February 14th, 2022

THE VARSITY February 14, 2022

Vol. CXLII, No. 18

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Event for U of T’s Asian community disrupted by racist, threatening incidents Unidentified attendees held gun during call, said n-word Stephanie Bai, Tahmeed Shafiq Managing Online Editor, Managing Editor

Content warning: This article discusses the incident of anti-Asian racism in detail.

On February 7, the Asian Student Alliance (ASA) club at U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) held an online Zoom event that was interrupted by racist and threatening disturbances from several unidentified attendees.

According to multiple people who attended the event, a man turned on his video feed and showed himself holding a large gun. An unidentified speaker also said the n-word aloud. Further unidentified users added racist comments in the chat, including one who wrote, “Chinese” followed by “fuck you.”

After the incident, Mary Reid, an assistant professor at OISE who helped organize this event, said, “I was shaking.”

The event itself was an hour-long open forum for community members to discuss a culturally offensive incident that occurred the previous week, where the Graduate House student residence distributed fake bills printed with the words “HELL BANK NOTE” to mark the Lunar New Year. These notes are traditionally reserved for sacrificial offerings for the dead and deities, and it is therefore considered culturally offensive to give them to people who are alive, as it implies that they are being cursed or that the giver wishes for their death.

OISE Interim Dean Normand Labrie released a statement the same day, writing that the faculty was “appalled that such incidents continue to occur in [U of T] community spaces” and that they “emphatically condemn anti-Asian discrimination and racism, and all forms of hate and racial violence.” Labrie also wrote that the incident had been reported to the Provost’s Office, Community Safety Office, and Campus Safety.

In another statement, a U of T spokesperson wrote that the university is “supporting [the ASA] and continuing to promote the use of appropriate security measures for Zoom meetings and events, particularly those open to members of the public.” They also noted that the incident had been reported to the Toronto Police Service.

university to take, such as giving a comprehensive apology and an explanation for how the culturally offensive act occurred.

However, disturbances began in the last 15 minutes of the call, Reid remembers, and occurred in quick succession.

Reid, along with two graduate students at OISE, Jasmine Pham and Susan He, heard a user say the n-word. Pham alleged that she later heard somebody say “terrorist,” and he also claimed to hear another person say “yellow people.”

Reid, Pham, and He then all saw a man holding a large gun after he turned on his video feed. He described the man as, “Late teens to maybe early 30s, white male.”

She added that the man didn’t unmute himself.

He held his gun and stared at the screen. “My heart was pounding,” she said. “​​It all happened so fast,” said Reid. “We had the most amazing meeting — the most empowering meeting. We had people from different backgrounds, different racial identities.”

The Zoom link for the event was posted publicly and there were no security measures in place to restrict attendees other than Zoom’s waiting room feature. The call was not recorded, either, to protect the identities of attendees. “We’ve done these kinds of sessions before, and we’ve never been Zoom bombed,” said Reid.

Since the perpetrators likely used pseudonyms, The Varsity was unable to verify precisely how many people were involved in these disturbances, although some attendees estimate there were potentially four individuals, including the two users in the chat box. Reid and He remembered the usernames of the perpetrators, including the man with the gun and the person who said the n-word.

Looking at the Zoom report, the documented IP addresses of these individuals were traced back to the United States. However, Reid added that this information alone cannot confirm the location of the perpetrators because people are able to mask their IP addresses.

After the disturbances, the perpetrators were immediately removed from the call and people in the waiting room were not allowed to join for the remainder of the event. When the call ended,

Multiple racist and threatening disturbances during the call The ASA advertised their event as a chance for Asian community members to come together after the incident at Graduate House. During the call, which had over 90 attendees, Reid helped facilitate conversation about the Graduate House incident and steps that community members wanted the

Reid went to another Zoom meeting to report the incident to the chair of her department — Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning — and two associate chairs at OISE. “I was in tears,” she said.

The event’s aftermath Reid couldn’t sleep for two nights after the incident.

“My email inbox was inundated by students with words of support, but also fear,” she said. “I felt that I let students down by not making the session more secure.” She has pledged to add extra protections like preregistration for future events.

Pham said that although she knows Reid regrets the lack of Zoom security, “she did not need to feel apologetic because she did not have to take responsibility for the actions of those people.”

Reid said OISE has offered resources so that people who witnessed the incident can attend culturally responsive therapy. She is also in contact with the police about the event’s disturbances.

Pham noted that although it may be difficult for the police to find these perpetrators, this incident, coupled with the Lunar New Year incident at Graduate House, highlighted how institutions have failed to keep minoritized individuals safe.

“For people to feel entitled to even come into an event and to say [these remarks] shows that we are miles and miles off from holding people accountable,” she said. “The event really showed me that there is a very strong ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality when it should be just a ‘we.’ ” Reid emphasized the critical role that education can play in response to racist or threatening actions.

“For anti-Asian racism, a lot of people just think that it’s not that serious, that we’re so adjacent to whiteness, and we’re not,” she said. “Oppression impacts different groups in unique ways.”

She also pointed to the racist remarks made against multiple racialized groups during the call.

“This is not just about anti-Asian racism, although there was a lot of anti-Asian hate,” she explained.

“This is about oppression, and a dominant group who wants to silence us. And we’re not going to be silenced.”

The Varsity has reached out to Campus Safety for comment.

The event was an hour-long open forum for community members to discuss a culturally offensive incident.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY

Law student files human rights claim against U of T over Zoom link accessibility Student advocates for online options to be provided more permanently Padraic Berting Graduate Bureau Chief

Anushay Sheikh, a student who deferred acceptance to U of T law, is filing a human rights claim through the Ontario Human Rights Commission against the university. The claim, which The Varsity has obtained a copy of, asserts that the university is unwilling to accommodate students and offer remote options for attending classes via Zoom.

In an email to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson wrote that they could not provide comment due to the case being active and its privacy limitations.

A number of student organizations have recently been speaking out in favour of more hybrid options, arguing that there are accessibility barriers to returning in person.

Although Sheikh began their first year of law school in August 2021, they decided to delay their degree until fall 2022 and are not currently

enrolled at U of T. In order to hold their spot at the university, the administration also required them to sign a letter promising that they would not apply to other law schools.

Sheikh filed their claim after engaging with administration and Accessibility Services on accommodations to their education for five months due to health challenges. In an interview with The Varsity, Sheikh explained that their professors wanted to provide online learning options and were accommodating. However, in Sheikh’s claim, they allege that the Faculty of Law only allowed distribution of classes’ Zoom links as a part of the faculty’s emergency COVID-19 response, due to the faculty’s emphasis on in-person learning, so Sheikh could not obtain Zoom links for their courses. “​​Even though Zoom links were available for all of my classes in the fall of 2021, the Faculty refused to provide them to me. It cited as its reason a policy that in-person learning was an ‘essential’

part of the educational experience, a rule it has been prepared to treat flexibly in other contexts, but not for students with disabilities like me,” reads the claim.

Sheikh’s tweets about the case have gained traction, with groups like the U of T Law Union endorsing them.

Sheikh noted that the pandemic has provided the university with an opportunity regarding accessibility. “For the first time, during the pandemic, people with different accessibility needs were able to access learning styles that weren’t exclusively in person,” Sheikh elaborated.

They added that having those options revoked during a new stage of the pandemic has exposed inequities in the postsecondary education system.

Although many people would like to return to inperson classes, many student groups see remote learning as an option that should always be available to the students who need it.

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FEBRUARY 14, 2022

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UTFA, professors express concerns about hybrid teaching Students, unions express support for greater hybrid options Syeda Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

Students have been widely critical of U of T’s decision to return to in-person classes for the remaining winter semester. They have launched various petitions calling for the availability of hybrid options and have received support from the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU), the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), and the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), all of which have called for greater hybrid options.

U of T’s decision followed by students’ response has left professors planning to shift their courses back to in-person learning, while also attempting to accommodate students online. Some community members have both technological and pedagogical concerns about how this transition will work. The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) and some professors have spoken out against offering hybrid courses.

UTFA’s response to hybrid learning demands The UTFA has co-signed a COVID-19 Letter of Understanding (LOU) with U of T’s administration, which includes a section on expectations for hybrid teaching.

UTFA President Terezia Zorić explained in an email to The Varsity, “The LOU means the Administration may not require, nor should they pressure, any faculty member or librarian to deliver any one section of a course both remotely and in-person.”

She emphasized the difference between sharing recordings of lectures after in-person delivery and hybrid models like dual delivery. “ ‘Dual delivery’ is the integration of multiple modes of course delivery, in person and online,” she explained in the email.

Zorić explained that safety is most important.

“Our members –professors and librarians—continue to want to return to in-person teaching, librarianship, and other work as soon as it is safe enough to do so,” she emphasized.

Zorić added that the UTFA values choice.

“Based on their pedagogical judgements, personal circumstances, and the time and resources available to them,” she wrote, faculty members should be able to choose the mode of delivery

that they prefer and that makes most sense.

She highlighted the inconsistency in the instructional choices and resources that are available to instructors in different faculties and classrooms across the three campuses. Zorić explained that this inconsistency illustrates the inequities in how different faculties and instructors experience teaching at the university.

Beyond the disparity in available resources, Zorić wrote that hybrid model delivery can add significantly to an instructor’s workload.

“It requires a faculty member or instructor to either double their teaching time (by teaching a class in-person and then separately teaching on a recording), or splitting — fracturing — their attention by trying to engage both with students in the physical room and with students attending remotely in real-time,” Zorić wrote. The latter, Zorić explained, requires resources that would generally not be necessary for recording lectures.

Zorić wrote that even when an instructor is willing to accommodate students who are unable to attend in-person classes, professors may not always be able to do so without the proper resources.

Professors’ perspectives Associate Professor Franco Taverna, also a member of the Online Learning Academy (OLA)’s advisory committee, said in an interview with The Varsity that the hybrid model is perhaps “the worst of both worlds.”

He believes, at least based on the courses he has taught during the pandemic, that professors should have a choice between in-person and online delivery.

Taverna cited his own experiment with the hybrid model while teaching an online course in the summer and he noticed that many of his students were living on or near campus. He told them that, if they want, they can attend the lecture in person.

Taverna said that, out of 80 or so students, only around five attended in person.

Nevertheless, through his role in the OLA, Taverna is certain that there is no one correct solution for all professors — choice matters. “The university is amazingly complex and diverse and different course by course by course, unit by unit,” said Taverna. “You really must let the professor decide

what is possible within those courses,” he added.

Most importantly, however, Taverna believes that decisions in this pandemic must consider safety. “You’re not faced with pedagogical choices, you’re faced with health choices.”

Sherri Helwig, an associate professor and the program director of the UTSC arts management program, who is teaching both a fully online course and an in-person course this semester, shared her experience navigating this new academic terrain.

She wrote in an email to The Varsity that her D-level project-based course has proven more challenging than her fully online course that has more than 100 students.

The trouble begins with just the choice of a classroom. “The room assignment has shifted several times because some classrooms that are somewhat appropriate in size [for COVID-19 restrictions] are inappropriate for pedagogical purposes.”

Helwig remains cognizant of how students have grown accustomed to the online classroom, and fears that students returning to campus for her D-level course will have trouble readjusting to the “competing noise.”

She agrees with Taverna that hybrid models are not the most appropriate means of delivery for some courses, but may be accomplished in others if professors are given adequate support.

This largely depends on not just the course, but also the classroom and the technology available in it. Despite this, Helwig believes that “there is far more to high-quality hybrid teaching than equipment and technical support.”

The big problem with hybrid delivery, as Helwig understands it, is the additional workload for professors in designing a course structure that provides equal engagement for both in-person and online students. “Ensuring that a course does

not privilege those in the classroom over those joining remotely requires significant and distinct up-front planning for each set of students,” she explained.

Student unions’ response Student unions at U of T have consistently been asking for hybrid course delivery, despite the COVID-19 LOU signed by the UTFA and U of T. “The additional work of offering courses in a hybrid model should not fall on faculty and course instructors,” remarked SCSU President Sarah Abdillahi, in an email to The Varsity. She wrote that the responsibility to provide means of delivering course material in an accessible manner to all students should instead fall on U of T. Abdillahi maintained the importance of students’ choice in returning to in-person classes.

Nevertheless, she wrote, “We need the University to invest and commit to hiring the necessary staff and equipment to offer relevant classes in a hybrid model.”

UTMSU President Mitra Yakubi agreed that hybrid courses would create more work for professors. She explained that the university’s administration should account for the resources required to accommodate students, but instructors should be the ones to ascertain the particular mode of delivery suitable for their courses. However, the UTMSU had been advocating for hybrid options as recently as November.

The UTSU has also called for hybrid options, with the union holding a town hall in January to discuss these options with students and demanding the university offer hybrid options in an open letter later that month.

Twenty per cent of UTSC courses to remain online this term Councils approve student fee changes, new environmental science program Syeda Maheen Zulfiqar UTSC Bureau Chief

The UTSC Academic Affairs Committee and the Campus Affairs Committee meetings were held on February 9 and February 10, respectively.

During the Campus Affairs Committee meeting, UTSC Vice-Principal Academic & Dean William Gough gave an update on the winter semester and the council approved an array of minor fee changes. The Academic Affairs Committee also discussed and approved a new graduate program — Master of Science in Environmental Science.

Upcoming changes and plans In his report, Gough confirmed that 30 per cent of courses returned to in-person teaching during the week of February 7. Many of the courses that remained online will shift to an in-person format following reading week on February 28.

Courses that began online in the fall will continue to be delivered online — especially those classes with larger enrolments — meaning that around 20 per cent of courses will remain online for the entirety of the winter semester.

The UTSC Campus Affairs Committee also changed compulsory non-academic incidental fees for UTSC student societies at its meeting on February 10. The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) approved an increase in total semester fees of 5.2 per cent for both fulland part-time students at its most recent board meeting, which was additionally approved by the UTSC Campus Council.

UTSC Student Experience and Wellbeing fees will decrease by $1.79 for full-time students, and $0.36 for part-time students. As a result, the total fees paid by full-time and part-time students respectively will be $420.72 and $84.14.

Modifications to graduate programs UTSC has created a new Master of Science program in environmental science. This will mean that the number of locally administered graduate programs at UTSC will increase from five to six.

The Master of Environmental Science degree that is already offered to students differs from the new program discussed during the meeting, in that the new program will “address the needs of high-achieving students seeking a more

intensive research-focused master’s degree.”

“The program that is being presented today really fills the gap in providing a very researchintensive program, which will provide a foundation… for the PhD program,” said Mary Silcox, vice-dean graduate and postdoctoral studies.

The program will span over 16 months in order to maximize research time. “A lot of environmental science research has to happen outside and Canada is cold,” Silcox explained.

“So in order to maximize the chances that students can do potentially two field periods if they need to, we are having a May start.”

Furthermore, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), which is currently necessary for both the MA and PhD programs in counselling and clinical psychology, will be removed as a requirement. According to the UTSC administration, there are various accessibility concerns regarding the additional financial burden it places on applicants who have to prepare and register to take the GRE. “The reasons around that really have to do with desire for increasing accessibility to graduate studies,” Silcox said.

The UTSC campus.

MICHAEL PHOON/THEVARSITY

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NEWS

Health workers stage counterprotest against ‘freedom convoy’ Event co-organized by members of U of T medical community Padraic Berting Graduate Bureau Chief

Members of the Toronto medical community, including U of T faculty and affiliates, organized a counterprotest in response to the ‘freedom convoy’ protesters who have been occupying Queen’s Park on weekends since February 5. These protesters are associated with the movement against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

The Varsity spoke with Dr. Philip Berger, one of the counterprotest’s co-organizers, about the goals of the event and how the freedom convoy movement has affected the medical community.

Background on the convoy The freedom convoy movement protests began in Ottawa when truckers protested against vaccine mandates for people travelling across the US border. The protest has since expanded past truckers to include other people who are more generally unhappy with COVID-19 restrictions and the Trudeau government.

Protesters sectioned off a substantial portion of Queen’s Park as well as the surrounding area.

U of T closed some of its facilities during the

weekend of February 5 as a result.

Protests resumed on February 12, and the university issued periodic warnings on the risk they might pose to students due to their continued presence.

Premier Doug Ford also declared a state of emergency on February 11 in response to the protests.

Response from medical community Counterprotesters were present in response to the convoy and in solidarity with health care workers.

The counterprotest sought to counter the narrative perpetuated by the trucker convoy. It was attended and organized by members of the medical community.

Berger, a U of T senior medical faculty member, was one of the co-organizers of the protest. In an interview with The Varsity, Berger explained that health care workers were motivated to counterprotest after watching the convoy terrorize elderly and LGBTQ+ people, as well as people experiencing homelesness.

“Those are our patients in Toronto,” Berger said.

“That provoked us to take very public action, to make sure we had a presence on the streets, and to show that we health care workers are going to care for anybody who wants it, including… those in the convoy.”

ANDREA ZHAO/THEVARSITY

Berger said the workers were warned to avoid wearing “anything that would identify them as health care workers,” but added that health care workers would not put up with intimidation or harassment. He also noted how the trucker convoy had the potential to block major hospital routes, which could have been hazardous to patients in emergency.

He concluded by saying that advocacy was a big part of being a doctor. This protest, he said, was a perfect example of health care workers following through on that part of their job.

“We may join with other forces across the country to push back against people who are promoting illness and misery and suffering among their fellow citizens,” he added.

Dalla Lana opens new equity hub to address equity issues Organizers hoping program will offer more transparency, encourage community feedback Elizabeth Shechtman Associate News Editor

The Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

EHSAN ETASAMI/THEVARSITY

UTM increases student services fees by two per cent Majority of newly hired professors are women Lexey Burns UTM Bureau Chief

On February 9, the UTM Campus Council reviewed both students’ compulsory non-academic incidental fees and the campus’ operating plans and fees. At the meeting, it approved increases to some incidental fees.

Fees Melinda Scott, students and student policy advisor, presented the 2021–2022 overview of compulsory non-academic incidental fees.

Fees in the campus service category include student services, health services, and athletics and recreation at UTM, as well as fees for the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and Hart House that are levied across all three campuses. Students are unable to opt out of these fees, and the cost will fluctuate based on each student’s full- or part-time status.

The mandatory fees also include fees for the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Stu-

dents, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union, the U of T community radio CIUT 89.5 FM, and The Varsity. Students that attend UTM pay specific divisional fees — student society fees based on campus location — for the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), the UTM’s Association of Graduate Students (UTMAGS), the radio station CFRE 91.9 FM, The Medium, the UTM Athletic Council, the Master of Management & Professional Accounting Student Society, and the UTM Residence Council.

Dean of Student Affairs & Assistant Principal, Student Services Mark Overton presented the overview of UTM’s operating plans and fees, as well as its compulsory non-academic incidental fees plan for 2022–2023.

The health services and athletics & recreation fees remain unchanged. However, Overton presented an increase to $214.67 per session — $42.93 for part-time students — for the sessional student services fees. This represents an increase of two per cent, or $4.31 per session — $0.86 for part-time students — from the 2021–2022 fees.

The Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) has launched a new equity hub that, according to its website, will directly engage with issues related to “equity, inclusivity, and belonging.”

The hub will provide students with updates through its website, which has a section for news and accountability.

In an email to The Varsity, Ryan Hinds, director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at the DLSPH, wrote that the hub’s main purpose is to improve communication about DLSPH initiatives related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism. It also aims to keep the school accountable for all equity commitments that it makes.

The hub will host events; launch programs; and provide students with curricula modifications, equity reports, and news on initiatives. By being more transparent about its work, the hub In response to the presentations, Salma Fakhry — the previous chair of the group Quality Service to Students — a UTM group of students and administrators that looks for ways to improve student experiences, and a 2019 alum, said that “the single comment offered [from Quality Service to Students members] on all three fees was that students did appreciate the services and programs offered, but felt that the cost to attend the University of Toronto already presented a significant burden to students — more so during the pandemic.”

Overton said that the reason some fees were not increased was because “ultimately, over several years, the message [from students] comes through that they liked the services, but [there] is simply the financial challenge [from] increasing fees.”

“This is about affordability,” added Overton.

A number of student association fees are also set to increase, including the UTMAGS fee, which will start to increase its Mississauga Transit Upass fee by $7.01 per session for full- and parttime students. Graduate students will also see an increase of $4.27 for the fall session and $4.28 for the winter session for both full- and part-time students because of the Mississauga Transit Summer U-Pass. In the 2022–2023 school year, all UTM-affiliated graduate students will be charged $236.89 per session in compulsory incidental fees.

The fees for the UTMSU will also see a number of increases, which were approved at the most

aims to gather feedback from students, faculty, and staff on how to improve communication and engagement with the website.

The DLSPH recognizes that racism is a public health crisis, and, according to its website, “[it] seeks to nurture excellence in the capacity to understand and respond to the root causes of inequity and exclusion, and their links to health and well being.” The website notes that inequality stems from social structures with historic, economic, and political roots. To combat this, the DLSPH hopes to proactively increase diversity in its community.

Some upcoming events that the DLSPH’s new hub is hosting include an event on understanding and addressing antisemitism and an event on Black histories, Black futures, and community organizing. Further information about both of these events can be found on the equity hub’s website. recent UTMSU board meeting and then, more recently, by the Campus Council. The total UTMSU fee per semester could be as much as $425.58 for full-time students and $157.94 for part-time students, charged to all UTM undergraduate students.

The total UTMSU fee per semester for students of the Mississauga Academy of Medicine will be up to $523.42 per session since the UTMSU increased the Mississauga Transit Summer UPass fee up to $8.08 per semester.

Academic Affairs meeting The UTM Academic Affairs meeting on February 10 included Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean Rhonda McEwen’s presentation on the statistics of newly hired professors.

There were 37 new hires across 14 faculties.

The highest number of new hires in a “home unit” was eight, in the Institute of the Study of University Pedagogy. Of the 37 new hires, 34 were hired as assistant professors under teaching, tenure, and contracts, while only three were hired as associate professors under tenure.

Additionally, 24 out of the 37 total new hires were women. Humanities departments received three new professors, all women. Social sciences received 17 professors, 11 of them women; science received 11 professors, seven of them women; and professional and applied sciences hired an equal number of women and men, at three each.

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FEBRUARY 14, 2022

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LGBTOUT Valentine’s Day matchmaking event creates space for queer students to connect Executives stress importance of forming a supportive community Marta Anielska Deputy News Editor

Over the course of the pandemic, students have had a difficult time forming platonic and romantic relationships. This is especially true for LGBTQ+ students who are hoping to meet other LGBTQ+ students.

LGBTOUT, a U of T LGBTQ+ student organization, organized a Valentine’s Day matchmak-

ing event in response to this need, hoping it would facilitate socialization between LGBTQ+ students. The event is taking place on Valentine’s Day, and executives will manually pair up students to form a safe space where LGBTQ+ students could begin building a community.

Matchmaking events In an interview with The Varsity, the organization’s executive-at-large, who asked to remain anonymous because she is not out yet, and Alex Drakopoulos, LGBTOUT’s administrative director, explained that students could sign up for the matchmaking event through a questionnaire.

The questionnaire included questions about the person’s gender, sexuality, dating preferences, and personality. The organizers use the questionnaire answers to manually match up event participants. The executive-at-large acknowledged that they are not experts and added that the event is simply meant to be a fun way for LGBTQ+ students to meet each other.

Drakopoulos explained that LGBTOUT decided to hold the event because it was unable to fully execute its usual event — the opportunity to send ‘homograms’ with a card and candy.

While the club will still send virtual homograms, they wanted to do something more for students.

“We had a lot of requests from people to do events where we facilitate a space for them to meet other queer people on campus because the pandemic has limited people’s ability to

do that,” Drakopoulos said. As a result, LGBTOUT’s executives decided this would be a fun way to follow through on that request and celebrate Valentine’s Day. Students also had the option to indicate what they would like to get out of the event, whether it be platonic friendships or romantic relationships. “If we have a lot of people that remain platonic and just make some new queer friends on campus, we would be more than happy with that as well,” Drakopoulos said.

Finding community LGBTOUT’s executive-at-large noted that many first- and second-year students have not gotten much opportunity to meet new people because of the pandemic, something even more apparent for LGBTQ+ students wanting to meet other LGBTQ+ students.

Moreover, Drakopoulos said that university is often the first time that LGBTQ+ people might be away from a homophobic or transphobic environment. Consequently, it’s also a time when they are able to explore their sexuality and gender. As the executive-at-large pointed out, feeling a sense of community can make that process less lonely.

Besides the matchmaking event, LGBTOut has also opened a Discord server to replace their pre-pandemic drop in centre. Students are allowed to remain anonymous and the server will stay up even after the in-person drop-in

centre returns, since, as both executives noted, some LGBTQ+ students might just be more comfortable with reaching out to others online.

LGBTOut is also looking to hire trained student volunteers who can answer questions on the server as a form of peer support. When asked about whether the club felt the need to offer peer support because of a lack of support from the university, Drakopoulos said that mental health resources were lacking in general, especially for marginalized groups like LGBTQ+ people.

“I think… peer support [representatives]… [offer] that specific experience of being a queer person themselves, and that they’re able to sort of fill that gap that is missing from our professional services,” Drakopulos added.

MAKENA MWENDA/THEVARSITY

The Breakdown: On- and off-campus sexual health resources Services for birth control, STDs, sexual violence, plus other resources students can access Beatriz Silva Associate News Editor

Both the federal and municipal governments, as well as U of T, offer a wide range of easily accessible sexual health resources. To help you access these resources, The Varsity compiled a summary of some of them provided on and off campus.

Birth control You can contact U of T’s Health & Wellness Centre for information on birth control.

Some methods of birth control require a medical prescription. You can book an education session with a nurse at the Health & Wellness Centre to discuss which method works best for you. After having learned about the various possible forms of birth control, you can book an appointment with a doctor from the centre to get a prescription.

Prescriptions from the centre’s doctors can be used to purchase hormonal birth control at the Health & Wellness Centre. Students who have a prescription from a non-affiliated doctor need to book an appointment to transfer their prescription to Health & Wellness and get a new one from one of the centre’s doctors before purchasing.

Condoms are also available for free at the Health & Wellness office, though supplies are limited. The university’s Sexual Health team offers short instructional videos on external and internal condom use.

Health & Wellness is part of Rapid Access Intrauterine Contraception Centres of Excellence. The Health & Wellness Centre has an expert intrauterine device insertion team and offers reduced wait times. It also accepts selfreferrals, which are a good option if you are seeking rapid access to birth control. You can book an appointment to get same-day insertions on Wednesday afternoons at the Health & Wellness Centre.

You can also explore birth control options

through the website It’s A Plan, which offers a list of all birth control methods available in Canada, compiled by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. It is a self-guided tool that helps you to find a method that suits you.

Toronto Public Health also offers a pamphlet with detailed information on different birth control options. It includes important aspects to consider when choosing contraceptives, such as their efficacy, accessibility, and frequency of use — before sex, every day, every week, and so on.

If you need emergency contraception, you can find more information at whatsnextforme.ca/choices. Be aware that there is a time limit on taking emergency birth control, and the sooner you take it, the better it will work.

Sexually transmitted infections Prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is extremely important, as many of them can cause life-long health issues, particularly for women. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, these health issues may include, but are not limited to,“pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, tubal or ectopic pregnancy, cervical cancer, and perinatal or congenital infections in infants born to infected mothers.” STIs are increasingly common among postsecondary

students, affecting one in every four.

Public services are a great way to get more information on STIs and access resources.

Toronto Public Health offers a concise guide on what STIs are, how to protect yourself, and where to access testing and free treatment.

Meanwhile, Health Canada provides a more detailed guide on specific STIs and a series of resources for every province.

U of T offers testing for STIs through the Health and Wellness Centre. You can contact it to book an appointment or talk to one of the nurses by calling Health & Wellness at your campus.

Sexual violence The university also offers sexual violence prevention resources and support for survivors.

You can find emergency help at the Student Life website that you can reach across all three campuses and off campus.

The Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre (SVPSC) aims to support survivors and offer accomodations, financial and legal aid, counselling, and medical service. The SVPSC also offers referrals to additional on- and offcampus resources for sexual violence.

A list of these and other resources is provided by the Sexual Health Collaborative and can be found on their website.

A number of student groups on campus also offer supports for survivors, including the Prevention Empowerment Advocacy Response for Survivors and Trinity College Against Sexual Assault and Harassment.

FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY

Business & Labour

February 14, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/business biz@thevarsity.ca Valentine’s Day has become heavily commercialized.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY

Why we give gifts on Valentine’s Day A look at the timeline of the holiday and its gift-giving traditions Janhavi Agarwal Associate Business & Labour Editor

Love is in the air; can’t you smell it? If you can’t smell it, then you can certainly see it in every store window you pass. As you see hearts all around reminding people to celebrate love this February 14, you may wonder: how did this tradition of gift-giving come to be? And why is the pressure to purchase tokens of appreciation on Valentine’s Day so immense?

How Valentine’s Day came to be Valentine’s Day can be considered the successor to Lupercalia, an Ancient Roman feast that dates all the way back to 300 BCE. Every year, between February 13 and 15, Romans would celebrate the arrival of spring, and engage in a variety of traditions for Lupercalia. One such tradition, meant to increase women’s fertility, involved being whipped by the skin of a sacrificed dog or goat. Another was more similar to blind dating, in which men and women would be randomly matched when their names would be drawn in a lottery. While whipping women with dog skin to improve their fertility probably isn’t a tradition anymore, the tradition of gifting chocolates, cards, and flowers is one that’s more common to modern-day Valentine’s Day. How did it become the Valentine’s Day staple it is today?

The act of giving flowers on Valentine’s Day may date back many centuries, depending on what source you believe, and roses — the fa-

vorite flower of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love — were the flower of choice. The rose was bold and stood for strong feelings, so lovers would use them to show their boundless love for one another.

On Valentine’s Day in 1415, Charles, the Duke of Orleans, wrote his wife a poem while imprisoned in the Tower of London, which may have started the tradition of giving cards. By the sixteenth century, the exchanging of cards became so common that even religious leaders preached against them. However, they have now become a popular way to express love on Valentine’s Day. And would Valentine’s Day really be complete without a heart-shaped box of chocolates?

Spanish explorers brought chocolate back to Europe from North America in the seventeenth century, and it soon became Europe’s candy of choice on this holiday.

True Blue valentines In 2017, a survey of over 1,000 Canadians conducted by Ebates — a money saving website — found that 68 per cent of Canadians seem to think that Valentine’s Day is more than just a ‘silly holiday,’ as they shell out an average of $58 on presents for their loved ones. In 2021, Americans spent 21.8 billion USD on Valentine’s Day — lower than the amount they spent in 2020, but still significant.

Another study conducted by Picodi.com had analysts calculating how much money people need to spend on a date in various cities around

the world. In Toronto, dinner for two paired with wine and the cinema costs about $161.

With Valentine’s Day becoming increasingly commercialized, you may wonder: isn’t this just part of some bigger capitalist agenda that people are buying into? The Varsity spoke with lovers at U of T to understand their thoughts on the tradition of gift-giving this Valentine’s Day. Nicholas Evans is a third-year student majoring in physics and astrophysics. When asked how he would be celebrating this Valentine’s Day, he said that he would be getting his girlfriend Nikitha Devanaboyina, another U of T student, a small personal gift along with chocolates and flowers.

“I plan on giving these gifts because I enjoy giving gifts no matter the time of year, but I find Valentine’s Day to be an excuse to go further than some small random gift I might see in a store,” wrote Evans in an email to The Varsity.

“Obviously you don’t need to buy someone a gift to show them you care but I feel like getting something meaningful, big or small, can express your love towards them,” wrote Devanaboyina.

Gifts aren’t just for lovers, as roommates and third-year students Alexandra Schneider and Ashafina Ashafara have proven. They plan to

express their appreciation and gratitude for one another by gifting each other small presents such as chocolates and flowers.

Schneider explained that, although she understands that Valentine’s Day is ultimately the result of capitalism, she still likes to get small gifts for her loved ones. “Despite my belief that it is just another capitalized holiday, I do believe it’s an opportunity to remind those around you that you love and appreciate them,” wrote Schneider in an email to The Varsity.

“I don’t really let the exploitation of capitalism shape my actions and how I show my gratitude to others– and while I realise I am very embedded in this system, to constantly view myself as a product of capitalism is exhausting and dehumanising. Sometimes, gift giving really is as simple as it sounds– a token of appreciation for someone who you care about,” wrote Ashafara.

New dating app for Asian community Alike founder Hanmin Yang on his experiences developing the platform meet whomever outside of Alike. If we help them develop self-love and become happier, we’ve accomplished our mission.”

Moreover, the question of defining who counts as Asian can get contentious. The FAQ page on Alike’s website is dedicated to addressing such concerns. Specifically, it affirms that South Asians, mixed-race individuals, and trans-racial Asian adoptees are welcome. As long as a person self-identifies as Asian, the website says, they can join the app. There are no stated guidelines or policies for reporting or taking down accounts of non-Asian individuals.

Georgia Kelly Varsity Staff

The platform Alike is a dating app and social network made specifically for the Asian community in North America. Based in Toronto, it was founded by Hanmin Yang, who immigrated to Canada from South Korea when he was a young child.

The Varsity spoke with Yang about why he started the app and his experiences running it thus far.

A different kind of dating app Yang told The Varsity that the inspiration for the app came from his lived experiences as an Asian man in North America. Alike is Yang’s response to the way that Western media has historically portrayed Asian people. If they are not completely invisible, they are portrayed as insulting caricatures like Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles.

The impact on people like himself, Yang described, is not trivial. “That’s how the world sees me,” he said. “And I internalized a lot of that through most of my life.”

Instead of writing a bio, as with apps like Tinder and Bumble, Alike allows users to upload videos introducing and talking about themselves. Yang knew he wanted this feature from the beginning. “The only way that we’re going to fight negative representation is with positive representation,” he explained.

Similar to the dating app Hinge, Alike gives users prompts to get the conversation going. Many of these prompts, such as “what I love most about being Asian,” “I knew I was Asian when,” and “the best noodle soup is without a doubt,” clearly

Alike is a Toronto-based dating app for the Asian community to celebrate and embrace their culture.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY

encourage users to embrace and explore their Asian heritage.

Fostering a sense of community “It was very clear to me that [Asians in North America] were seeking a sense of belonging and community,” Yang recounted. In the research and development process, he surveyed and interviewed individuals in the community, learning about their dating app experiences and their views on a project like his.

Navigating the dating world is complicated, Yang described, as Asian fetishism and emasculation are always hanging over

one’s head. Popular dating apps often bolster this difficulty. “[A sense of belonging and community] was what’s missing in today’s lineup of mainstream dating apps,” Yang said. “There’s no sense that [Asians] are valid, and that they’re accepted.”

The idea of a network just for Asians is not without controversy. Yang emphasized that the purpose of Alike is not to promote “in-group dating” or cater toward people who only want to date Asians. In an email to The Varsity, he wrote, “We’re happy even if a user comes to Alike and finds community and belonging and that allows them to open up in other areas of their life and

The entrepreneurship journey Yang did not hide the fact that being an entrepreneur is lonely and difficult. Several partners have had to leave the company because they needed more financial security.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster; the highs are higher and the lows are lower than if you’re working for somebody else. It’s not stable,” he said.

Working on a new venture means “working for the promise of something in the future,” Yang explained. According to him, entrepreneurship means knowing how to convince people that your venture is worth working for. To do that, you must be a good storyteller and leader.

Alike’s website makes it clear that the app is about more than going on fun dates and making friends. Self-love, as Yang portrays it, is not something to be taken for granted.

For Asian-Canadians like him, it’s something that many discover all too late in life. When they do, he said, “It’s a whole new world.

It’s like stepping out and seeing the sun for the first time.”

Comment

February 14, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

U of T’s attitude toward sex education is not where it should be Education on consent should go beyond a reductive ‘no means no’ approach Rion Levy Varsity Contributor

It’s no secret that university is an important time for sexual exploration and development.

Luckily, there is an array of organizations on campus that can help support students in learning safer sex practices, encouraging sex positivity and experimentation, and supporting students with their sexual health.

At UTSG, the Sexual Education Centre (SEC) offers a comprehensive array of services and support. It was founded in 1976 but has since undergone significant changes in its organization and the services it offers. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre offered walk-in pickup for safer sex products such as condoms, dental dams, gloves, and pregnancy tests at no charge to university students.

Today, it still offers supplies in a box outside of their office at 21 Sussex Street and curbside pickup on scheduled days. Beyond physical products, the SEC also offers phone and peer support, resources, and sex education talks for residences and high schools.

UTM has its own sexual education centre, which is known as the UTM SEC. Although UTSC does not have its own education centre, it does have both the Women’s and Trans Centre and SC:OUT, which is an organization for LGBTQ+ students. Both of these organizations perform a similar role to that of the SEC. Although the list of teams, clubs, and organizations that support students with their sexual health and well-being extends significantly

beyond this preliminary one, the University of Toronto still has a long way to go when it comes to teaching safer sex to its students and staff — including about the importance of consent.

The university community was reminded of the undercurrent of harassment at the university when, last summer, open letters highlighted the sexual misconduct prevalent at the Faculty of Music. This was further underlined by the fall investigation into allegations against Trinity College’s former provost and vice-chancellor.

Sexual violence rates on campuses are staggeringly high in Canada, with approximately 71 per cent of postsecondary students either having experienced or witnessed sexual harassment within student settings in 2019. U of T is no exception.

It should not take allegations, investigations, and open letters for the community to ultimately receive a response from the university.

Rather, the university ought to offer proactive education and training to the members of its community, as well as promote programs already in place such as the SEC, so as to foster a safer environment.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged U of T’s typical operations — such as its services and orientation plans — the university was severely lacking when it came to ensuring students have universal access to basic sex education even prior to the pandemic. U of T must ensure that consent is taught as an active exchange, where the importance of mutual, enthusiastic consent is highlighted, with an

emphasis on ensuring all parties The Sexual Education Centre at UTSG offers a comprehensive array of services. feel comfortable JENNIFER SU/THEVARSITY in their environment.

This education could help limit situations where consent is given the basic tools to seek out further sex educaunder duress. tion. A positive, consent-focused campus enDespite attending Victoria College’s orienta- vironment should encourage personal growth, tion in 2020, I never learned about the SEC; I open-mindedness, and non-judgemental avonly learned about the role of the blue lights enues to ask questions and explore. on campus. I learned about the fantastic work One of the fundamental strong suits of the VicPride does at Vic specifically to foster a SEC is its emphasis on teaching pleasure and safe environment for LGBTQ+ students on the value of sexual experimentation. Not only campus. Yet I never learned about where on do they offer a “product of the month,” which campus, specifically, I could go to learn more has so far consisted of toys, but they also offer about sexual health and well-being. I find this experimentation and sexual health workshops troubling, given that only one third of Canadi- throughout the school year. The main probans understand what consent actually means lem is that students do not know that these — which demonstrates that sexual resources resources are here, right at our doorstep. and education are necessary.

The climate of learning about sex, sexualiI am not arguing that the university should ties, and ourselves has come from the ways we insist that students and faculty take workshops all engage in conversations and open spaces on sexual pleasure and experimentation, but I for growth. But we can’t improve that culture at am arguing that they need to educate beyond U of T if the university doesn’t actively showa simplified vision of consent. case the amazing work done by volunteers Consent is the essential framework for sex. across the three campuses. Similarly, sex eduA comprehensive education on it should be the cation shouldn’t have to be another orientation basic standard. A preliminary sex education, requirement to get through; it should be an that includes conversations of consent and open and ongoing dialogue. how it is tied with pleasure, can help bring awareness as to what positive and negative Rion Levy is a second-year literature and critisexual experiences look and feel like, and how cal theory student at Victoria College. He is to better recognize signals from your partners. an undergraduate research fellow with the This basic education should also equip Northrop Frye Center and the Associate Arts members of the university community with and Culture Editor at The Strand.

Good mental health can promote a good sex life Sex is a matter of the mind, and it’s important beyond pleasure Shreya Vanwari Comment Columnist

Society has historically stigmatized both sex and mental health, but recently, work has been done to have more open conversations about both topics. As we fight the stigma around them, it is necessary to talk about the prominent and deep link between sex and mental health.

Many of us are taught about sex in high school — with some programs being more effective than others — but one thing that sex education usually glosses over is that sex is also a matter of the mind. Positive emotions — whether they are obtained through sex or not — help boost pleasure and satisfaction, while negative emotions such as stress can reduce these beneficial effects.

When it comes to mind-body connections, changes in one area directly influence the other.

And just as mental health can impact your sex life, your sex life can also impact your mental health. A good sex life can positively impact your mental health by boosting serotonin or promoting better sleep, among other effects.

Mental health issues can impact sex life For all genders, thoughts and feelings play a role in arousal and sex. For instance, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and substance use can affect a person’s ability to experience pleasure during sex. Moreover, anxiety and depression can make it more difficult for people to have good sex lives.

Anxiety disorders affect 4.6 per cent of the

Canadian population, and most people face general feelings of anxiety or stress from time to time. An anxious mind prevents you from relaxing or experiencing pleasure in the moment.

In the domain of sex, anxiety can reduce libido because anxiety causes a rise in levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which can affect the desire for sexual activity. Anxiety can also make people insecure about their bodies, which can prevent them from enjoying sex as they spend most of their time fixated on how they appear to their partner. This fixation can restrict a person’s ability to be fully emotionally and physically present in the moment. Having sex when you’re anxious can be overwhelming for your mind.

However, the more anxious among us need not be disheartened. Data also seems to show that, for some people, anxiety can increase libido. Furthermore, there are ways to prevent anxiety from affecting your sex life. Engaging in self-exploration and mindfulness activities, such as meditation and yoga, can reduce anxious feelings. Communication with your partner can also be a tremendous step to calming your anxious mind.

Major depressive disorders can also have severe effects on sex, including erectile dysfunction and an increased risk of sexual pain. Major depression affects about 5.4 per cent of Canadians, and about one per cent of Canadians suffer from bipolar disorder. To reduce negative effects on sex, people with depression should talk to their provider about the potential side effects of any medication they are taking, whether there may be alternatives,

REBECA MOYA/THEVARSITY

and consider working through their depression with a therapist.

Overall, struggling with mental illness can affect a person’s self-esteem and how they view themselves physically. A generally distressed state can also impact your ability to feel pleasure and enjoy sex.

One of the best things you can do in these situations is to educate yourself on the relationship between mental well-being and sex. We must also encourage and practise sex positivity — an attitude toward consensual sex that sees it as healthy and pleasurable rather than shameful. Sex positivity is an important first step to acknowledging the impact of mental illness on pleasure.

Healthy sex life, happy mind However, the relationship between mental health and sex goes both ways: just as good mental health can improve sex, a good sex life can promote a healthy mind.

To understand the impact of sex on your mental health, you should know which hormones sex produces. In response to sexual stimulation, your body releases dopamine, which elicits feelings of enjoyment. Endorphins and oxytocin are two other feel-good hormones that are released during sex, activating pleasure

centres in the brain and causing relaxation.

Oxytocin can increase trust and induce feelings of longing toward our partners, which can make us feel more connected to them. Sex can also boost serotonin, which is linked to improved moods.

While we previously discussed how anxiety and depression can negatively affect sex, sex can also work to improve anxiety and depression. The feel-good hormones and chemicals released during sex can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression by increasing your relaxation and boosting your mood. While sex is not a cure, and emotions elicited during sex are only temporary, the hormones it releases can help you feel relaxed and get sleep more easily — and as we all know, better sleep has positive effects on mental and physical health.

Mental well-being and sex form a cycle of pleasure: what is good for mental health promotes a good sex life, which, in turn, can boost mental health. As we continue to become more open about our mental health troubles and our sexualities, we must also continue discussing and educating ourselves about this cycle. Sex is a matter of the mind — it’s important beyond pleasure.

Shreya Vanwari is a second-year psychology student at Woodsworth College.

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COMMENT

Dear women: It’s okay to dress for men ‘Male gaze’ has become an overused online buzzword Milena Pappalardo Varsity Contributor

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the words ‘male gaze’ over the past few months, I’d have, well, a lot of money. Perhaps I’d have enough to buy myself one of those green fur-trimmed Saks Potts coats or the Vivienne Westwood orb necklaces that circulate our social media feeds.

The term ‘male gaze’ has been tossed around by feminist cultural critics and fashion influencers alike to the point that it has lost its power as an idea. Today, ‘the male gaze’ has become synonymous with “something that pleases men,” and the general consensus is that if a woman dresses with the intention of catering to men’s tastes, she is subjecting herself to the male gaze.

Not long ago, it was a trend for girls to compare their style transformations on TikTok before and after dressing for the male gaze.

The consensus seems to be that male-gaze fashion means wearing skimpy and tasteless clothing that sexualizes the female body, while the post-male-gaze look encompasses more experimental and masculine fashion choices that are less revealing.

But this current application of ‘gaze’ seems to neglect a lot of things about human behaviour. Is dressing to please others really internalized misogyny? Can we really reduce our self-perception and behaviour to what clothes we wear?

Our mainstream understanding of the male gaze ignores the complex societal forces that dictate our self-expression, and it reduces a person’s need to feel desired to mere sexism.

To begin with, it is important to trace the origins of this overused buzzword. ‘Male gaze’

was first defined in the mainstream media for use in cinema studies. Laura Mulvey, a British film theorist, coined the term in a 1975 article, defining the ‘male gaze’ as the perspective through which a movie is filmed and consumed — most commonly through the lens of a heterosexual male gaze for an audience of heterosexual men.

Men see themselves taking active roles in movies and are therefore able to identify with themselves onscreen, while women can only see themselves depicted as sexual objects, and internalize that male gaze from the movies. Women are gazed upon by the media and society through a man’s point of view.

There is truth to this theory, and it arguably impacts the real lives of men and women. We form much of our self-image and worldview through the media, and when society mostly sees women as objects of sexual desire, it can have repercussions on a woman’s selfesteem and agency — such is the power of representation.

However, when we consider real-life relationships and self-expression, the male gaze tends to neglect the nuances of human behaviour. It would be sad if a woman stifled her self-expression to please men, but when people of any gender present themselves to the world, that presentation is often shaped by how their peers see them.

Women dress for not only the male gaze but also for the ‘female gaze’ — to fit in with certain fashion trends or their circle of friends.

Hilariously, the TikTok fashion transformations term the post-male-gaze fashion as the “female gaze” look — which is, in reality, a lot less empowering than the TikTokers make it sound. To me, the transformations look more like someone discovering hair dye and

patterned pants for the first time after shopping at Brandy Melville their whole life than a woman freeing herself from the shackles of man-pleasing.

Furthermore, many of us dress more modestly around our parents, avoid bold fashion statements and casual wear when going to business meetings, and adhere to dress codes when attending formal events.

Many of us dress for acceptance into society, no matter who we are.

This raises the question, “Is dressing to please others inherently bad?” Personally, I wear more revealing clothes that accentuate certain parts of my body when I’m going to a party, especially if I have the intention of meeting a potential partner there. Those clothes don’t always align with my artistic fashion sensibilities, but frankly, I’m okay with that. I would argue that many women do the same thing, and that is nothing to be ashamed of.

Many of us yearn to feel desired, and presenting ourselves to look desirable isn’t anti-feminist or a negative reflection on oneself.

It is simply a normal behaviour in the mating process and society in general.

Let’s retire the idea that more masculine clothing and less makeup are markers of one’s liberation from the male gaze.

Everyone gazes at each other, and no matter how we present ourselves, we are internalizing a diver-

sity of gazes. It’s okay to only want to dress for yourself — whatever that may mean — but it’s also okay to put on a shorter skirt to look desirable for men and partake in the mating game. Simone de Beauvoir won’t strike you down from the heavens for doing it. Nobody is above it — let’s stop acting as though we are.

Milena Pappalardo is a first-year social sciences student at Trinity College.

The term ‘male gaze’ originated in cinema studies.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY

We need a revamped national service program Other jurisdictions should take inspiration from California and pay students for volunteering William Lloyd Comment Columnist

On January 18, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the expansion of the state’s publicservice-focused pilot program. Officially known as the Californians For All College Corps (CFACC), the program covers 10,000 USD in tuition for students who have completed 450 hours of community service. Newsom’s initiative is currently in place in 45 colleges and universities statewide — including the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles — and is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2022.

There are many reasons to celebrate. The CFACC is a thoughtful, concrete, and forwardthinking policy campaign in a political world that can often feel hopelessly deadlocked. Newsom’s program will help finance postsecondary education for deserving students at a time when many face financial hurdles to attending university, including costly student loans.

But this is just half the benefit. The CFACC program will also help facilitate meaningful community action through volunteer work, while also fostering community and camaraderie amongst participants and, hopefully, society more broadly.

Students who are taking part in the program have the option to volunteer in important areas, including COVID-19 recovery, primary and secondary school education, and climate action, while also gaining useful experience.

“California is a world leader in both higher education and service,” remarked Governor Newsom.

“The #CaliforniansForAll College Corps advances these priorities by connecting Californians of different backgrounds with enriching service opportunities throughout the state while making college more affordable for our state’s future leaders. We hope the Corps will be replicated across the nation.”

In a world that is in the throes of a litany of crises, such an announcement is a welcome change of pace. It can often seem that we are on the back foot, politically speaking — that we are rushing from fire to fire in an attempt to put them out.

Newsom’s program does just the opposite and is a worthy crusade.

If the program finds success, one can hope it becomes an option not just across the US but in Canada, too. Why not pay people, particularly the young, to work toward solving Canada’s issues?

The benefits are multitudinous.

Of course, there are the immediate or direct benefits — namely, the on-the-ground

impact of programs like AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, and the PeaceCorps in the United States, or the Canada Service Corps in our case.

However, expanding and strengthening opportunities and incentives for national service can also work in the long term by levelling the playing field and reducing inequality, while also bringing people together and fostering a general sense of community.

The case for expanding national service offerings is so strong that one might even be willing to take an economic loss in doing so. A fraction of Ontario’s budget could go a long way toward tackling the climate crisis, caring for the elderly, and addressing the ongoing mental health crisis.

BELINDA HOANG/ THEVARSITY

It is a ‘blue chip’ — reliable — investment.

However, an economic loss may not even be necessary. A 2013 report by Clive Belfield at Columbia University found that these programs yield social benefits that are not once, not twice, not three times, but nearly four times the costs. Moreover, for taxpayers, the fiscal returns are nearly twice as big as their initial investment.

At the University of Toronto specifically, such a program could be transformative. Not only would the program help combat various issues that are currently in need of attention through an increased number of student volunteers — including issues especially prevalent in Toronto such as affordable housing, homelessness, and income inequality — but it would also lower financial barriers and provide a mechanism for more students to attend university. Such a program would be especially beneficial for those in programs with higher tuition, such as Rotman Commerce.

Leaders around the world should follow California’s lead and take it upon themselves to pursue such programs if they have not done so already.

California may be the perfect place for such a program to take hold because of its largely leftleaning government and strong university system, but other jurisdictions should still take notice. A compensated volunteer service program could provide so many opportunities to students who would not have otherwise been able to get an education. Even if not for that reason, governments should implement these programs to mitigate the crises of today and tomorrow.

William Lloyd is a second-year history and peace, conflict, and justice studies student at Trinity College. He was the co-president of the U of T Model UN Travel Team, an executive team member of the Hart House Debates and Dialogues Committee, and the co-founder and president of the Open Debate Initiative.

thevarsity.ca/section/comment

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Tip to show gratitude, not to improve service Tipping does not strongly affect service Stephanie Shih Varsity Contributor

Stephanie Shih is a first-year social sciences student at Woodsworth College.

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A MD HA UR ITY TH AR VARS E TH

Some people tip. Others don’t. Some tip to show gratitude. Others tip to avoid guilt. Some tip to avoid embarrassment. Others tip to follow social norms.

Motives for tipping vary, but the belief that tipping improves service persists. The better waiters serve, the more they get. It sounds logical that customers pay more to motivate waiters and improve their service.

Yet a study conducted by Cornell University shows that performing a magic trick at a table increased the overall tip of waiters serving there, even though they had done nothing additional in their service. Many factors unrelated to service, including race, sex, and age, influence the amount of tips that workers get. Studies have found that Black cab drivers are tipped less than white drivers and women Uber drivers under the age of 65 are tipped more than men Uber drivers.

Given that most customers in restaurants are not regulars, most of them will not benefit in the long term by tipping the waiter. In fact, a survey has found that only 14 per cent of people tip to avoid poor service in future.

Although quality of service does affect the size of a worker’s tip, this only accounts for a variation of less than five per cent. Because the size of the tip is weakly correlated to the quality of service, tipping does not seem to drastically or directly improve service.

Some argue that tipping is counterproductive, since it causes waiters to fight over tables, results in unequal pay among workers, makes customers feel pressured to tip generously, and encourages tax evasion.

With all that being said, it is crucial to acknowledge that tips can contribute up to 70 per cent of a worker’s income. In places such as Britain and Germany, the tips that workers receive are ‘extra’ because they do not count toward minimum wage. However, ‘tipped minimum wage’ is common in France and parts of the United States, which means tips are counted toward minimum wage and employers can lower paid income.

Hospitality-included prices can rule out these concerns. Instead of accepting tips, restaurants can eliminate tips and instead raise the prices of the products they offer, which will count partially toward employee income. ​​ By including tipping into the price of the menu, customers no longer need to feel troubled to tip.

Shrinking the income gap between front-of-house and back-of-house employees can create a more positive working atmosphere. Furthermore, workers could be guaranteed a certain amount of bonus income and need not worry about the fluctuation of tipping.

However, while hospitality-included prices would alleviate financial stress, tipping is still currently critical for those who receive an income below a living wage. According to ​​the Ontario Living Wage Network, the living wage in Toronto is $22.08 an hour. Ontario recently raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but that is still insufficient.

Through tipping, customers can help workers receive an income approaching a living wage.

Tipping may not benefit the customers by giving better service, but, for now, it can most certainly benefit workers by giving them better pay, especially if they work in restaurants that do not practise hospitality-included pricing. Given the standard insufficient $15 minimum wage set by the government, workers remain dependent on tips to earn a living wage.

The takeaway is this: while studies have shown that tipping does not strongly affect service, consumers should keep in mind that their tips have the potential to contribute to someone else’s living wage.

We must promote a survivor-centric approach How the SVPSC can work to improve its relationship with students Paden Neundorf Varsity Contributor

Content warning: This article discusses sexual violence.

Sexual assault, as defined by the University of Toronto’s Policy on Sexual Violence, involves “any form of sexual contact without a person’s consent,” including verbal and non-verbal threats of sexual contact. All consent must be given without any participant being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and it must be continuous, enthusiastic, and void of coercion or abusive power dynamics. While sexual assault may seem to be a singular noun describing a single thing, that’s an inaccurate perception. There are numerous ways in which sexual assault can materialize, ranging from unwanted sexual advances to touching to forced sexual penetration or rape.

In 2019, according to Statistics Canada, 71 per cent of all students in attendance at a postsecondary institution countrywide had either experienced or bore witness to non-consensual sexualized behaviour. Further, 45 per cent of women and 32 per cent of men were subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour. What is even more horrifying is that out of all the students who experienced sexual assault, only eight per cent of women and six per cent of men made reports to a person or group of authority associated with their academic institution, whether that be a course instructor, academic advisor, or a support group such as the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre (SVPSC) at the University of Toronto.

Being subjected to the severity of violence experienced both during and after a sexual assault can leave an individual with feelings of mistrust, shame, guilt, fear, dissociation, and confusion, to name a mere few. However, the simplicity of these words does little to convey the impact of the convergence of emotions that derive from such an incident.

Earlier this year, the Prevention, Empowerment, Advocacy, Response, for Survivors Project (PEARS) held two town halls that allowed students to voice their very valid concerns about U of T’s sexual violence policy. PEARS, a trauma-informed

initiative at U of T led by sexual violence survivors, in conjunction with the Trinity Against Sexual Assault and Harassment (TASAH), also a student-led group, has heavily criticized the SVPSC for its lack of accessibility and timely support.

To alleviate the weight of the trauma, U of T has a responsibility to prioritize the health and safety of those who have experienced sexual assault, especially for students who have experienced sexual assault on campus or have been assaulted by other students.

U of T should adopt a more survivor-centric approach, which involves empowering those who have experienced sexual violence while also ensuring that support is provided on a case-by-case basis in a way that is centred around each individual’s needs, rather than using the same solution regardless of the trauma’s austerity and impact.

Subjecting someone who has experienced sexual assault to a standard course of treatment is not only futile but also patronizing and completely lazy, since even individuals who experience identical incidents may not respond in the exact same way.

Similarly, people who have experienced sexual assault do not necessarily want to be referred to by the same language. Some may prefer the word “victim” over “survivor” since the latter feels infantilizing, while others prefer “survivor” because they view “victim” as an inaccurate label of how they see themselves after their experience. Words hold an unprecedented amount of weight — syntax and diction can make all the difference in how people who have experienced sexual assault respond to and deal with their trauma.

With this in mind, a large component of the survivor-centric approach involves rethinking the definition of sexual assault itself to ensure that no individual feels that their experience is too small to be considered serious. There are no mitigating factors to sexual assault. It either happened or it didn’t. The fact that the perpetrator was your boyfriend or a close friend, that you were drunk or using substances, or that it happened halfway through a consensual encounter does not change the fact that what you experienced is valid.

Therefore, the definition of sexual assault must be broadened to consider the multitude of different

possible experiences individuals may have, in order to ensure that all individuals receive support and, if they choose to report their experience, justice.

U of T can aim to achieve maximum outreach by making its definitions and options for support more inclusive, comprehensive, and survivor-centred.

U of T must address complaints from students who have not received adequate support from SVPSC with a survivor-centric approach that treats victims and survivors with the dignity they deserve, while validating their array of complicated feelings. This specific approach places individuals at the centre of the healing process, offering personalized paths to recovery that involve the reinforcement of agency and sense of self. The University of Toronto must work to strengthen its relationships and trust with students so that those who have experienced sexual assault will eventually be able to find solace.

Paden Neundorf is a third-year English and critical studies in equity and solidarity student at Woodsworth College.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence or harassment at U of T: • Visit safety.utoronto.ca for a list of safety resources.

• Visit svpscentre.utoronto.ca for information, contact details, and hours of operation for the tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre. Centre staff can be reached by phone at 416-978-2266 or by email at svpscentre@utoronto.ca.

• Call Campus Safety Special Constable Service to make a report at 416-9782222 (for U of T St. George and U of T Scarborough) or 905-569-4333 (for U of T Mississauga) • Call the Women’s College Hospital Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Care Centre at 416-323-6040 • Call the Scarborough Grace Sexual Assault Care Centre at 416-495-2555 • Call the Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 866-863-0511

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Our responsibility in the comments Does The Varsity have a duty to remove harmful comments?

Emory Mitchell Public Editor

We have all read the comments on a post about current political or public health decisions. At best, they are a sea of oppositional views that leaves one wondering whether we will ever be able to find consensus in society again.

While The Varsity sees lower readerships overall than major papers or BlogTO, our posts about controversial topics or people see far more engagement than our everyday content. When engagement is boosted, it rarely means a lively, welleducated debate that will enhance understanding.

Instead, the comments are more geared toward inflammatory statements, lying, or name-calling.

Inevitably, the original comment is followed by several more from different people, condemning or supporting the original commenter. Often, these comments are uninformed. Even worse, though, many of them tout beliefs that we at The Varsity know to be false, which leads to the question: do we have a responsibility to our readers to remove these comments?

A good example of this situation can be seen in our posts detailing the decisions U of T has made around vaccination requirements. Alarmist and false information pours into the comment sections almost immediately after posting. The inflammatory comments lead to heated replies, which create a cycle of misinformation and opinions. The entire exchange exists side by side with the information we have ensured is true. Meanwhile, The Varsity becomes a catalyst for the entire interaction, making us somewhat complicit. These exchanges happen in our comments and under our logo. As a newspaper that is committed to a high standard of journalism, giving false information on our platform goes against what we hope to achieve. While our goal is to educate, these comment-based debates only make the truth less clear. Our whole job is to create clarity where it is difficult to find. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenthiel, American journalists and authors of the book How To Know What’s True In The Age of Information Overload, see the modern journalist as an authenticator, among other things. They write that “we will need some way of distinguishing what information we can trust, and some basis in evidence for why that is the case.” While we are not endorsing the inaccuracies in our comments, we are providing them a platform and reducing the potency of the truth we aim to support.

Suggestions that we moderate comments, which imply we are removing someone’s space to comment, create fear that we are stifling free speech. It goes without saying that we also believe in free speech and ensuring all opinions are heard. However, by giving false perspectives the same spotlight that we give to the truth, truth and falsehood become equal.

Thus, we have a responsibility to weed out perspectives that are irrelevant to the reader. Our only job is to ensure the reader has the best understanding of the relevant facts surrounding an issue. Even though The Varsity is not publishing the commenters’ views side by side, our content is largely consumed over social media and the internet. Comments are tied to our paper and are as accessible as the truth we have authenticated.

False information and harmful inaccuracies become tied to our existence and are given equal attention to real news. Moreover, commenters have their own spaces to share their opinions, which preserves their ability to speak freely. Thus, I believe we would have justification, if not a duty, to take down comments we know are blatantly false.

Emory Mitchell is public editor at The Varsity and can be reached at publiceditor@thevarsity.ca.

10

THE VARSITY

FEATURES

Dating across

Is love enough to overcome disagreements?

Author: Sky Kapoor Illustrators: Andrea Zhao and Grace Xu

My ex could be best described as a rich, spoiled military brat who loved the government. We started dating when I was 17 — around the time I discovered anarchism, when my overwhelming fervency for controversial politics blossomed in full force.

To cope with the contrast between us, I’d joke about it. My comments attempted to maintain a humorous tone but often retained the weight of the matter — they were an awkward attempt to suppress the tension that constantly threatened to crack through the surface. We talked about most things but didn’t talk about politics often, almost as if to avoid potential antipathy. It was easier for us to dance around certain topics than challenge each other; in the moments where we failed to bite our tongues, the arguments could last for days.

As the global political climate became more spiteful, these formerly sparse arguments began to take over most of our time together.

Eventually, the gap caused by our crippling political polarity became too vast to bridge, and loving each other became a blood sport we couldn’t win. The choice was to either continually obliterate each other, or to give up on trying to make the relationship work and instead rest on our laurels.

I am still admittedly vocal about politics and likely always will be, although my beliefs have evolved and mellowed out since I was 17. Like with many relics of my high school days, I’ve since reassessed my views on anarchy, but my current political views are still not watertight.

My proclivity for political participation has made it apparent to me that for most people, discussing politics is more than just a leisurely hobby. As a result, we’re awfully quick to denounce those who have opposing views.

Arguing is hard and it takes a lot out of us

Political identity heavily affects how you are perceived, and your intended meanings can get lost in translation. emotionally, so instead of putting ourselves in vulnerable situations, we often choose a safe route: living in echo chambers of validation. It’s something I’ve been guilty of myself.

The truth is politics will never cease to exist. The same is true for love. Neither can be reduced or simplified. But, are the challenges they pose disconcerting enough to make us avoid the possibility of dating across partisan lines altogether?

The significance of politics Beyond the amusement provided by political compass tests and stimulating debates, politics has seeped into every possible corner of our lives. It’s a way to communicate where you stand with other people. What’s more, it’s extremely divisive and significant — to some, it’s literally a matter of life and death.

The American Family Study found that nearly 70 per cent of married couples had the same political affiliations in 2016. That was five years ago — a time that many of us can pinpoint as a period where political tensions began to grow immensely, to eventually become as palpable as they are today. Since then, the intensity of partisan animosity seems to be ever increasing.

What does this tell us about the significance of politics? Advocating for certain policies can be intrinsic to a person’s character, and surrounding ourselves with friends and acquaintances who share our political views seems like an obvious choice. That being said, those who are politically involved often want to engage in conversations about politics, like I did in high school. Why is the line drawn at romantic relationships?

Dating apps such as Hinge and Bumble also support political agreement in relationships by offering the option for users to indicate their political affiliation. The people who use apps like these can filter their pool of potential matches by political party prior to even meeting face to face. In light of the increased use of dating apps, this seems to provide yet another reason for why bipartisan relationships are increasingly rare.

The people around me are no strangers to the aforementioned political echo chamber. I don’t know anybody in a bipartisan relationship in this day and age — even the most vigorous attempts to find a couple to interview for this article turned up no results. When I asked a vast majority of my friends and family about whether or not they’d consider dating some-

one with different political beliefs, the answer I got often amounted to a resounding “no.”

Although my own romantic life may as well purchase a shovel and start digging, I can’t help but muse about the nature of relationships. I don’t have the wisdom of those who are currently romantically involved, but since I handled the demise of a relationship from the basis of political disagreement, I’ve been deeply curious about how strongly couples consider political affiliation when making their decisions. Politics is something that clearly ignites fires in people. Is there a force strong enough to dampen them?

Winged biases It’s been proclaimed time and time again: the media is a poisonous echo chamber. For politics, this is exceedingly true.

These days, it’s incredibly easy for vague statements to be misconstrued as ideologically sensitive. It seems that now, more than ever, political disagreement is seen as a threat, a crack in the foundation of political correctness culture.

Those who are more right-leaning or conservative often find themselves in the middle of different, unique challenges that may influence interpersonal relationships. Often, those who affiliate themselves with the right wing are predisposed to hiding their political views or not making them known right away. This is presumably because, especially from left-wing activists, there is an unspoken but prevalent societal disdain for conservatives that hangs in the air. However, hostility from either side of the political spectrum can contribute to evergrowing stressors — the further and further you lean in a particular direction, the greater the antagonism you feel toward the other side.

When confronted with contrasting view-

features@thevarsity.ca

the partisan divide points, we’re often quick to feel like we’re being attacked — as if our very existence is being challenged. For some people, in some situations, this is the case. However, on a general level, we’re often incredibly quick to judge what’s different, deeming unrelatable opinions completely invalid when in reality, the existence of deeply different moral values is a product of numerous personal factors.

While we may not care for certain opinions, those who hold them aren’t necessarily monsters or horrible people. Often, the people with political opinions that we instinctively denounce don’t have sinister intentions — their experiences are simply composed of different constituents that contribute to their viewpoints.

What does this have to do with dating and relationships, then? While certain opinions can reach uncomfortable extremes, a threshold of tolerance toward social politics may be useful to shed our biases. Escaping our political bubble, even momentarily, might just open our eyes to a different perspective — whether or not we agree with it. By way of political disagreement, we’re offered a unique opportunity to widen our worldview if we’re lucky enough to do so.

A question of values When I first encountered the world of politics, I was lucky enough to find that I was already aggressively passionate about a multitude of issues. I picked my leaning very carefully and subscribed to beliefs that resonated with my personal values. In high school, I dove headfirst into political debates, constantly challenging the beliefs of myself and others, allowing my political views to change as fluidly as my perspective on life.

In philosophy class, I became a bit notorious among my friends for stirring up quite a bit of controversy — something that allowed me to explore the implications of several hotbed sociopolitical policies. My own situation is a perfect example of the complexity of politics, and subsequently, our mannerisms toward partisanship.

Generally, though, we strive to reinforce our own political beliefs, values, and morals. These are popular and important topics, and they’re topics that often deepen the split between individuals. We want to feel validated, so it makes sense

Politics is something that clearly ignites fires in people. Is there a force strong enough to dampen them? to surround ourselves with those who lean similarly to us.

But if you are involved with politics, you may come to realize that intentions don’t quite matter; political identity heavily affects how you are perceived, and your intended meanings can get lost in translation. As such, a declaration of political affiliation has become akin to a diagnosis, as if stating whether you lean toward the left wing or the right wing answers fundamental questions about your morality.

In saying this, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the obvious argument — moral values and principles are often strongly linked to political affiliation, and the people whom we are intimately involved with should hold the same values as we do. Healthy debate is good — perhaps even enticing to some — but those who are fundamentally different from you in their politics are likely to also be fundamentally different in non-political ways. The process of translating your intentions and values can become laborious, which once again explains why we are more inclined to seek out those who are ideologically aligned with us.

Since we often use our fundamental moral values to guide our politics, we may have a difficult time connecting with those who lean toward the opposite direction. By interconnecting the two, we may struggle more significantly in suspending reality when choosing a potential partner — we face an impasse when it comes to choosing between politics and love.

There are political extremes in all corners of the compass, and as a result, it is up to each individual to determine how much weight partisanship holds for them — especially if their politics are tied to their values. If virtues and ethics see eye to eye, perhaps partisan opposition can be welcomed in romantic relationships, but some people truly cannot afford the luxury of dating along partisan lines in fear of their own safety. Others are not particularly involved in politics and have no intentions of changing that fact.

Drawing from personal experiences, again, is all that I can offer due to the lack of documentable bipartisan couples that I could find.

Having explicitly conversed about politics with

people I’m interested in, I’ve very quickly realized that I may be able to endure some opposition when it comes to the political ideology of my romantic interests.

I never thought that I’d fall for someone whose views were so much more extreme than mine — until I met someone who fit exactly that description. In grappling with this dilemma, I’ve realized that there can indeed exist a space where opposition can be a healthy and productive part of a relationship, as long as your fundamental values align well.

Is love enough?

There’s an archaic expression attributed to a Roman poet that goes “omnia vincit amor” — “love conquers all.” It’s the idea that regardless of the power of a seemingly immutable force, love can overcome it.

This expression asks the big question that overshadows everything: is love enough? In fear of squandering a happy relationship, sociopolitics may be avoided in conversation or glazed over, but perhaps there exists some middle ground where bipartisanship can be maintained healthily. Politics are undoubtedly significant, but they aren’t everything — it’s possible to put in place clear boundaries with your partner in order to make things work.

While love on its own might not be enough to conquer such a vast divide, qualities like active listening, strong communication, and respect — which should be the hallmarks of any romantic relationship — may be up for the challenge.

It may certainly be easier to handle disagreements over fiscal policy than social issues, as many of the latter are deeply personal, subjective, and tied tightly to individual morals.

But in the end, it all boils down to treating others with kindness and decency. Putting aside our desire to win an argument in favour of respecting and learning from opposition opens numerous doors — not only romantically but also socially.

I acknowledge that there’s an extent to which individual morals and values cannot be overshadowed by even the deepest, most passionate love. However, I also believe that we can achieve a certain degree of openmindedness and communication — one that can easily trump any tension that bipartisanship may bring.

Arts & Culture

February 14, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture arts@thevarsity.ca

What’s new to the Aphrodite Project in 2022 Over 4,000 U of T students tried to find their match this year Alexa DiFrancesco Arts & Culture Editor

Oh, Aphrodite — the ancient Greek goddess best known for being associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. All of the emotions and characteristics that I’m sure the creators behind The Aphrodite Project aimed to evoke.

Although the idea seems impossible, you might not yet be familiar with the Aphrodite Project. The student-run digital service has amassed more than 570 followers on Instagram, has a dedicated Reddit page, and has been featured in numerous student publications.

But what does the Aphrodite Project actually do? Have any students formed successful relationships after matching? Should you be concerned if you didn’t sign up this year? These are the questions I aimed to answer as I dove deep into the matchmaking abyss.

Initial launch and logistics The Aphrodite Project was the brainchild of Aiden Low and Denise Yeo, who started the service as third-year exchange students from the National University of Singapore. At the time, Low studied at the University of Waterloo while Yeo was at U of T. Low conceptualized the idea of a matchmaking service after a transgender friend experienced difficulties dating. After hearing his friend’s encounter, Low toyed with the idea of creating a dating service that would be inclusive for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Low and Yeo’s project was funded by the National University of Singapore’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practicum Award. According to Low, the team received $9,000 in funding. In 2019, Low and Dana Lo, a psychology student at

the National University of Singapore, completed The Aphrodite Project’s first trial in Singapore. In 2020, the project expanded to the University of Waterloo and U of T. To participate in the Aphrodite Project, students

The Aphrodite Project used an algorithm built upon the Gale-Shapley algorithm — whose creator was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics — to give students a platonic or romantic match from their school. The Aphrodite Project’s founders KRISTAL MENGUC/ THEVARSITY

were asked to take an approximately 20-minutelong survey, which posed questions ranging from thoughts about owning a pet to substance use. The questionnaire also allows users looking for a romantic match to list their “dealbreakers,” which could include religions, ethnicities, or gender identities.

The latter option faced controversy from students after the project’s launch. In the statement “On Inclusion and Hard Decisions,” the Aphrodite Project’s founders explained that these distinctions “do matter for a potential romantic partner” to some participating students.

wrote, “All compatible people — according to gender and other deal-breakers — are matched [so] there are no other two compatible people who would both rather have each other than their current partners.”

The Aphrodite Project aims to match 95 per cent of its respondents. Since its creation, the service has matched more than 58,000 participants, half of which went on a date with their match. Of the participants, 40 per cent started a new relationship or friendship with their match, and one couple got engaged.

My Body is a push to end the power imbalance between genders Women have to stop equating our worth with others’ projections of our appearances Victoria Vesovski Varsity Contributor

If you were to hear the name Emily Ratajkowski, you might think of the model who became famous for her nude appearance in Robin Thicke’s 2012 “Blurred Lines” music video.

You might also think of one of the victims of the infamous 2014 nude photo leak. But you probably wouldn’t think of the writer of The New York Times bestselling collection of essays, My Body.

My Body, which is Ratajkowski’s debut book, sparks conversations around the relationship between beauty and power. It follows her experience of rising to fame while coming to terms with the power imbalance that exists between genders, which oftentimes makes it difficult for a woman to choose how to conduct herself.

After reading Ratajkowski’s work, one question lingered at the back of my mind: what is the relationship between empowerment, self-love, and the body?

Ratajkowski refers to the commodification of her image as a double-edged sword. On one hand, her beauty made her successful. Yet she had little to no control over her public image.

My first experience discovering the “doubleedged sword of body image” — as Ratajkowski puts it — was on my first day of the seventh grade. It was tradition for my mom to take me shopping to find a back-to-school outfit. Before leaving my house, I felt confident, because my outfit made me feel beautiful.

But I also remember that, before recess, my

teacher called me into the hallway in front of my class. I was embarrassed and thought to myself: what did I do wrong?

My teacher told me that I had to change clothes immediately. My shirt was a distraction for the boys in my class. But I didn’t — and still don’t — understand how my 12-year-old self could be responsible for how men reacted to my clothing.

From there on, I was conditioned to believe that I was responsible for how others perceived my image. At that moment, I was still attempting to discover what it meant to be a woman.

Because my teacher judged me based on my appearance, I was no longer empowered by the way I looked.

Years later, during one of my first weeks of university, I was assigned to a group to work on a term project. During that experience, one of my peers consistently questioned my intelligence. He made remarks such as, “You don’t look like you’re really into academics.” I wondered what I would have had to look like for him to think I was “into academics.”

Every time I shared an idea while working on our project, this classmate smirked and brushed it off. His actions made me wonder, just like I did in the seventh grade: do women have the agency to present themselves however they want, or will their image inevitably be scrutinized?

It seems like feeling beautiful in one moment is often juxtaposed afterwards by shame and embarrassment. Living in a world where society subliminally tells me not to love myself — by

dress-coding me or having others guess my personality traits based on what I wear — has made self-love become a concept that’s more complicated than liking the way I look.

“I wonder how many people you’ve… written off, because you assumed they had nothing to offer beyond the way they looked?” Ratajkowski ponders this question in an essay, writing that she constantly finds that others won’t consider her opinions seriously. As an essayist, Ratajkowski is not defined for the person she is.

As a model, she is defined for how she looks.

The knowledge that Ratajkowski imparts about self-love is incredible. Her vulnerabilities display courage, her questions ignite growth, and her intimate stories undoubtedly empower other women to control how they’re perceived.

A key aspect of loving yourself is understanding that the concepts of feminism and empowerment can apply to you in any manner you choose. Ratajkowski does not define feminism in the monolithic way that we’re often taught — the one that’s expressed through organized activity to promote womens’ empowerment.

This is important because women are afforded different experiences with feminism based on ethnicity, social class, and sexual identity.

Instead, the purpose of Ratajkowski’s essays is to question the meaning of femininity and power. Writing these questions surrounding feminism and body politics gave Ratajkowski power because she could use her own language to relay — and therefore control — narratives regarding her body. Reading her work has taught me that empowerment is the ability to be whatever I want to be.

As women, we are more than our bodies, even when the world makes us feel like we aren’t. Expressing ourselves in any form —

Aphrodite Project 2022 The Aphrodite Project 2022 was its creators’ fourth run in North America, and second run in Hong Kong. It included student and alumni participation from 10 postsecondary institutions. In Canada, the project was run at the University of British Columbia, McMaster University, University of Waterloo, Western University, and U of T. In terms of new features, participants can now choose to have one or two matches. After completing the questionnaire, they can also create a profile to display a photo and personal information.

Students are also given the chance to match two friends together, which gives those individuals a one per cent greater chance of being matched in the project’s algorithm, and are able to block another student by providing their school email address.

This year, more than 13,300 students signed up for the Aphrodite Project. Those participants — including 4,007 U of T students — can look forward to getting their matches on February 13.

2021 U of T Data According to the data that the Aphrodite Project released on January 24, 4,150 U of T students participated last year. Of the U of T students who participated, 89 per cent were looking for a romantic match and 11 per cent were searching for a platonic one.

Furthermore, 3,420 students were in their first to fourth years of study. Additional participants included 177 students who were in their fifth year or beyond of undergraduate studies, 187 master’s students, 89 PhD students, and 277 alumni.

The vast majority of participants — 3,403 students of the 4,150 U of T students — identified as heterosexual, while 747 identified as LGBTQ+. A total of 2,090 participants identified as cisgender women and 1,998 identified as cisgender men.

Only six participants identified as transgender men, five identified as transgender women, and 51 participants identified as nonbinary.

verbally, physically, or even through the way we dress — is a freedom that shouldn’t be controlled by others’ opinions.

Living in a world that curates perfection through beauty standards doesn’t always make it easy to love yourself. The elements of my life that once empowered me — such as what I wear — oftentimes became a breeding ground for self-doubt rather than self-love. However, reading My Body reminded me that evolving and questioning my surroundings is a powerful form of self-love in itself.

As women, we have to stop equating our worth with others’ projection of our appearances. Instead, self-worth should come from within.

There’s a power imbalance between genders, making it hard for women to choose how to act.

CAROLINE BELLAMY/THE VARSITY

thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

13

My failed attempts at speed dating through Caribbean Cupid The event’s participants were matched for five brief dates Whitney Buluma Varsity Staff

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time for swiping through dating apps to find a potential match.

Or, if you want to skip the awkward texts and get right into the awkward conversation, you could try speed dating.

Speed dating as a matchmaking practice began in 1998, when Orthodox Rabbi Yaacov Deyo brought together a group of single men and women at a coffee house in Los Angeles.

Deyo’s intention was to facilitate meetings between single people looking for partners in efficient 10-minute chunks. These brief dates were meant to potentially lead to less structured dating, and later, marriage.

Speed dating has continued to evolve since Rabbi Deyo’s experiment in 1998. It has become a popular research method in social psychology because of its high efficiency, replicability, and external validity. Since 2005, the concept has been applied to academic and professional relationships in ‘speed networking’ events.

On February 10, the University of Guelph’s Caribbean Culture Club (CCC), in conjunction with Western University’s Caribbean Students’ Organization (CSO) and U of T’s West Indian Students Association (WISA), held a virtual speed dating event aptly titled ‘Caribbean Cupid.’ The event, which occurred over Zoom, was targeted toward university students — including students of all gender identities and sexualities — looking for platonic or romantic relationships.

I attended the event as a participant. During my experience, participants were randomly matched with others. The matches then went into a breakout room together for approximately five minutes before coming back into the main room to be re-matched. After five rounds of matching, participants could choose to reconnect with a person of their choice in a breakout room.

Research has found that, in terms of finding a compatible partner, speed dating is more effective than its more time-consuming counterpart: blind dates. However, ating coach Marc Katz suggests that, in comparison to speed dating, the ability to choose your dates in an online dating context results in a higher return on investment. This places speed dating above blind dates and below online dating in the hierarchy of effective dating methods.

The CCC, CSO, and WISA executives did

their best to create a fun atmosphere at Caribbean Cupid, which is often difficult to do online.

After some technical difficulties with the breakout rooms, around 45 attendees participated in icebreaker activities. Then, armed with the executives’ excellent advice of “don’t be creepy,” I ventured off on five rounds of dates.

The conversation with my first date was initially awkward because we relied on the generic dating questions that the event organizers had shared with us. But, as time went on, we became more comfortable with each other. Soon, we were cracking jokes and talking about The Song of Achilles.

Even though we had an incredibly surface-level conversation, it was still fun and indicated moderate compatibility. The date lasted 10 minutes.

In the second round, my sense of awkwardness was not so easy to overcome. I matched with another self-proclaimed awkward person.

We relied almost exclusively on the guided questions, and both gave answers with very little elaboration and laughter. Part of the awkwardness was because there was someone else in the room with my date off-camera, so it felt like I was on a speed date with three people — not a deal breaker, but unexpected nonetheless. After six minutes, the 60-second countdown to close the breakout rooms appeared and she seemed eager to leave. I began to wonder if the event’s promise of finding a compatible partner would come to naught.

In the third round, my date smoked a cigar the whole time, which was somehow simultaneously cool and off-putting. The conversation had fewer lulls than my last, but it was stilted because I was overcompensating for the awkwardness of the previous round. We experimented with a free-flowing conversation, which included a pickup line about socks and the question of what we would do if we were the strongest people on Earth for a day.

But, inevitably, we defaulted to the guided questions and bid each other adieu after eight minutes.

The fourth round was the most serious of all my dates. We discussed the inherent superficiality of online dating and how difficult it was to make friends during the pandemic. Then, the conversation drifted into culture shock — we’re both international students — and the way capitalism facilitates delayed gratification. At this point, I had no expectations that the dates would lead to anything substantial.

Nonetheless, it was interesting to share my thoughts with my date for 10 minutes.

By the fifth round, I had found my groove. I matched with a U of T student, so we chatted about Robarts’ prison-like architecture, and he tried to convince me to finish Attack on Titan.

Overall, the conversation was interesting, but the vibe was distinctly platonic. After 12 minutes, we parted ways with a promise to connect on Instagram.

After five encounters with mixed results, I left Caribbean Cupid. The prospect of having to share details like my program, how many siblings I have, and whether I liked online learning with another person made me want to move to a faraway region of Alaska. However, I appreciate the opportunity to meet a variety of other people from the Caribbean and will attempt to attend more WISO events in the future.

Would I go to another speed dating event?

Probably not. It was a good way to meet a lot

Caribbean Cupid is an event hosted by clubs at U of T, University of Guelph, and Western University.

COURTESY OF UOFTWISSA

I write Valentine’s Day poems for strangers We don’t tell others that we love them until it’s too late Victoria Butler Varsity Contributor

For Valentine’s Day, I’m writing love poems for strangers. I conceptualized the idea because I am over this boring world where we rarely tell anyone how we feel about them until it’s too late.

I also started this project because I needed money. There is no better way to bring in funds than monetizing your favourite hobby. I began my writing career by articulating every negative, angsty thought that entered my brain and putting it into a Tumblr folder, which ultimately led to more sophisticated rants published in literary magazines. I released my first full-length poetry collection last September.

I dread being asked to read from the collection in a room full of strangers, as each page contains some personal horror that I would never talk about if it wasn’t written down and bound in a softcover.

Part of the reason that I began this new endeavour was because I was bored. My personal struggles that had fuelled my writing career since its premature birth at the age of 13 were all in the

past. I was no longer in agony over every familiar song that my hometown radio station played on The Drive at 5. I wasn’t filling my notes app with declarations of love and hate; instead, various grocery lists were starting to take their place.

I felt disconnected from writing because I felt happy. This is every writer’s excuse for not getting better — if I lose the misery, do I lose the drive?

If I lose the pain, do I lose my ability to create?

Needless to say, this is pretty boring stuff to think about. It irritated me that something so painfully cliché was applicable to my life.

A few years ago, I hosted my debut art exhibit alongside a good friend. She is a digital illustrator and graphic designer who shared a similar cocktail of grievances as me. She wrote some stream of consciousness journal entries about the hardships she experienced and I turned those writings into poems.

It was the first time I was writing in someone else’s head — I was learning how to express their experiences through my manipulation of language. To this day, the poems

of people in a short amount of time, but the breadth of the event meant it sacrificed depth.

The time constraints meant that I had to make snap judgements, which made me harshly scrutinise the people I met. In any other situation, I would have been more accommodating because I would’ve gotten to know my dates as multifaceted beings. Besides, the impression I gave my matches was false — if any of them are reading this, I’m funnier in real life.

Perhaps a more quantitative approach like The Aphrodite project would have yielded better results. Or perhaps the formation of human connections is so unexpected that there is no reliable way to ‘hack’ platonic or romantic relationships. Nevertheless, after two hours at Caribbean Cupid, I figured it was time to be disappointed by my looming midterms rather than my unluckiness in love.

I wrote about her are some of my favourite pieces.

I spend a lot of time surrounded by romance.

When I’m not writing poetry, I deliver arrangements and bouquets for my favourite flower shop and assist my boss to bring every Pinterest wedding board into fruition.

Love poetry seems to be a dying art, as any poetry section at Indigo will show you. Last Valentine’s Day, the florist I worked for suggested that I write different types of love poems as an add-on for orders. People were really receptive to it. More importantly, it felt good to write about joy. It felt good to help people bring some traditional, corny romance into their lives.

Last Christmas, I decided to start offering commissioned poems. My model is based on the idea that I initially used for the poems I wrote with my friend: customers send me as much information as they can about their subject, and I turn the word vomit into a poem.

I would love to be cocky and say that it’s

easy — it’s not. It’s challenging in a way that I love. Translating other people’s affection into four stanzas requires me to explore my own feelings. No, I don’t know the people I write about — or their partner or mother or cousin.

But I do know what it’s like to love people so intensely that you war dial their phone the moment you wake up from a nightmare in which they got hurt. I have held — and still hold — feelings I never got to offer someone else, and I regret it every day.

There are people in my life to whom I wish I had given pages of fancy scribblings so that they would never consider doubting themselves. I can do that now, for others. Following my commissions, I got a lot of messages that my work had made a lot of moms and partners cry. I haven’t made a dad cry yet, but I’m working on it.

Translating others’ affection into four stanzas makes me explore my unresolved feelings.

LOVISA HANSEN/THE VARSITY

arts@thevarsity.ca

ARTS & CULTURE

this problematic behaviour as a proven path to win a woman’s affection.

Another troubling part of these movies is their tendency to portray a woman as an object that male protagonists work to obtain. Through actions such as stalking and harassment, women characters are painted through the thick brushstrokes of the male gaze as people who will inevitably give in to men’s advances.

The magnitude of the gesture of love displayed by the protagonist is directly proportional to the probability that a girl will accept his advances. Such depictions make a mockery of the concept of consent.

significant role in encouraging cultural taboos.

One Bollywood-fuelled taboo that clutches the population by the throat is the idea of shaming citizens — especially women — for participating in premarital sex. Famous films have promoted the idea that women are obligated to retain their ‘purity’ for the man that they marry. Failure to do so is depicted as an undeniable lack of character.

This belief has been amplified to the extent that an unhealthy number of Indian men actively think that they have an inherent right to constant sexual intercourse after marriage — as if it were a clause in their wedding vows. In January, I read of a series of tweets wherein Indian men were

Upholding cultural taboos At times, Bollywood movies play a

The perfect flicks to watch this Valentine’s Day Movies to get your heart racing in more ways than one Sky Kapoor Associate Arts & Culture Editor

Movies are a classic choice for Valentine’s Day, whether you’re snuggling up with your favourite person, weeping to a romantic comedy, or even just hanging out with friends. Whatever the cause, watching a movie is a great activity when spending time with those you care about — as long as it’s not a first date.

In light of the last mildly cynical Valentine’s Day article written under my name, I’m back again to redeem myself with a commentary on some great movies to watch to get yourself in the romantic spirit, whether you’re alone or partnered.

Of course, take these recommendations with a grain of salt — know that there’s something there for everyone and every mood this Valentine’s Day. Basking in my cynicism used to be my usual remedy for spending Valentine’s Day alone, but recently I’ve found that sometimes it helps to forget your own pessimism by indulging in the stories of those who are doing significantly worse than you are. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you want to cry in a way that will hurt in your bones, I’d suggest A Star is Born. Originally filmed in 1937, the rock musical has been remade thrice, most recently starring the illustrious Lady Gaga herself. The story follows the touring story of two musicians who happen to fall deeply in love, overshadowed by the heart-wrenching theme of addiction. The ending of this film is brutal, but it might be exactly what you’re looking for if you

want to sob through Valentine’s Day. On the other hand, perhaps you’re the hopeful romantic type. Though I wouldn’t dare refer to myself as a theatre fan, my roommate, who is majoring in performance production, recently enlightened me about the musical She Loves Me — an adaptation of a Hungarian play that tells the story of two perfume shop employees that happen to be each other’s secret romantic pen pals. The two meet each other with animosity at the parfumerie, and the slow ‘enemies to lovers’ burn is enough to keep you engaged for the entire length of the production. Furthermore, if you’re a sucker for little details, the set design and costumes in this musical are beautiful. Even the biggest Grinch’s heart can’t help but swell at this fateful story.

My personal favourite Valentine’s Day movie, and perhaps my favourite movie in general, would have to be the original 1954 Godzilla. If you haven’t seen this movie, I’d urge you to watch it — the giant creature of this film’s namesake will make you fall in love. While it may not seem like a typical choice for a romantic moment, die-hard Godzilla fans like myself will know that the Emiko in your life will appreciate this classic masterpiece — plus, it gives you a great excuse to cozy up with your special someone if you’re feeling particularly frightened by the premise of nuclear war.

In keeping with the idea of stories that are surprisingly romantic, WALL-E is an animated film that absolutely has to make this list. What’s more heartwarming than two robots who happen to find each other in the midst of post-apocalyptic

advocating for the boycott of marriages after a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Supreme Court of India demanded a criminalization of marital rape. Yes, you read that right — under its current constitution, marital rape isn’t a criminal offence in India.

The callousness of the executive bodies in cracking down against these incidents sheds light on the fact that films alone cannot be blamed. There is an urgent need to go one step further and reform the organizations that are responsible for allowing the release of films that glorify such primitive ideologies.

The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has an infamous history of removing scenes involving sexual intercourse and graphic language from movies — according to their actions, these audio-visuals are not considered fit for the Indian audience. It is then important to question why casual sexism, stalking, harassment, and abuse aren’t categorized under the same realm and removed. In a nation where almost 80 per cent of women have faced some form of public harassment, it would benefit the country a lot more if the CBFC would meet the scenes mentioned above with a similar rigour.

What’s next in Bollywood cinema?

In the new wave of Bollywood cinema, there are a number of up-and-coming filmmakers who are driven to tell honest stories that break barriers instead of ones that reinforce them. In the past two years, they’ve produced movies that have addressed issues including domestic violence, marital rape, and harassment.

To some extent, films of this nature have always existed. The problem is not that Bollywood fails to make films that positively change how people think — it’s that, even now, many Bollywood films rely on cheap humour, blatant objectification, and disturbing love stories to generate views. This problem is fuelled by the fact that the audience count for the latter type of cinema far surpasses the former.

If one day, Bollywood filmmakers were to renounce such devices in the depiction of love, it’s clear that a large number of filmgoers would fall in love with Bollywood all over again. But until then, the tragic love story of Bollywood and romance movies continues — in front of a population that is slowly redefining what love is.

Y

The criminality of Bollywood love In its utmost Bollywood glory, love is when you run halfway around the world through rain, sleet, and snow for a final chance at winning over the person of your dreams. It’s also when you stalk a girl without a care in the world to get her to notice you; it’s when you slap someone in a fit of rage and harass them constantly. Somewhere in those scenes, I crossed a line, didn’t I? That line, however, is rather nonexistent in a majority of Bollywood love stories, which sometimes portray messed-up actions under the garb of undying love. Problematic actions like stalking and abuse are not only portrayed but also glorified by the characters in such films. Additionally, most actors who portray these characters have a positive reputation with their fans. This is problematic, given George Gerbner’s advancement of ‘cultivation theory,’ which suggests that actors’ on-screen actions mould the moral values of their fans.

This alarming situation is reminiscent of the concern among parents that rappers promoting guns and drugs would lead to their children being attracted to drug use and criminal activities.

However, in India, instead of guns, the weapon being glamourized is sexual harassment, an offence which is being acted out by bona fide film stars. This promotes a largely dramatized definition of love, which is adopted by a majority of the population; a definition that often dips into criminal territory.

Bollywood films constantly depict different forms of harassment as exhibitions of innocent love by the protagonist. The unfortunate result is a population of men — who are devoid of formal sexual education, given that the first sexual education program in Indian schools was only introduced in 2018 — who consider

Tragic stories are playing out in front of a population that’s redefining what love is

VARS IT

The link between Bollywood and love stories has shaped the very definition of love for the vast population of India. To film viewers, love is no longer a meaningless noun the way it was back in fourth grade English — instead, it is visible and can be measured by characters’ actions.

I/THE

Content warning: This article discusses sexual harrassment, sexual violence, and rape.

The glorification of abuse in Bollywood films

SAIN

Nidhil Vohra Varsity Contributor

HKA

THE VARSITY

ANUS

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desolation? While the topics of consumerism and environmentalism may not immediately scream romance, dancing in space and a true love’s kiss just might be enough to turn even the most rusted robots soft.

If animated movies aren’t your jam, you can’t go wrong with a classic rom-com. Let’s face it — they’re everyone’s guilty pleasure, and they truly encapsulate the movie-type romance that most wish to capture someday. If you’re dreaming of an eventual meet-cute, I’d suggest something like

50 First Dates. Maybe, one day, you too will shed your fear of commitment and meet the love of your life while stacking your waffles at a diner.

And of course, if you’re just looking for a good movie to ‘Netflix and chill,’ you can’t go wrong with something you’ve already seen before. If we’re being honest, you probably won’t be paying much attention to what’s playing on screen anyways, so it’s good to pick something with a simple plot. In this case, I’d pick something like Forgetting Sarah Marshall — easygoing, funny, and secretly a rom-com — or if you’re feeling quick and dirty, a pilot episode of any lighthearted TV show will do just fine.

Whatever the movie is, spending time watching it with others is what really takes the cake on Valentine’s Day.

LOVE JONES/THEVARSITY

thevarsity.ca/section/arts-and-culture

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Love is a choice, and here’s why Choosing to love someone might be the warmth you’re missing Radhika Prabhune Varsity Contributor

American author Jodi Picoult wrote in her book The Book of Two Ways: “Love isn't just a feeling… It’s a choice.” This is a quote that has stuck with me throughout the years.

So often, we’re told that love is something you fall into, something that takes you on the journey of a lifetime, or something that feels new and exciting. This is true; in her theory of “positivity resonance,” psychologist Barbara Fredrickson said that when two strangers share brief moments of positive emotion — such as eye contact, a shared smile, or the telling of a personal story — it can look and feel similar to the processes involved in our idea of love.

In this sense, you don’t have the choice of who you fall in love with. You do, however, have the choice of who you stay in love with.

At first, love may feel like a hunch that becomes a jittery feeling in your stomach every time you’re with that person. But what’s new can never stay new. The average relationship lasts approximately two years and nine months, which is a long time to still have those butterflies.

This shows that, once you’ve chosen someone, you need to continue to choose them to keep that love alive.

If that love is still there, this choice doesn’t have to be so difficult. It could mean remembering your love’s favourite restaurant when you go on dates, going for walks with them when you know they need a mental break, or

even making them their favourite cup of tea in the morning. It’s these acts of kindness that have been proven to promote connection and intimacy in relationships, which are necessary for a healthy relationship.

Depending on the stage of your relationship, it could also mean taking your partner’s opinions into consideration when you make big decisions in your life. This, according to dating counselors, is a sign that your relationship is a priority to you. It’s choices like these that show that falling in love may be fate, but staying in love means choosing to make your partner a significant part of your life.

When it is new, love can be extremely invigorating. You can find someone who makes even the most boring things interesting, who can inspire you, and who you can’t imagine your life without. Everything becomes about them.

This is more related to what you feel about your partner, rather than who they are as a person.

But the thing about falling for someone is that you’ll eventually reach the ground again.

Psychologists find that romance can only grow after you stop romanticizing your partner. This doesn’t mean you have to be less passionate about them; it just means that the feeling has to come from somewhere other than being in a new relationship.

This is why some relationships end; people believe they should constantly be feeling what they felt at the beginning. What comes after the first stage of a relationship may not be as exciting, but the mission of maintaining love

for someone can be just as invigorating if you choose to accept it.

What is this mission, you may ask? It’s consistency. Consistency is explored in psychologist David Schnarch’s “other-validated model of intimacy,” wherein someone’s identity is based upon their partner. When people can’t predict the behavior of their partner, they can’t validate their own identity.

Though our current model of romantic relationships has evolved from this, we still have expectations that we will recieve constant acceptance, empathy, validation, and reciprocation from our partners. Because we depend on one another, a partner’s consistency is important.

These habits might not be as exciting as when you first fall for your love; to some, habit is synonymous with boredom, ordinary, or normal. But when you choose to look at your life, take notice of what might normally miss your glance: the coffee mug they always use when they come over, the refrigerator magnet the two of you bought when

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you went to the flea market, or the hand soap they bought because they thought it matched your charm. These little things are so easy to overlook, but they showcase how this person — who was once a complete stranger to you — has integrated themselves into your life. And how you chose to let them.

Life is only as exciting as you make it. You can choose to live in fear that the stage of butterflies in your stomach will end. Or you could choose to think about your love, and the way they’ve stayed with you, cared for you, and loved you even in your worst moments. This Valentine’s Day, remember that while fate may have brought your love to you, it’s your choices that have kept you together.

MIA CARNEVALE/THEVARSITY

FIONA TUNG/THEVARSITY

A letter to my best friend on her first single Valentine’s Day Don’t cry because it’s over — smile because you’re single Jessica Cardinal Varsity Contributor

To my best friend, I was there when you first got together. I sat wide-eyed as I listened to you recall all the ‘firsts’ that you experienced with him. I was excited for you. We all were.

But then all those exciting firsts turned into stories you’d tell with tears in your eyes.

I was there for the breakup, too. I applauded you, because it was time that you put yourself first. For too long, you believed his empty promises. You were naive and had hopes that he would fulfil the expectations that you set for him. It must have hurt to realise that he would never give you the devotion that you deserve.

I wiped your tears along the way. I was even there to rip your phone away when you wanted to get back together with him. I’ve been through all of it with you because that’s what best friends do. And, as your best friend, I was preparing to be with you on your first newly single Valentine’s Day. The girls and I planned it out weeks in advance. You needed to be distracted, so we were

going to stay out all night, then throw a sleepover party and eat french toast in the morning. We would strictly listen to pop anthems in our Uber to the bar, and we would avoid all sappy breakup songs — with the exception of “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” which you deserve to belt, since it hits so close to home for you.

Most importantly, we would not mention his name. We wouldn’t even mention names that started with the same letter as his.

If I’m being honest, we were scared of how you’d react on the holiday. Being surrounded by life-sized teddy bears, brightly coloured heart decorations, and an unhealthy amount of chocolate is a lot to absorb when you’re in a fragile state. These innocent traditions can become ruthless bullets when moving on from an ex-boyfriend. I, being an overprotective friend, wanted to shield you from that.

But as February 14 has approached, I’ve noticed that you’re not fragile anymore. On the contrary, you’re stronger than you’ve ever been.

I first noticed you were healing when you texted in our group chat: “Let’s go to British Columbia.” At that moment, we were clueless as to what was happening. But it didn’t take a

lot of convincing to get us on board.

Eventually, you explained your change in perspective. You were ready to live your life to its full potential. You wanted adventure. You wanted to create new stories to hold close on the days when healing would be harder. You wanted to make new memories that would transform your old, hurtful ones into a beautiful learning experience. Mere weeks later, and we’ve booked flights and hotels. We’ve created a playlist of songs to karaoke to in a new province, instead of during a broken-hearted Uber ride.

I can see the signs of healing; you have slowly transitioned from being unable to get out of bed in the morning to waking up early every day to exercise. You have shifted from leaving events early because you were sad to staying out past midnight at the student bar every Thursday. You used to worry about what he was doing and who he was spending time with — now, you don’t even flinch at the sound of his name.

I want to say you did a total 180, but that’s a lie. It’s been a beautiful 360.

You were so young when you first started dating him. Our brains hadn’t even fully developed yet, and a heartache is a lot of trauma when

your mind is still forming. It’s clear to me that you aren’t the same 16-year-old that you were when you entered the relationship. You’re not the same 19-year-old that you were when you broke up with him, either. I’m glad he doesn’t know the new you — he doesn’t deserve to.

I’ve noticed that you love yourself more than you did before. You seem happier and more confident. Your smile and presence glows.

You’ve also become more goal-oriented.

Before the breakup, you used to think about how your life could become better — now, you’re on a clear path to making it better. You’re pursuing a teaching degree, and you’re making sure you finish your homework early so you can go out at night. You’re working a full-time job, yet you still have the time to be the most supportive friend.

It’s been fulfilling to watch you grow over the course of your breakup. On your good days, I’ve loved cheering you on. On your bad days, I’ve loved helping you get back on your feet.

Just as I was there for you when you were aching, I’m still here for you now.

Cheers to you and to your first single Valentine’s Day.

Science

February 14, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/science science@thevarsity.ca

What does it mean to be ‘addicted’ to love?

Neuroscience explains why your love just might be your drug Christina Lam Varsity Staff

“I’m crazy about you.” “I’m addicted to you.”

We’ve all heard these phrases used to convey the euphoria and ecstasy people feel from being with the person they love, even if it makes them behave irrationally.

With advances in neuroscience, we now know that the similarities between love and drugs go beyond linguistics. Neurochemically, the experience of falling in love is facilitated by the release of different chemical messengers — particularly dopamine and oxytocin. A surge in the former produces pleasurable feelings, while the latter promotes social bonding.

Both chemicals have also been found to have critical roles in substance use disorders. When people use substances, studies show that high levels of dopamine release into the nucleus accumbens — an area of the brain involved in reward-seeking behaviours. People also exhibit high levels of activation in the same region of the brain when they look at photos of their romantic partners.

Oxytocin has shown promise in alleviating withdrawal symptoms for substance use disorder. “If you give oxytocin to animals that are in withdrawal, they don’t show any withdrawal symptoms,” said Taryn Grieder, a U of T neuroscience researcher and lecturer, in an interview with The Varsity.

As scientists continue to learn more about

UI EG T A RE A O/ Y C D IT AN A S BI ELG AR V D E TH

the parallel between love and drugs, some have suggested putting love in the same class as substance use disorders.

The existence of ‘love addiction’ is a highly debated and controversial issue. What distinguishes ‘healthy’ love from ‘addictive’ love? And when is medical intervention deemed acceptable?

An ethical dilemma Researchers generally use two frameworks to differentiate between ‘healthy’ love and ‘addictive’ love: the narrow view and the broad view.

In the narrow view, a person can only be considered ‘addicted’ to love when, in the quest of seeking affection, they exhibit extreme behaviours that result in negative consequences. Research under this framework looks at areas including sexual compulsions, toxic or abusive relationships, and abnormal attachments. In contrast, healthy love would not exhibit any of these signs, and if it did, they would be much milder.

The broad view takes a more liberal approach to ‘love addiction’. In this model, love and addiction overlap more because even ‘normal’ romantic passions are considered to be chemically and behaviourally similar to addiction.

Have you noticed personality changes, cravings, or loss of self-control? These are just some of the symptoms that researchers using the

broad framework would use to confirm whether you show addictive behaviour toward love.

A treatment for lovesickness Regardless of which framework they subscribe to, many researchers agree that there are exceptional cases where the harm and suffering caused by love-seeking behaviours warrant medical intervention.

“If it was negatively affecting their lives, that would [be] something that you would want to get help with,” Grieder said. “[In those cases], they kind of lost control of their behaviour and they are showing compulsive behaviours… a switch has been made from a nondependent

to a dependent state.”

In these instances, treatment for people who are ‘addicted to love’ would be similar to the treatment used by people with substance use disorders. It would include psychotherapy and pharmacological agents, if they are available.

For example, researchers have suggested the possibility of using oxytocin antagonists like an ‘anti-love’ potion, blunting the pleasure a person receives from seeing their person of interest.

Being in love can be an all-consuming frenzy. Given the real possibility for lovesickness, this frenzy gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase ‘your love is my drug.’

Sports

February 14, 2022 thevarsity.ca/section/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

Does love impact athletic performance?

How falling in love can make you a better athlete Sky Kapoor Associate Arts & Culture Editor

On the outside, many sports seem like they belong in some sort of National Geographic documentary. Sweaty bodies scurry swiftly, carefully strategizing deliberate plans of attack.

The opponent is the enemy and the competition is fierce — all that matters is winning. All that matters is the game.

Love, on the other hand, although seemingly unconnected to sports, provides something of a natural opposite. It’s all about vulnerability and openness, and it’s hopefully not as aggressive as some sports can be.

Athletes are strong — resilient in both mind and body. The requirement for vulnerability that comes with love might seem terrifying from an athletic mindset; a fiercely competitive individual like myself would agree that playing sports with a loved one sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Innately speaking, the only surface-level connection between sports and love seems to be that you can feel both in your bones the next day — but there’s more than what meets the eye when it comes to love and sports.

Love and competition Competitive people will immediately be able to identify the rush that comes from being confronted with a good challenge. It turns out that the feelings we get when we’re in love are closely related to that rush. The part of your brain that is responsible for reward and motivation lights up when you’re in love, and the same part that is active when you win an award.

Competing against your partner might seem

terrifying, but love and competition can be more intimately connected. A 2016 study on Olympic athletes’ performance found that most of these athletes believed that compassionate love helped them perform better. While these studies are still in their preliminary stages, it’s clear that physical activity makes people feel good about themselves — and subsequently, the relationships they are in.

Love on the brain Oxytocin: we all know and love it. Some people fondly refer to it as “the love hormone.” One might think that something as intense as the infatuation that comes with being in love might distract from your focus, but the aforementioned 2016 study found that the funny little chemicals that are released when you’re in love — oxytocin and dopamine — may actually benefit athletic performance.

These neurotransmitters are associated with deepening bonds between individuals, and the bonds that are created during sports are no different. We’ve all heard that there are some serious feel-good endorphins that are released when we play sports — perhaps putting them to use with your partner could facilitate a deeper connection.

If the feeling of love seems scary to you, its side effects may be more appealing. Those who said they were experiencing ‘romantic passionate love’ reported increased energy levels and a greater attention span — both traits which are useful to have in sport.

Supportive relationships The type of love that athletes feel doesn’t

necessarily have to be romantic, either.

Athletes who have a strong, stable support system in their lives report feeling like they perform better in their endeavours. This was particularly true for athletes who participated in individual sports such as snowboarding. The more intimate parts of relationships, such as encouragement from family and friends, have been found to strongly influence performance.

What’s more, a Journal of Clinical Sports Psychology study from 2009 found that athletes with less supportive partners showed lower performance scores, and those with jealous partners were more likely to answer

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If you have been active on Twitter the past few days, it is likely that you came across the backlash surrounding the contentious op-ed piece written by Rosie DiManno in the Toronto Star. She implied that only two countries can play women’s hockey at an “elite level,” and, therefore, that the tournament itself doesn’t reflect the definition of sport.

Headlined “Why women’s hockey doesn’t belong in the Olympics,” DiManno’s article argues that the Olympic women’s hockey tournament is nothing more than a “cheap medal” and doesn’t deserve a spot in the Olympics, as the tournament has been dominated by the American and Canadian teams since its debut in 1998.

While there is no doubt that the two countries are consistently at the top of the board and ultimately fight it out for the gold medal each year, their journey to winning, even if it doesn't feel like a difficult competition, is far from cheap. The women who step onto the ice at the Olympic games are the same women who are working jobs, raising children, advocating for equality, and fighting for equitable pay, all while routinely training and performing at a high level. Yet you are going to call that lifestyle “cheap.”

In the article, DiManno states, “[domination] shouldn’t be the perpetual theme of the thing, especially not in an Olympic tournament that purportedly spotlights the finest in the game.”

A columnist who has been honoured by the Canadian Olympic Committee for covering over 10 Olympic games should know that the Olympics aren’t just to “[spotlight] the finest in

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A response to the controversial opinion article in the Toronto Star the game.” They are also an outlet for amateur athletes to test their abilities and compete on an international stage, alongside their professional counterparts.

She writes that the only way to resolve the imbalance of talent in the women’s ice hockey tournament is to remove the competition entirely. Statements like this only reflect a lack of knowledge and recognition toward how much the women’s game has grown in the last 20 years. It is only because of tournaments like the Olympic games that women are finally getting opportunities to be recognized, like men, in a professional sporting environment. Opportunities like the NHL All-Star Game, as well as the growing National Women’s Hockey Leauge — now known as the Premier Hockey Federation — are essential for the women players.

The imbalance in who wins these tournaments also reflects an imbalance in funding.

In a Twitter response to the article, Caroline Oulette, four-time Olympic gold medallist and captain of the 2014 Canadian team in Sochi, pointed out how if you compare the training, resources, and preparation that Canadian and American women have to some of their

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Opinion: The Olympic women’s hockey tournament is not “a cheap medal” Emmy Curtis Varsity Contributor

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European competitors, it makes sense that they perform better than European athletes.

It is because the US and Canada invest in their talent.

According to DiManno, the lack of investment from European countries has nothing to do with funding, but instead attributes it to “countries simply having a lack of interest and little appetite for growing the game.” This statement

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that the relationship detracted from their overall athletic performance. The affection and trust that comes with a healthy long-term relationship, be it romantic or not, appears to positively influence the way that athletes approach their craft.

Playing sports or working out with your partner is a great way to spend time with one another, and psychological research suggests that it can relieve some of the stress that comes with a serious relationship. Whether you partake in casual athletics or you’re married to the game, getting active with your lover seems like a winning combination. is not only inaccurate, but it also contradicts her point. Countries get more interested by having their team show up, participate, and compete, which is what the teams in the Olympic women’s hockey tournament are doing at this current time.

Removing the entire women’s ice hockey tournament from the Olympic games is the most absurd notion I have ever heard, and the fact that it comes from a woman writer makes the piece that much more demeaning. Once again, women’s hockey has to defend itself, and athletes who dedicate their lives to the stated Olympic ideals find themselves having to defend their pursuit of excellence.

The tournament represents more than just a competition, or a “cheap fight for gold,” as DiManno puts it. It is one of the biggest outlets to grow the game of hockey, draw exposure, and raise attention toward women’s sports. Not only are the Olympics an opportunity of a lifetime for players, but they are an inspiration to young women around the world who have goals of one day playing high level hockey and representing their country on the international Olympic stage.

Continuing to play and continuing to be a voice for women’s sports is what will help the women’s hockey competition evolve from being dominated by two countries to being dominated by a diverse collection of teams. It will give them the chance to step onto the ice and compete for a medal that will one day be something more than, as DiManno puts it, “cheap.” It will be because of the Canadian and American women’s hockey teams that the future of the Olympic women’s hockey tournament will have that opportunity.

After the recent backlash, and rebuttal article published by the Toronto Star itself, titled “Women’s hockey deserves its place on the Olympic podium” it’s fair enough to say that DiManno’s opinion on cancelling women’s hockey “ain’t sportin’.”

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Nature versus nurture: What makes an amazing athlete?

Explaining why we ought to consider the importance of both more fat. Therefore, mesomorphs have the highest likelihood of being better athletes.

You might be wondering: to what degree do my genes determine my body type? The truth is that three genes can reliably predict your body mass index because of how different their expression patterns are from each other. So genes do play an important role when it comes to athleticism.

But despite the fact that the gift of a particularly athletic body type is genetically inborn, it may take some learning for athletes to take full advantage of their power, or to overcome other disadvantages they may face. Learning is heavily influenced by your environment, in the form of your upbringing or your coaches, to name some factors.

Let us consider arguably one of the most famous basketball players in the world, Kobe Bryant, to illustrate this. Bryant was a naturally gifted player; at a height of six feet six inches, he was described to have a “killer instinct” that allowed him to always find a way to win a game, no matter how unwinnable it seemed. However, what he is more famous for is his training off the court, his drive, and the exceptional level of skill he cultivated through his training.

His work ethic was unmatched, and it even allowed him to overcome the disadvantage of having small hands for a shooting guard. This is truly what has put him in discussion for the greatest basketball player of all time.

On the other hand, let us consider another player

— Shaquille O’Neal, a former teammate of Bryant.

He made the most of his natural height and muscle in order to have an extremely successful basketball career. However, his lack of work ethic — a trait that his teammates have observed — prevented him from achieving even more success and was a detriment to his teammates.

Therefore, we can see how nature and nurture work together to elevate well-rounded athletes above those that simply have raw inborn gifts.

All in all, building the best

Looking at the recent Premier League transfer window

and Demarai Gray already on Everton’s team sheet, maybe the new recruits’ buzzing drive to succeed is just what the club needs to find its footing and start winning again.

Recapping all the key transfers that occurred this year

Liverpool — second in the league Liverpool suffered a midfield crisis last November when five of their starting midfielders were injured, after which the club struggled to control the ball in the central areas of the pitch. Their relatively thin squad depth could certainly damage their silverware hopes as the season progresses. The club, however, did not sign a midfielder this transfer window, and instead acquired the services of Colombian forward Luis Diaz on a five-anda-half-year contract.

The move fulfils two purposes. Firstly, Diaz’s presence serves as a motivation for first choice left-winger Sadio Mané to better his performance if he is to retain his spot on the team sheet. Additionally, Diaz is only 25 years old, which means he could be a long-term prospect. Liverpool’s absentee midfielders returning from injury, plus the onboarding of Diaz, are making things look extremely positive for Liverpool on their hunt for a trophy.

August, recently saw a huge influx of cash following a takeover by Saudi owners. The first statement of intent from the new owners came from the signing of experienced rightback Kieran Trippier on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Next, they signed Chris Wood from relegation zone occupant Burnley. Wood was Burnley’s top goal scorer last year, and although he has failed to replicate that form this year, his presence at the helm of their attack will surely be missed.

The final period of the window saw three more signings: Villa’s Matt Targett on loan, and midfielder Bruno Guimarães and centreback Dan Burn on permanent moves. These reinforcements definitely added depth to the Newcastle squad, bolstering their chances to play in the Premier League next season.

Rushil Dave Varsity Staff

Have you ever wondered why certain athletes have risen above the crowd to be stars? Take LeBron James, for instance. Perhaps it is his innate talent as a leader and physically gifted body that has accelerated him to the top of basketball stardom.

On the other hand, it is difficult to dismiss the painstakingly long hours of practice that he has put in to accomplish undeniably amazing feats.

The nature versus nurture

debate revolves around whether nature — your genetics — or nurture — your upbringing and environment — is more important when it comes to shaping your athletic potential. It has been the subject of intense controversy since the dawn

Nidhil Vohra Varsity Contributor

This year’s January transfer window for the Premier League was one of the most exciting ones in recent history. The year saw an influx of talented players, but also the unfortunate departure of a few. In this article, we’ll be looking at six premier league clubs that made the most impactful transactions during this window.

Arsenal — sixth in the league Arsenal have failed to carry their impressive run of form into the new year. They only have one win this year and have also been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s solitary aim right now is to secure a Champions League spot for next year.

However, that goal looks a tad unattainable after the transfer window. Former team captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the club on a free transfer, and the rumours of the club potentially signing ACF Fiorentina star Dušan Vlahović broke down abysmally. This situation leaves Arsenal in the absence of a clinical finisher, making their attack heavily reliant on midfielders like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, who don’t provide a sufficient goal-scoring threat.

Aston Villa — 12th in the league After a series of impressive performances in late 2021, Villa manager Steven Gerrard replicated his team’s brilliance on the pitch with moves of his own in the transfer window. He sanctioned Phillipe Coutinho’s return to the Premier League with a loan move to Villa and also signed Everton leftback Lucas Digne. The two reinforcements have visibly enhanced Villa’s quality of play, with Digne providing one assist and Coutinho scoring two goals and assisting two.

The Villa management is looking to qualify for European competitions next year, and this hope has been immensely strengthened by their moves in the transfer window.

of sports. Personally, I believe that it no longer should be a debate; it has been proven that being an amazing athlete requires both nature and nurture.

The nature side of the debate argues that athletic potential is solely determined by the instructions in each cell of our body that we call our genes. In fact, most of our visible physical traits manifest as a result of the interactions between multiple genes.

One common trait that can exemplify this is height. Studies suggest that up to 80 per cent of your height is determined by the genes you inherit from your parents!

But what about the other 20 per cent? Research suggests that your environment contributes to some of that percentage. Getting good nutrition means that your body has a larger pool of resources it can use to grow and develop. Additional studies have found people have gotten taller as their nutrition got better. Thus, your environment can, at times, enable you to take advantage of your genetics.

Another trait mainly determined by your genetics that can greatly influence your athletic potential is your body type, which simply refers to how easy it is for you to gain mass in the form of muscle or fat. According to bodybuilders, there are three main body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Generally, mesomorphs have the easiest time maintaining muscle and leanness; ectomorphs can find it difficult to put on weight due to their fast metabolism; and endomorphs may gain more muscle, but this often comes with

Everton — 16th in the league The Toffees have had a rather forgettable season so far. They have placed 16th in the league and are a mere five points from relegation. However, the January transfer window does paint a picture of hope for the club. Not only were Everton able to sign Frank Lampard as their new manager, but they also signed Tottenham wunderkind Dele Alli and secured a loan move for Manchester United midfielder Donny Van de Beek. Van de Beek joined Lampard’s Everton in the lookout for regular opportunities to play on a team’s starting lineup, in order to contest for a spot in the Dutch national team for the upcoming World Cup. All three of Everton’s signings desperately hang on to a thread of redemption in the aims of fulfilling their unrealized potential. With the likes of Richarlison de Andrade, Dominic Calvert-Lewin,

Newcastle United — 17th in the league The club, which has been battling relegation since

Reviewing the transfers that may shift the title race.

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athletic performer possible, according to recent events and research, depends on both genetics and environment. The limits of genetics are apparent — being naturally gifted can only take a person so far. Grit, hard work, and the determination to practice are what truly elevate an athlete’s game.

Tottenham Hotspur — eighth in the league Spurs have tried it all and failed. The London outfit has had the same amount of managers in the last three years as the number of goals Harry Kane has scored this season. The most recent managerial change occurred when the club hired Antonio Conte in November 2021. Conte has a glorious résumé filled with pages of undeniable success, but so did Spurs’ former manager José Mourinho.

In the past, managers have tried to save this team, but the proverbial Titanic keeps on sinking.

This winter, Spurs acquired Rodrigo Bentancur on a permanent deal and Dejan Kulusevski on loan, both of whom left Juventus hoping to find success under Conte. Both players are in their early twenties and have extremely high work rates, meaning that they could fit perfectly into Conte’s system. It is too early to say whether Spurs made the right decisions this window, but if anyone can captain this ship to safety, it is undoubtedly Conte.

Notable mentions Of course, some signings often fly under the radar.

Here are some transfers that were quiet, but could make a big difference for their clubs.

Christian Eriksen joined Brentford, strengthening the ranks of the already impressive Thomas Frank outfit. Wout Weghorst moved to Burnley from the Bundesliga, in the hopes of filling the vacancy left behind by Chris Wood. Adama Traore left Wolverhampton Wanderers to join boyhood club Barcelona on loan. Finally, Julián Álvarez signed for Manchester City from River Plate Football Club, hoping to be the number nine messiah that manager Pep Guardiola has been looking for after Sergio Aguero’s departure.

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Former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores sues NFL How effective is the Rooney Rule in creating opportunities for minority coaches?

Noah Goldstein Varsity Contributor

“As this Class Action Complaint is filed on the first day of Black History Month, we honor the brave leaders that fought so hard to help break down racial barriers of injustice.”

This is the first sentence of a lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores against the NFL, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins. In this lawsuit, Flores alleges racial discrimination in his interviews with both the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants for their vacant head coach positions, as well as in his firing by the Miami Dolphins, which occurred after he led the franchise in back-to-back winning seasons.

Flores, who was hired by the Miami Dolphins in 2019, breathed new life into a franchise that had not seen a winning season since 2016, leading the Dolphins to a 10–6 record in 2020.

Flores alleges that throughout his time in Miami, he continually clashed with the Dolphins’ owner, Stephen Ross, over the state of the team. Flores’ suit states that Ross was upset with the team’s five wins at the end of the 2019 season, as the owner wanted the team to “tank” — intentionally lose — in an effort to get the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Flores further alleges that Ross offered him an additional 100,000 USD for every loss the Dolphins incurred in 2019.

Over the course of the next two seasons, the coach felt ostracized, in large part because of his decision to not let the team tank. The suit goes on to state that following Flores’ firing at the end of the 2021 season, the Dolphins’ front office went on to smear him throughout the NFL and sports media

as someone who is bad-tempered and uncooperative, pushing the “angry Black man” narrative plastered too often plastered on Black men who are confident and steadfast in their beliefs.

The allegations of racial discrimination don’t stop with the Dolphins — Flores believes he faced similar situations in “sham” interviews with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. He believes that his candidacy was only ever an effort for these teams to satisfy the Rooney Rule.

The Rooney Rule — named after Pittsburgh Steelers’ owner, Daniel Rooney, for his extensive history of advocacy on behalf of diversity hiring in the NFL — stipulates that any team with a head coach or front office vacancy must interview at least one minority candidate for the job. While this was a noble undertaking by the NFL, its results have been less than satisfactory. In a league in which approximately 70 per cent of the players are Black, there are currently only two Black head coaches following the firing of Flores — Lovie Smith and Mike Tomlin.

In his 2019 interview for the Broncos’ head coach position, Flores alleges that the Broncos’ then-general manager and CEO arrived an hour late, “completely disheveled,” and that it was “obvious that they had drinking [sic] heavily the night before.” By the time the interview ended, Flores believed that he was never a serious contender for the position and was only interviewed to fulfill the Rooney Rule requirement.

Former Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio was hired for the job instead. Fangio was fired on January 27, 2022, but the Broncos have since hired former Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as their new head coach. Since both are white men, neither

While Flores loves the game of football, he believes that this lawsuit is bigger than him.

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represent the minority for whom the Rooney Rule was ratified.

Prior to his interview with the Giants, Flores had a text exchange with legendary New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. According to Belichick, the Giants had already decided to hire Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll before Flores’ interview with the team. Flores sat through a dinner with the new Giants’ new general manager, Joe Schoen, and participated in a comprehensive interview with the team. All of this happened at a point when, Flores alleges, the team had already decided on hiring Daboll as their new head coach, and were only interviewing Flores to abide by the Rooney Rule.

The Giants dispute this claim. Team spokesman Pat Hanlon stated that the franchise was “confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll,” and that “Flores was in the conversation to be our Head Coach until the eleventh hour.”

Flores claims that more than 40 coaches who have experienced similar racial discrimination could join his suit. He went so far as to name several coaches who were fired prematurely, or, despite their success, had not yet been given an opportunity to be a head coach. The list includes Kansas

City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, former Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell, and former Houston Texans Head Coach David Culley, among others.

Several prominent civil rights organizations highlighted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have reached out to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss substantive and tangible changes that could be made to the Rooney Rule to make it more effective.

“It’s simply not enough for the League to declare its good intentions,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “This is a long-standing crisis that must be confronted with diligence and rigor.”

Brad Sohn, a lawyer who has previously represented a great many NFL players, views the lawsuit as “next to impossible to succeed,” and believes that Flores is “[putting] his career in jeopardy.”

While Flores loves the game of football, he believes that his undertaking is bigger than him and accepts the potential consequences of his actions.

In a statement released by Flores’ law firm, he said, “My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.”

Varsity Blues bulldoze through Nipissing Lakers to get first win of the season Blues show a determination to end their 5–0 losing streak Mekhi Quarshie Associate Sports Editor

Two things can happen when a team undergoes a losing streak. First, they figure out what they’ve been doing wrong and work on it relentlessly. Secondly — and more importantly — a ravenous hunger sets in the belly of the team, a craving that grows and grows with every loss, a yearning that can only be cured with a win.

Eventually, that team becomes a perfect blend of emotion and hard work that can only be described as dangerous.

The Varsity Blues’ basketball team finally satiated their hunger on Friday night, beating the Nipissing Lakers 88–67 at home for their main course, and hitting 10 three-pointers for dessert.

The game was relatively slow in the beginning, with every basket seeming like it was hard-earned. Right off the cuff, you could tell how hungry the Blues were when Iñaki Alvarez swiped the ball from a Nipissing offender and turned it into an easy layup at the other end of the court.

The Blues were hot from behind the arc, knocking down six three-pointers in the first half. Much of this could be accredited to their great passing and off-the-ball movement.

Guards were flying as they came off of screens, resulting in many of them getting opportunities for open shots. Shadkami took advantage of spacing, notching 12 points in the first half.

The Lakers didn’t go down without a fight though. Point-guard Muktar Mohamed finished

the game with 22 points, a high for his team. Nathan Riley was also an important asset for the Lakers, scoring 12 points in the game. When the Blues went for sharpshooting, the Lakers played physically, getting to the line consistently. Much to the Blues’ dismay, the Lakers shot 28–33 from free while the Blues shot 14–20. Every time the Lakers got a foul, the Toronto bench was vocally frustrated, as portrayed by their loud moans.

The Blues outrebounded the Lakers by four rebounds. Much of this can be credited to their power forward, Anthony Daudu, towering over opposing players and using his size in the paint.

He made it hard for opposing guards to play among the trees and rose to the net anytime the ball bounced off of it.

Overall, not only did the Blues play like a team that was aching for a win, they played like a team with more quality in general. Nipissing is a better team overall this season — their record is 3–5 — but it looked like the Blues were unfazed by this fact.

The Blues are now 1–6 this season and have moved up to seventh position on the U SPORTS standings. They will play their hometown rivals, the Ryerson Rams, on Wednesday, February 16. In order to give the Rams a run for their money, the Blues will have to remember what it was like to be famished and play like they played in their game against the Lakers.

The Blues clawed out a big win to start the season.

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