, according to Gough. He said that these courses will benefit students who live with disabilities and students who want to complete their degrees faster.

New and retired courses at UTSC

At the AAC meeting, Larson announced that UTSC will introduce 17 new courses in the 2023–2024 academic year: two from the Department of Global Development Studies, two from the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, three from the Department of English, five from the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, and five from the Department of Political Sciences.

For one, MATA34H3 — Calculus for Management will be a new introductory calculus course for management students. This means that MATA32H3 and MATA33H3 — the current calculus prerequisites for admission into Bachelor of Business Administration programs at UTSC — will be retired starting next fall.

After consulting with the management department, Larson concluded that “a one-term calculus course for [management] students will meet the demands of Management programs in mathematically sound and efficient ways.”

POLB56H3 — Critical Issues in Canadian Politics and POLB57H3 — The Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights will also collectively replace POLB50Y3 — Canadian Government and Politics. Currently, POLB50Y3 is a requirement for the specialist and major programs in political science, as well as the minor program in public law.

This means that the similarly titled POLC68H3 — The Constitution of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will also be retired starting next fall.

The AAC and CAC will next meet on February 8 and 9, respectively.

T, he was pursuing a Master of Health Science in translational research and studying for a Medical Council of Canada qualification exam to practice medicine in Canada.

Jadine Ngan Editor-in-Chief

On January 11, members of the U of T community gathered to commemorate the third anniversary of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, which caused the deaths of eight U of T community members. The event, organized by the University of Toronto Students for a Free Iran (UTSFI), took place in an auditorium at the Earth Sciences building.

Around 90 people attended to pay their respects, including some who lost loved ones who were on the flight. Melanie Woodin — dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science — and Alexie Tcheuyap — associate vice-president and vice-provost, International Student Experience — were among the guest speakers who offered remarks.

The commemoration event took place nearly four months into widespread protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which are ongoing both in Iran and around the world. This unrest, initially sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini in September, follows over 40 years of dissatisfaction with the current Iranian regime, which took power in 1979.

Background

On January 8, 2020, about three minutes after Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752 took off from Iran’s capital of Tehran, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot the plane down via two surface-to-air missiles. The plane was bound

for Kyiv, Ukraine, but most passengers were headed to Canada. All 176 people on the flight died, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Six students and two other U of T community members were among the dead. In the week that followed, the U of T community held memorial services at Convocation Hall and the Multi-Faith Centre. Other postsecondary communities in Canada, including the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta, and McGill University, also grieved community members that had been on the flight.

Initially, the Iranian regime said that the plane crashed due to a technical problem, and a later military statement called the incident “human error.” The Iranian government’s explanation has been contested by many, including a senior Ukrainian intelligence official backed by the Ukrainian government.

Two months after the IRGC shot the flight down, those who lost family members on the flight formed an association to keep their loved ones’ memories alive and to seek justice. In the three years since the PS752 downing, the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims has compiled a fact-finding report of over 200 pages.

Among the report’s findings is an allegation that Iran deliberately kept its airspace open amid escalating tensions with the US, allowing it to use commercial aviation passengers — including those on Flight 752 — as human shields against US retaliation. Early in the morning on January 8, Iran had launched missiles at Iraqi bases where US forces were located, in retaliation for an American airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

The commemoration service UTSFI President Niloofar Ganji, who opened the event with a moment of silence, called the downed flight “[an] international tragedy, a Canadian tragedy, and a University of Toronto tragedy.” She listed several demands, including a formal RCMP investigation into the downing and the listing of the entire IRGC as a terrorist organization.

“We want the world to understand that the Islamic regime… has no place in the international community,” Ganji said.

Amirali Alavi, a U of T Faculty of Law student and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association, highlighted several findings from the Association’s report, including that the Iranian regime had stolen passengers’ belongings and incorrectly identified the dead. He said that the Association has commenced proceedings at the International Court of Justice to hold individuals involved in the downing of the flight responsible.

Alavi, who lost his mother on the flight, said that the Association considers PS752 “another link in a chain of crimes committed by the regime over the past 44 years.”

As a result, the Association stands with the current protests in Iran. “A day will break in a world without the Islamic Republic,” Alavi said.

Woodin described the two computer science PhD students who lost their lives on the flight — Mohammad Saleheh, 32, and Mohammad Amin Beiruti, 29 — as “prized and promising young minds.” In their honour, Woodin said that the Department of Computer Science has established the Beiruti and Saleheh Memorial Fund, which will be granted in perpetuity to international graduate students in computer science.

Patricia Houston, vice dean of the MD Program, shared stories about the two Temerty Faculty of Medicine students on Flight PS752. Mohammad Amin Jebelli, 29, known as “Amin” to his friends, had previously practiced medicine in Iran. At U of

Mohammad “Moh” Asadi Lari, 23, was remembered as an energetic and passionate student by his friends and colleagues. The Temerty class of 2022 posthumously named Asadi Lari as their valedictorian, and the Faculty established an award in his honour. Asadi Lari’s sister, 21-year-old Zeynab Asadi Lari — a fourth-year UTM student and mental health advocate — also lost her life on the flight.

The sixth U of T student on Flight PS752, Mojtaba Abbasnezhad, was a 26-year-old first-year PhD student in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.

During the commemoration, Azadeh Heidaripour, who lost her only child — 21-year-old Amir Moradi — on the flight, read a story about him from a book called It Shouldn’t Have Been Written. The book contains stories in Farsi gathered by family members of the flight’s victims. Attendees gave her reading a standing ovation, and she was embraced several times on the way back to her seat.

Kaveh Shahrooz — director of Partnerships and Legal Counsel at UTM and a lawyer who worked with the Association in an advisory capacity — noted a cross-partisan “outpouring of support” for the victims of the flight downing. “Everyone could imagine themselves on that plane,” he said.

During a U of T vigil for Mahsa Amini in October, Iranian U of T students spoke about how they and their loved ones could have been on Flight PS752. One community member told other attendees that their grandparents were meant to be booked on the flight.

Shahrooz, like Ganji and Alavi, connected the Flight PS752 downing to a desire for an end to the current Iranian regime. “What has caused so much pain over four decades has been patriarchy, a cult of death, a system of oppression. We should remember to replace those things with their opposites: woman, life, freedom,” he said.

“We will not forget the victims of PS752. We will seek justice every day,” Shahrooz added.

UTSC to address AI tools, shift some courses permanently online

Content warning: This article contains mentions of death.

2023 TTC budget signals increased costs for U of T commuter students

TTC to increase fare costs, raise vehicle capacity limits

Al Aref Helal, Alana Boisvert News Team

On January 9, the TTC released its 2023 Operating Budget, which proposes a 10 cent rate hike — the first fare increase in nearly three years. The proposed fare change drew criticism from several groups, including many UTSG students, the vast majority of whom live off campus.

According to the TTC, the 2023 operating budget amounts to $2.38 billion in gross expenditure, a $53 million increase from 2022 levels. In a press release, the TTC wrote that the rate hike, if passed, would help supply the $43 million necessary to open Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West and replace the Line 3 bus, a bus service to Scarborough. The TTC also plans to allocate an additional $4 million to “safety, security and cleanliness” and another $4 million to add 25 special constables and 10 Streets to Home outreach workers to the TTC payroll.

In response to the budget, advocacy group TTCriders released both a statement condemning the fare hikes and a petition expressing their

dissatisfaction. TTCriders is a Toronto-based grassroots organization advocating for equal access to affordable, high-quality, and frequent public transit for low-income people, people with disabilities, and racialized individuals.

“TTC ridership is mostly shift workers, women, and low-income people,” states the petition. “If fares go up, Mayor Tory will be asking the lowest-income Toronto residents to pay more to get to work instead of asking those who can afford to pay more.”

The rate hike affects single rides while freezing fares for Fair Pass program users and riders with monthly and annual passes. As such, the policy won’t affect students with Post-Secondary Monthly Passes, which currently cost $128.15.

In a joint statement to The Varsity , Neha Sultana and Thérèse Perucho, the off-campus commissioner and president, respectively, of the University College Literary & Athletic Society, expressed frustration about the TTC’s priorities. “Although part of the TTC rate hike seeks to address transit safety conditions through supposed solutions such as an increased constable presence, there are other

safety issues pertaining to the student body that the rate hike is failing to address,” they wrote.

Sultana and Perucho noted that the operating budget also included a proposal to raise the number of people allowed on TTC vehicles. In a press release, TTCriders wrote that these proposed increases will “result in less frequent and more crowded buses outside of rush hour, which is when many transit users travel with strollers and groceries.”

According to Sultana and Perucho, the frequent crowding, assaults at transit stations, long or delayed wait times, service cuts, and fare hikes are bound to make TTC riders “furi-

ous.”

In a statement to The Varsity , a spokesperson for U of T noted that, according to a 2020 survey, 96 per cent of students in their final year of undergraduate reported living off campus. The spokesperson encouraged students experiencing financial difficulties as a result of increased costs to contact their faculty registrar for information about additional funding opportunities.

The spokesperson also highlighted the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students program, which can provide financial assistance to students who do not receive sufficient governmental assistance.

U of T community responds to travel restrictions for passengers from China

Experts warn new policy may exacerbate anti-Asian racism

Georgia Kelly Associate B&L Editor

The Public Health Agency of Canada announced on New Year’s Eve that travellers returning to Canada from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, or Macao, have to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding a flight to Canada. This requirement became active on January 5 and will remain in effect for at least 30 days.

Canada’s move follows a December COVID-19 spike in China, which happened after the PRC abruptly brought nearly all pandemic restrictions to an end after three years of adhering to a ‘zero-COVID’ policy. Health Canada’s announcement also highlighted the lack of epidemiological information from China and the threat of new global variants.

Specialists have expressed concerns about the efficacy of the policy in mitigating COVID-19 risk, while some students told The Varsity that they see the policy as a necessary response to the pandemic crisis.

Will the restriction mitigate COVID-19?

Colin Furness — an epidemiologist at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation — told The Varsity, “Fears of spiking cases and variants aside, the restriction will not do anything to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

Furness argued that if the government was serious about addressing the pandemic, it would start with more obvious and effective measures, such as reinstating mask mandates. He said that travel restrictions and testing requirements must be systematic and proactive in order to be effective.

To Furness, Canada does not have “any business” requiring negative tests from one country’s flights unless they do the same for every other country while also imposing domestic measures, but he believes that “there’s no political will to do that.”

Dr. Amit Arya — a palliative care physician and lecturer at U of T’s Department of Family and Community Medicine — highlighted that in the past, similar measures failed to mitigate the arrival of COVID-19 variants from India and Africa.

Arya pointed out that XBB 1.5, which was the variant of concern (VOC) when the travel restriction was announced, was first identified in New York

City. However, Canada does not currently impose restrictions on travellers from the US.

A VOC has an increased risk of transmissibility, and vaccines are less effective when dealing with these types of variants. CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen confirmed that XBB 1.5 is considered more transmissible and contagious than previous variants.

Concerns for COVID-19 safety

Some see the measure as an acceptable response to the COVID-19 crisis in China. In an email to The Varsity, the U of T Hong Kong Student Club wrote that many club members had been subjected to the new measure when they returned from Hong Kong after the holidays, but “did not think it was much of a hassle in general.” They also noted that Hong Kong imposes a similar restriction of its own to incoming travellers from mainland China and Macao. “Therefore, we see the implementation of such requirements as reasonable and understandable,” they wrote.

Alice Sun, a fourth-year specialist in International Development Studies at UTSC, agrees that travel restrictions between China and Canada have caused her family significant distress over the last three years. In an interview with The Varsity, Sun said that she hasn’t been able to visit her paternal grandparents in China, who live separately as her grandfather is in a senior-care home.

Sun is especially concerned for her grandmother, who must go out and buy groceries for herself amid rising infection rates. However, even as travel between the countries opens up, Sun’s family is still hesitant to visit China; they’re afraid that travel restrictions “could literally change overnight.” However, Sun believes that such policies can be helpful precautions for a country to protect its citizens.

Pandemic politics

Canada is one of several countries, including Australia, the US, India, Japan, and South Korea, to adopt a negative testing requirement for arrivals from China since the country’s spike in cases. On January 3, a spokesperson from China’s foreign ministry accused these countries of manipulating pandemic measures for strictly political purposes, given that the measure lacks scientific rationale.

A fourth-year UTSC humanities student with

Chinese citizenship — who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about the consequences of openly criticizing the PRC — wrote in an email to The Varsity that back when the PRC was still imposing the zero-COVID policy, students at U of T and in China had protested against the “strict zerocovid policy,” which adversely impacted China’s economy as well.

The student further wrote that when the PRC suddenly dropped the restrictions altogether, the population was entirely unprepared for the health crisis that ensued. The student noted that the results felt like an ironic sort of “punishment” for those who had been protesting.

Still, the student described that their experience with China’s arbitrary “hostility towards foreigners” during the pandemic made them wary that Canada was following a similar pattern. They are especially concerned given the lack of scientific rationale for the measure’s effectiveness. In their email, they mentioned that “many of us come to Canada because of its openness and inclusiveness. I do not want to see those qualities fading away.”

“The pandemic is merely an excuse for some individuals to further assert their power over the visible minority group,” wrote Sun in a follow-up email to The Varsity. In the West, the pandemic has been

closely associated with anti-Asian racism from its beginning.

Furness and Arya both warn that Canada’s move will only serve to stoke racist and erroneous fears that Chinese people are a particular threat to public health in Canada.

Canada’s hypocrisy

According to Furness, Canada is not in any position to criticize the Chinese government’s handling of the pandemic. Along with China, he explained, Canada has taken “the politically most expedient path,” lifting lockdown restrictions and mask mandates while neglecting to track infections, variants, causes of death, and sending a message that “everything’s fine.”

Arya revealed that disinformation and a lack of guidance for individuals are now the main barriers to mitigating the ongoing pandemic in Canada.

COVID-19-related deaths in 2022 were about 30 per cent higher than they were in both 2021 and 2020 despite huge progress in the science behind COVID-19.

The virus “continues to cause suffering, disability, and death, and it’s very, very frustrating and demoralizing as a health worker,” Arya told The Varsity

Effective January 5, travellers from China require a negative COVID-19 test. VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

Students frequent the TTC to get to and from campus. ARY KWUN/THEVARSITY

UTM 2023–2024 Operating Plans and Budget increase meal plan, parking pass costs

UTM students report higher accessibility needs for mental health

Al Aref Helal UTM Bureau Chief

The UTM Campus Affairs Committee (CAC) met on January 10, and the UTM Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) met on January 11. The CAC discussed proposed changes to service ancillaries, which would result in an almost nine per cent increase in the annual cost for living on residence.

Proposed changes will affect Hospitality Services, Parking Services, and Student Housing & Residence Life (SHRL). Following that, the AAC meeting included a presentation on UTM’s student intake for the 2022–2023 school year.

Residence costs and renovations

At the CAC meeting, Brian Cunha, the director of SHRL, presented proposed changes to the cost of student housing residences that were endorsed by the Student Housing Advisory Committee. Some of the changes include a 35 per cent price increase at Leacock Lane Residence, an upperyear residence, to compensate for a renovation project. Proposed renovations include the installation of new doors, windows, floors, bathrooms, kitchens, and landscaping.

Due to the cost of inflated goods and services, as well as the cost of new and existing construction projects on campus, the annual cost for living on residence at UTM will increase by almost nine per cent. Leacock Lane Residence costs will be increased to equal the other upper year residence buildings, Putnam Place and McLuhan Court.

MaGrath Valley Residence is also supposed to undergo two phases of renovations during 2023–2025.

Hospitality services

The 2023–2024 Operating Plans and Budget — presented at the CAC meeting — outlined the cost for a new food service outlet in the new Arts, Culture, and Technology building,

which UTM plans to open in 2024–2025.

Meanwhile, UTM predicts an almost seven per cent increase in the price of food offerings, and a 6.8 per cent increase in basic meal plan cost, as compared to the previous year.

The Plus +500 flex dollars meal plan cost will increase to $5,150 and the Plus +250 flex dollars meal plan will increase to $4,900. Overall, the forecasted impact on meal plans is a 6.1 per cent increase.

Parking services

The 2023–2024 Operating Plans and Budget is preparing to move to a virtual parking permit software using license plate recognition, as well as an increase to 12 dual charging points of electric vehicles (EV) on campus, doubling the current number.

This increase presents a step toward sustainability and efficiency on campus.

Currently, the first four hours of EV charging are complimentary, after which an hourly five dollar fee is charged to encourage turnover. However, next year’s budget reduces the complimentary charging period to only two and a half hours and increases the hourly fee for subsequent hours of charging, although the amount of that increase has not yet been determined.

The budget proposes a two per cent increase in parking pass prices for P4 and P8 lots, along with a three per cent increase for all other passes.

The Post and Pay parking tickets will not increase.

The CAC meeting ended with unanimous approval of the proposed ancillary changes. At the next meeting, scheduled for February 8, the committee will vote on proposed increases to compulsory non academic incidental fees. Cunha presented the proposed increases to fees, including an additional two dollars for health and services, a $5.80 increase for athletics, and a $31.29 increase for the Student Services Fees bundle.

Lower enrolment

At the AAC meeting, Lorretta Neebar, UTM’s registrar and director of enrolment management, presented the UTM Enrolment Update. She explained that the campus’s intake for 2022 was lower than it was for 2021, dropping from 4463 to 3410 students.

“We did consciously give out fewer offers of admission this year, particularly in [the]international sphere, and particularly in high demand and high pressure programs like computer science, forensic science, commerce, and management,” Neebar said. She highlighted that those programs have a higher international student enrolment, and so UTM focused on increasing international student rates in lower-yield humanities programs.

This decision dropped UTM’s total international student intake from 1663 students in 2021 to 813 in 2022.

Through the Ontario University and College Application, U of T is able to see what other universities a student applies to in Ontario. Neebar explained that the university is seeing an increase of international students applying to schools outside of Ontario, which U of T is not able to keep track of — so they are giving out acceptances, but students may choose another school that U of T isn’t aware of.

Some attendees raised concerns that the process of transferring money to the university to pay for tuition and other fees incurs a whole separate cost: banking systems in other countries charge students for international transactions. When asked if there was anything being done to lower the cost for students. UTM President and Vice Provost Alexandra Gillespie explained that the process to remove the extra fees “is slow work because of regulatory structures and systems. But I’m optimistic [that] in the next couple of years, we’ll see that change.”

Margarida Duarte, the chair of the Department of Economics, voiced concerns about the lowered student admissions to the higher demand streams like commerce, management, and computer science. “That [decision] affected Economics in a very sharp way… we are feeling the consequences of it.” They explained that the Department of Economics essentially wasted a great amount of resources as they had anticipated admitting more students.

Neebar explained that one of UTM’s main problems is that the campus has been trying to expand

since 2003, and so more enrolment has never been an issue, but now UTM is becoming more conscious about admission categories. “We are not the campus we were in 2003, so we definitely need to do things differently,” she said.

UTM used to have a faculty to student ratio that was unsustainable, so the campus is seeking to balance that ratio.

Post-pandemic enrolment observations

Andrea Urie, the assistant dean for Student Wellness Support and Success at UTM, expressed observations concerning student well-being.

During the pandemic, students participating in counseling and mental health appointments expressed feelings of isolation, lack of social connection, and lack of engagement in what used to be normal university activities.

Following the return to campus, Urie said, “We have seen an increase in registrations for academic accommodations with accessibility services.” She highlighted that the primary accommodation request was for mental illness, as well as there was “a dramatic increase in disability symptoms and difficulties in relation to returning to in person learning”.

Urie also discussed a higher number of instances of inappropriate student behavior in a post pandemic environment, saying that students are struggling to learn some pre-pandemic social behaviors.

“Being able to log onto a meeting, send a quick text through a chat option… is very different than ensuring that you arrive to class on time, raise your hand and have to wait for acknowledgement before adding to conversations, or converse and write correspondence that involves carefully selected wording to ensure that it is respectful.” Urie said, adding that “group work has created a lot of challenges in the last semester because they don’t know how to work with each other.”

Urie explained that a possible solution is to offer more support to students through peer mentoring learning communities, drop in wellness activities, and an online learning module teaching faculty and staff how to identify and manage students in distressing situations. Faculty and staff, Urie stated, play a fundamental role in supporting students. She added, “Our students very often disclose to us that the support that they received from faculty have changed the outcome of the challenge that they were experiencing.”

Livingstone Graduate Bureau Chief

After a fall term characterized by drawn-out meetings and unfulfilled agenda items, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 6, 2022. Among the presentation of executive reports and the audited financial statements, Vice-President Internal Sarah Alam tendered her resignation. The meeting ended after losing quorum and without passing the proposed bylaw amendments.

AGM’s reports and presentations

The AGM began with each member of the executive committee presenting a report to the general assembly about their activities. UTGSU President Lwanga Musisi said he had been observing and participating in U of T governance meetings that discussed “issues of relevance” to graduate students.

Danielle Karakas, vice-president academics and funding for the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) divisions 3 and 4, discussed her work on food insecurity with food bank donation drives, as well as a collaboration with Downtown Legal Services to provide students with legal assistance regarding academic appeals.

Vice-President Finance Neelofar Ahmed discussed her work on preparing for the union’s annual audit, as well as administering UTGSU bursaries and day-to-day financial tasks.

Dhanela Sivaparan, vice-president academics

and funding for the SGS divisions 1 and 2, said she had been working on student advocacy issues regarding academic appeals and student-supervisor relations, as well as liaising with UTGSU caucuses on advocacy issues.

During her allotted presentation time, Alam told the general assembly she was resigning from her position. In her speech to the members, Alam said she had experienced “constant ongoing harassment” from certain members of the Board of Directors (BOD) and staff members since joining the UTGSU in 2020.

At the UTGSU meeting on January 25, 2022, Alam also brought up allegations of harassment against Adam Hill, who currently serves as a BOD representative for the SGS division 2.

At the January 2022 meeting, Hill had brought forward a motion to impeach Alam, alleging that she had “deliberately excluded” items from the 2022 AGM and September board meeting agendas.

Alam explained that the items had been circulated, but were voted down by the board members. Hill’s motion was ultimately tabled.

In her resignation letter, which was dated December 5, 2022, Alam specifically named Hill as a member who contributed to instances of harassment she experienced while working at the UTGSU.

Alam, who is a brown Muslim woman, wrote that interactions with certain members of the UTGSU “constantly reminded [me] that I am a racialized, marginalized body.”

“I

against

One year of new structure

personally,” he

to hold its own separate meeting.

The union has also faced challenges setting up a by-election to fill vacant positions, as members have failed to come to an agreement on the process for nominating a Chief Returning Officer (CRO) committee who would then nominate a candidate to serve as the CRO and administer the byelection process.

The 2022 AGM was also the first to be run under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) rather than the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act since a proposal to restructure the UTGSU’s board passed at the 2021 AGM.

The restructure established an executive committee with a president and five vice-president positions. The union explained that this restructuring would allow the organization to comply with the CNCA. Other U of T student unions, including the University of Toronto Students’ Union, operate under a similar structure. The proposal also altered the BOD to establish 20 division-based seats and seats for the executive committee, as well as 10 additional seats.

However, the union has struggled to fill these seats. The October 2022 meeting required a joint meeting between the BOD and the General Assembly because the BOD could not meet quorum

UTGSU bylaws require the BOD to organize a nominating committee made up of one former election committee member, the Executive Director, and one other BOD representative. Due to the vacancies, the task of finding a CRO candidate for nomination was passed on to the UTGSU staff members.

But this decision was challenged by some members. Concerns around the CRO nomination process and its ability to comply with the bylaws prompted long discussions at both the October and November General Assembly meetings.

The AGM agenda included an item for a proposed bylaw amendment to give the BOD or Executive Committee the ability to elect a CRO nominating committee, in the event that the members required to elect a nominating committee as outlined in the bylaws are unavailable. However, the bylaw amendments were not put up for a vote at the AGM due to the loss of quorum.

The Varsity reached out to the UTGSU to clarify how this would impact the by-election but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

“I am quitting UTGSU after due consideration to respect and value the time and resources of academic students, including myself, as my studies are my priority,” Alam wrote.

In an emailed statement to The Varsity, Hill wrote that he takes allegations of harassment “extremely seriously.”

have nothing

Sarah

wrote, adding that his concerns were related to the fulfillment of her duties as the vice-president internal.

Emma

BOD meeting follows resignation of VP Internal, Sarah Alam. NICHOLAS TAM/THEVARSITY

thevarsity.ca/section/business biz@thevarsity.ca

Crypto collapsed in 2022: where do we go from here?

Jasmin Akbari Varsity Contributor

2022 was a milestone-filled year all around — and cryptocurrency was no exception. The market underwent dramatic highs and lows, culminating in the now-infamous crash of Futures Exchange (FTX) — a platform for cryptocurrency trading.

Cryptocurrency suffered in 2022 Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency not associated with a state, bank, or government. These currencies, like any other commodity, rise and drop in value depending on supply, demand, and scarcity. In 2022, the value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum fell by more than 50 per cent from their peak value in 2021, demonstrating the volatility of crypto’s values.

Near the end of 2022, the FTX crash shook the crypto world again. Customers had been leaving FTX in droves out of fear that the company lacked sufficient capital, and the platform’s decline was exacerbated when funds went missing due to an alleged hack.

Earlier this month, FTX’s founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to charges of misappropriation of billions of dollars and defrauding customers and investors in companies under his control while illegally handling funds. BankmanFried is set to go on trial later this year.

Overall, crypto has had a terrible year, reporting a loss of 1.3 billion USD from its market worth. Investors, crypto giants, and others affected will need to ask themselves: where does crypto go from here?

Is government regulation the way to go?

In the wake of the FTX crash, the government’s role in the crypto market has become a buzzing

topic among investors. Currently, in the US, federal bank regulators are warning banks about investing in cryptocurrency, suggesting that stricter regulations will be imposed on crypto trading in the future.

Government regulation would not mean stopping crypto investments in their entirety, but regulations may require more transparency in investment-related financial reporting and impose limits on what kind of crypto assets banks can invest in. Hopefully, such measures may encourage crypto to become less volatile in the future and entice more people, including students, to make smart investment choices.

Furthermore, learning opportunities for crypto investment are scarce. Government regulation may very well be the best way to go as they ensure that there is legal safeguarding surrounding investments in cryptocurrencies and exchange platforms.

True Blue crypto investors

Due to the restricted crypto market in Ontario, the FTX collapse is unlikely to severely affect most students at U of T. However, concerns surrounding crypto can still affect how students invest in the future. The Varsity heard from students who invest in crypto about their reactions to the market’s recent developments.

Khalid al Alami is a fourth-year student specializing in Industrial Relations and Human Resources, and is experienced in investing. Al Alami noted how volatile the returns on crypto investments can be. “As a passive investor who has a lower risk tolerance, I have been hesitant towards investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets,” they wrote in an email to The Varsity

Al Alami believes governments’ responses to the FTX crash will set a precedent for tighter regulation

The sorrows of

Anuj Manchanda Varsity Contributor

The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride recently, with raging inflation, rising interest rates, and plummeting asset prices all contributing to its volatility. The technology sector has been particularly affected, with even heavyweights like Apple and Alphabet Inc. struggling to hold onto their value in the midst of the economic turmoil.

For student investors, this presents a challenge as they navigate the shifting market dynamics and weigh the risks and returns of investing.

Technology stocks have taken a fall Rising inflation and interest rates, along with plunging asset prices, can have a devastating impact on the stock market because they lead to a decrease in consumer and business spend ing, resulting in a decrease in corporate profits. When profits take a hit, technology stock prices often follow suit. Additionally, when interest rates rise, bonds become more attractive to inves tors, which can lead to a decrease in demand for stocks.

In October 2022, Meta’s market value fell to its lowest point in four years following the release of its earnings report which Wall Street termed “a train wreck.” In November 2022, the com pany’s value stood at 300 billion USD — a 700 billion USD plunge from its 1 trillion USD valuation in September 2021. Meta faced another historic loss in February 2022 when its market value fell by 230 billion USD, making this the biggest single-day wipeout for any US company.

of the crypto market in the future — a possibility that investors are watching closely.

“It is clear that crypto is here to stay regardless of the number of financial scandals that [it may] occur,” they wrote.

Regardless of the risk associated with crypto, not all students have been deterred from investing.

Jonathan Fan is a fourth-year kinesiology student with experience trading crypto futures — a trading agreement where the buyer and seller agree to trade on a predetermined date. “The FTX crash definitely made crypto investing less attractive than it already was,” wrote Fan in an email to The Varsity.

According to Fan, trading futures allow investors to avoid losses from the crash. He sees the events of 2022 as a teachable moment for investors, demonstrating the danger of investing in something you don’t understand.

This is not the end of crypto Despite the recent controversy, some banks are continuing to invest heavily in cryptocurrency. Re-

cently, Goldman Sachs voiced plans to put millions of dollars into buying or investing in crypto banks. Regan Tan is a third-year computer science student with experience in trading cryptocurrency. “It is important to understand that before Goldman Sachs publicly announced their investments into cryptocurrency projects, countless directors and high-ranked executives [at Goldman Sachs] already had strong ties to major cryptocurrency market leaders,” wrote Tan in an email to The Varsity

Crypto is certainly not going away any time soon. As we prepare for the future, this past year’s lesson is that financial literacy in cryptocurrency is essential for students as the market continues to expand. “The crash taught people that you must understand what you are investing in and be fine with what you lose in the market,” Fan wrote. By understanding how cryptocurrencies work and what the future holds for crypto, individuals and organizations can make better personal and business decisions with regard to crypto.

student investor How to navigate the sorry state of the stock market

a

Meta’s bet on the “metaverse” as a new focus was a risky gamble that Mark Zuckerberg had hoped would lead to exponential growth. But the market conditions weren’t favourable for such risky ventures, as money has flowed out of more speculative investments such as cryptocurrencies into safer options like short-term Treasury bills.

ality, has stated his intentions to make the social media platform more open to free speech. However, in the process of achieving his ambitions, Musk set off a whirlwind of speculation and anticipation for investors with his decision to delist the stock from the New York Stock Exchange. By making Twitter private, Musk no longer needs to disclose financial performance and follow shareholders’ demands. In other words, Musk can take Twitter away from public scrutiny and into his own

As the legal challenges unfolded, excitement turned to confusion and uncertainty as investors were unsure of whether to sell their shares or wait for the prices to reach that sweet spot. The constant volatility of the stock market and the tweets and statements from Musk made it hard for them to make an informed decision, let alone a profitable one.

How should student investors weather the storm?

So, where do investors go from here?

When it comes to technology stocks in today’s stock market, student investors are faced with a difficult decision — some may choose to focus on businesses with cash flow, taking a value approach, while others may prefer a diversified portfolio, holding not just stocks but bonds as well. Some student investors may also opt to invest in index funds, holding a mix of different companies and sectors for the long

It’s crucial to keep in mind that there is no onesize-fits-all solution when it comes to investing, and each investor’s risk tolerance and long-term goals are unique. It’s essential to do your due diligence, research, and consult financial advisors before making any investment decisions. Ultimately, what’s most important is that you find a strategy that makes sense to you and aligns with your goals.

The bottom line? The current economic climate is tough for growth-oriented companies, and investors need to weigh the risks and rewards carefully. Do your research, consult financial advisors and make decisions that align with your personal investment goals and risk tolerance.

Some predict tightened restrictions and increased hesitancy in the market’s future

DALAINEY

Twitter’s tumultuous tale

Toronto needs more mental health supports to decrease violence on the TTC

Violence

Jasmine Chow Varsity Contributor

Recent incidents of violence on the TTC — especially on the subway — have been making headlines across Toronto. In April 2022, a 23-year-old man stabbed another man in the neck during an attack at St. George Station; the same month, a suspect choked and robbed a man at Pioneer Village Station. Last December, a woman was fatally stabbed at High Park Station in a random attack. These attacks are, more often than not, completely unprovoked and random — a fact that Torontonians seem to find most frightening. This rise in violence has rightfully increased awareness of the need to improve safety measures on the TTC.

While Toronto officials seem to be focusing on putting more police officers on the TTC to address the issue of violence, I believe that increasing Toronto’s mental health supports is a better solution to deterring crime.

How are Toronto officials addressing violence on the TTC?

In a statement released last April, Toronto Mayor John Tory said that “the system is safe” and that police have confirmed that “they are not seeing a spike of violent incidents on the TTC.” Nonetheless, he still pledged to increase the visibility of police officers on the TTC. In the months following Tory’s statement, the TTC hired 56 more special constables with the power to arrest.

However, it seems that increased police presence has not dissuaded attackers on the TTC. According to data from early 2022 released by the Toronto Star, 2022 was on track to be the most violent year for the TTC since 2017 — official numbers for the entirety of 2022 have not yet been

released — and it seems this violence continued throughout the rest of 2022.

In December, six people were attacked and bloodied on the subway between Queen and Davisville. As recently as January 3, a man was pushed onto the subway tracks at Bloor-Yonge after an argument escalated into violence.

In April 2022, during a meeting with TTC CEO Rick Leary and Toronto Police Chief James Ramer, Tory said, “The issue of mental health and the related issue of substance [use] that people have is a huge contributor to a lot of [violence] we’re seeing — not just on the TTC but elsewhere — and it is high time… that we had a proper health response for this.”

Though Tory is right in identifying the root cause of violence on the TTC to be mental illness and substance abuse, he still falls short in how he is choosing to address this problem. To his credit, Tory has agreed to deploy outreach workers on the TTC to help those struggling with mental health, and he has called on the health-care system to increase their mental health resources.

But in a response to the Toronto Star regarding transit safety, he said that he would increase Toronto police budgets in 2023 rather than funding Toronto’s addiction recovery programs, mental health supports, or overflowing emergency shelters.

How should we really be addressing violence on the TTC?

According to Dr. Andrew Boozary from the University Health Network’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, there is no direct link between mental illness and violence; instead, the issue of violence is more complex. Dr. Boozary maintains that it is a combination of mental illness, long-term poverty, and deprivation of basic needs and resources that can lead to a risk of violence.

Such circumstances are why some Torontonians disagree with Tory’s decision to increase police visibility and think that the Toronto municipal government isn’t doing enough to support people with mental illness.

In fact, Susan Davis of Toronto’s Gerstein Crisis Centre believes that putting more police on the TTC could do more harm than good. In an interview with CBC News, Davis said: “We know that people living with mental health needs have felt overpoliced, and often when police are in their presence they don’t necessarily feel safe or perceive greater risk.”

Outside of Toronto, the ethics and effectiveness of overpolicing have also been called into question. In New York City, the addition of a thousand more police officers to transit systems has done little to prevent crime. Instead, it has only increased lowlevel arrests — for crimes such as fare jumping — which disproportionately target people of colour.

Dr. Boozary suggested forming crisis response teams trained in mental health instead, since those from racialized communities are especially likely to encounter violence at the hands of the police.

It is becoming increasingly clear that these attacks reflect a growing, long-term pattern of violence on the TTC. Increasing police patrols at TTC stations only serves as a temporary and problematic solution to this issue. Instead of improving police visibility, Toronto officials should address the ongoing lack of resources for Torontonians struggling with mental illness or addiction.

In the Government of Ontario report Review of the Roots of Youth Violence, several risk factors for violence were identified, such as income insecurity, racism, family issues, and poor health. All of these causes connect to the issue of mental illness; for instance, the Canadian Mental Health Association says that people with serious mental illnesses are 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed.

Thus, if the Toronto municipal government focused its efforts on mental health support rather than overpolicing, the underlying causes of violence could be reduced. Free mental health and counselling clinics could be opened all across the city, or a diverse group of social workers trained in mental health crises could be placed at high-violence TTC stations. Additionally, part of Toronto’s growing police budget could be instead allocated to advertising the city’s existing support systems. The causes of violence on the TTC are complex and run deep throughout the city of Toronto. Though there is no direct link between mental health issues and violence, it is important regardless to provide mental health supports to the community to address the issue of violence.

Jasmine Chow is a first-year student at Trinity Col lege studying life sciences.

Yao Lead Copy Editor

The current credit/no-credit (CR/NCR) policy at U of T requires that students choose the CR/NCR designation by a deadline that is set before the final exam period. For instance, this past semester, the CR/NCR deadline was December 7, which fell in the final week of classes but before final assessments.

This policy, however, is severely flawed and doesn’t allow students to make the best-informed decision for their academic success. To better serve student interests, U of T should alter the deadline for choosing the CR/NCR status for a course to after all final marks are out.

What is the CR/NCR policy?

The CR/NCR policy is a process that allows students to hide the final course grades of up to two full credits on their transcript. Once a course is set to be CR/NCR, the student’s final grade for the course will not appear on the student’s transcript or be included in the calculation of their GPA. Instead, only a “credit” or “no-credit” indication will appear on transcripts.

However, a student’s decision whether or not to CR/NCR a course may have an impact on their academic career, especially for those applying to grad schools, to professional schools, or for scholarships. Although even a slight difference in GPA can detrimentally impact students’ applications, CR/NCR should not be used lightly. Hence,

students must choose strategically on which courses to use CR/NCR.

Why is the CR/NCR policy at U of T problematic?

How can students decide whether to CR/NCR a course when they haven’t even had their final exams or assignments yet and don’t know what their final marks will be? Forcing students to make the decision that early brings immense anxiety and stress to students. Although a certain portion of grades may have already been released before the CR/NCR deadline, a lot of uncertainties remain, since final assessments, which always weigh significantly more, are usually not due by the CR/NCR deadline.

More importantly, though one can prepare thoroughly for finals, it is hard to predict the difficulty of the final and many unpredictable factors can influence students’ performance. Students need more time to decide on CR/NCR.

Moreover, pushing students to make CR/NCR decisions too early can disincentivize students from working hard during finals. Since no final grade will be displayed after designating a course CR/NCR, the only concern left is with passing the course. Students who choose to CR/NCR a course may have had the potential to perform better in the course, but instead, may then just do the bare minimum to pass the course after making it CR/ NCR. This does not encourage students to reach their full potential, nor does it promote academic excellence.

This policy also negatively impacts students who might have performed well on the finals. Due to the tight deadline, students, out of concern for their final grades, may have made their courses CR/NCR earlier; yet, later, they may have ended up doing

well on exams where they got excellent final grades and no longer need CR/NCR. This does not reward students for their hard work.

Those flaws in the CR/NCR policy are concerning to the university as well. The anxieties around GPA and the use of CR/NCR among students could further worsen the mental health of students at U of T.

What changes

should be made

to the CR/NCR policy?

The fact that students can only CR/NCR a maximum of 2.0 full course equivalents demonstrates that CR/NCR is not a regular practice and should only be done when students can make informed decisions about their progress in a course. It is irresponsible of U of T to make the deadline for CR/ NCR before students know their grade in a class.

The university should reflect on the inconvenience that they brought to students from their illdesigned CR/NCR policy and modify it promptly to better serve students. The current timing design of the policy does not give students enough time to make informed decisions for their academic career and, as such, warrants a prompt change.

The deadline for using CR/NCR for a course should be extended to after students have gotten their final marks. With the change, students should also be given a chance to adjust the CR/NCR status of a certain number of credits from past courses. The CR/NCR policy ought to be made in students’ interests and be used to better serve students.

Valerie Yao is a second-year student majoring in ethics society and law and double minoring in political science and cinema studies from University College.

has complex causes, but overpolicing will not help

Valerie

Over the last year, there has been an increase in violence on the TTC.

VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

The past US speaker election shows what’s wrong with American politics

American politicians must work together for the well-being of the nation

Rubin Beshi Comment Columnist

The role of the speaker of the US House of Representatives is highly important. The speaker is responsible for maintaining order during debates and proceedings, appointing members to committees, and serving as a representative of the House to the Senate and the president.

As a result, it was concerning for many when it took the US House of Representatives an astonishing four days of negotiating and 15 voting sessions to elect Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker. To put this situation into perspective, it usually requires only one voting session for the speaker election.

To determine why the complications surrounding McCarthy’s election occurred, it is important to first understand how the speaker election works.

How does the speaker of the US House of Representatives election work?

The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is elected by a majority vote of all the members of the House. Since there are 435 members, at least 218 votes are needed to win the vote. The speaker is elected by roll-call vote in which every member of the house can vote for any individual, regardless of their political party affiliation.

The speaker is usually a member of the majority party in the House, but they can also be from the minority party if they can secure enough votes from members of both parties. If no one receives a majority on the first ballot, the voting process is repeated until someone receives a majority. That is precisely why this election took so long.

The Republicans currently have the major-

ity in the House, with 222 members. If they all voted for McCarthy, he would’ve won, but not all Republican House members are fans of him. A group of about 20 far-right Republicans refused to vote for him due to their belief that he is not conservative enough. Among this group of 20 are Matt Gaetz of Florida and Bob Good of Virginia. They claim that McCarthy is too closely associated with a corrupt Washington and will do nothing to try and change the way it’s governed.

However, in the end, McCarthy was able to secure the votes he needed from this group — but at a great cost. McCarthy needed to make numerous concessions in order to win the majority’s favor, which resulted in him losing a significant amount of power as the speaker.

For example, he agreed to lower the number of House members required to begin the process of removing the speaker — formally known as a “motion to vacate” — from five members to one. This makes his role as the speaker highly vulnerable and limits his authority.

He also appeased the hardline Republicans by agreeing to support capping government spending on the military by over 75 billion USD in 2024, even though this position is not in line with his own views.

What does this mean for the state of US politics?

In any case, I think this past speaker election is highly indicative of the ruinous state that modern-day American politics has come to.

This election has shown that American politicians on the left and right have become so radicalized in their views that they are unwilling to vote for members of their own party simply because they aren’t extreme enough.

American politics have also become increasingly polarized, with both major political parties becoming more ideologically distinct and less willing to work together. This polarization of politics has led the American public to suffer from hyperpartisanship, a situation in which political parties are in fierce disagreements. This is dangerous as it affects the ability of both political parties to collectively address issues that affect the well-being of the nation.

Despite the necessity of bipartisanship, discourse amongst American politicians has become very divisive, with numerous political commentators attacking their opponents in highly personal and negative terms.

Despite how bleak things are looking, let’s hope that this speaker election does not foreshadow what’s to come in the near future for American politics. It is far more beneficial to compromise one’s beliefs in order to make progress and have constructive conversations about fundamental issues.

It is also dangerous for democracy if people increasingly stray away from moderate positions on issues and instead adopt extreme views. In order for change to happen, politicians and the general public must become more bipartisan, more willing to see value in others’ political views, and most importantly, more inclined to work together in achieving unity as a populace.

Rubin Beshi is a second-year student at Woodsworth College studying political science and English. He is The Varsity ’s international affairs columnist.

U of T students need to stop normalizing sleep deprivation

Shreya Vanwari Comment Columnist

My guess is that in almost every college classroom you visit, you will find a student complaining that they only got five hours of sleep, and another chiming in and saying they only got two. This is a common and playedout scenario on most college campuses, including U of T, and I believe a culture that promotes toxic productivity is at the heart of it.

and shared on social media by students as humorous content, but it can be very dangerous. As students continue to normalize sleep deprivation with comedy, they fail to acknowledge the dangerous consequences of not getting enough sleep.

How is sleep important for learning?

Sleep is a memory aid for learning. Sleeping before learning improves our ability to form new memories. This has been demonstrated

deprivation can impair memory formation and the ability to learn.

However, a piece of positive news for those who love taking naps is that a simple daytime nap can give one a 20 per cent learning advantage. From a scientific perspective, this restoration of learning is associated with a lighter, non-rapid eye movement sleep. Sleeping six hours or less deprives one of this learning restoration benefit.

Also, sleep is just as crucial after learning as it starts the process of consolidating memories, like the ‘save’ button on a computer.

A lack of sleep can also compromise the reproductive system in both males and females, as reproductive hormones and organs, along with the phenomenon of physical attractiveness are affected by short sleep.

The fact that the health of your immune system is associated with the amount of sleep you get is no shocker to most. However, the reality is that a single night of reduced sleep can affect one’s immune system.

Insufficient sleep also deteriorates the essence of biological life — our genetic code. It changes the activity of the genes and the physical structure of the genetic material.

What does this mean for U of T students?

An unhealthy amount of sleep equates to an unhealthy heart — shorter sleep is associated with an increased risk of dying from a heart disease. A lack of sleep accelerates your heart rate, increases your blood pressure, and further erodes the fabric of strained blood vessels.

Furthermore, getting less than seven to eight hours of sleep at night increases the probability of developing type-2 diabetes. This is partly because your body cannot manage your calorie consumption effectively, and partly because you tend to eat more when you are awake for longer.

The effects of sleep listed here are a reader’s digest version. To fully understand the expansive effect that sleep has on our brain, body, and lives, I would suggest reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, a neuroscience and psychology professor at UC Berkeley.

I hope that the evidence in favour of getting more sleep implores everyone at U of T to seriously consider how they can incorporate more sleep into their schedule. Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge the damaging effects of the toxic productivity culture at U of T, which promotes working above sleep. Overall, sleep as an afterthought is detrimental and ‘eight hours of sleep’ should be more consistently and actively encouraged at U of T.

Shreya Vanwari is a third-year psychology student at Woodsworth College. She is the local affairs columnist in The Varsity ’s Comment section.

Reviewing the dangerous consequences of not getting enough sleep

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is elected by a majority vote. COURTESY OF ANGELA N. VIA FLICKR

On the desire to capture

Why do we take photos?

Vurjeet Madan Photo Editor

There are good photos. There are bad photos. There are photos that take you back to a certain time and others that don’t catch your attention at all. Ones that are taken with meticulous, technical care and others quickly snapped on a whim. There are photos so widely shared, most people can instantly recognize them. On the other hand, there are some pictures that never see the light of day. The interesting thing is, the appeal of photos seems to go beyond any limits of age, culture, or language.

The earliest evidence of human art is 40,000 years old. Contrastingly, the earliest evidence of human agriculture is 10,000 years old. American author Elizabeth Gilbert pointed to these numbers in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear , to make an interesting — albeit somewhat dramatic — point: “Somewhere in our collective evolutionary story, we decided it was way more important to make attractive, superfluous items than it was to learn how to regularly feed ourselves.” In other words, it seems creativity is innately human. Our desire to replicate and interpret the world seems to be in our very nature.

In the digital age, capturing moments has become almost too easy. At the very sight of a pink sunset, a relative blowing their birthday candles, a restaurant meal waiting to be eaten, or a couple reuniting after months apart, we take out our phones. However frequently or infrequently you might engage in photo-taking, one thing seems clear: collectively, we love to freeze time. In fact, there seems to be excitement in the act of it — capturing a moment that would otherwise flit by, stopping time, and giving our future selves the permission to revisit this moment.

The act of taking a photograph in itself seems too simple to really be considered art. You peer through a tiny window, you press a button, hear a shutter open and close, and it’s done. The artistry is arguably less so in the click of the button and more so in the knowledge of when to click it. What makes a moment capture worthy? Which moments do we deem valuable enough to hold as a memory?

Sometimes, it is the story behind an image. Other times, it’s the time-travelling window it provides. Whether they be historic wartime images or pictures from your high school days, the past is brought to life in photographs. We become children; the photo, our wardrobe; and the memory, our Narnia — for a small moment, we are transported to a different world.

Portraits, in particular, capture human essence in a profound way. You see the person’s character. The creases and lines that decorate their face. Is there youthful energy in their eyes? Or years of memory and wisdom in them? Do they smile with conviction and confidence or with self-conscious timidness? In many ways, a photo allows you to capture someone in a way that language never could.

In a broader way, the act of image creation is an act of capturing the truth. In taking a photo, you create something that records life — that remembers life. It transcends the limitations of our own memory and provides us a less perishable version of it.

Ultimately, we are survived by our photos. We capture life, and culture, and people, and things. Like Joanna Zylinksa proclaims in her study on photos and survival, After Extinction , photography is a quintessential practice of life. As bearers of the camera, we choose what is worth photographing: what is worth being remembered by and remembering by.

Bright sun rays hiding brighter smiles.

Passengers on a ferry, off the port of Dover.

Mundane moments sometimes make for the most interesting photos.

College kids in their college days.

Maeve Ellis Associate Features Editor

On March 15, 2000, 17 student activists stormed the then-U of T president’s office in what would become a 10-day sit-in. The group, Students Against Sweatshops (SAS), was motivated by a singular goal: a set of labour standards for all factories making U of T merchandise.

The school responded by keeping bright lights constantly on, disconnecting power and phone lines, and playing loud music all night — especially the Backstreet Boys and AC/DC. Meanwhile, the protestors relied on food that supporters sent up on a pulley system and sponge-bathed in the president’s sink.

University officials that The Varsity interviewed at the time were adamant that they would not negotiate with the activists. When the protest came to a close ten days later, president Robert Prichard, who had been on vacation throughout, said that the school would “do exactly as [it] had planned, regardless of the illegal occupation.”

However, the SAS’s actions may not have been in vain. Days later, U of T implemented

a set of labour standards for manufacturers called the Code of Conduct for Licensees, becoming the first Canadian university to do so. SAS members were also thrilled to hear that it included a living wage — a main demand of their sit-in.

Since it implemented these labour standards 23 years ago, U of T has branded itself as an ethical sourcer of its university merchandise. Trademark Licensing, U of T’s organization that oversees all U of T-branded clothing, writes on its website, “We hope our merchandise is a symbol of the University’s great and lasting impact on our community.”

However, The Varsity has uncovered that the labour standards have not been updated for over two decades, one associated auditing organization has only optional factory audits, and U of T merchandise is produced in countries where following the labour code standard of the right to unionize is impossible.

This begs the question: have the seams of U of T’s commitment still held strong?

The current patchwork of policies

Currently, U of T sources its merchandise from supply chains that stretch across the

planet. From t-shirts dyed in Haiti to hats sewn together in the Philippines, The Varsity found that, as of September 14, 2022, the U of T Bookstore carries clothing from at least 21 brands, which manufacture products for the school in at least 16 countries.

The school claims that its policies ensure that all of U of T’s merchandise suppliers produce their clothing under ethical working conditions. Trademark Licensing guarantees that merchandise is “produced and created under humane and non-exploitative labour conditions.” These manufacturing standards rely on a network of agencies, commitments, and partnerships, including auditing organizations — which, according to U of T, monitor and enforce this global supply chain.

The basis of this system is the University of Toronto Code of Conduct for Licensees: a set of rules about working conditions that all producers of U of T merchandise are required to follow. These include nine “employment standards,” for instance, the right to unionization, safe working conditions, and a living wage.

The Varsity requested a list of university factory locations from the school, but a spokesperson wrote that “occasional changes in the

list of licensed vendors, and shifts in production locations” made such a list unavailable, while a later statement said the data exists but cannot be shared because it “contains proprietary information.”

But even without the list of manufacturing locations, The Varsity still found indications that not all manufacturers follow the university’s labour standards.

Optional factory audits

U of T outsources the on-the-ground work of independent audits, interviews, and investigations into factory working conditions to two American Non-Governmental Organizations: the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA).

In an email to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote that “both the WRC and the FLA continually investigate factories and worker conditions in response to individual and thirdparty complaints.”

However, Shelly Han, FLA’s chief of staff, said in an interview with The Varsity that factory inspections only occur if a company decides to participate in audits.

According to the FLA’s website, out of the

23 clothing brands in The Varsity’s September 14 count, only five — adidas, Gildan, Nike, Roots, and Under Armour — are FLA “participating companies,” which, according to Han, means they opted to undergo FLA factory audits.

Meanwhile, the WRC investigates manufacturing locations, based on a list of brands provided by the postsecondary institutions it partners with. Jessica Champagne, their deputy director for strategy & field operations, told The Varsity that the WRC’s database should include all the “broad categories” of items that can be produced with the university logo.

A later U of T spokesperson statement informed The Varsity that “The Fair Labor Association (FLA) does not audit all companies that manufacture U of T merchandise.” The Varsity did not confirm whether the WRC audits the rest of the companies and their supply chains.

Additionally, the spokesperson told The Varsity: “The University takes any issues or concerns flagged by the WRC/FLA very seriously and responds in accordance with the WRC/FLA’s recommendations when these situations arise.”

In a 2016 article, Anne Macdonald, director of ancillary services at U of T, told The Varsity that if the university was alerted of a potential issue, the university would communicate with the licensee to find a solution. Macdonald added that the university would not “just cease doing business with them — our goal would be to try and influence how they operate.”

Looms and labour standards

A U of T spokesperson told The Varsity that U of T reviews its Code of Conduct for Licensees annually “to ensure it continues to reflect industry standards.” However, a textual comparison between the current version and the June 2002 version reveals no changes besides the addition of a short preamble and formatting alterations.

Han pointed out that it may not be a problem that U of T’s Code of Conduct for Licensees has not been updated in two decades, as long as its core is strong enough. She said, “[There are] almost no new labour issues that might come up that probably hadn’t been envisioned for the last 100 years.”

However, twenty first century concerns that pose risks to workers’ welfare — like newly developed surveillance technology, including cameras and time monitors, and COVID-19 transmission risks — may not be covered by a set of guidelines that are over two decades old.

U of T’s Code of Conduct for Licensees also only pertains to labour conditions at the manufacturing stage — like “assembly and packaging” — and not other points in the process, like shipping. It also may not cover material production.

Shipping information obtained by the SOMO Center for Research on Multinational Corporation indicates that Roots merchandise purchased by Canadian companies may have passed through the Yantian port in Shenzhen on the southern coast of China, and Ningbo port in the cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan, China in the Eastern part of the country. The SOMO Center’s information does not guarantee that these items were U of T merchandise, but some products match up with what The Varsity identified on U of T Bookstore shelves. One Roots U of T sweater matches the description of a unisex knitted sweater on SOMO’s list of items that passed through the Yantian harbour.

Both harbours have histories of labour rights violations that U of T’s Code of Conduct for Licensees would not cover, because shipping does not fall under the “manufacturing process.” For instance, in 2013, 800 Yantian dock workers walked off the job because their companies were withholding their benefits from them, and in 2014, thousands of truckers at the Ningbo Port went on strike due to poor working conditions.

U of T’s Code of Conduct for Licensees would also not cover working conditions during the materials production phase that violate the university’s policies.

Most U of T merchandise examined by The Varsity was produced in Pakistan, followed by China, whose northwest Xinjiang region produces a fifth of the world’s cotton. The area is home to 12 million Uyghur Muslims, and researchers have implicated China’s federal government in subjecting the Uyghurs in Xinjiang to forced labour, including a vast apparatus of prison camps and forced cotton

picking.

Aidan Chau, a researcher at the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin — an organisation that monitors labour conditions — told The Varsity that forced labour in Xinjiang focuses primarily on cotton production and not on manufacturing. Chau added, “if you’re really focusing on forced labour, I think the areas that you would like to see is where they’re sourcing the cotton from.”

How does this play out in the real world?

Even though U of T declined to provide a list of merchandise manufacturing locations, there are still indications that producers of U of T merchandise do not follow the labour standards laid out in the school’s Code of Conduct for Licensees.

Many of the U of T-branded garments that The Varsity examined are produced in countries where manufacturers cannot adhere to U of T’s Code of Conduct for Licensees.

For instance, the ninth requirement of U of T’s Code of Conduct is the right to democratic unionization. However, U of T merchandise is produced in two countries — China and Vietnam — where, according to Han, “The political regime just means that free and fair trade unions are not possible.” Both countries forbid independent unions, instead having one main workers’ federation that exists as an instrument of state control.

As Chau told The Varsity, all unions in China exist under the umbrella of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. “There’s basically no independent unions in China… if they have unions in a company, most are organized only through cooperating with management,” Chau said.

Similarly, in Vietnam, all official trade unions are led by one state-led union organization. New legislation in 2021 permitted “Workers Organizations,” which cannot represent a workforce beyond a single company. Workers Organizations are more limited in autonomy than unions. Additionally, members of Workers Organizations still do not have rights such as freedom of speech.

U of T merch produced in China includes Champion sandals, Creature Comforts Toys stuffed animals, Legacy touques, MV Sport jackets, Roots sweatshirts, and various Varsity

Collection items. Nike sweatshirts and pants, adidas pants, and Under Armour sweatshirts are among the merchandise items produced in Vietnam.

When The Varsity asked U of T why they produce merchandise in countries, like China and Vietnam, in which it is impossible for manufacturers to follow the Code of Conduct for Licensees, a spokesperson wrote, “Pulling out of a region in its entirety does not always benefit the communities and the workers within those countries and regions.”

U of T’s Trademark Licensing website writes, “The program’s main goal is to ensure the University and its departments are engaging in ethical procurement of merchandise.”

Another sentence reads, “It shall be the responsibility of each University licensee to ensure its compliance with this Code, and to verify that its contractors are in compliance with this Code.”

Activism for accountability

In an interview with The Varsity, Brian Sharpe — a former SAS activist and one of the protesters who participated in the 2000 sit-in — remembered the 10 days he spent holed up with friends, reporting to indie radio outlets, and planning out future SAS actions “not just on campus, but also in Toronto, and in the region.”

However, Sharpe explained that the spirit of the protest eventually fizzled out.

“Students Against Sweatshops continued at least for another year or two,” Sharpe remembered. However, “it was tiring work [lobbying] the administration, trying to hammer out details around how the policies were worded.”

“That’s not exciting for a large group of activists,” Sharpe said.

Despite the decline of U of T’s SAS chapter over the past 20 years since its sit-in, others see the potential for student activists to incite change.

“Students have historically had a really important role in this work,” Champagne said. “[They] have been the moral voice in the campus community, calling for improvements in these factories [and they] have a great opportunity to be part of these conversations on campus.”

BIEW BIEW SAKULWANNADEE/THEVARSITY

A breakdown of the Taylor Swift-Ticketmaster disaster

The consequences of a monopolized ticketing industry

Aunkita Roy Varsity Contributor

On November 15, 2022, presale tickets to US dates for Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated The Eras Tour went live on Ticketmaster’s official website for registered fans. A record-breaking 3.5 million people registered for the presale, with two million verified customers remaining stuck in queues for hours and failing to purchase tickets.

Ticketmaster controls approximately 70 per cent of the ticket-selling and live-events industry, but its dominant position has come into question since its failures with Swift’s presale. The absence of competition in the online ticketing market, along with Ticketmaster’s inability to provide customers with expected services, ultimately left Swift and her fans distrustful of the company and its practices. This scrutiny raises doubts about Ticketmaster’s emergence as a ticketing giant and the sole decider of the ticket market’s pricing.

How Ticketmaster works

Ticketmaster is an American ticket distribution company that was founded in 1976. In 2010, the company merged with Live Nation, the biggest concert promotion company in the world. With access to Ticketmaster’s technologies and Live Nation’s catalogue of venues, the new company, Live Nation Entertainment, became a threat to other concert promoters and ticketing platforms.

Even back then, it was clear that it would be difficult for healthy competition to thrive against the company, giving it the monopolistic advantage to control the market’s ticket pricing. This advantage only intensified in 2020, when Ticketmaster purchased Rival, one of its only competitors.

Live Nation Entertainment’s control of its market greatly contributes to the company’s ability to prevent artists from working with other companies. Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts with concert venues made it impossible for AEG Presents, Swift’s tour promoter, to consider other options.

The Live Nation merger also led to the introduction of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system, which determines ticket prices based on the level of demand for an artist. Increased profits from this system benefit both the artist and Ticketmaster, which is why many musicians, including Swift herself, have used dynamic pricing to sell tickets. Artists often choose to use this system because it allows the musician and the venue to directly receive profits from sold tickets, which does not happen if tickets are resold on secondary platforms.

However, without any market competition, Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing policy allows the company to set a high face value price for

A peach and eggplant trifle

Devarya Singhania Varsity Contributor

When you see David Tennant freak out over the double meaning of the eggplant emoji, you know languages have started to outsmart themselves. How could this charming man be deceived by food, of all things? And oh, Chris Hemsworth seemed to know; Hemsworth drew a conclusion based on the similarities in shape between the purple vegetable and its euphemistic counterpart. Why confuse the adorable Scottish man in the tuxedo over lingo undeserving of his wonderful accent?

If I text Tennant now, I know not whether to use water droplets as a sign of appreciation. I would want to seem thirsty for him, but he might mistake me for being dehydrated. It would probably make more sense to Conan Gray or Joshua Bassett — not just because they’re stunningly gorgeous, but because they’re more familiar with the culture I am used to. Even though we now perceive Tennant and company to be absurd for not understanding our translation of these emojis, there’s no reason for their understanding of the emojis to be wrong. Maybe we are the weird ones, and have overthought the message behind cute, comfortable artwork. It’s arduous to interpret art as is, and now we’re delving into another realm of complication?

Even as I text my friends, the emojis I tend to use translate absurdly in their minds. Apparently, what I had thought to be the crying emoji with fully fledged tears has now evolved — leaving me to supposedly appear laughing ridiculously after an awful Classics paper. Is this the joy which lies in my sorrow, ‘Mr. Crying Emoji’? Smile through the pain, they said. Well, apparently I do.

While I’ve obviously made myself learn these newfound scripts of simple, miniscule musings, I

know not of the roots from which they originate. There is no specific celebrity — whom I can recall — influential enough to have become the harbinger of this change, nor do I understand why all my friends began using it simultaneously.

It becomes a habit once you start. My mother received a text from my cousin the other day, and she was mortified to see the skull emoji in the reaction. She almost believed that he’d joined a punk or metallic rock band at 12 years old, or was religiously participating in Gothic events — she was flustered beyond comprehension that day. I don’t think she’s ever used the emoji herself, so I’m confident she does not precisely know its meaning.

And again, who’s to say there’s a concrete meaning for an emoji when even I do not know when it may seem to cast a fantastic spell and switch meanings? God forbid the day my family starts using eggplants and peaches — I would have to confiscate their technology.

Berserk. There’s something to be said about the intangibility of language. They mockingly call us Gen Z — I prefer young, charming, and intellectual. Yet we reply to the millennials with sheer disdain when they fail to interpret our own linguistic variations. You know how dad jokes go. Dads, they love to show a tilted head laughing, an emoji I have scarcely used in my texting career. And oh, how I judge them.

I made the mistake of informing my parents of their misuse of emojis, though; how ‘cringey’ of them to have done so, and even worse for me to have reacted. Why did I believe my parents’ vocabulary to have incorporated this generation’s absurd use of emojis? Obviously, I then had to teach them — not out of my own free will — some other phrases, such as ‘no cap,’ ‘bussing,’ ‘slay,’ and ‘salty.’ Even a facepalm couldn’t smother how weird it felt.

a ticket, without facing the possibility of losing customers. Swift fans have no choice but to buy these expensive tickets, while Ticketmaster makes a large profit.

So what about Taylor Swift?

The costly presale ticket prices for The Eras Tour are certainly an accurate reflection of the high demand to see Taylor Swift, who broke sales and streaming records with her 10th studio album, Midnights, released in October. Considering this, Ticketmaster had the foresight to be prepared for large numbers of customers to be registered for the presale.

Yet, the company failed to distinguish between verified fans and online bots. Ticketmaster didn’t counter bots that purchased tickets and resold them on other websites, often at much higher prices. Ticketmaster earns the same profit in situations like these, but fans are forced to buy tickets at prices higher than their face value. Now, some tickets from certified re-

sellers are starting at approximately $300 USD before additional fees.

Ticketmaster has confirmed that less than five per cent of tickets were purchased for resale, but the fact remains that the company was ill prepared for the vast number of system requests and bot attacks that forced Ticketmaster to close the sale before its app crashed.

Fans who were able to access the ticket menu were also met with the widespread issue for which Ticketmaster is notorious: excessively unaffordable fees, only discovered when additional service charges are added at checkout. One Taylor Swift ticket for a New Jersey show was $12,000 USD, though they were supposed to sell for up to $449 USD when first released.

Ticketmaster can defensively accredit high prices to dynamic pricing; however, Live Nation and Ticketmaster remain the main source and beneficiary of this system. Increased competition in the industry would force the company to change pricing policies, and it would also lead to the development of more innovative systems.

In response to the fiasco, Swift wrote in an Instagram post that Ticketmaster “assured” her team that high demand would be met and she can only hope “to provide more opportunities” for her fans. The US Department of Justice is also conducting an ongoing investigation of Live Nation and its possible exploitation of Ticketmaster’s market power.

While Swift’s non-American fans warily await announcements regarding how tickets will be sold for the remainder of the tour, it is clear that they are not the only concertgoers affected. The future of live events may currently be controlled by Live Nation, but the response from Swift and her audience is a reminder that change begins with the people that make the experience most valuable: the fans.

I’ve never physically cowered up in pure, embarrassing, untainted cringe as much as the week they frantically used ‘cool’ phrases with each breath they spoke. Their friends laughed and learned — I hid.

You see, we’ve changed these words to bring about authenticity in our speech. Dad, for you a ‘cap’ is still a simple piece of headgear — but for us, it is a lie. Words are multifaceted. We, the ‘young ones,’ know that now. Your English is so bland and has drenched your own use of slang to an extent so unfathomably grave that even a word’s original definition reeks of no essence. I mean, we did that with ‘slay’ too, but our possession of other phrases compensated for that.

I turn 20 this year — yikes. And my sister, who’s in middle school, has made sure that I know of this. Since when have we started being perceived as old despite using the same slang? I said “slay” out loud the other day and she, in the most eloquent of responses, said, “yuck.” I tried to laugh it off at that moment, but it took mere minutes for the insecurity and defensiveness to kick in.

Am I getting older faster than the language itself?

I can’t say, because I don’t know how to. To my

uncles, aunts, and parents, I’m young. To my sister, I’m ridiculously old. So when I use a phrase, my parents assume my entire young generation does so, too. But my sister and her cohort would not hesitate to judge me. I’m too old for them and, apparently, the baton of the language has been passed on to them.

The legacy my generation left on the language is apparently finalized. Will I soon not understand emojis as my sister uses them? It’s an absurd fear to have, because I do not know how to track changes in the meanings of emojis and phrases as it is.

I’ve never asked anyone to “take a chill pill,” but my parents knew not of another phrase to calm someone down. And if you cringed at the phrase, you know to which generation you belong.

All’s too intangible for us to know, and wherever the English language travels, we must seek to voyage with it, too. Diction can be a ‘dick,’ and we’ll always be judged, while still always having someone else to judge as well.

This whole trifle doesn’t seem appetizing, but we might as well get one for the ‘gram.

DALAINEY GERVAIS/THEVARSITY

Does my language want me to understand anything?

TESS KING/THEVARSITY

Learning something new: A philosophical approach

Malaika Mitra Varsity Contributor

I begin the story of my learning with an account of the oft-forgotten part of a plant’s root system: the rhizome. As Merriam-Webster describes, the rhizome is a “somewhat elongated usually horizontal subterranean plant stem that… is distinguished from a true root in possessing buds, nodes, and usually scalelike leaves.”

Consider how rhizomes have multiple nodes, unlike a tree that focuses its branches toward one node, the trunk. What is the nature of this multi-nodal relationship? From the definition above and some cursory scientific knowledge, you could say that the roots provide nutrients to the plant, and the shoots provide multiple places for it to sprout up.

But in their book A Thousand Plateaus , although Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari acknowledge this definition, they also use the rhizome as a tool for their philosophy. To them, a rhizome “ceaselessly establishes connections between semiotic chains, organizations of power, and circumstances relative to the arts, sciences, and social struggles.” Rather than needing to actively seek out connections, a rhizome can’t help but make them.

My brain is the rhizome. Ceaselessly making connections, often against my own will and to subjects only tangentially related to my original thought, then latching onto those connections to draw my interest elsewhere. Whenever I have wished to pursue a new interest, this has been how I’ve done so. Find a new interest; make it my obsession for a few days, weeks, maybe even months; lose interest; and move on to the next shiny new thing. Rinse and repeat.

When I was 10, this meant spending a week tracing the tracks of over 300 animals in a sketchbook for several hours a day, only to forget about the sketchbook almost immediately after I was done. At 20, I have changed my major innumerable times, telling my friends “I’m sure about this one!” with each new one.

My inability to learn a topic thoroughly has been a source of my anguish for years. I watched as my peers — interested in math, art, or science — developed their skills over time, and I felt the sting of amateurism — how could I catch up to them when I always started too late? There came a point in my first year of university when I changed my mind about my degree program once every few weeks, becoming more anxious with each switch.

Then, in my second year, I took a class in continental philosophy. I won’t say that everything immediately clicked — in fact, I felt incredibly overwhelmed at first. It seemed that everyone could already reference Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, and Friedrich Nietzsche with ease, and the names Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas felt esoteric to me. But by the end of the semester, I felt a moderate enough interest in philosophy to take the same professor’s third-year course in a similar subject. Up until then, I had been considering adjacent fields, as philosophy itself still seemed terrifyingly difficult.

Something changed over the summer: suddenly, my life was consumed with philosophy. I would spend hours a day reading it, talking about it with my friends from class, and applying it to other media that I consumed. With philosophy, it felt like I could stretch back all the way to the ancients and I still would not be able to build a wide enough base to parse implicit references and double meanings.

In many ways, that overwhelmed me. After learning about the rhizome through that course, however, I realized there was no right way to take on new knowledge; my learning became a single rhizome with many roots reaching out for nutrients. Instead of trying to fixate on one aspect of philosophy or overwhelming myself by trying to learn all of the disciplines, I followed my interest wherever it took me, reading everything I could along the way.

Viewing the rhizomatic quality of my brain as a virtue rather than an abnormality was life changing. I realized that the way I was going about learning was completely counterintuitive to my thought process; how would it be possible for me to find the base of all knowledge and work my way up if I didn’t even think with that kind of directionality? To my mind, any given topic was a web rather than a pyramid, with concepts that would be at the “top” feeding into concepts that would be at the “bottom” as much as the reverse.

But how does one put this thought process to action? I knew that my brain needed a system and structure to learn, but I no longer believed in the system I had previously followed. I decided to combine both. I still think deeply about what I will read and explore, and in what order. However, to keep this sustainable, I had to make the commitment to allow my exploration to flow with my curiosity.

This method wasn’t perfect — I have many unfinished books lying on my desk and dressers. But, by refusing to resist my changing interests in philosophy and instead wholeheartedly embracing them, I was in fact able to maintain my interest in philosophy as a whole. I have come to value my broad, cobbled-together knowledge as a mosaic rather than a mess.

Developing new fascinations has turned from terrifying to exciting, and I feel content letting myself spend hours reading books outside of my designated list. Where will philosophy take me? I am excited to find out.

Angubua Varsity Contributor

I grew up obsessed with the X-Men. On Sundays after church, my father would take my brothers and me to the only well stocked bookstore we knew of at the mall. As we approached the entrance of the bookstore, I would dash in, gleeful and bouncing in anticipation of getting lost in the wonders behind its doors.

The bookstore is where I first learned to lose my outer embellished self to my other self, my raw inner self, the way one might get lost in a dream sea before they snap awake. I discovered what love was inside the pages of books. I glimpsed the vastness of a beautiful world in the stories I encountered, and it filled me with a hunger to simply learn. The X-Men were some of my first heroes. That is not to say that X-Men were just the first superheroes I got to know of, but that the graphic novel itself, in its storytelling and in its medium, also saved me from my bored mind and propelled me toward endless imagination.

This is what great literature does — it saves! Yet growing up, I never saw an English teacher open a comic book in class to discuss class differences or the complexities of womanhood as they did with novels like To Kill a Mockingbird or Jane Eyre. Until recently, graphic novels have been treated by academia and society as children’s playthings, bread for the weak minded. They are like dolls in that as you grow older, you are expected to naturally dispense of ‘childish’ toys like dolls and take up more adult pastimes — Russian literature, Negroni Sbagliatos, and taxes.

Normal people do not play with dolls past a certain age lest they be met with the particular distaste that we save for the grown adults who

are enamoured by children’s things.

And yet, as a child, it was the X-Men that saved me from a lack of imagination with their carefully rendered fight scenes, bold superhero costumes, limitless variety of characters, stories and powers, and their overarching tale of a people who were being persecuted for being who they were.

The power of the graphic novel, as with all literature, is the power of manifesting imagination and dreaming as defined by Toni Morrison in her “Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address.”

Morrison describes dreaming as intimate projection, “Pointed imagining [that] should precede our decision-making, our cause-mongering,

[and] our action.” Believe it, say it, and so it shall be. You see, it is in the realm of dreams that God works too; here, He said, “Let there be light!”

In this spirit of dreaming, my first heroes lifted me up when I did not know what was possible. In the X-Men I saw that it was not a curse to be born as an “other” identity in disruption of heteronormative society, and that curses are not magic, but the intimate projection of evil dreams. I learned from my heroes that, to break a curse, you had to dream in return, dream so hard that you woke up in the world you wished to see, a world made in your own image.

For a young child, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman might be a story of a dream god on a quest

to retrieve his power, just as Moby Dick might be a story of a man and a whale. As we mature, however, we see the layers inside these narratives. Gaiman gives us the story of Morpheus, the god of dreams, on a journey to retrieve his objects of power and restore the dreamworld to allow humanity to dream properly again.

As we flip through The Sandman, we reckon with big existential questions; a world in which sleep is no longer a peaceful escape, where living becomes a waking death because dreams, the stuff of art and stories, cease to exist. Clearly, it’s worth taking a closer, more mature look at these texts.

By nurturing the skills of visual literacy and comprehension to enable readers to decipher meaning from words and pictures, graphic novels widen the possibilities for personal reflection, political protest, and overall storytelling. They also make complex and serious stories more accessible to children, allowing them to reckon with the real world in language they recognize.

Compared to my experience as a child, it is great to see graphic novels being taken more seriously. From the various university courses on graphic novels to brilliant TV adaptations like The Sandman, attitudes are changing to take graphic novels seriously as articles of literary merit.

Graphic novels combine both visual art and the written word to tell stories. They are different from written novels but just as valuable, in the way that poetry is different for its oratory nature and musical applications. To conflate written literature and art with graphic novels does justice to none of them. Instead, programs dedicated to graphic novels need to be developed. We need a graphic novel literary canon too.

Come what may, the beauty of the dream voice is that it is eternal, its morphic resonances endless in the end.

How the ecological concept of the rhizome can make you a better learner

Divine

It’s important to understand your own learning style. ZEYNEP POYANLI/THEVARSITY

Lily Chou Chou and the suburban gothic On the monstrous youth hiding within our gated communities

Content warning: This article includes mentions of assault, sexual violence, self-harm, addiction, mental illness, suicide, and child sexual abuse images.

When I was in third grade, I moved into a skinny townhouse with a small lawn and paved granite driveway. It was the exact same build as neighbouring homes except coated in a lighter permutation of beige — which, to my 11-year-old self, meant they all looked the same. So for the first few months of settling in, I constantly got lost in this suburban house of mirrors.

Time moves slowly in the kingdom of cul-de-sacs. There was quite literally nothing to do in my new sterile community but read dusty novels or observe the ants scurry between cracked pavement. “I’m so bored I could die,” I’d bemoan, before my dad flicked my forehead in superstitious disapproval.

As I grew older, I found solace in senseless consumerism — a suburban rite of passage — which, more often than not, left me feeling just as empty as my wallet. When Costco and the strip mall lost its edge, I found joy in one or two or three glasses of prosecco, stolen from my parent’s liquor cabinet. My days passed in a sludgy, motorik daze. I felt like I was loitering, procrastinating in stucco purgatory, before my ‘real life’ could start in the big city.

I recently had the opportunity to program Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou (2001) at Innis Town Hall as a collaboration between the Cinema Studies Student Union and Professor Sammond’s new School Daze course, CIN199. As I rewatched the melancholy unfold, I had this uncanny feeling that I was witnessing a B-roll of my own adolescence.

Part hangout movie, part elliptical coming-of-age story, All About Lily Chou Chou follows Yûichi Hasumi, played by Hayato Ichihara, and Shusuke Hoshino, played by Shûgo Oshinari, as they navigate feral adolescence amidst luscious dreamscapes. Whereas Yûichi is a goofy, self-proclaimed misfit, Hoshino is a mini King Midas, excelling at everything he does. We witness their unlikely relationship develop through vignettes of them recounting silly dreams about leaving their hometown, bemoaning the monotony of school, and committing to extracurriculars because, well, there’s nothing else to do in that dust bowl. It’s a remarkably canon depiction of friendship

amidst suburban ennui.

But this banal-yet-idyllic veneer is broken three quarters of the way through the film, when Yûichi and Hoshino visit Okinawa. It’s a cheery sequence sprinkled with some classic tomfoolery, pubescent horniness, and near-death experiences. However, the gaieties are brought to a startling end when Hoshino tosses their money off the boat. This is an odd, illogical action — especially coming from his sensible character — which is followed up by an even stranger turn of events. The film cuts, and now we’re back in the classroom, confronted by an awful sight: Hoshino is savagely assaulting his classmate. A perverted, self-satisfied smirk sprawls across his face.

As if baptized by sin, Hoshino’s character takes a swift, Luciferian downturn. His victory earns him the title as the school’s new tyrant. Under his oppressive reign, students are violently assaulted. A girl is gang raped.

Another is sexually extorted until she jumps off a transmission tower, landing squarely on her neck. The once boring yet comforting school thus becomes an unrecognizable hell.

The suburban gothic

Over the last half century, suburban life has become the pinnacle of class aspirations. To

live in a suburb means that you are wealthy enough to abandon the grimy, miscegenated city for the gated peninsula of society’s middle-class charading as elites.

Sterility makes any stain seem all the more prominent. Amidst the white stucco wonderlands, even an ounce of vice will appear ever more jarring and terrifying. The Suburban Gothic is a literary subgenre which plays on this tension; it typically involves a macabre force — such as delinquents, infidelity, addiction, or perhaps the supernatural — that infiltrates the suburban paradise. The result is an eerie defamiliarization of these ‘picturesque’ neighbourhoods.

Part of the brilliance of All About Lily Chou Chou lies in its depiction of cruel, absurd vagary. Why Hoshino snapped is unclear; the film is too impressionist to offer a concrete answer. And without a proper reasoning or buildup, we are left with a bunch of questions like, how is it that violence could occur in these utopic spaces, populated by economically stable and presumably sane people of the same cultural mindset? How could teenagers fertilized with decent education and luxuries provided for by their parent’s lavish corporate salaries turn into bad apples? It is unfathomable. So when Hoshino experiences a sudden, unexplainable malignancy, it completely uproots the veritable

logic of suburbia. It is this puncturing that makes All About Lily Chou Chou particularly unsettling.

The film’s portrayal of suburban school life evoked flashbacks of my own grim experience. Despite its reputation, my banal ‘burb also hinged on rotten scaffolding. I remember teachers regurgitating textbooks and Wikipedia articles with absolute dispassion. Popular girls, dressed in their uniform of TNA leggings and Forever 21 crop tops, snickered at any eclectic fashion choice. Hockey boys posted cruel ‘tbhs’ and ‘hot or nots’ on their ask.fm. People leaked each other’s nudes as a post-breakup parting gift. How romantic.

I didn’t fit in. Although I put in a tremendous effort to assimilate — from begging my mother for overpriced Aritzia basics to astutely studying Drake lyrics — my pantomime never seemed to work. And suburban existence is terribly lonely when you do not conform.

This distinctly grungy tone that hung over our milieu eventually became too much. Many struggled with addiction, depression, and self harm — myself included. Others dropped out. And in a neighbouring academy, two kids died by suicide in the same school term. By junior year, my school had removed any bathroom hooks in case there was another attempt.

All About Lily Chou Chou ends with things returning to normal. Yûichi is one of the last few standing. But instead of succumbing to his malaise, as do the other characters, we see him put the noose down. He starts anew; Yûichi dyes his hair, reconciles with his teacher, and approaches his victims for silent forgiveness. Though small, these acts demonstrate his grand effort to overcome his trauma and enjoy life again. My senior year consisted of similar steps: I began professional therapy, DIY box dye therapy, sobriety, and connected with those whom I had wronged and who had wronged me. For the first time in a long while, existing in the suburbs felt tolerable again.

In the following months, I started going on ‘hot girl walks’ around my neighbourhood, following the same hidden pathways I’d discovered when I first moved in. Except this time, I felt strangely beguiled by these hinterlands; suddenly, there was so much to explore, so much to experience, so much colour to admire — from cream to camel to khaki.

Like Yûichi, I had somehow survived the suburban gothic.

Vicky Huang

Varsity Contributor

Time moves slowly in the kingdom of cul-de-sacs. VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

The suburban experience forces you to come to terms with yourself. VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

Metaverse or meta-hurt?

How the future of digital societies became a wasteland of avatars and ruin

James Szabo Varsity Contributor

It’s 2021 and COVID-19 is slamming the world. Corporations everywhere are struggling, but Silicon Valley’s darling Facebook has never had a higher market capitalization. Its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has never been richer.

As of today, Facebook, now rebranded as Meta, has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in evaluation, whereas Zuckerberg has lost more than 54 billion USD in net worth.

So, what happened to Meta? In short: the metaverse.

But what is the metaverse? Why is Meta spending billions of dollars on this technology? Will the metaverse succeed and help Meta succeed?

In many ways, the metaverse is like today’s internet: there are marketplaces, meeting rooms, entertainment systems, and more. But instead of accessing the metaverse through your phone or computer, you gain entry by putting on a virtual reality (VR) headset, which simulates an environment and experience that is an animated copy of our physical world. It should be noted that you can access the metaverse using traditional technology such as apps or your local browser. These provide a less immersive augmented reality (AR) or social platform.

In this virtual world, you interact with the world through an avatar and go from place to place. If you’re looking at a picture of a painting, on the internet it's on a webpage, while in the metaverse, it’s perhaps a 3D simulated art gallery you access through your VR headset.

But who owns all this? Much like the internet today, no one owns it — specific companies have their space within the metaverse that they run, all interconnected to each other.

Now that we know what the metaverse is, let’s go back to the pandemic and see how Meta messed up. The pandemic meant that almost everyone who could stay indoors was doing so, so we were all using the internet more than ever before. This led to technology companies not just surviving the pandemic, but thriving in it — compared to other industries and past historical data within the technology industry.

In a recent video about technology industry layoffs in the context of the pandemic, the Wall

Street Journal notes that “many tech CEOs thought the growth would continue at the same rate they had seen for the last two years.” Speculations such as these influenced Meta’s decision to “be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first,” according to Zuckerberg. The company wanted everything from office meetings to socializing to happen in the metaverse, leading to Meta pouring almost 10 billion USD into developing its wearable VR/AR technology. This pivot was a huge gamble for the company, moving it away from its core business into a largely unproven area and betting billions on the latter’s success.

What does billions of dollars worth of investment in VR/AR technology look like? Commenting on the physical feel of the headset, The Verge reporter Adi Robertson claimed that after wearing it for a few hours, she “sometimes got a painfully numb strip on [her] forehead.” Physically, it’s not the best, but what about the software? When fellow The Verge reporter Alex Heath was reviewing the company’s Quest Pro headset software by being in the metaverse, he told fellow reporters, “This is like one of the most buggy software

experiences ever, right?” The Verge Editor-inChief Nilay Patel said, “There is zero chance that I would ever make a serious decision in this software.” So Meta is failing in creating a digital office.

When Robertson was in a public space in the metaverse, the population, consisting entirely of pre-teen and teenage boys, became incredibly excited that there was a woman logged on. Not exactly the social mecca the company had envisioned.

As the lifestyle impacts of COVID-19 in 2022 have vastly diminished, the company no longer finds itself in the financially prosperous position it once experienced. To make matters worse for Meta, in 2021 Apple unveiled its App Tracking Transparency feature, which blocks the mining of Apple users’ data from companies like Meta. This new feature cost Meta roughly 10 billion USD in revenue.

Additionally, posing an existential threat to Meta’s core business platforms, Facebook and Instagram, is their main competitor: TikTok. The platform has nearly one billion monthly users and in

the words of New York Times technology reporter Taylor Lorenz, “Facebook is absolutely desperate right now to regain any semblance of relevance which they’ve lost quite a while ago.” Zuckerberg recently said to Meta employees, “Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13 per cent and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.” Although Meta is not alone in doing this — the tech industry is experiencing a wave of postpandemic related layoffs — it is uniquely poorly positioned as the metaverse isn’t paying off and its core business is failing.

While the metaverse may seem new, it’s actually quite an old concept— which brings us to something called Second Life. You may know Second Life from the TV show The Office when Dwight Schrute logs on, stating, “Second life is not a game, it is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn’t have points or scores, it doesn’t have winners or losers.” Second Life is effectively a version of the metaverse, including avatars. Given the fact that I just had to explain what Second Life is, you can see that it is not hugely popular, and, to me, it would seem simple why. Why would you live your life on a lower quality plane? This I think is the same problem that Meta has run into. Why exist in an uncomfortable, almost unusable, impractical piece of technology, when the real world exists?

So will this technology take off? The Varsity spoke to Laurie Bertram, an associate professor of history at U of T who has taught courses on history and social media, to learn more. Although it may seem like a given that this technology will take off, Bertram said, “History is filled with new inventions that are marketed as being the thing that will change the future, and filled with histories of things that fail to deliver on those promises.”

She also made the important point that we have new tech pushed onto us as if it is essential, but it often isn’t. Bertram said, “I’ve really stopped buying into hype for things.” She noted that many others who understand tech companies also don’t buy into its hype.

I don’t think the metaverse will take off until the technology is there to make it convincing, and although that day might come, I doubt Meta will be there to see it.

sponses to outside temperatures. Fluctuations in hormones during the menstrual cycle, for women, and in testosterone levels, for men, change perceptions of temperature. For example, testosterone inhibits a key cold receptor, reducing sensitivity to lower temperatures. Dehydration can also cause problems during cold weather since water plays an important role in temperature regulation.

be done. Regardless, the study’s findings imply a bigger role of genetics in temperature regulation than first assumed.

This ACTN3 protein deficiency may be more common than you think, affecting one out of five people, and implies that some people are quite literally ‘built different.’

Daniyah Asad Varsity Contributor

In recent years, while the climate has shifted, one thing has remained the same. Walking through the streets of Toronto, you’ll find an assortment of attire, ranging from people dressed like Eric Cartman from South Park to others who wear a sweatshirt and call it a day.

Which begs the question, why do some people get colder than others? Temperature in our bodies depends on a number of biological factors. Interwoven mechanisms in our body maintain internal temperature — beginning from the skin where nerves lie in wait for a change in the outside environment. Upon detection, the nerves send signals to the hypothalamus, which initiates a number of defence operations.

Common responses to feeling cold are shivering and vasoconstriction. Shivering increases heat generation in our bodies and vasoconstriction reduces heat loss by physically narrowing blood vessels — this constriction can lead to the pallor of the skin in our extremities. In certain instances, this pallor is indicative of more serious issues such as Raynaud’s disease.

While our bodies employ the same mechanisms, perceptions of cold weather can vary from person to person. This variability is due to a cohort of different physiological and psychological characteristics. The hypothalamus triggers the same key responses in every person but its assessment of when it deems a response is fit is unique to the physical characteristics of each individual.

Body fat is the most ubiquitous characteristic. It is fairly well known that more fat results in greater insulation. In particular, it is the subcutaneous fat — the layer of fat directly beneath our skin — that provides the best resistance to cold. Though most magazines and health gurus tout fat as undesirable, it plays an integral role in maintaining sufficient heat to bear the unrelenting cold we’ve come to face annually.

Cold resistance also varies across sexes. Men’s and women’s bodies differ in subcutaneous fat, surface area, and hormones, all of which impact cold perception. For example, a woman will probably typically feel colder than a man due to an overall greater surface area and smaller body mass of the woman’s body.

Shorter time scale fluctuations in our bodies can also lead to day-to-day differences in our re-

Some causes for these differences, however, can lie even deeper than subcutaneous fat, down in our DNA. Recent studies showed that genetics may play a bigger role than first known. A genetic variant resulting in changes in the alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene resulted in the absence of a muscle protein with the same name. This gene’s role used to be commonly known as the “gene for speed” in athletes, as these fibres allow the rapid contractions that facilitate sprinting. Researchers in Lithuania, Sweden, and Australia discovered a new role for this gene, in insulation.

A study conducted in Kaunas, Lithuania tested the relationship between cold perception and protein deficiency due to the ACTN3 genetic mutation. Men participants were plunged into cold water until their core body tem perature reached 35.5 degrees Celsius. The researchers noted the time taken before the shivering set. Those lack ing ACTN3 shivered less and had a higher core temperature compared to their protein-bearing counter parts. It is unclear whether this trend is similar in women’s bodies as more research still needs to

The interplay of genes and physiological responses is a particularly sensitive one; even the smallest changes can cause it to go haywire.

The previously mentioned Raynaud’s disease is a condition that increases sensitivity of blood vessels to cold temperatures, resulting in spasms. These spasms in turn drastically reduce blood flow to fingers, toes, and joints causing soreness. In extreme cases, amputation may be necessary, but typically treatment is less drastic. Simple changes in lifestyle to avoid extreme cold are often sufficient to avoid loss of appendages. The causes of Raynaud's disease are not entirely clear but highlight how even a small glitch in the complex system of temperature regulation can result in painful, even debili-

Our choice of attire is dictated by our biological makeup. The conversations constantly happening in our body through neurotransmissions and hormonal messaging hinge on the library of information tucked away in the nucleus of each cell in our bodies.

feel

than others?

Subcutaneous fat and recently identified gene play a role in individual perceptions of cold.

VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

COURTESY OF ADRIAN DEWEERDT/UNSPLASH & JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

Opinion: Medical assistance in dying has gone too

far in Canada

Dying with dignity, or an existential threat to those with mental or physical disabilities?

Aimee Perry Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article discusses suicide.

Canada, and much of the world, is in the grips of a mental health crisis, with a staggering 450 million people in the world currently struggling with mental illness; one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds. Having suffered nearly three full years of COVID-19 and its repercussions — including losses of family and friends, the distance from social circles and regular activities, and the emergence of crippling health anxiety — people all over the world are learning to handle an unprecedented crisis that has gotten out of hand.

In light of this, Canada’s government has recently put forward an amendment to the assisted suicide program, known as medical assistance in dying (MAID). This program came into the public consciousness following a statement to parliament from a representative of the medical regulator committee arguing that sick children between the ages of 14 and 17 — both with terminal and non terminal illnesses — should be allowed to choose to die by suicide with medical assistance. The parliamentary committee’s response agreed that access to euthanasia should be expanded to include even more people.

To this, one may ask — how many more?

When Canada made euthanasia legal in 2016, medical professionals and media conjectured that the Canadian government would expand eligibility beyond the initial group of people with terminal illnesses, as has occurred in nearly every country where euthanasia has been made legal. The trajectory toward this, which encapsulated varied groups of patients both terminally and non terminally ill, might have been foreseen in 2015 when the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the criminal prohibition on suicide assistance. The Court previously had legal repercussions for physicians and stated that no person is entitled to consent to their assisted death.

Quickly following this, there was a ruling from a Quebec court decreeing that restricting euthanasia to only those whose deaths were “rea-

sonably foreseeable” was discriminating against those who weren’t terminally ill — with a statement from Phillippe Simard, delegate on political affairs in Fédération Médicale Étudiante du Québec (FMEQ), which highlighted that “those who truly wish to leave us may choose to do so at the moment that is right for them.”

Fast forward to today, and we hear conversations in medical communities around the world surrounding euthanasia legislations and its availability expansion that could result in the permitted euthanization of people with physical or mental disabilities. Perhaps even more controversial is a ruling that takes effect later this year, in which mental illnesses will become qualifying conditions for euthanasia when an individual turns 18. According to a statement released by the Government of Canada, “After March 17, 2023, people with a mental illness as their sole underlying medical condition will have access to MAID if they meet all of the eligibility requirements.” Since many mental conditions center on symptoms of suicidal thoughts out of the sufferer’s control, it seems counterintuitive that the waitlist to see a registered psychologist in many places is longer than the process to apply to die.

Perhaps with an even more shocking stance, Dying With Dignity Canada, a national human rights charity, has asked parliament to reduce the current age requirement of 18 and extend eligibility to individuals “at least 12 years of age and capable of making decisions with respect to their health.”

A child at the age of 12 cannot do most things considered ‘mature.’ They cannot vote, drink or drive, get a tattoo, or be legally married. Yet, despite these rules, a child may be able to decide if they want to die before their 13th birthday. Children nowadays have already been given more credit for their maturity and personal jurisdiction, with important decisions being given to them as solely theirs to make. Take vaccination as a current and prevalent example during this pandemic, where children over the age of 12 were told that their parents do not get to choose for them if they get the vaccine or not — it is their choice with the motivations of protecting themselves and their loved ones.

Jennifer Gibson, the director and Sun Life Financial chair in bioethics at the University of Toronto and co-chair of the Council of Canadian Academies’ expert panel of medical assistance

in dying, chaired the working group on advance requests for MAID and had some light to shed on the matter. In an interview at the Justice and Human Rights Committee, Gibson contended that “with the benefit of almost five years’ experience, we have learned that MAID can be provided safely and compassionately to Canadians.”

The interview questioned her on the program, and the decisions behind the eligibility and optimal effectiveness of MAID, to which Gibson responded with questions: “Would it displace palliative care? Would it make people more vulnerable and not less?” Answering these questions is an important step in defining who should be eligible for MAID and what the ultimate goals of the program should be.

Much of the literature you can read in today’s climate is riddled with frightening statistics about mental health, the repercussions of COVID-19, and other social quandaries. One in four young individuals who spent some part of their adolescence during the COVID-19 pandemic now has some form of mental health concern, a severe increase from one in six in just one year.

Reportedly, children have suffered immensely, with UK National Health Service Digital data revealing that 19.7 per cent of boys and 10.5 per cent of girls aged seven to ten are now suffering from psychological distress. Further, the same data shows that over 25.7 per cent of youths aged 17 to 19 now have a “probable mental disorder” — up from 17.4 per cent in a year. The mental health disorders ranged from anxiety, depression, and conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to eating disorders and psychotic experiences.

Given these statistics, one is forced to reconcile with the notion that adolescents all over the world are suffering deeply, more than we have ever known in the past, and one could argue that youths have had to grow up faster. However, is it still reasonable to give decisions, such as taking one’s life, to the youth, forcing them to see the world through mature lenses before they can even drive a car?

MAID might become the biggest existential threat from the medical community to people with mental or physical disabilities.

Roy Varsity Contributor

Every time I have the urge to improve my habits, finetune my routine, and just be better, I think of the trick productivity gurus and millionaires have been suggesting for years — taking a cold shower as soon as you wake up — and like clockwork, a particularly chilling shiver goes through my cold-fearing body. Yet, for once in my life, purely for the sake of it, I gave this cold shock life hack a try. While it was certainly not a thing I enjoyed — even after three mugs of tea and sitting in front of the room heater for two whole hours, my body gave the occasional shiver — it did show me a thing or two of value.

Once, on a trip to a hill station with lots of snow-capped mountains, a few friends of mine made the wonderfully insightful decision to step out into the freezing cold after having taken a hot bath to experience the simultaneous hotand-cold shock. I was horrified to hear this, and also slightly impressed at their tenacity — until they caught a very severe fever and cold. While recounting this experience to me, however, they said that it was painful yet rewarding and that they would do this again if, of course, their mothers would allow them to.

But it’s not just me or my slightly stupid friends; there is hard evidence to back up the benefits of temperature shocks to the human body.

When the entire body is cooled for a brief period, to a temperature much lower than that of the room and the body, the process is known as ‘cold therapy’ or even ‘therapeutic hypothermia.’

Exposure to cold is a ‘hormetic stress’ on the body, where the body’s adaptation to adverse conditions makes it stronger. At the molecular level, when exposed to significant dips in mercury, the ‘cold-shock proteins’ of the human body get activated and send a signal to the brain to protect against excessive stresses. Inducing such a mechanism lets the body’s protective instinct take over and relieve us of some of our pertinent miseries.

The use and application of cold treatment has been around among humans for time immemorial, and it dates to about 3500 BCE, when it was mentioned in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, one of the first medical textbooks of its time. According to the papyrus, the human body has four ‘humours,’ termed ‘hot,’ ‘cold,’ ‘wet,’ and ‘dry.’ The cause of any illness or disease is an imbalance in these bodily humours, and to treat such an imbalance, the opposite of the affected element had to be used.

William Cullen, an 18th-century Scottish physician, was one of the first people to prompt the utility of ‘cold bathing,’ as he affirmed that cold could be a sedative as well as a stimulant for blood flow in the body. From ancient Greek philosophers like Hippocrates to Chinese surgeons

like Hua To, people from all over the world would rely on a variety of cold treatments to cure various ailments, and it has thus become a well repeated life hack.

So, what are the benefits of cold showers that make them the key to success?

Cold shock therapy can reduce migraines by cooling the blood going through the intracranial arteries near the back of the neck. It also reduces pain and inflammation of irritated nerves — thus, being a lifesaver in terms of sports injuries. Cold therapy is also a primary tactic for fat burning as it can increase brown fat tissue activity, which in turn will increase calorie expenditure and increase metabolism by 80 per cent. Finally,

it is considered extremely effective for mood and sleep improvement, as regular cold treatments can have regulatory effects on sleep, which benefit patients suffering from depression and generalized anxiety.

Thus, when we look at the plethora of benefits one can reap from cold treatment, we evidently notice the positive, long-term impacts it can and will have on a person’s development and longevity — and it’s as easy as taking a cold shower or bath every day. Although tough, it is often said passage through fire is the genesis of steel, and if it takes ice to make our nerves like steel, so be it — here’s to taking a cold shower every morning!

*Cue shivering*

MAKENA MWENDA & ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

Shivangi

Cold shocks to the body can improve our immune system and longevity.

VURJEET MADAN/THEVARSITY

How U of T is becoming a world leader in interdisciplinary research

U of T’s Institutional Strategic Initiatives Office supports collaborative projects

Ashiana Sunderji Varsity Contributor

In 2019, U of T launched the Institutional Strategic Initiatives portfolio, which is a part of the division of the Vice President Research and Innovation and which establishes Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI). The ISI office works to grow networks of different faculties and organizations to enhance the university’s capacity for conducting impactful interdisciplinary research.

Arij Al Chawaf — the ISI Executive Director for Strategic Initiative Development — believes that the path to solving the problems facing our society today is paved by taking an interdisciplinary approach. In an interview with The Varsity, she said, “You might think interdisciplinary approach might just mean in terms of the research disciplines, but there [are] also [divisions] within all large academic institutions.”

Though each faculty at the university is conducting their own research, and sharing their findings through publications and conferences, opportunities for collaboration might be hard to come by. The ISI office works to bridge this gap by implementing projects that foster communication and collaboration between various faculties who are innovatively attempting to solve large challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and lack of effective mental health support for students.

By definition, an ISI project tackles a complex problem that is likely to be solved by an interdisciplinary collaborative approach between at least three partners. Partners can be internal divisions of the university — such as a faculty or an academic unit — as well as external organizations — such as hospitals, the government, other universities, foundations, or industries. Within an ISI project, researchers are trained to have the skills and ability to work in more than one of the disciplines involved so that there is a smooth collaboration.

Sean Caffrey — a former executive director for the ISI office — wrote in an email to The Varsity, “Once an ISI [project] is launched, [the ISI office] helps support [the project] through the following mechanisms: oversight, reporting & evaluation, branding & communications, capacity-building, strategic planning, human resources, [and] sustainability & fundraising.” Al Chawaf explained that financial sustainability is essential for ensuring continuous support once the seed funding from the ISI office has been used, and she suggests that this secondary funding might come

from “grants, industry consortia, or through a donor.”

The advantages of the collaborations generated and supported by the ISI office include funding and the establishment of sustainable infrastructure for work already being conducted to get a head start on grant applications. Two examples of large grants that have been successful targets of the ISI office are the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) and the Canadian First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).

The Emerging Pandemic and Infections Consortium (EPIC) is an ISI project at the University of Toronto that was created to research pandemics. It is a collaboration between C-CL3 — the only high-containment level 3 unit in the GTA — and a dichloride aerosol containment facility. EPIC’s goal is to become the leading initiative involved in the discovery of and policy making for infectious disease. In an email to The Varsity, Sean Caffrey wrote, “EPIC was featured heavily in the grant application and was critical to the grant application's success. U of T was awarded $35M from the BRIFCFI.” This is the largest-ever Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) award received by the uni versity.

The ISI office also supported U of T’s appli cation to the CFREF, which Caffrey notes is “the largest and one of the most presti gious grants that a univer sity can secure.”

U of T submit ted an ISI project called the Accelera tion Consortium, which tries to catalyze discovery by creating self-driving artifi cial intelligence labs. They have advanced to the final interview stage and requested a $200 million grant.

Examples of some other initiatives supported by the ISI include the Black Research Network, which was created in line with the recommenda tions of U of T’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force. The initiative has created an interdisciplinary net

work of black scholars, whose education and research are funded and promoted by the ISI office.

Also supported by the ISI, Inlight, the Student & Youth Mental Health Research Initiative fosters collaboration between the university, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and other hospitals in mental health research. Inlight has provided international impact through support from the Global Connaught Challenge Award.

Climate Positive Energy — also supported by the ISI — is an initiative that is tackling the goal of researching net zero emissions by 2050 by promoting collaboration between researchers in science, technology, policy, society, and economics.

Al Chawaf said that the problems addressed by the ISI “need innovative and… out of the box thinking, so bringing together

ers who can focus on one problem or the application of different approaches to a problem” is beneficial to making advancements. She used the example of the Data Sciences Institute, whose role in research is not only to focus on one specific problem but on how data sciences offer solutions for challenges in general.

The ISI is working to enhance the initiatives already in place to ensure that they are selfsustaining. Timothy Chan — the associate vicepresident and vice-provost of strategic initiatives — wrote in an email to The Varsity, “In the coming year or two, we hope to launch new initiatives and help our existing initiatives continue to develop vibrant communities of faculty, students, researchers, industry, and international partners.”

While keeping your breath fresh and your teeth clean, toothpaste may cause hidden harm on a larger scale.

Triclosan — an additive in some toothpastes, soaps, cosmetics, and household products — is a common antibacterial ingredient capable of killing up to 99.6 per cent of bacteria. However, the problem arises as antibacterial compounds like triclosan destroy normal bacteria and create an environment where mutated resistant bacteria can thrive. This process is of concern for human health, as it poses a risk of the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In a recent study led by Holly Barrett, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at U of T, researchers found that triclosan is the main antibacterial compound driving antibi-

otic resistance in Escherichia coli bacteria that were found in Ontario sewage sludge.

In itself, sewage sludge contains thousands of compounds, both antibiotic and nonantibiotic. Although triclocarban — another antibacterial ingredient in consumer products — was found in the highest abundance in sewage sludge, researchers identified triclosan as being responsible for most of the antibacterial activity that is contributing to the selection for antibiotic-resistant E. coli

According to Barrett and her co-authors, while the United States recently banned the use of triclosan in soaps and personal care products, north of the border, Canada has yet to address the issue. The spread of antibiotic resistance is threatening our means of treating even common infectious diseases such as E. coli or staph infections. Evaluation of triclosan usage is crucial in limiting this dangerous spread.

Sabrina Wong Science Columnist

Take a stroll through downtown Toronto, and you will find streets lined snugly with buildings and skyscrapers and only sprinkles of parks here and there. You can find a greater abundance of green spaces further north in the city, but nevertheless, the value of green space in Toronto and other urban spaces is ever increasing as cities grow in density and area globally.

Given the importance of urban greenery for human health, biological conservation, and sustainable development, a team of U of T researchers set out to quantify green space usage in the GTA to help inform urban planning and management.

The team — co-led by Alessandro Filazzola, a former postdoctoral fellow at UTM, and Scott MacIvor, assistant professor of biological sciences at UTSC — harnessed anonymized GPS data from cell phones to study human activity in

GTA parks, becoming among the first researchers in the world to employ this approach. The study used activity index data supplied by Mapbox, a provider of custom maps for major online platforms such as Snapchat, Strava, and the New York Times. Location data was collected every two hours, while user identities were kept anonymous.

In addition to Mapbox data, researchers partnered with local conservation authorities in the Halton region to track park usage on the ground. By comparing results from the two methods, researchers were able to confirm the precision of Mapbox numbers, opening doors for future studies to utilize the data for various purposes.

In this instance, the team’s findings revealed that trails, forests, and quiet areas were most favoured by park goers. Beyond providing insights, the quantification of green space usage can serve as a basis for evidence-based decision making, translating data into meaningful action for the benefit of city dwellers and wildlife alike.

CHERYL NONG/THEVARSITY

Sabrina Wong Science Columnist

Creating soccer: Pelé’s legacy in North America

Kunal Dadlani Associate Sports Editor

On December 29, 2022, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, died at the age of 82 after a long struggle with kidney and prostate problems.

Pelé scored a record 1281 goals in 1363 appearances during his soccer career, won the World Cup a record three times, and was named FIFA’s Player of the Century in 2000. As a result, Pelé is widely considered to be one of the greatest soccer players ever.

In an interview with The Varsity, Paul Cohen, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of History, explained that “His accomplishments, goalscoring alone, were unprecedented at the time and by some measures may have not been surpassed.”

Pelé was also impactful with the technical abilities he introduced. “Gestures, like step overs, feints, the things we associate with more modern players, from Johan Cruyff to Maradona to Messi to Ronaldo were invented really by Pelé,” Cohen explained.

The king of Brazil

Pelé made his debut for Santos Futebol Clube (FC), a Brazilian team based in São Paulo, at the age of 15. “He played his entire career with his Brazilian club, Santos… in an era before games were widely televised,” Cohen said. “[It was] extraordinary that Pelé became globally known.”

At the age of 17, Pelé won his first World Cup in 1958 before winning again in 1962 and 1970. Furthermore, he scored 77 goals for Brazil, making him Brazil’s joint-top scorer — Neymar Jr. joined him at the 2022 World Cup.

Additionally, as a Brazilian of African origin who had a humble upbringing,

was created in 1968, and by 1975, the league already had 20 teams with an average attendance of 7,770.

Pelé’s arrival in New York helped develop soccer, but Cohen stresses that he didn’t contribute to the development of soccer in the same way someone like David Beckham did — a superstar player who now owns a team in Miami.

“There [were] already investors who put money in… an effort to build infrastructure to create teams, [and] there [were] already spectators going to see games,” Cohen explained.

da and America have [a] history with…[soccer] is seen as mildly threatening,” Cohen stated.

Growth by association

Ultimately, Pelé’s role was simple. He helped amplify and market the league, with his style of play and his reputation popularizing soccer across America. Soccer might not have been very popular, but many Americans recognized the name Pelé. Attendance for Cosmos games increased, while Pele’s debut match had ten million TV viewers — an American record for a soccer game. Additionally, Pelé’s presence brought European superstars to America, like Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto.

Furthermore, in the North American context, Pelé had other qualities that facilitated his climb to the top. “He was always very careful to be apolitical,” Cohen described. “In a context in which questions of race and racism are present, both in Brazil and the United States, that was an important signal.”

Pelé was also important off the pitch, bringing pride to Brazil’s diversity. “[He’s] a symbol of Black

Brazilian-ness… that was communicated on the world stage,” Cohen explained.

But Pelé did not only play in Brazil — he came out of retirement and played in the United States, joining the New York Cosmos in 1975.

Soccer in America

Soccer was never completely absent in North America. The North American Soccer League (NASL)

Yet, soccer was still not the most popular sport in the USA and Canada — an exception from the rest of the world. The first explanation for this anomaly is that, while soccer was spreading across the world, popular sports already existed in North America, like American football, baseball or hockey.

“The sports landscape was already densely filled… so there was less room for a new sport to move into,” Cohen concluded.

Additionally, soccer was introduced by immigrants who brought their cultures with them. This dynamic presented another challenge to the development of the sport. “In moments of anxiety about immigration, [which] both Cana-

This made him more valuable in a period where many Black athletes, like Muhammad Ali, were very vocal on issues surrounding race in America. “There were risks entailed in speaking up,” Cohen suggests. “[Yet], we can find examples of players who speak up politically…and [Pelé] didn’t do that.”

Seeds for the future

In October 1977, Pelé played his farewell match, and in 1985, the NASL suspended operations. Yet soccer did not disappear in North America.

The NASL, and Pelé’s participation, helped soccer become a popular sport across North America. In 1988, FIFA awarded the hosting rights for the 1994 World Cup to the United States, promising the start of another league — Major League Soccer (MLS). Today, with the growing popularity of the MLS and with improved performances from both national teams, soccer has made huge strides in the USA and Canada.

Pelé will forever be a legendary figure across the world. But, specifically, in North America, he contributed to the transformation of “football,” a sport played by immigrants, into “soccer,” a fashionable sport that could stand on its own.

Setting Better Fitness Resolutions this New Year

Emily Bottrell Varsity Contributor

The first few weeks of 2023 will be stressful as we try to meet our New Year’s resolutions. Each new year brings a possibility for change with it, prompting New Year’s resolutions to be made, and broken, in a tradition in and of itself.

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions made are fitness and health-based goals. Unfortunately, not all of these fitness resolutions are sustainable, and many flake on their intentions as the new year progresses. Resolutions are set without knowing the steps required to reach the end goal.

During the 2017 New Year, researchers based at Stockholm University examined the likelihood of individuals to creatinge New Year’s resolutions and the rate at which these resolutions were followed. With over 65 per cent of study participants setting goals to do with physical health, weight loss, or eating, these three resolutions were the most commonly observed.

To get a closer look into this phenomenon, The Varsity interviewed Michael Inzlicht, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, to better understand why we set goals and how to improve them.

Societal influence may be a contributing factor to why fitness-based goals are so common. In an email to The Varsity, Inzlicht wrote, “Societal standards and ideals will certainly shape the goals that people set for themselves. As we live in a culture

with a certain beauty ideal (e.g., being thin), people will aspire to this ideal, even [when] it is not healthy, possible, or desirable for any one person.”

“The vast majority of people do not meet their NY’s resolutions; most people give up on them by the first week in February. So it is very common not to meet your personal goals,” wrote Inzlicht.

A solution to this is to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely (SMART), which can be easily developed to create sustainable and achievable goals. Setting approach-oriented goals has also been proven to be a more effective tactic for successfully achieving resolutions than avoidance-oriented goals. For this New Year’s, try setting resolutions based on something you would like to start doing, rather than something you would like to stop.

When it comes to exercise- and diet-related resolutions, achieving the end result can be especially difficult. Inzlicht wrote, “Research suggests that while people can shed pounds for a little while… [they] typically regain their lost weight a short time after they lose it.”

Instead Inzlicht suggests that, “A much better goal is to eat more healthy foods without the added requirement of losing weight.” Further research suggests that maintaining a consistent activity level and choosing healthy eating is optimal when improving your overall well-being.

The process of achieving a resolution, or any goal, can be tedious and regularly requires ongoing effort. Throughout this process, keeping a positive outlook and understanding what achiev-

ing that goal would mean to you can be helpful. “We know that negative feedback (and you can think of not meeting a goal as negative feedback) can hurt self-efficacy and in some cases make people feel bad about themselves,” wrote Inzlicht. Positive self-talk and understanding that achieving a goal takes time can remedy feelings of failure when working towards resolutions.

Research shows that more support throughout the resolution-setting process and the ability to make sustainable and attainable goals improve

the likelihood of meeting New Year’s resolutions. Having supportive people to motivate you and using SMART tactics can be fundamental.

It’s important to remember that setting New Year’s resolutions is an opportunity for personal development. “I think the act of reflecting on who one is and what one wants is not a bad thing. I actually think it is healthy,” Inzlicht wrote. This year, try working to achieve your resolutions by creating more sustainable goals.

Learning how to effectively set goals could be the answer to achieving fitness-based New Year’s resolutions.

U of T professor Paul Cohen discusses the Brazilian’s momentous impact on the sport

JISHNA SUNKARA/THEVARSITY

From bust to gold medalist: aA deep dive into Shane Wright’s 2022 season

Cole Hayes Varsity Contributor

It’s been a roller-coaster of a season for Shane Wright. The hockey phenom was projected to go first overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft ever since the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) granted him exceptional status to enter the league a year early in 2019.

The 19 year old made headlines at the 2022 draft, but not because any teams picked him first overall; instead, he dropped to the fourth overall pick and the Seattle Kraken drafted him.

Wright’s NHL career did not start the way he had hoped. He appeared in eight games for the Kraken, scoring two points and being a healthy scratch most nights, before the Kraken sent him to the minors, where he looked more like himself scoring four goals in five games. When he returned to the Kraken, he scored his first NHL goal in a ‘revenge game’ against the Montreal Canadiens. After this, Krakens loaned him to the World Juniors where he captained Team Canada to a gold medal.

Unlike many top picks in recent years, Wright hasn’t shown right away that he’s a consistent

ceeding expectations. “Seattle had some of the best depth scoring in the NHL this year. If you look at the number of unique goalscorers — they’re number one in the league.”

After finishing last in the Pacific Division in 2022, the Kraken are third in the Pacific in 2023 and are currently in a playoff spot. Eskanos went on about how general manager Ron Francis specially impacted the team.

“The moves Ron Francis made in the offseason have pretty much all panned out and, all of the sudden, they’re an incredibly deep team. They’re scoring a ton of goals per game.”

Due to the Kraken’s newfound success, Wright spent the majority of his days in Seattle in the press box. Because of that, he didn’t play with the same confidence that he did with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. There was a feeling-out process for Wright in his first few NHL games. The goal for him for the rest of the season is to get his ‘game’ back on.

NHL

many fans to ask the question: is Wright a bust?

At Wright’s age it’s reasonable to say that he hasn’t lived up to expectations in his short career. However, his shortcomings could be more a product of the Kraken’s development of Wright

Blues triumph over Gee Gees and Lions in trip-meet

Mekhi Quarshie Sports Editor

The Varsity Blues’ swimming teams made a splash in the Athletic Centre pool on Saturday, January 15 in the tri-meet against the Ottawa Gee Gees and York Lions.

What happened

The Blues’ women beat the Lions 101–20 and the Gee Gees 97–53, while the men beat LionsYork 102–43 and Gee GeesOttawa 82–68.

The Blues men’s team, who happen to be 18-time consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions, held their own against the two other teams.

Bernard Godolphin, prior rookie of the year, won the 100 and 400 freestyle events. Godol-

phin is now a third-year student and looks to build upon his strong 2022 season.

Graeme Aylward finished first in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Liam Weaver won his 50 freestyle event, with a 22.86 second time, Jacob Gallant won the 200 individual medley (IM), and Michael Sava was victorious in the 200 butterfly.

On the women’s side, Aleksa Gold had one of the strongest performances of the afternoon. Gold won the 400 freestyle, as well as the 100 and 200 backstroke. The fourth -year looks to have a strong season after coming first in the 200 freestyle and 400 IM last year.

Fourth-year Ainsley McMurray also had a great day. McMurray came first in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle. As McMurray came up for breaths during her butterfly strokes, you

No. 4 Men's Ice Hockey Ice Guelph Gryphons 3–1 at home

Mekhi Quarshie Sports Editor

The Blues broke out of their four game losing streak on January 14 with a 3–1 win over the Guelph Gryphons at Varsity Arena. It was the Blues’ first home game since December 3, 2022, and the atmosphere seemed to be a positive boost as the fans fed the morale of the players. Coming into the game, the Blues had already beaten the Gryphons in November, but the two teams shared a spot on the standings, with the Blues a mere three points above the bottom ranked Gryphons.

What happened

Cole Purboo’s shot on net in the first minute of the game was indicative of how the Blues were going to play all game; relentless pressure met with many shots on goal. Despite this, the Guelph goaltender, Cregan Brendan, was doing a good job keeping the puck out of the net in the first period,

with a whopping 14 saves.

It took the Blues about 15 minutes to find the tweed, and defenseman Ryan Barbosa did just that. A pass from forward Ross Krieger during the power play found Barbosa’s left skate as he kicked the puck out to his stick, and let one rip from the blue line. The puck sailed past the goalie, hit the top post and ricocheted into the goal. 1–0 Blues.

The Blues played with more defensive astuteness as the game progressed, and in the second period slowed down their relentless attack on offense. There was an apprehensiveness amongst the players — they were dominating and didn’t want to let another goal in on their end, but they were hungry for another goal.

They indeed managed to get a goal after Krieger took over. He glided down the ice during the 13th minute of the second period and fired one at the goalie from the right wing. The goalie deflected the shot right out to defensemen Quinn Hanna, who

Eskanos said that Wright’s lack of playing time was a product of the Kraken’s forward depth ex-

Wright's dominance in the American Hockey League (AHL) and his impressive game against the Canadiens helped him secure a loan to the World Juniors. After the tournament, Krakens sent Wright to the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL, who then traded him to the Windsor Spitfires at the trade deadline. The key for Wright in the second half of the season is to perform well in junior, and be hungry and confident-going into the next season.

All in all, it’s way too early to call Wright a bust, but a strong return to the OHL will help change the narratives around him.

What's next

easily tapped in the close range shot. 2-–0 Blues.

Going into the third period, the Blues played a lot more defensively. Knowing they were up by two, they parked the bus. However, the Gryphons’ offense responded with increased pressure, and if it wasn’t for goaltender Alexander Jett’s incredible 15 saves in the third period, the end score of the game could have looked a lot different.

The Gryphons’ Nolan DeGurse cut the lead in half with three minutes to go in the third period. The power play goal made everything more intense. As DeGurse sliced through the ice and toward Jett, Hanna dived in front of the goal with hopes of stopping the incoming shot. However, instead of shooting, DeGurse juked Hanna, brought

the puck to the other side and tapped it in. Luckily, the Blues came back to secure the win with a goal late in the third period. With 30 seconds left, the Gryphons pulled Creghan, from the goal, in order to have five players attacking for a chance of equalizing. This quickly backfired on them when the Blues regained possession, passed the ball up to Krieger, who blasted the puck into an open net.

What’s next

The Blues will take on the York Lions on January 19 at Varsity Arena. The Lions are currently ranked right below the Blues in sixth place, and the Blues had won the last time the two teams faced off, in November 2022.

Third-year forward Ryan Barbosa flirts with a hat trick in the decisive win

player, leading

rather than his abilities. The Varsity sat down with Seattle Kraken writer RJ Eskanos from Emerald City Hockey to talk about Wright’s season with the Krak.

Windsor is the next stop on the journey for the Seattle Kraken’s 2022 first round pick

COURTESY OF JENN G/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, JESSICA LAM/THEVARSITY

could hear the Blues family shouting “Go! Go!” — a convenient time for her to hear the encouragement.

Madeline Spencer placed first in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and Lily Chubaty finished first in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

The next dual meet that the Blues will participate in will be on January 21 against the the University of Calgary Dinos. The Dinos men are ranked second and the women are ranked third. Let’s hope the Blues will continue their strong start to the season.

Both the men and women’s teams dominated in the water over the weekend

The swimmers apprehensively checked the board after every race.

MEKHI QUARSHIE/THEVARSITY

Barbosa barraged the net with a series of shots throughout the night.

MEKHI QUARSHIE/THEVARSITY