THE VARSITY
Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
4 March, 2013
“Renew our fight” Sajjad to run unopposed for UTSU presidency Simon Bredin NEWS EDITOR
FiLe pHoTo: Bernarda Gospic/ THe VarsiTy
Current vice-president, university affairs Munib Sajjad will run unopposed for the presidency of the University of Toronto Students’ Union in this month’s election. Sajjad heads a ticket called Renew, which includes 18 board candidates and a team of four vice-presidents. All the Renew executive candidates are set to be acclaimed to their positions. Sajjad’s executive team of vice-presidents consists of Sana Ali (external), Agnes So (university affairs), Cameron Wathey (internal), and Yollen Bollo-Kamara (equity). Current vice-president, equity, Noor Baig is running for the Board of Directors on the Renew slate as an Arts & Science director-at-large. Bollo-Kamara, appointed this year as vice-president, campus life, is running for Baig’s current role of vice-president, equity. Acclaimed positions will be put to a “confirmation vote” with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ options on the ballot alongside the candidate’s name. According to the electoral code, positions where the candidate receives a majority of ‘no’ votes will be declared vacant. “In my past term as the vice-president, university affairs, I saw first hand how important it was to unite all 47,000 members to build campus life, fight for our rights and representation as students,
and provide cost-saving services,” said Sajjad in a statement released late Sunday night. Sajjad appeared poised for a campaign emphasizing his work in exposing illegal ancillary fees and opposing tuition increases. It is not clear what form a scheduled debate on March 7 will take. Sajjad could field questions from the audience, in a similar structure to the 2010 election. Several opposition candidates are seeking positions on the utsu’s Board of Directors, an oversight body with representatives from each of the colleges. Ben Crase is running for Trinity College’s one board seat, while simultaneously seeking to succeed Sam Greene as Trinity’s co-head of college. Crase is a co-author of a recent report examining how Trinity could sever financial ties with the utsu. In his candidate statement, Crase pledged to “do everything I can to ensure that Trinity students are no longer fee paying members of the utsu” by the time his term would begin in September 2013. No other candidate referenced the ongoing defederation crisis (for more, see “March referenda,” below) in their opening statements. The candidates convened Sunday in a closeddoor all-candidates meeting. The campaign period begins Monday. Polls are open March 12 to 14. For more coverage of the UTSU election, see #UTSU2013
Colleges schedule March referenda on severing financial ties to UTSU Colleges threaten to host votes themselves, if union refuses Zane Schwartz ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Members of vusac vote in favour of holding a defederation referendum Bernarda Gospic/THe VarsiTy
Meetings at Trinity, Victoria, and Engineering this week unanimously approved the holding of referenda to sever financial ties with the University of Toronto Students’ Union. Trinity scheduled a vote from March 25–29, and Victoria from March 23–26. Shaun Shepherd, the outgoing utsu president, has said the union will not host the referenda, as requested by the units seeking defederation. Instead, Shepherd offered to meet again with college leaders, saying he wanted to “focus on issues of primacy” such as illegal fees and access to multi-faith prayer space, and less on “silly” issues, including defederation, that he says are a “distraction.”
Have a ball by learning how to toss spheres of snow from a pro pg 23
“Every few years we see this push for some type of drastic change,” said Shepherd. Shepherd’s offer of mediation was swiftly rejected by college leaders, all of whom are determined to put the question of continuing financial ties with the union to a vote before the end of this academic year. “Faith has been lost in the utsu’s ability to hold meaningful dialogue,” said Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (vusac) president Shoaib Alli. “This tactic isn’t new. They’ve been doing it all year. They defied the will of their members at the sgm in February, they’re trying to defy the will of their members now, and they’ll keep defying the will of their members until we fight back and throw off this degraded, corrupt system,” said Sam Greene, co-head of Trinity College. “Ninety per cent of what we’ve heard from the Union this year, and for the past decade, is prevarication, equivocation, misdirection and obfuscation,” said Greene.
CONTINUED PG 7
Cupcakes by Heather and Lori not the (butter)cream of the crop pg 14
2
VARSITY NEWS
Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
WHAT’S GOING ON
THE VARSITY
THIS WEEK
VOL. CXXXIII No. 17
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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Murad Hemmadi
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UTSU ALL-CANDIDATES EXECUTIVE DEBATE Wednesday, March 6, 4–8 pm William Doo Auditorium 45 Willcocks St.
JEREMY GRAHAM @JEREMY_GRAHAM #UofT#Portal still running poorly since this morning’s issues. We are doing emergency maintenance now to address it.
VUSAC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Wednesday March 6, 6–9 pm Northrop Frye Hall| Room 003 73 Queen’s Park Crs IRON STRINGS PLAY TCHAIKOVSKY Thursday, March 7, 7:30 pm Hart House 7 Hart House Circle
—February 28, 2013 GET EM’ TALKING: HOW TO PLAN AND RUN ENGAGING DISCUSSIONBASED TUTORIALS Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation Thursday March 7 10 am–12 pm Blackburn Room | Robarts Library 4th Floor 130 St George St NATIONAL STUDENT HEALTH SURVEY National College Health Assessment (NHCA) 2013 March 1-18 Check your email for a link to the survey
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Video Editor Wyatt Clough
the week in tweets
ON CAMPUS
arts@thevarsity.ca
Science Editor Dennis Dobrovolsky
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video@thevarsity.ca
Associate Design Editors Natalie Morcos Nathan Watson Associate Photo Editor Michael Chahley Carolyn Levett Associate Online Editor Sofia Luu Associate Copy Editor Catherine Virelli Associate News Editors Zane Schwartz Irina Vukosavic Associate Comment Editor Vacant Associate Features Editor Damanjit Lamba Associate A&C Editors Danielle Klein Ishita Petkar Associate Science Editors Roxanne Leung Katrina Vogan Associate Sports Editors Elizabeth Benn William Deck
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTIONS Nomination period open until 5 pm March 11, 2013 Voting period: March 17, 18, and 19, 2013. Vote online at voting.utoronto.ca All members of VARSITY PUBLICATIONS INC. who will continue to be members as of September 15, 2013, are eligible to run for election to the corporation’s Board of Directors.
MARGARET E. ATWOOD @MARGARETATWOOD Why is my silly @UofTNews Alma M. covering back campus w. PLASTIC? Noo! Heat island! Bad message! —February 16, 2013
ANNE LUO @ANNEELUO Why must saturday morning exams exist #UofT#notcool — March 1, 2013
U OF T BACK CAMPUS @BACKCAMPUSGREEN @hilary_hart If we win — when we win — we want to fundraise to drain and resurface Back Campus for sport! Keep#UofT Back Campus Green —March 1, 2013
CRYSTAL @CJYC23 It’s that time of year again - UTSU election campaigns start tomorrow. #UofT #cuedramaticmusic
Writers Rida Ali, Patrick Baud, Elizabeth Benn, Ramon Boghozian, Simon Bredin, Ameya Charnalia, Sri Chaudhuri, Amanda Coletta, Sophia Costomiris, William Deck, Nicole Doucette, Jesse Hilderbrand, Adrienne Ho, Danielle Klein, Ken Kongkatong, Roxanne Leung, Alanna Lipson, James Maiangowi, Ishita Petkar, Zane Schwartz, Fatima Syed, Jakob Tanner, Catherine Virelli, Katie Vogan, Alec Wilson, Theodore Yan Copy Editors Armen Alexanian Montana Attwood Elizabeth Benn Lois Boody James Maiangowi Heather Pierce Kayla Rosen Laura Sabatini Shifa Tauqir Catherine Virelli
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The Varsity is the University of Toronto's largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. The Varsity has a circulation of 20,000, and is published by Varsity Publications Inc. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2013 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions. Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789 Please recycle this issue after you are finished with it.
—March 3, 2013
The Explainer
Crime Stats February 22–27
8 1 7 5 1 1
Thefts
Mischief
Trespasses
Security alarms
Elevator entrampment
What’s changed in the #UTSU2013 electoral code?
1. Increasing the minimum required number of polling stations on both campuses, and clarifying the definition of a library for campaigning and polling purposes. 2. Mandating the unofficial release of election results within 48 hours of the count, and also requiring an automatic recount if the vote margin is less than 50 for executive positions, 25 for at large positions, 10 for division I positions, and five for division II positions. 3. Rewriting the rule against “undermining the authority of the CRO” to forbid only “persistent attempts to undermine the ability of the CRO or the ERC to carry out their responsibilities,” as well as removing the discretion of the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) to award more than the listed number of demerit points for violations of the EPC. 4. Reducing the number of signatures required to nominate an executive candidate from 200 to 100. 5. Allowing more than one All Candidates Meeting. 6. Clarifying that the CRO may both reimburse and lend funds to non-executive candidates who demonstrate financial need to improve accessibility. 7. Clarifying when deposits for appeals made to the Elections and Referenda Appeals committee will be refunded.
Dispute
Visit var.st/bxb to view the electoral audit conducted by Davis LLP.
var.st/news
VARSITY NEWS
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
3
With campus election season underway, the union and its opponents are emphasizing lobbying and advocacy efforts at Queen’s Park. . MICHAEL CHAHLEY/THE VArsITY
SGRT, Duguid talk tuition, housing,
and union “transparency” Renewed advocacy efforts come as colleges seek to replicate UTSU successes Theodore Yan
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Members of the St. George Round Table (sgrt) met last Thursday with MPP Brad Duguid, Ontario’s new Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities under Premier Kathleen Wynne. The sgrt and Duguid spent a half-hour discussing topics such as a new tuition framework, affordable student housing, and the role of teaching versus research universities in the province’s post-secondary system. “I’m excited about working here with you,” said Duguid. “This doesn’t have to be formal — I just want to learn from you, learn what you’re thinking,” he said. “This is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation I’d like to have with you through the coming months.” “Here’s where my head is right now,” the minister remarked on the topic of tuition, “I think we need to take a really good look at the current framework and the implications of extending it as is. I’m not inclined to be thinking in that way, so I think we’ve got to do something different. If time permits, and I don’t know that it will, I’d like to do something a little more long range.” The tuition framework is a method by which the provincial government determines how much funding to devote to universities and colleges. The Canadian Federation of Students has also been lobbying for a revised framework that will freeze or lower tuition costs. Rishi Maharaj, president of the Engineering Society, said that, beyond the question of tuition fees, “institutions have a bigger role to play in ensuring funds they receive from the government are spent in the best way to improve education. “What we’ve seen in the last 10 to 15 years is that the budgets of universities have gone up, but those increases haven’t necessarily trickled down to the classroom,” said Maharaj.
Some time was spent discussing the importance of recognizing the different priorities of universities in Ontario, between teaching and research, and the implications for ministry policy. The group also discussed affordable student housing. The discussion between the sgrt and the minister also touched on “transparency,” a byword for discussing “issues with transparency and accountability in terms of student union operations,” as co-head of Trinity College Sam Greene described it. Students of Trinity College, Victoria University, and the Faculty of Engineering are pursuing “defederation,” a bid to re-route student fees away from the utsu to college councils, in the belief that they could effectively provide the same services as the students’ union for the same or lower cost. Thursday’s meeting, the second policy discussion between members of the St. George Round Table and the tcu minister this year, pointedly lacked representatives from the utsu and the utm and utsc campuses. This year, the sgrt has sought to present itself as a legitimate forum for advocacy and lobbying efforts as some of its college members are exploring ways to replicate the utsu’s functions, in advance of votes on defederation expected later this month. Minister Duguid, for his part, characterized the conflict between the utsu and the colleges as “interesting.” “Accountability is important for any organization,” said Duguid, “and organizations need to be accountable to the people they’re serving. It’s not just about paying fees or getting value — are they accountable to you? If they’re not, students have every right to look at alternatives.” “I’m not about to dictate what the government thinks should be done, other than to offer any assistance I can in working with any student organizations or groups, affiliated or not affiliated, and provide information, advice, and encouragement to engage in a really wholesome debate,” Duguid added.
sgrt representatives meet with MPP Brad Duguid. CAroLYn LEVETT/THE VArsITY
“The utsu does advocacy on a number of levels and has been able to accomplish many victories for students and be the instigators for some of the most successful campaigns students have won in Canada,” read a statement from Shaun Shepherd, the outgoing utsu president. In the statement, Shepherd listed some of the union’s successful lobbying campaigns, including the implementation of free rehearsal and athletic space for campus clubs, blocking the creation of the School of Languages and Literatures, and the reduction in price of the post-secondary student Metropass. Shepherd also called for unity amongst various factions in the student body. “Governing bodies are able to pass policies that are not favourable to students when we are focused on infighting and division,” he wrote. “We need a centralized students’ union, and cannot give in to the politics of separation.”
The utsu president reacted to news of the sgrt’s meeting with Minister Duguid, saying, “It’s always good when students are meeting with representatives to advocate for their membership, and we encourage this. But if they feel unprepared or need some assistance with research or positions to put forward, we are here to help.” “We would have loved to be a part of the meeting held yesterday, but are happy with the opportunities we have ahead of us to do so,” said Shepherd. The St. George Round Table, chaired by Scott Dallen, comprises the student leaders of each of the colleges and faculties of the university. Representatives of the sgrt in attendance at the meeting included Greene, Maharaj, Dallen, Paulina Bogdonova, cohead of the Trinity College, and Aman Chohan, president of the Innis College Student Society.
4
VARSITY NEWS
Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
UTMSU
news@thevarsity.ca
forced to redo referendum
January vote used a T-Card scanner from UTSU’s November AGM, prompting security questions Fatima Syed
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The results of a referendum establish funding to expand utm’s Student Centre were deemed invalid when the university found that the wrong voter list was used. According to the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, utmsu used a T-Card scanner containing the data from the utsu’s November agm, accidentally allowing St. George students to vote in the utm referendum. The referendum called for a temporary fee increase over the next three years to fund a $4 million expansion, the cost of which would be split equally between the student union and the university. The first referendum was approved with 1,368 students of 2,258 full-time students (about 60 per cent of the total vote) voting ‘yes’. Only five per cent of the student population needed to vote in order for the referendum to be valid. The Medium, utm’s student newspaper, wrote that the mishap was caused by the chief electoral officer (ceo) — responsible for overseeing the referendum process — and was subsequently “expedited” according to an explanation given
by the utmsu. The error prompted the ceo, Babatumi Sodade, to resign from his position. The Medium also claimed that the utmsu attempted to discredit coverage of the referendum, despite the reporters and editors involved confirming the facts and statistics used. The campaign was marked by “confusion” according to one report in the paper. Vice-provost Jill Matus said that utmsu requested a password-protected disk containing truncated student numbers for their voter list on January 7, 2013, but the disk was not picked up or used. This is the university’s preferred method of providing personal information for in-person voting. “When requested, we provide information to student societies in this way, enabling them to verify their membership in order to conduct their business, while at the same time protecting students’ confidential personal information in compliance with provincial protection of privacy legislation,” said Matus. Matus also said that the T-Card verification system used by utmsu involves two parts: an online database — owned, operated and controlled by the university, which was first created to quickly verify
membership for the sale of discounted ttc Metropasses by the utsu — and an optical card reader that belongs to the utsu. When in use for the utmsu referendum, the T-Card reader was still loaded with data for the utsu’s November agm. “The uploaded voter information was therefore out of date and included St George students,” Matus said, adding that “had utmsu advised the vice provost, students office in advance, as required, that it wished to use the T-Card reader for voter verification, the correct data for utm would have been uploaded for the T-Card reader.” utsu’s confidentiality agreement specifies that the use of its date would be limited for the agm only; hence, the fact that the T-Card reader with the same data was used at the utm referenda constitutes a breach of that confidentiality agreement. Sandra Hudson, executive director at the utsu, says that the utsu has in no way engaged in any activity that breached its confidentiality agreement, emphasizing that no member of the staff of the utsu executive provided access to the student lists to utmsu. Hudson added that the T-Card reader is not owned by the utsu
but rather by the university, and the union did not have access to the database this year as they did not have the password; the November agm was instead carried out by manual registration. According to Hudson, the utmsu was using the same password and username to access the system as they did in the 2012 election, when in the past the procedure has been to receive a new password with up-to-date information on a monthly basis. Hudson questions the university’s reliability in administrating online systems and argues that “if each students’ union could manage their own list, there would be no danger that the university administration could accidentally provide this private information to the wrong students’ union.” She hopes to actively pursue this issue of access through greater conversation with the administration. Matus is working on putting better safeguards in place to ensure that such errors do not happen again when the T-Card reader is used, and that student unions will be involved in the process to ensure a better password system for the T-Card reader. However, Matus does emphasize that
“the T-Card reader should not be lent out by utsu to other student unions without written confirmation from the Vice Provost, Student’s office that the appropriate data for the student union in question has been uploaded.” She adds that “it is preferable, however, that, if in-person elections are to be held, student societies use the first method I described — the password protected CD — to verify voter eligibility.” Political culture at utm is different from St. George, according to interviews with students. There are no college councils challening the student union, and virtually no one to lead a “no” campaign. With a strong commuter population, utmsu has argued that a new student centre would be a welcome addition to the campus. If approved the next time, it would mean that the utmsu would see a temporary increase of $54 per year for the first three years, as well as a permanent increase of $21 per fall/winter session (including the first three years). This yields a total fee of $100 per year for the first three years and $46 afterwards. Planning for a second referendum is underway.
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VARSITY NEWS
var.st/news
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
5
19 students candidates sought election on U of Tโ s Governing Council. Tuesdayโ s announcement results named 29 elected and appointed governors. File Photo: Bernarda GosPic/the Varsity
Governing Council election results announced Catherine Virelli
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The results of the 2013 Governing Council elections were announced Tuesday, with a total of 29 governors โ both elected and acclaimed โ to take up positions on next yearโ s council. The most contested category was for representatives for fulltime undergraduate Arts & Science students, whose two seats were sought by 19 candidates. Trinity College student Aidan Fishman was resoundingly reelected with a total of 1,008 votes, more than twice that of Adrian De Leon from University of Toronto Scarborough, who won the second seat with 477 votes. The Governing Council is the universityโ s highest-ranking and most influential body, with a membership consisting of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members. The council approves major decisions in such areas as the universityโ s academics, finances, and student life. The vote, held online from February 11โ 22, was the culmination of a campaign period that saw candidates visiting lecture halls, sending emails through list-servs, and touring dining halls to rally support for their cause.
MDP
The closest race was lost by incumbent, Chirag Variawa, whose campaign for to retain his position as governor for graduate students in Physical and Life Sciences was felled by a single vote. Alexandra Harris, a student in Nursing Science, beat six other candidates for the seat. Over his previous two terms as governor, Variawa has sat on numerous sub-committees and led several high-profile projects. Variawa was the driving force behind the Blackboard Mobile App, a mobile-friendly version of the Blackboard Portal that is now available to all smartphones. โ Iโ ve made a measureable difference in the largest university in Canada for two consecutive terms, and have demonstrated my commitment to a realistic progressive vision in increasingly diverse and now more-accessible environments,โ said Variawa in a statement. In a departure interview with The Varsity, Variawa also discussed ongoing projects, including the construction of an integrated calendar system akin to Appleโ s iCal for rosi. Variawa says the system would provide a calendar that would sync itself to smartphones, eliminating any potential confusion with general course information such as changing room numbers or lecture time.
According to re-elected governor Fishman, the work of outgoing governors like Variawa can be continued. Fishman says the structure of the council itself encourages effective information flow between outgoing and incoming governors: โ Institutionally, thereโ s definitely knowledge flow โ ฆ [For example,] thereโ s the Office of the Governing Council, which employs various secretaries and systems to keep track of what the council is doing. So even if hypothetically the entire council changed from one year to the next, theyโ d have a record of everything that went on.โ
In interviews with The Varsity, many of the incoming and outgoing student governors voiced common concerns and priorities, including an emphasis on transparency in Governing Council affairs, and the need for more students to become involved in campus life and activities. โ Itโ s so sad when you look at the actual numbers [of voters for Council], like itโ s a fraction of the total body,โ said Alexandra Harris. โ I think a lot of U of T students just arenโ t engaged [in university affairs] at the level that they need to be.โ Although they are in agreement about some basic points like trans-
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parency and student engagement, some of the newly-elected governors have priorities of their own. Harris said one of her primary concerns is opportunities available to international students. The University of Toronto Act, 1971 still forbids anyone who is not a Canadian citizen from seeking office on Governing Council. Fishmanโ s key issues include abolishing the breadth requirements for Arts & Science undergraduate students. Other winners were unavailable for comment as of The Varsityโ s press time. The election results were confirmed at Fridayโ s Governing Council meeting.
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6
Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
VARSITY NEWS
news@thevarsity.ca
From left, Noor Baig, Farhia Farah, and Sandy Hudson at the Unity Ball. Bernarda Gospic/THe VarsiTy
Unity Ball celebrates campus club accomplishments Transitional Year Program and Muslim Students’ Association amongst winners Ameya Charnalia
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) held its annual Unity Ball last Friday evening, honouring outstanding clubs and student leaders for their contributions to the campus community. utsu vice-president, university affairs, Munib Sajjad said the event showcases the great work done by campus organizations, and inspires future achievements. “Our clubs form the backbone of the utsu and are a great way for students to get involved,” said Sajjad. “A lot of clubs work to create a sense of community, and at U of T it is hard to achieve that. We like to recognize their efforts,” said Noor Baig, vice-president, equity. Although nominations came from students, the award winners were selected by the utsu Clubs Committee. The utsu Club Leadership Awards included Commission and Campus Life Awards. The People’s Choice Award was presented to the Orphan Sponsorship Program, which also won the Social Justice and Equity Commission award, which it shared with Journalists for Human Rights (jhr). jhr also won the Outstanding Cultural Award. The Transitional Year Program Preservation Alliance (typpa) won the Academic and Student Rights Commission Award. The Transitional Year Program (typ), currently an independent faculty, is attempting to resolve
a budgetary stand-off between program administrators and Simcoe Hall over a proposed merger with the Faculty of Arts & Science. “We have been working tirelessly to get the word out about our situation,” said Eric Jadidzadeh, who accepted the award on behalf of the typpa. Worried that the proposed merger will undermine the typ’s autonomy, Jadidzadeh lauded the utsu’s recognition of the group’s work. Juxtaposition Global Health Magazine, a student-run magazine covering global health issues, won the Outstanding Publication Award. Editors-in-chief Sarindi Aryasinghe and India Burton said that the award acknowledges the hard work done by the magazine in addition to getting the word out about the publication. The Black Students’ Association (bsa) won the Event of the Year Award (Summer) — presented as Event of the Semester — for their ‘High School Conference.’ One of the biggest events to take place on campus, the conference is an opportunity for the bsa to encourage access to education in groups that are historically underrepresented in post-secondary institutions. The Event of the Year Award (Fall) was shared between the Muslim Students’ Association, Organizations of Latin American Students (olas), Egyptian Students Association, Hindu Students’ Council (hsc), Power to Change, Afghan Students’ Association and the Arab Students’ Association for hosting ‘The Big bbq’. The Hindu Students’ Association also won the Event of the Year Award (Winter) for their
‘Garba,’ which took months of planning and was attended by over 200 students. “The Garba is an important annual event which we try to make open to everyone,” said Arjun Bhalla, hsc co-president. In addition to cultural celebrations like Holi, Diwali and the Garba, the group hosts popular Bollywood nights. olas and the Silhouettes Dance Company, a performance-based dance troupe at the University of Toronto, performed on stage before the dance-floor was opened to the attendees. The Unity Ball, as its name implies, seeks to bring students together, and with recent talk of “defederation” from the utsu by some groups, the symbolic value of the event was clear. “The Unity Ball is an opportunity for club executives, directors, volunteers and general members to celebrate the campus groups that create student life. Since the creation of the Unity Ball we have seen more clubs collaborating with one another and the building campus unity — working together is the kind of thing that makes the clubs on our campus so great,” said Yolen BolloKamara, vice-president, campus life, in a statement to The Varsity. Ultimately the goal is to ensure that students have a good university experience, said Baig. The award ceremony was interspersed with dinner, dancing, and live music. The evening’s celebrations also featured a buffet, candy station, and a cash bar, in addition to the awards.
OUTSTANDING NEW CLUB AWARD Indonesian Student Community OUTSTANDING PUBLICATION AWARD Juxtaposition Global Health Magazine OUTSTANDING SCHOOL SPIRIT AWARD South Asian Alliance OUTSTANDING EXECUTIVE MEMBER AWARD Aisha Raja, President, Muslim Students’ Association Nadia Hosseinzadeh, President, Polish Students’ Association EVENT OF THE YEAR AWARD, PRESENTED AS EVENT OF THE SEMESTER Summer: Black Students’ Association, High School Conference Winter: Hindu Student Council, Winter Garba Fall: Organisation of Latin American Students and Polish Students’ Association, Muslim Students’ Association, Egyptian Students’ Association, Hindu Students’ Council, Power to Change, Afghan Students’ Association, Arab Students’ Association, the BIG BBQ PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD Orphan Sponsorship Program
UTSU leads council to rejection of fee increases Funding sought by Hart House, Office of Student Life, Physical Education denied Rida Ali
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The Council on Student Services (coss) has rejected proposed fee increases for Hart House, the Office of Student Life (osl), and the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (kpe). The utsu’s Board of Directors voted to direct representatives on coss to oppose the increases. Student representatives form a majority on the council. Hart House had requested a fee increase of 5.2 per cent, so that full-time and part-time students at St. George would have seen an increase of $73.39 and $15.89 respectively, while fees at the utm and utsc campuses would have been an extra $2.44 for full-time students and $0.49 for part-time. While acknowledging that Hart House plays an important role in campus life, the utsu
representatives voted against the fee increase on the grounds that “the responsibility of [increasing] costs have continually fallen upon students who already cover a substantial part of the operating budget, whereas the central university contributes zero dollars while benefiting from the publicity of Hart House’s successes,” according to a report by the union. In September, Hart House announced a series of belt-tightening measures as administrators sought to close a budget deficit of a half-million dollars. The Hart House Finance Committee has called for funds to be diverted towards building maintenance as a long-term financial priority. “This is one of the most precious, favoured places in the city and we just face enormous demand,” Hart House Warden Bruce Kidd told The Varsity in September. “This is a way of both dealing with our financial challenges and also using our space in an effective and productive [way].”
The utsu report also described concerns that while Hart House has indicated that it intends to increase participation with the Mississauga and Scarborough campuses, they “hesitate [to recognize] the substantive importance on a tri-campus level.” The Office of Student Life had proposed a fee increase of 4.99 per cent that would only affect students at the St. George campus. Full-time students would have seen an increase to $133.14 and part-time students an increase to $26.63. The osl’s reasons for the proposed fee increase included funding to cover the costs of increased compensation, hiring a full-time staff member to administer the co-curricular transcript, and expanding the team of staff working on student academic success to three full-time employees. According to the report, the utsu recognized that osl is a vital department at the
University of Toronto but defeated the fee increase on the “principled basis that students are continually paying too much for their university experience [and] cannot continue paying increasingly high ancillary fees while the university fails to invest in student life programs.” The Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (kpe) proposed a fee increase of 3.21 per cent. Full-time students at the St. George campus would have seen an increase to $154.83, part time students $30.97. The report opposed the fee on the basis that, while kpe is the largest employer of students on campus, and has been “very receptive in implementing recommendations and policy changes to reduce costs for campus groups,” students continue to pay to cover the majority of the operating costs while funding from the university has remained static.”
VARSITY NEWS
var.st/news “COLLEGES” CONTINUED FROM COVER Shepherd has publicly maintained that the utsu’s bylaws do not allow for such referenda, and that only the union itself may determine its membership. However, item XIIc of the utsu bylaws states that referendum questions: “must be approved by the Board by three-quarters (3/4) of the Directors.” Shepherd, who has a vote on the Board of Directors, acknowledged that a referendum could be approved this way, but ruled out the option, saying, “I’m just not going to do that.” “The only possible explanation for the utsu refusing to have a referendum is that they know they’ll lose,” said Greene. “They’re left with only two options: allow a democratic referendum and lose, or shut down and ignore the democratic will of their members.” UNANIMOUS SUPPORT FROM COLLEGES
The Trinity College Meeting (tcm), vusac and the Engineering Society’s Board of Directors all voted unanimously to host referenda under their own rules if the utsu will not supervise a vote on the prospect of their financial exit. All three student societies released reports this week on the logistics of defederation. The reports, which can be read in full on thevarsity. ca, all reach the same conclusion: local units can provide all of the services utsu does, at equal or reduced cost. The utsu rejected this analysis and repeatedly voiced concerns about the accuracy of the reports. The engineer’s report claims that there is a potential for a $94,830 surplus if Engineering were to secede. Similarly, the vusac report claims severing financial ties with the union and re-routing student fees would yield “at minimum” $99,328 in new funds. All colleges have indicated that it would be up their members to decide whether to allocate the funds to new projects, or return it in savings to their members.
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
Corey Scott, utsu vice-president, internal, authored the union’s response to the Trinity report; the response alleges “many false factual and interpretive claims.” Scott added that “accurate information is crucial to the democratic process” and voiced concern that “students at Trinity will be voting based on the inaccuracies” contained within the original report. Despite Scott’s objections, the Trinity College Meeting attendees, all of whom received copies of both the Trinity report and the utsu response, unanimously approved a call to hold a referendum in late March. The utsu’s vice-president, equity, Noor Baig, attended Trinity’s meeting as an observer and declined to answer questions. Following the tcm, Shepherd sent a letter to vusac president Alli, requesting that discussion of defederation be taken off the agenda for the vusac meeting. “Our position continues to be that a dialogue between the utsu and the vusac is the preferred approach to addressing issues raised by vusac,” Shepherd wrote. Shepherd also attended Friday’s vusac meeting, and responded to questions for almost an hour. It was here that he conceded that the union could hold a referendum, if the board approved it by three-quarters majority, while also reiterating that he did not feel a referendum was in the best interests of students. A number of students at the meeting raised concerns about defederation. At the end of the meeting 17 voted in favour, with zero against and zero abstentions. The tcm voted unanimously in favour of holding a defederation referendum. Bernarda Gospic/THe VarsiTy
VICE-PROVOST APPEARS “NON-COMMITAL”
Last week, Shepherd sent a letter to Trinity warning of “clear legal precedent” prohibiting financial secession. The Engineering Society and vusac received similar letters this week. A courtroom conclusion seems probable, and will hinge largely on what action, if any, the university administration takes. The utsu maintains that any referendum will be “of no effect,” although it is the University
Affairs Board (uab) of Governing Council that will ultimately vote on whether to approve the diversion of fees. In letters sent to the divisions seeking defederation, Shepherd wrote that the utsu “takes issue with your attempts to involve the university administration in the utsu’s internal affairs.” Vice-Provost Jill Matus declined to answer The Varsity’s questions about whether the
uab would consider a referendum from the colleges. Matus said only that “the University is analyzing the issues and will be writing to utsu President Shaun Shepherd.” Matus has also met in recent weeks with college leaders seeking defederation, including Greene and Maharaj. According to Maharaj, Matus remained “non-commital” during those meetings but indicated that uab would likely consider the referenda.
News in brief Law Faculty launches new program The Centre for the Legal Profession, housed at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, will officially launch a new Program on Ethics in Law and Business this week. According to the Centre’s Academic Director, Professor Anita Anand, the relevant question today is not whether a business decision is legal but whether it is right. The program’s aim is to draw attention to the ethical challenges that arise at the cross-roads between law and business, an approach that the Centre said has not been replicated elsewhere in North America. It comes at a time as there is increasing weariness about the behaviour of financial institutions and the spate of conflict of interest scandals, particularly those involving lawyers. The program’s high-profile advisory board includes former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci, former Ontario lieutenant-governor Hal Jackman, and Howard Wetston, chairman at the Ontario Securities Commission. Focusing on research, public debate, and advocacy, the program’s launch will feature a panel that will canvass recent high-profile cases like Nortel Networks and YBM Magnex International. —Adrienne Ho With files from The Globe and Mail.
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U of T alumnus wins Oscar University of Toronto alumnus Mychael Danna won his first Oscar last Sunday in the Best Original Score category for the film Life of Pi, based on Canadian author Yann Martel’s novel. The film was well received by the academy, winning more awards than any other nominated film this year, with a total of four wins. Danna was nominated for a second award, in the Best Song category, for “Pi’s Lullabye,” but he lost to Adele’s top hit, “Skyfall.” Danna’s talent has lead him to work on scores for films such as Capote, Moneyball, and Ride with the Devil, among others, and with directors including Ang Lee, Denzel Washington, and Joel Schumacher. Danna graduated from U of T in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, with his talent already being noticed by his professors. He worked with various drama groups at U of T, where he first met Canadian film director Atom Egoyan. He later worked with Egoyan on films including The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, Ararat, and Chloe. Danna still frequently visits and supports his alma mater. In January 2011, he returned to campus as the first Louis Applebaum Distinguished Visitor in Film Music. —Elizabeth Benn
U of T computer scientist claims top award Stephen Cook has been awarded this year’s Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s top annual science prize, for his influential career spanning four decades of computer science research. “It’s quite an honour, I have to say,” Cook said of the award, which comes with $1 million in research funding over five years. The Herzberg medal recognizes researchers for excellence and “influence of research work conducted in Canada in the natural sciences or engineering.” Cook, university professor of computer science, first joined the faculty of U of T in 1970 as an associate professor. Cook’s chief research area has been in computational complexity theory, a branch of theoretical computer science studying how much time and memory computers take to solve different classes of problems. Cook previously won the 1982 Turing Award, widely recognized as the ‘Nobel Prize of computing,’ for his seminal contributions to computer science. —James Maiangowi With files from the CBC
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
VAR.ST/COMMENT 4 MARCH 2013 comment@thevarsity.ca
Devyn Noonan endorses Justin Trudeau for Liberal leader var.st/comment
Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak recently released his party's White Paper on post-secondary education ONTARIO PC PARTY/FLICKR
Unpacking the PC's PSE plan Hudak's proposals would create a structurally unfair system Alec Wilson
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
As some warn that we could see depressionlevel unemployment in the near future, the Ontario Progressive Conservative white paper, “Paths to Prosperity: Higher Learning for Better Jobs,” has brought new and controversial ideas to the table. The white paper, which was released this February by pc leader Tim Hudak and his Training, Colleges, and Universities critic Dr. Rob Leone, presents a strategy for tertiary education in Ontario that would create a far more differentiated system. There would be an elite tier of research universities not subject to tuition regulating. This teir would be in addition to teaching-focused universities, applied institutes, career colleges, and training and apprenticeship programs. Hudak and Leone also suggest that Ontario should adopt a ‘learn to earn’ strategy, tying financial aid to academic performance. All of this would fall under a new 'college first' approach to Ontario post-secondary education. The Ontario pc's perspective on the social and economic value of post-secondary education in Ontario and their proposals for creating a more cost-effective system are flawed for several reasons. For starters, their numbers are
suspect. While the Progressive Conservatives have claimed that one-third of new university graduates are not employed full-time in a career related to their field of study within two yearsof graduation, Rob Ferguson of the Toronto Star indicates that 78 per cent of that demographic are employed full-time, and 94 per cent are working in some capacity. If the latter set of statistics is more accurate, it raises questions about whether there is really a driving need to create a more effective system that educates our students cheaper and faster and plugs them into jobs to feed the economy more quickly. Ferguson’s statistic would suggest that Ontarians are generally well-served by our existing mix of training institutions, colleges and universities, and merely need the government to focus improving access for students and ensure sustainable public investment in our schools. It is certainly not clear that the proposed achievement-based financial aid system would achieve the access, retention, and success goals that Hudak and Leone claim to be setting. In reality, this model would be intrinsically prejudicial towards middle- and low-income students. The impact of this financial aid system would be to force students with less means to meet higher academic standards than their more wealthy peers in order to access to higher education. Students who could pay tuition inde-
pendently would only have to meet admission requirements, while students seeking financial aid would have to meet both the standards for admission and the standards for aid. Disguised in the language of rewarding merit, this plan would create a two-tier system that is structurally unfair to lower-income students. That is only one of the challenges that lowerincome students can face. Many students must work in addition to going to school, and therefore struggle academically in ways that their peers who can concentrate soley on their studies may not. Others may have to deal with difficult family situations or other accessibility barriers. The so-called merit-based system would effectively punish students facing such challenges. For those whose education is not paid for by their parents or through other forms of financial aid including scholarships, the Hudak and Leone plan offers fewer options for covering the cost of attending university. Programs like the Ontario 30 per cent tuition grant, which is need blind, are lambasted for not being accessible enough to groups such as single parents returning to school. However, the pcs do not offer alternative options for those students who do not measure up to their “qualified” standard. For those students with few means, the propositions made by the Progressive Conservatives are an issue of serious concern.
Then there is the pc proposal for a ‘college first’ strategy, an effort to position Ontario’s colleges as the first choice for new students entering post-secondary education. The province has some well reputable colleges, but just as university is not for everyone, neither is college. Students and their families should have the benefit of open options for their education after high school. Bonnie Patterson, the president and ceo of the Council of Ontario Universities, had this to say on the predominance of one educational path over another: “Any form of post-secondary education is important. Canada relies on an educated population to be globally competitive and unleash the full potential of the Canadian economy. Students should decide which path is right for them — if they are at their best then Ontario is at its best.” Ontario’s post-secondary educational system should be about balanced options, not defined paths. No government should play an active role in determining educational and career paths for its citizens; instead, it should do what it can to ensure quality education, inform the populous about their options, and minimize the barriers inherent to all who wish to expand their minds and skills, regardless of the required education. Alec Wilson studies political science and American studies.
U of T's best students need more challenging programs PATRICK BAUD VARSITY COLUMNIST
Students entering the engineering science (EngSci) program at U of T are often in for a rude awakening. Even those who attended Canada’s top high schools struggle to keep up with a program that requires spending about 30 hours per week in the classroom, nearly twice as many hours as the average student. First- and second-year EngSci students take a common set of six courses per year in order to expose them to as many subjects as possible, ranging from Newtonian physics to systems biology. In third- and fourth-year, they specialize in everything from aerospace to biomedical engineering. EngSci is considered one of the most challenging engineering programs in the world. The drop-out rate far exceeds that of any other applied science discipline at the uni-
versity. But EngSci also produces results. Employers and graduate schools alike seek out its graduates because of the skills they develop through the program and their exposure to a wide range of engineering problems. While the EngSci model is not appropriate for every student, it seems to be a good way to offer talented students an education that is at once broad and deep. So why is it that no equivalent program exists in the social sciences at U of T? Even the most diligent and self-motivated students would struggle to find anything comparable to EngSci in the Faculty of Arts & Science. There are no programs of study or even combinations of programs in Arts & Science that could match the breadth of exposure to the humanities and social sciences that EngSci offers to applied science. Moreover, there are no programs that offer students the opportunity to develop the level of skill that EngSci students develop over the course of their programs.
There are programs at other universities that do a better job exposing talented students to a wide range of disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences. The famous Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (ppe) program at the University of Oxford is a good example. Harvard University’s Social Studies, which offers students far more choice in the courses that they can take than either EngSci or the ppe program at Oxford, is another model. Despite their virtues, neither of these programs put the same emphasis on the fundamental skills of the social sciences as EngSci puts on the skills that define the applied sciences. The next president of the university, whose appointment is due to be announced soon, should create a new flagship undergraduate social sciences program modeled on EngSci. The first two years of the program should be devoted to giving students a broad grounding in the key disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, espe-
cially philosophy, politics and economics, while the final two years should give them an opportunity to specialize in a particular discipline. The program should culminate in a capstone project, perhaps modeled on the small senior thesis program currently offered by the political science department. The goal of the program should be to see students develop the kinds of skills they will need to solve problems and provide leadership, no matter what line of work they pursue after university. These skills include public speaking, quantitative analysis, as well as analytical and persuasive writing. At present, none of these are formally taught to a sufficient extent in social science programs. As with EngSci, not all students will be able to keep up with the pace that such a program will require, but those who can will benefit greatly. The next president would do well to give them that opportunity. Patrick Baud’s column appears every two issues.
VARSITY COMMENT
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UTSU
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
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elections: Team Renew
Executive candidates' statements PRESIDENT
VICE-PRESIDENT INTERNAL & SERVICES
VICE-PRESIDENT EQUITY
VICE-PRESIDENT EXTERNAL
VICE-PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS
Munib Sajjad
Cameron Wathey
Yolen Bollo-Kamara
Sana Ali
Agnes So
Elect Munib Sajjad for President with team RENEW! As the current Vice President, University Affairs, I have fought against the charging of illegal fees at U of T such as the Copyright charge. As your next President I wish to Renew our fight to create a more accessible and affordable education system. I want to finish our plans to pedestrianize St. George St., and I will fight for greater student representation at all levels of decision making at the University. I have worked hard to represent you this year, and that will continue with my team Renew.
Elect Cameron Wathey for VP Internal and Services with team RENEW! As someone deeply involved in the U of T clubs’ community, I understand the importance of our student clubs, unions and associations, and that’s why I will support clubs by increasing clubs funding. Being a part of a campus life during my four years at U of T has allowed me to get involved with the utsu through a variety of ways. Communication is important, so I will ensure members are consulted and there is discussion about utsu policy through Town Halls.
Elect Yolen BOLLO-KAMARA for VP Equity with team RENEW! Having spent the past year becoming familiar with building campus community as VP Campus Life for utsu and building a strong connection with clubs on campus, I am excited to take that energy and experience and direct it towards building inclusive and safer spaces on campus. I’m looking forward to launching a mental health awareness campaign as well as continue to support ongoing organizing by expanding our racialized students collective and creating an accessibility fund for our clubs.
Elect Sana Ali for VP External with team RENEW! Since first coming to U of T I’ve had an interest and passion for working with my community to tackle issues and fight for what’s right. Next year, as your VP External, I will continue the fight against illegal ancillary fees like the Copyright charge, as well as renew our fight to reduce tuition fees for both domestic and international students. Education is a right, and I will work side by side U of T students to make that loud and clear to all levels of government!
Elect Agnes So for VP University Affairs with team RENEW! I’ve always been really active and involved during my time at U of T. I was the Promotion Director for Party for a Cause and I’m currently the Innis College director for utsu. I believe that it is really important to ensure students understand their rights and that their voices are heard throughout utsu. I’ll continue to lobby to re-introduce per-course tuition fees and create an academic appeals guide to provide students with a better and fair campus and a utsu that fights for students’ best interests.
Vote Yolen BOLLO-KAMARA for VP EQUITY, Vote RENEW.
Vote Sana ALI for VP EXTERNAL, Vote RENEW.
Vote Agnes SO for VP UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS, Vote RENEW.
Vote Munib SAJJAD for PRESIDENT, Vote RENEW.
Vote Cameron WATHEY for VP INTERNAL AND SERVICES, Vote RENEW.
In search of the Canadian identity One student’s attempt to enjoy a perfectly Canadian day Jesse Hildebrand VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
When I read that “Canadian identity is under scrutiny” on the Wikipedia page about Canada recently, I vowed to spend one day discovering what it means to be Canadian. I personally trace my form of patriotism to the Vancouver Olympics, where — let’s face it — we were awesome. I thought maybe, by doing as many Canadian things as possible in 24 hours, I’d be able to forge an even better patriotism, one that might convince others that we’re as great a nation as I think we are. Monday morning, and it’s the breakfast of champions, waffles slathered in maple syrup followed by a Timmies coffee and a couple of Timbits. I was recently reminded just how Canadian I was when I corrected an Australian tourist who called them “donut balls.” To school, I wore all Roots clothes, and listened to an all Canadian soundtrack of The Tragically Hip, The Barenaked Ladies, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, and Rush — a great lineup to get you excited for the day. I found early on that by trying as hard as possible to be Canadian, you really begin to reflect on what we’ve got going for us. Free healthcare, no guns, winter storms that we walk off, hockey, and quite honestly the best flag there is. If you can sew something on a backpack and be universally liked anywhere on earth, that’s a pretty good sign. Going out of my way to say “eh” all day proved a bit of a stretch, but nonetheless a lot of fun. Whenever change was required, I enjoyed always calling them loonies and toonies. Lunchtime, and it was off to get poutine, which I’d only had once in my life — but it really is delicious. I was beginning to get a sense of dread that my experiment in our cuisine might just stop my heart but, considering the mood of the day, I figured I could press on. My last meal of the day was a peameal bacon burger, ketchup chips, and milk from a bag — the way it was meant to be drunk. Now, approaching 7 o’clock, I was off to see the Leafs play for the first
time. I have always been a bit of a baseball guy myself, but I figured that since anywhere in the country you’ll always find a game of shinny on a side street, it couldn’t be half bad. Where the Rogers Centre is a cathedral to baseball and football, I found the acc to be a far more personal experience. I had rink-side seats at least for the warm up and was struck by just how small a rink can seem. As awesome rock music with the bass jacked to unhealthy levels replaced my heartbeat, a group of extraordinarily large men skated around in a way that I, with my inability to stop or turn, could never dream of. Two minutes till game time, and I went to take my $65 seat, in the top row of the far corner, with a wall blocking the view of one net. It was wonderful. Now, I don’t always drink beer, but when I do it’s a Molson Canadian. I began asking around about what to look for, who was the best player and what the penalties were. I was greeted with a warm, if confusing, response. The game itself now extraordinary. After an inauspicious start, we stormed back, killing penalties, passing with grace, making great saves, scoring three times in five minutes. It didn’t seem to matter what it was, the crowd roared. In fact, the only booing I heard was for the other team committing penalties and a picture on the jumbotron of Donald Trump, which only served to make me feel happier to be Canadian. For a few hours, I came to realize the allure of the game I had always avoided. The fans, the lights, the pictures of William Shatner on the screen, the banner of Tim Horton, the fluidity of players rushing on and off the ice, and most of all the epic victory — it all seemed like the right place to be to finish off my Canadian night. Tasty but deadly food, great music, an earnest desire to be polite, a sweater with “Canada” stitched on the front and a fantastic hockey game. To me it seems Canada’s identity, if I had found a small piece of it, was pretty great. Canada, a land with proper portion sizes, with more land than you can shake a stick at, and with lower production values than Hollywood. Canada is a place where the weather
Janice Liu/THe VarsiTy
changes like the weather, where we have towns named Moose Jaw and Flin Flon, and where telling foreigners you’re going to “eat a beaver tail” provokes a look of sheer terror. Canada is also a place where even though we know ditching the penny makes economic sense, it still feels
like losing an old copper friend. I suppose now we’ll have take-a-nickel leave-a-nickel jars. Everything I did in that 24 hours made me feel Canadian, like there was no better place to be than right here. Whether it’s our hockey, our flag, our natural beauty or just something special to you per-
sonally, I think everyone should try and feel Canadian for a day, whatever that means to you. Be a hoser and feel the red and white flow through your veins. You just might like it, eh? Jesse Hildebrand a third year student studying ecology.
VARSITY COMMENT
10 Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
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The fight against unfair fees isn't over yet
Have your say!
An op-ed from a Graduate Students' Union executive Jason Dumelie GSU EXECUTIVE
Last year, U of T began a review into its ancillary fees after the Graduate Students' Union (gsu), along with other student groups, brought forward complaints over a number of these fees. The first set of fees that we considered cost over a thousand dollars to clinical students at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (ibbme). The larger concern raised by their plight was that the ancillary fees process seemed so flawed that students could be charged an unlimited amount of money, with little notice, to cover budget shortfalls. We hoped that the review would put an end to that concern. However, from the beginning we have met with bad faith from the administration. The first thing we asked for was that students be represented on the review team, despite the extra demands which that put
on us. We wanted to be a part of the review process to ensure that we understood exactly what was covered by the fees and the rationale for why those fees could be charged. Under Ministry policy, we should have a right to that knowledge for each fee. Instead, to get that information — for hundreds of fees — we received a couple of very general documents and about an hour to ask questions to members of the review. During that hour, on multiple occasions, they provided wrong information about fees, and they were unable to give any explanation for one of the ibbme fees, one which we have been asking about for over a year. Two of our other requests have been only partially fulfilled. Considering that the concerns were brought last year, we asked that fees be refunded to both last year's students and this year's. To its credit, the university is now providing the opportunity to get refunds on some of the fees charged in the winter term that
they have admitted were in violation of Ministry policy. However, they are not returning fees for the fall term or last year. Nor are they offering refunds for every fee that was charged in violation of policy. The other partially-filled request was that Ministry policy be followed in the introduction of fees. The review team agreed with us that more information should be provided on what fees cover, but it does not appear that other parts of the Ministry policy will be followed with respect to the introduction of fees. This creates the hazard for more abuse in the future. Finally, we asked that the interpretation of “protocol-exempt” categories be reasonably narrow. Rather than interpreting fee categories in a narrow manner, the university is almost breathtakingly broad in its interpretations. For example, the rosi student registration system appear to be categorized as either "material used in the production of items
which become the property of the student," or as "learning material and clothing retained by the student" we aren't sure which. Internships where students are not paid are classified as "jobs for work terms," and paying employers to take the students is considered a "cost of placement.” With such broad interpretations of what is acceptable, the ancillary fee policy is providing students with little protection from thousand-dollar increases in fees from one year to the next. When the Ministry introduced its policy on ancillary fees in 1994, it was in an attempt to prevent universities from using ancillary fees as back-door attempts to increase tuition. However, with universities disregarding the policy and with little assistance being provided by ministry officials, it is unclear that the policy provides much protection at all. Jason Dumelie is Academics and Funding Division 3&4 Commissioner at the GSU .
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VARSITY COMMENT
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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
11
LETTERS TO
Vol CXXXIII, No. 17, February 25, 2013 Turf war over fate of U of T back campus As a doctoral student in the collaborative environmental studies program, I am truly scandalized that the university could even contemplate replacing living grass and soil with artificial (and arguably toxic) turf. Natural grass helps clean the air, absorb heat, and absorb rain run-off. Psychologically, it helps renew the spirit and invigorate the senses. Artificial turf can do none of these things and demonstrates ecological illiteracy on a grand scale. Are we not trying to "green" our campus?... — Mark Hathaway (from web) My high school had two fields, both of which were eventually converted to all turf. There was zero change to the athletic program. All teams, including rugby, football and field hockey made use of it without incident. Including hosting other teams from across Europe in International School Sports Tournaments. The environmental concerns are another issue, but in terms of being usable for different sports, it should be if designed properly. — Paul Humphrey (from web) If students don’t stand for social justice, who will? …I think we can all agree that demonstrating support for the Canadian Indigenous community and opposing war are pretty uncontroversial. But this union has wasted a lot of time and
resources on issues that don't directly affect students and that often only serve to divide us while failing to have any concrete impacts with regards to actual student issues. The utsu should be concerning itself with lowering tuition fees, providing a drop-credit option for students' lowest grades and lobbying for more substantial programming to aid students demonstrating financial need. Those are STUDENT issues, and they should be the priorities of our STUDENT union, not our individual views on the state of Israel. — Aimee Quenneville (from web) In reply to Aimee Quenneville: Examples of the issues that "don't affect students." Compared to other student unions including our Graduate Students Union, the utsu actually engages in very little advocacy on political issues. The only thing I can think of real is Expression Against Oppression Despite everybody bringing up Isreali Apartheid Week, the utsu does not directly fund the event nor has endorsed it. They do fund it via oprig - which was founded on a student referendum in 1982. Ideally, yes, the utsu should be engaged in more educational issues as well, but when they do talk about that as well, the whole campus explodes. Remember the town hall w/ Glen Murray? — dora (from web) …The author of this piece contends, "The union is not
THE EDITOR raising the voices of a few above those of others; it is merely leveling the playing field." This is problematic in a number of important respects. First, who decides which voices are in need of support. There is no objective criteria and as a result, the causes favoured by the executive tend to predominate. For example, one could contend that the voices of fascists are marginalized in the Canadian discourse (for good reason, in my opinion). Yet, despite their marginalization, they are not supported by the union (a fact for which I am very happy). This is because their worldview is inconsistent with that embraced by the elite of the student union. Second, when we do wade into the official promotion by the student union of the expression of some but not others, we are implicitly privileging some voices. To say these voices are already "adequately represented" is a weak argument. Who determines what is adequate? — Michael (from web) This is a superficial treatment of criticism of the utsu and the cfs. Those of us who criticize the cfs from the left don't think student unions should be apolitical, we think that insofar as they are political they should behave in a way that is responsive to their membership. Unlike most other unions (teachers, public servants, firefighters, etc) which are democratically directed to take political action by their members, the utsu and
the cfs limit democracy and meaningful membership input as much as they can get away with. Consider this: if tomorrow the executive of the cfs and their locals woke up as raving, far-right extremists, there would be very little the membership could do to affect a change in leadership. Students are generally progressive, which is precisely why the left has an interest in not seeing them stifled by groups like the cfs and utsu. They are elite-controlled, antiprogressive organizations and rotten at their core. — Taylor Scollon (from web) Different views on the role of the union underlie most campus political disputes I cannot high-five this author enough for wading directly into the existential question of "What is the purpose of student unions?" Ultimately, we waste — as student union and other org. folks - far too much time debating the limits and bounds of an answer to this question among ourselves. The answer should be: Whatever our membership wills. The next step is knowing, without bias, what that is and being able to listen when presented with it. — Brad Evoy (from web) In reply to Brad Evoy: I just wish the Union could see it that way. But they are too busy pushing their own agenda and ignoring that of their members. — Pierre Harfouche (from web)
Jobless after law school? Back to class, for unlucky few All you are doing is kicking the problem down the road for a year. The US approach of having no articling will no work either. There is no articling in the USA yet it is even harder to get started in the legal profession there because there are even more freshly minted law grads entering the job market. In fact, the market is so bad in the USA that less than half of law graduates actually get a legal job. No, the problem is that law schools keep increasing enrollment yet the demand for new lawyers is stagnant or declining. — legalobserver (from web) So you want to go to med school? There are plenty of ways to make a difference that don't involve being a doctor. The fact is that simply trying to be impressive isn't what being a good doctor is about, and schools aren't looking for people who tick off certain boxes. They want individuals who have thought this through, and the fact of the matter is that most applicants have not and don't actually understand what being in medicine involves. Many go into it for the wrong reasons (prestige, parental pressure, desire for a better lifestyle), and are turned away because that can become obvious. I would strongly suggest that people consider why they want to be a doctor and not any one of the other specialists who helps people in society… — 2cents (from web)
Speaking out against small acts of homophobia A student's personal experience of intolerance on campus Nicole Doucette
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
I’m gay. Just like you can’t pick your eye or hair colour, I can’t choose who I fall in love with. When I come out, I usually get two types of reactions. From my family and friends, I have been fortunate enough to have received love and acceptance, and I typically hear things like: “I’m glad you feel comfortable telling me,” “I’m happy for you,” “We love you for who you are,” and “Oh, well I sort of guessed you were.” All of these responses are usually followed by the inevitable question: “So, how do lesbians have sex?” That is the most frequent question I get asked, and I will not be discussing it any further but I can assure you, yes, lesbians do have sex. On the other hand, when I tell strangers or acquaintances, I have heard other responses:“You’re confused. It’s just a phase,” “You haven’t found the right guy yet,” “I can make you straight,” “You’re too pretty to be gay,” and “Oh. Well does that mean you and your girlfriend will have a threesome with me?” “That’s disgusting.” I am not alone in this. People in the lesbian, trans, queer, bisexual, and gay community have to deal with bigotry, stereotyping, and just plain rude comments. As a consequence, we have learned to deal with
ignorance, and continue on with our days. I think I can speak for many when I say that having to constantly come out to everyone you meet can be hard, exhausting, and sometimes very disheartening. When you hear over and over again that you are wrong, gross, and sick, sometimes you start to believe it. We have spent our lives learning to love and accept ourselves, even though we are subjected to ridicule, hate, rape, and murder by those who don’t even know us. Sometimes, we hate ourselves more than they do. And that is why queer teens are more likely to become depressed or commit suicide. But we learn to let the small things slide, including the snide comments, the constant criticism, the stares and whispers we get when we walk down the streets with our partners. We grow tough. We stand up for ourselves; we have parades and support groups, communities, and safe havens. But sometimes we shouldn’t let the small things slide. An example of this happened to me a few weekends ago. I was with my girlfriend, we were kissing, and a schoolmate decided it would be a great idea to take a picture of us.
I don’t know what upset me more, the fact that he thought that was an acceptable thing to do, or that nobody else sitting at that table with him
stopped him. The worst part is that this isn’t the first time this has happened to me, and I’m sure it will not be the last. We are not animals in the zoo to be gawked at — although that is sometimes how it feels — and we are definitely not here as a source of entertainment or pleasure. I am tired of constantly having to choose whether to walk away from a situation like this or start a confrontation.
It wears you down and this time I chose to walk away. In the grand scheme of things, small incidents like this shouldn’t even bother us. There are bigger things at work. We are gaining victories, like the rights to get married, to adopt children, to join the army, and to donate blood. But these small acts of homophobia still hurt, because we are just humans too. It isn’t just the gay community that deals with this. Everyone experiences bullying and hardship; it could be based on their race, their looks, their weight, their intelligence, or their clothing. We all need to realize that our actions, however small, can hugely impact another person’s life. So, I write this article for everyone who has ever felt different, who has wished to be somebody else, who has felt unfairly judged or oppressed by those around them. It is for those who have been afraid to be themselves. My heart goes out to everyone who has been through hell and come out the other side alive. I write this to you, the eager photographer, in the hopes that you’ll think twice about pulling out your camera phone the next time you see two girls kissing.
Janice Liu/THe VarsiTy
Nicole Doucette is a third-year mineral engineering student.
When Â
journalist Daniel Pearlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s murder was filmed 11 years ago in February 2002, his death crystallized a perspective on press safety that had been a long time in the making. Kidnapped in Pakistan while covering a story on militant Islamists for the Wall Street Journal, Pearl was forced to decry his American citizenship and Jewish heritage for the camera before being beheaded, and American media covered the story with vigour. The New York Times lamented that
Article by Sophia Costomiris | Illustrations by Wendy Gu
Attacks on journalists are universally decried, but does our perspective determine which deaths we notice?
Protecting the press
6
9 Pakistan
5
4
3
2
1
Mexico
Brazil
Philippines
India
Bangladesh
Iraq
Colombia
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Thailand Tanzania South Sudan Russia Nepal Lebanon Iran Indonesia Honduras Egypt Ecuador Cambodia Bahrain Afghanistan Nigeria
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Journalist and Media Workers killed in 2012
In Memoriam...
source: committee to Protect Journalists. Deaths listed reversechronologically.
Bwizamani Singh Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif Kazbek Gekkiyev Naji Asaad, Tishreen Mohamed Quratem Guillermo Quiroz Delgado Mohamed al-Khal Saqib Khan Basel Tawfiq Youssef Eduardo Carvalho Hussam Salama Mahmoud al-Kumi Hozan Abdel Halim Mahmoud Rehmatullah Abid, Dunya Adrián Silva Moreno
While conflict and violence are some of the events most frequently covered by journalists abroad, the cpj reports that of the 366 journalists killed between 1993 and 2002, only 60, or just over 16 per cent, were killed by crossfire. The other 306 journalists were hunted down and murdered, and their
In the aftermath of Pearl’s slaying, the Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj) issued a manual on protecting journalists in the field, recommending that news networks provide self-defence classes and body armour for their staff abroad. At the same time, the cpj acknowledged most press fatalities are actually local journalists, killed in the same place they live and work. The networks and blogs these journalists work for cannot afford expensive protection, and furthermore, while some local press may be killed in the line of fire, covering protests or wars, most are deliberately targeted because of their profession, either because of their perceived biases or simply because of the nature of journalistic work.
focusing on Pearl’s obviously horrendous murder as a risk taken by dedicated journalists abroad, The Times emphasized the popular American narrative of an impartial journalist under fire, risking his own life to bring the truth of the story to readers at home. While this explanation might have rung true in the case of Daniel Pearl, it fails to accurately capture the nature of press fatalities and the impact that journalist deaths have on media independence, worldwide.
By
Sattar Beheshti Mohamed Mohamud Turyare Ahmed Farah Ilyas Mohammed al-Ashram Mushtaq Khand Mona al-Bakkour Abdul Haq Baloch Maya Naser Hassan Yusuf Absuge Liban Ali Nur Abdisatar Daher Sabriye Abdirahman Yasin Ali Abdel Karim al-Oqda Yusuf Ahmed Deeb Hang Serei Odom
Tamer al-Awam Daudi Mwangosi Mosaab al-Obdaallah Mika Yamamoto Ali Abbas Hatem Abu Yehia Valério Luiz de Oliveira Byron Baldeón Mohammad Shamma Sami Abu Amin Jamal Uddin Abdul Qadir Hajizai Ahmed al-Assam Bassel al-Shahade Ahmed Adnan al-Ashlaq
The current situation in Syria provides a perfect backdrop for examining the various ironies of press endangerment and the ensuing impact on journalistic integrity. In 2012, Syria was the location of a plurality of media deaths: 28 of the 70 journalists that the cpj lists as having been killed as a direct, confirmable result of their work died in Syria. These deaths included photographer Remi Ochlick and reporter Marie Colvin, who were killed together in a shelling of their makeshift shelter in Homs, a year ago February. Their deaths, though incidental fatalities of their location rather than targeted killings, received intensive coverage. Colvin, a veteran American journalist who had entered Syria despite attempts on the part of its government to prevent foreign press from covering the uprising, and Ochlick, a young French photojournalist, were extensively mourned; their coverage and bravery praised.
deaths frequently go unreported or underreported in the world media — unless the victim was a western journalist abroad. In most cases, journalists were killed to prevent them from reporting on human rights issues or corruption, or as retribution for having done so. That we so rarely hear of their deaths questions The Times’ commentary on Pearl’s murder: “independent” journalists the world over are killed because of their reporting, and their work is inherently valuable, but in general, American and Western media do not value it. We tend to romanticize the deaths of our own journalists while ignoring the deaths of others.
“The terrible irony of Mr. Pearl’s murder is that he and other independent journalists have been trying to present a detailed and informed portrait of the mindset, motives and grievances of the Islamic fundamentalists in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the war in Afghanistan. That work will continue despite the killing, but the kidnappers have only undermined their cause by their acts.”
Lawrence Fahmy al-Naimi Ammar Mohamed Suhail Zado Ahmed Addow Anshur Razzaq Gul Farhan Jeemis Abdulle Décio Sá Ali Shaaban Leiron Kogoya Mahad Salad Adan Ahmed Ismail Hassan Ali Ahmed Abdi Rajesh Mishra Abukar Hassan Mohamoud Anas al-Tarsha Rémi Ochlik
Marie Colvin Rami al-Sayed Mario Randolfo Marques Lopes Mazhar Tayyara Hassan Osman Abdi Enenche Akogwu Mukarram Khan Aatif Wisut “Ae” Tangwittayaporn Gilles Jacquier Christopher Guarin Abu Yezen al-Hamoui Mohammad Amir Haidar Alsamoudi Isaiah Diing Abraham Chan Awuol
That we don’t hear about local press fatalities belies the notion, put forth by The Times 11 years ago, that we value journalists’ sacrifice because the sacrifice is a risk inherent to creating independent, unbiased reporting. This may be so, and a diversity of viewpoints is certainly essential to creating an accurate
American popular opinion on Vietnam, “the first television war,” was heavily influenced by the fact that the horrors of the conflict were viewable on a mass scale, a scale that is now being dwarfed by the use of social media in the Arab Spring. But the sheer glut of information that is readily available for those of us distant from the conflict — tweets, YouTube videos, and blog posts — is perhaps not entirely beneficial to those who endanger themselves by providing that information. When it comes to news, we may immediately assume that more coverage and more perspectives are better, but volume does not necessarily ensure that we, as news consumers far from where the story is happening, are truly receiving an unbiased examination of events.
Concurrently, however, both Syrian rebel forces and loyalists of Syrian government were openly targeting journalists perceived to be supporting the opposing side. While some of these journalists worked for local news stations or papers, many of them are simply described as freelancers, either videographers or bloggers, who were covering what is being referred to as “the first YouTube war,” where men with guns are followed by men with camera phones.
Samir al-Sheikh Ali Julius Cauzo Abdirahman Mohamed Chaitali Santra Zakariye Mohamed Mohamud Moallim Eddie Jesus Apostol Bara’a Yusuf al-Bushi Ghazwan Anas Falah Taha Ali Juburi al-Kaabi Víctor Manuel Báez Chino Marco Antonio Ávila García Ángel Alfredo Villatoro Aurangzeb Tunio
Nestor Libaton Gabriel Huge Córdova Guillermo Luna Varela Regina Martínez Pérez Aldion Layao Yadav Poudel Kamiran Salaheddin Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo Samid Khan Bahadarzai Chandrika Rai Paulo Roberto Cardoso Rodrigues Meherun Runi Golam Mustofa Sarowar Nansok Sallah Shukri Abu al-Burghul
With this type of deliberate linguistic and narrative architecture in place throughout mass media, in the strictest sense, the most independent, unbiased journalism being created now is the kind coming from Syrians with camera phones. Whatever their personal biases may be towards the conflict in their own country, that grainy footage and those ofthe-moment tweets are unfiltered and unedited. The fact that foreign press casualties are not more publicized means that what we say about our own press casualties is merely propaganda; that it is not independent news we value, but news that fits into the constructed narrative, from journalists who have editors back home at their news conglomerates.
The term “Arab Spring,” for example, is representative of the highly constructed nature of corporate journalism, in any country. Writing for Al Jazeera, Joseph Massad described the term as being an attempt to steer the movement towards an American style liberal democracy by imposing linguistically on its “aims and goals.” “Spring” itself is a reference to the European Revolutions of 1848, which is referred to as the Springtime of the Peoples for the revolutionary movement away from monarchy and towards democracy.
news narrative. However, the silent casualties of local press, of which the Syrian conflict is a good example, indicates that we don’t value journalistic sacrifices for this reason alone; we mourn losses in our press corps because they are our press corps, not because of the quality of journalism they put out or the risks they take in the field.
Syria
Somalia
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Arts & Culture
COMING UP
var.st/arts
Patti Smith: Camera Solo at the AGO
4 MarCH 2013 arts@thevarsity.ca
var.st/arts
The new Cupcakes shop in Leaside. BErnarda GOsPIC/tHE varsItY
Frostings, fillings, and flops W Network’s Cupcake Girls have finally launched a shop in Toronto. But is it worth all the hype? Danielle Klein ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
One word can sum up the aesthetic of the recently-opened Cupcakes bakery: pink. There are bubblegum pink walls, a healthy share of pink frosting, pink aprons, pink merchandise. The narrow store is also decorated with bright chandeliers and white shelves featuring pastel, retro ice cream bowls and delicious-looking cakes and candies. Glass cases display charming cupcakes, which come in three sizes: mini, normal, and "big," the last of which are mammoth cupcakes for brave (or just very hungry) souls. Cupcakes is the newest franchise of Cupcakes by Heather and Lori, otherwise known as the "Cupcake Girls" from the W Network television series. The Toronto store is the first of its kind outside British Columbia. Cupcakes are prepared fresh on-site using the
original recipes of the "Cupcake Girls" on a rotating basis. The Toronto manifestation of the store is distinguished in featuring roasted marshmallow ice cream from Greg’s, one of the city’s staple ice cream shops, although this treat was not yet available upon my visit to the shop. I left the store with a box of 12 mini cupcakes, featuring an array of the different available flavours. In a neighbouring coffee shop, I plunged into the selection, along with Varsity photo editor Bernarda Gospic, and my friend and discerning foodie (read: person who likes cupcakes very much), Cam. The cupcakes are undoubtedly adorable, particularly in their miniature form, although microscopic might be a more fitting term to describe these treats, which seemed to get smaller and smaller with each one we unwrapped. The chocolate cupcakes were more substantial than the
vanilla ones; in a feat of gravity, these cakes didn’t even reach the bottom of the cupcake liner. Our first taste was of the confetti cupcake, a simple vanilla cake with a vanilla buttercream icing and festive sprinkles. Immediately, I found the taste nostalgic, reminiscent of the kosher, non-dairy birthday cakes of my childhood, which always left something to be desired (specifically, taste). Opting next for a sure-fire hit, we tried the red velvet, which an employee had earlier informed me was the bestselling cupcake in the store. The classic did not disappoint, with a flavourful light cream cheese icing. In general, we concluded that the fruit-flavoured cupcakes were far superior to the array of chocolate and vanilla options, due to the attention paid to executing both a delicious cake and delicious icing. The “Raspberry Beret,” a lemon cake with a raspberry filling, iced with lemon
buttercream and a raspberry jam, had a powerful flavour. The surprise hit of the dozen, this cupcake was the best we tried, with the jam providing unexpected sweetness and a nice tang to the cake. The “Lemon Drop” was also delectable, covered in a rich, tart buttercream. The “Koo Koo,” a coconut cake topped with cream cheese frosting and doused in coconut shavings, was delectable, if not the most aesthetically appealing of all the cupcakes. Less appealing of the fruit flavours was the “Feelin' Razzy,” a superfluous second raspberry option that had the group feeling more disappointed than razzy. The chocolate and vanilla cupcakes often fell flat because they relied on unsophisticated buttercreams to provide flavour to bland cake. I had high hopes for the “Caramella,” a chocolate cake filled with caramel, and iced with caramel buttercream. The group, however, was struck silent by the
cupcake, which was largely tasteless, except for a vague, perplexing hint of mint. Other chocolate and vanilla selections included the “Sweet 16” (a vanilla cake with pink vanilla buttercream), the aptly titled “Chocolate” (a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream), and the “Diva” (a chocolate cake with pink vanilla buttercream), which were all basically the same formula in different combinations, and all tasted subpar. The best of this group was the “Mint Condition”, which was redeemed by flavourful mint icing and a chocolate chip topping. Generally, we felt that Cupcakes could use more unique flavours and more concern for the flavour of both the cakes and the icing. The store and its merchandise are adorable, and there are some gems in the cupcake offerings, but Cupcakes suffers from the too often pervasive blandness of the franchise.
FILM REVIEW Red Flag by Alex Karpovsky Jakob Tanner VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Most will recognize Alex Karpovsky, director and star of the new film Red Flag, as Ray Ploshansky from the HBO hit Girls. In Red Flag, Karpovsky remains consistent with his crafted persona: arrogant and charming, smart and angry, neurotic and death-obsessed. It’s no wonder that he’s been compared to Woody Allen; Karpovsky might substitute jazz trumpet intros in his movie for hipster indie horn sections, but the similarity is hard to miss. Red Flag, Karpovsky’s fifth directorial effort, is a budget roadtrip film with a meta twist; Alex Karpovsky plays independent filmmaker Alex Karpovsky. The
character is promoting his movie Woodpecker (also the name of the real-life Karpovsky’s second film) through cities in the southern United States while nursing a postbreakup depression. Such a conceit can ride dangerously close to becoming self-congratulatory, but Karpovsky keeps it under control, with other characters consistently calling him a “pussy,” or quite perceptively, “Mr. Self-Indulgent Filmmaker.” Karpovsky adds to his own self-deprecating portrait when his character, in an effort to describe his filmmaking talents, tries to find a synonym for “gifted” on thesaurus.com. He settles on “adroit.” While the road-trip plot is by nature a meandering one, the film does at times veer too far off course. Some scenes tend to go on too long
or descend into mini-Judd Apatow sketches. Karpovsky and his trip companion Henry (Onur Tuckel) discuss oral sex and female circumcision to a point where the humour dissipates and the journey comes to a halt. Similarly, when the two female leads (Jennifer Prediger and Caroline White) get into a hairpulling catfight, the characters lose nuance and the production falls into farce. Red Flag’s comedy is at its best when the film portrays honest emotion. The funniest moments are actually when Karpovsky is crying; his sadness is awkward, slightly humiliating, and hilarious. Red Flag’s filming is done without much elaboration; most scenes consist of only one or two separate shots. Such simplicity gives the film a certain do-it-yourself vibe that
Alex Kaprovsky in Red Flag. PHOtO COUrtEsY trIBECa FILM
makes the project all the more impressive. That such a low-budget film can effectively play with the tensions between fact, fiction, and existential dread — and do it all
with a satisfyingly self-conscious smirk — is a testament to the capabilities of independent filmmaking. Red Flag is available to rent on iTunes.
var.st/arts
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
15
Beauty and brutality Hart House Theatre’s production of Bent is a rich portrayal of love during the Holocaust James Maiangowi VARSITY STAFF
MINHEE BAE/THE VArsITy
Bathed in soft red light, three lines of barbed wire snake around the outlines of the stage, a sight both arresting and ominous. Hart House Theatre's production of Bent blends this uneasy mix of beauty and dread through a love-tragedy of three men caught in the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. Director Carter West's emotive vision of love contending against a state that rejects love's freedom is brought richly to life by a talented cast and an exquisitely designed set. Max is a charismatic wheeler and dealer in 1930s Berlin who wakes up one afternoon with a hangover, an unhappy boyfriend, and a naked sa (Nazi paramilitary) man in his bed. The situation doesn't improve: the Night of the Long Knives has been extended to daylight hours, and after the sa man is discovered and killed by ss officers, Max and his boyfriend Rudy must flee Berlin. Liam Volke — an adroit performer with a voice running the gamut from salesman's patter to lover's lament — plays Max, whose initial amoralities recede to reveal a strong dignity despite the terrible demands it requires. Volke's energy leads the action on stage, and helps keep some of the slower scenes alive. Opposite Max is Rudy, a mournful, sweet dancer played by Jordan Gray. Gray and Volke have a fine chemistry, and their first
scene is a delightful dollop of drawing-room comedy played out against a backdrop of unrecognized peril. The motion and bustle of the first act comes to a close when Max is caught and sent to Dachau, and the second act takes place entirely inside its confines. Here Max meets Horst, (Jad Farris), a queer nurse identified as such by the pink triangle stitched to his prison clothes. The heart of the play revolves around a setpiece of prison scenes between Max and Horst, as they argue over Max's rejection of the pink triangle in favour of the “safer” yellow star, reminisce about idyllic Berlin days, and slowly fall in love despite the brutal surrounding environment. It's here that West's direction truly shines. The set is made stark and barren under the prison lights, and the action on-stage reflects this: Max and Horst have been assigned to carry bricks back and forth in work as senseless as it is maddening. With little more than their words and love, they build an achingly intimate world together, culminating in a love scene as notable for its loquacity as for its passion. Bent is not without missteps — the pacing is a little too slow near the end of the first act, and at times, the script belabors certain points at the expense of depth — but a strong cast and production team bring this love story to fruition. Dominic Manca's set and lighting design in particular deserve high praise for evoking such a disparate clutch of atmospheres — from cabaret to concentration camp — in a stylized and subtle fashion.
Shaping clay, breaking silence "Transformation By Fire: Women Overcoming Violence Through Clay" chronicles a decade of healing through art Ishita Petkar ASSOCIATE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
The Special Exhibitions Hall on the third floor of the Gardiner Museum has been transformed into a remarkable sanctuary of hope. Commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Gardiner’s partnership with the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Transformation By Fire: Women Overcoming Violence Through Clay is a powerful and moving exhibition that showcases works created by women who have suffered violence. The Schlifer Clinic, in conjunction with the Gardiner Museum, provides a 12-week art therapy workshop for women, under the guidance of art therapist Suzanne Thomson and established sculptural ceramic artist Susan Low-Beer. At the end of each workshop, a small private exhibition is held for participants and their families in the lobby of the Gardiner. In order to mark the 10 years of healing that the workshop has facilitated since its foundation, chief curator Rachel Gotlieb decided to publicly display a number of works from the last decade. “We wanted to show the world that we aren’t just a museum that shows beautiful objects, but we are very active in this socially responsible program,” Gotlieb explained during a recent interview with The Varsity. The unconventional ceramic pieces are beautiful in their own way, although it is clear that they are expressions of incomprehensible horrors, coated with a thin veneer of glaze and paint. According to Gotlieb, the clay itself plays an important role in the restorative journey undertaken by the women who have participated in the clinic’s workshop. “The material itself grounds you, it’s very earthy,” she said. “And when you experience trauma, you often disassociate it from your body … so you have an out of mind, out of body experience.”
“The material itself grounds you, it’s very earthy. And when you experience trauma, you often disassociate it from your body … so you have an out of mind, out of body experience…” —Rachel Gotlieb, chief curator, Transformation By Fire
Clay is thought to be a medium that centres the mind, and it can often be a useful tool for trauma survivors to unearth and discover subconscious ideas and responses. Some of the workshop’s participants spoke to this very sentiment in a video accompanying the exhibit; the women featured asserted that clay’s malleability and tactile properties helped them in the process of coming to terms with their past. Many of the women were able to make connections with and find metaphors within the clay itself. Gotlieb explained that “the first connection was that [the clay] becomes fragile, and sometimes a lot of the women saw their work get broken or destroyed in the kiln, and they would bring it back together and assemble it, and they realized that’s what they were doing with their lives.” The set up of the exhibit is simple; the pieces on display are laid out on low tables throughout the mall. “We didn’t want to overly fetishize the objects by putting them in vitrines,” Gotlieb explained. “But at the same time, we wanted to treat them with respect…
"Hands" by CD. PHOTO COUrTEsy GArDINEr MUsEM
So they’re arranged in such a way that they have almost a table-like effect.” The layout of the gallery also invites the viewer to glimpse into the very private and personal struggle for healing. Divided into four sections — Metamorphosis and Transformation, Hope and Resilience, Mind and Body, and Sanctuary and Shelter — the exhibit echoes the prevailing themes found throughout the majority of the artwork produced by the workshop over the last decade. “These women are very courageous, because [of] what they’re doing — the first component is art therapy, [but] the second component is social activism because they’re going public with their stories and narratives,” Gotlieb explained admiringly. This bravery is evident
and honoured in every aspect of this exhibit, and particularly in its title. As Gotlieb explained, clay changes its molecular structure once fired in a kiln, rendering it immutable, hard, and strong — an apt analogy for women who have been through fire themselves and have become stronger because of it. Although simmering with ugly truths, positivity and hope ring through the exhibition, staying true to the invitation posted at the entrance of the gallery: “Come walk our neighbourhood, your street, as we break the silence and shift our foundations from dark to light.” Transformation By Fire runs at the Gardiner Museum until April 28, 2013. Admission is free.
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var.st/arts
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
17
Starting out small With spring around the corner, landscape architect Senga Lindsay weighs in on the basics of urban gardening TV: Many students are soon going to be out apartment-hunting. If a prospective property has a garden, what are some things to look for? What are some good questions to ask the landlord?
Alanna Lipson VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
With over 25 years of experience in landscape architecture, arboriculture, and horticultural planning, Senga Lindsay knows what she's talking about when she says that everyone — even city-dwellers with no yard — can plant a garden. During a recent interview with The Varsity, the author of Edible Landscaping: Urban Food Gardens That Look Great shared some of her insights about urban gardening for beginners.
SL: The things to look for in a prospective garden are as follows: location (most edible gardens need minimum of six hours of direct sunlight), good soil (a friable soil with lots of organic matter), access to water (like a hose bib), opportunities to establish pots, and places to store tools… You should check with your landlord as to the modifications that would be allowed to the garden. Many will not be keen for you to rip out and modify an existing garden — particularly if you plan to be there only a year or two — as they'll be left with the results, and the next tenant might not be keen to keep an edible garden. Pots are an easy way to keep edibles without too much impact on the existing space.
THE VARSITY: What are some essential tools that you would recommend for the firsttime gardener? SENGA LINDSAY: Most tools you need are basic and won’t break the bank. You'll want a small shovel and trowel, and a cultivator for weeds. Gardening gloves are a must, [as] a sanitary as well as protective measure. A good pair [of gloves] is my splurge. Also, a watering can because you might have to transport water from a distance.
TV: What are your thoughts on seed saving and seed sharing, on a personal scale? What are some good ways of preserving this tradition?
TV: Are there any low-maintenance plants you can recommend for the beginner-gardener?
SL: [Seed sharing] is essential in order to preserve many of the heirloom varieties and/or to develop new varieties of plants that are endemic to your area and are better adapted to the area you live in. By developing these kinds of plants, you support a plant community that is overall more resistant to pests and diseases as well as tolerant of the local climatic conditions.
SL: Ornamental grasses are my numberone favourite plant. They are disease- and pest-free and you just cut them down in the spring and they grow back the by mid-summer. They change with the seasons too; you get fresh green growth in the spring, by midlate summer you get plumes of blooms, and in winter they turn into dried arrangements.
TV: Some of the tips in your book were really interesting. I particularly liked your idea of making cloches out of plastic bottles. Any last tips for the amateur gardeners out there?
TV: Is home-created compost as good as commercial fertilizer? Why or why not? SL: Home compost is far superior than commercial fertilizer [because] compost not only supplies nutrients to the soil, but it aerates the soil and acts [as] a storage, holding and releasing water as needed by plants. It also introduces organisms like worms and small microbes, which break down the organic matter and allow further release of micronutrients that all plants need.
is geared more towards homeowners. Since most students and recent graduates are renters, I was wondering: are there any methods of gardening/specific plants that can be transported from place to place during a move?
TV: Your book has great tips for properties of all sizes, but it feels like your target audience
SL: Look for perennial plants, like most herbs, as they do not grow so big that they can’t be
Senga Lindsay. PHOTO COURTESY MIKE WAKEFIELD
transplanted. They are easily dug up, and are adaptable to either pots or in the ground. It's best to keep your edibles in containers so you can simply move the whole thing. Annual edibles like tomatoes will not take kindly to being dug up, and chances are you will either set the plant back so that it will not produce well, or even kill it.
SL: Always start out small. Tackle one part of your yard at a time. While you can have a bigger design and landscape plan on paper, don’t overwhelm yourself and get too ambitious. Make sure you have the time commitment and the passion, then increase your gardening real estate accordingly. And research lots! There is a plethora of information out there on every aspect of edible gardening. Knowledge is the key to success in growing and successfully harvesting a crop.
Selections from Edible Landscaping: Urban Food Gardens That Look Great. PHOTOS COURTESY HARBOUR PUBLISHING
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Science
FROM THE ARCHIVES
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Visit the uncanny valley by taking a look at film and robotics
4 MarCH 2013
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Overly honest methods Scientists confess in #overlyhonestmethods how their work really gets done. Both alarming and amusing, here are some highlights.
PETE @COMMANDER_CRASH The data were analyzed in two different software packages to please reviewers who don’t trust open source #overlyhonestmethods — February 28, 2013
SPENCER J. DEBENPORT @SJDEBENPORT An overnight incubation period was used because the researcher discovered a new bar’s happy hour late in the afternoon — February 21, 2013 Dr. Adam Hammond melds arts and science in ENG287: The Digital Text. MICHaEl CHaHlEy/tHE varsIty
Literature may benefit from a scientific analysis U of T prof Adam Hammond bridges gaps between computer modeling and English in new course Ken Kongkatong
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Dr. Adam Hammond believes that modernism, a literary movement that aims to depart significantly from classical and traditional forms of literature, is closely linked to the world of science. Hammond, a University of Toronto alumnus, recently joined the U of T English department as an undergraduate lecturer for the relatively new, but promising course, eng287: “The Digital Text.” The course is loosely based on “digital humanities,” a term that describes any humanity discipline involving computers. The Digital Text aims to critically examine literature with quantitative analysis, using computer technology. However, “the genius of the course lies not within its scientific side, but with its focus on literature, which sets it apart from similar course offerings in other universities,” claims Hammond. Alongside discussions about communications theorist Marshall McLuhan’s conceptual global village or the societal implications of the e-reader, modernist literature is often a key topic of consideration for the course. As part of the grade component of the course, students from The Digital Text are partaking in a class project called “The Brown Stocking.” Students are assigned to identify and tag the character voices in a given modernist text, which can be quite a challenge, since the various discourses of the characters within the text often intertwine. Thus, the difficulty is in figuring out which character is speaking. The objec-
tive of this project is to gain an overall understanding of the distinct voices in the novel. Last year, the result of the class project, which utilized T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” was a computer algorithm developed by the course’s TA Julian Brooke. Brooke trained the computer to determine vocal switches within the poem. In addition to assisting the class, Brooke is a PhD student in computer science, and has frequently collaborated with Hammond on research and various projects. Despite the insight derived from computer technology in this instance, Hammond has described the identification of stylistic features in a narrative as “a nightmare for a computer.” Incongruities strain the literature and computer science relationship. Hammond notes, “Computer science assumes there’s one truth. English [does] not. We’re trying to bridge this gap.” The ‘gap’ is problematic for Hammond, since “the first thing you learn in English [is] there’s no right answer, but good arguments.” However, though a gap may persist in this relationship, Hammond says, “luckily I’m working with someone who gets it.” Virginia Woolf’s modern classic, To The Lighthouse, has been chosen for this year’s class project. Hammond, a specialist in modernist literature, chose To The Lighthouse because of its seminal value to modernism. Though, at the outset, the novel may seem like a typical read, the interwoven voices of each character are a main feature that marks it as a cornerstone of the literary movement. The identifiable characteristic of modernism is the idea of resistance in the face of to-
talitarianism. In other words, modernism attempts to undermine the fixed conventions of an authorial presence, identifiable in Woolf’s ground-breaking work on narrative voices that challenges dominant conventions of the novel. Modernist writings have generally been influenced by pivotal topics such as industrialization, new media technologies, politics, and fascism. For this reason, Hammond was attracted to the literary genre. He feels that the modernists had a “sense of some grand and historical mission — trying to change the world.” The revolutionary and innovative nature of modernism often makes it difficult to draw the line between the arts and science. “I wouldn’t say it’s a science,” says Hammond. “All of these things go together — Einstein and Heisenberg, the idea of relativity, which is an idea that certainly modernist writers were excited about.” While this could be interpreted as an estranged view of the relationship between art and science, Hammond is in fact hopeful about the future of this seemingly vague and mutually exclusive connection. “I don’t think there’s a distinction that you can draw between arts and science,” Hammond says. “The drawings that I’m doing [for class lectures], I’m using my iPad to do them… I couldn’t make cool drawings like that without using some new platform. “In terms of quantitative analysis of literature, it’s not just some radically different thing — it’s just asking questions that excite me, as someone who’s interested in art. I can ask the same questions, but get more interesting and quicker answers. I don’t see any disconnect there.”
ATIF KUKASWADIA @MREPID We don’t know how the results were obtained. The postdoc who did all the work has since left to start a bakery. #overlyhonestmethods — January 13, 2013
KANE WMC LAB @KANE_WMC_LAB All experimenters — and authors — were blind to the study’s hypothesis. #OverlyHonestMethods — January 13, 2013
EMMA @ATOMSELECTRONS This dye was selected because the bottle was within reach #overlyhonestmethods — January 13, 2013
SYLVAIN DEVILLE @DEVILLESYLVAIN we didn’t read half of the papers we cite because they are behind a paywall #overlyhonestmethods — January 13, 2013
ALEX CHASE @AECHASE Slices were left in a formaldehyde bath for over 48 hours, because I put them in on Friday and refuse to work weekends. #overlyhonestmethods — January 7, 2013
VARSITY SCIENCE
20 Vol. CXXXIII, No. 18
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Telomerase therapy hopes to remove cap on life expectancy New treatments may provide significant increases in human lifespan Ramon Boghozian
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The quest for human immortality is, by any measure, a daringly ambitious endeavour that has intrigued us all on some level. This age-old quest has been naively pursued by many individuals, perhaps most famously by sixteenth century Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon, who believed he had stumbled upon vitality-restoring waters in what is modern day Florida. This supposed fountain of youth in St. Augustine, Florida, now serves as a playful archaeological park attracting thousands of eager tourists every year. But the advent of scientific inquiry has made it possible to explore some of our seemingly outlandish ideas in a manner that may result in actual solutions, and telomerase therapy may provide the solution to de Leon’s particular quest. So what is telomerase therapy, and why should we take notice? To answer this question, we should first explore some background knowledge regarding basic cell biology. Telomeres protective caps covering the ends
of chromosomes. They safeguard our genetic information through the series of divisions that cells may undergo. This protective cap progressively shortens with every cell-division cycle, leading eventually to biological aging (senescence), apoptosis, or cancerous transformation of somatic cells. In simple analogous terms, imagine telomeres as the lit fuse portion of a bomb. So how do cells avoid a catastrophic explosion? Does MacGyver heroically step in and save the day? Well, sort of; for the purposes of this analogy, the body’s MacGyver equivalent is telomerase. Telomerase is an enzyme that aids in lengthening telomeres, thus ensuring that cells can continue to divide. The main point to extrapolate from this is that shortened telomeres are in some way linked to the aging process. If telomerase lengthens our telomeres thereby contributing to the idea of reverse-aging, then why are we not all lining up to get telomerase therapy? The answer may lie in the fact that nature has beat us to it and with rather unpleasant results in the form of cancer. Cancerous cells divide rapidly, so their telomeres
shorten considerably as a result. To avoid cell death, these malignant cells activate the telomerase enzyme in order to continue division cycles. In other words, telomerase makes cancerous cells immortal. This double-edged sword is difficult to overcome and is one of the many issues concerning telomerase therapy. Hope is not lost, however, because there are great insights that can be derived from the problem itself. Scientists are currently developing strategies that will target the gene that codes for telomerase in cancerous tumours. If the gene can be safely switched off then the cancerous cells will no longer be able to infinitely multiply. In the process, we may also gain useful information that may help us immortalize normal cells by modulating the telomerase gene in non-cancerous tissues. A recent study led by Maria Blasco utilized viral vectors (virus genes replaced with the telomerase gene), which extended the life span of one-yearold mice by 24 per cent. It is clear that the potential benefits on either front are tremendous and would serve as a defining milestone in medical science.
Minhee bae/The VarsiTy
Aging comes at a significant cost. Mental and physical abilities deteriorate and we are usually left with a low quality of life. Shakespeare described old age as “hideous winter.” Telomerase therapy is often
sensationalized and spoken of in terms of the aesthetic promises it may afford, but the real argument for continued research is that we may be able to find a way to live longer and healthier lives.
Science in brief Life of Pi: Fact or fiction? Last week, the film Life of Pi took home four Academy Awards including Best Director, and was nominated in seven other categories. The movie, an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, was lauded for its breathtaking visual effects and cinematography. The fantastical story follows a young Indian boy, Pi, who is shipwrecked on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker that feeds on the rotting flesh of a zebra. Other fantastical elements of the story include an island of carnivorous algae, catching flying fish in mid-air, and making a raft out of bananas. But how much of the story is pure imagination? As it turns out, many of the events in the movie are entirely possible. Though a Bengal tiger can be vicious and should be approached with caution, an attack could be avoided if the tiger was injured or already had a food supply. Since Richard Parker had the decomposing zebra to feed on, it was possible for Pi to avoid being attacked by the tiger. In addition, since tigers are like vultures and only have around 500 taste buds (compared to the 9,000 in humans), they have no problem eating rotten meat. As for the carnivorous island, in places like the Gulf of Mexico there exists a species of flesh-eating algae known as Pfiesteria. The algae prey on fish by releasing a paralyzing toxin and has been known to cause fatigue, diarrhea, and skin rashes in people. In the Solomon Islands, not only do flying fish exist, but fishermen also catch them while in flight. And since bananas are less dense than water, a raft made out of bananas could theoretically float. —Roxanne Leung With files from National Geographic
Identifying the 800-year-old remains of King Richard I A team of scientists led by forensic pathologist and anthropologist Philippe Charlier have examined the preserved remains of warrior King Richard I of England. The king, renowned for his prowess in battle, was nicknamed Lionheart. Richard I died in 1199, 12 days after he was wounded in the left shoulder by a crossbow bolt. Popular theories about his cause of death have included the speculation that the bolt was poisoned, though most scientists and historians favour infection as the royal C.O.D. In analyzing the regal remains, the team used just two grams of the powdered remains of Richard’s heart. Tests included scanning electron microscopy and other techniques in toxicologic and pollen analysis. The team discovered pollen traces from common embalming plants including daisy, frankincense, myrtle and mint. Pollen from poplar and bellflower were also found; these two plants were in bloom when the king died. Though bacteria were found by the scientists, they could not be used to conclusively state how the king died. Charlier, identified by The New York Times as “France’s most famous forensic sleuth” has definite experience in this sort of investigation — he’s previously examined the head of Henry IV and relics that reportedly belonged to the French heroine Joan of Arc, though the “relics” were actually animal bones. He also does more traditional forensic work with French police forces through the Raymond Poincaré University Hospital, and teaches at Paris Descartes University. —Katie Vogan With files from Nature, Popular Science, and The Independent (UK)
U of T students win video contest Scientific American’s “Iron Egghead” contest, a competition that challenges readers to explain a part or process in the human body using everyday items, was won by a group of five that included current U of T chemistry graduate student Dorea Reeser, U of T alumni Raluca Ellis and Nigel Morton, and their friends Mike Ellis and Jason Lee. The group decided to make a video about adrenal glands, organs that are located on the top of both kidneys and produce a number of important hormones such as cortisol. “Picking a topic was almost as challenging as creating the video,” Reeser said. The group eventually chose something that they “were all interested in learning more about.” Armed with the seven everyday items required by the contest rules (including cups, balls, pens, paper, paperclips, string, and rubber bands), the group created a two-minute video filmed entirely at Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories on U of T’s St. George campus. The video was intended for a general audience, with the kidneys represented as paper cups with colourful balls and crayons, and the group members themselves serving as the hormones and their functions. The contest’s judging panel included an Emmy award-winning documentarian, American university professors and journalists, and a science media personality. Scientific American praised the video for its use of “quick cuts, brilliantly over-the-top acting, and clever stop-motion graphics.” Reeser found the use of everyday products to be the most challenging aspect of the contest, especially since “nowadays most videos can use complicated graphics and technology.” Nonetheless, he believes these types of avenues are an important way to give scientists a chance to explore their creativity. The group has caught the filmmaking bug, and given this season’s flu outbreak, the next topic on the horizon is germs. —Sri Chaudhuri
Sports
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Blues midfielder Dylan Bams’s final stand
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4 MarCH 2013
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Second-year Brian Lee says he has never experienced as much of the team aspect of swimming as he has with the Blues. Bernarda GospiC/tHe varsity
The man behind the medals A look at the Varsity Blues’ Brian Lee’s journey to the OUA and CIS swimming championships Amanda Coletta
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
For Brian Lee, the Varsity Blues’ second-year swimming sensation, a passion for swimming and athletic prowess in the pool may be genetic. “My parents met swimming for Queen’s University, and it’s been a family sport since I was born,” said Lee, explaining his reasons for deciding to swim in the first place. The philosophy major has been swimming competitively for 14 years, beginning at the Sault Ste Marie Aquatic Club when he was six. After 10 years with the club, Lee made the decision to take his talents south of the border where he enrolled in the Baylor School, a co-educational private secondary school heralded for both its academic and swimming programs. With its multi-million dollar Olympic-sized swimming pool, the Tennessee-area school has a long history of producing competi-
tive swimmers, including US Olympian Geoff Gaberino, who captured the gold medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. So, it’s no surprise that Lee has emerged as one of the strongest swimmers on the team since he arrived at the University of Toronto. In just his first year as a Varsity Blues athlete, he won a silver medal at the 2012 Ontario University Athletics (oua) championships, and went on to collect a pair of silver medals and a bronze at that year’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport (cis) championships. That medal haul was only a sign of things to come. At the 2013 oua championships in Toronto, the Varsity Blues’ men’s swimming team captured the Dougall Trophy and first place, and Lee added to his medal collection a pair of gold medals in the relay events and a pair of third-place finishes in the individual events. Then, at the 2013 cis championships in Calgary at
the end of February, Lee collected a silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke and a bronze medal in the 4×100 metre freestyle relay. The Varsity Blues went on to capture the Nelson C. Hart trophy, ending an 18year period that saw a Western team top the CIS every year. Winning the national championship, says Lee, is undoubtedly the moment he is most proud of as a Varsity Blues swimmer. “It was an amazing experience to win like we did, made even more amazing because we’re graduating so many swimmers this year, and it was awesome being able to win with them.” Belonging to a team is an aspect of Varsity competition that Lee has come to love, and that made winning the cis championship an incredible experience. “Club swimming is an individual sport, but Varsity swimming really makes you feel like part of a team. I’ve never experienced the team aspect of swimming as much as I have here.”
It may also be a reason for the team’s success. “Having the whole team behind every swimmer every race made us all feel like we were swimming for something bigger that individual accomplishments,” says Lee. “Despite being close a number of times, I’m extremely happy that we were finally able to bring the trophy back to U of T.” Though clearly skilled in both the relay and individual events, the excitement of relays is something special for Lee. “It does feel awful to swim poorly and let the team down, more so than just swimming poorly on your own,” explains Lee, “Having a team of three guys behind you makes it really easy to feel inspired and have a great swim.” Lee trains once or twice a day provided he has no injuries, which can at times make it difficult to keep up with academics, he admits. “The coaching staff is extremely flexible concerning class hours and when you’re available
to train though,” he explains. “Our meet schedule is determined ahead of time, which gives us a bit of time to prepare.” As a sprinter, Lee swims fewer metres and trains less often than swimmers in other disciplines, since his focus is on short distances and speed as opposed to endurance. Lee plans to stay in Toronto over the summer, as most Varsity swimmers do, in order to train and stay in shape for the upcoming season, which will see U of T host the cis championships and try to defend their title. “We had a lot of support from parents and alumni that made swimming at home an exciting place to be during the oua finals,” says Lee. “Hopefully next year when we host the cis finals we’ll get the same support and more. “The biggest goal is to win the cis championships for a second year in a row. The meet being held at home makes it mean even more to us.”
The Blues and the Jays team up U of T joined the Jays Care Foundation to bring baseball to youth from vulnerable neighbourhoods William Deck
ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
The Varsity Blues men’s baseball team and the Jays Care Foundation teamed up this past Saturday to run a baseball clinic for kids from vulnerable neighbourhoods. The event featured several Blues baseball players who ran drills to introduce
baseball to the kids and give them the opportunity to play a sport that they might not otherwise have the chance to play. The event was hosted by the Jays Care Foundation and KidSport Ontario, which recently received a $50,000 grant from Jays Care. The grant is designed to give children, who would usually not be able to participate in baseball, the opportunity
to play during the 2013 season. It will be distributed to families that cannot afford the cost of baseball registration and equipment. The event this past weekend aimed to introduce participants to the sport of baseball and give them the chance to have some fun while trying a new sport. “It’s really about removing barriers from access to baseball. A lot of
these kids have never played before, and a lot of kids are newcomers to Canada,” said Brendan Mohammed of the Jays Care Foundation. “This is about introducing them to baseball and having them be physically active through the sport of baseball.” “It’s just kind of opening a door for them, giving them a taste of the sport,” added Blues outfielder Jonathan Isaac.
The event was also intended, in part, to promote baseball’s popularity among youths in Canada. “This is for the kids. Some of these kids will never get an opportunity to see a baseball field, and this is an opportunity for them to do that,” said Blues head coach Jim Sheppard.
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which point the quality of her eggs is very low.
VARSITY SPORTS
22 Vol. CXXXIII No. 18
CLASSIFIEDS CONTINUED FROM
VINYL, CDS, EQUIPMENT PREVIOUS PAGE High Quality Vinyl & “U reconditioned of T baseball has been doing equipment events like this for years,” noted AROUND AGAIN pitching coach Nick Cunjak. “The 18 Baldwin St goal is to help promote the game of baseball in Canada and to give these WANTED: CHRISTMAS GIFT kids an option other than hockey or WRAPPERS some other sport out there.” Creative individuals, Locations During the clinic part of the -- Downtown Toronto, North event, Varsity Blues’ players taught York, Brampton. Managers the skills involved in hitting, base to $11.50/hour + bonuses. running, and fielding. Both Blues
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DENTAL CARE
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players and participants seemed “Life is kind of like baseball — it’s to be enjoying themselves im- got strikes, outs, and home runs. mensely, with smiles beaming on Sometimes we make mistakes in the faces of the kids across the our lives and we get a strike. Somesports complex. times we get lucky and get on bases. “You walk out of here with a good Sometimes when we work really feeling. I get a good feeling just by hard in our lives we can get a home watching, so I’m sure they are get- run,” explained Jachyra. ting a good feeling participating,” As the event concluded, those noted Sheppard. involved spoke about the benefits The morning ended with a talk to both the kids and the players ingiven to the kids by Blues’ player volved in hosting the event and the Patrick Jachyra, who spoke about his community at large. experience as an immigrant to Can“Everybody wins in this situaada. Accutane, He grew up inaadrug rough used neigh- for tion. The kidswith get to have a fun day patients bourhood and did not learn Eng- and our players get to take on some severe has Jachyra been associated lish until the acne, third grade. leadership roles, and the commuexplained how baseball and school nity benefits because we’re out there with causing Inflammatory helped him make the right choices teaching baseball,” said Cunjak. in life to eventually turn hisCrohn’s life in “We feel that when everything is Bowel Disease, the right direction. all said11:40 andAM done, our guys go COLES Queens U spring ad bw:open learning ad 01/02/12 Pagewhen 1
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out into the work field or be a parent, educator or whatever, this is where it starts — this is the exposure that they need and this is what can turn one of our guys onto teaching, or a leadership position” added Sheppard. Sheppard was also grateful for the opportunity given to the Blues by Jays Care Foundation to come in and participate in the clinic. “By the Jays doing this, it gives us an ‘in’ to help, and that’s what we’re about,” said Sheppard. The Blues players involved had nothing but positive things to say about the opportunity and looked forward to future community events such as this. “Any opportunity we have to help out, we’re going to take it,” said Isaac.
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Patrick Jachyra discusses his experiences playing baseball ask a kid (top). Participants of the workshop (bottom). wILLIAM DECk/THE VArSITY
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS.
IMMIGRATE TO CANADA PERMANENTLY. The Canadian Experience Class program offers foreign graduates with Canadian work experience the opportunity to apply and stay in Canada permanently. Visit immigration.gc.ca/cec for more details and see if you’re eligible.
ÉTUDIANTS ÉTRANGERS.
IMMIGREZ EN PERMANENCE AU CANADA. Le programme de la catégorie de l’expérience canadienne offre aux diplômés étrangers ayant une expérience de travail au Canada la possibilité de faire une demande en vue d’habiter en permanence au Canada. Visitez le site immigration.gc.ca/cec pour en savoir plus et pour voir si vous êtes admissible.
23
THE VARSITY PRESENTS
HOW TO THROW A
SNOW BALL BY ELIZABETH BENN | ILLUSTRATION BY DAN SELJAK
Major league baseball players are beginning to report to Florida and Arizona for this year’s spring training, and the World Baseball classic is underway. Meanwhile, for players like PhD student and Varsity Blues pitcher Ryan Donnelly and I, baseball weather in Toronto is still at least a month away, and the urge to play is becoming unbearable. The streets of Toronto are covered in slushy snow, and the temperature sits just below freezing. Donnelly, contemplating how to at least temporarily satisfy the desire to throw baseballs, remarked, “So how about snowballs? Those are cool.” In true Canadian fashion, we decided to embrace the cold, snowy outdoors, and warm up our arms for the season with a snowball fight. Before starting the winter baseball simulation game, however, some fundamental techniques had to be nailed down in order to succeed in our endeavour — we needed to learn the step-by-step process of how to throw a snowball.
The most crucial part of a snowball fight is your weapon: the snowball. “One of the most underlooked factors in throwing a snowball is the construction of the snowball,” Donnelly insists. “It should go without saying that you shouldn’t use anything except high-quality packing snow — no powder.” The temperatures that we have been subject to in Toronto lately create the ideal snow: it’s warm enough that the snow melts slightly, thus giving it a consistency ideal for molding. Once the desired material becomes readily available, a snowball must be made. “Premium construction is partially personal preference, but universally, all snowballs should be packed to maximum compression; variable features include size and shape,” Donnelly explains. As baseball players, we chose to make snowballs the size of a baseball, which is also conveniently the size of a snowball created with one double-handedscoop of moist packing snow, when properly compressed. Although each snowball will vary with personal preference, it is necessary that every snowball be compressed as much as possible. “I don’t care if you’re a major league pitcher; if you’ve got a powderball, you lose,” Donnelly notes.
After forming the snowball, an attack strategy must be determined, which Donnelly remarks can be ideally executed in two different ways. “The first opportunity is when your opponent is starting to prepare a new snowball. They will likely have to bend down to pick up more snow, and this leaves them in a vulnerable position with limited mobility,” he says. “The second is just after they have released a snowball. If the initial trajectory of their throw indicates that you will not be hit, you can counter-attack while they are off balance.” However, your opponent may be aware of some snowball-throwing strategies as well, so you must have a solid defensive skill set. If you have played baseball before, you can most likely catch a ball; this is “yet another reason to wear gloves: just catch their snowball.” Donnelly notes that “if [your attacker is] small and weak, you might even be able to catch their throw with the snowball still intact, allowing you to add it to your own arsenal.” Assume that you are a middle infielder who needs to use quick, smooth hands to trap the ball while already moving your body into a throwing motion.
Another important factor to consider in the initial steps of snowball throwing is handwear. “Gloves are optional, but recommended for two reasons: first, holding onto a snowball for a very long time can be uncomfortable, especially when finding the ideal time to attack your target,” Donnelly explains. “The second factor is force distribution. If you’re holding a snowball without gloves, you put more pressure on the snowball, thus allowing for the potential of mid-throw-explosion.”
Now we can finally look at the throwing mechanics. “When you have a clear target and are not worried about a counter-attack, you can take your time to throw with proper mechanics that will maximize accuracy and velocity.” However, you still do not want to throw from a full windup; this will add around three seconds to your delivery, and during that time, your opponent may take shelter from your pitch. Rather, you should pitch from the stretch. “For righties, the first motion is a dropping of the right hand with snowball to your right thigh as you make a large stride directly towards your opponent with your left foot,” Donnelly explains. If you are more pressed for time when fighting an opponent who is ready to attack you, act as a position player and remember to always follow through on your throw, ending with your leading foot’s toe pointing at your target, and bringing your lagging leg through to finish your attack.
24 MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013
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thevarsity.ca
Spring Meeting of Members
Board of Director Elections
The Spring Meeting of Members of VARSITY PUBLICATIONS INC. (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Corporationâ&#x20AC;?), the company that publishes The Varsity newspaper, will be held:
Elections for director positions on the Board of Directors of Varsity Publications Inc., the corporation that publishes The Varsity newspaper, will be held:
DATE:Â Wednesday, March 20, 2013 TIME: 5:00 pm LOCATION: Â 21 Sussex Ave., second floor
ELECTION PERIOD: March 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;19, 2013 LOCATION: online at https://voting.utoronto.ca NOMINATION PERIOD: February 25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;March 11, 2013
The meeting will be held for the purpose of: 1. election for directors: voting for directors can be done online at voting.utoronto.ca on March 17, 18 and 19, 2o13. This online voting system does not permit Varsity Publica tions Inc. to identify how an individual has voted; 2. review and, if deemed appropriate, pass an ordinary resolution to approve proposed changes to the corporationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bylaws; 3. transacting such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting.
Positions Available Five (5) general category seats One (1) seat allocated for a member registered at the University of Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mississauga campus (per Varsity Publications Inc. Bylaw 6, article 10) One (1) seat allocated for a member registered at the University of Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scarborough campus (per Varsity Publications Inc. Bylaw 6, article 10) For more information, and to download the nomination form, visit var.st/board2013
Members unable to attend this meeting in person are able to proxy their vote. Proxies must be returned to the location of the meeting no later than 5 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. Proxyholders cannot hold more than two (2) proxies. For more information on the Spring Meeting of Members, visit var.st/springmeeting
Š2013 St. Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s University
CANADIAN DOCTORS ARE IN DEMAND ALL OVER THE WORLD. PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, RIGHT HERE IN CANADA. STUDY WITH US, AND JOIN OUR GROWING NUMBER OF GRADUATES THAT ARE PROUD TO WORK AND LIVE RIGHT HERE IN CANADA. WHERE WE STAND WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT. s )N THE LAST TWO YEARS 3T 'EORGE S 5NIVERSITY PLACED MORE DOCTORS INTO lRST YEAR 5 3 RESIDENCIES THAN ANY OTHER MEDICAL SCHOOL IN THE WORLD* s 3'5 S 5 3 AND #ANADIAN STUDENTS WHO TOOK THE 53-,% 3TEP FOR THE lRST TIME IN ACHIEVED A PASS RATE s #LINICAL ROTATION IN THE 5 3 5 + AND #ANADA
JOIN OVER 1,400 STUDENTS AND GRADUATES FROM CANADA WHO HAVE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE HERE.
Upcoming Information Session: Monday, March 18, 2013, 7â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8:30pm Park Hyatt Toronto 4 Avenue Road, Toronto ON M5R 2E8 To learn more about SGUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School of Medicine at our upcoming Information Session, contact Joann Vastola at jvastola@sgu.edu, call 1 (800) 899-6337 ext. 1395, or visit www.sgu.edu/informationsession. *According to published information. January 2013.
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